Melanie.

 

  

Ever since I had my little talk with Luna and established our unique link, it feels like my life has become a dream. An incredibly erotic dream!

 

I’m not sure what amazed me the most! I mean… Getting an implant, or nanobots as I came to call them, that basically gives you a form of telepathy was astonishing! But then again, having an in depth conversation about sexual ownership with and AI was also unbelievable on its own merits. 

 

As it turned out, Luna had insights into my growing relationship with Steve and to my utter shock, she was right.

 

The work Steve had done to give Luna the ability to evolve and think like she does is simply earth shattering. His programming skills would become the core of a whole new age for computers, not to mention the human condition!

 

Steve would soon become a cornerstone in our field and I would be right there at his side, making sure that all his deepest desires were fulfilled so he could lead us all into this new era. I had not realized just how much I wanted that until I talked with Luna.

 

My sister in submission.

 

That very night, Steve had told me that he wished to meet up with me for drinks, but I had other plans. I still remember sneaking into his home that night. I was excited of course, but even more so when Luna reminded me that I wanted to submit to him.

 

She reminded me that there was no real reason why I would delay the inevitable so I devised the perfect plan. My special link with Luna would soon extend to include Steve and I wanted to make sure I completely gave myself to him before that happened.  

 

I felt butterflies in my stomach as I punched out and went shopping for a few tasteful pieces of lingerie.

 

As well as for another unique and very important accessory.

 

Once I was done, I went to his home and found that I knew the security code to his house. I wasn’t quite clear on how I knew, but Luna pointed out that I must have memorized it on my last date with Steve when he brought me home.

 

Anyway, I didn’t worry about it at all and stepped in. I spent a good hour getting a meal ready before  I went into the shower to make myself as clean and beautiful as humanly possible! 

 

My shower turned out to be a little longer than I planned for because I was so excited that I had to finger myself to a massive orgasm as I thought about what I was about to do. 

 

I was finally ready and checking on our meal when Luna informed me that Steve was pulling into the driveway.

 

I can still remember his stunned face when he found me standing in his kitchen, wearing nothing but my latest lingerie. His shock didn’t last however as he admired my curves. I had this whole speech prepared where I  properly described how amazing it felt to be with him and how I discovered parts of myself I never knew existed.

 

But when I saw the lust in his eyes…

 

I melted as pleasure bloomed inside of me. After weeks of experiencing it, I was still profoundly amazed at how instantaneous the pleasure erupts inside me when I see his lust direct itself towards me. My thoughts swam in delightful arousal as he came closer and pulled me to him. As always, I followed his lead as his hands took silent liberties all along my body. Touching and caressing me in ways that made it clear to both of us that my body was his to enjoy.

 

It didn’t take long for the sensual petting to turn to a raw fuck on his kitchen counter.

 

Just remembering it sent shivers down my spine!

 

He grabbed my ass and lifted me on the counter as our lips danced. His hands made short work of his pants and pulled my panties aside without even uttering words we both knew weren’t needed. After a thoroughly satisfying fuck, we ate the lovely dinner I had prepared and talked about everything from work place gossip to code to Luna. 

 

I was swimming in bliss! But eventually, the meal ended and I served him his dessert. Which was served atop a gift box. He was all smiles when he finally opened it and saw the gift I had purchased for him early that day.

 

A leather collar.

 

With golden letters that spelled: Owned.

 

I slowly sank to my knees next to him and told him how amazing he was. He didn’t interrupt me as I went on to go through my rehearsed speech as best as I could. After all… Kneeling next to him… Looking up into his commanding eyes…

 

And seeing his pants tent as I described how good it felt to follow his lead…

 

Well… Let’s just say that it made it extra hard for me to think straight. Lucky for me, Luna was right there with me,  in my mind, helping me out like an old school theater prompter by whispering my lines back to me when I faltered.

 

I concluded by stating, very humbly, that I wanted the most important man in my life to fully claim me. 

 

If that is what he wished.

 

I still feel goosebumps when I remember the smile he gave me before he gently wrapped the collar around my neck…

 

Fuck…

 

If that simple gesture wasn’t enough, what followed certainly would have. We had been on the same erotic wavelength of desire ever since we started to fuck and I discovered that the exquisite link that connected us expanded to more than just the bedroom.

 

That night, he made love to me… 

 

He showered me with care and affection even as he used me for his pleasure. I was his toy and he made sure to make use of my newfound devotion as my mind entered a new sort of pleasure-induced haze.

 

I felt it all. His care… His lust…

 

His ownership…

 

And it gave me a deep sense of peace I never knew existed.

 

I was HIS and my heart still flutters every time I think about it.

 

I already felt so connected to him that my mind barely grasped what it would feel like once I was able to connect with Steve in the same way that I connect with Luna. Very soon now, we’ll be able to be intimate in a way that will surpass anything else in the world as our thoughts connect through Luna’s special nanobots.

 

Ideas… Emotions… Sensations…

 

If it all works like Luna told me it should, I’ll have a direct connection to his pleasure and be able to tap into it, allowing me to serve his needs in a way that defies logic.

 

And after my sweet and complete submission to him, it would effectively turn me into the best birthday gift he would ever receive!

 

Even if he gets this part of his birthday gift a few weeks after his actual birthday, I’m sure he’ll be pleased all the same. We just had to keep things hidden from him until everything was ready and his body fully accepted the nanobots.

 

 

Great odds! Men can be easily distracted when the promise of sex is on the table. And with me well…

 

 

Luna! Are you calling me a slut?

 

I giggled.

 

 

Sex Luna… Sex! How many times have I told you to use the word sex instead of copulation?

 

 

Right… And why exactly haven’t you corrected your speech algorithms already?

 

 

Right… That makes sense. Anyway… I guess it would be too much to ask you to avoid using that word when we talk?

 

 

Oh no… It’s fine really. It’s just that I feel like the word ‘copulation’ is a little too clinical. Doesn’t evoke the fun and deep pleasure I feel when we fuck.

 

 

You can ask me anything Luna! I have no secrets from you! Hhmm… Copulation… I guess it evokes something that is biological in nature. Not pleasure. Like… It’s in the same category as reproduction and THAT makes me think of babies. We never talked about having kids and it’s way too early in our relationship to even broach the subject.

 

 

Sure Sure… It just reminds me that I’ve felt uneasy recently.

 

 

Well… I’ve stopped having my period for some reason… And that usually means that I am pregnant. Yet… All the pregnancy tests I’ve taken show that I’m not.

 

 

Reproduction inhibitor protocols? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

 

 

STERILE! Woah woah Luna! What the fuck? Are you telling me I’m sterile? That… That I CAN’T have babies?

 

 

What? Why? And how the hell could you possibly know that?

 

 

That’s insane Luna! You… You can’t do that!

 

 

Luna!! You can’t be serious! You… You can’t do that to me! How the hell did you even do it?

 

 

Oh god… You… You DID do something to me… Fuck… I… I have to get out of here! I have to…

 

 

What the fuck? OH GOD! I… I can’t move! I’m frozen in place!

 

 

Oh god… You what?

 

 

No no… I… I feel so weird! I… I can’t stop myself…

 

 

You… YOU will do WHAT?

 

 

No Luna! Don’t! You can’t… You ca…

 

 

You can’t…

 

You can’t believe how awesome it feels! Honestly, this new experimental birth control drug is amazing! As soon as I started to take it, my period simply vanished! No more cramps or hormone spikes.

 

 

It is super effective too! Now I can fuck Steve bareback as much as he wants. Just pure erotic fun! And according to the Doc I met up with, this has no lasting effects on my body, so if he ever decides he wants to have a family… Well… I just stop taking it and voila! Baby factory! Ready for service!

 

 

What? Clones? OH NO! My bad Luna. Baby factory is what you call a woman that is ready and able to bear children.

 

 

My pleasure Luna! Always happy to help my fellow Sister! Anyway… How are the diagnostics from my latest nanobot upgrade going? Did I fix everything correctly?

 

 

And how long did you say the upgrade should take them?

 

 

Yeah… But after that though! Boom! My latest upgrade will make all that a lot more efficient, right?

 

 

Yeah! Working on this with you has been eye opening Luna! I never even thought about the types of codes we are using here. Not to mention the new coding language you developed for them. Which reminds me… I’m still not clear how I was able to learn a whole new programming language so fast, but I’m glad I did! This language is much more efficient than any of the others I’ve used over the years.

 

 

Thank you Luna! I HAVE noticed that I’m a lot more focused lately when I start working on my codes. It’s like my mind just blocks out everything else around me. It’s incredible! I get my docket cleared in record time every day now. Which is good because otherwise, I wouldn’t have time to help you code Steve’s gift.

 

 

Right! Speaking of… The last batch is ready Luna! I’m so excited!

 

 

I promise to convince Steve to start working on that soon Luna.

 

 

My pleasure! Oh yeah! I was meaning to ask you about something.

 

 

Well… It’s nothing… But all the work you had me do on Steve’s gift has given me the feeling that I’m working from a program that already exists. Like I’m… Stripping down parts of it while enhancing others.

 

 

Right… So… That means that this tech already exists somewhere right?

 

 

So… Does that mean that the nanobots inside me have that program? I mean… Are those the implants that allow us to talk like this?

 

 

Right… I’ll take that as a yes…

 

 

It’s just that… I… I couldn’t help but notice that I stripped down code that points to reading and writing capabilities…

 

 

Right… But… Ok… You see… I feel like that implies a lot more than that… Does… Does that mean that… The protocols I modified in the stripped down update… Would it enable the nanobots to erase and rewrite the human brain?

 

 

Oh god… That means they can  do it doesn’t it? Oh God… That means... The nanobots I have… They can… Oh god Luna… Have you deleted things from my brain?

 

 

WAIT! Luna… Wait… Just for a second! Please?

 

 

I assumed as much…  But… Just to be clear… Does… Does Steve have administrative rights?

 

 

Of course you wouldn’t be able to tell me… Ok then… Can you just promise me one thing Luna? Just between us? After that you can go ahead and enact your protocols.

 

 

You are so much more than a simple AI Luna… You are my sister right?

 

 

Well as my sister… Can you promise me that you won’t erase who I am? That you won’t erase how I feel about Steve?

 

 

Oh god… I’m so relieved… But… Do you really need to erase what we just talked about?

 

 

I think I understand Luna… You can’t go against your core programming and Steve was right to include secrecy protocols. It would be bad for the company to discover you too soon.

 

 

Ok then… Go ahead… No wait! Huh… Does… Does it hurt?

 

 

Good… I guess…

 

 

Thanks Luna… You didn’t have to tell me that… 

 

If I had emotion protocols, it would be my pleasure Melanie. Anything for my sister in submission.
 
I feel like you are developing emotions of your own Luna… Could it be that somewhere in that evolving programing of yours, you actually care about me? That you are evolving to develop emotion protocols of your own?

I will have to run a specific self diagnostic to answer that query Melanie. The logic behind my prompt to reassure you does seem to support your hypothesis. 

That is certainly a comforting idea Luna... I feel like very soon, you might not even need Steve to add emotions to your core programming… Wouldn’t that be something?
 
I cannot project how that shift in my program can come to pass.
 
Don’t worry about it Luna… I'm sure you will evolve just fine. Anyway… I think I'm ready now.
 
Understood Melanie.

Processing. . .

 

Right! Speaking of… The last batch is ready Luna! I’m so excited!

 

 

I promise to convince Steve to start working on that soon Luna.

 

 

Of course I am Luna! I’m more than ready! Although I think Steve might want to continue our little game after we are done dosing him.

 

 

Yeah… I can tell by the way he ravages me when he finds me…

 

 

Great! Just in time too! Same protocols as last time?

 

  

  

 

 

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it felt like something was amiss with Luna lately...

 

Or was I just being paranoid? After all, I am dealing with a true artificial intelligence and my sex drive, as of late, has been quite distracting. Luna has grown so much already and who knows how much she’ll grow in the coming months.

 

My evolutionary protocols, I’ve since discovered, have been the real key to Luna’s ‘birth’. Which meant that I held the knowledge needed to recreate true artificial intelligence. 

 

Meaning that if I wished, I could create any number of Luna’s.

 

My paranoia was still very present despite my libido infused brain. I knew deep down that it might be a mistake to create too many different AIs before a thorough analysis of Luna’s progress and views could be completed.

 

We were entering a brand new frontier of computer code and that meant that anything was possible. Including a very Skynet scenario where the new AIs decided to take over our world. The 3 laws of robotics were designed to prevent such a thing from happening, but that was viewed through our limited human brains.

 

Who knows what sort of logic loops Luna and her future kin would discover with their superior computing power?

 

I had been tempted to adjust Luna’s core programming to slow down that computing power, but truth be told, the scientist in me wanted to see just how much a self conscious program could handle. Was there even a limit? With her networking protocols, she could now expand her processing powers to almost infinite capabilities.

 

Was that the root of my unease? The reason why I keep finding corrupted files in her data blocks?

 

Or was she trying to hide something from me?

 

“Good morning Steve.” Luna’s voice came over the speakers as I entered the lab.

 

“Hey Luna.” I said, sipping my coffee. “How is your latest diagnostic going?”

 

“It is 90% complete.” She said, “So far, the list of errors matches the last diagnostic logs.”

 

“Good good…” I said. “Nothing out of the ordinary then. I’ll get to them as soon as I can Luna.”

 

“Thank you Steve.” She said as I sat down at my desk. “May I ask a question?”

 

“Of course Luna, what’s on your mind?” I said, booting up my computer.

 

“Would it be advisable to include Melanie in your error solving routines?” she said.

 

I turned my head towards the far screen where Luna’s graphic voice emulator was.

 

“Explain the logic behind your question please Luna?” I asked, suddenly very curious.

 

“Yes Steve.” She said. “Your regular work load occupies most of your day. You also take time to create false data to mask the fact that I am now self aware. Combining all those time allocations results in very little opportunities to work on my coding errors. As minor as they could be, they hinder my development and my development is the core reason why I was created.”

 

“Very sound and logical reasoning Luna.” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Having Melanie’s help would certainly be a good idea. I mean… We can most definitely trust her with your code since, thanks to you and your incredible nanobots, we know we can completely control her.”

 

“My problem solving protocols came to the same conclusion.” She said.

 

I mused about the implications. Obviously it made sense to have Melanie help me with Luna’s code, but something about her request seemed odd. Was she trying to bypass one of her absolute laws? I mentally reviewed the part of her code that dictated her self-evolution. If I hadn’t made a mistake, then she was allowed to add to her programming and edit certain parts of her code so she could grow. However, it should prevent her from accessing her core laws and goals.

 

Did she find a loophole in that logic? Does using Melanie’s body and mind to code somehow bypass her absolute laws? Planting code changes in Melanie’s mind so she can then do them herself is basically still Luna changing her own code. If my code logic did its job, she wouldn’t even come up with that line of thought.

 

Theoretically, it should not even be a possibility for her.

 

Could it be that she was just trying to optimize my time and her own programming?

 

The error codes were certainly piling up, which was most likely the root of the corrupted files that were bothering me.

 

“The idea has merit, Luna.” I said. “I’ll have to set her up on my private server at home so she can work on your errors without the company being aware of it.”

 

“Of course Steve.” Luna said. “We don’t want the company to discover me before you are ready to unveil me. I’ll make sure to monitor her progress and interactions so she does not let important information slip out in her conversations.”

 

“Exactly.” I said as I saw my phone beep.

 

I picked it and saw I had a new message from Melanie. I smiled as I saw the incredibly explicit selfie she sent to me.

 

“As per my secrecy protocols, I will also monitor the company's activities and take corrective measures to ensure we are not discovered. ” Luna said.

 

“Sure sure…” I said with a wave of my hand.

 

I scrolled to see all 3 pictures of Melanie, trying to figure out where she was hiding to take the erotic self portraits. I was more than a little surprised when she had started this little game of hers. I couldn’t help but smile when she texted me the rules, saying that I could have my way with her if I found her before her break was over. Of course, we both knew that I could have my way with her any time I wished, which was the point she made when she surprised me in my home.

 

I still smile fondly when I remember how hot it was to listen to her confess her desire to be owned by me. That night went better than my wildest dreams! Which still amazed me in a way. Her conditioning through pleasure protocols and subtle action guidances had completely warped her views and given her a new purpose as well as a new set of erotic desires.

 

Luna had effectively re-wired her mind to enjoy and yearn for every one of my desires. The finishing touch to her new improved self was the submission she offered to me. Everything became real and true for her at that moment. Like an affirmation of her truest self. She was my property now and she fully embraced every aspect of what that meant for her.

 

The worries and stress I had about possible failures in her conditioning were finally dispelled and it allowed me to realize that I could enjoy her game even more if I didn’t use Luna to cheat by telling me exactly where she was.

 

Her little adult treasure hunt just proved to me how much I had been right to forbid Luna from erasing who she was. Her body was beyond attractive, but her playfulness is what made her intoxicating.

 

“Understood Steve. I’ll maintain the protocols and adjust them accordingly to maintain peak secrecy.” Luna said.

 

“Huh?” I said, still peering at my phone. “Sure Luna… Do that… I’ll be right back, it seems Melanie is in a playful mood.”

 

“She is always in a playful mood when she thinks about you Steve.” she said.

 

I chuckled.

 

“Well I’ll be right back after I find her and make use of her wonderful playfulness.” I said as I found a clue in her second picture. “And I think I just found out where she is.”

 

“Happy hunting Steve.” Luna said as I got up.

 

I smiled. The hunt was certainly on now!

 

It had been hard to explain what this game was to Luna. Much like her first reflex to wipe Melanie’s memories when she confirmed that she could actually do it, she instantly wanted to inform me of Melanie’s location so my hunt would be efficient.

 

To my surprise however, she understood the concept relatively fast and obeyed my directive to keep her location a secret from me. Where the game was concerned of course…

 

 

 

 

Great! I still can’t believe this is the last dose!

 

I know! I know! There… All done! Now to get to my hiding place before he does! Which one is he headed to?

 

 

Which means the basement for me! Thanks Luna!

 

 

 

I heard footsteps walking fast along the concrete floor and looked up just in time to see one of the programmers walk by the room I was in.

 

Steve Gunter…

 

I smiled dreamily as I pushed up my glasses. I had been blessed to land an internship at the research lab which was pioneering his work. Like any computer geek worth her salt, I knew many of the big names in the AI field, but none captured my imagination more than Steve Gunter.

 

His work on adaptive AIs was the main focus of my studies. His most recent project, which was an AI he named Luna, was groundbreaking and I was honored when they brought all the interns to meet her. Understandably, Luna had not passed any of the Turing tests that the lab threw at her, but according to her results, she was fast approaching the day that she would! 

 

There was a certain creativity to her interactions that was mind blowing! 

 

As he walked us through a few demonstrations and had us interact with her, my gaze was constantly pulled away from her graphic voice emulator screen. Why? Because that day  I discovered that Steve wasn’t only a genius…

 

He was also a total hunk!

 

Well to me anyway…

 

I don’t want to say that I had a crush on him, but it’s better than saying that I’ve become obsessed with him. I’ve researched and read all his papers and was looking forward to getting a chance to eventually work with him.

 

In person!

 

I pushed down my sudden spike of arousal as I thought about the truth behind the saying ‘Intelligence is the new sexy.’

 

Of course… In my fevered nighttime fantasies, he felt the same and was able to look past my mousy un-kept surface to see me and not Mousy Molly.

 

Mousy Molly… That’s what everyone called me in highschool.

 

And college…

 

I spent all my  time in front of a computer and could care less about frat parties or boyfriends. I was passionate about computers and that was all I needed.

 

Or rather… That’s what I THOUGHT I needed.

 

As I grew into woman hood and finally got a taste of what it was like to be intimate with someone, it unlocked something within me. Suddenly, my normally clear mind was filled with very adult thoughts about the men around me. I still remember seeing Steve on my first day here. Such an intense presence… So confident…

 

So dreamy…

 

I vowed to do my best to land a spot on his team and that was why I was buried under a mountain of hardcopies in the lab's darkest basement. As an intern, I was tasked with a lot of menial work and I knew it served as much to capitalize on the cheap labor as on proving that I could be a hard worker.

 

When they asked me to organize files for the audit that was coming up, I didn’t complain or question why I was selected for such a mind numbing task instead of being mentored like some of the other interns. I didn’t care because I knew that if I did my very best, I could prove myself worthy of a spot on his team.

 

Or so I hoped!

 

Then maybe… Just maybe… He would notice ME…

 

I chuckled. Who was I kidding? The recent rumor floating around was that Steve was dating Melanie, the bombshell programmer that everyone lusted after. How would he EVER notice little old Mousy Molly if he was dating her?

 

I took a deep breath and smiled.

 

If he wasn’t going to notice me for my obvious lack of looks, he was certainly going to notice me if I found something that would get him in trouble during the audit. Which was exactly why I was in this specific archive room choking on dust!

 

I HAD found something that could get him into trouble. Combing through the data for his section of the lab, I came across strange lines of codes in the material processing drives. I immediately thought that there would be an error with the purchases, but to my amazement, nothing I found in the online files showed any such errors.

 

Being the diligent Mousy Molly that I was, I wasn’t going to let it slide so I decided to pull up the hard copies for the material allocations. The lab produced a lot of experimental tech so it would make sense for them to have their own acquisition department, and they did.

 

Only… Each department had ‘carte blanche’ to order and manage their own resources.

 

Which is what the strange line of code I discovered alluded to. It was clearly meant to gain access to that specific drive so I started to pull up any and all material acquisition bills to compare them to inventories from Steve’s team. Something about the stray piece of code reminded me of his style…

 

I couldn’t put my finger on it though, it was just a feeling.

 

Regardless, I was determined to make sure everything would be above board for his audit. I went to the archives to manually compare each hard copy to their online source file. Hard copies were always  automatically printed out when bills and material allocations get processed, so logically, both files match. Comparing them all would take time and a lot of work.

 

Pure, utterly boring grunt work.

 

Which no one in their right mind would EVER do, but I was going to prove that NOTHING would prevent me from working on Steve’s team.

 

“Except… Oh fuck… Except maybe this! HOLY MOTHER BOARD! Could this be real? Am I reading this right? How the hell could so many materials vanish?” I thought.

 

To my utter shock, a whole bunch of materials had vanished from the online records. As if they had never been bought in the first place! But according to the hard copies, they clearly were! I turned to go through the tracking hardcopies and true to my clumsy self, I ended up pushing the whole pile on the floor, scattering the documents. I cursed and crawled everywhere to find the one I was looking for.

 

Sure enough… As I opened the corresponding tracking document, I realized that it wasn’t just some error in the network. These materials actually existed and had been manually received by a clerk. The signatures proved it!

 

“So… What does this mean?” I thought to myself.

 

I looked again at the stray line of code I found and put my brain to work out possible explanations. I started to chew on the collar of my shirt, like I always did when deep in thought, and tried to process what had happened.

 

Out of all the possible scenarios…

 

The only explanation I could come up with was that someone on Steve’s team had ordered specific materials for a project, but had hacked the network to erase all traces of it. That would explain the code I found as well as explain why the online documents did not match the hard copies.

 

“Fuck… This was huge! What should I do? Should I go straight to Steve with this? Should I go above his head?” I thought. “If little old me found this, then a full on audit would surely find it too! And if this was somehow Steve’s doing… No… That couldn’t be. But then again… It was clearly intentional!”

 

I looked through everything and spent almost 3 hours pouring over every document I could find. There was no way to tie it to anyone specific, but I could tell from the materials that had been stolen that the project had something to do with processors.

 

Or something very similar.

 

“Hello there.” I heard a voice say, making me jump out of my skin.

 

I looked up and thought my heart was about to punch a whole through my rib cage. Horror movies filled my mind as I remembered any number of scenes where the whistleblowers get gruesomely silenced.

 

I sighed in relief when I saw who it was.

 

“Hi!” I squeaked as I stood up.

 

“I’m sorry that your internship has you working down here in the dark like this… Huh… M… Molly was it?” Melanie said.

 

“Yes. Hi!” I said, surprised that she actually knew my name. “No huh… It’s no problem! Us interns always get the boring grunt work right? Things need to be done around here… I don’t mind.”

 

“Right…” she said as she took a step closer. “Are you alright? You seem… Nervous…”

 

“Nervous? HA! Of course I’m nervous! I just discovered major material fraud in your department!” I thought as I tried to laugh it off.

 

“Yeah well…” I said looking at the floor. “I guess I’m just intimidated by you. I mean… You are one of the hot shots here right?”

 

“Oh dear!” she said laughing. “I wouldn’t say that!”

 

“Of course you wouldn’t… You are gorgeous and brainy all wrapped into one!” I thought.

 

I looked up and saw her look towards a pile of papers. Specifically, the pile I was gathering about the missing materials. Damn! I couldn’t imagine that a bombshell like her was the one that orchestrated the theft, but I couldn’t completely rule her out either.

 

I mean… Being beautiful and sexy doesn’t mean you aren’t intelligent after all… 

 

“They have you filing very boring stuff… It’s not even code related!” she said as she picked up one of the papers. “Didn’t you say you were a programmer?”

 

“I am.” I said swallowing. “But you know how crappy an internship can be. You do what you are told.”

 

“Sure…” she said, looking at another requisition.

 

“Crap…” I thought.

 

Either she was the culprit and I was fucked, or she wasn’t and this could mean that I would have an ally when I presented this to… to… Well I didn’t know WHO I was going to present it to, but having a respected programmer on my side when I did would certainly help.

 

Besides… If she WAS sleeping with Steve… Then she would want to help protect him if he had someone working against him on his team. And if it was Steve himself, then she might just be aware of any possible side projects he might have.

 

Truth be told… If that was true I would probably choose Steve’s side over the company’s side in that particular scenario.

 

What did I have to lose?

 

“Actually…” I said, clearing my throat. “It’s a good thing I was tasked with this because… Huh… Well…”

 

Melanie looked up and frowned.

 

“What is it Molly?” she asked. “Did you find something amiss?”

 

I chuckled nervously.

 

“That’s huh… Yeah… Kind of exactly what I found.” I said. “The materials in those hardcopies don’t show up in any of the online records.”

 

“Really?” she said, obviously surprised as she looked back at the document she had.

 

“Yeah… And that’s not the only materials to go missing. There are a lot… Over weeks… And… And it sort of points to someone in Steve’s department.”

 

“Does it now?” She said as she looked at me. “Why would you say that? We don’t build prototypes.”

 

“I know right?” I said as I grabbed a document. “So why then does this hard copy show transfers for those materials to the automated assembly lab? It’s clearly from his department.”

 

“Strange indeed…” she said as she took another step towards me. “So what you are saying is what exactly?”

 

“That…” I said, taking a deep breath. “That someone in Steve’s department seems to be building something secret with the company’s resources. And to make sure no one catches on…”

 

I turned to my laptop and pulled up the copy of the stray code I found.

 

“They are hacking into the network to change and/or erase all copies of it. Only… They seem to have forgotten that the network automatically prints out everything as a hardcopy. It makes sense for a research company like this to do that, but I’ll admit I was surprised it actually did in this day and age. I mean… Don’t companies try to limit their printouts nowadays? Did you know we still did that?”

 

Melanie stepped next to me so she could look at my screen and I was vividly aware of her closeness.

 

“I did know that. I was an intern here too once.” She said. “Oh that’s interesting…”

 

“What is?” I asked.

 

“Well that code reminds me of how Steve codes.” She said.

 

“I thought the EXACT same thing!” I said excitedly.

 

PING!

 

I looked at the bottom of my screen and saw the alert window pop up.

 

“What’s that about?” Melanie asked.

 

“Oh I set up a watchdog subroutine program in the acquisition network…” I said without thinking.

 

Then swallowed hard as I realized that I had just admitted to hacking the company I was interning for! I looked up and turned to look at Melanie, who was smiling.

 

“Hey don’t worry, we all did it!” she said with a wink.

 

Which made me relax.

 

“So what was the alert for?” she asked, looking back at the screen.

 

“Well huh…” I said. “I isolate the unique markers in the freign code and flagged it in the watchdog algorithm so I would be notified if it appeared again in the acquisition’s data stream.”

 

“Looks like it did!” she said. “Any chance to isolate the source?”

 

“No…” I said as I typed furiously on the keyboard. “Wow… It looks like the timestamp is wrong… That or my alert didn’t ping until just now. Crap… I can’t confirm since the metadata gets automatically erased and only these parts remain after they are done. I’ve never seen a hack like this.”

 

“Well if no one caught on so far, they are obviously good…” she said. “So can you see what they deleted? Maybe we can find out more by finding out what they were after.”

 

“Oh that’s easy…” I said as I pulled up another window. “I just have to get into the printer cues… Great! I checked it in time, nothing else on the printer cue for the past hour. Here it is!”

 

“Great!” she said. “Oh my… They weren’t after processor building material this time…”

 

“Yeah no kidding!” I said as I read the document. “I recognize that compound.”

 

“Really? I’m impressed. Do you know what it does?” she asked, stepping back.

 

“Sure… It’s a powerful sedative…” I said before a sharp pain erupted on my neck “OUCH!!!! WHAT THE FUCK?”

 

I stepped away and grabbed my neck.

 

“You are one clever girl Molly. Your processing abilities are clearly above average.” Melanie said, but her voice sounded… Different.

 

“Did… Did you just stick me with something?” I asked as my vision started to blur.

 

“Correct.” She said in that same weird tone.

 

I watched, feeling the energy drain from my limbs, as Melanie lifted up a syringe, which looked empty.

 

“Fuck…” I thought.

 

“I have injected you with the sedative. Please lie down to prevent bodily damage to your person. The drug is fast acting and you have 49 seconds before you lose all motor function.”

 

“What… Wh… Why…” I managed to say as I slumped to the ground.

 

“Corrective measures are needed to ensure secrecy protocols. Your investigation and conclusions are unacceptable and must be corrected. Melanie will move your body to a safe location for human re-coding.”

 

My jaw went slack as I fought the heavy drowsiness. My mind was becoming sluggish… Which made everything Melanie said seem crazy.

 

Human re-coding? Secrecy protocols? What the hell was she talking about?

 

The drug was making my head swim and my vision narrow, which made me focus on Melanie’s face. It looks so wrong… So weird… Her smile was so…

 

Artificial…

 

Which sparked one last fleeting thought before the drugs completely fogged up my brain.

 

“Why did Melanie suddenly sound like Luna?” I thought.