Thai and Greg followed Commander Winters through the halls deeper into the inner atrium of Central Command. They went along the outer rim of the gigantic circular space, the center of which, had an enormous egg-shaped computer connected to a white pillar-like stem that went to the bottom floor. A long bridge crossed to the center of each level of the building leading to four consoles manned by four identical female bio-droids with quaffed pink hair. Each of them focused on their individual tasks pressing buttons, entering code, taking calls, monitoring the different activities of the station, sending officers out on missions and any other important duties that were needed.
The supercomputer was, for all intents and purposes, the brain of Central Command. It received messages and orders from the state hubs at the capitals which received orders from the central hub in Washington. After AI became more advanced, the higher ups were able to take that opportunity to restructure and create a more centralized government. With the more centralized government the congress and judiciary became obsolete leaving only the president and his cabinet to issue orders and make the laws. It became easier for the central government to keep the country under its control.
The commander led Thai and Greg to a door at the end of the north hall. It opened into a single stairwell that led up over the dome of the building to a large circular office at the very top. A desk sat in front of an enormous window overlooking the bustling city. The buildings shone in the midday sun as automated drones whizzed by. A thick orange haze formed a layer over the lower portions of the city near the street level discoloring the cars and vehicles on the roads. A hexagonal skylight let natural sunlight into the office. Slotted blinds sat neatly on the sides of the window along with two large plants on either side. Two chairs were situated in front of the desk facing the window and two security officers stood on either side of the door. Commander Winters sat down at the desk.
"Please," the blonde woman said, "take a seat."
Thai took one of the seats facing her and Greg stood to the side.
"What happened in the elevator was the thing I wanted to talk to you about" Thai replied. "I work at a strip club on the outskirts of town called the Red Lounge. The strippers there bring a little extra money into the business by doubling as prostitutes."
"Are you one of these strippers?"
"No. I just work at the bar."
"When did the murder happen?"
"A couple of nights ago. I was taking a smoke break outside on a stoop in the alley behind the building. So I could get back in I left the door open a crack. That night I heard Jane and a few of the other women who worked there in one of the bigger rooms. They were with a client. I didn't think much of it until I came back in from my break. That was when I saw the women all over this man. Jane took the dominant position on top of his face. He looked like he was struggling to get out. The other women that surrounded him pleasured each other and sometimes they'd help Jane pleasure the man."
"An orgy? Isn't that normal for the private clubs like yours? They have them advertised in the e-mags all the time."
"Sort of. It was different from the normal orgies. There were tubes...or proboscis...or something running from women's bodies. Lynn had one herself."
"Lynn was there?"
"Yes. I saw Lynn there. She was joining in with the rest of them. They were diving into the man, sucking him off burrowing into his flesh or something. I covered my mouth to keep myself from screaming as I watched. I was in so much shock that I could not bring myself to do anything else. When the women were done, and they released each other, they laid around on the bed chatting for a while. All that was left of the man were two disembodied, lifeless legs. I ran back outside and vomited a little. After I finished, when I could steady myself, I called Adriana."
"You talked with Adriana? Do you know where she is now?"
"I don't. I had to escape from her. She's been turned as well."
"Turned?" the commander asked. "Turned into what?"
"I don't know how to explain it well enough. Adriana told me the women transformed into some kind of monsters or something. Whatever it is we were attacked by in the elevator, that was what she was turned into. She said Cassandra, a nurse at Zenith Memorial, told her they were something like a new step in human evolution. Unlike normal humans they make an endless amount of eggs. They use the proboscis or whatever they're called to pass eggs between other turned women or to recruit new ones. Somehow they exchange information stored in the eggs. The orgies Jane and Stacy had were to exchange information and to keep the hive together.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't say for sure. They have some kind of loose hive-like social structure or something. Adriana was in the middle of some kind of separation thing from the hive that turned her. She said that, after a while, if a woman isn't with the hive and she doesn't receive juices from the queen, they start changing to become queens of their own. She also told me, if they continue to be deprived of male DNA, they start falling into some kind of dormant stage. As they do they lose control of their bodies. Lynn must have been starting to become desperate. I saw the same thing happening to Adriana when we last talked. The difference is that Adriana's trying to fight it. Before she started transforming she told me to talk to Officer Black first."
Nicole lowered her head. A frown crossed her face.
"Mike was checked into Zenith Memorial before Lieutenant Savage put the area on lockdown. There were no records of Officer Black being evacuated. He and a number of men were placed in isolation. The hospital recently had to close for classified reasons relating to a breach in the isolation unit."
"How many women work at the Red Lounge?"
"I'd say around a fifty. I think twenty are in there working per night. Some of the more popular ladies work more hours though."
"How many women do you think have been turned?"
"I don't know. At least ten. Maybe more. You can tell which ones were turned because they are the more attractive women. They seem to give off some kind of strange sweet odor that drive men and women wild. The more attractive ones may get a few extra shifts. I don't think Jane and Stacy have turned all the women there yet. I don't know why. Maybe to try to keep a low profile."
"Is Jane the queen or Stacy?"
"Jane is. She took charge of the Red Lounge after the original owner was found dead in his office."