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  • Mind_Hack.exe Chapter 6

    Chapter by Kripto · 08 Jan 2022
  • Adam and his friends go into the belly of the beast, taking over different bodies along the way.
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  • In an hour, subscriptions to Ben Sturgis' online video reviews had doubled in size. Ben took no notice of this during that hour, which was very unusual for him. Normally after posting a review that he had carefully written and edited, he would sit in front of his computer constantly hitting the refresh rate, hoping his numbers would go up. But this time his numbers had spiked, and he wasn't even paying attention. Instead, he had been focused on giving and receiving sexual gratification to his girlfriend Sam, and her friend Britney. To make it weirder, Sam wasn't herself. Her awareness was on hold as a copy of Ben's consciousness controlled her every movement. Together, all three of them passed the hour with little thought to the outside world, just an intense focus on the bodies pressed against each other.

    The unbridled passions lasted an hour, for the women anyway. Ben, the part of him inside his male body, made it about five minutes. The sexual tension between his girlfriend's body and her best friend, seeing it play out in front of him and getting to be a part of it, was just too much for his terribly excited penis and before he knew it, it was all over. He was happy to watch and touch, grope and lick for the next 40 minutes while they moaned and serviced each other. Then he got his second wind and lasted for all of ten minutes. If he had known Mind Hack would actually work, he would have brought chemical assistance to help him last a little longer.

    At the end of an hour and watching the bodies experience multiple climaxes, Ben asked them to dress and come back to the table so they could do a follow up to the first review. Once they were seated, their hair looking tousled, makeup askew, their skin awash with glistening perspiration, Ben began streaming online.

    "Okay, welcome back. We are live again and I just wanted to give you an update and let you watch us deactivate Mind Hack and see what my girlfriend Sam here remembers."

    Sam waved for the camera while having huge grin plastered to her face. "It's still me in here, Ben, and there too obviously," she said pointing at first herself, then Ben's body. Ben had been sure to show off as much of Mind Hack as he understood, including using Sam's actual voice instead of his own. Her high soft voice continued her recap. "We just got done fulfilling a long time goal of mine, and I'm sorry you couldn't be there to see it, but I'll probably be in enough trouble with Sam when I hop out of this body, if we tell her that is."

    Britney was still touching Sam's body, letting her hand rest on her arm, then moving to her leg, her face, roaming where it may. "So, she has no memory of what we just did? That was all you, Ben, even though you sounded and acted exactly like her?"

    "Acted like her except for the having sex with you part you mean?" Ben asked innocently.

    Britney blushed but didn't blink. "Except for that part, yes."

    Ben and Sam both began to answer simultaneously, but Ben gestured for Sam to take the lead. "According to the helpful document that came with Mind Hack, she will remember nothing while my consciousness was streaming into her cyber brain. So now, let's disconnect and put me back in there," she touched Ben's head. "And then we'll ask her some follow up questions."

    Britney gave a concerned look at Sam. "What happens to the 'you' that's in there right now?"

    "Supposedly there will be a merge of consciousness, which I would not have believed something as crazy as that could happen until an hour ago, but now I think it'll be alright."

    "So like, you're two selves will just, what, come together?" Britney asked confused.

    "Ha! Innuendo! ...that's my understanding, yes," Ben said. "For instance, we were already partially merged during our little threesome there."

    "What? How?" both girls asked simultaneously.

    Ben smiled at this, because he knew something that his version in Sam didn't. "When something was done to you, the Ben inside Sam, I could remember it happening in my mind a few seconds later. I have to tell you, remembering what it was like to have your pussy licked while still having a penis was a very pleasant and confusing experience."

    "Freaky," Sam said lustily.

    "That it was," Ben agreed with his other self.

    "Could you like, take over anyone you want?" Britney asked, imagining the possibilities, as were the thousands now watching the live stream.

    "Not according to what I've read," Ben said. "I don't know why but it says only members of the opposite sex are compatible to sync cyber brains with. We might experiment with this next time but it's been right about everything else so far. Now without further delay, I'll be severing the connection here and we'll see if Sam really doesn't remember this. If she does, maybe being on camera will keep her from murdering me."

    He began pressing the digital buttons on his tablet but Britney interjected before he could finish, "Wait, since I might not ever get this chance again, let me just...once more." She took touched the sides of Sam's cheeks tenderly with her hands and turned Sam's face towards hers. The kiss that followed was long and sensuous and Ben wondered why he hadn't used sex appeal more for his little online show. He also thought it would be the perfect time to reverse the connection because the reaction would be priceless.

    For Sam, the effect was jarring. She had been making fun of her boyfriend and his stupid attempt to publicly elicit a sexual liaison with her and a friend in the guise of reviewing a fake computer program. The next second, she was blinking rapidly and feeling her friend's tongue in her mouth. She pushed back from Britney, thoroughly startled, looking quickly between Ben and Britney. "What...what happened?"

    Ben was holding his head, acting as if he had a sudden migraine, then suddenly seemed to get over it. "Whoa, that was intense. Everything, all the memories and sensations of the last hour rushed into my head in a couple seconds. A little painful, but I liked it."

    Sam punched her boyfriend in the arm and shouted, "Ben! What the hell is going on?" Then to Britney, "How was I kissing you just now? I was talking one minute and then suddenly your tongue was in my mouth."

    Britney gave a weak, apologetic smile, "Uh...I'm so sorry, but, well, your tongue was a lot of other places too. Ben gave me an opportunity to...uh? Ben?"

    "Sam," Ben said with the temporary bravado of his online persona, "what time was it a moment ago?"

    "I don't know, like, 3?"

    "And what time is it now?" Ben asked, turning his tablet to face her.

    "Well I'd imagine it's still..." the words stopped as she saw the time on Ben's tablet. It was a little past 4. "It...it worked? This Mind Hack thing worked?"

    Ben gave two big thumbs up at the camera. "It did!"

    Several emotions hit Sam at once. "That's amazing! What did you make me do? What did you make me do! Did you video it! I will murder you if you did! What happened?"

    Sam remained calm, determined to get the answers his viewers wanted. "Everything's fine! You're fine. Nothing dangerous happened. First we have to know what you remember about the last hour."

    Sam put two fingers on her temple. She tried to remember. Nothing came to her. The last hour was just a big blank. "I...nothing."

    "How do you feel?" Ben prodded.

    "Fine," Sam said, then let herself take a moment to take stock of how her body really felt. "I...I feel like we had sex. My...uh, my erogenous zone is very tingly like, well..."

    Britney finished the thought for her. "Like my tongue has been down there?"

    Sam's face flushed and she stared at her friend before finally finding the words. "Did we, you and I, have sex?"

    Britney nodded, still apologetically, but there was a glimmer of a smile. "For almost the whole hour. I hope this doesn't hurt you? Ben used that program to control you and copied everything about you. It was amazing and something I've wanted for a long time and never thought would happen."

    Sam looked at her friend and nodded slowly. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I'm glad you got what you wanted, and I'm glad I can't remember it."

    "What about me?" Ben asked jovially. "Are you mad at me?"

    "Did my ex boyfriend just ask a stupid question?" Sam asked coolly, still looking at Britney.

    "Well that's about all the time we have folks," Ben said hurriedly. "Again, I've attached the link to this wonderful program Mind Hack. Maybe get permission before using it on your girlfriend. See you next time when I hopefully won't be reviewing dating apps. Baby, let me explain, I didn't expect this thing to actually..." The stream ended.

    The next day around sunrise found Adam Holland, Dan Stein, and his sister Stephanie waking up in a car in sector 11. They had traveled many hours. This was something that Adam had strenuously objected to since Mind Hack would let them transfer their consciousness into any mind in the world, but Dan was paranoid about Peace of Mind possibly being able to track them whenever they hopped from one mind to another. Maybe POM couldn't do this, but Dan didn't know and he wasn't taking any chances now that they didn't have their original bodies anymore. For them there was no more backup, they were on their last life, and Dan was determined to be careful until they finished what they came here to do.

    Adam, formerly an 18 year old computer prodigy, was currently in the body of Denise Smith, an early twenties newlywed and very attractive buxom blonde who was passionate about keeping her new husband sexually satisfied. Stephanie, who had been a 35 year old waitress, was in the body of Peter Smith, the new husband, also in his twenties, athletic and happy to indulge in what his wife was passionate about. Dan, formerly a cyber security specialist and secret hacker, was in the slim, athletic body of brown haired Kate Henderson, a young woman with grand ambitions of taking on the business world head on. One thing that Ben had not covered, and might not have been aware of due to his libido, was the blending of personalities that tried to occur when Mind Hack was in full affect. All three had mastered the ability of blending in and not getting lost in the memories and emotions of the body they were in, but it took practice and concentration.

    Now as they stretched cramped limbs and worked the kinks out of their borrowed bodies, they gazed upon the reason they had come all this way. Sector 11's headquarters for POM was in sight, just a few hundred yards away. The tall grey building stood out like a sore thumb against the skyline, easily dwarfing the other businesses around it. To Adam, Dan and Steph, it represented an ongoing threat to not only the broken infrastructure that the government had fed the easily compliant populace, but also their very survival. Inside would be teeming with POM agents who were probably at this very moment making it their mission in life to ensure something like what they had done could never happen again. It was also possible that those agents would be looking for them if they had figured out the fact that only their bodies were gone but their minds were somewhere posing a threat.

    They had stopped only a few times on the road to Sector 11 for bathroom breaks, mostly due to Denise's tiny bladder, and once to pick up some very specific supplies. It was these supplies that Kate went to retrieve from the trunk of the car, returning to the driver's seat and placing a large bag on Peter's lap. "Okay Steph...Peter, screw it, Steph, we're about to be in another body anyway, what's it matter, you got this right?"

    "I...I'd feel better if you'd let me come with you two," the large man replied meekly.

    Kate shook her head as she retrieved cords of rope from the bag and handed some to Denise seated in the back of the car. "You don't know what to look for. Hell, I'm not entirely sure, but I know it'll be on a computer somewhere in there. Adam and I are the ones most qualified to be in there. You are the one who's responsible for keeping us alive. At any sign of trouble, you yank us out and send us back to these bodies if you can. If these are compromised for any reason, pick something close but not too close and zap us there. Don't forget to adjust the settings in advance so..."

    "I know," Peter said shakily. "I'll adjust the voice and physical settings in advance so you'll be able to blend in right away. You've shown me enough times I almost think I could do it blindfolded. I'm just, worried, you know."

    "It's going to be okay," Kate assured his sister. She handed Peter a burner phone they had picked up with everything else. "We'll call this number when we're inside and try to keep a phone on speaker so you can hear if we're in trouble. Only pull us out if you hear me say the phrase, 'It's going to be a hot one today.' I'll hopefully be able to use my host's memories to avoid that scenario, but if I can't, I'll say it. If I do, pull Adam first."

    "But, Dan..."

    "Adam first," Kate said firmly. Dan hated putting this much stress on his sister, and hated himself for getting her involved in the first place. He knew Adam shouldered most of that blame, but still, in Dan's mind Adam was just a kid. He was also a genius who had created something vastly out of his control, but still a kid who had turn eighteen only a month ago.

    "Thanks Dan," Denise said quietly, almost finished tying her legs together. "Thanks for looking out for me over the last 24 hours. I promise I'll do everything I can to step up and find what we're looking for. Now can you come back here and tie my hands behind my back?"

    Kate smiled and hopped in back, firmly securing Denise's hands and double checking the knots around her feet. Satisfied that Denise was now immobilized, Kate's slid one hand in through the top of Denise's shirt and squeezed one of the large breasts underneath.

    "Dan!" Denise yelped.

    "Sorry, sorry," Kate apologized disingenuously. "I'm just still so damn horny and don't know if I'll ever get a chance to touch those amazing tits again. Has anyone had a problem of being almost constantly aroused every time we're in another person's body? I mean, that's all the time now, but it was that way since the beginning. Adam, was that something you programmed?"

    Denise shook her head, her face still flushed from the recent groping. Dan got back to business and set Kate to rummaging through the bag until she found a bottle of pills. "Here they are. You probably took some of these after being fitted with POM's mandatory upgrades a month ago Adam. They help manage the pain shortly after. People usually only have to take them for 24 hours because by then the cyber brain manages the pain receptors for you.

    Denise looked at the pills curiously. "Yeah, so why am I taking them now?"

    "Because what most people don't know is that if they are ingested again later in large quantities, it induces a paralytic state. Inside these little babies is the same stuff they use if you have to go back in for any follow up reason and they put you under. Well you're not really under, you have to be conscious when they open you up to do whatever it is they do in there. Your cyber brain is still active, but you don't feel pain and can't move. So take like, um, ten, take ten, and then very shortly, your host won't pose a threat until we hop back in a few hours. If were not back by the time they wear off, we have the rope and Peter's big strong self as insurance."

    Denise swallowed the pills Kate provided, then Kate followed suit. Kate moved back to the front seat and this time, Peter assisted in binding Kate's arms and legs. Before the pills could take effect, Kate again reassured his sister. "They probably still don't even know we're alive. This will be in and out and then we'll be able to hop into the CEO of POM and all this will be over."

    Peter's head dropped. "We're probably dead either way."

    "Hey!" Kate snapped. "We've come this far, we'll figure something out. Chance Kirkwood's mind might contain a trick or two that saves our lives. Don't give up. You with me on this?" Dan hoped this little speech was working because already a fog was settling over his borrowed brain.

    Peter raised his head and gave a grim smile, "I'm with you to the end bro."

    "Good, now," Kate's words were beginning to slur. "Look for who I told you. Two people going in together. Remember, gender doesn't matter anymore since we permanently transferred our consciousness. I'd still like someone with big tits. Men get all stupid around big tits and might not notice us as we take over people around them."

    The last sentence was almost unintelligible and caused Peter to laugh. "Sure bro. I'll find you someone stacked." Peter then found the pair of binoculars they had purchased and zeroed in on the entrance, waiting for the opportune time. He did not have to wait long. The place seemed to be abuzz with excitement. Peter observed that even given the early hour, people were coming and going quite regularly. The tablet showed hundreds of red dots accumulated in the building. Peter's eyes tracked two dots traveling quickly, one behind the other, and both turned into the large parking lot connected to the facility. Using the binoculars, he spied the two cars park in spots close to each other and two people get out. Steph thought the timing was perfect and made Peter's fingers make the appropriate selection.

    A few hundred yards away, Alicia Talbert got out of her red sports car and slipped her designer purse over her shoulder. Both had been gifts from her rich boyfriend. As long as she had him, she didn't need a job, and at times, she wondered why she kept this one. She was nothing more than a glorified secretary. But she loved the respect she saw in people's eyes when she told them she was a government employee. There was respect, but it was even better when she saw it mix with a twinge of fear. Working for Peace of Mind, even if it was just answering the phone and filing legal documents, filled her with a sort of civic pride that she like to remind people of whenever she could. Still, she didn't appreciate a phone call telling her to come in an hour early because there was some emergency that required all hands on deck.

    Jay Griffith was getting out of his car as the woman strode past. He recognized her as a secretary on one of the lower floors. She was very pretty and would have probably been the target of many office bachelors had she been single. He noted her red hair tied in a tight bun, the form fitting lavender top she wore accompanied with short black skirt. He took a second to appreciate her form, then shut his car door and walked at a slower gait behind her. The view she provided was a stop and smell the roses moment for him, because Jay knew once he got up to his floor, one that required very high clearance, there would be nothing but thorns. His mind drifted to the reason he was at the office earlier than usual. Hopefully it was a fluke, an exaggeration. It should not be possible, a line that had been bandied about with high frequency the last week, but here it was, multiple reports of the same troubling issue.

    Signal disappearances were suddenly happening again and more memory loss was being reported. He had been one of the first to report on the issue and had been given a promotion because of it. He hoped he could help find a solution and... Jay stopped as he noticed the woman in front of him seem to stumble for a moment, as if she were about to faint. Her purse slid down her slackened arm and hit the ground causing a tube of lipstick to pop out and roll a few inches on the concrete lot. He jogged towards her, thinking he might need to catch her, but then watch as she retrieved the tube of lipstick, then straightened up. She took the pin out of her hair, and let it cascade over her neck. She then turned and looked right at him causing him to halt in his tracks as her gaze seem to pin him to the spot. She grinned at him as she pulled off the cap of the lipstick, twisted it, then began applying a light coat to her lips. She did this slowly, sensuously, all the while fixing him with an expectant gaze as if she were waiting for him to do or say something.

    "Are you okay?" Jay asked, looking at her carefully. "It looked like you were going to fall for a second there."

    "Just clumsy I guess," the woman answered demurely, putting the lipstick back in her purse. "Would you walk me in the rest of the way?"

    He nodded and they both began walking towards the building's entrance together. She took his shoulder as if for support and he gallantly offered her an arm. She slipped her right arm under his left, and then pulled it closer to where he could feel the softness of her breast. He gulped and blood began to flow to his crotch. He quickly thought about everything on his to do list. He did not want to step in to security with a boner. He'd never hear the end of it, and then he too stumbled. It was like his brain had been shocked with a tiny bolt of electricity. "That was weird, your clumsiness must be contagious. I almost..." And that was the last thought Jay had before darkness fell upon him.

    Adam drew in a huge breath through new lungs, something that always seemed to happen when entering a new host. He immediately took stock of his new surroundings and noticed a very pretty red headed woman on his left holding his arm and looking up at him.

    "About time you joined me," the woman said.

    "Dan?" Adam asked, and heard a voice lower than his, and certainly lower than his last host, Denise.

    "Of course," the woman hissed. "But shut up, just our host's names right now. You're Jay Griffith, a real up and comer right now according to this woman's memories. We don't have much time, figure out who you are and what they know about Mind Hack. Most importantly, see if they can track when we go from one person to the next." She fished in her purse for her phone and dialed the number to the burner phone, putting it on speaker. "Can you hear me Steph?"

    "Loud and clear," Peter's voice answered.

    "Okay, I'm going to mute you now so you don't give us away. Listen for the key phrase if we need you to pull us out."

    "It's going to be a hot one," Peter replied. "I'll be listening real close."

    Adam began to rifle through Jay's brain. He was a company man. He loved working for the government. He had recently stumbled across a breach in POM's security that had led to the deaths of three terrorists that had somehow used a program to take advantage of people's cyber brains. "No, they can't track a jump in any conventional way yet. And...holy cow!" Jay exclaimed. "I'm in the guy that first discovered that we could..." He cut himself off, remembering he was speaking aloud in enemy territory.

    "Is that why you got the recent promotion?" the woman asked. She was pulling him along now, dragging him into the mouth of the lion's den.

    "Yeah, I think so. And you are...a secretary of sorts I think. Your name is..." Jay began but couldn't finish as Adam could not find the name anywhere in Jay's head.

    The woman gave him a playful glare. "You don't know my freaking name! You've talked to me dozens of times. You even asked me out once."

    Jay was walking but also deep in thought. Going through a new mind was like pouring over flashes of video and history textbook at the same time, trying to find and memorize relevant facts as fast as possible. "But you have a boyfriend," he finally said.

    She rolled her eyes in frustration and amusement. "You remember I have a boyfriend but not my name. Curse this hot body. The name's Alicia. Nice to meet you dummy."

    They were now climbing a set of short steps, almost to their destination. "Why'd you take your hair down?" Jay asked. "Doesn't Alicia always wear her hair up in the office?"

    Alicia patted the back of her neck, now covered by her shiny red hair. "The signal square, remember. It flashes when we're inside a host."

    Adam panicked as he remembered this fact. They had never found a way to keep that from happening. In the center of everyone's neck was a square of light that shown constantly. It was the one thing visible of the cyber enhancements required by law for everyone eighteen and older. Unfortunately for them, it flashed like a beacon in whatever host they happened to be in. If this information was ever made public, people would immediately know that someone else was behind the wheel the moment they saw that blinking light. Adam had always assumed it was some incompatible glitch in his program as it connected with POM. The rest of it seemed to fit together so perfectly, it was a shame this stood out in such a painfully obvious way. He would need to be very careful and try to stay in front of people the whole time or cover it with his hand if it came to that.

    They were now in front of large glass doors, and both unconsciously took a deep breath before walking in. On the other side, they stood in front of a small entryway filled up by three body scanners, each manned by an armed guard. Jay and Alicia both walked confidently towards a different guard. They each placed a thumb on a raised pedestal in front of the scanner. After a moment, the light above the scanner went green, and the guard motioned for them to come forward. Both of their bodies were scanned on the machines, when nothing out of the ordinary was found, the guards again wordlessly motioned them to proceed.

    They did so, past another set of doors, and were now inside a much larger space filled with people going this way and that. Adam couldn't get over how it all seemed like the first time and yet like something he had done a million times before. Jay looked to his left and saw several elevators 30 feet away carrying people up floors. He knew the two farthest down would carry him to the top if needed. To the right he saw a long row of people manning monitors behind what looked like a counter at a bank. There was a short queue of people lined up, waiting to be seen by the people behind these counters and he watched as one approached and had a small, what looked like a black suction cup attached to their forehead. Adam was about to get an answer as to what this weird process was when his excavation of Jay's memories was interrupted by Alicia.

    "We have a bit of a problem. I've got almost no clearance in this building," she said looking down at the ID badge she wore above her left breast. "My thumbprint gets me in the front door and to the third floor where I work answering phone calls and logging data supplied by analysts. It's a real boring job but this chick loves it because she gets to brag about working for the most powerful government agency in the world. I can go to the 18th if summoned by one of the analysts."

    "So what do we do?" Jay asked, still on the path to the farthest two elevators.

    "Where's a computer that has the access we need?" Alicia asked.

    Adam thought hard. "There might be one you could use on the 18th floor. That place is entirely dedicated to pouring over the video feed of witnesses in areas with criminal or suspected criminal activity."

    "Yeah, I know," Alicia huffed. "I just said I log their stupid reports and can only go to those two floors, but I have to be called up to stay on the 18th without getting hassled. Any other options?"

    "Let me think. Okay, easier option, my guy here works on the 19th and is in charge of finding suspicious activity and seeing it dealt with. Ooh, I'm like a cyber detective. I think those two floors are our best options. The top floor should to but it's reserved for conferences with board members and..." Jay suddenly looked alarmed. "That's where I'm supposed to be headed to right now, the top floor. There's something new going on and, oh wow, it looks like other people must have found Mind Hack because signals are disappearing."

    "What?" Alicia squealed. "That's great! That's great, isn't it? That should buy us plenty of time if they're chasing after those people."

    "Maybe," Jay answered doubtfully. "Jay here has thought of a rudimentary way to track possible offenders. He thought of it on the drive over and is supposed to be going up to tell all the top brass."

    "Well let's not let that happen. I'll tag along with you to your office, no one should stop me if I'm with you. We'll get in, get out, and then we can, I don't know, tie you up in your house and maybe buy us another day or so."

    Jay scoffed at this as they stepped into the last elevator. Jay's memories showed Adam he needed to press his thumbprint on a glossy surface below the numbers. All the lights lit up and he pressed the 19th floor. "I love how much of this we're making up as we go along."

    "The basic plan would have been the same even if we didn't have the added pressure of being on the run," Alicia admonished him. "Find a way to cripple POM from the inside. It would have been nice to take our time and do it right, but we don't know how much time we have until we lose the element of surprise. Besides, you were the one all ready for action the other day."

    Now that they were here, actually in the belly of the beast, Adam was having second thoughts about this ill prepared snatch and grab. The ride up the elevator was very quick and when the doors popped open, the pair took cautious steps forward as if land mines might be under their feet at any moment. There was a guard stationed directly across from both elevator doors. The guard saw Jay's badge which was all access, but looked suspiciously at Alicia's. "You can't be up here Miss."

    "Now or never," Jay thought, then struck an authoritative tone. "She's with me on special business. She won't be staying long."

    The guard was puzzled for a moment, then straightened up and said smiling, "Of course sir. You're one of the bosses now. Congratulations on your new promotion."

    Jay laughed. "Thanks, keep up the good work." Jay and Alicia scurried away down the hall, glad that had worked so well. They entered a large space full of open cubicles where only a few heads could be seen. Up ahead to their right were a few doors that lead to offices of department supervisors. To their left on the far wall was a giant monitor. It showed them a map of the sector that was very familiar to them. It contained all the red dots of people in their area, and several were highlighted as potential threats. They both stopped and stared for a moment. As they did so, Jay saw one red dot blink out, then another, but the second was replaced by the first.

    "We got another one!" a voice in the cubicles called out.

    "Add it to the file! We'll dispatch agents right away," another voice responded, then added with a tinge of annoyance, "Where are they all coming from?"

    Jay and Alicia quickly put their heads down and proceeded at a brisker pace towards Jay's office. They entered and Jay quietly shut the door behind them. He went behind the desk and began typing on his computer's keyboard. "Hacking sure is easier when you know all the system's passwords and logins."

    "Yeah," Alicia agreed wryly. "I'm not really sure you can call that hacking then."

    "What am I looking for again?" Jay asked as a directory for POM's operating system appeared on the screen.

    "Something to do with settings for POM's board of directors. We're locked out from seeing them in Mind Hack so there's hopefully some option that makes them visible."

    Jay opened several directories while Alicia wrung her hands nervously. Dan would have preferred access to a computer of his own so this could move along faster. "Kid, I know you're doing your best but you're going at a snail's pace. Let me take a look."

    Jay moved aside and Alicia stepped in. Dan could read much faster than he could and his fingers moved more efficiently over the keys. After a couple minutes, Alicia exclaimed, "I think this is it! It's right here in this subsection labeled Exemptions. It wasn't completely hidden, but it wasn't in plain sight either." When she had clicked it, a hundred or so names appeared in alphabetical order. They were all highlighted in red and to the right of each one was the phrase, 'No Access.' "I hope this is what makes them undetectable to Mind Hack. Switch this off and we should be able to take his mind over no problem." She quickly scrolled to Chance Kirkwood's name and clicked the No Access option. The prompt for a password appeared. She shoved the keyboard back towards Jay. "Okay, put in your password."

    Jay put it in and their hearts sank as 'Access denied' was the prompt answer. "I got promoted yesterday. My clearance probably hasn't been updated yet with everything else going on. We'll need to hack it or get another supervisor's password."

    "With POM's sophisticated computer security and the fact that no one was able to hack them until your program, I think we'll have to try to get a..." Alicia was cut off as the door opened behind her.

    An older gray haired gentleman stepped into Jay's office and he had a stern look about him. Jay's memories told him this was his former supervisor until yesterday, and now they were equals. Still he spoke with authority that let it be known he expected compliance. "What the hell are you doing in here Griffith? You're supposed to be upstairs with me! The board is meeting live as we speak and they want to speak to you about that idea you had."

    Jay and Alicia's initial reaction was far from normal. They both looked like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Alicia's hand flew to the monitor which was thankfully just outside of the supervisor's field of vision and switched it off. Jay just stared and said nothing but felt himself begin to sweat.

    "Well, boy, Jay," Alicia said slowly. "You should probably get up there. Don't want to get fired after getting to the top of the ladder."

    The supervisor glared at Alicia, then his eyes dropped to her ID badge. "I don't know you Miss, but I damn well know you're not supposed to be on this floor."

    "She was just...I needed her to..." Jay stammered.

    "It doesn't matter," the supervisor interjected, then made a motion towards the open door. "Please follow us out."

    Jay and Alicia shared a brief glance that contained veiled uncertainty, then took the cue out the door. They walked past the cubicles and down the hall back to the elevators. The supervisor hit the elevator call button and the first set of doors sprung open. He motioned for Alicia to get in. Jay followed but the supervisor barked at him, "Jay, you're with me! We'll be going up."

    The briefest of exchanges played between Jay and Alicia. They were about to be separated, but both their time could still be useful. Jay could find out useful intelligence upstairs, if he could just get Alicia downstairs. His eyes darted to the elevator's thumbprint and then back to Alicia. He quickly pressed it, just out of the watchful eyes of his former supervisor. "Right, silly of me. Well, thank you for your help Alicia. I'll see you later downstairs."

    Alicia nodded solemnly, then pressed the button for floor 18. She didn't have official permission to be there, but hoped to be able to talk her way in to staying on that floor with the memories available to her. Jay gave her a quick thumbs up. The other elevator had arrived and he got inside with his former boss. He was all nerves now. They had never wanted to separate. Adam wondered if they just should have said the phrase and had Stephanie pull them out. He hoped whatever this meeting was it was quick so he could find Alicia on the 18th floor and get out of here. If Dan was unsuccessful, they'd hop someone else tomorrow, hopefully someone with the access they needed.

    Dan was not ready to give up however as the elevator doors opened on the floor for memory analysis. The guard suspiciously eyed his current feminine body, his eyes wandering a little too long over her curves. He seemed to catch himself, and then said a little gruffly, "We didn't get the call that you'd be coming up right now. I'm afraid you'll have to go back down Ms. Talbert."

    Dan had a chance. This was a guard that knew this body. He summoned up all of his powers of charm and deception. "Frank, I'm sorry, I'm here as a favor to Kris. She messed up pretty bad on one of the reports and, well, I could have sent it back, but I didn't want her boss to see that so I'm telling her in person."

    The guard's eyes drifted over her figure again. Dan pretended he didn't see the eyes raking over his temporary femininity and took in a deep breath so Alicia's large chest would rise and fall in front of Frank. After a few seconds of leering under the pretense of sizing up her potential threat level, the guard pointed down the hall and snapped, "Make it quick. Tell Kris she owes both of us one."

    Alicia crinkled her nose and shot the guard a cute smile. "Thanks Frank. You're the best." She scooted down the hall, hoping not to bump in to Darren Ford, one of two supervisor's on this floor. Alicia's memory showed that he was a stickler for the rules and would send her packing if he found her up here without cause. He was probably trying to get her fired since she had turned him down for a date at the last holiday party. Darren hadn't known she had a boyfriend, but she made damn sure he knew then, flaunting it in his face that Darren wouldn't have had a shot anyway because she was out of his league. Dan was beginning to think he should have asked Stephanie to find him a woman with tact instead of a big rack.

    Alicia came in to an open room filled with people looking very closely at monitors displaying video feeds that cyber eyes had captured and recorded in their sector. She kept her head down, thankful that everyone seemed very distracted like everyone had upstairs. This floor had two supervisors. If she could get in to one of their offices and figure out their password, the mission would be a success and they wouldn't have to make another attempt tomorrow. Because of whatever important meeting that Jay was in, maybe everyone in charge would be gone right now. She moved past the first office door, knowing that it belonged to the first supervisor, Darren, and she wasn't going to risk that one. She stopped at the second and looked quickly around at the large room full of worker bees. No one seemed to have noticed her. She twisted the knob quietly and peered in. There was no one behind the desk. She gently closed the door, then put her purse on the desk and turned the computer on.

    Two floors above, Jay was doing his very best to maintain his cool as he was ushered into a large conference room. His former boss took a seat near the end, and motioned for him to fill the vacancy next to him. As he walked down the length of the table, he saw several familiar faces, ones that Jay's memory recognized as powerful men in POM, and ones that Adam would have known because they were the public faces of powerful companies. The tension in the room was stifling and Adam hoped that he could get through this the way he got through school, by listening and trying not to get called on.

    Jay sat down quietly in the comfy leather chair and peered down the table at the only man that was standing. He was directly in front of the large monitor and Adam knew he should know this man's name but couldn't place it. A short moment later, Jay's memory informed him that this was Victor Finch, the interim CEO of POM. This was alarming to Adam. Should they be going after this guy? What happened to Kirkwood? Jay's memory showed there had been some sort of coup, partially, or perhaps entirely due to fallout from a program that had bypassed POM's securities and was hijacking cyber brains. Jay gulped as Victor cleared his throat, causing all side conversation in the room to cease.

    "Very shortly all of our board members will be joining us through video conference, as well as every prominent CEO worldwide. That should clue you in to the importance of the threat we are facing. Do not speak unless I direct you to. Keep your answers short and concise. These are all very important men and I do not wish to waste a moment of their time. Together, we will come up with a solution to this threat to our peaceful existence." He stepped back from the monitor but remained standing just out of its way. Every eye watched as one by one, the screen started to fill with faces.

    Alicia was staring at a login and password screen. Her memories were not helpful here. She just didn't know much about this guy. His name was Mr. Blankenship, she didn't know the first name. He had a family, Dan could tell that by the pictures on the desk. Alicia's thoughts also indicated that he was overweight, couldn't tie a tie right, and seemed a little dim at times. Those were Dan's favorite people in the hacking world. They were the ones that always wrote down their constantly changing passwords somewhere because they were always forgetting them. With this hope in mind, Alicia began a frantic search. She looked under the keyboard and found only dust. As she peered behind the picture frames and underneath office supplies, she jostled her purse causing most of the contents to spill out onto the desk. Undeterred, she kept, next burrowing through each of the drawers. Looking down into the depths of what just seemed like useless junk and snacks, her vision was occasionally skewed by her long red hair. This is why she liked to keep it up, so it stayed out of the way while she was working. Alicia's body responded to the minor annoyance by mechanically reaching into her overturned purse and pulling out the pin she had taken out earlier. She continued surveying the current drawer's contents while her body reflexively put her hair up the way she always like it.

    While rummaging through the last drawer, she hit pay dirt. The login and password were right there on a sticky note taped to the side. Things were finally starting to look up. She punched in the information and quickly found the correct directory. She scrolled to Chance's name and hoped beyond hope that this time it worked. She selected No Access and put in Blankenship's password. Chance Kirkwood's name went from red to green and to the side it now read Public Access. If this worked, they should be able to find him in Mind Hack now. She closed the screen and was about to stand when the door opened. If it had been Blankenship, Dan felt confident he might have been able to talk his way out of it, but instead it was the surprised face of Darren that was quickly morphing into one of anger.

    Darren was about to say something to her, but his eyes fell upon the digital display of the burner phone that had slid to the corner of the desk when the purse had tipped over. The screen was turned towards him and it was clear that there was a call in progress. Not wanting anyone overhear him tear into a subordinate, he took three quick steps and pressed the button to end the call. Outside the building, in a car parked just a few hundred yards away, Stephanie never heard the soft tone that indicated the call had been terminated. She had been too distracted at the occasional movements of her captives in the back seat. She hadn't heard anything in awhile from the phone except for a few banging sounds of drawers, and now all she heard was Kate snoring loudly.

    Alicia made a desperate grab for the phone but Darren got there first and put it in his back pocket. His anger was growing. This woman who had spurned him was on his floor. She was not supposed to be on his floor, and especially not supposed to be in this room on this computer. And her behavior with the phone, what was going on?

    Dan was not sure how he was going to get out of this. Maybe Stephanie would suspect something and pull them back now. But just in case, he'd better start lying his head off. Alicia stood up casually, smoothing the creases in her outfit and putting on her best poker face. "Hey Darren, I was just leaving Mr. Blankenship a note and..."

    "What the hell are you doing up here?" Darren asked in a low growl.

    "I was just telling you," Alicia resumed in a haughty tone as she walked towards him. "I had to leave a note about a file we're missing downstairs."

    "Well he's on the top floor right now," Darren said, fixing her with a suspicious gaze. "So you can give the note to me."

    Alicia tapped a finger on her chin as if considering this option. "No, it's really supposed to be for his eyes only, so I'll just come back later and give it to him. Phone please." She said this as a demand and not a question and she extended her palm towards him.

    Red flags were popping up all over the place for Darren. "I could have you fired for this," he warned, ignoring the request for her phone.

    "Do what you got to do I guess," Alicia said icily. "I suppose I wouldn't have to see your face again so you'd be doing me a favor. You can keep the phone, I was done with it anyway."She brushed by him and had her hand on the doorknob when she felt a finger touch the back of her neck.

    "What's going on with this?" Darren asked, the suspicion in his voice was now at its apex as his index finger touched the blinking light of Alicia's signal square. Darren had seen that somewhere, but couldn't remember where. It was important. He had seen it recently.

    Alicia took a breath, cursing the fact that she had put her hair up. Then she daintily spun around and put on her best confused expression. "What's going on with what?"

    "Your signal square. It was blinking. I've seen that before." Darren was sharp, this wouldn't elude him. His mind raced, trying to recall the memory.

    "Oh, is it doing that blinking thing again?" Alicia said with a bat of her hand. "I'll get one of the tech boys to look at it before I go home today. Ta ta." She turned and placed her hand on the knob again and twisted. It had opened just a few inches when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. Without turning back, she said with a shaky anger, "Get your damn hand off of me Darren."

    Darren knew he was not supposed to touch another employee, but this was too bizarre. He couldn't let her leave. Instead of loosening his grip on her, he tightened it as his mind thought back to yesterday. They had combed over hours footage looking for any clue to this cyber brain threat. The thing that had stuck in his memory, and probably most of the men in the office, was watching an incredibly hot blonde get done doggy style by her husband. She hadn't spoken in that video and according to the husband's interview, had not been acting like herself. When he had been thrusting in her though, the light from her signal square had been plainly visible. It had been blinking. It had been blinking while someone had supposedly hijacked her cyber brain. Several pieces fell in place for Darren. "You're not Alicia," he said accusingly, and menace dripped from his voice.

    Alicia quietly shut the door again and the hand let go of her shoulder. She tried to calmly whirl back around to face him but did it all a little too quickly and she almost lost her balance. She then tried to force a derisive laugh that Dan knew came off as disingenuous. "What do you mean? Of course I'm Alicia?"

    "I don't think so," Darren was eyeing her now from top to bottom. "One of our memory specialists showed me an interesting video the other day. A woman was getting plowed by her husband from behind. That's the kind of thing we have to watch sometimes during an investigation. This woman was really hot too, and she never spoke, not once the whole time her husband was giving it to her."

    Dan tried to keep Alicia's voice from shaking but it faltered regardless, "Why are you telling me this?"

    "Because we've had a breach in our security. That's why all the higher ups are meeting on the top floor right now, to share what we've learned." Darren lifted a palm and caressed Alicia's cheek. She didn't pull away but stared at him, frozen by what he might say next. "It seems someone has leaked a program that lets others hop into someone's cyber mind using our system and control them like little puppets. They can impersonate who they jump in to in every way it seems and no one would know the difference. That wife's husband certainly didn't. There appears to be one obvious give away though, and I believe it's flashing on the back of your neck."

    Alicia shot Darren her most charming smile, then pulled the pin from her hair, letting it fall over her neck once more. "That is an annoying feature. Tell you what Darren," Alicia's hands slipped behind her and she unzipped the black skirt and let it fall to the floor, "what you have right here is an opportunity. You knowing about that little flashing light could be a very good thing." She unbuttoned her lavender top, noticing Darren's anger was being replaced with lust. She opened the shirt and showed off the purple bra underneath that did a wonderful job supporting her ample bosom. When Darren's jaw fell as his eyes drank her in, she knew she had him. "I'm really sorry for making that scene at the office party that time. Is there any way I can make it up to you?" She looked at him and licked her lips lasciviously.

    "I...you're not talking you're way out of this?" Darren stammered.

    Alicia smiled sweetly. "No, I won't. I won't be able to do much talking at all with my lips wrapped around your cock." With that she dropped to her knees and deftly started undoing his pants. Dan made a brief motion as if to block her, then began helping her. A sizeable erection soon became visible and Alicia wasted no time enveloping it with her mouth.

    Jay blinked as yet another face appeared on the screen. He had never seen so many important people at once and the anxiety of the moment was affecting his stomach which had managed to twist itself in several knots. As the meeting finally got underway, Adam listened as quite a few details of their adventures with Mind Hack were laid out before him. POM knew a lot. They had brought in everyone they could. They interviewed Candace's husband and had his video of their hook up where it had been Adam inside her. They had testimony from Dan's neighbors, the Stevens, all of which had fallen prey to their experiments when they were learning how Mind Hack worked. But Adam struggled to hide his emotions as video footage of his parents and aunt were played back. They weren't very helpful, all acknowledging missing time, and that their bodies had been taken advantage of sexually. Adam's mom kept breaking down during the interview, and Adam knew why. They all thought he was dead. Guilt pangs riddled his body and he regretted so much when it was over.

    His sadness was interrupted as Victor began speaking. "That leads us to today. Yesterday, an online personality made a program known to the public as Mind Hack. It is apparently the culprit that got past our security and put everyone's minds at risk of being taken over."

    The room erupted at this and it took a minute for Victor to restore order. "None of you in this meeting are vulnerable. From what we have been able to ascertain, this program only has access to those who appear in Peace of Mind's network, and as you all know, none of you show up on this network. We will begin taking steps today to make sure none of our employees show up as well so no one gains access to our systems internally."

    "How could something like this happen?" a voice on the screen said.

    "Why don't we just turn the whole system off until we eliminate this Mind Hack?" another chimed in.

    "Who is to blame for this?" a third asked angrily.

    Victor allowed a thin smile to appear on his face. "Some of you know already, but the man I believe responsible for letting this situation snowball into the avalanche before us is our former CEO, Chance Kirkwood, who I will now allow to answer those questions some of you have posed."

    As if on cue, a slightly larger image appeared in the center of the screen. The handsome visage of Chance Kirkwood was now front and center, appearing completely calm and unruffled amidst several worried faces. "Good morning everyone. I see you've been apprised of the situation thus far, and while I appreciate the need for a good scapegoat, I would say I am not your man. Nevertheless, you have made your choice, but I remain at your service. To answer your questions, this happened because a very talented hacker by the name of Adam Holland, whom you all learned about a few minutes ago, created a...rather good program that let him gain access to the advances my father created for the good of all mankind. How that is possible I cannot say for sure and since my father is no longer alive, we will have to find the answer ourselves."

    Adam swore that when Kirkwood referenced him, his eyes had flashed directly on him. He was probably just imagining things with all the nerves he was feeling.

    Another voice asked, "So we pull the plug on all this until we figure out what caused it and how to stop it."

    Chance laughed at this. "I'm afraid that's not possible. While I don't know everything about my father's technology, I do know more than most. One of the most important things is this. It should never be shut off. If it were, if all of our facilities failed, power would be lost to everyone's cyber brains and they would all shut down, effectively killing off everyone with one installed. It's one of the reasons we have so many backup power systems at all of our facilities, to ensure something like that can never happen."

    The murmuring in the room rose again at this news. It was a shock to some, but most seemed to know this fact. Powering down was not an option. Victor asked the next question, "So what do we do propose we do Kirkwood? We can't temporarily shut it off. Making everyone invisible in our system defeats the entire purpose of having it in the first place. There would be anarchy in the streets overnight. It would be the uprisings all over again."

    Kirkwood shot him a condescending smile. "Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to figure out a solution with all the talented people we have working for us who care about our way of life. Maybe we start by asking the person who discovered this problem in the first place." This time his eyes traveled down the table and Adam knew for certain this time that they were fixated on him. All the other eyes on the screen and at the table turned towards Jay as Chance continued. "I believe it was Jay Griffith here in this very facility, working as one of our regular agents who first came across the issue. Good work Mr. Griffith. You have done a lot in a very short period of time."

    Jay's face flushed red. This was the opposite of what Adam wanted.

    "You really got everyone zeroed in on this issue of cyber brain attacks. We should try to understand why someone would do such a thing, don't you think?"

    Jay realized this was a question to him and he needed an answer. "Uh, yes sir," was the best he could do.

    Kirkwood smiled at him patiently. "What do you think is going through their minds, these people who wish to take over someone's body from the inside?"

    "I would, I mean, I guess, control?"

    Kirkwood nodded. "Yes, control, power, everyone craves those that to some degree. There also seems to be a pattern of sexual activity. Did you notice that?"

    Jay's mouth went dry at this line of questioning. "I, uh, it sure seems that, some people had sex."

    "Some?" Kirkwood asked curiously. "I'm pretty certain in my reports that every time we have on record of an attack, some act of sex happened." Chance's face came closer on the screen. "In fact, one even used this program to have sex with his own mom. What do you think about that? What's going through someone's mind when they make something like that happen? They're pretty sick, aren't they?"

    Everyone else seemed to have faded away and the conversation was only happening between Jay and Chance. "I'm not..." Adam was completely thrown off. He attempted to adjust. "It does seem that, yes, there is a pattern of sexual, uh, trysts that, to some, might seem abnormal and..."

    Chance cut him off. "It's almost as if when they were in control of someone, their senses and emotions were in some way heightened, which lead to more sexual encounters."

    This observation had the ring of truth to Adam. Even now, his anxiety seemed to be greater than usual. Every emotion he had come across in another body and been seemingly overwhelming at times. Was that a byproduct of using Mind Hack?

    The room had gone silent at this awkward exchange. Victor cleared his throat. "If you could maybe suggest something helpful instead of making unhelpful observations to the nature of sexual deviants, that would be great."

    Kirkwood's gaze stayed on Jay for a moment, then he winked at him. Winked! Like they were old friends sharing an inside joke. "Nothing else is coming to mind Victor, so I'll take my leave. If anything surfaces, I'll let you know." His face disappeared from the screen.

    "What a pompous ass," Victor said. "I'll tell you one thing we're doing right now. All agents will be using non lethal means to procure a subject whose mind has been hijacked. Those victims will be our unfortunate guinea pigs that will help us find a way to prevent more attacks. Now if you'll direct your attention to your tablets in front of you you'll see..."

    Alicia couldn't believe the stamina of this man. Darren's cock had remained hard and firm for several minutes, far longer than her boyfriend would have lasted by this point. It really was a nice dick too. It was clear Darren spent time grooming both upstairs and downstairs, something Alicia really appreciated. His hands were on her head down and he began to fuck her face. She gagged repeatedly but managed to suppress the desire to throw up. All at once he stopped and pulled her up. Darren tore the purple bra from her chest and began feeling her boobs with greedy ferocity. This caused an extra torrent of juices to flood Alicia's dampening pussy. She couldn't help it any more. Even though this guy was a jerk, he was quite good looking, and she hoped he'd help her get off.

    As if reading her mind, Darren told her, "If you want me to stay quiet, whoever you are, I'm going to need more than just a blowjob from this slut."

    Alicia smiled and walked past him towards the desk, slowly taking off her panties, purple, like the bra. Darren's eyes followed her every move. She used an arm to clear a space, shoving office supplies and a picture to the floor. Then she hopped up on the desk and spread her legs invitingly. "I'm sorry again for ever rejecting you. Please know that my pussy is all hot and wet for you. Please stuff it with that big rod you have between your legs and make me cum."

    Darren practically ran at her in a horny, frenzied state. She guided his tip towards her dripping pussy lips, then all at once, he thrust forwards, balls deep into her. She gasped, then pulled one of his arms that had been at her waist to her breasts, making him squeeze her. Alicia moaned. It would not take her long to cum at this rate. Being fucked in the office was a fantasy of hers, and now it was happening by someone she loathed, which made it even hotter. He thrust into hard for a minute, then abruptly stopped when she had almost reached her climax. "Why did you stop?" Alicia whined.

    Darren saw the disappointed look on her face and thought it was exquisite. As a response, he grabbed her arm and spun her around, shoving the back of her face down towards the desk, making her ass jut out. "Because I want to fuck you like the bitch I know you are."

    Alicia lifted her ass towards him and groaned, "Yes please!"

    Darren gave her butt a hard slap, causing Alicia to cry out, then he took her from behind. Alicia was awash with pleasure as this position seemed to hit all her pleasure zones. When Darren leaned forward and tugged hard on one of her nipples, she bit her lip to keep from outright screaming as she came. A second later Darren pulled out of her as hot ringlets of semen shot across her back. Darren then collapsed into a sitting position on the floor, still admiring Alicia's upturned ass. When Alicia had caught her breath, she went over and retrieved her purple panties from the floor. She took them to Darren and handed her the panties. "Could you use this to wipe your cum off my back?"

    Darren laughed and took his time wiping off the ejaculate from this fine female specimen. If he had time, he would take her again. But he knew Blankenship could be back at any moment. He handed her the wet, stained panties, but she closed his hand over it. "Keep it as a souvenir. We have a deal, right?"

    "Of course. I promise I won't say a word to give away your secret. But I will need you to leave the building now."

    The way he looked at her now was unsettling. She was happy to take him up on his offer to leave."No problem," she said, putting her clothes back together. The both left Blankenship's office, and Darren disappeared into his. Alicia hurried back towards the elevators, wobbling slightly after having such a large cock so deep inside her.

    Darren logged on to his computer and verified something. He smiled, knowing this next part was going to be very entertaining. He'd need to make the necessary adjustments quickly since he did not want to miss the show.

    The meeting was finally over and Jay tried his best to keep from running from the room. He hoped Dan had been successful, but now it was high time to get out of here. He got off the elevator at 18, only to be told by the guard there that Alicia had gone down. He rode it all the way to the main floor, hoping she was waiting for him, and she was. She had only beat him by a few minutes and was just as eager to leave as he was. They approached the armed guard at the entrance who stopped them firmly and told them, "You know you have to go through processing every time you exit the building." He pointed to the line of people that led to the counters Adam had wondered about before.

    "Processing," Jay asked stupidly. The guard gave him a look like he was a few pints short of a gallon, and they both got in line.

    They were both doing the same thing, searching through their hosts' memories to learn what processing meant. Both of their heads snapped up at the same time. "They're going to look at our memories since we came in this morning," Jay whisper yelled at Alicia.

    "I know!" Alicia whisper yelled back. "Be cool! We'll think of something."

    Then they heard a voice that had seemingly materialized right behind them. "I'm afraid you won't be able to suck and fuck your way out of this one." It was Darren. He was looking at both of them in the way an animal looks at its captured prey.

    "You said you wouldn't say anything," Alicia glared.

    Darren held up his hands defensively. "And I didn't. I won't have to. As soon as they plug into your minds, you'll tell them all they need to know, you and your friend here." He pointed at the back of Jay's neck. "You should really try to hide that blinking you know."

    "But..." Alicia argued. "You need to help us. They'll see your memories too and know you're complicit.

    Darren laughed at this. "I'm one of the heads of the memory department. I control what people see, or what they don't see. This wouldn't be the first time I've tampered with my own video feed."

    The line had moved quickly, and now Alicia was at the front, being motioned to come forward by a man behind the counter. Jay looked at her purse, then said loudly, "Sure is a hot one today."

    Alicia shook her head, knowing he was unaware that she no longer had her phone. She stepped towards the man, knowing the outcome but hoping for a miracle. The man placed the black suction cup to her forehead and she felt a pulling in her brain, like something was trying to forcibly extract her thoughts. The man behind the counter had looked bored, but now sat up and stared hard at the screen. The man called over someone else who looked at the feed, then at Alicia, then back at the feed, then practically ran to a phone and said in a nervous panic, "I think we've got one."

    Alicia stepped back causing the suction cup to disconnect making a small popping sound. She grabbed Jay's arm and said, "We have to run for it kid." And with that, she sprinted towards the door, sliding underneath the guard's outstretched arms. Jay hit the guard's side with his shoulder and the full weight of his body, sending the guard sprawling to the floor. They sped into the entrance with the scanners, catching all three guards by surprise. They took advantage of this by running past them, back through the scanners. As they threw open the front doors, Jay yelled loud enough for the whole parking lot to hear, "Sure is a hot one today!"

    Stephanie was too far to hear Jay's yell, but she was close enough to hear the gunshots that came shortly after. She grabbed the binoculars and quickly saw Jay and Stephanie at the bottom of the steps running full speed towards her while three guards were right behind them running and shooting. Steph was pretty sure they hadn't been hit yet, but the guards were in better shape and closing in fast. She grabbed the tablet and remembered Dan's order to pull Adam out first. If she did, there was a good chance her brother would die before she moved him to another host. There had to be a way to save both, but how? The she saw the three red dots of the guards and before she could rationalize it or talk herself out of it, she picked one and quickly made the necessary adjustments so she would make a seamless transition. Once it all looked right, she looked back at her captives that seemed to be coming around in the back seat, then pressed the button. Her anxiety rose at every second she wasted in Peter's body as the connection was being made, then his head lolled forward and the tablet fell in his lap.

    The guard that brought up the rear was running and then crashed hard on the ground as if tripped by an invisible force. The guard just up ahead of him paused to look back when he heard his comrade take a spill, but he was already getting up and pointing his gun at a new target. The man's face showed surprise and confusion as a burst of light erupted from the barrel and hit him full on in the chest. Electrical sparks exploded around the impact and the man crumpled to the ground.

    Steph looked down at the gun in her hand. It hadn't killed the guard but had fired some type of projectile that had stunned him and taken him out of commission. If she had wanted to know more about how that worked, or about the gun, or applicable training for this scenario, she could have accessed the guard's memories, but she felt there wasn't time. She moved with purpose, trying to catch up to the lead guard who was frighteningly close to his quarry. He didn't seem to know that his partners had been taken out or compromised as his gunfire had blended in with Steph's. The only reason he had missed was because of the cars Jay and Alicia had been weaving around, but they were at the edge of the parking lot now, a seemingly vast expanse with no cars or cover of any kind. Jay and Alicia seemed to know they would be sitting ducks there, so they wisely hid behind the last car out of range of more bullets, but this would only buy them a few seconds until the guard was right on top of them.

    Steph had closed a little of the distance but would not catch up to him in time. She put her shoulders on top of a car and aimed the gun. It didn't seem to have good range, but only one bullet needed to hit him. She squeezed the trigger. The first volley went wide, but the second grazed him, causing him to turn and start cursing at her, only to be hit square in the chest by her third attempt. The man's back slammed into the car that Jay and Alicia were hiding behind, then fell face first onto the ground.

    Steph sprinted towards the car Jay and Alicia were still hiding behind. She walked around the vehicle to see their eyes wide with fear, and then Steph held the barrel of the gun up to her mouth, and blew as if smoke were there. She had seen this in an old movie once and thought it was cool.

    "Steph?" Alicia asked incredulously.

    "This was the only way to make sure you two didn't get shot," Steph said in her voice through the guard's mouth. She hadn't bothered with the voice setting as blending in had not been a priority. "Now let's go, the tablet's back in the car and Peter's untied and probably wondering what the hell is going on?"

    They ran the rest of the way, across a street and past a few business to their partially obscured car, parked in a vacant lot. Stephanie easily got there first in the fit guard's body. Sure enough, Peter was back to himself and untying his wife and upstairs neighbor. Everyone in the car was questioning each other and panic was starting to rise in their voices when Steph opened the driver's side door and pointed her gun at Peter's face. "I'm going to need you to stay very still and hand me that tablet on the floor there sir."

    Peter momentarily froze. Why did this buff, masculine guard sound like a lady? But the gun put a pause on any further contemplation, and he obediently retrieved the tablet. Steph took it and then said, "I'm going to need you all to sit here and be quiet for a couple minutes, then you'll be free. Make a move though until I say, and I will shoot you." She went to the front of the car and placed the gun on the hood, then scooped up the tablet and moved the screen a sector away and found three random red dots and began making selections.

    Jay and Alicia finally arrived panting and observed Stephanie already making their travel arrangements. "Don't forget..." Alicia started to say.

    "I know, I know," Steph said quickly. "Adam first. Now shut up and don't distract me." In less than thirty seconds she had everything set, and Jay's body fell to the ground, Adam's consciousness no longer piloting Jay's body.

    "Alright, give it here," Alicia ordered. "I'll do you next, then I'll be right behind you."

    "No, I got this, and then I'll be right behind you," Steph said, her fingers flying across the tablet. She thought she was getting pretty good at this. It was done just 20 seconds later and she pushed the button and Dan felt the familiar tingle in his host's brain that meant a transfer would begin in a few seconds. Those few seconds would become the most traumatic of Dan's life.

    The spray of bullets hit Stephanie's temporary body in the back. They both had been facing away from the building they had run from, all their focus on the tablet and the frightened passengers in the car. The guard's face showed surprise, and then twisted and jerked as an electrical pulse caused the body to spasm and contort, quickly falling to the ground, fingers still clenching the tablet tightly. Alicia spun around and saw the guard, the one who Jay had knocked to the ground, walking determinedly towards them as if he had all the time in the world. He squeezed off another round of bullets that struck the side of the car where she was standing, causing the occupants to start screaming. Alicia dropped to the ground, her face next to the guard's as she tried to grab the tablet.

    With great effort, the guard turned his face and looked into Alicia's eyes. Steph's scared but resolute voice said, "No time. I'm sorry." She moved a twitchy finger to the home screen button. Then pressed the icon that enacted Dan's self destruct program.

    "Steph! No!" Dan screamed from Alicia's body. And then he was gone.

    The guard would go on to incapacitate Alicia's body, which was already temporarily out of commission anyway when Dan left. Then he stunned all the people screaming in the car. All of them would be brought in for processing and questioning, that was the current protocol. He pulled out restraints as more guards and agents arrived behind him. He would use them to keep them from getting away physically, and the tech boys inside would make sure any unwanted passengers inside their bodies wouldn't be able to slip away digitally.

    Adam gasped as his consciousness became aware of the body he was in. It was a man. He was sitting in a park bench. He was holding a bag of bird seed, apparently feeding birds in a park with this elderly woman next to him. He observed his hands. He must be old too, very old, as age usually didn't show until people's last five or so years of life thanks to modern medicine and the cyber enhancements. He patiently waited, not at all worried, for Dan and Steph to show up. Less than a minute later, the woman beside him jerked and began looking wildly around.

    "Dan, you made it?" Adam said in the old man's voice. "Who do you think Stephanie will be taking over?" He surveyed the area, taking in a few people close by.

    "No one!" the old woman's voice yelled. She then quieted herself but stood up, flinching in pain at the sudden movement in her weak joints. She motioned for Adam to join her and they began shuffling through the park as quick as they could. She started crying as she moved, making people stop and stare before moving on. "Steph got shot right after she programmed me to jump, but before she could herself. I think she's dead. We need to get to a computer to finish this."

    "I don't think she's dead, Dan," Adam assured him. "I just got out of a meeting where they said they were switching all weapons to stun so they could capture and interrogate people using Mind Hack."

    The woman looked at Adam with eyes alight with hope. "Really?"

    "Did you see any blood?"

    Dan thought for a moment. "No, I think you're right. She's probably not dead. We can get her out of there, and then all of us go to Kirkwood's before they lock him out again." With renewed hope, they hurried as fast as their bodies could go towards a nearby coffee shop.

    At POM's headquarters in Sector 11, Darren had been quick to take advantage of the situation. As the confused faces of Jay, Alicia, Peter, Kate and Denise were brought in to be questioned, Darren was telling anyone who would listen how he had figured out the telltale sign of the signal square. He pointed out to the investigative agents the signal squares on the necks of the five in question, and told them they were all actually themselves. The only intruder was the guard that had been caught helping them. His signal light was flashing, which meant someone else was inside, making him a human puppet with someone unknown pulling his strings. Darren ordered the man's name to be blocked immediately from POM's system ,and then taken to an interrogation room for questioning.

    By the time Adam and Dan's older bodies had gotten to the coffee shop, paid for access to one of their computers available for customers to use while they enjoyed a hot cup of coffee, it was too late. "I can't find her anywhere," Dan said.

    "We can't give up," Adam said. "They've just hidden her, like all the board members. We just go back there and..."

    "No," Dan said firmly. "We move on. Our best chance of getting her back is through Kirkwood." They both agreed and went about finding Kirkwood in POM's network.

    Jay was being questioned by the director in his office on the 19th floor. "So, you really don't remember anything? Anything at all about their plans or why they were here or they targeted you?"

    Jay shook his head, furious at drawing a blank on the morning's events. "Nothing, I'm sorry. But I do have something that might help, but I have a question first?" The director leaned forward in anticipation. Jay continued. "Did my or Alicia's signal in the network show up in the system as compromised in any way?"

    "No. We've seen that before, at the Holland's home and Stein's neighbors. At first we could track times that they jumped and where, but then that stopped. Clearly they were still doing it however."

    "Right," Jay agreed. "I think there's a way they mask themselves when they take over someone's cyber brain. Not everyone using the program knows how to do this though. That's why we've seen several signal interruptions, but there might be more people actually using it than that."

    "We've come to the same conclusion, and we're hoping to find a way to track them regardless."

    "But there's an easy way right now. We track the video feeds."

    The director thought for a second, then seemed to catch on to what Jay was saying. "Everyone with a blank video feed is either a perpetrator or a victim, is that right?"

    "Exactly," Jay said. "It should be pretty easy to change a few settings and show anyone in our sector who is registering a blank feed."

    "Do it here," the director ordered, pointing to his own computer. "And then send the information to the big monitor out there for all to see." Jay sat down and went to work.

    Important people's residences were kept secret from the general public. But the internet has all the information if you know where to look. Dan made short work of tracking down Chance Kirkwood. The man had three different homes in this country, and he was currently at the largest. They expected to see several dots, servants, groundskeepers, maybe a girlfriend or two, but there were only three. They belonged to Brenda Lomax, Laura Topaz, and Chance Kirkwood himself. The dots were all close together, probably in the same room.

    "I'll send you into this Brenda lady here," Dan said pointing at the screen. "I'll take over Kirkwood."

    After a few minutes, Jay hit enter, then looked at his boss. "There, that should be it, in a minutes, all blank feeds should start showing up on the screen out there."

    "Let's go see what we're up against," the director said. They both left the office and the director raised his voice for all the other agents to hear. "Pay attention everyone. Mr. Griffith here has given us some new names to round up. On the screen shortly should be the feeds of people who are taking over someone with this Mind Hack program, or who have been taken over. Either way, it's going to be your job to round them up."

    Every eye turned towards the monitor, expecting the monitor to fill with twenty, maybe fifty blank squares in their sector. Jay thought it was taking longer than expected. All at once, the monitor transitioned and began to fill up with new information. A tiny square appeared in the upper left corner. Jay thought it was too small. Why was it so small? Then another equally tiny square appeared to the right of the first, then another and another, rippling down the monitor until it came to the end and then began below the first. They were filling the impressively large screen. In their sector alone, it appeared that there were hundreds, no, thousands, of people who were in the thrall of Mind Hack.

    Adam gasped again as his consciousness took over his third new body of the day. He looked down at himself, now a her, and saw that he was possibly in control of the hottest body he had ever seen. There were large, soft mounds that kept him from seeing the shoes he was wearing, and then he saw the lady next to him, who was even more beautiful. This must be Laura, and she was looking at him curiously. Adam turned Brenda's face and saw their quarry. Chance Kirkwood was standing with his back towards them, looking at several monitors on a large desk. Brenda moved to be behind him, ready to catch him if need be when Dan took over his body in the next minute. She faltered as she caught a glimpse of one of the screens that Chance was watching. It was someone's video feed. It was showing Chance Kirkwood's back as he was looking at some monitors, with a particular focus on a monitor, which showed Chance Kirkwood's back, stretching into infinity. This video feed was showing whatever Brenda saw. How could that be?

    Kirkwood spun neatly around and extended a hand towards Brenda. "Hello Adam, it's nice to meet you again. It's even nicer that you'll remember it this time."

    Adam could not make heads or tails out of those two sentences. All he could do was make Brenda's eyes stare at Kirkwood's face, then at the hand outstretched waiting for a handshake, and then back his face. He was relieved as he watched Kirkwood gasp as Dan's consciousness made its way into POM's former CEO.

    "Okay, finally," Dan said in Kirkwood's voice. He noticed Brenda staring at him with a strange look on her face. "It's me, Adam. Why are you looking at me like that?"

    "Because he knew who I was the second I got here," Brenda answered. "He can see our video feeds, which should be blank, but, they're not for him."

    Kirkwood turned around. Sure enough, there was Brenda's feed, now looking at the monitor's, and another one, which must be Kirkwood's, also looking at the monitors. "Why does he have a feed on himself?" Dan wondered aloud, and then Dan experienced something he hadn't before. Resistance. It was like a powerful force was pushing him down. "Something's wrong Adam." Dan managed to say, but he couldn't get out anymore. It was taking all of his will power to keep control. Who was this guy? He pushed into Kirkwood's memories, trying to learn about this man and why he was able to resist Mind Hack's programming.

    Dan expected to see memories as early as 10 or so years ago, when Mind Hack would have been initially taking off and installed in early adopters. But instead, he saw memories of a young boy. He was running with another boy in a field. They were playing. Then there was a lightning strike. Kirkwood's mouth moved, but Dan wasn't controlling it. A voice spoke, a lower, unfamiliar voice that did not belong to Kirkwood or Dan. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to go poking around in other people's memories?" Then the voice began to laugh and laugh. It was all Dan could hear as his consciousness was overpowered and thrust down into darkness.

    To be concluded in the 7th and final chapter.
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None ∙ 22 Dec 2024