Through the Looking Glass Ch. 07

"You weren't exactly the epitome of calm when you first saw this," countered Michael as he closed the panel, "so shut your hole."

Foster's smirk disappeared as Mitch shook his head, trying to get a grasp of all of this and failed.

"Why are they doing this?"

Michael ushered the two away from the machine as Foster closed it off in the closet, "We started seeing them about six months ago, and we knew the reason why right from the start. They've had ample opportunity to make more of themselves the past four or so years, but without the right parts and materials to do it they've had to improvise."

He pointed to the screen again, showing close ups of the sentries now rolling away from the building and continuing their search. The close images showed the same coverings on their forms as Otto.

"Raw materials," said Michael in a sickened tone, "That's all we are to them now. They've run out of parts and material to make more sentries so, just like us, they make do with what's available."

"So these things are looking for humans to use them for spare parts?"

Denise answered Mitch's question with, "Not all humans; just men."

Lisa saw the scared look in her eye when she explained it and asked, "What about the women?"

Denise started to shiver, "We don't know what happens to them. We've checked out Otto and found that the human parts in him come from three or four different people, but the organs, the bones... all of it is male. The sentries take everybody they can get their hands on, but only the men are used for parts; we don't know what they do with the women."

"Lately, they've been taking just the women away and leaving the men alone, or killing them if they get in the way," Michael added, "We don't know why."

Mitch rubbed his hand over his brow, and Michael saw the fatigue in his eyes, saying, "There's a lounge in the back. Get some food and rest for awhile; we can talk some more later."

"Wait a minute," Foster interrupted, "you're just going to let them into our group and eat our food because they're friends of yours?"

"Foster," Michael said slowly, his patience with him obviously strained to the breaking point, "these two have more brain power than all of us combined; they can help us. We've got enough food down here to last us another year or two, so I'm not asking you anymore," he got into Foster's face again, an ugly sneer on his lips, "I'm telling you: back... off." He turned back to the scientists, "Go on, rest up."

Mitch and Lisa walked to the back of the basement, knowing Foster's eyes were drilling into their backs, and went into the lounge area. It looked more like a kitchen, with a few chairs and tables off to the side and a long couch pushed into the corner. Lisa found a couple of small water bottles while Mitch picked out a few snack bars from a cupboard, then both of them sat wearily on the sofa.

"Well, what do you think?"

Lisa paused for a minute, then, "Well, we certainly can't just sit around and do nothing. We have to help; they'll expect us to."

Mitch agreed, "I'm not sure what we can do yet, but something will present itself. Maybe I can help them with that signal they're trying to track down."

"That Foster guy doesn't like us very much, does he?"

Mitch grinned at Lisa, "I don't think he likes anybody that much." He reached inside his pack for the recorder and clicked it on...

'April 8- We've left the dimension where the Roman Empire is in control, but we feel that their reign won't last indefinitely. We've discovered that Christianity is once again spreading its words and teachings to the populace, hopefully for the better. It will take some time, but we wish them all the best for a brighter future.'

'But the dimension we're now in is straight out of some kind of futuristic horror story. Machines have taken over, and are determined to stay in power. Humans have been fighting them for years and are on the verge of taking control of the planet again, but the machines won't give up that easily. They are hunting for humans to use as spare parts to keep themselves running, and have destroyed most of the cities of this world to attain that goal.'

'We're here in what's left of our lab building with others who are continuing the fight against the machines; we will help them, if we can. But something about all of this is not right, something I can't figure out. We'll keep looking into it.'

Michael walked in just as Mitch put his recorder away and said, "C'mon, I'll show you around. Lisa, Denise will be here in a minute to show you where you guys can sleep; there are extra rooms down here."

Mitch followed Michael out to the basement hideout while Lisa stayed and relaxed for a moment, thinking about how the machines in this universe managed to take control. She was sure that there must have been an original order from their creators that somehow got scrambled, and made the robots turn against them. Was it because of a glitch in the system? A directive that got re-programmed by mistake? Or did the machines and computers suddenly develop...

She shook her head, knowing that wasn't possible, not with the technology available even in her universe.

The lounge door opened and Lisa stood up, expecting Denise. But she froze when someone else entered.

"So how was Rome?" asked Foster, sauntering over to a table in between him and Lisa.

She scowled at him and muttered, "You were listening in on us?"

"I wouldn't be a good security officer if I hadn't," Foster started rounding the table, "So... you two have been hopping around other dimensions; I thought you were bullshitting me, unless you're writing some sci-fi novel to sell to Hollywood."

"It's complicated," Lisa retorted, "you wouldn't understand it."

"Why? Because I'm not an egghead?" Foster got close to her, slowly draping his eyes over Lisa's body, "If you're pulling something here, I'll make sure you two get... disposed of." His eyes dropped down to her bust line, and he smiled, "You're just the right type: built, soft... sexy..."

He didn't get to finish his description. His head was suddenly jerked back with a hand from behind, and in the other was a blade splayed across his neck.

"Thought you had your eye on me for that, Foster," said Denise in a very menacing voice, "but then again, you already know you're not my type."

"You take a lot of chances, you little dyke," Foster fumed.

"So do you, little man," Denise pressed the blade into his throat, making him flinch, "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

Foster laughed in his throat, "Are you jealous? Do you want her for yourself?" He then grimaced as the blade nicked him.

"You've got a big mouth; one of these days, somebody's going to shut it for you." Denise released him, Foster fingering the new cut on his neck, and added, "Get lost, Foster; she's not interested."

Grousing, Foster left the lounge in a huff leaving the two women alone.

"You'll have to excuse him," said Denise, replacing her knife, "he's a neanderthal, but he's a damn good security officer. He's got instincts and he knows what to look for; must be his F.B.I. training. Hi, I'm Denise."

Lisa shook her hand, "Not exactly a 'people' person, is he."

Denise smirked, "Don't take it personally; he doesn't like anybody."

Lisa snickered, "That's what Mitch said."

They both laughed as Denise walked with Lisa out of the lounge and down a narrow hallway, a few doors here and there breaking up the smooth walls.

"These are where we keep our ordinance," Denise said pointing at the doors, three on each side, "Guns, ammunition, some body armor, and heavy stuff mostly grenades and a few rocket launchers. We can't use the big stuff too often; we've only got so much."

Lisa was guided around a corner of a T-section as Denise continued, "Back that way is where we store the basics: food, clothes, medicine; there's a triage set up at the far end." She then pointed forward, "And here are the private rooms; there's about twenty of them. There about as big as a regular bed room, but they're decent enough places to crash for a couple of hours." She stopped at one with the number '7' on the door and opened it, allowing Lisa to enter first.

The room was big enough for two people, with a big bed, dresser, a stand up locker in the corner and a small table and chairs.

"Each one's got a bathroom," Denise pointed to a small door in the far corner, "sorry there's no bathtub or shower; we use a community shower at the end of the hall. I'll tell Mitch where you are and send him to you when he's done talking with Michael."

"Thank you, Denise," Lisa said with a smile, "and thank you for letting us stay here. Mitch and I have already talked it over; we want to help, if we can."

"We need all the help we can get; thanks," said Denise, returning the smile. Before she walked out, she added, "Oh, one more thing: if you do use the shower, don't be alarmed if someone else walks in to use it, too. We clean up when we can, so we're not shy around here; just go in, do your thing, and ignore anyone else."

Lisa nodded, a slight blush on her cheeks, "I'll remember that; thanks."

Once alone, Lisa sat on the bed and went over some of the things said in the control room, trying to get some kind of a clear picture in her head.

"They were originally built for military use, then used by the police," she muttered to herself, "Then, all of a sudden, they developed an agenda of their own and started taking out humans. But... no, that can't be."

She shook her head, again thinking how that wasn't possible. She knew Mitch would agree with her, already stating that robots and computers can't think for themselves no matter what kind of technology was inside them.

She got up and started pacing the room, ticking off what the machines were doing. The exterminations, the material gathering, the kidnappings...

"They're following some kind of programming," she mumbled, "Somebody gave them their original orders. Did those orders get scrambled somewhere down the line and made them start taking out everyone instead of just the 'enemy'? Or did someone alter the program afterward? The computers and machines couldn't have done it; they can't alter their own programs. Somebody..."

Lisa jumped a bit when Mitch walked into the room, a bundle of rolled up paper under his arm.

"I've talked to Michael," he started, laying the poster size rolls on the table, "I told him we want to help."

"Good," Lisa answered as she helped Mitch unroll the papers and flatten them out, "I told Denise the same, but I'm not sure what we can do."

"This is a good place to start," Mitch pointed to the papers. They were photo image maps of the city, with red dots and circles marking important areas. "Michael copied these from images taken from satellites that are still working. This one shows where all of the hidden bases are and where people are hiding; we're here," he pointed to a circle around what was left of the lab, "the others are scattered along the outskirts of the city."

"How many people are here?"

Mitch shook his head, "There's only about forty in the city. There are hundreds more, but they're far away in the hills and mountains where it's safe. Michael doesn't dare let any more get this close; if those machines see a huge amount of people running around..."

"I know," Lisa finished, her stomach quivering, "What are these other maps?"

Mitch flipped the top one over, exposing the next map, "This one marks all the buildings that have been painted in that white reflective paint; the red ones are hideouts and blinds, the blue ones are fake to throw off the machines," he flipped to the next one, "and this is the one that Michael wanted me to take a good look at."

Lisa stared at the map of the city full of grid lines and markers as Mitch continued, "The circles are where the machines are concentrated, about two or three at a time. And the blues marks are what they seem to be guarding. They're signal towers."

"The machines receive their signals from those?"

"Not specifically, no. These towers transmit the signal and spread it out over a vast area, over the whole city, but the main signal itself..." Mitch shook his head, "They can't get a lock on it; the towers send out the signal and overlap each other. It's too spread out to get a fix on."

"There's got to be a way," said Lisa, perusing the map, "Do the towers receive the signal at the same time?"

"I don't know. Michael has a computerized image of the signal being sent out, but we can't use any computer systems for longer than ten minutes."

Lisa sighed, staring at the red circles and blue dots sprinkled over the map and trying to see some kind of pattern. She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, failing to get a clear picture in her head.

"I can't think straight right now," she said, rubbing her neck, "I can barely wrap my mind around the shit that's happening."

Mitch rubbed at her shoulders and said, "Why don't you go take a shower. Some hot water always relaxes you and helps you think."

She turned and hugged him, "You want to come with me?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes. I want to look these over more carefully; there's something I'm missing here, I'm sure of it."

"Okay." Lisa stripped her clothes off and searched through the locker, finding a big white towel. Wrapping herself in it, she left the room, saying, "Don't be too long," and headed down the corridor to the bath area.

Pushing the swinging doors open, Lisa found an expanse of white-blue tile and benches with shelves lining the walls. A few bottles of soap were here and there along with body wash sponges, and the room was partially filled with steam with water running in the background. Through the dense vapor, Lisa could make out the bodies of two other people and, remembering what Denise said, hung up her towel and ignored them as she made her way to a shower head.

Lisa turned on the water and let the warm liquid run down her body, purring as the heat from the spray eased the tenseness in her shoulders and back. The water matted down her red hair with hot droplets running down her face, and she stood there for a few moments to let the shower engulf her body and let her mind escape from the bizarre dimension she and Mitch were now in. As she started lathering up, one of the other bathers spoke up.

"Oh hi, Lisa."

Lisa turned to see that it was Denise, in the process of soaping up the person she was with under the shower.

"Oh, uh... hi."

"I knew you couldn't say 'no' to a hot shower," Denise grinned, running a sponge over her partner. Lisa raised an eyebrow when she peered through the steam and saw that her shower friend was a woman, someone she didn't recognize, her dirty blonde hair and well toned body drenched in water and suds.

"This is Cynthia," Denise offered, "she runs the cameras and motion sensors for us."

"Hi," she chirped, flashing a winning smile.

"Hello," Lisa smiled back, gazing at Cynthia's beautifully chiseled form, her muscles toned and defined with a set of abs slightly six-packed and a butt that looked as hard as granite, "You look amazing; I wish my body could look that good."

Cynthia grinned, "I wish my body looked like yours and Denise's," she hefted Denise's large boobs in her hands, "Between the two of you, I look like a boy."

Denise just laughed, rubbing suds into Cynthia's small but perky breasts topped with extremely hard nipples, "You've got nothing to worry about; your tits are just right, baby. Michael likes 'em just the way they are." They both giggled as they rinsed the soap from each other, the suds standing out against Denise's dark brown skin, caressing their curves and snuggling close.

Lisa got a confused look, "Oh, you and Michael? I'm sorry, I thought you and Denise were a couple."

Cynthia shook her head, "Oh no, Michael and I are together. Denise and I... well, we like to play every now and then. Denise is bi, and she know how to satisfy a woman when a man isn't available. Michael doesn't mind; in fact," she dramatically paused and leaned over to whisper, "he likes to watch."

That made Lisa blush and giggle. The girls snickered and continued their mutual rinsing, Denise paying special attention to Cynthia's pouting pussy top with blonde fur and making her sigh with pleasure.

Then Lisa asked, "So you're not..." She paused, not wanting to insult Denise.

"A lesbian?" she finished, then leaned the same way as Cynthia did, "I just tell Foster that so he'll leave me alone." and the three of them laughed again.

Lisa ran the sponge over her curves, all the while peeking at the two girls next to her. She knew she shouldn't, but couldn't help it. Denise lovingly caressed Cynthia's hard body, running her hands over her breasts and tight ass, Cynthia returned the favor by gently stroking Denise's budding nipples and fingering her bald vagina.

Lisa bit her lip as she watched the two amorous ladies kiss and fondle each other, their beige and chocolate skin melding together, and shocked herself when she found her hand snaking down to pet her pussy. She flinched as if she had touched a live wire and went back to her showering, ashamed for invading their privacy.

But as she rinsed the soap away from her face, Lisa felt a hand rubbing her shoulder and, thinking it was Mitch, purred at the touch. But when she looked, she saw Denise massaging suds into her arm and back. Checking the rest of the area, she noticed that Cynthia had left.

"Would you like some help?" she asked, touching Lisa's skin with her fingertips. She balked a little, not sure how to respond, and Denise picked up on it, "Lisa, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be so forward. It's just... well, you're so beautiful and... I know this may sound stupid, but... somehow, I have the feeling that we've met before."

Lisa kept a neutral face, knowing what she was referring to, and stammered, "No, it's my fault. I... I shouldn't have been staring at you two; that was rude. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," said Denise, laying a hand on her arm, "The way you looked at me... it told me that you... you know me from somewhere. But we couldn't know each other; we've just met. I don't know, maybe it's déjà vu ."

"Maybe," Lisa started to blush again, "but it's just that... I've... I've never..."

Denise moved her hand up her arm to her neck, caressing it, "Never?"

Lisa shook her head, then Denise tilted hers slightly, "Ever thought about it?"

Lisa grinned, the blush on her cheeks getting redder, "Once." It wasn't exactly a lie, but she felt it better that she didn't tell Denise that it was her she thought about that one time.

Denise held out her other hand and Lisa placed the soapy sponge in it. She turned around and let Denise start soaping up her back, rubbing the tension out of her muscles. Lisa inhaled as she felt Denise's hands move down to her butt and lather her cheeks, slowly and gently. Lisa pushed her hips back to her without thinking about it and let her linger there for a while, feeling Denise's finger slip between her soft globes and rub up and down her crack.

Lisa found herself leaning back against Denise when her hands came around to the front, sliding up her belly and reaching her boobs. Soapy fingers squeezed at her tit flesh, and Lisa gasped as fingertips brushed across her hardening nipples. Breathing harder, she reached back and fondled Denise's round butt cheek and making her moan softly.

They faced each other under the spray of the shower next, Denise licking her lips as she gazed upon Lisa's beautiful large boobs. Lisa placed her hand on Denise's hip and pulled her closer, both of their nipples coming close together.

Without even thinking about it, Lisa looked into Denise's eyes and gently pressed her lips to her mouth. Their bodies came together, their breasts smashed against one another and each girl grabbing and squeezing the other one's butt. Lisa humped her mound against Denise's, her strip of red hair tickling Denise's bald pussy, with Denise thrusting back and moaning into Lisa's mouth.