The Final Sanctionedited by John Drake

                                      Prelude

  Far away in an uncharted star system, a system that would eventually be charted and recorded as G34-12P part of the story starts a beginning of sorts...
 Orbiting around the little yellow sun was a planet. The world was like a giant blue marble, a jewel, a vast deep endless sea unbroken by land or ice with a diverse and unique ecosystem but lacking any sentient life. 
  There was a brief black shimmer above this world and a sleek, organic looking craft eighty meters long appeared over the ocean. It was shaped like a seed with four protruding fins in an X shape. This had not been the first time that such a ship had visited this system. The ship slowed and it quickly dropped through the atmosphere and flew above the ocean surface. It started to deploy something from its rear, small grains of something that fell into the water. Slowly what it was grew quickly and a light brown algae began to form on the surface of the planet. 
  The ship flew over the alien water world for about a hundred miles before it had delivered its payload, creating a thin narrow stain across its surface. 
  Five hundred years into the future and hundreds of light-years away, another part of the story unfolded...

  An archaeologist was digging through a collapsed entrance hall. Well, she wasn’t the one doing the digging. A robot not unlike a giant vacuum cleaner was slowly hoovering-up the sand, cataloguing it, analysing it and letting Dr Anderson know when it encountered anything. 
  She wore a green visor covering her eyes which displayed data from the robot, carried a jacket that seemed to be made of a hundred pockets (something she had custom replicated to carry about every tool she owned and her loose brown trousers draped over a pair of sensible sturdy boots. 
  Amelia Anderson was busy herself. She had a gel pad that she carefully put on a central point on the floor then took a brace and positioned a gel pad over it. She activated the deploy button and slowly the brace extended onto the second gel pad then it touched the ceiling. There was a slight creak, a bit of dust and a flutter of Amelia’s heart. The roof would not be falling in on her. She would not be so excited by this find that she would take un-necessary risks. The Denix Confederacy was an interesting area of study. They had once held many worlds and almost without exception all of those worlds had been most thoroughly destroyed a very long time ago. 

  The Denix had been an old race, full of their own self-importance. They had tried to help other people but in many ways the other races had resented and eventually rejected their help. The Denix had responded by mobilizing their military and with a degree of life lost, the text translated as marginal collateral damage running up to 25% of a planets’ population. 
  They began to impose their vision of how other cultures and races should behave to their standards and values. The Denix spread themselves thinner and thinner-their economy could not maintain the armed forces and infrastructure though. 
  People began to rebel against there rule, sighting that they would rather die free than live under the Denix Confederacy. Their military might exhausted, the Denix maintained their grip by the threat of the use of the super weapon-The Last Sanction. 
  The Denix leadership changed. A charismatic leader came to power, one born on a world within the confederacy but not of the Denix race-a citizen of their Confederacy but not a member of the species, though there were some accounts that said he was half Denix. He proposed change. He withdrew the military and tried to deal openly with those who wanted to leave the Confederacy. History recorded him as a fool. 

 The Confederacy was utterly destroyed by an alliance of the worlds that it had dominated, its creditors and many opportunists that saw a profit. The Confederacy was beaten back. World by world was utterly destroyed by the alliance. The Denix as a civilisation and a people were wiped out as well as any that had collaborated with them, supported them or were even suspected of sympathising with them. The real mystery was why they didn’t use there ultimate weapon-The Last Sanction to turn the tide of the war.   
  There was one point where the principle alliance fleet had gotten together, marshalled in a single star system. According to the text, seventy eight percent of the alliance’s war materials, a single use of The Last Sanction would have changed the war in their favour. That was the big question was it the morality of their leader that stopped them, was it sabotage by the alliance or was it a technical fault with the weapon that was rumoured to have disappeared days before the fall of the confederacy?

  Amelia sorted through one section of the hallway and into a side room. There was a door that was particularly heavy-it would have done a fine job as a blast door long ago but a million years and the archway around it had splintered. There were corroded emitters that would have formed a formidable shield long ago if there was anything left to power them. There were the remains of a dozen war droids and twice that number of loyal guards that had died guarding the contents of the room. There was a secure box, a safe of some sort but a structural support had fallen on it, it was all that kept the room in one piece. 
  Amelia used the code she had found on an earlier dig of a forward military base where a high ranking Field Martial had perished. The safe opened. Inside were shards of metal seemingly scattered about at random. Amelia smiled. These were bits of a device-the Denix memory modules, they were kept for security in pieces. They would have to be assembled in a certain order to be viable. This device was part of a set of three and when fully assembled it contained the main operating code and access codes for the greatest technological achievement of the Denix Confederacy. 
  Slowly she scanned the device, working out how it might fit together. It had to be harmless only a danger to anyone if it was complete with the other two parts of the memory module, a human brain was completely different from a Denix mind there was no harm in assembling it she told herself. There was a scream and a static discharge in the hall as the last piece of the module clicked into place.

  Other actions were connected though remote through time. In the Same entrance hall one million years earlier a chase played out, an old man with long white hair piloted a security patrol craft. The man had a distinguished and serious air to him he wore a long black coat a thin tie a waist coat and carried a cane. He was just getting old enough to need to use it at about 300 years old. 
  The Timelord looked at his target-a robed figure on a similar patrol scooter. The Doctor reluctantly armed the firing mechanism on the patrol craft and shot over the head of the fleeing thief. A light fitting fell and crashed into the fleeing thief’s scooter sending it into a wall. Behind the Timelord there were a dozen guards on security scooters they looked like hovering Segways not very durable devices but fast and maneuverable. The thief got up from the remains of the bent scooter, he cackled clutching his prize it looked a little like a third of an egg if cut vertically. The thief’s face couldn’t be seen but he clutched onto his shiny prize with a manic gleeful desperation. 
  He grabbed a hold of the door to a locker and stepped inside, disappearing into the box ,a horrible look of realisation crossed the old man’s face, then the box shimmered and phased away. It vanished. It was a Tardis with a chameleon circuit! A rogue Timelord had stolen away a very dangerous key!
  A door opened up. A dozen guards built far more heavily than any human flanked a tall thin alien. It was clear that they were different species but they clearly wore versions of the same uniform. The white haired apparently human man turned to the tall alien;
    “I am afraid that I failed in my mission-the thief has gotten away.” The man consulted some sort of device, a little like a stopwatch combined with a calculator from his pocket. “The thief left a static generator nearby. There is no temporal trail that I can detect or follow. My mission is a failure.”
  The president turned to him;
    ”Doctor, you call yourself? I thank you for saving my life but please explain to me why the Timelords are meddling in our affairs. Don’t they remain neutral in such matters?”   The Doctor paused;
    “I didn’t help you so that you could keep that weapon. I helped you so that no one else could acquire it. You are not a man to use the sanction lightly, others would use it as there first resort I must go and report back. I do not know where this might lead.” The white haired man turned and left heading towards his own Tardis.
  The president turned to his guards;
    “The other two pieces of the control module, split them up. One comes with me, the other stays here. It will be twice as hard for a thief to steal the entire control module.” The President picked up an item that looked like a shiny egg missing a third, then split the remainder of it into two thirds and handed one to a guard that nodded. He stayed behind while the rest of the guards and the president moved off.
  The one guard that stayed behind smiled. His form shifted, he became gray in complexion. He held up the data module;
    “One down two to go. Cursed thief going back on our deal! You run, I walk but we will meet again. If you want something done right do it yourself.” 
  He pulled part of his own flesh away from his arm it formed into a shape similar to the data module. He seemed to suck the module into his own body. A moment later a team of guards arrived and took the data module copy not realising that a second one had been stolen. A black shimmer appeared around the guard he stepped into it and vanished, warped away.

                                CHAPTER ONE

  Nurses! There were nurses everywhere! human ones and the dumb looking four armed androids. Missy was starting to get really fed up with avoiding them and making small talk with them all through the damn complex! She didn’t want to discuss rota’s or treatment methods or which doctor was the best to work for. She just wanted to find the one patient that had anything relevant rolling around in her pretty little head, attach the psycho empathic leech, suck her memory dry and rifle though its contents at her convenience back at her base but she had to maintain the act or she would have an entire planet’s worth of security on her pretty little ass, though she swore she would disintegrate the next nurse that complained about the broccoli flavoured health supplements that the patients and staff had to take.
  She was disguised as a psychiatric doctor working on the med world Torino 5 the premium humanoid medical facility. She wore a pair of pointy black shoes with a thin buckle around her ankle she had a pair of tight, glossy-sheen stockings that disappeared at her knees covered by a tight black skirt. Her white coat was buckled tightly around her middle and her hair was pulled back into a clasp. She also wore a wrist watch-an ancient piece of technology. 
  Around her neck she had a necklace and an ID badge. She wore glasses that seemed to have almost no purpose-who wore glasses in an age when the eyes could be so easily repaired?
  Missy was a few hundred yards from where the station computer said her target would be. She had gone all the way to the great museum of Raxilon Six only to find the memory module discovered at the archaeological dig empty, the utter gall of that archaeologist opening up the last memory module of the Denix Confederacy the location and software of their final, terrible weapon-The Last Sanction. It was a device that could cause suns to implode becoming black holes. Useful against any race, especially Timelords who used trapped stars as the power sources for their devices! 
  When they came back Missy would have powerful leverage over them as the Denix were masters of energy manipulation, powerful and subtle enough to even penetrate Timelord temporal shielding!

  Missy was busy in her own head, writing her address to the high council of Gallifrey-the one where they granted her the position of dictator for life. She was not concentrating on the task at hand or she might have realised that the androids were only wearing that dumb look whenever she was around. The door to the padded cell slowly opened as she aimed a device that looked like a pen at the control panel. The door opened to reveal not a patient but a nurse android Missy gasped in surprise. The android had a sexy evil smile on her lips, she looked anything but dumb. Missy’s jaw dropped, she had walked into a trap!

    “I AM NURSE HELLEN IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE FOUND A CASE OF TRESSPASS, UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO A RESTRICTED ZONE. YOU NEED TO BE COMMITTED FOR OBSERVATION DEAR MISSY.”
  The android was six foot six in her heels. She had four arms, two sets slightly below the other. The android had a blue gray tone on her artificial skin and had her lower hands on her hips. One upper hand brushed her white, neck length artificial hair back. The android was powerful in demeanor, sexual-very feminine. She wore a pair of strappy white high heeled shoes six inches high with a thin heel she easily balanced on the padded floor.
  She took one step forward. Missy laughed and activated the door to the cell burning out the opening mechanism. She giggled;
    “’Surprise’ yourself!”
  The android was designed with a pair of shapely sculpted legs. The door of the cell was made of two foot thick reactor grade alloy-nothing was going to blast or cut through it. As Missy turned away there was a shredding sound as the observation port was kicked clean out of the door. A smile crossed Missy’s face;
    “A challenge?”
  Three arms extended through the observation port and twisted at inhuman angles they seemed to elongate to reach the sides of the hatch. There was a grinding tearing noise like two space ships colliding and the door was pulled apart into three sections. The android stepped over the threshold and dropped the largest section like a crumpled piece of paper. It stepped closer. 
  Missy pulled a lipstick container out of her jacket pocket and aimed it at the android. The first disintegrator blast took the android by surprise, cutting a neat hole through her neck.   
    “THAT WILL COST YOU DEAR.” A green shield sprang up around the android and further disintegrator blasts had no effect. The hole burned into the android closed up in a matter of seconds. She slowly advanced towards Missy who was trying to recalibrate the weapon. 
  The android had a very feminine pair of hips and waist only fourteen inches if that. It moved in a blur and snatched the disrupter from Missy’s hand, crushing it.
  Missy was grabbed around her right wrist. She smiled;
    “Goodbye dear-it’s been fun!” She clicked her heels together and dematerialised. 
  The Android had a very well endowed bust and swanlike neck, cheekbones to die for and large pouting lips. It looked dissatisfied, it’s piercing, purple eyes scanned the area. The short range teleport would not get Missy very far. It smiled, again. Missy turned around and pulled out her hair band she activated a mechanism in it and waited.

  The nurse Android literally ploughed through a foot thick wall following its target;
    “YOU WILL BE SO SORRY WHEN I AM FINSIHED WITH YOU! I THINK WE MAY NEED TO ENLARGE YOUR JAW TO FIT THE GAG IN PROPERLY.”
  The deck plating was almost vibrating as she tore into the room. Missy was grabbed by the android and stabbed it in the hand with her hair clip;
    “I think you will behave now no more fighting.”
  The android looked at its hand;
   “AN OVERIDE COMPUTER VIRUS? HOW PATHETIC!” The nurse’s upper right hand detached from the rest of its body, silvery slivers of metal started to form almost immediately at the wrist replacing the lost hand. Missy was starting to look a bit nervous her transporting heels only had one charge and her computer override device was what she was primarily banking on to deal with any of the androids. The uniform the android nurse wore was made out of some thick type of rubber. There were stockings on her legs, a very short tight skirt and a low scooped neck top that showed a lot of artificial cleavage. It was topped-off by a little nurse’s cap. 

    “It’s been a pleasure dear but I must run!” Missy pushed a button on her coat and it detached. The entire garment seemed to shift into a sort of net that collected in her hand. With a little flick of her wrist it homed in on the nurse. Suddenly the nurse was fighting a synthetic creature that was trying to envelope her.  The nurse disappeared under a mass of sticky material as Missy ran as quickly as the heels would allow. The nurse android got one hand free and from a finger tip just under a nail a nozzle emerged it sprayed a blue solution onto the synthetic creature, dissolving it;
    “WHEN I AM FINSIHED WITH YOU, YOU WONT BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN FOR A WEEK…” The synthetic skin on her replacement hand was almost completely re-grown.
The detached hand lay on the floor for a few minutes then started to shift slowly, wiry tendrils emerged from it and it started to crawl away.

  Missy was getting desperate, she had a few tricks left, tricks that would draw quite a bit of attention. Missy pulled off her right earring, primed it and threw it at the android. The Android shimmered for a second Missy smiled;
    “How do you like a million years of wear and tear on you system in 0.01 of a second?”   
  The android smiled;
    “WE COME WITH A HUNDRED MILLION YEAR WARRANTY AND YOU HAVEN’T MANAGED TO INVALIDATE IT YET.”
  Missy threw the other earring;
    “Get out of that time vortex if you can!” The android slowed down to a crawl as time itself around her stopped moving. Then she seemed to glow green and speeded up, stepping out of the time vortex. Somehow she had used her shield to phase out of the vortex;
    “GOT ANYTHING ELSE DEAR OR ARE YOU READY TO BE SPANKED?”
    “Just one more little gift for you!” Missy trilled as she smiled a crazed and somewhat desperate grin on her face. The broach on her lapel was thrown. It was a weaponized time grenade-a horrific weapon every single sub atomic partial in the android was manipulated at random in time some parts froze in time some parts speeded up to a hundred or a million times their original speed. Some atoms were sent back in time, some were sent into the future it was a messy unpredictable device. The effect was that no two particals in the android’s body were moving in the same time stream and it slowly disintegrated. 
  The android fixed Missy with a defiant look as she collapsed into dust. Missy smiled and looked for the nearest computer terminal. That little trick would have set a lot of alarms off! She might as well have sent The Doctor an engraved invitation with a summary of her master plan using a military grade Timelord weapon like that!
  She would find where the patient really was, she still had her leech and a few more toys. The robot’s arm was now slightly longer and continued to look for a quiet space to grow…

  Far above the planet, a three kilometre long dreadnaught maintaining a geostationary orbit was disguised as a Thal cargo ship with a holographic field. A device hummed into life and an android shell was loaded into a metal tube that looked a little bit like a church organ. A screen flashed up;
    NURSE HELLEN BACK UP PROGRAM LOADED FROM CENTRAL DATA 
    CORE. INITIATING REVIEW OF LAST DATA FEED. TIME LORD WEAPON   
   TEMPORAL GRENADE ANALYSED. ALL ANDROID UNITS UNIVERSE WIDE   
   UPGRADED WITH TEMPERAL SHIELD PROTECTION PROGRAM    
   MODIFICATION. 
  The android got up from the metal tube. Her eyes flashed open and her artificial hair reconfigured itself so that it followed her unique style. She was very angry! In a second Hellen was across the room to a transmat. 
  The reprogrammed robotic arm found a service hatch and disappeared inside.

  Missy was halfway into hacking the computer when there was a flash of light and the android appeared again. Missy had a second broach primed and threw it;
    “What? I just killed you!” The android’s shield activated. There was a buzz and the grenade fizzed harmlessly and landed on the floor; “Now just a second, can we talk about this?” Missy looked frightened and was now cornered. The android moved fast, jabbing a needle into her shoulder;
    “THIS LITTLE MIX WILL STOP YOU REGENERATING FOR A BIT SO NO BODY HOPPING TO GET AWAY.”
  A rather frightening realisation came to Missy-she would need a new trick to beat the androids every time she met them and even then they must just upload their minds into a new body making anything done to them little more than a temporary inconvenience!
  The android’s upper right hand clamped over her mouth while the upper left hand held her wrists together over her head. Missy was dangling a foot of the ground. The android’s other pair of hands made sure to thoroughly search her, finding a leech in a glass vial, a second disintegrator disguised as a lighter, a few lock picks and an acid grenade. One of her nails was detachable and seemed to be an explosive charge, a ring on her finger was some kind of hypnosis device and there was a credit chip with a large amount of currency on it, probably to bribe her way through any official. Missy mumbled an objection as her blouse was unbuttoned and pulled away from her body her skirt was also yanked-off. 
  She was put across the nurse’s knee with her bottom up in the air and powerful blows rained down on the villains bottom while she squealed and ineffectively kicked at her attacker. The android made sure to thoroughly punish every square inch of Missy’s behind and thighs until it was one round bright red sore. 
  Missy’s bra was removed and she was none too gently checked for any concealed weapons. Her shoes were removed and crushed no way she would get the chance to recharge them. Her stockings were removed then her panties. The nurse pulled apart the left stocking to reveal a very thin piece of cable-a data loop it was destroyed. The nurse provided a very thorough cavity search of the recalcitrant villain causing her to squeal like a whole herd of pigs!
  The android scanned her then injected Missy with a needle coming out from under her finger. Missy tried to hold her gag reflex in check then coughed up a number of items that she had hidden by swallowing a micro black hole grenade, a set of lock picks, a small robot programmed to infiltrate security systems and another disrupter;
    “I may have a wee bit of indigestion…”
    “NOW MY DEAR WE NEED TO GET YOU INTO PROPER HOSPITAL APPARATUS, WE CANT HAVE YOU GETTING AWAY NOW. YOU NEED TO BE CONTAINED BEFORE WE START TO LOOK AT YOUR LONG, AND IT IS GOING TO BE VERY LONG TERM REHABILITATION.”
  Missy was picked up by the android and carried to a new padded cell. Her hands were kept in the android’s firm grip and her mouth was muffled by a strong hand clamped over it. There was a bag on the floor from which the android produced a thick silvery garment that seemed to be some sort of cat suit with a hood having no eye holes, feet that ended in high, heel-less ballet boots and arms that ended in mittens.
  Missy tried to make a fist with her hand to prevent the android forcing her into the garment the android squeezed her other hand with a force almost enough to crush bone. The Timelady relaxed her grip and allowed her hand to sink into the sleeve of the garment. When her finger nails touched the end of the sleeve she felt and odd tingling sensation begin on her skin, she tried to pull back but found that she was pulling the fabric as well! Tiny little strands had pushed into each pore on her skin then expanded it was almost like her skin had been glued to the garment. She realised that to be free of this restraint a creature would need to be able to shed their skin-not impossible for a Timelord unless their regeneration abilities had been switched off such as they were now, she was definitely in trouble!
  Missy tried to resist putting her other arm into the sleeve but a none too gentle smack on her bottom and she reluctantly put her hand in the second sleeve. Around her arm the jacket bonded to her. She was forced to put one foot then the other into the garment and her legs were enveloped then her waist and her chest. The back of the garment closed by itself then the hood was pulled over her head. The nurse stepped back and enjoyed the show as the restraint activated. 

  It started off as a strange sensation on Missy’s left toe. The garment tightened then the tightness spread up and up until it met her crotch. Then the same thing happened at her right toe the garment was not exactly loose to begin with! She protested but could not get a coherent sentence out from under the hood-it was sealed tight yet she seemed to be able to breath through it. 
  The tips of her right hand tingled then the jacket got tighter then her left hand. Slowly this continued for several minutes. They got so tight she could not use her hands at all or move her toes. In a fraction of a second she could not move her wrists or ankles then it accelerated till she could hardly bend her arms and legs-they were rigged, lifeless lumps crushed mercilessly by the tight silvery fabric!
  The garment began to contract around her waist and she felt herself breathing out, her ability to protest removed as she was slowly and inexorably crushed. Her waist got narrower and narrower, her curves became more and more pronounced and her spine was bent back as her chest thrust forwards and her bottom out. 
  It was humiliating and debilitating all at once. Missy was left panting rapidly to get enough air, her chest bouncing up and down with what little movement it was allowed!   
  The garment tightened around her crotch, buttocks and breasts. Missy let out a moan at the surprise sensation. The gag around her mouth tightened as well, compressing her lips together and muffling the sound. 
  The android folded her arms neatly behind her back and a strap extended from one mitten around her waist, linking to the other then tightened.
  Straps emerged from the waist of the garment. They attached to the ankles then retracted, putting Missy in an incredibly tight hogtie! A sack filled her mouth made from the suit’s material. It expanded pneumatically, muffling her indignant squeals. 
  The Nurse knelt down and cupped Missy’s chin;
    “YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET DISINTEGRATING ME IN THE TIME STREAM AS I AM YOUR PERSONAL CARER AND I GET TO DECIDE HOW COMFORTABLE YOU ARE FROM NOW ON…” The corset grew tighter, the strap holding her arms in place jerked tighter too. The gag expanded and the hogtie shrank-the android had some sort of remote control over the restraint! The Nurse embraced Missy, her hands wandering all over her helplessly contorted body, “YOU HAVE BEEN A VERY BAD GIRL AND NURSE IS GOING TO PUNISH YOU UNTILL YOU LEARN TO BEHAVE...”
  One of the Nurse’s hands clicked on a panel on the wall and a flexible plug that looked like a series of rubber balls joined one to the next emerged. Each ball was considerably larger than the previous one, it was hollow and connected to a thick tube.
  The android nurse stroked Missy’s bottom holding the plug then pushed tight between her buttocks. NOW YOU’RE A BIG TOUGH GIRL THAT DOSENT NEED ANY LUBRICANT ARENT YOU?” Missy was suddenly thrashing about trying to vocally protest as the silver suit opened up a small gap and the plug inch by inch was forced into its new home. Each part was significantly larger than the next and she had no option to resist as the plug was pushed home up to the base! She squealed like a pig as it was finally pushed all the way in;
    “NOW IT JUST EXPANDS AND YOU GET A NICE THOROUGH CLEANING. YOU, MISSY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SQUIRM FAR TOO MUCH. LET ME JUST STRAP YOUR TOES TO THE BACK OF YOUR HOOD-THAT WILL GET IT A BIT TIGHTER. THERE YOU GO, NAUGHTY GIRL.”

  Several floors above them a receptionist met two new additions to the planet’s medical staff. A tall thin serious-looking grey haired man with a stern face stood before her. He wore a white lab coat over a white suit. The receptionist nodded to him;
    “Hi! I am Emma, welcome to med world Doctor..?” 
  He spoke in a fast northern accent;
    “I am doctor Trevor Proctor.” The receptionist smiled;
    “The renowned telepathic healer? We could use your talents. We have several patients that have not responded to more conventional drug and ultra sound therapies- you will be a great addition to the staff.”
  It was lucky that The Doctor was actually telepathic. If his mind actually did have the beneficial effects that Dr Proctor had trained several lifetimes to achieve it would be even better. He would probably have to take that into consideration but it was a cover identity that would allow him to get near to Amelia and possibly go towards unraveling events that happened so long ago. It would also get him access all around Med-World. It took The Doctor exactly 0.03 of a second to notice the four armed android walk past and realized that there was more going on than medical treatment.
  The receptionist handed him a pass and pointed towards some elevators. He had made sure that The Last Sanction was lost so that the Alliance could not find it and use it. Someone like The Core, or should that be some thing? The Core was far too complex now to be thought of as an individual. It had the resources to find it, even reprogram it, with enough time if The Core was here then there was most likely the Grey Man as well. A tall, broad shouldered orderly with a badge stating his name was Michael walked up to The Doctor;
    “Doctor Proctor? Here are the patient notes you were after.” The Doctor nodded thank you and looked at the notes; 
  YOU ARE BEING WATCHED. MEET ME IN THE OLD PHYCHIATRIC WING AT MIDNIGHT.
 The Doctor was not sure if it was a trap or genuine help, he had to find out. A member of the administrative staff walked up to him;
    “Doctor Proctor-lovely to meet you.” 

  Clara wore her hair combed back and held in place with a pair of large silver hair clips, apparently they were quite the fashion of the day. She wore a sort of business suit, it was a little odd but familiar at the same time. The tie was clip on but appeared to be black silk-a bit short. The buttons on the grey synthetic silk blouse were powerful magnets that did themselves up. The suit jacket was comfortable with puffed up shoulders, power dressing she guessed. 
  It was a three piece and there was a waistcoat-it was a little tight and seemed to hold her in like a corset. It seemed to be designed to provide support yet remain hidden. The bottom half of her outfit was a different matter. Apparently, scandalously short tight skirts were now the accepted fashion as well as stockings with a fishnet print over them. Also strap on heels that if they didn’t have their own gyro stabilizers in the sole would have caused Clara to trip over without assistance and land on her bottom. The ankle straps were ridiculously complex and took forever to release.
  Clara introduced her cover identity;
    “Hello, Emma my name is Lara Masters. I applied for the new quality assurance position.” The receptionist smiled and handed her a large data pad;
    “Yes, your predecessor is on an extended vacation would be the best way to describe it.” The receptionist smiled a very wide and slightly unsettling smile. Clara was a little nervous. Finding out what happened to her predecessor might be a good idea. The receptionist smiled again, pointing a data pad forwards, “Lara could you just sign this legal disclosure?” Clara looked at the document it was over five million pages long and printed in tiny, tiny script;
    ”What is this for?” Clara queried. 
  The receptionist smiled, almost shrugging;
    “Just a standard legal disclaimer for anyone that works in the quality assurance department.”
  Clara nervously put her thumb on the accept button. There was a small sting as it took a DNA sample and her fingerprint as well as taking several biometric scans to make sure that the subject signing an agreement was in full possession of their faculties and also willing. It in no way monitored if the person agreeing to the document understood it, future versions would and they would test a participant’s knowledge of the agreement before legally ratifying it. 
  There was a beep as her data was checked and accepted;
    “Welcome to the staff.” The receptionist smiled again, pressing a button on her desk, “Lara you will be paired up with the Android nurse Ursula, she can explain the details of the job.”
  A door popped open behind Clara and she spun around on her heels to meet her new colleague. The android Ursula was tall which was a little odd as Clara was sure that the ones she had met before were all a uniform height. It took her a fraction of a second to notice the footwear the nurse was sporting-a seven inch heel with a one inch platform that seemed to make her two inches taller than the other nurses that Clara had previously met.   
  The only other difference between Ursula and the other androids was that she wore her hair dark purple. It was long and flowing to her waist. Clara knew that the nurses could modify themselves-their shape and hair colour and she knew from personal experience that they developed their own personalities over time-most quite dominant. 
    “I AM URSULA. WELCOME TO THE QUALITY ASSURANCE DEPARTMENT CLARA. I AM SURE THAT WE WILL FORM A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP.”   
  Clara shook her hand;
    “I will enjoy working with you Ursula.” 
  The android smiled, shook her hand and did not release it. Clara twitched as a hand slapped her quite hard on the bottom, one of the android’s hands wrapped around Clara’s waist;
    “LETS GET YOU TO TESTING LAB THIRTY ONE. I HAVE SO MANY MEDICAL DEVICES TO TRY OUT ON YOU CLARA AND I WOULD WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK.”
  Clara gulped, she had a bad feeling about this;
    “Ursula, what exactly have I signed up for?”
  The android started walking and Clara was practically dragged away by her inhuman strength;
    “YOU WILL SEE SOON ENOUGH. AFTER THE END OF YOUR SHIFT I WILL SHOW YOU AROUND THE STAFF AREA‘S AND TO YOUR ROOM.” 
  Clara was a little nervous;
    “Do you mind telling me what happened to my predecessor?” 
    “CERTAINLY. SHE WAS TESTING A STRAITJACKET MADE OUT OF AN INDESTRUCTABLE MATERIAL.”
  Clara pushed further;
    “Why is she on an extended vacation then?” 
    “IT IS FAIRLY HARD TO TEST ANYTHING ELSE ON A SUBJECT IF YOU CANT REMOVE THE LAST STRAITJACKET! DON’T WORRY WE ARE PRETTY SURE THAT THEY FIXED THE ERROR WITH THE RELEASE MECHANISM, YOU WILL SOON FIND OUT”
  Clara was now extremely nervous. Far from any one’s sight, a new android slowly formed from a hand and what spare materials it could find.