Teaser Trailer (Sort of)

[Hola_guy]

((So, I've just decided to go ahead and post this. This isn't complete by any means, but it should be a /small/ start.

Without further adue, and a long-overdue return, here is the beginning of Loveless, Act 2, Scene 1.

Let me know what you think.))


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It had been just over two weeks since the attack on Dr. van Dross. The attack that claimed my best friend. The 'official' story was that she had died in a car accident one night. But I knew the truth.

The disturbing truth that whoever was killing Atlas personnel was still at large, though an attack hadn't come for some time. Since the loss of Frank left me without an official handler, Dr. van Dross had taken over the duties.

This was due in part to me. I figured that keeping Gloria close would allow me to catch whoever was behind the attacks.

Loveless.

The faceless name. No matter how many times in the past year I turned that card over and over (enough to very near wear it out), I was still without a lead. The card was clean of any identifying marks, and I had even taken to checking around Gloria's home. There was absolutely nothing.

In the meantime, I had resumed my life as normal (well, as normal as you can get missing your best friend). I was back in classes, and always on the watch for something out of the ordinary.


My only lead on the case at this point was the ever mysterious 'Victoria Project', the only link tying my victims together. And no matter how I pressed, Gloria seemed as tight lipped as Frank had been about the information.

"...Isn't that right, Miss Wilson?"

I looked up from my daydreaming to find the professor of my Physics class standing over me.

"What's that?" I was no good at hiding my disinterest, which obviously did nothing to help the matter.

"I was just reminding the class of the test that will be presented to you next period, though if you had bothered to pay attention at all this week, you would have known that."

Dr. Daniel Rose, the Associate Dean of the Physics department on campus. It was bad enough that I detested the class, but his method of teaching and his attitude did little to help me.

"Sorry. I've been studying late all week, getting ready." A lie.

"Oh, is that so? Then maybe you wouldn't mind explaining the relevance of Newton's laws?" I always hated when he put his students on the spot. It made it impossible for anyone to focus on other things. As a result, I just looked at him and stammered.

"I thought so. It would do you well to actually apply yourself, Miss Wilson." I stood from my seat, following my classmates toward the door at the end of the period. My response was a curt "Yes sir" before stepping from the room.

I turned down the hallway, then made my way outside. I was on my way to my car when I felt my phone go off. I stopped in my tracks to check the text message I had received.

'Danica, meet at my office in 20 minuets please. G'

I sighed. The last few meetings with Gloria had been rather uneventful. She had been calling me in to check on my mental state, or to talk about how my classes were going, so to say I was less than excited about this meeting would be an understatement.

--------------

"I told you I would call as soon as we found something."

I nodded in affirmation at Gloria's statement. It had been decided that until any further leads were discovered in the case, I would resume my life, and Gloria would handle the investigation.

"What did you find?" I asked, moving to look over her shoulder as she motioned me around the rather large desk in her office. She pointed toward the computer monitor.

"As far as we can tell, that warehouse hadn't been used in several years, so there probably weren't any cameras there. Or, the ones that were were lost in the explosion. Well, I recently pulled this from several buildings down."

I looked where she pointed. A sports car, though the make, model and color were impossible to tell from the quality of the video.

"I feel like I've seen that car somewhere before." I mentioned, leaning in closer.

"I'm not surprised. The same car shows up around the warehouse several times in the previous days. If I had to guess, someone was casing the building. Probably our guy, to know the ins and outs, looking for a suitable hideout."

I backed up. "So, we find this car and we find our guy, right?"

"It's not necessarily that easy. We don't know if they're working for anyone yet. Or what it is they're looking for." I moved back around the desk as I heaved a sigh. It just wasn't fair.

"Danica, look...I know you want to catch this guy. I want to get him as well. But if we rush into this, we could end up causing more harm than good." Gloria just wasn't getting it. I had lost my handler Frank. I had lost Ashley, my best friend. And the person responsible was still on the loose.

"Look, Danica, I can't promise anything. Atlas' resources are stretched thin as it is, and with these murders, everyone is hesitant to do anything. Just keep an eye out for this car. That could be our lead in this case. But please, be careful."

I nodded in agreement, and turned toward the door. I planned on doing more than keeping an eye out for that car...

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.....
Boot sequence activated...
...
Current time: 7:30 A.M. March 24, XXXX
....
All systems functioning within normal parameters.
....
...
Boot up complete.


I rose from my bed. My feet hit the floor, and I could feel the cold hardwood against my bare skin. I moved to my closet and pulled out a sundress. I pulled it over my head after slipping off my silk pyjamas. From downstairs came the smell of frying pork. Gloria was making breakfast. I pulled on a pair of shoes to match my dress, and moved to the vanity to fix my hair.

Once fully dressed, I headed downstairs. I could hear the sounds of Gloria cleaning up as she finished breakfast. I stepped into the kitchen and took a piece of the overly-fat bacon.

"I was thinking of skipping class today." I said, between bites of the processed product. Two days had passed since Gloria had alerted me to the sports car on the video, and I still could not find any sign of it. "I need to look for our lead, before this case goes cold."

"I think that's a good idea. The faster we make a break, the better the chance of Atlas committing backup to this case. But like I said, please be careful. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into on this one."

"Yes ma'am." I answered, gathering what things I was going to need for the day. I headed toward the door. One good thing about this case was the IMMEDIATE backup Atlas had sent...well, more like security.

Officially, I didn't live with Gloria. And in case I needed to be away from her, Atlas was doing their part to at least pick up some of the slack.

I picked up my car keys, and exited the house. I made my way down to my car at the curb. That was when I saw it. It wasn't the same car from the security footage Gloria and I had poured over, but it was definitely watching this house.

I started my engine, and slowly backed out of the drive. I played down the fact that I had noticed the car in the first place, but it didn't help much. The driver pulled away from the house when I did, and began to follow me.


I lead the car across town and onto campus, hoping they wouldn't risk a public setting to start a fight. I parked and exited my car, noticing my tracker keeping their distance. I played at checking my phone to send a text to Gloria. It was quick, and I hoped Gloria understood.

When I looked up, an unknown man was standing in front of me. Standing erect, I missed this person's eye level by a few inches, and he was quite muscular. A black tee and a leather jacket covered his torso, with a pair of faded blue jeans and black shoes. His head was shaved, but he wasn't bald, and his steely blue eyes showed no sign of mercy.

In a clipped accent I clearly marked as Russian, the man said, "The boss would like a word with you." I felt a large arm wrap around me as I was led back toward the car. "Oh yeah? And who is this boss of yours?"

The man remained silent as he tried to push me into the back of the car. I resisted. "What if I---"

A warm hand-a human hand-reached to the back of my neck, and pushed on it in the right places to shut me down...

------------------------------------

...
Boot up sequence activated...
...
...
GPS not active...
Location unknown...
Time...unknown...
...
...
All systems green...
Boot up complete...


When I came to, I had no idea where I was, or how long I had been out. I looked around, but could barely make anything out.

I did, however, know that I was restrained, and quite well. I was unable to move most of my limbs, and this was probably done on purpose. There was one window in the room that I could notice, but it had been covered to keep the place dark.

A figure stepped from the shadows, and approached me. "You seem to be causing trouble. My superiors don't like trouble." The man's face was still hidden in the shadows, but I could make out a light on what appeared to be a laptop.

"What are you doing? Who are you?"

The voice chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Soon, you won't remember anything." I felt a cool hand touch my body, which I now recognised was undressed. A panel on my chest opened, revealing my inner workings. The hand plugged one end of a cable into my chest.

"Stop it!!!" I yell. Unable to move my body, I'm powerless against the voice. The hand plugs the other end of the cable into the laptop, and I can see all of the data.

The man, who is a shorter, portly man with what appears to be greying hair is now illuminated by the light. I make a mental picture or the man as I become aware of what he is doing.

"System firewalls breached. Beginning download."

My HUD flashed with each passing second, the phrase "invasive download" blinking before my eyes. I'm unable to close my backdoor protocols, as the download continues.

In a desperate attempt to save myself, I issue a virus package back to the laptop, but not before the download takes effect. I become dimly aware of my surroundings as My personality is shoved to the background.

"Oh my god! You were trying to make me into a sexbot! How dare you!"

At this, the mystery man picks up a remote and points it at me. He pushes a button, and I report "D-series pleasurebot online. How may I serve you master?"

[Hola_guy]

And here's the link to part 1:

http://www.fembotcentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9859

[A.N.N.]

I'd almost forgotten about this one. Please continue the story, we need to know what happens to Dani!

[dieur]

I love the first person perspective! I'm curious to see how you handle the challenge of portraying her hacked state in any kind of appealing manner.

When I tried, I found the vulnerability of a robot is attractive only to the point it gets exploited, then all of a sudden it can get really disturbing. I've noticed many authors dodge this by revealing the bot was never self aware in the first place, but this unique perspective offers no such option.

I'll stay tuned!