The Quantum Connection

CHAPTER 12

We both lay there not moving but holding each other for several minutes. The bleeding had stopped and the wounds had all been healed as though they were never there. Tatiana's broken arm was mended and there was little pain for either of us. Mostly we were in shock as we surveyed the little white room filled with dead alien bodies and the blue-green syrupy blood—mixed with a lot of our own red blood splattered everywhere. It was a hell of a lot to take in.

After several more minutes I could no longer endure the scenery.

Clean the room please.

Okay.

A few seconds later and there was nothing left in the room but Tatiana and myself. She was shivering and clinging to me.

"I'm freezing, Steven," she said in Russian.

Make her some jeans and a long-sleeve pullover shirt.

Okay.

The clothes appeared on the floor in front of us. "See if those fit you."

She grabbed them and was in them in the blink of an eye. She tossed the torn and bloodied tank top to the floor and pulled the new top over her. The clothes were a perfect fit.

"What about shoes, Steven?"

"Oh, sorry. Hold on."

Make her some socks and sneakers.

Okay.

A pair of socks and shoes materialized and Tatiana put them on.

"That is amazing technology," she said in English.

"I agree." The shock began to subside and survival instincts began to take over. "I wonder if it can make food. I haven't eaten in days. How about you? Could you eat?"

"Sure! I'm more thirsty though," she said.

Can you make food and drink for us?

Yes.

Anything we want?

Yes.

Then make us a two-place dining table with chairs and . . .

I told the thing a full six-course meal menu complete with wine, dessert, and music. We had also gotten tired of staring at the white walls, so I had them turned into monitor screens that would display the view outside the spacecraft. Slightly below us was Saturn in all of its majesty. The rings were amazingly brilliant from this distance. We were in orbit around Titan, which was beautiful in its own way. I didn't know it was Titan; the SuperAgent told me.

As we ate and relaxed a little, we got to know each other. The computer had assured us that we were in absolutely no danger and could be returned to Earth whenever we pleased. Tatiana filled me in on her story, which was about as sad as mine. Her family had been completely wiped out from the meteors as well. Only her father had survived, and he was now the Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations and had very little time for her. She had apparently been an emotional mess since The Rain and had not recovered well either. She was lonely like I was. We talked about the damned implants and the different drugs we had each been exposed to.

You might think that we should have been more amazed and dazed by the alien technology than we seemed to be. But keep in mind that the two of us had been alone and literally nuts for nearly four years. The most important thing to us at the time was interacting and being with someone and just, well, not being alone. And, of course, there was nothing in the alien spacecraft that my generation hadn't seen in movies or games or on television, so we were quite adapted and prepared for things like nanomachines. Talking and being with someone else was more interesting for us at the time. And I finally had someone to share my loss with, so I told her all of my story—except, that is, for the classified parts.

"That is the saddest thing I have ever heard, Steven." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Your poor puppy dog!"

"I know. My folks had given him to me when I went off to school. He was my only connection to the family I had left." I started to cry and it made me a little nervous. Tatiana was crying also.

Are you there?

Yes.

Why are we both crying?

You are both very sad.

It's not because of side effects from the implants or anything?

No. You are just sad. Both of you are healthy.

That reassured me some and so I reassured Tatiana.

"How do you tell the computer what you want? Like the food, the guns, the clothes, and everything else; I mean, I can hear it in my head but it doesn't respond to my questions or orders," Tatiana inquired.

"I just think it. Oh my, I wasn't thinking. You should be able to talk to the computer, too. Hold on a minute." I paused and thought about the implications of Tatiana being "online" with the SuperAgent. I could think of no reason she shouldn't have access to it.

I want you to let Tatiana have access to you.

I'm sorry that is not allowed.

What do you mean, not allowed?

My programming specifically prohibits her from gaining access to the program control functions.

Why? This made no sense to me. It let me take over the thing; why wouldn't it do what I told it?

I do not know the reason for the programming. The programming simply is.

I am ordering you to change that programming.

I am sorry. I cannot comply with that command.

Why not?

I do not know.

Okay, then what about creating a subroutine outside of your programming that will allow her to give you commands that will not alter your control functions? She should have access to the nanomachines.

I cannot give her access to the program period, not even through subroutines.

And you have no idea why?

Correct.

Do you know what portion of your code has this programming in it?

I do.

Aha! How big is your system physically?

I am connected throughout the ship.

No. I don't mean your peripherals. I mean you as a computer system that controls the nanomachines.

My central processor is approximately one centimeter cubed.

That was about the size of a sugar cube, wow. Okay. I want you to build a physical copy of yourself in a self-sustaining and powered portable device that contains all of your programming except the code keeping Tatiana from controlling you.

Okay.

A little orange and green sugar-cube-sized object appeared on the table in front of me. Tatiana didn't notice it so I palmed it and put it in my pocket.

Have you loaded the copy into the cube?

Yes.

Is it turned on?

It is now.

How do I distinguish if I am communicating with it or you?

You merely need to give us different addresses.

I laughed at that. The thing used something similar to Internet protocol addressing.

Okay. I will call you Mike and the copy will be Mikhail.

Okay.

Let Tatiana have full access to Mikhail and we will not tell her or Mikhail about you. You keep full records of all interactions with Mikhail. And also recall that I have final control over both of you. Also, I will use Mikhail to avoid confusion between you. If I need to speak to you I will address you directly. Understood?

Okay.

Mike, I want you to set up a routine that is trying to determine why Tatiana was forbidden access.

Okay.

Mikhail, are you there?

Yes.

Make me one long-stem red rose in a vase in the center of the table.

Okay.

A red rose in a vase appeared in the center of the table. I picked it up and handed it to Tatiana. "For you, my lady. Also, you can address the computer now. His name is Mikhail. Simply think to it what you want it to do."

"Thank you, Steven." Tatiana smiled at me with an almost girlish smile and accepted the rose as I handed it to her. She couldn't be much more than twenty-one or twenty-two and still looked very young. Her short, one-length black hair and her nubile, petite, hundred-and-ten-pound frame made her cute but not impressively so.

Both of us were beginning to adjust to the situation. Our mood swings appeared to be gone. Mostly, we were very tired. We had each had four years of living in an emotional hell. Neither of us was in any hurry to do anything but relax and rest.

Tatiana smiled at me and sipped her wine and then a king-sized bed appeared on one side of the room. A large two-person-sized whirlpool tub appeared on the other side of the room and a small section walled itself off from the room. The door to the little room had a full-length mirror attached to it.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I'm making this our suite. There is the bathroom. There is our glamour whirlpool tub. And there is our bed." She emphasized the word our. We had both been alone for so long being part of any "us" or "our" was very appealing.

"Cool. I am beat and could use a nap."

"You're not getting into my bed with all that alien goo and other filth on you. Into the tub you go. Don't worry, I'll help you wash your back if you will promise to wash mine." She smiled at me. "Besides you've already seen me naked."

Tatiana had spent a seeming forever time in the bathroom and then she went straight to the tub, peeled off her clothes and plopped down into the whirling bubbles that were flowing over the sides. The whole time she had been in the bathroom I simply sat there and stared out the wall at Saturn's rings. I had thought of my family, of little JackieZZ, and finally of good ol' Lazarus. At one point I noticed that I should have been crying but I wasn't. I felt sad but not lost and overwhelmed by emotions that I couldn't control. Having removed the implant really had given me my sanity back, for the most part. I mean, what was sane about having a shootout with a bunch of aliens, hanging out in the same room, and having a full-course romantic meal with a decent-looking girl, and then planning on bathing and spending the night with her. Oh, and all of that while hanging out in orbit around Titan in a liberated—or is it stolen—alien spacecraft.

I noticed Tatiana splashing around a bit so I decided I should join her, but first I needed to freshen up. She had thought of everything. There was a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, cologne, bathrobes, and anything else you can think of that a well-stocked lavatory should have. I used the facilities, then freshened up and sheepishly made my way to the edge of the tub.

"Well, don't just stand there, Steven. Come on in. The water is fine!" She said this in Russian and English mixed.

I started to take off my shirt but was a bit embarrassed. "Maybe you shouldn't look at me, Tatiana. I'm not that pretty of a sight to see."

"You're silly. I've already seen you naked, if you recall." She laughed and it was a distinctively Russian laugh.

"Yeah, but . . . we didn't have a choice then. I, uh . . ." I stammered and felt ashamed of myself. Hey, I'm a tubby lard-ass, okay. Why would anybody want to see me naked? I thought reflexively.

Please refine the question, Mikhail asked. I laughed at myself.

"Steven, it's okay. I understand how you feel. I've never been the prettiest girl in the class either. I have an idea." Tatiana put her hands on the sides of the tub and lifted herself up. She stood there in front of me with soap bubbles running down her naked body and she smiled and jiggled at me as she stepped out of the tub. "Come with me." She took my hand and led us in front of the mirror on the bathroom door.

"Tatiana, what are you doing?" Standing beside a wet, naked woman excited me, but it also made me nervous as hell.

"Hold still, Steven, and just watch."

I wasn't sure what I was watching for but, hey, if a wet, naked girl tells you to look at her—you look at her! So I did. And the damnedest thing happened. Tatiana appeared to be becoming slightly taller. Her body also thickened a little and instead of looking skinny she became somewhat muscular. Not bodybuilder muscular, but athletically muscular. Her boobs looked fuzzy for a few seconds and then they began to grow; boy, did they grow! Tatiana went from a small B cup to a well-rounded and firm C or D cup size in a matter of seconds. Her hair grew nearly a foot longer and something about her face and complexion changed. I'm not sure exactly what about her appearance changed because she still looked like Tatiana, a hundred-thirty-pound big-breasted and gorgeous rippled-stomach version of Tatiana, but it was still her. However, she was beautiful now—not just cute. She could easily be a supermodel or movie star from her new appearance.

"Tatiana, what did you do?"

"Isn't it obvious, Steven?" She turned to face me, showing me the full frontal of her new appearance. "I had Mikhail enhance me." She raised her hands over her head and posed left, then right for me. Then she rested her hands on my shoulders and smiled lovingly at me and looked into my eyes. "And he didn't just fix me cosmetically either; these changes are now in my DNA and I will pass the traits on to my progeny. These nanomachines are amazing, aren't they?"

She placed her hand on my stomach and my shirt vanished. My two spare tires began shifting and undulating and it kind of tickled and then it stung like bees for a second or two. The skin on my stomach became fuzzy and then my spare tires were gone. Tatiana ran her fingers over my now muscled and washboard abdomen and up the cleavage of my chest, which immediately became Mister-Olympia-sized pecs. She pulled at the hair on my chest and frowned.

"This won't do." She nodded and my chest, and as far as I could tell, my entire body except my head became hairless.

She ran her fingers across my shoulders and down to my biceps. My muscles began to grow as she squeezed my right upper arm. Her fingers traced back up my shoulders and down my chest. She paused and felt the ridges in my abdominal muscles. "Nice!" she said and she kissed my navel softly as she lowered to her knees in front of me.

Her fingers then traced to the top of the waistband on my jeans. I was nervous as to where this was going so I had Mike relocate Mikhail from my pocket into the bathroom medicine cabinet. The nanomachines dissolved him in my pocket, and reconstructed him in the cabinet. It was just in time as that instant my jeans disappeared and I was standing there naked in front of Tatiana. My first reaction was to hide and cover up, but she shooshed me and wooed me and told me it would be okay and I believed her.

Tatiana traced her hands down both legs all the way to my feet and as she did my legs began to look like those of a star running back. The muscles bulged and my skin was tight everywhere. Now on her knees in front of me her eyes raised to meet mine and she smiled.

"Now for the, uh . . ." Her hands slowly reached to my excited, uh, you know, and her gaze dropped to focus on it. She turned to look at my profile in the mirror. "Look, Steven," she said, as I grew larger. "Not too large, but definitely not small," she said softly and caressed me.

Not too large, hell! I'm huge!

Please refine the question.

Oh shut up, Mikhail.

Okay.

Tatiana kissed me down there, gently, very gently. I had never felt like that, or been felt like that, ever. In fact, I had never even been this close to a naked woman before. I was in shock from the amazing transformation of my body, but more so from the amazing attention I was getting from such a beautiful and exciting young woman.

She stood slowly and gracefully with her hands slowly caressing me as she met my gaze. I stared deeply into her hazel eyes and then I realized that I wasn't going to make it much longer at this pace. It hit me that two could play at this alien nanomachine game.

Mikhail, can you give me full control of when my sexual climax occurs?

Yes.

Do it!

Okay.

Uh, how do I make myself climax?

Just desire to, otherwise you will not.

Wow!

Please refine the question.

I stopped myself just in time as I was about to—well, you get the idea. I put my arms around Tatiana, picked her up, and she wrapped herself on and around me. I gently set us down into the whirlpool. The task was easy with my newfound strength. We sloshed around until we were comfortable and I had Mikhail make the tub slightly larger and heart-shaped. I also had him—I had decided when bestowing the name that "it" was a "he"—increase the water temperature slightly and increase the bubble content of the water. The air needed scenting—it was stale—so I had him add a hint of flowers and honeysuckle. Tatiana had him add a better mix of potpourri. And then we made love in the big heart-shaped bubble bath beside the rings of Saturn three times before we decided we were going to turn into prunes and should get out of the water.

No longer embarrassed by my body, I stood up in the tub in front of Tatiana and she gazed at me with a voracious and lustful smile.

"Very hot!" she said in Russian. And then she rose from the tub as well. I whistled my sentiments right back at her.

I was learning the nanomachine game now and so I didn't bother with towels. I had the nanomachines dry us off and dust us with cologne and perfume. On the way to the king-sized bed I had a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes appear in my hands. I winked at Tatiana and when I did I had the cork on the bottle pop. We giggled at how cheesy that was, but we drank the champagne anyway and then crawled into bed. We were drunk and giddy and happier than either of us had been in at least . . . Three years seven months two weeks four days thirteen hours and twenty-seven seconds. Who was I kidding? It was the happiest I had ever been in my life.

I gently laid Tatiana across the bed and kissed her from head to toe without missing a single spot. I squeezed her to me gently and met her gaze several times, noticing that she would occasionally chew on her bottom lip and roll her eyes back. She pulled me to her . . .

Yes, Steven! That's it, ahh. . . .

I continued to nibble at her ear.

Don't stop. Right there, she said . . . She hadn't said that at all!

I realized that Tatiana was speaking directly into my mind in the same way that Mikhail or Mike would. Of course, why couldn't she?

Mikhail.

Yes.

Open a channel between Tatiana and me and always keep it open unless otherwise programmed.

Okay.

Tatiana?

Steven! What kept you, honey?

I guess I'm not as quick-witted as you, gorgeous.

We'll worry about that later. For now, yes, right there, RIGHT THERE!

You mean, that?

YES!

We made love six times more before exhaustion took over and we fell asleep in each other's arms with Titan overhead now and Saturn below us.