"How are they, boss?" Danica asked as Aya laid down on the couch, and put her head on top of her thigh.

"Ask them yourself. They are online now, and only available to you and Sol. I'm keeping Tandy away for now. I don't want to burden her mind with the neural net until I'm sure I've done everything possible to heal her properly." Aya yawned.

"Boss, you not only need to rest, you should consult with the doctor properly, and lay out all the options. Let her decide if she wants to wait. It must be driving her mad." Aya rubbed her face on her muscular thigh, and sighed.

"Alright. When I've rested a bit, and have my mind focused again, I'll put all the cards on the table, and let her decide." Aya closed her eyes, and soon, Danica, Sol, Coral, and Connie, all felt a massive intrusion into their consciousness.

While all felt the twitches and shudders of a massive mind fuck, and a flexing of their mental boundaries, Aya continued to work on a solution for Tandy's problem.

Missing and damaged brain matter.

 

* * *

 

'Girls. It's time to go on a recruitment drive.' Aya spoke within their group space, and one at a time, all of them appeared.

'Recruitment? Boss, we trust each other with our lives. I'm not sure we could trust anyone else. The street rats sometimes hunt us to try and steal from us, while the rich dudes only want easy targets to hurt, or rape. Or worse.' Brit said firmly.

'There are a few who are like your group. Tight knit. Look after each other, while others are less trustworthy. They can be utilized through loyalty conditioning, and punitive programs that train obedience, like those dog collars. Once you see the group, you'll know who I mean. Those two will need to come to the hotel to be properly trained.' Aya disappeared, and in spite of their loyalty, they felt a small sliver of discomfort.

Training sounded like brainwashing to them.

 

* * *

 

"Where are you taking us?" The two girls asked. They looked uncomfortable, and skittish.

"The boss wants to meet the both of you." Leen said, but not in her normal rough voice. She sounded a bit more gentle this time, which was strange for her. "The others have already headed to our club, where they can be warm, have food, and some work that will provide an income. It's a safe place, away from the rats, and boi's playing like they are men."

Leen took them to the hotel, and with Jill's permission, she took them up to the lab. Once the door opened, a gentle voice spoke from the speakers.

"Aline. Inez. Please, come in." The girls looked at each other.

"How do you know our names?" Inez said, a bit of fear in her eyes.

"The boss knows all about you. We can scan your fingerprints from a long distance away, and if you're in the system, we'll know." Inez stepped back a bit. "Don't worry. We don't believe the reports. Aline, please help Inez to sit down on one of the couches, and let yourself relax a bit. Her life has been quite terrible, as has your own."

"Leen." Leen turned towards the vat. "You can head back now. Aline and Inez will be alright, and may return to the club tonight. It all depends upon their decision." Leen let out a slow breath.  She didn't know that Tandy already spoke to Aya, and the conditioning would not be used.

"Thank you, doctor. Send word if they wish to go to their new home, and we'll come escort them so they are safe." Leen smiled at the two and left.

"Where are you? Why can we only hear your voice?" Aline asked, her eyes drawn to the wall that contained the vat that Leen automatically looked towards. She watched as a curtain moved.

"My name is Tandy, also known as the doctor to the girls." They saw a dismembered body in the tank behind the curtains. "I'm alive thanks to the boss that Leen speaks about."

"She did this to you?" Aline asked and went close to the glass.

"I guess you could say yes, she did, but not in the way you think. I was murdered, and she couldn't let me die. So, she spent a long time rebuilding my body enough to allow me to live." The beautiful face smiled. "As you can see, I have some control over my body, but I lack my limbs, and I also lack some pieces of my brain. Someone shot me in the head."

"Wow." Aline said. "She was able to keep you alive in spite of all that?"

"Yes, she's quite determined." Tandy said with a warm smile. "Also, she's worked on technology that can help me to walk again, but there are some minor delays while she enhances it enough to take over some brain functions that can only be simulated with larger equipment."

"That's so cool." Aline said. "But why are we here?" Tandy smiled.

"For a simple reason. The boss is going to offer you something the others don't have yet." She flicked a control with her mind, and a covered stand appeared. It was on a rail, so it moved to where she wanted it.

"This is a fully armored skeletal frame." The cover was removed. "It's designed to allow her people, people like you, to get stronger, and faster." Aline and Inez looked at the frame that looked a little too familiar.

"I don't understand."

"This frame is something that will be installed inside a living person. When she's ready, she'll rebuild my body with this frame. I'll be able to walk, run, and breathe like most everyone else, but I'll be a lot faster, and at least three times as strong as a full grown male human." Tandy looked down at Aline, and shifted her gaze to Inez.

"These frames and operations cost a lot. They cost so much, they would bankrupt many rich families. However, to the boss, there is only one commodity that can buy these frames, and allow you to be given one." Aline looked up at her.

"What commodity do I have other then my body?" She asked, and didn't look like she had the confidence that this would be acceptable.

"Your loyalty." Jill smiled, and stepped forward. "The boss implemented a points system, similar to video games, where displays of loyalty can allow her people to purchase upgrades, programs to enhance our combat potential, and I just noticed this, the full skeletal frame upgrade." Aline looked at Jill, then at Tandy. She gave only a short glance to Inez before she closed her eyes.

"Inez, please. I made you a promise that I wouldn't abandon you. Help me to keep this promise and join me." Aya walked out of a side room, and stayed quiet.

"Okay, Aline. You've always supported me when I needed it, even when others ran away. I'll follow you this time." Inez said and wrapped her arms about her shoulders. Aya smiled as she heard the young woman's promise.

"We'll fight him together."

 

* * *

 

"To allow you to get used to being able to access the system, we will first set you up with an organic interface. Micro machines will assemble the interface inside your heads, and give you some benefits." Tandy said. "Jill, escort Inez to the table, and let Aline stay with her."

"Why her first?" Aline asked.

"Because she showed a bit of loyalty to you. Remember, the commodity you possess is loyalty, and it is your currency now. This is a rare thing today. Don't worry, Aline. You will follow her." Aline slowly nodded, and followed Jill into the next room.

"Now lie down, face down. This will look freaky to you, Aline, but don't interrupt her. Jill had this done, and so did the others." Aline stayed quiet, while Inez laid down. An armature unfolded, and a strange object pressed to the base of her skull. It was made of multiple stainless steel cylinders, much like a small paint mixer, with a fitting at the base.

This was as much a test as anything else as just pressing the metal container to her skin would do the same. A long needle was inserted at the back of the six inch machine, and pushed inward. This needle looked about twelve inches long, and disappeared beneath the surface of the dispenser.

In reality, the needle was disassembled after being pushed in through the skin, and not allowed to go further.  It just looked like it did.

Inez groaned slightly as the machines were injected under the skin. These were part of a newer generation that Aya had just modified, and were capable of removing the bone tissue collar, so it could be replaced with the titanium collar, and interface.

Her programs became more complex, and each machine was now linked to her own consciousness.

"Okay, Aline. Would you like to lay down as well?"

 

* * *

 

'That was a surprise.' Tandy smiled as Inez laid down beside her friend after she pushed the two medical tables together.

'She didn't want to be alone.' Aya said. 'Their interfaces will be installed with minimal trauma to their bodies, and with fewer complications. A full skeletal installation would be more complex, and beyond their abilities for now.'

'I understand, baby.' Tandy said quietly. 'Is there something you wish to tell me?'

'No. However, I have no choice but to tell you.' She heard a bit of sadness in her mental tone. 'I don't know why I can't make your body regenerate the lost portions.' Tandy pursed her lips.

'I figured it was something like that, but brains are special, baby. Can you mimic the missing parts with synthetic? Make an adaptive neural net that behaves like grey matter, and takes on the roles that the missing parts had?' She felt Aya intrude deep within her mind, and begin to probe around within her.

'Mimic. Using the new interface, and the organic neural overlay, it can be continually updated, and enhanced.' Aya's tone sounded like she was quite surprised and didn't expect this result.

'So is that a yes?' Tandy asked. She started to twitch as her body and brain began to endure Aya's intense stimulation. Within her mind, Aya's avatar embraced her, pushed her down to the cold hard steel of a floor, and kissed her extremely passionately.

As she orgasmed under Aya's mental assault, she realized that Aya had just answered her.

Yes.