Symbiota Sapiens - 8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Morning Jer," Julian smiles brilliantly at me. He doesn't know what happened last night. Of course. I
grunt in reply, continue to mechanically chew at the bagel. Twenty dollar bagel, and I'm not tasting a thing,
enhanced senses or no.

Julian sits in front of me, obviously just out from under the covers if his bed-head is any clue. He looks
well-rested at least. He grins at me, utterly relaxed.

"That looks good, you mind?" He scoops up the second half of my bagel and crunches right into it. "Oh, MAN
that's the stuff! Guess there's an exception to the hotel breakfast rule."

I chew silently, keep my eyes on the food. My brain has been turning this over almost all night, and I still
don't know what to do about the heavy weight of guilt twisting in my stomach. He doesn't even know, dammit. Doesn't
have a clue what I did to him, except somewhere deep down his subconscious knows. Obviously.

"Jer?" Julian is studying me more carefully now. Shit. I make an effort, and feel my mouth curving into a
happy-to-be-alive-this-morning grin.

"Pretty good huh?" I raise my bagel as if in a toast.

"Yeah." He's still watching me though, boring into me. He knows something's up.

"Dude, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Just...that construction I told you about. It went on all night." I lied.

"Does it hurt?" Concern shadows his face. Shit, I've got to get him to quit looking at me like that. I can't
take the guilt.

"Not really. Just sort of...draining I guess." I shrug nonchalantly. "Just one more night and it'll be over
though."

"Oh."

We eat in silence for a while. He's still peeking at me, furtively, now and then. Finally I catch him at it.

"I'm fine, alright? Lay off, eat your food." I put a strong hint of annoyance in my tone and he freezes for
a minute, then he finally replies, softly.

"Sorry. Just...worried bout you bro." I see the hurt. Shit, guess I was a bit sharp. Still. At least he's not
watching me anymore. Now he's carefully avoiding looking in my direction. Now I feel even more guilty. I try to
ignore it.

There's a long silence before he finally pipes up again.

"What we doing today?"

"I don't want to go out anymore until we can detect anymore of those...those..."

"Zombies?"

"Er, yeah. Or potential zombies. So...we've got a day to hole up in here to be safe. And...I don't want you
answering the door."

"Well, shit." He looks like I've just grounded him.

"Hey, it's not so bad. We're in a luxury suite - you could swim laps in the bathtub for crying out loud!"

"Ha. Yeah. It's a jacuzzi by the way." That's more like it.

"And satalite TV?"

"There is that. What are you gonna do?"

"I dunno. The AI is still downloading all sorts of crap off the internet. All night, during construction,
even."

"What's he looking at?"

::At the moment, I'm reading into electronics. It seems there should be an obvious tracking device for
anyone to find if they get ahold of Julian. I think I can combine what I know about the construction of the
Esseren themselves with your civilization's technology to build something suitably impressive.::

"Uh, he's reading up on tracking equipment. He wants to lo-jack you in case someone tries to kidnap
you again."

Uh oh, I should have seen that coming. Julian's face just lit up like Christmas.

"Really? Maybe I can help! I'm an electronics genius!"

"Yeah you are...but the AI only talks to me." I inform him smugly.

"Not just you." He has a sly look on his face now.

"What?"

"If I recall, you said he's hooked into the internet."

"So?"

"I'd bet you anything he could hook up with my laptop."

::Easily. And he's right, I probably could use his help. Your memory indicates he can be quite inventive.::

"Okay...I guess you've got a point. And the AI agrees with you, the traitor."

Julian looked smug. I found myself muttering as he got out his laptop.

"I knew it was a bad idea when that damned computer decided to copy Julian's personality. Now they're going
to be collaborating against me for sure."

::That's foolish. We are both loyal to you. I'm hardwired to be and Julian just is, I'm not sure why.::

:Oh, you're not, are you?:

::It wasn't meant as an insult. I imagine it has to do with emotions and such.::

:If you say so.

"Okay, I've got it on and...oh!"

I walked around to look at Julian's laptop and saw that something was installing itself on it.

"Is that your AI?"

::It is.::

"Yeah."

"Cool."

A familiar voice piped up from the computer speakers.

"You haven't even seen cool yet." It was the young version of Julian. In another moment his face appeared
on the screen, flashing that trademark grin. Which was promptly mirrored by my brother.

"Oh, this is too wierd!" I groaned, and headed out.

"Does Jeremey have to be in the room for it to work?" Julian asked anxiously.

"Not at all. And this way you and I can finally have a private conversation."

I swear the voice sounded smug coming over the speakers.

"I'm taking a shower!" I announced.

:Make sure he keeps the door locked.: My enhanced ears picked up the result in the other room.

"Jeez, your brother is friggin paranoid! He wants ME to tell you to keep the door locked."

"Yeah, he's like that. Thinks I'm still 13. You're no help on that front, honestly. Why did it have to
be me at 13? Why not 4? I was actually cute when I was 4!"

"But you were too much of a child then. He started thinking you were a smart kid when you were more like
this age. And it was an important time in your lives too. And besides, he thinks you were cute at 13."

"He does?"

"Well yeah. At least, that's what he thinks when he dreams of you at this age. That you're the cutest
thing he's ever seen."

"Really!" I didn't like that tone.

:Hey, this is what I was talking about. Loyal to me, right? Quit telling my fucking secrets!:

"Oh great, now he's pissed off at me for telling you that. Why do you suppose he's so insecure?"

:Hey!:

::What? I'm just getting along. No secrets.::

"I dunno. He acts all macho but I know what you mean. Sometimes he can be such a baby, you know?"

:A little too well. And do you have to talk about me where I can hear you?:

::You're the only thing we have in common. And you'd hear us regardless.::

"My god, still whining. What is it?"

"Oh I dunno. I sort of always figured it's because he's trying to make up for a lost childhood."

:Use a chat program or something. And I am not!:

::A chat program? Oh!...interesting.::

"Your brother hates being talked about, so we'll just have to type so he's not embarrassed. But
tell me more about this thing called childhood. He says he's not, by the way."

"He would say that. But...oh. Typing. Okay."

And then, merciful silence, but for the clickety-clack of the keyboard.

That and...the disturbingly frequent snort from my brother, whenever the damn AI said something funny about
me. Shit, now I wish I could hear them. Or not. I needed a distraction.

:Okay, can you pay attention to two things at once?:

::Or several trillion things.:: The AI said wryly.

:Right. Well I guess it's time I relieved those tensions you were talking about. You were right. I mean, last
night I was even getting horny off of...well...that. You know.:

::Tossing off your brother?::

:What? Oh. Yeah that is what he calls it isn't it? Well, god knows I don't need that shit, and nows not a good
time to be getting laid...so lets do this. I just wanted to make sure you're not going to let loose with pheremones
or anything.:

::That shouldn't happen by itself unless you're really feeling sexually frustrated in a specific situation.::

:Okay. Just making sure. Last time Julian...well, I think I've done enough damage to him with my pheremones
as it is.:

I turned on the shower and tested the water as I slipped out of my boxers, and the tee I'd put on to eat
breakfast. In moments I was under the delicious stream of hot water. My body released its tension immediately,
and I closed my eyes, letting my enhanced senses soak in the amazing feeling of thousands of droplets pounding
into my skin and then running down my body. Amazing.

After a while I put forth the effort it took to move my hand onto my rock-hard erection. My knees nearly
buckled with the first grazing touch, I had to lean against the wall for a moment before I started to pull it
in earnest. Oh. Better set an alarm.

:Don't let me blank out this time. Let me know when it's been awhile.:

::Awhile? When do you need to be finished?::

:Well, I guess technically I could do this all day. Oh god! I really could do this all day! But, I
should...be...getting something...accomplished today. Fuck! This has never felt this good!:

::How about I let you spend half an hour and then start building up to orgasm according to the natural
pattern?::

:That sounds...fuck!...good. Yeah.:

I was breathing hard in gasps, for no real physical reason except that I kept forgetting to breath until my
oxygen-starved lungs would remind me. The sensations assaulting my brain from the region of my groin were just
overwhelming. My fist pounded away with abandon and I concentrated on remaining conscious. And on the feeling. My
god, the feeling! The droplets of water, the heat, the sheer ecstacy of my palm gliding over the head of my
supersensitive manhood.

Finally I felt that delicious tightening as something deep inside me wound and twisted, a tension growing
in the very root of my balls. My whole body shaking, my hips thrusting involuntarily into my pumping hand. Like
never before I feel each individual step as my balls curl upwards inside their sacks, the sperm mixing with the
lubricating fluid, the charging of the muscles that would soon...oh god...

The blood pressure inside my dick increased tenfold and suddenly it was as if my entire body was forcing the
white liquid up, and out, and splashing onto the tiles, again, again, again - it just kept going, my peripheral
vision shuttering inward with each shot, each accompanied by an almost painful jolt of sensation...is this pleasure?
Can anything this intense be described by such a conventional term?

And still it continues. JOLT, ten. JOLT, eleven, JOLT, twelve and I can only see straight ahead through the
tunnel that has become my universe. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, the few white tiles I can see now grow dim for a
second, with each wave. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, I don't know how I'm still standing here, my forehead leaned
against the cool ceramic and below I'm still painting the wall with my eruptions.

"Whoah, just sit down, Jer. You'll be okay." Cool hands on my back, a strong arm around my torso, lowering
me until my bottom is on the floor, my head cradled gently by a shoulder. Everything is dark, I'm dizzy and there
are small tingling needles pricking my brain. I let out something between a sob and a moan.

"Shhhh. It's okay you just...holy shit! Guess you really had a good one!" I can hear a smirk in his voice,
somehow. Somehow I'm not ashamed. Not yet. That'll be later. Now...that's my way out. Slowly my vision clears and
sure enough, there's Julian hovering over me with a very wisecrack look on his face.

"Julian?" I try to say. My voice is hoarse.

"Welcome back. Dude! You don't do anything halfway do you? When you bust a nut, you really bust a-"

"Water." I whisper.

"Oh, right." Julian carefully lays my head back and disappears for a minute, returning with a glass of
water which he tips to my lips. I raise a shaking hand to take it from him, and drink it eagerly. He watches
me with a strange smile playing around his lips.

"That good, huh?"

I give him a weak grin.

"You have no idea."

He looks at the wall across from me, I follow his gaze to the sticky pool still evidence of massive quantities
of semen.

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good indicator." His mouth is definitely tipping upwards at the corner. He's
laughing at me.

"Oh, fuck off."

"Maybe you should see about getting out of the shower before you start insulting the help." He grins.

"Yeah. Um, can you help me to the bed?"

We stand, me shakily, leaning on his shoulders. His arm comes around my waist again, surprisingly comfortable
as he takes most of my weight. Soon I'm sitting on the bed, Julian helpfully pulls the covers free and I roll under
them.

"I'm not going to bed, I just need a minute to...compose myself."

"That's cool. I'll just get back with the Kid for a while."

"The Kid."

"Yeah. I can't exactly call him Julian you know."

"Oh. Right."

::Very well done. That should take care of things for a several hours.:: The 'Kid" informed me smugly.

:Several hours!? How about a few days? How about a week? Holy shit, that was...:

::The most amazing experience of your life. Yes. As I said your sexual functions have been significantly
enhanced. But you'll need to release at the very minimum once every twenty-four hours, really. Otherwise you'll
start experiencing buildup again. Which leads to a debilitating loss of control when you eventually have an
opportunity...::

:Okay, I get it. Once a day, doctors orders. So how long am I going to be, um, debilitated?:

::It really depends on you. The strain is entirely psychological I'm afraid. Nothing I can diagnose or
aid.::

:So nothing's damaged except my mind. Oh great.:

::It's something vaguely similar to the condition your memories refer to as post-traumatic stress syndrome.
In this case you've undergone a sustained system overload of sensation. It will take your mind a while to fully
recover from it. The shakiness isn't really a problem...it's psychosomatic, your mind still does that automatically
because that's how you would normally react to extreme stress. I can remove that and the other physical symptoms. But
really, you do need to rest.::

:How. I can't sleep, remember?:

::No. But we can remove external stimuli for a while, give that part of your mind time to sort itself out without
interruption.::

With that, it was like a cascade as each of my senses shut off in turn. The world went black, the clacking of
Julian on his laptop went silent, the feeling of sheets on my skin disappeared, the faint smell of laundry detergent
I hadn't noticed before was suddenly gone. I assume taste turned off as well. Then...nothing.

:Now what? Do I have to do nothing, now?:

::We can still communicate without ill effect. Your mind doesn't associate this link with the other senses
anyways.::

:So...did you have a good talk with Julian?:

::I still am.::

:How did he know I was in trouble?:

::He asked if you were alright, and I said he should check on you.::

:He asked?:

::Well, you were making some noises.::

:Oh my god!:

::I really don't think he was offended. He really does think very highly of you. And he has been familiar with
your sexual habits from the beginning.::

:Yeah but...that's me telling him. Bit different that he heard me actually doing that so blatantly.:

::You heard him doing the same thing, not long ago.::

:Yes but, he didn't know I heard him. He would have been embarrassed if he knew I heard.:

::I wouldn't say he was quite embarrassed, exactly.::

:Yeah he would have been. Wait. What? You mean you TOLD him!?:

::Of course. He asked about your enhanced senses, and how you discovered how to use them.::

:And you told him I spied on him jacking off in the shower?:

::And in the bed later on that night.::

:Oh shit!:

::He didn't mind. He was very interested in what you were able to observe with your new senses.::

:Interested? Interested?!? You really have no idea what you've done, do you?:

::You should really calm yourself. Heightened emotions will interfere with your recuperation.::

:Fuck recuperation. Hell, I need to talk to Julian. Tell him I didn't mean to fucking spy.:

::He really isn't upset. I just asked him specifically and he isn't. Stop worrying about it.::

:You asked him just now? As in, you told him about our conversation we're having?:

::Well yes. I was quite sure about it but I thought I'd verify it with him just to make you feel
better. He's not angry. Now I really think we should talk about something less stressful for you.::

I was at a loss. How the hell am I supposed to argue with a computer who doesn't even understand
emotions. Doesn't understand that Julian would never tell the computer that he's angry at me, when he
knows I'm laid out practically in a coma on the bed. And even if not, probably wouldn't admit it bothered
him to have his brother spying on him jacking off in the shower. Certainly not to a nosey AI in the form
of his 13 year old self.

:What, then.: Sullenly.

::Julian's given me some great ideas for the tracking device. I've already initiated the construction
of some of the modular hardware that will be needed for it. We're still deciding on the final design, but
the base parts can be built in advance.::

:Well good. How long will that take?:

::A while.:: He admitted. ::I'm using mostly carbon as building materials, but I will require some
metallic components. Julian suggested you should ingest some small amounts of iron, copper, and gold so
I'll have something to work with.::

:If you say it won't do any harm I don't mind. As long as they're in very small pieces.:

::Small pieces are all that would be needed. I'm working on a microscopic scale here.::

:Oh.:

::By the way, I've completed that virus for Julian.::

:Already?:

::Yes. I can build viruses in minutes, really. I just needed time to search the internet and find
suitably tempting material to encode in it.::

:I thought they wouldn't be able to really see what's inside it without releasing the virus anyways.:

::True. But if they decrypt it and find there's nothing worthwhile there, they're going to suspect
a trojan horse. I've made it so they'll be sure they've struck gold. And I've put in some protection for
Julian in that as well.::

:How so?:

::Well, first of all, the information encoded into the virus is an extremely complex and powerful
software I've built based on a wide variety of operating systems, computer games, and security software
I've found on your internet. This software is built to organize, analyze, and protect a massive database
of fictional information about Julian, crossreferencing these to an equally massive database of both
mortal and immortal religious texts.::

:Wait. Religious texts? Immortal? How'd you get those?:

::They're freely available on the shadow internet Devon gave you access to.::

:You've been on that?:

::Of course. It is far more complicated than the mortal internet. Many more generations of users, with
more massive amounts of data. And populated with a vast number of highly advanced AI's. Unfortunately, the
only information that is freely available there is of a religious nature.::

:Oh. So you used what you could find. So, what, you're trying to make Julian out to be some kind of
immortal messiah?:

::In a sense. The program I've designed is built to point the user towards texts that will make it seem
he is of great cosmic significance. Or, at least to make it seem that you believe him to be.::

:Ha. Hmm, well I guess he is. To me, at least.:

::Yes. In the end, this will make them hesitant to kill him, whatever their motives for kidnapping him. From what
I've seen on the shadow internet, even the independent immortals tend to be somewhat superstitious. It comes with
extreme age.::

:And even if they don't believe in it, they'll see this as being the reason why Julian is so important to me,
and they'd approve of this attachment?:

::Most likely. And it will also explain the massive level of encryption guarding the information in the virus.::

:Okay. So, you've manufactured the virus then?:

::I have. It's just a matter of transmitting it.::

:Well, can't I give it to him like a cold?:

::That would be most imprecise, I'm afraid.::

:Why does it need to be precise?:

::He'll need to ingest it. The virus is built to penetrate the lining of the stomach, and into the bloodstream. It
needs to fully populate his circulatory systems in its dormant stage. It will activate and move to the lungs and mucous
membranes if certain hormones enter the bloodstream. Fear-based adrenaline.::

:Oh. So...um...orally. I spit in his juice then.:

::It can't live outside the body for more than a few seconds at most. I'm not trying to create an airborn
pathogen that will sweep the world and result in you receiving unwanted transmissions every time a mortal is attacked by
an immortal.::

:Oh, god. Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking.:

::You'll need to use your pheremones again.::

:No. I've done enough damage already.:

::What damage? Last time you merely 'tossed him off' in his sleep.::

:Yes but he said my name.:

::So?::

:So that means subconsciously he knew it was me.:

::Well yes.::

:And he was probably having a dream about it being me touching him...that way.:

::It was you.::

:But don't you get what this means? The only way that would have happened is from the pheremones I used on him
earlier, by accident.:

::In the other hotel you mean. It's possible this is what caused him to dream of you. His subconscious probably
recognized the smell of your pheremones from before and constructed a fantasy based on that event.::

:Don't you see how dangerous that is?:

::It's not dangerous, it's a harmless dream.::

:Look. Remember how horrified I was that I had to jerk him off?:

::Yes.::

:And even more horrified when my own body reacted to that?:

::Yes. I don't understand the reason for it though.::

:Well, it's because he's my brother. And a guy. And my body isn't supposed to respond that way to guys. And
I don't...I mean, guys just don't touch guys that way. And even if he was a girl, or I was a girl, you're not
supposed to touch your sibling that way. It's disgusting.:

::Ahhhh, the social mores of your civilization. I understand now. It is a religious matter.::

:No, I'm not even really all that religious. It's just...not done.:

::I see. You've been raised to shy away from this type of contact.::

:Yes.:

::So you're afraid that your brother will start to want this sort of contact with you.::

:Well, yeah that'd be kind of a difficult situation. But worse than that, if he starts dreaming of me, it
would be really a horrible thing to go through.:

::He would feel 'guilty' for thinking of you that way.::

:Exactly. And he'd also be very afraid that maybe he's gay or something.:

::And this is a bad thing. In your civilization.::

:Well, not a bad thing as such. I mean, it's the twenty-first century, right? We're open-minded about gays and
stuff. But nobody wants to be one. It's just...I dunno. It's just not something you want to be.:

::So it's not bad for someone to want those things, and you really wouldn't be angry at Julian for that?::

:Angry? At Julian? What on earth would make you ask that?:

::I'm just trying to clarify things. So you wouldn't hold it against him.::

:No. But that's not the issue here.:

::You think this would be something that would make Julian feel bad later. Right?::

:Exactly. I don't want to use my pheremones on Julian because I think they're messing with his head. Making
him feel things that aren't him. And I don't want to confuse him that way.:

::Okay, I see your point. But the fact remains that Julian has to swallow this virus direct from your body. It
has to happen, somehow. And if you're not going to use pheremones on Julian, I don't see how you're going to do it. He
can't know the reason.::

:Okay. But maybe it's best if I do it so that he doesn't feel like it's his fault. Maybe even so that he hates
it. Is angry at me for it. Then he won't be having confusing dreams about it, at least.: