Blanca couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in Missouri's fingers as they brushed against her own while they followed Lindsay through the pristine corridors of VerdeCore. The fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows across her lover's face, emphasizing the tension around her eyes. Missouri's anxiety was palpable – her breathing quickening with each step they took deeper into the unfamiliar section of the building.
"Just a bit further," Lindsay announced, her voice carrying a lilt of barely contained excitement. The white-haired executive strode with purpose, lab coat fluttering behind her like wings. The facial tattoo on Lindsay's skin shifted in mesmerizing patterns, geometric yellow and black designs flowing across her features like digital oil.
Blanca shared Lindsay's anticipation, though she tempered her expression for Missouri's sake. Her lover had been remarkably accommodating about this impromptu tour, despite her obvious discomfort around Lindsay.
They stopped before an unmarked door in an otherwise unremarkable hallway. Lindsay punched a complex sequence into a keypad with practiced efficiency, her long fingers dancing across the numbers.
"You're about to see something very few people at VerdeCore have been privileged to witness," Lindsay explained as the door slid open with a pneumatic hiss, revealing a dimly lit concrete passageway that sloped downward at a noticeable angle.
Missouri pressed closer to Blanca as they descended, the temperature dropping with each step. Blanca wrapped an arm around Missouri's waist, feeling the soft cotton of her tank top against her palm, noticing how her lover's body tensed beneath her touch.
After rounding a corner, they faced an imposing barred gate that would not have looked out of place in a high-security prison. Lindsay swiped her ID badge and entered another code, causing the heavy gate to rise with a mechanical groan.
"Is this standard for R&D facilities?" Missouri whispered to Blanca, her dark brown hair falling forward as she leaned in close.
Before Blanca could respond, Lindsay answered, "Nothing about this facility is standard, Missouri." She ushered them through quickly, then operated another keypad that sent the gate crashing back down, its bars sinking into recessed slots in the concrete floor with an ominous finality.
Lindsay approached yet another secured door, her movements becoming more animated with each layer of security they passed. When this final door opened, they entered a hallway with a series of large observation windows along one wall.
"Here we are," Lindsay announced, gesturing toward the windows with a theatrical flourish.
Blanca approached immediately, but noticed Missouri hanging back, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "Come see, Missy," she encouraged.
Missouri nodded, compliant as always when Blanca gave her direction. There was a raised platform running along the windows, and Missouri had to step up to see past the sill, her height disadvantage making it necessary.
Blanca watched Missouri's expression as she took in the view beyond the glass, cataloging every nuance of her reaction: the widening of her eyes, the parting of her lips, the blood draining from her face.
Beyond the windows lay an enormous, brilliantly illuminated space—a self-contained world with glass buildings, lush gardens, sparkling fountains, and crystal-blue pools. Women moved about the various structures, some seemingly shopping at small boutiques, others lounging by water features or tending to the gardens.
But what froze Missouri in place—what caused her breath to catch and her body to sway unsteadily—was that every single woman in this hidden underground community was her. Exact duplicates of Missouri, down to the last detail, populated this secret world. Each Missouri was identically clad in a sleeveless, satin lycra, pink unitard.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lindsay's voice cut through the silence, her cold blue eyes fixed not on the scene before them but on Missouri's face, studying her horror with clinical interest.
Blanca felt a surge of conflicting emotions as she looked from the terrified face of her lover to the hundred mirrors of that same face moving about in the artificial paradise below. The excitement she'd felt earlier hadn't diminished—it had transformed into something darker, something possessive.
Missouri's hand found Blanca's, clutching it with desperate strength. "What is this?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Lindsay’s cold blue eyes surveyed the artificial paradise below with clinical detachment, the ever-shifting tattoo on her face momentarily forming what looked like mathematical equations before dissolving into abstract patterns.
"This is the Emergence Lab. We are studying the emergence of differentiation in a cognitively constricted homogeneous population," she explained, enunciating each syllable as if Missouri might struggle with words exceeding two syllables.
Missouri pressed her hands against the glass, brown eyes wide with confusion as she stared at her duplicates moving through the underground community.
"We have taken 128 beta model Missouri vector gynoids and placed them in an ideal community," Lindsay continued, her tone suggesting she was explaining quantum physics to a particularly slow child. "There are dormitories, markets, commerce, restaurants, parks, recreational activities, art galleries, music halls. There are a variety of occupations from managers to day laborers."
Lindsay's lips curved into a faint smile. "There is a jail. And even though there have been no incidents of crime, the cells are always full and there is a lottery system to determine who gets to be sent to solitary confinement every day. I’m not sure whether the Missouris understand the use of the facility is for punishment, or perhaps they just naturally like the space."
Missouri's brow furrowed deeply, her reflection in the glass showing mounting distress.
"There are nightclubs and bars. There is even a brothel which is quite heavily attended. Their wares are promoted quite shamelessly," Lindsay said with an airy wave of her hand. “But this is not exploitation. A sex worker one day may be a patron the next.”
She clasped her hands behind her back, rocking slightly on her heels. "We asked the question: If all the participants, mental copies of you, Missouri, have the same skills… and deficiencies, will a functioning community emerge? Will the skill sets of the participants change or differentiate over time?"
Lindsay leaned closer to the glass, her breath briefly fogging the surface. "What will this population produce? What need will they value so much that they choose to address?"
Missouri opened her mouth as if to speak, but Lindsay continued without acknowledging her.
"We are still far too early in the experiment to be able to answer these questions. And with each answer, so many more questions arise." Lindsay's eyes flicked toward Missouri, evaluating her like a mildly interesting specimen. "What will this community of simpletons be like in 100 years?"
Blanca tried to temper the smile that she was currently displaying when her lover looked towards her. Missouri had such a beautiful, naive, confused look on her face. She wanted to pamper her lover. Comfort her. Take care of her.
“Come!” Lindsay said, suddenly. “Let’s pay a visit.”
“Down there?” Missouri asked, her voice trembling.
“Of course,” Lindsay responded and set off towards a set of stairs.
They descended two flights and came to a security desk of some kind with three women in black body suits who seemed to stiffen a bit as the group arrived. Behind the desk was a large metal door that resembled a bank vault.
Lindsay picked up some device from the desk and spoke into it. “Foxtrot, delta, tango, eight, six, delta, tango.” She pressed a series of buttons. Suddenly, some sort of machine was activated somewhere in the walls around the vault door. “Voice recognition,” Lindsay said, smiling. There were a series of clunks and a hiss and the vault door opened slightly.
Blanca held Missouri’s hand as she followed Lindsay through the opening onto a platform in the huge space of the Emergence Lab. One of the nearby residents of the simulated community noticed their presence and waved. A look of excitement crossed the resident’s face as she saw who the newcomers were. Particularly, Blanca knew, Missouri was the focus of the gynoid’s excitement.
Lindsay smirked as she watched Missouri. “Don’t look so nervous, Pet,” she said. “You’ll fit right in.”
A gangway was slowly lowered from the platform and by the time it was seated at least ten Missouri gynoids had gathered, waving and greeting them, each with Missouri’s voice.
“Go!” Lindsay commanded, pushing slightly on Missouri’s back. “Your admirers await you.”
Missouri looked fearfully at Blanca who just smiled. “Yes. Go! You will love meeting all these Missouris.”
Missouri slowly made her way down the gangplank and was immediately swept up in hugs by each of the gynoid Missouris, the crowd around her growing larger by the moment.
“Why don’t you all give Missouri a tour of the community,” Lindsay shouted down. The idea obviously excited the crowd even more as they nodded and gently took Missouri by the hand.
Missouri looked back up towards Blanca - still appearing nervous, but smiling now.
“Go on,” Blanca said. “Lindsay and I have some business to attend to. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”
Missouri turned back to her admiring gynoid friends. Blanca distinctly heard one say, “Maybe after the tour, we can have sex!” followed by a few others chiming in, “Me too!”
After Blanca and Lindsay left the lab, the vault door slowly swung closed and the steel bars slid into place with a resounding thud.
<>--+-
“Maybe she was hallucinating it,” Blanca was saying as she and Lindsay traversed the basement halls of VerdeCore. “Maybe on some level she understands that the chastity belt will mark the point of no return. On the other hand though–”
“Someone really hacked into your computer and communicated as though they were YOU through Shavanna’s account,” Lindsay finished.
“Exactly,” Blanca said. After a moment though she turned to Lindsay. “You said that as a statement of fact.”
“I did,” Lindsay said.
“Was it you who hacked the computer? Why would you tell Missouri that I was locked in a basement cell?” Blanca asked. “She was totally freaked out. What if she believed you? We have her in a fragile state right now, you know.”
“It was a good test,” Lindsay said. “A very successful test. She reported the incident to you immediately. She trusts you completely.” They arrived at a heavy steel door. “Besides, it wasn’t I who hacked the computer…”
Lindsay typed a code into the keypad outside the door and activated the handle. “...it was you.”
The door opened and they walked into a stark, dimly lit room. A gurney of some design elevated by a wheeled base was positioned near the far wall with a spotlight shining down upon it.
“Gurney” might not be the best description of the device. It was more like a St. Andrew’s Cross. An X shaped padded bench. A naked woman was firmly strapped to the bench, her arms and legs held wide and apart, vulnerable, as dictated by the structure of the gurney. The bound woman turned her head to look at Lindsay and Blanca as they approached.
“What the fuck?!” Blanca said, stopping in her tracks. “How… Who…”
“Relax, Blanca!” Lindsay said. “It’s your template.”
“My template?!” Blanca said.
“Yes, Blanca,” Lindsay said. “You are the augmented version of Blanca. She is the human Blanca. The original Blanca.”
Blanca stood and stared at the version of Blanca bound to the table.
Lindsay stared at Blanca for a moment. (The one she had been walking with, that is.) Then she scoffed.
“Blanca! She’s the original Blanca, the inferior Blanca. The limited Blanca. Weak Blanca,” Lindsay said.
“You haven’t even told her?” bound Blanca asked. “Bitch! I guess she doesn’t even know that she’s the third attempt at making an augmented version of me. The other two were disposed of.”
Lindsay turned and placed a hand gently on free Blanca’s face. “You’re the perfected Blanca. You seamlessly replaced the human six months ago. Human Blanca came to work one day, and Augmented Blanca went home. It was an easy switch. No one noticed. Missouri didn’t notice. Especially, because not even you knew.”
Blanca let out a half laugh. “I… I’m going to have to… um… I’m a little shocked.”
Lindsay smiled, “Look at you! Your eyes are wide, your eyebrows raised, you’re breathing heavily, you look tense… Brilliant engineering. You are exhibiting the perfect reaction to being shocked.”
“She’s going to throw you away,” bound Blanca said, “as soon as she finds an imperfection. Just like the other two.”
“No, Blanca,” Lindsay said. “You have passed all the tests. You have been augmented. You are perfect. In fact, that is why I have chosen this moment to introduce you to your template. Her purpose is fulfilled. I no longer need her to perfect the augmentation process. I no longer even need her help to bait your lover, Missouri. Your future pet.”
Blanca turned and took a few steps away from Lindsay. She took a deep breath and shook her head. Then she turned back to look at bound Blanca.
“So, then,” augmented Blanca said and pointed at bound Blanca, “what are we going to do with her, now?”
Lindsay laughed. “That-a-girl!”
Bound Blanca rolled her eyes in disappointment, “Fuck!”
“I am quite attached to the original Blanca,” Lindsay said. “But since you are living her life now, I’ve decided and am in the process of making her into a museum piece. Would you like to give me a hand?”
Blanca looked at the bound version of herself on the table for a second. She took a deep breath. “Sure. What are we doing with her?”
Lindsay laughed and bent down to pull a gun-looking device from underneath the gurney. “I’m in the process of injecting her with a collection of new devices that I have invented.”
“Oh, fuck!” bound Blanca sighed, somewhat resigned.
“The device is analogous to a diode in an electrical circuit,” Lindsay said. She stepped around the table between bound Blanca’s legs and pressed the tip against the inner thigh of her right leg.
“Please… no…” bound Blanca whimpered.
Lindsay pulled the trigger. There was a popping noise and bound Blanca grunted and grimaced.
“A diode only allows current to flow through the circuit in one direction,” Lindsay explained. “These microdevices will only allow muscle in a localized area to move in one direction. Attempts to move in the other direction will cause paralysis… that is, the muscles simply won’t respond. Here, Blanca,” Lindsay said, holding out the microchip applicator. “I’ll show you where the next chip should go.”
Blanca took the applicator and pointed the tip to a spot a little further down bound Blanca’s leg. “So, all these chips work in concert…,” augmented Blanca started. There was a pop and bound Blanca grunted in pain again. “...in such a way that you can restrict a person to a particular geopositioned area?”
“Exactly,” Lindsay said. “Right here, next.”
There was a pop and bound Blanca grunted again.
“No walls will even be necessary,” augmented Blanca continued. “No bars. No chains.”
“Well, chains aren’t necessary, but they still have a nice aesthetic. Here,” Lindsay said.
Pop.
Bound Blanca grunted in pain. “Please… just let Missouri go…”
“You know she wouldn’t survive in the future world,” augmented Blanca said. She guessed at the next location and pointed. “Here?”
“Yes, perfect,” Lindsay said.
Pop.
“Besides,” augmented Blanca said, “I love Missouri, just like you. Maybe more.”
“Do the left thigh now,” Lindsay said. “Exactly the same spots.”
Pop.
“Owww!” Bound Blanca was breathing heavily now. “Lindsay has always been jealous of Missouri. She’s going to take her from you!”
Pop.
“I don’t need to take Missouri away from anyone,” Lindsay said. “I already have three Missouris at home. They’re great in bed and they will still be smart enough to speak in three months' time.”
Pop.
“Owww! Fuck!!!”
<>--+-
Blanca smiled, waving as Missouri was led to the gangway in the Emergence Lab by six gynoid Missouri look-alikes. She looked flushed and her clothes were a bit ruffled.
“Come back again and visit,” the gynoids yelled, smiling and waving as Missouri ran across the gangway into Blanca’s arms. She smelled of sex and sweat.
“Oh, my god. They did fuck you, didn’t they?” Blanca said, grinning.
“You’re not jealous are you?” Missouri whispered. “It just kind of happened… naturally, I guess.”
Blanca laughed. “I love you, Missouri.”
“And I love you, too,” Missouri said. “Always and forever.”
Lindsay led the lovers back through the vault door which swung shut with a resounding boom and they began to make their way back through the hidden corridors of VerdeCore.
“Well, this has been a strange day,” Missouri whispered in Blanca’s ear. “Playing with copies of me.”
“I can only imagine,” Blanca said. “I can only imagine.”