C.U.B.E.

≈ Ch. 17: MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE ≈

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Who’s Who in this chapter

Alastair (the ‘imperfect’ technician living on the 4th floor) deactivates the Cube’s communication system, letting Kareem and Lance send an outbound message. O’Rourke (Captain of the dreaded Sex Police) is suspicious and tries to make Kareem confess, but things don’t go as he planned.

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~ Archaeo-technology ~

Kareem woke up with a smile on his face. Making again love to a woman, though using the electronic link between his bio-chip and Sean’s, made Kareem feel again a man, a real man, like he was before getting arrested. True, the memory of Lance sucking him and then riding his cock was a bit unsettling… but Kareem forced that unpleasant feeling out of his mind. He made love to a woman, felt again her wet pussy around his cock, felt again the softness of her lips on his own, and nothing could disrupt the thrill of that night.

And if Lance could get, at long last, something he craved for, all the better for him. Kareem stared at the ceiling, thinking back at the long, passionate kiss he gave to Lance, and his smile didn’t fade. Sean was right, there are things that men, outside, wouldn’t ever do because of the social pressure, not because they were unpleasant. Kissing Lance, Kareem reckoned, had been anything but unpleasant…

“Breakfast’s ready!” – Lance called from the living room, and Kareem leapt off the bed with a special spring in his legs. He felt alive, he felt powerful… and he felt hungry! He put on his shorts and went to the living room; and when Lance smiled wide at him, he reciprocated with the same joy.

“All good?” – Lance asked, afraid that Kareem, now that the sexual high was over, might regret what they’d done last night; but his anxiety was instantly dispelled by Kareem’s warm voice: “More than good! I feel on cloud nine! Last night was… unforgettable.”

“It was for me, too” – Lance replied, and then, cautiously added: “But… does it mean that you and I… ehm… can do it again, maybe?”

Kareem thought about it and then flashed a timid smile: “Lance, I… I’m always the same person, with all my limits and my instinctive rejection for man-sex. Yesterday was one of a kind, I was making love to you, but to Sean’s wife, too. It wasn’t just the two of us, if you know what I mean. But it was a first step, right? Don’t be mad at me, buddy… I’m trying hard to do my best, but… it’s so difficult for me! I just can’t throw behind my back thirty years of strict heterosexual education and my own natural sexual inclinations.”

“I’m anything but mad at you, Kareem” – Lance smiled – “You’re my ‘whatever’, remember? And that’s enough for me. Sex is important, but the bond between us is beautiful, whether it includes sex or not. Now eat your eggs before they become cold.”

While eating, both their phones buzzed, and they instantly stiffened reading the message on the screen: “Broadcast message from the tech department – To all the guests and workers of the C.U.B.E. – Tonight, from 2:00 A.M. to 2:15 A.M., the entire communication system will be unavailable, due to a scheduled maintenance. At the end of the procedure, all the computers and mobile phones will automatically reboot. We recommend saving your work and terminating any ongoing communication before 2:00 A.M.”

They exchanged a knowing glance, and then Lance said in a low voice: “The time has come. Tonight we’ll have to go down to the basement and send the message. Everything must be ready by 2 A.M. sharp. Have you written the message you want to send to your friend?”

“I… err… yes, I wrote it” – Kareem replied, with a sudden embarrassment, but ignored Lance’s suspicious glance and said, worried: “Anyway, I’m not sure we’ll be able to actually send it. While using the computer, I noticed that the Cube’s internal communication system is still based on IPv4…”

“What does it mean? And why are you so tech-savvy all at once?” – Lance asked, surprised, and Kareem flashed a faint smile: “This is archaeo-technology, actually; I studied it as part of my Sociology major. IPv4 means ‘Internet Protocol version 4’, a protocol that has been abandoned since mid-third millennium and only survives in small offices and closed systems like the Cube. Nowadays, the current IP version is 11. Usually, it’s not a problem, as outgoing IPv4 communications are seamlessly ‘translated’ to the newer protocol…”

“…unless the main communication system is down” – Lance completed, suddenly frowning – “Fuck… And what happens if an old IPv4 communication is sent out without… translation?”

“It must be routed to the destination through the few existing internet nodes that still ensure a backward compatibility with such an ancient protocol. IT companies swear that their lines ensure a full backward compatibility, but I really don’t know, we’re talking about something that’s five centuries old. Anyway, trying doesn’t hurt. I will trace the message after sending it, to know if it gets lost or is correctly routed. And we’ll have to go down to the basement in advance, because I must type the message on that old computer by hand, there’s no way to transfer a file from the phone.”

“Shit… This is going to be more difficult than I expected” – Lance said, frowning – “but we’ll do it. Everything will be fine, right? Now, may I see the message you’ve written?”

Kareem got a bit pale and frowned, handing his phone to Lance: “Before you read it… you must know one thing. I had to keep it short, no time to fiddle around with words. You won’t like what I’ve written.”

“I’m not easily impressed!” – Lance joked, but when he started reading the message, his smile faded.

«Hi Screech, it’s Bear. This is not a joke, nor a scam: it’s me. Only I can know that at that summer camp, when we were 13, you pushed a ping-pong ball up your ass ‘to know how it felt’, and I had to help you take it out. I’m alive, I didn’t die in a plane accident; I’m detained at the C.U.B.E., the huge building at the Eastern outskirt of the city. I’ve been sent here, unjustly charged with ‘Uranian Behavior’, because the fucking A.I. thought that Fran was a man and marked me as a faggot. You must take me out of here! This place is packed with oversexed perverts who are trying to turn me gay! I can’t tell you the horrible things they’re doing to me! I need your help, buddy. You must raise hell against Triple-A, he’s the one who wants me here: he knows that the A.I. has made a mistake, and he won’t rest until I’m turned into a man-whore. Use the social networks, the three-vision, whatever, you know how to do it, but you must rile up public opinion against Triple-A’s and expose his misfit as soon as possible. I need you, Screech! I’m fighting for dear life, but I don’t know how long I can hang on before they turn me into a cocksucker. -- Bear»

Lance stood silent for a while and then murmured: “Wow. You didn’t go easy with us ‘perverts’… I thought you’d made some friends here: Perry, Doc Stevens, Mateo, Adam, Lionel, Ol’ Pete…”

“Lance, no! Don’t say that!” – Kareem exclaimed, taking Lance’s hands – “What I wrote is not what I really think, believe me! But I had to… speak my friend’s language! I had to explain him the situation in a way that would hit him and spur him to rescue me. Buddy… please, tell me you believe me!”

“Is it so? ” – Lance asked with a hopeful smile – “Don’t you really think that my friends and I, and all the people living at the Cube are… perverts?”

Kareem let go of Lance’s hands and heavily sat on a chair: “I feel so ashamed… Of course I don’t think bad of the people living here, but… well… what you’ve just read in my message was actually my way of thinking and talking about gay people, when I lived outside. I’ve been living here for less than a month, but I changed deeply, so deeply that I’m mortified, thinking at who I was back then. Writing that message was like looking at a mirror… and I was disgusted by the man I saw reflected in it.”

Lance leaned on Kareem from the back and hugged him: “Learning from our mistakes, admitting our faults and changing our mind is what make us human, and better people. Look again in the mirror and be proud of who you see.”

Kareem felt moved by Lance’s unwavering support and felt a lump in his throat. “Breakfast must’ve turned cold…” – was all he could say, and Lance gave him a peck on his stubbled cheek and sat again at the table, to finish his breakfast. “Do you really think your friend will be able to help you?” – he asked, and Kareem nodded: “He’s the best, he can do it… but only if he gets my message.”

 

~ Thieves in the night ~

That night, at 1:30 A.M., Lance and Kareem met in the living room; they were both wearing the darkest clothes they’d found in their closets… which weren’t that dark, as black and dark colors weren’t really popular in an all-male all-gay society like the Cube. They went out and sneaked toward the elevators, walking along the dark narrow alleys that separated the apartments. They entered the elevator and Lance pushed the buttons like Alastair showed them: 5-1-2-3-4. The cabin moved up to the fifth floor, stopped and went down; and again, Lance and Kareem looked with a bit of anxiety at the display turning off while the cabin was still moving down.

The doors opened and they stepped into the small basement room; they moved to the dusty desk and Kareem sat at the old computer. “Let’s cross fingers…” – he murmured, pushing the power button. The monitor came alive, showing an old operating system that puzzled Lance, but not Kareem: “OK” – he said, typing weird commands on the old noisy keyboard – “Here is the messaging system. Now let me type the message and get it ready to be sent.”

For a few minutes, the room echoed with the loud noise of the keys clicking under Kareem expert fingers. When done, Kareem went on typing more weird commands and explained: “This is the tracing routine. Basically, I will send a tiny bit of data along with the message, and I will get a response from the internet nodes that the message will be routed through.”

“I will pretend to have understood…” – Lance replied, looking at Kareem in awe – “Nervous?”

“Very” – Kareem replied, frowning – “There’s a million things that can go wrong, and this is the only chance we have. Wait, no, no, I didn’t mean to scare you, come here, buddy…” – he hastened to add, standing up and wrapping his arms around Lance, in a comforting hug: “Everything will go exactly as planned. Alastair is risking a lot, taking down the entire communication system, and such a brave effort can’t go wasted. Hey, there’s only one minute left, let’s get ready!”

Kareem sat again at the computer, looking at his phone. As soon as the time on the phone turned from 1:59 to 2:00, they heard a beep and both the phones lost their connection… but not the old computer.

“Now!” – Kareem exclaimed, hitting the ‘send’ button on the keyboard. They feverishly looked at the screen, where a list of weird words was appearing, line by line: net.cube.us… ax.spearnet.ar… mail.itcompany.au… node.jungjin.cn…

“What’s that?!” – Lance asked alarmed, and Kareem shook his head: “The outer net is routing the message around the entire world, through the few IPv4 nodes still existing… USA, Argentina, Australia, China… Wait, it seems it’s coming back: Japan… Russia… Alaska… Come on! We have only a minute before the system reboots!! Canada… New York…

The computer emitted a loud beep and a message appeared on the screen “Rebooting…”. A split second before the screen went blank, the list of weird internet nodes ended with “Destination reached”.

“Yes!!! Fuck yes!!” – Kareem exulted under his breath, leaping on his feet, and Lance hugged him tight: “You’ve been wonderful! If I had to do that myself, I would’ve given up before even trying… Damn… I wish I was a woman, to give you a kiss that you wouldn’t forget!”

“I don’t see anything wrong with you being a man…” – Kareem replied, and locked their mouths in a long, passionate kiss, a liberating exchange of repressed emotions that made their heartbeat race. When they parted, Lance murmured: “Wow… That was unexpected…”

“Didn’t I tell you that I’m no more the man I was when I lived outside? I’m sick of restraining myself only because ‘men don’t do it’. I want to do what feels good to me… and that kiss felt damn good…!”

The old computer emitted another beep: “Reboot complete. All systems online”. Kareem turned it off and then said with urgency: “Better go away. Fuck, I’m high on adrenaline right now… Do you think it’s too late to pay a visit to Andrea, that beautiful boy at the Silk & Lace?”

Lance repressed a smirk of disillusion, as for a moment, after that kiss, he’d hoped that Kareem… But it lasted only a moment, and he smiled at Kareem: “You go there, I prefer to go back home. Say hi from me to Curtis, the eldest of the boys.”

They entered the elevator and went up to the second floor; but before stepping out, Kareem – who had noticed Lance’s disappointment when he mentioned Andrea – turned to Lance and gave him an intense look: “You’re a very special guy. I’m so lucky. Say… What if I come home with you and we spend the night cuddling in bed? Just cuddling, nothing else.”

“I’m all for it” – Lance replied with a dreaming tone, while a wide smile spread on his handsome face.

 

~ Gay sex for a straight cop ~

The next morning, they both woke up relaxed and well-rested. Lance had slept the whole night with his face on Kareem’s wide chest, feeling protected into his arms, but Kareem didn’t seem embarrassed or uneasy about that, much to Lance’s relief.

They had breakfast, took their daily medications, and then Kareem went to work. He felt great, the Avenues of the Cube seemed almost beautiful, in the warm morning light, and he kindly waved to the shopkeepers he knew while walking in front of their shops.

At some point, he almost bumped into McLaughlin, coming out from an alley. “Sean!” – Kareem exclaimed, smiling wide. He gently pushed the cop into the dark alley and flung his arms around him, holding him in a strong bear hug: “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done to me!” – he said with passion – “Linking my bio-chip to yours, you made me feel again a man, you let me feel again the warmth of a woman! It was… wonderful! And you’re a wonderful man, buddy. But why do you look uneasy? It’s not that you shared your wife with me or something: I swear I had only my fiancée Beverly in my mind!”

“It’s not that…” – Sean replied, cautiously – “but since you’re talking about that… I think I messed it up, and by mistake I’ve activated a two-way link. You see… when I came… I felt two orgasms, not just one! Did you feel the same?”

“Actually, yes, and it only added to my exhilaration, if you ask me.”

“Uhm…” – Sean went on, almost afraid to ask – “I felt an unusual tightness, while fucking my wife. And when she sucked me, I felt like she was taking my dick down her throat, which she never did before. Say… What were you doing while I was making love to my wife?”

Kareem instantly guessed the root of Sean’s uneasiness: having activated a two-way link, he was afraid to have been unknowingly involved in some sort of gay sex, on Kareem’s part. Which was actually the naked truth…

“Oh… I… I may have jacked off” – Kareem lied – “You know, it was weird to stay still while… making love to a woman! The unusual sensations you’ve felt may be due to my… er… touching myself.”

“Oh, I feel relieved!” – Sean sighed – “For a moment I was afraid that… but no, it’s impossible, I know you’re not into men. Next time I’ll be more careful when activating the linking device.”

“Next time?” – Kareem beamed – “You mean that we can do it again?”

“Not soon, but we’ll do it again. I can’t even guess how hard is for you living here without ever making love to a woman. It’s the least I can do, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“We are” – Kareem replied, surprised to see a sudden frown on Sean’s face – “But why are you upset, now?”

“Because I must do something I hate… Forgive me, Kareem, but I have orders to… arrest you and bring you to the headquarter. O’Rourke is pissed off about something, he didn’t tell me.”

Kareem flashed a friendly smile and put his hands behind his back: “It’s much better to be arrested by you than one of your fellow cops. Go on, handcuff me, and don’t worry, we’re still friends.”

“OK, let’s do it” – Sean sighed, taking Kareem by his arm and gently pushing him out of the alley.

When they arrived at the headquarter, Sean brought Kareem to the interrogation room, where O’Rourke was waiting for them with Officers Wilde and Reeves. “Leave the prisoner here and go away!” – O’Rourke barked to McLaughlin – “The last thing I want is listening to your sissy whines while I interrogate the bitch, here.”

“Sir, yes sir!” – McLaughlin replied, and with a last sympathetic glance to Kareem turned around and went away.

“Strip him and tie him to the throne!”

When Kareem heard O’Rourke’s command, he started sweating cold; the memory of the last time he was forced on the throne was etched in his mind: the dreaded dildo mindlessly and painfully splitting open his virgin hole, the wicked metal tube around his cock that forced him to get hard and have a despised orgasm against his will, the guards manhandling his sensitive man-tits, making him feel like a whore…

With efficient moves, the guards stripped Kareem naked and forced him on the throne, immobilizing him with the leather restraints. They took the metal tube and shoved it on his flaccid cock. Kareem knew that with a flick on the electronic console, a powerful suction would’ve forced his manhood to get fully erect. But slowly the fear was replaced by a different feeling; Kareem remembered what Doc Stevens told him, that enduring a sexual torment was a proof of manliness, not of weakness.

Kareem’s expression morphed from the initial fear to a restrained confidence, while his cock, without any mechanical suction, started to thicken and swell inside the metal tube; when the sensitive glans touched the many synthetic feathers filling the end of the tube, Kareem uttered a low groan of pleasure, and a sly smile spread on his face. He was ready. O’Rourke could cause him some physical pain, but he was man enough to bear it without even flinching.

 

~ Harsh interrogation ~

“I know you’ve done something last night, while the communication system was down” – O’Rourke said with a grave tone – “Confess, and I will spare you this torture!”

“I have nothing to confess” – Kareem replied, defiantly, making O’Rourke huff: “Yeah? Let’s see if this jogs your memory!”. He pushed a button and the vacuum engine hidden inside the throne abruptly sucked the air out of the tube, applying a strong suction on Kareem’s cock. But unlike last time, Kareem was already hard, and the added pressure only gave him a mild discomfort. “Mmmhh… Yeah, boss!” – he said defiantly – “You like having this machine suck my big cock, don’t you? Maybe you dream of doing it yourself…”

“Motherfucker!” – O’Rourke yelled, slamming his hand on the big red button that activated the dildo – “Let’s see how long you can keep that smug grin on your face!”

Kareem felt the seat under his ass slide apart, making his buttocks part, and in no time the greased dildo reached Kareem’s hole and entered it, effortlessly winning the natural resistance of the anal rings, unused to such a harsh penetration. The wicked tool didn’t slow down until it was fully buried into Kareem’s protesting ass.

The pain was excruciating, but this time Kareem knew what to expect, and was prepared: he couldn’t prevent a smirk of pain from appearing on his face, but he didn’t scream, nor he uttered the faintest sound. The fuck-machine started abusing Kareem’s hole with mechanical precision, switching direction every second, while the feathers into the metal tube came to life and began titillating Kareem’s cock in the most exquisite way, quickly bringing him to the peak of his pleasure, but without ever letting him cum.

Kareem remembered the last torment that expected him, the guards manhandling his nipples to make him delirious with pain and pleasure, and took them by surprise: “So, what are you waiting for, faggots? Aren’t you eager to feast on my man-tits? Come on, I know you’re dying to worship my massive manly chest!”

As a matter of fact, O’Rourke was about to order the cops to torment Kareem, but his early move confounded them all. Wilde and Reeves looked at O’Rourke in alarm, knowing well that now, if they were ordered to suck Kareem’s nipples like last time, it would’ve seemed like they were actually doing it for their own sexual pleasure!

“You think you’re smart, uh?” – O’Rourke barked, realizing that he’d been outwitted – “I’ll make you cum like the whore you are!”

He pushed another button and the feathers on Kareem’s cock went wild. Kareem was momentarily swept off by the sensory overload, but he found the strength to look straight at O’Rourke: “Thank you Captain! You know how to service a man! Now look attentively and learn how a real man spreads his seed… NNNGGHHH…. Aww…. Fuck YEAH!!”

Unable to move his body a single inch, Kareem stiffened inside the tight restraints and let the floodgate open; a torrent of cum rushed through his engorged cock, under the powerful rhythmical pressure of the prostate, and flooded the metal tube.

“Yeah… mmmhh..” – Kareem moaned, and while still cumming he looked at O’Rourke and moaned: “You wish this tube was your mouth, don’t you, Captain? Feeling my man-juice roll down your throat and seep out of your lips…”

“Son of a bitch!” – O’Rourke exploded, furious because he couldn’t break Kareem as he hoped – “But I’ll make you confess! You like to cum? Fine! I’ll make you cum over and over, until you’ll be whining and blabbering like a child!”

The powerful suction and the wild stimulation didn’t stop, despite that the massive orgasm had now ended, and Kareem suddenly felt a growing discomfort radiating from his manhandled cock. “Nnnngghh… I… I have nothing… oooohh… to confess!” – Kareem uttered, trying to keep his voice as firm as possible. O’Rourke turned to the cops: “You two! Suck his nipples! Make him go wild!”

The cops looked at the Captain with wide eyes and didn’t move. “What? Fuck you, I’ll deal with you later! I’ll do it myself!”

“Sir… Don’t…” – Officer Reeves warned, looking straight at O’Rourke, who recognized that glance: «If you do it, you’re gay», the cops’ eyes were silently admonishing. There are things that ‘men don’t do’. Period.

Kareem repressed a smile of victory, while his refractory period was trailing off and his cock started responding again with manly eagerness to the powerful stimulation. Soon he was again ready to shoot, and he glanced around at the men watching him with wide eyes: “You should try this little nice toy, guys!” – he joked – “But you’d be drained after a few minutes, you losers! Ahh… yeah… I’m gonna cum… Don’t miss the show, faggots! Look in awe at a real man cumming… Yeah… YEAHHHH!!”

For the second time, Kareem flexed his powerful muscles and let himself fall into the abyss. Rope after thick rope of cum rocketed out of his cock, adding a fresh load of man-cream to the one already filling the tube. Despite the strong suction, the tube was so full of cum and manly meat that some of the seed dripped out of the brink.

Kareem had no time to enjoy the orgasmic high, because the strong suction forced him to stay hard, while the vicious feathers went on mindlessly stimulating his now oversensitive cock, titillating with cruel determination his most tender spots. “FUUUUUCCKK!!!” – Kareem yelled, unable to force himself to silence as he willed. O’Rourke flashed an evil smirk: “Confess, and I will have mercy! I know you’ve sent out a message, Bashir! The head of the communication department wasn’t as tough as you, he broke down as soon as his man-hole was split open by the throne!”

“Alastair! What have you done to him, you bastard?!” – Kareem exclaimed, in pain for that valiant ‘imperfect’ man who took a great risk to help him. “Oh, you know that freak by name! Why am I not surprised? Tell me who you sent the message to, and what you wrote him!! Now!!”

“I… nnngghh… I don’t know what… awwww!... what you’re talking about…!”

“Dry orgasms are not much pleasant, Bashir… How long can you resist? How long can your hole resist before collapsing under the unmerciful fuck of throne’s dildo? Confess!”

Kareem felt another orgasm building inside his groin, and he knew that it wouldn’t be pleasant in the least. After two climaxes in a row, he felt drained, and he was not looking forward to the third one; but he didn’t chicken out: “I have nothing to tell you! But know that… oooohh… your friend ‘Triple-A’ won’t be able to cover your misfits for long! AWWW…! You tried to break me, but… FUCK!!!... you failed, Captain! If there’s a faggot in this room, it's not me for sure! Ooohh… OOOOHH FUUUCK!!”

Another despised, unpleasant orgasm was roughly torn out of Kareem’s loins by the wicked machine, and another weak load of manly seed added to the previous ones. Kareem was sure that he wouldn’t be able to resist the oncoming overstimulation, after three orgasms. He started convulsing when his cock, forced to stay erect, was assaulted by the wicked feathers; he was only glad that he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t plead for mercy, and while he welcomed a merciful blackness, Doc Steven’s words resounded in his mind: “You’re 100% man… Your manliness is more powerful than any torment they may inflict you… You’re 100% man…”

“Fuck!”– O’Rourke grunted, stopping the machine. He looked at Kareem going limp on the throne, his eyes fixated on the void, and knew he couldn’t break him, and probably never would. “Untie him and throw him on the street!”

Wilde and Reeves quickly complied and left the interrogation room dragging the prisoner bodily. When alone, O’Rourke sat on his chair and a shiver ran through his spine: he knew well that if in trouble, ‘Triple-A’, the powerful CEO governing the A.I., wouldn’t think twice before throwing O’Rourke to the dogs…

-~~~≈≈≈ooOoo≈≈≈~~~-

In the next chapter: Lance finds out that both Kareem and Alastair have been sexually tortured by O’Rourke because of the outbound message they sent. Lance pays a visit to Alastair, and on the 4th floor he’ll have an intense encounter with a gorgeous ‘imperfect’ stranger.