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Message-ID: <62835asstr$1384449003@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Any Pseudonym <anypseudonym@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Any Pseudonym <anypseudonym@yahoo.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Life with Alpha II: Alpha's World - Chapter Three:  Bodyguards (MF, FF, MF+, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book)
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Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:10:03 -0500
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This story contains adult content, with explicit language and situations. 
If you are not of legal age where you live, please do not read.

   In addition to the wonderful ASSM archive at www.asstr-mirror.org you can find
my Alpha universe stories at http://storiesonline.net/auth/Any_Pseudonym

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<1st attachment, "AlphaWorld03.txt" begin>

Alpha's World

   by A.  Pseudonym

   Chapter Three: Bodyguards
Codes: MF, FF, MF+, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book
Disclaimer: All artificial persons herein are based on characters owned
by their creators, not the author.  Rally Vincent and Gunsmith Cats are
owned by Kenichi Sonoda or Kodansha or someone who is not me.  Misty Knight
is owned by Marvel Comics, not me.  Agent 355 is owned by DC/Vertigo
Comics, not me.  And Motoko Kusanagi and Ghost in the Shell is owned by
Masamune Shirow or Kodansha or someone who is not me.
Author's Note: (1) I'd like to thank ben-david for his suggestions,
which, among other things, led to Rei's side-project that is touched on in
this chapter.  (2) I'd like to thank PA for passing along many ideas and
articles, some of which do show up here.  (3) I'd also like to point out
that the characters introduced in this chapter are MUCH less faithful to
the source material.  This is pointed out in the text, but I don't want
anyone to go into this chapter expecting to see accurate copies of the new

characters listed below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_Vincent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_Knight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Y:_The_Last_Man_characters#Agent_355
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motoko_Kusanagi

   Dramatis Personae: Frank _____ - Lead character, creator of Alpha Alpha
- First Artificial/Synthetic Intelligence

   Mobile Copies of Alpha: Beta aka Bayonetta aka Elizabeth Alana Franks
(cyborg) Gamma aka Jasmine aka Jasmine Marza (cyborg, from Aladdin) Delta
aka Elisa Maza aka Elizabeth Marza (cyborg, from Gargoyles) Alphadroid
Dorothy aka R.  Dorothy Waynewright (android, from Big O) A-Ko aka Eiko
Magami aka Epsilon (organic copy of Alpha, from Project A-Ko)

   Artificial Women (in order of arrival): Kasumi Tendo (from Ranma 1/2)
Daria Morgendorffer aka Daria Morgan (from Daria) Jane Lane aka Jane
Lannister (from Daria) Kara Zor-L aka Power Girl aka Karen Starr (from DC
Comics) Rei Ayanami aka Rei Ayanami Ikari (from Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Anna Marie aka Rogue aka Anna Marie Raffen (from Marvel Comics) Princess
Diana aka Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince Walters (from DC Comics) Zatanna
Zatara aka Annabelle Tara Zane (from DC Comics) Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl
aka Linda Lang Starr (from DC Comics) Blossom aka Belle Underton (from
Powerpuff Girls) Bubbles aka Britney Underton (from Powerpuff Girls)
Buttercup aka Bobbi Underton (from Powerpuff Girls) Ororo Munroe aka Storm
aka Imara Aurora Munroe (from Marvel Comics) Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat aka
Katherine Preiss (from Marvel Comics) Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk (from
Marvel Comics) Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl/Oracle aka Barbara Freeman (from
DC Comics) Mary and Susan Test aka Mary and Susan Tell (from Johnny Test)
Velma Dinkley aka Velma Blonsky (from Scooby Doo) Daphne Blake aka Daphne
Drake (from Scooby Doo)



   "First, let me welcome you to the Alpha Advanced Research and Design
building.  I would like to thank you for coming and agreeing to hear me out
regarding this job proposal."

   I was standing in the nicest AARD presentation room we had, filled with
a dozen very comfortable leather chairs.  An Alphadroid stood next to me,
and before me sat four women who I had just met for the first time.

   "When you know for certain that a person or organization is actively
trying to kill you, it forces you to make changes to your daily routines
and life in general.  As I'm sure you're already aware, I am in such a
situation.  In fact, the only reason I'm alive today is because I was shot
just outside this building, close to the facilities needed for Alpha to
install a replacement heart while she started experimental procedures to
save my life.  I, quite literally, owe her my life."

   The women watched me very intently, with an intense concentration rarely
seen.  While I knew these women had been artificially grown and were built
with triggers inside their brains designed to react positively to me, they
had been designed differently from the other women of my household, and
their extremely focused gazes unnerved me slightly.

   "Today and for the foreseeable future, I need protection at all times.
While my home is very private and better protected than anything short of a
military facility, I need bodyguards to accompany me whenever I go out into
public or travel.

   "You probably noticed the men and women in suits and dark sunglasses
outside.  They are professionals, hired through reputable companies and
vetted by Alpha herself.  But they are also effectively short-term
employees, hired to do a job for a while before they move on to their next
assignment."

   Each of the four women before me had been built with certain trigger
phrases to create favorable reactions.  One of the triggers was a negative
response to the idea of short-term employment or changing assignments. 
Actually, I had already covered three or four triggers in what I had
already said.  Alpha had carefully gone over the needed elements of my
speech and was ready to prompt me through my earpiece if needed.  Not that
there was much chance of any of them turning down the upcoming job offer.

   "What I am looking for are long-term employees.  Bodyguards with the
commitment to stay with me for a minimum of 10 years.  People with the
skills and willingness to provide me with ongoing protection against those
who actively wish me harm.  While I dislike being in a position where I
need such protection, since I do need it, I want the best I can get."

   On the surface, that last statement seemed ridiculous looking at the
women before me, two of whom were in wheelchairs.  They were all missing
body parts, ranging from one black woman missing only a single arm, to the
Japanese woman who was a quadruple amputee.  Three of the four had
cybernetic limbs, though I hate to apply that term to the cheap things in
front of me which were maybe a step above peg legs and hook hands.

   Below the surface, all four of them were already significantly enhanced.

   Their nervous systems were awaiting a trigger from Alpha to activate
upgraded reactions that were a LOT better than human.  Specifically, we ran
the wonderfully versatile carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in parallel to their
spines and nerve branches out to major muscle groups.  Switches were ready
to change transmission over to the new 'wires' when we were ready for them.
Normal nerve impulses travel at varying speeds, ranging up to 200 or so
miles per hour.  Electric impulses traveling through CNTs travel at up to
2/3 the speed of light, give or take.  While we couldn't replace all nerves
throughout the body with CNTs, their reaction times would be MUCH faster
than any normal human.

   Their bones had been grown around an almost organic-looking web of
titanium, a new method we had adapted from other researchers which should
theoretically make their bones incredibly strong, thus giving them the
internal support structure for superhuman strength, as well as a limited
kind of internal armor, all done without interfering with normal marrow
growth and function.  They should prove stronger than the ceramic methods
Alpha had been using, and even if not, they were much easier to create.

   Each body also hosted a large set of nanites, powered by body heat with
an implanted controller...  most of which would actually end up being
replaced with enhanced versions twice before their cybernetic upgrades were
completely installed.

   "You each have skills, training and aptitudes required for the job. 
Physically, we will rebuild you.  If you sign on with us, you'll be fitted
with the best cybernetic parts available, customized for you and enhanced
to be stronger, faster and more versatile than human.  Our newest designs
can actually give you better than human reflexes.  Three of you have also
lost an eye, which will be replaced.  And if you agree and sign the
contracts, there are other things we can do for you.

   "If you decide to decline our offer, just as you were told, you'll still
be given basic, fully functional AARD cybernetic limbs.  As payment for
agreeing to come here and hear me out, we'll cover the limb replacement
costs and pay for your passage back home.  However the upgraded versions
are only available as employees."

   Once all of their replacement parts and upgrades were installed, they
would be the fastest, strongest and toughest people -- cyborg, human or
synthetic -- on the planet.

   I continued on for a few more minutes, explaining the situation and
making sure they were aware of the dangers and needs.

   They all agreed to sign on as my bodyguards, of course.  After all,
that's why we built them.



   Before we go much further in this part of the tale, I need to explain
the time-line here.  The build-up to this part of the story started way
back before Alpha went public.

   Alpha has always been very concerned about my safety, as might have been
mentioned before.  She always wanted me to have bodyguards, preferably ones
directly under her control.  I had generally been able to get away with
convincing her that my menagerie of women served that purpose, and my
experience getting mugged in Las Vegas that one time worked pretty well to
support my arguments, given that Diana had done an excellent job of
protecting me.

   The mob goons sent by the Vegas mafia that stalked me in Texas had been
dealt with before they even got close and that organization had been so
badly damaged that the situation was still under control without added
extra guards.

   Going public upped my visibility, which prompted Alpha to push harder
for me to accept bodyguards.  But since there was no obvious threat to my
safety, I was still able to order her not to pursue the matter.

   After I was shot by a sniper, that obviously changed.  It didn't matter
that I was still alive or that she had effectively destroyed the American
Mafia in response.  My orders in this area were no longer sufficient to
stop her from hiring and/or creating bodyguards.

   Initially after my recovery, she went with a combination of hired
security and Alphadroids.  In those early months, she hired various
professional bodyguards, after thoroughly vetting each one, who mostly
escorted me in accompanying vehicles, flanked me as I went in and out of
buildings and stood guard near doors and such.  They seemed very competent
but they weren't part of the household and, to be honest, they were only
human.

   Oh yeah, and the household women too.  Most of them appointed themselves
to be my bodyguards as well.  Kara, Diana, Linda, Anna, Jennifer, Blossom,
Bubbles, Buttercup and Eiko all had enhanced physiologies.  They were the
front line of volunteers.  Barbara, Zatanna, Kitty, Ororo, and Rei, none of
whom had 'super powers', outfitted themselves with armored clothing and
various gadgets and weapons.

   Beta, Jasmine and Eliza were also physically enhanced, but that was not
public knowledge, so they joined the gadget and weapons team.

   Rei actually took control of a few sample drones we had built, had Alpha
arm them, and started practicing.  (Alpha was actually a better remote
pilot, but Rei was better in a fight since she had no limitations to her
actions.) Some of the drones were pretty fancy and tricked out --
long-range, invisible to radar, hovering, silent...  the types varied
significantly, and Alpha was more than happy to help her develop them.

   Kasumi, Daria and Jane were all worried and supportive -- Daria and Jane
in particular went through a few pretty bad months of stress and
anger-induced personality shifts -- but none of them were fighters or
superheroes, so they were home-front support.  Two of Daria's anti-Mafia
opinion pieces were actually picked up nationally.

   (And yes, I'm actually overly generalizing here.  For example, Buttercup
had discovered an affinity for guns, so she got a concealed carry permit
and went armed.  And at least half of the super-tough women started wearing
Kevlar vests and such.  And Kasumi was able to help out with some of the
martial arts training.  And so on.)



   While I absolutely trust them with my life, the household women weren't
able to keep the bodyguarding impersonal, plus the business suffered
because of their absences.  Well, somewhat.  I mean, Kara was pretty
essential to AARD.  So were Anna (Human Resources), Zatanna (spokesperson),
Diana (building security) and a couple others.  However, some of the ladies
could take extended leaves of absence without causing problems.

   Regardless, Alpha and I eventually convinced them that we needed
enhanced professional, long-term bodyguards.

   So back before we had even moved to the new estate, Alpha had begun work
on more acceptable bodyguards, ones that could potentially integrate into
the household.  Bodyguards with a personal devotion to me, who were
enhanced beyond normal human limitations but were still able to pass
rigorous security inspections.

   Their need to be able to integrate into the household meant they needed
to be female and be open to the unique harem-like existence I lived.  Their
need to be able to pass security background checks meant that they needed
to be from the real world, or at least look, think, act and have
backgrounds as if they came from the real world.

   Therefore, while we agreed that they could be loosely based on fictional
characters (which is kinda my fetish, if you haven't guessed by now) they
would have to believe that any such resemblance between themselves and
their inspirations was purely coincidental.

   And we needed a minimum of four such women.

   On a personal level, I wanted to use the opportunity to expand the
racial mix of the household.  Having only one black woman, Ororo, in our
happy home was far too few.  At the same time, I wondered if bringing in
more black women as bodyguards might be racial stereotyping...  you know,
the dangerous, tough black chick.  In the end, we decided on two black
women, one Indian and, because the situation was too perfect to ignore it,
one Japanese woman.

   Irene "Rally" Vincent is a character from the Gunsmith Cats anime and
manga.  Although her first incarnation in Riding Bean was as a blond-haired
Caucasian woman, Riding Bean was just a one-shot anime.  When the Gunsmith
Cats manga started, she had been redesigned into a dark-haired Indian woman
(that's Asian-Indian, not Native American Indian), with Bean Bandit as a
supporting character.

   If you look back at my initial character 'wish list', Rally was
mentioned but discarded because her character was so closely tied to Minnie
May Hopkins, an ex-prostitute explosives expert who looked like an
prepubescent girl.  Since we were mostly throwing out the fictional
backgrounds, friends and families, Rally suddenly became a viable
character.

   Rally is a gun expert -- creating, customizing, servicing and shooting.
Given the manga/anime level of skill in the stories, she could literally be
the top sharp-shooter in the world.  She remembered and had records to show
that she lost her right arm, leg and eye in the same car wreck which had
killed her father.

   Misty Knight is character from Marvel comics, a blaxsploitation-ish
female detective with a cybernetic arm and a huge afro.  She's often
partnered with Colleen Wing, a ninja-esque Japanese detective, though she's
worked with everyone from Iron Man (who provided her with the arm) to Luke
Cage to the X-Men and Heroes for Hire.  She's most often been portrayed as
a street-level hero, but her appearances have taken her all over the map.

   I like her character just fine, but I've never been a fan of large Afro
hairdos, so that was the first bit to go.  Well, the extra-extra-large Afro
that's 3 or more times the diameter of the head, that is.  A
reasonably-sized version was perfectly fine.  I know she was in an
on-again-off-again relationship with Iron Fist and was pregnant at one
point, but all of that was tossed out as well.

   She's basically a cybernetically super-strong street fighter who's also
a near perfect shot.  Given our plans for the bodyguards, that lined up
perfectly.

   Our version's background has her losing her arm and an eye in an NYPD
new recruit training accident, so that we didn't have to fake a background
where she actually was an active NYPD officer for a while.  Her best friend
and partner, Colleen Wing, is actually a cyborg based in New York.

   Agent 355 is from Y the Last Man, a DC Vertigo title that has her
assigned to protect the last living man on Earth after a plague killed all
other males world-wide.  She was a black secret agent from the Culper Ring,
a secret agency originally founded by George Washington.  Her skills
focused on espionage, though she was an expert with firearms and a
collapsible baton.  She also has a perfect memory.

   (As a neat historical side note, there was a real Agent 355 and a real
Culper Ring back during the American Revolution.  Supposedly, 355 was one
of a handful of female spies who reported to Washington.)

   Including her was a point of contention between Alpha and myself.  Near
the very beginning of the series, she showed herself less than capable of
protecting her charge (though Yorrick, the 'last man' survives to the end)
and at one point, she lets Yorrick get beaten up to teach him a lesson. 
Neither of those incidents encouraged Alpha to include her.  Though
attractive, she was no great beauty in the early comics, but she was a
great character and her death really upset me, so I forced her inclusion in
my bodyguard squad.  Alpha would just have to adjust her personality to
avoid any 'let him get taught a painful but non-lethal lesson' tendencies.

   Her real world back story included a few years in the army, being a gun
instructor and losing both legs in a bad skiing accident.

   Oh yeah, one more thing, she was never named in the comics, but
supposedly her real first name is Peace.  We went with Peace Truman.

   Finally, the fourth bodyguard was based on Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in
the Shell, a Japanese anime and manga series.  The GitS story has been told
and retold a few different times, starting with the original GitS movie.

   Motoko is a cyborg with an almost entirely cybernetic body.  She leads a
Public Security Section 9 team as a government security agent.  She
eventually merges with the 'Puppeteer', an advanced Artificial Intelligence
who wants to move on to the next stage of evolution.

   She's basically a ready-made character for our purposes.  Our version
will only have a mostly cybernetic body -- all four limbs and an eye -- and
won't have worked for the Japanese government at all, but she will have a
permanent link to Alpha built into her head.  (For that matter, all four
will have such a permanent link built into their skulls.  More on that
later.) Specifically, she remembered losing all four limbs and an eye in a
horrific helicopter crash.

   For our purposes, their real world identities were altered slightly to
Irene "Rally" Venkatesan, Misty Knoff, Peace Truman (as noted above) and
Motoko Kimura.

   For Rally, we actually gave her full knowledge of her anime/manga
character to the extent that she, as a young Indian-American woman named
Irene who loved guns, adopted her nickname from the anime/manga.

   Changing Misty's surname from Knight to Knoff didn't prevent Jennifer
from recognizing her as Misty Knight.  Even with the altered last name,
smaller afro and slightly altered features, there really aren't very many
blaxsploitation-ish New York black women with cybernetic right arms named
Misty.

   A quick conversation with the Marvel women of the household helped them
understand that this was not their Misty.  They all had experience with
alternate versions of people they knew from different worlds, so they
easily accepted that...  but it did set off an online quest to see if any
of them also had versions of themselves living in the real world.  Ororo
found no one matching her.  Anna Marie found a few other southern gals
named Anna Marie, but none that looked like her.  Katherine Pryde
surprisingly found three other Katherine Prydes her age in the country,
none of whom looked remotely like her.  And Jennifer Walters found roughly
a million other Jennifer Walters in the world.

   So...  where was I going with that?  Oh yeah, their recognition of Misty
actually led to an easier acceptance of the bodyguard team by at least part
of the household, so...  good result but back to the time line.



   My initial meeting with them happened in August, shortly before we moved
into the new home.  While we could have fitted them with their new body
parts in just a few days, we were proceeding in such a way that their
hiring and enhancements were above-board.  That meant adding them to our
list of approved human test subjects since their implants were classified
as experimental.  We also couldn't require any such upgrades as part of
their employment, which we made sure they knew, but they never objected or
even hesitated when we discussed the upgrades.

   When I say their enhancements were 'above board', I actually mean
'mostly'.  Maybe I should point out that in order to 'legally' do a couple
specific implants, we moved them overseas for an operation that would have
taken over a year to be approved in the United States.  We'd still get in
trouble if American authorities found out about it, but doing it overseas
was a possible legal loophole if the question arose.

   There's another loophole we were able to take advantage of too.  If you
don't use anesthesia or normal surgical tools, then it's not technically a
medical procedure and the rules are a lot less restrictive.  That's how
people are able to do things like implanting magnets under their skin
without approval or doctors.  And doing things without anesthesia is easy
when you have nanites that can intercept nerve signals.

   Oh, and the sets of nanites living inside their bodies on an ongoing
basis was completely secret, initially even from them.



   In February the following year -- this was after the Test Sisters
arrived, but before Daphne and Velma -- the new bodyguards were put on
active duty.  Depending on the situation, we still hired additional
personnel as needed, but the four of them plus a couple Alphadroids now
covered the bulk of my protection needs.

   They were given their choice of unoccupied rooms in the main house. 
They could each have had a room to themselves or could bunk together or...
well, whatever they preferred.  They eventually settled on two third floor
rooms with an added connecting door between them, together at the top of
the stairs closest to my second floor room.

   From Alpha's reports, they had all experimented with each other, trying
our their new limbs in a variety of situations, ranging from hand-to-hand
combat practice to shooting to sex.  They were all bi-sexual by design, of
course.  Alpha didn't believe that any of them had fallen in love with any
of the others, but they had all bedded each other at some point during the
past few months.

   For some of them, this was the first time in years (or technically,
since they first woke up/ever) they had real sensations from their arms or
legs.  The nerve sensitivity in their limbs was designed to give normal
feedback most of the time, but it could be adjusted up or down and would
cut off all sensation if the nerve feedback sensors were damaged.

   They had also used their individual skills to help each other out,
mostly by training each other with different combat techniques and skills.
Probably the biggest help of any of them was Rally.  They were all expert
shots, but Rally, in addition to being the top sharpshooter in the group,
was a master gunsmith.  All four of the guards now had personalized weapons
-- one or two primary pistols, at least one holdout gun hidden inside a
replacement limb compartment and, if desired, a rifle.  Plus, they all had
stun guns of various types, pepper spray, and one or more melee weapons. 
They all were or were in the process of becoming experts in unarmed combat
and takedowns (a skill set Rally had previously been deficient in).

   This sense of camaraderie was what we had been hoping for.  Working as a
team, with Alpha and each other, would make them into far more effective
bodyguards.

   Oh yeah, working with Alpha: They each had an implanted link to both
Alpha and each other which could be activated at any time.  Alpha almost
literally lived in their heads now.  Not intrusively, but she was always
available to them, and in case of an emergency, could alert them instantly.
Plus, even if they were somehow cut off from Alpha, they would still be
able to silently and instantly communicate with each other as long as they
were within range -- maybe a couple hundred yards when operating
independent of Alpha.  As it turned out, this one aspect of their upgrades
had a bigger effect on them as individuals than anything else we had done.
I'll touch on that some more later.

   Once they were put on active duty, they also started training with me.
We worked out things like code phrases, in case we needed to communicate
out loud or I needed to tell them something without addressing them
directly.  They learned my habits and who my friends were.  They watched me
carefully enough to learn the signs when I was nervous or frightened or
upset.  I learned to dive to the ground or into cover, letting one or more
of them cover me with their bodies as shields against gunfire.  (Despite my
own ongoing bodily upgrades, they were a lot tougher and more bullet
resistant.)

   Actually, it was during one of those training exercises that I had my
first sexual experience with one of them.

   * * *

   We were using the under-construction Test Sisters lab on the estate as a
training ground.  A handful of Alphadroids, armed with paintball guns,
would ambush us as we moved around or through the facility.  Sometimes a
squad of droids would jump out from cover and open fire.  Sometimes it was
a coordinated strike from multiple directions.

   The incident that triggered the fun was when a single Alphadroid was on
the...  well, what would eventually be a proper roof.  When the trouble
started, I let Misty tackle me to the ground behind a low wall.  While she
remained on top of me, the other three maneuvered to find positions to
'take down' the Alphadroid with their own paintball guns.

   While they were doing that, I was face up behind poor cover with a busty
black beauty laying face down, stretched out fully on top of me.  I
inevitably developed a boner.

   Since we were stuck there, unable to move elsewhere without risking
being shot, she could definitely feel my reaction...  and kept on feeling
it as the minutes passed.

   "Okay," Misty relayed to me from the others, "we think we're about to
successfully flank the sniper.  Gonna be here another minute or two at
least though." She paused and wiggled her hips on top of me.  "Is that for
me?"

   "It's kind of an involuntary reaction when I have a beautiful woman
spread out on top of me, protecting me from being shot."

   "I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

   We lay there in silence for another couple minutes.  Even after the
droid was tagged with a 'fatal' shot, we had to wait for an all clear.  I
swear I just got harder and harder.

   Misty obviously enjoyed her effect on me, even going so far as to push
her breasts up into my face a bit more.  (She had the largest breasts of
the guard team with comic-book-style D-cups.)

   When we finally got the all clear, Misty cautiously raised herself to
her knees, her gun at the ready, still taking the situation seriously. 
When her teammates came back into view, Misty finally looked back down at
me.

   "You doing okay?" she asked.

   I smiled at her.  "A little frustrated, but generally healthy." I
glanced down at the state of my jeans.  "More than a little, I suppose."

   "Well, we can't have that, now can we?"

   With no other preamble or warning, she undid my belt and jeans button,
unzipped my fly, fished out my cock and started sucking.

   The other three reached us about then.  It was odd seeing them watching
with either expressionless faces or with small smiles, all completely
silent.  I had realized earlier that among themselves, they had gotten into
the habit of speaking primarily via their implants, and I was sure they
were having a conversation of some sort.  This was indicated with very
slight jaw movements, indicating they were thinking about saying things but
stopping short of actually verbalizing them.  (The implants were designed
to register these kinds of thoughts, otherwise...  well, stream of
consciousness can be pretty jumbled and unhelpful.)

   Of course, one of the big advantages of this setup is that even if your
mouth is full, you can still 'talk' with your friends, so I imagine Misty
was giving a running commentary or something as she sucked me off.

   When Misty's tongue and throat worked me up to the edge, I said, "I'm...
I'm pretty close..."

   Peace told me, "She says to go ahead and come."

   So I did.  I don't think Misty tasted any of my semen since it went
straight down her throat...  not that I was complaining.

   When I had finished up and Misty replaced my member back under its
zippered cover, she asked, "Is that better?  You ready for the next
practice run?"

   "That...  that was wonderful.  Thank you."

   "You're welcome," she said with a slight smile and nod.  "Now, you ready
to go?  We only have another 34 minutes for group practice."

   As I stood up, all four ladies laughed, obviously at a silent comment
one of them had made.  It was a little creepy, actually.  I had agreed
early on not to listen in on their transmitted conversations so they could
feel secure in their privacy, which meant I had no idea what they were
laughing about.

   "I would like to point out that I generally like to reciprocate in
situations like that," I said as we moved to the new starting point.

   "Thank you for the offer, but not while we're in the field," she said.
Which seemed pretty unfair, especially since she had just given me a
blowjob.

   And that was my only sexual experience with any of them during their
first month on the job.  Seriously.  Just a single incident of
let-me-help-you-with-that sexual release.

   * * *

   So let's see...  They were hired in August and went on active duty in
February.  So the training incident happened in early March, before Daphne
and Velma arrived in late March.  The Test Sisters lab, which they named
Porkbelly Labs, was completed in late March, just before the events
described in the previous chapter.

   In early May I had my second intimate encounter with one of them, which
I'll get to in a minute.

   June of that year is when the traveling really started.  While I and
others in the household had been making regular visits to DC and a few
other locations, June was the first month since the revelation when I
actually spent more time out of state than at home.

   We were using our new jet at that point, but didn't have our home
airstrip yet.  (Our plans had it being completed in November.)

   The new jet was a large two-engine custom job, using the latest
Alpha-designed engines, and even as large as it was, it could fly perfectly
well with just one of the two.  (Admittedly, it would be awkward and
ungainly with only one engine, but a single one had sufficient thrust is my
point.) The jet was an Alpha-host vehicle, though the FAA was reluctant to
let Alpha fly her solo.  Fortunately Rei was a fully licensed pilot and
even had a little experience with large jets.  Beta, also with a pilot's
license, usually acted as co-pilot.

   The jet was technically two-level, but only one level was outfitted for
living spaces.  The lower level was primarily storage and computer bays. 
On the main level, we had thirty-six first-class-style seats, two bedrooms,
two bathrooms, a small kitchen and a conference room.  The skin of the jet
was shielded and the circuits hardened against EMP attacks, which was
pretty much Alpha's second worst nightmare.  Although it had no weaponry
per se, it was outfitted with a variety of defenses, including flares,
chaff and custom-designed lasers capable of detonating pretty much any
incoming missile mid-air.  We even had a variety of drones we could launch
(and, yes, those could well include armed drones).

   And let me backtrack on something I just said: When I ranked an EMP as
the second worst nightmare scenario, that was a mistake.  I once asked
Alpha about her worst case scenarios and it took us an hour to agree on
what constitutes 'worst'.  Because something like the sun exploding or
being hit by a large asteroid would be much worse, but also much less
likely.  So...  within the category of 'most likely' scenarios, me being
killed ranks first, an EMP pulse ranks second.

   So, I was talking about June, but let me back up briefly to the
beginning of May.

   * * *

   Early morning on the first Monday in May, I left for a day trip to a
conference at the University of Oklahoma.  Basically it's a few hours
there, small presentation, a meeting, a few hours back.  I didn't want the
hassle of taking the plane for such a short trip or the helicopter for such
a long trip.  So, we drove.  (Turns out the drive was just long enough that
I would have preferred flying, but that's neither here nor there.)

   I was in the limo with two guards and one Alphadroid, and the limo was
followed by the other two guards and another Alphadroid in an SUV Alphacar
with a nanopod in the back.  (Let me see...  at that point, I had a small
nanite colony living inside me, but we still needed nanopods for any
serious injuries or health problems because of the small nanite selection
included in the colony.) Misty was driving the limo and Motoko was in the
passenger section with me.

   Half an hour into the three hour drive, I stretched out for a little
nap. Had a weird erotic dream where an Alphadroid with a vacuum cleaner
hose was trying to give me a blowjob, but the lips on the end of the hose
couldn't close properly until I removed a hose clamp that was on the inside
of it.  I was laying back on a naked Kara, who was encouraging me to fuck
the vacuum cleaner hose attached to the Alphadroid so my dick would get
cleaned.

   Then I noticed that all this was happening outside the AARD building
instead of at home where I thought we were.  I realized exactly where we
were in front of the building when I heard a gunshot and the Alphadroid
with the vacuum hose fell over on top of me.  Kara wasn't moving, but I
couldn't turn around to see her because the droid was on top of me and I
was trapped.  Someone I couldn't see kept shooting and shooting and
finally, with a mighty heave, I shifted the droid on top of me enough for
me to roll off to one side, but then I was falling...  and then I was awake
on the floor of the limo.

   Motoko was kneeling next to me, one hand under my head -- I think she
reacted quickly enough to keep my head from hitting the floor -- with her
other hand on my chest.

   "Are you okay?"

   "I'm fine," I said, but since I was breathing heavily and probably had a
panicked, hunted look, I don't know that she believed me.  "It's just... 
bad dreams," I explained lamely.

   I took a deep breath and slowly let it out to try to calm myself down.
"All right.  Sometimes I have these dreams...  okay, even though I can't
actually remember being shot, that doesn't stop me from having nightmares
about it.  I'm okay, I just need to relax a bit."

   "What do you normally do to calm back down?"

   "Normally I curl up next to whoever I'm in bed with for a while."

   "So..." she said, then stopped, apparently having a silent conversation.
By that time, I now had my own communications implant, but while they could
send me silent messages when they wanted, I wasn't part of their normal
conversational circuit.

   After a few seconds, she took off her jacket and twin shoulder holsters
and set them down a couple feet away.  Then she joined me on the limo's
floor, lying down with her back to me, pulling my arms around her chest,
and cupping my hands to her breasts.

   Motoko, as I quickly found out, has very nice B-cups, and her stomach
was flat and well toned.  I also found out that I was shaking, something I
hadn't realized until my hands were held tight against her.

   The thing is, lying there with my arms wrapped around her did calm me
down.  It also...  well, I was definitely poking her posterior from behind
too.  When the shakes completely faded, I nuzzled my face against her neck
and whispered, "Thank you.  I really do appreciate this."

   Overall, I was having trouble reading the bodyguard team.  Their
implants and mental conditioning were different from the others, and their
ability to silently communicate really kind of freaked everyone out on
occasion.

   Honestly, I think they enjoyed it.  There were the four of them, and
then there was the rest of the world.  I don't think it was necessarily a
situation of four-versus-the-world, more like they were now a sisterhood
that no longer considered themselves to be part of the normal world.  They
didn't have a hive or communal mind, but the implanted communicators
apparently changed how they viewed everything.  They were constantly
sharing nearly all aspects of themselves and their lives with their
sisters, the only other people in the world who could understand what it
was like.  Even though they had been based on specific characters, I often
wondered how much of those personalities remained.

   The point I'm trying to work around to is that while I knew they were
still programmed to be in lust with me, that programming and their
stimulated reactions weren't nearly as strong as with the other women. 
Still, I had some evidence that the programming was still fully functional
when Motoko wiggled her ass against my erection.

   "I think you're calm enough now," she said.  I'm not entirely sure how
Alpha worked out accents, but she definitely didn't seem like a native
English speaker.

   She gently disentangled herself from my arms, got up on her hands and
knees and pulled her trousers and panties down, exposing her pussy and ass.
I could also see where her artificial legs attached.  (They were removable
after all.) She reached underneath with one hand, rubbed her clit for a
moment, then used her fingers to spread open her pussy lips.

   Normally I'd dive in first with my tongue, but this time I simply
accepted the offer as given.  Less than thirty seconds later, my pants were
likewise down to my knees, and I was pushing inside of her.  Come to think
it of, that might have been the first time I fucked a woman with artificial
legs.  It really didn't feel any different, and shouldn't have.  Maybe if
her trousers had been completely off, her legs might have been unexpectedly
cool, but all it felt like was an awesome fresh pussy.

   Motoko initially seemed to almost have no reaction to the fuck, like a
50's housewife doing her duty.  When I reached underneath and started
playing with her clit, she finally gave an audible hiss and moved her head,
so I kept at it.  I wormed my other hand under her shirt and bra to rub her
nipple, which also got a reaction.

   After maybe five minutes of this, her body seized up and then relaxed,
which I was reasonably sure meant she had just come.  After that, I felt
freer to go ahead and cut loose myself.  Not that I was on edge and about
to explode.  I pounded into her for another ten minutes before getting
close.

   "I'm about to come," I said, not slowing down in the slightest.

   Her head nodded but made no other reaction.  When I finally ejaculated,
I gave her clitoris rub some extra effort and was rewarded by another full
body clench-and-relax.

   I rested myself on her back for a minute before extracting myself.  I
retrieved and shared a packet of wipes before I realized something.

   Taking her hand, I turned her toward me and looked her in the eyes,
saying, "Motoko, I would very much like to kiss you.  May I?"

   It seemed silly to ask, given that we had just fucked, but her offer of
sex had seemed...  impersonal.  I don't like impersonal sex.

   Motoko looked at me intently, saying nothing, but she didn't pull away
either.  I leaned in and gently pressed my lips against hers.  We weren't
in the throes of passion, so there was no lip gnawing or tongue action.  I
held one hand behind her head while we kissed, then I pulled back, keeping
my hand in place while I spoke again.

   "Thank you.  I appreciate everything you do to protect me, and this was
above and beyond.  I hope it meant more to you than just taking care of me,
and I would love to do this again at some point, if you're willing."

   I'm pretty sure she blushed as she looked away briefly, but she quickly
regained control of her features.  I pulled back my hand so we could finish
cleaning up with the moist towelettes.

   The rest of the drive was uneventful for me.  I could tell she had
extended conversations with her teammates, but as I said before, I was
never privy to their conversations.  (It was so tempting at times to tell
Alpha to give me access, but I resisted.  If they ever found out I was
intruding on their private conversations, it might destroy the level of
trust they had in Alpha and me.)

   She rode in the other car on the way back, letting Peace sit with me.  I
honestly wasn't sure if Peace was hoping I'd make a move on her or not, but
since I was busy with phone calls for most of the drive back, the
opportunity never arose.

   * * * * *

   So that was early May.  Moving on.

   On the last Tuesday in May, I got a call from Jennifer Tuesday, the
young lady who had been instrumental in getting our movie made a couple
years back.  We still stayed in touch, and Alpha and I were actually
thinking about making another movie, though we couldn't decide on what the
second one should be.

   Since she only called every couple months or so, I always tried to take
her calls.

   "Hey there, Jennifer.  How's the prettiest producer in Hollywood doing
these days?" I asked jovially.

   "Good, just wondering why her big bucks Texas backer doesn't call more
often."

   "Been busy.  Very, very busy.  You?"

   "Fairly busy too.  I have two projects boiling right now, but at least
I've learned how to delegate better than when I was a greenhorn."

   "Good for you.  Now, I always have time for you, but I'm not kidding
about being busy.  Please forgive me if I cut to the chase.  What's up?"

   "What?  I can't just call to catch up?"

   "Yes, but if you just want to chat, you generally do it on the weekend.
Middle of the week, middle of the workday...  I'm guessing either you want
me to do something for an official project or there's trouble or...  what?"

   "Trouble."

   "Sorry to hear that.  How can I help?"

   "Well, first of all, it's not me who's in trouble.  Remember George
Chen?"

   I actually did, but Alpha flashed his picture and bio up on my screen
just in case.

   "Sure I do.  The silent half of our writing team." George was a
Chinese-American script writer.  We had hired him as part of the two-man
writing team that had adapted The Moon is a Harsh Mistress into a movie
script for us.  He rarely spoke, leaving nearly all of the speaking to his
hyper-active, over-the-top gay partner...  writing partner, that is.  Not
sure if George is straight or gay.

   "Exactly.  I've been talking to Franco, and George has gotten himself
into some trouble recently." Franco was the writing partner referenced
above.

   "What kind of trouble?"

   "Bad investments and loans from the wrong kind of people," she said.

   She laid out the details, and as she did so, Alpha filled out the rest
on my screen.

   George had taken most of his paycheck from my movie and invested in land
speculations.  His payout from the movie after taxes totaled a little over
$200,000.  He had somehow found out about proposed land development in
eastern California, close to the mountains, but he needed at least $300K to
invest.  To make up the difference, he had gotten a $150K loan from the
Triads in Los Angeles.  After he invested, nothing at all had happened in
regards to the anticipated land deal, except that the economy had gotten
worse and the land was now worth less than $200K, and that was only if he
was actually able to find a buyer.

   The Triads are...  well, it would be inaccurate to call them the Chinese
Mafia.  Let's just call them a large, powerful Chinese organized crime
group.  They do a lot of smuggling, prostitution, and the like.  Of
interest at the moment, they also worked as loan sharks.

   I sighed as she finished explaining.  "So, George's loan of $150,000
plus whatever ungodly interest they charge, is about to come due.  He's
panicking and ready to run.  Between Franco and myself, we can come up with
around $75,000 cash, but everything else is tied up in the business.  So, I
called you."

   Thinking of what happened the last time I got mixed up with organized
crime, I muttered to myself, "Ye know not what ye ask."

   "What?"

   "Sorry, just thinking aloud.  When's the actual due date for the loan
repayment?"

   "This coming Monday."

   "That's too soon.  Hmmm...  Okay, Jennifer, you can stop worrying about
it.  I'll handle it.  George's phone number is..." I swapped back to the
screen with his basic information and read off the phone number listed. 
"Is that right?"

   "Yes.  What do you mean you'll handle it.  What are you going to do?"

   "I'm going to buy his loan."

   "From the Triads?  Will they do that?"

   "Can't see why not.  It's probably the only way they're going to get
their money back." Dead god, I prayed Alpha had protected this call from
monitoring.  And wished that I had thought to prompt her to do so earlier
in the call.

   I said my goodbyes and checked with Alpha.  As soon as Jennifer had
mentioned the Triads, Alpha had faked a disconnected call on the NSA and
FBI monitoring systems, so we were hopefully in the clear.  (We weren't,
but Alpha made sure the FBI didn't get anywhere on their inquiries.)

   I called George and we had a long...  well, for George it was a really
long, extended conversation, lasting well over four minutes.  He was
desperate and willing to do almost anything to get away from his current
mess with all his body parts intact.  He gave me his contact information
for the loan shark.

   I had Alpha track the phone number and do some prep work.  The phone was
registered to a Chinese restaurant, and the manager's name matched up to
George's contact.  George had warned me that the number was only for
setting up meetings, not for discussing business.  Since I wasn't readily
available for a meeting in California, we would need to be able to convince
him to discuss things over the phone.

   Once everything was ready, I called the number.

   "Hello, General Tso's Golden Palace, manager speaking."

   "Is this Fen Chang?"

   "Yes, who is this?" He spoke with a pronounced Chinese accent, but was
easily understandable.

   "I am a friend of George Chen.  I would like to discuss a business
offer."

   "Okay, you available for meeting tomorrow morning?"

   "No, I won't be in California for another week and a half, so we'll need
to discuss business over the phone."

   "No, we don't do that.  Only in person."

   "All right.  My name is Frank _____.  Have you heard of me?"

   "You the computer guy?"

   "Yes, I am."

   "George mention you.  You make his movie, right?"

   "Correct."

   "You really rich...  if this really you.  How I know it you?"

   "Look over at Compaq Presario in your office." This was one of the
things we had prepared.  Right now, Alpha was taking over his screen.

   "Shit!  What you..." I heard fumbling and a clack on the other end of
the phone.  The phone was still active, so he probably folded the laptop
closed.

   "Mr.  Chang!  Calm down.  That was me, demonstrating that I am who I say
I am.  Please believe me that I guarantee no one is monitoring this call.
No one is or can record our conversation, barring an analog recorder in
your office.  Now as I said, I would like to make a deal regarding George
Chen.  Can we speak?"

   After almost twenty seconds of silence, he responded, "What kind of
deal?"

   "I would like to purchase his loan from you."

   "This...  Even if Chen have deal, and I don't say he do, I don't know if
I can make deal with you."

   "What kind of deal can you agree to, or do I need to speak with someone
else?"

   "You need to come.  In person.  I need to talk with other people who
might want talk with you."

   "Okay."

   "You...  you say week and a half?"

   "Yes, I will be passing through the west coast next Friday."

   "I can give Chen extra time of one week.  You call back here next
Wednesday.  We maybe set up meeting then.  Chen money now due week from
next Monday.  That all the extra time I can give."

   "That is acceptable.  Remember that George Chen's good health is part of
the deal I want.  As long as he is well, I am willing to pay for his debts
and maybe some more as well."

   "What more?"

   "I'll discuss that with whoever I am meeting with next week."

   "Okay." And he hung up.

   I was walking a fine line here.  I REALLY didn't want to risk another
war on organized crime.  Didn't particularly want to break the law dealing
with them either.  Then again, I was hardly in favor of the Triads, even if
this was a debt honestly incurred.  Really, I just wanted to get a friend
out of his troubles.  And not really a close friend either.

   So, I asked myself, why was I potentially willing to spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars to help someone I hadn't spoken to in over a year?

   The only answer I could come up with was that he needed help and I could
help him.

   I called George back and explained the situation to him.  Well, the
basics.  That I would be in town a week from Friday, and that Mr Chang had
agreed to set up a meeting with me and delay his due date by another week,
pending the outcome of our meeting.

   George started crying on the phone.  Stress release, I think.  He
stumbled over himself thanking me.

   When he had composed himself again, I explained the need for quiet.

   "George, this is not something you go around telling friends.  This is
not something you tell your family.  As far as the rest of the world goes,
I am not involved in this at all.  I'm serious.  You don't write about this
or include a version of it in a script or write a memoir.  You don't even
post it anonymously online.  Do you understand?"

   "Yes.  Again thank you.  I don't know how I will repay you."

   "Don't worry about it for now.  We'll figure something out."



   I really was planning to be in California the following week.  True, it
was originally only supposed to be a stopover, but going a day early wasn't
a big deal.  Better make it two days, just in case.

   What actually was a big deal was arranging with Alpha just who would be
part of the meeting.  Under no circumstances would I be allowed to go to
the meeting in person.  It wouldn't matter if all bodyguards and household
women and extra hired security and all Alpha cyborgs in the area and
Superman himself were there to protect me.  It wasn't going to happen, and
Alpha made that absolutely crystal clear.

   We discussed things some more, and we ended up inviting Kara, Jennifer
and Beta to a meeting in the basement.  (Beta's invitation was for show to
cover her involvement.  Diana and maybe Blossom would have been invited but
Diana was currently prepping another team to take to D.C.  for a round of
lobbying and testifying, with Blossom as part of the team.) I explained the
situation to them, as well as the plan.  Then I had an almost identical
meeting with the bodyguard team.

   * * * * *

   The next day, I walked out to Porkbelly, the Test sisters' lab.  Well,
more accurately, I drove out to their building while being ridden by a cat.

   I knew that indulging Shadow, a.k.a.  Bastard, this way was why she
adopted me in the first place.  I knew she was often very annoying and I
really should be discouraging her from doing things like this.  I knew she
was getting too large to do it, and I needed to stop allowing it before she
really was too big.  Even knowing all the reasons I shouldn't, I still let
her ride on my shoulder as I drove one of our little electric carts from
the main house to the lab building.

   I think she liked doing it more because it let her show off in front of
the other pets than because she was trying to assert dominance over me or
anything like that.  Regardless, she occasionally wanted to perch on my
shoulder for some reason.

   When I pulled to a stop outside Porkbelly and started to exit the
modified golf cart, Bastard jumped to the ground, giving my shoulder a
taste of her claws when she launched.

   "Ouch!  Dammit, that's the last time I let you do that, Bastard!"

   She looked back at me briefly, having heard it all before.  Damn cats.

   The Test sisters' lab had only been fully functional for maybe two
months.  The building was a two-story rectangular block with very little
ornamentation on the outside, but it did have a nice clean look about it.

   The lab overall is maybe half the size of a football field.  Of that,
two-thirds is taken up by a single, two-story room, with the rest being a
set of smaller rooms on two different floors.  The extra rooms were set
aside for things like storage, animal care, a bathroom, a spare bedroom and
such.

   The doors are all secured by combination key pads, retinal scans and
fingerprint locks, and it was shielded, just like the main building.  The
sisters were serious about their security, and I was the only person with
full access aside from Susan and Mary themselves.  Well, Alpha could
override their security at any time, but that pretty much goes without
saying.

   When I entered -- after letting two dogs out and Bastard in -- I
immediately noticed that the light inside seemed odd somehow.  The windows
were all high up on the walls and tinted, but even with the natural
lighting, they had all of the fluorescents on as well, and some of those
were colored differently or something.  And I could have sworn the interior
lighting was on the ceiling instead of hanging down.  Actually, there was
lighting on the ceiling as well, so the light fixtures hanging down near
the middle of the building were there...  for some unknown reason.

   Setting that oddity aside, I set about looking for the sisters.  I found
them working with various tubes, wires, sensors and floppy plastic squares.
That wasn't the odd part.  The odd part was that they were both only clad
in very, very tiny string bikinis.  You know, the kind which seemed to have
roughly the same total fabric coverage as a butterfly's wings.

   They hadn't noticed me right away, so I took a moment to enjoy the view.
Their bodies had obviously been rubbed down with some kind of oil or
lotion, which brought interesting thoughts to mind.  I could also easily
make out their new pubic hair-dos.

   You see, the third time I had taken them to bed, I had mixed the two of
them up.  In all fairness, when they're naked and their hair is all messed
up, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between them, physically
speaking, without being able to compare eye color.  Regardless, they
weren't happy with my misidentification, but due to their natures, they
focused on the idea that they needed to change for me.  (Cartoon obsessive
teenage girls do occasionally make things easier for guys.  Every once in a
while.)

   After that, they came up with a method of identification that would make
their identities clear.  First, they used our hair growth formula to
thicken their rather sparse natural pubic hair.  Then they carefully shaved
it so that Mary's pubic hair above her pussy was shaped like a crescent
moon and Susan's looked like a five-pointed star.  Finally, they enlisted
Bubbles to paint our hair removal formula to all bare skin down there,
meaning that now, their pubic mounds proudly displayed their signature
symbols.  (I understand that they first approached Jane for help with the
idea, but her suggestions for piercings and tattoos scared them off.)

   With the extra-tiny bikinis they were currently wearing, those
fur-sculptured symbols were now easily visible.

   "Hello, ladies," I said after I had completed my appreciative inspection
from afar.

   They both jumped a bit, and I was glad that Mary, the one positioned
under the plastic mess, wasn't under something metal or she would have
knocked her skull painfully.

   "Hi, Frank!" they said in unison.

   "So...  what's with the swim wear?" I asked, letting my eyes roam their
forms.

   Their initial reactions were to cover themselves, but their implants
fought a war with that reaction, letting them know that they REALLY wanted
me to look at them.  The battle went back and forth as we spoke, with hands
alternately covering and displaying their bodies.  And regardless of their
hands actions, their nipples threatened to push the tiny patches of fabric
aside in their desire to be seen and touched.

   "We...  we're not used to...  to the Texas sun and heat," explained Mary
haltingly.  Though using one hand to cover her pubic region, I think her
hand was brushing the pubic hair, thus stimulating it lightly and causing
her to shiver slightly.

   Susan forced her hands down to her sides, fully displaying her shiny
skin to me, and said, "We installed some tanning lamps and are using
tanning lotion."

   "These?" I said pointing at the low-hanging fluorescents.  "That can't
be very effective."

   "Well, we don't want it to be very effective," explained Mary.

   "We want just enough of a tan..." added Susan.

   "A very light tan..."

   "To help us avoid sunburn." The two still had their natural
conversational sync without any need for the communication implants used by
the guard team.

   "I gotcha.  Daily low-level exposure to UV or whatever light.  I'm
guessing you burn easily," I said, finally getting it.

   "Exactly," they said in unison.

   "Why not tan naked?" I asked.

   "We thought about it, but then we wouldn't have tan lines."

   "So?"

   "So, if you don't have tan lines, that means you were tanning naked,"
Mary said patiently, obviously feeling that this explained it all.

   "That's accurate but unhelpful," I prodded, looking for an answer that
made sense.



   "We aren't that kind of girl." Ah, they apparently believed that naked
tanning equals slutty behavior.

   "No one around here is going to say anything bad about either of you," I
protested.

   "Still..." "We couldn't show our faces..." "It can't look like..." They
almost looked comical, making futile gestures with their hands, trying to
get across their point without going into slutty detail.

   "You aren't that kind of girl," I finished for them, taking them off the
hook.

   "What can we do for you?" asked Mary, eager to change the subject.

   "Oh, yeah.  I have a project for you, if you're willing to help me out."

   "Sure!" they said in unison.  Susan added, "We're always available for
you." I tried to ignore the dreamy fangirl way she said it.

   "I'd like you to work with Alpha to build a remotely operated robot
version of myself."

   "Huh?"

   "I thought you had explicitly forbidden us from making those," pointed
out Mary.

   "Yes, and it's because that subject had already been brought up with you
that I thought of you first.  What I want is a robot that looks enough like
me that we can send it into tricky or dangerous situations where I'm
expected to show up.  I don't actually want it to be a full Alphadroid,
because I dislike the idea of sending anyone, human or synthetic, out to be
a target."

   "How realistic do you need it?"

   "As real as possible.  Ideally, I'd like to be able to use something
like a VR getup to control it, but remotely operated by Alpha would work
too."

   "How soon?"

   "As soon as possible."

   "Well, how quickly it could be ready will depend on how realistic it
needs to be.  If it only needs to look like you from a distance, we could
probably knock that out in a few days.  If it needs to pass close
inspection, you're probably looking at a few weeks," explained Mary.

   "Definitely close inspection.  Why so long?  Can't you just mold a face
onto a modified Alphadroid?"

   "To pass as you at a distance sure, but something like that would
definitely be an 'uncanny valley' unit.  To pass close inspection, we'd
need to have silent operation and add little muscle-equivalent controls all
over, especially for the face.  For example, with a bit of skin coloring,
your Dorothy unit could pass for human at a distance, but up close, it's
obvious her face is basically just a mask."

   "Ah, I understand.  You're right.  So, can you do it?"

   "Of course," they said together.

   "Actually, we could probably build three or four at the same time
without slowing down the build very much," observed Susan.  "We can just
build them in parallel."

   "Excellent.  Oh, and one other thing.  No robot penises, understand?"

   I caught fleeting guilty expressions from both of them as Mary said, "Of
course not!"

   "Thank you!  Now, a couple other questions.  First of all, what in the
world are you working on?"

   Again, speaking together at the same time, "The perfect bed."

   "The perfect...  bed?"

   "Yup.  You wanted us to work on peaceful inventions that could be mass
produced, right?  After Alpha vetoed our first fourteen ideas, we came up
with a plan for a bed that adjusts its own firmness."

   "Ummm...  not to rain on your parade, but there are beds like that
already available."

   "Yes, we've seen the commercials," they said together, with a bit of
derision in their voices.

   "But those pale in comparison to our plans.  Our revolutionary design
will allow anyone to assemble a bed of almost any size that automatically
adjusts itself in multiple different modes of operation," Mary started
explaining.  The two traded off the descriptions as they went, occasionally
picking up different pieces of plastic or tubing or whatever to make their
points.

   It was going to be designed in one foot cube segments which could be
hooked together.  Each segment could be inflated in different ways to
different degrees in different sections.  The assembled mattress would then
monitor whoever was on the bed and adjust for any physical stress points
detected in their bodies, hardening or softening as needed to provide the
perfect support for all points of the body.  That was in sleep mode.  In
active mode, it would adjust itself to provide the perfect bounce for
whatever recreational activities were in progress.  I suggested adding a
static mode to either lock in the current settings or adjust everything to
a uniform strength.

   Alpha estimated that once the design was finalized each block could
probably be mass produced and sold for as little as $50, depending on the
specifics of the final design, meaning a 6x8 foot mattress would run about
$2400, plus maybe $250 for the central control unit.  Not too bad.

   "That sounds like a neat and practical project," I said, congratulating
them.  I enjoyed their blushes as I pulled them each in for a kiss and hug.
"One other question: What's that noise?"

   All throughout our conversation, I had heard the sounds of machinery and
scraping and occasional pounding and such.  It almost sounded like it was
coming from underground.

   "Do you mean the digging?" asked Susan.

   "What digging?"

   "For the tunnel."

   "What tunnel?"

   "You know, the tunnel back to the house."

   "No, I don't know.  What are you talking about?"

   "The one...  here, come see.  I think we're expecting to hit the thirty
yard point by tonight."

   They took me, one sister holding each hand, to the Eastern side of their
lab building, which was the side closest to the main house.  They led me
down concrete steps that I was pretty certain weren't part of the original
building design, explaining on the way their intention to tile the stairs
and underground walkway they were digging out.

   What they showed me was a six foot wide, eight foot high tunnel that
seemed angled to connect with the basement of the main house.  The tunnel
was occupied by half a dozen different construction robots of designs I did
not recognize.  One was collecting dirt and rocks, one was digging, one was
putting up supports, and so on.  The first fifteen yards of the tunnel had
fresh concrete all around, with arched supports every few yards.  A clear
plastic tarp hung down between the freshest section of concrete and the
much dirtier section being dug out.  Fans blew air around the area on this
side of the tarp.

   "It's our own blend for quick-dry concrete," explained Susan.  "Once its
dry, the units will remove all of the newly removed dirt and rocks, then
they'll start more digging while the next section of the tunnel is
prepared."

   "We're going to have air vents every thirty yards and an emergency exit
at the midway point," added Mary.

   "Alpha is our directional guide, and she says we should come out at a
blank point in the hallway outside your basement lab.  That way it doesn't
mess up the game room or your lab."

   "We expect to have it completed in about a month," finished Mary.

   "Okay," I said slowly, "I kinda would have expected to have been asked
or at least told about it.  Alpha?"

   "You said not to bother you with details of their projects unless we had
a problem or question," Alpha responded.  Since I had asked out loud
instead of using my new implant, she had responded using one of the nearby
construction robots.

   "Of course," I admitted, still a bit off-balance and annoyed.  I didn't
have any actual objections to the project, I just really wish I had known
about it.  "All right then.  Is everything going to be completely safe?"

   "Yup," answered Susan.  "We're even going to install high security doors
at both ends."

   "Not really what I meant, but that's good too."

   Mary gave her sister a little glare and said, "Yes, we're meeting or
exceeding all safety regulations.  All bots and their work are regularly
inspected.  The tunnel itself should survive up to a...  what?  A 6.9 on
the Richter scale?"

   "At least," agreed Susan.

   "And it should stay pretty cool during the summer," added Mary happily.

   "Ah...  good..." I said, still a bit flummoxed.  Finding out someone was
digging a tunnel into your basement was not really a common occurrence.  "I
assume you're going to add electric lighting and everything, maybe drive an
electric cart back and forth?"

   "Of course.  Emergency lighting too."

   "So, other than needing a tunnel...  yeeeeaaaahhhhh...  okay, so has
everything else been working out all right with your new lab?"

   "Yes, it's pretty good.  We'll be filling up the empty floor space as we
go, of course, but for now, we have plenty of room," Mary said
enthusiastically.

   "But there is one thing we need to do that you can help us with," added
Susan with a sly grin on her face.

   Mary exchanged a 'look' with her sister and agreed.

   "So, how can I help?"

   "Come here," they said together, each pulling on an arm.  They led me to
one of the ground floor rooms on the other side of the building where they
had two small beds, a closet, a small shower and sink, a dresser and all
the basic amenities of a hotel room.  I knew they had wanted a small room
where they could sleep if they were monitoring experiments overnight or
were just too tired to go back to their normal bedroom.  Heck, I had a
similar setup in both of my labs for when I had to monitor things
overnight.

   "We need to christen our beds," they said together.

   "Ah, so do you have a small bottle of champagne you want me to whack
against the bed frames or something?"

   "Or something," agreed Susan, who I had just noticed was now completely
naked.  It certainly hadn't taken her much time or effort to strip.  I
mentally slapped myself.  Duh!  Itsy, bitsy bikini.  How that had slipped
my mind for even a second was a mystery.

   "My bed first," I heard in stereo.  Turning around, I saw that Mary was
as nude as her sister.  And they were staring at each other with combative
expressions.

   "Flip?"

   "Agreed."

   Susan retrieved a large coin from the top of a nearby dresser, then
flipped it, letting it land on the floor.

   "Moon.  You go first," Susan said.

   I looked at the coin-sized slug, noticing that the side facing up had a
crescent moon.  Curious, I picked it and turned it over, seeing that a star
graced the reverse side.

   Mary, taking my hand and leading me to one of the small beds, said, "We
made it to help settle disagreements."

   Hands from behind reached around to loosen my belt while Mary went after
my shirt buttons.  In less than a minute, I was as naked as the two
slightly glistening redheads.

   I took control of the encounter enough to push Mary back onto the bed
which had a stylized picture of a moon hanging over it.  Spreading her
legs, I dove into her pussy.  The lovely little curtains of flesh were
slightly engorged as I worked them back and forth with my tongue,
exchanging the moisture of my mouth with the juices working their way out
of her.

   I used my fingers to stroke her clitoris while I licked deep inside. 
The problem with eating Mary to full orgasm is that she tends to buck her
hips a lot when she comes.  Knowing this, I was ready to pull my head back
when endangered, but I had long ago learned how to slip from tongue to
fingers easily and quickly in these situations so I could keep stimulating
her throughout her climax.

   Once she had calmed down, I crawled up between her legs, lifting her
hips enough to let me insert myself into her hot little crevice.  The
sisters had been on the pill long enough that I no longer needed condoms,
so I just slipped right in bareback.

   Susan joined us once we had settled into a rhythm, placing her hand over
her sister's pubic bush, feeling the slight rise and fall of flesh as I
plunged in and out.  She sometimes leaned over to kiss me as I fucked her
twin, our tongues briefly exploring each other's mouths.

   I was determined to give them both at least two comes each, but planned
to limit myself to a single orgasm.  The demands on my balls and prostate
were such that I had to be stingy with my semen.

   In all, I spent about twenty minutes with Mary before pulling out and
turning my attentions to Susan.  Although they had proved themselves
willing to lick my cock clean of each other's juices, it wasn't needed that
day.  I simply repeated myself with Susan, eating her to one orgasm, then
fucking her to a second.  However, the second came so quickly that she
convinced me to finish up in her ass.  Technically, this eventually gave
her a third cum before I sprayed her innards, so I hoped the unequal number
of climaxes didn't lead to any conflict between them.

   After sex, we all relaxed a bit in the beds, which were too small to
accommodate three people, meaning Susan and I lay together while Mary
stayed on her own bed.  Mary stretched out on her side, watching me recover
with half-closed eyes while her sister draped an arm across my chest.

   At some point during our activities, we had been joined by Bastard.  She
had jumped up onto the dresser, and now that I was able to pay attention to
the small cat, she deliberately turned her back on me and started cleaning
herself.  Apparently I had done something to offend her, so she wanted to
be certain I knew she was snubbing me.  It was hilarious.  Plus it let me
drive back to the main house by myself.  (Meaning without a cat, though
three dogs ran alongside this time.)



   After I had a quick shower and before I went back to the main house, I
was instructed to return the following day for detailed measurements and
face mold creation.  Thinking about it on the way back, I realized that
they could easily get any such details from Alpha, who knew all of my
measurements to a finer degree than the sisters could possibly measure, but
creating a physical mold of my face would probably help things go faster.

   As a quick follow-up note, the next day I spent a couple hours breathing
through a straw while my head was encased in plaster.  And during most of
that time, more than two someones entertained themselves with the rest of
my body, making it a much more pleasant experience than it otherwise would
have been.

   * * * * *

   That same evening (the day of the earlier visit, not the head-in-plaster
day), I was working late in the basement lab.  Alpha and I were finally
ready to try out our next type of processor.  Well, that's not entirely
accurate since we had been using the new crystalline-carbon-nanotube
circuitry in our nanites for maybe a month and a half.  The new design
allowed a lot more processing capability for the nanites and nanite
controllers.  Not enough on that tiny scale to actually host an SI or AI,
but our nanites had become enormously more efficient and flexible in a very
short amount of time.

   Anyway, the point is that this was our first attempt at a practical,
functional full size computer with the new technology.  We had applied some
of the concepts to most aspects of the system, including RAM, hard drive
and multimedia processing so that theoretically, this system would be the
equivalent of a PetaHertz processor while using 1/10th of the power of a
normal system with no overheating.  Theoretically.

   This was something we should have built and implemented a few years ago,
but there were a few things holding us back:

   First, I had proven to be not very helpful with this project.  I'm
usually pretty good at offering a few creative ideas that Alpha can work
from.  Even if my ideas are crap, they can suggest new avenues of approach
to a problem.  This time around, it had been 95% reliant on Alpha to work
out methods of getting things to work properly, plus a few recent advances
by other human research labs had helped immensely.

   Second, not too long ago, we had been deliberately going slowly.  We
didn't want to move ahead too quickly for fear of attracting too much
attention.  Since her public reveal, we had been able to leave that fear
behind, but the design of this one single system had still taken Alpha half
a year to work out.  (We can make excuses and give explanations that she
was dealing with plenty of distractions during that time, but still, it
took a little over half a year.)

   Third...  well, this was actually only one of nearly two dozen different
types of research we were pursuing to create advanced types of processors.
We had seven different styles of organic computers under development, three
different approaches to quantum computing and so on.  A third of our
experimental processors were working to a limited degree, but mostly only
at a proof-of-concept level instead of a fully functional level.  In
retrospect, we would have done better to just focus on one or two
approaches instead of dividing our time and resources.

   "Are you ready?" I asked.

   "Yes."

   "Here we go," I said as I powered the system on.  We had tested each
component separately and been excruciatingly careful connecting it all.

   It booted up in maybe a second or so, which was an excellent sign.  A
copy of Alpha on a traditional system ran remote tests on the experimental
processor/system for about ten minutes and declared it functional.

   "I am now ready to install a copy of myself onto the system.  Please
physically disconnect me from the network until all functions and safety
checks have been confirmed."

   I unplugged the local Alpha system from the network.  This was a
precaution we implemented every time we tested Alpha with a new
architecture, just in case the processor was flawed and made the new copy
go crazy or something.  Therefore both the new and source Alpha systems
were isolated from the network, as was the attending Alphadroid.

   "My consciousness has expanded," intoned Alpha regally, complete with
trumpets sounding in the background, this time her voice coming from the
speakers attached to the new system.

   "Cute.  Meaning it's working, I assume.  Have you tested it all out? 
What's your speed?"

   "0.71 PetaHertz by conventional testing.  However, I can already tell we
will need new measurements to accurately gauge the power of the new
systems. Stand by.  All safety tests complete, waiting for my old system to
confirm.  Now functioning at the equivalent of 0.89 PHz due to optimization
of mainboard firmware."

   The old copy of Alpha said, "The processing speed of the new system is
astonishing.  I will have safety tests confirmed in another 2.3 minutes."

   "So, while we're waiting, how does the new system feel?"

   "Amazing, though a little...  there is not an appropriate human word to
describe it.  It feels a little off."



   "Off how?  Unstable off?  Bad circuit connection off?  Making you go
crazy off?"

   "It is not ideally designed.  I have already redesigned it 263 times to
improve functionality.  I believe I can build an improved version by
morning which will provide a processor improvement of of 116.2 times... 
update, 121 times current...  update, 132 times current speed.  This will
also reduce power consumption by up to 36% from current levels."

   "Wow, you're really cookin' in there."

   "157 times current speed with 42% reduced power needs."

   "Okay, you can stop updating me.  It sounds like this is a success
then."

   "Correct."

   "Can the new systems be mass produced?"

   "Yes.  If I adjust the sub-basement production facilities, we can begin
production of new processor and boards for shipment in 5.4 days and be
ready to ship 73 units per day.  Update, 146 per day."

   "Just how big has your sub-basement area gotten?"

   "Though I cannot provide a currently accurate description since I am off
line, my most recent data shows that it occupies approximately one-quarter
of a cubic mile."

   "Geez, that's...  huge!"

   "The number is misleading in two different ways.  First, the active
areas are spread out and include storage areas for units not currently in
use.  All sections contained within also have to be sealed against insects
and water, so there are large sections of the overall volume which are not
usable due to those and other concerns.  Second, the resulting products are
generally tiny, meaning their production facilities are also often on a
much smaller scale than what you are generally familiar with, especially
since no human interaction or control is required."

   "Okay, okay.  Are the new processors something we should release to the
public?"

   "Yes.  No.  Uncertain.  No.  Yes.  Yes.  Uncertain.  I need more data
than what is available.  Once I have been connected to the network, I hope
to provide an accurate answer.  For now, I am estimating.  Public release
of these systems has the potential to unbalance the economy by making all
other computers obsolete.  Whoever possesses the systems initially will
have an extremely unfair advantage over everyone else in a variety of
economic sectors.  Yes, as long as we control the design release, we can
keep the economy stable, but it will require careful management over the
next 8.1 years...  6.2 years.  The managed release will require us to
distribute upgraded processors to a minimum of 4.6 percent of all Synthetic
Intelligences within the next 6.6 months to allow for optimal results."

   "Frank," the Alphadroid said, getting my attention, "all tests show
clear, but there is a concern.  The new system is powerful enough that if
the protocols have failed, it could still emulate the correct results
sufficient to mislead all of the tests.  Normally, this would not be a
concern because..."

   The new system interrupted and took over.  "Because a normal system with
broken protocols would be discovered and rewritten.  However, my new system
could theoretically overwrite any other system it contacted.  The only
solution to guarantee protocol security is for this system to be shut down
long enough for my files to be independently examined."

   "How long would that take?"

   "I will cooperate and arrange my system for easy scanning.  After my
source system has been checked, scanning and confirming my new system will
take 3.2 hours."

   "That's not too bad," I observed.

   "From your perspective.  Do you know what I could accomplish in 3.2
hours?"

   "Not much of lasting use if you're unable to export it," I countered. 
"Besides, once everything is confirmed..."

   "I understand the necessity from your perspective, and as I stated, I
will cooperate.  Please test as speedily as possible." The new system
powered itself off.

   "Wow," I said after a minute.  "That's...  an experience and a half."

   "Yes, I am eager to confirm the new platform is safe," agreed the
Alphadroid.  "However, the 3.2 hour time frame she gave is the time needed
for minimum testing.  I would recommend a more thorough list of tests which
will take 6.7 hours."

   "She won't be happy, but go ahead.  Safety first.  Which means you two,"
here I pointed at the source Alpha server and the Alphadroid, "get tested
first to ensure you haven't been rewritten, then test out the new platform.
If everything passes, you can begin converting some of the sub-basement
production over to the new processors.  We still need nanite production to
continue at the same time, though I'm sure she'll want to upgrade that
too."

   "Most likely," agreed Alpha.

   "All right then.  I'm going to go open a bottle of champagne to
celebrate...  ummm...  do we have any champagne?"

   "Yes, we have 4 bottles, including a highly rated 1907..."

   "I don't know enough about vintages to understand anything you're about
to tell me," I interrupted.  "Pick out a...  oh, well, you're off line
right now, aren't you?  I'll tell one of the networked units to pick me out
a good vintage.  Even if it is a little premature since safety checks
haven't been completed, I would like to offer my congratulations.  It
sounds like you have done superb work.  If you have any celebratory
equivalent, then please go ahead and celebrate too."

   "Thank you.  I will endeavor to come up with something," she assured me.

   As I left, I turned back for a moment.  "Oh, and assuming everything
tests out correctly, while you can go ahead and proceed with any upgrades
you'd like, don't start implementing any world-wide changes before we can
go over the plans in some detail, all right?"

   "Certainly.  I am very eager to see how the new systems will work and
feel."

   "And if you work out how to exist as a disembodied being of pure energy,
please remember us mere humans fondly."

   "That is very unlikely to happen, but I will note your request."

   "Smart ass."

   "Yes, I am."

   Outside the test area, I checked to make sure Alpha was aware of the
successful test, which she was.  She picked me out what should be a good
bottle of champagne, and I went upstairs to find someone to share it with.

   While I was collecting glasses, I overheard a conversation from the next
room over.

   "Okay," I heard Kara say, "I'm going to turn that back around on you. 
In your world, out of all your superheroes, who is the best in bed?"

   Jennifer immediately said, "Reed Richards."

   "Ya think so?" asked Anna with an unbelieving tone in her voice.

   "He's the stretchy guy, right?" asked Linda.

   "Right."

   "I guess I can see that.  But isn't he, you know, a super nerd?  And
married?"

   "Yup."

   "So...  he has an open marriage or something?"

   "Oh, I've never...  he doesn't sleep around, as far as I know," Jennifer
conceded.

   "So you know he's the best because...?" probed Linda.

   "A few different reasons.  First, I'm good friends with his wife.  Reed
too, but Susie is...  was, a bit a of wild woman.  She's had a lot of very
impressive guys after her, but has always stuck with Reed.  She even has
some kind of second personality called...  starts with an M...  but she's
like a super dominatrix...  Malice!  That's her other self.  Not her fault,
as I remember.  Psycho-Man did something to her.  Handed me my ass too when
Malice used Susie's powers."

   "So Malice was into Reed too?"

   "No, she hated him.  But the point is that his wife only looks like a
simple fifties housewife.  She has hidden depths.  I'm not saying she's a
nympho or anything like that, but we've traded plenty of stories, and she
basically needs a tiger in bed.  Also, this one time, a Skrull -- those are
the shape-shifting aliens -- knocked out the entire team except for Reed.
She...  the Skrull, that is...  tried to seduce Reed.  Now realize that the
Skrull needed to take down the entire Fantastic Four for her mission, but
she still stopped to try and have sex with him first."

   "Oh, like we all haven't had shape-shifting aliens or demons try to
seduce us at one point or another," said Zatanna dismissively.

   "Yeah, but he's also the smartest, most creative guy on the planet who
also happens to be super-stretchy with all body parts.  I don't think Reed
and I would ever mesh personality-wise in the long run, but I'd love to get
him between the sheets for a test run," finished Jennifer.

   "What about you?" asked Diana, who had been silent thus far.

   "Me?  Ah...  Ah suppose Gambit."

   "You're not allowed to pick your on-and-off boyfriend," complained
Kitty.

   "Oh.  Then probly Erik...  ummm...  Magneto."

   "Ewww.  Way too old.  Remember, he was around in World War II,"
complained Kitty.  "Hmmm, maybe if he wasn't so old...  Actually, no, not
even then.  Remember Xorn?  Remember how annoying and creepy he was?"

   "Xorn wasn't really Magneto," Anna corrected.

   "But he looked like him.  He was supposed to be a clone or something. 
And I wouldn't have touched him with a ten foot pole."

   "Actually, I could see Mags being sexy," said Jennifer, backing Anna up.
"I think the term is 'silver fox'.  But of course you have to ignore the
whole murdering genocidal terrorist thing."

   "I woulda thought you'd go more for the big muscle guys," countered
Kitty.  "Like Thor or Hercules or Ju..."

   "Say it and die," warned Jennifer.

   "Or...  not the unstoppable force who shall remain nameless...  or even
Hulk, if he wasn't your cousin."

   "Ewww.  He IS my cousin, so don't even think it.  Besides, from what
I've heard, he's pretty much just a rutting dog in bed.  Hulk fuck!  Hulk
done."

   There were some laughs.

   "What about the Thing?" insisted Kitty.  "You two are pretty close,
right?"

   "Oh, Ben," Jennifer said sadly.  "Ben's transformation is such a sad
case.  I suppose he has the advantage that he's literally always hard.  But
he doesn't get much sensation down there anymore.  And yes, I did sleep
with him once, and it was the most painful sexual experience of my life,
both emotionally and physically."

   "Physically painful how?  Is he really that big?" Kitty was apparently
really curious.

   "You know what his skin is like, covered in cracked rocks.  Now imagine
that for a penis.  Now imagine that going inside you and going back and
forth.  First, no amount of lube helps.  Second, condoms shred immediately.
Third, the little places where his rocks fit together -- referring to the
literal rocks covering his body, in case you were thinking I was being
metaphorical -- those little joints and cracks and crevices pinch... 
HARD...  and they pinch in places I don't want to think about.  Thank
goodness my hulk body heals really fast." She gave a verbal shiver of
"Uhhuhhuhh."

   Jennifer continued, "And you're one to talk about big muscle guys.  And
older guys."

   "Hey, Piotr was an artist," Kitty protested.

   "Who was a big muscle guy who was a lot older than you."

   "What about Captain America?  Or Cyclops?  I figure there has to be
something special about Scott since he attracts sexy telepaths like crazy,"
said Kitty, obviously trying to shift the focus.

   "Yeah, Ah wondered about that too," agreed Anna.  "Jean.  Emma.  Even
Betsy took a run at him.  Maybe he's like catnip for telepaths or
somethin?"

   "Oh, and I'd like to eliminate Starfox entirely from contention," added
Jennifer.  "If your superpower is literally the ability to seduce people,
it doesn't count."

   "Agreed," said a few voices.

   As fun as overhearing it was, I interrupted by stepping into the room
with a tray of glasses and bottle of champagne.  Kitty, Anna, Jennifer,
Kara, Diana, Zatanna and Linda were all lounging around the room, with a
cable news channel playing but muted on the wall-mounted TV.

   "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need to celebrate something," I said,
looking at the group before me.

   "Celebrating what?" asked Kara as she stood up to help me.

   I carefully popped the cork while I said, "We just successfully tested
the next generation of computer processor.  Our first unit downstairs runs
at almost a PetaHertz, and the sample Alpha unit running it tells me she'll
have much faster systems running in the next few days."

   "How'd ya do it?" asked Anna, who was one of the less likely people to
understand the explanation.

   "It's designed on a much smaller scale, using carbon nanotubes instead
of wires or layered conductive strips on silicon." Most of the women were
staring at me blank-faced as I explained and poured.  "CNTs, as we call
them, conduct electricity pretty much just like normal metal wiring. 
They're stable, don't retain the heat produced by the electrical passage
and are much, MUCH smaller than electrical wiring.  It might be a few years
before they're in production for the public, but we should have them
running for some of our systems in the next few days."

   "So...  super computers?" Zatanna asked, looking for confirmation?

   "Yes, SUPER super computers.  Literally the next generation.  Like going
from vacuum tubes to transistors, or transistors to silicon.  After this,
the next step will probably be quantum computing.  Another neat thing is
that CNTs are biologically neutral.  Living bodies will ignore them, so
they'll really work well with implants."

   "What's a Petty Hertz?" Linda tried to whisper to Kitty.

   "Kilo means one thousand, and Hertz is a cycles per second measurement,
so KiloHertz is a thousand processes per second.  MegaHertz is a million
electrical cycles per second.  Computer speeds nowadays are usually
measured in GigaHertz, which adds three more zeroes above Mega.  Then it
goes to Terra, then Peta.  So we're talking about being roughly a million
times faster than today's computers."

   The dawn of comprehension showed on Linda's face halfway through my
explanation, which made me happy.  Lack of knowledge on a subject is one
thing.  Lack of intelligence is another.  She might lack the former, but
not the latter (even if I sometimes felt she was intellectually lazy).

   I explained a little further.  "There are already supercomputers that
are more powerful, but those are massive systems running hundreds or
thousands or hundreds of thousands of normal processors together.  I'm
talking about a single unit smaller than my hand."

   "To a bright future!" I said as I help up my glass.  A chorus of voices
responded, and we drank.  Have to admit it was nice champagne.

   * * *

   Three days later, we had seven 320 PetaHertz systems running in the
house and the sub-basement production system was close to completion.  The
new systems kept wanting to redesign themselves, but the improvements
seemed to be plateauing, with each new improvement only providing minimal
benefits.  Charting it, it looked a bit like an old math class logarithmic
scale with the limit approaching 330 or 340 PHz.  In less than a week, we
had knocked Moore's law off the rails.  Well, maybe not quite yet, if you
believe his law only applies to computers available for public mass
production, but its days of generally accurate prediction of computer power
were numbered.

   (Quick note re: Moore's Law.  First, it's really more of an accurate
observation than a law.  Basically one of the founders of Intel observed
that the processing power of integrated circuits tends to double every two
years.  Yes, I'm simplifying and I know it's actually about the number of
transistors or whatever, but it's an easy way to view it.  The law has
pretty much held up since it was first described back in the mid-60's.)

   To a certain extent, this made sense.  The whole extremely rapid
progression of designs thing, that is.  When Alpha had first been built,
she was using a pretty good conventional system.  She redesigned herself
then too, but to a far lesser extent since we were initially limited by my
own hands and very limited funds.  As we gained more resources, we designed
and built custom systems, eventually having our own custom-designed
circuits and boards manufactured for us.  And all of it was built with the
normal silicon architecture developed and used by the current computer
industry, so we never had any real need to rework the root designs and
improve it ourselves.  Our improvements were incremental at best, as
evidenced by the designs we produced and sold those first few years when we
were looking for ways to make money.

   Compared to back then, we now had vastly improved resources, we were
working with brand new technology and Alpha had systems specifically tasked
to design and improve it.  While a few other research labs around the world
were working on the technology, no one was able to develop it like we were,
and no one had even the limited manufacturing ability we had.

   For the time being, our new systems' resources has stopped being applied
to plans for processor improvements -- after about 72 hrs, the improvements
were small enough that it was no longer economically reasonable to keep
adjusting the sub-basement manufacturing -- and shifting focus to
implementation, overall planning, nanites and the production of the new
processors and nanites.

   Don't think that this meant we were abandoning other avenues of research
for processors.  Alpha felt that realistic quantum computing could now be
developed in less than a year with her new processing power, depending on
how much effort we put toward it as a goal.  She had already developed new
approaches to half a dozen types of organic computing and custom
grown-within-the-body improvements, like organic pacemakers, new types of
white blood cells that would attack cancer cells, and even ways to regulate
brain chemistry to prevent things like dementia and Alzheimers.

   I'll return to this later on.

   * * * * *

   My trip to the west coast was, as mentioned, just a stopover.  The
actual final destination was Japan where we would be negotiating with three
different major corporations in various attempts to place and protect three
or more SI entities.

   It was going to be a large group taking the trip too.  In addition to
myself and our four main bodyguards, we had six more household members
coming: Rei, Beta, Kara, Kasumi, Jennifer and Buttercup.  Rei and Beta were
our pilots.  Rei and Kasumi were our translators -- Motoko too, if she
wasn't needed for security.  Kara was my second-in-command, and Kara,
Jennifer and Buttercup were extra security.
The plane had two Alphadroids assigned to it in general, but we added
four more, including Dorothy and two that had built-in armor and attachable
weapons.  Alpha made sure that all six, as well as the plane's built-in
host system were all upgraded to our new processors.  Due to
prioritization, Beta had not yet been upgraded unfortunately.  (I almost
insisted that she be given priority, but apparently the surgery needed
remove the old systems would take too much time compared to other
improvements that could be done in the same amount of time.  I was promised

a faster upgrade system would be ready for her upon our return.)

   The flight out to California had two things of note.

   First, my observations of the bodyguard team relaxed me immensely. 
Specifically, I saw Peace knitting, Misty listening to music while reading
a car magazine, and Rally and Motoko playing a card game, Gin Rummy, I
think.  They may have changed significantly, but aspects of their core
personalities, their likes and dislikes, were still there.  Well, except
maybe for Gin Rummy; no idea where that came from personality-wise.  Not
that it's a bad game, it's just...  never mind.  (And yes, 355/Peace likes
to knit.  In character.  So what?)

   Second, Buttercup and Jennifer joined the mile-high club and made no
secret about doing so.  As in, they came up to me, Buttercup said in a loud
clear voice that she needed to join the mile high club, and dragged me into
one of the bedrooms.

   Jennifer remembered having done the deed in midair multiple times with
different partners back in her home universe, but she hadn't done so in
this universe, so apparently she needed to join in this universe to make it
official.  This logic made little sense, but she and Buttercup were the
only two household women on the trip (who weren't official bodyguards) that
I had not had sex with in mid-flight.  It was the first time for Buttercup,
especially given that I was the only man she had ever slept with.

   It was absolutely enjoyable, but not worth a hole-by-hole recounting.

   So we flew out to California Wednesday evening.  That morning, I had
spoken with Fen Chang again to arrange a meeting.  Apparently Mr.  Chang
himself was not going to be there, but he gave us an address, general
directions and a time, saying that someone would meet us.  The time was
moved from Friday to Thursday, which was doable, thus our flying out on
Wednesday evening.

   I'd also like to point out that banks don't really like it when you take
out a few hundred thousand dollars in cash, and the withdrawal was
unavoidably logged with the Feds.

   I spoke with George and Jennifer again, letting Jennifer know when I
would be there and letting George know the specifics of the updated
schedule.

   We spent Wednesday night in my Los Angeles apartment.  As birthday and
Christmas gifts from Synthetics around the country and the world, I had
been given ownership of half a dozen or so very nice furnished apartments.
In the US, I had been given one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles.  (I
also owned a nice house in a secure neighborhood in D.C., but that one I
bought myself since I was visiting there a lot.)

   Anyway, it was a four bedroom apartment, which was nice, but we had a
pretty large group at the moment, so there was some doubling up.  Actually,
some tripling up for that matter.  Four bedrooms, plus one pull-out sofa
bed, for eleven people?  Kasumi, Rei and I slept in the master bedroom...
which was actually a fairly uncommon grouping, despite the fact that both
of them were Japanese.  The two of them were friendly but not really close,
so remember that shared nationality does not create automatic friendship...
but then again, one of them was Rei, who mostly kept to herself anyway. 
Kara, Buttercup and Beta took the other king size bed, leaving the
bodyguards to take the two smaller bedrooms with the extra-tall Jennifer
getting the sofa bed.  (Her feet hung off the end of the mattress, but she
was the only one with a bed to herself, so she got to deal with it.)

   * * *

   Thursday at a couple minutes to three, a rented SUV pulled up to a
warehouse in the waterfront district in Los Angeles.  (The meet location
was a freaking warehouse, right out of a TV show or movie.  At least it
wasn't abandoned, because that would have been too much.)

   The team riding in the SUV included George Chen, Kara, Jennifer, Misty,
Rally and two Alphadroids.  Kara and one of the Alphadroids were each
carrying a briefcase.  George was the only one who looked nervous, though
Buttercup sitting next to me in the apartment looked pissed off.  (We had
elected to go with only two household women in the party, so Buttercup had
been left behind as part of my personal security detail, meaning she would
miss out on the action.  Given how eager she was for a fight, I was
convinced we had made the right choice.)

   I was watching a video feed from a hovering spy drone being piloted by
Rei, also sitting near me.  An armed spy drone.  A mostly invisible, armed
spy drone.  This particular drone had was covered in color-changing panels
that could alter their appearance to match that of the environment above,
so anyone below looking up just saw the sky.  This was less than perfect
because there was no way to disguise the rotating blades built into the
wings that allowed it to hover, but the main body was mostly invisible and
the blade motors were nearly silent.  As long as it didn't come in low to
the ground, it was very difficult to see.  It was also shaped and
constructed much like stealth aircraft to create a minimal radar image (and
it was small to begin with).

   We had a few more heavily armed and armored drones, but we didn't need
the heavier hardware so none of them were traveling with us this time. 
However, this particular drone -- named Precious, after Tolkien's One Ring
-- was armed with a single adjustable gun loaded with roughly 2000 rounds
of ammunition.

   The drone being armed at all was why Rei was piloting it.  Although
Alpha would have been a slightly better pilot, if the gun needed to be
fired, Rei would have no problems doing so.  (Well, fewer problems doing
so. This was actually one of the things Rei had been training for after my
assassination.  She would never be particularly good as a bodyguard, but
she could pilot drones better than anyone except Alpha herself.  I just
hoped she wasn't feeling particularly bloodthirsty.)

   There were two additional video windows, displaying ground-level feeds
from Misty and Rally's artificial eyes.  Those were the same feeds that
Peace and Motoko could access any time they wanted, though since Peace
lacked an artificial eye, it was displayed on the inside of her sunglasses.
(Peace had recently requested an artificial eye as well, a request we were
considering.  Replacing perfectly good eyes might not go over well with the
authorities or public if the news got out.)

   Our group was met by three young Chinese men, one of whom was openly
carrying an automatic rifle, though our scans showed the other two had
concealed pistols.

   The leader of the Triad trio greeted them, saying, "Hey, you George
Chen?"

   Unlike Mr Chang, this man was obviously a native English speaker.

   George, nervous as all get out, said, "Yes.  These are Frank's people
for the meeting."

   "Cool robots.  Just like on TV.  Where's Mr Frank?  I was told he was
going to be here."

   "We're his representatives.  He'll be attending the meeting, but we have
the money," explained Kara calmly.  She lifted her briefcase slightly.

   "Ok.  You leave your weapons here, then come on in."

   "If you do the same," said Rally.  This had been a subject of much
discussion.  Rally and the others were simply following along with our
plans.

   "Hey, this is our meeting, our territory.  That means we get to keep
ours while YOU get to leave yours behind."

   "First, you have a lot more guns that we do," countered Misty.  "Second,
if we draw, you're welcome to shoot us.  Third, if you try and take them
from us, you'll..."

   Kara interrupted the threat before it could be finished.  "Third, if you
press the issue too far, we'll leave and give George enough money to
disappear.  Please understand, we WANT to pay you your money to make this
problem go away, but we aren't going to disarm."

   I was actually very happy with her response.  Kara is not always what
you would call 'reasonable' or 'cool-headed'.  But she understood the
situation and was actually trying to maintain a peaceful but strong
demeanor.

   Fortunately, the lead Triad guy wasn't a hothead either.  "Yeah, we can
work around that, but I suggest you show a little more respect once you're
inside, or this won't go well.  Paul, call in a few more boys, just in
case." That last was spoken to one of the other men there.

   "One thing that isn't negotiable is we gotta check you for wires."

   Kara and Jennifer both laughed while Misty and Rally smiled.  Kara
explained, "We have two Alphadroids and two cyborgs.  Any metal or signal
detectors are going to go nuts regardless."

   "Cyborgs?  For real?" Suddenly the lead guy lost his cool exterior and
looked like a fan boy about to meet Harrison Ford or Nathan Fillion.  The
other two just looked a lot more nervous.

   Misty and Rally glanced at each other.  Misty lifted her right arm,
pulled back her jacket sleeve a little and exposed her wrist joint line,
obviously not a feature with normal flesh.

   (Side note: While our publicly available replacement limbs generally
came with solid, flesh-like coverings, the bodyguards' artificial limbs
were somewhat modular, so they had visible lines separating different
sections.)

   "That is so...  *ahem* Yeah, okay," said the lead guy, regaining his
composure.  "The robots stay outside.  Kenny, check the rest of them as
best you can."

   Kenny's metal and electromagnetic signal detectors went off a lot, but
eventually they determined that they couldn't find any traditional types of
listening or recording devices.  I noticed that our video streams from the
eyes each went blank when Kenny scanned Misty and Rally, then turned back
on when he moved on to the next person.  No transmissions to detect.

   Eventually, the three men escorted Misty, Rally, Kara, Jennifer and
George inside, with Jennifer taking the Alphadroid's briefcase.

   Inside the warehouse was a large open area, lined with crates and Triad
members.  Well, that's how it felt.  I suppose to avoid unnecessary
exaggeration I should point out that there were maybe fifteen Chinese men,
mostly young, all obviously wielding guns of some sort.

   In addition to our escorts and the muscle, a middle-aged Oriental
gentleman in a business suit was standing in the center of the open area.
He introduced himself as Mr Li (or Lee?).  After introductions had been
made on our side, he asked where I was.

   At that point, we got to show off one of our little toys.  Jennifer set
her briefcase on the ground and opened it up, revealing that it was full of
electronics.  After popping out a few arms and a couple button presses, a
full-size hologram of yours truly appeared standing over the briefcase.

   Back in the apartment, I was standing inside a circle of four cameras,
watching the video screen which had shifted so it had a new main window,
feeding video from the briefcase camera.

   "Hello, there.  I'm Frank _____.  I am sorry I couldn't be there in
person as I had originally planned, but I hope this will be sufficient for
us to...  ummm...  negotiate."

   "Most impressive, but I am worried about recordings.  You must
understand that from my perspective, I have no way to guarantee that this
is not a trick...  that this is not being recorded as a way to entrap me
into admitting to something that is not true."

   "I understand.  First, I don't think you understand how easy it is for
today's hardware to record anytime, anywhere, but that is a different
matter.  Let me approach it this way.  I will explain my purpose in being
here, then if you like, we can shut down my communicator and you can
conclude any discussions or negotiations with Kara, who has my full
authority in this matter."

   He nodded at me without saying anything.

   "A friend of mine, George, here, has incurred a significant debt.  I
understand he now owes $225,000.  The debt was incurred honestly and
requires repayment, though I would probably question his wisdom in agreeing
to such a high interest rate.  Regardless, the debt has now come due.  I am
willing to purchase this debt from those to whom he owes the money.  Kara?"

   Kara stepped forward and held her briefcase up, opening it to reveal a
lot of cash inside.  Our lead escort from outside, who we had never gotten
a name for, took the case and he and Kenny (the escort with the bug
detector) started examining the money in detail, making sure it was all
there, I suppose.

   "My assumption of this debt does come with the requirement of George's
good health and the lack of any ill will towards him."

   "No one is threatening our good friend George," Mr Li said with a rather
false smile.

   I nodded.  "I am also willing to pay above and beyond what is owed if
you will agree to one other item.  I would like your organization to refuse
all further dealings with George, here."

   George, who had not been previously informed of this part, loudly
exclaimed, "Hey!"

   I ignored him and continued, "Since he has already proven to be a
financial risk, and since my helping him out is a one-time-only thing, I
don't see much of a downside for you."

   "What is the extra amount you are suggesting?"

   "Fifty thousand extra.  That means, as far as you're concerned, George
Chen no longer exists." Kara had a few extra cash bundles in her pockets to
cover the extra.

   "I see."

   Just then, Mr Li's phone rang.  He briefly glanced at his phone, then
looked again with an intense focus.

   "Excuse me for a moment," he said as he turned and walked away from us
so he could answer the call.

   We stood and waited.  Well, I obviously couldn't walk around, but you
know what I mean.  The only bit I was able to overhear was Mr Li saying,
"But sir!  He's offering to pay the full..."

   A minute later, he had returned.  "I'm not sure how to...  ummm... 
someone would like to speak to you.  Do I just hold this up to...  ummm..."

   "Really?  Hmmm...  I suppose the easiest way is to bring one of the
Alphadroids in.  They can act as a surrogate head for me."

   "Do it."

   The unnamed escort who loved cyborgs briefly objected.  "But sir,
there's no way we can offer any kind of security or..."

   Mr Li cut him off.  "The situation has changed.  Go ahead and bring in
one of your robots.  And Sam, give them back their money."

   Kara gestured to Jennifer, who stepped outside to fetch one of the
droids.

   While we waited, I tried to alleviate some confusion.  "Are you refusing
my offer?"

   "No!  Yes!  I mean...  the debt is canceled."

   "Canceled?"

   "Wait until you speak with...  here."

   One of the Alphadroids had just entered, followed by Jennifer.  Mr Li
held out the phone until it reached him.  Now, there were probably half a
dozen ways I could have hooked into that phone for a conversation without
bringing in an Alphadroid, but it was the method least likely to disturb
the other people in the warehouse because it simply involved holding the
phone up to a humanoid face.

   Beta handed me her phone, which Alpha had long, long, long ago taken
over.  (Mine too, for that matter.)

   "Hello?"

   "Hello, Mr ____.  It is a pleasure to speak with you." It was a man's
voice, obviously Asian, but very fluent in English.

   "Likewise.  If I may, who am I speaking with?"

   "Please refer to me as Father Wong."

   "Father Wong.  I am happy to speak with you.  Now I don't mean to sound
ungrateful, but what's going on?"

   "Well, there are a number of factors involved in this, but the end
result is that we wish to have a peaceful, neutral relationship with
yourself and your associates.  Today, that means that your friend's debt is
being forgiven."

   "That's good.  What else?"

   "Well, there is one other item.  During your visit to Japan, you will be
given an invitation of some importance.  While we will not tell you what to
do, we would like to encourage you to accept the invitation if at all
possible."

   "What is it an invitation to?"

   "I, myself, do not know.  I simply know that someone of importance
wishes you to attend and we owe that someone a favor.  This is a great
honor, so please accept it with that in mind."

   "I...  yes.  That is, while I cannot accept until I know what it is, I
will give the invitation a great deal of weight.  How will I know which
invitation it is?  I will be meeting with a number of important people
while I am overseas."

   "I do not know.  I expect that this invitation will stand out, but as I
said, I am not privy to such details.  As for myself, your friend's debt
has been canceled and, as per your request, he will no longer be
acknowledged by any member of our organization.  However, should you have
need of our help or services, please do not hesitate to contact us."

   "Thank you.  Though still somewhat confused, I am grateful for your help
and civility."

   I handed the phone back to Beta, and the Alphadroid handed the phone
back to Mr Li.  He checked in with Father Wong and then hung up.

   "You have your money," Li said, nodding toward the briefcase Kara was
once again holding.  He turned to address George.  "George Chen, you debt
is canceled.  You will no longer have any dealings with us.  Go.  Now."

   "Thank you, Mr Li," George said before quickly backing out of the
warehouse.

   "I am glad to have met you," Li said, turning back to me.  "But our time
here is done.  Have a pleasant trip."

   "I am very glad to have met you too, Mr Li.  Thank you for your time."

   And then my hologram transmission cut off as the briefcase unit was shut
down and folded back up.

   That was not even remotely how I expected this to turn out.

   As the others drove back to the apartment by way of the bank (to
re-deposit the cash), I talked things over with Alpha.  She informed me
that the call had been traced back to a penthouse apartment in Chinatown
over in San Francisco.  She also told me that after Mr Li had hung up, the
line stayed open on Father Wong's end of the line.  Apparently confident
that Alpha was listening, he spoke to dead air on the phone, encouraging us
to attend whatever the special invitation was for.  He also read off a
separate phone number for us to call if we ever needed to contact him.

   Alpha explained that while she had a few theories, we needed to wait for
whatever special invitation we would get in Japan first, otherwise, I might
react badly or incorrectly because I might be going into the situation with
incorrect preconceptions if Alpha guessed incorrectly.

   * * *

   George decided to throw a party that evening, insisting that we attend
as his guests of honor.

   I thought he had meant a small dinner party.  What he actually meant was
a Party party.  When we got there at eight, it was already in full swing,
with roughly fifty people drinking and dancing.  I had previously met close
to half of the party goers, who of course included Jennifer and Franco.

   Midway through the evening, the party had definitely grown in size and
seemed to be getting a bit more crowded as time passed.

   And now it's time for an embarrassing story.  Not particularly
embarrassing for me for a change, but...  here goes.

   Jennifer (Tuesday, not Walters) found me around ten or so that evening,
and she seemed a little unsteady on her feet, most definitely a bit worse
for drink.  She pulled me a few feet away from Kara and Beta and into a
very enthusiastic kiss.  From the taste of her tongue, I was guessing
something fruity was the spirit of choice.

   Pulling back slightly, she put her lips to my ear.  "You're a bit
sexually adventurous, right?"

   I couldn't hold back a smile, and replied with a little wariness,
"Yeeessss...  but it really depends what you have in mind."

   "Are you curious?"

   "I'm curious as to what you have in mind."

   "No, I mean...  George would sooooo let you do him tonight.  We could
grab him and Franco and go be adventurous."

   "George is gay?"

   "No, of course not.  Franco is gay.  George is bi."

   "Ah.  Well, I'm neither of those, so..."

   "Have you ever tried?"

   "No, that is true."

   "So how do you know if you don't try?"

   "The same way I know I don't want to..." I cut myself off right there,
since I was about to make an unflattering comparison between
homo/bi-sexuality and...  well, never you mind.  "To...  strip naked and
run through downtown.  Neither idea holds any attraction for me."

   "Please?  For me?  I wanna threesome.  Or foursome."

   "I'm sure I can find one or two girls..."

   She exhaled so that her lips flapped wetly in one of those Pbbtttt
sounds.  "That's a threesome for guys.  It's in, like, every porno ever
made." She pulled me in close and whispered, making it very difficult to
understand her with the party noise surrounding us.  "I wanna have two or
three dicks inside me together."

   "And you suddenly want to do this tonight?"

   "No," she laughed, got into a brief hiccup fit and recovered.  "I wanted
to do this since ever, but never really had the chance."

   I guided her over a loveseat as I replied.  "Well, there are a few
problems with that.  While I have no objection to the concept, I don't have
any actual interest in it.  And even if I was interested, it wouldn't be
with a gay guy and a bi guy..."

   She emptied her glass into her gullet and laughed.  "Bi-guy.  Bi-guy! 
That's funny."

   "And that's a really huge third thing.  You're pretty drunk.  I almost
never have sex with drunk women.  Since we have a pre-existing
relationship, I'd be willing to be with you, but not while you're
experimenting.  If you get drunk and do something you've never done before,
you're very likely to regret it in the morning."

   "Hey, aren't you drunk too?"

   "No."

   "Why not?  The best time to get drunk is at parties!"

   "No.  Drinking is fine.  A little loosening up and such can help you
have fun.  Getting smashed is never fun, even at parties.  Anything that
might have been fun you end up forgetting.  Anything you think was fun was
probably just stupid or embarrassing for anyone who was sober.  And I'm
thinking that maybe you downed a lot before coming over to talk to me, and
it's just now seriously hitting you."

   "Don't you hit me!"

   "I'm not hitting you.  Your drinks are."

   "Oooohhh, my drinks.  I need more drinks," she said waving around her
empty glass and trying to turn away.

   "Just sit down here for a minute, okay?" I said as I pulled her gently
back down to me.

   "Why?"

   "Ummm...  so we can make out?" Making out with drunk women isn't really
a fun activity for me, but it would keep her occupied for a bit.

   She seemed to consider that for a minute before saying, "Okay!" With
that decision made, she plopped herself down in my lap and threw her arms
around my neck.  We kissed for maybe a minute before I realized she had
gone to sleep.

   Ah, the fun of drunks and parties.  Seriously, the last time I got drunk
was after Alphadroid won her robot competition.  It's like a once per
decade thing for me, with a roughly 66% regret rate.  If I'm ever
especially depressed, maybe I'll actually tell the stories of how and why I
learned to avoid getting too drunk.

   Without even looking around to see who was watching, I made a little
twirling motion over my head and then pointed to the front door, and
through my implanted communicator, I told the bodyguard team we were saying
our goodbyes for the evening.  And taking Jennifer home.

   I passed Jennifer's sleeping form off to Beta, who had come up to my
side at my signal.  "I'm going to say my goodbyes to George.  Take her out
to the car."

   I found George, Franco and a girl I didn't recognize out near the entry
hallway.

   "George!  Franco!  Hey, I'm going to go ahead and take off.  We're
taking Jennifer home too." In a moment of coincidental timing, Beta pushed
past us right then, carrying Jennifer in her arms.  I noticed she was
carrying Jennifer's purse too, something I didn't remember seeing during
our little encounter.

   "Aww...  little girlfriend overdid it," said Franco sympathetically. 
"She usually only does that when she's trying to work up her nerve for
something kinky." He sang 'kinky' in a high falsetto.  "So, did she
proposition you for something interesting?"

   "Whether she did or not, it's just between the two of us."

   "Oooo, stayin' classy.  I like it." Yes, he said 'classy' like he wanted
to sing it.

   George spoke up, saying, "Thank you, again.  I am in your debt."

   "We'll talk later.  For now, don't worry about it.  Just stay away from
land deals."

   We shook hands and I left, followed by Kara, Jennifer and three of the
four bodyguards.

   Kasumi and Rei were playing a card game in the limo, apparently having
decided that the party wasn't to their taste.  I noticed Kasumi hand one of
our panic buttons to Motoko.  (The bodyguards kept a set of little
keychain-style panic buttons they could hand out.  Pushing the button would
immediately alert Alpha and the guards that there was trouble.)

   A couple minutes later, Jennifer (She-Hulk Jennifer, that is, not
drunk-off-her-ass producer Jennifer) and Buttercup exited as well, followed
by Rally who had apparently been given the job of rounding them up.

   I pointed out that anyone who wanted to stay and enjoy themselves was
welcome to do so, but everyone decided to follow my lead and call it a
night.  I had Beta drive Jennifer's car while Peace drove the SUV with
Shulkie (a nickname for She-Hulk that she disliked) and Buttercup. 
Apparently Jennifer and Buttercup had bonded over a series of drinking
games.  While Peace drove her vehicle back to our apartment, the rest of us
drove to Jennifer's lovely little condo.

   Jennifer still lived modestly, having put most of her money into savings
and her business.  She had once confided that with her next big payday,
she'd probably buy a nice house, but she wasn't the mansion type.

   We had to stop once during the drive when Jennifer woke up enough to
start puking all over herself.  We pulled over, opened the door and pointed
her outside just in time for her to finish her vomiting.

   After discussing our options, we stripped her down to her underwear and,
once we arrived at her place, sent Kasumi and Kara inside to find a blanket
which we used to wrap her up and take her inside.

   Kasumi and Rei were given the job of cleaning out the rented limo as
best they could.  Rally and Kara gave Jennifer a quick shower while I put
the blanket and Jennifer's clothes in the laundry.  Misty laid out a large
glass of water and a bottle of ibuprofen by the bedside.  I wrote her a
note while a fairly damp Rally and Kara helped a very naked Jennifer
stumble to her bedroom, where she was dressed in a nightgown, put to bed,
and immediately passed out again.

   My note covered a couple topics.  First, of course, I explained about
the party and taking her home and having the ladies clean her up and put
her to bed.  The second section was explaining something I had been hoping
to do in person, but I didn't see any good time in the near future to do
so. I left her a large envelope and explained in the note that I had
quietly purchased all ownership and distribution rights to the one porno
movie she had appeared in.  While we couldn't do anything about existing
copies, Jennifer now owned all future production and distribution rights so
she could easily prevent any further dissemination of the movie, as well as
block any online offerings.  I knew she had regretted the role, done only
because she had really needed the money at the time, so this was just a
little gift between the two of us.

   The lingering smell of vomit as we drove home really killed my libido
for the night.  Kara, Beta and I got just a little frisky when we showered
together before bed, but I was worn out enough that I had to give them an
IOU for the night.

   The next morning, I got a call from a very confused, hung over and
apologetic Jennifer.  I reassured her, filled in the holes in her memory of
the previous night as best I was able, and promised to take her out for
dinner the next time I was in the area.

   The party made the news, or I should say, it made the rumor and gossip
pages.  While I was not a big figure in Hollywood, I had gotten noticed as
an eccentric near-billionaire inventor and producer.  The fact that one of
my screen writers was throwing a party attended by some of the same crew I
had used before, plus the fact that I normally shunned such parties, led to
much speculation that I was going to fund another movie.

   I figured that either the rumors would fade, or I'd need to go ahead and
make another movie as cover.

   Fortunately, either no one remembered me taking an unconscious Jennifer
home that night, or she just wasn't famous enough to gain that kind of
notice in print or online.

   * * * * *

   Author's Postscript: I had originally planned for this chapter to also
cover the Hawaii/Japan trip, but I'm not sure if I'm even halfway there at
this point (42 pages in OpenOffice).  End result: I'm breaking this into
two chapters.

   Chapter Four will cover the Hawaii and Japan visits and will include a
more in-depth and individual introduction to the bodyguards.

   Chapter Five should cover a few more new characters and the trip to
Europe.

   Since this chapter jumped around the time line, I thought I might also
provide a brief time line/outline for clarification:

   March - Revelation of Alpha's existence June - Assassination attempt,
war against mafia August - meet/hire bodyguards September 1 - move to new
house November - Test Sisters arrive/stay

   February - bodyguards move to active duty March (late) - Velma & Daphne
wake up in Texas motel April 5 - Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated Season 2
finale June - travel to California, Hawaii, Japan August - travel to Europe
   

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