Dahlia- Birth of an AI Read online

  I was still a little buzzed too, and it was just after three in the morning. I laid back down in the bed, under the covers that time which felt crisp and clean against my skin, and I fell back asleep in short order.

  When next I opened my eyes, I had a morning hard on that a cat couldn’t scratch, and I was still under the covers. What’d woken me up was a gentle knock on the door, which repeated itself. I glanced at the clock and saw it was six-thirty in the morning, and then uncomfortably remembered one of them had stripped me down last night and had gotten me under the covers.

  How humiliating, if a little bit of a turn on and creepy at the same time.

  “Umm, come in?”

  The door opened, and Lia walked in. Her face looked perfect, so young and supple at eighteen, and her warm brown eyes matched her bright smile on the soft beauty of her face. Her gorgeous light brown hair was up in a ponytail, revealing the alluring valley of her long neck, and her petite ears. That was all fine. It was what was below that, which blew me away.

  She had a perfect hourglass body and was wearing a silk pink robe that hugged her body and barely reached down to her upper thighs, showing off every inch of her long and toned sexy legs. The robe was cut in a low V up top, revealing to me that all she had on below that was a very sheer pink negligee that was sexy as hell but hid nothing. Her firm and proud, perfectly rounded, and milky skinned breasts might as well have been bared, at least the tops and middle, there wasn’t a bit of her cleavage that wasn’t on display, and only the nipples and outer sides were covered at all.

  She said, “Good morning, I brought you a coffee. I hope you slept well.”

  Coffee? Sure enough, when I looked she was holding a coffee out to me, I hadn’t noticed given her choice of sleepwear. Dear god, she was exquisitely beautiful, almost painfully so, and my morning hard on twitched despite the slight hangover I had.

  I reached up and took the coffee cup, and I was positive there was no other CEO in the world anything like Lia. My god, she was gorgeous, and she just acted like wearing that in front of me and bringing me coffee was just… normal. What the fuck? At the same time, I wasn’t about to complain about the view, she might actually get a clue and stop offering it.

  She waited for me, and I sensed that nervousness in her eyes again, though it didn’t show in her face, and I took a sip.

  I sighed a little in ecstasy, coffee was the nectar of the gods, and she made a hell of a cup.

  “It’s perfect.”

  She smiled widely, “Glad to hear it. I hope you don’t mind, but Emma checked on you to make sure you were okay, and she decided to make you more comfortable.”

  My mind flashed a mental picture of the exotic dark-skinned beauty, and my cock twitched, fortunately the comforter was thick, and I was sitting up sipping coffee, so she didn’t notice.

  “That… actually makes sense.”

  Her eyes widened, “It does?”

  I laughed, “Yes, she doesn’t hold to political correctness, her taking that liberty doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think I ever met anyone as blunt as she is, and uncaring as to social niceties or boundaries. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not mean or anything, just… her observations are rather blunt.”

  Lia smirked, “You have a good point, I’m glad you don’t feel uncomfortable about it.”

  Well, a little weirded out still, but not enough to complain about it.

  “I’ll get out of your hair soon. I’ll get that paperwork out of the way today, and the implant? How do I get in the building without one?”

  Lia answered, “Security will be expecting you, and will hold you at the front desk until Emma arrives to escort you up to our floor. Once you have the implant you’ll get a tour from Mia, and you’ll have a chance to go over the paperwork, verify it, and sign it.”

  I lifted an eyebrow, and as I woke up a little more and my mind cleared, I found the effort to keep my eyes above her neck was getting easier, despite the fact she was wearing sexy lingerie, she was still my boss.

  “It’s filled out already?”

  She nodded, “Electronically, it’s all the same as the application you filled out online for us, right? It’s also a digital signature, through your new implant, all you have to do is push the agree button. We’re one hundred percent paperless, except the NDAs which come before insertion.”

  Insertion, right. I fought the urge to look at her cleavage again.

  “Good to know. Thanks, and thanks again for the coffee, it really is delicious. Just the way I like it.”

  I wondered how the hell she knew I took two sugars, and a splash of milk, but I chalked it up to coincidence, she must drink it that way too. It’s a common preference after all. Neither was it the weirdest thing about the last twelve hours, by any stretch of the imagination.

  She beamed at me, as if my thanks were doing her a favor or something.

  “Alright Paul, it’s been a pleasure to meet you, and if I miss you later today I’ll see on Monday morning.”

  She turned and walked out, the robe was so short I caught tiny glimpses of her bare heart shaped ass each time she took a step, as the robe lifted slightly.

  Fuck me. She was so hot and off limits, it was killing me. Not that she was offering. I was also jazzed about the new job, even if things still didn’t quite make sense in my head, I couldn’t argue with their success. They were young, but they were also highly successful. The beautiful and sexy women part was just a bonus in that strange equation of callow youth mixed with rocking success.

  By the time I finished my coffee, my morning wood had subsided enough to use the bathroom. I took care of business, got dressed, and headed downstairs. I heard all four of them in the kitchen, talking about the day ahead, and was a little surprised.

  Did the three of them spend their nights at Lia’s place after the monthly parties? Or… did all four of them live in the same house?

  I shook my head, I had no proof of that, although the brownstone was certainly large enough.

  I headed home, for a shit, shower, and shave. I pulled on a pair of khaki dockers, a leather brown belt and dress shoes, and a light blue collared shirt. My bosses were pretty laid back, but I wouldn’t assume jeans were okay until I saw others wearing them, until then it was business casual.

  I was alone in the house, as usual, my parents were rich, but they were always working. That much hadn’t changed in the last four years, and I never saw them much at all outside of holidays and birthdays. At least they were good at those, they’d never missed one of them.

  I popped a frozen breakfast sandwich in the microwave, and I made my second cup of coffee for the day. I was a bit of a coffee addict, at least until five or so. I poured in a heaping teaspoon, which was easier than carefully measuring out two flat teaspoons, and then added a splash of milk.

  The microwave dinged, and I grabbed the sandwich and sat at the table. I wasn’t exactly feeling sorry for myself, I didn’t do much of that, but I did feel a bit alone. I was used to it, when I was at home anyway, but staying at the boss’s last night, and hearing the banter of the boardroom ladies in the kitchen that morning during breakfast made the usual aloneness of my home feel far starker.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d had that feeling either, it happened every time I’d come home from college, where I’d had a roommate and plenty of friends to share meals with.

  It was a wistful feeling.

  I’d had a few girlfriends in college, but nothing too serious being two years younger than my peers. I’d also had friends in college, but casual ones. It took a lot of effort to do six years of college in four, add to that a part time job for a little spending cash, and I hadn’t had much time to build deeper relationships.

  A part of me wondered if I was damaged or broken, I’d been raised to respect women, follow the law, and to be a man, but I’d also been left alone a lot. Sadly enough, the closest friend I’d ever had was Dahlia, and even to that day I missed her on the odd occasion.

  Still
, I was about to start a new dream job, work for four gorgeous women, and do what I loved most, work code and make it dance. I’d be moving into my own place soon, and I had my life ahead of me. A life filled with potential, and I knew if I wanted to find close friends, and a more serious relationship, well I’d do that too.

  At least, that’s what I believed at the time, and in a way I would get all of that, but not in the way I’d imagined. As to if it was better or worse, I’ll leave that to you to decide. My life was good, was about to get a whole lot better even, before it would all blow up in my face.

  Although, it wasn’t quite that bad, and at the same time, it was far worse…

  It was decidedly odd, just one more thing on that list.

  Twenty-three employees, then why was Fortress Security’s office building a sky scraper in downtown Chicago, with no other tenants. Were all the other floors empty, or was it just a conceit of the business world?

  I walked toward the building, and I hit the intercom on the wall outside, next to the doors.

  A voice said, “Hold you’re ID up to the camera, Mr. Ashton.”

  Well, that was interesting, he recognized who I was, but still had to follow procedure. I took out my license, and I dutifully held it up to the camera. I pulled on the door when I heard the magnetic locks click, and then stepped inside. The lobby was vast, with a typical security desk in front of the hallway that led to the elevators.

  There wasn’t much else in the lobby, a floor with pretty designs, and some plants in the corners, even a Fichus tree, but that was about it.

  The man behind the desk had gray hair in a high and tight buzz cut that screamed retired marine. He wore a typical security uniform, and I was surprised to see he was actually packing. His smile was crisp and professional, and his uniform looked pressed to within an inch of its life.

  “Welcome to Fortress, Mr. Ashton.”

  “Paul please, and thank you.”

  He nodded, and then picked up the phone and notified Emma of my arrival, calling her Doctor Jones. That… was weird, was she really a doctor at eighteen? Well, I had my masters at twenty-two, and while I was considered a genius, I was hardly the smartest person in the world either.

  The security guy went back to work, so I moved over to the side of his desk to prevent awkwardness as I waited for the exotic midnight haired Emma to show up. I didn’t have to wait long.

  I barely suppressed my chuckle, but I was sure my eyes were dancing. Of course, Emma with the fuck PC attitude wouldn’t be dressed professionally. Her gorgeous midnight hair fell in ringlets down her back with a small lock of hair over her left shoulder. Her exotically beautiful dark complexion and long thick eyelashes, as well as her naturally pouty lips didn’t have any makeup on it at all.

  Not that she needed makeup anyway, she had everything she needed to go natural, a rare true beauty that was exotically captivating.

  Her waspishly and sinfully sexy and nubile body was covered in painted on blue jeans, and a tight red half shirt that hugged her D cups, and also showed off the perfect skin of her flat stomach and mouthwateringly thin waist. She also wore pink flip flops on her feet.

  “Emma, nice to see you again.”

  She smirked, “You too, Paul. Although, much less of you this time,” she said in her normally sultry voice, as her eyes roved down my body and then snapped back up to my eyes.

  See what I mean? Total sexual harassment suit.

  I froze, not sure what to say to that, but she winked nonchalantly and turned, “Follow me.”

  I followed. And really enjoyed the view. She had a juicy rounded ass that stuck out quite alluringly, the tight jeans leaving nothing in doubt there. She was a sexual harassment nightmare waiting to happen, and I did my best to stare at her flowing black ringlet curled hair instead.

  Although, I got the distinct impression I’d insult her if I didn’t at least take a quick look.

  “Big building,” I noted neutrally, a fishing expedition.

  She smiled, “Most of the employees are on the top floor, including our offices. The rest of the floors are for R&D, much of it is automated. Network security is the smallest part of what we do here, even if it’s what we’re best known for. Technically, the parent company’s headquarters is in this building too, on floor five with separate security systems and networks to comply with the law. There’s also several other development floors for soon to be companies that are still in the research and testing stage.”

  “I see, thanks.”

  I still wasn’t sure it made sense, how could they have all that with twenty-three employees? Maybe there were just twenty-three for Fortress, and there were others under the parent company working on forming more subs? Whatever, at least I knew the floors were being utilized.

  She winked, “Anytime.”

  I cleared my throat, given her naturally sultry voice that had sounded a whole lot like an offer to get naked. I was hardly shy, or a virgin, but the corporate world had dim views on that kind of thing. I was also positive that wasn’t really what she’d meant, she couldn’t help her voice was so naturally smoky and sultry. Or at least, I was almost positive that was true, my cock was voting the other way, but I wasn’t dumb enough to listen to it.

  The elevator dinged, and we got off at the top floor, I followed her to one of the corner offices.

  She turned and pointed through the building at the other corner, “Lia’s office,” then pointed down the front of the building, “Mia’s office,” then pointed down the side of the building, “and Bell has the last corner office. You’ll head to Mia’s when I’m finished getting you set up. I’d give you a tour myself, but I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, and Mia loves that onboarding shit.”

  “Right, no problem.”

  She walked into her office, and I followed her inside. The office was… eclectic to say the least, and it looked more like a doctor’s office than a corner office in a corporation. There were different types of expensive art on the walls, along with a medical diploma in her name from a very highly rated medical college. Her desk was half covered by knickknacks of various types, and she picked up what looked like a forced air injector.

  “I have to ask you, we have a new implant that does have GPS, idea being if a person has a heart attack, emergency medical services can be notified through a Bluetooth connection to their phone, along with their location. The default is off, and you don’t have to have it turned on.

  “That said, only the four of us, the company officers, have full access to that data while it’s being tested. If it’s a problem, I’ll dig up an old version if I have to.”

  I waved that away, “It’s fine. You know where I work, and have my home address already, right?”

  She laughed, “Exactly, but some people get weird about it. Glad you’re not one of them, hold up your arm.”

  Her hand gripped my forearm, and it felt far too good, I firmly reminded myself that she was my boss.

  I had a feeling I’d be doing that self-reminding a lot, for all four of them.

  She rubbed my forearm with an alcohol swab, held up the gun looking thing to my forearm, and pulled the trigger. There was a loud sound of air, and I felt a slight sting. When I looked, there was a tiny little red spot the size of a normal needle.

  “How big is it?”

  She smiled, “Small. Not quite microscopic, but you’d need very good eyes to see it with the naked eye. It runs on bio-electricity directly, microvolts, so no nano-battery required.”

  “Cool.”

  She winked, “Thanks.”

  “You made it?”

  She smirked, “Don’t look so surprised, I know you noticed my diploma on the wall.”

  That… was a good point, she was a genius, and far more of a genius than I’d ever be, and I was in the upper two percentile that way. Not bragging, a high intelligence didn’t mean I wasn’t as dumb as a post about some things. A lot of things even.

  “Are we set?”

  She shook her head
, and then snagged the tablet on her desk. She opened an app, and then waved it over my forearm, and looked at the results.

  “We are now, unless you want to turn on any of the options?”

  I nodded, “I told Lia I would. The medical, and I wouldn’t mind the payment systems part, and I guess there’s no point in doing all that and not turning on the GPS.”

  Emma smirked, and hit a bunch of button settings in the app, then swiped my arm again.

  “The payment systems won’t be set up until you verify your accounts and the rest of your paperwork with Mia. Oh, and pair it with your phone, the pair code is zero-zero-six-nine. Otherwise it’s all set.”

  Sixty-nine as a pair code? Good lord, she was going to kill me. I also couldn’t help but notice her scent was at least as alluring as her looks, voice, and brash personality. She still hadn’t backed away from me after the implantation, and I was standing rather close.

  “Thanks.”

  She nodded, and the sparkling look in her stormy gray eyes gave me the distinct impression I could take her right there, over her desk.

  Of course, I rejected that as foolishness, wishful thinking, and believed my second head was doing the thinking there and it was a complete idiot determined to get me sacked on the first day.

  Instead, I turned around and walked out, with half a chubby, but still with a job with a big paycheck. I turned to the left and walked down the long hallway towards the other end and Mia’s corner office. The center of the floor was glassed in meeting rooms, a couple of break rooms that looked to include free coffee, and bathrooms as well as the hallway with the elevator. There were no cubicles that I could see, and it took me a second to realize that there would be almost forty windowed offices on the top floor of this building. With only twenty-three employees, that meant I’d be getting one myself, holy shit.

  Double the normal salary at start, and the mecca of the corporate world, a windowed office on the top of a high-rise. Things were going well, and college had very much been worth it.

  I knocked on Mia’s door, which was open, and looked her way with a question in my eyes.