The Society

Hey everybody! Back with another chapter here. Again, thanks to everyone who's been reading this series and keeping up with it. I'm glad to be able to write something that people enjoy, it motivates me to want to continue writing and giving you all these stories. Feel free to comment, rate, or send me a message if you want! Suggestions and opinions are welcomed too, thanks again!

*****

"Please tell me you didn't forget it again. We always plan to watch it, and you always forget."

"Forget what?"

"Asia!"

"Seriously, what are you talking about? I think you have me confused with someone else." Asia joked as she snickered through her sentence.

"Nope, only my best friend could be this annoying."

"Relax, Kodi. I got it right here." Asia pulled out a DVD out of her cream-colored wool knapsack and handed it to her. It was

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

, their favorite movie, and almost a relic at this point. Movies like this were difficult to find on Earth over a hundred years after their initial release, especially since there were new technological innovations that made watching movies much more efficient.

But, being that Kodi and her parents were inventors and appreciated technology from all ages, they actually had an old Blu-Ray player and a copy of

Harry Potter

. It was one of the only old movies they had from that long ago, but it was perfect for two eleven-year-old girls to watch. The fantasy of it always transported them to a different place, and helped them forget about the impending danger that was to plague Earth soon.

"Oh, finally you remembered!" Kodi said sarcastically, although genuinely excited about watching.

"Oh, shut up! It's not like I always forget. Just a few times."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"How did your parents find this anyway? I never asked, and the date says like 2001 on the back, which is basically a million years ago."

"I know, I guess it's one of those things they just found randomly. Maybe it was passed down or something."

"Well, whoever did it, thanks, cause this movie is awesome."

"Exactly." Kodi said as she prepared to put the DVD in the Blu-Ray player.

They were over Kodi's house in her room, chilling and playing after a long day at school. Kodi's parents were downstairs, working on something really important, and Asia's parents were too, since her dad worked for the government. They needed the break, especially since rumors of something serious happening were spreading like wildfire on the internet, news stations, and had even made it to their middle school lives. Kodi and Asia didn't know anything specific, but they knew enough to be worried, even as kids.

"Have you heard anything new about it?" Kodi said before they started the movie.

"No, not really. I mean I don't know anything about it. I just know that whatever it is, it's pretty bad because my dad gets really angry about it, and he never gets angry."

"Yea mine too."

"Have you heard your mom and dad argue like that since the last time?"

"I mean it hasn't been as bad as before, but I have picked up some things since then."

"What's that thing called again? How you hear them?"

"It's called the Sound Catcher. And it's not a thing Asia, jeez. It's an invention. My invention."

"Alright, alright, sorry. It is pretty cool though."

"Thanks." Kodi replied with a smile. She always liked hearing Asia, her teachers or her parents give her praise for one of her inventions.

"So, what did you hear?" Asia said, her voice and Kodi's drifting to a low whisper just in case Kodi's parents were listening.

"I mean, they've kind of been talking in code, but I did hear them mention something about war and staying safe and all that."

"Yea, my dad said something about that too."

"Yea..." Kodi said while turning around and looking away, the beads in the braids clinging against each other while her anxiety about everything rose steadily.

"But I mean they talk about war all the time on the news, and my dad always mentions it on the phone but it never happens."

"You don't think it's for real?"

"Nah, I bet it's just a joke or a way to get elected or something. Or something to talk about on TV."

"Yea that's true, it's all they talk about now. But Asia it does feel different this time though, I'm worried something is gonna really happen this time."

"Seriously Kodi? Come on, they've gone through this before."

"I mean it, Asia, would our parents really be getting this upset and almost fighting if it weren't real?"

Kodi's feelings of anxiety and fear were warranted. Despite Asia's attempts to quell her fears, she knew something was bubbling on the horizon as well. Their parents had conversations about it, they overheard teachers discussing it, and everything on the TV and internet discussed it. It wasn't the usual media storm that enveloped the country when something trendy or exciting happened. There was a cloud of uncertainty and fear that was omnipresent, causing people to argue in public amidst mysterious leaks that gave people small amounts of information. It was enough information to let people know that something was coming, but not enough for them to know what.

"I mean our parents fight all the time. They're adults, it's like what they do." Asia said, trying to reassure her friend that everything was fine. As she noticed Kodi still looking down with a somber expression on her face, she got an idea.

"Hey, where did you say your parents were again?"

"They're downstairs in the lab, I think. Why?"

"Didn't you say you implanted one of those homing things in there before?"

"Yea, but just barely. They've been keeping it really secretive lately."

"Why don't you grab the Sound Catcher and listen in on them now? Then you'll see that everything is fine."

"What? Asia, that's like invading their privacy. We shouldn't do that."

"Mmm hmm, like you haven't done

that

before. Come on, Kodi, it'll be fun."

"I don't know, I mean what if it's bad news."

"Then at least we'll know. You want to know the truth, right?"

"Right. Okay, I'll go grab it. But we have to be careful, if they hear us moving too much, they might suspect something."

"Okay."

Kodi crept slowly and moved slowly, being careful not to make too much noise and alert her parents of anything, and grabbed her device out of a drawer. Being sneaky made it feel like forever, but she finally calibrated the device to the channel in the lab, and turned the volume up a little bit.

"Kodi, sometimes you still amaze me. I'm glad some of my genius rubbed off on you."

"Suure, whatever you say. Now shhh! Let's listen."

They both went silent, leaned in close to the Sound Catcher and listened:

"Okay Damien, just explain it to me again, please, because this makes no sense. What are they calling it?"

"It's called the Society, Maya. And I don't know too much about it, just that it's some escape plan or something. A way out, away from everything that's about to happen."

"Right, right. And they just found out about this?"

"No,

we

just found about it. Apparently, they've been working on it for years, in secret."

"I can't believe them. We're supposed to be some of the top scientists in the country, and they have a project like this going on right under our noses. Do you understand how terrible that is, Damien?"

"Yes, I understand, it's ridiculous. That's exactly why I stormed in their offices and asked about it. I mean, they're not even going to reserve a seat for us. What in the hell are they thinking?"

Kodi heard what sounded like a fist slamming against a table or metal surface.

"That's the worst part. They're literally using our research, our technology to fuel this thing, but they can't make sure we're safe. Did they even explain why?"

"Well apparently, all of the spots have been taken. Based on their estimated capacity, they don't have any more space. Which we know is a load of shit. We at least deserve the truth."

"We do, but you know they won't give that to us. Babe, I don't know whether to be angry or sad or upset or what. It's just a lot."

"I know, honey, I'm feeling all of those things too. Whatever happens I just want to protect Kodi, and make sure she's safe."

"I know, I won't give up on her, I won't give up on my f-

"Okay that's enough. I heard enough." Kodi said as she turned the Sound Catcher off and leaned her head away. Asia did the same.

"What's the Society? An escape plan?"

"It doesn't matter, Asia. It doesn't sound like it'll help us anyway. It's stupid."

"I know."

"I just want to make sure we'll be okay. I don't want to lose people, Asia."

"I don't want to lose anyone either Kodi." Asia said as she leaned over to embrace Kodi in a hug, despite knowing how she felt about them. She needed to comfort her friend.

"I guess it's cool just this one time, but I'm on to you Super Hugger."

"Whatever, stop being weird." Asia said as she nuzzled against Kodi's arm before starting the movie.

***

Kodi woke up out of the sedation pod with a slew of different emotions stirring inside her, many of them contradictory from the next one. The memory she just replayed in her head was simultaneously comforting and melancholic, as many of her memories of Earth and her parents before the war were.

This one was different, however, because it was with her best friend Asia, who, while Kodi was on the space station facing an uncertain future with a man whose motives with her were still somewhat unclear, was still on Earth. She hoped Asia was still fighting for her life, but there was no way to know and reaching her seemed almost impossible. How would she escape? Would she still be able to bring materials back to Earth to help the communities suffering? Or would she spend the rest of her days up here? Would she ever see her best friend again?

The difficult part for her was that she enjoyed inventing. She enjoyed being able to work on new projects, and potentially breaking new ground technologically, using her imagination and knowledge to build something that could help people. It was always an exhilarating experience to her, even when the work became more difficult and tedious. In the midst of her imprisonment and the pain she had experienced, the familiarity and excitement that came with inventing and tinkering was a welcomed intermission from the strange and mysterious world she had entered.

"Kodi, come on, time to get up."

Which brought her to him, the man who was just as strange and mysterious as the Society and the new world she had thrust herself into. Her captor was a complete mystery, and she hadn't learned much more about him than she knew the first time she was captured, when she couldn't see him. In the beginning, her feelings about him were closer to fear and disdain. She saw him as an antagonizing figure that mostly caused her pain, although sparing her life. It seemed like he just wanted her down here to inflict pain on her or gather information before killing her.

But now things felt slightly different. He was trusting her with gadgets and devices, telling her about the good job she was doing, and generally loosening the reigns a bit, giving her a little freedom. He clearly wasn't keeping her here solely to inflict pain on her. But why then?

And if that weren't enough, there was the last two nights that really screwed things up for her. Unlike when he used the orgasm control device, what he had done to her wasn't strictly for disciplinary purposes, nor was it just for pain. No, this was something else. What that was, she didn't know. It was still forceful, commanding, and aggressive. But despite the manner in which it was done, it felt...good.

She thought about the way his rugged strong hands were able to apply a grip to her soft breasts that was so firm, squeeze them. The feeling of his warm and prickly beard against her soft bosom as he dove his face in and her breasts enveloped him. How his warm mouth and lips would completely engulf and take in her hard nipples and the large dark brown circles around them, stimulating what was clearly one of her most sensitive areas on her body. The way he was able to travel down her body, sucking and licking on the way down almost as if to mark her body as his.

The way her body trembled when did it, unleashing a surge of sexual energy she didn't know was there before. How he was able to bring her such an explosive release with his face, mouth, tongue, and hands. How she wanted more...

What I am thinking?

She couldn't. She shouldn't, I mean this is the man that captured her and had inflicted pain and discomfort on her. How could she possibly want him at all? She should be running from him, she didn't even know his damn name! But despite that, he didn't seem like the dark brooding figure like before, he had changed a bit. She actually kind of liked working with him on the technology, especially considering his clear expertise with it, and he wasn't spanking or shocking her as much anymore. She was recognizing a shift in how he interacted with her, and wondered what triggered it.

"Now, Kodi. I shouldn't have to say it twice."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm coming." Kodi said as she ran her hands through her afro, shaking it and stretching before finally stepping out of the pod.

As she stretched her arms above her head, she took a second to glance at him, and sure enough he was looking at her again, his icy blue eyes surveying her curvaceous body. His eyes scanned from her breasts to her thighs and what lie in between, almost mimicking the beams of the sensory drone. After what happened the past two nights, and noticing him looking at her like this more often, she was convinced. He was obviously attracted to her, drawn to her. The question, one of many, was if she desired him in the same way...

"Good, I need to give you your next assignment so I can go work on a few things before I leave."

"Oh, I'm getting another assignment?"

"Yes. I'll go grab it. Sit down on the bed and wait."

"Okay." Kodi said as she scurried to the bed after Ethan deactivated the force field that kept it private.

As she sat on the soft satin sheets, memories of last night erupted to the surface, thoughts of him taking her and forcing on her bed, making her cum even harder than before, how her body felt temporarily out of control as it trembled and shook. It was both tantalizing and very strange to her. Dissenting feelings crept up from thinking about it. She wondered, were they going to talk about it? In the midst of their work, they both seemed perfectly capable of avoiding it, unless Kodi brought it up like she had last night. But she decided to hold off on it, and perhaps get some other questions answered instead.

"Okay, here it is." Ethan dropped some more sheets of paper and the blueprints she worked on yesterday on the small desk by the bed.

"Oh, you want me to work on the same thing as yesterday?"

"Not exactly. I took some time last night to analyze your work more closely, and realized that CPU needed to handle the...Phantom Link, or whatever you want to call it, would have to be much stronger than the one on your drone or mine."

"So, you

do

like the name then." Kodi said with a sly smirk.

"No, not at all. It's just a placeholder for now."

"The plot thickens."

"I'm serious."

"Sure." Another smirk followed the last one.

"Kodi, focus." Ethan said as he spanked her lightly on the thigh. She almost jumped from the surprise of it.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Kodi said, remembering that you couldn't go too far with jokes with him. She also noticed that his spank didn't hurt or sting nearly as much as before, and that the light warmth of the sting was actually enticing and caused a stir in between her legs.

"So, what I want you to do is to do calculations and predictions for the CPU. How strong and efficient it needs to be, how much it would take for this device to run smoothly and properly, its capabilities, limitations, all of that. You won't be tinkering with whatever computer chip you can find anymore. It'll need to be better than that. Understood?"

"Got it. I do remember saying that artificial intelligence would be an important part of the Phantom Link, so it will take some time and research to develop one that's compatible with it, while also keeping it under control. But, I should be able to do it."

Kodi was slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be working with hardware at all, but she understood that this was part of the work. She appreciated that she would at least be doing something to past the time here besides sleeping, but being controlled and surveyed so heavily felt weird when she was used to having complete freedom to invent and create what she wanted on Earth. It was yet another paradox that Kodi existed in. While Earth was a wasteland and a desperate space to inhabit, she wasn't someone else's prisoner and had the space to invent.

"Let's hope so. You haven't proven me wrong yet."

"So, does this mean we're going to put this into production? We're going to develop a prototype?" Kodi asked with her unique, wide-eyed vivacity.

"It doesn't mean anything yet. Just make sure you work hard on this stage of the project."

"No worries, I will."

"Good."

As he walked back to a desk near his tools and gadgets to tinker with a few things, Kodi's curiosity returned.

"Oh wait, umm sir?"

"What is it, Kodi?" He said as he turned around to see her biting her full lips again. She was consistently doing that whenever she needed something extra from him, whether it worked or not. And while it may or may not have been achieving its goal of persuasion, it was successful in sending a surge of energy through him.

"Well I was wondering, what do you do here? I mean I know you can invent stuff and make these devices and stuff down here, but like what's your job in the Society? I noticed everyone had on color coded uniforms, so it seems very organized. How do you fit into all that?"

"How do I fit?"

"Yea, like a cog in the machine type of thing. You know what I mean."

He should have been puzzled by this sudden line of questioning, and when he first met Kodi, he was. But now, her curiosity was no surprise, although the intrigue for this specific topic was especially interesting. He wondered if she had formed an opinion about the Society previously.

"You noticed that from being up there for a few minutes?"

"Yea, I mean it was kind of obvious."

"What did you think of the Society, from what you were allowed to see?"

"I mean it looks amazing, there's definitely beauty in it, with the holographic projections and everything. Some of that stuff I haven't seen in years, the projections are really detailed. It looked nice."

"Oh, so you think the Society is a good place then."

"Oh no no no, I didn't say that. Just because a place looks nice, doesn't mean there aren't issues or problems. A few projections of some nice flowers can't hide some bad stuff going on."

"Oh, okay then." Ethan said as he continued with his work.

"Is the Society a bad place?"

Ethan paused for a second before answering.

"What do you think?"

His answers were starting to bother her, most noticeably because they weren't answers at all. He wasn't giving her any information, it was like her questions were reflecting off a steel wall, with not a semblance of a response bouncing back. But she found it promising that he was still responding and continuing the conversation, so she played their game a little more.

"I never really knew anything about it, just rumors that it existed, so I never formed an opinion about y'all up here. And to be honest, I really haven't seen that much, besides the dock and a little bit of the common room, so I don't know if it's bad or not."