Brave New World Ch. 04

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Travel plans are made. Better sex through nanotech.
21.6k words
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Part 4 of the 7 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 01/24/2016
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"Dad, what are you doing here?" Chia asked.

She looked indignantly at Vard who was sitting at the edge of the clearing, leaning comfortably against a tree. Roy stood next to her, manfully trying to control his irritation with the intrusion into his privacy.

"And more to the point, how long have you been here?" he asked.

Vard nodded calmly, a faint smile on his face. "We've been here for quite a while, Roy. And the reason why we're here is that someone tried to kill you just a few hours ago and almost succeeded, so at least one of us had to watch out for you. Both of you were likely to be distracted, and Tami and I didn't have anything to do that couldn't be postponed. So here we are." He looked up. "Ah, there she comes."

Tami stepped into the clearing. She shivered.

"Hi, Roy, hi, Chia," she said. "Sorry to do this to you, Roy, but as Vard said, it was the sensible thing to do. Damn, that pool is cold."

She stepped up to Roy and hugged him. He almost screamed when he felt the chill of her skin against his. The shock was enough to give him goose bumps. Tami giggled while Roy looked at her incredulously.

"You went for a swim?" he asked.

Tami nodded. "Yes, I did." She chuckled. "I figured that if that didn't cool me off after watching the two of you, nothing would."

"Hm," Roy grunted. "Well, I hope you both enjoyed the show."

"Oh, I'm sure they did, Roy," Chia said, smiling. She didn't seem bothered at all by the thought of having had an audience.

She sat down across from Vard, lowering her well-fucked butt onto the ground rather carefully, Roy thought, but he managed to keep a straight face, even when Tami gave him an amused sideways glance.

"Anyway. it's good to see you, dad," she said. "Just... Next time, just knock or something, okay?"

Vard's smile was unruffled. "Fair enough, Chia. I'll just knock on a tree, if that's alright."

Roy sat down as well. "I suppose you do have a point about someone being after us," he admitted. "So thanks for watching our backs."

"Our backs and everything else," Chia muttered, her smile turning into a grin. Roy felt himself flush.

Tami sat down next to him and put her arm around him. "I'm sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable, Roy," she said. "But it's no big deal. Really it's not."

Roy smiled wryly. "Yeah... I guess so. It's just that..."

She nodded. "You're not used to it. I know that, my darling man. But you will be. I promise you. And it will be easier than you think."

She put her hand on his arm. It felt good, warm and comforting.

"Relax, Roy," Vard said easily. "It's nothing that any of us haven't seen many times before." He smiled. "Or something that we all aren't intimately familiar with."

Chia nodded. "Speaking of familiar," she said to Vard. "How many more times do I have to ask, dad?"

"One of these days, sweetheart," Vard said. "Patience is a virtue, remember?"

"Yeah, right." She turned to Roy. "I wanted dad to take my virginity. But he said no. I've been trying to trip him ever since."

"Maybe I'm more old-fashioned that you'd expect, sweetheart," Vard said.

"Then it's time you get over it," Chia replied. "Roy didn't have any problems giving me a good fuck, so why should you? Or are you trying to say that you're more old-fashioned than he is?"

Roy gave her a long, hard look.

"Oh. I guess that didn't come out exactly the way I meant it, Roy. I'm sorry."

He chuckled. "That's alright, Chia. You are talking to a four hundred year old fossil, after all."

She stuck out her tongue.

"That's quite enough of that, young lady," Vard said.

"Oh, don't be a square, dad," she replied.

Vard looked at Roy. "Do you see what I'm up against?" he asked with a look of long suffering on his face. It would have come off better if he had managed not to smile.

"Are you asking the four hundred year old fossil for advice?" Roy said.

Chia poked him in the ribs. "Four hundred years old, my well-fucked ass! You're young, Roy. Don't be stupid."

"That's what I keep telling him," Tami said. "But he just won't listen."

"Will you stop ganging up on me?" Roy said, smiling. "I surrender, OK?"

Vard chuckled. "You should have done that long ago, Roy," he said. "It would have saved you a lot of trouble. Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're doing so well."

"With Chia, you mean?"

Vard shrugged.

"It's those spiked berries she's got growing here," Roy said. "They're amazing."

Vard shook his head. "I know all about Chia's experiments in gengineering," he said, smiling. "But all those berries do is keep you hard, isn't it, Chia?"

Chia nodded. "Yes."

"But then why..." Roy started.

"Why did you cum again and again so copiously just now?" Vard said.

Roy could only nod.

"That's because you're now healthier than you were ever before," Vard explained. "When we revived you, we were forced to rebuild major parts of your endocrine system almost from scratch, because the defunct nanotech in your body hadn't been very kind to it. So we did a lot of re-balancing and fine-tuning in the process. Health is mostly a matter of biochemistry, and sexual health even more so. Your body still has its limitations, of course, but its overall performance is better than it ever was. You haven't had any problems with bad digestion, insomnia or headaches. No coughs and sneezes, no unusual fatigue, no cravings for carbohydrates or any of the other things you used to have, right?"

Roy nodded.

"And you won't have any", Vard continued. "Nor viral respiratory infections, tooth aches, rashes or any of that. That's largely because your body now maintains optimum levels of all the substances that make it tick. There's more to it than that, of course, but the main thing is that your biochemistry is now as good as it can be."

"The mind also plays a role," Tami said. "As you become more accustomed to your improved physical condition, your mind is also learning to shrug off the limitations it had become used to." She smiled. "And you've already gotten over most of the inhibitions and taboos of your time, too."

"I... suppose that's true," Roy said, involuntarily glancing at Chia.

Vard nodded. "Yes. Mostly due to the fact that Tami and her partners in crime neatly manipulated you into that," he said. "But then, I wanted her on your medical team because she's the best."

Tami raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was there so you could spend more time working on your tan?" she asked.

"There's that, too, of course," Vard said, with a kind of massive dignity. "I've got my priorities to keep track of, after all."

Chia made a face. "Is that it, dad? Priorities? So what do I have to do to get bumped up on your priority list?"

"You walked into that one, Vard," Tami said. "Why don't you just give the poor girl what she wants so badly?"

"Yes, dad," Chia cut in. "Why don't you? Tonight. Or even better, right now. Are you busy?"

Vard looked serious all of a sudden. "Actually, that does bring up a point. Jaru has called a... council of war, I suppose we could call it. He hasn't said why, but my guess is that he's found out where that weird data transmission came from that reprogrammed Roy's autodoc to kill him."

Chia nodded. "Okay," she said. "That would have priority. So what are you doing tomorrow?"

Tami laughed. "Vard, my old friend, you're not getting out of this one," she said.

"You're damn right he isn't," Chia replied with some heat. "How about tomorrow, dad? Or must I have mom talk to you?"

Vard put up his hands. "Alright," he said. "Soon, OK?"

"Promised in front of witnesses," Chia said, looking at Roy and Tami. "Alright. I'll take it. But better make it real soon." She gave him a long look, then smiled. "I've been waiting for years, dad. Don't make me wait any longer, OK?"

Vard looked at her, his face gentle. "Alright, sweetheart, I won't," he said. "I promise."

"Good. As long as you make it this week."

"Or else?"

She chuckled. "You don't want to find out."

Vard sighed, smiling. "I suppose not." He looked up. "It will be dark soon," he said. "Let's go see Kyo and Jaru."

* * *

Kyo's floor-sunk tub managed to be full without being crowded. Or maybe it was just that they all knew each other so well by now. Roy sat with this back against the edge of the pool, Tami's head on his shoulder. Off to the side was Vard, his arm around Reesh. Across from them Kyo was sitting in Jaru's lap, his arms around her, her head leaning back against his massive chest.

"Okay," Jaru said. "The reason why I've asked you all to come here is that Kyo is able to arrange for more security here than in most other places, and that's something we definitely need for what we're about to discuss. As you probably have guessed, we've managed to locate the origin of the first attempt on Roy's life." He looked at Roy. "I don't think you will like this much, Roy."

Roy took a deep breath. "That hardly matters, does it?"

Jaru shook his head. "No. Probably not. In any case, we had quite a job tracing the transmission through the old military comsat network. What put us on the wrong foot was that the comsat that we had pinpointed as the most likely candidate appeared to be completely defunct. If it weren't for the fact that we got lucky and picked up a very brief squirt transmission, we'd still be looking. In short, the transmission was relayed via no less than three different comsats, all of which seem to have been programmed to stay dormant and play dead most of the time, and to wake up briefly every now and then to relay transmissions back and forth across several hops, using random store-and-forward intervals to confuse the picture even more."

Roy slowly nodded. "Which suggests..." he started.

"Which suggests that whoever did this has considerable resources, a lot of time, and an intimate knowledge of the military technology of your day and age."

"You were right", Roy said slowly. "I don't like it much. In fact, I don't like it at all."

"So where did it come from, Jaru?" Reesh asked him. "Or do we have to beat it out of you?"

"Antarctica," Kyo said.

Roy frowned. "Antarctica?"

Kyo nodded. "Yes. Jaru has managed to pinpoint it to within about a hundred square miles.

Roy slowly shook his head. "That doesn't make sense." He thought for a moment. "Although... There were rumors..."

"About what?" Jaru asked.

"Every now and then there would be these unlabeled data dumps going through the comnet. Nobody seemed to know what they were or where they went. The civilians..." He frowned, trying to remember.

"Why don't you start at the beginning, Roy?" Tami suggested. "Fill us in. Take your time."

Roy took a deep breath. "Alright," he said. "The communications post where I was stationed had a dual mission. First we had to re-encrypt and relay communications for our own forces. Secondly, we were to listen for all other communications, decrypt as necessary, and forward them to Intelligence. We were pretty much running with a skeleton crew by the time we got hit. There was me, six green conscripts, and three civilians. The greenies were a problem." He smiled sadly. "They were so gung-ho to see some action, but because they all had a background in electronics and comms, they got stuck at some backwater listening post. There spent a lot time grumbling about that. They did know their jobs, though." He sighed. "Until they got blown to bits." He gazed in the distance. "They never stood a chance. Poor kids."

Tami put her arm around him. "And the civilians?" she asked.

"Well," Roy continued, "That's the interesting thing. I'm still not entirely sure what they were doing there. They were a very stand-offish bunch. They didn't exactly encourage questions, to put it mildly. I assumed they were Secret Service, but they never said. They had their own offices and we weren't allowed in there. Every now and then they'd have a few chips full of data and a bunch of unlisted network addresses they wanted us to send it to, or something would come in for them, but that was it. And it was all encrypted, so we never knew what was going on."

He paused, remembering. "Once I came a bit too close to one of their little secrets, I suppose," he continued. "There was a data dump coming in that either had been scheduled incorrectly or that they weren't expecting. So it ended up on my screen. I thought they would kill me. Gods, were they pissed off with that."

"So what was in it?" Jaru asked.

Roy shrugged. "I have no idea. It was all encrypted and locked down six ways from Sunday."

Jaru frowned. "Still... Some of the header data or the tags must have been readable?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Roy said. "But I never read it. And even if I had, I couldn't tell you what was in it."

Reesh pouted her lips in thought. "Hmm..." Then she looked at Tami, and something seemed to pass between them. "I know you're off the team and why, Tams," she said, "but do you suppose you could..."

Tami slowly nodded.

"What's this?" Roy asked her.

"With a mild hypnotic you might be able to remember more details, Roy," she said. "The human mind is pretty amazing when it comes to memories. Right now you may not be able to remember any details, but the information is most likely there. All you need to do is retrieve it. Would you be willing to try that?"

"Is it safe?"

She nodded. "Completely. And you're among friends." She smiled. "But you know that."

Roy thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright. If you think it's okay, I'm fine with it."

She gave him a quick hug, then turned to Kyo.

"Your synther should be able to do it. The compound code is five two gamma seven three four. You'll need an authorization for it, which is sigma three five zero."

"No problem," Kyo said, getting up and climbing out of the tub. She stretched, displaying her lovely assets in an almost causal manner, then stepped through the door. Roy heard a few beeps as she tapped the panel by the counter in the other room. After a minute or so she returned with a tiny glass filled with a clear liquid. He took it from her and drank. While he watched the glass evaporate, he felt a wonderful, warm feeling of wellbeing flow through him.

"I could learn to like this," he said.

"Easy there, Tiger," she chuckled, climbing back into the tub and resuming her place.

"I think it's working already," Roy said dreamily. He felt like he was floating. The warm water surrounding him had taken on a wonderful, soft, nurturing quality, and he felt almost weightless.

"It's starting to," Tami said. "Don't think about it. Just let it happen."

Roy slowly nodded. Tami's voice seemed to come from far away. When he turned his head to look at her, she seemed to glow with an almost ethereal light, and he drank in her beauty: the soft lines of her face, the smile on her lips, the high curve of her breasts, the perfection of her nipples just visible above the water... He closed his eyes. Drifting, drifting...

"Roy?" Now her voice somehow filled his whole world, and that made him happy. It was good, so good, to drift in the world that was Tami's voice...

"Roy? I want you to think back to your time at the base. Think back to the moment the civilians arrived. Can you remember what it looked like, right then?

He slowly shook his head. "No... They were already there when I was transferred. The week after I came, the captain who was the base leader went on leave... He never came back, they didn't say why... They just told me to run things. It was easy, it was just a small base... And there was nothing happening anyway... We were so far away from everything..."

"Alright. Can you remember what everything looked like when you arrived?"

"Sure."

And much to his surprise, he found that he could. He remembered everything in vivid detail. The crummy army fold-out furniture with all its dents and scratches, the peeling plaster on the walls, the camouflaged antenna tower with its array of sensors and cables... And the people. Most of all, he remembered the people. It was as if they were standing next to him in a dream. He could hear the sound of their voices, see the pores of their skin, even smell them...

"Yes... Yes, I see them..."

"That's great, Roy," the world that was Tami's voice said. "Now I want you to move forward. Go slowly forward through time. The things you did there, the things that happened... And every now and then you'll catch a glimpse of these strange data transmissions. When that happens, I want you to stop."

It was surprisingly easy. It was almost like he could hit a fast-forward button that controlled the flow of his memories. He sped through the endless days of dull routine, the bad jokes, the interminable conversations about nothing, the need to do anything to kill time, to the point where even the bad food and an incoming data dump was a relief from the endless boredom... There.

"Yeah... I see it..."

"Can you describe it for me?" Tami's voice said.

"Yes..." he said. "I'm standing by the door. On the second comms console there's a red light blinking. It's beeping. There's data on the display... Gene... He's one of the conscripts... He's looking all puzzled... He's saying, what the hell is this?"

"Can you see what's on the display?"

"No... I'm too far away..."

"Alright," Tami's voice said. "Move forward. On to the next one... Continue until you find one when you are close enough."

He sorted through his memories, calmly, easily. It was like fast-forwarding through a dream...

"Here's one," he said. "I can read it..."

"What does it say?"

"I don't know... it's encrypted..."

"Can't you read anything at all?"

"Just part of the header... There's a bunch of relay tags, and a destination code, but that's blocked off with a string of zeroes..."

"Do you remember the satellite relay tag that Jaru showed you? Is any of the tags you can see like that one?"

"Yes..." In his minds eye, Roy saw himself standing at the comms console. It was like everything was frozen in time... Amazing...

"Roy?"

"Yes... There are three relay tags... None of them match... But..."

"But what?"

"Arnold... He's one of the civilians... And a major asshole..."

"Go on..." the Tami-voice said, sounding amused.

"He's pushing me aside, away from the console... He's saying, I'll take that..."

Forward and forward he moved, patiently sorting though the dream-like images. Sights, sounds, smells...

"Here's another one... There's four relay tags, the rest of the header fields are blocked off..."

"Do you recognize anything?"

"No... Wait, yes... The third tag is like the one I saw just now... And the second... The second is like the one Jaru showed me..."

* * *

"It's really incredible," Roy said. They were lying on Tami's bed, comfortably supported by the repulsor field, his arms around her, her back against his chest.

"What is?"

"The way I could remember everything," he said.

"Oh, the mind is an amazing thing, Roy. In a very peculiar way, it's holographic. It records things in amazing detail. Most people just can't access it. Artists are usually better at it than other people. But the information is always there. You just need to retrieve it. But most of the time our conscious thought processes get in the way." She smiled. "I guess we're lucky that my specialties include cognition and perception."

"Yes... That reminds me. Tami, what did Reesh mean when she said you're off the team and why?"

Tami was quiet for a moment. Then she took a deep breath.

"I'm sure you've worked out long ago that I was on the team that... revived you, for lack of a better word, as your psychologist."

It wasn't a question, but he nodded. "Yes."

"Well..." she continued, hesitantly. "I resigned from that position because... Because it's unethical to be in love with your patient."

She turned around to look at him.