Loneliest Man Who Ever Lived Ch. 20

[Note: This is a romance story with some erotic scenes. It is not a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]

Goldie's Parents

Harry had never been to Dayton, Ohio. There was no reason he needed to be. It was a medium sized city in the midwest.

But Dayton, Ohio assumed outsized importance to Harry now, because it was the home of Goldie's parents.

Goldie's mother, Matilda, hugged Harry tightly like he was already a son-in-law, and her father, Edgar, pumped his hand vigorously. Goldie had already told them, of course.

"We are so happy to meet you, Harry," said Matilda, pushing food on him the minute he stepped through the door. They sat down in the living room. "Goldie has told us a little about you, but we are eager to find out more. She says you are the smartest man on the planet! Is that really true, or is that just another of Goldilock's little exaggerations?"

Goldilocks? That was the deprecating nickname that Goldie had given to Jerri.

"Ah, uh...."

"It's true, Mother. The Foundation tested him. My Harry is the smartest man in the entire human race," said Goldie.

"How wonderful!" said Matilda. "If only the two of you could-" she abruptly stopped herself. Goldie bowed her head.

"I apologize for Matilda," said Edgar. "She often speaks before she thinks."

"It's all right, sir. We've accepted the fact that we can't have kids," said Harry.

"In fact, maybe we'll adopt," said Goldie.

Harry looked startled.

"He doesn't know!" Matilda chuckled. "Goldie, you should always consult with your husband before bringing new children home."

"Yes, Mama," said Goldie.

"We're so happy for both of you," said Matilda. "Our Goldie, well, she's always had a bit of trouble finding the right man. We actually thought she was going to make it with Greg-"

"Greg doesn't hold a candle to Harry, Mother," said Goldie.

"Yes, well, that's what you said about all your boyfriends."

"Not Harry," said Goldie. "He's like no other man I've ever met. He's smart, and handsome, and funny, and... brilliant."

Harry felt warm as Goldie smiled at him.

"Dear, brilliant and smart are the same things," said Edgar.

"That's something Harry would say," said Goldie, grimacing at him.

"I predict these two are going to get along very well," said Edgar.

"When were you thinking of having the ceremony, dear?" Matilda asked.

Harry and Goldie looked at each other. "We were thinking... maybe September."

"September! That's only a few months from now! We have all kinds of things to prepare-"

"Mother, I don't want a big wedding-"

"You only have one wedding in your life, dear, and-"

"Am I going to be invited?"

Goldie turned around. Her older sister Claire stood behind her. Goldie's jaw dropped. She got up and hugged her sister.

"Claire! How... how did you get here?"

"By air car, same as you," said Claire, very calmly. She looked over her sister's shoulder. "Harry. Good to see you."

"Claire," said Harry. He was as confused as Goldie as Claire came over and hugged him.

"I hear you're going to be marrying my little sister. You'd better take good care of her."

"I will," said Harry, still feeling confused.

"Claire, we've been looking for you for the past few months," said Goldie. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few days."

"Where have you been?" Goldie asked. "We thought The Foundation was holding you prisoner."

"They were. Briefly. I escaped," said Claire. "I've been on the run for the past few months."

"Why didn't you contact us?"

"I didn't know where to reach you, little sister. You apparently canceled your comm code. I guessed you were on the run like me."

"But... why didn't you contact Mom, or Dad?"

"The Foundation was after me. This was an obvious place they would look for me," said Claire.

"Why didn't you go to the FBI?"

"They have infiltrated the FBI, Goldie."

"They have?"

Claire nodded. "I decided I could trust no one. I've been laying low until I contacted Mom, a few days ago. She told me you were coming today, so I decided to drop by. But it's not safe for either of us to stay here, not until The Foundation has been dealt with. I've been trying to find their headquarters, and have been following leads for the past few months."

"We've been doing the same," said Goldie. "It sounds like... if you're willing... we should join forces...." she looked quickly at Harry, who nodded.

"I was thinking much the same thing," said Claire, giving a small smile.

The Cloning Facility

"You don't mind if Claire joins us, do you, Harry?" Goldie asked that night, as they got ready for bed in their hotel room.

"Mind? Why should I mind?" Harry asked.

"Well.. up to now it's been you and me," said Goldie. "This will sort of change the equation."

"It's not a problem for me," said Harry. He looked at Goldie. "But will it be a problem for you?"

Goldie played with her hands nervously. "Claire and I have always had a bit of a rivalry. She's always been a bit of a man-eater."

Harry laughed. "Are you worried that she's going to steal your fiancée away from you?"

"Never," said Goldie, hugging him, and kissing him on the lips. She gave him a hard look. He returned it.

"Then we have nothing to be worried about."

********

"I have reviewed the information which Harry has decoded from The Foundation database, and I think you've been going about this the wrong way," said Claire.

"We have?" Goldie said.

"From what you've told me, this 'People of Interest' list is not getting you anywere," said Claire. "I think it's better to think in reverse."

"Thinking in reverse?" said Goldie, looking confused.

Claire smiled. She knew her sister wasn't a Fourther. She turned to Harry. "Harry, we know that The Foundation is performing cloning experiments on human beings, correct?"

Harry remembered the dead versions of himself that he and Goldie had found in The Archive. "Yes."

"So instead of looking for their main cloning facility, why not locate the manufacturers of chemicals and equipment needed for cloning, and see who their customers are?"

Harry opened his mouth and closed it. "But... they could have hundreds of customers. Thousands."

"Once we get a copy of their customer database, I'll create an algorithm which should help us sort out probables, based on what's being ordered in what amounts and other characteristics that we can flag."

Harry looked at Claire. "It might work."

"It will work," said Claire. "With your help."

Harry and Claire spent a day locating prospective companies. They made up a short list and whittled it down. They talked in rapidfire to each other, back and forth, as they debated different characteristics of different companies. They talked so fast and in such shorthand that Goldie had trouble following their conversation.

"Qualigen?" said Claire.

"Flagged for four characteristics, but zip code dispersion insufficient," said Harry.

"What about Medicorp?" Claire asked. "Second level granular analysis suggests indices in the black zone."

"Those are anomalies not qualified by sample size," said Harry.

As Goldie watched them work, they seemed to function more and more a single unit. It made her feel a bit left out.

"Harry, I'm going to go out and buy some food for dinner," said Goldie.

"Yeah, sounds good," said Harry. "Geanosis has a skewed profile, but I think normative analysis-"

He kept talking, even as Goldie left. When she got back, she found Harry and Claire, sitting side by side, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Goldie asked.

"It's nothing," said Harry.

"Tell me," said Goldie.

"Claire... Claire made me realized that the algorithm I was using to analyze these companies was all wrong. She fixed it in one stroke of a keypad."

"Two strokes, actually," said Claire, grinning at him. Harry smiled back.

"Nice," said Goldie, dropping her bags on the floor.

*********

As they ate dinner, Goldie said, "Claire? What happened to Ben?"

"Ben?" said Claire.

"You know, Ben, your boyfriend?" Goldie asked.

Claire's face clouded. "I lost him, Goldie."

"What do you mean?"

"I... I haven't told you the full story of how I got captured by The Foundation," said Claire. "When The Foundation had to evacuate its Newton facility... in a bit of a hurry... the facade dropped entirely. We were told, rather than asked, to evacuate with them. I didn't want to, but Ben persuaded me to go with them."

"Once we got to the new location, I was put back to work," said Claire. "Ben, however, quickly lost interest in me."

"Lost interest?" said Harry.

"Ben, I learned, had been programmed to be interested in me, Harry. They used him to reel me in. Once I was trapped in one of their secure facilities, Ben was no longer required to serve that function," said Claire. "He was reprogrammed, and sent out to recruit others."

"Ben...?"

"Ben worked in recruiting, Harry. Just like Goldie," said Claire.

Goldie's fork dropped with a clatter. She got up and left the room.

"I'm sorry... did I touch on a sore subject?" Claire said.

"We found out, some time ago, that Goldie was programmed to love me," said Harry. "But since then, with all the time we've spent together... we think it's real, now."

"Ah ha," said Claire, nodding slowly. "You think. But what if it's not?" She leaned towards Harry. "What if her love for you is all programmed, Harry? I'm told that the programming deteriorates over time, if it's not reinforced. Have you seen any signs of the programming breaking down?"

"No," said Harry.

"That's good. Really good," said Claire.

"You didn't finish your story," said Harry.

"Didn't I?" Claire said, her fork twirling her food. "After I found out the truth about Ben, I resolved to escape. And so I did."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Claire grinned. "There isn't a computer organized security system in the world which can keep me imprisoned, Harry. My formal talents may be in biomathematics, but as you, a fellow Fourther can appreciate, I like to dabble." She paused. "How is that working out, by the way? I mean you, being a Fourther and all, and Goldie... well, she's certainly smarter than the average, of course, but she's not in our league, is she?"

"My relations with Goldie are fine. Better than fine," said Harry.

"If you say so," said Claire. "I'm glad such... different people have found happiness together. I want the best for my sister."

"I'm sure you do," said Harry. "Excuse me, please." He went into the bedroom.

"I'm all right, Harry," said Goldie, even before he could say a word. She was sitting, facing away from him.

"Claire was just telling us-"

"I heard what she was just telling us, Harry," she said. "And did you catch that dig at me?"

"I don't think-"

"She's trying to break us apart. She's trying to tell you that I'm programmed, like Ben."

"But... you were programmed," said Harry. "We talked about this, at great length."

"She's trying to plant doubt in your mind about my commitment to you. Doubt I've worked so hard to erase," said Goldie, suddenly turning to look at him.

Harry took her hand. "That will never happen."

********

"Harry, why are you and Claire going to infiltrate the Geanosis plant, and not me?"

Claire walked up to her sister. "Goldie, do you know what Class IV substances are?"

"No."

"Do you know about Hyadraphids? Or the rules governing Biotibids?"

"No," said Goldie. "What does that have to do with-"

"Harry and I are impersonating Food and Drug Administration Agents, Goldie," said Claire, as she put on her formal suit jacket. She brushed some wrinkles out of her business skirt. "Harry has a background in biochemistry, and I know biomathematics. If we get asked about these things, we'll know what to say. Your specialty was... what, a bachelors in art history?"

Claire's face was blank, not sneering, not hostile, not friendly. Everything she said was true. And yet, somehow, the way she said it made Goldie want to ball her fists.

"You're better off here," said Harry, as he adjusted his tie. "Safer."

"I don't want to be safe," said Goldie.

"Well, I want you to," said Harry. He kissed her. "See you soon."

********

Their destination was Wilmington, Delaware. As they rode on a stratoliner, Claire turned to Harry. "Goldie seems upset."

"She's used to going with me," said Harry.

"Listen, I don't want to get between you two," said Claire.

"I know," said Harry.

"You're such a good guy. I hope Goldie knows what she's getting." She smiled at him.

"She does," said Harry. He paused a moment. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"When I started working at The Foundation, in the beginning you stopped by to chat with me, almost every day."

"Yeah," Claire said, giving him another grin. "I found you... interesting."

"Interesting... in more than a friendly way?"

Claire shrugged. "Maybe."

"But you were with Ben at the time."

"Well... things with Ben were not so clear, let's just say."

Harry sat back in his seat for a long moment. Then he said, "But after my second week at The Foundation, after I had my medical exam, you stopped visiting me."

"Let me think." She stared up into space. "Was that the second or third week of November? Yeah. They buried me under a heavy workload. I was working twelve hour days."

"Oh."

"Was there something you wanted to know, Harry?" she asked.

"No," said Harry.

********

"This is an unscheduled visit," said the Director of the Geanosis plant on the outskirts of Philadelphia. His name was Victor Chebrikov.

"The exact term in the Federal Register is 'unannounced visit'," said Harry, putting his credentials back in his pocket. It had taken him and Claire the better part of a day to fabricate them. "If we always announced our visits, we might not see as much as we'd like."

"Is there something in particular you have a special interest in?"

"No," said Harry. "This is just a routine inspection."

"A routine unannounced inspection."

"That's the one."

"In my eight years managing the plant, we have never had one."

"Well, then you're long overdue then, aren't you?" said Harry.

Claire held back a smile. She admired Harry's confidence. In fact, there was a lot about Harry she liked. He was as smart as they said he was. Brilliant, even by Fourther standards. It was sad that her semi-defective Normal sister had her hooks so deeply into him. If things had been different, he might have been a good mate for her.

Personally, Claire didn't understand the couple. Oh, she clearly knew what Goldie saw in Harry. She had been programmed. If Claire had been programmed to love a giraffe, she'd be living full time at the zoo.

But Harry's attraction to Goldie was harder to parse. She had seen his file at The Foundation. He was a loner. He had practically zero experience with girls. Goldie had taken advantage of him, she had used sex to easily seduce him. She was basically his very first girlfriend, and Harry, being insecure about sex as he was, was afraid to let her go. It was sad that he clung to such a defective partner.

"Paul here can show you anything you need to see," said Chebrikov. He indicated a dark haired man behind them.

The man named Paul took them on a tour of the labs. It didn't matter where they went, because there was nothing they wanted to see.

Instead, they wanted to tap into the computer network. They had determined that there was no way to do that from the outside. One had to access a terminal on the inside.

They asked to see a chemical manifest. Paul paused, and then went to a terminal, and punched a number of buttons. "I have enabled limited access to the manifest directory. View whatever you need to."

"Thanks," said Harry, moving to the keyboard.

Claire smiled at Paul. "Tell me more about your work here, Paul." She engaged Paul in conversation while Harry got to work.

While Harry was typing away, hacking into the system, Claire kept him occupied. Whenever Paul looked Harry's way, Claire would smile at him, or touch his arm, or subtly thrust out her chest.

She was a gorgeous woman, with bright blonde hair, and large breasts, larger than Goldie's. She was wearing a tight white blouse that left nothing to the imagination, and a short skirt which showed off her long legs. Every time she sensed that Paul was losing interest she would subtly pull open part of her jacket to show her breasts, or stretch her fine legs in front of him. She could tell that Paul found her attractive, because he would smile at her and begin to flirt back, in an amateurish sort of way. She saw a wedding ring on his finger but of course, for most men, that wouldn't be a deterrent.

Paul was smiling at her and telling her about his greatest managerial achievements when Harry looked up and nodded. She smiled back as Harry walked over to them.

"Oh, are you done?" said Paul.

"Quite so, Paul. I think we've seen what we need here," said Harry.

********

It was late in the evening when they got back to their hotel in Dayton. But Goldie was up, waiting for them.

"Success!" Harry cried, giving her a hug.

"You got the information?" Goldie asked.

"We still have to process it," said Claire, smiling as she took off her work jacket. "I'll start working up an algorithm in the morning."

"How did it go?" Goldie asked.

"Just as we planned," said Harry. "We had a minder with us, but Claire distracted him while I got the data. You worked him pretty good, Claire. I don't think he took his eyes off of you for more than two seconds."

That was the wrong thing to say. Goldie turned and went into the bedroom.

Harry sighed and followed her. "What's wrong now?"

"You think she's pretty, don't you?" Goldie said.

"What does that matter?"

"Answer the question, Harry?"

Harry paused. "Yes. Claire is very pretty. But I only have eyes for you. Goldie, where is this insane jealousy coming from?"

"Nowhere, Harry. It's coming from nowhere. Let's go to bed."

********

Claire devised the algorithm to analyze the data. Harry made sure not to praise her for it, at least not when Goldie was in the same room. He became increasingly aware that there was a very adversarial relationship between the two, which struck him as odd, as Goldie had gone through great lengths to try and rescue her sister. There was something that was making relations between them very worse, and the something was obviously him.

Harry tried to think back and recall whether it seemed to him that Claire was genuinely interested in him when they first met at The Foundation. She had flirted with him, certainly, but then had mysteriously disappeared after he took his medical exam. She had provided an explanation for it, but Harry didn't know what to believe.

On the plane ride back, Harry had asked Claire if she had ever used the Relaxation Chair. She smiled at him and said "Once or twice." Then she frowned. "You want to know if I was programmed, is that it? Like Goldie?"

Harry had simply nodded.

"To the best of my knowledge, the only regular staff who were programmed were the recruiters. Like Goldie. I worked in biomathematics. As long as I cooperated, there wasn't any need to program me."

"And even when they held you captive, after the Newton facility was shut down, they still didn't program you?"

"No," said Claire. "I continued to passively cooperate with them, until the day of my escape."

Harry had just looked at her, and weighed her answer. Of course, if she had been programmed, she was unlikely to admit it. She was unlikely to be aware of it. But her answer had made sense.

Claire had touched her hand. "Harry, what will happen when Goldie slips her programming, and stops loving you?"