Zodiac v1.01: Quality Control

"How did you know my name?"

Ada realised that Helene wasn't expecting anyone to intrude on her simulation. "Oh, I'm not an NPC. My name is Ada. I'm with the Zodiac team."

Awkward silence. Helene was obviously scanning Ada's profile. "Oh, I see. That's unusual. I didn't think Erik would have found someone else to join me."

"Actually, I'm here to find out what was happening with you. You've been logged into the Zodiac for...six hours."

"Six?!" Helene gasped. "But...how? I...I mean, I was just about to...oh no." She sighed. "I guess I was enjoying myself too much. I didn't mean to. I didn't know that the lock-out was needed so..."

"It's okay, I've done this sort of thing before. We just need to execute the exit command."

Helene shook her head. "Actually, that doesn't work in this simulation."

"What?" Ada stared at Helene. "All Blackh- I mean, Zodiac apps have an inbuilt function to leave at any time."

"Not this one. We let the developer switch the function off for certain parts of the game so that the player would get a true erotic horror experience. It's more exciting when you're really trapped, you know? Though, I guess that kind of backfired."

"What is this place anyway?"

"Ah, you haven't seen the brief? Well, it's a really cool idea. I mean, if you're into this kind of thing. It's a haunted house, and it's occupied by the ghost of the Count. The backstory is that he was a hypersexual maniac who captured women and used them to satisfy his sexual fantasies. The townspeople took up arms and sealed him in his mansion. Now he comes to prey on hapless young women who stumble upon this house, teasing them, drawing them deeper into his mansion, stripping them of their clothes and their dignity."

"Uh huh," Ada nodded. "That's...actually pretty sexy. So, how do we get out?"

"Ah, that's easy. Anything inside the house is a dead zone, so to leave the game, you have to go outside. It's pretty simple."

"That sounds like a terrible design idea," Ada sighed. Before she could continue, she felt a cold hand reached for her buttocks. At the same time, Helene's breasts were grabbed by invisible hands. The women shrieked and slapped away at the wisps of smoke.

"Right, that reminds me," Helene said, looking at the ominous shapes in the smoke. "The spirits in the house are driven by flesh and pleasure. The more naked you are, and the more turned on you are, the harder they go for you. I guess I learned that the hard way. That might be why I've been trapped here without realising it. Say, could I borrow your sweater? I know you're not wearing much, but I can at least ward off these horny hands if I can cover up with something."

Ada nodded and began to take off her sweater. In fact, she had nothing on underneath, and her breasts jiggled free. Just as she was about to hand it over, a sharp wind blew through the room, and a smoky hand grabbed the sweater and threw it into the fire.

"No!" Ada yelled, now covering her chest. "What do we do?"

"Run!" Helene yelled.

Ada dashed out and tried to head down the hallway, but Helene pulled her back. "No! The vines will trap you." Ada looked at the door to see it covered in roots and vines, stretching out towards her. Helene had been through nearly every part of the mansion in her time here and new the hazards well. Groping hands, living ropes, and other things that she'd rather not mention. The mansion was a maze, but Helene seemed to know her way. The floorboards creaked and the paintings seemed to watch them as they hurried through the mansion. They reached the rear-most room of the mansion, with only a door between them and the back garden. Then, all doors around them slammed shut and clicked. They were trapped. The only way out was through the back door, but the lock turned out to be a puzzle.

"Damn," Helene muttered, frustrated at how close they were. "I'm terrible at these puzzles."

Ada, however, was more than used to them. She took one glance and recognise that it was a magic square-type puzzle, with the numbers on the mechanism having to add up to the same figure. "Give me a few minutes. I'll get this open."

"I'm not sure if we have a few minutes," Helene replied. She pointed towards a vent in the corner of the room. It had been slowly filling the room with a mysterious, smoky gas, which was beginning to form a fog along the floor. "I've seen that before. It's the Count's O-gas. It has aphrodisiac qualities that make you aroused until you can't stop masturbating. I was nearly trapped in a room with it."

"Well is there something we can do about it?" Ada asked. "I'm not going to get this puzzle done if I'm fingering myself."

"I need your skirt. We could block the vent, but that won't seal it completely."

"That's all I've got left," Ada replied, slipping it off.

Now they were both naked. She returned to the puzzle while Helene worked on the vent. This would normally be a routine activity, but she was beginning to feel light-headed. Her legs felt shaky, and her nipples felt more sensitive than usual. The wisps of O-gas surrounded her, brushing over her skin and into her nostrils. She held her breath, hoping that she could slow the effects. Helene stood back, watching helplessly as Ada fumbled with the lock. Helene's hands now had a mind of their own, passing over her breasts and crotch, massaging herself. Helene put up a token resistance, but the room was nearly full of O-gas and she was succumbing to its mind-altering stimulation. "Ada, hurry..."

"Nearly..." Ada cursed. The numbers just weren't lining up. She reset the puzzle and tried again. This time she had to get it. The blocks clicked into place; her focus allowing her to turn the wheels with rote precision, even with the gas turning her thoughts away. Just a few more turns and...

"Oh!"

Helene's hands were clasped over Ada's breasts. The sudden proximity and delicate touch shocked Ada out of her concentration, and her resistance to the gas dissipated. She took hold of Helene's wrists, but Helene's gentle caresses made her body shiver with unwanted arousal. Weakly, Ada pulled herself back to the lock, ignoring Helene's fondling. Each turn now felt torturous, as Helene's hands worked at her breasts, then tracing a finger down her stomach towards her pussy, finding the gap between her legs damp and inviting. Ada closed her eyes and moaned as Helene skipped her fingers inside, stroking her with calm, deliberate motions. Helene's breasts were pressed against Ada's back, where she was moving up and down, stimulating herself from Ada's warm body. The fabric in the vent had since fallen out, and the gas was nearly up to their necks. Ada could no longer see the mechanism. Helene turned Ada around and pushed her against the door, forcing herself onto her. She locked her lips over Ada's and explored her mouth with her tongue. Ada pushed back meekly, but her energy was spent in blocking out the creeping arousal. Now Helene had control, and her hands felt around her waist towards her buttons, finding a way into her crack. Helene's hand brushed against something.

Click.

Helene's movements accidentally turned the mechanism's wheel and, by fortune, completed the puzzle Ada had been working on. The door swung open and the gas quickly escaped. The cold outdoor air wakened their senses, and the two women immediately slipped through the door into the garden.

"We did it!" Helene yelled. "Thank god. I could've been trapped in there for days if you hadn't turned up."

"Trust me, you don't want to turn off your default settings again," Ada replied, rubbing her sore breasts. "Now let's get out of here before we have second thoughts."

"Right. Execute exit command."

Helene's avatar stood still. Ada watched. "Uh, you still there?"

"Huh? I...I am? I mean...wait, am I lagging?"

There was a momentary flash of white. This was not uncommon and most users would dismiss it as a glitch. Ada, however, had seen it before, and she felt something very familiar - a sinking feeling.

"Helene! Our feet!"

Helene looked down. The garden soil had transformed into a spongy bog, and they were up their knees. "What? Mud? Quick- oh my god, quicksand? But, we're outside the mansion! How..."

"Helene, I can't explain why, but we can't get out while we're stuck in this pit." Ada tried to hold still, but the unstable soil made it impossible to keep her balance. The women arched their bodies back and forth trying to find equilibrium, but each movement only drove them deeper. "Ugh, we've got to get out!"

"You've been in this before?" Helene asked. "This is a glitch? How did you get out?"

"I waited until the lock-out time activated," Ada replied. "But your lock-out time has been disabled." Ada looked around. She was closer to the edge of the bog. If she acted now, she could work her way out. "Don't move, I have an idea."

"Easy for you to say," Helene said, watching helpless as she sank to her thighs.

Ada took one big step towards the edge. Her leg plunged all the way in. Before she was pulled in, she threw herself forward, landing on her belly and chest. The mud gurgled and bubbled, recoiling from her sudden movement, before quickly moulding around her naked body. She shivered. The O-gas had not fully worn off, and the quicksand's slimy texture sent her erogenous zones into pleasure overdrive. He gritted her teeth and crawled forward. She was aiming for the nearby tree root, but each movement cost her more of her body. The wriggling and squirming forced the mud to caresses her breasts, and each time she paused for breath, her lower body settled deeper, and the mud oozed around her butt cheeks. It was a slow and arduous process, fighting with both her body and mind (at least, the virtual part of them). Her body shook she doubled over, the orgasm hitting her with unexpected intensity. She began to slip back into the bog, but her hand reached the root and slid free of the gulping mud.

"Ada!" Helene shouted. She was already up to her waist.

Ada was already onto it. She rolled onto solid ground and got up onto her feet. She had already spied a bunch of vines hanging off the tree and pulled one free. She tossed one end to Helene. Helene had not yet sunk to the point where struggling was difficult, and within a few minutes her hips were above the surface and she was able to begin trudging through the mud. Helene looked at her rescuer, but her eyes widened.

Before she could call out, Ada was swept off her feet. The vines had come alive and had already wrapped themselves around her feet. Driven by the desperate spirit of the Count, the vines attacked her naked body. She tried to brush them aside, but the vines divided into smaller branches, encircling her body before beginning the squeeze. Her arm was pinned against her chest, leaving her unable to break free. Her struggles only made the vines tighten. If things weren't already bad, one of the vines opened up, releasing a glowing orange pollen that made her eyes blurry. She couldn't avoid inhaling the dust, and the effects were made clear. Her body began to heat up, and she felt herself losing control as the possessed vines ravaged her.

Before the vines could do any worse, she gritted her teeth and pushed herself off the ground. This only made her more entangled, but she managed to roll back into the bog, landing on her back. This was part of her plan.

"Grab the vines!" she yelled between gasps. "Climb out!"

"But..."

"Just do it!"

More vines reached for Ada, pulling her into the bog. Her legs and hips disappeared, and her breasts following moments later. She fought to keep her head and shoulders up. She could see Helene reluctantly pulling herself towards the edge of the garden bog, using the vines as her lifeline. Just as Ada's shoulders disappeared, Helene pulled herself free. Her feet came out with a loud slurp.

"Helene!" Ada yelled, spitting out mud. "Exit command!"

"What about you?" Helene yelled back.

"DO IT!"

The mud covered Ada's ears. She couldn't hear Helene's last words. In the moment before the mud covered her face, she saw Helene's avatar flicker. She was out. Ada took her last breath and her head went under. Everything became black.

* * *

Felix sat at his desk, smiling. He had a good reason to be happy. The Blackhole Project was finally getting recognition from the Zodiac management. It was still a covert operation within the business, but test markets had borne exceptional results. It was still not publicly available, but services were beginning to connect to Zodiac servers, and more people were beginning to experience a whole new universe with the Zodiac. Not only that, the debacle of the Zodiac EU team actually served to highlight the importance of proper research and testing, and there was no better qualified manager than Felix. Zodiac redirected its assets from the Zodiac EU test team to his US-based operation, and now he gained a new tester. He met her at the airport, inducted her first with the official Zodiac team at the main office, and then gave her the clearance to work in the Blackhole branch.

"I'm excited to work with you, Helene," he said. "I hear you've been deeply immersed in our systems."

"It's my pleasure, really," Helene replied with a blush. They both knew that she was testing. Felix handpicked her for the job after the observations and notes he took.

Felix pulled the car into the parking lot and escorted Helene up to the sixth floor. "The company apartments are here. Unlike your operation in Germany, our company works under stricter policies, so we keep all our employees here. You're well looked after, I assure you. Plus, you'll be sharing a room with a very experience team member. I believe you've met before."

The door swung open. She was in a bathrobe, but felt no shame about being immodest to her new guest and roommate.

"Helene," she said, extending her hand.

"Ada," Helene replied, accepting the gesture.

"I'll leave you two to get re-acquainted," Felix said, smiling again. He put the bags down and returned to the office. The women sat down and chattered over a cup of tea.

"We haven't spoken since the incident," Helene started, breaking the ice. "I guess I should thank you. I wasn't sure how I'd feel meeting you in person after all that."

"It's just business," Ada shrugged. "I've been through months of it. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. I knew that my lock-out time was about to activate, so I was safe from the quicksand. I was hoping you would figure out my plan. It was quite a thrill, really. I've never seen anything like the mansion. The European devs really have some talent."

"One thing bothers me though," Helene continued. "We were outside the mansion in a clear zone. Why couldn't I log out of Zodiac?"

Ada sighed. She opened her laptop and showed her an email - not from Felix, but from the top: Zodiac internal security. "That wasn't the first time I've come across it. Now it's a known issue. It's a glitch, and a potentially serious one. Our job for the next few months is to dig deeper and find out what's causing it." She smiled and raised her cup. "Here's to my new project partner."

Helene tapped her cup against Ada's. "Live among the stars."