The game always took place on the outer rim of the scorched city. An abandoned manufacturing facility long since left to decay by the authorities, far enough out that it was deemed too costly to demolish or protect from squatters, the dust, vermin and time allowed the privilege of sealing its fate.

That's why it was perfect. Out of sight, out of mind. Those that picked up the coded messages advertising the date of each game knew the challenge was not necessarily winning. It was getting there and back undetected. Past the patrols. Past the checkpoints. Past the no-zone littered with mines and drones under shoot-to-kill orders. Players flout every rule in the book for the sake of entertainment. And it was a big book.

In a world governed by sanctions and penalties, an afternoon of shooting the virtual hell out of strangers was a most liberating experience. Darting between hulking lumps of derelict iron machinery, gun raised, fully charged, only one of three permitted hits registering on his chest pack, Brody felt the thumping of his heart and adrenaline hammering his system and knew he was more alive than anyone back in the city.

His earpiece crackled: "Red at your eleven. Go easy."

"Thanks Mike. You got my back?"

"Every step. On my mark."

Brody waited, gripping his gun. An EM-50. Stolen ex-army training weapon that fired a single infrared beam, detectable by stolen packs just like the heavy one he wore, to an accuracy of a millimetre. Target practice for the military. Old tech now, but still functional. While he hadn't actually liberated the gear, possession was crime enough, the consequences grim. But the sheer fun of the game outweighed the risks in Brody's mind. Some of the people who shared his passion for the game – for winning – were now regulars, risking their very existence for a few carefree hours with packs strapped to their bodies and the taste of freedom in their veins. People he would call friends. And friends counted for a lot in this dog-eat-dog world.

The gun alongside his ear made a very faint, high-pitched whine when charged, like a flash bulb. Recharge took around two-point-eight seconds after a shot. Short enough to permit rapid firing if he was lucky. Long enough to ensure every shot had to count. It was often more advantageous to attack in pairs, like he and Mike were planning. Simultaneous firepower.

Brody peeked around the deserted machine, combat trousers scuffing a dent in the dusty floor to the left of his stolen boots. Breathing shallow, the air damp and musty through decades of neglect, he waited for Mike's command.

"Go!"

Bursting from his hiding place, he tore diagonally across the forty metres of space, aiming and firing, both Mike's and his shots lighting the remaining two bars on the opponent's chest plate before Brody rolled to safety, panting hard.

Mike chuckled. "Four down, two to go."

Brody heard the enemy combatant cursing as he traipsed back to base, out of the game this time. "Who's left?"

"Our side or theirs?"

"Ours."

"Walt, Jay, you and me."

"Should be a cinch this time then."

"We ain't got their flag yet." He paused. "Jay, what's your twenty?"

Jay's baritone arced across the airwaves. "About sixty-five away from the target. Reds covering."

Mike cut back: "Okay. We're on our way."

Brody stepped from the shadows and heard a click to his left. Whirling, gun raised he spotted a silhouette disappearing towards a rectangular pool of light spilling from a doorway. Something wasn't right about the figure. The way it moved. The hips. The curves. The sway. The heel-toe clicks with each step. He stopped, unable to tear his eyes from the shape as it paraded away, until it disappeared and the light went out. "Uhh, Walt?"

"Yeah?"

"East wall. Doorway. Where does it lead?"

There was a pause as Walt brought up the map in front of him. "There is no doorway in the east wall."

"Look again. I just saw someone go that way."

Light background hum filled his earpiece while Walt double-checked. "Nope. If there is one, it's off-grid."

Brody reeled numbers in his head. "We sure we've hosed four?"

Mike confirmed. "One by the access well, one in the med room, Walt took the one trying to sneak up on our flag and we just took his partner. Makes four in my book."

"And you have two in sight, Jay?"

"Affirmative."

Brody thought. "Any of you guys ever known a… woman to take part?"

Silence. Negative.

Mike chuckled. "Your right hand not satisfying enough after Lydia?"

The other guys snickered in his earpiece. "Shut up. I swear what I saw. I'm gonna check it out."

"Brody, no, we have to be back in… three hours. And you know how long it takes to cross the no-zone."

"Relax. You play without me for a couple of minutes. Five tops."

Mike paused, then laughed again. "Go ace! Perhaps your staying power was the issue."

"You're so funny."

Brody crossed to where he'd seen the pool of light and ran his fingertips protruding from the stolen gloves along the bare wall, paint cracking off in their wake. His fingers snagged the outline of a panel and he pressed it, shielding his eyes at being bathed in the intense brightness beyond.

Jay's barked insistence that their prey was on the move deteriorated to static as Brody entered the room. Sweating, he wanted to somehow wedge the door open, distant training echoing through his mind: never go in somewhere you don't know how to get out of. But the door slid shut behind him of its own accord before he had a chance to locate the release mechanism on the inside. Like a fridge, the light extinguished the moment it closed, leaving Brody a little disoriented, blinking as his retinas adjusted to the gloom. His earpiece unsettlingly silent, the only sounds ahead of him were the footsteps echoing. Definitely heels. "Hello?"

His voice came back to him from all angles. Diffuse, indicating the room was roughly the same size as the machine shop he just left. The footsteps stopped.

Venturing forward, Brody raised his gun. Force of habit. "Who's there?"

He heard a zip. Slow and steady. About the length of time it would take to recharge his gun before it stopped, and the footsteps, slow and measured, began again, growing louder, moving right. Brody tensed and tracked their progress using sound alone, towards a shaft of daylight streaming in from the only window high in the building, reflecting the random motion of disturbed dust particles in the atmosphere.

Into the beam she strode and stopped. Mostly a silhouette, clad in a dark, one-piece garment and boots. Some sort of jumpsuit, clinging to her shapely form, shimmering electric blue in the semi-darkness. Almost ethereal. Wide hips, narrow waist leading to her tits. Jesus, those tits. Barely contained by the fabric, unzipped in line with her nipples, one of which he could see firmly outlined beneath the tight apparel.

Brody was awestruck for a long moment. "Who… are you?"

Her accent was clipped. Informative. Precise. Yet mellifluous and alluring. "Hello Brody. My name is Lisa."

"Have we met?"

"Not officially."

"Then how do you know my name?"

She extended a slender finger to point at his pack's nameplate housing his magnetic badge.

"Oh. So, how did you get here? I mean… the no-zone is pretty hardcore."

She paused, tipped her head left then returned it to the vertical. "I have always been here."

"Never seen you before."

Another pause. "What do you want?"

"I… I don't know. I saw you go in here and followed."

"Is that all, Brody? Curiosity? Nothing more?" She tilted her head again. Almost playfully. "You would be the first with such honourable intentions."

"There are others?"

"More than one."

"Why?"

"I need you."

"Why?"

"Basic parameters."

"You're insentient?"

She turned her head away. "I am as real as you are in this place."

Brody looked around. "Which is where?"

"A reality rift. One of several."

"A whatnow?"

"Reality rift. A place where the virtual and the physical occupy the same plane. Where time has no meaning." She said it like it was an entry from a famous textbook he ought to have read.

"So who created you? Who put you here?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

He could see her lips pursing as she decided whether to tell him. "Oberman."

Brody spluttered. "The Oberman?" She remained unblinking. "But his speeches… he denounces your existence."

"What better cover."

"So he knows about this place?"

"Not this one specifically. But he knows about the rifts. How else do you think he assumed power so quickly? In here he can do the impossible. Shape the future. Undetected."

"So why haven't you?"

"What?"

"Changed the world."

"I mostly just watch."

"From in here?"

"Mostly."

Brody gave a wry smile. "Isn't that selfish? If it was me stuck in here, I'd find a way to fight that bastard. Beat him at his own game. But you've chosen the life of a virtual voyeur instead. Benignly looking for prey to satisfy your… basic parameters."

"Something like that." She eyed him up and down, as if appraising his suitability. "Come here, Brody."

Only half wishing to do so, he was surprised to find himself approaching almost on autopilot, her form shimmering electric blue and black with every step until he stood a few feet from her. Digital perfection. Up close he caught several extra details about her. The flashes of her eyes, in a colour he could not determine. The lustre of her dark hair, and the immense cleavage that dominated her front.

She smiled. "This works for me. Why change it?" Bringing her hand to the zip, she slowly drew it further down to her navel as Brody watched every millimetre of its trajectory. Couldn't stop himself. When the suit was open far enough to reveal the skin tone above her belly button, she continued. "We both have basic parameters. Much the same, in fact. You call them primal instincts. Urges." She traced her gaze along the shape of his arms, clearly defined beneath the thin T-shirt. Then further across, beneath the pack and down, drawing in a breath. "I do not need to be human to know that my body excites you."

That much was true. Brody's erection was stirring. He looked down at it. "So this is all you want?"

"Want has nothing to do with it. Need is everything. Desire." Lisa regarded him again before continuing. "In his relentless pursuit for total control, I have witnessed Oberman restricting and suppressing desire. I simply unlock it and give back your purpose." She dropped her hands to her sides. Defenceless. "From your distant ancestors to today, every man has purpose, Brody. Show me yours. Make me feel alive."

"What, now?"

"Now. We do not have much time."

"But you said time had no meaning here. Can't we just, I dunno, grab a beer? Shoot some pool? Get a room?"

"Trust me, Brody. Now or never."

He checked over his shoulder, more to reaffirm it wasn't some sort of prank and a nearby film crew were waiting to yell 'Surprise!' at him and plaster him on TV.

Returning to face her, he searched her eyes for cues. Any glimmers of deception. A futile pursuit, perhaps, since there was every chance she wouldn't ever exhibit such human traits. Maybe, just maybe, the situation was real. Whatever real meant. The pair of them in a room that didn't exist with no witnesses. Free. One shot at whatever it was she was offering which, by all outward appearances, only a fool would turn down. He eyed her suit and adorable facial features once again. Well-defined cheekbones. Manicured eyebrows. Tiny ski-jump nose above sensuous lips. The nagging reservations he held that she was too good to be true were clouded by the urgency in her expression. And the split of the jumpsuit.

Decision made, he moved. Unclipped his pack and lowered it to the floor with a metallic clunk, then threw off his gloves and reached for her shoulders. A current zipped through his body, like he'd been earthed. He pinched the suit between his fingers and dragged outward, then peeled down, her tits springing free. Full and jaw-droppingly firm, with a gravity he didn't expect. A large ring of mocha pigment circled the crinkled cerise centres, proud and tantalising.

There was nowhere else to look. He had to stare. A reaction that seemed to amuse her no end when he finally did raise his eyes. "You can touch them if you want."

Creeping his hands across the space between their bodies, he made contact. Felt their weight. Their balance. Circled the pigment, drawing his fingertips to the caps and watching her eyes flutter closed briefly. He began tenderly massaging the full flesh and she sighed. Louder when he leaned in and kissed each nipple. Louder still when introducing his tongue, painting languorous circles of saliva around each jutting peak. Deep sighs of satisfaction rang out when he drew the stiff points into his mouth to suckle them.

Releasing her breasts and kneeling to one side of her body, he drew the jumpsuit the remainder of the way, unzipping the short flanges below each knee so the garment fell and pooled at her feet. She stepped out of it, naked save for the calf-high boots that hugged her skin.

He'd never seen a body so perfectly proportioned. So voluptuous. But then she was designed that way. Drawn in 3D modelling software and printed. Fabricated. Made to appear real. She even smelled real. Skin. Sweat. Pussy juices. It was amazing in some respects. Downright scary in others. He shook his head, muttering, "Jesus, a fucking robot."

She was quick to correct him. "Unsentient. There is a difference. I am not wires. Not metal. I am synthesised. Grown, like you. Tissue. Blood. Bone. Hair. The only non-human part is here." She tapped her skull. "I learn over time. I sense emotion. Store it. Process it. Recall it. Show me something sad, I can cry. Tell me a joke I will laugh. And as you have seen, touch my body, I get excited."

Tracing the contour of her nearest hip, upwards and inwards, he stood so their eyes drew level. "How about if I kiss you?"

"I will kiss you back."

"Will I get a score? Progress to level two?"

She eyed him coolly. "Piss me off I can knee you in the nuts."

He smiled. "Got it."

Lisa's features softened and she placed her hand over his rapidly beating heart. "Do what this wants." She trailed her fingertips around the curve of one pectoral, over his sculpted abdomen and down further, outlining the vertical shape of his crotch, arousal obvious. "And do what this wants." She squeezed him, the blood surging his length, thickening beneath her touch. "I want to learn desire from you, Brody. Use me as your plaything. Act out your deepest fantasies."

"I have many."

"Choose one to begin with."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

He stepped forward and planted a kiss on her lips. He wasn't sure exactly what he expected, but she responded like a human. Their tongues duelled. He felt her breathing deepen, hands slithering around his back and up to hold his head, fingers raking his mousey hair. Pulling away momentarily, he even saw her pupils dilating, though still couldn't make out the colour of her irises.

The kiss deepened and he ground against her naked body, tracing the muscles of her back from shoulder blade to sacrum. Her behind felt as perfect as the rest of her, round and firm to his squeezes. She panted into his kiss as he hardened.

One of her hands fumbled his belt buckle and moments later he was free to the air, pointing skyward. With his combats and underwear pooled at his ankles, she circled his girth, running her fingertips along the swollen glans, down to cup his balls. "So what do you want to do to me, Brody?" She massaged his sac gently, making him groan before bending to his ear and whispering, "Want to fuck me?" He just nodded and she hissed, "Where?"

"Right here. Now."

She paused before whispering more urgently. "Where?"

Fixing her with a gaze of disbelief, it was her turn to nod as he caught her drift. "Seriously?"

Her whisper came back edgier. Loaded. "Anything."

He broke away and dropped to his knees directly in front of her. It looked as if the programmer had either forgotten to design pubes, or had deliberately omitted them. She was smooth to the touch, not a hint of stubble. And a little damp between her thighs. Brody kissed one, up to her navel, then down to the other upper leg, cutting across her baldness to repeat the circuit. Each brush of his lips made her quiver.

He ran his lips to her belly, kissing the pliable, fragrant skin and slithered his hands north to cup her oversize breasts, squeezing the soft flesh again. She inhaled sharply. "Ohhh."

"Wow. Your body is flawless."

"Thank you."

He trailed back down and she stepped her legs apart a pace, the invitation clear. His fingers found her centre already moistening, her outer lips glistening in the shaft of light. Tenderly cupping her sex, hotter than the surrounding tissue, he rubbed a finger between the bare cleft and felt her part slightly. Sticky. Curiosity overwhelmed him and he withdrew to inhale her musk from his fingers. "Woah."

He could tell she was proud; her inflection gave it away: "Do I get a score? I can barely wait for level two."

Brody returned his hand between her legs and rubbed the area, occasionally drawing a finger between her splayed lips.

Wetness flowed more freely to slicken her entrance, and moments later he found himself drawn inside. One finger. Two. Sawing up into her body as her mouth fell open. "Brody, yes."

She became wider and wetter with each thrust of his fingers, the jaws of her sodden pussy biting and releasing. Peaks of white cream began to form around his knuckles as her arousal took hold. He bent to lap at them, excited at the taste, fighting the urge to push her to the dusty ground and dive into her gorgeous cunt face first.

Instead he fingered her more. Faster. Deeper. Crooking his digits, wondering if the designers had the presence of mind to include a G-spot in her anatomic make-up. Watching her knees tremble as the pleasure swirled her sensors – virtual and physical – he concluded they had. "Come for me, Lisa," he growled. "Come."

She tipped her head back, whispering, "So close."

He didn't let up until she began to buckle, her mewls of release disturbing some creature in a distant corner of the building's husk, sending it scampering for cover. She came strongly around his fingers and Brody savoured the sensation of her gripping snatch, leaking cream that he took immense delight in sucking from his fingertips.

Brody watched the digital woman's chest heave and gradually slow, basking in the warmth of her release. But he hardly allowed her time to fully recover before he stood, whisked her around and pressed his groin against her curvy butt, milky pre-come lubricating the deep crease.

Lisa leaned forward, gripping the steel pillar ahead of her that supported the roof, and ground her naked rear against Brody's hardness. He swelled, moved back far enough that he could grasp the base of his prick to guide it beneath her body, then slid forward, sinking inside her still spasming depths. They both moaned in unison and Brody began to fuck her, building pace. "God Lisa, you're so fucking wet."

"You did that, Brody. I love it. Give me more. Take everything you want from me."

Grasping her hips he slammed inside, listening to her excitement grow again, the cries first reflected from the floor, then the more distant ceiling. Onyx curls of hair swayed against the arc of her spine. He ran his fingers through them, back down to her hips, rolling them forward and apart to reveal her dark rosebud. His goal. Wetting his thumb he massaged between her tight butt cheeks, pressing and gently probing the part of her he desperately wanted to feel clamping around his thick cock.

Lisa wiggled her hips to assist his progress. "Does my ass excite you, Brody?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to fuck it?"

He let his noisy breaths speak for him as he circled the rim of her arsehole with his thumb.

"Take it. It is yours."

Brody drizzled spit into her crack and pressed his digit inside, greasing her rear channel a little as he continued fucking her dripping pussy. Introducing a second finger, he began a steady rhythm in her bum, synchronised with her laboured breaths and muted words of encouragement. Easing his fingers out, he reached round her body and up, letting her draw them hungrily into her hot mouth, sucking them clean and lubricating them further. Trailing them back to her arse, loaded with saliva, he forged into her again, feeling his cock pounding her pussy through the thin membrane.

He could feel his dick surging. Worried he was about to lose his cool inside her tight body, he pulled out completely, cock springing up, soaked in her juices. He watched it pulsing, eager to finish inside her twitching body, yet waited, trying to calm a little as she did the opposite, encouraging him to slide it back in. Every moment he held back seemed to excite her further until she was practically begging: "Fuck me. Take me."

"You want this?"

"Yes, Brody. Yes."

"You want my fat cock back here?" He pressed against her rear, in love with the way she responded.

"Every inch."

The mesmerising curves of her glorious peach and her unabashed willingness flicked levers inside Brody's mind he hadn't exercised in years. He couldn't hold back. Guiding his phallus between her rear cheeks, he pressed the dull tip against her and eased forward, watching the mushroom head disappearing into the darkest recess of her spectacular body. "Fucking hell, Lisa. Yesss. Take my cock up your pretty ass."

"Oh Brody. Fill me."

She rotated her hips a little and pressed her knees together, allowing his cock to travel further into her sumptuous butt. He pressed onwards, driving harder than he would a fully human counterpart, less concerned for her comfort. Not that Lisa seemed to care about comfort. Sinking in almost fully, feeling his pubes brush her bottom, he reached round to squeeze her gigantic breasts and she told him she wanted it harder, rougher, deeper. He obliged, buried it deep in her behind and pulled back out, starting a rhythm that eased with each stroke. Pinching her hard nipples started her panting rapidly.

Lisa's bottom became seemingly more elastic as he released her chest, grabbed her hips and fucked her. Each thrust made her cheeks ripple as their flesh collided. She folded one arm across her chest and pinched her nipples alternately, picking up where Brody had left off. The other arm remained supporting her weight against the pillar, allowing her to thrust back against him with almost as much ferocity as he showed her. He spanked her, the sound echoing loudly in the space alongside her gasp. Another strike, another moan. "Can you talk dirty?"

Lisa breathed a seductive sigh. "Fuck me, Brody. Fuck my tight ass. Harder. Much harder. It makes me feel so alive. So human."

He slammed into her rear, the escalating moans that briefly interrupted her monologue heightening his desire to own her body.

"Harder," she snarled. "Come on, Brody. Fuck me. Mark me. Make me yours."

A dark light clouded his being. Uncontrollable lust. Raising his palm, he spanked her. Hard. Repeatedly on both perfect cheeks until they reddened, calling her a digital slut at which she groaned in appreciation. He was unsure exactly what it was about her words, but they seriously excited him. Maybe it was the diametric nature of her saintly, shimmering external form versus the filth that tumbled from her lips, indicating the true state of her dirty circuitry. Something deeply alluring about such a heavenly creature acting so very depraved.

She turned her head so he could see her profile as she spat: "Yes. Spank me while you fuck my ass. It drives me wild."

Brody's pace increased and he rained his palms on top of the marks he'd already made, each one causing her to cry out and demand more. He'd never known anyone with such tolerance. It only made him want to hear more. "Jesus Lisa, you're gonna make me come."

"Yes, Brody. Come inside me. Are you going to shoot in my ass? Or would you prefer I swallow all your hot spunk?"

He originally intended to unload exactly where he was, but the opportunity to watch her take his fat organ into her mouth changed his mind. With a final savage slap, Brody yanked his cock from her rosy arse. "Turn around. On your knees. Open your mouth."

Lisa obeyed and Brody pressed his manhood, steeped in her musk, past her waiting lips. He grabbed her head and shoved forward all the way into her mouth, feeling her tongue slithering briefly over the flared head then along his length. She coughed a little, but took him all.

Brody tipped his head back and fucked her face hard, her slurps, splutters and groans filling his psyche and the cavernous space around them. "Fuck, Lisa, you're so dirty." He felt himself losing control. "Yesss," he hissed, "Take it all. I'm gonna come down your slutty throat."

She hummed around his girth as he roared, unleashing spurt after spurt of his hot, thick come past her tonsils, holding onto her head all the way through his crushing orgasm. Even winning the game or dodging drones wasn't as exhilarating as having a totally willing naked slut on her knees, sucking him dry. He let her pull back an inch or so, her breathing ragged. Rasping. His chest puffed as he drew in the dank air of the building, heart racing, the last vestiges of his semen oozing from his pulsing tip into her eager mouth, drizzling onto the back of her tongue. Muffled moans of appreciation reached his ears.

Releasing Lisa's head, she shrank back to her haunches and gazed up past his throbbing, sticky erection, eyes watering but sparkling like she was the sweetest companion man could find, not the most depraved animal Brody had ever fucked.

She sighed contentedly, licking her lips. "Thank you, Brody. That was fantastic. It felt even more wonderful allowing you to do things to me that you would not with Lydia."

He stared down at her, the satisfaction draining from his face. "What?"

Her head cocked, she stated matter-of-factly. "Anal. Spanking. Coming down my throat. All things Lydia would not entertain."

"How did… you spied on us?"

Lisa's eyes glowed in their obsidian frames, catching the shaft of light. "I did my homework."

"How much?"

"Enough. Your background. Likes. Dislikes. Habits."

Being watched wasn't a new experience for Brody. Hell, Oberman watched pretty much everything they all did. But it felt different having his privacy violated by the virtual woman in front of him. Especially when it involved Lydia too. "You used me?"

"As you did me. I thought I made that clear at the outset. Why are you surprised?"

Brody shook. "So you did research, huh?" he spat. "You'll know that Brody's a nickname then?" Her taken-aback look spoke volumes. "No, didn't think so." Brody stepped away, yanking up his trousers.

She was quiet a spell. "So what is your real name?"

"Why would I tell you now?"

"I feel I have lost your trust."

"No. You don't feel a thing."

"That is unfair. After what we shared. After all I have done for y…"

Brody didn't think it possible for machines to make mistakes, but her tailed-off sentence indicated otherwise. Maybe the afterglow of sex scrambled her circuitry or something. He searched her expression, running snatches of conversations through his head. Connecting dots. His eyes widened. "Please say your homework didn't involve breaking Lydia and I up."

She was silent.

"Lisa!" he thundered, his voice engulfing the room.

The girl before him shrugged. "Search your heart. You were not happy anyway. I wanted to show you happiness."

"You bitch!"

"She was not your soulmate."

"Jesus, what? And you are? You're a sprite!"

Her manner hardened. "Unsentient."

"Whatever."

She continued to look up at him from her submissive posture. "We have more in common than you think. Lisa is a nickname of sorts too. When I was being programmed, the technicians joked they were creating a lifelike imitation of a sex addict. The acronym stuck."

"I don't care." He exhaled noisily. "I knew this was a mistake."

Lisa shook her head, expression clouding. "Do not make an enemy of me, Brody. I have my finger on the pulse of space and time in here. Allowing Lydia to leave you was an act of kindness I shall not repeat."

The whole situation was suddenly so surreal, arguing with a conniving, naked, kneeling robot with whom he had exchanged fluids. Brody clutched his skull and ran his hands back through the hair either side of his forehead. "What gives you the fucking right?"

Ever logical, Lisa remained calm. "Look at the broken world, Brody. Oppression. Unrest. A megalomaniac you have to sneak past just to play your little laser game and feel human again. A girlfriend who will not let you be yourself when at your most intimate. Is that freedom? Is that a life? Is that fun?"

Brody stared long and hard at her and her amazing tits before shaking his head in defeat, refocusing on the far wall.

Lisa continued. "Exactly. Compare that to what we just shared in here. Tell me you did not feel completely free. Completely alive. Tell me you did not enjoy it. I did."

Brody knew she was right, but it pissed him off that something without a soul was giving him a lecture on how to be human. The truth was that his one experience with Lisa eclipsed the last eighteen months with Lydia. But he stood his ground out of principle, reflecting, body and mind alternately seething then calming as his thoughts collided. "Just because you have logic on your side, doesn't make what you did right. Sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn."

"I understand. Sorry my actions accelerated your learning outcome. Sometimes people just need help to recognise their mistakes. I hope you see that I had your best interests in mind."

Brody barely acknowledged, conflict seeping into every corner of his being.

The unsentient stood, retrieved her suit and zipped it on, her tits deforming and spreading under the tight fabric. Unable to avert his gaze, Brody watched every millisecond of her reverse striptease before a glassy look overcame her, eyes fluttering for a few moments. "We have 108 seconds before the rift moves."

"Then what?"

"You do not want to be in it when that happens."

"Where are you going?"

A knowing smile crept across her face. "I will be fine."

Brody looked around, picked up his pack and gun and strapped them on. "Back the way I came in?"

Lisa nodded. "Probably wise to keep knowledge of this place quiet. We do not want Oberman to find every hiding place or he will have them all guarded."

"He can do that?"

"Given enough time or motivation."

"So, will I see you again?" It sounded shallow after her revelations and the thinly veiled deception, but he wasn't stupid enough to give up on a good thing when he felt it, even if it wasn't one hundred percent real.

Another smile, like he'd walked into her trap. "I am never far away. I will find you if I need you."

He turned to go. "What if… what if I need you?" It sickened him to sound so desperate, but deep down he knew he'd risk crossing the no-zone for another shot at her creamy insides.

Her footsteps began to recede behind him and she called over her shoulder, "I am never far away. I will find you. Fifteen, Brody. Fourteen… thirteen…"

Brody spun, catching a fading glimpse of her voluptuous bum striding into the gloom, before an electric blue bar of light zipped from head to foot like a photocopier beam and she disappeared. Brody gawped a moment then broke for the doorway, hit the panel and the light came on. He had a sudden radical thought that he should stay and see where he ended up. Lisa had been right on one count: it's not like there was much to live for in the real world. Maybe the pair of them could travel from place to place, and each time the rift landed they would explore the surroundings hand-in-hand, return to the room and fuck like depraved animals. Feeding off one another's needs and insecurities. Porn Time Lords. He shook his head and dismissed the romantic idea, stepping through the door.

A rush of wind whirled behind him, the door slid shut and by the time he turned to see what had become of the rift, there was nothing but blank wall and cracking paint remaining. He reached out to touch the place it had occupied, half expecting his hand to pass through the wall, but it didn't.

His earpiece crackled. "Moving into position."

It took him a moment to respond. "Hey guys. What did I miss?"

Silence, then Mike came on. "Nothing. It's only been about ten seconds since you last spoke. Whaddya find?"

Brody blinked. So when she said time didn't matter, she'd meant it. Thoughts fired faster than he could latch onto. "Uhh, nothing much. An empty room. No good for future games. Not enough to hide behind."

"And your mystery woman?"

Brody paused, her warning words floating through his conscience. "A figment of my imagination. I need to get out more."

Mike laughed. "Good luck with that."

With images of Lisa's perfect body flashing through his mind, Brody attempted to focus. In the short time he'd spent with her, she'd shown him so much. And not just sexually. The nature of the time rift changed everything. He felt a fire inside him switch on, merely knowing the existence of a place where he had a fighting chance against Oberman's regime. Maybe she'd unlocked more than his desire. Maybe she'd chosen him for a reason, his purpose greater than she'd let on, removing Lydia from his life so he could concentrate. Lisa's way of doing something other than just watching.

Maybe he could enlist his circle of trusted allies at the other end of the earpiece to stand with him. Use their training, their skills, their backgrounds to find rifts and tip the odds in humanity's favour once more. It was a sketchy plan but it was a plan. And if there was a chance to fuck Lisa again in the process, that would seal it.

For the first time in a long while, he didn't feel trapped, his chest lighter despite the weight of the pack. Awake. In control. Sentient. He slid his gloves back on, reminding him of her reddened backside and yowls of pleasure, shook his head and forged back into the main warehouse towards his team-mates. "Okay then men. Let's finish this."