Characters
Jim Babbage
Carol Bool
CyberServe Inc.CEO -- Owner Daryl Babbage.
Cybertized -- Part 1
"What! And you said nothing!" Carol was spitting mad now.
"There was nothing I could do that would change the situation. You know I hate the whole concept and idea of it."
"Oh sure
you
do, and you just
hate
the money it brings in too don't you?"
Jim knew nothing he could say at the moment that would help so he kept quiet. He didn't want to fight with her, and certainly not in a public bar. People were already looking at the them. It was plain to all that the young couple were having a nasty fight.
"I'll be right back, and you can use some of your uncles, money to get me another drink, a double!"
Jim nodded as Carol slipped out of the booth and walked to the ladies room. Stomped was more like it, but in her little black dress, stomping or not, she looked really sensational.
Jim got the drinks and was sitting at the table waiting for Carol to return. Carol opposed the new Cyberdization Laws, which allowed criminals to be sentenced to be Cyberdized, turning them into safe obedient Cyborg Drones. For Jim the situation wasn't so simple. Jim huffed a bit as he thought that Carol was angry at him for being who he was, but she was happy for him to spend his money on her! She could be a bitch at times when she felt like it, and the whole issue of cyber-drones had her well and truly worked up. Jim thought it was terrible to be a washed up ex-con. Carol just wouldn't understand. The Cyber Project was officially the brain child of his uncle, who had founded his company 10 years ago, and today it was the leading manufacturer of Cyborgs. Daryll Babbage was almost like a father to Jim. After his dad and mom had been killed, in a car crash, Daryl had brought him up, and had nurtured Jim's love of science. That made him almost a traitor to Carol sometimes. She was an activist who flitted from protect to protest. They had known each other since year one at school, and had gone from being best friends to lovers almost without realising it. Now they lived in the spacious apartment Jim had bought last year, with money he earned from working at CyberServe Inc. Carol had no idea just how deeply involved he was with the whole human cyborg project. She wasn't stupid and she knew that recently he had been keeping things from her. No Carol was too headstrong and clever sometimes for her own good.
He glanced up and saw her returning from the ladies. She sat down sliding her tanned legs under the table and flashing a lot of thigh as she did it. He looked at her and tried to gauge what sort of a mood she was in. She was slim fit and had a body many models would die for. She was definitely drop dead gorgeous! How had he ever managed to hook up with her! He ran his eyes up from her thighs to her rounded 34C breasts and up to her face framed with its long auburn hair that was fins and wavy and fell to well below her shoulders. Her blue eyes were no longer angry and had a hint of lustful amusement in them. She always knew when he gave her the look over!
"I'm sorry, I let the whole cyborg thing ruin our night out. I know it's hard for you, being related to the high and mighty Daryl Babbage, and having to work for him too."
Jim was pleased she wasn't shouting anymore, but he knew her too well to think she would drop the whole issue. She might;et it lie now and they would almost certainly be having great sex soon, but sometime soon she would pick up where they had left off, like a dog with a bone. Still she was right about tonight, so why let it ruin the rest of the evening and what was to come later.
"It's all right, the night is still young and we can..." Jim wasn't able to finish what he was saying as Carol's cell phone went off. She looked annoyed, and mouthed sorry to him as she answered it.
Jim saw her face go pale, and her eyes widened with shock. She said, "Say that again Jane. I want to be sure I heard you correctly....oh.... ahah ....yes....yes we must....ah, I can't talk now, in a bar with people....yes that will be fine....later then, bye and thanks for letting me know."
"What was that about Carol?"
"Ah nothing. Sorry it's kinda of personal, it's Jane ... she is..a needs my help...sorry girlie stuff . I'm so sorry but I have to go."
"Ah OK, can I do anything to help?"
"No definitely not....ah, no sorry." She sounded flustered, worried, angry and confused all at once. Something was very wrong and she was hiding it from him.
Carol bent down and gave him a quick kiss and hurried off. She took the car keys too. Just then his cell rang with the emergency work tone.
"Jim here, what's up?"
"Jim, It's Daryl, we've had a break in and things have gone crazy here, we need you to come immediately. Don't tell Carol."
"OK, send a car or I'll have to get a cab. Carol just left and she took the car."
"Tell me where you are and I'll arrange for you to be picked up. The driver will bring you up to speed on the ride here."
With no warning he hung up after Jim had told him the name of the bar.
Something was really wrong for Daryl to act like that, and was Carol's strange call and behaviour connected to it? Was he being paranoid to think there might be a connection?
Thirty five minutes later Jim was standing in the lab. It was half wrecked. Luckily all the sensitive equipment was in the other lab, the one the public never saw. Two masked women were sitting sullenly on plastic lab chairs. Security guards standing over them making sure they were going nowhere. He recognised both of them with a shock, as the ski masks were pulled off the girls. Carol's younger sister and her best friend Jane! A scream echoed down the corridor outside the lab and the door banged open as a burly security guard hauled another masked female saboteur into the room.
"Get off me you fascist pig." Jim groaned as he recognised the voice, "Carol!"
"Jim! What are you doing here?"
"I work here remember!"
The head of security said, "I think you need to see what they discovered.."
They all watched the cell phone video, pics, doc pics and Jim swallowed hard as the implications of it hit home. Someone had been careless and left extremely sensitive data out in the open. He grew really angry. The work here had to remain in-company it was too valuable to be allowed to fall into the hands of competitors.
"They can't be allowed to make this public Jim you know that."
"I know, maybe I can talk them around." Jim looked at Daryl as he said it, he knew they were way too dedicated to keep quiet about this. Also if the public found out they would be terrified too. They'd act all righteous and have the company shut down. Jim could well believe that he and Darly would end up in jail too. His assistant was definitely going to get a roasting for leaving this information out.
"Jim grow an backbone and stand up to your
fucking
uncle for once." Carol spat at him.
"You know they must be silenced, permanently Jim. Carol is just too dedicted to fighting Cyberdizing, and too stupid to see the benefits our work offers."
Jim knew his uncle was right, and Carol saw the look of resignation on his face, for a second he seemed to hate himself for it, and then her for causing this trouble.
