It's My Party

Farideh tilted her head up and looked at the orange sunlight at the top of the stairwell and then spoke to their new member from Yellow Mall. "This happened to us once before Peggy, months ago while we were trapped. It was pitch dark in the basement and the air wasn't flowing either. Unfortunately we were at the opposite end of our space from where our entrance door was, and we never thought to test it. We spent about fifteen minutes getting together and talking about what to do, and then the power came back on."

Peggy nodded and added, "On our way down here we tested the door to the outside. We have access, so we have fresh air and a pool that is drinkable. This is MUCH better than being trapped in an airtight basement! But what should we do? Should we stay outside in case the door locks? Our food is on the inside, but the fresh air is on the outside. The windows don't open, do they?"

"No, they don't," answered Holly. "But we have protocols for this. Don't worry about the air. If we're safe where we are, and we are, we are to remain in place for twenty-four hours. Our long-term rendezvous point is Green Mall's home complex. We've built up extra supplies there. We've packed the pantry there with ready-to-eat packaged stuff that doesn't need the null-time storage."

Peggy looked thoughtful. "Bike all the way to Green Mall in the dark?"

"It shouldn't be too bad," replied Holly. She tried to sound optimistic. "We have the flashlights and we'll take it slow. Just follow the spiral centerline and remember, safety first! We can't afford any injuries."

Peggy still looked skeptical. "Whoa. Bike seventy kilometers down a dark tunnel? That's going to give me the creeps."

Holly shrugged. "We won't try it till tomorrow."

Farideh spoke up. "Can we time twenty-four hours? I guess we can judge by the sun, but does anybody know how long the power's been out?"

Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a mechanical stopwatch. "Another present from Carla. We've been dark for thirteen minutes now." He frowned. "Our last outage lasted fourteen minutes. We're about to find out if this one will be longer."

Meanwhile, twelve minutes ago (one minute after the outage) and approximately two kilometers west of Jessica's position…

Ricardo was through slamming the console with his hand, but he was still fuming mad. So close! He had come so fucking close to forcing the console to recognize him as Security Director. So close! One minor error in the command format, it should not have mattered. So close! And this was the prime window! His best chance! The next window would not open for another sixty-three days. Ricardo knew exactly what he needed to do now, but would he be alive in another sixty-three days? Ricardo took a deep breath and tried to think objectively, using the question to calm himself. Realistically, what were his chances?

It was thirty-six days since Jenaro had been sacrificed for the greater good of Ricardo's survival, and the results were frankly less than satisfactory. Ricardo's body had become rail thin before the slaughter and was only slightly above that now. It wasn't fair!

The day of the compadre's demise, Ricardo estimated Jenaro's live weight at 100 kg which produced about 70 kg of hanging weight once the kill had been slaughtered. Further processing reduced that to about 60+ kg of usable meat. Ricardo had saved every scrap he could, even some of the blood, but there was much that was just not usable. With his vitamin tablets, Ricardo at first thought Jenaro's sacrifice would last for over a hundred days, estimating that 500 grams of Jenaro's meat would have between two and three thousand food calories. He should be able to survive on that easily. For the first few days after the butchering, he even gorged himself in an attempt to bring his weight back up.

And his body didn't tolerate it. He began vomiting up the meals. What was wrong? Ricardo backed off his plan and tried to remember what he knew about nutrition. His diet was 100% meat and animal fat. Well, the Eskimos did that, didn't they? And they were healthy. So why wasn't it working for Ricardo?

No carbs, no sugars, his body wasn't used to such a diet. But the meat was his only food source. He had no choice, and as the days turned into weeks, his body was forced to adjust to the pure meat diet. But Ricardo dreamed of other food, breads and oatmeal and ice cream, and even fresh fruits and vegetables which Ricardo never liked very much. He dreamed of apples and watermelons, and he could never quite shake the feelings of fatigue and fuzzy headed thinking.

His all meat diet had started thirty-six days ago, and the food was at least 40% gone. Could Ricardo survive another sixty-three days? He sat in the darkness and insisted to himself that the answer was yes. His weight was back up since his final meeting with Jenaro, not as much as he would have liked but at least he had most of his power back, admittedly with much less endurance. The pure meat diet just wasn't a very efficient fuel source. But it was the only one he had.

The monitors, the consoles, he had learned so much. After days of scanning, Ricardo was certain he was the only person in the building, and he had remotely alarmed all the doors on the first floor. Even with Ricardo's limited ability to control, anybody walking into this building complex now would be forfeiting their lives. And as Security Director, Ricardo would become a god. Any person Ricardo wished could instantly be flagged as a code-black security risk. The servos would dispose of the risk immediately.

And as Security Director, his electronic eyes could go anywhere. Right now he was limited to this building. No, right now with the power off he was limited to sitting here helpless and in the dark. So close! Infinite power had been almost at his fingertips, and then he saw the minor formatting problem explode like a bomb though all the processes he was guiding. It was almost as if…

Yes, his mind could not deny it. Had the system intentionally blocked him from achieving his goal? The analogy would be Ricardo setting a world's record in the hundred meter dash, and then having a judge disqualify him for using illegal elastic shoelaces. His error had been that petty. Could the interface itself be trying to stop him? But what would that imply? It was just some sort of strange computer. Computers don't have wants and desires. They don't "try" to do anything. It was very strange.

So what to do now? Well, if the power stayed out, he would die here, no question about that. The heavy doors around central security could never be lifted with human muscle. But somehow Ricardo expected the power to return. In the meantime, Ricardo unzipped his pants and started stroking his cock, idly at first but then with increasing urgency. Within a few minutes of masturbating in the absolute darkness, Ricardo had pumped himself fully erect.

He was thinking about Jessica, fucking her up the butt from the rear, holding her head with her evil eyes pointing down. Ricardo would keep his thumbs pressing down on the back of her skinny neck, and she would never get a chance to look at him. And once she stopped struggling and Ricardo had dumped his load down into her shitbox, he would smash her head to pulp. Yeah, that's the plan all right. Ding dong bong, bong, bong, there goes the witch's head, the wicked witch, the wicked witch is dead. Afterwards he would hang her body for slaughter and processing, just as he had done with Jenaro.

Yeah. Jessica would be a tasty bitch. Ricardo would chow down on the witchy bitch. It would be nice to have a little variety in his diet, some nice filet of breast meat. And a witch's uterus, was that edible? Certainly worth a try, the ovaries too. Yes, it would be among the first things he would try. A sly thought occurred. Would he inherit her witch power? Wouldn't that be nice!

In a small part of his mind, Ricardo knew this was all fantasy. Over the last month he had proved something beyond question. The underground clothing maze had but one exit and entrance, and there was no source of water on that level. Ricardo had even disconnected the museum and some of the interior area above it from his sensor grid. His sensors were now focused around the perimeter of the ground level, and as for Jessica, she must have curled up in one of those damn closet drawers and died. It must have happened months ago, there was no other solution. And Ricardo had no use for her stinking corpse. So he let the matter rest. The unknown drawer would be Jessica's tomb, perhaps into the far future until someone was unlucky enough to discover the mess.

Ricardo frowned as he jerked himself. The thought of Jessica's rotting corpse just wasn't very arousing. He discarded the image and brought up his image of her in a youthful naked body. Yes, that was better. Ricardo felt himself harden. He was getting excited again. He hadn't bothered to drive himself to orgasm in weeks, but he felt like it now. He spat into his hand and pumped himself in the darkness. Time to get back to fantasy.

He focused on Jessica's cute little girlish body. She was a wicked witch in a girl's body, thin hips, not much of a front. He'd like to squeeze her hanging knockers as he pumped her, get her up on all fours and set up a milking action on her tiny tits as he pumped her up the ass, but he didn't dare. He would need to keep his hands on her head. Jessica must never be allowed to stare into his eyes again. Her eyes were the source of her witch powers. Never again.

So he had to be satisfied with pumping her up the ass while squeezing her head with his hands. That wouldn't be so bad, would it? Pumping her up the ass, oh yeah. Hernando and Jenaro had relished their opportunity when they double raped her. Oh yeah, Ricardo had watched their faces. Baby Jessica was a sweet lay.

So he thought of himself pumping her up the ass, oh yeah, riding her high and tight, using her upturned ass cheeks like a saddle, nestling his pole down into her brown tunnel. But it wouldn't be brown forever. Ricardo smiled as he remembered a bright red cock popping out of Jessica's butt at the end of her forced fuck. Oh yeah, butt mounting and riding Baby Jessica right off her cliff, mounting her and humping her as deeply as he could. He would ride her until she became limp, and then Ricardo would blow his load while squeezing her neck, squeezing her throat…

Ricardo felt his balls grow tight and his fantasy transformed. As he approached orgasm, the dream switched venues. He was back at Herman's Wilderness Outfitters and he had Amber bent over the Bowie Knife display. Her pants and panties were down at her ankles and she was sweetly and willingly lifting her butt up for Ricardo to fuck. She had even reached back to hold her ass cheeks open to give him an easy entry. And in the darkness of the control room, his clenching hand became her rectum. Cute Amber! Such a tight, sexy little bitch, always offering Ricardo her back door. He was inside her now, pulsing and wiggling… Ricardo giggled. He was just about to cream-ate her up the ole chocolate box! Add his milk to her cookies!

And Amber was so willing! He could feel her now, lifting up on her toes to give him the best possible angle, loving the feel of him sinking into her. She would squeeze him on his down stroke, make him fight for his penetration, and then squeeze him again once he was in, milking his penis with her bowel muscles. Oh yeah. Sweet willing Amber. So pretty. Pretty Amber. Such a pretty Amber. Such a willing Amber… So nice shooting up her shitbox…

Ricardo's hand cupped and he caught his outpouring of semen. Pretty Amber had done it again. He brought his hand to his mouth and recycled his discharge. A moment later he was winding down, sitting in the darkness and dreaming of his favorite girl, her body covered with the fluids of his arousal, the sweat and the cum… Such a pretty Amber…

Chapter 95.

Time: ?

It was definitely not a job for the faint hearted, Jessica thought. It was difficult even to estimate how long she had been doing this, edging her way down pitch black corridors in absolute silence, on guard against a single touch from Ricardo. The slightest contact would almost certainly result in her death, and potentially the collision was always just an instant away. No, not a job for the faint hearted. She tried not to sweat. The smell of her body would be another clue for Ricardo to zoom in on.

She had passed the first triangular room and was now down the next corridor, pressing lightly with her hand against the door leading to the octagonal room. It was the room from where she had escaped from Ricardo. And in the darkness, it was also the ideal spot for him to wait for her to return. What should she do?

And how long had she been doing this? So difficult to tell, but Jessica guessed at least a half hour since the lights went out. She had been practicing her slow walking in deadly earnest and it had taken her that long to get here. And now the great decision was before her. Did she really want to enter the next room?

What choice did she have? It all her time down on this level Ricardo, they never found any indication of water. And Ricardo had their entrance locked. Jessica did the cold calculation and could see no other way to survive other than to check if Ricardo had unlocked the hatch at the entrance pentagon.

Why would Ricardo ever let her free? But down here it was certain death by dehydration. Jessica decided to risk it. Perhaps Ricardo had unlocked the entrance and Jessica she would find a chance to run by him and escape. Jessica worked to maintain her silence. That last thought sounded so pathetic, but her throat already felt dry. Well, maybe the servos would let her out. A possibility, wasn't it, and thus better than certain death. In utter silence, she slowly opened the door and entered.

An hour later.

Jessica could not believe what her hand was feeling. The hatch out of the museum maze was unlocked! Why was Ricardo letting her go?! This must be a trap!

"If it is a trap," she thought ruefully, "it's infinitely well baited. I need water!" How long had it been since the lights went out? Jessica had glanced at her watch just before entering the drawer. The time was around 10:40 AM, and she thought it might be a little after noontime now. Jessica had make great progress after transiting the octagonal room where she had escaped from Ricardo. Walking rapidly with her hand gliding along the wall for guidance, she walked back more than two kilometers along the map she had memorized in her head, every corridor, every door count at every junction, Jessica was quite proud of her ability to remember it all. She always did have an excellent memory, and it had certainly come in handy now.

There! She was standing in the room above the entrance to the museum maze. Now what? The room was in the deep interior of the first floor. "Escape! Escape!" her mind was screaming. "You think you're done?! NO! Move or die! Move or die girl! Don't you dare think you're done!"

Was there a way out of the building complex? With the power out, there just might be, but it would be a journey. The spot where she was now was an enclosed area. To escape, Jessica would have to go up to the second floor and then later come back down. She whimpered slightly. This part of the journey was not well memorized. One blank wall where she expected a door and she would be completely disoriented.

"It's not fair!" the child within her screamed. "Life never is," the adult mind thought back in a consoling tone. "But life is also what you make of it." Jessica moved silently in the utter darkness, the thoughts of her different personalities integrating and focusing on the correct path to the stairwell.

Later that evening.

Time: Friday, August 8, 2019 8 PM GHT

Fatima was sitting near the western end of the lounge at Green Mall. The room was adjacent to the northern vertex of the hexagonal home complex, and through the windows see could see the last half hour of orange sunlight touching the trees and the bi-level hexagonal walkway across the pine park. It was a peaceful scene, and Fatima took the moment to try to calm herself.

Forty people! Including herself, she was in a room with forty people! The experience felt so unusual Fatima would occasional shiver as she looked across the room. It was a poignant reminder of how social a creature a human was, and how far the species had fallen. This simple gathering represented almost half of all humanity.

Aggie had asked Amber and Whitney to come down to the library a while ago, but they were back up now and sitting on a sofa talking with Lucia. Over the past month, the three women had become very good friends. Fatima thought that was good. Amber and Whitney had always been honest members of their society and very diligent workers, but there was also an initial hard edge to their personalities. That edge had all but disappeared now.

And Whitney, she used to be a bit of a loner. But just this last month, finally, Fatima had noticed her pushing herself to be more gregarious, offering trust and friendship to the people around her. It was a joy to behold.

Fatima noticed Amber and Lucia linking. The two women were still for about ten objective seconds, and then their link abruptly ended. Lucia looked startled and Amber's expression was much more difficult to read. What was up with that? Fatima was momentarily puzzled. Well, no matter. Amber and Whitney were consenting adults with rights of privacy within their links.

Fatima shrugged and turned her head and continued to scan the room. On a sofa nearby, Tom and Madison were holding hands and linking. And the smiles on their faces! The tenderness of the newly reunited lovers was plain for everyone to see. Carla was sitting happily on the other side of Tom, ready to interrupt his link with Madison once the meeting started.

Once the meeting started? Fatima blinked. The delay was now a half hour! What was keeping Mark, Emily, and Aggie so busy in the library down below? Aggie had come up around forty minutes ago and told Fatima she and Emily and Mark were onto something extremely important and they would show up when they could. After Aggie ran back into the elevator for the micro-jump to the library below, Fatima had decided to wait for them and just let people continue with their celebration of the latest prisoner escape from Wobanakik.

The power outage had lasted over two hours, coming to an abrupt end about fifteen seconds before 2:23 PM. All members followed the outage contingency plan and jumped to Green Mall. For many it was their first experience with having their jump command delayed by a busy use of their destination.

And within a few minutes of the end of the blackout, exciting news began to sweep the complex. Sandra's team based at the entrance rooms at Wobanakik had managed to beat the clock and were now on the other side of the entrance elevator and beginning their long climb up the stairs. Tom asked for and received permission to program the six stair-cats to meet them on the next landing. The cats performed flawlessly and the lost group arrived at Green Mall just before 4 PM.

Sandra told of their experience with the blackout. Power had failed completely in Wobanakik, just as if someone had pulled the plug. Her team of six were by the boathouse, Madison and Parni and Sachi working the mobile observation balloons from the dock while Sandra kept an eye out for the local cats. Amy and Margaret were taking the opportunity for a quick swim. It was the first day of autumn in Wobanakik, and over the last week people had been noticing the days were slowly losing their summer warmth.