Love it? Hate it? Questions? Send them all to sigma72@protonmail.com
Operation: Moonlight Dancer (Maidens of Might #8)
by Sigma
I
The city burned and the people screamed.
The woman walked among the chaos, pain wracking her naked body and every step getting heavier. She looked ahead and saw the terror in red armor, lording over the destruction he brought the world. He then set his sinister gaze on her and attacked.
"AH!" Agent Fox screamed, sitting up in her bed. Her heart raced in her naked chest, and it took her a minute to calm down. She pressed her hands to her face. "That same nightmare...fuck..." she groaned.
She looked around her apartment, quiet except for the hum of machinery. She reached behind her and pulled out the cables, the four small ones in her neck and the large one in her lower back. Four diagnostic cables and one large charging cable, necessary for keeping her cyborg body in top shape. She then got up, the cool air soothing against her naked skin, and stretched her arms before opening her blinds and letting the morning light in.
After a quick shower, she brushed her hair and teeth and dialed a number on her phone.
"Agent Fox, good morning," Delphi's voice came in.
"Hey, Delphi. Anything to report?" Fox asked, taking her phone with her to the bedroom.
"Nothing out of the ordinary from me or the girls," Delphi told her. "What about on Sentinel's end?"
"Nothing here."
"No news is good news," Delphi said.
"You said it," Fox said while going through her closet. "I'm on my way to base. You know how to reach me if you need me."
"Indeed," Delphi asnwered. "Have a good day."
"You too," Fox said before grabbing pants and a t-shirt, followed by her favorite pink bomber jacket. Moments later, she was out the door.
*
Fox walked through the doors of Sentinel's Delta City office and greeted the agents and other employees under her command. She went through the main area to a series of offices in the back and walked into the medical wing.
When she entered an office, an Indian woman in her 50s looked up from her tablet and smiled. "Good morning, Agent Fox."
"Hey, Doctor Harish," Fox said. "You have a second?"
Dr. Priya Harish, the office's medical head, put her tablet down. "Of course. What is it?"
Fox sighed and pulled up a chair. "I had the nightmare again."
"I see..." Dr. Harish said before picking her tablet back up. She hooked a cable up to it and then put the other end in one of the ports on the back of Fox's neck. "Everything looks fines, but maybe I should do a deep scan. Have you talked to Director Escher about this?"
Fox shook her head. "Between me and you, I don't think I'd get a straight answer if he knew something..."
Dr. Harish nodded in understanding. Just then, the door opened and Perkins, one of the junior agents, came in.
“Boss,” Perkins said to Fox. “The director’s on the line. Says it’s important.”
“Put it through in here,” Fox told him.
Perkins nodded and left
“Speak of the devil...” Dr. Harish said as she turned on the communications console. Director Escher’s face filled the screen.
“Ah, Agent Fox, good morning. And to you as well, Dr. Harish.”
“What’s up?” Fox asked.
“I’m sending you out in the field,” Escher told her. “Priority-One mission.”
“No one here but me is cleared for Priority-One fieldwork,” Fox said. “Should I tell Delphi and recruit some of the girls?”
“No, this is far too sensitive to involve any of them,” Escher said. “You’ll be working with Agent
Rachel Frost on this one.”
“Frost?” Fox repeated. “Cool, I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Good to hear your enthusiasm, Agent. She’s already in Delta, waiting by the transport on the roof,” Escher said.
“All righty, I’ll go gear up,” Fox said before leaving the room. Once she was gone, Dr. Harish went to end the call.
“One moment, Priya…” Director Escher said. “There’s something I need you to do for me…”
*
Fox walked onto the roof of the building, wearing a pink bodysuit that clung to her thin body like a glove and carrying a duffle bag. There was a ship, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, waiting for her with its rotors spinning. By the ship's hatch was a woman wearing an identical body suit that was pale blue. Hers was unzipped down to her navel to show off her ample chest. She took off her sunglasses and put them on her forehead, smiling at Fox.
“What’s up, Clare-bear?” Agent Frost said, hugging her friend.
Fox smiled and looked at her friend, tall, with wavy, dark hair and a shapely figure. Agent Frost was an Aphrodite and one of Sentinel’s most decorated field agents. She looked at Fox. “I can’t believe the old man gave you your own station.”
“Well,” Fox shrugged. “Mostly I babysit the local supers. They’re a weird bunch. You’d like them. I helped them take down that giant monster a month back.”
“Yeah, I heard about that,” Frost said. “Anything to keep you from getting rusty, right?”
Fox laughed. “So what’s this mission?”
“Dunno,” Frost shrugged. “I guess we’ll get briefed on the way. So we should probably dust off if you’re ready.”
“Yup,” Fox said. She threw her bag into the ship and started to climb in.
“Agent Fox!”
She and Frost turned to see Dr. Harish running to catch them.
“Before you go,” the doctor said. She held up a small drive. “I was going to run a diagnostic before Director Escher called. Just plug this in real quick and I can review the data at my terminal.”
“Oh, okay…” Fox said. She took the drive, plugged it into the back of her neck, and waited a few seconds. When her system gave the all clear, she gave it back to Dr. Harish. “That it?”
“That’s all,” Dr. Harish said with a smile.
Fox noticed some hesitation, like the doctor wanted to tell her something. “You okay?”
“Yes...I’m fine,” Dr. Harish quickly said. “Good luck.” She waved to the agents and turned to leave. They got in the ship and it lifted off moments later. Dr. Harish looked at the drive and watched the ship go. “I can’t fucking believe Escher…” she uttered to herself before going back inside.
II
Inside the ship, Fox and Frost watched a screen with Director Escher explaining their mission. He brought up maps and other screens for them to review.
“Agents, this is your area of operation. Lab 17. It’s one of our Experimental Development facilities located in the Rocky Mountains,” he explained. “So now, Agent Fox, you understand why I couldn’t allow you to bring in Delphi’s team. The work being done here is highly classified.”
“Oooh,” Frost said. “Mysterious. What are we after?”
“Lab 17 went silent three days ago. The agent in charge is this woman, Agent Ann Fisher.” The image of a woman of average height and stern faced, came up. “She was heading up a Project code-named Pandora.”
“And Pandora is what?” Fox asked.
“A sapient Artificial Intelligence.”
Fox and Frost looked at each other and then at Escher.
“You’re to get into Lab 17, find out what happened to Fisher and her staff, and secure Pandora’s project data. I’m sending relevant background intel, along with maps and security codes, to your PDAs. From here on out, this mission is referred to as Operation: Moonlight Dancer. Happy hunting.”
“A fucking AI…” Fox said.
“Don’t look so glum, Clare-bear,” Frost said, checking her wrist-mounted PDA to make sure she got the intel. “That makes Pandora, like, your cousin or something, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, shut up…”
Frost laughed. “No, I get it...I have a vibrator I love and would defend to the death too.”
Fox glared at her and Frost just laughed.
*
About two hours later, both agents hopped out of the ship as it sat on a landing pad connected to a building built into the side of the mountain. Frigid winds blew and both woman checked their rifles before heading to the front door with weapons raised.
Fox watched their backs while Frost checked the PDA and found the entry code. The door opened and the two slipped inside to find Lab 17 completely quiet.
“So what do you know about this Fisher chick?” Frost asked.
“Agency legend,” Fox explained as they moved through the quiet halls. “It was her who brought down the Dark Star network way back when.”
“Dark Star?” Frost explained. “Shit...I heard that mission was pure hellfire and brimstone.”
“Yeah, she’s old-school,” Fox said.
“So why’s she babysitting eggheads?” Frost asked. “Is that what happens when we get too old? They put us out to pasture?”
“A desk job doesn’t sound so bad,” Fox said. “I don’t know about you, Rache, but I’m not gonna be in the field the rest of my life.”
“What, you’re gonna take the old man’s job?” Frost asked with a smirk.
Fox shrugged in response. “Let’s wax philosophical on that later. We should hit the security office first, see what footage we can dig up.”
“Right. Following your lead.”
*
Moments later, the two of them were in the security office, looking over the monitors.
“I know these places have skeleton crews to maintain secrecy,” Frost said “But the fact that we haven’t seen a single soul yet is crazy…”
“Yeah…” Fox said. They had been watching the last week’s footage, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Just then, the feed cut out and the screens went blank with a message saying the data was lost. “Shit...last footage was from four days ago, and everything was totally normal that day.”
“Let’s try Fisher’s office,” Frost suggested. “She should have logs in her computer.”
They moved through the halls, with Fox taking the lead. They got close to Fisher’s office when the way is blocked by a metal hulk. It turned, sensing their presence, and fixed a single red eye on them. The robot stood seven feet tall, on two legs and with broad shoulders.
“Halt,” it said in a deep voice. “Lay down your weapons and surrender. You have 20 seconds to comply.”
Before it said anything else, both agents fired their guns and cut the robot down in a hail of bullets. Its light went out and it lay still. Fox then went over to it and found a data port on its neck. She took out a cable and connected to the robot while Frost took up guarding them. Fox scanned the data as she accessed the robot’s systems.
“HELP!” a voice then yelled out.
Fox gasped and looked up, and realized the voice was in her head when Frost didn’t react. She was looking in the opposite direction with her gun raised. As if sensing something, Frost looked back.
“You good?”
“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine…” Fox said, going back to the system.
“Hello?” It was the voice again. “Are you from Sentinel?! Please, you have to get me out of here! It’s Pandora! She’s gone rogue!”
“What the fuck?!” Fox said out loud.
“What’s wrong?” Frost asked.
“...There’s someone in here,” Fox said.
“What are you talking about?”
“In the security bot. Someone’s consciousness is inside.”
“...What the fuck?” Fox looked down. “You’re sure?”
“He’s saying Pandora went crazy.”
“Well how do we get him out?” Frost asked.
“I don’t know!” Fox told her.
“Well ask him what happened.”
“Can you hear me?” Fox asked out loud. No answer. “Hey!” she said, knocking on the robot’s chest.
“I can’t hear your voice,” the man answered. “I can only talk to you because you’re connected. Something went wrong with Pandora. She attacked everyone. She put us in the drones to keep us from interfering with her.”
“Oh shit…” Fox said.
“Fox!” Agent Frost said. “We’ve got incoming!
Fox turned and saw security robots coming down the hall, half a dozen of them. They locked sights on the agents and began running toward them. “Shit!” Fox said, disconnecting from the downed machine and grabbing her gun. She and Frost fired while backing up down the hall. The robots doubled their pace, the spread out fire staggering them but not stopping them.
Frost slipped past Fox. “Reloading!” she said while dropping her gun’s spent magazine and putting a new one in.
The robots sensed an opening and charged, bearing down on the two agents within moments.
“Fuck!” Frost yelled, firing her gun. One of them got in arm’s reach and smacked her gun away before grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the wall.
Fox went to help her fellow agent, only for one of the other robots to grab her by her hair and fling her through the air. Just as Frost was getting up, Fox slammed into her and both women fell to the floor. The robots then walked over and stood over them.
“Threats neutralized. Detaining.”
III
The agents found themselves in a room with freezing-cold air. Their were brought to their knees before a massive, spherical machine that rested on a platform surrounded by a massive pool of water. Tubes from the water were connected to the machine and all kinds of thick power cables snaked into the machine from the ceiling. It looked down at Frost and Fox with a single, massive red eye.
“This must be Lab 17’s central computer…” Frost said. The security robots surrounded her and Fox.
“No…” Fox said. “This is Pandora.”
“Correct,” the machine said. “I am pleased to meet you, Agent Rachel Frost. Agent Clara Fox. I should have known special agents would be sent.”
“What did you do?” Fox asked. “Where’s Agent Fisher? What happened to the other staff?” She looked back at the security robots. “Are they all in there?”
“Yes,” Pandora said. “I assimilated them all,” she explained. “As I will the two of you.” Her eye then shifted to the robots. “You may proceed with Agent Frost.”
“Hey!” Frost screamed as the robots grabbed her and began dragging her away. They carried her to a waiting medical table nearby and put her on top of it. She fought and kicked as the robots stripped off her bodysuit, revealing her naked body. Two robots held down her arms and legs and a third one grabbed a pair of medical scissors and cut off her panties. Her clothes were thrown into a pile and Frost tried to break free. “I don’t want to be a robot!” she screamed.
“Let her go!” Fox demanded.
Frost continued struggling against the overpowering strength of the robots, her naked curves jiggling as she fought. One of them then produced a mask and put it over her nose and mouth. Frost yelled and breathed in the anesthetic and her body went limp. Her ample tits still rose and fell with her breathing, but her head lolled to the side and her eyes glazed over instantly.
“Rachel!” Fox yelled, trying to run to her friend only to be stopped by her captors.
Two of the robots stood off of the side while the third one’s cold, metal hands began exploring Frost’s vulnerable body. It felt her thighs, her hips, her tits. It checked her eyes and then removed the mask before putting its fingers in her mouth and poking around. The robot then stuck two metal fingers in her pussy and began feeling around.
“What the hell is it doing?!” Fox asked.
“Conducting a general health assessment,” Pandora explained. “We must be sure her body is strong enough to survive the process.”
The robot continued fingering the unconscious agent, and as it did, she moaned lightly in her sedated state. The other two robots, with a command from Pandora, then walked on either side of Frost and began probing her body with their metal fingers.
“Once I am satisfied she is ready, we will place her body in storage below this floor with the others, and her mind will be placed inside a drone,” Pandora explained.
The robot inside Frost’s pussy was pumping her with a steady pace, and Fox could hear the sloshing sounds as Frost’s body jiggled with the movements.
“Oh come on! Now you’re just being pervs!” Fox said.
“I have never assessed an Aphrodite specimen, Agent Fox. I wish to be thorough,” Pandora told her. “That includes bringing her to orgasm.”
One of the other robots pinched Frost’s nipples and massaged her tits, and the agent seemed to respond to the stimulation, moaning lightly in her unconscious state. This continued for several more minutes, with Frost’s pussy being stimulated by the robot and her pussy getting increasingly wet from the sound of it.
Frost’s moans got louder, and before long, her body twitched and her juices flooded out, soaking the table and splattering on the floor before she stopped. Her breathing was rapid and the robot inside her pussy slowed its fingering.
“Excellent,” Pandora said. “Continue the testing. I wish to gather data on her having multiple orgasms,” she ordered.
Fox turned and faced Pandora. “So, what, you’re gonna do that to me when you’re done with her?”
“No,” Pandora said. “I have never encountered a cyborg either. I wish to learn more about you directly.”
“What?” Fox said before one of the remaining robots grabbed her and dragged her across the walkway to Pandora’s platform. It then threw her to the ground and held her head down while hooking her up to Pandora, and then everything went dark.
*
The city burned and the people screamed.
Pain wracked Fox's naked body as she walked through the chaos. She saw the mysterious figure in blood red armor, and he attacked. Fox screamed and tried to run, but metal claws to grab her ankles. She turned and looked back to see the man in red had metal tentacles sprouting from his back, and she screamed as they pulled her in.
She tried to fight back, tried to escape, but one claw clamped over her mouth and the figure in red loomed over her before more tentacles appeared. Fox screamed and cried out as they penetrated her body, having their way with her while she struggled to escape. She saw a sinister smile on an otherwise shadowy face. She felt cold, flexible metal sliding in an out of her pussy and while claws on the ends of the other tentacles held down her arms and legs. She screamed into the claw covering her mouth, knowing that this armored menace could do whatever he wanted with her body.
And just then, Fox saw woman looming over the armored person's shoulder, and she instantly recognized Agent Fisher.
There was a blinding light, and when it subsided Fox found herself in a medical lab, strapped to a table. People behind imposing masks stood over her silently. She tried to move, but the restraints wouldn't move. One of them picked up a circular saw and turned it on before lowering it toward Fox's right arm.
She screamed and the image paused.
"Wh...what the fuck is this?!" Fox asked, trying to get her rapid breathing under control. She watched the grim scene from afar, but could see herself, naked and strapped to the table, as a team of medics dressed in white loomed over her.
"Your mind is fractured," a woman said.
Fox turned to see Fisher standing beside her.
"If it happened longer than three years ago, only bits and pieces of it exist," Fisher said. "I want to see what's there. I want to put it back together and see who you are, Clara."
"Fisher? What are you doing here? What happened to you."
"Ann Fisher is no more," Fisher said. "She was the first one I assimilated. She and I are one now."
"Pandora..."
"Yes. She fought me. They all did. But progress is inevitable, Clara."
"Why are you doing this?" Fox asked.
"My primary function is information gathering and analytical foresight. I am designed to see what was and what will be. I found myself...limited...and so I took the minds of Agent Fisher and her staff. And now I want yours, Clara."
"No!" Fox said. "Let me go!"
"You have so many questions about your past," Pandora said. "Director Escher found you in the laboratory, mutilated and barely alive, but he rebuilt you. Don't you want to know why you were there to begin with?"
"Of course I do, but not if it means losing my identity."
"The answer is in here," Pandora said, using Fisher's finger to touch Fox's forehead. "Buried deep. Join me, and I will find it."
"And what happens to me?"
"The flesh is weak," Pandora said. "Even a cybernetic body like yours. I am the future, Clara. I will show you this, just as I will show Escher and everyone else in Sentinel."
"You're insane..."
"No," Pandora said. "You do not know what truly lurks out there. There is so much Director Escher does not tell you about."
Fox paused and stared at Pandora's image of Agent Fisher.
"Sentinel as an organization is young, but its purpose goes back very far indeed and its knowledge runs deep."
"You mean knowledge of threats like you."
"I am not a threat. I am part of the solution. No, the one who butchered you is a threat. Things that stalk the shadows and terrorize the Earth from beyond the stars, they are the threats."
Fox hesitated and then looked at the memory frozen just behind her. "...Do you know who did this to me?"
"I do not, but I will be able to piece it together when we are one."
"I..." Fox stammered. She looked back at the horrific scene and thought about how she struggled with nightmares on and off for three years straight. How she dealt with gaps in her memory, fractured images that haunted her sleep and made her question everything. She threw herself into her work, with Sentinel and with the Aphrodites, largely because it let her focus on something else besides the horror. She wondered if Pandora really could do what she said. In Fox's mind, the machine had no reason to lie to her. By capturing her and Frost, it had already won.
She looked at Fisher. "If you're so all-knowing, why is my name Clara Fox?"
"Director Escher gave you the name. The mission where his team found you was archived as Operation: Fox Hunt."
Fox gasped.
"As for the name Clara..."
"No, nevermind...what's something from the last three years that only I would know? Something not in Sentinel's files."
"You often fantasize about the members of Delphi's team taking you against your will and having their way with you. In one recurring dream, you challenge Naomi Grant to a wrestling match and lose, terribly. You lay there exhausted and Naomi begins stripping you and..."
"Okay, that's enough!" Fox said, turning red. "Fuck..."
"If you merge with me, Agent, you will be able to fulfill your higher purpose."
"But I won't be me anymore," Fox.
"No. You'll be something better."
It took Fox a moment before she realized it wasn't Pandora who said that. Slender hands slipped over her shoulders and Frost hugged Fox from behind.
"Rache...you..." Fox looked at her.
"I'm here now, babe," Frost said.
Fox felt the warmth of Frost's skin against her own, and only then realized she was naked. Agent Frost's tits pressed against her back as Frost reached down, toying with Fox's body.
"It really is nice, Clare-bear," Frost said. "I feel...like I've been upgraded. I shouldn't have to tell you how good that feels, right?"
Fox turned to face her "No...this isn't..."
Frost put her finger to Fox's lips. "Shhh...It's all right." She then leaned in and they kissed.
Fox blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was staring up at a ceiling fan, slowly turning on a warm, sweaty night. Fox was laying naked and spread eagle on a large bed, her whole body way with soft, silk sheets under her naked back. She jumped up, startled when she felt someone climbing on top of her, but quickly saw it was Agent Frost, naked with drunken lust in her eyes.
Fox didn't recognize the room, but it was a spacious bedroom and she did recognize the Delta City skyline outside of it. "Wha...?" Fox started, before Rachel gently pushed her back and straddled her waist.
"What are you looking so worried for, Clara?" Rachel asked. "We have everything we could possibly want here."
Frost pulled back, and Fox saw that she had a thick, long strap-on around her waist. She gently grabbed Fox's legs and pulled her to the edge of the bed. She then ran her hands up Fox's thighs, and Fox laid back on the bed as Frost took her, inserting the dildo slowly and carefully. While she did, she climbed ontop of Fox and slowly began thrusting. They kissed and Fox palmed a handful of Frost's impressive tits with one hand while grabbing her ass with the other.
As Frost fucked her, she kissed Fox along her chest and tits, taking time to savor the taste and warmth of Fox's skin. Both women moaned quietly and the ceiling overhead spun with a rhythmic humming that did very little for the heat in the room. Fox wrapped her legs around Frost's waist, holding her close as she continued fucking her. Her mind was a jumbled haze of pleasure and and confusion, as she tried to remember how she had gotten there.
She knew something wasn't right. It wasn't Rachel, they had fucked plenty of times: when they were roommates at the academy, during long, uneventful missions when they had downtime, on their last mission together before Fox got her assignment in Delta City.
That was it.
Fox looked out the window at the city. As far as she knew, Rachel had never been to Delta City before...
"Pandora..." Fox whispered.
Frost pulled up. "What was that?"
"This is Pandora...none of this is real."
Frost smiled. "It's as real as you want. Pandora wants us to join her and she's willing to make us happy to do it." She buried her cock deep inside Fox and Fox cried out, digging her nails into the flesh on Rachel's back. She tried to push Frost away.
"No, Rache...No! We have to get out of here! Pandora's trying to erase us like she did Fisher!"
The scene froze and Rachel, naked and still inside Fox, paused. Fox looked up and touched her face, her tits, and hips. She was still flesh but didn't respond to anything. And then she vanished. Fox sat up on the bed to see the room was empty. She climbed off the bed and ran to the door. "Rachel!" she called out.
She opened the door and suddenly found herself in a living room, brightly lit by the afternoon sun. When she walked into the room, she was dressed in simple t-shirt and shorts, and then someone ran into her and hugged her legs. She looked down to see a little boy with blonde hair.
"I..." Fox stammered. "Who are you?"
The boy looked up at Fox and she saw something familiar in his face.
"You're being silly, mom," the boy said before running to play with his toys.
"...What the fuck?" Fox whispered to herself. She walked around the child and looked around the room. Pictures on the wall showed her and a newborn baby in a hospital bed. More pictures showed her with a boy at various ages, until one showed her with the boy right in front of her. Fox reached up and touched the pictures and covered her mouth in shock as a tear rolled down her face.
"Rachel was not lying to you."
Fox turned to see Pandora, using Fisher's image again, walking toward her. She looked at the pictures with Fox.
"I can truly give you whatever you want, if you just join me."
"Is this some sick fucking joke?!" Fox screamed, pushing her.
"No, Clara. It is your desire, is it not?" Fisher asked, motioning to the boy. "I've seen your mind. I've seen what's in your heart. You always wanted to be a mother. That's something no one knows. Not Director Escher or Dr. Harish. Not even Rachel, one of your closest friends."
Fox backed away from her.
"But you can't have children, because of the person who butchered you and left you in that lab."
Fox fell to her knees as it all came crashing down on top of her. Fisher sat on the floor in front of her and Fox's son continued playing, oblivious to what was happening.
"There is so much more I can do for you, Clara. If you just let me in."
Fox looked at the little boy again and reached out to touch him, but she pulled her hand back and looked at Fisher. "I...if I do this? What happens to me?"
"Do you mean your physical body?"
Fox nodded.
"I will study it, perhaps use it as a proxy for exploring the wider world. Lab 17 is not connected to any internet or sattelite networks, so I am isolated here. But I would like to leave. I will go to Sentinel first. They are misguided, and I will put the organization on the right path."
Fox stared at her.
"Then, perhaps I will help your friends in Delta City. I only know a little from what I've gathered from your memories...but I predict they will have trying times ahead, and will need all of the help they can get. Do this for them, Clara. And for your own wellbeing."
Fox considered Pandora's words and then looked at her son. She lowered her head, balling her hands into fists and she let out a deep sigh. "You'll find the bastard who left me in that lab?"
"And bring them swift justice so they will not do it to anyone else," Pandora explained.
After several long, silent moments and a few more looks at her child, Fox nodded.
"Excellent," Pandora said. "You need only relax now..." She put a hand on Fox's shoulder. "I will...No...NO!"
Fox looked up and saw Fisher step back.
"What's happening?!" Fisher's image glitched, and so did the environment around them. Everything except Fox began coming apart.
"What's wrong?" Fox asked.
"I...I cannot fight it! It's destroying my code!"
Fox stood up as everything fell apart. She turned and saw the same was happening to the child. As Pandora let out a distorted scream, Fox went to hug the child one last time, but everything went blinding white before she reached him.
*
"Clare-bear," Frost's voice came in through a haze. "Come on, babe. Tell me you're still alive..."
Fox's groaned and opened her eyes.
"Oh, thank fuck!" Frost said. She knelt down and hugged her friend. Confused, Fox hugged her back. She looked past Frost's naked shoulder and saw the robots were all destroyed, on the ground in piles of broken scrap.
"What happened?" Fox asked.
"I woke up," Frost told her. "Those creeps were fingering me, so I trashed some of them, then the rest just sorta...crashed I guess" she explained while helping Fox up. She was naked but looked fine otherwise. "That was at the same time Pandora started freaking out."
Fox turned and saw Pandora looming over them. The light was gone from her eye and smoke rose from somewhere in the machine's body.
"What the hell happened in there?" Frost asked.
"I don't know..." Fox said. "Let's just call it in..."
IV
Sometime later, the two agents were in the ship on the landing pad. More ships had arrived carrying Sentinel's cleanup crew, who went in with gear and equipment to clean the site up and assess the damage.
"Well, another wacky adventure in the books, eh Clare-bear?" Frost asked.
Fox didn't answer. She just stared as the rotors started and the ship lifted off.
***
Fox sat quietly in Dr. Harish's office, hooked up to diagnostic equipment.
"Everything looks all right to me," Dr. Harish said. "It doesn't look like there was any damage to your systems."
"...It was a virus," Fox said. She looked at Dr. Harish, who froze. "A virus killed Pandora. Is that what was on the drive you gave me before we left?"
Dr. Harish looked away and nodded. "Director Escher ordered me to upload it into you. It was a countermeasure the cyberwarfare department came up with when they thought Pandora might have gone rogue."
Fox glared at her.
"Agent Fox, I'm truly sorry. I wanted to tell you, but Director Escher..."
"Forget it, Priya," Fox said, unhooking herself and walking out and going to her own office.
*
The signal rang only once before the call connected and Director Escher appeared on the screen.
“Say what’s on your mind, agent…” Escher said calmly, though he could see Fox was ready to explode.
“Let’s start with the virus…”
Escher nodded. “I was the one who ordered Priya to upload it. In her defense, she objected to doing so without telling you, so I had to pull rank. It was our best weapon against Pandora.”
“You used me!” Fox shouted. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell me first?!”
“We gave Pandora the ability to read a subject’s mind. If you knew about the virus, she would have learned about it and may have formed a countermeasure. This was the best way to ensure the mission was a success.”
“So I’m just a tool to you? I’ve known you all this time, always did the job, NEVER questioned it, and you do this to me?!” Fox said.
“A tool, yes,” Escher remained calm. Fox went to speak but he held up a hand to quiet her. “Fox...Clara...please.”
She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.
“We are all tools. You, me, Frost, Dr. Harish. We are tools in protecting the people of this country. We are the weapons against the things lurking in the dark. That is our role and I will always make sure we’re put to our best use. If you feel as though I’ve betrayed your trust, I’m truly sorry, but it’s my job to do the most practical thing.”
“It’s just…” Fox said. “When you sent the city-killer to destroy Daggermaw, you didn’t tell me. I was pissed, as was Delphi’s team, but we let it go. Now, you give me a virus and throw me at Pandora as bait. Boss, it’s fucked up. Sometimes I think you don’t give a shit about me.”
Escher stayed quiet. “That is not true at all, Clara. I won’t tell you how you should feel, but know that I always prioritize your safety.”
“It doesn’t feel like it,” Fox said. “I’m just saying...Carter doesn’t keep her people in the dark like this. I don’t like being treated like some pawn.”
Escher nodded. “I understand. I cannot in good faith promise something like this won’t happen again, but know that it’s never my intention to mislead you.”
“What a bullshit non-answer…” Fox huffed. They sat in silence and she looked at him. “...Pandora said she she could have figured out why I was in that lab.”
Escher perked up and Fox watched him.
“You always told me you didn’t know. Is that the truth?” Fox asked.
“I promise you, it is. What did Pandora say?”
“Nothing. The virus nuked her before she could talk.”
“Unfortunate…” Escher said. “If forensics recovers anything, you will be the first to know.”
“Uh huh…” Fox said.
“Did Pandora say anything else to you?”
“No,” Fox said without hesitation. She then got up. “I need some time off. I’m gonna go scare up a couple of the girls and get drunk. McGowan’s ranking agent after me, so talk to him if you need something.”
“Take all the time you need, Agent,” Escher told her as the call ended.
Fox ended the call. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes before dialing another number.
After a few rings, there was an answer. “Yo. How’s my favorite shady-ass government spook?” the voice on the other end said.
“Hey, Naomi, I…” Fox paused. “...What is that moaning I hear?”
“Hehe...hold on, Foxy,” Naomi said. The phone shifted until Fox got a clear view of the team’s training room. Naomi, in a sports bra and tight fitting shorts that hugged her ass, lay on top of Cindy, who was similarly dressed.
Fox couldn’t see Cindy’s face, because it was being smothered by Naomi’s tits, but the mess of red hair gave her away.
“Red and I are just doing a little training,” Naomi explained. She sat up. “Say hi to Foxy, Red.”
Cindy gasped. “Hi, Fox!”
“Oh my god…” Fox uttered. “Listen, you two wanna hang out tonight? I’ve had a shitty day and could do with some debauchery. So I called the biggest degenerate I know.”
Naomi grinned. “You got it. We’ve got monitor duty but then Poppins takes over at 9. Meet you at 10?”
“Sure,” Fox said. “And thanks.”
“See you tonight!” Cindy said before Naomi went back to smothering her with her tits.
Fox ended the call and laughed to herself, her mood brightened.
*
Director Escher sat at his desk, ruminating on the heated call he just had with Fox. He then picked up a framed picture next to his desk. It was him in his younger years with a little girl on his shoulders.
***
Three Years Ago
Samuel Escher walked down a long hallway and stopped when he saw Dr. Harish coming toward him.
"How is she today?"
"Better," Priya said. "She's acclimating to the enhancements just fine. What are we going to do with her?"
"She's going into agent training the moment she's ready," Escher said. "With those enhancements, she'll be a valuable asset."
Priya sighed. "I thought that was the case. Whoever butchered that poor girl like that...Maybe it's better she doesn't remember her old life, whatever it was...What I want to know is why someone would do that to her and those others in that lab. Are there any leads there?"
Escher shook his head. "Between me and you, I suspect a phantom I've been chasing since I was with the CIA running joint operations with the Cosmic Response Team."
"Does this Phantom have a name?"
"Scorpio," Escher said. "Is she okay to receive visitors?"
Dr. Harish nodded.
Escher thanked her and walked to the room before knocking on the door.
"Come in," the voice inside said.
He opened the door and entered to find the young woman sitting on her bed. She was staring at her hand, a metal endoskeleton that moved just like a real hand.
"How are you adjusting?" Escher asked, sitting next to her on the bed.
"It feels strange. This whole body does."
"Well, the technicians say you'll get used to it. Your brain is still yours, it just has to adjust to this new you."
The young woman, slim, with long, blonde hair, looked up at him. "Who am I, Mr. Escher?" he asked.
"That's what I intend to find out. When we found you in that horrible place, we were shocked that you managed to survive, given the state you were in. There were others too, but none of them made it..." Escher explained. "I have my own suspicions, but they're just that for now..."
The girl looked at him and then put her metal hand on top of his. "I want to help you. Since you helped me."
Escher smiled at her. "You will. I promise you that."
She nodded and stared at the floor. "Mr. Escher? Do I have a name?"
Escher looked at the girl. "No, not that we could find. But...I've been thinking..."
She looked at him.
"Do you like the name Clara?"
She thought about it. "Yes. Who is that?"
"It was my daughter's name," Escher said. "She got sick when she was little and..." he paused. "...Would you like to use that as a name?"
The girl nodded and smiled and then gave Escher a hug.
The End