Experiment 239 Ch. 08

The fallout from the Christmas party turned out to be surprisingly minimal. Naturally, James morphed into a bumbling, red-faced, stuttering schoolboy whenever he bumped into Sophie, his eyes darting around wildly as if he couldn't quite decide if he wanted them on her cleavage, her skirt, the floor beside her, or anything besides her eyes. There was the occasional leer from a male colleague, the occasional whispers behind her back from a few women. But for the most part, life at the facility went on as usual. In fact, some were friendlier to her, perhaps having been pleasantly surprised at the realization that she wasn't quite as uptight as she appeared to be.

She found herself exuding an air of serenity and calmness far more often as well, and it was infectious. She felt more at ease, more relaxed, more content. People sensed it, and they responded in kind.

Oh... and Mason had decided to give her an office to herself.

She wasn't sure exactly what his motivations were, but neither she nor Anthony really cared. The entire company had seen everything she'd had to offer at the party; if anyone was interested in some voyeurism via a hidden webcam, they were welcome to it, she reasoned. Of course, "her office" was mostly Anthony's office. She had a sheepskin rug in the corner of the room to kneel on, with her laptop plugged into the socket next to it. The oak table and leather armchair was his.

Anthony, ever the handyman, had surprised her with a "Blowjob machine" (or, as he fondly referred to it as, a BJM" - a contraption that attached to the seat of the armchair at the front. When she knelt in front of the chair, he could fasten her head harness to it, leaving her at its mercy. With her wrists cuffed behind her back and attached to her ankles, and her head firmly in its grasp, the only movements she could make were the ones she was allowed to.

The first time Anthony had demonstrated it, she had marveled at the sheer genius of it all. The arm connected to her head harness could move back and forth, its rhythm controllable by the switch on the armrest. She was swiftly put into the harness under the desk, Anthony made himself comfortable in the chair with his cock halfway into her ring-gagged mouth, and he turned it on a slow, relaxing pace, then set about his work for the next hour. When he was done, he finally turned the pace up to have her bring him to orgasm, and later found a small puddle of sticky wetness pooling around her legs.

She wasn't allowed an orgasm, of course.

Today, she found herself strapped into the machine again. This time, her demi-bra had been pushed down to reveal her nipples, and the nipples were clamped to the base of the armchair. Each time the arm of the machine moved her through its lazy motions, the stationary clamps tugged mercilessly on her nipples. Her arms were bound in a rope harness, the elbows airtight and attached tightly to her ankles, which were pulled up parallel to her thighs and strapped to them. With each stroke of the machine, she struggled to keep her balance on her knees.

Anthony, having completed a segment of his work, leaned back in his armchair and looked down at Sophie. Her eyes were closed, her breathing strained but even, her dark red lips stretched around the wide ring that forced them apart. The machine was moving her head at a slow, lazy rate, aimed to give him constant pleasure without the risk of blowing his load prematurely. Beneath her sheer white shirt and black miniskirt, he could see the muscles in her entire body tensing with the effort of maintaining her balance, the spiked heels of her mandatory stilettos pointing at the ceiling. The front of her shirt was wet with drool, sticking to her exposed breasts. And her nipples looked most appealing, swollen and gripped in unforgiving metal, stretched to the limits of their ability with each rotation of the machine.

Thank god he wasn't any younger, Anthony mused. Ten years ago the mere sight of her would have brought him to climax instantly - and where would the fun be in that?

He had stuffed a long dildo into her pussy, with instructions to keep it in. It had already slid halfway out, despite her legs being close together. He reached a foot out and nudged it back upwards.

Sophie's eyes flew open. "Ahhnhghh?"

Anthony ruffled her hair affectionately. Bits of it were already sticking straight through the strap passing over her head - he loved seeing her all tousled up. "Having a good time? I sure am."

A fresh rivulet of drool made its way down Sophie's chin as she grunted non-commitally.

He grinned down at her. "Good thing I have you - I would've fallen asleep writing this report otherwise. I'll let you know when I finish, mm?"

Half an hour later, he lay back in the chair, his balls completely drained. Sophie was still kneeling in the harness, immobile, but with cum dripping down her face. She protested feebly through her gag.

Anthony took his time tucking himself back into his pants before he moved to release her. The clamps went first, eliciting a garbled scream as each one went off and blood flowed back into the tortured nipples. Then he unhooked her head harness from the machine, and her elbow tie from her ankles. She immediately flopped onto the floor, breathing hard. The dildo from her pussy, completely slick with juice, rolled onto the floor.

He tsked at her as he dabbed his cum from her face with a tissue - he didn't quite want to explain the white stains on the dark carpet to Mason, even though he was sure Mason already knew. "What a mess you've made, you dirty little slut."

She only moaned in response, twisting her elbows slightly to try and ease the tingling in her shoulders and arms.

He toyed with her for a while, stroking her swollen nipples, kissing her gagged lips, sliding a few fingers into her slick pussy. Admiring how she squirmed and twisted and whimpered at his ministrations. When he finally decided it was time, he undid her wrist and elbow bindings and unbuckled the ring gag.

"Aaahhhh..." Sophie groaned, flexing her jaw to try and get it working properly again. Anthony sat her up and rubbed her arms gently to return feeling to them. "Mmm. You're getting really good at this position, darling."

"Please, Tony, I want to cum so bad..." were the first coherent words out of her aching jaws.

He shook his head sternly. "Sophie. You're only at 40 points."

She rolled over, groaning.

He laughed, swatting her ass. "Besides, you have a meeting in 30 minutes' time."

She shot up in panic. "Fuck, I do!"

"I'll get you some hot chocolate and a light meal. You can rest, put your makeup back on, whatever you need to do."

She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks, Tony."

"Anything for you. Oh, and after you're done for the day, I have a surprise for you."

Sophie laughed nervously. "I'm not sure if I should be worried."

He chuckled. "Oh, trust me. I think you'll like it. I'll meet you here at... 5.30pm?"

*****

The facility was mostly deserted by the time Sophie made her way down the hallway leading to her office. She hoped Tony hadn't been waiting long for her - Mason had been far more thorough with the inspection of her report than she'd thought he'd be.

She quickened her steps - it was difficult to walk too fast in 5-inch stilettos, although she'd gotten mostly used to them. The tight miniskirt was another problem - it rode up her legs like a chipmunk climbing a tree, every step of the way. She could feel slickness between her inner thighs again - hadn't she just wiped that?!?

Idly, her hand strayed to scratch her swollen nipple over the material of the blouse and bra. God, it was so sore, and it felt so good...

Just in time, she caught herself and lowered her hand. "Your orgasms belong to him, Sophie," she sternly chided herself, clutching her hands firmly behind her back.

Anthony was waiting for her in the office, reading in his armchair. The oak table was empty except for a small bowl with a few teaspoons of uncooked rice in it. The digital display on the wall said 6.30 - dammit, she was an hour late.

"Sorry, Tony. Mason kept me far longer than I'd expected..." she apologized sheepishly, bending over to kiss him on the cheek.

He put his book down and smiled most unnervingly at her. "I know. I was adding a teaspoon every 15 minutes."

"A... what?"

"Take your shoes off," he ordered, motioning towards the stilettos.

Raising an eyebrow, she slid first one shoe off and then the other, letting out a low moan as her aching, stockinged feet came in full contact with the lush carpet. "You're tempting me an awful lot to be late more often..."

Anthony bent over and deposited half of the contents of the bowl into the sole of each pump, distributing the grains evenly. "I'm afraid you'll be putting them back on now," he murmured, grinning up at her.

Sophie glanced down at the shoes in apprehension. "Tony..."

"You just earned yourself the clamps in addition to that, darling. Better put them on before I start docking points."

Using the table for support, she slid each foot into the heels, easing them all the way in. The hard grains bit into the balls of her feet like little motherfuckers, she realized. "Goddamn it, those things hurt!"

In response, Anthony simply handed her a pair of small alligator clamps. "Under the bra, please."

Making a face, Sophie did as told; the little teeth clamped down on her already-sore nipples with vigor, forcing the tips of the swollen nubs to rub most distractingly against the inside of her bra. She shifted her feet gingerly - the high heels forced her entire weight onto the balls of her feet, and she could feel every grain of rice biting into her tender skin. "Fucking hell..."

Anthony beamed with pleasure as he watched her. "Wonderful. You are now forgiven for being late, and we can proceed to the surprise, mm?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "How, uh, far is it?"

He stood and offered her his arm. "Oh, you'll see."

Cursing under her breath, Sophie took the offered arm, putting as much weight as she could on it. "Ow.."

They made their way out of the office and down the deserted corridors, Sophie wincing each step of the way. Anthony observed the wetness trickling down her inner thighs with silent satisfaction as he led her towards the elevator. She shifted from foot to foot as they waited for the elevator, trying in vain to relieve the pain shooting through the underside of her feet. "Suffering becomes you, Sophie," Anthony chuckled, kissing her flushed cheek. "I should really do this more often."

Sophie swore loudly at him, and instantly received -20 points.

He swiped his card on the elevator control panel and pressed the button for the basement. Sophie watched with sudden intrigue. "Isn't that where the cryo chambers are?"

Anthony nodded his confirmation. "Indeed."

Her brows furrowed. "Why are we...? I mean, I've never been there before, it's not under my department, but..."

He smiled mysteriously. "You'll see."

The basement was very well lit, but looked ominous nonetheless. No attention had been paid to brightening up the decor, and the white floor and walls were completely spartan. The low corridor went on seemingly forever, heavy doors spaced at regular intervals.

Anthony took her on an agonizing walk that must have lasted only 5 minutes, but seemed an eternity to her. It felt like her nipples and feet were on fire.

Stopping in front of a door marked 23A, he swiped his card on the panel, then turned to look into the retina scanner. The AI having been satisfied with his biometrics, the door slid open with a heavy clunk.

Sophie stepped in and peered around inquisitively, her foot torture temporarily forgotten. She had read reports from the people who managed these chambers, but it was the first time she had been inside one personally. The chamber was larger than expected, with human-sized capsules placed at regular intervals across the far side of the wall. A control panel sat next to each capsule. Aside from that, it was completely barren. "Interesting..."

Anthony led her over to one of the capsules. "There's only one person currently in this cryo chamber. I'm sure you can guess who?"

"Experiment 239?" Sophie murmured, peering into the transparent glass of the capsule. She was correct - the girl lying motionless within the capsule was indeed an exact replica of 239. She looked smaller and more fragile in real life, though, and Sophie realized that she had never noticed how pretty the girl was. Her waist-long, chestnut-brown hair was tied neatly in a braid and placed to one side. She dozed in quiet slumber, long eyelashes sweeping her pale cheeks. Tubes were placed into her nose and mouth, and a bracelet on her wrist was hooked up to a display that tracked her pulse, blood pressure, and other vital stats.

Anthony nodded. "Yes. You can see a copy of her details and signed consent forms here." He activated her control panel, and the wall by her capsule sprang to life, displaying the selected records. 239's name was apparently Elaida Hemsworth, Sophie noted. She had had remote access to these records all this time, but for some reason it hadn't occurred to her to bother to read them. Elaida was 25, single, and had been a teacher living in a nearby city. She had signed her consent forms 2 months ago.

Sophie found it somewhat disquieting, coming to this realization that the "experiment" whom they had been managing in the control room all along had been - no, was - a real human being. With a previous job and history and house and bank account.

Anthony motioned towards the cap on Elaida's head. "That's where she's plugged in to the simulation. There aren't any horrifying skull wires the way they displayed it in the television shows of a century ago, of course - have you watched those, by any chance? Fascinating stuff. Anyway, we just transmit brain waves through the electrodes beneath the cap, simulating reality for her. No fancy skull penetration needed."

Sophie leaned forward, watching the girl twitch briefly. "She doesn't seem too happy."

Anthony chuckled. "Yeah, it's probably positional training time right now. Difficult stuff. She's getting through it okay though - we're going to graduate her to the next level soon. You can see the details of her simulation plans here." He pulled up a terminal, typed a few commands into it, then showed the results to Sophie. "This is an overview of her schedule and goals for graduating each level. Going deeper into it, you can modify the parameters for each component of her schedule, and even her goals. Of course, as you have seen, certain parameters can be modified temporarily in the control room upstairs as well, but this controls the default behaviour."

Both of them simply stood and looked at the screen for a moment, before Anthony broke the silence. "With me so far?"

Sophie glanced at Anthony, shifting in her uncomfortable heels. "I... yes. I'm not sure what...?"

He stepped closer to her, gazing meaningfully into her deep green eyes. "I can modify any of that. Create any reality for her. Create any reality for anyone placed into any of those capsules." He motioned towards the other empty, open capsules in the room.

Sophie took a step backwards, her heart hammering in her chest. She could feel a chill spreading through her veins. "Tony... that's a big..."

His features relaxed in a smile. "No pressure, Sophie. I won't be mad if you say no. And you can take as long as you want to decide."

She cleared her throat, pushing a lock of stray hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure I really want..."

"ANY reality, Sophie. It doesn't have to be 239's schedule. It doesn't even have to be in her simulated facility. It can be anywhere, any time, any people, any rules. We can do ANYthing. Have you ever had a fantasy that couldn't possibly be acted out in real life?" He chuckled. "Well, of course you have. But here, you could be anyone, do anything, experience whatever you wanted."

She paused for a moment, his words sinking in. Her breath quickened. "You mean... you can modify ALL of it?"

He nodded in assent. "Yes. I'm not as good at this as James, of course, so it'll take longer to code the scenario you want. But I can."

A dreamy smile flickered across Sophie's face, but faltered as she glanced across the clinical chamber again. "It looks awfully intimidating, though. Will I need to be put to sleep in these capsules? And... will I need to have a partial memory wipe as well?"

"Unfortunately, yes to your first question. The caps don't work if your brain isn't asleep - too much variation in the delta waves. But as for the second question, no. There is technically nothing preventing us from putting people into those chambers with all of their memories intact. We just don't do it, because it wouldn't be profitable - we tried with the first experimental batch and gave up after a month because they were learning at a snail's pace. But we're not using this for training, so we can keep all your memories without any issues."

She chewed on her lower lip. "Well, I know that current cryo technology has a lower risk of failure than a car or an elevator. But still..."

He kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep on it, Sophie. Take as much time as you need. And remember, you can just say no. But if you do want it, I'll put in anything you desire. You'll also have to sign the consent forms, of course. These capsules are hardcoded to not work if the consent forms aren't signed with a thumbprint and retina scan that matches the person in them."

She nodded quietly, deep in thought.

He stepped back and looked at her. He'd hoped that she would allow him to give her this gift, of course, but he didn't want to push her into it. He'd let her decide.

His eyes flickered over her slender form, and he could feel Little Tony straining against his zipper again. The outline of her hard nipples was visible even through the thick material of her bra. Her skirt had ridden carelessly up her thighs during the walk here, and he could see an inch of bare skin above the tops of her stockings. The muscles in her legs were incredibly taut, striving unsuccessfully to compensate for the unevenness of the grains pressing against the balls of her feet. He needed her right now... and he knew he could have her whenever he wanted. The thought only served to push his arousal to breaking point.

"So, Sophie. You can walk to the carpark in those heels, or you can put a thick ring of lipstick around the base of my cock and be allowed to take them off after. Which will it be?"

Before he could blink, she had dropped to her knees and started unzipping him. He laughed. "And I do mean a THICK ring, or it's not a deal."

Her moist lips slid all the way down his shaft, and he lost all thought in the warm tightness of her throat.

***

A few days passed, and Sophie made no mention of the discussion in the cryo chamber. Anthony was disappointed, but he understood, and he didn't bring it up again. He didn't want her to do anything that she didn't really want to do.

He had had a difficult discussion with Mason in the technical staff meeting. Mason wanted to run the first round of graduation tests in 3 months' time and put the slaves who passed on the market after, but Anthony disagreed. Not just because 239 wouldn't be ready yet, but because he didn't feel anyone would be. Even if they passed the tests once, there was no guarantee that their newfound mindset would last. The last thing Anthony wanted was to have a whole bunch of angry customers complaining that their million-dollar acquisition had stopped behaving the way they had expected after a couple of months.

He took a deep breath to calm his mind, then opened the door to the office that he shared with Sophie. Instantly, all thought fled his mind, replaced by a sort of amazement and desire that he'd never thought he'd feel for anyone.