Quaranteam: Blake's Seven

As he continued completing the questionnaire, the questions became, frankly, more appropriate for an extreme kink website and Ruairi felt that if someone was able to look at his search history, he could be in for a lot of problems although, he suspected, he'd be one of hundreds, if not thousands, searching for the same things. The further through the questionnaire he got, though, the more he felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole.

45 minutes later, Ruairi sat back, having completed the Oracle questionnaire and pressed the button to send it who-knows-where. Part of the opening text on the questionnaire had informed him that the data was totally confidential and most of it would only be used by an AI system that would undertake a comprehensive analysis to determine the compatibility of respondents with Principals and Teams. Another part of the introductory text intimated that existing relationships would be respected, regardless of the compatibility scores although if the score was too low, then there would be a review before vaccination. Also, all females would need to positively accept any pairing before vaccination.

At one point, he'd had three of his six screens in use, one for the questionnaire itself and two others that he used for different searches for all of the terms he didn't recognise, his browsers set to incognito mode. He had also been using his phone for the group chat, finding out a few of the things that the seven young women were into. He'd previously thought that he was reasonably cognisant of sexual fetishes, but found his knowledge woefully inadequate when compared to the plethora of philias that he could have claimed he was interested in, some of which he seriously had concerns about whether they were physically possible or even legal in Ireland. After finishing the questionnaire, he cleared his search history before rebooting his system, just to be sure no record remained.

Getting up, he stretched and went to make himself a new mug of coffee, feeling in dire need of another caffeine fix, after which he posted a message in the group chat informing them all that he'd now completed the questionnaire.

Ruairi didn't know how the AI system would work. He was therefore surprised later that day when messages started appearing in the group chat showing that the remaining four women had all now received a text with their Oracle login information. The one that shocked him the most, though, was the message from Rebecca McCarthy informing everyone that she'd received a text and that she would be vaccinated the following day. At this point the group chat went mad, with all the other girls congratulating her.

Following this exchange, Ruairi's head was in a spin. As he looked around his apartment now, he saw all the things that he needed to do in preparation for Rebecca's arrival. The rest of the day was spent washing and drying his laundry, making room in his wardrobe and drawers for Rebecca's clothes, cleaning up the apartment and general tidying. It was a very tired Ruairi that finally rolled into bed that night.

=======

Sunday, 23rd August 2020

Ruairi was woken by a knock on his door. Coming to, he looked at his Sony radio alarm clock, noticing that it was already 9.30am. Quickly grabbing his dressing gown and putting it on over his pyjama shorts, he made his way to the door, shouting "Hold your horses, I'm coming". 'Feck', he said in his head; this was definitely not the impression he wanted to give Rebecca.

Reaching the door, he unlocked it and slid back the chain before opening it. A young female soldier of the Irish army who looked hardly out of school stood there in full uniform complete with a facemask that matched the colour of her uniform and was even embroidered with the Army insignia. Beside her stood Rebecca, also wearing a facemask, but this one had a bright pattern of flowers on it. Framed by her long chestnut brown hair and the mask, the only part of her face that was visible were her sparkling green eyes, into which Ruairi was willingly looking.

He was knocked out of his trance by being poked in the chest with a clipboard wielded by the young soldier.

"Sign," was the only word she spoke.

Ruairi looked at the form, which had the logos of the Irish Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána at the top but which also had a number of American English spellings, including in the title, which was 'Óglaigh na hÉireann and Garda Síochána Oracle Program Delivery Form' plus DA Form 6969-R at the bottom; Ruairi wondered just how much had been borrowed from the US. Using the pen that was attached to the clipboard by a length of string, he signed in the place indicated.

Taking the clipboard back, the young soldier turned and left, while Rebecca stepped into Ruairi's apartment, closing the door behind her.

"Don't you have any luggage with you?" Ruairi asked.

"It's in my car which is parked outside," Rebecca replied, removing her mask and shaking out her hair. "The young soldier girl can't drive so I gave her a lift here. She says it will take her about twenty minutes to walk back, but I think it'll be nearer half an hour."

"Do you want to get your things now?"

"No, what I need first is a coffee and then a chat. I was only vaccinated about 90 minutes ago and the need for sex hasn't fully kicked in yet."

"OK, coffee it is," Ruairi replied, a little concerned that the first thing Rebecca appeared to want to do was talk.

Five minutes later, Ruairi was sat in his armchair with Rebecca on the sofa, both nursing a fresh mug of coffee.

"What do you want to talk about?" Ruairi asked, seeing that Rebecca appeared unwilling to start.

Looking up from the mug of coffee which seemed to have temporarily claimed her attention, Rebecca began "Ruairi, when Aisling asked us to start texting with you, we were all happy to do so, just to help cheer you up and to have someone to talk to as so many of our friends have died, especially the men. At first, none of us knew who else she'd asked, but that soon became clear and that's when we made the group chat, which we've been using to talk between ourselves. What we didn't expect, though, was how quickly each of us would develop feelings for you. Nor do we think that this was Aisling's intention, either.

"You need to understand that guys appear to be becoming an endangered species, and good guys like yourself even more so. So when I got invited to complete the Oracle questionnaire, I decided that I would put you down as my boyfriend. I told the other girls in the group chat, expecting them to get angry at me. Instead, they all agreed to do the same, pointing out that from what we know, one man will be with multiple women and this would mean we could possibly all be together as well.

"So fast forward to this morning. I drove to the vaccination centre early, which is in a repurposed fitness centre although there's nothing to indicate this from the outside. There I was presented with the facts as to how many men, women and children have died, and the numbers for a small country like ours are fecking insane! I was also given a lot of information about the vaccine and the pairing process that we will both go through soon."

Rebecca looked directly into Ruairi's eyes. "Ruairi, when we have sex, I will become bonded to you in a way that I never knew could exist. If I were then to have sex with another man, I would die a horrible death; even another man's cum on my skin will burn me. So if you agree to it, all seven of us will be bonded to you for the rest of our lives. In return, you will be protected from this DuoHalo virus and, through accepting us, you will help to eradicate DuoHalo by allowing us to be vaccinated."

Ruairi took a while to take in everything that Rebecca had told him. Eventually, he asked "Have you told the others what you have learned yet?"

Rebecca continued to nurse her mug of coffee, having yet to take a single sip. "No, not yet, I wanted to talk to you first. Have you changed your mind in any way since yesterday?"

"You mentioned the death toll. How bad is it?" Ruairi enquired, deflecting her question.

"It's bad, Ruairi, very bad. They were talking about well over 80% of all the men in the country potentially dying before this is over, together with up to 20% of all the women. Jaysus, nearly all the children between about 12 and 17 are expected to be dead already."

Ruairi closed his eyes and just sat for a few seconds, breathing slowly and thinking of all his dead friends while collecting his thoughts.

"So many women won't be able to be with a man unless they share," Ruairi began, "and changing your mind isn't going to be something that you'll be able to do in the future. To answer your earlier question, no, I've not changed my mind. Knowing the facts, I now see that part of my role going forward will be to keep you all happy. You obviously all know each other and I feel this will help us all get along without too many issues."

"About that. At the vaccination centre, they informed me that the vaccine can change us both physically and mentally. The information they provided implied that the vaccine can repair previous injuries, although it doesn't always do this, and also help us all to bond better as a Team."

Ruairi took another sip of his coffee, noting that Rebecca had still not started drinking her own. "Do you want to message the girls now? Let them know what you've found out and see if any want to change their minds about being with me?"

Rebecca put her mug on the coffee table and retrieved her phone from her handbag, unlocked it and started typing. "Letting them know now. I'll bet you that none of them will change their mind, though."

It took a while for Rebecca to convey all the information that she wanted to in the group chat. Ruairi could hear his own phone pinging as each new message was received, but decided to let Rebecca finish and for her to tell him their decisions.

Looking up from her phone, Rebecca found that Ruairi was no longer sitting in his armchair. With a quick turn of her head, she found him in the kitchen refiling his coffee mug. She quickly drunk her own now cool coffee and passed him her mug for a refill.

"I've four replies so far. They've all confirmed what they said yesterday. Ah, there's Naimh so that's five. Only Emma to get back and I can promise you that she will definitely not be saying 'No'."

"Oh, why's that?" Ruairi asked, bringing their mugs of coffee over.

"Oh, she's so into you. You've been gaming with her and she absolutely loved it. Plus, there's another reason, but I'm not allowed to tell you."

Ruairi let out the breath that he'd been holding. "That's good, there's no way I'd want to lose Emma."

"You truly feel that way?" Rebecca enquired.

"Yeah, truly. She's been a breath of fresh air in my life and I can honestly say that I love her without even having met her."

They sat and talked for a while longer, Rebecca telling Ruairi a bit about each of the girls that he wouldn't already know, just little things to whet his appetite while they sat drinking their second cups of coffee. As they talked, Ruairi could see that Rebecca was getting more and more distracted, though.

"Are you alright, Rebecca," he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"No, not really. I've had two mugs of coffee and haven't been to the jacks yet. More importantly, though, I was up early this morning to be first in the line for the vaccination centre." Ruairi raised an eyebrow at this. "At the start, we had to sit through what was effectively a lecture on the virus. We were then vaccinated and they observed us for any adverse reactions while we had another lecture from a different person, this time on the vaccine they had just given us, which meant a lot of overlap. After this, there was a lengthy question and answer session. It was over an hour after I was vaccinated that it all wrapped up and we were cleared and released to our handlers for transfer to our partners. Then I drove here with that young army lass who was all in a hurry. So, as you can imagine I'm fecking starving, as I've not had breakfast."

At this, Ruairi burst out laughing. "Neither have I," he replied. "I was planning to do so much before you arrived, but I was so tired last night after cleaning and tidying most of yesterday that I went to bed and forgot to set an alarm on my phone. I didn't wake up until the knock on my door, which is why I'm still in my pj shorts and dressing gown looking a mess. I was even going to shave," he said, running his hand through the stubble of a few days' growth on his chin.

"You look alright to me. Just sayin'," commented Rebecca, laughing at the face Ruairi pulled. "What have you got for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon, sausages, ..."

"Potato cakes and black pudding?"

"Of course."

"If you let me go to the loo quickly, I'll cook breakfast for us both while you get yourself ready for the day. I'm sure I'll find everything I need."

Ruairi was very happy with this and after Rebecca had finished in the bathroom, he went through his morning ablutions including a shave before dressing for the day in jeans and a comfortable tee shirt. He then proceeded to strip the linen off his bed, carrying it through to the kitchen and setting it to wash while taking care not to get in Rebecca's way.

Rebecca had just finished cooking breakfast and was plating up, having had to ask Ruairi where the plates were kept.

"That looks so good," Ruairi exclaimed, fetching the cutlery and putting it on the table. "Do you want any sauce?"

"Brown, if you've got it," Rebecca answered, while putting the fried eggs onto their plates.

"Of course, only the best Irish brown sauce," Ruairi commented, going to one of the kitchen cupboards and reaching down a bottle of the condiment.

"Chef?" Rebecca enquired.

"What else would I have?" Ruairi laughed, answering her question with a question while showing her the bottle like a sommelier would a vintage bottle of wine.

"Now there's a question," Rebecca replied with a grin, while putting their two plates down on the kitchen table.

They talked amiably over their late breakfast although, as well brought-up people, neither of them spoke with their mouth full, making breakfast take quite a bit longer than it could have as they each spoke a lot.

When they'd both finished, Ruairi made a motion with his arm to indicate the apartment. "What do you think?"

Her answer caught him off guard. "You're taller than I expected. How tall are you?"

"One metre eighty-four, or just over six feet in old money," Ruairi answered, while standing up to pick up his plate and take it to the sink. Ruairi didn't have a dishwasher, having chosen instead to have a washer dryer in the one slot available for a plumbed-in appliance in the apartment.

"I hope some of the things they say about tall men are true, then," Rebecca said with a giggle.

"Oh, like what?" Ruari enquired playing dumb.

"Well, you know. Like the size of their ... equipment." Ruairi could see that Rebecca was beginning to blush. He started laughing, which set her off, dissipating the unease in the room.

"You'll just have to wait to find out, won't you," Ruairi declared, waving a finger at Rebecca. "But I've never had any complaints in that department."

Rebecca had taken her plate to the sink and walked back to where Ruairi was standing. Placing the palm of her hand flat against his crotch, she started to gently rub up and down. "I won't be waiting long, either, big boy."

"So do we need to ... now?" Ruairi asked, already starting to feel his cock stiffen uncomfortably in his jeans.

Rebecca took her hand away from Ruairi's crotch having got the reaction she was looking for and noted the disappointed expression on Ruairi's face. "No, we need to get my bags in from the car first. I understand that I'll not be in any fit state afterwards and want to have my things inside so I've got my change of clothes etc. available when I do wake up." Looking up into Ruairi's hazel eyes, she coyly added "That doesn't mean that we can't kiss now, though."

Rebecca leaned into Ruairi, raising her head and offering her lips to him, her body trying to mould itself to the contours of his. Ruairi bent his face down, catching her lips with his own. Their kiss started tentatively, but became more intense and animated, their mouths opening, tongues duelling. Ruairi thought that Rebecca's lips tasted delicious, with just a hint of Chef brown sauce.

Like all good things, though, their kiss ended, Rebecca lying her head on Ruairi's chest.

"That was ... probably the best kiss I've ever had. You've just kissed away any doubt I may have had about putting you as my boyfriend on the questionnaire."

"Seriously?" Ruairi enquired.

"Absolutely," Rebecca responded. "I can't wait to give myself to you. But I do need my things in first."

"OK, well let's get them in, then," Ruairi replied, going to find a pair of socks.

Now with his socks and trainers on, Ruairi led Rebecca to the apartment door and down to the street where her car was parked. Her car, a white Seat Leon, was easy to spot for two reasons; firstly, it hadn't been there the day before and, secondly, he could see a mountain of coats piled on the rear seat.

"Umm, I may have brought quite a bit," she offered. "I didn't bring everything, though. I'm assuming I'll be able to go to my flat and collect the rest at some point."

It took both of them three trips to bring up all of the clothes that she'd brought in a mix of suitcases, a wheelie case and holdalls, plus the coats that had been laid across the back seat and a further trip to bring up all her shoes and other items that had been in the rear footwells in carrier bags. By the time everything had been brought up, Ruairi's armchair and the small sofa were both covered, as was much of the floor.

Deciding that more caffeine was required, Ruairi put the kettle on. Meanwhile, Rebecca was looking at the drawers and wardrobe space that Ruairi had cleared for her, quickly deciding that a gallon definitely would not fit into a pint pot! She approached Ruairi, head down and looking dejected.

"I think I've brought a bit too much," she confessed.

"It's OK. Most of your things are in cases, anyway. We can sort out the items you're likely to wear and leave the rest packed up for the while. The Garda officer who came to see me mentioned that we would probably need to move soon, anyway."

"Oh, they're all in the pink holdall, along with my wash bag," Rebecca replied, giving a sigh. "If we need to move soon, I probably won't need to open the rest of them."

Sitting at the kitchen table with their fresh mugs of coffee as the sofa and armchair were currently unusable, Ruairi and Rebecca spent a bit of time catching up on the group chat messages that they'd missed. All of the young women had now responded to Rebecca's information, especially regarding the expected fatality rates, plus there was news from each of them, too. They had each confirmed that they would be joining Ruairi plus Ciara Walsh and Emily Ryan now had their vaccination dates; Ciara was scheduled for the coming Tuesday and Emma two days later, on the Thursday. The last piece of news was that they would be moving to Emma's on the Thursday, rather than her coming to them.

Lifting her eyes up from the phone in her hand, Rebecca looked at Ruairi. "I think it's time. Any longer and I'll feel like I'm putting it off, which I'm definitely not going to do. At present, I want this more than anything I've ever wanted before in my life."

"Truly?" Ruairi enquired.

"Truly," Rebecca responded, getting up from the dining table.

Ruairi also got up, a fraction of a second after Rebecca. As he was closest, he went over and picked up her pink holdall before walking to his bedroom door. Stepping through with Rebecca close behind, he suddenly stopped.