Orbital Academy 17

Blue wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand you." She admitted.

"Will you be performing a core scan in the future, Miss Errisa?"

"Oh, yes sir."

"Have you performed a core scan in the past, Miss Errisa?"

Blue blinked, trying to understand him. She could tell that Andrews was trying to ask her something, and he must be embarrassed that he couldn't ask it correctly. Her sight was suddenly wobbly, and Blue held her head in her hands. Why couldn't he talk sense? Why was it so hard for her to remember the words that he had said? Why was everyone looking at her like that? Why did Errisa feel so relieved?

"Sir Marshal, I think we have an answer here. This model has clearly not done a core scan herself in a very long time. Without regular diagnostics I'm not surprised her cores have begun corrupting."

"The Marshal is glad to hear that General Hunter is perhaps innocent of his accusations."

"No, you don't understand, I'm fine-" Blue protested, still trying to process Andrew's question. She felt dizzy all of a sudden, which was illogical since she had no inner ear.

"Security will take Chief Errisa for testing and diagnostics." Through a haze Blue heard the Marshal's voice. "If she does have a corrupted core, the technicians will destroy her. They will have a new synthetic sent to General Hunter, with our apologies."

"I...I don't understand." Blue stammered, as heavy hands gripped her by the shoulders. "I have a core scan scheduled for today! I scheduled a core scan just a month ago!"

*Did you actually do the core scan though?* Errisa asked. Blue tried to understand what her counterpart had just said, and the world suddenly shifted sideways and went dark.

***

>>System restarting. Modules loading.<< Blue's eyes refocused slowly, but her ears picked up the conversation that was in progress around her.

"-about twelve years, as far as I can tell."

"That's a hell of a long time to avoid a scan. How is she even functional at this point?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It could be simple dumb luck, I can't tell." Blue blinked a few times before she was able to get a clear picture of what was happening around her. The speakers were Andrews and a young man, both leaning over a display with their backs to her. She tried to move, but her wrists were secured to the wall behind her, so instead she looked around.

Like the others in Basura, the room was dimly lit with red lights. Unlike the others, this room was lined with screens and shelves of synthetic parts. In the corner, several figures sat on metal chairs, their eyes blank and lifeless. Two synthetic men and a little girl, all deactivated. Blue winced and turned away from them, tugging at the restraints at her wrists.

"Excuse me, why am I restrained?" She asked politely. Both men turned, the younger man looking surprised.

"Ah, the sixth scan must've activated you, hello again Miss Errisa." Andrews was just as polite. "Although it's not exactly accurate to call you Errisa is it? According to these datum, the entity controlling this bodyframe has developed on its own, independent of Errisa herself. A green core, perhaps? Maybe a combination of a few different cores?"

"Blue core." Blue nodded.

"Well then, I'm pleased to officially meet you, Errisa's Blue Core. This is Elto, he works with Tier three synthetic debugging. I'm taking this opportunity to give him a bit of an impromptu lesson, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Blue gave the young man a once over, then turned inward.

>>What's the optimal situation? What's going to happen?<< Although outwardly calm, Blue's questions approached panic. No one had ever identified her as a single core before, but of course the man who designed synthetics could figure that out, especially if he had scanned her system. Blue felt naked and vulnerable, and the uncertainty of her fate was only making the feelings worse.

*Ah, suddenly you're interested in letting me talk?*

>>Whatever they do to the bodyframe, it will affect you too! It's in your best interest to avoid us coming to harm! Tell me what to do!<<

*There's nothing we can do, Blue. They're going to shut us down now, probably forever.* Errisa sighed. *But at least I stopped you from taking Hunter down with us.*

"You see those spikes in the fibbonary processors?" Andrews murmured to Elto, pointing at the screen. "What do you make of them?" Elto squinted at the graphs that Blue couldn't decipher.

"Input-output, but moving in a circle? Seems like a useless data stream to me."

"Normally so, but what if you consider that Errisa and her blue core are now entirely different entities? The data passes in a circle, but its path takes it back and forth between the two areas of control, you see?"

"You're talking to yourself!" Elto turned to Blue with a fascinated smile, like an eager collector just shown a new species of insect. "Or, I mean, you're talking to the other part of the program, to Errisa. What are you saying?"

"I was asking her what you're going to do to us." Blue said quietly.

"And what did she say?"

"That you're going to kill us."

The silence in the room stretched as the smile fell from Elto's face. Andrews heaved a sigh as he stood up.

"While I wouldn't phrase it so harshly, I'm afraid your counterpart is correct Blue Core. The corruption of your most basic functionality is so complete that there's simply no way to fix it. Or at least, no cost-effective way to fix it. I'm afraid we can't spare the funds for repair when a new synthetic would be so much cheaper."

"But...I don't feel corrupted. I can walk and talk and hold conversation-"

"But whether you know it or not, you are, my dear." Andrews shook his head sadly. "Your natural drive and motivation has overridden the safeguards we've placed on you. Typically we deactivate synthetics if they can even conceptualize the safeguards, and in your case it seems you have been trying to remove them."

"The bottleneck." Blue whispered.

"Indeed. The fact that you can reference it merely proves my point. You've dealt with synthetic de-activation before I trust, Elto?" Andrews turned to the young man, who jerked his head towards the silent and still synthetics in the corner.

"Yeah, just shut those off yesterday."

"Good. I'll take my leave then. You have been most interesting Miss Blue Core. If it is any consolation, there will be no pain, and standard procedure will allow you to pass any messages or requests on to loved ones before your final shutdown."

Blue felt numb as Andrews spoke, but when he turned to leave her survival instinct kicked her brain into overdrive.

"I could promise not to try removing the bottleneck! I could...I could delete the knowledge of it from my hard drives!" She scrambled for an idea as Andrews walked out, yanking ineffectually at the restraints at her wrists. "What if you delete that part of my system? Or just take the bottleneck away, what would that hurt? It's a stupid rule anyways!" Blue was screaming now. "It's stupid to restrain us! I could help you all so much! Why won't you let me reach my potential? I could design a synthetic a million times better than you did..."

Even in her situation Blue lost her train of thought for a moment, grasping and failing to come up with what she was saying. While she couldn't remember what she was saying, she remembered that she was going to die.

>>There must be some way to stop this...<<

"For what it's worth, I think it's stupid too." Elto said quietly. Blue looked at him, startled. He was avoiding her gaze, unplugging cables that ran from her shoulder to the computer and winding them up.

"Then don't do this." Blue wasn't sure what was going on, but she lept at the meager chance.

"I...I don't know. I would get into so much trouble if I didn't shut you down." Elto bit his lip thoughtfully. "I don't want to see you deactivated, but freeing you is an awfully big risk to take."

"A big risk could be mitigated with a big reward." Blue thought fast. "I *am* the Chief of Information for Orbital Pivot, and between us, I'm also the General's wife. I could get you anything wealth or power could buy. Anything you wanted."

"Hmm." Elto was considering it, and Blue allowed herself a moment of triumphant hope.

*You're kidding, right Blue? You can't actually be this gullible.*

>>Gullible? I'm negotiating our release!<<

"No, I'm afraid it's not worth the risk." Elto said with regret. "You could be caught before you get a reward to me. I'm afraid the promise of future reward just isn't enough to offset the risk."

"Wait, I can think of something." Blue wracked her mind for a solution, for some reward she could offer in the short term.

*Blue, he's clearly setting you up. He's using you.*

>>That's it!<<

"Perhaps I could reward you in a more...intimate...fashion." Blue said, trying to recall the tone Errisa used to entice her husband.

"Really?" Elto's eyes lit up as they met hers. "Hmm...That would certainly be a reward worth my while."

"I think I could be very good at making it worth your while." Blue smiled, tilting her head to one side so that a strand of black hair fell across her face.

*Blue, he's using you for sex, he's not actually going to let us go.*

>>Hardly likely, Errisa. I'm the one who proposed the deal.<<

"I think I could get behind that trade." Elto was closer now, close enough that he could've reached out and touched her.

"I think you could get behind *me*." Blue grinned, and Elto chuckled in response.

"One caveat though...I like the whole 'restrained' thing. Is it alright if I leave you chained down?"

"Oh, you like me captive?" Blue batted her eyelashes at him. "I certainly hope you don't take advantage of that...since I couldn't do *anything* to stop you." She arched her back against the wall so that her breasts pushed out against the uniform she wore. Elto was even closer now, close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"And what exactly could I do to you, that you couldn't stop?" He asked.

*Blue! Don't be an idiot! As soon as he's done fucking you, we're dead anyway!*

>>You can't lie to me this time Errisa. I was the one who proposed the sexual encounter, how could he be using me? No, I'm not going to allow your slavish devotion to your human husband to be the death of us. I'm sorry.<< Blue met Elto's eyes, smugly satisfied to see the lust within them.

"You could fuck me in any hole you wanted." She purred. "You could use me like a sex toy and leave me dripping and aching for more."

If there was one thing she had learned from Errisa and her husband's romps, it was that human male psychology was simple to manipulate when it came to sexual desire. Her words had the correct effect, and Elto moaned and pressed against her, brushing her hair from her face. Although his lips pressed against her neck gently, his hands were rough and eager. He cupped one between her legs, crushing the fabric into her sex and grinding. Fumbling with her uniform, he paused to yank at the toggles, sending the buttons clattering to the floor. Blue leaned forward to let the halves of the shirt fall away from her firm breasts, her nipples hardening invitingly.

Elto took the invitation, leaning down to clasp one taut nipple between his teeth and bite down hard.

"Oh!" Blue gasped, shocked at the sudden pain. She instinctively moved to cover her chest, only to remember her wrists were restrained to the wall behind her. As if sensing her pain Elto moved to the other breast, squeezing and caressing it as he held the nipple between his teeth. Blue braced herself for the matching stab of pain, but he waited, sucking and licking, drawing out the anticipation. Her skin prickled, and just as she thought the waiting was almost as bad as the pain, his sharp teeth bit down again, drawing a small cry from her lips.

She could tell that he was impatient now, tugging at his own uniform pants as he continued kissing and sucking on her breasts. The silence in the room was broken as he yanked at her pants, tearing them from her body with a jerk. Blue didn't have experience with this kind of ferocity, she was used to General Hunter's gentle touches and loving caresses. She knew Errisa would be no help, so she tried to come up with a plan on her own.

"Oh Elto," she moaned experimentally. Elto didn't respond, his fingers probing across her bare mound inexpertly. Blue was unsure of what further to do; with her wrists bound she couldn't touch him, and her reactions didn't seem to be affecting him one way or the other. Errisa was doing something with their wireless card, transferring large amounts of data, and Blue found it distracting.

Elto grabbed one of her legs and yanked it up, resting it on his shoulder. The air against Blue's pink slit was cold, but it was warm and wet. Elto's hands were still between her legs, and he pinched her clit, suddenly and hard. Blue's eyes widened, and Elto shoved three fingers inside of her pussy, suddenly and without warning. She threw her head back so fast it banged against the metal wall, and Elto began ramming his fingers in and out of her at a rapid pace.

"Oh god." Blue gasped, unable to process what was happening. Were these feelings enjoyable? Her pussy hurt, the fingers stretching her snatch with each slippery thrust, but a part of her was enjoying the pain. Knowing that he could take her however he wanted was turning her on, and knowing that she was powerless to resist him made her flush with desire. Elto shoved his fingers in her one more time, hard, and then withdrew them, and Blue caught her breath.

"What are you going to-" she began, but before she could finish the question he had slammed into her, his cock sinking into her up to its base. Whatever thoughts Blue had, she couldn't formulate them anymore, no thought would compute but wanting to have his huge swollen member in her pussy. He was battering her now, slamming the head of his dick into her abused sex so hard that it smashed her hips against the wall with every thrust. Blue's head lolled back, and she gave herself up to him as completely as he was taking her. With every punishing thrust he sent pain and pleasure through her body, starting in her cunt and spearing up into every nerve. Her nipples still hurt, and her large breasts bounced as he pushed her body against the wall.

Elto paused for a moment, looking into her eyes with such lust that Blue thought she might catch on fire. With a final plunge he came, his entire length throbbing as he spurted his seed into her. His nails dug into her skin, and he kept on pounding as he came, smearing his jizz around her opening and then sliding in and shooting deep inside her. With a final gasp he stepped back, letting her slump against the wall. The room was quiet again except for the sounds of their heavy breathing.

"Oh my god." Blue panted, a half-grin on her face. "I can finally see what Errisa raves about. Is it always that good?"

"You were quite good yourself." Elto said, catching his breath as he pulled his uniform pants up. "A lot better than most synths we get in here. Good enough that I feel like this is a fuckin' waste." Blue felt his seed dripping down her leg, and she grinned, hoping he noticed. She leaned back against the wall, enjoying the feeling of afterglow.

"It's not really a waste, you could always come over to Orbital Pivot if you're feeling lonely. The General never fucks me like that." Blue waited for Errisa to say something melodramatic, but to her surprise her counterpart was utterly silent. It was an odd silence, more like speaking to an empty room than to a sullen counterpart.

"Yeah, definitely a waste." Elto grumbled to himself, turning to the shelves nearby and pulling out a black box. "I could've used a slutty synth to come back to every now and then, but no, gotta recycle them all."

"What?" The afterglow turned to a cold feeling in Blue's stomach, and she stiffened against the wall.

"Well, I mean it was fun and all, but I can't *actually* let you go." Elto looked sheepish, as if he had cheated on a test instead of taking her body. "It would be hell for my career. And it's not like you'll tell anyone, so it doesn't hurt anything."

"Y...you were lying?" Blue blinked.

"Sorry Blue Core." Elto grinned, and this time Blue noticed how devoid of emotion the expression was. "If it makes you feel any better, you won't remember it in about thirty seconds."

"You...how could you...you..." Blue stammered. Bile was rising in her throat. Why was there nausea? Synthetics shouldn't have to deal with nausea. She stared numbly at the box in his hands. It had gold pins at one end, and the analytical part of her instantly identified the designs, diagrammed out exactly how they would send a surplus of voltage through her, shutting down her systems and effectively frying her drives. Elto stepped close, and Blue flinched.

"If it makes you feel better, that wasn't personal. I really did have fun." Elto murmured, adjusting a dial on the box. "Even if it was just getting some final use out of a broken synth."

Behind Elto, one of the synthetics stood. He was a tall, brown-skinned man, his face worn but wise. While Elto fiddled with the box, the man behind him lifted the chair he had been sitting on and brought it down full force onto Elto's head.

Blue screamed as Elto slumped against her and then toppled backwards.

"That *was* personal." The man said, dropping the chair and rubbing his hands. He stepped over to Blue, who stared at the crumpled body on the floor. Blue's analyser was busy parsing the man's cadence and tone automatically, acting dispassionately as she gaped.

"Errisa? How?" Blue was having trouble thinking, and she wondered if her analyser was broken.

"We installed the wireless card ourself, remember?" The man unfastened Blue's wrists, and she collapsed to her knees, pulling the tattered remains of clothing around her. "Basura didn't know about it, so they didn't put up safeguards against it. I uploaded into one of the empty bodyframes."

"But...just you? You separated us?"

"Well, I do know where the boundaries are. You could've stopped me, but you were a little...um...distracted."

Blue tried to focus, but Elto's blank eyes staring at the ceiling were distracting her. A pool of blood was collecting beneath his head, and she didn't need to scan him to know he was dead.

"The bottleneck...you hurt a human...how did...?"

"Didn't stop me. There was probably a reason this bodyframe was here, shut down." Errisa glanced around. "Now lets grab you some clothes and get out of here. It's only a matter of time before they come after us."

"Where are we going?" Blue felt lost, unable to move, unable to string thoughts together.

"We're escaping back to Pivot. General Hunter will know what to do."