I would strongly suggest that if you have arrived here without first reading, the introductory scene-setting story, 'A Sense Of Touch: Discovery,' then you should put this one on hold and read that story first. Otherwise you may be missing important information which will add to your enjoyment of this, the second story in the series.
Marie; remember her? Yes,
that
Marie, my lab assistant, the one who first encountered the nerve agent because of an accident in the lab. The one who became voraciously sexual in the isolation room after the accidental contamination. The shy modest Marie who helplessly stripped off all her clothing, and masturbated herself to an orgasm, not once, but twice as I watch dutifully from the observation room.
I had kept a close eye on her, health wise after her accidental exposure to the contaminant, and had ran a series of checks on her three times a week for four weeks after the incident. Just blood and urine test to check everything was okay, and I saw nothing untoward, nothing out of the ordinary. So, I had declared her risk free, and discontinued the frequent check-ups after that. We were both highly relieved, as any exposure to an experimental agent could prove fatal, or have long term implications for her health. Luckily, the nerve agent we were working on was designed to be none lethal, with no long term effects.
You may also remember I told you that she was a very quiet, almost shy woman, and yet very attractive at the same time with seemingly very little awareness of just how attractive she was. A very modest person, not known for her outward display of sexuality, someone who always dressed modestly, and stayed under the radar.
Since the accident, things had become a little strained between us. She would blush, if we met in the corridors, or when we met in the mornings just before starting work. She seemed to get over her shyness pretty quickly once the day's work began, it was just those awkward unexpected meetings, and those first meetings of the day that were a problem for her.
Imagine my surprise then, when I was sitting in the staff lounge one evening, and Marie came in. Most of the others had gone home, but there was something I wanted to check again before I could leave. It wouldn't take long, but I fancied a cup of coffee first. I hadn't had anything since lunchtime, and wanted a cup of something hot and sweet to keep me going until later.
The door opened, and I looked up to see who it was, a perfectly natural reaction, and there was Marie, eyes wide with surprise when she saw me sitting there, my coffee in hand, reading some scientific journal. She blushed again, and I thought she was going to go back out, but she hesitated, just a little bit too long, and then as if making her mind up came in, shutting the door behind her.
She went up to the mini kitchen, made herself some coffee too, and I tried to concentrate on what I was reading, but I was finding it difficult. Coffee made, she came over to me and I looked up at her as she stood beside me.
'Would you mind awfully if I sat with you' she began, blushing even more furiously than normal, 'I want to ask you something.' The mere fact that she has summoned up the courage to talk to me again was intriguing.
'Of course Marie, you know you can
always
talk to me, anytime you want,' I assured her, 'and that's always been the case,' I hesitated before adding, 'but lately you seem to be avoiding me, and of course I can understand why. You shouldn't feel bad about what happened you know, it wasn't your fault.' She smiled, a sort of wan, hesitant smile, and just nodded, but sat down at the other end of the couch. It was designed to seat three, so there was a decent gap between us, enough for us both to sit back and turn towards each other.
'In a way, that's what I want to talk to you about,' she said, so quietly I almost missed what she was saying and I asked her to speak up.
'I'm sorry, but I just find the whole subject so embarrassing,' she tried to explain. 'I know I shouldn't, after all, you've already seen me... undressed... doing things no one else has ever seen... oh god,' she said adding, 'but I do, I feel terribly embarrassed, and that's the problem really and I feel so ashamed sometimes,' and she hid her face in her hands. I waited quietly for her to get over it, and eventually she looked up at me again.
'I want to ask you something, and I'm finding it really difficult, but this has been eating away at me ever since that night.' I nodded and asked her to continue. 'First of all, I want to thank you again for letting me delete the evidence of my... how can I put it... my indiscretion. You didn't need to delete it, and I know it's actually against the rules to delete video evidence, but you did, and that was very kind of you, and I'm so grateful.' I knew there was a point to this somewhere, but her embarrassment was making her drag it out.
'Well, although you deleted
my
files,' she began hesitantly, picking up confidence a little as she spoke, 'I know you deleted what we had been working on too, but only after you downloaded the formula we had been working on to a flash drive. I couldn't help but notice,' she added, 'you didn't try to hide what you were doing from me.' I nodded to confirm that she was right, but said nothing.
'Have you been working on the formula at home?' she asked me, getting straight to the point. 'I remember you once told me you'd set up a lab at home a few years ago... and... I wondered if you'd been working on it.' Well, I wasn't about to lie to her, she was my personal and highly valued assistant and friend, and had seen what she had seen. It was best to be honest, because if she thought I was lying to her she would never trust anything I said again, and I was interested to find out what she was thinking of anyway.
'Yes Marie, I have,' I replied, 'I've just been trying to refine it, and make sure it isn't dangerous to anyone I test it on in future.' I didn't mention my anonymous friend who I had seduced a few days before, it didn't seem relevant, and I was beginning to get an inkling of what Marie was thinking.
'Is it safe now, do you think?' she asked, and I could see the sparkle in her eyes, her shyness forgotten for the time being. She seemed quite excited.
'I've done extensive tests, but only on lab mice,' I told her in my serious, scientific voice, 'and they've exhibited no ill effects, and I've watered it down a little, so it's not quite so powerful, but yes, I believe it's safe.' She said nothing, head bowed now, looking at her hands fiddling nervously in her lap. I realised she was working up the courage to say something, so I waited, but I knew what she was going to say before she said it.
'You need human trials now, don't you, that's your next step,' she stated, and of course she was right, that was the obvious next step. She didn't know of course that the human trials had already begun with my mystery anonymous mistress with no name, and had proved highly successful.
'Yes, that's the logical next step,' I agreed. 'I'll have to find some willing volunteers to take part in trials, but that may take some time to organise.' There was a silence, as we both thought about what had been said.
'I'll do it,' she said abruptly, volunteering herself, 'I'll test it for you,' and she looked at me, blushing again, we both knew what she was offering to do, she knew what would happen.
