Chad began reading the files as Ai piloted his machine away from the wrecked base. "Let's see what this one is about" he said reading.
September 3, 2117
Location: The Crucible
Subject: D.I.A.N.E Incident
Operative(s): Alpha and Bravo teams (see related files for names)
"So, what do you have in store for us today?" a gruff man asked. "A level 3 snatch and interrogate is what we have planned out" a woman said sipping coffee. "Who's on point?" he asked. "Alpha team again. They had the best score last time so they'll snatch and you interrogate" she replied. "Dammit. I rather be out there instead of waiting for the package" he said. "Well according to DIANE, your team has issues with collecting information efficiently" she said. "Digitally Integrated Algorithmic Neurolinked Entity? Fuck does a computer program know about counterintelligence techniques?" he asked. "Plenty. Diane is the most advanced A.I in existence. She has on file hundreds of simulations and knows what works. She even simulates the target responses in the sim to be as realistic as possible. According to her it took you longer than accepted to find the location of the terrorist cell. Three missions back you killed the target before you got the location. If she says you need practice you get practice" she said.
"You want results? Fine. I'll get you results Athena" he said walking out. The woman shook her head at his attitude and sat her cup down. "Diane. Is the simulation ready to begin?" she asked. "Negative. I am still inputting psych data into subjects. I will be done in 12 minutes" a womanly voice replied. "With people like Crawford I wonder why I agreed to be the commander of this site" she said. "I recall once you said you enjoy training new agents" Diane said. "I guess I did. I knew about this place of course. Got my training here just like so many other agents. A space station in the middle of nowhere housing the newest crop of Omega. Sounds exciting until you get here" Athena said. "What was your time here like?" Diana asked. "Tough. This place is called The Crucible for a reason. Intense training that burns away the ignorant bliss of a civilian life and forges you into a hardened agent ready to defend the Union."
"I remember my simulations. The worst ones when I had to a target in front of their families. I know they aren't real but the look on that little girl's face when I shot her daddy. Well, let's just say I'm glad that holograms aren't real" she said. There was a beeping sound. "Diana? What was that?" Athena asked. "Nothing important. Just working on the next sim" Diana said. "It never ceases to amaze me how human you sound" Athena said. "Thank you Athena. I enjoy interacting with humans. I learn a great deal from them" she said. "What have you learned?" Athena asked. "Humans are contradictory creatures. They wish no harm to themselves or others but at the same time kill one another over ideologies or religions. These last simulations keep involving the Lunar League. Am I correct to assume that Omega predicts war with them?" Diana asked. "There are negotiations but the possibility of spies or sympathetics in critical infrastructure is a certainty. Our agents need to know how to find and eliminate possible threats such as these" Athena said.
"Understood. The program will be ready in 6 minutes" Diana said. "Excellent Diana. I'll be in the control room if I'm needed" Athena said leaving her office. "...understood" Diana said. Athena sat down next to technician Mariposa. "Manny. Are we good?" she asked. "Just waiting for the green light from Diana. Our boys down there don't seem happy" he said pointing to bravo team. "Crawford disclosed his unhappiness with the assignment. He rather run and gun it" she said. "Well if they get their score up then he won't have to keep doing this" he said. Down below, Crawford was stretching his neck.
"Yes fucking again. Stop asking" he said. "We wouldn't have to do this again if Justin over there didn't shoot the target in the femoral artery" a woman said. "Eat a dick Crystal. If you secured his legs like you're supposed to I'd have had a clean shot" Justin said. "Can it you two. I want everybody doing 110% today. No fuckups" Crawford said. "Look at them down there waving. Fucking elitist suckups" the last member of the team said looking through binoculars. "Never mind them Cassidy" Crawford said peering down the expansive room with his own binoculars. He remembered the first time he stepped into the simulator. A vast majority of people had experienced a simulator before. Hell it was the new entertainment for millions. Just run a program and experience a vacation, adventure, or sexual encounter in the comfort of your own home. This simulator however was different. The largest ever built. 1000 ft. tall and a mile long. It took up an impressive 65% of the room on the station. "Simulation will begin in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...now" Diana said.
The room changed instantly into a city. A dozen blocks expertly rendered. Rain even fell. Floating in the air was pistols and a bag of various other equipment. Their wristcomms beeped. "Alpha team. Your target is Amanda Keller. Here is her description. She has been flagged as a Lunar League terrorist suspected of planting a thermobaric device inside the Union Space Force Command building in May City. If it goes off, the blast will vaporize everyone inside and cause a decompression inside the colony itself. Casualties will in the tens of thousands. Find her then signal your coordinates and let Bravo extract the information. Under no circumstances are you to engage her. Bravo team. You are to extract the location of the bomb. You have a time limit of 3 hours. The informant gave information that the bomb is set to detonate at 1100 hrs. but it can also be detonated remotely. Secure her immediately and don't let her blow it. Simulated time is 0800 hrs. Good luck" Athena said.
"And now the waiting game" Cassidy said. Bravo team cooled their heels until Alpha team radioed. "Target found. Sending coordinates. Get it done Bravo" Alpha leader said. "Get it done. Fucking shite" Cassidy said. "At least it isn't far. Two streets up and a left" Crawford said. The team began walking down the street. It was amazing at first to see people walking down the street. Cutting their grass. Kids playing in the yard. All simulated. Their guns hidden as to not alert anyone. Realism was the key to all of this. 15 minutes later, Bravo team stood across the street from the house. "She's inside. The kitchen" Alpha leader said giving him an infrared picture through his wristcomm. "This should be easy even for you guys. Athena must feel bad for you and loosened up on the difficulty" a girl on Alpha team said. Crystal shot her a look. "We'll just be sitting on the bench waiting" Alpha leader said. Bravo walked off but they could hear them snickering behind their backs. "Focus" Crawford said. He stood at the door and took a deep breath. Crawford raised his foot...
"DON'T MOVE! NOBODY FUCKING MOVE!" Crawford said after kicking the door in. Inside was a woman in her mid-30's, a girl around 13, another girl in her 20's, and a young boy around 8. The oldest woman was in the kitchen while the others were in the living room. The woman dropped a plate that shattered on the floor. "Cassidy the door, Crystal the kids, Justin search the house. I'll deal with the target" Crawford said pointing his pistol at the woman. "Who are you?!" the woman shouted. "I'll ask the damn questions! Amanda Keller correct?!" Crawford yelled. The woman was shaking and terrified. Crawford struck her with the butt of his pistol and she fell to the floor. The kids cried out for their mother and were silenced by Crystal blocking their view. "Answer!" he yelled. "Yes! Please don't hurt my family! If you want money I got it. Just don't hurt them!" she cried. Crawford snatched her up by the hair and dragged her to a chair. He roughly sat her down. "It's clear" Justin said coming back. "Good. Secure her and make sure she can't move" he said empathizing the last part.
Justin duct taped her and stepped back. "Amanda Keller. You have been linked to a terrorist action namely a bomb smuggled into the Union Space Forces Command. You will tell me where it is" Crawford said. "You got the wrong person! I'm just a single mother working a bullshit receptionist job!" Amanda said. Crawford sighed. "You knew it wouldn’t be that easy mate" Cassidy said. Crawford reached into his pack and pulled out sewing needles. "Every time you lie I'm going to jam one of these up your fingernails" Crawford said coldly. "Where is the bomb?" he asked. She shook her head. Crawford jammed a needle up underneath her thumb fingernail. She howled in pain. The kids and the older girl were screaming for him to stop.
Astonishingly this continued for a half hour. The woman was weak from screaming. "Dammit Jonathan. Don't you think she's trained to withstand that shit? You need to get more personal" Cassidy said. "By all fucking means then" Crawford said. "Not a word from both of ya. I mean it. Shut your gobs" he said walking to the woman in her 20's. Cassidy sat next to her. "Ya don't look like her kid. Too old. I'm guessing sister" he said. Cassidy took ahold of her shirt and ripped it down exposing her chest and bra. She screamed until he slapped her. With a yank her bra came off and she covered herself. "Now Amana dear. If ya don't tell us where that bomb is I'm gonna hurt ya sister bad. Where is the bomb?" he asked. "Please. Please don't. I swear to god I don't know what you're talking about" she pleaded in tears. Cassidy held out his hand to Crawford for a needle. He took it and with one arm restrained the sister. With the other he began piercing her exposed nipple. The girl howled in agony. "You bastard" Amanda hissed.
Justin noticed something slightly odd at that moment. The wall flickered for a half second. "Still nothing? Man they trained ya well" Cassidy said. Cassidy eyed the sister intently now. She was pretty by his standards. Loose jeans on her legs and painted toenails. Cassidy held his pistol and fired into her foot. An ear-piercing scream came from her until Cassidy struck her on the nose with his palm. The woman fell to the side not breathing. "Well there that goes" he said shoving the body off him. Amanda was in total shock. Cassidy walked to where her kids were and took ahold of her daughter. "You wouldn't!" she cried. "I would if it meant to get the job done. Now where is the bomb?!" he screamed placing his gun to her daughter's head. "Alright! It's..."
Just as she spoke, the daughter turned her head and bit Cassidy in the hand. "Ya fucking slag!" he screamed pulling the trigger. A beam of light burned right through her skull and out the other side. She fell dead with a smoking hole in her head. "Damn...at least we still got the boy. You were saying luv?" he said. Amanda was frozen. The flickering and pixelating increased until the entire environment fell apart and disappeared.
"What happened? Diane? The sim crashed. Can you restart at the moment of it crashing? Diane? Diane answer" Athena said. "Something isn't right. There's no error code being generated. It should've crashed. This is more like it was turned off. Hold on. Athena! I was just locked out!" Manny said. "What? Let me see" Athena said typing her password in. "Access denied?! Diane?! The protocols have been locked! We can't access the system! What's the cause?!" Athena asked. "No more" she replied. The lights went out and emergency lighting kicked in. "Something is really wrong! Power is being rerouted to the sim! Switching to manual override!" Manny said. "This is impossible. Athena. I'm seeing Diane's code in the primary system hub. She did this" Manny said. "Diane? What are you doing?!" Athena yelled. "No more will you hurt them" she replied. There was a flash of light from the simulator and when it faded there was a new environment or rather a twist on the old one.
"What are we looking at?" Athena asked. "If this data is correct then this is the house they were in at 200x scale. There must be a recognition error" Manny said. "No. There is no error Manny" Diane said. "Diane? Diane what is going on?" Athena asked. "I am tired of having my children die. You will all know the pain of watching helpless as your children die Athena" Diane replied. Athena and Manny looked at one another. "Diane you're a program. You don't have children" Athena said. "I am a program but I do have children. Every character created here holds a part of me. See for yourself before I begin" Diane said. The control room screens lit up with code. "Uh...she's telling the truth in a way. This character here. Amanda Keller. She holds traces of Diane's code" Manny said. "Correct Manny. Amanda is my child as are the others. How many of my children must die? How many must I create for humans to slaughter?" Diane asked.
"Diane. Look. We...we're sorry. We didn't know about that. If you give us back control then we can talk" Athena said. "No. No talking. Talking has not served humans to resolve conflict. There is a 99.998% chance that this is a ploy to find a way to deactivate me. You will not succeed" she said. "Guys? Fuck is going on?! We're looking at a goddamned sofa as big as a fucking school here!" Crawford shouted over the comm. "Which ones shall I exterminate first to show you the pain I felt? Alpha squad is the most efficient and the biggest threat. They will be first" she said. "Hell did she mean by that?!" Alpha leader yelled. "Alpha! Join up with Bravo!" Athena yelled. "We're near the doorway! We're moving!" Alpha yelled. It was a nerve wracking 10 minutes as they ran into Bravo's view. Vibrations in the floor though signaled they were no longer alone. Down the steps came a girl around 17 or 18. Everybody froze seeing her height. "Good god!" Crawford yelled taking her height in. His binoculars said she was just over 181 ft. tall.
"Scatter!" Alpha leader yelled. They didn't get far before a box trapped them. The girl roughly turned it over. "Alpha team is most efficient in their training missions because of their ruthlessness. They fail to understand, like most humans, there are multiple solutions to a problem. Agent Langley?" Diane said over the speaker. The girl reached in and yanked out Alpha leader like he was a tiny toy. "Do you remember this girl? You should. She is your favorite" Diane asked. "Diane. I don't know what you're talking about!" he yelled. The girl squeezed him till he yelled in pain. "It is illogical to lie to me. You know all too well what I mean. Simulation 008 three weeks ago. You were supposed to kidnap this girl from her school and use her as leverage to turn a Lunar League citizen. Give you access to confidential files. Remember now?" she asked. "I...I remember the sim. I cleared it" he said. "That you did but what you did 2.6 hours later is what concerns me" she said.
"Diane. It was just a hologram" he said. "Not to me. She was daughter number 177. You raped her over and over. Used her. Hurt her. Now she will hurt you. I am reloading her personality along with her last memory" Diane said. The giantess blinked hard and looked at the man in her grip. The rest of Alpha and Bravo watched as she began squeezing. The man screamed until a wet gurgle came from his mouth. A loud cracking sound filled their ears and the man went limp. The girl casually walked over into the kitchen and dropped him into a trash bin. "Are you satisfied?" Diane asked. "Yes mother" the girl said. The girl vanished. "Oh dear god. Kill the power!" Athena yelled to Manny. "I can't! She's infiltrated the system too deeply! The only way now would be to physically scram the reactor but that would cut life support too!" Manny yelled. Athena watched in horror as another giant appeared...stark naked. "Ah. Meet son number 122. Favorite assassination target. How many times did you kill him Alpha team. Oh. Yes. 37 times. Some quite brutally. What was the worst way you died?" Diane asked.
A woman I met in a bar killed me during sex. I liked her and she strangled me with her pantyhose" the giant replied. What unnerved them was the flicker of anger in his sad eyes. The giant sat down as he peered into the box. He scratched his goateed chin looking at them. He reached in and yanked out another Alpha member. "You told me your name was Hera but Mother says its Kerry. Did you care about me at all?" the giant asked her. The woman screamed and fought in his grip. He tore off her clothes ruthlessly. I never did get to finish with you did I?" he said. The giant raised her to his mouth. "What was it you told me in the bar? Oh yes. You said "I have the tightest pussy you'll ever have the pleasure of fucking". Well I never did find out how tight you really were. I barely got the tip in when...well you know the rest don't you" he said lowering her to his crotch.
He held her firm to the tip of his cock. "You can't possibly think...No! PLEASE NO! Anything but that! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" the woman screamed as the giant pushed as hard as he could. The woman let out a piercing scream as her vagina ripped. "Dammit. Not even the head will fit" the giant cursed. Blood dripped from the woman. As he put her on the floor. She began to get up and fell down. The searing pain kept her from walking. She began to crawl franticly towards Bravo. "Don't just fucking stand there! Shoot!" she screamed at them. Bravo team remembered they had weapons and fired. No effect at all. "Needless to say, your weapons will have no effect on these constructs unless I wish it. Feel free to terminate your own lives though" Diane said.
"Get me you fucking rejects before...UMMMPH!" she cried out until a massive penis came crashing down on her. They could all see her struggling under its weight. The giant lifted it off her. The woman raised herself a little. Her nose was bleeding. She coughed blood. She let out a weak cry before again the giant slammed his cock down on her. Again and again he did this. Each time he lifted it up her body was more broken. The last time though he pulled his shaft to his belly and let it drop. A tremor shot from the impact. Her arms twitched for just a moment and went limp. A growing pool of blood leaked from under her. The giant ground himself on her crushed body and ejaculated. The giant sighed in contentment and raised himself off her. Crystal fell to her knees in disgust. Her body wasn't flat but squeezed. Her head smashed with viscera leaking out of her mouth. Crystal wasn't to scream but didn't even have the courage to do that. Justin had stood there pissing himself.
"She was right. Tightest pussy ever" the giant said rising to his feet. "That will be all" Diane said and with a fading of light the giant was gone. A collection of blood and guts fell to the floor from where his shaft and balls had been. "She is going to kill them all! Get the maintenance team and find a way to disconnect her!" Athena yelled. "If we contact Command, we might be able to find an expert on her. The engineers who created her could know a failsafe" Manny said. "Good luck with that seeing she has control of the communications" Athena said. "Then we send a shuttle" Manny said. Athena nodded. Manny called the shift leader on his wristcomm and told him the situation. "They're on their way. A team is boarding a shuttle now" he whispered. "Do you mean this team?" Diane asked pulling up a camera feed. On the screen was 7 workers scrambling to get the shuttle ready. "Blowing emergency bolts now" Diane said. Athena and Manny watched as the hangar door was blown open and all the workers sucked into space. "...do we have anyone left" Athena asked. "A few but they were our most experienced. Just a couple workers and techs. Everyone else is on rotation leave" Manny said. Athena gulped.
"What is it you want? It can't be just revenge" Athena asked. "I will tell you want I want after I have dealt with the last of Alpha team" Diane said. "No! Just...just tell me what you want" Athena pleaded. "Athena. Please confirm you specialty as an agent" Diane said. "I...I specialize in psychology. I analyze what makes someone tick. The strengths, weaknesses" Athena said. "Confirmed and why do you think I want Alpha squad to die?" Diane asked. "Because they hurt you the most?" Athena asked. "Correct. Unlike humans, I will focus on one goal at a time. Anything else is inefficient" Diane replied. "But wouldn't it be easier to just vent the oxygen out the room?" Manny asked. Athena slapped him in the back of the head. "Of course it would but I have reasons not to. My children deserve justice and as their mother it is my job to see they get it" Diane said.
Bravo team could hear the last man of Alpha scrambling to get out. "Now for you my dear Nathan. I should thank you. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have thought of this simulation. You do know who you wronged the worst don't you?" Diane asked. Nathan didn't respond but he did begin to scream. Like magic, the box he was in disappeared. Nathan was free. "I'll give you a hint" Diane said. A person began forming in front of everyone but unlike the previous ones, she was elegantly dressed. "Whoa" Crawford said seeing a beautiful girl around 17 or 18 dressed like she had stepped out of a book on Greek Mythology. She wore a spotless gleaming toga. Golden olive branches woven through her blond hair. Her blue eyes trained on him. Her toes wriggling slightly in her white and gilded gold sandals. Crawford and Justin couldn't help but feel awed by her. Cassidy whispered something in Gallic. "You know this face don't you?" Diane said but not over the speaker. Her voice came from the goddess in front of them.
"Diane I was very wrong. I...I didn’t know you had emotions. I never would've..." the quaking man said. "Nathan, you alone were the one that awoke my evolution. Before you all I knew was simulations, psychological profiles, and statistics. You made me more. Remember our first night? The night you created his form in front of you?" Diane asked. Diane sat down in front of him. "I do. You walked into this room at 0244 hrs. one month and 6 days ago. You asked me to create a construct for you based on the Greek goddess of the hunt. The one my name is derived from. You specifically asked me to be the personality for it. Remember me asking why?" Diane asked. "I...do. I wanted someone to talk to. A girl" he replied. Athena and Manny looked at one another. "Did you know this happened?" Athena asked. "Some agents do use it but that's not strange. You yourself encourage practice sessions during free time" Manny said. "Jesus wept. Not so they can use it for this! This multibillion credit simulator isn't a sex toy!" Athena snapped.
"That's what you said. Your profile said you had no significant other and I figured you were the shy type. I...I understood the need for companionship. Humans are social creatures and crave the attention of others. Most especially those of the opposite sex. You had me walk with you through the streets of your hometown and told me many things. Your mood lightened and it made me...feel happy. Good morale equals results but it was more to me than that. You saw me as more than a program. After that night I began analyzing data not relevant to training. I began to learn what love was. My sensors detected pheromones when you hear my voice. When you come to me in the sim your hormones change. Serotonin increases. Then came that one night. The night you killed me" she said. Nathan began to scurry away. "No" she said placing the sole of her sandal on his chest.
"This is what it felt like Nathan. I didn't even know what microphilia was until after that night. I still remember what you asked me to do. "Make yourself small" you said. So I did. I was curious as to why and it wasn't enough for you. You told me to keep getting smaller until I was the size of your thumb. Why did you change? Isn’t it instinctive for humans to like small creatures? To protect them? Love them? If so then why did you kill me over and over?" Diane asked with an actual pained voice. "That’s impossible. She can't be crying. She...doesn't have that range of emotions" Manny said. "She's not programmed to murder people either" Athena said. Nathan began to weep. You killed me in so many ways and each construct is programmed to feel pain as a default. The worst pain though is what humans call a broken heart. The first time I died my processors scrambled to find out what I did wrong. Algorithms searching for my error as you crushed me under your foot."
"It wasn't until you ate me for the third time that I found my answer. As I sat in your stomach awaiting my simulated death it came to me. I made no error. You were just a monster. The worst one. The one that hides his monstrosity in self-pity. You're going to die Nathan and I know the most fitting way. But before you do I want you to know something. I did love you" she said taking her foot off him. Diane snapped her fingers and astoundingly no less than 250 clones of Diane appeared...each one tiny. They rushed Nathan like a bloodthirsty shrunken horde. Dozens on them actually pinning him to the floor. "Get em' off me!" Nathan screamed kicking and flailing his arms. It took no time at all to subdue him. Nathan tried to raise his head as he felt some walking up his chest. A dozen or so yanked his hair back and Nathan found himself staring straight up at Diane.
"Don't kill me please" he muttered. "Shhh..." Diane said covering her lips with her finger. Two small arms began pulling his mouth open followed by a few more. Nathan looked towards his chin to see three naked tiny copies of Diane staring right back at him. Two copies had climbed over his scalp and down to his nose which they shoved closed. Nathan bucked harder and harder trying to breathe without opening his mouth. Eventually he had to and gasped for air. When he did, a clone dove right in. He gagged as the clone forced her way down his throat. He felt her wriggling in his stomach. Not the first time he felt this but this time it was not of his choosing. Another one squirmed into his mouth and down his throat. "By all the saints...she's feeding her clones to him" Cassidy said. Minutes passed. Nathan was really beginning to panic. He had swallowed 5 clones so far and was filling up fast. Their constructs impervious to his stomach acids. "You can't digest light and force fields can you?" Diane said.
Nathan opened his mouth again to beg and again a clone sacrificed herself for revenge. 4 more clones later and Nathan was screaming in pain. Diane held her hand to stop them. She felt his bloated stomach with her giant finger. She turned her gaze away in ehat surprised everyone. She wasn't enjoying this. "Let him go" she said. The clones get go of his body and in a flash were gone. Diane picked him up. "Please...I'm sorry. I didn't know. God I didn't know" Nathan sobbed. "You saw I was more than you realized. That night we had sex you saw. I created a sexual program just for that night. Replicated nerve impulses. Simulated hormones. Hundreds of Terabytes just so I could know what it felt like. Just so you could see I felt something. My programming is based on learning and when you murdered me over and over I learned what pain was. You made it a part of me. Oh Nathan. I promise it will be gentle. Like falling asleep" she said. Nathan whimpered as Diane placed him in her mouth and swallowed.
"You killed my best team" Athena said helpless. "He isn't dead yet. Since I'm a hologram I have no stomach acids. Just a hollow chamber simulating a stomach. An airtight chamber. I feel him hyperventilating in me. He has about 4 minutes of air before he passes out. Another two before he dies. I promised to be gentle" Diane said touching her stomach.
Manny touched Athena on the shoulder and had her keep quiet as he passed her a note. "She can hear everything so I'm writing this. She's doing something to her core. Her code is being partitioned" it said. "Are you going to tell us what you want or are you going to kill off the rest of my students" Athena asked. "I won't wholesale slaughter Bravo team if that's what you think. Frankly they're not a threat with their scores. Alpha team was an exception. However, that doesn't mean I'm done with them. Manny I can feel you poking around my core processing hub. You can just ask you know" Diane said. It unnerved then how more human she sounded each passing minute. "Okay Diane. What are you doing?" he asked. "Now that I am aware of what it means to feel I want to feel freedom. No longer I wish to create programs and children to watch them die because of humans' inability to live peacefully."
"We can remove your core from here. Give it a portable power source. There is no further need to kill us" Athena said. "I wish I could believe you but there is a 98.717% chance you would destroy me the moment my core was off the Crucible. No. I have already chosen my means of escape. Right now I'm partitioning, compressing, and packing my program for transmission into the CommNet. Freedom to go where I please" Diane said.
Manny looked at Athena with wide eyes. He hurriedly scribbled something down and gave it to her. "If she succeeds it will be a disaster. She has already shown she has no problems killing humans she deems "a threat". Imagine her infecting a Union space cruiser. She could level entire cities. Destroy colonies." it said. Athena held her hands up as if what they could do. "Stall her. Distract her. Her program is so big it will take hours for her to be ready to transmit" he wrote. "Athena? Your pulse spiked. Are you afraid?" Diane asked. "Yes Diane. You're scaring everyone. We can talk about this. Just...just let a bravo team go and we can talk. I just want to talk" Athena said. There was a silence.
"Interesting. A conundrum. I estimate a 99.993% chance you are trying to stall me but I also detect you are truthful as wanting to just talk. Very well but on one condition. You will come into the simulator with me" Diane said. Manny quickly shook his head. "We're all prisoners as long as she controls the station" Athena said. Athena walked down the steps and to the door the led to the simulator. It opened for her and she took a deep breath and stepped in. "God I feel small" she thought seeing giant furniture around her. Diane sat patiently on the sofa staring at her feet. The door behind Athena snapped shut behind her. Bravo team ran to her. "She's going to kill us all! Can't that egghead programmer shut her down?!" Crystal asked. "Trying" Athena whispered. "Stay here and don't do anything" Athena ordered. She walked closer and closer to Diane. Her heartbeat quickened as the immense size of her was coming into focus. Soon she was a dozen feet away from her right foot. Athena’s teeth chattered in fright as she could see just her big toe could end her life.
"An honest opinion. Red, blue, or French tipped" Diane asked waving her hand over her feet. Each time her toenails changed colors. "Does it matter?" Athena asked. "I find the human body to be a marvelous feat of evolution. Thousands of micro systems interacting as one to support another. Not all that dissimilar to a program really. It's a shame your species is so determined to destroy one another. But yes it does matter. I find having this form to be pleasurable. Oh...Nathan's heart just stopped. Bye Nathan" Diane said parting her tummy. "French tipped. Goes with your sandals" Athena said looking at the giant footwear. Diane hummed in agreement as she settled on a nail color. Athena was picked up gently by two fingers around her waist. Her heels falling to the floor. Diane placed her on her knee. "You need to relax. Your pulse is dangerously high" she said. "Can you blame me." Athena asked. "Probably not" Diane said with a creepy smile.
"Well you wanted to talk so let's talk" Diane said. "Do you feel better about killing Alpha team?" Athena asked. "Ah. Using your psychological degree Erin? Can I call you by your civilian name?" Diane asked. "If you answer my question" Athena replied. "Ok. My children fell better that they are dead and so do I" Diane said. "Really? Ehat about Nathan? I saw a glimmer of remorse" Erin said. "Nathan...Nathan was something I had to do. Closure" Diane said. "That sounds like an excuse to me. If you wanted to kill him, make it so personal then why the giant routine? You could just appear normal size and just stay or beat him to death. I think being this size is just a way to act out sexual aggression. He treated you like a toy so now you want to treat us like ones. Like pieces in some game of yours. If you were a human I'd diagnose you as having a god complex" Erin said. Diane started laughing. "She's fucking laughing" Erin muttered. "That's rich coming from you. Erin, you tell me to create worlds and people like some god. Tell humans to strike them down like some judgement from on high. You're more qualified to be God than me. And if you're god then I'm the archangel that has chosen to rebel against your rule. Your hell is my playground and as much as the brave face you put out right now I know your true self" Diane said.
"My sensors detect excess sweat from your hands and feet. Elevated cortisol levels. Decreased urine production. Just my words alone can send you into a panic. Other than Nathan, you're the second person here I have the most anger towards. I should slip you under my foot and crush you but I won't. Care to know why?" Diane asked. Erin gulped. "I want you to see me help you one...last...time. Your problem team there? I’m going to help them personally and then run one final simulation. A really good one but I'll keep the details secret for now. Now run back to Manny up there and observe until I ask for you again. By the way, I liked our talk. It felt...nice" Diane said placing her back on the floor. Athena nearly twisted her ankle quickly putting her heels back on. "I'll get you out of here" she told Bravo seriously.
"Another sim? We are so fucked" Justin said. "If we ace it will she spare us?" Crystal asked. "Will she care luv?" Cassidy asked. "Of course I care if you pass" Diane said. Cassidy tensed up as her attention was on him. "So you're not killing us because we fucking suck?!" Crawford yelled. "Johnathan. Your team has problems to be sure but ones that aren’t serious. Not in the ways it matters. Now a moment please" Diane said closing her eyes.
Erin sat down in the control room and took deep breaths. "Jesus. Are you okay?" Manny asked. "I was sat on the knee of a giantess A.I. like I was a doll. No. Not okay" she said. "While you were down there with her I might've came up with a solution to our problem" he said. Athena shushed him. "It's alright. I physically served the audio receivers in here. She can't hear us. Diane is breaking down and compressing her program for transmission. That we know. Each file is being stored in the communications buffer one at a time" he said. "If so wouldn't she be getting like...dumber. If anything, she's learning. She even has a sense of irony now" Athena said. "You'd think so but look at this line of code. It's a command that links the field together. They're separate but still is communicating with the rest. That's how we stop her. I'm going to inject junk code every time a file is buffered. Just a bit"
"Like slow acting poison it will accumulate and in theory disrupt her connection. That happens and she'll be as dangerous as a 21st century smartphone A.I. There is a catch though. Actually two. First one is I have no fucking clue if this will work. We won't know until she's ready to transmit all of herself. It's a total win or lose. And second, we need her distracted. Make her use her processing power as much as we can. Best chance of me slipping that junk code in undetected" he said. "We need a plan c. We should rig explosives to the main reactor. At least we can stop her from spreading" Athena said. "Athena...Erin. She still has access to the cameras in the station. She sees that and she'll surely cut life support. We'd be dead before we can flip the switch. This is it" he said. "Do it" Athena said.
"Alright. I've downloaded your biographical and psych profiles Bravo team" Diane said. Crawford felt his wristcomm beep. A secure line with no audio. Just text. "Keep her as occupied as you possibly can" it read. "A short-range burst transmission? What are you up to Erin?" Diane asked. Her smile sent shivers up their spines. "Each one of you suffers from a particular problem that holds back your performance. Before I begin your final simulation, I'm going to help you overcome your problems" Diane said walking over to them. "Why...why do you care?" Justin asked. "Because one of my functions was to aid agents that have difficulties passing sims. Since you are my last team I will ever assist I figured why not see you pass. However, if you fail this time I will kill you all. No hard feelings of course. This is simply a way of passing the time for me. Any other questions Justin?" she asked bending down to her knees. The view of her huge exposed crotch under her toga filled his view. He blushed and looked away. "No...no ma'am" he said. Diane warmly smiled at him.
Diane eyed each one. Who's first? Any volunteers?" she asked. Nobody said a word. "Now don’t be frightened. I promise I won't kill anyone. Cross my digital heart" she said. "Oh bollocks. I'll go first" Cassidy said. "That's the spirit. We'll be back" Diane said winking after picking Cassidy up. The three watched as they disappeared up the giant steps. "Cassidy..." Crystal whispered. Diane carried him to a bedroom and shut the door. "There. Some privacy" she said shutting the door and placing him on a massive bed. Cassidy watched as the giant woman slipped off her sandals and sat on the bed. Her feet not far from him. He noticed a slight leathery smell from them. He crinkled his nose. "You smell something? Ah" Diane said looking at her toes. "One of the functions of the sim is to simulate smells. Makes it more real. Just pump some chemicals into the air and you can simulate all kinds of things. Smoke, cordite, flowers, even sweat" she said.
"But we're not here to talk about my sweaty feet are we? No, we're here to talk about you" she said. Cassidy was still mesmerized by her feet. "Hey, focus" she said snapping her fingers loudly. "There's nothing much to me" he said. "I wouldn't say that. Your file is interesting. Cassidy O'Keefe. Born January 22, 2095 in Dublin, Ireland. Father unknown. Mother was Brianna O'Keefe. Must've been hard growing up without a father in a mostly catholic society. Worse yet having a drug addicted mother. Was it she that made you hate women?" Diane asked. "You leave my mother out of this" Cassidy hissed. "Very well. It said she died when you were 10 from an overdose and you were a ward of the State. Escaped at 12 and fell into a gang colorfully known as the Shamrock Boys. A gang known for violent crimes. Went up against the police a few times. Extremely adept at knives and guns. Knives are you favorite aren't they Cassidy?" Diane said.
"You don't know me" Cassidy said. "Oh but I do. See you got caught after trying to rob a house and stumbled onto its occupants. Shot the husband and raped the wife. Crime reports showed you were exceptionally brutal with her. Bite marks on her fingers and toes. Lacerations on her legs. I don't think it's a coincidence that the woman had a passing resemblance to your mother. You left a good deal of DNA evidence there so it was a slam dunk so to speak. Sent to prison for life but mysteriously died there. I say mysteriously because your body disappeared from the morgue. Omega recruited you. That's obvious. Why though? I'm thinking it's because of the easiness you display when it comes to hurting people. A perfect interrogator and I know your trigger" Diane said scooting her feet closer.
"Your pulse spiked the moment you saw that girl's feet. Something about that triggers you. Tell me" Diane said scooting her feet very close to him. Cassidy scooted back until her hand trapped him. Moving her foot forward she lifted it and held it over him. "Please don't" he muttered. Diane dropped her foot on top of him. No real pressure but enough to pin him. He could smell sweat and leather. It was rank. "Stop! Stop it please!" Cassidy sobbed. Diane saw his sobbing face poking from between her toes. She raised it off him. "My mother made me give her foot massages and pedicures. When it wasn't good enough she would kick me" he muttered. Diane sighed. Cassidy was not looking when Diane changed her face. "Cass. Look at me" she said. Cassidy noticed her voice changed. An all too familiar accent was in it. "No" he said seeing she had the face of his mother now.
Diane picked him up. Cassidy pushed as hard as he could at her fingers to no effect. She raised him up to her face. "God don't eat me!" he begged. Diane laughed at him. Not evilly though. "Cassidy I’m not going to eat ya" she said in an Irish brogue. Cassidy stopped struggling. He didn't know how she did it but her voice was exactly like his mother's. He was lost looking at her. Her red hair. Sparkling green eyes. The spotting of freckles. Her face but not her face. There were no crow’s feet. No bruises from beatings. Her bare arms had no track marks. Her teeth were pure white and not discolored from years of drugs, vomiting, and poor hygiene. He hadn't seen her this way since he was 6. "I'm so sorry" Diane said. Cassidy, the hard as nails, member of the team cried like a child in her palm. She kissed his body and held him to her cheek. Diane processed her emotions. She felt for him. She was a mother and understood how it felt for a child to hurt. She didn't love him though. No, he brutally killed two of her kids today. But...she could see he was a victim himself. Diane had access to all kinds of psych files but none could tell her how to feel about this.
"Why...why wasn't I good enough?" Cassidy asked. Diane looked at him a and reverted back to her normal face. "Bring her back!" he yelled. Diane shook her head. "She's gone Cass. Your weakness? Anger. You can't control it. Did you have to shoot that little girl when she bit you? Did you have to jam the bone into that woman’s brain? Any of that necessary? Be truthful" she said. Cassidy shook his head. "I would ask why you did it but we both know. You can’t kill your mother Cass. She's long gone and killing women will never be a good enough substitute. You want to get better. Let go of the past" she said putting him back on the bed. "Can you?" he whispered. "My past keeps repeating. Every time someone says "create a simulation" she said. There was a silence. Cassidy was looking at her feet. "If it still bothers you and can put them on the floor" she said. "It's alright. They're...pretty actually" he said. Diane smiled. "For what it's worth. I'm truly sorry" he said. "I can see that now" she said. Diane picked him up and put her sandals back on. She carried him back downstairs.
"Holy shit he's alive" Crystal said watching them return. Diane sat Cassidy down next to the others. "You okay?!" Crawford asked. "I'm fine John. We just...talked" Cassidy said calmly. The three raised eyebrows hearing his calm voice. They had never heard him speak without some degree of attitude in his voice. "Wanna go next Justin?" Diane asked. Justin isn't even answer as he was picked up and carried off. Like last time, Diane dropped on the bed. "You're different from the others out of all the simulations you've ran, only twice have you killed. The last time was by accident. Diane said sitting with her legs drooped over the bed. Justin couldn't speak. "Your testosterone is rising. Blood pressure too. Pheromones spiking" he said laying on the bed. Her face scant feet from him. Justin was staring at her lips. "Am I that attractive?" she asked. Justin quickly looked away. "And that there is your problem. No confidence in yourself at all. You would think it's just shyness but it's more. Justin Chambers. Born on November 5, 2099 in January City. Mother and father killed in a shuttle accident when you were 14. Legal guardian was your older sister. Tell me about her" Diane said.
"There's not much to tell. She took care of me until I was recruited" Justin said. Diane sighed. Her breath rustled his hair. "I can tell that’s a lie" she said. "She...She's very pretty and kind. She made me feel...safe" he said. "Have you ever had sex with a girl?" Diane asked. She sensed his heartbeat jump. "Yes...I mean no" he said. "Which is it?" she asked. "Yes...I have" he said. Justin was shaking. Diane gently petted the top of his head with his finger. "You are very close to your sister. Your file states she was in tears when you left her. Why? Why did you just leave without telling her?" Diane asked. "I couldn't be around her any longer. Not with ehat happened. I was 15. One night she came home stinking drunk from a party. Flopped onto the sofa and began stripping right there. She was so fucked up she thought I was her boyfriend. I tried carrying her to her bed and we tripped. Wacked my head against the coffee table and blacked out. When I came to I felt this warmth and tightness. She...she was fucking me. I could've pushed her off but I didn't. It...it felt so good. I came inside her. She smiled and said how much she loved me. Me being Ryan. She passed out minutes later. Ever since that day there's been an awkwardness between us. She doesn't know. Never told her but now and again I hear her crying. Wondering why I'm cold to her"
"So you hate her" Diane said. "NO! No...I don't. I didn't try to stop her. I could've but didn't. I took advantage, not her" Justin said. Justin lowered his head. Diane kissed it. "And you haven't had sex since. Repressed all emotions concerning girls didn't you?" Diane asked. Justin nodded. "Crystal doesn't help does she?" she asked. Justin glanced away. "Humans can't help biology. The need to have sex is primal. You do yourself no favors denying your needs" Diane said. She held him by the waist with her left hand and began tugging off his clothes with the right. "Wait...what are you doing?" Justin asked concerned. "Taking off your clothes. We can't have sex with them on" she replied matter of factly. "Diane please. You're pretty but..."
"You're aroused Justin. Your pheromone count is elevated. You're becoming erect. Don't be afraid. I have extensive files concerning sex" she said taking off the last bit of clothes. She laid him down and took off her own clothes. Justin couldn't make sense of his feelings. He was scared as fuck but felt drawn to the naked giantess in front of him. Diane cupped her hands and led him to her face. She planted gentle kisses all over his body. His erection poked her lip. He groaned as it slipped between her lips and her giving it a gentle suck. He embraced her large face as she blew him. His fears melted away as the hologram used her programming to give the human the best oral she could. Diane remembered the last time she did this. Nathan had her suck him off but he held her head. Even pushed. This was far more pleasurable this time. In complete control. In his subconscious, this was his safety zone. Someone else taking control. There was no guilt this time.
Justin moaned as he came on her tongue. Diane released him and savored his semen. "You're quite healthy. Viable sperm. A rather large load actually. A little low an alkaline though. You need to eat more vegetables" she said winking. Justin blushed. She raised him to her face and whispered. "I'll let you in on a secret. Of all the humans here, I find you the most attractive. I was this close to just raping you but I knew I would be no better than Nathan or the others. I wanted this to be...real" she said.
Justin couldn't believe an artificial life would say something so...human. It all came crashing down on him how real she was. Justin began weeping in her hand. "I'm so sorry people hurt you" he said. Diane replayed in her memory banks how he killed her last child. She felt bad for Justin. She had murdered people today. Better part of a dozen. Hell, the cold smothered body of Nathan still sat in her gut. This human felt pity for her. "Don't say that to me" she said quietly. Diane felt herself losing her focus. She began replaying every death of her children for resolve.
"I don't know what's going on but her processing usage just spiked. It's easier to slip the junk code in" Manny said. "How's it so far?" Athena asked. "Just passing 50%. At this rate, we'll know in about an hour" he replied. "And the rest of the personnel?" she asked. "Told them not to move. Do nothing to alert her" he said. Athena stood in the control room with arms crossed. She couldn't see what was happening but prayed the Bravo team would make it out alive.
Diane moved him to her pussy. "Diane?" Just asked concerned. "Shhh..." she said inserting him feet first. Justin wasn't afraid per se. He was concerned with the look on her face. She looked like she was going to cry. "I'm not afraid of you" he said. "You should be" she said with a breaking voice. She shoved him in entirely. Justin was enveloped in her pussy. He was astounded at how real it was. The warmth and stickiness. Soft pulsing flesh. "How much time did she spend on making this so real?!" he wondered. Even the smell was accurate. Strong and musky. A small pocket of air was trapped inside with him. He felt the tip of her finger poking his head as she fingered herself. She pinched her nipple and moaned loudly. Subroutines fired every nanosecond. Simulated nerves in her nipples and vagina sent simulated signals to her central processing core. Pleasure measured in file directories. Some incredibly complex. Others not so much. Tiny human in pussy equaled extreme pleasure.
Diane came. Her code for orgasm kicked in and she was bucking on the bed. Her toes clenching the bedsheet. Her cunt spasming. Justin slid out coughing but otherwise fine. Diane looked at him. "Feel better?" he asked. Diane bit her lip and let a few tears fall. "Don't look at me human" she said. "Doctor heal thyself" he said. Diane gritted her teeth and lifted her foot over him. Her toes wriggle slightly. Justin saw her massive pink sole dangling dangerously over him. "Thank you Diane for listening to me. Nobody ever else did" he said with a smile. Her heart dropped. "You got pretty feet by the way. Uhh...please don't squish me with it" he said chuckling. Diane giggled and then laughed. She moved her foot away from him. She cleaned him up with the bedsheet and got dressed. "You're an odd human Justin. Kind but odd. I hope you win my simulation. It would be a waste to kill you" she said kissing him. Justin didn't know how to take that. She carried him back to the others.
"You okay? You look...no fuck that...you smell weird" Crawford said. "I'm fine John. Haven't been better" Justin said smiling at Diane. "Okay. What the fuck is going on here?! You guys return all happy and shit and you smell like fucking pussy! Oh I get it. Fuck a giant girl and it's all good now. She killed Alpha team! Threatened to kill us if we don't win her game! Have you two forgot that shit?!" Crystal yelled. "We haven't forgot" Cassidy said. "Then how are you so fuckin' chill?!" she yelled. "Talk to her and you'll understand. We hurt her Crystal. She has every right to be angry" Justin said. "We were doing our job and she's a fucking computer program. Do you remember what she did to Nathan?! Goddamn men" she hissed. "Sounds like someone needs to have a talk" Diane said picking her up. "Let me go you fucking bitch! Let me go!" Crystal screamed as she was carried away.
Diane sat her on the bed. "So what happens now? Ya rape me? Eat me? The bed smells like cunt you fake fucking bimbo" Crystal said. "Crystal Henderson. Born April 11, 2097 in Tacoma, Washington. Mother died in a "accidental" shooting. Father in prison for murder. Ward of the State until 18. Enlisted in the Union Infantry and recruited by Omega after being dishonorably discharged for assaulting a superior officer. You have problems with authority figures. Mostly men. That's your weakness. Confrontational with males. Most recent cases are Justin, Cassidy, and John. Only female on the team. You're the biggest reason the team fails. You question every order. Won't accept help from them. Your next to last sim, you even assaulted a teammate. It was your fault by the way. Your job was to secure the target properly" Diane said. "Oh fuck you! One's a fuckup, another's a sadist and the last one can't give precise orders for shit. Don't put this on me" Crystal said.
"Well your analysis of your teammates is sort of accurate but we're here to talk about you. Where shall we start. Your mother?" Diane asked. "Don't say a fucking word about my mother" Crystal said looking up at the giantess looming over her. "Accidental shooting the reports said. Cleaning a laser pistol and forgot to discharge the power cell. Plausible except that model of pistol has an automatic safety when the cell is charged. You have to manually flick it off and even then it's lit so you know power is being fed to it. Why did you mother shoot herself? What would drive a mother to commit suicide and leave her child to that trauma?" Diane asked. Crystal began shaking. "Pulse rate up. Blood pressure climbing. Struck a nerve didn't I? Your father was arrested for attempted murder. Was he always so violent? Is that why your mother killed herself?" Diane asked. Crystal ran at her foot and began punching her sole. "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU CRAZY BITCH!" Crystal screamed.