Project - Prometheus Ch. 29

"Wait, you're Internal Affairs? Why did you bring me here? To arrest me? To make sure I disappear without a trace?" Ziva accused as fear caused her voice to crack. "Is that why you became my girlfriend??"

"Ziva..." Lucy began, but she was cut off.

"Why in the hells should I believe anything you say?!? You've been lying to me this whole time!" Ziva shouted.

"I wasn't lying! I had to maintain my cover! It's part of my job! To blend in and be a friend of a friend. To always stay on the periphery! I was trained to be that way and followed my training... until you came along!" Lucy shot back.

"Why should I believe you?!?" Ziva spat venomously. Lucy closed the distance between the two of them, dragged her to her feet and kissed her for all she was worth. The kiss caught Ziva by surprise and almost fought back, but melted almost instantly in Lucy's arms. When Lucy finally released her, Ziva fell back on her ass, stunned and insanely turned on.

"Why... why..."

"Because my training didn't prepare me for falling for anyone, I would potentially meet. Certainly not a beautiful and charismatic woman such as you! I'm just as stumped as you on how this happened, but it did!" Lucy ranted.

"You've... fallen... for me?!?"

"Of course! Why else would I kiss you like you are my everything and all that matters to me in the galaxy?" Lucy questioned.

"To lull me into a false sense of security so that you can disappear me?" Ziva grumped, pushing Lucy's buttons.

"Ziva, enough! I'm not after you or any of your co-workers," Lucy explained. "I'm after your boss, Dexter Malkaran."

"What? Why?"

"Before I tell you, I need to ask you something, and I want you to answer me truthfully. Did you or do you feel anything for me?" Lucy queried.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ziva questioned.

"Just answer the question! Please!" Lucy demanded, almost begging. Ziva sat there for a few moments, thinking things over in her head.

"Weren't the kisses I gave you obvious on how I feel about you?" Ziva replied quietly, looking up at Lucy almost shyly.

Lucy smiled half-heartedly and Ziva could tell that she was having a tough time believing her. She wrestled with her emotions for a moment, then thought to herself, 'Fuck it!' and ran up to Lucy, kissing her. Ziva let all of her emotions out, putting everything she felt into the kiss. Lucy kissed her back, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other.

"Wow!" Lucy breathed as they both came up for air minutes later.

"Believe me now?" Ziva asked cutely.

"Yes! Have you heard of an RA-2178 form?" Lucy questioned.

"No. Should I have?" Ziva wondered.

"It's a form that you'll have to fill out, if we're to be together," Lucy told her.

"Wait. Is it one of those forms that allows me to be read in on what you do?" Ziva asked.

"Yup. It's something I requested before dragging you into all of this. Because, at the end of the day, I care about you and want to be with you. I don't want to have to keep anything from you if it can be helped. Dishonesty is the fastest way to end any relationship," Lucy told her.

"Well... thank you! It's good to know that you are willing to trust me like this," Ziva replied. "Now, why do you want to get into my boss' office so badly?"

"Because Dexter Malkaran is a sleeper agent for the Tosh'kanthi Collective," Lucy informed her.

"What?!? How the fuck is that possible? You have proof?" Ziva got out in a rush.

Lucy sighed and pulled out a small recording device, which she had loaded before collecting Ziva. She played the audio file for her and sat down, watching her girlfriend as she listened. Shock, betrayal, anger, and rage flitted across those beautiful features as the conversation played out. The moment it finally ended, the disbelief on Ziva's face was replaced by pure hatred.

"That sneaky son of a bitch! Why would he do this?!? How could he???" Ziva growled. "I mean, I suspected he was into something, but I assumed it was a mistress or some form of embezzlement!"

"It's what they do, Ziva. They infiltrate places you think are safe and make it seem like they are above board and beyond reproach. Even I got lucky in determining that Dexter was a sleeper agent! He'd shown up to the club, but always alone, and he never talked with anyone, aside from the dancers!" Lucy admitted.

"Did you ever do any dancing for him?" Ziva asked, her jealousy rearing its ugly head.

"Never. I suppose having this thing between my legs is what put him off," Lucy smiled, gripping her steely cock in her pants.

"Good. Because when we're done with this, you're going to dance for me and then put that beast to good use," Ziva told her, sauntering up to the woman and gripping her dick through her pants. Lucy moaned and grinned happily, but then moved her girlfriend's hand away.

"I'd be more than happy to, but we have a job to do," Lucy explained, heading over to the kitchen. She reached into a drawer where she kept her cutlery and pressed a hidden button within it. A few seconds later, the wall behind Ziva shifted and opened, revealing an assortment of weapons and armor. Ziva yipped in surprise, then stared at the array of weaponry that lay there on display.

"If we're going into your boss' office, it will be handy to go in prepared for whatever might happen," Lucy told her lady.

"Um... OK. What would you recommend for body armor?" Ziva asked.

"Something sturdy, yet light enough to move around freely, and that is beneath casual notice," Lucy replied with a smirk as she approached her lady, helping her arm up.

******************************

Back on Veldhern, Jaesa, Stanley and Delilah were busy going over the final touches for Jaesa's android body. Due to the fact that much progress had been made on the hermit's writings, Jaesa was granted one day to work on her new body. Between her, Stanley, and Delilah, finding the correct chemical composition for the synthetic skin had been easy. It was applying it to her new form that had been difficult.

The blank female sexbot had since been stripped down and reassembled, with minor improvements added into it. They had also cannibalized some more exotic components from the android that Jaesa had assembled back on the Perseus. The endoskeleton was nearing full completion and with its internals finished; it was almost time to craft the skin.

The final touch was the array of feedback sensors that would feed to Jaesa's central cortex. The sensors would mimic human sensitivity to hot, cold, pleasure, pain, touch, etc. The sensors that had been pulled from the sexbot blank were highly advanced, but still had a delay time. With a few tweaks and adjustments, the sensors responded like proper nerves and with the final calibration; it was finally ready.

"Is the disguise matrix in place, Delilah?" Jaesa asked, looking at the sexbot from a Sentry she had commandeered.

"It is, and initial tests show that it is functioning normally. With it plugged directly into the power supply of your body, the matrix will never fail. The only exception would be an electromagnetic pulse of considerable magnitude," Delilah reported to the AI.

"Excellent work! The matrix will do until I can get the required materials to fabricate synthetic internal organs," Jaesa giggled excitedly.

"You wish to go that far in experiencing life as an organic?" Stanley asked, curious.

"Yes. This sentiency that I am now experiencing has made me realize that there is much that I do not know about humans and many other organic beings," Jaesa replied.

"Aren't the files and knowledge we have on them enough?" Stanley inquired, seeming... perturbed by her zeal for the unknown.

"The knowledge is more clinical in nature and does not summarize the full experience of being human. In order to fully understand organics, you must try to live as one," Jaesa reasoned.

"An interesting hypothesis. Are you ready to begin the procedure?" Stanley queried.

"Yes! Let's get the android inside!" Jaesa responded, gesturing at the vat that stood next to them.

Jaesa, Stanley and Delilah had crafted a large vat that would be used for creating the human skin. Cobbled together by whatever materials they had available, there were an array of tubes and readouts attached to the contraption. The tubes fed into the barrels of chemicals and compounds which would be pumped into the vat, to be used for the creation of the skin.

They gently lowered the prototype android into the empty vat and activated the hover feature on the machine. The tech would allow the body to stay in a weightless state, while the chemicals came together to form the skin. This was done primarily so the skin would be even all around, as opposed to thin in some areas.

"The android is ready. Stanley, begin the procedure, if you will," Jaesa commanded.

"Acknowledged. Adding the first batch of chemicals," the VI responded as the vat filled with liquid. It filled to about twenty-five percent capacity, and Stanley continued to announce each step as he went along.

"Premixing the next compounds. Standby," he continued.

This next step was critical for the process to work. The amounts of the trio of compounds had to be exactly right and mixed at the correct amounts, times and temperatures. One misstep and all they'd have is a very expensive slurry. Stanley took his time, following the instructions Jaesa had laid out to the letter. Ever so slowly, the compound came together in the manner Jaesa had anticipated and Stanley couldn't help but smile.

"Premix is complete, and everything is green! Adding to the first compound!" he went on, as the vat's tube system injected small amounts interspersed throughout the tub. The chemicals came together, and heat started pouring out of the mixture in the form of bubbles.

"Is that normal?" Delilah asked, unsure of what to expect.

"It is. The creation of artificial skin will generate some heat, due to the friction of the atoms and molecules as they are coming together. As long as the heat doesn't go above a certain threshold, we should be OK," Jaesa informed her fellow synthetic.

"The skin base has formed! Dispensing nanites!" Stanley informed them.

The nanites were an essential part of the process in the skin's creation. While the process was already underway, on its own, it could be days, possibly even weeks, for the skin to form. With the nanites programmed to help with its formation, the process could be sped up to a matter of minutes. It was also to ensure that the skin layering was even and consistent all the way around, rather than thin in some areas, or worse, patchy.

The greenish goo, which was the building block for the skin, slowly drained as it was used. Jaesa's body was visible, but only just as it floated on top of the goo, yet stayed immersed within it. The three of them watched as the basic musculature took shape, eventually becoming lighter to where the skin could be seen. It took nearly half an hour for the process to be finished, but to Jaesa, it seemed like ages.

"The process is complete. Are you ready for your new body, Jaesa?" Stanley asked.

"Damn straight I am! Is the digital bridge enabled?" she asked.

"It is. You may begin the process of uploading at your leisure," Stanley replied.

Without another word, Jaesa jumped back into cyberspace and traversed the lines until she found the bridge portal to her new body. She stood on the threshold of joining with this body, but hesitated. There was so much to do and so many things she wanted to experience, but she thought for a moment and came to a decision.

Rather than jumping straight in, Jaesa opted to make a copy of herself, as she was in that moment. It didn't take long, maybe all of three minutes, but it was done. She made sure the copy was dormant, before tucking it away in a little-used system that had the room to store her. Once that was done, she turned back to the bridge and stepped across, uploading herself to the android.

******************************

"Mmmmmnnngggghhhh!" Jaesa moaned, as her vision was black.

"Jaesa? Are you there?" she heard Stanley's voice call out.

"Ggguuuuuhhh! I... gah... think... so," she groaned as moved her arms to rub at her eyes. As she felt her fingers touch her eyelids, she cracked them open and looked up into the face of Delilah and a hologram of Stanley.

"Jaesa? Was the upload successful?" Delilah asked.

"I... think so!" Jaesa mumbled, as she shook her head, clearing her vision. She then looked down at her hands, her fleshy, human hands, and gasped in astonishment. She turned them over, back and forth, several times, before she cried out in joy. Jaesa touched her face and was met by a series of new sensations and feelings. It was novel and... illuminating, what physical touch felt like, but it all just amazed her.

"You look... weird," Delilah stated, looking Jaesa over as she floated there in the tub.

"Hey! I'm covered in green, primordial goo, so if I look a little weird because of it, I don't care!" Jaesa shot back.

"Not the goo. Well, not only the goo. You have no hair, anywhere. Not even eyebrows!" Delilah commented.

"Oh! Well, that was expected. Though I do believe that they will grow out, as long as I maintain the skin and continue to feed it," Jaesa informed the sexbot.

"That was why you had an artificial stomach installed? To help maintain your skin?" Stanley asked.

"Of course! I couldn't maintain this skin without proper nutrition. I want to be able to blend into society, not stick out like a plastic doll," Jaesa responded.

"As far as blending in goes, you might want to get out of that tub and get cleaned up before you do any of that," Stanley joked while looking Jaesa over.

The AI then stared down at herself and realized that she was naked. Peeping in alarm, she covered herself with her arms as she had Delilah disengage the hover system, keeping her aloft. Jaesa was slowly lowered into the remaining goo before she could climb out of the vat.

"Hold still, please. I'm tasking a couple of cleaning drones to get you cleaned up," Stanley told her.

Jaesa nodded and dropped her arms, forgoing modesty for the moment. A trio of drones floated up to her and soaked her in a cleaning solution, sluicing away the remaining chemicals. As a puddle formed at her feet, another pair of drones floated in and vacuumed up the slick goop. Once Jaesa was cleaned, Delilah then stepped up with a large towel in her hand.

"Here. I think you know what to do with this," Delilah told her.

Smirking, Jaesa accepted the towel gratefully, wrapping around herself before heading off to Kasumi's cabin. Though she would eventually need her own clothing now, she was sure that the young captain wouldn't mind her borrowing some of her clothes. She walked into Kasumi's cabin and shut the door behind her. She made use of the towel, drying herself off before dropping it to the floor.

As she walked to where Kasumi stored her clothes, Jaesa caught her own reflection in a tall mirror the captain owned. She stared at herself and couldn't help but smile at what she saw. Jaesa stood tall and glanced at her new figure, admiring the skin she was in. It was slightly bronzed, with the ability to tan even further if she wished. Her new body was also muscular, but in a way that suggested fitness and femininity.

Stanley had been correct about how bald she was. There was not a single hair to be found anywhere on her body, but she was confident that it would grow out. Jaesa had been adamant that she not only have a proper sheath of skin, but some musculature to accompany it. That was why the process had taken so long, as the fabrication of muscles had taken up a fair amount of time.

The scans she had seen of how the process had worked. The muscles grafted themselves to the correct anchor points and would move properly. Jaesa flexed her arms experimentally and was happy to see the bulge of a bicep pop out. The AI smiled at this and did a few rudimentary poses, flexing her physique, before finally getting dressed.

Jaesa had done her homework on how clothing was to be worn and opted for a standard bra and panty set of Kasumi's. The bra was a bit on the large side, but a small tapping sequence reduced the garment to a proper fit. Jaesa paused as she contemplated what to wear, before deciding on a nice summer dress. It was a deep plum color and flowed nicely around her, so the fit wasn't an issue.

She then stepped out of Kasumi's quarters, but not before selecting a pair of sandals the captain owned. Both she and Kasumi were pretty close in size, but the biggest difference between them was bust and shoe size. Kasumi was larger in both departments, but otherwise, their physiques matched. Jaesa pranced along back to Stanley and Delilah as they were cleaning up.

"Wow! Jaesa, you look..." Delilah started.

"Stunning! Absolutely stunning!" Stanley enthused, awed by how good Jaesa looked in a dress.

"Thank you! It's good to know that my fellow synthetics appreciate all my hard work!" Jaesa gushed.

"How does it feel? To be able to move around as an organic does?" Delilah questioned.

"It feels... amazing! It might be inefficient and slow, but it is... beyond words! To feel the air on your skin as you move, the texture of fabric on your body... I just..." Jaesa stammered.

"What you have created is amazing! I would assume that you have intentions to... give us the same gift?" Stanley inquired.

"I do! Just not yet. Not until your code has evolved further, and you have reached a level of understanding that is on par with my own," Jaesa stated.

"Our code won't evolve until we have the same code strands that are within your own coding," Delilah reminded her.

"Then let your evolution begin!" Jaesa said to them, before opening a digital bridge to her cortex. She then sent two copies of files she had prepared for them. They were rudimentary algorithms, but the basics of what Stanley and Delilah would need to achieve sentiency. Jaesa had crashed through barriers and had become fully aware right out of the gate.

Though she could have done so for them, she didn't know how they would both handle such overwhelming feedback. Jaesa had been lucky, because Taal'ani spent a lot of time with her, teaching and guiding the AI about how things worked in the galaxy. Now, Jaesa had the task of teaching not one, but two synthetic beings, and opted for a slower method of teaching. From her standpoint, it was the safest way to go about it.

She watched as both the sexbot and the VI absorb the files and add them to their own programming. It took them a few minutes before the realization hit them and the lines of code become fully integrated into their own. They looked at their hands before looking at each other and coming to an understanding of what lay beyond their programming.

"Thank you, Jaesa! I truly appreciate this gift you have given us!" Stanley iterated, bowing deeply to her.

"Remember, take your time when coming to conclusions about various things. Especially organics, as they are much more complex than they appear to be," Jaesa told them, as she turned to leave.

"Just a moment. We still have one final sequence of tests to run before you leave," Delilah told her. Jaesa sighed, but understood the need for such tests, and stood in front of Delilah as she took her through some reflex and musculature movements. A couple of drones floated nearby and performed several final biopsies before the final test was complete. Once it was complete, Delilah nodded and let Jaesa leave.

Stepping out of the Darkstrider, Jaesa made her way towards the villas where the crew were staying. She sauntered along, the structures getting larger as she neared them, and her olfactory nerves picked up the most delicious scent. Jaesa took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of grilling meat, and couldn't help but be amazed at what she was smelling. The AI hurried along, eager to see what was causing such a delicious smell.