I emerged from the deep blackness slowly. The first thing I sensed was the absence of my MD unit. Physically it was still attached, but the constant signals, optimizing my limbic and other internal -systems had gone quiet. Along with that, the pain of multiple forgotten injuries from the last two weeks were busy making up for lost time.
I groaned and rolled to my side. Through one cracked eyelid I saw Thalia the Temp sitting in one of my bedroom chairs. Between her legs Tiffany from HR was kneeling on the floor. The mousey little secretary was busy licking, sucking and tonguing the statuesque redhead.
I watched as Thalia's long calf muscles tensed. The hand she had weaved into Tiffany's hair clutched desperately holding the girl firmly against her pelvis. Thalia's eyes were screwed tightly closed and her breath was quick and shallow. The long fire haired woman grabbed at her breast squeezing her nipple hard, her whole body contracted and then released.
"Fuck!" she exclaimed.
When she was done riding Tiffany's face she collapsed back, releasing the woman. She roused herself and gave me a pleased, hazy smile.
"I'm glad you're back. I was afraid I'd killed you."
I felt the spot on my skull where Ass Fucker had tried to break it a week ago, and responded.
"I wish you had."
Thalia stood up from her chair and let me gaze at her long angled body. Her muscles were bandy and severe. She gave the impression that they had been earned through pain and training. Not the kind of thing you'd find at Gold's Gym. The place where her sculpted thighs met was topped by a shortly cropped patch of red hair.
She dressed slowly. Tiffany turned where she was kneeling and smiled at me. Her gaze felt genuine. I couldn't find it in myself to return her gesture.
"So you're working for the Chairman." This was more a statement of fact than a question.
"I am right now." Thalia responded.
"And the little mouse here?" I pointed at the HR rep.
"Tiffany and I work together." There was a familiarity in her tone that belied a long relationship there.
I rolled onto my back. Disappointed in my powers of perception. The MD molecule coursing through my blood had numbed me to the intuition I had relied on all my life. Thalia finished attaching the silk loincloth that she wore.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't have you leading any sort of revolution. That would have screwed up my plans."
She smiled at me, helping Tiffany daintily to her feet.
"Director, you seem like somebody I would like, even be friends with, but I have a job I need to do, and I need you out of my way."
Again a question that I should ask was nagging at the corners of my brain, but wouldn't surface.
"The Chairman has asked that I retrieve the red lacquer box that Adaline wanted you to use. "
I pointed to the closet and Tiffany went to retrieve what was now an empty box.
"You are now under house arrest, you will stay in your apartment until you are summoned tonight. I don't know what he has planned for you, but just in case you live through it, I need you to stay out of my way."
That was ominous. She turned and left motioning Tiffany to follow her. When the mousey woman turned to look at me. I closed my eyes and laid back down on my pillows, ignoring her.
I tried to reach out to the black box on my spine, or rather, the creature that lived inside of it. The absence was deafening. I noticed Io in the doorway and asked her for some ibuprofen and a glass of whisky.
When she returned, Holly and Brandi were right behind her. I thanked the girl for the pain relievers and swallowed.
Holly had stripped down to her skin and crawled into bed next to me. Not waiting for an invitation Brandi, straddled my waist and bent her head to mine. Kissing my lips and eyes and neck.
While Holly was content to cuddle and kiss, Brandi wanted more. The dancer made her desires known, sliding her wet vagina up and down until my body inevitably responded.
Once she could feel the stiffened hardness between her humid thighs she began to grind against me until my eager phallus found its way inside of her.
Brandi shifted her motion then, sliding up and down on my cock. Her body was tight against my own skin.
Holly for her part continued to kiss my lips timidly. Her delicate fingers probed the bruises and cuts on my face and body. I ran my hands through her dark locks. A sigh of happiness and pain escaped me.
Brandi rode hard, flicking her pelvis backwards and forwards in sharp rhythmic thrusts. The muscles of her flat belly, tensing and releasing with each movement.
I came, Holly licking the pleasure from my mouth as Brandi crushed herself down onto me. With quick little pushes her body wound up like an electrical coil and then evaporated in a vapor of ecstasy. Brandi screamed out my name and then collapsed beside me.
Somewhere in the silence of heavy breathing I faded back to sleep.
Later on we watched the sun set over the silenced city. I was still alone; the MD unit had gone silent after Thalia had zapped me there. Whatever the rest of the night held for us I would have to do it without the support of my symbiote.
As night settled itself over the office building, there came a knock at the door. Persephone opened it and two large security men stepped in. Tiffany from HR stepped between them and spoke.
"Sir, the chairman has ordered you to appear tonight. You are going to be accused of treason and then punished."
The little mouse looked from one of the security men to the other and then spoke directly to me,
"I'm so sorry, Director."
I ignored her and motioned to the women to follow me as I strode into the hallway. The security men flanked me in the elevator and back out onto the executive level. I tried my best to ignore them.
Once we were sitting in our regular seats I told Andrea, she should rejoin the kitchen staff rather than be caught up in what was about to happen to me.
"If it is all right, I would prefer to stay here."
I noticed the dropping of the "this girl" and smiled. I had a feeling she might not be as prone to the MD molecule as she seemed.
It wasn't long before the tension in the room was broken by a crack of the whip.
The Dom strolled cat-like, dressed in red leather. Behind her, Adaline was brought out, a heavy chain attached to an ugly iron collar around her neck. Over her head was a black hood. She was ordered to kneel at the front of the stage. The woman complied meekly and let her head sag.
Another crack of the whip and the two security men grabbed me under my arms and forced me to my feet. I was marched to the wooden cross and secured hand and foot. I had expected a move like this and did not struggle.
Another crack of the whip and a video screen snapped to life. On the screen Adaline was handing the red lacquer box to Master Christian, he promised her he would assassinate the chairman with the gun inside.
Next was a montage of the fight I had with the man, cut to look like his death had been at my hands instead of the manipulation of his MD unit by the Chairman.
Then the details of my meeting with the chairman's wife, the mention of the red lacquer box. A brief clip of sex with Adalines stand in and then smash-cut to my betrayal and capture on the floor below by Thalia the Temp.
The video ended with the audience applauding Thalia, she stood and took a bow. The chairman rose from his seat and pronounced the humiliated Adaline and I, guilty of sedition. The crowd applauded even louder.
The Dom announced that I would be punished on the cross and then be allowed to acquit myself in combat to the highest bidder. Adaline would be auctioned off directly afterward.
The leather clad woman dropped her usual whip and picked up a heavy bullwhip from her feet. If the whipping itself didn't kill me, I would be in no shape to fight for my life. I tried to think my way out of it, but there was no way. This was my last night on earth.
I lost count of the strokes after 8. My body blazed with a ferocity of pain. At some point I mercifully lost consciousness.
When I swam back to the surface, I found myself in a heap on the floor. My clothes hung from me in bloody shreds. My back, arms, and legs had become a network of lacerations and wounds. I tried to rise to my knees but collapsed at the effort.
The bidding for my demise went on for a long time. There was a review of my assets. Combined with what I had received from Andrea and what I had won from Master Christensen, I was the fourth largest shareholder in the company. Holly, Brandi, Io and Persephone were made to stand and turn for the crowd, Andrea was sent to get me some water.
Whoever killed me in combat would become a powerful man. Not that it was going to be hard. I doubted I could fight a butterfly successfully. It was, however, going to be expensive. It became clear that to win the honor of my coup d'etat, the winner would have to go all in.
Eventually one of the upper execs won the bidding. He stood and raised his hands over his head, already counting my shares. Even on his best day this man would have never intimidated me. He was small with sloped shoulders, his soft chin barely covered by a wispy goatee.
As the exec made his way down to the main floor, he began stripping off his clothes. I waited in the pile of bones I had become. Mercifully Andrea appeared next to me with some water. I took a sip and choked. I looked at her and she smiled at me. She had given me Vodka, I could taste gin, vermouth and olive brine too. I took my time sipping down my last martini.
When I was done drinking I was able to find my feet. I stood on feathery joints and tried my best to square my shoulders. I spit blood on the floor and grinned at the little man.
With a crack of my new friend, the whip, the exec advanced on me.
I tried my best to dodge but every single one of the execs' kittenish punches landed. I even stumbled to my knees. The man dancing around me, mooning for the crowd.
I got my feet back under me and lifted my useless arms again. The exec charged in, his weak blows landing on my flesh like an apple thudding to the ground. He finally hit me on the chin with his feathery fist and I saw red. I knew black was next and then nothing.
I felt a spark.
Suddenly my eyes focused and my senses cleared. I looked the exec in the eye, I felt that connection that had happened with Thalia the day before. He hesitated mid punch and I used his momentum to swing him around. I got another arm hooked under his chin and began to squeeze. The man struggled and then cried out in fear.
I focused my thoughts on the symbiotic connection and wished the man to sleep.
I felt the exec go limp as his body flooded with dopamine. I dropped him to the floor and let him dream.
The crowd had been stunned into silence.
The Dom cracked her whip again and spoke, almost a whisper.
"Not guilty."
There was pandemonium.
I listened to the cacophony around me and watched my blood drip to the floor. There was no way to know how the crowd was going to decide. Andrea approached me again, this time it was actually water. It was the best water I had ever tasted.
I felt the MD unit working overtime to numb the pain. It kept the agony to a dull scream and I felt some of my strength come back.
The Chairman tapped his fingers on the red lacquer box. He must know now that I was rich enough to outbid any of these white collar idiots for Adaline. The final piece of his fun was slipping away.
He rose and walked towards his wife. When he stood in front of her he opened the box and when he saw it was empty his face went crimson. He looked at me with sharp piggish eyes. He had had enough.
