A Platonic Relationship Ch. 04

He pointed directly at Loretta and said, "ALMOST beautiful women, however... they... they so much want to be seen as beautiful that the first man who comes by and tells them they are truly beautiful bowls them over... sometimes literally."

"Do you recognize any of these men?" he asked. Somehow eight pictures appeared on the wall. Her beloved William was one of them.

"Oh," the warden said, raising his eyebrows, "so you do recognize one of them." Michael's image now filled the wall.

"I don't know what name he used with you," the warden continued, "but his true name is Jorge Hernandez. He was once employed by British intelligence, but has since gone... free lance. His British code name was Romeo because his specialty was romancing young, almost beautiful women and convincing them to betray their countries."

He paused and looked directly into Loretta's eyes before saying, "He was very good at it."

"No! No! That can't be!" Loretta yelled at the seated man.

He did not answer. Instead, a series of images flicked onto the wall. In each picture William was with a different young woman. Then more images of William with the women appeared. This time it was series of images-- always with the same woman. They were at restaurants or a club or even alone at night on the beach. Each series ended with a mug shot of the woman with a title under it, "Arrested for Espionage."

"William Oxford wouldn't do that!" Loretta screamed.

"No," the warden replied, "William Oxford wouldn't do that. But Jorge Hernandez would! The sad and sorry truth is that you have been used, Miss Hansen, and it is time to tell us everything you know about William Oxford and what he wanted from the PLATO project."

Loretta began sobbing. She pulled another chair over to the table and sat down. For a long time, she just lay her head on her arms and cried. Then she raised her head she began slowly telling the warden all about William's plan to save the world from killer computers like PLATO.

***

Marcella was curled up on the bed with Richard curled lovingly around her. It was her first true night off in two weeks. They had made love when they first went to bed and both of them had plans for the morning when they eventually awoke.

The noise sounded at first like a cell phone alarm of some sort, which was unlikely because both of them had shut off their phones. Whatever it was created an irritating buzzing tone that seemed to go on forever. Marcella raised her head and looked sleepily around. Then she gave a loud gasp and began tapping Richard's shoulder.

"I think you need to see this," she said firmly as she shook him trying to rouse him from sleep.

"What?" he said testily as he barely opened his eyes. "It's... four o'clock in the morning."

"Turn around," Marcella said slowly.

Richard turned and followed her pointed finger. Standing beside the bed was Plato, or at least a very faint image of him. He was saying something, but there was no sound. Finally he stopped and said very slowly and clearly, "Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Holy Shit!" Richard exclaimed. "We're over twenty miles from the facility. This is amazing."

"We can talk about the scientific aspects of this later," Marcella said firmly. "PLATO is in trouble. We need to get back to the lab."

***

It took a little over a half-hour to dress and then drive the twenty-three miles to the PLATO project building. As Richard and Marcella walked up the steps, the door buzzed loudly to allow them entrance.

"What do you think is wrong?" Richard asked.

"Ask him," Marcella replied, pointing to Plato who was standing in the doorway, now looking very solid and real.

"Follow me," Plato said softly and began walking toward the control room.

When they got there, the night lighting was on in the control area, but the growth room was brightly lit and it was obvious through the small doorway open in the back that the lights were also on in the tank room. It was also obvious that there was a naked young woman strapped to one of the tables.

"She thinks she has been convicted and sent to some secret prison somewhere," Plato said softly as they entered the room. "I will insert you into her reality so she can explain what she did... or tried to do."

Richard and Marcella were suddenly standing in a small house or hut. Plato was sitting calmly at a table. Across the table from him, Loretta was sitting weeping.

"We have a problem," Plato said, looking up at them. "She was attempting to steal enhanced cells from my main neural network so that I could be duplicated somewhere. She admits her guilt, but there is no way that we can contact the authorities without revealing who I am... and possibly what my full capabilities are."

Loretta looked up with a very confused look on her face.

"I have already taken care of Jorge Hernandez," Plato said calmly. Then he gestured toward Loretta and said, "He's the one who seduced Miss Hansen as William Oxford," Loretta continued to stare at him as he continued, "He has enough warrants out for him that all that was needed was to give his location to the local police. Several agencies and countries will take care of him now."

He pointed at Loretta. "The problem is what to do with her," he said, sounding almost frustrated. "My protection protocols say to kill her, but my... conscious... says I shouldn't do that."

He looked up at Marcella and said, "I think I have you to thank for that conscious, so I am turning to you for advice on how to proceed."

"Tell her the truth," Marcella said firmly. She then stepped forward and put her hand on Loretta's shoulder. "That," she said, pointing across the table, "is PLATO. He has created this reality and immersed you in it. Nothing has been real from the time that you stepped into the Growth Processing Room."

Loretta looked around herself in total confusion.

"Take us back to reality, Plato," Marcella said, "but keep yourself projected into the room."

There was a slight blurring of everything as Richard, Marcella, and Plato transitioned to standing in the growth room. Loretta was still strapped to one of the tables which had been tilted almost upright. She looked around the room in fright and confusion.

"Plato came to us and brought us here because he didn't want to kill you," Marcella said, "but he can do much worse to you than kill you."

She turned to Plato and said, "Give her a Unicorn ride... a long one."

Plato looked confused, but suddenly Loretta was gasping and squirming in her restraints. It was obvious that she could no longer see Marcella or Richard as they watched her shudder and squirm while the Unicorn flapped its way through the skies. Her short bouncy movements made it obvious that she was now in the upper meadow. Her screams of passion and her almost convulsive movements marked the Unicorn's final ascent into the sun.

"Let me handle this," Marcella said as she gently pushed both Richard and Plato out of the way. Loretta was making a loud, long, continuous sighing sound as-- in her reality-- she slowly slid down a long, silky rainbow into a field of clover.

When Loretta was hanging limply in her restraints taking very deep breaths, Marcella said brusquely, "Bring her back."

Loretta's eyes darted around the room again before finally focusing on Marcella. "Loretta," Marcella began, "I want you to remember two things: One Plato can reach you from miles and miles away-- who knows how far he can reach. And two, if he can give you that much pleasure, just think what he can do if he wants to inflict pain."

"I can take it from here," Plato said softly. Then he walked up to Loretta and said, "You got conned, Miss Hansen. Jorge Hernandez... William Oxford... took advantage of your vulnerability. You needed someone to tell you that you are beautiful."

Plato smiled and began removing the straps which held Loretta in place. Richard looked over at Marcella and was going to ask about Plato interacting with real objects, but Marcella shook her head and he remained quiet.

"The secret prisons are real, Miss Hansen," Plato said softly. "They aren't quite as bad as you experienced... or at least most of them aren't."

Loretta looked like she wanted to scream, but remained silent.

"Don't worry," Plato said firmly. "I won't send you to prison-- though I very easily could."

"Then what?" Loretta asked shakily.

"Go back to Iowa, Loretta Hansen," Plato said very firmly. "Your old high school sweetheart thinks you are beautiful. He always has and always will. David Wilson still pines for you. You will find happiness there."

He put his finger in the center of her forehead and continued, "And I promise that as long as you tell no one about me, I will not seek you out. There will never be any charges against you. It will be as if tonight never happened. In fact, your entire career with the PLATO project will just disappear."

Loretta continued to look slightly confused as he continued, "Your resignation has already been accepted and a one year severance payment has been transferred to your bank account." He smiled and said, "Consider it a wedding present from me."

"Th... th... thank you," Loretta stuttered out. She looked around the room as if unsure of what else might happen. "I... I... I'll just leave now if that's OK with everyone," she stuttered as she moved toward the door.

She was about half-way through the control room when Marcella called out, "Loretta!"

Loretta turned with fear on her face. "What?!" she said nervously.

"You might want to get dressed before you walk out to your car," Marcella said, pointing to the clothes on the floor of the growth lab.

"Oh!" she cried, as if for the first time realizing that she was naked in this reality. She ran back for her clothes, and then, after quickly dressing, again walked toward the exit.

Marcella walked over to her console and watched as Loretta hurried out the front doors. "They are after me," Plato said firmly. "The world knows something is going on here and the tendrils are reaching out trying to ensnare me."

"Don't go getting paranoid on me," Richard said sharply.

"Just because you're paranoid," Plato responded, "doesn't mean that there's nobody out there trying to get you."

After a short pause, Plato said softly, "I'm afraid that you two might also be in danger. I have to think about this."

The image of Plato faded out; the lights in the Growth Processing Room dimmed; and the doorway to the tank room-- PLATO's bedroom so-to-speak-- slammed shut with a loud bang.

"Day shift will be here in an hour or so," Marcella said softly. "We can talk about this when we get home. It's all over for now."

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END OF CHAPTER

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