A Blemish On The Curve Ch 13

"Well, without tooting my own horn too much," laughed Rick, standing up and inflating himself through his nose with a breath of pride, "These new bots are EONS beyond what we had before."

'Huh, and so soon?' thought Lucas, looking at Rick with half-awe, half-jealousy. Had Rick really managed to come up with an augmented technology...over the weekend!? Lucas knew Rick was brilliant, and he knew he could become obsessive once he was working on a project he loved, but...well, Lucas couldn't quite help but feel inferior in the wake of Rick's enthusiasm.

"Eons?" asked Brooke, laughing a little. "What's that mean?"

"It just means that these new bots are MUCH more advanced than the ones before," said Lucas quickly, standing up straight and adopting a paternalistic tone.

"More advanced?" asked Brooke, glancing up at Lucas. "Than the ones before?"

Lucas felt his heart skip a beat -- he knew what Brooke was thinking about. She was thinking that if the first bots could do...THAT to her, then what were THESE bots going to do?! Lucas felt himself start to panic a little; he had already told Rick about how out-of-control the previous night had been, but he had mentioned nothing of the sexual content. He inclined his head slightly, giving Brooke a warning look, and she glanced down slightly at the floor, looking at nothing in particular, as if pondering. A little smile spread across her face, and she glanced back up at Lucas, giving him a wink. Lucas exhaled...he knew that she was reassuring him that the secret was safe. But he didn't like the control she had over the situation...and he didn't like her winking at him like that.

"Ohhhh yes!" exclaimed Rick, redirecting their attention to the projected image from the electron microscope. "These bots are way more...uh, fluid and...and robust. With the first batch, you know, I just wanted to make sure that...well, that the bots wouldn't harm you, Brooke. That's been...haha, the issue, you know, before."

"Harm me?" asked Brooke, breaking into a wide smile. "Hahaha, no they didn't harm me, they -- "

"I think," interrupted Lucas, chuckling as he put his hand on Brooke's shoulder, "We all know what they did to you, Brooke."

"And I was so encouraged," continued Rick, "That I just made a few little tweaks on the original design, and boom! We've got the second generation prototype that you see here, all ready for injection!"

"What are those little, um...prongs on the bot there?" asked Brooke curiously, pointing to the enlarged image.

"Mmmm, very nice, Brooke!" clapped Rick excitedly, nodding his head. "That's part of the new design -- now that I know the bots are safe, there's no need for a planned jolt of electromagnetic radiation to deactivate them. Those prongs that you see are the bot's "signal towers," as it were, to help communicate between the bots when there's going to be a timed activation."

"Timed?" asked Brooke. "So you mean...that's how the bots are going to work now? There's not going to be a..."

And here, Brooke glanced up at Lucas again, who didn't even bother to return her gaze. He was staring hard at the enlarged design of the nanobot prototype, hoping that this point of the conversation would pass by unnoticed if he didn't behave any differently. He knew that Brooke was talking about the remote, and he knew that if he made eye contact with her, she'd just wink at him again. He privately chastised himself, hating the fact that he had let himself get so out of control the previous night.

"Nope, no remote this time," said Rick, a little shortly, looking sideways at Lucas. There was no need for Rick to dwell any more on that...Lucas had already made it abundantly clear that he couldn't be trusted with a remote again.

"But anyway," Rick continued, brightening up again, "This way is SO much better, because there's no need for outside control! The bots will be activated every morning at 8am sharp, according to the official time of the 5071A caesium beam clocks at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., since, you know, I inserted a microscopic hydrogen maser into each of the bot's master cores that locks onto the electromagnetic -- "

"Ok Rick, so, you know, the basic idea," interrupted Lucas, coming around behind Brooke and gently but firmly gripping her upper arms, "Is that once you inject the bots, Brooke here is going to experience...changes...at 8am sharp...every morning, right?"

"Right, right, sorry!" laughed Rick, waving his hand in front of his face and shaking his head. "I get too excited, I know!"

"Aw, I was enjoying it!" said Brooke genuinely. "Even if I couldn't understand it."

"The important point for you, Brooke," said Lucas down to her, bending his head slightly towards her, "Is that you NEED to be in my office by 8am every morning."

"Mmmm, and why is that?" asked Brooke, her voice suddenly sultry. Lucas realized that he had already pushed his "paternal" personal contact too far, and that Brooke was starting to openly flirt with him in front of Rick. He let go of her shoulders and walked back around to join Rick, facing her.

"Because!" said Rick (and here, Lucas was glad Rick was speaking -- the two science men, facing Brooke down...it made Lucas feel like everything was where it belonged), "Lucas will need to measure the changes as they happen every day!"

"Measure?" asked Brooke slowly, her eyes going back and forth between Rick and Lucas. "You mean?"

"Yes Brooke," said Lucas, nodding, trying his best to sound natural and informative, "You'll be...growing...just a little bit...every morning."

"Growing?!" exclaimed Brooke, her eyes going wide with excitement. "Like last time?!"

"No, NOT like last time," said Lucas decisively. "Just...the same time...and the same amount every morning."

"Very controlled," said Rick, glancing over and Lucas.

"Very controlled Lucas repeated, nodding and looking back at Brooke.

"How much?" blurted out Brooke.

"How much? How much what?" asked Lucas.

"How much will I be growing each time?"

Lucas blinked and narrowed his eyes slightly at Brooke, focusing in on the green in her eyes...maybe it was just him seeing things, but he could've sworn that her eyes had glinted brighter there for a second. Brooke looked hungry -- her nostrils were wider, and her healthy chest was rising and falling in excitement. Lucas felt a tide of uneasiness approaching him; he did not like how much Brooke seemed to enjoy the prospect of getting bigger, and yet...from the slight well in his pants, he could tell that his cock was responding to her blatant enthusiasm. Those green eyes...that hungry look...that excitedly-swelling bust...

"One quarter of an inch each time," answered Rick impressively. "No more, no less."

"All over?" asked Brooke immediately.

"Um...pardon?" asked Rick.

"Will I be just getting taller, or will I be growing...all over?" asked Brooke. At the words "all over," she pressed her upper arms into the sides of her breasts, squishing them up tightly together as she stared straight at Lucas. The squish and swell of her breasts made them look like they were about to pop out of the top she was wearing, and Lucas's eyes bulged, not expecting her to pull a stunt like that in front of Rick.

"I...uh...heheh," chuckled Rick, in awkward arousal himself, "All over. The changes will be...throughout your body."

Lucas felt irritated, slightly panicked, and aroused by the smile that was widening on Brooke's face, and he decided it was time to stop all this nonsense and get on with the day. Brooke was opening her mouth, no doubt to say something inappropriate to him, but he was already taking charge.

"So," Lucas said commandingly, "Now that Brooke's got all the information she needs, what do you say Rick? Let's go ahead and give her the injection."

"Well...yes, ok," said Rick, blinking at Lucas, and lowering his voice slightly, so that he was basically whispering, "But...I mean, let's just see if she's got any questions first, ok? She's our test subject -- she deserves that, doesn't she?"

Lucas knew that he should have expected this from Rick -- the big lab nerd was finally getting his chance to hit it off with a girl who wasn't so bad-looking, and someone who obviously appreciated his knowledge, even if she had no clue what he was talking about. But knowing that Rick was going to be sucking up to Brooke this way didn't make it any easier for Lucas to put up with. Now was NOT the time to be engaging Brooke in her little games. But what was he going to say? Huffing slightly, Lucas nodded.

"So Brooke?" asked Rick brightly, turning to her after giving Lucas a strange look, "Those are the basics. There's a lot more we can talk about though...do you have any more questions for me? Uh...for us?"

Brooke did a little shimmy as she locked eyes with Lucas again. He felt his blood heat up -- once again, he felt annoyed that she felt like he was that attracted to her, that she could pull these kinds of sexy little poses in front of him, to make him feel aroused. Maybe it worked with Rick...but he wasn't Rick.

"I have soooo many questions," said Brooke in that same sultry voice. Lucas glanced at Rick and saw that his mouth was slightly open, shamelessly attracted. In this moment, Lucas couldn't help but feel superior to Rick, even thought he knew that Rick was twenty times the scientist...and engineer...than he would ever be. Lucas turned and looked straight at Brooke, giving her a hard, piercing stare as he once more inclined his head, as if to say, 'Enough already.'

"But," continued Brooke after a pause, and another wink at Lucas, "I think my boss wants me to get on with the injection so he can start his day."

"I...oh...oh alright," said Rick, looking over at Lucas with a little disappointment.

"Don't look at me!" laughed Lucas, putting up his hands innocently. "I didn't say anything."

"No, it's ok -- I know you've got a busy day ahead of you," said Rick, walking over and fetching a syringe. Was he being passive aggressive? Pouty? Lucas couldn't really tell. He just knew that he wanted to get it all over with and get out of there, before Brooke embarrassed him.

"Alright young lady," said Rick, brandishing the syringe, "Come on over here and we can get you all squared away."

"Do you think -- " began Lucas, and he suddenly stopped himself. He had been suddenly struck by the desire to inject the bots into Brooke himself. But he had stopped himself because he knew that it was an unreasonable request. This was basically all Rick's work...

"What?" asked Rick.

"Do you think...I could do it?" Lucas asked, his face slightly reddening. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he despised himself for even saying them.

"I...uh, just let me do it, ok Lucas?" said Rick, his eyes lingering on Lucas for a moment.

"S-sure! Sure, yeah! Go on ahead!" said Lucas heartily, nodding his head rapidly. "Just...haha, never mind."

"Ok, so," Rick was muttering to Brooke, ignoring Lucas's oddities, "Just a little dab of alcohol there on your arm...let's find the vein, easy peasy, you're not afraid of needles, are you?"

"Not this needle," giggled Brooke, her bare arm freely offered. Lucas watched the exchange with something like jealousy, even though he had no idea where it came from. It just seemed...like an intimate moment that he was excluded from.

'But who said I wanted to be intimate?' he reminded himself. 'Come on, look at her -- she's not the same as she was. She's your secretary. Pull yourself together.'

"Aaaand ok, here we go!" said Rick, his eyes dancing with Brooke's for a long moment before swiftly and deftly sticking the needle in her arm and injecting her. It was all over in a couple seconds.

"All done!" Rick exclaimed. "Not so bad, huh?"

"Nope!" said Brooke, smiling at him.

"Ok, now, if you will, go over and stand against that height chart on that wall over there," said Rick, pointing.

"What...why?" asked Lucas. Rick hadn't told him about this part.

"Just getting preliminary measurements, nothing to get all touchy about!" chided Rick, "And then, of course, the initial growth, which will happen in...just under a minute. So get on over there Brooke! We don't wanna miss it!"

"Oooooh the first one's happening already!?" she giggled excitedly, dancing over to the wall, "I thought it only happens at 8am sharp every morning?"

"It does," said Rick, going over to join her, with an incredulous Lucas in tow, "Except this one time -- I programmed the bots to activate within a minute of first contact with your hemoglobin, just to test the process...to make sure it goes ok."

"You weren't...gonna mention this to me?" asked Lucas, coming up behind Rick.

"Uh, it didn't seem pressing, so...?" replied Rick, giving Lucas a puzzled look. "Ok, getting close Brooke! You're 5'8 on the dot...but not for long, hopefully! Ready?"

"Ready!" chirped Brooke, her back against the chart as she looked at Lucas, her green eyes sparkling.

"So, almost there...three, two, one...there!"

Brooke closed her eyes and let out a long, slow exhale. Something definitely seemed to be happening to her, but Lucas couldn't see it. He found himself staring straight at her breasts, but he couldn't really see much of a change...or any change, really.

"I can feel it!" she cried, her eyes still closed. "I can feel...them working in me!"

"Ok! Haha, ok great!" said Rick, "But...hehe, I know you're excited, Brooke, but hold still here. They're already done activating for now. It doesn't take but a second or so, and then they're turned off again. Now let's see...stand up straight...and...yep! Yep yep yep -- you're taller! it worked!"

"I know it worked!" she laughed, barely able to remain still as Rick took her measurements. "My clothes feel a little tighter everywhere!"

"Uh, excellent!" said Rick, flush with success. "Though I have to say...um, and...and I mean nothing inappropriate in this, Brooke, but...maybe try coming to work in something, well...not quite as loose? Maybe something a little tighter? Just so Lucas here can see more accurately how your body is, um...how it's growing?"

"Oh I think I can manage that for him," said Brooke, shooting Lucas a sexy glance.

Lucas felt like time had stopped. He hadn't seen it at first (strangely, as it was happening), but he saw it now -- she WAS taller...and bigger...everywhere. He could see that her breasts hung a little heavier on her chest, and their smooth, milky-white flesh seemed that much fuller and plentiful. Her boobs were actually beginning to press into her top, and when he looked a little harder, he could see the small but unmistakable impinges of her hard nipples. She had already had some curves before, and now they just looked...a little better. And her face -- it still wasn't all that much to write home about, but it was definitely...accentuated. Her cheeks were maybe a little higher, her lips plusher, her green eyes brighter. His mind was helplessly flashing back to the previous night, when a ravishing goddess, the shadow of which was cheekily mocking him right now, had taken his soul in her fingers and played with it like a piece of string. He couldn't hold himself back anymore; his cock was so hard in his pants now that he had to covertly tuck it up behind his underwear waistband.

"Well, ok, excellent!" laughed Rick. "So...wow ok, so Lucas...you...you tell me how all of this progresses, yes?"

"Yeah...yeah I'll do that," said Lucas, already on his way out the door. He had to escape back to his office, before Rick or anyone else found out.

"I should go with him," said Brooke to Rick, almost apologetically, as she too headed for the door, "I think he needs me for something."

Lucas made sure to choose a route that did not involve him walking by Sophia's office. He was breathing hard, and he was sure that his face was turning red. Trent probably wouldn't even look up from his work, but Lucas knew that Sophia -- who was already suspicious of his behavior -- would be keeping an eagle-eye out for him. He made it to his office without encountering anyone and sank down into his black leather chair; Brooke was following closely behind him, not even giving him a chance to catch his breath.

"Are you ok, Mr. Mineur?" she asked coquettishly, bending down on his desk, so that her slightly-larger breasts swung down directly in his line of sight.

"Wh-what? Uh, yes...yes, I'm fine," he replied, clearing his throat a little to hide the shake in his voice.

"It's just that I remember you looking like that...last night," Brooke intoned suggestively, cocking her head at him and giggling.

"I...look, Brooke," said Lucas, glancing at the clock on his computer, "It's not even 9 o' clock, and already I'm getting tired of all this...this flirty behavior. Remember what I told you? We're not going to talk about what happened last night to anyone, you understand?"

"But nobody's here with us right now," answered Brooke, slightly jostling her body so that her breasts swung back and forth. "Come on...let me help calm you down."

She leaned forward even more over Lucas's desk and pushed her hand through his hair. For a second, Lucas completely froze at the brazen display. It looked like Brooke was about to climb up onto his desk. His cock was raging in his pants now, but he managed to back away in his chair, reaching up to grab Brooke's wrist.

"Brooke! Stop!" he said firmly, trying to make up for the kinetic color in his face, "I...I will not accept...this kind of behavior in my office, you understand!?"

He successfully pried her hand off his head and pushed her back. She blinked a couple times, but didn't seem at all dissuaded; instead, that silly grin on her face just told Lucas that, as far as she was concerned, he was just playing hard to get. Lucas knew he needed to re-assert his control, and right then, conveniently, he remembered something that he had been going to do, something that he hadn't mentioned to Rick.

"So, ok, now that we're back here," he said confidently, pretending like nothing had just happened, "I'm gonna have you take an IQ test."

"Oh fun!" she giggled, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, "You mean like a test to see how smart I am?"

"Or...whatever," said Lucas, reaching into his desk and pulling out the test packet. "Just see this as another measurement of how the nanobots affect you. We're gonna do this the old fashioned way -- with pen and paper. The online IQ tests are all crap -- this is the official Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale test."

"Ooooo fancy!" laughed Brooke.

"So...I'm gonna need you to focus, ok Brooke?" said Lucas irritatedly. "These tests are expensive, so I don't want you wasting them."

He handed her a testing packet, indicating that she should go over to her desk, which she did, biting her tongue through a toothy smile. Lucas tried not to look at her bouncing ass cheeks, but he couldn't help himself.

'She's only a 5...or 6...out of 10,' he reminded himself. 'C'mon Lucas, get it together.'

"Ok, ready?" he asked in a business-like tone, "Ready? I'm going to start timing us here."

"Us?" asked Brooke. "Oh! You're taking the test too?!"

"Yes, just to...to help you not to feel nervous, ok?" he replied, hoping that she wouldn't press him. The real reason was that he just had to know...to reassure himself...that he was smarter than her. And, well...maybe focusing on the test would help his unwanted erection disappear.

"Aww that's soooo sweeeet of you, Mr. Mineur," coed Brooke.

Lucas rolled his eyes and set the timer. "Ok, ready Brooke? Remember, focus! One, two, three, begin."

A little while later, Lucas was feeling much better about everything. Brooke had dutifully kept quiet throughout the test, enabling him to lose himself in the problems. It was nice for him to remember that, in fact, he was smart. When the time came to compare scores, however, his heart was beating faster than was comfortable.