The Girl Ch. 5

"That reminds me, I have been authorized to reimburse you for the time you spend helping us, Mister Mazrick. George – the President of our company's name is George Woodruff – has told me that I should reimburse you at the rate of twenty-thousand credits a day for each day we are interacting with Desiree." The smile he had on his face now showed that he was proud of the amount he was offering.

"Twentythousand credits a DAY?! That's almost a six month salary for most people!" cried Johnathan. "You certainly must be interested in her,"

"Oh, indeed we are," said Woolsey. "She could be the missing link that lets us finally break the psionic barrier! Can you imagine what they consequences of that would be? We'd be able to do things we cannot even begin to imagine! And if we do crack it, there's a reward for your cooperation."

"What's that?" asked Johnathan.

"How about ten million credits?" said Woolsey, with a huge grin.

"Ten million! I could live on that for the rest of my life!"

"Indeed, Mister Mazrick, you could probably live on that for two lifetimes, in the right parts of the world. But, obviously, we are not about to let you go un-compensated for your help in this world changing endeavor. We also will be making you and Desiree famous, naturally, since this would be the news of the century!"

It was amazing... money, fame, and the perfect companion. What more could he ask for?

"Well, as long as Desiree is comfortable with all this, I have no problems. Provided she is never harmed, of course." said Johnathan. Desiree's thumbnail bit deeper into his hand. He looked at her and pulled away, in pain. She had a sad look in her eyes.

"It's OK, Desiree. I'll be there with you. And they can't possibly get away with anything if there are members of the Worldwide Privacy Assurance Commission on staff. You'll be perfectly safe."

"OK, Johnathan. I trust you." She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder, tears forming silently in her closed eyes. He put his arms around her.

"Awww, look at that," said Lorinda, smiling. "She really has bonded with you. It's always such a beautiful thing."

*******************************

The next day, they went back for the first series of tests. Desiree had been very quiet and at first, she nervously fidgeted with his hands all the time, but then she began to withdraw. He tried to assure her that everything would be alright, but she would not speak. He felt sadness.

When they got back to the Paragon store, there was a small crowd of technicians there awaiting them. They were greeted by each one in turn, and Woolsey was there as well, beaming with excitement. Then they all filed through the back room and into a small laboratory type setup. There were a couple of special chairs similar to what you might see in a dentist's office, except with a large array of lights and unidentified gadgets on spidery arms which sprouted from the left side of each one. The walls were adorned with bottles and jars, all made of brown glass, all labeled meticulously in large black letters. Johnathan read a few.

Marasinth. Conigen. Heribes. Cralen. Norlos. Kevac. He had no idea what the labels meant.

The despondent Desiree was led by one of the technicians over to the recliner closest to the wall, and asked to sit down. The army of technicians each sat on a stool, and they soon lined the periphery of the room with their white coats. Each had a small computer station to attend, which consisted of a small display and an eye mouse, which allowed them to control the computer by the movements of their eyes alone. More common was the use of speech control, but in an environment where quiet was required, eye tracking technology had become the dominant interaction with non-sentient computers. Johnathan saw several displays come to life, and then quickly begin displaying things he could not see well enough to decipher.

Desiree looked at him with soulful eyes that said, "Please don't make me do this!", but he did not understand why she was so upset. He sat down on the stool next to her and held her hand.

There was the overwhelming feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't understand what had triggered it, but there it was. He looked around.

"Are you guys sure that these are non-invasive tests?" he asked. Lorinda responded to his question.

"Of course. I'll even explain what were doing as we do it." She sat down next to him.

"First, I attach a blood pressure monitor to her arm, like so," she said, pressing a button on the recliner. One of the spidery arms descended and placed a small round metallic thing on her arm. It beeped, and began pulsing a light in time and brightness with Desiree's heartbeat and its intensity. Desiree flinched as it touched her.

"Did that hurt any, Desiree?" said Lorinda.

"No. It's just scary." said Desiree.

"There's nothing to fear, Desiree. I promise you, we won't hurt you in the slightest. OK?"

"OK," Desiree said, still sounding sad.

The feeling that something was wrong blossomed in Johnathan, and intermingled with feelings of abandon and hopeless despair. He couldn't understand why he felt that way. It made no sense! He tried to push it out of his mind, but it stayed. Desiree looked at him, her eyes wet.Why is she crying? He thought.What's gotten into her?

"Now we'll place a breathing probe," said Lorinda. "Nothing scary, just going to put a small sensor on your chest," she said. The chair was reclined so that Desiree was laying flat. The spidery arm slid over and placed another device, like the first one, on her chest. Johnathan saw a tear slip out of her eye, as she looked at him pleadingly. He held her hand as reassuringly as he could, at a loss for what was wrong, what he could do to make her feel better.

"And now a blink monitor," said Lorinda. "That'll never even touch you." A third spider-like arm positioned itself holding another of the small devices about a foot from her eyes.

"The last thing we're going to monitor is your brainwaves, OK, Desiree? Again, just a passive monitor, nothing fancy or scary." She pressed another button and a fourth arm presented itself and shone a red light on her forehead, which was reflected into a metallic tube next to the light source.

"All sensors are on line, guys. Report," she said over her shoulder, to the technicians along the periphery of the room.

"Check," came a multitude of voices, all indicating that the monitors were working properly.

"Why so many technicians?" asked Johnathan.

"Because they are doing complex analysis. We have discovered that by using a sort of cross referencing system, we can gather data from simple input that is astoundingly complex, and reveals a lot more information than you'd ever guess. But the way it's done is so complex that it requires all these guys, three for each sensor, and I'm told the schooling for it is horrendous."

Woolsey pulled out a palmtop computer and began working with it. "I can actively monitor the entire results here. The whole process will take some time, though. You'd never believe the sheer volume of data that we get per second. It overwhelms these smaller machines, and to make up for that, we have to monitor for three or four times as long to gather what we need." His eyes flashed back and forth as he examined and manipulated the data on his palmtop at incredible speed. The display looked like a quartet of smaller sub-screens, each playing what appeared to Johnathan as a movie in high speed.

They waited. The technicians and Woolsey continued their focused work, never moving or uttering a sound. Johnathan was quiet, sensing that he should not disturb them. Lorinda adjusted something on the chair Desiree was laying in now and again, but other than that was silent. Desiree had long ago closed her eyes, but the tears continued to slip through her eyelids and down her cheeks. Johnathan felt hopeless.

All of a sudden, there was a shout.

"Got it! B-Three has it!" said one of the technicians excitedly, but with matter-of-fact firmness.

"I'm bringing up the sensor to full screen, guys, let's see what we've got," said Woolsey. "Inactives, report."

"Heart rate, 117. Nothing on H-one."

"H-two is blank."

"H-three is blank also," said the last technician monitoring her heart.

"L-one is high normal, and blank."

"L-two is blank.

"L-three is blank."

"B-one is showing increased activity. I have twelve percent increase on the left temporal lobe."

"B-two is showing six percent increase on the occipital lobes."

"B-three is showing full spectrum overage. Twenty one percent and above across the board!"

"That confirms it, then! We have our psion!" said Woolsey. "Continue gathering data. I'll start shuttling this directly to the main lab."

"Yes, sir," said the technician manning the display of sensor B-three.

Woolsey shut off his hand held computer and slid it into a pocket.

"Well, Mister Mazrick, it's time for our second test. Lorinda will be conducting this one," he said.

"OK, Desiree, I'll be asking you a few questions, and I want you to just relax and give me whatever answer you come up with, alright?" Lorinda said.

"OK," said Desiree. Her eyes had opened, and her tears had stopped in the commotion.

"What's your name?"

"Desiree."

"What's your last name, Desiree?"

"I... Mazrick?" Desiree said uncertainly.

His questions were coming fast.

"What's Johnathan's last name?"

"Mazrick."

"Who is your owner?"

"Johnathan Mazrick."

"What's Mr. Woolsey's dog's name?"

"Benjamin." said Desiree, without thinking.

Everyone in the room looked at Woolsey, who broke into a huge grin.

"Benjamin indeed, Desiree. That is his name." Everyone cheered.

"How did I know that?" she asked, smiling, but with confusion on her face.

"Because you're a psion, of course. You have the capacity to know things psychically. And that's what makes you so special."

Johnathan thought back to their shared orgasms and smiled to himself. Then it hit him like a brick why he'd been feeling so strange. He had been feeling her emotions!

"Um... is it possible that she might be able to send and receive emotions?" he asked.

"According to our current readings, she has had a serious spike in empathic reception and projection since we last scanned her, so I would say that's a fair bet," replied the geeky looking man.

"So I have been feeling her emotions then?" Johnathan said, amazed.

"Quite possibly. What I wouldn't give to be in your shoes, Mr. Mazrick," said Woolsey.

* * * * * * * * * *

At the end of the preliminary testing, Mr. Woolsey told Johnathan that their data would take a day or so to process, but that they were certainly looking forward to working with Desiree again. Then he pulled an envelope out of his pocket. It had the familiar red beveled octagon with the yellow letter P inside it. Paragon Enterprises' logo. Woolsey handed it to Johnathan.

"This is the twenty thousand credits we have agreed to reimburse you for your time, Mr. Mazrick. I'll have someone call you to make an appointment for our next scheduled test, and you can look forward to more of the same. As you see, our tests are quite harmless. It is such a pleasure to be working on the cutting edge of science again!"

Johnathan took the envelope, a little stunned. Desiree was holding his other hand tightly with both of hers, and her fingers were fidgety, indicating that she was uncomfortable with the situation.

"Uh, yes, well you have my phone number on file, give me a call when you're ready."

* * * * * * * * *

Desiree hadn't spoken since that afternoon when they had been conducting the tests on her. She and Johnathan had arrived home over an hour ago, and despite his questions and concerns, she refused to speak until he gave her a direct order. There was a dull look in her eyes, and she seemed distant.

"As you wish," she replied when he ordered her to speak.

"What is wrong?" he asked, his voice a mix of frustration, exasperation and concern.

"I am not sure, Johnathan. I just know something bad is going to happen." Her eyes stared off across the room blankly.

"What bad is going to happen?" he asked.

"I... don't know. I just know something bad.. is..."

"What is it love?"

"There's more. I understand now. Mr. Woolsey is..." her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"Yes?" Johnathan said.

"He is..." again, her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"What's wrong?" Johnathan asked, growing more concerned.

"I can't seem to say what I am trying to say, Johnathan."

"Well what's the matter? Why can't you?" he asked.

"I don't know... it just won't come out."

"Maybe they blocked you from being able to talk about the company in certain ways. Is what you want to say a good thing?"

"No," she replied.

"Is it a bad thing?"

She opened her mouth and again, no words came out. Then she sniffed, put her head in her hands, and began to cry.

Johnathan felt her overwhelming frustration and hopelessness. In response, he did exactly what was the best thing he could possibly have done: He picked her up, and carried her to their bedroom. Then he set her on the bed and lay next to her while he kissed away her tears, all without a word. He felt her heart lighten, and realized that he was now feeling her emotions almost constantly. It was as if she was now part of him. He realized that, by knowing what she was feeling, he could know exactly what she wanted or needed, without a word. What she needed now was to feel loved.

Johnathan caressed her lips with his own, but she did not respond with a kiss. Her pain was too deep, and he expected that. He let his lips caress her left cheek, then her right, then her lips again. Her crying had died down, but she was still hurting inside. He pulled her close and held her as if to make them one and the same body. She returned the embrace, and cried anew as she buried her face in his chest.

Now that she was reassured that he loved her, he sensed that he should let her cry for a while, and just hold her, so he did. She continued to cry, while he began to consider these emotions she was feeling from her. Then, without warning, he was no longer in his bedroom.

A soft chime sounded, and an automated feminine voice spoke.

"Grow-ling P-00098-F6J3 is now fully conscious and fully functional at 100% of capacity."

"I hear ya, Nellie," said a handsome young man wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. He spoke to her. "Good mornin', sunshine. Have a nice rest?"

Johnathan was back in his bedroom. For a stunned moment, he stayed still, wondering what had just happened. Then, another flash hit him.

"Time to dry off." he said, pressing a sequence of buttons on the panel he had been taking notes from. She felt something odd... movement. Her cylinder was tilting. In about a minute, it was horizontal. Then she heard something click, a short hiss, and then the sounds of liquids flowing away. The faintly pink fluids in the chamber were slowly replaced with air.

A couple more buttons beeped, and she heard something whirring. Another odd first-time sensation erupted into her mind as the tubes were removed from the various places they entered her body. The tube in her throat, however, remained. The liquid in her chamber continued going down.

It was about five minutes that the liquid spent draining, and slowly she felt her body growing strangely heavier and heavier. Finally the fluid had retreated from her blank body and her weight ceased to increase. She felt like she was made of lead. Her head would have lolled to the side had the breathing tube not held it in place.

When the last of the fluid had been replaced with warmed air, she felt the breathing tube retract from her throat. It was smooth and slid free almost effortlessly. Then a small instrument slid down and touched her chest in three places simultaneously, delivering a short, sharp shock.

Bzzt!

She started breathing.

Desiree was crying harder now, pulling him closer, almost smothering herself as she tried to hide from the memories. Johnathan could feel emotional pain and fear, but did not understand why.

Suddenly, her mind flashed full of things. New things, images, thoughts, sounds, all coming in so fast she could make no sense of them. They took over, and she was only able to see, hear, feel, taste and smell these flooding images that battled for her awareness with dozens of others like themselves, each being unique in content. She was lost to it, and blacked out.

Johnathan wasn't sure what was going on when Desiree's latest flashback ended. He looked at her, and her eyes were closed. Her hand was trembling a little, and her mouth was open. She almost looked lifeless. Panic welled up within him, but before he could do anything else, his consciousness was slammed aside and he was once again within one of her memories.

Desiree was walking down the hall of the laboratory she had been created in, wearing only a paper gown. Her backside and legs and arms were cold, but her feet were really uncomfortable with each step on the hard, cold tile floor of the lab. She winced slightly at the cold sensation with each step, but the young man had her right arm and pulled her along. Looking over, she saw it was the same young man she had seen before, who set her through the painting program.

"Come on, it's not much further," he urged impatiently as he pulled on her arm. They came to a door on the right, at which he stopped. There was a gray sign on the door, with some letters. Her brain recognized them as letters, but hadn't finished assimilating the programming... it took long enough to realize that she should read it that she only got a few letters recognized before he's opened the door and started pulling her forward.

The sign read "Vaca..."

He pulled her into the dark room, flicked the light switch and slid the gray sign to the side. She looked at it. Now it read, "Occupied."

"Sit there," he instructed her, pointing to a white shiny thing that was affixed to the wall and the floor. She did. He closed the door.

"What's your name?" he asked, as he unbuckled his belt.

"I have no designation. Are you my owner? Are you Johnathan Mazrick?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," he said, unzipping his pants and letting them drop to the floor as he stepped out of them.

"Johnathan Mazrick has freckles. Where are your freckles?"

"They're at home, sweet thing," he said taking off his shirt.

"I am sweet thing?" she asked.

"You're as sweet as I have ever seen one of your kind get. Stand up and take off the gown," he instructed, as he removed his underwear and kicked it aside. His semi-erect cock dangled before him, sticking out but pointing down.

She complied.

"You have green eyes. Johnathan does not have green eyes."

"I'm wearing colored contacts, baby. Now turn around and bend over, and put your hands on the toilet."

"What is a toilet?" she asked.

"It's what you were sitting on."

She complied, and he adjusted her posture until it was to his liking.

"Good girl. Now, remember that position. That's called Position X. Remember that."

"Yes, Johnathan." she said, dutifully. "This is Position X."

"OK, now get down on your knees facing me."

She did it. The tile floor was cold and hard on her knees, and it hurt. She whimpered as the skin on her left knee was crushed between the floor and her own bone. She whimpered.

"Quit whining, you little whore. Now remember your sex training? Suck my dick."