Jon found herself being rushed through dark hallways, not having time to think about her new gait as she was almost carried by a shorter scientist on either side out the backdoor of the facility. She was still just wearing a hospital gown and the outside air against her bare back sent shivers down her spine and all sorts of new sensations they didn't have time for to unpack. She was bundled into the backseat of an actually pretty damn nice Range Rover while Markus hopped in the driver seat and Rachel took shotgun.
"I think we're clear," Markus muttered after they were a few miles from SavePoint's office.
Jon's stomach rumbled and she rubbed it. The adrenaline of everything had kept her from realizing at first but she was hungry.
Rachel seemed to hear the growling and looked back at her with a sympathetic-ish look. "Sorry, you'll have to get used to that. That body's metabolism is overclocked to the extreme. On the plus side you can eat fast food for days and never put a pound on in the wrong place, but, uh, by my calculations you probably need around 6k calories per day."
"My grocery bills are going to be insane-" Jon said bleakly, the reality of the situation rolling over her. It was a small thing, compared to losing her identity, connections, and all the rest of it, but still.
"Our grocery bills, actually," Rachel said while patting her leg.
Jon looked at her skeptically, "oh yeah? I get that you didn't want to get in trouble, but what's in it for you to keep helping me now that we're away from SavePoint?" Sure she could go back and try to rat on them, but even if the company believed her, it sounded like doing so would just see her liquidated because she was a mental copy. Weirdly, the thought that there would still be another Jon out there didn't bring her any comfort. She may have technically only existed for an extremely short amount of time, but the human survival instinct was strong, and she wanted to live.
"Oh," Rachel replied perkily, "because I realized you'd be an excellent prototype. I never thought I'd get to do field observations of my creation, but now I can!" Her smile was far too cheery and Jon suddenly realized Rachel wasn't just a scientist, she was a mad scientist. Rachel continued, "I'll probably wait a decade or two to make my own transfer, and I can use the data I gather from you to optimize my eventual body. Plus, like, it's not super traditional but I'm kinda your mom? I mean, I created you so I do feel a certain amount of responsibility."
Jon tilted her head back and forth as she considered this, trying to ignore how her hair moved as she did so. She wasn't sure she believed the bit at the end, but Rachel's interest in, uh, studying her seemed genuine at least. She glanced over at Markus who was focusing on the road. "Okay, but what about you, why are you helping us?" That's what she couldn't figure out. This whole mess seemed to be Rachel's fault but here Markus was in the thick of it with her. "Are you guys a couple?"
"Oh god no!" Markus exclaimed. "I'm gay. We're just friends."
"And you're just helping to be, friendly?" Jon asked suspiciously, unconsciously folding her arms beneath her breasts. She hadn't buckled because he didn't want to figure out how to manage them + the seat belt strap.
"Well that, and I figured out he's been embezzling from the company," Rachel added nonchalantly.
"I have not been embezzling," Markus replied in the cadence of an argument they'd had a thousand times. "If I was, they'd have caught me in a week. I just, took a little financial advantage."
Seeing the look of confusion on Jon's face, Rachel explained. "So, you know how we take mental scans of the clients to use for the backups? Well, Markus figured out how to partially peak at those minds while they're in storage and he's been using that to find insider information for like, stocks and stuff." It was clear Rachel, while brilliant, had little interest in economics. "Most of the clientele are extremely wealthy, so knowing what they know let Markus make a fair chunk of change trading. Actually, you're family is like the only not megarich one we've backed up. I think your grandad knew one of the founders, or something."
Whatever Jon was going to say next died on her lips as the car pulled to a stop, and she saw they'd pulled up to a freaking mansion while distracted. She turned to stare wide eyed at Markus. "Exactly how much money did you make?"
Markus looked sheepish, "uh, 500 million, give or take." He waved up at the mansion, "welcome home."
