Romance Loneliest Man Who Ever Lived

This time they didn't go to a storeroom. Instead they went inside a broom closet. Goldie was kissing him passionately even before the door closed. Harry felt the warmth of her body pressed against his. He loved it. But even as she kissed him, his mind rebelled.

"Goldie, when are we going to be able to stop sneaking around storerooms and closets and actually get together for some quality time?"

"I thought this was quality time," said Goldie, giving him another kiss. She kissed him so firmly that Harry groaned.

"It is," said Harry, as their lips parted with a slight smacking sound. "But you know what I mean."

"I do, Harry. I really do. I expect to be back midweek. They have never had me travel this much before. We'll make it happen. I promise." She kissed him again, and then, slowly, pulled her body away from his as she made her way to the door....

"I can't figure out what's going on here," said Harry. "It's like Goldie wants me, but she's always just beyond my reach."

"Maybe that's intentional," said Carl.

"On Goldie's part?"

"Or The Foundation's. They're trying to draw things out, to delay things between you and Goldie."

"But why?"

"To get something from you. Something they want."

Harry found out what that something was the following day. Lev sat him down in a conference room. "Harry, you've been doing good work," he began.

But... Harry knew something else was coming.

"But you haven't had your company physical," said Lev.

"But I feel fine," said Harry.

"It doesn't matter, Harry. It's company rules. You have to get your physical. I've been authorized to tell you that if you don't get it this week, The Foundation will have to let you go."

Harry was stunned. He was being given a deadline. He simply nodded.

When Lev and Harry returned to their desks, Harry noticed that Hannah Murray's desk had been cleared out.

"Where's Hannah?" he asked.

"She moved on," said Lev.

"Where?" Harry asked.

Lev shrugged. "High tech companies have a lot of turnover, Harry."

Harry stood up and walked around. He noticed a number of new faces in cubicles. Different faces. He used his eidetic memory to remember the faces of those he had seen just a few days ago. The Foundation had rapid turnover. Why were people leaving in such high numbers?

That evening Harry had Carl do a trace on Hannah Murray. Carl came up with an address in Back Bay, and a comm number. Harry called her. Her number was disconnected. He went over to her apartment. He found the door open. The apartment was empty.

*

"What's going on here, Carl?"

"It seems The Foundation is engaged in more work than merely energizing brains," said Carl.

"What would that be?"

"I have insufficient data to speculate," said Carl.

"I should quit," said Harry suddenly. "This whole place gives me a bad feeling."

"Then quit."

"But I'll never see Goldie again," said Harry.

"You knew this day would come," said Carl.

"Yes, but I hoped..."

"Hoped what?"

"To prolong it," said Harry. He considered. "They have given me until Friday to get my medical exam. If I don't see Goldie by Friday, I'll simply quit."

"And if you do see her?"

"I don't know," said Harry.

On Wednesday, Doctor Severin came into John Slattery's office.

"We have a problem," said Severin. "Harry Crater still hasn't taken his physical."

Slattery nodded. "He was so close to completion. Did you see the way he participated in the chess game?"

"Yes. Perfect compliance," said Severin.

Slattery paused. "What do you suggest?"

"Goldie," said Severin. "She's in Kansas City, but this is much more important. We can bring her back to get him to completion."

Slattery nodded. "See to her conditioning when she returns."

"I don't think that will be necessary," said Severin.

Slattery looked questioningly at Doctor Severin. "A remnant of her original programming?"

"No." Doctor Severin smiled. "I think she likes him. I think she genuinely likes him."

Slattery laughed. "Well, the unexpected can happen, I suppose. Make sure Goldie knows what's expected of her."

"Yes sir."

On Thursday morning, Harry received a call to report to conference room 3-A. When he got there, it appeared to be empty. But then Goldie, who had been hiding behind the door, closed it abruptly, grabbed him, and gave him a great, big kiss.

"Goldie!"

"Remember me?" she said, kissing him again. Her hot lips eagerly found his. They kissed for a long moment.

"Are you on the way from the airport?"

"Nope," she said, kissing him again.

"On the way to the airport?"

"Nope again."

"Then where are you now?"

"Right here with you," said Goldie. "And I want to see you, tonight."

"Tonight?" Harry pretended to look thoughtful. "I don't know, I'll have to check my schedule."

"Come have dinner at my place."

Harry's body jolted. He remembered the First Rule of Alexandra: whenever a woman invites you over to her apartment for dinner, you are going to have sex. He looked into Goldie's eyes, and could see the lust, as plain as day.

Harry was going to have sex, for only the fifth time in his entire life.

He couldn't say no.

The rest of the day moved exceedingly slowly. Harry couldn't concentrate on his work. All he could think about was Goldie. Would they really be intimate tonight? Would they really be together? What did she really feel about him? Harry had expected to see her so many times. Would she pull the rug out from under him again and cancel at the last minute?

Harry looked at the chrono with dread. Each moment that passed was another moment that Goldie could come into his workspace and tell him regretfully, sadly, that she had been ordered to fly off somewhere again.

But by two o'clock it hadn't happened. Not by three o'clock. By four o'clock, Harry began to feel cautious confidence, and by five o'clock, he was ebullient. It was going to happen.

The moment Goldie opened the door of her Back Bay apartment, Harry knew she was ready for sex. She was wearing a low cut dress that showed off her breasts. He could see her luscious legs through her sheer pantyhose. And her smile, her smile as she kissed him, told him everything. She was ready to be fucked.

"Come in, Harry," she said in a soft tone, softer than he had ever heard her speak before.

She led him to her dining room table. "I hope you like beef stew, Harry. It's all I know how to make," said Goldie. She said it in such an erotic voice, it excited Harry as if she were asking for sex with him.

"Stew will be fine," said Harry. The only thing he really hungered for was right in front of his eyes.

Now that they were finally together, Harry found himself making small talk with Goldie. All the big questions were left unasked. How was his work? Fine. How was her work? Fine. She had persuaded two scientists to join The Foundation. Harry didn't inquire exactly what she had done to persuade them. He didn't want anything to ruin this evening.

After dinner Goldie looked at him. That's all she did, was look at him. But her look told him everything. He stood up even as she was doing the same, and embraced her.

They were kissing, touching, hugging. Harry noticed that his clothes were starting to come off.

"Unzip me, Harry," he heard a voice in his ear command. He pulled the zipper on the back of her dress. Harry fully remembered the Rule of Erica. He knew that sex ended relationships. But his contact with Goldie was so fleeting, so fragile. He felt like this might be the very last time he ever saw her again. He was going to do it.

Soon Harry was naked, and aroused, and Goldie was in a black bra and panties. They retired to her bed, and lay side by side. Goldie smiled as she undid the clasp of her bra, and her breasts came spilling out. "Do you like them, Harry?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"Then touch them, Harry." Harry started to rub them, but Goldie shook her head. "No, Harry. Touch them with feeling. Like this." she took his hands, and started to work them gently over her breasts. "Just the finger tips, Harry. Taunt me. Tease me. Feel the sides. Feel all around. Now brush the nipples Harry, but just a bit. Just give me a taste. Ooooh yes, that's right, Harry. Yes, that's so right," she said, arching her head back, and smiling. Just the look of her face, feeling pleasure, was so erotic for him.

They kissed some more. Harry felt incredibly aroused. Then Goldie drew back, and put her hands on her panties. "Are you ready for more, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

Goldie pulled down her panties, to reveal her dark brown bush. It was in vivid contrast to the light brown and blonde hair on her head. "I hope the color doesn't disappoint you, Harry."

Harry looked at the narrow pink slit nestled between her thick bush. "I love it," said Harry thickly.

"Then touch it, Harry. Touch it, to show me you love it."

Harry hesitantly started to run his fingers over her pubic hair. But then she took his hands and put it over her nether lips. "Touch me here, Harry, like this,." She manipulated his hand, using it as if it were her own, moving it to one particular spot, rubbing in a circular pattern now, more insistently, more rapidly. "Oooh... oohhh... ooooh... oh yes, Harry."

At the same time she was using her other hand to play with the tip of his penis, flicking it, petting it, teasing it, rubbing a finger back and forth across his slit. Harry moaned with pleasure.

And then the time came when Goldie spread her legs. "Do you know where to put it, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry whispered.

"Then do it, Harry. Do it now, before I change my mind." Her tone was serious, but her eyes were teasing.

Harry lifted and aimed his penis. He gently put it to the entrance of Goldie's nether lips. Then he gradually inserted himself. He watched with intense fascination as his organ slowly but surely disappeared inside of her.

"Aaaah!" Goldie gasped, arching her back. She grabbed him tightly. "You're inside me, Harry. All of you. I've wanted this for the longest time."

"I have too," Harry whispered.

"Now move, Harry. Slowly, very slowly."

Harry started to move in and out.

"Oh Harry, that feels so good. I always imagined it would feel that way. I feel like we've waited long, so long for this, Harry."

"I do too," Harry gasped. He couldn't believe he was poling in and out of Goldie. He looked down for more confirmation. He could see the head of his penis slowly going in and out of her vagina. It was an incredible sight. And then, as his shaft went in again, it disappeared. The whole thing, deep inside her moist nether lips.

She looked into his eyes. "Would you like to do this every day, Harry?"

"Yessss..." he hissed.

"We can, Harry. We can. And we will," Goldie promised.

He started to speed up, but Goldie told him to slow down. "Slowly, Harry, slowly."

"But...." Harry felt a buildup inside, a tenseness. He wanted to go faster. He needed to go faster.

"You want to go faster, don't you?"

"Uh huh," said Harry, as he continued to thrust slowly inside of her. Each thrust was like a dream come true.

"You need to go faster, don't you?"

"Uh huh." Every time her body jolted slightly in response to his downward pressure was incredible.

"Then you have to do something for me," said Goldie.

"What?" Harry gasped.

"You have to take your medical exam."

"No," said Harry.

"Go slower, Harry!" Goldie said sharply. "Slower!" She took control now, grabbing Harry's hips. Now she controlled the pace. She made Harry move slowly, very slowly, at a pace which tortured him. "You have to have your medical exam, Harry."

"No," said Harry again.

"You have to have it, or they'll fire you," said Goldie. She pushed inside of her, but just a tiny bit, just an inch, and then she pulled him out again, holding onto his hips, to his enormous frustration.

"I don't like needles," said Harry.

"I don't like needles either. But I love this. Don't you?" said Goldie. This time she let him go two inches inside of her, before slowly pushing him out again.

"Yes...."

"Then agree, Harry. Agree." She let him slide three inches into her, and then out. But slowly, very slowly.

"I don't know." The pressure on his organ was incredible.

"Agree, Harry," she said again.

Harry cried out. He had to come. His organ felt like it was going to explode. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Goldie restrained him, letting him only go an inch inside of her. "Say it, Harry. Say it."

"I'll do it," he cried. "I'll do whatever you want! Just let me end this!"

"All right Harry," said Goldie. She redeployed her hands from his hips to his ass. "You have earned your reward. Give it to me, Harry. Give it to me really hard."

Harry started thrusting into Goldie like mad. It felt incredible for both of them. He felt like a machine, a tool of evolution, a living, breathing fertilization device, and before him was the irresistible urge, to fertilize her secret place, all moist and dark and shrouded by her sexy pubic hair. Harry thrusted faster and faster, and said, "Goldie, I'm going to... to...."

"I know! I feel it too, my love... aaaaaah!"

They climaxed together, crying out as one, as Harry ejaculated inside of Goldie's vagina. He spurted deep inside of her. It felt wonderful. As he came, he looked into her eyes. For a moment, they were one. A single organism, designed for one thing only: reproduction.

Harry reluctantly pulled out after his pulses stopped. He lay by her side, looking at her, wondering what would happen next.

Goldie looked at him and said, "Was that your second time, or your third?"

"My fifth, actually," said Harry.

"Fifth! I didn't realize you were such an experienced lover!" she said, kissing him. From anyone else the words would have stung. But from Goldie, it made Harry laugh.

"How was I?" Harry asked. He was afraid to ask. He shouldn't have asked. He remembered the Rule of-

"You were good. Really good," said Goldie.

"You were incredible," said Harry.

"I was?" Goldie smiled.

"The best," said Harry.

"The best of five women?"

"The best of three," said Harry.

"A very small sample size," said Goldie. "But I'll accept the compliment as it was intended."

She was so witty! Harry loved her for that. But then a new thought occurred to him.

"Are you... protected?" he asked.

Goldie laughed. "And you only think to ask this now? You know what I love about you, Harry? You may be a super genius, but in some ways you're a typical male. Yes, my sweet, I am protected. Better protected than any girl you've ever been with or ever will."

Harry frowned as he tried to make sense of that.

"Be assured that even now your genius sperm is swimming deep inside of me, but will never find the mark. You will make no unplanned babies with me, Harry Crater," she said looking lovingly into his eyes, and, Harry perceived, maybe a little sadness? They kissed again, for some time to come.

Afterwards, as they relaxed, Harry found himself staring at her body. Her breasts were covered in sweat. Her areolas were bright and red, the prominent nipples erect. Her hair was covered in moisture. She looked freshly fucked, and Harry had been the man to do it. He felt masculine and powerful.

And yet... Goldie had been the one to exercise the power. She had gotten him to agree to take the medical exam. As he touched her gently, he realized his plans to resign from The Foundation would have to be put on hold.

"This won't hurt a bit," said Doctor Chandra, coming to Harry with a needle.

Harry still couldn't believe he had agreed to do this. He looked away as Doctor Chandra inserted the needle, drawing blood. He winced from the pain.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Doctor Chandra asked.

"Is there anything else, Doc?" Harry asked.

"No," said Chandra. "Nothing except the brainscan."

Brainscan?

"It will only take a few moments," said Chandra.

Harry was put on a sliding table. His head was inserted into a machine. Immediately he felt claustrophobic.

"Doc!" he cried.

"Starting the process now," he heard. The machine started to hum. Harry willed himself to be calm.

He really was claustrophobic. One minute turned into two minutes which turned into five minutes and then somewhat longer. Harry started to shout for the doctor. He received no response. Then he started to wiggle out of the machine.

"Wait, no, no!" he heard.

Suddenly the table slid out. "You're done, my friend," said Doctor Chandra.

"That took a lot longer than-" Harry's voice broke off as he noticed Doctor Severin, who was staring intently at his brainscan on a screen. "What are you doing?"

"You have a most fascinating brain structure, as we suspected," said Doctor Severin. "The interconnectivity of your neurons-"

"I thought this examination was for medical purposes, not for research," said Harry.

"It is for both. Both are for the good of mankind," said Doctor Severin.

Harry shook his head and frowned. But it was done. There was no undoing it. Getting up, he headed for the door.

Harry had never been to the recruiting department. They worked out of cubicles on the fifth floor. As he walked by the cubicles, Harry saw the most beautiful women he had ever seen--blondes, brunettes, and redheads. They were all talking on their comms, speaking in seductive tones.

And then he came to Goldie's desk. She was staring at something intently on her screen.

"It's done," said Harry.

Goldie turned, a smile already on her face, and reached up and hugged Harry. "I know it was a terrible experience for you. But it's over and I'm glad for you, Harry. Really I am."

"I'd love to tell you all about it. Dinner, tonight?"

Goldie's face fell. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"They're sending you out again?"

"Salt Lake City. But I should be back Monday. Monday night, for sure."

Harry bit his lip, and nodded. Monday night, for sure.

When Harry dropped by Goldie's cubicle on Monday afternoon, she wasn't there. A coworker told him Goldie wouldn't be back until Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Harry saw Goldie in the hallways. They moved to a supply room where they kissed.

"This is beginning to become a habit," said Harry.

"Heh heh, yes it is," said Goldie, smiling tenderly.

"Tonight, after work?"

"I... I...."

"You have to fly out again, don't you?" said Harry.

"Harry, it's only for two days, we can meet up after work on Friday-"

"Of course," said Harry.

"It's over," Harry announced that evening, as he sat in his Boston apartment.

"Are you sure?" Carl asked.

"Yes," said Harry. "They're keeping Goldie well away from me. Or maybe Goldie is keeping well away from me. It's hard to know which."

"And what about her sister, Claire?"

The first two weeks Harry had been at The Foundation, Claire dropped by nearly every day to chat and say hello to him. For Harry it wasn't so much what Claire said but how she said it. She gave him half-lidded stares and little smiles; she leaned forward so he could get a good view of her breasts; she touched his hand as they talked, and she walked away slowly, swaying her hips and her ass, in full view of him as she walked.

But after his medical exam, Claire no longer dropped by. When Harry had passed her in a hallway once, she had given him a frigid hello as if he were a stranger. It was almost as Claire had lost interest in Harry now that Goldie was no longer seeing him.

"She's gone too," said Harry.

"So what's changed?" Carl asked.

"They must have what they want," said Harry.

"And what is that?"

"The medical exam," said Harry grimly. "The brainscan they took of me. Doctor Severin was practically drooling over it the moment it was completed."

"How could that be useful to them?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "They have a brainscan of a genius. How does that help them? They're not in the business of building brains."

"What are they in the business of?"

"I'm not sure," said Harry. "But I intend to find out."

The next day found Harry wearing the blue jumpsuit, black shirt, and tall black boots of a technician. He hated the uniform but he needed it to get into the technical section. He also needed a special computer chip for identification, which took him only a few minutes to forge.

He entered the technical section, passing other workers in blue jumpsuits. It was a big company. Most people there didn't know Harry on sight.

Harry passed a number of rooms. He heard screams from one of them.

Harry entered the room, to find a row of computer banks. In front of the banks were technicians, a computer console, and a chair.

The screams were coming from a man in the chair.

"Now Gary, tell us again. Are you married?"

Harry stiffened. He knew that voice.

It was Doctor Severin.

"Yes," said the voice of the man in the chair. "My wife is Julia, we have been married-" he screamed in pain.

"That's a lie, Gary. The pain will only intensify if you lie. You are not married to anyone named Julia. You have never been married to anyone named Julia. Isn't that correct?"

The man moaned.

"Isn't it, Gary?"

"Yes... yes..."

"And you have no memory of anyone named Julia, do you Gary?"

"No... no memory," said the man. Then his face seemed to relax. "Aaaaaaah...."

"See how good it feels when you tell the truth, Gary?" Doctor Severin asked.

"Yes... yes."

"Have you ever been married, Gary?"

The man looked up at Doctor Severin for a long moment. "No... never."

"Good, Gary, very good." He turned to a technician. "Make sure he cycles through."

Doctor Severin started walking to the door. Harry quickly hid behind one of the computer banks. Doctor Severin stopped at the doorway for a moment, as if he were thinking of something. Then he left the room.

Harry waited a moment, and then followed him out.

Hacking was one of Harry's finest skills. But The Foundation's database had security measure after security measure. Harry had subverted three of them and sighed when he found a fourth.

He was back in his ordinary clothes, sitting at his desk, rapidly typing away, to anyone who was listening. If someone like Lev walked by, Harry could bring up a different screen with a punch of a button.

And then, suddenly, he was in.

Harry was shocked by how much data there was. Terraquads of it. He started searching for top level directories to try and make sense of it. There was much more going on here than simply experiments to make people more energetic. Harry came across information about conditioning peoples' minds. About planting memories in them. About controlling them. And he also came across a surprising variety of information about genetics. He plugged a data crystal in, and started to rapidly download as much as he could for later study.

"Working hard, Harry?" said Lev, from his cubicle.

"You bet," said Harry.

"Your mind is always working, my friend," said Lev. "I can't wait to see what you come up with."

"Neither can I," said Harry. A top level folder marked "Prospects" caught his eye. He came upon a list of names, marked "People of Interest". He downloaded it. Then he saw subfiles with detailed personnel data. He was in the middle of downloading it, when his screen went blank.

Suddenly, he heard an alarm in the background.

Harry immediately figured out what had happened. He must have missed one of the security measures. Maybe high level information was not supposed to be accessed from his location. Or maybe there were limits on how much can be downloaded before drawing the attention of automated detection systems.

Harry grabbed the data crystal and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Lev asked.

Harry didn't answer. He kept walking, at a fast pace, until he got to the front entrance. Two guards in blue jumpsuits stood in his way. Each brandished a stun rod. "I'm sorry, sir, no one is to leave. We have a lockdown situation," said a guard.

"I understand," said Harry.

Phasers locking on target.

Harry gave one guard a karate chop to the windpipe. He went down instantly. The other guard started to raise his stun rod, but Harry was quicker, punching him in the head. He went down, crying out, as his stun rod went clattering across the ground. Harry picked it up.

He raced to his car. Two guards approached him. "Sir, you can't"

"Check!" said Harry, stabbing one of them, who went down instantly.

The other guard raised his own stun rod, but Harry tagged him first. "And mate," he added.

Harry went straight to the office of the local FBI. He knew the local police would be too small minded to handle this.

What he hadn't anticipated was how small minded the FBI would be. The agent he spoke to, a man named Agent Sanduval, looked at Harry like he was mad when he talked of stories of mind control and inhumane experimentation. Harry tried to plug in the data crystal to prove his point, but to his horror found that all the information had been encrypted--yet another of The Foundation's security measures.

"Listen to me," said Harry. "I'm telling you that something is going on at this Foundation. They are doing mind control experiments on people. Go and see for yourself. Go and prove me wrong!"

And his tone was so insistent, that something in his voice made Agent Sanduval sigh and nod. "All right, Harry. We'll go there."

Harry was nervous as they drove to The Foundation. There was only himself, Agent Sanduval, and his partner Agent Kayko. They could be overwhelmed by The Foundation's guards. They still weren't taking this seriously.

But when they got there, he was relieved to see two police cars already on the scene. They had taken him seriously enough to request some backup, at least.

But what they found amazed Harry more than all of them.

It was empty.

The entire building was... abandoned.

The furniture was all there; and the lights were on. But the computers were gone. They went into the technical wing.

The experimenting chairs were gone. Even the Relaxation Chair was gone. There were empty consoles where computer cores had been unplugged and pulled out.

"There's no one here, Harry," said Sanderson.

"Look around you," said Harry. "Doesn't it seem odd to see a completely abandoned office building, with the lights on, air conditioning running, and even... half full cups of coffee left around?" He lifted up one.

Sanderson nodded. He turned to Kayko. "What do you have?"

"It's registered to a non-profit called The Foundation, with a home office in the Maldives," said Agent Kayko.

"Any local addresses?"

"No," said Kayko.

"I'm telling you, something was going on here," said Harry. "Something terrible."

Harry didn't know whether they believed him or not. At this point, it no longer mattered. He had tried to call Goldie at the comm number she had given him, but it was disconnected. He went to her apartment with the police, but also found it empty.

The trail, it seemed, had gone cold.​