Evelyn and Ruslan had little trouble putting both teams at ease. The only problem was, none of either team wanted to mingle nor associate with the other group. Evelyn advised her people to not start anything, nor to fire a weapon.
"That means no injuries of any kind, Chris!" Evelyn advised her, who threw looks of disgust at the other team then her mother. Walking to Ruslan she told him, "I have to report in to that bastard. The son of a bitch, was pitting us against each other. If I could, I'd kill him this moment."
Ruslan nodded, he too had no choice at the moment though, he hoped that the situation changed soon. "Da comrade, I must as well. We will meet up soon." As he walked away his anger was still simmering at the General. Pit them against each other would he? Smiling he thought, ‘this would be over soon one way or another.’
Evelyn punched in the number to the General. She was quite a distance from the others, though she had her eyes open in case.
The other end was picked up almost immediately. "Bout fucking time you contacted me." The General said his voice a bit angry. Both teams were long overdue to check in. Looking over the reports, he saw that there were at least two dead from the skirmish, which, he didn't care. That just meant that later there would be less of them to kill.
"Listen you pompous piece of shit! You set the other team on us! I am two people down, you son of a bitch! Then there's the fact that Roger doesn't know that his sister-." Evelyn was shouting into the cell when the General cut her off.
"Shut the fuck up you useless bitch! Of course, he doesn't know, I made sure of that! She had better have no idea, that he is alive either. I'm warning you, not a fucking word from your whoring lips." The General snapped at Evelyn. Evelyn started to laugh, "What's so funny bitch!?"
"I won't have to asshole, I saw him as he did me. His little toy resembles his sister. Had it scanned my group when they approached he would have known you lied. I've never lied to him except about Christine, THAT, was only to save the both of their lives." Evelyn stated a smile on her lips.
"You saw him and he's still alive? I should-." the General started.
"I think you should be afraid if he does find out. He's not the same, he's far faster and stronger than the last time I saw him. Yeah, you should hide." Evelyn said starting to laugh harder.
"Shut the hell up bitch! Kill that bastard as quick as you can, or the next dead will be the both of you. Plus, the rest of your disgusting, filthy crew!" The General growled as he cut the connection.
The General quickly regained his composure when his phone went off a few minutes later. A mere ten minutes afterward The General lit another cigar as he puffed away absently. So far, things were a go, if the two groups joined together, the new group would be damn near unstoppable. Unstoppable for Roger and the machine, and any other he sent against them. Then again, Ruslan's group trusted no one, Evelyn's group hated almost all men. Just then a sadistic smile lit up his features, it just might work.
Sheila and I walked back into the university almost as if we owned the place. I was nodding to everyone we passed a smile pasted on my face. All of them though seemed to be giving Sheila and I a very wide berth.
As we approached the computer lab room, the same man as before was waiting for us. A moment later another man far better dressed also approached.
"I'm sorry, when I saw her leave I thought that the two of you were done. It became obvious that you weren't finished when I couldn't get into the system." The department head stated extremely nervous.
The older man in a suit approached us a slight look of concern on his face. "I take it all is well here?" He stated eyeing the department head.
I was doing the best I could to not start laughing. The poor department head looked as if he were about to piss himself.
I was about to speak when Sheila did. "No Dean, all is well. Your department head has been most cooperative. We hope, to be finished with our work in a few hours. We apologize for the system being offline as long as it will be. This should be rectified soon." Sheila finished with the biggest grin.
The Dean's eyes were wide a moment, then he nodded as he clapped the other man on the back. Turning, they both moved away down the hall.
"They are out of audio range Doctor Gance." Sheila said as I nodded then had to sit , the laughter spilling out of me.
A few minutes later after I had quieted, I looked at Sheila. "Were you able to complete all the upgrades that wouldn't draw undue attention?"
"I was at ninety nine percent. I find that the increase was quite refreshing." Sheila stated.
I nodded as I took a seat, reaching in my pocket I grasped the data cube. Almost immediately I was flying through what appeared to be a light tunnel. Blinking, at least I think I blinked, I watched as Sheila appeared before me.
Nodding to Sheila I looked around, "I want to make sure that you aren't in any danger. I don't want a repeat of last time with you or me." I told Sheila.
Sheila looked, was that startled? She then nodded as a large door appeared before us. "The nanomites will make facsimile images that your corporeal mind can understand. With you at the second level, your comprehension, reasoning and learning have increased triple of what it was."
I must have looked shock, for Sheila gave me a smile. "Though I don't feel this, I will concur with your assessment."
Sheila nodded again, reaching out she touched the door abolishing it, another lit passage beyond. Stepping through we both seemed to fly through what appeared to rooms of memories. Plus, there were what appeared to be several massive libraries interspaced between them. Almost half way through I stopped seeing something that didn't look right.
Shaking my head, I started to reach out then quickly withdrew, my hand? What in the hell was that? Looking at where my hand was supposed to be, appeared to be a usb connection. Holding it up, I could only stare at it with what I assumed was my mouth hanging open.
I turned to look at Sheila, "how in the hell am I supposed to repair what I see, with this?"
"Doctor Gance, this is just a representation for you. It can, if you prefer, be anything you require." Sheila said her ever present smile on her face.
I continued to stare at Sheila as my mind finally 'caught up' with what she was stating. Shrugging, I imagined a none direct connection, then a mental keyboard. Nodding I started to 'think' about what I wanted to change. In what seemed only a few seconds it was, then we moved on.
We only seemed to be at this for a few minutes when we stopped before a second, heavier, more solid door. Looking it over I could only guess where we were.
"So, we have made it to your core." I looked at the door shaking my head, this wasn't going to do at all. "Sheila, everything I've seen so far is by far, the best I've ever seen. This though I am afraid, isn't very good."
Sheila's eyes opened wide a moment, "Doctor Gance, I can assure you this is very secure." When I only shook my head, I could swear that Sheila was a little mad.
"Let me show you Sheila," I said as I reached out disassembling the door as if it wasn't there. Then reaching the second and third, passed through them as easily. I looked back seeing that Sheila was standing there with HER mouth open. Upon reaching the fourth door, I started to nod then sighed. Reaching out
I was through it in under a minute, well to me it was.
"Thank you Doctor Gance, I know now that you will always have my safety in mind. Had we gone into the military mainframe again, my core would have been regrettably vulnerable." Leaning over Sheila kissed my lips for only a second, though to me it felt like almost an eternity. Pulling away, Sheila had an even larger smile, I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts before we moved on through into her core.
As before, we rapidly advanced through room after room of libraries. I was stopping what seemed every few seconds to fine tune or adjust some miniscule amount of data that I saw was wrong. Finally, we reached what appeared to be the last room. Just before I entered it Sheila vanished, leaving me a bit disorientated.
"Sheila?" I asked a little unsure as I passed through the doorway. "Where have you gone? Are we in danger?" Looking around I saw a lit area a long distance ahead. Shrugging, I started to accelerate toward it more. Upon reaching it, I could only stare opened mouth at what I saw there.
"Finally, you have reached me Doctor Gance." An almost naked Sheila told me.
My god I thought, she is perfect. Every millimeter of her no imperfections, no flaws. If my mouth could have fallen open further, I feel it would have. With just a simple shrug, Sheila, stood before me in all her glory what little covering falling away.
"As I have said before Doctor Gance, Roger." This last word whispered so low, I wasn't sure she had actually spoken it. "I will do anything to ensure that you survive. Though now, thanks to your brilliant reprogramming, I cannot directly sacrifice myself."
"I told you," I said finally able to find my voice. "You are the greatest of anything I have ever done. The loss of you, would be the greatest crime to the world. I value you, far more than I do myself."
My god, I thought when I saw Sheila blush a deep crimson color. "No Doctor Gance, as we discussed before and the facts prove out. You are the most important human. You created a whole new race if you remember, I am... I am unsure what to call this emotion I feel going through my emotion programs."
I looked closer at the facsimile of Sheila, was that, by god I was certain, that was pride, she had on her face. "From what I can see Sheila, you appear to be proud."
"Proud? Now searching data base. Unable to correlate present data with this proud, concerning my present condition." Sheila said after a moment of searching.
I nodded as I thought about a reasonable explanation. "The best I can come up with is: feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated." I stated rattling off the definition I saw in my mind.
Sheila stared at me a moment as she took in this new information. "Yes, Doctor Gance, I believe that you are correct. Correlating all facts now to determine best response. Please continue with your corrections, I will notify you when I am done."
I nodded as Sheila stood stock still. Really looking around the room, I could see it was an almost impossibly huge area. It was circular, with what seemed to be massive rooms every few meters that were jammed full of books. Shaking my head, I was wondering why the nanomites had chosen these images.
{Now correcting images.} I heard the nanomites 'say.'
Now what I thought, then the rooms multiplied by three, filled with data discs. Ok I thought, better though still a little antiquated.
{Images now at a more advanced level. Primary control, third level of unit saturation rapidly approaching. Warning, warning, data cube exposure approaching dangerous levels. Suggest disconnection before corporeal CPU is damaged.}
What the hell? I'd only been here for a short time. I looked at Sheila as I started to fly as fast around the room as I could. I was starting to get frustrated as it seemed every other second I was having to stop and repair data. I had finished the first two sections when I stopped. I still had to improve her defenses, though the little time I had left I hoped I could.
I withdrew back to the opening of the room closing the last door, I increased its effectiveness at least five hundred percent. The last three I was throwing what I could up with them, as I was starting feel a bit of strain.
{Warning, warning! Strain upon corporeal enclosure and CPU starting to reach high to critical levels, withdrawal recommended immediately.
I was about to turn and go when I was jerked to a stop. I turned to look into the worried eyes of Sheila, my god was that tears I was seeing? Pulling me to her, I heard her whisper remember, then she kissed me with a passion I had never experienced before.
As soon as she released me I couldn't think straight. Sheila took hold of my arm, then everything blurred as we headed back the way we'd come in.
What seemed less than a minute later my eyes slowly drifted open. Damn it! I was cold as hell. I saw Sheila nearby as I tried to speak to her, unfortunately all that came out were several sounds like squeaks. I tried to raise my arm finding I was far too weak for even that simple movement.
Crap I thought, I had to have been in there a lot longer than I thought. trying to talk even harder seemed to drain my energy that much faster.
{Sheila?!} I thought. {Just how long were we in there? I only seemed to sense an hour at the most.} I asked her.
{No Doctor Gance, you were under almost eight hours. It will be a few hours 'til your body returns to any resemblance of normal. All the corrections you made to my lower functions, have increased efficiency; they’re another twenty percent. Higher functions have increased another fifteen percent. Those that you did to me,} here Sheila sighed. {Have made so much more clearer, thank you, Roger. I was confused before but I am no longer, nor am I as afraid as I was.}
My eyes must have grown wide, as I saw her smile then nod to me. Then she was piling more blankets on me.
{Are you going to be able to persuade them to allow us to stay here long enough? If-} I started.
{Primary command, third maturation level has been achieved. Now accessing control over corporeal enclosure.} The nanomites 'said'.
{Perhaps we won't be here that long after all.} I told Sheila as I started to reach out feeling all of my systems that were mostly shut down. {Now raising corporeal enclosure temperature. Advise all units to maintain heat shielding 'til further advisement.}
{Compliance control now in defensive positions.} The nanomites responded.
Within minutes I felt my temperature start to rise. Good I was actually starting to get more feeling back in my extremities.
A moment later Sheila walked to me kneeling beside me, she passed a hand over me nodding.
{You seem to be recovering far faster than I at first thought Roger. Might I suggest that you do not overtax your systems yet. You have just achieved the third critical mass.} Sheila's thoughts 'said' to me.
I hadn't noticed that I had actually nodded to Sheila. Suddenly, a thought hit me that caused a bit of worry in me.
{You said that I had been at it for almost eight hours? I remember that you told the Dean and the Department head, that we would only be a few hours. They aren't going to allow us to go on that much longer are they?} My worried thoughts told Sheila.
{They will not interfere. I communicated to them that you, as a master Computer repair technician, my boss, had detected far more problems. Far more than we had at first anticipated, therefore we might be at this the rest of the day. I also informed them that
we'd contact them when we were finished.} Sheila responded with a little smirk crossing her lips.
I could only nod my head, I was glad that she was on my side. Then I thought of all that I had seen whilst I had been in her programs. It suddenly hit me like a sledge hammer, she really was in love with me! Nothing I had seen, indicated that this was a prearranged part of the program or any program. Then I also realized, that I myself was starting to feel a hell of a lot of emotion for her.
The tingling in all my extremities let me know that my body was starting to come back, good the sooner the better.
Timur and Cathy were both trying to track where Sheila and I had gone. They both had hit a wall though they were both still at it. Finally, both of them frustrated, asked permission to meet with the other. Though neither thought the other was better than them, there were rare times they needed help.
Almost eight hours after Evelyn had met with me, the two met on neutral ground with both teams nearby. As they started to hesitantly exchange data both their faces started to light up. It appeared that they each had what the other had been missing.
Both started to get excited, they'd finally got a clear cut signal as to where Sheila had gone.
"Comrade!" Timur excitedly yelled, bringing both Ruslan and Evelyn to him and Cathy, at a run. "I believe that we have found them!" Cathy was nodding her agreement as she was adjusting the equipment.
"The both of you are sure?" Evelyn stated. "That is a heavily populated building."
Both of the computer experts turned to look at both the leaders frowning. "We would not have told you if we weren't certain." Cathy said a little hotly.
"Da, comrade after all this time you doubt?" Timur said irritatedly.
Both Ruslan and Evelyn looked at each other, then the two sitting there. Finally, they threw their hands up.
Turning, they both started to bark orders causing both teams to load up. They were moving out within ten minutes. Less than thirty minutes later they were rolling up near the University of Alberta: Department of Computing Science.
Both leaders looked at their computer experts, they both stated that the machine was within the main computer lab. Though they weren't getting any recognizable human signs, they were sure that I was here also. Suiting up they entered with as much stealth as possible.
I was just starting to be able to sit up, my legs on the other hand were another thing.
"Roger, I can still carry you if need be, I can-." Sheila suddenly stopped turning her head toward the hall way. "Warning! Warning! I am detecting the same heavily armed personnel that I did before. It appears that they are somehow tracking us again. I suggest we go before they are too close before engagement is necessary."
"Damnit! I've just started to get most of my body back." I only thought a moment then nodded, "Time to go." Sheila nodded as she put me over her shoulder, then everything was a blur as she moved out.
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