The Product Tester

Chapter 10

The next couple weeks went by in a blur.

Ethan had no idea what his fiancé was up to, but whatever it was, she was in a good mood about it. Diaper changes became just a part of their routine. They'd wake up, he'd give Mary a change, he'd go to work. She'd work on freelance jobs, or do something to get the cover off, and then they'd get lunch together and she'd get her second change of the day.

If she was making progress on the cover, Ethan couldn't tell how. He'd stopped receiving notifications about any tampering with the electronics, and the software seemed to be working just fine. If he didn't know any better, he'd have guessed that Mary had given up, and was riding out the month to collect her paycheck.

But, he did know better. Mary was too stubborn for that even if he'd told her a dozen times that it was the best thing to do.

Whatever she was working on, when he got off work in the evening, they'd have dinner, maybe watch a movie, and then go to the bedroom for a little fun. And, as much as Ethan hated to admit it to himself, it was probably the best sex they'd had since they first got together.

Mary had stopped caring what state her diaper was in when they went to the bedroom. With her cover on, they couldn't really do anything the usual way, but that just forced them to get creative with things. The experimentation had been a thrill, and Ethan was almost ready to-

After they fooled around, they'd watch a movie or just relax on the couch near each other, chatting about their day, enjoying each other's company. Bedtime would roll around, they'd go to sleep, wake up together, and do the whole thing over again.

Three weeks into the trial, though, things changed.

Ethan couldn't tell anything was amiss the night before. They chatted, they watched the new musical on Disney Plus Ultra, they went to bed. Mary fell asleep curled up in Ethan's arms.

When he woke up, she was gone.

Fumbling for his phone, Ethan turned off the alarm, then looked over to tell his fiancé good morning. She wasn't in bed.

"Baby?" he said, sitting up. She never woke up before him, not unless she had a good reason.

He threw back the covers and got up, walking to the kitchen. "Mary? Where are you?"

Nothing. He couldn't hear the shower, and there wasn't any other reason she'd be in the bathroom, but...

His eyes were drawn to a paper on the kitchen counter. Walking over, he picked it up and read.

Ethan.

I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. I've got a lead on how to remove the cover, but it's going to take me a couple days.

The remote transmission on the cover is clever, but it's not impenetrable. Once I get back, I can give you a few pointers on how to make it more secure. Until then, I've disabled your ability to get notifications or a GPS pin of where I am. Don't worry about me, I'm being very careful.

I love you. I'll see you in a few days, when I collect my check for twenty five grand.

XOXO

-Mary

Ethan read the note twice, then ran back to the bedroom to get his phone.

...

It was a good day for Katherine.

The security test with Mary was going well. Three weeks in, and she'd made no progress on penetrating their security. If that wasn't an endorsement, nothing was.