The door slid open with a low hiss and, as it always had, got stuck just a bit before it could slide fully into the wall. I stepped in, turning to side-step in, and heard it hiss again as it slid closed. I sighed as I had every other time this little routine had played out and walked across the room to tap the button on the light panel. The button that
actually
worked as opposed to the three that didn't on that panel alone. Despite being the one evaluating and scheduling maintenance I had never gotten around to sending the work crew to my personal quarters to diagnose and repair the various malfunctioning switches and light fixtures. Dim blue emergency lights rimmed the corners of the walls and ceilings which gave me enough light to see as I stepped past the panel and into the hallway beyond.
Everything was quiet save for the low thrum of machinery and the tapping of my heels against the cool metal floor. I had gotten pretty used to this quiet; a thankful change from the incessant yelling and music my old apartment had seemingly always been flooded with. My lab coat fluttered behind me as I walked at a brisk pace, my mind too awake for me to go to sleep as I knew I probably should have. I mean, there wasn't really ever any kind of curfew established and the other members of the staff were usually all working on their own projects till
God
knew when but it still never hurt to actually
try
to maintain some kind of decent sleep schedule. I couldn't remember the last time I actually did.
The second door, one that actually opened and closed without issue, opened as I approached it. This one had been constructed to resemble the same dark metal walls of the fortress and only opened when I was present. Beyond it was a room that slowly came to life as I entered; a laboratory I had secreted away when the task of figuring out the initial floor plan had fallen to me. The lights, actual white ceiling lights and not the same emergency backups that lit the bedroom, slowly began to rise in brightness so as to not immediately blind me everytime I stepped in from the dark hallway. The few small machines and computers that had been afforded to me began to power on and it once again felt like I was coming home.
"Good evening, Ms. Charlie. The current time on Umbra IV is 12:32 AM. You currently have: no ongoing processes. All subjects are accounted for." said the soft feminine voice of Lara, my lab's resident AI assistant and one of three master AI within the fortress.
The lights were now raised to the bright white one would usually associate with a sterile, impersonal lab but impersonal was anything but accurate. The walls were adorned with old bits and bobs I had collected over the years spent aimless at the colony; a mix of ancient movie posters, lewd art depicting women in various states of undress that were common in my old workplace and even the first dollar that had been shoved into my g-string back during my days as a dancer which sat in a little frame by the door. There weren't many things here to remind me of my past but as rough as it had been, they weren't memories I shied away from. I currently had the smallest lab of three dedicated to fairly simple logistical work, the other two being the main tech and teleportation lab as well as the dedicated genetics lab, so I don't think anyone was going to complain about a few personal effects filling out the empty space. Most of my work was either personal experiments or ones involving nutritional concerns for our subjects.
My image came into view in a floor mirror standing against the west wall and I took a moment to stand before it. People might not have guessed that the tiny little scientist-turned-stripper-turned-scientist still valued lewd clothing but I couldn't help but take a moment to admire myself in the mirror. Call it vanity or whatever other unsavory words that might come to mind but I made it a point to love my body as much as I loved my mind, thank you very much!
My lab coat flew out of my hand to the table sitting beside the mirror and all that was left on my frame was a cow print 'slingkini' I had ordered in as soon as the swimming pool was finished. If anyone thought that a scientist couldn't be a
sexbomb
, then I was living proof of the opposite and
damn
if I didn't feel good about it. My hands reached up to squeeze my breasts, soft and heavy in my grip and I gave them a hefty jiggle which always brought a smile to my face. Long and straight strawberry-blonde hair crested over my shoulders while flat bangs sat above my brow and my tall heels clacked as I swung my hips from side to side. The heels were
absolutely
a bit vain but when you're barely a hair over five foot
three
, it felt nice to have shoes that let you reach the tall shelves of your lab. That and I paid good money for them during my dancer days and
nothing
was going to stop me from enjoying my hard earned purchases!
"Charlie," I said to my reflection, "You're still beautiful. You've still got
brains
even if they only ever loved you for your
boobs
. You're still good enough even if you didn't always think you were."
My fingers slipped under the thin fabric of the slingkini as I stripped it off and set it down on the table with the lab coat before taking a second to look at my tattoos. A few were old and a few were new but each was lewd maybe a bit too bold. A rich blue jellyfish sat in the center of my chest with flowing tendrils and beaded chains that
once
crested nicely under my breasts back when they were a reasonable size. Matching blue beaded chains circled the under and outer curve of my areolas so at least they and the jelly were visible. A bar code rested over my right breast with the words 'GRADE A' under it paired with a tattoo on my hip drawn to resemble a cattle brand reading 'Umbra Farms - Grade A Fuckmeat'. The words 'Money Makers' were written, one on each huge, squishy thigh and could only be read when they were properly spread, which I honestly loved doing. The last one was by far the lewdest; it was a tattoo of a heart over my womb bearing cute devil horns and bat wings with a knotted cock filling the and sealing the heart. Turned out to be a bit ironic when I later found out I was largely infertile, but hey, a girl can still have her fun.
I gave myself a hearty slap on the ass and reached over to the bag sitting on the table. Inside were some bras and panties I had ordered and I figured it was as good a time as any to try them on. The frilly blue panties slid up my thick and luscious thighs to rest high on my waist to accentuate my wide hips which made me squeal a bit. They had looked
incredible
online and they looked even
better
on me! Woe to the men who could have seen what they looked like on the floor but now they'd just have to weep at night knowing I got away. Alright, so maybe I was a little vain. Just a tiny little bit as a treat to myself. I was
hot