XX
Things settled out over the next week or so. Concrete was poured, electricity was brought into a panel and distributed through the dungeon, duct work went in carrying away stale air and bringing in fresh. A small building, matching the look of the house and old garden shed was erected to hide the top of the lift and the fans for the ventilation system. Phone lines were brought in and a system installed that let us call between phones as well as allow several calls at once. We all took a few rides on the new lift, then it assumed it’s intended use of moving heavy, bulky, or awkward loads from the ground level down or up as the need arose.
The servers arrived and were installed in two tall racks, freeing up some floor space. Network cables were run throughout the dungeon, the house and the carriage house. Lisa was everywhere, installing the older computers, re-purposed as work stations and integrating them into the network. Desks, filing cabinets and other office furniture were brought down and wrestled into place.
All of this was infrastructure and didn’t push our work forward, but we were finally ready to get back to it. The first samples of the new chips arrived. Jennifer and I spent a lot of hours building a new headset and the new flat panels, both remarkably compact. One problem became immediately obvious, the tiny chips were a pain to work with because of the smaller size. We had to do some of the work under a binocular micrscope. But we managed to get them done.
Then came testing. The headset built into a bulky set of headphones worked a treat, but other than size was the same as the old skullcap style. The flat panels were where the difference became obvious. With Lisa’s new software, we could get clear images of any part of the body just by arranging the panels on either side of the part in question. The only issue was they needed to be parallel to each other. A holding fixture was cobbled together to help with that.
Cory was practically jumping up and down as he viewed one crystal clear image after another. He easily spotted an old football injury in Robert’s knee and evidence of a broken bone, long since healed, in Lisa’s arm. He pointed out the beginnings of carpal tunnel syndrome in his own wrist.
“Claudia, can we have a look at your feet?” he asked.
“I don’t see why not.” she said , starting to remove her shoes.
“Don’t remove your shoes.” Cory said, “I think this will ‘see’ through them.”
Cory studied the images of Claudia’s feet intently, asking for small changes to study blood vessels, tendons, and finally just the bones.
“Do your feet hurt sometimes?” he asked, “Especially when you have been on them for awhile?”
“Yes.” she replied, “But I have so much trouble finding shoes that fit properly.”
“You, my munchkin,” he said, “have the beginnings of gout, a side affect of your condition.”
“What?” she yelped.
Cory was in Doctor mode now. He mentioned some foods to avoid and a few that might help and prescribed a pill to be taken daily.
“If you doubt my quackery, you can check with your own doctor,” he said, “but at the current stage it’s almost impossible diagnose with conventional methods.”
“This is mind blowing.” he said to all of us, “It does everything that an x-ray, cat scan, and MRI does and does it better. How long before we have a production prototype ready?”
“A couple of months should do it.” I said, “the only proprietary bits are the scanner panels and Lisa’s software. The computer or computers are practically off the shelf items.”
“We still need to do what we can to prevent some Chinese whiz kid from reverse engineering the thing.” said Conner.
We kicked ideas around for a while then decided to go out for dinner to celebrate. Dinner, like most meals we took as a group was also a working meeting, with ideas flying back and forth across the table. Our waitress had to remind us that they were closing before we left. Back at the house, we gathered in the living room. As was usual, the conversation died out to replaced by moans, groans, and gasps, punctuated by squeals and clench jaw hissing screams.
Partners changed frequently, I had to laugh a little when I caught sight of Claudia riding Cory. He seemed to be over his reluctance, or maybe it was being free of the scrutiny of school. Much later, we gathered our scattered clothes and staggered off to our individual beds more or less. In the end Jill slept with Jennifer and I, and Robert and Conner were with Lisa. I heard Claudia’s cackle from Cory’s room.
In the morning I found Cory at the kitchen table cradling a cup of coffee, looking like he’d been pulled through a knot hole. I raised an eyebrow.
“Claudia kept her promise.” he said in an exhausted monotone.
“Promise?”
“Did her considerable best to screw me to death.” he said.
“Looks like she nearly succeeded.” I said in a dry voice, “ask her about Ricky, a kid who tried to blackmail us, sometime.”
Claudia came bounding down the stairs. Cory took one look at her, pushed his coffee away, and dropped his head unto his arms.
“Glorious morning to be alive!” crowed Claudia as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I’m putting you on a strict regimen of strong anaphrodisiacs .” Cory mumbled.
“ Anaphrodisiacs?” I asked.
“Work opposite of aphrodisiacs.” Cory mumbled, “Used to reduce the sex drive.”
“My Mum tried that on me when I was fourteen,” Claudia cackled, “didn’t do a thing.”
“Just drag me out back an bury me.” Cory mumbled.
“Claudia, try not to kill our resident doctor.” I said
“I didn’t kill him.” she said, “Just crippled him up some. He had it coming, twelve indeed.”
“We don’t need a doctor.” I said, “We need a shrink.”
The others wandered in over the next several minutes, glanced at Cory and Claudia, and nodded. They were all aware of Claudia’s proclivities.
After breakfast, Jennifer and I worked on refining the sensor chips. Cory, Lisa, and the other girls continued to map the brain and define the effect of point stimulation. Robert and Conner worked on their latest game. Jennifer thought we could benefit from integrating the sensors on one large chip, perhaps using an entire wafer, making the interconnections on the chip rather than manually connecting the tiny chips, She sketched the layout and was back at her drafting table making a clean copy for our chip manufacturer. I was playing with an ideas to improve the original read function that had been the first application and it’s corollary, the write function we called Jabberwocky.
After dinner, Conner and Robert presented a first draft of their game, including maps, NPC dialogs, and sketches of specific locations as well as large sections of countryside. Notes indicated where sensory inputs would occur. They had figured out how the game would run on a normal system, without our proprietary headset, and how the system would deal with users who had high end computers and the headsets. Everyone had comments and suggestions. They scribbled copious notes and wanted to get back into the game right away. I stopped them, I knew a few freelance game developers and knew that they would skip meals and sleep if they were given free reign.
About three weeks went by and the various projects were nearing completion. The medical scanner, with the new integrated scanner chips and Lisa’s software could produce clear images at resolutions that could zoom almost to celular levels. The system ran on three servers sandwiched into a largish wheeled suitcase, leaving just enough room to store the scanner plates and cable harness. An initial demonstration was scheduled at a local hospital. The game was a playable demo, that worked well with or without the headsets. A lot of work had gone into keeping people from casually taking components apart to reverse engineer our property. Nothing could stop a truly determined effort, but we hoped to at least slow down the thieves.
Now I had a new headache to deal with. The idea of setting up a production facility scared the shit out of me. There was no way it could be run in the loose informal way they had been doing things. Suppliers, warehousing, payroll, training, marketing, transportation, service staff. The list of things to worry about kept getting longer. I threw down my pen and wandered out to find Claudia.
Claudia was on the phone, scribbling notes. She had two other lines on hold. I waited while she worked her way through her calls and finished her notes. I dropped into a chair and told her my problems. She looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Licensing.” she said, “Find someone to manufacture, sell, and service the med scanner. We get fat royalties and no headaches.”
“But then it isn’t ours anymore.” I objected.
“Not quite,” she said, “they are under contract to do all that with penalty clauses for breaking the rules. That Farnsworth guy probably has a top notch contract guy on a leash somewhere. Probably knows how to find a reputable outfit too.”
As a result of a few phone calls, a recently hired young lawyer, Lawrence Wilson, became our solicitor of record and liaison with Mr. Farnsworth’s office. The retainer had to be adjusted, but his efforts soon became apparent in a new smoothness in our operation. He was installed at a desk in Claudia’s office. Claudia, with Jill’s advice and help, took on a secretary of her own, a girl named Gloria Verrano. In less than two weeks they were both seduced into our growing family.
The moved into my old room. If we added anyone else, they would have to pitch a tent on the lawn. The medical demonstration went off without a hitch and generated a great deal of interest. Conner and Robert’s game was demonstrated as well. The same company that assembled the medical scanner made the headsets for the game. Lawrence became Larry.
With everything falling into place, we were discussing pricing one evening. Larry was mildly surprised that we hadn’t already set pricing, but having come to know us he chalked it up to our ages and loose organization. Conner and Robert wanted to hold prices down to increase accessibility, Claudia wanted a slightly higher price to insure profitability. Larry argued for a even higher pricing.
When the dust settled, The game, playable on most systems, would sell for fifty pounds. The game headset, that let players enjoy the full effect would be two hundred fifty pounds. The medical scanner would be leased for a hundred thousand per year. Lisa wrote some draconian copy protection into our software. Patents and copyrights were secured and contracts signed.
Demand started high and spiraled out of sight. When the first million pound check was received and deposited we held a small celebration in the living room consisting of one bottle of champagne and a gentle orgy that went on for hours. Gloria seized center stage by taking on three guys at once in a rotation that insured we all got her three different ways. Larry managed to take on all the girls, one at a time.
Claudia and Larry had been fending off requests for interviews and stories from television and newspapers. When the second million plus pound deposit came in a week later, we scheduled a formal dinner and press conference. For anyone who has never done it, getting fitted for a tuxedo is a twenty four carat pain in the arse. Finally we gathered at the best restaurant in town with twenty some reporters for dinner and presentations. Claudia had some impressive looking certificate printed and framed to be presented in the after dinner speeches. The highlight of the evening was letting the reporters experience the game and scanner.
Twice, Cory took a reporter aside for brief private conversations. A lady reporter looked startled and broke into a radiant smile, a man just looked grim and nodded. In a lull in the activity, I asked him about them.
“She’s pregnant, maybe three weeks along.” He said quietly, “He has a minor cancer, operable at this point, thank goodness.”
The dinner and conference was an unqualified success. We got home and collapsed into bed. The next day Jill gleefully wrote checks to everyone for twenty thousand pounds as a bonus and other checks for back salary. Everybody but Larry seemed to think they were paid too much. Larry gravely accepted his checks and thanked everyone. The next day he presented a contract for my signature, effectively transferring his employment from Farnsworth to us.
Conner and Robert dove into a new game, asking for some pretty specific sensations. Claudia’s workload was reduced to almost nothing as marketing was in the hands of others now. She solved this problem by soliciting new games from freelance game designers. Those that passed her initial examination were sent to Cory and Robert for evaluation. If accepted, they put some polish on and the game went back to Claudia for publishing. We always made prominent mention of the authors and paid generously.
Cory wrote several papers discussing the safety of our system from a medical standpoint. I wanted to publish a commercial version of Jabberwocky, but couldn’t get around the potential for abuse, it could become a brainwashing program in the wrong hands. Lisa continued to refine and improve our software, Jennifer worked on further refinements to the headset and scanner hardware.
We were all busy and happy, progressing, if slowly, on all fronts. A letter from Mr. Farnsworth’s office arrived, informing me that my aunt had been found in violation of the terms of my mothers will and was written out, to receive nothing. I asked Jill to file it and forgot about it. I made a mental note to look into renting out the house.
Larry worked, between company business, at liquidating my fathers holdings in the various companies he had shares in. He also invested heavily in our manufacturer.
My grounds keeper came to me, reporting finding people on the property with cameras and long lenses. He had been running them off assuming they were reporters. Larry made some calls to local papers and TV stations, getting uniformly negative responses and suggested that they might be engaged in industrial espionage. A few more calls and we had uniformed security patrolling the grounds and a casual checkpoint at the foot of the drive.
I wasn’t worried, everything in the dungeon was invisible from outside, the lift was locked at the dungeon level when not in use. Conner and Robert took some time to install cameras and some heavy duty magnetic locks on doors. If someone made it into the house, we had our own ways of dealing with them.
The security company reported a few incidents and apprehensions resulting in minor trespassing charges against various news services. One night, Jennifer had just finished a marvelous blow job and I was gently bringing her to a shuddering gasping orgasm when a soft chime sounded. I let her cum before checking cameras. Someone was at the door of the garden shed. I let them through that door and activated locks to trap them in the shed. It would take a cutting torch or heavy a hydraulic jack to open those doors. I returned to Jennifer and we slept soundly through the night. In the morning I told the rest about our intruder.
“Ricky protocol?” suggested Claudia
“I don’t know yet. ”I said, “Let’s give him a day to stew and ask him some questions tonight.”
The security company reported a car on the side of the road beyond the wood lot. I told them to have it towed away if it was still there after twenty four hours. That evening I manipulated the locks to let our intruder descend the stairs to the dungeon level. Once at the lower door, the press of a key put him to sleep. We put him in the lounger, restrained with plastic zip ties.
I woke him and immediately used the hypnotism setting we’d discovered in Swansea. He was a private detective, hired by my aunt. After some discussion we decided that his intent wasn’t malicious, he was just doing what he was hired to do, find out if we were doing anything that would give my aunt leverage to get back her lost inheritance. Claudia was in favor of sending him to join Ricky in northern Canada with a similar phobia. We had to recount the Ricky incident for those who didn’t know. Larry shuddered, Gloria looked mildly sick, and Cory was aghast. In the end we had him clean the shed and stairs, he’d had to urinate in a corner of the shed, and left him outside the garden shed door. As far as he was concerned we were raising dragons, big ones over twenty meters long, and using their breath to forge Tolkienesque rings of power to take over the world.
When a rumor of dragons reached us, Robert made up a sign that said ‘Dragon Forge’ and hung it over the gate for a few weeks. We had a rash of kids who would drive up, look at the sign and security guards, and drive away. Other than insisting that everyone had to be dressed or at least covered during the day on the main floor, the incident didn’t change anything. Jill called me a ‘spoilsport’.
“It’s a shame your system only lets us learn what’s in books.” Cory said over after dinner coffee.
“Huh?” was my insightful response, “What do you mean?”
“Well, we used it to ace our classes.” said Cory, “But It would be useless to learn to play a piano, that’s what they call muscle memory.”
“So, I couldn’t use it to learn a martial art, like karate?” asked Robert.
“I tried to learn karate from a book.” said Larry, “Didn’t do me any good until I joined a dojo.”
“I wonder.” I said, “What if we had a trained person to work with?”
“Good question.” replied Cory, “Reflex or muscle memory actions seldom reach the brain. It mostly happens in the spinal chord unless it’s a reaction to sight or sound.”
“So when I do this.” I said, flicking a finger over Jennifer’s nipple through her shirt,making her jump slightly, “she doesn’t have to think about it ,she just jumps like that as a reflex.”
“Pretty much, yeah.” said Cory
“In karate, you react to what you see or hear.” said Larry, but you don’t have time to think about it first.”
“Might be worth looking into.” I said, “I need a new project.”
“You can project tomorrow.” said Jennifer, “Tonight I’m taking you upstairs to reflex the hell out of you.”
Amid laughter we split up for the night. Jennifer led me by the had into the master bedroom and pushed me onto the bed.
“If I don’t distract you, you’ll be up all night.” she said, pulling her shirt off.
“I’m distracted. I’m distracted.” I said, laughing as I grabbed for her breasts.
She dropped her pants while I squeezed gently, then helped me undress. She climbed on top and settled over my cock. I pulled her down for a kiss as she began rocking her hips. At some point over the last few months, our love making had become more gentle and sensuous. We still would occasionally get more violent, but that was the exception now instead of the rule. I rolled us over and pumped into her at a steady pace that I knew she liked. She purred with soft moans. She signaled me off her and rolled to her knees. I slid back into her in a long slow stroke. She groaned then began bumping back at my hips in her desired pace. Her orgasm was relatively gentle, making her whine as her body shook. I spewed cum into her pussy and pulled her over on her side as I fell to the bed. She twisted around for a long lingering kiss and snuggled her butt against my cock. I put an arm around to hold a breast and we drifted to sleep.