Botted

Botted

Shit

Sarah watched coffee pour from her plastic cup all over the parking lot gravel. She usually managed the juggling act of closing her car door, balancing her briefcase, purse and a manila folder in the same time, but this time the coffee cup added the crucial factor.

Sarah sighed and slammed her car door shut, distributing the weight between her hands. She walked briskly to the building nearby. Her caffeine fix would have to wait, but not for long. She needed that cup of coffee. She had managed to get only three hours of sleep the previous night. As always, she hadn't noticed the time and left work well after everybody else in the team had already left, but she still managed to get home before eight o'clock. The real problem was that damn experiment. She had tossed and turned all night, trying to figure out what went wrong.

"Watch where you're going, lady!"

Sarah gasped as she realized she had collided with a man standing in front of her. She mumbled, "Sorry" and kept walking, looking down. She hastened her step and found herself in front of the building's looming front entrance. Patricia, the security guard, smiled at her. They had known each other for a long time. Patricia didn't even ask to see her ID tag.

"How's it going, Dr. Lev?" Patricia asked, smiling.

Sarah smiled back. "Can't complain," answered Sarah as she walked through the metal detector. As always, the metal detector beeped. As always, Patricia just waved her along. Sarah entered a well-lit lobby. One of the walls was covered with a huge screen showing PR video clips. Various artworks were displayed in the lobby behind protective glass cases: statues, paintings, dioramas a.s.o. Sarah, however, didn't care for all that. She went straight ahead to the elevator banks. Above the elevator, hanging on the wall, was a sign: "welcome to Klass Biotech." One of the elevators was already half full and the door started closing. Sarah practically ran and managed to enter in the nick of time. She pressed a button on the control panel and smiled. She was happy to have reached it on time and not wait in the lobby. She mumbled an apology to the other people and looked around as the elevator made its way upwards. She didn't recognize any of the people around her, but they all wore the company's ID tag. Security was strict in the company. As her boss, Professor Ben, used to say, "Our commodity is information and knowledge."

Klass Biotech dealt mainly in advanced medical and biological research. Their HR division headhunted top academics from the entire country, doubling and sometimes tripling their salary. Sarah loved to work in Klass Biotech. Although money was important, what lured her in was the state of the art equipment, the generous research budget well above any university and freedom to choose whatever field she pleased.

The elevator bell rang and the door to the fifth floor opened. Sarah made her way to the door and exited. It was a short way to her lab.

Sarah opened the door to her lab and stepped in. The lab looked like a metal jungle. Computers hummed on desks. Centrifuges, incubators and various other machines ruled the landscape. Three giant refrigerators with biohazard signs on them hummed in the background. Sarah walked to her cubicle, navigating the maze of laboratory tables and equipment until she finally reached her own desk and switched on her computer. She used the time it took the terminal to boot to take a look at her darlings under the microscope's lens. They were swimming happily.

Sarah's field of research was nanotechnology, nano-bots to be precise. Those were extremely small machines, each much smaller than a millimeter and able of executing programmable actions and operating in conditions beyond science fictionws wildest dreams. You could inject thousands of them into a patient's bloodstream, ordering them to repair damaged blood vessels, take apart clots, interact with cells and so on. All that interested Sarah, but what fascinated her was communication between nanobots. By letting them communicate, nanobots resembled human neurons, firing electrical impulses at one another and creating a network. It was an innovative approach to artificial intelligence.

The metallic beep emanating from her terminal notified Sarah that her computer had become operational. The little icon at the bottom of the screen told her she had new e-mails. A click on the mouse showed her first one to be from professor Ben. Sarah once again marveled at the man's working habits. The e-mail was sent at five a.m. The man was like a vampire. When did he ever sleep?

Sarah looked at her watch after reading the e-mail. Professor Ben wanted to see her in about ten minutes. Her face frowned. A discussion so close after the failure of yesterday's experiment couldn't be a good omen. Sarah picked up a few pages and left the laboratory to Professor Ben's office.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, just two minutes fidgeting on a sofa, looking at Professor Ben's secretary and wondering what the hell was the problem.

"You can go in now, Dr. Lev," announced Prof. Ben's secretary or his personal assistant, if you asked her opinion of the appropriate title.

Sarah opened the door and walked into the office. She was always in awe when entering the office. The center was dominated by a long oak wood desk, meant for board meetings. A large computer screen stretched along one wall. A state of the art surround speaker system, hid cleverly in the walls, played Beethoven's ninth in a low volume. Reproductions of famous paintings by Dali, Picasso and Monet adorned the walls next to posters of electronic circuits and photos of chemical structures. One of the walls was made entirely of glass, showing a spectacular view of the city. It was near that wall that professor Ben stood, looking at the city below him.

Sarah was about to cough politely when he turned around and flashed one of his famous sharp smiles.

"How are you, Dr. Lev? Please sit down." Prof. Ben motioned to his personal desk at the end of the room.

Sarah walked to the desk and sat down on a metal chair, designed to look as though the occupant was actually floating. In front of her, prof. ben sank into a plush leather chair.

Prof. Ben was a practical man and valued his time as his most valuable asset; therefore he never beat around the bush.

"Dr. Lev, I'm sorry, but we're shutting down the nanobots project."

It took Sarah a few seconds for the meaning of the words to sink in.

"Prof. Ben, look. If it's about yesterday's experiment, I've done some thinking about it since I mailed you my progress report, and I'm confident---"

"Sarah", said professor Ben. Sarah stopped talking. She had never heard Professor Ben call her by her first name.

"This has nothing to do with yesterday. You are one of our top researchers and we highly value your work. You have made tremendous progress and have been a great team leader, but I'm sorry; you have to let go."

Sarah looked at professor ben's face. She blinked a few times, trying to hold back her tears.

"But why? I gave this project two years of my life. I haven't taken any holiday. I've worked overtime without asking for extra pay. I've left everything else. Why are you pulling the plug on me?"

Prof. Ben leaned forward. "It's not you, Sarah. The board is worried about the ethical ramifications of the project. They feel the technology is progressing too fast. The implications are unclear---"

"To hell, unclear!" Sarah cut professor ben. "This project could revolutionize medicine! We could cure diseases! Help people! Klass Biotech could earn billions!" Sarah raised her right hand and put her thumb opposite her index finger. "We're this close to a level 4 experiment in animals. Give me a few more months and I'm telling you, you won't regret it."

Sarah looked at Professor Ben. He swallowed hard and looked into her eyes. Sarah grabbed professor ben's right hand with both of hers, "Please, Professor Ben. You can't do this to me. Please give me a chance."

Professor Ben's eyes turned steel grey. He was not used to being contradicted. He pulled his hand as though snake bitten.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Lev. The project is terminated, effective immediately. Your team has already been dispersed, and its members have been routed to different teams. I've asked them not to talk to you, because I know how much your research means to you, and I wanted to notify you personally. As accepted in Klass, you have twenty-four hours to archive all of your reports and notes. You will dismantle your laboratory and prepare all equipment to transport to other rooms."

Professor Ben stood up and walked to the glass wall. He looked out of the window. "That would be all, Doctor Lev." He said.

Sarah picked up her papers and practically ran out of the room. She made it back to her laboratory in record time, trying to avoid the looks of people in the corridors who were troubled by her distraught face. When she reached the lab, Sarah crushed into the first chair she saw and cried for fifteen minutes until her tears were exhausted. Sarah looked around her, savoring the look of the laboratory one last time, looking at the computer terminals, the vials, the centrifuges and the white boards. Then she started taking everything apart.

Sarah spent most of the day taking care of her meticulous records. Every single file, data bit and number had to be recorded, should someone decide to pursue the research again. That was her primary concern. After every experiment and report were safely archived in the company's database, she wondered whether to talk to her team members. They were colleagues and their relationship had always been professional and never personal. After contemplating for a few minutes, Sarah decided against the idea. It would only make her feel worse.

The first hint of twilight hit the lab's windows when Sarah began to dismantle the lab's equipment. With a sigh, she sat down and took a five minute break. She heard the squeaky sound of a cart being pushed in the hallway; one of the janitors, no doubt.

Simon used his master key to open the door to the laboratory next to Sarah's. Simon was oblivious to the workings of Sarah's lab. He wasn't out to change the world or revolutionize science. All he wanted to do was clean the room and earn enough money to pay his college tuition debts. Working as a maintenance worker at Klass wasn't his life's ambition, but it paid the bills, and the hours suited his schedule.

Simon was about to mop the floor when his eyes spotted something out of the ordinary. One of the scientists forgot his access card in one of the terminals. Simon looked around instinctively and made sure there was no one in the room. He could use the terminal to surf the web for a bit, giving him a few minutes away from cleaning. He pulled a chair from the desk and moved the computer's mouse. After surfing a couple of news sites and his e-mail, he got bored. He was just about to resume his work when a thought spread into his mind. What about that on-line porn game he liked so much-Milfucker? That could be a blast. He typed the URL in the browser. After a few seconds the screen refreshed. The top featured the game's premise in fluorescent letters: "MILFUCKER-Can you turn your friends mom into the whore she is?" Below that the screen flashed a minimally dressed anime woman with big tits.

Sarah was so immersed in unplugging and resetting a 3-D printer, she didn't notice one of the terminals' screen coming to life with a silent buzz.

Project nanobots -- experiment no. 34581/we-7

No. of active nonobots -- 10000

Self-replicating capability -- enabled

Energy reserves -- 95%

Please enter code for initiating bot programming.

The screen showed a countdown running from 100 to 0.

No code entered. Default code will be installed.

Default code cannot be found.

Searching the network for source code.

Searching...

Searching...

Searching...

Simon's eyes were riveted to the screen. He was sure lucky tonight. He had never managed to advance that far in the game. He was in a room with a milf, his hand on her thigh nearing the edge of her skirt. When he played the game previously, her son always interrupted or she slapped him and exited the room, but this time it was different. The virtual character liked what he said and did and that was one hot milf.

The terminal in Sarah's lab continued working.

Source found.

Adapting goals and targets.

Selecting genetic and molecular pathways.

Adjusting required hormonal levels.

Attention! desired goals will require central nervous system access and changes. Some of them may be irreversible. Do you wish to continue anyway?

Simon didn't have to see the bulge in his jeans. He felt his hard-on pushing against his underwear. The milf on the screen was naked, standing on her elbows and knees and raising her ass high up in the air. The screen showed her latest response: "Fuck me in the ass, honey?"

Simon could take it no longer. He was going to cream his pants if he didn't shoot out some jizz. He stood up, pushing the chair backwards. He took an empty bucket from his cart and put it on the chair. With trembling hands, he unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, letting them fall to his ankles. He pulled on his stretched underwear and let them fall too. The last thing he did before taking hold of his cock was to press the "yes" option on the screen and mutter: "Oh, yeah baby. Oh, yeah."

Sarah unplugged the last terminal from the socket, unaware of the lit screen. The computer turned off immediately. Sarah wiped her forehead and looked around. The only thing left for her to do was destroy the nanobots. She looked at the table. There they were. A dozen vials in a special metal case wired to the computer network and the power grid. Sarah went to the table and raised the fume hood's plastic shield. She put on gloves and took the first vile, emptying it into a highly concentrated saline solution running a high voltage current. She knew it was her imagination, but she could literally hear the little bots screaming. Sarah repeated the process until only one vial was left. She reached for it, but her hand hovered in mid-air.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't murder her babies. She had to take action. Sarah took a syringe with a needle from a nearby drawer. She inserted the needle into the vial and slowly pulled on the plunger. The syringe filled with the green solution. She capped the needle and put the syringe in her purse. Perhaps she could continue her research indecently. Perhaps she would destroy the bots later, but she simply couldn't do it now. She just couldn't.

Sarah took one last look at her checklists and then one long last look at the lab. It looked so different now, without all of the crammed equipment and working people. Sarah sighed and turned off the main light switch. She went out of the lab and listened to the door close behind her. She walked to the elevator, passing a janitor rolling his trolley. It felt like he knew she had taken the nanobots, but that was impossible. It was her mind playing tricks on her. There was no way anyone could have known.

Sarah exited the elevator and walked towards the entrance. Her face frowned. What was that? She stopped walking and looked forward, trying to comprehend what was in front of her. There was a line of about ten people in front of the security desk. Her heart thumped in her chest and sweat began forming on her forehead. Somehow, they have found out. They were looking for her. Sarah tried to look around the line and see what was going on, but to no avail.

Sarah went to the end of the line and tapped the last man's shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Excuse me," she said with a broken voice, "what's the hold-up?"

The man looked at her and said, "Executive decision. The management has decided to upgrade security. All personnel will be searched when leaving to make sure we don't steal anything. Preposterous."

The man cocked his head and said, "I say, you look a bit pale. Are you feeling alright?"

Sarah nodded vigorously, "Yeah, just an upset stomach."

Sarah walked as fast as she could without drawing attention to the ladies' room. She practically ran to one of the stalls and locked herself in. She breathed deeply and slowly, trying to catch her breath and assess the situation. She could see no way of bypassing the security check. Even if she hid the syringe in her underwear, the various metal, radiation and other detectors would alert the guards. She could dump the syringe in one of the bins, but then her beloved bots would die. A fragment of thought crossed her mind for a millisecond. No, that was not a good idea. The bots had never tested on humans. But still, there was no other way. Sarah could literally hear her scientist brain screaming at her. This was not the way to go, but she had already made up her mind. Sarah looked at her arm and nodded, tightening her lips in resolution. She rummaged around in her purse and found a packet of wet wipes. Sarah closed the toilet's lid and placed her purse on it. She rolled up one of her sleeves. Taking her belt off, she used her teeth to tie it around her left arm as an improvised tourniquet. Sarah wiped her arm clean with a wet wipe. She took the syringe out of her purse and looked at the green liquid. "No guts, no glory", she said to herself as she stuck the needle in her arm and pushed a thousand active nanobots into her bloodstream.

Sarah put her belt on and opened the stall's door a fraction. There was no one in the room. She pushed the door, exited the stall and threw the wet wipes and empty syringe into one of the bins. She threw a couple more wet wipes in too. The janitor would probably lift the bag out of the bin and dispose of it. Her secret would be safe. Sarah looked at her reflection in the mirror. She washed her face and did her best to straighten her hair. She took her purse and left the ladies' room, joining the line in front of the security desk.

It took Sarah thirty minutes to reach her apartment. She was tired and wanted to sleep. Sarah opened her front door, entered and slammed it behind her. She put her purse on a dresser near the door and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She was alright now. She was home. She was safe. Sarah leaned on the wall, massaging her temples as she tried to rid herself of the day's tension. She straightened herself and got up to walk. She wanted to take a shower, perhaps grab a bite and then go to sleep. There had been enough excitement for one day. Sarah took one step forward but fell to her side, hitting her shoulder against a wall. She felt weird for a second, but then was herself again. She pushed herself from the wall and resumed walking. It took two steps before the world started spinning before her. Sarah raised her hands sideways, trying to stabilize herself, but fell on the floor. She tried to get up but fell again and again, finding herself on the floor. She gasped as a splitting headache pierced her head. Sarah clenched her teeth and squeezed her head with her hands. She tried to scream but couldn't. The headache stopped worrying her when the abdominal pain started; a sharp stabbing pain. It felt like someone was stabbing her repeatedly with a knife. She bent her knees to her stomach, but couldn't keep them there for long. Her legs convulsed, hitting the flor rhythmically. It hurt, but she couldn't make them stop. Her arms and then her entire body joined the seizure. Her body wormed and thrashed uncontrollably. Sarah's head rotated from left to right, jerking back again and again as she vomited on the floor. She felt warm urine flowing on her thighs as her bladder voided. The stench of feces reached her nose as her bowels evacuated. Sarah tried to move towards her purse, where her phone was, but she might as well have tried to reach mount Everest. Rivulets of blood streamed on her face, flowing from her eyeballs. It was then when she mercifully passed out.