Gender Bending Investigations Pt. 04

***

The rest of the weekend was far less eventful. I managed to review the new information that the home office team had collected while I'd been undercover. There wasn't anything that really stood out. Oswald's companies continued to suck up the competition and expand their market share. The more I reviewed the data, the more I felt like there was a pattern in it. I still couldn't see what it was though. There was simply too much activity and I was sure a lot of it was simply a smoke screen for whatever it was he was planning.

The one thing I was sure of, Oswald was trying to hide something. I tried to make sense of what it was, but nothing seemed to come together. His companies had expanded to the point where they were almost in every industry imaginable, and he was making moves on plenty that weren't already in his sphere yet. He clearly wasn't trying to take over every market, but he must have been intent on pulling something from those businesses, at least those he wasn't using as a smoke screen.

I considered how to approach the coming week as well. I may have gotten into one of Oswald's confidential projects, but that didn't mean I'd learn much. I spent some time trying to guess where he could really use my skills, but that was too broad a number of options to be useful. Ultimately, I just had to wait.

Thankfully, it wasn't a long wait. I decided not to dress up for my first day. I wasn't quite in the mood, and I suspected that where I was going the team would care far more about effectiveness than appearance. I kept it to just a plain blouse and pants. That didn't mean I still didn't look rather stunning, but I wasn't trying to emphasize it.

My new office was across town. A quick ride on the train got me there. I'd barely stepped inside when a rather tall man in a very sharp suit walked up to me.

"Welcome Ms. Broden. Would you please follow me. We need you to go through entry procedures before I can escort you to your team." He smiled warmly and held out his hand towards a set of doors off to the side of the lobby.

This building was so unlike the one I had been working at. Everything here was simple, functional and understated. The lobby was no more than a hallway between a few unmarked doors and the bay of elevators that were blocked off by a another glass door. There was no obvious way to open them, which must mean that they were automatic and monitored. There wasn't even an obvious security presence, but I suspected that one of these doors hid that.

"What kind of entry procedures?" I asked. I wasn't surprised. If this was a secret project, they weren't going to just let me stroll right in. I just hoped the Agency guys who built up my background had made it foolproof. If anyone could figure out I was undercover, I would expect that Oswald's background checks would be very capable of the job.

"Well, you've already been screened. Mr. Oswald reviewed your records personally. This is just to go over our procedures with you and get you entered into the security system. That way you'll have access to the required parts of our facility here." He explained as he opened one of the unmarked doors and held it for me. I walked into a small room, just big enough for two chairs and a small shared desk. There were a pair of tablets on top of the desk.

"Now, just take a seat and we can go over your new contract. There are some updates on confidentiality and security procedures that need review." He added and we both took our seats.

The contracts were standard enough for a high tech firm and a secret project. I did a proper review and asked questions that someone still new to their career would ask. It was all boring enough. The security procedures weren't much different. I had to go through a full body scan for the imprint. Apparently they had these scanners all over the building and a tracking system so that they could account for my whereabouts at all times. I would be scanned at entry and when using any door to confirm my identity and to ensure that no information was removed from the facility. All personal devices had to be stored and all implanted devices would need to have a memory reset after each visit. Luckily, I didn't have any implants.

I was rather impressed by the security. I suspected that I wasn't even seeing the majority of it. It wouldn't be easy to get in or out of here if you weren't authorized, and getting information out was almost as hard. Thankfully, my photographic memory would help us get around that little issue. I didn't really believe I needed to smuggle anything out. What I hoped to learn here was that missing puzzle piece that would make the rest of our information come together.

"So are we done?" I asked after finishing another scan. Apparently, they used multi-spectrum scans to catch as many things as possible. It also meant it would be virtually impossible to impersonate me and get into the facility.

"That's right. Mr. Oswald is waiting for you." The suited man now took me over to the elevators and took me up several floors. I noticed that the elevator had no numbers or controls. The system knew where I needed to go and there was simply no way to go somewhere else. I suspected it wouldn't even move if the people inside needed to stop on different floors.

When the elevator opened, it was an entirely different feeling. The suited man held back in the lift and I stepped out into an entire floor that was clearly Oswald's alone. The room was open, and ringed by windows that looked out over the city. Sculptures, paintings and lounging furniture filled most of the room, aside from the space right in front of the elevator door, where something resembling an office had been built up. There was a small desk and a couple of screens. A pair of comfortable chairs sat across from Oswald and he motioned me over to them.

"Good morning, Patrick." I smiled as I walked over. He returned my grin and got up so he could sit on the edge of his desk. It was a small gesture at making himself less intimidating. Even though we'd shared a passionate interlude a few days ago, he was still my boss and ruler of a financial empire. I gave him a sharp look as I sat down. "A girl can get the wrong idea when you don't call the next day."

He laughed. "I suppose that's some of those old Midwestern values. I hope you'll accept my apologies for that. I hate to admit that I've gotten a bit loose with my manners. When you're a trillionaire there aren't too many people willing to correct you on your people skills."

"Well, you did invite me here, so I think I can forgive you this time." I nodded.

"So, I suppose you're wondering why you're here and not digging into your new assignment." He picked up a tablet from his desk and handed it over to me.

"Well, kind of. I mean a CEO usually doesn't...." I trailed off as I saw the first page of the report that he had just handed me. "You.... really? Mars?"

"Yep, Mars. I realized long ago that there wasn't a way that any government on Earth would ever really get us there and do much more than collect a few samples and come home. I can't say it's been my only project, but once I realized I was positioned to make it happen about five years ago, I've been working to see it gets done." He explained as I started to devour the opening summary. He gave me a moment to let his project sink in.

"So you don't want to just go there..." I stammered as I kept reading. Even the abstract was fascinating. I'd dreamed about this kind of trip since I was a boy, but there was more to this plan than just landing a couple of astronauts.

"That's right, I've got a full colonization plan. The terraforming team has almost completed their project. We've actually managed a couple of sample retrievals to test our techniques on native Martian soil and it checks out. With a combination of bacteria and nanobots we'll be able to transform parts of Mars into an Earth like paradise within about ten years. We've even been able to snag a comet that will help us to replenish the atmosphere to something close enough to Earth for our purposes. We've got solar collectors that can be tuned to warm the planet to something comfortable for Earth life." He beamed as he explained. I looked up in shock. All of this had been done in secret, all of them were offshoots of projects he'd done with more terrestrial goals in mind. I'd even reviewed them, but this one bit of knowledge joined so many mysteries together.

"That's amazing, but why do you need me?" I asked. It certainly sounded like he had everything he needed. Not only what he'd already done, but the types of people he must have access to. What could one twenty something young woman possibly contribute?

"Well, we've missed something. We've been simulating the colonization and so far, every colony fails within roughly twenty years. The casualty rates are rather harrowing. We've accounted for everything we can think of, disease, social strife, supplies, crop failures, environmental disruption or inadequacy. All the details are in that report. What I want is a fresh pair of eyes, someone who doesn't know anything, but is good at sifting through data. You're one of the best data analysts I've seen, and all the others are already working on this project. I need you to try and find what it is that's breaking things down." He explained. I couldn't deny the fact that a fresh pair of eyes was often a wonderful way to figure out a problem in a system.

"But, surely there are others that would be better..." I started to say.

"Nonsense. You've got the skills, and you're not bogged down by middle aged pessimism. You also don't know enough about the topic, so ask questions, sometimes a good question is worth a hundred answers." He waved his hand around the room. "Feel free to set up anywhere in here. There's a request form on your tablet so if you need anything, feel free to ask. If I'm in don't worry about bothering me either. This is one of my top projects."

I sat back and digested what he was saying for a moment. This was certainly not what I was expecting. He may have hinted at it the other day at the party. The way he'd spent billions of dollars to rid the city of light pollution so that he could see the Milky Way from a downtown skyscraper was certainly a sign. He had no trouble using his resources for big stuff, and not taking credit at the same time. Hell, he hadn't even told people what his real goals were.

"But why? I mean, why Mars? Why terraform it?" I asked. It was just too much. As far as I knew, Mars was basically a frozen desert. There were a few surviving microbes that had managed to make it from the ancient times when Mars had been far more hospitable, but otherwise there was nothing there. Sure, it was a lot of big empty and earth had become a pretty crowded place, but even if it all worked, this was still a huge and doubtlessly expensive operation.

"Honestly, I always wanted to go there. That's a bit selfish, but I also worry that we've become too complacent and tied to a single world. Even with our commercial space projects we simply haven't managed a big push to expand the real human frontier. There are only a few thousand workers bringing in ore or maintaining the orbital power platforms. Even the tourist industry barely limps along. No one is willing to invest, we're all just stuck down here." He turned and looked out towards the city.

"It's more than just that. Even if others pushed for more investment, it's just propagating the problem we've had since the dawn of civilization. The only time big things happen is when they get done for powerful people. We've gotten so tied up with money, that those powerful people just turned to pulling out more for themselves. I couldn't stand watching it. So when I saw that I could start moving us in a new direction I took it." He continued.

"But aren't you now one of those powerful people?" I prodded. I could hear the contempt in his voice when he talked about powerful people. I had to point out the irony.

"I suppose so. I try not to let that go to my head. Honestly, I think the difference is in the why. There have been plenty of rich and powerful through history and most of us got there by an unrelenting drive to achieve just that, power and riches were the goal. I was never in the game to get rich, but I knew I would need to if I ever hoped to pull off what I really wanted." He answered.

"I still don't get the why."

"Simple, make a better world, and get people to start dreaming again and start exploring the next great frontier." He smiled. "So that's why I need you to figure out what we missed on our colonization plan. Can you do it?"

I nodded. I was beginning to think he was being sincere. There was still something that didn't add up here, but a lot more was making sense. He was right that his project would never get off the ground if he wasn't the one pushing it. There wasn't any real profit in colonizing Mars, even if it was possible. The costs were just too high, and the risk of failure too politically damaging. Even investors would likely jump ship if they caught wind of it, so he cloaked the whole project in other more tame projects, slowly building up the technology and expertise he would need.

"Excellent. Now, I've got some meetings for the next few hours. If you're up for it, I'd love to take you out for dinner tonight, I know a great place." He offered as he gathered up his own tablet.

"Yeah, I'd love to." I smiled at the sudden change of topic. It wasn't hard to agree to a fancy dinner on him. I certainly wanted to keep building whatever kind of relationship this was, and I had to admit I was kind of looking forward to a good hard fucking as well. I couldn't be sure he'd go for that again, but I could hope.

"Good, I'll be back by five. Now, just relax and work through what you can. Don't forget to ask for help when you need it. My team will jump to help you as much as possible." He explained and before I could say much more he was off.

Now I was alone in his office. I suppose the isolation was purposeful. I had to process a lot of information. Even if I needed to consult with others, I didn't need to be in a lab or anything to review notes. Maybe at some time in the future, but for now all I really required was a comfortable place to sit and time to go through the reports.

I walked around the floor once. It still shocked me that he'd set aside so much space for himself. The room was still stunning. I noticed that a lot of his art was rather inspirational, celebrating pioneers and innovation. I finally settled on a comfortable spot overlooking the water. I slid onto a nice chair and started in on the reports.

I devoured them. I shared some of Oswald's enthusiasm for space exploration and his reports were fascinating reading. The technology they'd developed was stunning, everything from the bulk transformation process to the tools for efficiently turning the Martian desert into a fertile plain for human settlers.

He was right about needing help though. My layman knowledge of space tech was soon shown to be woefully ignorant about almost everything. I checked some reference material, but was soon conversing with the various departments to figure out most of the details. I hadn't even noticed that it had become five o'clock and Oswald returned. I'd also barely made much of a dent in the information.

"So, I can see you need a break." He smiled as he popped up next to me. I must have looked rather harried. I had several tablets spread around me, each one turned to different report so it was easier for me to cross reference information.

"Oh! Is it five already?" I checked the time with a shock. How could I let so much time slip away?

"Yep, and if you had to ask that, you really do need to stop. Everything will be waiting for you tomorrow." He reached down for my hand. I let him help me up and then I quickly arranged the tablets so I could pick things up tomorrow.

"I really wanted to thank you for bringing me in on this. I kind of feel like I'm back in school, but this whole project is just amazing." I tried to fight down a squeal. It was hard not to throw my whole self into this project, even given my mission from the Agency. If I could help make a Mars colony real, how could I turn that down?

"I hoped that you'd feel that way. Just don't rush anything, we have time to get this right. So, why don't we head out." He motioned towards the elevator.

This is the point where I realize that I was still wearing little more than a T-shirt and jeans. Oswald was looking much better in a blazer and slacks. It at least looked like a good business casual style. I wasn't in anyway dress for something much fancier than fast food.

"Um... don't you think, maybe I should change into something nicer?" I motioned down at my rather plain attire.

"Well, I can guarantee that no one will say a thing about your outfit where we're going, but if you like we can stop down at the company lounge. They have a small wardrobe you can pick something from." Oswald took me over to the elevator. I considered the notion as I stepped inside.

"Okay, I'll take a look." I grinned. I could only imagine what I'd find there. If the lounge was anything like the last one I'd seen, I guessed that I'd find more costumes than real outfits.

"Don't worry, it's not some fetish stockpile. We like to keep a selection of formal wear for events since most of the teams go pretty casual around here." He laughed as the elevator came open again. "Feel free to take your time, I want you to be comfortable."

"Thanks." I followed him over to a rather extended wardrobe that sat beside the lounge. I hadn't expected such a selection, and it ran on for quite some distance. There were an array of outfits in pretty much every size you could imagine. Most were one type of formal or another, though there were some nice casual outfits as well. I found the way to my size and started wading through my choices. Just what kind of an impression should I be trying for?

I could go strictly business, but that seemed to be cold. Did I want to go slinky? I had to admit, the notion of traipsing around in a little black dress was alluring in a way I hadn't imagined until now. Was it because I liked him? Did I really like him? The very notion was insane. I was here to investigate him! I'd heard it was always a danger with undercover assignments. That intellectual understanding didn't have much of an impact on my feelings though.

I took a deep breath. This wasn't the time to get pulled into my emotions. I still needed to keep close to Oswald until I got the data I needed. He wanted to go out to dinner, and I needed to project a desire to attract him. I held onto this rationalization as hard as I could and tried to ignore everything else. The rest would just have to be worked through later.

I took one more run through the closet, but I had to be honest, there just wasn't anything that compared to the slinky black dresses. I grabbed a couple that were roughly my size and went over to the changing room to quickly try them on. I stripped off my shirt and pants and was lucky enough that the first dress I tried fit perfectly. I took a moment to check out my reflection. I had gotten used to seeing my cute and feminine face, but taking in the whole of my new svelte body was always a bit stunning. In this dress it was something else entirely.

The dress was cut so that my breasts were supported, but on display. Granted, I didn't really need much support so I had removed my bra and left myself with just the thin straps of the dress to maintain my modesty. The neck line showed off the top of my breasts and cleavage nicely. The silky material hung on my curves as well, showing off my slender waist all the way down to my thighs. Of course that also meant it showed off the elastic band of my panties as well.