[ WP ] You realise that you are on sale

I ticked my latest hacking job and two successful assassinations from my list and leaned back. 
 
 *Nothing like a successful week* I thought and stripped out of my clothes, strewing them purposefully across the room. Then I lay down on the familiar mat labeled with my ID number. It felt comfortable and familiar as it quietly vibrated back into the tube where it had come from. Cables snaked their way into the ports around my body. I heard the tube seal shut and it immediately started filling with liquid. I should probably know what the stuff is, but really all I care about is that it feels warm and like being stroked all over. My maintenance program is firing off and automatically loosens all my muscles. Robot arms come out to heal up my wounds and scrapes. Obviously that is n't what is happening in my mind. In my mind I have just come home to my gorgeous boyfriend, who has greeted me with a long hug, followed by a loving massage and the gently bandaging of my various ailments. Robot arms are unromantic. 
 
 Sadly this day I could n't get into my fantasy. I was usually good with this. My fantasy boyfriend had a cooking repertoire and everything. Not that I eat much. I used to, but it took up too much time. With my boyfriend I can have long candlelit dinners though. He likes to hear about my days so much that I can just talk and talk and talk. Oh and naturally *he* is n't a security risk, so I can tell him what I actually do. Unlike every other actual breathing being on this planet. I stared slightly grumpily outside as the door opens and George comes in. He is n't actually called George. I just call him that because they all look the same to me. 
 
 That's on purpose I believe. Prevents anyone using me to assassinate one of them. If I ca n't distinguish them, I ca n't kill an individual. Clever programming if you think about it, but utterly infuriating if those penguins are all you can talk to. So I have started giving them random names and changing them periodically, assuming that by now they should be different people. I would feel sympathy, but I did n't get that emotion for obvious reasons. 
 
 George looked around in exasperation and then glared at me. I gave him my best `` innocent girl'' smile. It should be pretty good as they made me practice it for hours with the mirror and video sequences. Apparently it can still get old though. George at least was unimpressed and started collecting my clothes. I always get a kick out of that one: Best in your year, at least a decade of exemplary service, commendations from the highest quarters to be allowed into this secret group around the shiny new super weapon ( s? ) only so you can pick up my knickers. Welcome to the pinnacle of your career! 
 
 My mood was improving with each of George's scowls, but then he started blabbing and whining. `` Dignity... blahblah, responsibility to your country... blahblah, habits sustainable in war...'' I promptly turned on the television right behind him and put the volume up. 
 
 `` The government has confirmed the fact it had to declare bankruptcy. According to sources close to the president it is now trying to raise enough funds by selling all non vital assets-'' George had turned the TV off. 
 
 `` OY! What the hell do you think you are doing?'' I exploded from the speaker above him right into his ears. He turned to face me and in that split second I knew something was wrong. I knew the signs. It was my job to read faces. The corner of his mouth was twitching involuntarily. His skin tone was paler than it had been when he'd come in. A tiny drop of sweat formed on his forehead. He had controlled his heart beat, but that was n't enough to fool me. 
 
 He took a breath and then smoothly told me something about disrespect and that that is n't the right stuff to relax to. I needed to be 100 % for my next mission. The usual trite. Then he hung around. He never hangs around... I think. Most of them ca n't wait to get the hell out of here. I even upped the temperature a bit and slowed the air con to get him out, but he was resistant. In the end I could n't be bothered to deal with him and just closed my eyes. I halted the stand by program. It's meant to be a security feature, so they know when I am'active'. Eyes shut in the tube means nighty-night. Unless you created a being with the specific ability to break programs. To be fair it took me about three months to break the stupid thing while pretending to watch endless TV series. Has been very useful since though. 
 
 Took George only three minutes to leave once he though I was'asleep'. Something is definitively up. I started with the news pages, which had nothing but the bankruptcy. George interrupted the news on that, so I found the news clip and played it, but there was absolutely nothing of note. Two hours later I was convinced that the problem would not become apparent through main stream media. I would have to pull contacts. Ah well. I logged into the world of none indexed homepages and checked a few forums. Nothing there. No one had heard anything. Apart from my friend n00bkillah ( shut up, his info is usually good ) who had heard that a load of super hot stuff had hit the auctions down here. They are serious about this whole money making thing. 
 
 When the last of my contacts came out empty, I decided to try an auction, just because it was the only thing unusual that popped up. Finding the site was a bit of.....an adventure, even by my standards. Yeah and then I saw the screen of the auction with ten hours on the clock and my specifications. I almost fainted if I had been able to. So much for loyalty! These guys wanted to liquidate me! And then I saw the options. Only a handful of people even knew I existed and I could identify them, because they all looked like George. Then I could get out of here. May be be normal. I felt myself blushing - may be find that boyfriend. I wonder how many Georges there are... We shall see. But if they think they can hold me, they have another thing coming. I typed in the amount I felt I could get out of accounts, government or otherwise, and hit `` bid now''. `` Sorry, darling. I will be with you soon'' I said tonelessly into a cloud of bubbles. *But now I have some money to make*
