Edge Pt. 10

The common thread, he realized, as he put all these pieces together, was the DomCo corporation. The same one that had been in the news with this Male Rights bill. That nugget, John knew from his own research, made sense. In his independent investigation of NewYou, he'd found that they were funded, in part, by DomCo. Calling this mishmash of companies and subsidiary companies massive was a gross understatement. DomCo was the third-largest corporate entity in the world. They had a hand in, quite literally, everything.

John Hamlin's wealth was a pittance compared to theirs. They moved more money around in a day than some countries would ever see in the entirety of their existence, and if one were to engage in something as extensive and dangerous as Edge, it would require that kind of wealth and power. How did one fight that?

The girls all watched him pace, back and forth, back and forth, lost in thought, their eyes filled with hope, like he was going to save them. He was one man. How was he supposed to save them? He couldn't even save one girl, his daughter, without a happy accident landing the cure in his lap, and then only by virtue of one girl's spontaneous decision to pick up a cursed necklace that had transported her to an alternate reality.

Then, for that same girl to get found by these three? The odds seemed impossible. It was impossible. The last hour, though, had turned impossible into possible, and he'd found his entire system of belief and understanding of the universe suddenly thrown into question. These improbable events could hardly have happened by mere chance. Mathematically, he thought, it was inconceivable. He stopped pacing.

"Alright," he said, "I don't have a plan, yet, but we do need to know more. I have to admit, I'm not a software guy. I do hardware. Something like this, like Edge, it's beyond my skill. I need to make a call. If we're going to find out what this thing is, exactly, I need an expert. Would that be alright?"

The girls shared a look, doubtful.

"I trust him. Implicitly. He's worked for me for a long time," John assured them.

Jenna nodded and said, "Alright. Just, if they find out..."

John nodded, understanding the stakes, and the risk they were taking by mentioning the game to anyone. He took out his phone, dialed, then someone picked up.

"Dave?" John said, "Yeah. I'm good. Hey, do you have some time to meet? I could really use your opinion on something, a project. It's, well, a little... hush, hush," he said, with a wink.

***

For the first time since being forcibly inducted into Edge, Jenna felt a glimmer of hope that she might escape, that they might all escape. Worry mingled with the hope, though. She'd just told someone else about Edge, and if that knowledge got back to the higher-ups, it could mean catastrophe, for all of them, as well as their families. She felt sick at the thought, but she realized, also, that she felt more in control than she had for weeks.

Whatever was in the pill that Kenny had supplied her with was doing a wonderful job keeping the intense arousal of the Recoder at bay. It was still there, as it always was, but it was manageable. Hamlin left the room to allow his contact in, then returned a short time later with another man in tow. The man was accompanied by a gorgeous blonde in tiny shorts and a slinky little top that displayed some mouth-watering cleavage.

"Right," John said as they entered, "Quick introductions all around. Dave Marrin," he motioned to the new man, "This is Jenna, Kara, Leanna, Angela, and my assistant, Kenny. Everyone, Dave Marrin and," he paused, "I'm sorry, hon, I didn't catch your name."

"Erin," said the girl, obviously eye-fucking the other women in the room.

"My fiancé," Dave said proudly.

"You old dog," John said, grinning, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Dave rubbed at the back of his neck nervously and said, "Well, it's kind of a recent development."

The girl elbowed him in the ribs and said, "Dave, you big nerd, don't lie. He's been perving over me for years."

She gave him a wink and Dave flushed, embarrassed.

The girl swept her eyes over the assembled crowd and said, "Jesus, Mr. Hamlin, you didn't tell us you were inviting us to an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"I think I could like this one," Kara commented.

Erin grinned.

"Can you keep your pants on long enough for us to talk business?" Dave asked.

Erin pouted.

"So, what have you got for me, John?" Dave asked.

Hamlin passed him the Halo lens. Dave's eyebrows shot up. He showed it to Erin, whose face showed equal surprise.

"Haloes?" she asked.

"You've seen them?" John asked.

"Leah," Erin said, "search for nearby Haloes."

"Three nearby Haloes found," the voice in her earbud replied, "Request access?"

"Yes."

All three of the Edge players received a message stating, "Erin has requested access to your Halo. Is this okay?"

Dave followed this with his own command, "Hal, search for nearby Haloes and request access."

Another message. Further agreement.

Erin whistled and said, "Three of them in one place? I find that hard to believe."

"What the hell?" John said, "Does everyone have these things?"

"I know someone at Halo Tech," Erin said, "but up until now, I haven't met anyone else with them. How did three of you manage to get your hands on them? And why are they... something's different about them."

"Different?" Dave asked.

"Yeah. I have access, but it's limited," she said, tapping and swiping at the air, "like there's some kind of firewall blocking things."

She flicked her finger and one of Hamlin's flat-screen monitors lit up, displaying an image from Kara's point of view.

"How did you do that?" Hamlin asked.

"The girl knows her stuff," Dave said, "She's smarter than me by a mile."

"You're just saying that to keep me wet," Erin said casually, bringing a blush to Dave's cheeks and a chuckle from everyone else, "Seriously, though, what's the deal with these?"

"Jenna," John said, "Would you mind bringing them up to speed?"

***

Another hour passed as Jenna recounted her tale once more, during which they munched on sandwiches from Kenny's well-stocked fridge. Once she'd finished, there was, again, silence as their new compatriots digested the story.

"What a mindfuck," Erin said, at last, "Aside from the blackmail, enforced chastity, and slavery parts, it sounds like a kickass kind of game. The question is, though, how do we infiltrate it?"

"I think that's a two-part problem," Hamlin suggested, "The first being how to hack into the system, and the second being how to get someone on the inside that can take advantage of the hack."

"Why don't I talk to Ian," Erin said to Dave, "If there's anyone that can help us get access to this ghost network, it might be him."

Dave nodded.

"Mr. Hamlin," Jenna said, "Thank you."

John shook his head and said, "No. Thank you. All of you. You've brought me hope. It's the least I can do."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Choice

Smitten with the DNA researcher, Kenny, Angela opted to stay in the lab, leaving the other girls to depart in Jenna's car with a newfound sense of hope. Hanging over that hope, though, was the impending countdown for Jenna's decision about the contract from Harder. She had to give him the decision tomorrow.

If she didn't agree, then WAT would begin targeting her friends, and Harder had made it clear that Kara was going to be first on his list. Harder was so much higher in rank that he could use any of their little group at will. His cohorts were, likely, at similar levels, meaning that none of them were safe. Short of any lasting harm, Edge would allow him to abuse their bodies to his heart's content.

The most recent experience in Father Lain's torture chamber still fresh in her mind, Jenna was not eager to find out what sort of creative ideas a man like Harder could come up with. Though she'd filed her grievance with the system, she had no idea what sort of repercussions Harder would face, if any, and if he were to tie the complaint back to her, she knew that it would only infuriate the man more. Rightfully, she was afraid of those consequences, for her friends, her family, for herself.

She explained all of this to Kara and Leanna as they congregated in the shop, following a very wet and orgasmic sapphic threesome.

"You can't do it," Kara said, "It's not even a choice. You're talking about real slavery to a sadistic fuck. You might be an Edge slave, but at least you have some choice in what you do. Harder won't give you any choices. You're nothing to him, and he's going to remind you of that every day."

"We made it this far by working together," Leanna added, "You did that, Jenna. You brought us together and made sure we looked out for each other. Do you honestly think we're going to let you do this? Every one of us has lived with fear and uncertainty since we started playing. That's never going to stop. The only thing you'll accomplish by taking the contract is removing the symbol of The Angel from Edge."

Jenna felt a measure of pride at the words. She was nobody. She was a scared girl, fresh out of high school. Most days she couldn't think beyond the ever-present desire for sex and the constant brain fog of continuous denial. The idea that she had become some kind of banner for other frightened girls to rally behind felt ridiculous, like she was an imposter. Somehow, as ludicrous as it seemed, it was true.

Their little group was no longer so little, and every day they were taking in new girls, the higher-ranking players taking lower ones under their wing, grouping up to ensure challenges were completed. Here, at least, in their city, the failure rate was declining at a staggering rate. Harder's group thrived on hunting failures, taking advantage of their failure designations to get their sick thrills.

Very few girls actively sought out WAT members to complete challenges, which meant that the longer this went on, the more Harder's crew would need to worry about their trust score. Further, whatever Harder's involvement was in the sex trafficking part of Edge, he seemed to think that Jenna's band of stalwart sluts posed some threat to his "business".

In the end, all she could say was, "Thank you."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ghosts

"Tick tock, tick tock," read the message in Jenna's Haloes the following morning. She'd spent the night with Kara, enjoying their well-earned freedom, in what had quickly become one of Jenna's favorite pastimes. A month ago, Jenna had never considered the fact that she might be into girls. After Edge, though, the idea that she could not be naked, in another girl's bed, their hands roaming over one another and their tongues toying wetly in each other's mouths, was a foreign concept. It was a difficult tangle of emotions to sort through, though.

There were times when she believed that she might truly be in love with Kara, but her state of mind always made her doubt herself. How much of these feelings were truly love, and what portion of them were the ramped-up hormones and edged arousal from the belt, the Obsequium, and the Recoder? It wasn't something that she felt like she could talk about, even with Kara, and at the same time she wondered if the other girl felt the same way.

As the message came in, while they lay in bed together, all the worry about her choice returned. She ignored the message but took the call that came a moment later. Her haloes showed her the avatar of Erin, standing in Kara's room.

"Good morning, gamers!" Erin crowed, obviously delighted about something.

"Hello," Jenna replied.

"I have something for you," Erin said, "Can we meet somewhere?"

"Give us an hour? We'll do breakfast at Hart's. Do you know it?" Jenna answered.

Erin nodded and said, "I'll see you there."

***

Jenna and Kara found Erin, already seated, at Hart's Cafe when they arrived. The knockout blonde waved them over when she saw them, grinning widely.

"Hello," Jenna said, taking her seat.

"Hey, hotties! My, my, don't you two look like just what a girl needs to start her morning right?" Erin quipped, eyes shining with arousal.

"I could say the same about you," Kara said, honestly, drinking the girl in.

Erin sighed and said, "Business before pleasure, unfortunately. Do you have your phones?"

They handed them over. A waitress appeared, offered them coffee, and gave them time to decide on breakfast. Erin took up Jenna's phone, tapped at it for a few minutes, then repeated the process with Kara's. When she handed them back, there was a new app on the home screen, with the icon of a small, illustrated ghost.

"Tap it," Erin instructed.

They did. In their haloes, the edges dimmed, taking on a gray cast. A flurry of new menus became available.

"What is this?" Kara asked.

"After your meeting, I met with my guy at Halo Tech. It didn't take us too long to locate the Edge network. That much activity leaves a trail, no matter how careful you are. From there, Dave and I were able to find an exploit, kind of like a back door to the game. It's a funny thing about software. No matter how secure you try to make it, it's nigh impossible to cover every base. Anyway, I wrote a little exploit of my own, and that's what you now have. You've just become administrators. Congratulations."

They shared a look of disbelief.

"Essentially, you've become ghosts," she explained, "The network still detects you as a player, but you're on the level of any of the other admins. I wouldn't go too crazy with it, like making radical changes to other players. That might start to look suspicious. I don't know what drawing that kind of attention will do to you, but I'd wager it's not good. Still, you've got real power and control. Use it wisely."

"I don't know what to say," Jenna said.

"You can start," Erin said, "by coming to my wedding."

Jenna nearly broke down in tears at the utterly normal request.

"And," Erin added, "by any chance, are you into group play?"

Kara choked on her coffee. Jenna's brows went up.

"I've been looking for a really nice honeymoon gift for Dave," Erin said, "and from looking at some of the challenges you girls go on, it looks like you've had your fair share of good times. How do you feel about dirty, raunchy, sex in the tropics with a newly married couple?"

"I like tropics," Jenna said.

"I like dirty, raunchy sex," Kara added.

Erin grinned, saying, "I'll send you invitations. I've gotta run, but I'll be in touch. Call me if you need anything, and, be careful."

She threw back the rest of her coffee and, to the astonishment of everyone nearby, gave them each a long, passionate tongue kiss before making her way out the door.

"She's... friendly," Jenna said, blushing.

"Her brains are bigger than her tits," Kara commented, "Holy shit!"

"You know," Jenna said, "I don't think I'll take that contract. In fact, I think it's time to hit 'em harder."

"Oh, the puns!" Kara said, giggling.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Only Kara

The level of sheer power over the game, Jenna felt, was unbelievable. Everything Edge had to offer was now a tap and a swipe away. Tempering her temptations, erring on the side of caution, she started small, registering a few challenges as completed and increasing rank slightly for both Kara and herself. Next, she ordered a couple of high-level pieces of physical equipment, two things that she thought would be very helpful, and posted them for expedited delivery.

If Harder wanted to come after her, he was in for a few surprises. Finally, she located Harder's player profile and found that a penalty for stealing her belt was currently pending admin review. She, maliciously, docked him two ranks, added a monetary loss of $50,000, and lowered his trust score to absolute zero. She approved the penalty and daydreamed about the fit of rage he'd fly into over it. She marked the penalty reason he'd see as Rule Violation Penalty. Additional penalty applied for being a twat.

For her final act, she made an alteration to her own player requirements, removing the need to ever wear the belt again. Of anything she could use her new power for, that seemed like the most satisfying. The thing had been a constant horror in her life and removing that means of control lifted a great weight. Now, she just had to wait Harder out for his next move. She switched on location tracking for his Haloes, so she could monitor his movements.

Now, she took one of Kenny's pills to stave off the effects of the Recoder, as the first of the pills had begun to fade. She could feel it coming back on, strong, as she looked over Kara's body.

"What?" Kara asked, taking in Jenna's predatory gaze.

Jenna did not reply, only crawled across the bed and pushed Kara onto her back, in an unusual display of dominance. A showdown was coming. While Jenna had been given new power, a very potent weapon against Harder, nothing was certain. Being in Edge taught one that lesson every day.

No matter what the outcome proved to be, after today, Jenna wanted this girl, wanted her with as clear a head as she'd had in weeks, wanted her as much as she'd wanted her freedom from Edge every day for a month.

She pressed her lips against Kara's, the difference between that first time, restrained and blind, as evident as the hot feeling in her excited pussy was right now. At that moment, bound, naked, afraid, the feeling of Kara's soft lips on her own had been confusing, disturbing, a small and comforting piece of humanity during her time of fear. The radical change from then, to now, was as vibrantly different as night versus day.

Today, there was hunger, and eagerness in the way she parted Kara's lips with her tongue and felt the other girl respond. It was a welcoming passion, one filled with real desire, both sexual and emotional. Over the weeks, experiencing the things they had, Kara had shown her that what they had went beyond the game, beyond the insanely dirty love of sex that they'd both developed. The girl who had once fled and left her alone with the hunter, who had been assigned to her as a handler, had become the most important person in her life. As Kara returned her kiss, and as the girl's hand caressed her cheek, she could feel that same want returned.

There was nothing dirty in what was happening, nothing kinky or artificial, now. There was only Kara and the moist, slow press of her lips. Only Kara and the tenuous flick of her tongue tip against Jenna's own. Only Kara and an indescribable energy that conveyed her thoughts, her desires, and her love for the other woman on top of her. Jenna drew back, her eyes sparkling with tears, peering into Kara's own, where she saw the mirror of her own feelings, as real as the danger ahead, as deep as the secret they shared, and as hot as the feeling between her legs.

"No matter what happens," Jenna said, "I love you."

Kara gave her that lopsided, cheeky grin that she'd come to know meant something incredibly erotic was about to happen, said, "You, too," and kissed her again.

Chapter Thirty: Power

Only a few hours later, Jenna's package arrived. Epic-level items were, technically, far out of reach for someone of her rank. Thanks to Erin's ingenuity, though, Jenna now held two items of real-world significance in her hands. Edge equipment, thus far, had seemed like quirky sci-fi gadgets that had offered a small taste of the kind of power available to those people who had truly committed themselves to the game. These things, though, went beyond that, bordering on the absurdly unbelievable. If DomCo was, truly, the evil wizard behind the curtain of Edge, the things they were capable of were truly terrifying.

Her first item looked, for all the world, like a simple pair of earrings. Edge called them the Siren's Song, and Jenna realized that this was what the Enforcer had worn when she'd met him. Whatever the technology was behind them, the things produced an overwhelming sense of euphoria, something that triggered a deep desire to serve and please the wearer in other people. Jenna remembered the feeling well, even days after she'd been subjected to it.