Body Double


"So, are you going to the party tonight?" Cheryl asked.

Alyson looked up from her books at her beautiful roommate, I
would *love* to, but I don't see *how* I can make it. I've got
too much friggin' work to do."

Cheryl laughed. "That kind of work is easy," she responded
wryly.


Alyson laughed, surprised buy her roommate's easy sexuality yet
again.  "I *meant* I just had too much homework to do.  Fifty
problems in Calculus, Lab write-ups for Chemistry and Biology. 
Not
to mention the work I have for English and French."

Cheryl shook her head disapprovingly, her blonde curls shaking
back and forth.  "But it's *Friday*, Alyson.  You've got all
weekend with nothing to do --"

"But that's just it, I don't have 'nothing to do'. I've got that
damned PE class tomorrow, which I -- like an idiot -- signed up
for not realizing it met on *Saturday*."

"Oh, yeah. But that's just for an hour. You've still got all the
other time. C'mon. You need to go out.  And I don't want to go
alone.  You don't want my social life to dry up and wither away,
do you?"

Alyson laughed. "OK, OK, I'll go. Let me finish my problems, ok?
It'll only take a half hour or so."

"That's cool, the party doesn't start until Braddock closes,
anyway."

"The science building?"

"Yeah, that's where it is -- in the basement."

"That's an odd party *for you*."

"Well, yeah, but I live in the nerd dorm, so that's what I hear
about, ok? I hear one of the TA's has a still."

Alyson laughed. "OK, Let me get to work."

Alyson bent back over her schoolbook and began working on the
Calculus problems again. Nothing very hard there, just busywork.
Osprey was on a big kick to get all their departments accredited,
and the accreditation committee had said that nightly homework
would help. So here she was on a Friday doing integration.  "Now
if only I could integrate a social life into my school career."

Alyson sighed, and finished up the problems.  She walked out into
the common room of their on-campus apartment.  Cheryl walked out
of the bathroom, with one towel wrapped around her, and with
another drying her long blonde hair.  "Is there time for me to
shower too?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, go for it.  We've got time."

Alyson slipped into the bathroom, and took off her clothes.  She
assessed herself in the mirror.  There were dark circles under
her eyes, and she just looked tired.  Stringy washed out blonde-
brown hair.  Washed out blue eyes, and fat to top it all off.
"Why am I even going with *her*?" she despaired.  "No one will
even look twice at me."

But no, she knew she needed to get out.  She needed to relax and
have some fun.  And if there really was a still, maybe she could
get blasted, and *not* think about schoolwork for a while.

She climbed into the shower, grateful for the already hot water,
and got ready to go to the party.

                               - o -

A couple of grad students were smoking outside the basement
entrance to  Braddock.  When the taller one saw them approach, he
visibly brightened and stood tall.  He stepped toward them,
"Cheryl! I'm glad you could make it!"

"Trevor!" Cheryl said, and walked right up to him, and pressed
against him. "Fancy meeting you here."

He laughed, "Well, it *is* my still. Who is this with you?"

"This is my reclusive roommate, Alyson.  I rescued her from
*schoolwork*." She said the word disdainfully, as if to wonder
why anyone would do that on a Friday, if at all.

Trevor chuckled, "Well, then, let's see if we can get you ladies
a beakerfull."  He put his cigarette to his mouth and took two
long drags, burning the cigarette down to its nub. He blew the
smoke out with a sigh, and ground the cigarette under his heel.
"Let's go," he said, as he led them into the building.

He opened the door and led them into a darkened hallway.  Every
third overhead light was on -- and a few of them flickered,
giving the place a dark, run-down feel.

Alyson recognized this hall -- her lab classes were held here,
and some of the grad students had their research labs here.
Someone came out from one of the side doors, and they were
accosted by blaring dance music.  The door shut and it went
silent again.  "*That*'s a cool feature," Alyson said.

"Yeah," Trevor said. "The lab rooms are soundproof.  So we have
music *and* conversation."

Alyson heard Cheryl snort at that - as if to say "conversation?
who would do that?"

"This is my door," Trevor said, stopping.  He led them into a
room opposite the one with the dancers.  Inside was an array of
confusing tubes, through which flowed a dizzying array of
bubbling, colored liquid.  "It looks like something out of
Frankenstein's lab, eh? Some of this is for real school, some of
it is the still, and some of it is just  Kool-Aid."  He laughed
out loud. "It's all camouflage for the profs."

He walked over to one of the cabinets and unlocked it with a key
from his pocket.  Inside were flasks, test tubes, beakers, and
other glassware. He turned around "100 or 500 milliliters?"

"100," answered Cheryl.  He grabbed a hand-sized jar, and gave it
to her. She walked over to one of the spigots on the glassware
contraption, and turned it.

"500 for me," Alyson said.  He took out a much larger beaker, and
handed to to her.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah." He shook his head, and she continued, "I'm swamped in
work, and I've got that stupid Saturday PE class tomorrow. I just
want to stop thinking about it."

He made a pained expression. "Oof. What's your major, anyway?"

"Double: Biology and Chemistry.  I'm interested in
nanotechnology."

"Cool," he said. "That's a pretty interesting field." He snapped
his finger, "You know, you should talk to Nate, he's doing
something with that."

Cheryl finished filling up her beaker, and Alyson took her place.
Alyson noticed that Cheryl had mixed some of the red Kool-AId
with her drink -- probably to cut the alcohol. It couldn't be
that bad, could it?   As she watched her beaker fill, she asked
Trevor who Nate was.

"He's one of the Biology grad students. He's across the hall."

"Dancing?"

"No he's one door down, talking.  They were talking about ethics
when I left them."

Cheryl sided up to Trevor, pressing against him, "Trev, let's go
dance, OK?  She can find Nate."

"That OK with you, Alyson?"

"Yep. Go have fun."  Alyson took a sip of the alcohol.  It really
was that bad.  She took another sip, and already the heady feel
begin to hit her.  Well, after enough of this she wouldn't care
about the taste.

She left Trevor's lab, and went across the hall, looking for
Nate.  She knew the room right across was the dancing room, so
she turned left, to go deeper into the building.  She tried the
next door--it was locked, but the next one was open.  A group of
about 4 or 5 students were sitting around on the lab benches,
talking. Most of them had odd glassware filled with *something*.
That, and the light was a little better in here -- the lights
were all on, but dimmed.

One of them, a guy with short brown hair and green eyes, was
sitting cross-legged on the instructor's bench.  He gestured with
a flask, and took a swig out of it.  "I mean, aren't we at least
a little responsible for the things we do here? For the effect it
has on society, and the evil it can do? What about the guys who
created the bomb, don't they carry the weight of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki?"

The others, arrayed nearby on student benches nodded or ignored
him. One of them looked almost asleep, his head in his
girlfriend's lap, as she twirled his hair idly with one hand.
The other two guys, who sat on different benches, nodded and
sipped from their drinks.

"But," she said, and the leader turned to face her, surprised,
"What about the great *good* we can do? Doesn't that balance out
the evil?  Isn't that why Nobel created his award? The same
knowledge that makes us capable of germ warfare makes it possible
for us to have vaccines and cures."

"Yes, but does that absolve them of responsibility?"

"No," she countered, "but it makes it worth it.  With your
attitude, we'd still be living in caves, gathering berries, and
eating uncooked meat. It doesn't absolve them of responsibility
to watch their knowledge, to be careful with it, and try to make
sure it is only used for good -- it won't be, but you have to
try."

He smiled and looked at her. "And who are you?"

"I'm Alyson, Cheryl's roommate."

"Ahh, you live in the scholarship dorm.  I'm Nate.  What was your
scholarship for?"

"An academic one," she said, a bit miffed.

"Ahh," he said. "Well, that's better than a beauty pageant
scholarship. I was worried for a moment that you were like your
roommate in that regard.  That couple there is Angela and Steve.
Steve is the one slowly falling asleep.  And these two losers are
Bob and Dave."


"Hi," Bob and Dave said together.  Angela just waved.

"So," Nate said, "What's your major?"

"Biology and Chemistry, double major.  I'm in the second semester
classes now."

He nodded, "AP exams?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"Trevor said you were interested in Nanotechnolgy."

Nate laughed. "Well that's an understatement, since my graduate
thesis deals with it."

"Oh?" she said. "Do tell..."

Nate smiled at her, and said, "You'll get on well here, I can
tell," and launched into a detailed explanation of the
microscopic machines.

                             - o -

Later that evening, Bob had begged off early, and Dave, valiantly
trying to stay awake, had left for his dorm, too.  Angela had
held out for a while, but finally woke Steve up and dragged him
off into a corner somewhere.  Alyson twirled the beaker in her
hand, and took a sip. Still over 250 milliliters in the glass --
she'd barely had half of the alcohol in the several hours she'd
been talking to Nate.  He seemed very odd, bouncing from sweet to
argumentative to teasing without any clue as to where he'd be
going next.  And he was pretty cute.  "Smart *and* good looking,"
she thought. "Better keep this one."


She looked at him for a moment, staring deep into his eyes.  He
looked back at her. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, blushing.

"No, what?"

She took a larger sip from the beaker. "I was wondering...."

"Yes?"

"What *exactly* are you doing with nanomachines?"

He smiled. "You really want to know?" Alyson nodded. "Ok, I'll
show you."  He straightened out, and got down off the lab table.
He fumbled around for keys in his pocket, and motioned for her to
follow him.  He left that room, and went across the hall, and
opened the door with his key.

Inside was a higher tech -- if slightly more sedate -- lab than
Trevor's. Of course, she reminded herself, Trevor's lab was
mainly for show.

Nate put on a small desk light, and pulled two vials out of a
centrifuge.  "This one," he said, holding up a vial with yellow
fluid in it, "contains nutrients and E. Coli. But this one...
this one is special."

He held that one up, and rocked it back and forth in the light.
It was greyish silver, and grainy, like fine sand.  As he tilted
it, she saw little sparkles of light.  "The nanomachines?"

"Yes. I call them replicating nanites."

Alyson nodded, recognizing the name. "What do they replicate?"

"That's what the E. Coli are for." He took the vial and
unscrewed the cap, which had an eyedropper in it.  He dropped it
on a slide, and then slid it under a microscope.  "Take a look,
nothing special there."  She looked in the microscope, and there
wasn't anything special: just your typical "bacteria in serum"
kind of thing.  And *everyone* knew what E. Coli looked like.


She leaned back, and he took the slide out.  Then he put on a
drop of fluid from the nanite vial.  "Now look," he said.


She looked into the vial and watched.  Tiny silver rectilinear
objects were floating in the mixture now.  They were smaller than
the E. Coli, and swarmed over one of the bacteria.  She watched
as the nanites moved into the bacteria."They are getting inside
the cell," she said.

"Yes," Nate replied. "That means they are in their information
gathering stage.  They do something -- I'm not sure what,
exactly, and get the information from the cell about its
structure, all without destroying or harming the bacterium
itself. In a minute they'll start leaving the cell, and you'll
see something amazing."

Alyson watched as another group of nanites began extruding
something, and shaping it. "It's the cell wall," she said.  "They
are making a copy of the bacterium! This is amazing, Nate."

"Thanks, Alyson."

She kept her focus on the microscope but felt him next to her.
One of his hands rested on her shoulder and gently rubbed her
back. He felt good, and he was obviously intelligent, to make
something like this. "It's filling in the insides of the cell
now, nucleus, man, Nate this is wonderful."  She leaned back and
looked him in the eyes. His was staring at her intently, focused
on her.  She felt a shock of attraction pass through her.  "How
does it work?" she finally asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, yet."

"Then how did you get them to work?"

"Using some AI.  I don't know much about it, Karen--you met her--
helped me out with it, she's our computer person. Each nanite has
a little bit of intelligence, it's a 'node' in a neural network.
We gave each nanite the physical tools it needs to do the work,
and then trained or evolved them to do what we wanted, culling
the batches that worked, and mixing batches that had qualities we
wanted.  We did viruses over the summer, and got bacteria working
well last week."

"So how many copies do they make?"

"Just one copy of each cell, we set them up that way so they
wouldn't spread, you know.  They go dormant after making one
copy."

She nodded, understanding.  "So you wind up with twice as much E.
Coli when you're done?"

"That's right."

"Have you tried any other cells?"

"No, not yet, we'll probably try a multi-cellular organism next."

"Why don't you do blood?"

"Blood? Why?"

"Think about it, Nate. You could double the blood supply with
this.  Add a batch of nanites to a pint of blood and some
nutrient, and come back with two pints.  Think how much that
could help someone."


"That's a *wonderful* idea, Alyson!" He hugged her tightly, and
kissed her on the cheek. She definitely liked this guy.  "We've
*got* to try it!"

"What, now?!?"

"Yes, now!  Want to give me a blood sample?" He leered at her
comically, and she laughed.

"Sure, sure."

Nate rummaged around inside one of the cabinets, "I know it's
here somewhere," he muttered.

"What?"

"Karen's blood test kit. She's diabetic." He rummaged some more,
"Ah hah! Here it is!"  Nate pulled out the kit, and located a
fresh needle, and carefully inserted it into a little penlike
object.  He pulled it back, and pressed a button and it sprang
forward.  "That's it. Give me your hand."

"What?" she said, as he took he right hand in his.

He pulled back the tip of the needle-pen, and pressed the tip up
against her index finger. "Don't worry," he said, "It's just a
prick."

He pressed the button and she felt a sharp stinging sensation in
her finger. She pulled her hand back, and shook it. "Ow, that
hurt."

"Don't worry," he said, smiling. "Give me your hand."
Reluctantly, she returned her hand to his, and he took it.  He
took out one of the vials, and positioned her finger over the
open tube. He pressed, and a drop of blood slid down the side of
the vial.

Alyson watched with curiosity as the blood -- her blood! -- slid
down the inside of the vial.  Nate took her hand, and pulled out
a band-aid, and put it on her finger. Then he raised her hand to
his lips, and kissed the back of it.  He rubbed it gently with
his finger, and Alyson felt a tingle travel up her arm and to her
spine.  Nate smiled at her again, and she couldn't help but smile
back.

"Hold on," he said.  He dropped some nanites into the vial, and
slid that under the microscope.  It wasn't the best view, but it
would do. "Take a look."

Alyson returned her view to the microscope, and Nate again stood
beside her, touching her, running his hand up and down her back.
She had to admit, it did feel good.   "I see them going to work
now, Nate.  There are new blood cells appearing."

"Let me look."  She stepped aside, and he lowered his gaze to the
microscope.  She then began caressing *him* with her hand.  He
watched for quite a while, as she ran her hands over his back,
and down his side, and a couple of times over his cute ass. "This
is very odd," he said finally.

 "What?"

"Well, first it looks like it's moslty *white blood cells* that
are reproducing, and...."

"What?"

"They seem to be making more than one copy."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I just don't know.  He took the vial out, and
poured the contents into a larger beaker, and slid it underneath
a glass vial dropper. "This will drip nutrient into it. We've got
a large supply in another room."  We'll just see what happens. I
suspect it will peter out eventually, but we might get a higher
yield with blood."

"That would be great!" she said.

"Yes it would," he said, stepping closer to her.  "Thank you for
the idea, Alyson.  You're really amazing. Smart, beautiful."

"I don't know about that.  I'm plain and fat...."

"Shhhh," he said, putting one finger over her lips.  She kissed
it, and took his hand in hers, and rubbed it, like he had hers,
earlier.  Nate sighed, and leaned down to her. He slid his hands
around her and kissed her, tenderly at first, and then with more
passion.  He pressed against her, and she could feel his arousal
as it grew between them.

"We have three choices," he said.  "Stop now, and go home.  Watch
the nanites, or find somewhere more private to be."

Alyson  paused for thought, then. It had been months -- since
before summer vacation ended, and she'd said goodbye to Chet, her
highschool boyfriend.  They hadn't broken up -- but she also
hadn't heard from him in over two weeks.


She looked Nate over: he was smart, he was good looking and
funny.  Why should she pass this up? "You live off campus,
right?"

"Yes."

"My dorm is closer." She took his hand in hers, and wondered if
she was going to regret this in the morning, and decided she
didn't care.

                             - o -

Her dorm was co-ed, so it wasn't hard to slip Nate in.  Anyway,
the students were the ones working the desk, and no one really
cared.  Added to that, when they got there, they discovred that
Cheryl wasn't there, despite the party having completely wound
down. Alyson knew they had the evening to themselves.

She fumbled with the keys, having trouble finding them, and
unlocking her door, but just because she was in such a rush.  She
really liked him,  there was just something about him.... She
swung the door open, and he took her shoulder in his hand, and
turned her.  He leaned down, and kissed her, opening her mouth
with his tongue, and pulling her to him with his arms.  God, he
was a good kisser.

They went into her dorm/apartment, and began taking off their
clothes, stripping quickly out of them, and leaving them behind
them in a trail from the apartment door to her bedroom.

Alyson lay down on the bed, naked save for glasses and panties,
and Nate knelt on he bed next to her, completely nude.  He kissed
her deeply again, running his hands over her arms, and belly,
sliding a hand up to her breast, and caressing it gently.  Her
nipple hardened under his hand, and he rubbed it gently,
pinching.  Then he slid his hand to her other breast, and gave it
the same treatment.  His free hand slid through her hair, tracing
her ears and pulling her to him as they continued to kiss.

Then he moved his hand from her breast, and slid it down her
side, caressing her outer pelvis and thigh.  Alyson spread her
legs as his hand reached her legs, and he began caressing her
inner thigh.  She moaned into his kiss.

He broke the kiss then, and looked deep into her eyes.  She
looked up into his green eyes, and reached her hands up to him.
With one hand she removed her glasses and set them on the
nightstand.  Then she slid her hands over his back, and down his
side.  She smiled up at him.  He was such a gorgeous creature.
Sexy, smart.  She felt all warm inside, just being here with him.
He lowered his mouth to her breast, and slid his hand under her
white cotton panties. She sighed as his tongue flicked her
nipples, and his hand slid over her pubic hair, heading for that
special place below.

She had a flash, then, of Chet doing the same thing. Fumbling and
unsure of himself, and Chet had  almost thrown her out of the
mood.  But then, Nate's middle finger settled on her bud, and she
felt her wetness around his finger, as he gently played with it.
God she wanted him, and wanted him *now*.  Hard, fast, and quick.
They could do it slow, later. She lifted her pelvis, urging him
forward, but he kept his slow, steady pace. Alyson moaned in
exasperation.

She sighed, as his mouth left her breast. It wasn't for long, she
realized as his lips settled down on the other, with even more
vigor.  His hand slid further down her panties, and he slid his
middle and index fingers between her pussy lips.   She gasped,
and reached out for him -- she needed to touch him, to caress him
in turn. She found his ass, then slid her hand around to his
cock, and slid her hand over it, and up and down its length.  He
was rock hard, and ready. She sighed to herself, it had been
months since she'd felt one, and she needed it, needed it inside
of her.

 She lifted her hips, and he slid her panties down, and off her
feet.  As he moved, she leaned over to her nightstand and pulled
a condom out. She tore it open, and reached again for his cock.
She rubbed it up and down, and slid the condom over it. She
wanted him, and she wanted him *now*.  "Take me, Nate.  I need
you, *now*."

She gave his cock a couple more strokes with her hand. and lay
back down. Then he slid between her legs, spread in anticipation
of him.  She felt his cock at her entrance, so she reached down,
and guided him inside.  Alyson sighed with pleasure as he slid
slowly in, filling her up.

He stopped then, and pressed close to her, and deeply in.  He
leaned down, and kissed her again, frenching.  He began sliding
in and out to the time of their tongues, playing back and forth.

She sighed, as she felt the friction building heat in her, and
electric shocks passing thorough her from her vagina to her
mouth, and back again.  He sped up and the shocks went faster, as
he moved back and forth, quicker and quicker.  One of his hands
slid between them, and cupped her breast.  She moaned again into
the kiss, and began moving against him, meeting his thrusts.  He
tweaked her nipples with his fingers, twisting, and thrusting,
and
teasing her tongue, and she felt her climax take over.

She cried out into the kiss, and he broke it. He began riding her
harder then, going faster and faster; he groaned in orgasm.  He
slid out of her, and lay down beside her.  He pulled off the
condom and knotted it.  She took it, and dropped it in the trash.

They lay there and cuddled, and, kissed tenderly. "Thank you," he
said.

"No, thank *you*."  She realized, that for the first time in
weeks, she'd had a relaxing night, and she actually felt *good*.
Maybe this guy would be good for her, after all.

                             - o -

In the night, she dreamed.  Strange bugs crawled all over her,
and *inside* of her.  She screamed awake, and realized she was
cold, and lying on a tile classroom floor, naked.  "where am i?"
she said, and looked around. The room was empty, and morning
light streamed in through the window. "what is this place, and
why am i here?  for that matter who am i?"

Then it hit her, she didn't know who she was!  "who am i?" she
shouted.

Alyson awoke with a start. She put on her glasses, and looked
around her room, and turned, and saw Nate there beside her still.
"Good," she thought, "at least Nate is still here with me."



Alyson shook her head. What a weird dream. It was like the lab
room she had been in last night.  And she'd been there naked. Was
she afraid of something, maybe? Maybe about Nate?



There it was again, bugging her.  She shrugged, deciding it was
only the dream.  She walked into the bathroom, and started the
sink water running.  She looked into the mirror -- she looked
pretty rough. At least Nate was still sleeping, and she could
clean up first.

Then she got a weird sort of deja-vu, or double vision. She could
see herself in the mirror, *and* see the light streaming in
through the lab window, almost like she was in both places.  She
concentrated on the mirror, and tried to focus on it.  <so that
is what i look like> came the voice again.

What *was* that voice?  She got a queasy sea-sick feeling as the
double-vision took over, and moved, but she *knew* she was
standing still.

Could this be a hangover? No she didn't drink that much.

<Who are you?> Alyson thought at the voice.

<i don't know. who are you?>

<I'm Alyson.>

<oh. where am i? what is this place?>  Then she was looking at
the machine, and the drip valve and nanites, and the place where
the blood had been when they left it the night before.  Only now
it was all broken.  "That's where I woke up."  And there was one
other thing. Her vision *here* was fine -- her glasses corrected
it.  Only, the double image was blurred, not focused -- just like
she would be without glasses.

Then it hit her. The nanites hadn't been overproducing copies of
her blood.  They had been producing a copy of *her*.
&&& decapitalized '*her*.'

There was another Alyson, and she was naked, and in the basement
of the science building!