Suddenly Benny appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame. "How are you feeling this morning?", he asked.
"If only I could feel normal", X-424 replied and rolled the covers off to reveal the rest of her awesome body. She was lean and lush at the same time with smooth skin, bouncy breasts, a lovely tight ass, and muscles. Benny loved every square inch of her, from her toes up her legs to her butt to her back to those breasts, and especially to her face with her deep brown eyes. Sometimes at night her entire iris looked like a hole big enough to swallow Benny body and soul. She already had both though, of that she was sure. Benny's face lost a bit of its luster after her reply to his question so she padded over on bare feet against the cool floor to kiss him softly. "I'm going to take a shower", she said and started towards the bathroom. Benny watched her walking away realizing just how special that woman was.
Under the hot water X-424 didn't feel very special or very fortunate. It was only in her dreams that she could remember who she had been. Kristen had been far from perfect, but she'd been happy and loved. That hurt the worst. Kristen had a loving family that kept with her even after her tragic fall from grace, but now she couldn't even remember their faces. It was all for the better though. Femme soldiers didn't have families. They didn't have names. They just had numbers and orders. Kristen was just an echo anyway. She'd long since given up hope of ever fully regaining who she had been. She was better off than her sister Femmes though. As far as she could tell not one of them had a trace of their former selves inside them, not even a sliver. X-424 was different. She could fight the programming, defy it was more accurate. She remembered things that had been supposedly erased from her mind, and she could think on her own.
That was most dangerous thing for the scientists. Benny trusted them, but X-424 didn't. She scared Benny's chief scientist Dr. Jeffrey Long all the way to his tiny little core. A self aware Femme was about the worst thing that could happen in his world short of the Earth exploding. He'd rather his wife sleep with another man than have to lay awake at night thinking about what a Femme like X-424 could do. But there were no other Femmes like her, so he was determined to 'fix' the broken Femme. While Dr. Long told Benny that he was working on a way to remove the programming from X-424's brain, in reality he was working on some way to reinforce it, to destroy the kernel of self that was left behind the first time Kristen had been killed.
X-424 didn't tell Benny though. She just bided her time, and every once in a while sneaked into the laboratory to read Dr. Long's progress. He really was a brilliant man, and even she couldn't understand all of what he was doing. In her former life Kristen had been smart, like genius level smart, but this was beyond her experience or education. She'd lied when she told Dr. Long that she knew everything to know about making a super soldier. In reality her late night break-ins to his laboratory were teaching her, but it wouldn't be enough. She needed help, and wasn't quite sure where to find it. She couldn't tell Benny. He'd probably have all the scientists murdered. He might feel bad, maybe even cry a little about having to kill Dr. Long. They were friends, but deep down Benny wasn't a nice man or even a good man. He was a ruthless one who wanted what he wanted, and at the moment he wanted X-424. She wasn't sure how she'd feel about him if she could feel about him. He had his charms, and to be sort of slightly built, he was a tiger in bed. That almost made X-424 smile. She shut off the water and started drying her hair. She put all those thoughts to the side. The situation with Dr. Long would come to a head eventually, but not today.
Benny waited in the kitchen. X-424 was fully dressed by the time she joined him at the table. Her hair was brushed over one shoulder and her face was neutral as she looked down at the bacon and eggs. She started eating without being prompted, which was actually normal. As chemically enhanced as Femme Soldiers were, they still needed nutrients to live. Most Femmes got them in the form of shots and liquids because they couldn't appreciate taste anyway. X-424 could in as far as differentiating between bacon and eggs, but she couldn't tell anyone what they actually 'tasted' like.
"We've got a busy day ahead of us", Benny announced while downing some coffee. "My friend Malcolm is getting restless that his captured Men might start talking and give up this place. He thinks that I can find out where they are being held and then help him assault the location to free them."
"Morgen Stern has a contact in the FBI. I'm sure with enough cajoling Mr. Stern can find that information out", X-424 replied.
"Morgen's gone out of the country. Back home to the Fatherland if rumors are true", Benny said then sighed. "He shut his phones off and can't be reached. That wouldn't be a problem if not for the poison in the strength serum that we gave to Malcolm and his Men. They'll be dead in a couple of weeks if we don't give them another dose."
"It was built into the serum to be a security measure. Seems to me that's what it is."
Benny shook his head. "That sounded good to Malcolm in theory, but in practice he's not that interested in sitting on his hands while several of his loyal subjects die. I couldn't find them earlier, but I think I can now. And I won't need Morgen's help for this anyway."
Benny and X-424 both knew that Benny's organization had the power to wipe Malcolm and his group off the face of the earth and do it quickly. That would of course solve one problem only to create another. Benny would be seen as a disloyal piece of shit within the underworld, and if a man can't or won't do business then he's as good as dead no matter how strong his army is.
After breakfast, Benny, with X-424 at his side, went to the lab. Dr. Long wasn't there, but his chief deputy was. He was the oldest man in the room, probably pushing his mid 50's. "How's progress coming on that formula Mr. Stern brought us?"
"Slowly", came the reply. "We have some pretty good computers, but not as good as the ones that Jason Mallster was going to order before the raid. These just don't have the umph to crunch the numbers fast enough."
Benny nodded. Computers were his expertise and while these were very capable machines they weren't new and they weren't top of the line. Unlike the former leader of the North American Syndicate, Benny didn't have a legitimate front company to funnel money from. Money was coming in now since Benny had taken time to organize several online schemes and had gotten the Syndicate into shady stock market trading. It was enough to pay the bills, but it wasn't enough to get them a fifth of the budget they used to have. Everybody was working on a shoestring, and the pinch was being felt from the top of the organization to the bottom.
"Don't focus on it too much", Benny said. "Morgen has other resources. We'll keep our focus on getting our new recruits brought to Series 4.7 status."
The deputy sighed. "We've been working on that, but some of the mental protocols won't take, sir. Women are just more receptive to that programming. The Femmes can act like normal people when they are ordered to, but that won't happen with men. They're always stiff and unnatural."
Benny nodded then gave the man a pat on the back. "Just keep working on it. We're in no hurry." X-424 felt like she could exhale once they left the lab. She hated that place. They walked across the whole of the complex to get to the area where Malcolm and his Men of the Revolution lived. It was dingier and darker than Benny's side, and messy too. Benny hated clutter and untidiness. Malcolm kept his suite neat, but the rest of the area looked like a frat house.
"Benny, my friend", Malcolm called and stepped out of his door. "Come to have a chat?" Benny nodded and made his way past the boxes of food and bottles of beer to the suite. Inside sweet smelling incense burned and the sounds of Coltrane's saxophone came from the stereo speakers.
"You didn't bring that fine ass sista with you this time", Malcolm said after looking at X-424.
"No, X-417's working with a friend of mine."
"That blond haired guy? I guess he's got a taste for dark meat too", Malcolm said then sat down in a cushy chair, inviting Benny to do the same. He already knew that X-424 would prefer to stand.
"How can I help you?", Malcolm asked as if nothing at all was troubling his mind. He was wary of X-424 though, and she noticed. He wasn't quite afraid of her because she hadn't given him any reason to be, but he knew that she was more than the others. She'd negotiated, and those damned super soldiers weren't supposed to be able to do that. She kept quiet this time though.
"No, old friend it's me who's here to help you. I know your captured men are languishing and I think I know a way to find out where they are."
"You have my full attention." Malcolm sat forward and put his elbows on his knees before lacing his fingers like he was about to pray.
"Your men would be showing symptoms by now, and if the doctors have half a brain they'll prescribe a very specialized medication to them. It will help, but it won't cure them."
"So it'll just prolong their suffering", Malcolm asked, unable to keep all the anger and frustration out of his tone.
"No, it will give us a beacon. You see most hospitals, even big ones, don't keep that stuff on site unless they had a reason. They'll have to order it. All I have to do is snoop around, do a little hacking, and see which hospital has ordered some. Then we might be able to track your men down."
Malcolm smiled now. "You might be the smartest son of a bitch I know. Let me know when you're ready to go. I'll have my Men ready at a moment's notice."
"I don't think it'll be a big job", Benny said with a raised hand. "More like a black ops mission. The less noise we make, the better our chance at survival."
Malcolm nodded and sat back in his seat. "If that's the way, then that's the way. But don't shun us on purpose."
"I wouldn't think of it", Benny said with a frown on his face. "It's just that your men are a mallet and sometimes you need a needle."
Benny stood up to leave when a huge noise made him flinch. "What in the world?"
Malcolm looked embarrassed. "My guys are trying to expand into the next section of building, but there's some stuff in the way. I don't discourage them though. That strength serum makes them antsy and this gives them a chance to work that energy off."
When Benny and X-424 were out of the suite they were about to head back to Benny's apartments, but he turned the other way instead. He felt like adult having to look in on his neighbor's kids to make sure they didn't break something or hurt themselves. When they turned a corner, they looked across a wide hallway to a huge set of wooden double doors that had been large enough to allow a rail car to fit inside. A dozen or more of Malcolm's Men were standing around the door watching another group of guys struggling to do something or other. The group parted as Benny stepped forward to see.
Four of the guys were trying to move a steam stamping machine that had been stored in what used to be cavernous poultry pens. The double doors were open, but this piece of equipment choked off the entrance way. There were enough enhanced men to move even that bulky piece of steel, but only three or four of them could fit in the enclosed space at any one time. There was plenty of sweat and curses to go around, but no progress. Benny grinned and their efforts and tapped X-424 on the shoulder. Her face showed no reaction to what Benny wanted her to do. He just stood there and watched. He loved looking at her muscles work, and they were about to work hard. Benny already felt his hormones rising like a tide. If not for all the men around them, he'd fuck X-424 right then and there, hell despite the men standing around he might fuck X-424.
She shooed the men out of the way and looked at the machine carefully. They'd all been trying to lift the thing from its base, but X-424 had another idea. She jumped straight up. Normally it would have been odd to see a woman sore until her hands were more than twelve feet above the ground, but X-424 was no normal woman. She got a grip on the dusty, spider web covered top and got her balance before leaning backwards and letting go with her right hand. She extended her arm through the doorway and put had palm flat against the wide door's thick lintel. She took a couple of breaths before her face set in that Femme stare. Her eyes burned though. Everything she had left was stored in her gaze, although no one looked at her face. When X-424 curled her right arm the biceps rose up like they could have curled the entire building. Dust shook from the wall and massive supports gave a groan as they absorbed a load like a foot of packed snow on the roof.
Over the neckline of her shirt her pecs gathered and the separation down her sternum was cratered with muscle tissue and striations. Cords stood out on her neck even as her biceps continued to flew higher and higher. The veins on her shoulder and arm looked like a road map. Then that huge machine began to topple. For the men who'd tried to move it, this was a defeat. She did alone what four of them couldn't. The top sped up the more she curled her arm until gravity took over. X-424 ducked her head as the top of the machine cleared the top of the door. She spun and held tightly as the top of the machine sped towards the ground. Everyone thought that she'd jump out of the way and let the machine fall to the concrete. She didn't. She put her hands on the side and let it fall. When her shoes hit the ground she bent her knees and flexed her quads so hard that her pants stretched. Then her core tightened and finally both her arms. When all that weight hit her arms, her body flexed with mind numbing hardness for a split second. She took all that force and contained it, her muscles jumping beneath her skin until she relaxed.
Benny felt himself harden at the sight. He felt so hard that he might bust out the front of his jeans. She was so powerful and so damned pretty, maybe the prettiest woman he'd ever seen. There were others, and quickly his mind cut to the last of his would-be rape victims. He caught her coming out of the gym and she'd been gorgeous, but she wasn't his.
She wrapped her arm around the top like a woman holding on to a bull's neck. X-424 leaned forward and pulled. The floor shook as the massive base scrapped and bounced twelve feet behind her. She gathered herself and gave another pull. This time her shirt caught under her elbow and raised up, showing the unreal cuts of her serratus and abs as she spun her body. Every Femme was a specimen, but even amongst them X-424 was special. Every eye was on her as she gave another pull. This one put her directly in front of one of the men who'd been trying to move this monster machine.
"I think you guys can take it from here", she began, her voice not hardly winded and her tone verifying her superiority. Two men had to hold the top of the machine after she let it go, but now that it was mostly through the doorway all fifteen guys could work to move it.
Benny wrapped his arms around her shoulders and then guided her hand to his crotch. "You were impressive", he whispered in her ear.
X-424 didn't move her hand from where Benny had placed it. She just looked up and smiled. "From the feel of it, I must have been very impressive."
Benny took most of the next day finding medical networks to break into. X-424 just stood behind him while he worked. He could stay at it for hours upon hours, but X-424 never really got tired, not like a normal person did. She just got a warning from the preservation protocol telling her that she needed to rest her muscles. She ignored that warning though and learned while she watched. She figured that Benny must have just thought in code. She reasoned that she was just as good at math at he was, and perhaps even a little better since her formal education had continued past the level where his had stopped. She could remember the fact that she went to university, and when she was dreaming she could even remember scenes from the classroom. She couldn't remember her major though, or why she was so good at math. All she knew was that she was. She had a lot to learn about programming though, but Benny seemed like a pretty good teacher.
Finally he had it. The hospital security wasn't very good and after half an hour of leisurely hacking, Benny went off to inform Malcolm of the success. While Benny was gone, X-424 sat behind the terminal and snooped around. She planned to test some of the skills that she'd learned and started with something simple. The hospital was a local one, and she decided to crack the firewall and see who was admitted there. It only took ten minutes to get the roll, and somewhere way down inside, she felt a thrill of triumph. She scrolled past name after name taking them in, but realizing that none of them meant anything to her until she came to the K's. Moira Kelly was in the hospital.
A few weeks earlier she'd fought Dr. Kelly, but it surely wasn't X-424's fault that she was in that hospital. In truth Moira was getting the better of that duel, mostly because X-424 didn't want to hurt her. Even still, Moira Kelly was extremely strong, stronger than any of the Femmes by a considerable margin. She wondered who or what could have put her in the hospital. While X-424 was curious as about Moira's condition there were some other thoughts that interested her more.
Doctor Dan Horowitz was the man who ten years earlier had created the technology that led to the creation of super soldiers. X-424 wasn't sure if Horowitz had been working for Jason Mallster or if his formulas and techniques for controlling and reprogramming a human brain had been cooped by Benny's predecessor. Either way he was the man who knew more about programming the human mind than anybody else. Which lead X-424 back to Moira Kelly.
While she was an excellent chemist, it was the fact that she dated Ian Brooster that made X-424 stop and focus on her name. Dr. Brooster worked for the Warrmer Institute which meant that he had access to Dan Horowitz. In some ways it was a long shot, but how long a shot was it to think that a boyfriend would be near his girlfriend when she was in the hospital? The wheels of X-424's mind started turning.
She covered her tracks and stood up from the desk. She walked down the hall and retrieved several notebooks and a box of pens from the closet. She shut herself inside the room Benny had set up for her use. Usually X-424 went there when she was having a hard time dealing with her super soldier programming. Sometimes she became a little out of control and she went in there to keep from accidentally hurting Benny. He wouldn't come into the room if she'd closed the door. That was a signal between the two of them. He would get suspicious if she stayed in there too long, so X-424 knew that she'd have to work quickly.
She sat cross legged on the floor with the first notebook sitting open on the floor in front of her. She bent down and started writing only to stop after three words. A powerful déjà-vu hit her and she smiled, not a forced Femme smile but a real one, Kristen's smile. This was how she always worked. That posture was how she'd written term papers, read books, or teen gossip mags back when she'd been a regular person. This was just a little bit of her true self breaking through all the crap that had been forced inside her head. The smile went away after a few seconds because she really didn't have time to reminisce. She wrote every single character Dr. Long had written while working on his new formula. She didn't forget anything or leave anything out. He'd been working on this way to 'fix' X-424 for weeks, but she had only a few hours to transcribe it all. She filled the front and back of the first notebook and went to the second. When it was filled, she started in on the third. She knew before long the little warning would sound saying that she needed to rest her right hand. One of those asshole programmers should have put in a code to allow the Femmes to be ambidextrous, but that little advantage must have slipped their minds.
She heard Benny back in his apartment, but he didn't bother her. He went to his computer. X-424 knew that was good because behind his bank of four monitors he lost all track of time. She'd probably have to remind him to eat dinner. She smiled again. This time though she wasn't sure why.
In the end eleven notebooks lay piled together, full front to back. She'd run through several pens and all of them had blood smeared on them from her fingers. When she looked at what she'd done, she realized that as a normal person she'd have never been able to accomplish this. She might have been able to remember it all, but she couldn't have written it all down this quickly. But as she stood up and shook out her exhausted hand, she decided that this skill was one she'd gladly sacrifice just to become herself again.
She arrayed the notebooks under the mattress of the cot in the room. When she was sure that any casual look wouldn't show any evidence of anything, she gathered up the pens, put them in the corner and walked out. She glanced at the clock although her programming told her exactly what time it was in all 24 time zones. "Would you like me to cook dinner?", she asked and Benny looked up and smiled.
"Nope." He jumped out of his seat and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Get dressed in something nice. We're going out to dinner." That was rare enough. Even if Benny had faked his death and had some fairly successful plastic surgery done, he still didn't feel comfortable out and about. When he did go out though, he jumped in with both feet. It was a long drive into Atlanta, but once there he took her to Redwine's Steakhouse. It had only been open for a few weeks and finding a table there any night of the week was a challenge, but Benny was nothing if not resourceful. Benny ordered a fillet while X-424 ordered lobster tails and a New York strip.
"Will you be able to enjoy this properly?", Benny asked while they were halfway through their meal.
"I enjoy you bringing me here", she replied truthfully.
"I mean the food. This steak is divine."
She smiled. "I can taste, but not appreciate it. I can tonight if you deactivate me", she said which got a sigh from Benny. He wanted to make love tonight and X-424 knew it. She didn't really want to. He'd already humped her bones after she'd moved that stamping machine. He was always randy, but enough was enough. She knew he'd turn her off when it was time to sleep, and then she'd get a chance to dream and live, if only for a little while.
Turned out that only one of Malcolm's Men was in the hospital. Roderick was a local kid who had joined Malcolm's Revolution shortly after high school. He was still young and not a great prize to have back in the fold. If only one was there Benny had wished that it would have been Max, one of Malcolm's chief lieutenants, but Roderick it was. This was mostly a symbolic gesture anyway, which was why Benny was personally going on this little rescue mission. Jean, Benny's second in command, wanted to go in his boss' place, but Benny was insistent. Over the last few weeks he decided to keep Malcolm and his men close, and instead of eliminating them he'd try to vassalize them. He wasn't sure if such ideologically driven men could be bent to his will. They had no way to know that that was their only chance to survive.
Benny had hacked into the hospital's security system and now he, Jean, and X-424 sat around a large flat screen watching the same feed as the guards in the hospital security office. "Okay, Darling, you have to get to the 7th floor and inside this room by 5:37 pm. The roving security guard will be on the floor above and they'll be in the midst of tray recovery from supper. You can easily slip in and switch out the vials. Just remember that at 5:40 the nurse is going to go in and set up her medicine tray. That tainted vial has to be in place by then or we're sunk", Benny slowed his words near the end to emphasize them, needlessly. X-424 understood how important it was to have the vial in place. Without it Malcolm's Man wouldn't go into cardiac arrest and wouldn't be taken to the morgue. The entire plan would fold up before it could even begin.
"It'll take some time for that dose to take effect, but you won't have too much time. After you switch the vials you have to make it to this elevator, the rear most in the building. The camera there is down and won't be fixed for two more days. You have to follow this route to get to the side of the building before the roving security patrol comes through." Benny waited for X-424 to nod before he continued.
"The docs and nurses will probably work on Roderick for several minutes before pronouncing him dead. I'll already be on the lowest level across from the morgue. There's one man down there most of the time. There aren't many cameras down there, but I see him go in and not come out so he's there doing something. I won't have to worry about him though. I just have to get close enough to inject the strength serum into him. Now when he comes to, I'm going to lead him to this rear exit here."
He looked up at X-424 again. "You have to get this door open. It has a time lock. I won't be able to open it, and I can't count on Roderick having the strength to do it quickly. Once we get out, Roderick goes with you because he might need to be carried. You can do that better than me. Once you're clear, Jean will be in a van to pick you up first. I'll walk a ways before I get in the van. So does anyone have any questions?" There were no raised hands, so the next day this little mission was a go.
That morning X-424 chose some clothes to blend in at the hospital. They were loose, but not overly baggy. She chose some glasses and a bland hat to sit atop the wig she wore. She also carried a book bag to look like a student. Benny was looking at the security feeds while X-424 stepped behind him and went into her special room. She didn't completely close the door because Benny would have noticed that. While she was in there she pulled the notebooks one by one from under the thin mattress and placed them neatly in the bag. She looked around once, hoping that Benny didn't happen to stick his head in. There were still three notebooks left when she heard the chair squeak. The hollow sound of Benny's steps got closer. She left the last three books under there and stuffed the bag under the cot before sitting on it.
"You okay?", he asked, sticking his head in the door before she'd even settled on the bed.
"I'm fine. Just thinking. Trying to see if there is anything we missed", she lied. It turned out that the blank Femme stare actually helped with that.
He smiled and headed to the bedroom. He had a dose of medicine to take before the jump off. Benny was normally unhinged, but having his particular mental issue properly medicated had allowed him to accomplish all this. He'd come a long way since his days as a deranged murdering rapist. While he was away, X-424 went to her knees and put the last three notebooks inside the bag and walked out. She zipped up and slung the bag over her shoulder. It was time to go.
The two of them entered the hospital at the same time. They didn't acknowledge each other and once inside Benny went to the left and X-424 to the right. She went straight for the elevators and Benny to the restroom, not because he had to use it, but because he had everything timed to the second. He expected X-424 to head to the 7th floor to complete the first leg of her mission, but she pushed the button for the 5th floor unknown to him. When the doors opened she quickly looked at the room number signs. She went straight ahead then to the right. Moira's room was still being guarded by an Atlanta cop, but X-424 had a plan for that. She put on a big smile and pulled her glasses down her nose just enough to seem like the slutty co-ed.
"I'm one of Dr. Kelly's former students. I was on vacation when I heard she was here, I just want to stop in and say hello", X-424 said while batting her lashes and giving too long looks at the cop who was actually sort of cute.
"You'll have to sign in."
"No problem", X-424 agreed cheerfully and signed a name that she completely made up on the spot. He stepped to the side and she opened the door. X-424 couldn't have been more fortunate. Moira Kelly and Ian Brooster were in the room with no other guests. Ian sat up when the door opened. His thick wavy brown hard was combed mostly back. His face showed some stubble. He hadn't slept much, but his grey eyes were keen. X-424 closed the door behind her.
"Please listen because I only have 3 minutes and 12 seconds to convince you both to help me."
"Who are you?", Ian asked, rising from his chair. He wasn't a threat to X-424 alone, but fighting the person she was begging for help wouldn't be a good idea.
X-424 looked over at Moira. If she decided to fight, things could get problematic. Moira's strawberry blond hair was gathered into a pony tail. There were still bruises on her beautiful face and welts on her arms. From the way she moved when she pushed up to her elbows, there had to be more injuries under that hospital gown. X-424 looked back to Ian.
"I am a person who has been turned into a weapon by some very bad men", X-424 replied.
"She's one of those super soldiers", Moira told her fiancé. "Get out!", Moira nearly yelled.
X-424 opened her bag which caused a moment of tension until she pulled out the first notebook. "They erase every single memory in your brain and then reuse the space to cram in lots of programming. Those like me can't think, or do anything without orders", X-424 spoke quickly, almost desperately.
"Wait a damned minute!", Moira began and sat up in her bed. Her baby blue eyes flared angrily and her muscles tightened when she recognized. "You were the woman I fought at the Warrmer Institute."
"The very same", X-424 admitted and Moira looked towards the door. "Please don't call the police officer in. I'd have to hurt him, and I don't want to do that."
Ian frowned and scratched the back of his head. "I thought everything was erased. How can you have wants?" X-424 couldn't smile just yet even if Ian was nibbling at her bate.
"I don't know how. I'm different. All the others are completely wiped out. I've learned to overpower my programming. It's a constant struggle to counter it, but I'm doing it now. I have somewhere else to be. My master demands my assistance with his task, but I had to come here and beg you to help me. I want this torture to end."
"You beat her up pretty bad", Ian said, reminding himself who he was talking to.
"I got the worst of that fight. You cracked some of my ribs. I could have fought harder, but I didn't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to be the person I was. It's taken me months to be able to verbalize those wishes, and it hurts me tremendously to say those words but it's true." Sweat rolled down her forehead and her skin was flushing while she spoke.
"Let me see that notebook", Ian said and held out a hand. He flipped a few pages and read quickly. "I would have thought that implants would have been used to complete the transformation."
X-424 almost couldn't believe that this was working. "Implants show up on body scans, makes it too hard for us to travel. They use various chemicals measured out to the micron. Humans are analog creatures after all.
"One of the scientists, the one in charge, he knows I'm not like the others and he wants to repair the damage, to erase what little of me is still left. This is his work to that end, but it details the entire process from beginning to end… everything it takes to turn a person into a mindless soldier. It'll strengthen the grip on any future solders, and it'll kill me… all over again."
Ian looked up from the notebook and wore his researcher's face. She'd seen it when she'd infiltrated the Warrmer Institute. "This is interesting reading, and your story is sad, but I don't see how either one of us can help you."
"You know the man who created this technology. You work with him."
Ian and Moira looked at each other. "Who?"
"Doctor Dan Horowitz."
Ian gasped, but Moira didn't look too surprised. Ian had told her that Dan Horowitz had gone on the run with his family for months. The man had been attacked where he'd been hiding in Preston County, West Virginia. Some local woman had saved he and his family from certain death. The details were completely sketchy, but it was true that Horowitz had been hiding from somebody. It would stand to reason that he'd been hiding from Jason Mallster. Now that Mallster was dead he was conveniently back at Warrmer.
"Lay those notebooks down on the table over there. We'll give them a once over", Ian said and Moira looked ready to smack him. He put a hand to her shoulder to calm her. It only calmed her on the outside. "I won't make any promises at all, but how can I contact you if something happens to your benefit?
X-424 froze. She hadn't thought of that. She was so desperate that she just wanted to get to this point. Part of her didn't think it would work, so she hadn't planned far enough into the future. "I'll get in contact with you", she replied as if that had been her plan all along. Ian nodded and X-424 spilled all the notebooks onto the table and went to the linen shelf. She took a fresh sheet and stuffed in the bag to replace the shape of the notebooks, then she rushed to the door, but stopped. "Thank you", she remembered to say.
"Don't thank us", Moira spat in her direction, but it didn't seem to dampen the Femme's spirits. She walked out and the door closed. Moira didn't even take time to exhale in relief. She looked up at her fiancé. "I can't believe you agreed to what she wanted."
"It's fascinating. Here look." He held out the first notebook and Moira pushed his hand away.
"I don't want to see it! Why in the world would I want to look at anything that… that thing would give me?"
Ian sighed and gave his future wife one of his trademark grins. "Do you remember how we met?" Her face broke into a hundred pieces and her resistance melted like an ice cube in the Mojave.
X-424 ran up the stairs as fast as her super power legs could, which was incredibly fast. It just wasn't fast enough. When she entered the hall on the 7th floor, she saw the cops on her right and the nurse with the medicine tray to her left. The nurse looked all business as she entered the room of her first patient. The stark terror of failure sent her programming into a frenzy, but her mind adapted. She put her left hand into her pocket and felt the vial. She pulled it out, but kept it hidden in her palm. X-424 started towards her left, pretending to be looking for something. She wouldn't let doubts creep in because this had to work, or Benny's plan and her own would crumble. She had to do this for her own sake.
X-424 walked slowly enough to not reach the patient's door until a few seconds before the nurse came back out. The nurse turned to her right without even looking and walked directly into X-424 who jumped back then forward to keep the tray steady on the nurse's hand.
"I am so sorry", the both said at the same time.
"No it was my fault", the nurse drawled and regained her composure. She looked at the tray and there were a few things shaken, but not dropped.
"I'm still sorry", X-424 said with a
smile and walked past the
nurse holding the proper vial in her left hand. The switch had been
clumsy by espionage or magician standards, but there was enough
commotion where no one would have noticed it. X-424 continued down the
hall for a ways before getting in an elevator. It hadn't gone to plan,
but Benny would never have to know that. It was his turn to perform now
anyway. X-424 had done her part. As she walked around to the back of
the hospital she just hoped that her own scheme bore fruit.
X-424 waited in the bushes squatting down like a baseball catcher looking through the dry branches at the back of the hospital. Her mental timer said that by now Roderick's 'body' had been brought down to the morgue and Benny was already on the way to revive him. She looked up when headlights turned the corner and headed her way. A big box truck slowed then came to a stop right across from her, in front of the door. The driver switched on the dome light and read for a minute or two before to X-424's horror, shutting off the engine and getting out. She watched him walk down the alley a ways before turning a corner and going out of sight. A moment later she heard his boots scuff up some stairs then the bang of a fire rated door closing.
It was early, but X-424 jumped over the dormant hedges and approached the truck. The right side of the truck was almost touching the side of the building. The driver probably thought he was being courteous by leaving room for cars to pass his parked truck. All he did was make problems for X-424. She couldn't reach the door and even if she could have it would have only opened wide enough for a squirrel to escape. Benny would be stuck inside the hospital. There was no question as to what she had to do.
She ran to the back of the truck, hoping that it was empty, but a quick glance at the rear suspension told her otherwise. Her muscles were about to get a workout. She grabbed the thick rear bumper and squatted once again. She filled her lungs, then lifted. The weight bore down on her shoulders and across her back. Her hips and knees were next followed by her ankles and feet. The truck must have been fully damn loaded. Her thighs quivered and her calves protested. They were up to the challenge though. Even before she'd become a Femme, X-424'd had a wonderful body, the body of a world class athlete, and she'd liked it, even admired it on occasion. It was vanity, she knew, but didn't care. She might have loved her legs most of all. The heads of her quads mushroomed as the truck's wheels left the ground. They were so strong and cut and thick. Her calves were muscled knots. She straightened and curled her arms. The front suspension groaned a little as her biceps got into the action. Even partially straight her muscles were big and swollen. She took a step to the left, moving the rear of the truck a few inches from the building. It wasn't nearly enough. She took another breath and then took another step.
The strength coursed through her muscles and a bit of euphoria touched X-424's mind. It was the first time she'd ever gotten pleasure from being so strong. She looked at her arms and curled the end of the truck higher. She didn't have to. She wanted to. Her muscles filled the sleeves of her jacket and then over burdened them. The material stretched until it changed to a lighter color and the stitches started to fail. The sound of that first tearing stitch sent a tingle through X-424's body. She let out a moan and raised the truck higher. Her biceps peak burst through the top of the sleeve like an island first emerging from the sea. It kept rising higher and growing thicker until she had the rear of the truck all the way to her chest.
She took another step to her left then another. She wanted to take one more step, but the reflection of headlights twinkled off the truck's mirrors. She barely saw it. She lowered her arms knowing she couldn't just drop the truck. The damage would arouse suspicion and Benny wanted to avoid that at all cost. The negative burn of her lowering the curled truck made X-424 bite her bottom lip a little. She felt herself getting turned on. Those headlights were getting closer. X-424 looked down and then looked back. When she saw the front of the white painted security car, she dropped the truck the last seven inches to the ground. Its shocks screamed in protest and bounced up and down. She put a hand to the rear of the vehicle as the security car stopped right behind her with its green flashing lights on. She leaned against the truck's bumper like any normal person might have done, but her single arm was putting out so much force that she absorbed the power of the truck's beefy shocks and stopped the bouncing all together. If the security guard had been really, really keen he might have seen her muscles flex titanium hard through her torn sleeve.
"Are you driving this truck?", the security guard asked because he had to, but knew the answer before X-424 even replied, "No."
The guard walked around the truck a little. "What idiot would park his truck like this?"
X-424 shrugged. The back end of the truck was in the middle of the driveway while the cab was still right next to the building. "I don't know. I was heading to the parking garage and saw this truck. I usually leave this way cause it's easier to make the turn onto that busy street."
"Did you see the driver?"
"He must have gone into the hospital", X-424 replied innocently then realized that Benny was going to be at that door in less than a minute. She had to get rid of the security guard one way or another. He wasn't a real cop, but the gun in his holster was real enough. While a simple pistol wouldn't cause her serious harm, it could to Benny. The programming ordered X-424 to knock out the security guard and drag him to his vehicle. Instead she waited. The security guard looked inside the cab, found what he was looking for then looked at X-424. "I think I know where he is. I'll get this damned thing moved." She smiled at him and watched as he jogged towards the same door the truck driver had entered. That meant she probably had even less time. Maybe the security guard would catch the driver on his way out and they'd walk back out together and catch X-424 in the act. She'd have to chance it.
She ran to the front bumper and lifted. As big as the diesel engine was, it wasn't as heavy as the load in the back. This wasn't even a challenge for X-424's muscles. They ate up the weight. She only flexed her body hard to feel the pleasure flow through her again. She stepped the truck away from the building, then realized that it was time.
She balanced the front of the truck with one hand and reached her other hand towards the door. She worked her fingers into the space between the tamper plate and door frame then pulled. Her muscles were already pumped and barely swelled as she defeated the locking mechanism. Two bolts sheared off inside the wall, and her muscles still barely felt their resistance. There were two more clicks and the door opened.
Benny and Roderick came rushing out. Roderick wanted to go with Benny but he pointed to X-424. Roderick ran to stand next to the Femme as put the front end back where it had been. That driver had caused a little headache for her and it was only fair that she cause a little one for him with hospital security. She took Roderick by the shoulder and led him away. Not two minutes later they were in the van. Ten minutes later they picked up Benny headed out of town. While Roderick was jubilant, X-424 was worried. She'd betrayed the only man who seemed to care for her all, and had thrown her fate into the hands of two people she didn't know at all. The worry could have eaten her alive, but she pushed it away. X-424 didn't have regrets, and every act has consequences. She'd take these consequences good, or bad.
She shouldn't have worried. Moira and Ian were looking at her notebooks. They could have simply thrown them away or even worse called the cops, but they'd done neither. Researchers were by nature curious, and that was the first trait that Moira and her fiancée had realized that they had in common. They had something new in their hands and they couldn't pass that up.
"Oh wow, look at this", Moira exclaimed and held the book over so Ian could read.
"This is heavy, Honey. I mean some Mengele stuff."
"No", Moira said shaking her head. "He only wishes he could have used some of these procedures. The tech didn't exist then, but I'm sure he'd have approved. Of that I have no doubt."
The two scientist lovers were silent for a few minutes until Ian closed the notebook he was reading. "So, are we going to help her?", he asked.
"No", Moira uttered to his complete surprise. "We're going to help all of them. All of the ones who've been destroyed like this."
"How do you think I should approach
Dan?", Ian asked.
"You shouldn't. He might just run again. You can do one of two things the way I see it. You can either snoop around and see what he has on his computer, or you can go Dr. Warrmer himself."
Ian sat quiet for a time looked up. "Maybe I'll do some combination of both."
That night at the Syndicate headquarters Benny didn't have to make the first move. X-424 was still horny from earlier in the night and her muscles were still pumped up like ripe fruit. She lifted Benny by his belt and carried him to the bedroom. He felt all along her muscles before she threw him to the bed. She tore her clothes off her body and stood naked before him, like a masterful piece of art. Benny was already fully aroused and when she climbed on the bed, X-424 showed him just how excited she was. Much later that night Benny and X-424 lay on the bed next to each other, Benny on his side, snoring softly, and X-424 on her back looking off into the darkness. Benny had satisfied her like only a man who's always horny could have. She'd tired him out though. He'd been at the ragged edge of his stamina, but he'd pleased her. That was all she could have asked for. Her mind slowly drifted away from pleasure though. Her problems were never very far from her thoughts and they came back to visit.
Malcolm and his men were throwing a party in honor of Roderick's safe return. The sounds were barely audible through the immensity of the building, but X-424 heard them as did all the other super soldiers. Benny was happy to have helped his friend with a small problem, but X-424's issues were bigger than Malcolm's. In the end, he might go to prison, but he'd already been there before. He could also end up dead, permanently dead. He wouldn't have to go through the torture that X-424 endured. She didn't want to feel sorry for herself though. She just knew that she had to focus on herself.
Benny was sweet and treated her like a queen, but was he really interested in helping her? Even their sex earlier in the night has been as much for him as it was for her. She would have to look out for herself if she planned to have a chance to escape this with her life.
Suddenly Benny raised his head and looked at X-424's face. In the low light he couldn't make out much, but her enhanced eyes saw him smile. "Series 4.7f, number X-424 proceed to offline mode", Benny muttered with sleep hanging on his every word. The programming recognized the voice and all at once it started shutting down, clearing her mind. In a few short seconds it was off completely, allowing Kristen to come alive again. The dreams started and the memories emerged from their deep hiding places. X-424 smiled. Maybe Benny was trying to help after all.
comments and criticisms welcome: dem2@hotmail.com