What it Takes Pt. 03

Next time she's not leaving her victim alive.

*

The man had been assured it was a mere formality. It was... coming in to talk to Frank about the position, what he could give and what they needed. Tom could use someone to help him and ease the workload around. Just a few legalities to deal with before he was in a new office with the disguised synth, instructed on the situations that appear and how to deal with them.

"We're using this administration software for all the places here. Technically we also have a support contract, but with every situation you want to learn what is done and solve it. Database issues, program corrections and some other stuff."

A list was compiled already on past problems and their solutions. The boy was allowed to call the service line, but pay attention to what was done to the last detail. If they tried to withhold that, mention that the service is not needed then. Not an outright threat, but a condition imposed was that they be as straightforward as possible. The company might want to keep their secrets but they did not have it.

"Right. You guys sure this is alright? Feels like I'm imposing."

"Nah, it's alright. I could use a good second to trade off on days. Frank may be good at a lot of stuff but I have no cover when I need a day off."

"Heh. That's how it was for me. Could barely take a day off because no one could do what I did. Stuff just waited until I was back."

This was not Tom's office, instead he was practically next door. The room had been fitted for the task. Not a corner room with every wall facing outside being a floor to ceiling window, but a place slightly bigger than his kitchen. Still, having his own office felt like a measure of privacy.

"By the way... Since we're... us... You can be far more chill here in work etiquette. Play games, watch porn, bring the girls over for a bit of fun... doesn't matter as long as the work gets done when needed. Might even help pass the day. They're not all gonna be activity from start to finish."

"You sure? I mean, you guys are paying me practically three times what I used to make. Feels like I should actually win that."

"And you will. Fortune is more than resources. Frank will tell you if something needs fixing. Or I will. And don't be afraid to ask about stuff. Bet you're gonna be lost for a few weeks."

"Just a bit." Beat. "So... Eva told me you help her out to find guys that are getting away from punishment."

"And I can focus more on that now." While the humanlike projection was there, Jack might find the natural synth behind it to unnerve him less. "Anything more she told you?"

"Nah, just that. Kinda cool to be dating what is kind of a superhero."

"And I guess she might consider me her Oracle." Beat. "What? We're brought up to get your culture. Supposed to be a nerd so I can name a bunch of stuff."

"Must be tough finding that stuff. I mean... if cops don't have it..."

The robot chuckled before he leaned on the desk. He'd set up Jack with all that was needed.

"You have no idea how unsecured a lot of stuff is on the internet. Don't even have to use any of our tech, just some patience and know how. Don't get me started on your locks barely being shit."

"Yeah, we kinda have someone showing us that. So, you break into other things and find stuff on the guys? How come no one notices?"

"Because I'm good. College degree in computing. Doesn't matter what system, rules are the same. Just need a manual for a language and a bit of time. Sometimes it's fun."

"Huh. Maybe I could do stuff like that. I mean... I never did any hacking, but now it suddenly sounds less like an elaborate operation."

"Yeah, they tried to make hacking look like some big, hard and horribly illegal thing. Oh, look... we have special task forces who will hunt you down and burst in on you naked, they can tell who you are from just this anonymous log left behind." Another laugh. "Most of the time, cops just go after people who disrupt things. Nobody notices, no disruption. And even then, they have limited resources and higher directives. You're gonna have far more focus if you stole the master plan of the government wanting to steal all the things ever rather than just cheating in an unfair MMO."

"Are we really that pathetic?" The boy asked looking for an honest opinion.

"I think you're trying. And we're here to help with that. Sometimes you do that by giving an extra hand with raising buildings, fixing sewage or getting crops to grow... other times you help by removing people who steal those."

"Eva said there's something else for people who bother but ain't violent. You handle that as well?"

"Yeah, those are more negative fortune score than misfortune. Taking, but not violently. We find ways. You might be happy to know that the investors who spoke up to get you fired just lost their shares retroactively and a big chunk of change. They will try to sue, but now they have absolutely no evidence. No doubt they're gonna try to kick and scream with every bit of influence they can throw around. THEN we might get a bit more drastic."

"Feels like it's no use. You hurt them, they hurt people back. Just better to leave it alone."

"And let them hurt others with no consequence? No." Beat. "Oh, and check your bank account."

His phone did give a ding of a notification earlier, one that the boy ignored to pay attention. Polite to keep it on silent, but now the boy checked the notice from his banking app. His eyes just blew wide open. Maybe he was not horribly rich, but that was A LOT of money he just got. The explanation was "final compensation". The account was a new one.

"Okay, how the hell do they not notice that? They have to. Whenever it's about money, people are stingy as can be."

"Oh, they might, but then they start to notice things to justify it and they have no case. People have learned to just bow before evidence. Yes, sometimes one breaks into some physical archives to edit files but we have stuff that can make all be as we know."

"He who controls the present, controls the past." That book felt like it could describe them a bit.

"Sounds like it, doesn't it? But it's a tool. One to let you change things. What people do with it in the end matters. We're using it to give back to those that were wronged and push down those who have done harm. Don't just swing it around at every threat." A pause. "If you're worried that leaving us would incur that... it will not. That money is yours and you can say no without a worry. You can tell people, but that will clearly lead to us getting harmed so why you do it is gonna matter. We'll defend ourselves, but not force you."

"I... guess. But it still sounds like a cult or joining the mafia."

"Because those tend to be smaller communities working outside a grander society. And so are we. But the purpose is different. The only thing we'd want you to do is just keep being a good guy. No need to join this war or follow every command. You're here to do a job and that's what it is. Any day you can say that you don't want to do it. That's how it is. Not gonna get paid for it, but.... That's it."

The border between this harmony and chaos was thin. But going further away seemed even worse. He had his life improve more and more since he had gotten involved with aliens. By now they could possibly ask him to kill a man and Jack would agree. But they would not. A big sigh.

"Just need to get used to it. Is it alright if I just chill today and get my grip?"

"Take all the time you need. Can't work properly if you're all over the place, eh?"

It sounded like wisdom most employers did not possess. Jack could openly use his work computer for just about anything, but mostly he tried to take in his new situation. He literally walked in and asked if they needed an IT guy. Eva did not even need to ask their boss. There might be some influence being employed for him to get this job, but so far he did not feel like he was being coddled. There were real tasks to be done, for now handled by his direct boss which had a very different construction. Tom still felt human in many regards, save for a few differences.

The boy could just waste time until both him and his girlfriend went home together.

*

"Told you they'd agree." She was smug.

"I didn't expect the other stuff. I have literal money to burn now."

They used the bus to get back. It afforded a conversation on the walk back from the station.

"Wanna use it to just buy the place you have now?"

"It's not quite enough for that. Houses cost a lot these days. Need to be close to a millionaire to get one. And the landlord does not want to sell."

"And they just get constant profits from rent rather than one big sum." Eva considered their angle.

"Hey, you could argue that one big sum is rent for a long time. But yeah. And a bigger market since not everyone can afford a place. And you never know when you have to move around and... get back into that. Better over there?"

"We're kind of on constant rent, but that's because they DO stuff for it. It's a bit fuzzy in the details, but far easier to get a place."

"Still damn tempting to go."

In the morning, the grief had left them and they decided against being cowards, however difficult it was. It felt like abandoning these people here, not just the rest of the planet, but her community. They'd tough it out for now.

"Uh, you're not gonna start some weird conversation about me making more than you or something, right?" Jack wanted to disqualify her girlfriend from in any way appearing like the women she disliked.

"Fuck no! Doesn't make a damn difference. Okay... I guess you can get us nicer stuff, but that's your money. Right now I have barely any right to tell you what to do with it."

"But we're supposed to share stuff equally. Some would argue that half of it is yours."

"Well, I wasn't there when you made it and it's not just that! Means we're supposed to use what we have for the other, not that we have to cut everything we have in half to give to the other guy. And bitches don't do the same. What, equal rights until the bill arrives? Fuck that!"

"Alright. Though you don't have to match me in what is being spent, you know."

"But I should match my effort. You can do a lot of stuff with less money. Some without any." She had a smile on her face. One that suggested things.

Her attitude made both of them walk a bit faster to reach the apartment. Jack barely managed to get inside before the door was closed behind him to have Eva grip him in her arms and drag the boy into a deep kiss. After all the stress of yesterday, this felt needed. Desperate. Their clothes were quickly thrown aside for nudity to emerge and the bed to finally greet them.

Both have been so high strung that this copulation was a combined exercise to wring all that grief out of them. His hands seeking out the curves that would pull out moans of delight, her fingers to drive into the boy's back in pleading passion. There was an unworded agreement to drag this out as much as possible.

Jack slipped down on his girlfriend to showcase his increasing skill at giving oral. Her lower lips were wetting in anticipation, to be greeted by a very different pair coming in to make out with them. The exercise would not exactly be like their frantic frenching, instead his tongue seeking out that little nub and the inside of her labia, lips caressing them to drag moans out of the girl... sounds she held back because the soundproofing was not that good.

She held him in place down there to use pleasure to cleanse both of them of tension, to singe the knots of worry inside them until they untangled and showed how simple things really are. There were thousands of way to have sex, as the empire knew in their different approach to different partners, but even with the same partner could one have such varied ways. This was sex done to push away the world, to let themselves be consumed by passion and drown in it. People got addicted to it as a means to cope, just like any other thing... alcohol, drugs, TV, video games. The planet was just filled with means to deal with stress.

Eva would be pushed over not just into one orgasm, but a second one as the man did not let go after that first one, slowing down just to let her body shudder in acknowledgement of the climax before he went right back at it. Her fingers were outright pulling his hair out, grasping on the man to drown in that cunt and give her much needed relief. Her groans escaped only after a deep struggle.

Her boyfriend would emerge upstairs with a mouth tasting of pussy which was not refused. Perhaps the man could extend her the same courtesy after she blows him. Another deep makeout as his rod found the hole it sought yet again. They might be doing it hard, but there was an extra angle to it, another dimension as they devoured each other eagerly. Both grasped each other hard... the boy would have nail marks on his back, empowered only by passion to leave nothing more than little shows of her burning desire.

Neither slowed down, going at it harder and harder, her pussy meeting its male analog as the sound of wet flesh slapping echoed in the room, tits and butt cheeks being squeezed hard while heads were kept as close as possible. Genitals took full control of the wheel. The oncoming orgasm was seized with hungry dispositions, sperm flowing inside the woman to no purpose other than relaxing them. Not enough.

The girl had agreed to anal beforehand. There was value in the diversity, Eva turning over to let her man take her from behind... and more. It was said without words but he felt the agreement to do this. The boy spent only as much time needed to direct his cock into her other hole before reaching forward to once again take hold of the alien. One hand on her tit, the other on her head, pulling her hair to much more eager moans.

It did not take long for her to be pulled up and into another eager, over-the-shoulder make-out while Jack still crushed her breast and uprooted some hairs, her hands reaching for whatever she could hold in the man, groaning in their kiss while they hunted for release. Only after a thorough butt-fucking would the girl climax once more, with some assistance from the front being teased... pussy fingered with abandon to have her shake from orgasm. And one load deposited in that hole as well for her to soon make a mess around the place.

They collapsed in tandem on the bed, still interlocked and shuffling in a moment to have Eva turn to the boy to continue the kiss. One more. An automatic re-introduction of his instrument inside the girl with no concern for possible infections because she had protection against that... and they held each other while mashing loins, not as energetic as before but still eager for as much as possible. And a final shot given before their bodies gave up on sex for a while. Shuddering in the embrace, the two extended the meeting of lips until that wore out as well and they looked to each other with warm eyes. Both fucked daily, but this felt different.

"Fuck, I needed that!" Eva let him know.

"Think we both needed it."

"You're kinda teaching me some stuff about sex here."

"Thought you knew a lot more than me."

"Not this. Never did something like this one. Even with all others... sweet, caring, casual... only ones I see heated are my parents. But even they looked to be subdued compared to this. Lost control a bit there."

"And we came back." Beat. "We gotta do that again!"

"We are! Later. Build up the stress to just blow it out. Never had to resort to it just to stay sane."

Jack decided not to mention how others do not have this luxury. This was a good time. No need to ruin it.

"I do love you. Feels like a lot of stuff is easier now. Like you care and... I can't help but want you happy." She was heartfelt.

"And I want you to feel better. To stop letting the world get to you. They aren't worth you ruining yourself for this. Here for you whenever you need it."

They might as well get married. But the empire believed that such a thing came after a good time of people being together. There were no real benefits to it, no sharing of medical bills or ownership... just their promise. One that all would look down for either of them to break. Eventually their sexual engagements would get rarer and rarer, but a marriage is beyond that unless people are getting neglected.

Eva had to put on some panties to not drip cum all over his room, though she might treat him to the sight of her licking it off the floor... if they were cleaner. Their after-fuck smoke was a moment to further unwind and talk straight. She was looking forward to him working with them and not just for the opportunity to sneak in back for a fuck like none else could give her. After another entitled customer, she could consume that rage in a passionate coupling.

And finally she told the boy that Jasmine awaited them later in the week.

*

His job was not that hard to do, actually requiring less work than before in terms of brain power, just responsiveness. Jack did not have to work on advanced technology, instead dealing with issues of his people's tech. Every so often he would have to go to one of the shops to see to a hang-up of sorts.

It was easy, relatively... or maybe he just enjoyed IT work. Maybe the girls had no interest or time in this and him coming around to solve their problems was such a thing. After all... people have a grand variety of skills to assist each other. Jack even tolerated coming in to work because of the extra benefits... he could arrive and leave with his girlfriend. The rules of man told him that dating at the office was a terrible idea, but Eva looked able to hold professional at such times, just giving minor hints at time to remember things but able to sort this into a separate headspace.

Thursday afternoon and the day was slowly going. When he wasn't solving a problem on site he was looking at the database to see how this excuse for administration software screwed up things when confronted with entropy and the infinite spirit of man. Usually he had to introduce some creative adjustment to things. Tech never changes.

As he stepped into the hair salon to see what made the computer there seize up and stop the girls from logging the transactions in the system, the boy would turn around to see who was on, more to help wait for the slow grind of software... and the other man would see him too.

"Dude, what are you doing here?!"

"I work here now!"

Mark was there to get himself a haircut, being tended to by Vella who seemed to actually enjoy the job. He'd heard that in the Empire such things could be solved by biosculpting, but when that was not an option people still had such jobs. She seemed to like working with hair.

"You two know each other?"

"Yeah, we meet for games every two thursdays. Reminds me... see you tonight?" Jack spoke comfortably.

"Hoping Eva comes by. Not for... you know, but... ugh... looks bad no matter how I say it."

"I get you. Nothing on that other date?"

"Casual hookup, but... nah. We ain't working. She's nice, though."

The girl would hear that compliment from one of those present. There was not much more for the guys to say other than a polite question on work leading to the younger man returning to get his new style. Jack could swear the conversation between him and the Tan in disguise was quite animated. While there was that reminder that they seem to read emotions much better, at times it felt straight telepathic. And she was smiling. Only a precise eye could note the difference between a polite one and a warm one.

Jack would wish his friend well until they met at tonight's game. For now, he'd slip back inside his office to wait on the schedule to end. The job felt less stressful than usual. Nobody was putting any undue pressure and it was just them against the world. He could slip into some other activities to pass the time with a full understanding from everyone around. At times it was nice only astorians might come into this office. No worries about being caught fucking the staff.