Genomorph

Chapter 8

Genomorph
By Scott Ramsey

PART 2
Edited by Janet Nolan & Carla Winters


CHAPTER 8

Brandi opened her eyes and blinked groggily in the morning light. The vibration of the semi as it cruised up the interstate brought her mind into focus and she remembered where she was. She straightened up in the passenger seat of the semi, noticing that a blanket had been stretched over her as she slept. She smiled at the big truck driver in thanks.

“When you sleep you sho sleep sound,” Arnie Belcher commented with a grin from the driver’s seat.

“I guess I was pretty tired,” Brandi said. In truth, she did not require much sleep, and could go for days without it. But she had learned that she could slip into a deep, restorative sleep when necessary, which she had taken to calling ‘Zen Sleep’. The only disadvantage was that once in that state she tended to stay that way until she had recovered sufficiently, and was for all practical purposes helpless. That she had allowed herself to slip into it in the cab of the truck meant that her escape had taxed her more than she had thought…and that she really did trust Arnie, despite the fact that she had only met him a few hours earlier.

“Where are we?” She asked, looking at passing scenery that was familiar.

“Headin north outta San Diego,” Arnie told her. “Made my stop about twenty minutes ago…you slept through the whole thing.”

“We’re near Coronado aren’t we?”

“Just passed it a few minutes fore you woke up,” Arnie confirmed. “You know San Diego?”

“Not well,” Brandi told him. “I knew someone stationed at the Naval Base…once.”

Brandon had been stationed at Coronado during his first tour with the SEALs. As a young ensign, he had tended to stay close to the base, and now Brandi was wishing she…he…had taken more time to explore the city.

~ Damn this is confusing. ~ Brandi thought. The world around her looked so fresh and new, and yet at the same time she could remember seeing it all before.

“You mind if I smoke, Brandi?” Arnie asked, reaching for a pack of Marlboro 100’s in the center console. “I know I shouldn’t but sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps me awake on these here long hauls.”

Brandi had noticed the cigarettes earlier, and had been staring at the pack off and on for some time; a desire for one had been building within her.

~ That is too weird. I’ve never smoked in my life. ~

As soon as she thought it, she realized it was not quite accurate. Brandon had never smoked in his life. She had really only been alive for four months, and had been born with certain behavior programmed into her, much of which had been gathered from pornographic web sites. In the lab she had never been around cigarettes, so perhaps the behavior had remained dormant until now.

~ Great, I wonder what other surprises might be waiting for me. ~

“I don’t mind, especially if you’re willing to share,” Brandi answered Arnie with a smile. There was no sense in fighting it, especially since it couldn’t do her any harm. Disease; even cancer was no longer a concern of hers. Besides it was far preferable than giving in to other impulses she had been programmed with, at least in her mind.

“Well I hate to see a pretty young lady like yourself messin up her health like me, but ain’t my place to stop ya,” Arnie said. “There’s a buncha packs in the glove box, help yourself.”

Brandi took a pack from the glove box and opened it, removing a cigarette. She lit it with Arnie’s Zippo lighter and took a deep drag, not sure what to expect. She was surprised that she actually enjoyed it. She had expected it just to be bland, programmed behavior, but apparently the protocol had wired her to receive satisfaction from the vice. But then her programmed sexual desire and the pleasure she got from indulging it was far from bland, so there was really no reason for this to be. It also seemed to ease her tension, quiet the need that had been growing within her since she left the lab. Being in the confines of the truck cab, so close to a man was not making things easier. Arnie was not exactly her type though, but that thought brought little comfort. It meant she actually had a type of man that would appeal to her.

She had only been out in the world a few hours and she was already beginning to wonder if she had made a terrible mistake. In the lab they had treated her like a thing, except for Susan of course, but in the world would she just be treated as a different kind of thing? She knew people would see her body first and foremost. After all, that was the whole point of the Genomorph program. Would that be any better than being seen as a lab rat?

She had one spark of hope, and it was the big trucker. He treated her like a person. No, that was not right; he treated her like a lady. When they stopped he helped her out of and later into the truck. His eyes never wandered nor did his hands. When they talked, he listened to her, and did not discount what she said just because she was a voluptuous blonde that acted like a bit of a ditz. And she found that with Arnie she could carry on a normal conversation, like she had with Susan and the Admiral. She did not feel the need to slip into ‘bimbo speak’, though it sometimes still colored her speech. What was different about Arnie? Was it just because she felt safe around him?

She studied Arnie as they drove along the interstate. He was a big man, at least six foot four, but he was in fairly good shape, with just the hint of a ‘spare tire’ around his middle. She guessed he was in his early to mid thirties, and he had a mop of thick, red hair atop his head. She noticed he had a set of dog tags hanging from the rear view mirror.

“So you were in the service?” Brandi asked, gesturing towards the dog tags.

“Yeah, doin the same thing I do now,” Arnie confirmed. “Course, drivin’ in Iraq was a mite more exciting than it is here,” When he said Iraq it came out as Eye-rack.

“I can imagine,” Brandi muttered, the night that forever changed her life coming to mind all too vividly. Reflexively her hand reached down to rub her right leg.

“I really do appreciate the lift Arnie,” Brandi continued after a bit. “And I appreciate you not asking a lot of questions, especially after I stowed away in your truck.”

“Maybe I could, like, pay you somehow?” she continued, her voice taking on a suggestive tone.

Arnie shot her a disapproving look and Brandi’s blood froze. It had sounded like a total come on, and it was not even what she had meant to say. So much for not sounding like a bimbo around him.

“Shit, Arnie, I am so sorry,” she told him. “I didn’t mean that to sound the way it did. I meant maybe I could help you unloading. I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

Arnie chuckled and said, “Don’t fret none, just kinda took me by surprise. You oughta be careful though darlin’. A pretty girl like you, well, some fellas would be more’n happy to take advantage when ya say somethin’ like that.”

“I know,” Brandi sighed. “Sometimes I want to say something, and the words come out wrong. I really hate it when I do it.”

“Aww that’s nothin’ you got a corner on, Brandi,” Arnie assured her. “My mouth works faster than my brain all the time.”

As they traveled they talked and she learned more about Arnie. He had been born and raised in Alabama, was not married though he had a sweetheart back in Birmingham, and he had been driving since he was eighteen, when he had joined the army. His reserve unit had been activated at the start of the war and then after his tour he had gone back to trucking. His current load was auto parts for various parts houses.

Of course he was curious about her, but he did not pry too much. She told him she had been in a bad relationship and had left, trying to figure out where her life was going. It was basically the truth. She also assured him that she was over twenty-one, which was true as her ID showed that she was six months past her twenty-first birthday. Ryan had used February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day, as her birthday. No doubt he had figured using Brandon’s birthday or the date of her transformation was too risky, providing a potential means of locating her established identity as Brenda Williams. And he probably thought using Valentine’s Day was funny.

An hour later they made their next stop and Brandi insisted on helping Arnie with the unloading. Most of the parts were small; alternators and water pumps and such, and the unloading proceeded swiftly.

There was one stack of boxes left for this stop. Arnie was trying to force the blade of a hand truck under the stack and did not notice a crated transmission, perched precariously above him on the stack to his right. As he rammed the cart blade home, he bumped the stack and the transmission began to fall.

“Arnie, look out!” Brandi cried, yanking the big trucker backwards as she did. The hand truck and its load went with him, back and to the floor as Brandi caught the crate. She eased it gently to the floor and then turned to make sure Arnie had not been hurt when he fell.

“Good God A’mighty girl, you are stronger then ya look!” Arnie exclaimed. “That transmission’s gotta weigh close to two hunerd pounds!”

“Well, I just kinda balanced it against the stack there and let gravity do the rest,” Brandi said sheepishly. She had lifted far greater weights in the lab.

“Well, you sho saved me from a dented skull,” Arnie said. “I’m glad I let ya help now, that’s fo sho.”

With the unloading finished, Arnie went off to the office with the store manager to get his paperwork taken care of. Brandi took a seat at a small break table outside the loading dock and lit a cigarette.

“Hey, I’ve never seen you around here before.”

Brandi looked up at the young man speaking and smiled, a totally reflexive action. He was about her age, her actual biological age of seventeen, and was tall and lanky. He was definitely not a hunk but he was cute enough, with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. He took a seat on the concrete bench next to her and smiled back.

“I’ve never been around here,” she said sweetly. “I’m Brandi. I’m gonna be movin’ out here and my uncle Arnie is showin’ me around while he makes his deliveries.”

Arnie had suggested the story. Though the rig was his and he could give someone a lift if he wanted, some companies got a little nervous if people hauling for them picked up hitchers. The problem was as soon as she opened her mouth to speak to the boy she slipped into character. But even though she did not know this boy, he was certainly no threat to her, so why was she reacting as though he was?

“Nice to meet you, Brandi,” the boy said. “My name’s Jeremy. You plan on going to school out here?”

“I’m not sure what I’m gonna do yet,” Brandi said. Now she could feel herself slipping into ‘tease mode’ as she called it. Already she had adjusted her posture; sitting up straighter and making her breasts jut forward against her t-shirt. She could feel his eyes roving over her and as hard as she tried not to, she loved the attention. She felt her state of arousal increasing under his gaze.

That was the most disturbing thing; she really did love the attention. She did not know whether it was programmed into her or because of her female brain chemistry. In the end, was there really any difference? It was just one type of programming versus another. But with the arousal came terror, and suddenly she knew why she was acting according to her programmed cover personality.

It was fear. Even the calmest, coolest operator felt an underlying current of fear when entering into danger. It was what kept them sharp, gave them an edge. If her programming was keyed to her own fear response, then that would explain why she was acting like she was. She wasn’t afraid of Jeremy, she was afraid of herself. She was afraid of the feelings stirring within her…feelings she did not have with Arnie, because he did not react to her the way Jeremy did. And that fear was driving her to act in a way that was only making it worse!

“A good looking girl like you should be modeling clothes or something,” Jeremy said, quite seriously.

~ Yeah right, with this body the only magazines that would be interested in me wouldn’t care about clothes. ~

“Really? You think I’m pretty enough for that?”

~ Dammit, why did I say that? ~

“Well, yeah!” Jeremy said. “I’ve never seen a girl as pretty as you.”

“Aw, now you’re gonna make me blush,” Brandi giggled. And she did start blushing!

She knew she should get up and walk away; tell him she had to go get something from the truck, tell him she had to go to the ladies room … anything. But a very large part of her was enjoying the game and the attention, even amidst the fear it bred within her. And she realized it was a game. She knew that he was hers to take if she chose. He would think he was making all the moves, but in reality he was just putty in her hands. She could have her way with him … all she had to do was give in.

~ Hurry up Arnie…please! ~

*****

“Nice little road twitch ya got there Arnie,” the store manager said with a grin.

“I’d ‘preciate it if ya didn’t talk about my sister’s little girl that way Max,” Arnie said and the grin disappeared.

Arnie could see Brandi at the break table on the dock, talking with a kid who worked at the warehouse. She seemed to be having a good time. Of course Arnie knew the boy likely had only one thing on his mind. He wasn’t blind; he knew that Brandi was a very beautiful girl. He figured she could handle herself well enough.

While Max was going over the paperwork for the load Arnie pulled his tablet PC from his briefcase and logged onto the Independent Truckers Association website. Though Arnie appeared to most as a simple long haul trucker, he actually had a two year degree in business management and his rig was equipped with all the hi tech gadgets necessary to keep him working all he wanted without tying him to the same trips repeatedly.

Once the site loaded he checked the available freight board and found a suitable load in San Francisco bound for LA, scheduled to be ready for pickup the next morning. It was from a small computer manufacturer and the price was right, so he filled out the required information and submitted his availability. After he logged off he made a quick cell phone call to the company to confirm the load and by then Max had the paperwork ready for him to sign.

As Arnie left the office, another worker from the warehouse walked over to him as he stopped to get a drink from a water fountain, a big smile on his face.

“How’s it goin’, Arnie?” the man asked.

“It’s goin’ Joe, it’s goin’,” Arnie grinned, shaking the man’s offered hand. “Glad to see this job is workin out for ya.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Joe said. “Max can be a real boor sometimes but everyone mostly ignores him. I heard what you told him about the girl.”

“Yeah well ....”

“Seems I remember you don’t have a sister Arnie,” Joe said, still grinning.

“Aww she just needs a little time ta get her head together ‘sall,” Arnie said. “She’s a sweet kid really.”

“Still pickin’ up strays huh Arnie?” Joe asked. “Why do you do it?”

“Fella did something for me once; saved my life,” Arnie said, his eyes looking haunted for a moment. “Since then, I figger I owe it ta him ta help folks out when I can. Anyway this one found me. She snuck inta the sleeper last night while I was makin’ a pit stop.”

“Well, you know the secret is safe with me,” Joe said, slapping Arnie on the back. “I still remember when I was the stray. I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t picked me up. You’ve got a good heart Arnie.”

*****

“I think you’re really cute Jeremy,” Brandi giggled. Her mind was screaming for her to shut up, but instead she slid over on the concrete bench until her body was touching his. The more she tried to deny the feelings welling up inside her the deeper she slipped into her role.

“Say, um, there’s a party at my frat house this Friday night; maybe you’d like to go?” Jeremy asked.

“Oh wow, a party,” Brandi said. “That sounds like it would be really fun!”

“So you’ll go with me?”

Brandi opened her mouth to answer, and she knew the answer was going to be yes. She was spinning out of control now, and the thought of a house full of fraternity boys had driven her into a mental frenzy. There was not even a thought of turning him down. Why should she? She was a hot girl and she deserved to have a little fun.

“Time to go Brandi,” Arnie said as he stepped up to the table. Brandi’s mind snapped out of the fog it was in and she breathed a mental sigh of relief.

“Aww gee, I’d really like to, but I don’t know where I’ll be by then,” Brandi answered instead as she bounced to her feet. “It was really sweet of you to ask though. Take care, Jeremy!”

“Well you sho looked like you was havin’ a good time,” Arnie said as they walked back to the truck.

“Oh, I was and I wasn’t Arnie,” Brandi replied, earning her a puzzled look. “Let’s just say I don’t have a lot of self control or common sense when I’m talking to boys.”

“Well, you don’t gotta worry none, Brandi,” Arnie smiled, putting his big arm around her shoulder. “Ole uncle Arnie will make sho they don’ give ya no trouble.”