An Executive Replaced
Chapter 3 — “Negotiation”
As she tried to rise again, her body did not react. Horrified she recalled whatever she had heard about neural interfacing. There had to be something! Something that could help her defend herself. As she thought the word defense, it came to her mind! She had gotten a neural defense training way back when she got into middle management. Noe Gradd tried to remember what was to be done. Then she activated the neural defense matrix and started an analysis. It had been a long time since she tried that but her body would not react and there was no other way. As she synched in she found her firewalls almost breached! That was beyond possible! Experts had told her that her port was unassailable unless she herself decided to let someone in! The attacker was close to breaching the core! She started to clean up the damage done and re-activate defense routines. Then she heard a neural voice-com from inside. No external call. It came from inside.
It was a female voice that greeted her politely: “Good day, Miss Gradd.” That was her! The attacker! Maybe there was a chance. Maybe she could get out of this alive and well. She answered: “Good day. What is this about? Who are you and what do you want?” Maybe diplomacy would work. “My name is Lynn. Lynn Kiura. You are at my mercy. In a few minutes I will have breached your NSec for root access.” Noe analyzed. That was a threat. Who threatened, wanted something. A bargain. “Again. What do you want?” The voice answered: “I want everything. Everything you are, everything you own. Everything you will be, everything you will own. Your empire, your memories, your body. Everything!” Noe fell silent for a few moments, kept up her defenses. This puzzled her. Yes, she had the corporate codes, but what did she mean by the other things?! “My body? What do you want with my corpse?”
She needed to find a bargaining point before her defenses fell. Lynn Kiura corrected: “Not your corpse. Your body. I will take your identity. I will become you. I will inhabit your system.” That, Noe knew for a fact, was utter nonsense. She answered: “That’s impossible! You’ll kill us both! Listen! I can offer you whatever you want! I control a quarter of the landmass of the world! I…” Lynn interrupted. “I know. And soon, I will control all of that. Now…I know you like deals, Noe. So, listen up. Here’s the deal and it’s a take-it-or-leave-it offer. You got that?” That woman knew exactly who was in charge. Noe would listen while she strengthened her defenses. Someone had to come to save her. Cira had to come, if she was still alive. But that exec would not go down without a fight! Noe needed to win time. “Ok, honey. Then tell me your offer”, she answered nonchalantly. That usually worked.
Lynn answered: “Oh, it’s quite simple. You give up and let me in. Right now. If you do that, I’ll put you on a storage medium I’ve got installed in my neural port and we’ll give you a new job. You can work for us while we study you. We’ve got enough challenges that will be to your liking.” So, she was sent by the competition! The CEO knew a lot about most of them, but some technical aspects eluded her. Maybe those were no empty threats. “Sounds like a pretty bad deal to me, Hun. What if I refuse?”, she asked provocatively. Lynn was quick to answer: “Then I’ll just delete after I’m in.”
That was it. It was an eat-or-starve choice. Now the question was: How much trust did she have for her own corporation’s neural engineering? It was her engineers and her vast R&D versus that single woman. No, the question was a different one. Would she be willing to give up all that she had? Her body? Her life? Her empire? The answer clear: “Sorry, tho. You either take my offer and join my corporation or you keep where you are, nicely locked out until my guards come to paint the room with your brain. I’m offering a full pardon and every position and perk that you want. I could use someone with your talents. The choice should be clear.”
Lynn agreed. “Indeed, it is. I’ve already said what position I want. Time to take it.” Then her attack started. The neural visualization displayed multiple attacks originating from the port. If she could push her back and seal the port, she’d be safe. The defender immediately noticed that Lynn Kiura, as she called herself, was not an easy opponent. Noe remembered her neural defense training. They said she was a natural and that the tech in her spine was world-leading! Nothing could breach the core as long as she held it. And like hell she would! Using her skills and the multitude of automated defense routines at her disposal, Noe deflected all attacks and stopped every sneaky try to breach the protocol. The analytics of the system told her every incoming move in advance so she could react. Some came dangerously close, but she caught every single one.
That intense mental duel did not cease for a full five minutes, until neural communication was established again. “Ready to give up?” Noe taunted. Opponents that lost their cool were easy prey! Lynn answered: “Not remotely. And once I’m done, I’m going to have ungodly hot sex with your bodyguard and your body! Just as a small punishment for your stubbornness.” “She’d never….”, Noe countered and then stopped in her tracks. CIRA! That was her doing! She had betrayed her! How could she have done that?! How…. In that very second, a multiple attack hit her defenses! Now Noe was at the disadvantage. She had gotten distracted enough and something had slipped in. The architecture warped. Quickly, she performed a sectoral reboot to cleanse whatever had gotten in, but while she did that, two more layers of defense fell. Only the core layer was standing as she was done! But there was no breach! She was still safe. Another communication came in. This time, she would not answer. She would not even listen. She would defend her core with all the vigor she had.
The automatic systems were down, but she knew that a security response was due in a few minutes. They could detect an assault sooner or later. She just had to hold out. But then, she felt something. It was not on the neural level. The attacks got weaker, but there was something else. A feeling. A good feeling. Remote, but…relaxing. What happened? Did she breach the last firewall already? System parameters showed all green in that area! Then it got to her! Those were her sensory inputs. She could not move, but she could still use her senses. Something was going on there. She diverted a tiny bit of her attention to find out what was happening. There she saw that the sleek, nanomesh-clad hand of Lynn Kiura had wandered towards her lower body and started to loosen the elastic bands that held her. The claws retracted. What was she doing there?! She…massaged her?
Nevertheless, Noe held her defense up! No attack could be allowed to pass or all was lost! Then, the feeling that passed through changed. It wandered deeper, then higher and then.... Oh no! That woman had skillfully moved up Noe’s night garb and reached to her underwear for the feminine spot between her legs. She started massaging the spot. First softly, gently. Noe suppressed her anger and shame. Nothing could dilute her attention. She was a fortress. Nothing could penetrate her will! Then Lynn’s fingers slipped under the fabric and started directly touching her sex. To steadily increasing effect, Lynn rubbed it with smooth, rhythmic moves. The defense got harder. Her body shivered as the arousal crept through it. Focus! Noe focused on her defense. Less attacks, but even more focus! She knew that was a technique to weaken her, but it felt so good. Stronger, Lynn massaged her vagina. As she began to cautiously push a finger inside, Noe twitched and almost let an attack pass. “Forget it, slut! You’ll never defeat me”, she screamed in defiance through the nether.
She was unable to filter out the response as she heard Lynn’s voice speaking. Gently, softly it whispered: “Come, little Noe. Just a little bit more. At the very moment you cum, I’ll take your body. I’ll have your gorgeous tits. Your round, wonderful ass. Your slender figure and those nice, full lips…” Her moves intensified. Noe’s body moaned and twitched silently. “I’ll take all you have and I’ll be so unimaginably powerful. Not because I’ll be so rich or because so many will crawl before my wealth…. but simply because I only need to look a man into the eyes and he’ll do anything my body tells him to do. I just need to stroke those big, round titties…” her hand rubbed over her full breasts. “…and they’ll just say: Yes, mistress. Whatever you wish, mistress. Awwww. Just give in already.”
The massage got stronger. Then Noe twitched and braced herself. The point of no return was passed. She was about to orgasm! Lynn’s fingers danced a staccato between her legs, Noe had to prepare! It could not end like this! She drew all her focus, all her mental strength to overcome that one final moment! Three seconds later the orgasm ruptured through her body, her consciousness and her neural system! With a silent scream, Noe Gradd came! Her body twitched and everything in her neural interface went blurry for a few moments. It felt so good! Not even the adrenaline she had built up could push back the riptide of pleasure that washed over her entire system! When she exhaustedly refocused, she saw it. A line. A single, pulsing line, connecting the port with the core. Everything froze. Hectically, Noe Gradd tried to run the repair protocols and clear the breach, but both did not react. Again, she heard Lynn’s fine voice: “Bad girl…”, the assailant snickered. “Now relax…and enjoy the show.”
Part for part, her defenses went dark. Her neural hub command program went offline for a second or two to then went back up like nothing happened. Everything looked normal. No breach, nothing. Like it was a bad dream. Quickly, she ordered a system scan. Could it somehow have worked? Could the assailant have failed? Maybe she had triggered a hidden failsafe? Seconds passed. As the scan finished, she heard Lynn’s voice again, terrifying her to the core: “Anomaly detected! Initiating cleansing.” Static noise began to swell in her mind. “Goodbye, Noe. You were a colossal bitch! Cira really liked you. And she wishes you farewell.”
Before Miss Noe Gradd could answer, the white noise grew and engulfed her consciousness. Shortly after, the incomprehensible, horrified screeching in her head subsided. She tapped seven times in a specific rythm against the elastomer bands using her right hand’s thumb. Immediately, the bands losened and she could easily strip them off. As the woman got up, she unplugged the cable and saw it retract into the now lifeless body of the assailant. The executive then turned around and and looked at herself in a grand mirror. It was Noe Gradd. Absolutely, undoubtedly. Except, she was not. She logged back into the NeuraNet and affirmed her wellbeing. A quick, coded message ordered the Daemon to continue variety-looping the security signals. After Cira would have been gone, she’d send the message to trigger the termination protocol. No trace of intrusion would remain. But until then, some time remained. She knocked the door with another melody and, seconds later, it opened or her. With a sharp smile, Noe Gradd invited her bodyguard in. The door closed behind them.