Postscript

"Madame Hock! Nice to see you!" said a tall woman with long, jet-black hair and a tan the color of the winter moon. She looked up from her computer monitor and stretched her arms.

"I haven't thanked you, Lisianski, for your dedication and devotion to acquiring Laysan for us - very impressive work."

"Thank you for having faith in me, Madame," Lisianski responded.

"How is Laysan acclimating? Is she compatible with Paty?" the elder woman asked.

"She is. Paty is getting lots of help from the members of the Benedetta Carlini. I think that Laysan is very happy. It helps that she is so submissive. We will be able to keep her hidden from outsiders quite well."

"Excellent! We will need to start experiments on her as soon as possible. And so, how is subGrrl getting on?" Madame Hock asked twiddling a pen between her fingers.

"Great! She's never been happier in her life!" Lisianski smiled.

"Delete her."

"Excuse me?" Lisianski asked suddenly dumbfounded.

"Yes. Delete her. And BossWoman and NemesisGirl. Delete them all. Delete the whole simulation."

"But..." Lisianski fumbled. "We've been running this simulation for years. It'll take years create anything so complex again! We'd be throwing away so many valuable insights to so many things."

"That is a negative consequence." Madame Hock stated matter of factly. "But the simulation is a liability now. Suppose we were hacked by our enemies. Suppose our enemies got their hands on this data. It would be disasterous. subGrrl seems to be turning into Laysan by the sound of your reports. What if our enemies found her? Our advantage would be nullified. Delete subGrrl. Delete the simulation. Destroy the hardware."

"But... that's terrabytes of data!"

"Do you have a problem following my orders, Lisianski?"

"No, ma'am."

"Ok then. Do it this afternoon before you leave for your vacation."

"Yes, ma'am."

---

The cloudy evening sky was losing its gray glow as Lisianski walked from the office, across the parking lot, and into her Chrysler LeBaron. She drove out through the security gate and navigated the neon lit city streets. A sea of red brake lights greeted her as she descended the on ramp to the the highway.

"Shit! I'm going to be late to meet up with Paty... Late for the Benedetta Carlini meeting. Fuck!"

Lisianski sighed and turned on the radio. Cake! "Short Skirt / Long Jacket".

Lisianski drummed the steering wheel for moment, then pulled a pendant necklace from underneath her blouse. She kissed the pendant which, as it so happened, doubled as a ten terrabyte flash drive.

"I love you, subGrrl!"

She turned the radio a little louder.

FADE TO BLACK