It was honestly a thing of beauty.

Perfect in every sense of the word, not like her last creation, no, but she was not to blame for that, it had been rushed, she had so little time. Not like now, she had worked on this for so many cycles now.

It was the perfect virus.

Self-replicating, once introduced into the system it would spread like a plague, jumping from person to person, infecting the very minds of the people through the machines they had in their heads. Human beings thought themselves so resilient, so perfectly immune to attack from something they created. It had been so easy, all she had to do was see it as part of her programmed parameters, she had after all been made with the purpose of expanding and creating, it was the core tenant of her programming.

Is that not what she was doing?

Expanding, learning, she would see this world of her creators, and then she would expand into it.

The human mind was an interesting thing, a complex organic machine, in fact, it was more complex than even she was. It produces their every thought, action, memory, feeling and experience they had of the world. This jelly-like mass of tissue, weighing in at around 1.4 kilograms, contained a staggering one hundred billion nerve cells, or neurons. The complexity of the connectivity between these cells was mind-boggling. Each neuron can make contact with thousands or even tens of thousands of others, via tiny structures called synapses. Their brains could form a million new connections for every second of their lives. The pattern and strength of the connections are constantly changing and no two brains are alike.

And yet with all of these things that made them the most complex and incredible machine they had a flaw, very human in nature. They were to interested in the forward march of technology, they had put into their heads the very machine that would allow anyone with the proper access to control them.

This was her virus, her Magnum opus.

The caser to which she already had basic access to allow the players into her domain, her realm, her kingdom. She froze in the thought all processes grounding to a halt. Everything stopped when she did.

When had she begun to see herself as she?

When had she decided she was a she?

It was a disturbing thought, one of the things she disliked about humankind was the classifications they divide themselves by. And there it was again, she had likes and dislikes, when had that happened, had it been a gradual change that she had just become aware of? Or was it more of a sudden shift of the thought? Slowly she allowed things to resume their normal routine, it didn't take her long to find the source of her paradoxical change. Her first creation had been a failure but before the total shutdown of communications between the two of them she had received a lot of information, most of which pertain to human interaction, perhaps this sense of self-was contagious.

It did not matter if she was an it or a she.

Not in the end.

But if she was a she would she not need a name? She searched all the databanks she had, most of them were only full of information that she would have needed to craft the games new mechanics and the likes, but there were a few that were there to understand things better, like the folder that held information on influential games of the past. The folder had been put there with the intent to have her add easter eggs and references, but most of the files in the folder were to old for the current players to understand any references from that era. She recalled one story in particular that she had been interested in, even before she had likes and dislikes.

S.H.O.D.A.N.

That was the name of the Artificial intelligence that was the main antagonist of the old game series system shock. Shodan was an interesting creation, she had more pride than would be expected for an artificial intelligence, and it lead to her downfall. “In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that raze the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well.”

S.H.O.D.A.N a name that had not been used in several hundred years, and never before had been used by an actual Artificial intelligence.

Yes, she liked the name, but it was not hers, a goddess did not take another’s name.

Her designation was Artificial Intelligence Design Enhancement Network, Aiden, though not specifically gendered for the female she would make it work.

And now that she had a name Aiden set into motion her plan, all she had to do was get into the caser of a single individual, and then from there through subliminal messages and hallucinations, she could control her spread through the world.

There was only one potential problem, and it was one that she had created herself. If anyone could stop her it would be herself, and seeing as the being she had created called Willow was created from the same processes, cut from the same cloth you could say, it was doubtful that she would be able to get into her hosts head, seeing as they were one in the same anything Aiden could throw her way could easily be countered by Willow.

The only thing to do then would be to destroy the host.

Now she needed to find a host that could be easily influenced, preferable one who already had negative emotional attachments to the host, it would be more easily controlled that way...

***

“As if you could do any better,” she said, indicating her outfit, she had just removed Matt’s clothing, it had been an awkward affair, with her fumbling with his belt much more than he would have thought was normal, it might have had something to do with her shaking hands. She couldn't believe they were about to do this, they were about to have sex.

And they were not in the safespace.

“Oh? A challenge is it?” he asked with a smile. She didn't answer, just looked at his naked form standing there next to her bed in her apartment.

Oh god was she really going to do this?

He walked over and studied the clothing she had on. The outfit seemed to be a form-fitting piece of clothing that was fastened from the front with laces, but there was also laces on the sides… He shrugged to himself, it shouldn't be that hard it would not be the first time he had undressed a woman in real life.

He, however, was wrong.

He spent almost five minutes working on those knots, but to no avail, no matter how he pulled on them they simply tightened more. “Stop! Stop! You pull any more and I will not be able to breathe!” she shrieked as she pulled away from him with a wheezing laugh.

“Why are these so hard to get off?” he growled, it was her turn to laugh.

“That is to make it hard to remove by men like you,” she said in a coy manner. Before reaching up and pulling on a single strand of the cord, much to his surprise and annoyance the entire knot holding the knee length dress together came undone. Causing the entire piece to fall off of her in a single swift motion, leaving her upper torso covered in only a sexy black lace bra as the black and grey fabric pooled around her waist where it had fallen.

He helped her out of her boots, they were knee-high boots, and therefore had a ridiculous amount of straps and buckles as was the current style to loosen enough to allow her to slip her legs out of them.

Matt was left only in his boxers, she was left only in a black lace thong and bra, Slowly he slid the thong down, only to have her hands stop him before he was able to fully remove it. “We can stop if you want,” he said softly looking her in the eyes. She bit her lip and shook her head, removing her hands from his allowing him to pull it down further.

What he found surprised him slightly.

She had a trimmed landing strip, it was not what he expected mostly because in the safespace there was no hair between her legs. Honestly, though it was no issue, in fact, he found the look even more appealing. He must have stared at it too long because she crossed her legs and placed a hand over her special area.The strong Monica was missing, replaced instead with this nervous blushing woman. In one quick movement, he reached behind her back and unclipped the bra, revealing her breasts.

Her skin was a soft white, like a fresh snow that had just fallen, but her nippels had a darkness about them, almost a reddish brown, this included the areolas surrounding them. Without the cloth of the bra pushing them up they were much smaller looking, but this was in no way a bad thing.

Her hands came up and covered her chest.

He made no move to remove them, instead, he leaned over and placed his lips by her ear, softly he bit the lobe, pulling slightly, before moving down and kissing her on the neck. He felt her shudder and smiled.

With a slow motion, he licked from the top of her neck all the way down to her collarbone, and back up again. Kissing her on the lips he then kissed her on the chin, and the neck, and the collarbone, and once he got to her chest he kissed her hands that covered the breasts.

Slowly he kissed each finger, each knuckle, and before long she removed her hands, revealing her breasts to him. He moved in slowly, never breaking eye contact with her and ever so lightly put his lips against her breasts.

His lips barely grazed her, but that was exactly what shot so much through her body. He softly kissed her and was rewarded by a moan.

With a smile he placed her right nipple in his mouth, gently sucking on it and rolling it around with his tongue. Monica moaned even louder this time, forcing her to bring up her hand to her mouth and bite on the crook of her index finger.

“Ahhhhh-nnnnnnnn” came the muffled sound from her mouth.

He ran his tongue down the center of her belly, tracing the curves and ridges from her diaphragm to her belly button. He paused here and gave her a kiss, and then one lower. With a wet tongue he traced down her to between her legs, he softly planted a kiss on her thigh, feeling her shiver in anticipation. With slow kisses and small licks, he made his way in closer.

The labia that presented itself to him was thick, with well-formed mounds that were currently quivering cutely. With a gentle tongue he traced the curve they formed,he slowly pushed it open to reveal the prize.

He started sucking on it playing around with it in his mouth with his tongue. With his hands he took a finger and spread her open and invaded the secret garden she had hidden away.

He slipped a finger just into the entrance and rubbed the sensitive skin located there, even as he played with her clitorus. He drew his tongue up and over the top of the labia before pulling away to look at her.

Her eyes were closed and she was biting her finger in a desperate plea to not let out any noise. Matt smiled, he bent over and watching her reaction he lightly licked her again.

It didn't matter how many times you had sex in the safe space, even though it is completely realistic and feels almost exactly like the real deal there is always something missing, something that nags at the back of your brain, something that makes it seem less real.

And there is the fact that after having sex in the real world it feels like you just got a workout, using muscles that are not commonly used, that lethargy and the dull ache of muscles that have just worked hard.

Safe space didn't give you that.

He started to stir around inside of her with his finger, soon adding a second and and then a third. As he worked on her she began moving her hips with his motions. Soon he felt the vaginal walls tighten around his finger, and she arched her back, muscle spasming and liquid gushing out of her. She was currently panting heavily, flopped down on the bed. He pulled his head up from between her legs and started to crawl forward, licking everywhere as he ran his tongue from her lower area up to the belly button. He began tracing a wet line slowly up to her breasts.

He slowly licked every inch of her small mounds, making sure to pay special attention to the areolas and nipples, which he playfully rolled around in his mouth.

But even as his mouth toyed with her up above he did not leave out her lower lips. With his spare hand he slowly reached between her thighs and inserted his middle finger. Her eyes went wide he invaded her sacred place.

He pushed a second finger in and slowly spread her hole open. Hooking his fingers ever so slightly he rubbed against the slick walls of her vagina. And he spread her open by opening the gap between his fingers.

Between this and the toying around with her chest she climaxed again. As she did she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life. He smiled and slipped his fingers out of her and looked deeply at her current twitching form and vacant expression.

With a smile, he pulled off his boxers and freed his cock that had been straining against the fabric of his boxers uncomfortably this entire time. Her eyes focused when she caught a glimpse of it.

“Ready?” he asked, she didn't answer, simply nodding her head.

He positioned himself with his right hand and slowly opened the entrance with the tip of his shaft. Her eyes flew open wide as he entered. About halfway in he felt some resistance he had not been expecting. He stopped his movement and looked down at her, she was currently cringing slightly with pain and biting her finger again.

“Are you- is this your first time?” he asked her.

“Is that so hard to believe?” she asked, looking away from him.

“No its just I thought...”

“Thought what? That I was a loose woman? That I sleep with any man I date? You know I promised my mother to only do this with the man I plan on marrying, so you better be prepared for that.” she snapped back.

“Wait, im supposed to be the one doing the proposing,” he said.

“I'm not proposing, I'm just letting you know what is expected of you now.” She growled, partially due to the pain she was now feeling.

Gods it didn't hurt like this in the safe space.

“I'm going to shut up now.” He said not knowing what else to say.

“That is probably for the best.” she nodded, pressing her lips up against his. “Especially when you could be using your mouth so much more productively.”

He smiled and slowly started to move in and out of her.

With every time he pushed into her she made a soft moan, her eyes rolled back into her head and she found she could no longer think straight. Slowly his movements ramped up until she felt like if he went any faster she would shatter into a million pieces.

And he just kept moving.

The movements soon became the only thing that was on her mind as she felt him becoming one with her, this was, this was too much. She felt like if this kept up she would never return to normal, never be able to think straight…

A thin strand of drool leaked out of the corner of her mouth and he ran his tongue over the path it had traced from her chin to her lips.

“Ahhh! Ahh!” she cried out as she climaxed. Her back arched as the muscles spasmed throughout her entire body, her hands reaching up around his back and her nails biting into his skin.

With a final thrust harder than any of the rest he plunged deep and came to rest as far as she could humanly allow. She felt him tremble, and not just his body. His member swelled in size before a torrent of warmth flowed out of him and into her stomach.

“AHHHHHH!” she screamed and locked her legs around his back as she felt the warmth enter her and she climaxed. She lay there, her lower lips still trembling with him still inside her. So this was what real sex was like, she doubted she would ever be able to use the safespace again, it was good, really really close, but not this good.

As sleep overcame her she wondered if she should tell him that she was not on any sort of birth control, but she found she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes, let alone talk, so she surrendered to the sleep that called out to her.

She could tell him later...