“No sleazing way!” spat Sleena, flushing red.
Barney stared from her to Doc Truman and back again, feeling like he shouldn’t be hearing this. His pa’s angry look confirmed it.
“You… you…!” sputtered Marcie.
The Doctor calmly took a seat, holding up a hand. “Before you all choke on your bourgeois upbringings, allow me to explain.
“I do have a basic grasp of psychology. Sleena, by rejecting Yamamoto and escaping his control, humiliated him. An opportunity to have her alive and under his control will be irresistible to him. Rationally, he knows she is extraordinarily dangerous – an assessment with which you would all concur, I believe?”
He paused, meeting the gaze of each person, their expressions ranging from angry to troubled. None however disagreed. “His security team will no doubt advise him to kill her on sight, especially if they don’t need their subject to be alive to remove their technology. Or they could simply dispose of her body so it was never found. True?”
All faces turned from him to Gigi and Barney. The two huddled in discussion before Barney gave a brief, bitter nod of agreement.
“So the issue becomes how to convince Yamamoto that Crystal Winters poses no threat to him. This proposal achieves that end, while also offering him the revenge and control he craves. The idea that his device worked exactly as designed, implanted controls Crystal cannot resist, will be compelling to a personality like his. It also sends the message that payment of his million credit bounty will give him everything he desired: vindication; revenge; control; and ongoing gratification. That price was set by his own subconscious. Paying it will reinforce the worth he attributes to her, thus reducing the chance he will slaughter her out of hand.
“The more humiliating and extreme a demonstration we can give that Crystal is under control, the greater our chance of complete success: getting Sleena to him, alive; having her returned to his machine and the Omega devices removed from her.”
“But he’ll finish programming her!” Barney cried. “Wipe her memory again!”
Doc Truman shook his head. “Not if he believes her memory is still wiped. A human brain stores vast amounts of information. Memories need to be replayed to make them physiologically able to be erased – as opposed to merely walled off, as in amnesia. He will not wish to spend the hours required if he believes it unnecessary.”
“But he’ll want to at least program her first!” Barney wailed.
Sleena spoke. “Not if D-Ablo can work out a way so any instruction sent to their system just starts the disassembly instead. They can’t easily see what the robo-surgeon’s doing since it’s out of sight, inside the machine. I remember.”
That caused surprise, perhaps as much from the source as from the suggestion itself.
“’Cept Aiyami opt’mized the code so much I don’t unnerstan’ it,” Gigi objected. “Well, apart frum the comms. It only tweaked that.”
“Every command must come in via the comms module though,” Mason said. “Could you intercept them all and substitute just the ‘dismantle’ command?”
Gigi rolled her eyes. “Yah – if I knew the dismantle command.”
Sleena huffed. “If anyone can figure it out, D-Ablo can. Guess I’d better ask him.” Her tongue worked in her mouth as if preparing for something distasteful, then she made the call. “Hey, D-Ablo,” she began, but an instant later her Link went to speaker mode while projecting the image of a robotic devil’s face.
“Sleena. I am loving that code you sent me.” It didn’t even sound like Nelson, but she recognized the tone of condescension.
Gigi and Barney startled at how fast Sleena’s friend had taken control of her Link.
Sleena explained her idea, introduced Gigi, then immediately felt redundant as the dialog soared past her levels of computer knowledge. Barney chipped in when they discussed the carbon nanotube molecular machinery, in particular how the disassembly would work. They had her hold up her Link so D-Ablo could watch the plastic model while Barney demonstrated.
Watching Gigi, Leeth sensed her disbelief that ‘D-Ablo’ could disentangle and understand the code Aiyami had optimized and compressed. And something about his responses – the smugness? – made Leeth think he was cheating somehow. Especially the way he evaded Gigi’s questions. Was it because he had his own technology for implanting memories? He and the Doctor had tried that on her once, for a mission. It’d gone badly wrong.
But how had he implanted those memories that time? It seemed much easier to believe the Doctor doing it with magic, than Nelson doing it with tech, especially without a whole bunch of computer mites and stuff.
Was there more to Nelson than met the eye?
For now though, the discussion seemed to be going well.
“Did Sleena give you the address for my digital vault?” he asked Gigi, toward the end.
“Yah.”
The robo-demon arched its scary eyebrows. “If you don’t want to use that, at least set up your own to share it to frens you trust if you don’t sign in regularly. Gives Omega an incentive not to kill you.” He blithely coasted on. “I should have something that’ll fit the bill soon. I’ve got your Link ID. I’ll ping it when I upload the Omega virus. Sounds ominous, eh? – ‘the Omega Virus’!” He giggled.
No one else did.
“Good name for a malware pack that’ll trash their systems.” He chuckled evilly. “I’ll warn ya now, don’t run it on anything connected to anything you don’t want nuked. I’d turn off your Links at that point too. I’ll geo-lock it to within a klick of the point of activation, but still.”
“It’ll infec’ Links?” Gigi goggled. “Rat off!”
The demon sniggered. “Yeah, I learned some tricks from this morning’s Tazman-Dungog worm. I don’t s’pose you have a copy of the Aiyami code?” he asked.
Gigi swallowed, suddenly glad she didn’t. “No.” Who was this guy? For the first time in her life, she felt out-geeked. She’d studied Aiyami’s virus too, but been stumped by the same opaque coding style of its Omega OS rewrite. For a fleeting moment she wondered if she was talking to Aiyami, or its brother or something – but the eyes, boasts, and frequent sniggers were all too human, despite the robot demon-drag D-Ablo wore.
She was sure he was a he, too.
She took Barney’s hand under the table. “What ’bout Mason’s augs? Could it crash them?”
Nelson played some ‘D-Ablo thinking deeply’ animations while he considered. He’d used Ghost to crack each of the systems in the distant hovel in the Hunters Point Dumps, so he could use that data to trash the man’s cyberware systems. But without Ghost’s quantum assistance, his malware wouldn’t be able to breach such military-grade protections on its own. Given Omega’s net isolation paranoia, the same limitation would apply there. He took back control of his D-Ablo avatar. “No. Even I have limits.”
Gigi studied him, sensing he’d held something back.
While their small tech team geeked out, Marcie pulled Leeth to one side. “What’s this about a ‘humiliating and extreme demonstration’? What’ll that involve?”
Harmon rose from his seat and joined them, leaning back against the metal benchtop welded to the wall of the shipping container. “I think Sleena is best positioned to decide that.”
“What do you mean?” Marcie glanced from Doc Truman to her friend, who stared at him, frowning.
“Did Dr Yamamoto not require a bodyguard due to the places he visited for his ‘recreations’?”
Leeth’s lip curled, remembering the clubs and dives he’d visited – from high end exclusive fetish spots to mean and frankly disgusting illegal dives. More than once, what she’d seen had made her want to kill him and the other sadistic patrons. He’d relished her disapproval, confident his paycheck would rein in her natural reaction. He’d delighted in goading her, more than once offering massive financial inducements if she’d join in.
It’d only made her want to kill him more. She nodded in answer to the Doctor’s question.
He spread his hands. “So you have seen what ‘turns him on’. What would you suggest? How would he like to see Crystal return to him? On her knees? Naked, crawling? What?”
I do not believe this! “You want me to suggest how I should be degraded?” He kept his expression innocent, but she knew him well enough to read the pleasure he was taking in this. Her fingernails dug painfully into her palms.
“Exactly. I’m no expert on the subject of, what is it called…? BMDS?”
Oh, you evil bastard. Like you don’t know it’s BDSM. But just the thought of exposing him had her struggling to remember what they were talking about.
Retreating from the rising mental fog, she found herself breathing heavily.
“Well, go on. What would you suggest? How should you be presented, to be irresistible to his baser instincts?”
Across the room, the geek fest finally petered out, the others shifting their attention to the second conversation.
Great. Sleena flushed.
“What’re you guys discussing?” Maeve asked.
“How to humiliate me,” snarled Sleena.
“What?”
“Yeah, like whether I should be naked on all fours or-”
Marcie coughed. “Uh, Sleena, maybe Barney and Gigi don’t need to be here for this,” she said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Leeth frowned. “Why?”
From the way everyone except Harmon scowled at her, she realized she must’ve said something wrong. And even he looked slightly uncomfortable.
Right, something else I apparently don’t know. Did they not even talk about sex in front of kids? Or did that only apply for abusive sex? Actually, that made a lot of sense. She felt her cheeks warm.
“Meb you peeps could chat outside, eh?” Teef said.
Which was how, minutes later, Leeth found herself suggesting possible ways to objectify her, in front of people she considered friends. Or mostly, she added, glaring at Harmon.
“Would he feel safer if you were in bondage gear?” Vince asked, earning himself a punch from Marcie.
“Yes, but that could steer his thinking in unwanted directions, toward defensive precautions,” Doc Truman said. “Better to imply his mental programming alone gives control of Crystal.”
Leeth frowned. It was easier to hate him when he wasn’t making sense. But Vince’s question sparked the others’ involvement, and soon everyone except Marcie was offering ideas for ways to ‘prove’ she’d become some kind of totally submissive slave girl. Outside Teef’s place, she stared across the patch of dirt at Harmon, his concealed enjoyment of her humiliation stoking dark fires.
You are so dead. One day. Somehow.
“Oh come now, that won’t do,” Harmon said, interrupting Mason to point to her. “You look ready to tear someone’s head off. For this to have any chance of success you will need to behave submissively. So let us say, you may not meet anyone’s eyes, starting now. The eyes of any superior. Which is, of course, everyone.”
She clenched her fists, actually trembling in fury, her chin tucking in, her eyes burning into his. Now he’s got them helping. Could this moment get any worse?
“That’s BS!” said Marcie. “Sleena’s a professional. She doesn’t need to give you a show beforehand.”
“Really, ‘M’?” Harmon asked. “Does she truly appear harmless to you?”
Marcie glanced at Sleena, clearly ready to tear her uncle’s head off. “Uh, not, uh, not entirely.” She suddenly looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.
“Perhaps I could use some Suggestion magic to help? I think I know a spell along those lines. Unless you can show us you don’t need it?”
“No.” Leeth wasn’t sure she’d ever wanted to hurt him as much as she did right then. Somehow though she fought her fury down. That spark of dark anger burned hotter, but she finally managed to cage even that. Swallowing, she made her shoulders slump, and cast her eyes down.
Humble.
“Strip,” he ordered.
Both the women, and Vince, drew in sharp breaths. But Leeth didn’t react.
Proud of her fitness, she didn’t mind showing her body. But she’d learned that most people didn’t think that way. She also hated how he’d made this a dominance thing. Fine, she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. She wrenched up the hem of her dress.
“No, Sleena!” Marcie objected. She turned to Leeth’s uncle. “How dare you, you decrepit, creepy old-!”
Harmon rounded on her. “Be quiet. I am doing this for a reason. Wait.”
Marcie gritted her teeth, glaring, but he stared her down before turning back to Leeth. “Slower. Make it sexy.”
“Hey, no, wait-” Maeve said, but Sleena didn’t hesitate. Just started swaying, biting her lip.
Leeth heard a faint click, then from Marcie’s pocket came Harmon’s voice, whispering. “Seshoestus desstussten.” She felt a surge of appreciation. She’s still trying to protect me! She didn’t dare look up to reassure her friend – not while putting herself through this humiliation – but she did give a tiny shake of her head to try to let her know he wasn’t forcing her to do this.
“Really?” Marcie whispered.
She gave a tiny nod, then finished pulling her abbreviated sundress off to stand in just her bra, panties, and Barney’s lucky necklace.
“The underwear too. You can leave the jewelry on.”
Maeve took an angry step forward, but Harmon threw up a hand, one finger raised in warning, glaring at her.
For Leeth, swaying her hips, horror dawned when part of her responded, urging her to comply. She felt her nipples tighten.
Instinctively she dug in her heels and stopped, then wondered if her refusal to strip completely meant she’d failed.
“There!” he said, now in his normal voice instead of the domineering tone he’d been using. “You sensed it just then, didn’t you? The Omega conditioning I found implanted.”
Maeve and Marcie glared from Harmon to her, no longer completely certain this had been just an offensive and petty humiliation.
Leeth knew better. It was both: lesson and punishment.
Harmon continued, in his lecturing voice. “Those are the ‘reins’ you will hear me refer to when we make contact and I act my part to convince Dr Yamamoto his technology exceeded his expectations. Embrace it for now – it will help you play this role. It may even save your life.” Then his tone shifted back to one of sneering dominance. “Or perhaps his programming simply exaggerated existing submissive tendencies.”
Again his tone shifted. “Picture Dr Yamamoto,” he said.
She did, feeling a fresh surge of desire. The unexpected reaction shocked her. It made her consider abandoning the plan. I can do this, she had to reassure herself.
She repeated that thought even when he taunted her for her obvious arousal. Even when he ordered her to crawl. And worse. Humiliatingly worse, his hands groping her, objectifying her.
In fury, she knew he was right though: Yamamoto was paranoid, suspicious. It would take something as demeaning as this if they were to carry off the charade and get the stuff removed from her head. Knowing that didn’t help all that much, though.
The others tried to leave, but Harmon said their presence was needed, to be sure Sleena would be able to bring herself to do the same, when her life depended on it.
At least she’d kept her underwear on, for now. “I’ll take it off later,” she insisted. That felt like a small victory, but an important one in front of her friends.
Her face burning, in the hush surrounding Harmon’s ‘testing’ she still didn’t dare meet anyone’s eyes though.
Knowing shame.
The moment he declared himself satisfied she’d be able to carry off the charade, she snatched up her clothes and pulled them back on. She was proud of her body – but the knowledge her friends thought less of her for pretending to submit to his orders, was horrible.
Even worse than she’d expected.
“It will be worse still to do that before someone you truly hate, like Dr Yamamoto,” he said.
Staring into his eyes, she couldn’t decide if he’d said that to needle her, or to reassure her.
“Sleena,” he admonished.
Gritting her teeth, she dropped her eyes and forced her hands to unclench again.
Teef pushed out through his front door, studying the tense group, no one meeting anyone’s eyes. “Ya fren’s sent Gigi the stuff. Malware, an’ a ‘defuse’ prog he said she needs ta ‘install’ on Sleena?”
The process went smoothly and quickly. That was followed by a short argument about who precisely should accompany her.
She absolutely refused to let Marcie or Vince go with her. Mason said he should go. Maeve objected: Omega’s security guy had seen his face the night they’d searched his boat. It’d be suspicious if he turned out to have found her after all.
“I’ll just say I found her clinging to a channel marker after they’d ruined my night’s fishing,” Mason countered. “And when I found she’d lost her memories and was acting strangely, I headed here to Hunter’s Point to a guy I knew.” He gestured to Doc Truman. “They won’t know he’s a mage: Dumps people don’t blab to outsiders. We’ll say he’s a psychologist, and between him and a shaman we consulted, we uncovered these mental controls. Then I saw the bounty for her.”
“Look,” Maeve said, “I’ve helped – we’ve helped – a lot. Especially Gigi. But you don’t need us now and I’m not going to endanger Lorien by dragging us any deeper. We’ve-”
Mason cut her off, going to her and putting one hand on her shoulder. “Hey. I agree. You all went way above and beyond.”
Gigi looked simultaneously ashamed and relieved. She chewed her lip. “Luck, Crystal – Sleena. Kick sumbitch ass, so I can tell Shawna, Deena, an’ t’other sprouts they he’ped a hero.”
“Who?” Sleena asked.
Gigi and Maeve blinked, then looked at her like she’d just lost a friend.
“Who’s Shawna and Deena? What sprouts?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Maeve assured her, with a look that said really, it did.
By now the sun had set. Gigi hugged her good luck, saying she’d stand by, just in case. Marcie, after much urging, and a whole series of worried hugs, reluctantly promised to leave.
“I’ll call you. Or you call me, as soon as it’s over.” Marcie stared at her as if trying to send her a special message beyond the words. “I’ve got your back,” she whispered. Then punched her arm, “And don’t you dare get yourself killed: it’d break Amanda’s heart!”
“I won’t.”
She even remembered to call Eagle, not surprised to learn the Doctor had already persuaded him to approve the plan.
A drone delivered a couple of fetish items to the shores of the Fisher Clan. A carefully distanced contact was made to the million cred bounty number.
Soon Mason and Doc Truman, with Sleena at their feet, sat in a small runabout humming and bouncing over waves, Omega Memory Systems’ office rising from the docklands shore ahead.
Where this whole mess had started.