Only Marcella and Richard know PLATO's true powers, but the outside world is rapidly closing in. Others have found out about the PLATO project and are trying to steal PLATO... or at least enough of him to grow their own neural network computer.
This story stands-- more or less-- on its own but might make more sense if you have read the previous chapters.
Parts of this chapter get more than a little intense and contain semi non-consensual oral, anal, and vaginal sex as well as semi non-consensual female-female oral sex. But keep in mind that it is not reality... well it is, but it isn't our reality... no, it is our reality if we are with Plato... Oh, heck with it. If you have read the previous chapters you understand.
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WARNING! All of my writing is intended for adults over the age of 18 ONLY. Stories may contain strong or even extreme sexual content. All people and events depicted are fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Actions, situations, and responses are fictional ONLY and should not be attempted in real life.
If you are under the age or 18 or do not understand the difference between fantasy and reality or if you reside in any state, province, nation, or tribal territory that prohibits the reading of acts depicted in these stories, please stop reading immediately and move to somewhere that exists in the twenty-first century.
Archiving and reposting of this story is permitted, but only if acknowledgment of copyright and statement of limitation of use is included with the article. This story is copyright (c) 2018 by The Technician.
Individual readers may archive and/or print single copies of this story for personal, non-commercial use. Production of multiple copies of this story on paper, disk, or other fixed format is expressly forbidden.
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Loretta Hansen smiled at the monitor as she watched the last Saturday day-shift tech walk out of the building. The small green light on her console indicated that the door had locked properly after the tech left. She was now totally alone in the building... except, of course, for PLATO, the semi-sentient computer who by federal law could never be left totally alone.
Normally her once-a-month weekend duty "babysitting" PLATO angered Loretta, but not this weekend. In fact, she had promised the tech that was scheduled for the overnight shift that she would cover her shift also. Pulling double shifts on weekend duties wasn't all that unusual because there really wasn't anything to do. She was only there because of that stupid law that said sentient or semi-sentient computers could never be left totally alone. And besides, Loretta owed the other tech a favor. There was no cleaning crew overnight on weekends, so Loretta now had sixteen hours alone in the building with PLATO.
"Just you and me for the next sixteen hours," she said to console.
A mechanical voice replied, "Order or question not understood."
"Then understand this," Loretta said firmly, "Command order. Lights on in the Growth Processing Room. Open access panel to main neural net tanks."
"Affirmative," PLATO replied. The voice was still very mechanical, but somehow it sounded... angry.
The lights came on in the processing lab and a narrow doorway at the back of the lab swung open into the room in which PLATO, himself, actually lived, immersed in a special tank of nutrients. As Loretta stepped into the processing lab, she pulled a small metal box from her pocket. She paused to open it. Within the box was a small hypodermic syringe and a very long needle. As she was slowly putting the needle in place, she apparently bumped something sharp on one of the strange machines because she felt a slight sting on her shoulder. She wobbled slightly, but then regained her balance and ducked her head to enter the tank room.
As she pushed the small door the rest of the way open, a loud siren began screaming. Flashing red, blue and yellow lights filled the facility and reflected off all shiny surfaces. She had never noticed the alarm lights on the ceiling before, but now they were almost blinding. Several tach squad officers rushed into the room and grabbed her by the arms. Their leader, an older, bald man with an unbelievably long beard stepped up to face her.
"Strip her," he said brusquely. "She may have a weapon or may be concealing a sample she has already taken."
Loretta tried to protest. "No, no," she tried to say as the officers grabbed her clothes. As the cloth began to tear, she almost sobbed, "No, please, I'm not armed. And I haven't gone into the tank room yet."
Her clothes were torn-- or cut-- away almost instantly. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. One moment one of the black-clad officers was grabbing for her blouse, the next she was standing naked with everything piled at her feet.
The bearded man now had on long, bright blue rubber gloves. "I'm going to check your mouth, your cunt, and your ass," he said harshly. "If you don't cooperate with me, I will do that in a different order."
He grabbed her chin and said, "Open wide." In response she opened her mouth and let him feel around inside. The blue gloves had a strange, plasticy taste to them.
"Nothing there," he said brusquely and stepped back slightly. Two of the tach squad grabbed her by the arms, lifted her up, and lay her on her back on a table.
"Open wide," the bearded man said with a wry smile as he spread some sort of lubricant on the gloves. The two guards forced her ankles up against her ass and then pulled outward on her knees.
"Relax and this will go much easier," the bearded man said. His voice was almost soothing. His hands must have been much smaller than Loretta expected because he was able to go totally inside of her and feel around with his hand.
"Nothing there," he said once again. The two guards flipped her over on the table and brought her up to her hands and knees.
"Open wide"
This time Loretta couldn't see the bearded man, but she could still hear the sarcasm and almost laughter in his voice. She braced herself for what she knew was going to happen, but again the man's hands-- or at least his fingers-- somehow slipped relatively easily inside of her. She could feel his fingers moving around inside her ass.
"Nothing there," he finally said. Then he said brusquely, "Bag her."
The two guards stood her up and pulled a black bag over her head. She tried to resist as they led her out of the facility to a car or van of some sort, but they held her firmly by the arms and shoulders. The van was evidently some distance from the door and she was still naked. The night air was cool against her skin and she could feel her nipples pucker. Somehow, that added to the embarrassment of being naked in public.
When they finally reached the van, the seat was also cool, if not cold. It was leather and uncomfortable until her skin warmed it. There must have been some sort of special frame under the single seat because her hands were pulled down and restrained in a handcuff-like something that was a part of the seat.
The ride was long and bumpy and full of twists and turns. Loretta soon got very disoriented. And it wasn't just the confusing ride. Time seemed to be compressed or fractured. Things were happening too fast for her mind to comprehend... or perhaps it was her mind that was fracturing. There were flashes of light and voices and people shouting at her. At one point, she was standing in a courtroom wearing just a plain gray dress... or robe... or something. It covered her, but she knew she had nothing on under it. Things cleared for a moment and the judge looked directly into her eyes. Somehow he looked familiar, but she couldn't place him.
"You have been found guilty of terrorist espionage," he almost yelled. "You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment at the government facility at mumermumblemmm.
Things faded and she was once again in a van handcuffed to the seat. This time her lawyer was riding with her. Again, he looked very familiar.
"Your only chance now," he said, almost pleading with her, "is for you to give up your handler. Tell them who it was that put you up to this and exactly what you were instructed to do. If you do that, I can get you transferred to a much better place."
Loretta looked at him. Tears filled her eyes. She couldn't give up William. William Oxford loved her as no one else ever had. He was the first person to ever truly believe that she was beautiful. Crying, she just shook her head. She would not give up William.
Tears now flowed down her face. Loretta was a very pretty young woman. In fact, she was almost stunningly beautiful. But "almost" can be a giant barrier. She could see in the mirror how pretty she was. She knew-- or thought she knew-- that she could be more than pretty. She could be beautiful. If she could just get the right break or meet the right person or find the right job, then the beautiful butterfly within her could come out of the cocoon and be recognized by the world.
Such almost beautiful young women are very vulnerable. And her beloved William was an expert in searching out such women in prospective espionage targets. That was his specialty. William Oxford was a spy.
She was no longer in the van. They had arrived... somewhere. The warden greeted them as the van drove through the prison gates. "Welcome to the Island of Lost Souls," he said, almost leering at her.
"Everything here is a privilege," he said harshly. "And privileges are earned."
Two guards stepped up alongside her and tore the gray dress from her body. She was wearing nothing underneath.
"Throw her in with the general population," he said and the guards dragged her out of the room.
She felt a push on her back and suddenly she was face down in the sand. Several women surrounded her. Some were wearing simple, gray dresses. Others were naked or had loin cloths made of scraps of cloths.
"Fresh meat," one of the women said as two of them pulled her to her feet.