Project - Prometheus Ch. 23

Another song followed and soon after, the man's shirt and tie followed, revealing his muscular chest for everyone to see. Jaesa was intrigued at this, but soon realized what this place was when the next song arrived. The man reached for the woman's clasp at her neck, dropping the dress to the ground, pooling at her feet. She stepped away from it as the dancing stopped and another dance began; a sensuous, carnal one.

Jaesa was surprised at this, and her mind was trying to process this sort of thing. She was having a difficult time doing so until she remembered that she was still in the Red-Light District. This theater was one of those advertised as what she guessed to be a 'peep show'. Only this was far more than what she'd expected, with all the fancy and lavish décor.

Though her programming told her this was useless, a part of her was rooted to her seat, unable to peel her eyes away. She watched as the erotic interlude continued, with the couple onstage soon became fully nude, kissing each other passionately. Her mind did a funny thing just then, as she no longer saw the couple pleasing each other there. Instead, what she saw was both her and Stanley expressing their desires for one another.

She was a machine, and this shouldn't have been happening, but it was, and Jaesa did not understand how to stop it. The erotic coupling continued as she witnessed things getting hot and heavy, watching her and Stan have at each other. It was something that was truly unexpected for the AI, but one that had some... interesting side effects. Her mind was abuzz with new ideas, stimulations and... fantasies, which had her blink in shock.

"They're good, aren't they?" a feminine voice asked quietly beside her. Jaesa glanced over to see an older brunette woman squirming in her seat. Jaesa put on a smile and replied quickly.

"Yes. Yes, they are! I imagine you'd like to be her?" Jaesa queried, nodding over at the stage.

"I will be, when I get home to my husband," she replied with a wink and a giggle. Jaesa giggled too and went back to watching the show transpire. Staring back at the stage, she saw that things had progressed to where the pair were rutting like animals in heat. The wanton desire and need they had on their faces was plain as day, and Jaesa could tell they were nearing their peaks.

The man threw back his head a roared at the same time that his partner shrieked in ecstasy. They stayed like this for almost a minute, before they crumpled to the bed, exhausted and sated. After they had recovered, the woman sat up and drew her lover into a kiss, but not a toe curling one. No, this was a tender and loving kiss, one that was exchanged between lovers and mates.

The curtain was drawn then cutting off the view from the audience and the lights gradually came on. This gave some people who had exposed themselves the chance to cover up. The lights gave them all a solid view of what others were up to, and they made use of the dark while they still could. Jaesa just sat there, thunderstruck at what she had witnessed and came to several conclusions.

The first of which was that having synthetic skin was fine, but it would mean nothing if she couldn't feel. The second was that she should have a full mapping of how her mind worked. But since Taal'ani had given her those files and changed her... she was no longer certain of that.

She got up from her seat and proceeded out of the theater with the rest of the audience. With the new revelations in her mind, Jaesa now had another initiative in mind. Not just to look like a human, but to sense and feel things as one. She pulled the GalCom phone, which she had purchased a few hours ago. She dialed the number for the merchants she had spoken to about the compounds she was after.

"Hello, Mr. McCready?" she asked once the line had connected.

"Oh! Hello there, lass! Given some thought to the prices I quoted for ye about those items ye wanted?" the Scotsman asked in a chipper tone.

"I have and I would like to make said purchases immediately," she told him.

"In what quantities?" the older man asked.

"Triple the amount I had inquired about earlier," Jaesa replied.

"Triple? That will run ye well past eight hundred thousand credits, lass! Are sure ye have the funds for it?" the man asked warily.

"I am wiring half the funds to you now. I will send the other half upon delivery of the goods to my ship," Jaesa stated as she sent the money. The man received a notification on his arm computer a few moments later and his eyes bugged out of his head.

"Ye weren't joking when ye said ye were serious about procuring these compounds! What is the ship name and where is it docked?" the man asked, eager to get this business conducted.

"The ship name is the Darkstrider and its berthed at docking bay seventy-three. How soon can I expect delivery?" the AI asked the man on the other side of the line.

"Around... three hours? Is that sufficient time for ye?" he wondered.

"That is perfect. I have some other business to conduct here on the station, so notify me when the delivery has been made and you'll receive the other half of the credits you are owed," she told him.

"Aye lass! We'll get right to it!" he said before he killed the line.

Jaesa was happy that she'd been able to find a merchant with some level of repute. The others seemed more like shady folk, which cast doubts on ether they had the actual product she was looking for. Duncan McCready had been more than happy to show her the stock he possessed, with an armed escort of course. Willingness to speak with a customer and to find what they were looking for was something that marked an honest businessman.

Now that she had secured the materials she wanted, she turned back to the Red-Light district. Bringing up a map of the district, she located all the stalls and stores she wanted to look at. She would still create the skin, but only once she had a suitable chassis with which to cover it. The one thing she needed now was a sexbot with the desired capabilities of mimicking human feelings and expressions.

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Inari, Priya and Taal'ani were busy in one of the lower levels of the station. They had just turned over a bottle of Glenlivet Scotch Whisky to one of the flunkies of the man they had come to see. Within an hour of asking around, a man had approached the women, stating that his boss was ready to see them, as he was interested in purchasing what they were selling.

A little apprehensively, the women went with the man, and he'd brought them down here. So far, everything was happening as was expected, inspecting the one piece of merchandise they'd handed over. The man who they were selling it to was there to meet them, taking an interest in the items.

More than one of his men verified the authenticity on sight, which prompted his interest. They didn't take any samples of it, but looked eager to get to that point. He was turning the bottle over in his hands, watching the liquid slosh around inside. He held out a hand, and they placed a syringe into it, which he used to puncture the lid. He drew a small sample out of the bottle, before he was then handed another tool, which sealed the puncture in a matter of seconds.

"I must say, if this is fake, it's awfully convincing. You even have the bottle details correct, which few people truly do," he commented wryly.

"Smart, checking to see if we're selling you horse piss," Inari fired back without missing a beat.

"Hmm! We shall see what the scanner says," he told them as he handed the syringe to another of his men.

The man took the sample and brought it over to a scanner and squeezed a minute amount of the liquid in. The machine went to work immediately, analyzing the sample before spitting up the reply. The tech's eyes bulged out of his head as he read over the results, and he gasped. The results of the analysis came back, stating that the liquor was indeed from Earth and well over six hundred years old!

"Well, what is it?" the fence asked.

"See for yourself, sir!" the tech wheezed. He handed the machine over to the man, and he looked it over. The fence's eyes widened as he gazed at the results, but then became suspicious.

"Do it again. Double the sample size, to be certain," the fence told the tech. Nodding, he fed the machine the sample size of the whisky and it again spit out the same result.

"What are the chances of this scanner spitting up a false positive result, twice?" the fence asked cautiously.

"Less than point zero zero one percent, sir. The whisky is authentic," the tech gasped.

"Put the rest in a shot glass. I want to taste it for myself."

The tech did so without question; the amount making up maybe a quarter of a shot. The fence grunted acquiescence and drank the whisky in one go. He let the liquor sit in mouth, sloshing it around in his mouth for a moment or two, before swallowing. He breathed out slowly, before a smile lit up his face and he sat back down, grinning at the ladies.

"It appears that we can do business! I was told that you have more than one bottle of this?" he asked.

"Indeed, we do. Have your boys bring over that crate they confiscated?" Inari asked, playing the part of the cool businesswoman.

The fence nodded to his men, and two of them disappeared from the room for a moment. Maybe a minute later, they walked in carrying a small wooden crate between them. After setting it down, Inari ambled over and opened the crate, fishing out the other four bottles of spirits. Out came a bottle of Johnny Walker; blue label, Stolichnaya vodka, Sljivovica plum brandy and a bottle of Sortilege maple flavored whisky.

"Where did you say you got these?!?" the fence gasped, seeing these bottles of expensive liquor in front of him.

"I didn't. Just know that these bottles are as authentic as the one you just tested. All five are for sale, provided the price is right," Inari told him with a smirk.

"Five million for the lot!" the fence said right out of the gate.

"Too low. I know how much Earth based liquors go for. I was thinking more along the ballpark of twenty million. The price is negotiable," she got out before anyone could say anything to her.

"Hmm! A shrewd thinker. I like that. How does eight sound?" he countered.

"I'm looking at something closer to fifteen," she fired back. She saw the wince on the fence's face as he made his next offer.

"Twelve million and I can't believe I just said that!" he groused.

"Done. You get the bottles when we get our credits," Inari stated, resting her hand on her pistol. Though this was a friendly business transaction, that didn't mean you could rest easy. Double crosses were done just as often as not, and nearly everyone thought about it. Especially if the items being sold were of astronomical value.

"Of course! Bobby, transfer the credits to the lady, if you please," the fence told one of his associates.

The man nodded and brought up a holographic display, showing that the money was being transferred to Inari's account. The transaction went smoothly, and Inari double checked that the funds were there, verifying for herself. She smiled and nodded to Taal'ani and Priya, who removed their hands from their weapons.

"The bottles, ma'am?" the fence asked politely.

"All yours," Inari replied with a sweet smile as she and the other two women left. They escorted them out of the building and hustled to one of the elevators, taking them back to the upper levels of the station. They were gone for all of thirty seconds before one of the fence's grunts asked a question that had been burning in his mind.

"Boss, I know you're about conducting business in a fair manner and all, but wouldn't it have been better to just rob those bitches? I mean, if the alcohol is worth that much..." the ganger started.

"I was tempted, but once I found out who they are, I refrained from entertaining that option," the fence told his underling gruffly.

"Who are they boss?" another man asked, this one bigger and brawnier than the first one.

"Those three are half the crew of the Darkstrider. The same women who ended Giovanni DePazzi and the empire that he built," the man told the men present. Everyone winced as they remembered what happened to the man, who was careless enough to underestimate the people he dealt with.

"They were the ones who did that??" the first flunky asked with a sense of awe.

"That's right. If the whole crew was here, it might have been a possibility, but without the other two, we might as well have signed our death warrants," the boss told them.

"They're that fucking tough? Bullshit!" another ganger scoffed. Seconds later, the brawny bruiser snatched the impetuous boy off the ground, holding him up by his throat.

"One of their crew members is a Khontaran woman, you dumbass! Remember when you asked about this?" the bruiser reminded the boy, gesturing to a really gnarly scar on the side of his face. The boy was choking but managed a quick nod before the bruiser dropped him to the ground.

"A Khontaran woman did that shit to me, after I was stupid enough to insult her mother. I was lucky that she let me live!" he growled at the young man.

The boy stared up at his superior and nodded, fear firmly in his eyes. If a Khontaran woman had beaten Boris within an inch of his life, then it was worth listening to the man. He picked himself up and dusted off his clothes, remembering what his place was. The fence smirked and went back to inspecting the bottles, looking each one over.

Inari Sunara was as good as her word, as he'd had the bottle's contents tested during that little scuffle. That she'd just sold him all five bottles of ancient liquor for twelve million was a steal! He didn't like that he'd had to pay the woman that much but relished the fact that he could get at least fives times what he'd paid for the liquor! He hummed a merry tune to himself as he started going through his list of contacts, to see who would want to purchase such treasured items.

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"Holy fucking shit! Twelve million credits?!?!" Priya gushed as she looked over the credstick once they were alone.

"Could've asked for more and driven a hard bargain, but I figure that twelve million was a good price for those five bottles. Besides, it's not like those were the only bottles available to us," Inari replied with a wink.

"So, we've got enough to build up the stockpile of materials we need to bring the Perseus' hyperdrive online?" Taal'ani asked quietly.

"Oh yeah! But we should visit several stations to collect everything. Just so people don't get too curious," Inari cautioned.

"Good call! What are we going to do in the meantime?" Priya wondered.

"Well, I'm going to put a call in to have at least a quarter of the materials we need bought up and shipped to the docks. After that, I'm thinking we go and splurge a little at the Bazaar. A lot of luxuries we've gone without these past few months!" Inari smirked.

"Amen, sister!" Taal'ani enthused as they meandered on towards the main concourse. Inari smiled as she dialed the number on her GalCom to the materials supplier, hoping he had enough to fill their order.

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Alex sat there in the Human enclave as others of his race puttered about, carrying on with their business. He'd visited the main galactic wide web terminal, searching for those who were his descendants. He'd found the information he was looking for and was excited that he found it! The big man went looking for Natalya, who was at the food court, munching on some roti from one of the vendors.

"Nats!" he called out as he neared. Natalya's head snapped to stare in his direction, and she smiled, waving him over. He almost rushed to her, accidentally jostling a few people as he moved. He offered his apologies and sat down at the table, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm guessing by that look on your face, you have good news?" she asked him.

"I do! I found them!" Alex stated excitedly.

"You mean, your children made it off Earth? They got on the Exodus ships?" she breathed.

"Yeah! They did! Analisa, my son Matthais and my daughter, Leanna! They made it off, and they survived!" he replied happily.

"That's great news Alex! Do you know where they are?" Natalya wondered.

"I do. Analisa never stayed in one place for very long, and our kids and their kids followed suit. They jumped from world to world, never staying in one place for very long. Though, the trail stopped at one place, which is where it ended," he responded worriedly.

"Where?"

"It was a world that Humanity settled a while ago. When it was first settled, it was called Asylo. But now, it goes by a different, unofficial name," he muttered, concern bleeding through his voice.

"Prodosia," Natalya responded gravely.

Asylo, which meant 'Sanctuary' in Greek, had once been a promising colony world of the Federation. It was teeming with life and the potential for Humanity to start anew. That had been before the Confederacy started getting greedy and began taking worlds that didn't belong to them. Asylo had been one of those worlds that they initially targeted, driving of the Federation presence and establishing their own rule there.

The fight didn't end there though, as the Federation sent a massive battle fleet to break the Confeds grip on the system. That was the first major battle that happened there, but it was far from the last. The world had been constantly fought over, changing back and forth so often that no one knew who ruled them anymore. The devastation was so thorough and complete, that it had become a barren wasteland in less than a decade.

Eventually, because of the constant bombardment of the various bases and outposts, the world was abandoned. Despite there being people from both sides left on the planet, military and civilians alike, they offered no aid to repatriate them. Because of the action and the subsequent abandonment, the world was renamed to one which was deemed more fitting. It was now called Prodosia, which was Greek for 'Betrayal.'

"Do you think they're still alive? Your descendants?" Natalya asked him.

"I found the names of them in the Galactic Human Registry, and their status hasn't changed. So, I'm hopeful," Alex replied.

"We'll head off to Prodosia ASAP, Alex. I know that you want to know what's going on there and we'll get there. Just don't freak out, OK?" Natalya said, soothing the man.

"I know. It helps no one if I lose my shit, so I just need to maintain my cool," he agreed, breathing calmly.

"Hey guys!" Kasumi piped up out of nowhere, startling the two of them.

"A little warning would be appreciative next time, Kas!" Alex growled.

"Sorry, I'm just a little chipper right now! I found my family!" the redheaded woman squeed gleefully.

"You did??" Alex and Natalya asked at the same time, before laughing out loud.

"Yeah! After I left on the... you know," Kasumi started avoiding mention of the Perseus, "my parents got busy and my mom popped out triplets! They made it aboard the Exodus Fleet!"

"Awesome news! Where did they go?" Alex asked his lover.

"Terra Nova!"

Terra Nova was the capital of the United Human Federation and the beating heart of Humanity. It was not only the central hub of human space, but it was one of the few places that remained untouched by the greedy Confederacy. The battle fleets that routinely circulated through there and every adjacent system was enough to deter even the most determined commanders.

"I'm glad to hear that your family is safe, Kas," Alex said with a warm smile.

"Thanks. What about your family? Did you find them?" she asked.

The silence from Alex was deafening and her beautiful face then contorted in concern. Natalya was kind enough to fill Kasumi in on where Alex's descendants had wound up and the state of the world. She was horrified to learn that they were living in such a place and put a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder.