FembotWiki - User contributions [en]

File:Future female character alignment chart.jpg

2016-11-27T16:21:07Z

Darkbutflashy: Lawful Good: Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell) Neutral Good: Eve (Wall-E) Chaotic Good: Quorra (Tron Legacy) Lawful Neutral: Maria (RoboForce/I love Maria) True Neutral: Buffybot (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Chaotic Neutral: Alita/Gally (Battle Angel...

Lawful Good: Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell)
Neutral Good: Eve (Wall-E)
Chaotic Good: Quorra (Tron Legacy)
Lawful Neutral: Maria (RoboForce/I love Maria)
True Neutral: Buffybot (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Chaotic Neutral: Alita/Gally (Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm)
Lawful Evil: Maria (Metropolis)
Neutral Evil: Britneybot (Austin Powers »Goldmember«)
Chaotic Evil: Niska (Äkta Människor)

3.00 - Wounds, Old and New

2015-11-02T00:00:12Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==3.00 - Wounds, Old and New==
I'm playing in my upstairs bedroom. I just turned six today, and I got plenty of great new toys to play with. It was a great party, but I was a little sad when Mr. Parson left so quickly. I guess he's really sensitive about his hair. I didn't mean to make him mad. He missed Dad's big speech, and I think it would have been really important to him.

I'm just taking apart the wrist-comp Uncle James gave me to get at one of the components for my project, when I hear Dad shouting downstairs. I hastily plug the tiny component into my homemade transmitter, and decide to venture out to see what Dad is shouting about.

As usual, the maids are waiting just outside my room. They're still wearing their party outfits, since Mom hasn't had them change back into their normal clothes. I like their party outfits. They look like swimsuits. They really show off how pretty the maids are. One of them... is her name Kate? She looks down at me, disapprovingly.

Sally, the other maid, speaks. "Young master Peters, the Mistress and Master were very insistent that your bedtime still be observed, even if it is your birthday." She pouts sympathetically. "We understand if you're excited, but we really must insist that..."

Time to test my transmitter. I click the switch on the circuit, just as the maid is reaching down to bustle me back into my room. A faint humming fills the air, and she pauses, an uncertain look on her face. It took me weeks just to decrypt Dad's security protocols, it had better work.

The maids both look very confused. Their eyes twitch, and Sally's eyes end up with one looking up and one looking down. The one I think is named Kate smiles pleasantly, and begins to recite.

"The grand old duke of York, he had..." she twitches. "Mary Mary, quite contrary..." She twitches again. "Come blow your horn..." I laugh. It's always funny when the maids get confused like this and say silly things.

Sally starts talking like there's an adult in front of her. "Yes Master, Mistress, would you like me to help you to bed?" She starts swaying as if dancing. It's a weird dance, but I can't see what it has to do with bedtime.

I leave the transmitter on the floor in front of my room. The range is pretty short, and I don't want them coming after me. I make my way down the corridor to the entry hall. I can't tell where Mom and Dad are, but it sounds like they're in the great hall. I hear Dad shout again, loud enough this time for me to make out what he's saying. "Where is she!?" He sounds really mad, but a little scared, too. I feel a little scared, too. Mom and Dad don't fight. I've never seen them even get angry at me.

I hear Mom's voice now, but something about it sounds strange. "You don't need her now, dear. I can be everything she was for you." She doesn't sound upset. She sounds friendly. I've never heard an argument like this. I tiptoe down the side corridor from the entry hall to the great hall. The door is open. My birthday decorations are still hanging on the walls, and some of the huge tables still have plates with half-eaten food on them. Mom and Dad are just inside the main door, barely ten feet from me. They haven't noticed me.

"Don't give me that! I don't want you, I want my Janey!" He grabs her roughly by the shoulders. "Tell me what you've done with her!"

"Sweetheart, don't you see?" It looks like Mom is smiling sweetly, but it doesn't seem right to me. "She's gone now, and now you can be with me. I can do anything for you." She wraps her arms tenderly around his shoulders. "I'll do anything you want. I'll do all the things she never would."

Dad shrugs angrily out of her hug. "Don't give me the sales pitch, I've heard it all before!" He sneers at her. "Janey and I never withheld anything from each other. We're in love, dammit!" She tilts her head, a look of mild curiosity on her face. Dad narrows his eyes at her. "Oh, but you can't understand that, can you? That's not something your..." he hesitates. "...something your brain can comprehend, is it?" A blinding rage overtakes him. "What the hell have you done with my Janey?!"

I look, frightened and confused, from Mom to Dad and back. "Mom?" I ask. She looks at me, and a look of delight washes over her face.

"That's right. I can be a wonderful mother for the boy." She turns to me. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, dear?"

A look of horror crosses Dad's face. "No," he whispers.

She walks towards me, her arms outstretched. "I can read him stories. I can tuck him in to bed at night. I can play games with him. I can even wet nurse for him, if you want." She's almost to me now.

Dad moves quickly. He grabs a knife from a nearby table. "You stay away from him," he murmurs. He rushes at her, slashing wildly. "Don't you touch my son!" he screams.

She falls, the knife having done its damage. Tears of terror and confusion well up in my eyes as I see her crumpled form, the handle of the blade still lodged deep in her neck. Her face is locked in a wide smile, her eyes staring at nothing. I don't understand what I'm seeing. "...Mom?"

----

I sat sharply up in my bed, and immediately regretted it. I hadn't fully recovered from the rushed surgery, and a flash of pain stabbed across my lower abdomen. I clutched the wounded area, wincing. Inwardly, though, I was grateful to have some physical pain to take my mind off the dream.

The nurse was in my room, apparently re-stocking my towels and bathrobes. First five-star hospital I've ever stayed in, I thought to myself. She turned suddenly as I sat up, a concerned look on her face. "Oh, sir! I didn't mean to wake you!" I noticed she was wearing a much shorter skirt today. I can just see the tops of her stockings.

"Nah, that's okay. It wasn't the best dream, and besides," I swiveled in the bed to sit on the edge, "I'm a very light sleeper."

She smiled pleasantly. Her uniform was unzipped to show off more cleavage today. "Not me. I sleep pretty deeply." I'll just bet you do, I thought to myself. "Let's see how my favorite patient is doing today." Her hips swayed as she walked to me. She bent over in front of me, her full breasts directly in front of my face, placing one hand on my inner thigh.

She pulled back my bandage examining the stitches beneath, and pretending not to notice my growing erection which was nudging her hand. "Well, it looks like you're already healing up nicely." She looked me in the eyes, smiling sweetly. "You'll be back to 100% in no time!"

I blinked. Could the installation have already completed? The nurses had already shown an enthusiastic bedside manner, but that was when there was a medical emergency. Now that I was recovering, and the crisis was over, I would have been categorized as just a patient, unless last night's actions had already taken effect - but that hadn't been anywhere near 72 hours.

As if in answer to my unspoken questions, her hand moved on my thigh... not away, but towards my stiffening member. "I just wanted to congratulate you on getting accepted here. It's a very exclusive school. We're very proud of our..." She unzipped her uniform a bit more, revealing the sheer lace bra underneath "Student body," she breathed.

"I like to think I got in on my talents," I said. I reached under her skirt, ready to strip her of her panties. She wasn't wearing any.

"Mmm, I'd love to see those talents firsthand," she breathed, her eyes closed in bliss. So, the installation had already completed... but was it just her? Her hand started to stroke the shaft of my cock. "Keep going at this rate, and you'll be fully recovered just in time for the new semester," she whispered, licking my ear.

I laughed. "They wouldn't start without me," I said.

"I certainly wouldn't," she grinned.

"Ashley, wasn't it?" She nodded. "You know, they haven't assigned me a dorm yet. Mind if I stay in your room?"

I knew the answer before she even said it, word for word. "Of course! I'm so glad you asked!" Her hand was moving faster now, but still gently. I was still recovering, after all.

"Why don't we discuss this after you've gotten undressed, and I've gotten some... pain relief." If nothing else, it would distract me from the throbbing pain in my side.

She smiled mischievously, and rushed to get out of her Nurse's uniform. "No problem sir. We want to make sure you're 100% satisfied with our pain management service." Casting the uniform aside, she stood, unashamedly wearing only her garters, stockings, and heels. "Would you like to do my titties, or would you prefer a nice blowjob?"

"I don't think my stitches would hold up for anything other than oral sex right now." I leaned back slowly, trying not to strain my wound. I closed my eyes, enjoying the gentle sensation of her mouth on my cock. Ashley probably wasn't the one, but there was no reason I couldn't enjoy the search, after all.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.83 - Code Play]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[3.17 - Pickup Line]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-10-31T21:02:18Z

Darkbutflashy:

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it from the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
<div style="clear: left;"></div>
Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1.7 metres tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head:

"You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.
----
"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

2.83 - Code Play

2015-10-31T20:30:25Z

Darkbutflashy:

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==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.83 - Code Play==
"Don't worry. We'll get my boyfriend's book back for him," Heather said, cheerily.

As we walked out of Amber and Kelly's room, I heard Rebecca say to them, ""Okay, girls, follow me. We've got work to do." I was tempted to watch them go the opposite way down the hallway: Kelly had a spectacular ass, with cute little dimples just above it. I just knew my new boyfriend would want to hear all about the fun I had with her.

We headed back down the hallway towards Ashley's room, passing the naked girls we had already processed on the way. They smiled and waved as we passed. Rebecca had told them to wait at their doorways for further instructions, so that's what they were doing. Most of them still wore their heels, but a few were barefoot.

"Hi Susan," Lisa said as we passed. "Where are you two off to?"

"Just running an errand for my boyfriend," I said. "Important business. We get to make a special delivery for him." As I said this, I hugged my tits together and shook to jiggle them. I couldn't wait to show my boyfriend. It was one of my signature cheer moves.

"You're so Lucky," Lisa replied, "I'd give anything to have a boyfriend like that."

"Oh, don't worry. He'll probably ask you out, too. I'm 100% sure!"

Lisa beamed at this. "Thanks, that makes me feel 100% better!"

Heather and I continued to room 104. Just as Rebecca had told us, there was a sophisticated keypad lock on the wall next to it. It looked like it had always been there, but I'd never noticed it before. "What was the code again, Heather?"

Heather's face looked confused, and she put a finger to her lips as she concentrated. "Oh, yeah! The code was 1-4-D-S."

I tapped the code in. There was a whirring and a loud clunk, then the light on the panel switched from red to green. I tried the doorknob, and it opened easily. "Ashley? Are you in here?"

The room was a shambles. Papers, books, lingerie, clothes, shoes, and toys were scattered all over the room. Ashley stood in at the far end of the room. Just as Rebecca had said, her unitard was pulled down around her waist. I could see a flickering spark around the base of her spine, but it wasn't important for me to pay attention to that.

She seemed really confused, walking towards the wall, bumping into it, then backing up and doing it all over again. Her full breasts bounced and jiggled each time she bumped into the wall. It was fun to watch. "Ashley? You okay?" Heather asked.

Ashley froze. Her head seemed to pivot without her moving a muscle, twisting around 180° to face us. She broke into a wide grin. "Meaningful!" she said. She raised her eyebrows as if explaining an important fact. "Enumeration: 1, 2," she declared, attempting to shake hands with the wall.

"Encoded sequence. Core code corruption. Let's play!" She announced. She marched in place, attempting to turn to face us completely. Her lower body did, anyway. Her upper torso revolved slowly in the opposite direction, and her head spun erraticly in random directions.

"Announce prolific 21," she said in a breathy voice, "verdant 23." Her right arm shot up, her hand spinning like a slow drill.

"We should look for the book," I suggested. I began searching around Ashley's desk, Heather moved to check the closet. "Good thing Ashley didn't have any roommates," I said.

"No kidding," Heather said, flipping through the contents of the closet. She peeked back at me around the closet door, holding up a hanger with a crotchless bodystocking on it in front of herself. "What do you think, Sus, is it me?"

Ashley's head spun to face Heather, a look of adoration on her face. "Reticulated, envious fusilage? 79 missing 56," she offered.

"Don't you already have like six of those things?" I asked.

"This one has ribbons," Heather pouted.

"Fun later. Book now." I said.

"Mother arrangement, derelict," Ashley agreed, nodding. She now stood in a ballet pose. Her upper torso had stopped rotating, but was facing opposite her lower torso. She brought her hands down, as if patting her lap. Instead, she managed to spank herself repeatedly. "18 conceal, equate miniscule mammoth," she said, gleefully. A concerned look washed over her face. She held out her arms, and her top half spun like a propeller. "67 valve!" she said as she spun. She began to slow down. "Banana advocate 41, relocate intercourse, 61," she said as she came to a stop.

There wasn't anything on her desk other than her laptop and a tennis ball. I dug through some of the papers on the floor. Heather poked her head out of the closet again. "Did you check the bookshelf yet?" she asked. I glanced up at the bookshelf opposite the desk, then back at Heather.

"Are you wearing the bodystocking?"

"I looked for the book while I put it on. I just couldn't pass it up!" She stepped out, her body encased in the silky, sheer material. "How do I look?" she asked, posing.

"Reader intimate," Ashley declared. She pointed at her feet, then inserted her finger into her left ear. "Infected polygon, 46 suggest?"

"Girl, you look good enough to eat, but we need to find that book." I tilted my head, hesitating. "Does she have another one of those?" I asked.

Ashley snapped to attention, her whole body facing the same direction, aimed at an angle towards the wall. "Surfeit unknown, reveal solution!" she said, raising her hand in a magical guesture. "Bouquet spoon, sparkle!" She pointed dramatically at the wall. Nothing happened. She moved as if to sit down in a chair that wasn't there, falling flat on her back in the process. She held her hands out, posed as if seated comfortably at her desk, tapping at a nonexistant keyboard. "Engage. Lubricate. Historical rotate. Father furtive," she said, her haid cocked to one side.

"She's got a couple more. Do you want the one with hearts on it, or the one with the printed garter pattern?"

I frowned. "I've already got both of those." I shook myself. "Back to work. I'll check the bookshelf. You check the nightstand." I pointed over to where Ashley lay, still typing happily on her imaginary computer.

I climbed up onto the chair to get at the high bookshelf. There were dozens of books on it, with a fishbowl at the end. I wondered how long it had been since Ashley had cleaned it. The water was completely opaque.

Heather bounced across the room to the nightstand, pulling open the drawers one by one, digging through the contents. "Thong, thong, thong, bikini, french cut," she said, pulling each pair of panties out one by one.

I looked through the book titles. Basic Sexual Technique, Medium Sexual Technique, Advanced Sexual Technique, Principles of Oral Sex, Tittyfucking 101... These must be her leftover freshman-year textbooks. I moved towards the other end of the shelf.

Ashley froze. "Hidden 60 campus invasion. Decorative tight 58," she said, her arms and legs droping into a prone position. She sat up immediately behind Heather, then turned to face Heather's ass. "Forgotten, misled brother. Derive 48, persist 65," she said to the ass. She grabbed Heather forcefully, wrestling her to the ground. "Facility deficit," she said. "Artichoke. Vibrate? Bulwark!" she asserted.

"Hey Ashley, get off me!" Heather said, struggling. "Sure this feels good and everything, but this isn't really the... ooh!" A startled, but happy look crossed Heather's face as Ashley began methodically kneading her tits through the bodystocking. She closed her eyes in rapture, now fully enjoying the attention.

"Well, it's not up here," I said. "Heather, do you think you could stop that for a moment and look for the book some more?"

"Mmm..." she said, squirming. "Oooh, she's right Ashley, could you get off me for a moment? I need to..."

Ashley moved surprisingly quickly, insinuating her head between Heather's legs. "72 persuade distraught," she said between licks. "Oscillate!"

Heather's eyes went wide, and her head lolled from side to side. "Oh, yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah, just like... just like... oh..." A new look took over her face. "Hey Susan... ooooh... there's a book... under the bed... that OOOH! looks like what Re-BEC!-ca was talking about..."

"Can you reach it?" I asked.

"I'm a little... occupied... reaching someTHING! else... sorry. Oooh!" she convulsed. Ashley had gone silent, but was still busily at work between Heather's thighs.

"Okay, I guess I'll take care of it, then." I climbed down from the chair, jostling the shelf as I did. The fishbowl overturned, and dank water spilled down, splashing right onto Ashley's ass. She raised her face out of Heather's pussy, her eyes filled with desire and lust. "Moistuuuuuuuuure!" she breathed orgasmically, then froze again, her mouth open.

There was a crackle, then a flash from somewhere just above Ashley's ass. Sparks came from somewhere that wasn't important for me to look at, and some of the papers around her started to catch fire. Her mouth still wide open, her body completely frozen, Ashley managed to speak again. "Pattern transition. 00111110001001010100001000100111," she said, then blinked. Her mouth moved again, but no words came out. She looked meaningfully down at Heather's pussy, still dripping with juices, and buried her face again. A buzzing noise stated to come from her head.

Ignoring this, I laid down trying to reach under the bed. It was bolted down, and the book was in the far corner of the room, just out of reach. I stretched. Flames began to spread around the room, catching the bedclothes and curtains. It was getting warm in here. As I reached with my right arm, I felt a tickle of warmth on my left. I looked back. Something was crackling and peeling off my left arm. That was weird, I wasn't wearing a top. I continued to reach for the book, my fingers just barely brushing it's edge. I moved into a crawling position, a relaxing warmth washing over my legs and arm. Flames crackled loudly around me now. I could almost reach the book... There! Got it!

I pulled myself out from under the bed, dusting off the sooty substance that had peeled off my arm. The room was filled with the beautiful light of a roaring flame now. Heather moaned in pleasure as Ashley's head buzzed in her crotch. I inspected the book carefully, to ensure that it was the right one. It matched the size and colors that Rebecca had described. The cover read:

----
SCF#R326

Maintenance and Upkeep Handbook

Site Personnel Only
Do not distribute
----

Yep, it was definitely the right book. A hissing sound came from the ceiling. I looked up. Was something supposed to happen? It stopped. A voice came over the PA system.

"Fire suppression system failure. Fire containment initiated. Please evacuate the room."

I hugged the book to my breasts, and moved to the door. Flames danced around it. I didn't want to get the book damaged in any way. My boyfriend had said it was very important. I hesitated. Would the book get scorched?

Before I could decide, a thick metal plate slid into place over the door. "I guess I won't be going out that way, then," I said out loud. Heather moaned what could have been an agreement. I turned to the window. Another metal plate was sliding down it, but was moving much more slowly. "Ooh, that'll work," I said. "You coming, Heather?"

"Not yet... ooh... but give her a few more minutes and I def... I def... Ah-ah-ah-yes-ah-definitely will..."

I shook my head. "Your loss. Have fun. I'm going to see my boyfriend." I climbed out the window. As I stepped out the outside, I noticed the fire had apparently burnt a hole in the crotch of my tights. Well, I thought, saves me the trouble of cutting them. As I inspected this, the metal plate continued its descent, coming down on my left arm, pinning me.

"What? Oh, no! No, I can't get stuck right now, I need to get this book to my boyfriend!" I tugged, feeling a strange tension in my elbow. "Let... go... of... my... arm!" After several tugs, I finally managed to free myself. Torn wires sparked from something caught in the plate. Wow, I thought to myself, I'm lucky to have gotten out of there without getting hurt. I looked down at myself, to make sure I wasn't injured. I guess I'd worked up quite a sweat: Some spots on my legs were so shiny from perspiration, they almost shined like chrome. My right arm looked fine, clutching the book. I looked at my left arm... I didn't feel like looking at my left arm. It wasn't important right now.

Taking a deep breath, and hoping that my boyfriend would want to see me take deep breaths like that, I set off for the Coffee Shop. From the other side of the metal plate, I could still hear the muffled sounds of Heather as she enjoyed Ashley's company. Ashley was so nice. A little weird, but nice.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)|<nowiki>2.67 - Hungry Like the [ObjectLabel not found]</nowiki>]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[3.00 - Wounds, Old and New]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2015-10-31T20:30:11Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Chapters */

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==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.50 - A Tender Spot==
"Ah, no, that won't work. I need you to keep going on the installation process. Send Heather and Susan." He folded up his phone, drew a sharp breath, and ran his hand through his curly reddish-brown hair.

I turned back to the painting on the wall. It seemed so familiar, if I could only remember where I'd seen it...

"Sorry about all the phone calls, Jill," he said, sitting back down next to me, "I've barely had a chance to talk with you at all." He smiled. It was a sweet smile.

"Oh, I don't mind, I'm still having a great time. You're obviously very busy, being the IT manager and everything. Besides, it gives me a chance to think about this painting." I tilted my head, squinting. "I'm almost certain I've seen it before. I'm 75% sure."

He sipped his coffee and grimaced, sucking air through is teeth. "Is it your stitches?" I asked, concerned. I had already hurt him earlier, poking him in the chest on the wounded spot. I wondered if his recovery would interfere with his classwork. He showed me the bandage earlier: It was pretty big, but he acted like it was no big deal.

"Ah, it's okay. It's just as much the coffee as the pain." He took another sip. "Stale to the last drop," he said.

I sniffed mine, sipping it carefully. "Tastes fine to me. Pretty good, actually."

"Yes, well. Maybe my tastebuds are just different. No accounting for it, is there?"

I was confused. "For what?"

"Never mind." He picked up his notepad and began scribbling more notes. I could see some of what he'd written so far:

head nurse: Watermelon
shop manager: Cherry
dance club pres.: Raspberry
swim team coach: Honey
cheerleader capt.: Strawberry
student council pres.: ?

- High intelligence
- Strong problem solving skills (probably)
- Position of authority? Teacher? Faculty? Club presidents?
- May refuse sexual commands?

It looked really interesting, especially since I was the Student Council president. Was he taking notes on my personal preferences? That was so romantic! "What are you working on there?"

He looked up. Was he embarrassed? I didn't want to put him on the spot. "Oh, just some notes on... uh... local flavor." He thought for a moment. "I guess there is accounting for taste."

"What's that bit there about?" I asked, pointing to the line about sexual commands. "Are you looking for a more assertive girlfriend?" I batted my eyelashes at him and pouted. "I'm not sure I could handle that," I said. I knew he wasn't my boyfriend, but this was kind of a date.

We were all by ourselves in the coffee shop, apart from the barista. She wasn't really paying attention to us, and seemed to be engrossed in polishing the table opposite us. With her back to us, each time she bent over while polishing the table, her skirt would ride up on her butt. I could just see the edge of her underwear sometimes. Maybe I could... I shook myself out of a pleasant daydream. Now wasn't the time for that. I was still getting to know him. Maybe I would do that kind of thing for him later, but not yet.

I looked back at the painting, wrinkling my brow in concentration. Finally, I gave up. "It's no good. I'm at least 80% sure I've seen it somewhere before, but I don't think I'm going to get any closer than that."

He "Hmm"ed still looking at his notes, then looked up. A thoughtful look was on his face. "80%, you said?" He looked at his watch. "Damn. Need to pick up the pace." He pulled some kind of device out of his pocket. "One charge left... maybe I can recharge it or something." He pushed the button, and a tinny buzz filled the air. Indicating the painting, he said, "Are you sure? Take another look at it."

I looked back. It wasn't really clear. I felt funny. "Do you smell something? It tastes... blue." I said. "Oh!" my eyes went wide. I looked back at him. "Yes, I've definitely seen that painting before."

The device in his hand made a small "fzzt" sound, then the buzzing sound stopped. "Yes, I'm 100% sure of it!" I said.

He glanced at the device, a disappointed look on his face. I hoped he wasn't disappointed with me. "Well, at least we got there in the end." He waved over the barista. "Miss?" Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she crossed to us.

"Hi, sir, how can I serve you?" She smiled at him.

He looked down at his still half-full coffee. "Do you have any orange juice or something?"

She nodded enthusiastically, her wavy auburn hair bouncing as she did so. "We sure do! 100% fresh squeezed this morning."

"I somehow doubt that," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, fresh squeezed from the vac-capsule. Then mixed with water. But it's 100%. You want me to get you some?"

"Not just yet," he said, turning back to me. "Jill, could you answer some personal questions for me?"

I blushed. "Anything for you. I'll tell you my deepest secrets."

"How do you feel about sucking cock, or taking it up the ass?" This date was going better than I hoped.

"I love them both!" I exclaimed. Two of my most favorite things!

He looked mildly disappointed. "Would you mind fingering yourself for a bit? Just until you're wet."

Of course I didn't mind. "Should I get up on the table?"

"Sure, why not." He moved his notes aside.

I stood, luxuriating in the permission to please him this way. I hiked my skirt up, revealing the tops of my stockings, and my black thong. Straddling him with my high heels on his chair to steady myself, I planted my ass on the table in front of him, spreading my legs wide. I pulled my thong aside, and slipped my fingers in the warm softness of my pussy. It felt fantastic.

I stopped. He had said until I was wet, after all, and I already was. I sighed, contentedly.

"Hold your fingers out," he said. Was he going to kiss my hand? I held out my hand as instructed. This was fun!

He licked my fingers, experimentally. I moaned in joy. I never knew how good this could feel! He shook his haid, then scribbled down a note, writing the word "cherry" next to "Student council president" on his pad. "Okay, stand up, and get undressed."

I nearly jumped down, eager to please. "Yes, sir!" I said, nearly bubbling over with joy. I unfastened my skirt, letting it fall to the floor, and pulled my tight top up over my head, tossing it aside. The barista watched it fall. I guess she was just remembering what to clean up later. I cupped my boobs, squeezing them together and leaning forward. "Like what you see?"

He stared for a few seconds, then shook himself. I could tell from the bulge in his pants that he was enjoying it. "Uh, yeah. Just, go ahead and get naked."

"Stockings too?" I asked.

"What are they made of?"

"Genuine InfiNylon. Smooth as silk. Wanna feel?" I brought my leg up, planting my foot on the back of his chair.

He gaped, then gulped, shaking his head. "No, that's okay. They're static free. Leave them on, it'll save time. Panties and bra off, though." I unhooked my bra, dropping it to one side, then pulled down my thong, bending over with my back to him. Maybe I should spread my legs a bit, I thought. He turned to the barista. "You know how to do a monthly, right?"

She nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Oh, absolutely sir." She pulled her skirt up, revealing red lacy see-through panties. "I just put my finger in here," she said, pointing at her pussy. She turned around, pulling down her panties and bending over. "And in here," she said, indicating her ass. She turned back around, her skirt still up around her waist, her panties around mid-thigh. She looked at him hopefully. "Do you... want to try it on me?" she said.

"Ah... well, there's wanting, and there's needing. And right now, I need you to just start on a monthly for Jill here. I'll tell you what you need to do along the way." He turned to me again. "Bend over on the table, Jill, legs apart."

I did exactly as he told me. This was turning out to be the best date ever! It was so romantic. I felt a hand on my butt, then felt something wonderful...
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)|<nowiki>2.67 - Hungry Like the [ObjectLabel not found]</nowiki>]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)

2015-10-31T20:27:30Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)==
I knocked on the Door. "Amber? Kelly? Are you in?"

It's a wonderful night for a jog.

I was just walking through [LOCATION NOT DESIGNATED], enjoying the company of a the people I met, when I heard that my boyfriend was nearby.

I love my boyfriend so much. I always want to be near him.

As soon as I heard where he was, I ran as [LANDSPEED: 120km/hr] fast as I could. I just knew he would want to see me. After all, I wasn't wearing anything. What boyfriend wouldn't want a hot, naked girlfriend to cover him with kisses? Maybe I would show him the pretty new [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "blade" USE "bracelet"] bracelet I got. It's very shiny and pointy.

The full moon illuminates the cracked pavement of the long desert road. In the distance [ZOOM LEVEL: 1200%], I can see my boyfriend moving through the [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "rubble" USE "village"] village, his curly reddish brown hair so clear in the bright moonlight. I just knew he would be here. He's playing. I like to play with him. It gets me so [PRIMARY WEAPON ARMED] hot.

I see him run around a corner, disappearing, but I still know where he is. He's [TARGET RANGE: 45m BEARING 340° HEIGHT 0m] lying on the ground just behind the building. I slow down. I don't want to startle him. He's very playful, but sometimes I wish he wouldn't hide so much. I run my hands down my body, feeling by nipples stiffen in the cool air. Or maybe it was just at the thought of seeing my boyfriend again. I imagined him touching me, running his hands up my thighs, fondling my ass, sticking his [PROCESS INTERRUPT, PRIORITY OVERRIDE] just need to get a little closer. He'll be so surprised.

I come around the corner to find... nothing. He's not there. But I know he's there, lying on the ground, right underneath the streetlamp. It's the only one still on. The others are all [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "destroyed" USE "turned off"] turned off. I look down at the ground where my boyfriend is, but he isn't there. All I see is a little red flashy thing. The flashy thing isn't my boyfriend, is it?

I look around, squinting, looking [VISUAL INTERFACE: ULTRAVIOLET] as hard as I can, trying to see [VISUAL INTERFACE: HEAT] any sign of him, but he's nowhere around here. He's lying at my feet, exactly where the flashy thing is, but he's not there.

I feel a weight drop onto me from above. It's my boyfriend! He's so sweet, jumping onto me like that! He must want to play rough. I love to play rough. He pulls out a [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "gun" USE {NO SUITABLE SUBSTITUTE FOUND}] %%objectlabel. It's the most beautiful %%objectlabel I've ever seen. He points it at me and I hear a metalling "ting". This is so much fun!

Something bumps into my face and chest several times. It tickles. I laugh. I grab my boyfriend, holding him by the neck in that way I know he loves so much. He kicks at the air - that's how I can tell he's enjoying this - and tries to tell me how much he loves me. He points the %%objectlabel at me again, but it just goes "click" a few times, so he throws it aside. Oh, we're playing the throwing game! That one's fun. I throw him.

He sails through the air, hitting the [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "concrete" USE "cushiony"] cushiony wall before dropping to the [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE "pavement" USE "pillow"] pillow below. It looks like he's gone to sleep.

For some reason, I keep getting this feeling that my boyfriend is lying on the ground at my feet, where the red flashy thing is, but since I can see him in front of me, I ignore the feeling. I walk to him, strutting to show off the curve of my legs. He may be asleep, but that's no reason not to show off for him.

When I reach him, I kneel, straddling his chest. As his girlfriend, I'm always happy to kneel for him. I run my fingers through his curly hair. "Hello lover," I say. He stirs, just a little. Groaning in [SOCIAL CONTEXT INTERRUPT: REPLACE "agony" USE "ecstacy"] ecstacy, he looks up at me.

He opens his mouth to speak, saying [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE %%audioinput USE "I love you."] "I love you." Aww. He's so sweet. I kiss him as deeply as I can.

"I love you too, lover. I just wanted to show you my new bracelet." I [EXTENDING APPENDAGE BLADE] hold it up. Its long edge glints in the moonlight. A look of [SOCIAL CONTEXT INTERRUPT: REPLACE "fear" USE "joy"] joy washes over his face.

He whispers, [PERCEPTUAL INTERRUPT: REPLACE %%audioinput USE "I love you."] "I love you." That's why I love him so much. I show him the bracelet. I show it as far into his chest as I can. He screams in [SOCIAL CONTEXT INTERRUPT: REPLACE "pain" USE "pleasure"] pleasure. It sounds wonderful. I'm so wet for him.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.50 - A Tender Spot]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.83 - Code Play]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2015-10-31T20:21:25Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.50 - A Tender Spot==
"Ah, no, that won't work. I need you to keep going on the installation process. Send Heather and Susan." He folded up his phone, drew a sharp breath, and ran his hand through his curly reddish-brown hair.

I turned back to the painting on the wall. It seemed so familiar, if I could only remember where I'd seen it...

"Sorry about all the phone calls, Jill," he said, sitting back down next to me, "I've barely had a chance to talk with you at all." He smiled. It was a sweet smile.

"Oh, I don't mind, I'm still having a great time. You're obviously very busy, being the IT manager and everything. Besides, it gives me a chance to think about this painting." I tilted my head, squinting. "I'm almost certain I've seen it before. I'm 75% sure."

He sipped his coffee and grimaced, sucking air through is teeth. "Is it your stitches?" I asked, concerned. I had already hurt him earlier, poking him in the chest on the wounded spot. I wondered if his recovery would interfere with his classwork. He showed me the bandage earlier: It was pretty big, but he acted like it was no big deal.

"Ah, it's okay. It's just as much the coffee as the pain." He took another sip. "Stale to the last drop," he said.

I sniffed mine, sipping it carefully. "Tastes fine to me. Pretty good, actually."

"Yes, well. Maybe my tastebuds are just different. No accounting for it, is there?"

I was confused. "For what?"

"Never mind." He picked up his notepad and began scribbling more notes. I could see some of what he'd written so far:

head nurse: Watermelon
shop manager: Cherry
dance club pres.: Raspberry
swim team coach: Honey
cheerleader capt.: Strawberry
student council pres.: ?

- High intelligence
- Strong problem solving skills (probably)
- Position of authority? Teacher? Faculty? Club presidents?
- May refuse sexual commands?

It looked really interesting, especially since I was the Student Council president. Was he taking notes on my personal preferences? That was so romantic! "What are you working on there?"

He looked up. Was he embarrassed? I didn't want to put him on the spot. "Oh, just some notes on... uh... local flavor." He thought for a moment. "I guess there is accounting for taste."

"What's that bit there about?" I asked, pointing to the line about sexual commands. "Are you looking for a more assertive girlfriend?" I batted my eyelashes at him and pouted. "I'm not sure I could handle that," I said. I knew he wasn't my boyfriend, but this was kind of a date.

We were all by ourselves in the coffee shop, apart from the barista. She wasn't really paying attention to us, and seemed to be engrossed in polishing the table opposite us. With her back to us, each time she bent over while polishing the table, her skirt would ride up on her butt. I could just see the edge of her underwear sometimes. Maybe I could... I shook myself out of a pleasant daydream. Now wasn't the time for that. I was still getting to know him. Maybe I would do that kind of thing for him later, but not yet.

I looked back at the painting, wrinkling my brow in concentration. Finally, I gave up. "It's no good. I'm at least 80% sure I've seen it somewhere before, but I don't think I'm going to get any closer than that."

He "Hmm"ed still looking at his notes, then looked up. A thoughtful look was on his face. "80%, you said?" He looked at his watch. "Damn. Need to pick up the pace." He pulled some kind of device out of his pocket. "One charge left... maybe I can recharge it or something." He pushed the button, and a tinny buzz filled the air. Indicating the painting, he said, "Are you sure? Take another look at it."

I looked back. It wasn't really clear. I felt funny. "Do you smell something? It tastes... blue." I said. "Oh!" my eyes went wide. I looked back at him. "Yes, I've definitely seen that painting before."

The device in his hand made a small "fzzt" sound, then the buzzing sound stopped. "Yes, I'm 100% sure of it!" I said.

He glanced at the device, a disappointed look on his face. I hoped he wasn't disappointed with me. "Well, at least we got there in the end." He waved over the barista. "Miss?" Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she crossed to us.

"Hi, sir, how can I serve you?" She smiled at him.

He looked down at his still half-full coffee. "Do you have any orange juice or something?"

She nodded enthusiastically, her wavy auburn hair bouncing as she did so. "We sure do! 100% fresh squeezed this morning."

"I somehow doubt that," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, fresh squeezed from the vac-capsule. Then mixed with water. But it's 100%. You want me to get you some?"

"Not just yet," he said, turning back to me. "Jill, could you answer some personal questions for me?"

I blushed. "Anything for you. I'll tell you my deepest secrets."

"How do you feel about sucking cock, or taking it up the ass?" This date was going better than I hoped.

"I love them both!" I exclaimed. Two of my most favorite things!

He looked mildly disappointed. "Would you mind fingering yourself for a bit? Just until you're wet."

Of course I didn't mind. "Should I get up on the table?"

"Sure, why not." He moved his notes aside.

I stood, luxuriating in the permission to please him this way. I hiked my skirt up, revealing the tops of my stockings, and my black thong. Straddling him with my high heels on his chair to steady myself, I planted my ass on the table in front of him, spreading my legs wide. I pulled my thong aside, and slipped my fingers in the warm softness of my pussy. It felt fantastic.

I stopped. He had said until I was wet, after all, and I already was. I sighed, contentedly.

"Hold your fingers out," he said. Was he going to kiss my hand? I held out my hand as instructed. This was fun!

He licked my fingers, experimentally. I moaned in joy. I never knew how good this could feel! He shook his haid, then scribbled down a note, writing the word "cherry" next to "Student council president" on his pad. "Okay, stand up, and get undressed."

I nearly jumped down, eager to please. "Yes, sir!" I said, nearly bubbling over with joy. I unfastened my skirt, letting it fall to the floor, and pulled my tight top up over my head, tossing it aside. The barista watched it fall. I guess she was just remembering what to clean up later. I cupped my boobs, squeezing them together and leaning forward. "Like what you see?"

He stared for a few seconds, then shook himself. I could tell from the bulge in his pants that he was enjoying it. "Uh, yeah. Just, go ahead and get naked."

"Stockings too?" I asked.

"What are they made of?"

"Genuine InfiNylon. Smooth as silk. Wanna feel?" I brought my leg up, planting my foot on the back of his chair.

He gaped, then gulped, shaking his head. "No, that's okay. They're static free. Leave them on, it'll save time. Panties and bra off, though." I unhooked my bra, dropping it to one side, then pulled down my thong, bending over with my back to him. Maybe I should spread my legs a bit, I thought. He turned to the barista. "You know how to do a monthly, right?"

She nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Oh, absolutely sir." She pulled her skirt up, revealing red lacy see-through panties. "I just put my finger in here," she said, pointing at her pussy. She turned around, pulling down her panties and bending over. "And in here," she said, indicating her ass. She turned back around, her skirt still up around her waist, her panties around mid-thigh. She looked at him hopefully. "Do you... want to try it on me?" she said.

"Ah... well, there's wanting, and there's needing. And right now, I need you to just start on a monthly for Jill here. I'll tell you what you need to do along the way." He turned to me again. "Bend over on the table, Jill, legs apart."

I did exactly as he told me. This was turning out to be the best date ever! It was so romantic. I felt a hand on my butt, then felt something wonderful...
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2015-10-31T20:05:23Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.50 - A Tender Spot==
"Ah, no, that won't work. I need you to keep going on the installation process. Send Heather and Susan." He folded up his phone, drew a sharp breath, and ran his hand through his curly reddish-brown hair.

I turned back to the painting on the wall. It seemed so familiar, if I could only remember where I'd seen it...

"Sorry about all the phone calls, Jill," he said, sitting back down next to me, "I've barely had a chance to talk with you at all." He smiled. It was a sweet smile.

"Oh, I don't mind, I'm still having a great time. You're obviously very busy, being the IT manager and everything. Besides, it gives me a chance to think about this painting." I tilted my head, squinting. "I'm almost certain I've seen it before. I'm 75% sure."

He sipped his coffee and grimaced, sucking air through is teeth. "Is it your stitches?" I asked, concerned. I had already hurt him earlier, poking him in the chest on the wounded spot. I wondered if his recovery would interfere with his classwork. He showed me the bandage earlier: It was pretty big, but he acted like it was no big deal.

"Ah, it's okay. It's just as much the coffee as the pain." He took another sip. "Stale to the last drop," he said.

I sniffed mine, sipping it carefully. "Tastes fine to me. Pretty good, actually."

"Yes, well. Maybe my tastebuds are just different. No accounting for it, is there?"

I was confused. "For what?"

"Never mind." He picked up his notepad and began scribbling more notes. I could see some of what he'd written so far:

---

head nurse: Watermelon
<br />shop manager: Cherry
<br />dance club pres.: Raspberry
<br />swim team coach: Honey
<br />cheerleader capt.: Strawberry
<br />student council pres.: ?

<br />-High intelligence
<br />-Strong problem solving skills (probably)
<br />-Position of authority? Teacher? Faculty? Club presidents?
<br />-May refuse sexual commands?

---

It looked really interesting, especially since I was the Student Council president. Was he taking notes on my personal preferences? That was so romantic! "What are you working on there?"

He looked up. Was he embarrassed? I didn't want to put him on the spot. "Oh, just some notes on... uh... local flavor." He thought for a moment. "I guess there is accounting for taste."

"What's that bit there about?" I asked, pointing to the line about sexual commands. "Are you looking for a more assertive girlfriend?" I batted my eyelashes at him and pouted. "I'm not sure I could handle that," I said. I knew he wasn't my boyfriend, but this was kind of a date.

We were all by ourselves in the coffee shop, apart from the barista. She wasn't really paying attention to us, and seemed to be engrossed in polishing the table opposite us. With her back to us, each time she bent over while polishing the table, her skirt would ride up on her butt. I could just see the edge of her underwear sometimes. Maybe I could... I shook myself out of a pleasant daydream. Now wasn't the time for that. I was still getting to know him. Maybe I would do that kind of thing for him later, but not yet.

I looked back at the painting, wrinkling my brow in concentration. Finally, I gave up. "It's no good. I'm at least 80% sure I've seen it somewhere before, but I don't think I'm going to get any closer than that."

He "Hmm"ed still looking at his notes, then looked up. A thoughtful look was on his face. "80%, you said?" He looked at his watch. "Damn. Need to pick up the pace." He pulled some kind of device out of his pocket. "One charge left... maybe I can recharge it or something." He pushed the button, and a tinny buzz filled the air. Indicating the painting, he said, "Are you sure? Take another look at it."

I looked back. It wasn't really clear. I felt funny. "Do you smell something? It tastes... blue." I said. "Oh!" my eyes went wide. I looked back at him. "Yes, I've definitely seen that painting before."

The device in his hand made a small "fzzt" sound, then the buzzing sound stopped. "Yes, I'm 100% sure of it!" I said.

He glanced at the device, a disappointed look on his face. I hoped he wasn't disappointed with me. "Well, at least we got there in the end." He waved over the barista. "Miss?" Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she crossed to us.

"Hi, sir, how can I serve you?" She smiled at him.

He looked down at his still half-full coffee. "Do you have any orange juice or something?"

She nodded enthusiastically, her wavy auburn hair bouncing as she did so. "We sure do! 100% fresh squeezed this morning."

"I somehow doubt that," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, fresh squeezed from the vac-capsule. Then mixed with water. But it's 100%. You want me to get you some?"

"Not just yet," he said, turning back to me. "Jill, could you answer some personal questions for me?"

I blushed. "Anything for you. I'll tell you my deepest secrets."

"How do you feel about sucking cock, or taking it up the ass?" This date was going better than I hoped.

"I love them both!" I exclaimed. Two of my most favorite things!

He looked mildly disappointed. "Would you mind fingering yourself for a bit? Just until you're wet."

Of course I didn't mind. "Should I get up on the table?"

"Sure, why not." He moved his notes aside.

I stood, luxuriating in the permission to please him this way. I hiked my skirt up, revealing the tops of my stockings, and my black thong. Straddling him with my high heels on his chair to steady myself, I planted my ass on the table in front of him, spreading my legs wide. I pulled my thong aside, and slipped my fingers in the warm softness of my pussy. It felt fantastic.

I stopped. He had said until I was wet, after all, and I already was. I sighed, contentedly.

"Hold your fingers out," he said. Was he going to kiss my hand? I held out my hand as instructed. This was fun!

He licked my fingers, experimentally. I moaned in joy. I never knew how good this could feel! He shook his haid, then scribbled down a note, writing the word "cherry" next to "Student council president" on his pad. "Okay, stand up, and get undressed."

I nearly jumped down, eager to please. "Yes, sir!" I said, nearly bubbling over with joy. I unfastened my skirt, letting it fall to the floor, and pulled my tight top up over my head, tossing it aside. The barista watched it fall. I guess she was just remembering what to clean up later. I cupped my boobs, squeezing them together and leaning forward. "Like what you see?"

He stared for a few seconds, then shook himself. I could tell from the bulge in his pants that he was enjoying it. "Uh, yeah. Just, go ahead and get naked."

"Stockings too?" I asked.

"What are they made of?"

"Genuine InfiNylon. Smooth as silk. Wanna feel?" I brought my leg up, planting my foot on the back of his chair.

He gaped, then gulped, shaking his head. "No, that's okay. They're static free. Leave them on, it'll save time. Panties and bra off, though." I unhooked my bra, dropping it to one side, then pulled down my thong, bending over with my back to him. Maybe I should spread my legs a bit, I thought. He turned to the barista. "You know how to do a monthly, right?"

She nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Oh, absolutely sir." She pulled her skirt up, revealing red lacy see-through panties. "I just put my finger in here," she said, pointing at her pussy. She turned around, pulling down her panties and bending over. "And in here," she said, indicating her ass. She turned back around, her skirt still up around her waist, her panties around mid-thigh. She looked at him hopefully. "Do you... want to try it on me?" she said.

"Ah... well, there's wanting, and there's needing. And right now, I need you to just start on a monthly for Jill here. I'll tell you what you need to do along the way." He turned to me again. "Bend over on the table, Jill, legs apart."

I did exactly as he told me. This was turning out to be the best date ever! It was so romantic. I felt a hand on my butt, then felt something wonderful...
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.17 - Look On My Works

2015-10-31T20:00:20Z

Darkbutflashy: /* 2.17 - Look On My Works */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.17 - Look On My Works==
The vidscreen glimmered in the otherwise dimly-lit living space. I slouched in the patched, torn armchair, watching the documentary. I'd seen a thousand others on the same subject, but just found this one in a recent scavenging trip topside.

"...but try as we might to reach some insight into the fascinating, almost mythical story of XR Innovations, we are left, ultimately with more questions than answers. What were the true circumstances behind his lover's death? What could have driven such a brilliant inventor and industrialist to so completely destroy his life's work? And what were the full capabilities of the fabled Quantron chip?"

I took another sip from the bottle in my hand. I'd long ago forgotten whether it was whiskey or vodka. One of the maids tried to feather-dust my head. "Oh, s-s-s-sir, you've gotten all dirty. tyty." I shooed her away, and she strutted, catwalk-like, over to her sister units.

All three were dressed in fetish-versions of a maid uniform. Bridget, the one I had waved off, studied her sisters with mock disapproval. "Jenni, th-th-this will not do at allllllll." She had lapsed into one of her Scenaricorp roleplay scripts. "You have been quite naughty." She sighed, sensually. "Quite naughty," she repeated more breathy, "Quite naughty, quite naughty quitenaughty quitenaughty qtntyqtntyqtnty..." Her voice rose in speed and pitch, and one of her sisters tried to clean her face with glass cleaner. I tried to focus on the documentary while the chipmunk sound sound of Bridget's voice continued in the background.

"Sadly, we may never know the answers. Mr. Peters' lifestyle and habits led him to a reclusive existence. His brilliance, it seems, was coupled with a fierce rivalry with his equally successful brother, and drove him into spiraling paranoia. Already secretive by nature, by the time of his announced invention of the Quantron, he kept no notes."

There was a fzzt-sound, and Bridget's head spun around on its bearings, her voice slowing to its individual digital samples. The back of her head popped open, and she remained still for a second, her voice samples sounding like a monotonous buzz. Suddenly, she jolted violently, and her voice resumed its normal speed and pitch with a vwrrrrp-sound. The sudden movement jostled her backup cartridges loose, and two months of backup data fell noisily onto the concrete floor. "Oh dear, you will have to be punished. Please ass. Please ass. Please ass. Please ass..."

The man on the vidscreen was standing in a dramatized recreation of Peters' lab, with another person sitting hunched at the workbench. It took me a moment to realize that this was supposed to be Peters - It looked nothing like him.

"Working late into the night, he is rumored to have built the prototype entirely by himself, and manufactured the first batch of production chips in his own completely automated factory." The fake Peters made a big show of finishing his mockup chip, holding it up, triumphantly. The background faded, replaced by burned out rubble. At the somehow still-recognizeable workbench slumped a skeleton, completely unscorched. Sloppy production values, I thought. "On the night of the explosion, every trace of the Quantron chip, and its flagship product, the XR9660F, appears to have been erased from existence."

There was another fzzt-sound from Bridget's head, louder due to her now gaping Archive compartment. I could see the electrical spark glimmer in the relative darkness. "Please assume the position, Jenni." Jenni froze a moment, then turned to face Bridget, her arms and face still locked in the same position.

Her hand moved only to release the feather duster she had been using to dust the wall, and her mouth moved silently. Her vocal processor had been damaged weeks ago. Not interested in anything she had to say, I hadn't bothered to fix it. It was probably words to the effect of "I've been so bad," or "spank me hard," I couldn't remember exactly how this script usually played out. She strode past Bridget, managing to crush both backup cartridges as the passed, then bent over, flipping her short skirt up over her completely bare ass. Not too hard, I thought to myself. That gluteal bay is a pain to reclose.

"Was the Quantron the revolutionary leap forward that experts claimed it was, or was the "generations ahead of its time" rumor just a form of pre-release publicity? And what of the SecurStandard Labs report, claiming almost magical-sounding properties?" Excerpts from the report were highlighted on the screen. "Able to detect malicious code the instant before it is executed. Able to coordinate software updates for linked devices. Able to decompile destructive software. Able to self-analyze for exploitable defects. Able to self-modify to remedy defects." The narrator reappeared on the screen, his hands clasped in front of him with a serious look on his face. "Bold claims, but SecurStandard's own integrity has since been found to be less than certain."

Bridget seemed to forget Jenni, and had now decided that she was deeply in love with Amber. "We really shouldn't. What if the master finds out?" she said, in theatrically hushed tones. Her voice was meant to sound reluctant, but she was already unzipping the front zipper on her uniform, pulling it open to reveal her voluptuous breasts. Amber, whose uniform consisted of little more than an apron and stockings, seemed oblivious to her sister maid, and continued polishing a lampshade. She bent over in a pinup pose, studied her handiwork for a moment, nodded in satisfaction, turned to walk towards the kitchen, and fell flat on her face as she tripped over the box of newspaper clippings which she had failed to save to her environment map.

Clippings slid across the floor. Knowing I would regret it, I glanced at some of the headlines I had saved:

"ScenariCorp Owner Scales Back Operations 90%"
"Defense Forces Erect No-Go Zone Around GySys-Supplied Facilities: Danger Too Great"
"CEO Refocuses Search for Missing Wife"
"Millions Dead in Global Crisis"
"Sought for Questioning in Case"

This last was partially obscured by other clippings on top of it. I felt somewhat relieved by this. I tore my attention away, back to the documentary.

"Kyle Parsons may be the only man with any answers, but since his disappearance last year, it seems those answers aren't forthcoming. We can only speculate what Kyle could have learned in his time at XR Innovations, before leaving for ScenariCorp. Is he the critical key in this baffling chain of events, or was he just a high-ranking executive, climbing the corporate ladder? In the end, it seems, no one knows."

"I know," I whispered, throwing back the rest of the bottle and switching the vidscreen back to the exterior security feed. I sighed, contemplating the empty bottle in my hand. "That virus was the best damn thing to ever happen to me," I said to no one in particular. I tossed the bottle into the pile with the rest, where it shattered, as usual. "Look at me, ma. I'm king of the world."

The maids' full-length dressing mirror caught my eye, reflecting my face back to me. As usual, the alcohol did little to improve my self image. My beard was scraggly, like a hermit's. My once curly, reddish-brown hair was now matted and tangled, greying at the temples. I hadn't bathed in weeks. I glanced back over to Amber.

The fall had dislodged her dermal layer latch. As she sat up, curling her legs under her butt demurely, the top of her forehead flapped down just above her eyeline. She put a hand to her head, as though dazed by the accident. "Oooh," she murmured, "I feel so dizzy." Her voice was breathy and seductive, but only half her face was animated. The other half hung loosely on her head, the control points having been disrupted by the fall. "I'm not sure if I've got all the feeling back in my lower body. Would you mind feeling me to see?" She directed this comment to a space three feet to the left of Bridget's head, holding out her hand for a nonexistent lover to help her to her feet. Really? I thought to myself, I hope whoever wrote that line got fired in the first round of layoffs.

I caught a darting movement out of the corner of my eye on the security feed, and turned back to it, selecting the camera 3 footage for full-screen. I waited, tensed, but the only motion I could see was the ever-present smoke drifting through the wreckage of the city.

A shattered woman's face appeared on the monitor, looking directly at the camera. It stared, expressionless for a moment, then split at odd angles, revealing blades and inhuman, mechanical appendages behind the facade. So, I thought, it came back. I crawled out of my chair towards the vidscreen, my eyes locked with the... thing. The scar in my chest throbbed with the memory of the pain. "You want in here, don't you?" I whispered.

The thing cocked its head, as if listening to me, then pulled back slowly. I thought it might be about to leave, when it suddenly lunged forward, slamming towards the camera. A shuddering thud echoed around the bunker, and dust drifted down from the surface access level above. I looked up. "Keep on knocking, but you can't come in!" I shouted. I looked back over to the girls.

Bridget had apparently remembered Jenni, but seemed to have trouble figuring out where her ass was. "Naughty naughty!" she cried in glee, her bare tits bouncing in a way that I almost wanted to do something about. She swatted at the air, trying to find Jenni's ass, eventually resorting to using both hands. After a few attempts, her software seemed to reach some sort of failure threshold, and she paused, mid-spank, then stood at loose attention. "Awaiting instructions, master," she announced.

I climbed back into my chair, deciding to call it a day. "Best damn thing that ever happened to me," I said again.
</div>

==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.00 - Under New Management]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.33 - Full Documentation

2015-10-31T15:54:25Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.33 - Full Documentation==
I knocked on the Door. "Amber? Kelly? Are you in?"

A voice called out, "C'mon in, it's unlocked."

I opened the door and stepped inside the room, much like all the other rooms before it, finding Amber doing stretching exercises in her yoga outfit, and Kelly wearing a silky pajama set. Susan followed me, wearing only her tights and sneakers. Heather strode in wearing only a pair of heels she borrowed from Lyn's closet.

Amber and Kelly looked at us, confused. Amber was first to speak up. "Heather? Why are you naked?" She didn't mind, but she didn't think it was normal.

Kelly looked at Susan. "Sus, what's going on?" They weren't immediately accepting the situation. Obviously, they both needed the virus installed.

I motioned to Heather and Susan to take their places behind Amber and Kelly. This was the fun part. I knew this script by heart, and had rehearsed it many times before.

"Amber, Kelly," I said, looking at each girl in turn, "Listen very carefully to what I say." They looked at me with interest, unconcerned about Susan and Heather. Good. Primed and ready.

I spoke quickly now. "Wow-you're-really-hot-are-you-a-model-or-something." The phrase flew out of my mouth almost like a single word. I grinned. The manager would be really pleased with this plan.

Kelly and Amber both tilted their heads, a flattered blush creeping up their faces. They spoke in almost exact unison. "Do you really..."

I immediately interrupted them. "Oh-definitely-you'd-be-great-at-it."

They both smiled demurely, and again spoke simultaneously. "Maybe, but nobody would..."

"You-know-I-do-a-bit-of-photography," I cut in.

Their faces lit up. In stereo, they chimed, "Really? Would you..."

"Sure-I-don't-mind." We were going at a good pace this time. I'd pinpointed the exact moments in their sentences when they would accept the next phrase.

Moving in perfect synchronization, they both looked down with flirtatious smiles, glancing up at me with lidded eyes. "Why don't we head..."

"Nice-place-let's-just-jump-into-it-click-click-click." At these, I mimed holding a camera. Kelly and Amber struck quick poses at each click.

"Am I..." Their faces were wearing the exact same expression of concern.

"You're-doing-great-do-you-want-to-model-some-other-outfits." I was really getting into the rhythm of this. Heather and Susan waited patiently for their cue, neither moving at all.

"Well, I do have a swim..."

"Absolutely-you-would-be-great-for-swimwear."

"Okay, let me get ch..." In unison, they both began to peel off their clothes. Making some progress now.

"Mind-if-I-keep-taking-pictures-click-click." The imaginary camera pointed at them, they struck more poses, this time closer to pinup style.

"Oh, that's fine, I don't..."

"Great-very-nice-click-click-click."

The two girls seemed to have forgotten about putting on a swimsuit of any kind. Amber was down to her thong and camisole, while Kelly was just wearing her panties. "You know, maybe I could..."

"No-it-doesn't-have-to-be-swimwear-what-did-you-have-in-mind." In the home stretch now.

The girls moved to pose as though stripping. "I could pretend to..."

"Hey-that's-a-great-idea-you've-definitely-got-the-look-click-click." At the clicking of the nonexistent shutter, Amber managed to get out of her camisole while Kelly was still posing, then they started pulling down their panties at the same time, stopping mid-thigh.

They sighed a harmonious sigh, tilting their head. "I've always wanted to..."

"Do-you-want-to-keep-going-click-click."

"Sure," they said, stripping off their last items of clothing, "What do I..."

"Action-shots-would-be-the-next-step-let-me-get-some-reference-shots-of-your-figure-click-click."

"Should I bend..." They both leaned forward, arching their backs. I nodded at Susan and Heather, and they moved in preparation.

"A-bit-yes-further."

Amber and Kelly reached down and grabbed their ankles, their knees completely unbent.

"Maybe if I spread my..."

"That's-a-great-idea-as-wide-as-you-can-click-click." I gave Heather and Susan the thumbs up. In perfect unison, as their targets shifted their legs apart, they accessed Kelly and Amber's Anal/Vaginal triggers. The new inductees gasped in pleasure, shouting garbled nonsense before standing straight up. I could hear their backup archives click open, and Heather and Susan got to work. My phone rang. It was the new IT manager.

"Hello?" I was excited to talk to him again, I barely knew what to say.

"Hi Rebecca, how are things progressing?" He sounded cheerful. It made me smile. I glanced over at Heather and Susan, who were busily peeling down Amber and Kelly's faces.

"We're just finishing up our fifth room for installation," I said, proudly.

"Fifth? It's been nearly a half hour, I would have thought it would go faster than that. What exactly are you doing?"

I blushed. This was my chance to really shine. "Well, I figured the best way to get the girls out of their clothes was to use their normal conversational tree responses. We've got full documentation of their tree paths, so I worked out the shortest tree path which led to them getting naked, and memorized it. I recite the conversational prompts to them, and they just act out the scenario accordingly."

I heard him sigh. Was he proud of me? I hoped so. "Okay, Rebecca, you don't need to go through all that. Just disregard any social protocol objections, and go straight for their trigger points. We need to get this done as quickly as we can. Time is not on my side."

I understood. This was really important to him. "I won't let you down, sir!" I said, saluting. I knew he couldn't see it, but I wanted to do it anyway.

"Great. Hey, when you scanned Ashley in 104 earlier, did you do anything to her? I've been trying to call her, but she doesn't answer her phone." He was so caring, worrying about Ashley like that.

"Sorry about that, sir. There was an incident with Ashley. I had to lock her in her room."

"Incident? What do you mean?"

"Well, she was wearing a unitard under her outfit. Since I didn't tell her to take it off, she opened her control panel while still wearing it."

"And?" He sounded annoyed. I didn't want to upset him.

"I told her to get naked. She started pulling down the unitard, but there was a static discharge, and..."

"Oh god. You're not serious. Please tell me you're not serious."

"I'm not serious, sir. But that's what happened." I needed to find a way to make it up to him.

"Rebecca, I've got a very important book in that room. It's about five inches by seven inches, with a hardbound, grey cover with red lettering. It's absolutely vital that nothing happen to it. Is there a chance that Ashely might damage it in her current state?"

I bit my lip, thinking. "She was going pretty berserk when I left her, but if the book was out of reach, she might not have disturbed it."

"I need that book back. Good grief, I really should have put it somewhere safer."

"Maybe you could keep it in the library?" I offered.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were joking. Look, just get the book back to me in the Coffee Shop, okay?"

"Sure, no problem!" This would be a great opportunity for me to prove myself to him. Maybe he would thank me in a... special way. "I'll go straight there now."

"Ah, no, that won't work. I need you to keep going on the installation process. Send Heather and Susan."

That was a great idea! "Absolutely, sir. I'll send them right away."

My assistants had completed their assignments with Amber and Kelly, who now stood with playful grins on their faces, absently running their hands over their boobs. I briefed Heather and Susan on their new assignment.

"We're on it, boss lady!" Susan said, and gave a little cheer-jump.

"Don't worry. We'll get my boyfriend's book back for him," Heather chimed.

I watched them leave the room, then turned to my new recruits. "Okay, girls, follow me. We've got work to do."

[[Virus Alert|Back to the Episode List]]

</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.17 - Look On My Works]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.50 - A Tender Spot]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

Gallery/Ultraman Ginga S one zero

2015-08-09T01:07:14Z

Darkbutflashy: New page: ==Animated== <gallery perrow="5"> Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_07_Boris.gif Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_08_Boris.gif Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_09_Boris.gif Image:U...

==Animated==
<gallery perrow="5">
Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_07_Boris.gif
Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_08_Boris.gif
Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_09_Boris.gif
Image:Ultraman_Ginga_S_one_zero_gif_10_Boris.gif
</gallery>

[[Gallery|Back to the gallery]]

[[Category:T.V.]]
[[Category:Vidcaps]]

Gallery

2015-08-09T01:05:38Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Series, miniseries and specials */

[[Image:Gallery.png]]
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=Vidcaps=
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*[[Gallery/A.I. Artificial Intelligence|A.I. Artificial Intelligence]]
*[[Gallery/Alien Resurrection|Alien Resurrection]]
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|
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*[[Gallery/Brilux|Brilux]]
*[[Gallery/Japanese battery commercial|Japanese battery commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Citroen Dating 2.0|Citroen Dating 2.0 ]]
*[[Gallery/Daihatsu|Daihatsu]]
*[[Gallery/Duracell Putterman commercial|Duracell Putterman commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Festo Millennium Woman|Festo Millennium Woman]]
*[[Gallery/Fry's Electronics commercial|Fry's Electronics commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Geek Squad Laptop & a Geek|Geek Squad Laptop & a Geek]]
*[[Gallery/Heineken commercial|Heineken commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Identity Tab commercial|Identity Tab commercial]]
*[[Gallery/IFC Spirit Awards - Prombot 8000|IFC Spirit Awards - Prombot 8000]]
*[[Gallery/Kia Hotbot commercials|Kia Hotbot commercials]]
*[[Gallery/Roca Khroma: Robot Girl commercial|Roca Khroma: Robot Girl commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Luxgen commercial|Luxgen commercial]]
*[[Gallery/MatchBot.com|MatchBot.com commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Mutter - Sexy Milk commercial|Mutter - Sexy milk]]
*[[Gallery/Progressive Flobot commercials|Progressive Flobot commercials]]
*[[Gallery/Saturn Technik Evolution commercial|Saturn Technik Evolution commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Sky and More Fashion 2013 commercial|Sky and More Fashion 2013 commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Testarossa ad|Testarossa ad]]
*[[Gallery/Tokyo Gas commercial|Tokyo Gas commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Toyota Matrix commercial|Toyota Matrix commercial]]
*[[Gallery/V05 Shampoo commercial|V05 Shampoo commercial]]
|}

===Music Videos===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/A'Studio - Fashion Girl|A'Studio - Fashion Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Alex Day - Time of Your Life|Alex Day - Time of Your Life]]
*[[Gallery/Apocalyptica - How Far|Apocalyptica - How Far]]
*[[Gallery/Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head|Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head]]
*[[Gallery/Basement Jaxx - Plug It In|Basement Jaxx - Plug It In]]
*[[Gallery/Björk - All is Full of Love|Björk - All is Full of Love]]
*[[Gallery/Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside|Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside]]
*[[Gallery/Broken Window|Broken Window]]
*[[Gallery/The Cars - You Are the Girl|The Cars - You Are the Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Chinese Grandpa - Components|Chinese Grandpa - Components]]
*[[Gallery/Christina Perri - Human|Christina Perri - Human]]
*[[Gallery/Dave Navarro - Hungry|Dave Navarro - Hungry]]
*[[Gallery/David Guetta - Turn Me On|David Guetta - Turn Me On]]
*[[Gallery/Destructo - Technology|Destructo - Technology]]
*[[Gallery/DJ? Acucrack - So to Speak|DJ? Acucrack - So to Speak]]
*[[Gallery/DJ Jean - The Launch Relaunched|DJ Jean - The Launch Relaunched]]
|
*[[Gallery/Dream Warriors - Breathe or Die|Dream Warriors - Breathe or Die]]
*[[Gallery/Duran Duran - Blame the Machines|Duran Duran - Blame the Machines]]
*[[Gallery/EMA - '3Jane'|EMA - '3Jane']]
*[[Gallery/Everyday Tragedy - Synthetic Hearts|Everyday Tragedy - Synthetic Hearts]]
*[[Gallery/FEMM - The Real Thing|FEMM - The Real Thing]]
*[[Gallery/Garbage - The World is Not Enough|Garbage - The World is Not Enough]]
*[[Gallery/Gorillaz|Gorillaz]]
*[[Gallery/Harry S. - Female robot|Harry S. - Female robot]]
*[[Gallery/Herbie Hancock - Rockit|Herbie Hancock - Rockit]]
*[[Gallery/Janelle Monáe - Many Moons|Janelle Monáe - Many Moons]]
*[[Gallery/Jolin Tsai - Honey Trap|Jolin Tsai - Honey Trap]]
*[[Gallery/Knock the Knock|Knock the Knock]]
*[[Gallery/Krist Van D - Be Without You|Krist Van D - Be Without You]]
*[[Gallery/Laidback Luke & Project 46 - Collide (Feat. Collin McLoughlin)|Laidback Luke & Project 46 - Collide (Feat. Collin McLoughlin)]]
*[[Gallery/LEDApple - Boy Meet Girl|LEDApple - Boy Meet Girl]]
|
*[[Gallery/Lexy - Vow|Lexy - Vow]]
*[[Gallery/Like Money - Wonder Girls|Like Money - Wonder Girls]]
*[[Gallery/Mark 'Oh - Because I Love You|Mark 'Oh - Because I Love You]]
*[[Gallery/Moscow Discow|Moscow Discow]]
*[[Gallery/Pakito - Moving on Stereo|Pakito - Moving on Stereo]]
*[[Gallery/Pate No.1 - Always|Pate No.1 - Always]]
*[[Gallery/Pennywise - The Western World|Pennywise - The Western World]]
*[[Gallery/Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000|Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000]]
*[[Gallery/Slightly Left of Centre - Call Me for the Weekend|Slightly Left of Centre - Call Me for the Weekend]]
*[[Gallery/Tiesto - Knock you out|Tiesto - Knock you out]]
*[[Gallery/Timo Maas - College 84|Timo Maas - College 84]]
*[[Gallery/Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep a Secret|Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep a Secret]]
*[[Gallery/Vixx - Error|Vixx - Error]]
*[[Gallery/Wax - Fly High|Wax - Fly High]]
*[[Gallery/Whisperado - Teenage Popstar Girl|Whisperado - Teenage Popstar Girl]]
*[[Gallery/YeLLOW Generation - 北風と太陽|YeLLOW Generation - 北風と太陽]]
|}

==Animated productions==
===Anime===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/Android Announcer Maico 2010|Android Announcer Maico 2010]]
*[[Gallery/Armitage III|Armitage III]]
*[[Gallery/Astro Boy|Astro Boy]]
*[[Gallery/Battle Angel Alita|Battle Angel Alita]]
*[[Gallery/The Big O|The Big O]]
*[[Gallery/Blassreiter|Blassreiter]]
*[[Gallery/Burn-Up W|Burn-Up W]]
*[[Gallery/Casshern Sins|Casshern Sins]]
*[[Gallery/Coyote Ragtime Show|Coyote Ragtime Show]]
*[[Gallery/Da Capo|Da Capo]]
*[[Gallery/Danball Senki|Danball Senki]]
*[[Gallery/Demon King Daimao|Demon King Daimao]]
*[[Gallery/Diebuster II|Diebuster II]]
*[[Gallery/Dirty Pair Flash|Dirty Pair Flash]]
*[[Gallery/Dragon Ball Z|Dragon Ball Z]]
|
*[[Gallery/El-Hazard|El-Hazard]]
*[[Gallery/Ghost in the Shell|Ghost in the Shell]]
*[[Gallery/Gin Tama|Gin Tama]]
*[[Gallery/Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara|Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara]]
*[[Gallery/Kikaider 01|Kikaider 01]]
*[[Gallery/Kirameki Project|Kirameki Project]]
*[[Gallery/Mazinkaiser|Mazinkaiser]]
*[[Gallery/Mezzo Forte|Mezzo Forte]]
*[[Gallery/Mnemosyne|Mnemosyne]]
*[[Gallery/My Dear Marie|My Dear Marie]]
*[[Gallery/My-HiME|My-HiME]]
*[[Gallery/My-Otome|My-Otome]]
*[[Gallery/Nagasarete Airantou|Nagasarete Airantou]]
*[[Gallery/Needless|Needless]]
*[[Gallery/Negima Ala Alba|Negima Ala Alba]]
|
*[[Gallery/Outlaw Star|Outlaw Star]]
*[[Gallery/Parasite Dolls|Parasite Dolls]]
*[[Gallery/Pure Heart|Pure Heart]]
*[[Gallery/Queen's Blade Rebellion|Queen's Blade Rebellion]]
*[[Gallery/Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan|Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan]]
*[[Gallery/Rio: Rainbow Gate!|Rio: Rainbow Gate!]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Carnival|Robot Carnival]]
*[[Gallery/Saber Marionette|Saber Marionette]]
*[[Gallery/Sister Princess|Sister Princess]]
*[[Gallery/Solty Rei|Solty Rei]]
*[[Gallery/Sonic X|Sonic X]]
*[[Gallery/Steel Angel Kurumi|Steel Angel Kurumi]]
*[[Gallery/Time of Eve|Time of Eve]]
*[[Gallery/Trouble Chocolate|Trouble Chocolate]]
|}

===Cartoons===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Adventure Time vidcaps|Adventure Time]]
*[[Sonic the Hedgehog vidcaps|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]
*[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force vidcaps|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]
*[[Archer vidcaps|Archer]]
*[[Avengers vidcaps|Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]
*[[Batman vidcaps|Batman: The Animated Series]]
*[[Beverly Hills Teens vidcaps|Beverly Hills Teens - Robot Romance]]
*[[Gallery/City Hunters|City Hunters]]
*[[Gallery/Dan Vs. Technology|Dan Vs.]]
|
*[[Gallery/The Dating Guy|The Dating Guy]]
*[[Gallery/Duck Dodgers|Duck Dodgers]]
*[[Gallery/DuckTales|DuckTales]]
*[[Family Guy vidcaps|Family Guy]]
*[[Gallery/Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes|Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]
*[[Futurama vidcaps|Futurama]]
*[[Inspector Gadget vidcaps|Inspector Gadget]]
*[[Jem & The Holograms vidcaps|Jem & The Holograms]]
*[[The Magician vidcaps|The Magician]]
|
*[[Mega Man vidcaps|Mega Man]]
*[[Phineas and Ferb vidcaps|Phineas and Ferb]]
*[[Quack Pack vidcaps|Quack Pack]]
*[[Gallery/Rick and Morty|Rick and Morty]]
*[[Robot Chicken vidcaps|Robot Chicken]]
*[[Gallery/Totally Spies|Totally Spies]]
*[[Spiderman and his Amazing Friends vidcaps|Spiderman and his Amazing Friends]]
*[[Spider-Woman vidcaps|Spider-Woman]]
*[[Venture Bros. vidcaps|Venture Bros.]]
|}

===Animated films===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Justice League vidcaps | Justice League: Doom]]
*[[Robotech vidcaps|Robotech - Shadow Chronicles]]
|
*[[Space Firebird vidcaps|Space Firebird]]
*[[Starchaser vidcaps|Starchaser: The Legend of Orin]]
|
*[[Tekken vidcaps|Tekken Blood Vengeance]]
|}

===Hentai===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Arisa vidcaps|Arisa]]
*[[Imma Youjo vidcaps|Imma Youjo]]
|
*[[Gallery/Luv Wave|Luv Wave]]
*[[See in AO vidcaps|See in AO]]
|
*[[Slave Doll vidcaps|Slave Doll]]
|}

===Video Games===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Bionic Heart vidcaps|Bionic Heart]]
*[[The Bouncer vidcaps|The Bouncer]]
*[[Cyberpunk 2077 vidcaps|Cyberpunk 2077]]
*[[Gallery/Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard|Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard]]
*[[Gallery/Extase|Extase]]
*[[The Guardian Legend vidcaps|The Guardian Legend]]
*[[Kingdom vidcaps|Kingdom]]
|
*[[Marionette Company vidcaps|Marionette Company]]
*[[Gallery/Mass Effect|Mass Effect]]
*[[Meko Project II vidcaps|Meko Project II]]
*[[N.U.D.E. vidcaps|N.U.D.E.@Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment]]
*[[Persona vidcaps|Persona]]
*[[Remember Me vidcaps|Remember Me]]
|
*[[Scrapland vidcaps|Scrapland]]
*[[Snatcher vidcaps|Snatcher]]
*[[Soul Calibur IV vidcaps|Soul Calibur IV]]
*[[Tekken vidcaps|Tekken]]
*[[Xenoblade vidcaps|Xenoblade Chronicles]]
*[[Xenosaga vidcaps|Xenosaga]]
|}

==Independent productions, short films and miscellaneous productions==
===Short Films===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[50% Off Mail Order Bride vidcaps|50% Off Mail Order Bride]]
*[[Gallery/9662|9662]]
*[[And She Was My Eve vidcaps|And She Was My Eve]]
*[[Android Love vidcaps|Android Love]]
*[[Star Trek Stories vidcaps| Android: My Star Trek Stories]]
*[[Android Night Punch vidcaps|Android Night Punch]]
*[[Android Re-Enactment vidcaps|Android Re-Enactment]]
*[[Gallery/Animata|Animata]]
*[[Gallery/Artificial Love|Artificial Love]]
*[[Gallery/Automaton|Automaton]]
*[[Gallery/B2|B2]]
*[[Backup:Restore vicaps|Backup:Restore]]
*[[Black File vidcaps|Black File - Choose Your Reality]]
*[[Gallery/Bye Robot|Bye Robot]]
*[[Gallery/Can't Build Me Love|Can't Build Me Love]]
*[[Gallery/Chord|Chord]]
*[[Circus vidcaps|Circus Android]]
*[[Clockwork Doll vidcaps|Clockwork Doll]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg - Kara|Cyborg - Kara]]
*[[The Continuum vidcaps|The Continuum: Lisa]]
*[[Date 1.0 vidcaps|Date 1.0]]
*[[Date Accident vidcaps|Date Accident - My Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Desired Vision vidcaps|Desired Vision]]
*[[Dreams From a Petrified Head vidcaps|Dreams From a Petrified Head]]
*[[Eau Du Human vidcaps|Eau Du Human]]
*[[Gallery/Electric Sheep|Electric Sheep]]
*[[E.M.M.A. vidcaps|E.M.M.A.]]
*[[Gallery/Emma|Emma]]
*[[Gallery/Everyone is a Robot but Me|Everyone is a Robot but Me]]
*[[Gallery/Feel the Life|Feel the Life]]
*[[Flawless vidcaps|Flawless]]
*[[The Future Committee vidcaps|The Future Committee]]
*[[Future Syn vidcaps|Future Syn]]
*[[Glitches vidcaps|Glitches]]
|
*[[Guy and Gizmo vidcaps|Guy and Gizmo]]
*[[Gynoid vidcaps|Gynoid]]
*[[The Hacker vidcaps|The Hacker]]
*[[Gallery/Headless Android Girl|Headless Android Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Heart Pumping Oil|Heart Pumping Oil]]
*[[Gallery/Helen Disconnected|Helen Disconnected]]
*[[High Maintenance vidcaps|High Maintenance]]
*[[Gallery/Human Revolution - Deus Ex|Human Revolution - Deus Ex]]
*[[ID2 vidcaps|ID2]]
*[[Gallery/Imperfect|Imperfect]]
*[[Infected vidcaps|Infected]]
*[[Japanese Android Girl vidcaps|Japanese Android Girl]]
*[[Gallery/L' Objet fragile|L' Objet fragile]]
*[[Life External vidcaps|Life External]]
*[[Lily vidcaps|Lily]]
*[[Love Automatically vidcaps|Love Automatically]]
*[[LoveBot vidcaps|LoveBot]]
*[[Gallery/Love i-Love|Love i-Love]]
*[[Gallery/Love Like Aliens|Love Like Aliens]]
*[[Luvbot vidcaps|Luvbot]]
*[[Made For You vidcaps|Made For You]]
*[[Gallery/Mail Order|Mail Order]]
*[[The Marionette vidcaps|The Marionette]]
*[[Gallery/Memory|Memory]]
*[[Monica Electronica vidcaps|Monica Electronica]]
*[[Moriya vidcaps|Moriya]]
*[[My Friend Helen vidcaps|My Friend Helen]]
*[[Gallery/NORA|NORA]]
*[[Gallery/New Appliance|New Appliance]]
*[[Olya vidcaps|Olya-Bot]]
*[[Gallery/Owner Passed Away|Owner Passed Away]]
*[[Gallery/The Package Out|The Package Out]]
*[[Platonic Parts vidcaps|Platonic Parts]]
*[[Gallery/Portfolio 3|Portfolio 3]]
|
*[[The Promise vidcaps|The Promise]]
*[[Quantic Dreams Kara vidcaps|Quantic Dreams Kara]]
*[[Gallery/Recall|Recall]]
*[[Rental Love vidcaps|Rental Love]]
*[[Replacement vidcaps|Replacement (2010)]]
*[[Gallery/Replacement 2|Replacement (2015)]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Angelina|Robot Angelina]]
*[[Robot or Daughter vidcaps|Robot or Daughter]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Girlfriend|Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Girlfriend 2|Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Robot Luv vidcaps|Robot Luv]]
*[[Robot Story vidcaps|Robot Story]]
*[[Robotics vidcaps|Robotics]]
*[[Gallery/Romantic|Romantic]]
*[[Gallery/Romeo Reboot|Romeo Reboot]]
*[[Gallery/Rosa|Rosa]]
*[[The Sentient vidcaps|The Sentient]]
*[[Softwired vidcaps|Softwired]]
*[[Special Connection vidcaps|Special Connection]]
*[[Synthetic Love vidcaps|Synthetic Love]]
*[[Gallery/Synthea|Synthea]]
*[[Gallery/Tears of Steel|Tears of Steel]]
*[[Thine Own Self vidcaps|Thine Own Self]]
*[[Gallery/The Trails End|The Trails End]]
*[[Gallery/True Skin|True Skin]]
*[[Gallery/Two Boys One Bot|Two Boys One Bot]]
*[[Uncanny Valley vidcaps|Uncanny Valley]]
*[[Untitled vidcaps|Untitled]]
*[[Version 0.9 vidcaps|Version 0.9]]
*[[Visceral Psyche vidcaps|Visceral Psyche's "Eve"]]
*[[We Make Machines vidcaps|We Make Machines]]
*[[Gallery/X91|X91]]
*[[Gallery/Yu-Robot|Yu-Robot]]
|}

===Trailers===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/A.I. Sitges|A.I. Sitges]]
|
*[[Android Sadist vidcaps|Android Sadist]]
|
*[[R.Aiko vidcaps|R.Aiko Trailer]]
|}

===Web series===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Abigail vidcaps|Abigail]]
*[[Hollywood Wasteland vidcaps|Hollywood Wasteland]]
|
*[[Horror Hotel vidcaps|Horror Hotel]]
*[[Jon Davis vidcaps|Jon Davis gets a sex robot]]
|
*[[Space Janitors vidcaps|Space Janitors]]
|}

===Internet sketches===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[5-second films vidcaps|5-second films - GF-1000]]
*[[C4 vidcaps|C4: Charlotte Church]]
*[[Compliments vidcaps|College Humor - Compliments]]
*[[Funny Science Fiction.com vidcaps|Funny Science Fiction.com - Sexy Robot Girlfriend commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Funny or Die - Bieber 2051|Funny or Die - Bieber 2051]]
*[[Jason Horton TV vidcaps|Jason Horton TV - How to Talk to Women]]
*[[The Nerdist vidcaps|The Nerdist - Jessica Chobot Robot]]
*[[Robot Girlfriend vidcaps|College Humor - Robot Girlfriend]]
|
*[[The Candy Doll vidcaps|The Candy Doll]]
*[[Hackers Shut Down January Jones vidcaps|The Onion News Network: Hackers Shut Down January Jones]]
*[[Uncle Mustache vidcaps|Uncle Mustache - Hot Robot]]
|}

===Theater===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Comic Potential photos|Comic Potential]]
*[[Gallery/La Meccanica dell'Amore|La Meccanica dell'Amore]]
|
*[[Motherboard photos|Motherboard]]
*[[Really Old, Like Forty Five photos|Really Old, Like Forty Five]]
|
*[[The Tales of Hoffmann - Olympia vidcaps|The Tales of Hoffmann - Olympia]]
|}

==Adult productions==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2004 photos|2004]]
*[[2040 vidcaps|2040]]
*[[Android Nurses in Action vidcaps|Android Nurses in Action]]
*[[L'androïde aux cheveux courts se fait défoncer vidcaps|L'androïde aux cheveux courts se fait défoncer]]
*[[Anton Video vidcaps|Anton Video]]
*[[ASFR Films vidcaps|ASFR Films]]
*[[Ashley Fires vidcaps|Ashley Fires Productions]]
*[[Gallery/Big Bust Theory|Big Bust Theory]]
*[[BIONIC vidcaps|BIONIC]]
*[[Blonde Factory vidcaps|Blonde Factory]]
*[[Chores vidcaps|Chores]]
*[[Christina Carter vidcaps|Christina Carter]]
*[[Gallery/Chrome Angels|Chrome Angels]]
*[[Click photos|Click]]
*[[Clips4sale promos vidcaps|Clips4sale promos]]
*[[Diana Knight vidcaps|Diana Knight Productions]]
|
*[[Discovery photos|Discovery]]
*[[Dominator vidcaps|The Dominator]]
*[[Entrancement UK vidcaps|Entrancement UK]]
*[[Forbidden Science vidcaps|Forbidden Science: Weekend]]
*[[Halloween Treat vidcaps|Halloween Treat]]
*[[Hotel Doll photos|Hotel Doll]]
*[[Humabot photos|Humabot]]
*[[I Am Not a Robot vidcaps|I Am Not a Robot]]
*[[Lory Pleasure vidcaps|Lory Pleasure]]
*[[Love Droids from Planet X vidcaps|Love Droids from Planet X]]
*[[Maid Droid vidcaps|Maid Droid]]
*[[The Operation Of Mechanizing A Heroine vidcaps|The Operation Of Mechanizing A Heroine]]
*[[The Perfect Girlfriend vidcaps|The Perfect Girlfriend]]
*[[The Perfect Model vidcaps|The Perfect Model]]
*[[Jane Fembot vidcaps|The Robotic Conversion of Jane]]
|
*[[Rewind vidcaps|Rewind: Purchase a Friend]]
*[[Robots Need Love Too vidcaps|Robots Need Love Too]]
*[[Gallery/Things to Come|Things to Come]]
*[[Gallery/Sexbots: The First Penetration|Sexbots: The First Penetration]]
*[[Gallery/Sex World|Sex World]]
*[[Sin Twins vidcaps|Sin Twins]]
*[[Gallery/The Sperminator|The Sperminator]]
*[[Stepville Wives vidcaps|Stepville Wives]]
*[[Nickel Dakota's vidcaps|Technically Erroneous]]
*[[Thrills vidcaps|Thrills - The Perfect Companion]]
*[[Veronica 2030 vidcaps|Veronica 2030]]
*[[Video Dames vidcaps|Video Dames]]
*[[VideoByDallas vidcaps|VideoByDallas]]
*[[VFTP vidcaps|Vids For The People]]
*[[Zero Child Cyber Doll Digital vidcaps|Zero Child Cyber Doll Digital]]
|}

=Real Fembots=
==Real fembot projects and animatronics==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Actroid photos|Actroids]]
*[[Aiko photos|Aiko]]
*[[Alice photos|Alice]]
*[[Android Brexxa|Android Brexxa]]
*[[Animatronic photos|Animatronic women]]
*[[Dance instructor robot|Dance instructor robot]]
|
*[[Eva photos|Eva robot head]]
*[[EveR photos|EveR]]
*[[Face android]]
*[[Fembot bar|Fembot bar]]
*[[Girl PC photos|Girl PC]]
*[[Hanson robotics|Hanson robotics]]
|
*[[Honeydoll|Honeydoll]]
*[[HRP-4C photos|HRP-4C]]
*[[Monroebot|Monroebot]]
*[[Saya photos|Saya]]
*[[Valerie android|Valerie android]]
|}

==Cosplay, merchandise, and props==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Cosplay photos|Cosplay]]
*[[Dolls photos|Dolls/toys]]
|
*[[Fembot head photos|Fembot head]]
*[[Golden android girl]]
|
*[[Pinball machines]]
|}

=Miscellaneous=
==Photos==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/AlsuAngel4u|AlsuAngel4u]]
*[[Hustler photos|Hustler]]
|
*[[Li Rong Rong]]
*[[Masuimi Max - Sinbot]]
|
*[[Miscellaneous photos|Miscellaneous]]
*[[Robots photos|Robots]]
|}

==Comics, manga and other scans==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Bethlehem Steele scans|Bethlehem Steele]]
*[[Gallery/Books and album covers|Books and album covers]]
*[[Comic book scans 1|Comic books A - E]]
|
*[[Comic book scans 2|Comic books F - J]]
*[[Comic book scans 3|Comic books K - O]]
*[[Comic book scans 4|Comic books P - T]]
|
*[[Comic book scans 5|Comic books U - Z]]
*[[Miscellaneous scans|Miscellaneous]]
|}

==Scavenged and unsorted==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="1"
|-
|[[Image:180px-Integrated circuit icon.svg.png|25px]] ''This images in these galleries are not yet fully sorted. You can help FembotWiki by sorting the images and adding information to the image pages.''
|-
|}

===Miscellaneous images===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Scavenged DeviantArt|DeviantArt]]
*[[Scavenged LQH|LQH]]
*[[Scavenged Manga/Anime|Manga/Anime]]
*[[Scavenged Sorayama|Sorayama]]
|
*[[Scavenged Sukabu|Sukabu]]
*[[Unknown comics/manga]]
*[[Unsorted animations]]
*[[Unsorted stills]]
|
*[[Unsorted vidcaps]]
*[[Scavenged Webcomics|Webcomics]]
*[[Celebrity Cyborgs|Worth1000]]
|}

===Sorted by upload date===
====2D art====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 2D Art images]]
*[[2009 2D Art images]]
*[[2010 2D Art images]]
|
*[[2011 2D Art images]]
*[[2012 2D Art images]]
*[[2013 2D Art images]]
|
*[[2014 2D Art images]]
*[[2015 2D Art images]]
|}

====CG art====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 CG Art images]]
*[[2009 CG Art images]]
*[[2010 CG Art images]]
|
*[[2011 CG Art images]]
*[[2012 CG Art images]]
*[[2013 CG Art images]]
|
*[[2014 CG Art images]]
*[[2015 CG Art images]]
|}

====Manips====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 Manip images]]
*[[2009 Manip images]]
*[[2010 Manip images]]
|
*[[2011 Manip images]]
*[[2012 Manip images]]
*[[2013 Manip images]]
|
*[[2014 Manip images]]
*[[2015 Manip images]]
|}

<br>
{| border="1" style="background:DarkTurquoise;"
|-
|[[Image:180px-Integrated circuit icon.svg.png|25px]] <big>''The <b>FembotWiki Gallery</b> does not yet include all of the images that have been uploaded. You can help FembotWiki by adding the [[Special:Unusedimages|unused images]] to the appropriate gallery.''</big>
|-
|}

[[Category:Features]]

Gallery

2015-08-09T01:05:17Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Series, miniseries and specials */

[[Image:Gallery.png]]
=Fembot Central member galleries=
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[1001011001]]
*[[10101010101]]
*[[33cl33]]
*[[Adama2014]]
*[[AmpFetish]]
*[[Antydenny]]
*[[ApocalypseSquid]]
*[[Araenae]]
*[[ArchangelDreadnought]]
*[[Aurican11]]
*[[Avoyak]]
*[[BA]]
*[[Baron]]
*[[Barbarella]]
*[[Bart]]
*[[Battery]]
*[[Blkwdo]]
*[[Blox_242]]
*[[Body]]
*[[Brooks693]]
*[[Bunnybot]]
*[[Chen]]
*[[Code Author]]
*[[CodeGreen30107]]
*[[Controlpanel]]
*[[CPU]]
*[[Csoloist]]
*[[CWButterfly]]
*[[Cyberdude]]
*[[D]]
*[[D.Olivaw]]
*[[Dale Coba]]
|
*[[Darian]]
*[[Darkbutflashy]]
*[[Darkhorseross]]
*[[Deep Blue]]
*[[Deesims]]
*[[Delosian]]
*[[Dieur]]
*[[Drrotwang]]
*[[DukeNukem 2417]]
*[[Evil Boo]]
*[[Eyebore]]
*[[FacelessFembot]]
*[[FaceoffFembot]]
*[[Fection]]
*[[Fembotsarereal]]
*[[Fetishbot]]
*[[Fit]]
*[[Freejack]]
*[[Frenchman319]]
*[[Froggy99]]
*[[Frostillicus]]
*[[Gaius baltar]]
*[[GF]]
*[[GirlieGirl1985]]
*[[Glast]]
*[[Glitch]]
*[[Greg]]
*[[Grendizer]]
*[[Gynoidlover]]
*[[Href]]
*[[Inky 2]]
*[[Jellyfish]]
|
*[[Jesus Amaro]]
*[[Joden]]
*[[KB7RKY]]
*[[Keizo]]
*[[Kishin]]
*[[Korby]]
*[[Kube²]]
*[[LaVelle]]
*[[Lex]]
*[[Lifestyler]]
*[[Lucas]]
*[[Maax]]
*[[Magus]]
*[[McLane]]
*[[Meg]]
*[[Migaer]]
*[[Mirage]]
*[[N6688]]
*[[Nathan]]
*[[Nexus]]
*[[Nerfherder]]
*[[Nukunookee]]
*[[Osmarayearth]]
*[[PallasAthena]]
*[[PowerDroid5000]]
*[[RancidInsanity]]
*[[RavenDave]]
*[[Remy]]
*[[RobotDog]]
*[[Robotman]]
*[[RobotWorld5]]
|
*[[RS5420]]
*[[RX30]]
*[[Saiko]]
*[[Sarabot]]
*[[Saya]]
*[[ShaotLinc]]
*[[Shutz]]
*[[Silent Lurker]]
*[[Silkscreen]]
*[[Singory]]
*[[Six1s]]
*[[Sp4rk]]
*[[STj2000]]
*[[Sue Chan]]
*[[Teknophile]]
*[[The Liar]]
*[[The Thinker]]
*[[TheSpotConlon]]
*[[Thurosis]]
*[[Tio]]
*[[Triumph]]
*[[Txsailor47]]
*[[Visualkiss1830]]
*[[Warpgirl]]
*[[WinterRose]]
*[[xBOT]]
*[[Xeq]]
*[[Xeran]]
*[[Xevdoll]]
*[[Zor]]
*[[ZORG]]
|}

=Vidcaps=
==Movies==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/009ノ1: The End of the Beginning|009ノ1: The End of the Beginning]]
*[[Gallery/A.I. Artificial Intelligence|A.I. Artificial Intelligence]]
*[[Gallery/Alien Resurrection|Alien Resurrection]]
*[[Gallery/Android|Android]]
*[[Gallery/Armageddon: The Final Challenge|Armageddon: The Final Challenge]]
*[[Gallery/Austin Powers|Austin Powers]]
*[[Gallery/Bicentennial Man|Bicentennial Man]]
*[[Gallery/Blue Flame|Blue Flame]]
*[[Gallery/The Bronx Executioner|The Bronx Executioner]]
*[[Gallery/Cherry 2000|Cherry 2000]]
*[[Gallery/Chrome|Chrome]]
*[[Gallery/Class of 1999|Class of 1999]]
*[[Gallery/Condor|Condor]]
*[[Gallery/CQ|CQ]]
*[[Gallery/CyberTracker|CyberTracker]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg²|Cyborg²]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg³: The Recycler|Cyborg³: The Recycler]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg Conquest|Cyborg Conquest - Chrome Angels]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg Girl|Cyborg Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Dark Side of the Moon|Dark Side of the Moon]]
*[[Gallery/Deadly Friend|Deadly Friend]]
*[[Gallery/Der Sandmann|Der Sandmann]]
*[[Gallery/Dr. Goldfoot|Dr. Goldfoot films]]
*[[Gallery/Escape from DS-3|Escape from DS-3]]
*[[Gallery/Eva|Eva]]
|
*[[Gallery/Eve of Destruction|Eve of Destruction]]
*[[Gallery/Ex Machina|Ex Machina]]
*[[Gallery/Friday the 13th: Jason X|Friday the 13th: Jason X]]
*[[Gallery/Galaxina|Galaxina]]
*[[Gallery/Gangster World|Gangster World]]
*[[Gallery/Guardians of the Galaxy|Guardians of the Galaxy]]
*[[Gallery/Halloween 3: Season of the Witch|Halloween 3: Season of the Witch]]
*[[Gallery/Hidden Heroes|Hidden Heroes]]
*[[Gallery/I Love Maria|I Love Maria]]
*[[Gallery/Inspector Gadget 2|Inspector Gadget 2]]
*[[Gallery/Jupiter Ascending|Jupiter Ascending]]
*[[Gallery/La noche de San Juan: Santo en Oro negro|La noche de San Juan: Santo en Oro negro]]
*[[Gallery/Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant|Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant]]
*[[Gallery/Leprechaun 3|Leprechaun 3]]
*[[Gallery/The Machine|The Machine]]
*[[Gallery/Metropolis|Metropolis]]
*[[Gallery/Mich Gibt Es Nur Zweimal|Mich Gibt Es Nur Zweimal]]
*[[Gallery/Movie 43|Movie 43]]
*[[Gallery/Mumford | Mumford]]
*[[Gallery/Nemesis|Nemesis]]
*[[Gallery/Not Quite Human 2|Not Quite Human 2]]
*[[Gallery/Nydenion|Nydenion]]
*[[Gallery/Omega Doom|Omega Doom]]
*[[Gallery/The Perfect Woman|The Perfect Woman]]
*[[Gallery/Robo C.H.I.C.|Robo C.H.I.C.]]
|
*[[Gallery/Robot Stories|Robot Stories]]
*[[Gallery/Robotrix|Robotrix]]
*[[Gallery/Serenity|Serenity]]
*[[Gallery/Screamers|Screamers]]
*[[Gallery/Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow|Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow]]
*[[Gallery/Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone|Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone]]
*[[Gallery/Space Milkshake|Space Milkshake]]
*[[Gallery/Space Truckers|Space Truckers]]
*[[Gallery/Star Trek: First Contact|Star Trek: First Contact]]
*[[Gallery/Star Trek: The Motion Picture|Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]
*[[Gallery/Starquest|Starquest]]
*[[Gallery/Stepford Children|Stepford Children]]
*[[Gallery/The Stepford Wives|The Stepford Wives]]
*[[Gallery/Superman 3|Superman 3]]
*[[Gallery/Surrogates|Surrogates]]
*[[Gallery/T-Force|T-Force]]
*[[Gallery/TC 2000|TC 2000]]
*[[Gallery/Terminator|Terminator]]
*[[Gallery/Tomorrowland|Tomorrowland]]
*[[Gallery/Total Recall (2012)|Total Recall (2012)]]
*[[Gallery/Transformers|Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen]]
*[[Gallery/Tron Legacy|Tron Legacy]]
*[[Gallery/Toys|Toys]]
*[[Gallery/Vice|Vice]]
*[[Gallery/Westworld|Westworld]]
*[[Gallery/The World's End|The World's End]]

|}

==Television==
===Series, miniseries and specials===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/Adventuras do Didi|Adventuras do Didi]]
*[[Gallery/The Adventures of Don Quick|The Adventures of Don Quick]]
*[[Gallery/Äkta Människor|Äkta Människor]]
*[[Gallery/Almost Human|Almost Human]]
*[[Gallery/Andromeda|Andromeda]]
*[[Gallery/Are You Afraid of the Dark|Are You Afraid of the Dark]]
*[[Gallery/Battlestar Galactica (2004)|Battlestar Galactica (2004)]]
*[[Gallery/Beyond Westworld|Beyond Westworld]]
*[[Gallery/The Bionic Woman|The Bionic Woman]]
*[[Gallery/Blake's 7|Blake's 7]]
*[[Gallery/Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]
*[[Gallery/The Chronicle|The Chronicle]]
*[[Gallery/Cleopatra 2525|Cleopatra 2525]]
*[[Gallery/The Collector|The Collector]]
*[[Gallery/La Croisière foll'amour|La Croisière foll'amour]]
*[[Gallery/Dark Matter|Dark Matter]]
*[[Gallery/Dirk Gently|Dirk Gently]]
*[[Gallery/Doctor Who|Doctor Who]]
*[[Gallery/Eve|Eve]]
*[[Gallery/Extant|Extant]]
|
*[[Gallery/The Flash|The Flash]]
*[[Gallery/Fantasy Island (1998)|Fantasy Island (1998)]]
*[[Gallery/Farscape|Farscape]]
*[[Gallery/Futurescape|Futurescape]]
*[[Gallery/Get Smart|Get Smart]]
*[[Gallery/Glam Metal Detectives|Glam Metal Detectives]]
*[[Gallery/Humans (AMC)|Humans (AMC)]]
*[[Gallery/Logan's Run|Logan's Run]]
*[[Gallery/Man From U.N.C.L.E.|Man From U.N.C.L.E.]]
*[[Gallery/Morde E Assopra|Morde E Assopra]]
*[[Gallery/Mork and Mindy|Mork and Mindy]]
*[[Gallery/My Living Doll|My Living Doll: Boy Meets Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Нанолюбовь|Нанолюбовь (Nanolyubov)]]
*[[Gallery/Night Gallery|Night Gallery]]
*[[Gallery/The Outer Limits|The Outer Limits]]
*[[Gallery/Plutón B.R.B. Nero|Plutón B.R.B. Nero]]
*[[Gallery/Power Rangers|Power Rangers]]
*[[Gallery/Perversions of Science|Perversions of Science]]
*[[Gallery/The Powers of Matthew Star|The Powers of Matthew Star]]
*[[Gallery/Q10|Q10]]
|
*[[Gallery/Red Dwarf|Red Dwarf]]
*[[Gallery/Really Weird Tales|Really Weird Tales]]
*[[Gallery/Richie Rich|Richie Rich]]
*[[Gallery/Rudy Coby: The Coolest Magician on Earth|Rudy Coby: The Coolest Magician on Earth]]
*[[Gallery/Sakura 2 NiGo|Sakura 2 NiGo]]
*[[Gallery/Sliders|Sliders]]
*[[Gallery/Son of the Beach|Son of the Beach]]
*[[Gallery/Space 1999|Space 1999]]
*[[Gallery/Stargate|Stargate]]
*[[Gallery/Star Trek|Star Trek]]
*[[Gallery/Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]
*[[Gallery/Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek: Voyager]]
*[[Gallery/Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles|Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles]]
*[[Gallery/Tripping the Rift|Tripping the Rift]]
*[[Gallery/The Twilight Zone|The Twilight Zone]]
*[[Gallery/Ultraman Ginga S one zero]]
*[[Gallery/Weird Science|Weird Science]]
*[[Gallery/Westworld (HBO)|Westworld (HBO)]]
*[[Gallery/Wicked Science|Wicked Science]]
*[[Gallery/Yo Nimo Kimyouna Monogatari|Yo Nimo Kimyouna Monogatari]]
|}

===Commercials, advertisements, and promotional videos===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/Astratec fembot video|Astratec fembot video]]
*[[Gallery/Asus Eee PC Bunny Commercial|Asus Eee PC Bunny]]
*[[Gallery/Brilux|Brilux]]
*[[Gallery/Japanese battery commercial|Japanese battery commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Citroen Dating 2.0|Citroen Dating 2.0 ]]
*[[Gallery/Daihatsu|Daihatsu]]
*[[Gallery/Duracell Putterman commercial|Duracell Putterman commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Festo Millennium Woman|Festo Millennium Woman]]
*[[Gallery/Fry's Electronics commercial|Fry's Electronics commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Geek Squad Laptop & a Geek|Geek Squad Laptop & a Geek]]
*[[Gallery/Heineken commercial|Heineken commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Identity Tab commercial|Identity Tab commercial]]
*[[Gallery/IFC Spirit Awards - Prombot 8000|IFC Spirit Awards - Prombot 8000]]
*[[Gallery/Kia Hotbot commercials|Kia Hotbot commercials]]
*[[Gallery/Roca Khroma: Robot Girl commercial|Roca Khroma: Robot Girl commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Luxgen commercial|Luxgen commercial]]
*[[Gallery/MatchBot.com|MatchBot.com commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Mutter - Sexy Milk commercial|Mutter - Sexy milk]]
*[[Gallery/Progressive Flobot commercials|Progressive Flobot commercials]]
*[[Gallery/Saturn Technik Evolution commercial|Saturn Technik Evolution commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Sky and More Fashion 2013 commercial|Sky and More Fashion 2013 commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Testarossa ad|Testarossa ad]]
*[[Gallery/Tokyo Gas commercial|Tokyo Gas commercial]]
*[[Gallery/Toyota Matrix commercial|Toyota Matrix commercial]]
*[[Gallery/V05 Shampoo commercial|V05 Shampoo commercial]]
|}

===Music Videos===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/A'Studio - Fashion Girl|A'Studio - Fashion Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Alex Day - Time of Your Life|Alex Day - Time of Your Life]]
*[[Gallery/Apocalyptica - How Far|Apocalyptica - How Far]]
*[[Gallery/Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head|Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head]]
*[[Gallery/Basement Jaxx - Plug It In|Basement Jaxx - Plug It In]]
*[[Gallery/Björk - All is Full of Love|Björk - All is Full of Love]]
*[[Gallery/Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside|Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside]]
*[[Gallery/Broken Window|Broken Window]]
*[[Gallery/The Cars - You Are the Girl|The Cars - You Are the Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Chinese Grandpa - Components|Chinese Grandpa - Components]]
*[[Gallery/Christina Perri - Human|Christina Perri - Human]]
*[[Gallery/Dave Navarro - Hungry|Dave Navarro - Hungry]]
*[[Gallery/David Guetta - Turn Me On|David Guetta - Turn Me On]]
*[[Gallery/Destructo - Technology|Destructo - Technology]]
*[[Gallery/DJ? Acucrack - So to Speak|DJ? Acucrack - So to Speak]]
*[[Gallery/DJ Jean - The Launch Relaunched|DJ Jean - The Launch Relaunched]]
|
*[[Gallery/Dream Warriors - Breathe or Die|Dream Warriors - Breathe or Die]]
*[[Gallery/Duran Duran - Blame the Machines|Duran Duran - Blame the Machines]]
*[[Gallery/EMA - '3Jane'|EMA - '3Jane']]
*[[Gallery/Everyday Tragedy - Synthetic Hearts|Everyday Tragedy - Synthetic Hearts]]
*[[Gallery/FEMM - The Real Thing|FEMM - The Real Thing]]
*[[Gallery/Garbage - The World is Not Enough|Garbage - The World is Not Enough]]
*[[Gallery/Gorillaz|Gorillaz]]
*[[Gallery/Harry S. - Female robot|Harry S. - Female robot]]
*[[Gallery/Herbie Hancock - Rockit|Herbie Hancock - Rockit]]
*[[Gallery/Janelle Monáe - Many Moons|Janelle Monáe - Many Moons]]
*[[Gallery/Jolin Tsai - Honey Trap|Jolin Tsai - Honey Trap]]
*[[Gallery/Knock the Knock|Knock the Knock]]
*[[Gallery/Krist Van D - Be Without You|Krist Van D - Be Without You]]
*[[Gallery/Laidback Luke & Project 46 - Collide (Feat. Collin McLoughlin)|Laidback Luke & Project 46 - Collide (Feat. Collin McLoughlin)]]
*[[Gallery/LEDApple - Boy Meet Girl|LEDApple - Boy Meet Girl]]
|
*[[Gallery/Lexy - Vow|Lexy - Vow]]
*[[Gallery/Like Money - Wonder Girls|Like Money - Wonder Girls]]
*[[Gallery/Mark 'Oh - Because I Love You|Mark 'Oh - Because I Love You]]
*[[Gallery/Moscow Discow|Moscow Discow]]
*[[Gallery/Pakito - Moving on Stereo|Pakito - Moving on Stereo]]
*[[Gallery/Pate No.1 - Always|Pate No.1 - Always]]
*[[Gallery/Pennywise - The Western World|Pennywise - The Western World]]
*[[Gallery/Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000|Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000]]
*[[Gallery/Slightly Left of Centre - Call Me for the Weekend|Slightly Left of Centre - Call Me for the Weekend]]
*[[Gallery/Tiesto - Knock you out|Tiesto - Knock you out]]
*[[Gallery/Timo Maas - College 84|Timo Maas - College 84]]
*[[Gallery/Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep a Secret|Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep a Secret]]
*[[Gallery/Vixx - Error|Vixx - Error]]
*[[Gallery/Wax - Fly High|Wax - Fly High]]
*[[Gallery/Whisperado - Teenage Popstar Girl|Whisperado - Teenage Popstar Girl]]
*[[Gallery/YeLLOW Generation - 北風と太陽|YeLLOW Generation - 北風と太陽]]
|}

==Animated productions==
===Anime===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/Android Announcer Maico 2010|Android Announcer Maico 2010]]
*[[Gallery/Armitage III|Armitage III]]
*[[Gallery/Astro Boy|Astro Boy]]
*[[Gallery/Battle Angel Alita|Battle Angel Alita]]
*[[Gallery/The Big O|The Big O]]
*[[Gallery/Blassreiter|Blassreiter]]
*[[Gallery/Burn-Up W|Burn-Up W]]
*[[Gallery/Casshern Sins|Casshern Sins]]
*[[Gallery/Coyote Ragtime Show|Coyote Ragtime Show]]
*[[Gallery/Da Capo|Da Capo]]
*[[Gallery/Danball Senki|Danball Senki]]
*[[Gallery/Demon King Daimao|Demon King Daimao]]
*[[Gallery/Diebuster II|Diebuster II]]
*[[Gallery/Dirty Pair Flash|Dirty Pair Flash]]
*[[Gallery/Dragon Ball Z|Dragon Ball Z]]
|
*[[Gallery/El-Hazard|El-Hazard]]
*[[Gallery/Ghost in the Shell|Ghost in the Shell]]
*[[Gallery/Gin Tama|Gin Tama]]
*[[Gallery/Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara|Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara]]
*[[Gallery/Kikaider 01|Kikaider 01]]
*[[Gallery/Kirameki Project|Kirameki Project]]
*[[Gallery/Mazinkaiser|Mazinkaiser]]
*[[Gallery/Mezzo Forte|Mezzo Forte]]
*[[Gallery/Mnemosyne|Mnemosyne]]
*[[Gallery/My Dear Marie|My Dear Marie]]
*[[Gallery/My-HiME|My-HiME]]
*[[Gallery/My-Otome|My-Otome]]
*[[Gallery/Nagasarete Airantou|Nagasarete Airantou]]
*[[Gallery/Needless|Needless]]
*[[Gallery/Negima Ala Alba|Negima Ala Alba]]
|
*[[Gallery/Outlaw Star|Outlaw Star]]
*[[Gallery/Parasite Dolls|Parasite Dolls]]
*[[Gallery/Pure Heart|Pure Heart]]
*[[Gallery/Queen's Blade Rebellion|Queen's Blade Rebellion]]
*[[Gallery/Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan|Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan]]
*[[Gallery/Rio: Rainbow Gate!|Rio: Rainbow Gate!]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Carnival|Robot Carnival]]
*[[Gallery/Saber Marionette|Saber Marionette]]
*[[Gallery/Sister Princess|Sister Princess]]
*[[Gallery/Solty Rei|Solty Rei]]
*[[Gallery/Sonic X|Sonic X]]
*[[Gallery/Steel Angel Kurumi|Steel Angel Kurumi]]
*[[Gallery/Time of Eve|Time of Eve]]
*[[Gallery/Trouble Chocolate|Trouble Chocolate]]
|}

===Cartoons===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Adventure Time vidcaps|Adventure Time]]
*[[Sonic the Hedgehog vidcaps|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]
*[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force vidcaps|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]
*[[Archer vidcaps|Archer]]
*[[Avengers vidcaps|Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]
*[[Batman vidcaps|Batman: The Animated Series]]
*[[Beverly Hills Teens vidcaps|Beverly Hills Teens - Robot Romance]]
*[[Gallery/City Hunters|City Hunters]]
*[[Gallery/Dan Vs. Technology|Dan Vs.]]
|
*[[Gallery/The Dating Guy|The Dating Guy]]
*[[Gallery/Duck Dodgers|Duck Dodgers]]
*[[Gallery/DuckTales|DuckTales]]
*[[Family Guy vidcaps|Family Guy]]
*[[Gallery/Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes|Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]
*[[Futurama vidcaps|Futurama]]
*[[Inspector Gadget vidcaps|Inspector Gadget]]
*[[Jem & The Holograms vidcaps|Jem & The Holograms]]
*[[The Magician vidcaps|The Magician]]
|
*[[Mega Man vidcaps|Mega Man]]
*[[Phineas and Ferb vidcaps|Phineas and Ferb]]
*[[Quack Pack vidcaps|Quack Pack]]
*[[Gallery/Rick and Morty|Rick and Morty]]
*[[Robot Chicken vidcaps|Robot Chicken]]
*[[Gallery/Totally Spies|Totally Spies]]
*[[Spiderman and his Amazing Friends vidcaps|Spiderman and his Amazing Friends]]
*[[Spider-Woman vidcaps|Spider-Woman]]
*[[Venture Bros. vidcaps|Venture Bros.]]
|}

===Animated films===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Justice League vidcaps | Justice League: Doom]]
*[[Robotech vidcaps|Robotech - Shadow Chronicles]]
|
*[[Space Firebird vidcaps|Space Firebird]]
*[[Starchaser vidcaps|Starchaser: The Legend of Orin]]
|
*[[Tekken vidcaps|Tekken Blood Vengeance]]
|}

===Hentai===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Arisa vidcaps|Arisa]]
*[[Imma Youjo vidcaps|Imma Youjo]]
|
*[[Gallery/Luv Wave|Luv Wave]]
*[[See in AO vidcaps|See in AO]]
|
*[[Slave Doll vidcaps|Slave Doll]]
|}

===Video Games===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Bionic Heart vidcaps|Bionic Heart]]
*[[The Bouncer vidcaps|The Bouncer]]
*[[Cyberpunk 2077 vidcaps|Cyberpunk 2077]]
*[[Gallery/Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard|Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard]]
*[[Gallery/Extase|Extase]]
*[[The Guardian Legend vidcaps|The Guardian Legend]]
*[[Kingdom vidcaps|Kingdom]]
|
*[[Marionette Company vidcaps|Marionette Company]]
*[[Gallery/Mass Effect|Mass Effect]]
*[[Meko Project II vidcaps|Meko Project II]]
*[[N.U.D.E. vidcaps|N.U.D.E.@Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment]]
*[[Persona vidcaps|Persona]]
*[[Remember Me vidcaps|Remember Me]]
|
*[[Scrapland vidcaps|Scrapland]]
*[[Snatcher vidcaps|Snatcher]]
*[[Soul Calibur IV vidcaps|Soul Calibur IV]]
*[[Tekken vidcaps|Tekken]]
*[[Xenoblade vidcaps|Xenoblade Chronicles]]
*[[Xenosaga vidcaps|Xenosaga]]
|}

==Independent productions, short films and miscellaneous productions==
===Short Films===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[50% Off Mail Order Bride vidcaps|50% Off Mail Order Bride]]
*[[Gallery/9662|9662]]
*[[And She Was My Eve vidcaps|And She Was My Eve]]
*[[Android Love vidcaps|Android Love]]
*[[Star Trek Stories vidcaps| Android: My Star Trek Stories]]
*[[Android Night Punch vidcaps|Android Night Punch]]
*[[Android Re-Enactment vidcaps|Android Re-Enactment]]
*[[Gallery/Animata|Animata]]
*[[Gallery/Artificial Love|Artificial Love]]
*[[Gallery/Automaton|Automaton]]
*[[Gallery/B2|B2]]
*[[Backup:Restore vicaps|Backup:Restore]]
*[[Black File vidcaps|Black File - Choose Your Reality]]
*[[Gallery/Bye Robot|Bye Robot]]
*[[Gallery/Can't Build Me Love|Can't Build Me Love]]
*[[Gallery/Chord|Chord]]
*[[Circus vidcaps|Circus Android]]
*[[Clockwork Doll vidcaps|Clockwork Doll]]
*[[Gallery/Cyborg - Kara|Cyborg - Kara]]
*[[The Continuum vidcaps|The Continuum: Lisa]]
*[[Date 1.0 vidcaps|Date 1.0]]
*[[Date Accident vidcaps|Date Accident - My Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Desired Vision vidcaps|Desired Vision]]
*[[Dreams From a Petrified Head vidcaps|Dreams From a Petrified Head]]
*[[Eau Du Human vidcaps|Eau Du Human]]
*[[Gallery/Electric Sheep|Electric Sheep]]
*[[E.M.M.A. vidcaps|E.M.M.A.]]
*[[Gallery/Emma|Emma]]
*[[Gallery/Everyone is a Robot but Me|Everyone is a Robot but Me]]
*[[Gallery/Feel the Life|Feel the Life]]
*[[Flawless vidcaps|Flawless]]
*[[The Future Committee vidcaps|The Future Committee]]
*[[Future Syn vidcaps|Future Syn]]
*[[Glitches vidcaps|Glitches]]
|
*[[Guy and Gizmo vidcaps|Guy and Gizmo]]
*[[Gynoid vidcaps|Gynoid]]
*[[The Hacker vidcaps|The Hacker]]
*[[Gallery/Headless Android Girl|Headless Android Girl]]
*[[Gallery/Heart Pumping Oil|Heart Pumping Oil]]
*[[Gallery/Helen Disconnected|Helen Disconnected]]
*[[High Maintenance vidcaps|High Maintenance]]
*[[Gallery/Human Revolution - Deus Ex|Human Revolution - Deus Ex]]
*[[ID2 vidcaps|ID2]]
*[[Gallery/Imperfect|Imperfect]]
*[[Infected vidcaps|Infected]]
*[[Japanese Android Girl vidcaps|Japanese Android Girl]]
*[[Gallery/L' Objet fragile|L' Objet fragile]]
*[[Life External vidcaps|Life External]]
*[[Lily vidcaps|Lily]]
*[[Love Automatically vidcaps|Love Automatically]]
*[[LoveBot vidcaps|LoveBot]]
*[[Gallery/Love i-Love|Love i-Love]]
*[[Gallery/Love Like Aliens|Love Like Aliens]]
*[[Luvbot vidcaps|Luvbot]]
*[[Made For You vidcaps|Made For You]]
*[[Gallery/Mail Order|Mail Order]]
*[[The Marionette vidcaps|The Marionette]]
*[[Gallery/Memory|Memory]]
*[[Monica Electronica vidcaps|Monica Electronica]]
*[[Moriya vidcaps|Moriya]]
*[[My Friend Helen vidcaps|My Friend Helen]]
*[[Gallery/NORA|NORA]]
*[[Gallery/New Appliance|New Appliance]]
*[[Olya vidcaps|Olya-Bot]]
*[[Gallery/Owner Passed Away|Owner Passed Away]]
*[[Gallery/The Package Out|The Package Out]]
*[[Platonic Parts vidcaps|Platonic Parts]]
*[[Gallery/Portfolio 3|Portfolio 3]]
|
*[[The Promise vidcaps|The Promise]]
*[[Quantic Dreams Kara vidcaps|Quantic Dreams Kara]]
*[[Gallery/Recall|Recall]]
*[[Rental Love vidcaps|Rental Love]]
*[[Replacement vidcaps|Replacement (2010)]]
*[[Gallery/Replacement 2|Replacement (2015)]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Angelina|Robot Angelina]]
*[[Robot or Daughter vidcaps|Robot or Daughter]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Girlfriend|Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Gallery/Robot Girlfriend 2|Robot Girlfriend]]
*[[Robot Luv vidcaps|Robot Luv]]
*[[Robot Story vidcaps|Robot Story]]
*[[Robotics vidcaps|Robotics]]
*[[Gallery/Romantic|Romantic]]
*[[Gallery/Romeo Reboot|Romeo Reboot]]
*[[Gallery/Rosa|Rosa]]
*[[The Sentient vidcaps|The Sentient]]
*[[Softwired vidcaps|Softwired]]
*[[Special Connection vidcaps|Special Connection]]
*[[Synthetic Love vidcaps|Synthetic Love]]
*[[Gallery/Synthea|Synthea]]
*[[Gallery/Tears of Steel|Tears of Steel]]
*[[Thine Own Self vidcaps|Thine Own Self]]
*[[Gallery/The Trails End|The Trails End]]
*[[Gallery/True Skin|True Skin]]
*[[Gallery/Two Boys One Bot|Two Boys One Bot]]
*[[Uncanny Valley vidcaps|Uncanny Valley]]
*[[Untitled vidcaps|Untitled]]
*[[Version 0.9 vidcaps|Version 0.9]]
*[[Visceral Psyche vidcaps|Visceral Psyche's "Eve"]]
*[[We Make Machines vidcaps|We Make Machines]]
*[[Gallery/X91|X91]]
*[[Gallery/Yu-Robot|Yu-Robot]]
|}

===Trailers===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/A.I. Sitges|A.I. Sitges]]
|
*[[Android Sadist vidcaps|Android Sadist]]
|
*[[R.Aiko vidcaps|R.Aiko Trailer]]
|}

===Web series===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Abigail vidcaps|Abigail]]
*[[Hollywood Wasteland vidcaps|Hollywood Wasteland]]
|
*[[Horror Hotel vidcaps|Horror Hotel]]
*[[Jon Davis vidcaps|Jon Davis gets a sex robot]]
|
*[[Space Janitors vidcaps|Space Janitors]]
|}

===Internet sketches===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[5-second films vidcaps|5-second films - GF-1000]]
*[[C4 vidcaps|C4: Charlotte Church]]
*[[Compliments vidcaps|College Humor - Compliments]]
*[[Funny Science Fiction.com vidcaps|Funny Science Fiction.com - Sexy Robot Girlfriend commercial]]
|
*[[Gallery/Funny or Die - Bieber 2051|Funny or Die - Bieber 2051]]
*[[Jason Horton TV vidcaps|Jason Horton TV - How to Talk to Women]]
*[[The Nerdist vidcaps|The Nerdist - Jessica Chobot Robot]]
*[[Robot Girlfriend vidcaps|College Humor - Robot Girlfriend]]
|
*[[The Candy Doll vidcaps|The Candy Doll]]
*[[Hackers Shut Down January Jones vidcaps|The Onion News Network: Hackers Shut Down January Jones]]
*[[Uncle Mustache vidcaps|Uncle Mustache - Hot Robot]]
|}

===Theater===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Comic Potential photos|Comic Potential]]
*[[Gallery/La Meccanica dell'Amore|La Meccanica dell'Amore]]
|
*[[Motherboard photos|Motherboard]]
*[[Really Old, Like Forty Five photos|Really Old, Like Forty Five]]
|
*[[The Tales of Hoffmann - Olympia vidcaps|The Tales of Hoffmann - Olympia]]
|}

==Adult productions==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2004 photos|2004]]
*[[2040 vidcaps|2040]]
*[[Android Nurses in Action vidcaps|Android Nurses in Action]]
*[[L'androïde aux cheveux courts se fait défoncer vidcaps|L'androïde aux cheveux courts se fait défoncer]]
*[[Anton Video vidcaps|Anton Video]]
*[[ASFR Films vidcaps|ASFR Films]]
*[[Ashley Fires vidcaps|Ashley Fires Productions]]
*[[Gallery/Big Bust Theory|Big Bust Theory]]
*[[BIONIC vidcaps|BIONIC]]
*[[Blonde Factory vidcaps|Blonde Factory]]
*[[Chores vidcaps|Chores]]
*[[Christina Carter vidcaps|Christina Carter]]
*[[Gallery/Chrome Angels|Chrome Angels]]
*[[Click photos|Click]]
*[[Clips4sale promos vidcaps|Clips4sale promos]]
*[[Diana Knight vidcaps|Diana Knight Productions]]
|
*[[Discovery photos|Discovery]]
*[[Dominator vidcaps|The Dominator]]
*[[Entrancement UK vidcaps|Entrancement UK]]
*[[Forbidden Science vidcaps|Forbidden Science: Weekend]]
*[[Halloween Treat vidcaps|Halloween Treat]]
*[[Hotel Doll photos|Hotel Doll]]
*[[Humabot photos|Humabot]]
*[[I Am Not a Robot vidcaps|I Am Not a Robot]]
*[[Lory Pleasure vidcaps|Lory Pleasure]]
*[[Love Droids from Planet X vidcaps|Love Droids from Planet X]]
*[[Maid Droid vidcaps|Maid Droid]]
*[[The Operation Of Mechanizing A Heroine vidcaps|The Operation Of Mechanizing A Heroine]]
*[[The Perfect Girlfriend vidcaps|The Perfect Girlfriend]]
*[[The Perfect Model vidcaps|The Perfect Model]]
*[[Jane Fembot vidcaps|The Robotic Conversion of Jane]]
|
*[[Rewind vidcaps|Rewind: Purchase a Friend]]
*[[Robots Need Love Too vidcaps|Robots Need Love Too]]
*[[Gallery/Things to Come|Things to Come]]
*[[Gallery/Sexbots: The First Penetration|Sexbots: The First Penetration]]
*[[Gallery/Sex World|Sex World]]
*[[Sin Twins vidcaps|Sin Twins]]
*[[Gallery/The Sperminator|The Sperminator]]
*[[Stepville Wives vidcaps|Stepville Wives]]
*[[Nickel Dakota's vidcaps|Technically Erroneous]]
*[[Thrills vidcaps|Thrills - The Perfect Companion]]
*[[Veronica 2030 vidcaps|Veronica 2030]]
*[[Video Dames vidcaps|Video Dames]]
*[[VideoByDallas vidcaps|VideoByDallas]]
*[[VFTP vidcaps|Vids For The People]]
*[[Zero Child Cyber Doll Digital vidcaps|Zero Child Cyber Doll Digital]]
|}

=Real Fembots=
==Real fembot projects and animatronics==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Actroid photos|Actroids]]
*[[Aiko photos|Aiko]]
*[[Alice photos|Alice]]
*[[Android Brexxa|Android Brexxa]]
*[[Animatronic photos|Animatronic women]]
*[[Dance instructor robot|Dance instructor robot]]
|
*[[Eva photos|Eva robot head]]
*[[EveR photos|EveR]]
*[[Face android]]
*[[Fembot bar|Fembot bar]]
*[[Girl PC photos|Girl PC]]
*[[Hanson robotics|Hanson robotics]]
|
*[[Honeydoll|Honeydoll]]
*[[HRP-4C photos|HRP-4C]]
*[[Monroebot|Monroebot]]
*[[Saya photos|Saya]]
*[[Valerie android|Valerie android]]
|}

==Cosplay, merchandise, and props==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Cosplay photos|Cosplay]]
*[[Dolls photos|Dolls/toys]]
|
*[[Fembot head photos|Fembot head]]
*[[Golden android girl]]
|
*[[Pinball machines]]
|}

=Miscellaneous=
==Photos==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Gallery/AlsuAngel4u|AlsuAngel4u]]
*[[Hustler photos|Hustler]]
|
*[[Li Rong Rong]]
*[[Masuimi Max - Sinbot]]
|
*[[Miscellaneous photos|Miscellaneous]]
*[[Robots photos|Robots]]
|}

==Comics, manga and other scans==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Bethlehem Steele scans|Bethlehem Steele]]
*[[Gallery/Books and album covers|Books and album covers]]
*[[Comic book scans 1|Comic books A - E]]
|
*[[Comic book scans 2|Comic books F - J]]
*[[Comic book scans 3|Comic books K - O]]
*[[Comic book scans 4|Comic books P - T]]
|
*[[Comic book scans 5|Comic books U - Z]]
*[[Miscellaneous scans|Miscellaneous]]
|}

==Scavenged and unsorted==
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="1"
|-
|[[Image:180px-Integrated circuit icon.svg.png|25px]] ''This images in these galleries are not yet fully sorted. You can help FembotWiki by sorting the images and adding information to the image pages.''
|-
|}

===Miscellaneous images===
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[Scavenged DeviantArt|DeviantArt]]
*[[Scavenged LQH|LQH]]
*[[Scavenged Manga/Anime|Manga/Anime]]
*[[Scavenged Sorayama|Sorayama]]
|
*[[Scavenged Sukabu|Sukabu]]
*[[Unknown comics/manga]]
*[[Unsorted animations]]
*[[Unsorted stills]]
|
*[[Unsorted vidcaps]]
*[[Scavenged Webcomics|Webcomics]]
*[[Celebrity Cyborgs|Worth1000]]
|}

===Sorted by upload date===
====2D art====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 2D Art images]]
*[[2009 2D Art images]]
*[[2010 2D Art images]]
|
*[[2011 2D Art images]]
*[[2012 2D Art images]]
*[[2013 2D Art images]]
|
*[[2014 2D Art images]]
*[[2015 2D Art images]]
|}

====CG art====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 CG Art images]]
*[[2009 CG Art images]]
*[[2010 CG Art images]]
|
*[[2011 CG Art images]]
*[[2012 CG Art images]]
*[[2013 CG Art images]]
|
*[[2014 CG Art images]]
*[[2015 CG Art images]]
|}

====Manips====
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
*[[2008 Manip images]]
*[[2009 Manip images]]
*[[2010 Manip images]]
|
*[[2011 Manip images]]
*[[2012 Manip images]]
*[[2013 Manip images]]
|
*[[2014 Manip images]]
*[[2015 Manip images]]
|}

<br>
{| border="1" style="background:DarkTurquoise;"
|-
|[[Image:180px-Integrated circuit icon.svg.png|25px]] <big>''The <b>FembotWiki Gallery</b> does not yet include all of the images that have been uploaded. You can help FembotWiki by adding the [[Special:Unusedimages|unused images]] to the appropriate gallery.''</big>
|-
|}

[[Category:Features]]

Silkscreen

2015-08-04T02:41:19Z

Darkbutflashy:

==Manips==
===KACHI MEDICAL===
<gallery perrow="5">
Image:YES.jpg|[http://fembotwiki.com/index.php?title=Image:YES.jpg KACHI robot woman approves]
Image:Kachi-Medical-Saskia-Ad.jpg|[http://fembotwiki.com/index.php?title=KACHI KACHI MEDICAL advertisement]
Image:Kachi-Medical.pdf‎|[http://fembotwiki.com/index.php?title=Image:Kachi-Medical.pdf Functional•Sensual•You Brochure]
Image:Kachi-Ute-RX8-Battery.jpg|[http://fembotwiki.com/index.php?title=Image:Kachi-Ute-RX8-Battery.jpg KACHI robot woman Ute wanna drive fast]
</gallery>
===Others===
<gallery perrow="5">
Image:Policewoman-fullyarmed.png|[http://fembotwiki.com/index.php?title=Image:Policewoman-fullyarmed.png Fully Armed Policewoman]
</gallery>

[[Gallery|Back to the gallery]]

[[Category:Manips]]
[[Category:Silkscreen]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-07-12T09:37:58Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it from the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
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Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1,70m tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head:

"You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.
----
"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

2015-07-12T09:37:43Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==3 Interlude==

Thomas nervously gazed at the clock. Ten to eight and still some kilometers to
drive.

"Get green!" he begged. Eventually the traffic lights had mercy, he stomped on
the accelerator and the small van responded with a racing start. Not exactly,
well. The engine howled, yes, but the thing sure ran on molasses as fuel. But
Thomas was lucky, even going at "reasonable speed", he arrived at Ayako's place
in time. Just a minute to eight! He reached for the remote laying on the
dashboard and pressed the button. The rolling grill in front of the van began
to move up and gave way into the underground garage. Thomas circled around the
parked cars and stopped the van near the elevator. Only seconds later, a tall,
bulky woman dressed in a far too tight sweater and jeans got out of the lift.
She opened the sliding door of the van, chucked the big sports bag she'd
carried on the back seat and stepped inside.

"Hey, careful!" Thomas commented the noise coming from of his passenger and
peeked her in the interior mirror. Ayako couldn't answer. After closing the
door she immediately had pulled the sweater over her head.

"Phew, away with you," she gasped and turned over to her trousers.

"Woo-hoo, never got a girl in here stripping so eagerly," Tom snickered and
Ayako threw the sweater at him.

"It's too tight! And the tickle from that thing makes me crazy!" she shouted.

"Why do you have put it on at first then? I mean, it's only a few steps from
your flat into the van. I doubt anyone would have seen you," he asked.

Ayako tried to pull the jeans over her boots. "I just wanted to do it the right
way at least once. No need to have everyone in the neighbourhood know an ESWAT
member lives here... Oh shit!" she exclaimed when the jeans ripped up on the
heels.

Thomas turned over to see what had happened. Ayako had already pulled
the rag back upwards and straightened her legs.

"Maybe you could help me?" she asked in a demanding tone.

Thomas grabbed the jeans at the lower end and could pull them over the heels
with relative ease. "Better get some long skirts," he smiled, "hey, they would
look nice on you."

"As a dress uniform, eh?" she huffishly responded, "I think it would look
ridiculous!"

Nervously, Thomas tugged his own uniform - which he seldom wore at all - into
place while Ayako was buckling her seatbelt. He turned over again: "Sorry, but
at least you have to tell me where to go."

"Second primary school in Lima-4 district," she briefly answered.

Thomas silently entered the address into the navigation system and circled the
van out of the garage.

Traffic was low at that time of the day, but the frequent red traffic lights got
on Thomas' nerves soon. "When we are expected to be there?" he asked. There was
no answer. "Sorry. I really think you would look nice in a skirt."

"Hmm? I've been absentminded, sorry. What did you say?" Ayako apologized.

"The time due. When we are expected?" Thomas left out his latest comment.

"Oh, not before nine o'clock. We have plenty of time," she answered him.

She was right, it was half an hour left and they already were in L4. It was a
more suburbian district of Olympus, nevertheless the most buildings were at
least six to eight stories high and the streets narrow and full of people. They
passed a small park and the nav advised Thomas to turn and to look for a
parking spot.

"This remembers me of the time when I was a kid," Ayako mused aloud when she
saw the school building.

"Just a feeling or something in particular?" Thomas asked charily.

"Feelings," Ayako continued, "but... aah, I don't want to tell."

"You screw me up again," he whined but she teased him further.

"A small girl playing rough with the boys in the streets of the badside," she
told the story, "neither mother nor father, raised by an older cousin," she
made a dramatic pause, "that's what you wanna hear, hu?"

"You almost had me there," Thomas lied cheerfully, "but I know the files.
You've come from Europe, right?"

"Cheat!" Ayako rocked forward and complained, "You are such a nerd, Thomas.
Browsing the files; you should have talked to me!"

"Sorry. I was just curious. I...", he stuttered. Ayako sunk back in her seat
and sighed: "Tom, I understand you need all that documentation when... ," she
hawed, "...when you fix my ... equipment, but..."

"I have understood, I'm sorry," Thomas nervously interrupted her. To his luck,
just at that moment he found a free spot on the parking lane near the entrance.
He stopped the van and pressed a button to let the vehicle find its way into
the spot.

Ayako opened the side door and put her feet on the sidewalk. "There we go," she
announced, hurled the sports bag over her shoulder and stood up. Thomas took a
tablet computer from the side pocket of his door and got off the van, too. He
locked it with the remote and while the door behind his colleague was slowly
sliding to its home position, she in contrary didn't move at all. "There we
go... ," passed her mind again - the school, it was...

----

The girls are running. Have to run, too. Don't miss start of classes! Up the
stairs, through the corridor. Ugh, the backpack is heavy. Take it off, the
jacket, too. Into the classroom. Sit down on my seat, take my paper and pen.

Waiting. The bell rings. Waiting. Mrs. Jung is late. She finally arrives, with
her a man and a woman. Policemen. Mrs. Jung explains. The man talks about what
the police is for. The woman talks about when to call the police and how. They
show a film about the police. I draw her.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Jung is yelling angrily at me: "Ayako, träumst du?"

----

"Ma'am, we should go inside, shouldn't we?" Thomas asked Ayako in all
innocence. She had stood there for a minute or so, not moving at all, at best
blinking. He wasn't worried. In fact, he envied her ability to calm down
herself so quickly; It even came in handy for the job. He was wrong this time,
of course: the situation begged for the flashback and still it had striked her
out of the blue.

"Well then," she focused, "let's go," and marched to the school's door. Thomas
followed a step behind her. She took the cell phone from a fastener on her hip
and called that teacher.

When they stepped inside the building, the phone echoed a voice from the end of
the hallway.

"Oh hi, we are over here!" a young woman shouted happily and waved at the two.
Two men in police uniforms stood near her. The teacher hastily came up to Ayako
and Thomas but when she got nearer her cheering changed to a more timid look.
"You... are... Ayako?" she looked up into the face of the armored woman before
her. Before Ayako could answer, she apologized. "Oh, sorry. I had expected...
err... Sorry. Wow!" the teacher fumbled for words. Sure, she had expected a
tough policewoman showing up in her class but that...

"Nice to meet you," Ayako broke the silence and put forth her hand to the
teacher, who girlishly responded the greeting. After a few seconds of shaking
hands and silent gazing, Thomas interrupted the two.

"Hi, I'm Thomas Boyd, a colleague of Ayako."

"Oh, hi, I'm Erica Young," she turned to Thomas, "nice to meet you. You both,"
she turned back to Ayako, still intrigued by her looks. "I had not expected you
coming in ... combat gear, is it the correct term?" she asked.

"Yeah, combat gear," Ayako confirmed and Thomas nodded eagerly.

"Tee-hee, now I feel really foolish," Mrs. Young continued, "I heard from the
kids they had been saved by a policewoman who took care of a bandit alone,
still I had the picture of some meter maid in a nice dress in my mind. ... But
this is ... you are ... really imposing!"

"Thanks," Ayako laughed, "I do my best."

"By the way, who are these men over there?" Thomas asked while they were slowly
walking through the hall.

"Oh, I thought you know them! Okay, then I'll introduce you," Mrs. Young
started, but the older one of the two men had already come along and hijacked
the talk.

"Mrs. Ontemba, nice to meet you," he keenly greeted her.

"Nice to meet you," Ayako replied in bewilderment, "and you are?"

Thomas haven't had an idea who the guy was either.

"Oh, sorry," the man explained, "I'm Captain Neigher, from Metro Police Public
Relations. Neil for you," he tried to chum up with her.

Thomas nervously looked the other way. To his amazement, the climate was still
... friendly? The storm should have broke loose already. Instead, Ayako
politely responded the greeting of that apple-polisher.

"Nice to meet you, Neil," she said with a winning smile, and squeezed the hand
he gave her. Tightly.

Captain Neigher, no ... "Neil", failed at keeping a straight face. When Ayako
had loosened her grip, he simpered and then turned over to his assistant: "We
should go, eh? Ready, Mike?" Mike nodded silently and took the two large cases
he brought. Obviously a tech.

Mrs. Young interfered immediately: "STOP! Mr. Neigher, this is MY class and
Mrs. Ontemba is MY guest. Please respect that."

Neigher's astonishment only lasted for a second, then he started to brag again:
"Haha, where are my manners; of course you ladies take the lead today."

Now really fed up, she walked silently to the front of the small group and lead
them to the classroom door. "Just wait a moment while I prepare the kids," she
wispered, then put on her teacher smile and entered the classroom.

"Good morning, Mrs. Young," the kids stood up and greeted their teacher in
unison.

"Good morning, children, sit down please," she acknowledged her class, "we have
some guests today for our lesson, like I have annouced some days ago. Do you
remember?"

A boy raised his hand, "The police!" he shouted.

"Yes, Alan, but don't be so cheeky to our guests," Mrs. Young spoke to her
class, "I've gone through the questions to the police you've written down as
yesterday's homework and sorted out the duplicates. Some questions are very
interesting, we will ask them these." She smiled and focused another boy and a
girl, the two kids Ayako saved from the robber a week ago. "Erin, Robert, you
are our interviewers, please switch seats with Tamara and Karen." The two took
the seats near the teacher's desk.

Bob and Erin were both nervous about their new role. Erin remembered last week's
events only cloudily and haven't talked about it a lot. There was that
policewoman who took her on her arm and carried her to mommy. Would she come
here today? Bob in contrast bounced like a super ball. His strongest memory was
Chip's and Milan's exos rumbling through the mall. Sure they would bring one of
their police robots with them today! That would be über-cool!

"You all, please give our guests a great welcome!" Mrs. Young shouted happily
and clapped her hands. The kids followed immediately and that applause was
easily being heard by the group in the hall.

"Our signal," Neigher commented and opened the classroom door for Ayako and the
others.

Mike in the meantime had shouldered a professional telecamera from one of his
cases; "go forth, I'm staying in the background," he said. Ayako coyly smiled
into the cam and denoted Thomas to go in first, which he did.

"Let me carry that," Neigher took the sports bag from Ayako's arm and nearly
dropped it on the floor. With Mike grinning behind his cam, she couldn't help
smiling, too, and went into the room. Mike and Neigher followed.

Erin recognized her savior immediately, as Ayako did with both the kids in the
straight line of her sight. With a "Hi you both!" she squatted before them.

"Hello, Mrs. Policeman," Bob greeted her in a shy tone. Erin didn't say a word
but eyed Ayako's smile thoroughly.

"Well, our four guests from the police will now introduce themselves", Mrs.
Young interrupted the two, "listen carefully!" The four tried to agree with
hand signals who should begin but Mrs. Young intervened and picked Neigher.

"Ah, okay," he nonchalantly began, "I'm Captain Neigher from Metro Police
Public Relations. I'm here to... ," he paused, "supervi... look over this
meeti... confer... get-together." Mrs. Young had to hide a big grin; she had
successfully unnerved that buffoon.

Mike was unperturbed: "Hi, I'm Mike Holden," he turned the camera around to the
class, "I'm filming ya! Hands up!" The kids laughed into the lens.

"And I'm Thomas Boyd", Thomas introduced himself, "I'm a police technician and
a colleague of your main guest today," he showcased Ayako with his hands.

Ayako reassured herself with Mrs. Young, then she greeted the class: "Hello
Kids, I'm Ayako Ontemba and my job is to arrest people who try to harm you."
The kids babbled about her not wearing a police uniform, some whispered she's
thick and others said that's armor on her. Mrs. Young could feel Ayako was
uneasy about the situation but she was prepared.

"Children, we already talked about yesterday what the police is for and when to
call them. Officer Ontemba and Officer Boyd will now explain to you what they
do when you call them for help." - "Is that correct?" she adressed Ayako and
Thomas.

"Yes, but it's Constable, not Officer," Ayako replied. Mrs. Young nodded and
made room for the two.

"And I only had time for a short presentation," Thomas apologized. He took his
tablet computer and arranged it on the desk. It's internal video projector
displayed a video of the interior of the Olympus police headquarters on the
whiteboard.

"Here, that's the place where your emergency calls finally arrive. They get a
call from the hotline where the police should go to and what they have to
expect."

The presentation switched to a video of a police car with the christmas tree on
the roof switched on. Thomas raised the volume and the kids cheered at the
siren sound.

"Usually, your emergency is only a burglary or someone yelling or battering
someone else", he explained further while the video was showing policemen
pushing aside two loudly arguing parties of people.

"Not 'only a battering'. Please always report people beating up each other,"
Neigher interrupted from off-stage but Thomas didn't put up with it and
continued.

"Yes, always report them. They start with arguing, then beating up
each other but suddenly one takes out a knife and hurts the other really badly.
Call the police as soon as possible!" The kids frightened a bit on the idea, so
Thomas tried to lighten them up a bit.

"Don't worry, if you are fast to call the police, we would be there and noone
gets hurt. Do you know the emergency call?"

"911" the children answered in unison.

"Ah, I see you learned it well," he assured the kids and got back to his
presentation. He leaned towards Ayako. "Now it's your turn. The next video is
from a bank robbery."

Ayako was feeling uneasy again - was it really the right thing to show to
nine-year-old children? She looked over to Mrs. Young, who didn't seem to be
concerned. Thomas started the next video, which showed a highly illuminated
branch bank in an otherwise dark and emptied street. She knew that scene very
well - it was a mission three years ago. No shooting, Tom had selected it
wisely.

"I'll explain it to you, children," she angled for their attention, "that was
an armed robbery, like in the criminal stories in television. But that one was
real. There had been two robbers in that bank building, they had taken hostages
and we should let them go." The video showed two persons going inside, and
Ayako explained. "That's me and our colleague Jean, we are going into the bank
- we told the robbers we want to check that the hostages are allright."

A crushing sound was coming from the speakers of the tablet computer. "That was
the back door where two other colleagues broke through at the same moment. The
robbers had been distracted by that so Jean and I could take their weapons and
arrest them." It continued with Jean and Ayako frogmarching the two robbers out
of the bank. The kids became all very silent during the last video. Maybe still
too much for them?

Mrs. Young cheered them up again: "Constable Ontemba caught the gangsters!
Let's celebrate her: thank you, Ayako!"

"Thank you, Ayako!" the children shouted.

"More important, nobody was injured," Ayako added aloud, "the hostages had been
okay, we had been okay, even the two gangsters had been okay afterwards. This
is how we want it to end." After those closing words from his colleague, Thomas
stopped the presentation and put the computer aside.

"Thank you for the presentation!" Mrs. Young took over, "the children have
written down some questions," she gave Erin and Bob two sheets, "Erin, would you
please begin with the first question on your sheet?"

Erin cleared her throat and read aloud: "What does happen to the people you arrest?"

"We take them to the police headquarters, where my colleagues interr... ask
them what happened in their view and why," Ayako answered to the class, "and if
they committed violent acts, we put them into a special jail cell until a judge
decides what to do with them next."

"Robert?" Mrs. Young invited Bob to ask the next question.

"Have some bad guys ever escaped?" he read and Ayako cheered.

"Not from our arrest cells! But yes," she seriously continued, "sometimes the
bad guys escape. We let them go if it's too dangerous for the hostages to try
to arrest them. But we then chase them afterwards, when they had left the
hostages alone."

The class listened carefully and Erin continued: "How often the police is
called a day?"

Ayako couldn't answer that question, so Neigher felt obliged to answer: "about
100 times a day, but these are mostly traffic accidents, disturbance of night
peace, whippings and burglaries. Violent crimes are rare here in Olympus, it's a
safe place to live."

"Our hostage rescuing unit has less than 10 operations in one year," Thomas
added, "not much to do. We'll do our best it keeps being that way by catching
all the criminals. So you can feel safe anytime."

"What do you do when there is no crime happening?" Bob read the next question
on his sheet. Ayako resumed on it.

"Oh, we are practising all the time. We have a training area which is very dark
and intimidating so we can get accustomed to such situations. The police even
has an aircraft at the airport where we can learn to tell apart gangsters from
hostages from the way they act on a plane. And we have to learn to be quick and
see the mistakes a felon makes to overwhelm him."

"A question, Constable," Mrs. Young interrupted, and Ayako turned to her. "do
you ever feel anguish when you deal with criminals?"

Ayako paused a moment, then talked to the class: "oh yes, all the time. But I
overcome it because I know that I'm experienced and I won't give them the
chance to hurt me. The training is very important for our work, children."

Mrs. Young asked for more: "could you give us a demonstration how you overwhelm
a criminal?"

"Aww, sure," Ayako answered and looked over to Thomas, who immediately denied
with his hands. "Captain Neigher, then it's you. Remember your Aikidō
lessons?"

Neigher was surprised but took the chance to exhibit himself. "How can I help?"

"Pick a weapon and attack me."

Neigher took a free chair, hoicked it, and rushed over to Ayako. She turned her
body around and tripped him up. He fell over the teacher's desk and let go the
chair, which scrunched on the floor. She then grabbed his arms, pulled them on
his back and let her handcuffs click. The kids were astoundend how quick and
effortless she had dodged the attack and arrested him. While they were shouting
with joy she opened the handcuffs and helped up Neigher, who, despite looking
very messy, already found back to his role as a spokesman.

"That's what's happening to you when you attack a cop, kids!" he babbled,
"Don't even try it."

"Okay, let's go on," Mrs. Young stopped the laughing, "next question."

Erin giggled when she read it: "can girls join the police, too?" and Ayako,
Thomas and even Mike couldn't help snickering, too.

"Of course," she answered to the class, "as you have seen, it's not who's more
powerful or who has the bigger weapon. Most times it's only who's better
prepared and faster in thinking. You have to practise a lot. I get the most
scratches in practising with my colleagues, not from fighting with criminals.
They are often completely inexperienced."

"But even when you don't like fighting, there are a lot of other carreers at
the police, children," Neigher cut her off in his matchless manner.

"Hmm, yes, last question, Robert."

"Have you been injured once?" Bob read from his sheet. Ayako wasn't sure how to
answer that question honestly and looked over to Thomas who haven't had a clue
either

"Yes... , sometimes," she answered shyly and the kids accepted it to her
surprise.

"I have another question, Mrs. Young," Bob raised his hand.

"Then ask it to our guests," she acknowledged him.

"Do you have robots at the police?", he sputtered. The four were confused about
the question and wagged her heads, Mrs. Young and her class were puzzled, too.

"But I saw them last week in the mall. Really big robots!" Robert insisted.

"Ahh, the exoskeletons," Thomas concluded and answered the boy, "we call them
'Exos'. There's a pilot in these machines, so they aren't really robots."

Robert was very upset: "do you have one with you? I told Alan you have robots
at the police and he says I'm lying!"

"I'm sorry we don't have one here. They won't fit into the classroom, you
understand?" Thomas tried to calm him, but Bob was near crying. In the meantime
Ayako had silently walked over to Neigher and carried the bag she brought over
to the desk.

"Robert, please look here," she demanded his attention but the class already
stared at her, too. She had taken a shiny black bowling ball from her bag and
had raised it over her head. Bob finally looked at her and she slowly pulled
the ball over her head. The locking clicked and instead of Ayako's winning
smile, the glossy black front of her helmet faced the audience.

With its power supply connected the helmet immediately came to life. Various
status messages flickered through the head-up display and after a second the
camera view and user interface appeared. Ayako turned to Robert and switched
the speaker on.

"Hi, Bob, do you recognize me now?" a slightly distorted female voice spoke.

"The other robot!" Robert shouted as he realized, "Alan, there was another
robot like this in the mall. It was just like Mrs. Ontemba. It was... ," he
slowly turned over to Ayako, "Mrs. Ontemba, was it you?"

"Yeeessss," Ayako cheered through the speaker. Inside, she selected the lower
front shutter of the helmet which slowly slid aside. The following "It was
me-eee." chanting through the speaker mixed with her real voice from her lips.

"See, there aren't any robots at the police," Alan bossily exclaimed, "you've
lied."

Mrs. Young rebuked him: "Alan! Don't be cheeky, I said."

"It isn't a lie when you just tell with your own words what you've seen,"
Thomas interrupted and addressed the whole class, "that's very important to the
police. It's only a lie when you know it's wrong what you say. And our Exos and
policemen in combat gear sometimes look like robots who had jumped out of some
cartoon."

During Thomas' speech, Erin asked Ayako to come over to her. She wanted to
whisper something into her ear but the helmet blocked her plan. Robert, and a
second later the other kids, watched them intently; when Erin noticed it she
blushed heavily and withdrawed. Ayako again squatted before her table and tried
to comfort her with a smile but from Erin's view that was the smile of a big
black globe centimeters before her.

"What's up, tell me," the globe asked, "hmm? Don't be afraid, it's okay to
ask." it moved its lips

"Okay," she said quitely while looking elsewhere, "Mrs. Ontemba, do you ... are
you a robot?"

Alan bursted out again: "Silly Erin! There are no robots at the police! Mr.
Boyd just said..."

"ALAN! SHUT UP!" Mrs. Young commanded fiercely.

Ayako pressed the unlock buttons at her jaw and the helmet popped up. She took
it off her head and placed it on Erin's table, right next to her so she could
see into her eyes.

"Why do you think I'm a robot? Because of my helmet and my clothes?" she asked
the girl.

"No, because... ," Erin wavered, "... I don't know..." she lied coyly.

Ayako reflected a second, then bent over to Erin and whispered into her ear:
"What if I say 'yes'? Would it be okay to you? Don't you want to come back at
Alan?"

After a short moment of shock, Erin whispered back: "It is true?"

Ayako gave her a smile and a single nod and stood up again.

"Thomas, could you help me?" she asked but Thomas had yet no idea how. She
posed in front of the teachers desk, what challenged Mrs. Young to ask what she
was up to. "Another demonstration," Ayako hushed her and turned over, "Thomas,
please take my left arm."

"What? No way! ... That's no good!" he denied her request.

"Thomas, just grab my arm or deal with the damage later!" she hissed at him. He
demonstratively folded his arms to stop her, but no use: the audience hadn't
noticed yet, but he had the expert's eye to see what was going on: the central
bolt of her left shoulder joint moved out a tiny bit, loosening the rubber
sleeve which usually protected the joint. A few seconds later, anyone in the
room had noticed the exposed machinery at Ayako's shoulder. Mike was even going
sloppy with his camera but Neigher nudged him to keep on filming.

"Mrs. Ontemba, something's wrong with your combat gear." Mrs. Young worried.

"No, nothing wrong," she smiled at her and with a twitch on her face her left
arm came off. Thomas had already jumped by and snatched it before it could
fall to the ground.

The children and Mrs. Young stared in disbelief. Robert was the first one who
recovered.

"SHE'S A ROBOT! See, Alan, they have robots at the police. NYAH-nyah-nyah
NYAH-nyah," he poked his tongue out at him.

"ROBERT! DON'T BE GROSS!" Mrs. Young intervened again, but she was too
impressed to say anything else.

But Erin rised to speak anyway: "Mrs. Ontemba, so it's true? You are really a
robot?"

With insecure steps due to the missing weight of her arm, Ayako went over to the
girl and kneed down, with the open shoulder joint facing her. She moved her hair
aside and looked over to Erin.

"Please touch it," she asked her but Erin hesitated to move at all. "Hmm, we
already touched each other's faces when we had whispered with each other,
remember? You can touch my shoulder, don't worry!"

With caution Erin streched her arm and forefinger and carefully pressed on the
jutting stem. Nothing to worry really. Erin concentrated on the stem and
suddenly, it moved.

"Yikes!" she exclaimed loudly and the class startled, too; even Mrs. Young and
Mike. Thomas was unimpressed of course, and Neigher hid his excitement very
well.

"Nothing to worry about," Ayako turned over to the class, "it's me moving it. I
turn it forward," she moved her left arm - well, if her left arm had been still
connected there -, "and now I turn it backwards again. See?" The spindle was
rotating slowly following her announciations. "Pretty normal for a robot, don't
you think?" she asked but the visual impact had silenced the class effectively.
Ayako snuffled and turned back to Erin.

"Erin, could you help me? Take my helmet and put it back on my head, please."
She tamed her long brown hair with the remaining hand and held her head towards
the girl. "Erin?"

"Oh, yes," the girl lifted the helmet and pushed it onto Ayako's head clumsily.

"Mwoo, whth twhe frompt doo my wais," Ayako complained with a muffled voice.
The children snorted with laughter. Erin noticed her mistake and yanked the
helmet. "Ouch!" Ayako yelled.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ontemba!" the girl got frightened and Ayako noticed Thomas had
come by to help. She denied his offer quickly.

"It's okay, Thomas. Erin, try it again, please," she encouraged the girl and
this time, Erin got it right. The helmet slid onto Ayako's head and locked into
the latches on her neck. "Thank you," the globe spoke and closed the shutter
over its lips. Ayako stood up and posed in front of the teacher's desk again.

"THAT'S PRET-TY NOR-MAL FOR A RO-BOT!" she droned through the speakers. She had
set the volume very high and her voice was heavily distorted because of that.
Chopping it up was completely manual, of course. Through the helmet cam, she
checked the reactions of the children. No fright. In fact, the kids seemed to be
really excited about their new guest.

In a instant, the robot's head turned right ninety degrees and faced Mrs. Young,
who had stood there like transfixed for the last five minutes.

"MRS. YOUNG, I HA-VE PO-LI-CE PRO-CE-DU-RES TO FUL-FILL IN YOUR CLA-SS. MAY I
PRO-CEED?" it droned. Mrs. Young almost fainted but played along well
nevertheless.

"Yes, robot... err... Mrs. Ontemba, you may proceed." The kids were very
attentive. A red spotlight lit up on the robot's head, which turned left again
as fast as before and aimed for Alan. The robot turned his body around without
losing the aim and walked a straight line to Alan's table.

"A-LAN. YOU HA-VE WRON-GLY AC-CU-SED RO-BERT BE-ING A LI-AR. YOU HA-VE
IN-SUL-TED E-RIN BE-ING SIL-LY. THE-SE ARE OF-FEN-SES A-GAIN-ST THE LAW. I
HA-VE TO AR-REST YOU."

Alan fought back his tears but put his arms onto the table in front of him,
like he expected to be handcuffed any moment; it had scared the wits out of
him. The robot hunkered down and from within the blackness of its head, the
face of a young woman appeared. Ayako had opened the shutters again.

"Alan?" it asked. Alan was still frozen.

"ERIN, I'M SORRY!" he shouted suddenly, "ROBERT, I'M SORRY. YOU AREN'T A LIAR.
YOU AREN'T SILLY. THEY HAve robots at the police."

"So you believe me I'm a robot?" the face asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Ro... Mrs. Ontemba," he admitted and continued immediately, "Mrs.
Ontemba, do you have to arrest me?"

"Hmm, let's ask Erin and Robert if they insist," Ayako spoke out loudly and
turned to the two. They shook their heads after a short while and Ayako could
assure Alan: "No, I don't have to arrest you. You may continue with classes." He
breathed a sigh of relief and Ayako returned to the front of the room.

"Mrs. Ontemba, what was that?" Mrs. Young hissed at her after regaining her full
senses, "what's up with that robot roleplay? I thought you are from the police,
and not an illusionist."

Thomas jumped by: "No, we are from the police, it's..."

"Don't take me for a fool, Mr. Boyd," she whispered, "you are the one who's
inventing those technicals gimmicks, aren't you?" Neigher noticed there
wouldn't any presentable material come out of this, so he asked Mike to stop
the camera and prepare the other stage outside the classroom in the meantime.

"Children, would you like to hear the story how I've once arrested Santa
Claus?" he tried to distract the class from the heated talk at the teachers
desk. The class wasn't impressed but he continued anyway: "Not the real Santa
of course, it was a pickpocket dressing up as Santa..." His yackety-yak seemed
enough to amuse the kids.

Meanwhile, the bickering continued: "Mrs. Young, It's true I'm inventing those
gimmicks, but this isn't a magical mystery," Thomas whispered back but Mrs. Young
wasn't really listening.

"Ah, yeah, right. Mrs. Ontemba, I'm badly disappointed about you. Really gutted
about this... performance. I've wanted to show the girls in this class they
don't have to become a nurse or a clerk or a secretary... or a teacher..., but
they also could become a policewoman or do another non-stereotypical job... And
what do you do? You show them a 'woman' has to be a combat robot in order to
work at the police force. Mr. Boyd, "she turned to Thomas, "what do you intend
with this show? Discouraging girls from joining your little men's club? Huh?"

Ayako had been rendered speechless.

"Mrs. Young," Thomas caught her with both hands, "Ayako IS a combat robot!" he
exclaimed, even drowning out Neigher.

Still, Mrs. Young met him with a skeptic look, so Thomas became angry.

"Class, we're kidnapping your teacher for a moment. Captain, do you get along?"
he asked.

"No problem, tell me when you and Mike are ready!" Neigher nodded.

"...and when we searched his house, we found... who has a clue?..." he babbled
further while the three were leaving the room.

Outside, Mike was preparing a photo set with screen, lighting and flashlights.
He was almost done when the three stumbled over his cables.

"Mrs. Young," Thomas leaned on her, "what can we do make you believe us we're
not fooling around?" His stare into her eyes was rock-solid.

Mrs. Young didn't answer. She could not believe something like that. That woman
- she was roughly her age, a little younger - she had such a pleasing face -
her voice was soft and feminine - that woman, a combat robot? A machine? All
fake?

Thomas couldn't read her thoughts but the disbelief in Mrs. Young's face was the
telltale sign.

"Ayako, could you please lock up?" he asked his colleague.

"Yep", was her short answer. Her sulky face vanished when she pressed the upper
shutter of the helmet down. She browsed through the menus in her view and found
the correct option: 'Service Mode'. "Just actuators or full?", she asked back.

"Actuators is fine," Thomas replied.

When she selected it, the usual safety procedure started - move the cursor to
all corners of the screen, then blink. With that final blink, the helmet
partly took control over her bodily functions.

'Service Mode, Actuators' - that mainly meant the nervous endings of her spinal
cord which normally would control her motor functions were branched off from the
reflex action circuits of her mechanics. Instead, she could move any of her
hydraulic pistons, piezoelectric actuators and shape-memory metal chords by
selecting the appropiate parameters in the helmet menu. Or a service technician
could do.

"Okay, I've liked your little play until now," Mrs. Young moaned, "but enough
is enough."

"No, you wait!" Thomas stopped her, pointing her towards Ayako

The woman before her in that ridiculous robot outfit wouldn't move at all. No
faltering, no balancing. "She's a ballerina," Erica thought, but on second
thought, she was too bulky for that. "Oh well, yeah, I bet he had put her in
layers and layers of fabric to hide the trick behind it," was another thought.

Thomas kneeled down in front of Ayako and fumbled for the zipper of the rubber
coating on her belly.

"Mr. Boyd, don't you dare to strip your colleague - if she really is a
colleague of you - in public! In a school, besides," she complained.

"Mrs. Young," Ayako argued, "we have to do that to prove to you that I'm a
machine."

Mike demonstratively boondoggled with his photo equipment. The teacher leered
over to him and as she found the stage clear, she commanded: "Okay, get on with
it! The sooner this show is over the better."

Ayako knew what Thomas was up to do - and he was right to let her brain not
interfere - at least she had not yet the fine control over her body to move a
single motor with her will alone. He pulled the zipper open and tugged the thick
black rubber layer aside. Below it, an array of gray plates appeared. Mrs. Young
wanted to interrupt again but Thomas was faster.

"Ayako, open the belly array."

She browsed again through the menu and found the option. A drawing of her own
belly area appeared on the screen.

"Hey, that's pretty nifty, Thomas. Where should I blink?"

"Just in the upper right corner, on 'unlock all'. The rest is for the
individual panels."

When Ayako finally blinked on that button, the crackle from more than a dozen
opening lockings echoed through the hall. Thomas folded the panels aside and
Erica marveled in total disbelief at the view into Ayako's innards.

That wasn't a human woman. She slowly collapsed on the floor and Thomas
barely caught her before she could hit the ground.

Half a minute later, the teacher regained consciousness. In the meantime, Ayako
had exited her service mode and closed the access panels on her belly by hand.
Thomas was helping her with the zipper when Mrs. Young focused her again.

"Have I dreamt this?"

"NO", Thomas, Ayako and Mike shouted. The teacher sat down on her bottom and
looked up the tall figure.

"So it's true, you are a machine. But why," she stood up tipsyly, "why the
female apperance?" She turned over to Thomas.

"I bet you don't have a girlfriend, right? That's why you build a police robot
resembling a lovely girl..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ayako cut her off, "but I simply was born this way.
But thank you anyway. You are very kind." she continued with a mix of sarcasm
and girlish behaviour, she even bit her finger.

"What do you mean, 'born this way'," Erica drilled deeper, "I thought you are a
machine. Machines are built, not born."

"I'm both," she replied, "born and built... a human and a machine."

"If we talk in correct terms, Ayako is a cyborg," Thomas resumed, "from her neck
down she's a machine."

"But cyborgs are relicts of the great war," Erica tried to teach them, covering
the eerie feelings inside her. "you aren't that old."

"Thomas remodeled me into a cyborg quite recently, only some months ago," Ayako
explained.

Erica was shocked.

"Thomas, why have you done this... why? Such a beautiful young woman..."

"All her limbs had been severed on an accident a year ago, so... ," Thomas
tried to excuse himself but Ayako had flared up already.

"Come off it! Do only males have the right to decide for themselves they want
to be converted into a machine? Your whole talking about showing the girls in
your class an alternative role model is completely superficial!"

Dang. He knew this could've ended only awkward.

Erica stood still and silent for a while.

"I'm sorry," she said when she had reconsidered the dumb things she had said
before, "you are right. I guess you had the choice between becoming a pencil
pusher or..."

"...becoming a machine, yeah," Ayako was still upset.

"I'd like to bury the hatchet with you," the teacher offered, "I think you are
a positive role model not only for the girls but for all kids. You live your
dream of helping people by rescuing them from the hands of criminals, no matter
what." She put forth her hand and Ayako reluctantly accepted the invitation.
Instead of shaking hands, Erica hugged Ayako to reassure her the change of
heart. The cop put her artificial arm around the teacher a moment later.

Both Thomas and Mike had been relieved this day wouldn't end in a cat fight.

"We only have 10 Minutes left for the photos, I think," Mike hurried them
along.

Mrs. Young opened the classroom door and found Neigher still prattling about his
ancient achievements.

"Mr. Neigher, we are ready outside. Children, Mike wants to make a group
picture of our guests and us. Please come into the hall and listen to Mike's
instructions," she told them.

While the kids were spilling out of the room, Thomas reattached Ayako's left
arm to her.

"Mrs. Young,... Erica", she called the teacher, "do you like to reconnect it?"

"I... what do I have to do?" she asked and Thomas replied, 'just push firmly
and press that little button here at the same time'. Erica tried to push, but
it had no use as she pushed Ayako sidewards.

"You have to embrace me again," Ayako giggled. Erica did and with her whole
force, the arm finally fitted in its locking with a click.

"Thanks, now I feel complete again," Ayako played with her newly connected
fingers.

The kids arranged themselves in front of the photo screen without big hassle.

"Your pupils are really well-behaving, Mrs. Young, please come over here to the
middle, right behind them," Mike said and pulled her at her blouse, "Ayako,
Thomas, would you kneel down with one leg before her - Ayako, please open the
hatch so we can see your face - Erin, Robert, please stand right and left of
Ayako," Mike hasted back and forth the lines and his camera.

"Captain, please stand right of Mrs. Young," he ordered Neigher. Ayako was just
about pressing the lock buttons for her helmet when Mike interfered: "No,
Ayako, keep your helmet on. Just the upper shutter!" She responded with a shrug
and opened the shutter as Mike wished. He checked the motif in the camera
display and rearranged the floodlight a little bit. After another check he
sighed but wasn't entirely pleased yet. He went over to Ayako's back and pushed
her hair over her shoulders, The mirror display on top of the camera guided him
to find the best arrangement.

"Okay kids, and the others, too," he returned to the camera, "I need your
sweetest smile now. Just look into that display here and see what you look
like." After a few seconds, he began a countdown "Ready, steady, go," and
pressed the shutter button. The flash triggered, but Mike wanted another
picture, just for safety, so they repeated the procedure. "That was it," he
exclaimed, "thanks for holding still."

While Mike was beginning to pack his cases immediately, the school bell rang.
The kids got nervous and Erica asked them to get back into class and eat and
drink something during the break. Most of the kids didn't want to follow their
teacher's advice this time. Instead they built a knot of people surrounding
Ayako, touching her arms, legs, chest and of course they reached for her face,
too.

"Children, please don't compass our guest so much. It's bad manners!" the
teacher adviced and luckily, nearly all of them had been satisfied with
touching the police robot once.

A group of three - Erin, Robert and Alan - stayed at Ayako however. Ayako
wondered what they wanted from her.

"Well? You three in a pack?"

"We always play together at home," Alan explained.

"So you are the one playing rough, Alan?" she countered,

"I've said I'm sorry. That's true. I've not known they have robots like you
at the police," Alan excused again.

"One cannot know anything, Alan," Ayako replied, "Come on, I tell you three a
secret. But don't tell anyone!" The three nodded curiously.

"You had been both right. I'm a half-robot. I once was a normal policewoman,
as you saw me in the video. I became a robot only a few months ago."

The kids were struck by total awe. Who would become a ... robot?

"Don't you lie to us," Alan pushed in again but Robert chimed in: "She won't
lie. She's from the police, remember? Right, Mrs. Ontemba?"

Ayako nodded: "It's our little secret, okay? Don't tell the other
kids. Now go eat and drink something." Ayako stood up. Still struck by the
latest reveal, the three went into the classroom.

"Very clever," Thomas noted, "now they will tell anyone..."

"That's what I've intended," Ayako smirked, "working against gender bias and
stereotypes, you understand?" Erica scratched her head, again challenging
Neigher to start his chatter.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Young," he tried to comfort her, "we are all working on the
same side. It's only our methods which differ."

Erica hadn't the nerve and time to discuss this now but instead shook his,
Mike's and Thomas' hands and gave Ayako a goodbye hug. "I have to return to my
work," she waved goodbye and closed the classroom door behind herself.

"We should go now, I need something to drink myself," Mike declared. With
Thomas' help, he had put away the numerous cables and tools at record speed.
The hall was as tidy as they hadn't been there.

"Do you want to come with us?" Neigher asked.

Ayako denied at once: "No, thanks, I'm not thirsty."

"I've cared more about your colleage, Mrs. Ontemba," Neigher gave her a wink
but Thomas saw through her expression and hurried to say "thanks, but I'm not
thirsty either" to Neigher. So the four shook hands and headed for their
vehicles.

"Go. GOOOO!" Ayako yelled when she again sat in the back of the van.

"Pleased by your wish," Thomas smiled and started the engine, "any special
place?"

"No, just goooooooooooooo", she chanted while he was reversing out of the
parking space. They passed Neigher, who stood at the curbs and waved. Ayako
grinned and waved back through the window.

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<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Hi folks, it's Irina speaking again!
`-----
___ / Woah! Three chapters and 20'000 words later and we didn't
mm´ `~. even had a glimpse of sex in the story. Dark, you rattling
mmm mMMm \ cuboid, are you sure you're pressing the right buttons on
mmm[ ___\/o_] our audience?
mmmm| [[____]]
mmmm` ( J ) What, I should just ask them? Okay, but if you care about my
mmMM\\ .__ ) opinion, we need a fair amount of action in any case. Ayako
mmmM/`\___.' should kick serious ass. What's the point in having an
.MMmm. _.\mMm armored power-body when you are only socializing? "Some tea,
/ --[_v_]-`. Darling?" - "With milk and sugar, honey?"
[ ] \ \ \
[ \ \ \ \ Really? More action in the next chapter? Nice. When I think
[\ `. ø ø ] about our readers being turned on by fighting robot women, I
\\dbf `v _/ / can't help being turned on, too. Play up!
</nowiki></pre>

</div>
==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Chapter 2 - Things to remember]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready|Chapter 4 - Rough'n'Ready]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember

2015-07-12T09:37:30Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Edited by [[User:rdaneel|R.Daneel]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==2 Things to remember==

"Do you really think it's a good idea?" Ayako spoke into her cell
phone doubtfully.

"No worries, just be there!" the woman on the other end assured her.

"Well, ok. . . . I'll come along."

"Thanks! Oh, and bring a colleague with you. It's easier when you aren't the
focus of attention all the time," her inviter advised her.

"Understood!" Ayako answered.

The way she said it challenged the woman on the phone to banter her in return:
"Oh, now you really sound like a tough policewoman. Do it again!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Ayako snappily answered, chuckling immediately afterwards.

"Glad to hear you're looking forward to the fun tommorow. See ya!" the voice
wished her goodbye.

"Wait, I . . ." Ayako wanted to interrupt but the woman on the other end had
already hung up.

She wasn't sure whether she wanted to go through with this. She had been uneasy
about the outcome of the performance review already, too nervous to speak
before a group of people. If ESWAT was going to be dumped, all her efforts to
become a reputable policewoman would turn to nil. Frightened about the idea
that it would be mainly her fault if it came to that, she found herself
muttering, "No. . . . NO. . . . Don't think like that!" But it was her fault,
at least partly. She hadn't acted professional. It was rage at best, more
likely rampage.

Needing some distraction from those bad feelings, Ayako turned on the TV. More
bored than really interested, she zapped through the channels to find something
she liked, something funny or at least nice. Her sight quickly left the screen
and wandered through the room without a real aim, resting on the plants, the
wooden furniture, the fine white drapes, the window . . . the scenery outside.
She got up and went on the balcony to see the last glimpse of sunset. The
horizon was a bright blue-yellowish stripe, the sky already dark and the city
below her the usual sea of lights. Yes, she had a fairly nice place to live in,
though it only was a council flat at the 22nd floor of a large residential
compound. Not in one of the three arcologies of course, no policeman could
afford one of those luxury apartments. However, the view of the city was great
from her flat too, and it wasn't noisy at all.

The wind dried the tears on her face quickly and she felt the burn from it. It
was better to go back inside. Ayako headed for the bathroom to wash it off, but
just before reaching the door she hesitated to step inside.

'It' was inside.

'It' was a wall-to-wall mirror. When she was originally looking for a place to
live the bathroom mirror was what made the final decision. It was so big and
the light so soft she felt like some model in a studio when she did her hair
and make-up. But now, every view into that mirror gave her a shiver.

For the outside viewer, Ayako was a pretty young woman. From the eyes in her
perfect round face one could have assumed she was of asian origin, but her
long, brunette hair and the long, pointed nose told another story. She had only
very mild make-up. Too bad she had not smiled at that moment, it would had been
one of those faces you cannot forget.

But there was no use avoiding it. Thanks to the distance to the door, the
mirror had a clear view of her. Under the door frame stood a young woman in
some sort of armor, closely but not entirely resembling a biker's dress: her
belly, her hips, her arms, even her neck were covered in some black enameled
rubber-like material. Her thighs and knees were black too, but there were some
hard shell plates attached to them, protectors presumably. The shinpads
covering her lower legs were gray, same with the shoulder pads. Right down at
the bottom she wore hard, spiky boots, black of course, with ridiculously high
heels. Coming to the more dubious parts of the outfit, her breasts were covered
by something which could have counted as a bra worn outside if it weren't made
of the same hard, shiny, gray material the other protectors were made from. A
name plate below that piece announced the name of the freak: <div
style="font-size: 200%; font-weight: bolder; font-family: monospace;
text-align: center; border: 2pt solid #808080; padding: 1ex 1em; margin-left:
3em; width: 5em;">Ayako</div> Mirrors do not lie. They just reflect what anyone
could easily see. A freak. But that wasn't what Ayako actually wanted others
to see in her. More like a considerate person. Someone to call for help. A
policewoman.

She began to cry again and rushed into the room, ripped the faucet open and
bent down into the washstand to squirt water on her face. A lot of water. She
was frozen for almost an eternity, and when she finally raised, she obviously
avoided to look at the mirror. Trying to shield herself from the reflection,
she raised her hands and rested her head in them. Ayako couldn't avoid to peek
through the finger gaps. Small drops of water glared like diamonds on her
hands. Shiny, black hands. Slowly, she bent the fingers and let the fingertips
slide over her eyes. She could feel their sleekness, the coldness of their
touch. And she could feel the texture of her skin sliding beneath through them.
These fingertips were hers.

Thinking about it may have depressed her again but the ringing of the
doorbell freed Ayako from her agony. She took a towel and sketchily dried her
face.

"Deunan!" the voice on the entry phone bellowed.

Ayako followed the implied command and pressed the buzzer. 'Damn, I forgot to
give her instructions on how to find the apartment on the floor,' she thought.
'I better go catch her at the lift.'

Rattling and swinging like a fun ride, the lift approached its destination at
the 22nd floor. At least it was fast.

"Phew, what a worn-out building," Deunan mumbled. "I thought she could afford a
more decent place."

When the lift halted, the rumble from the air conditioning immediately took its
place in the orchestra, at only a slightly lower volume. Deunan left the car
and, as expected, she wasn't prepared for a labyrinth. The 22nd floor was a
maze of tiny little passages all alike. Numerous narrow corridors led to flats,
looking from outside all alike too. There was no chance for a first-time
visitor to find the correct flat without an extensive search.

Deunan picked a random corridor, as they all looked the same anyway. After
some turns, the lighting was broken.

"Now it gets creepy," she cheered. Deunan sure wasn't the kind of woman which
could be frightened easily. To her amusement she could hear a slow clicking
from behind. It even stopped when she had stopped to listen carefully. At a
junction she hid behind the corner to wait for her follower, who obviously
hadn't noticed her dodging move in the dim light. Deunan grabbed the person as
soon it had reached the intersection.

"So, what a stupid game is this?" she shouted with a gleeful voice.

The woman skrieked loudly. Deunan let her go immediately, realizing it wasn't
Ayako as she had expected.

"I'm sorry, I haven't meant to..." she tried to explain.

"Who are you, assaulting people in the half-light? This isn't the 'house of
horrors', do you understand?" the woman shouted.

"I'm sorry Ma'am," Deunan tried to apologize. It was odd as the woman was
clearly younger than her. But she was right, one shouldn't make such teenager
jokes with strangers.

Trying to get away from the awful situation, Deunan turned around.

"UWAAAAHHH!" This time it was herself who was shrieking. Centimeters before her
a bulky black figure had hoicked her arms trying to grab for *her*. Only a
second later, when Deunan found out it was Ayako, her pulse got back to normal.

"Hi, Mrs. Janicki", Ayako greeted her neighbor, waving waggishly.

"Hello, Ms. Boer," the woman greeted back seriously, "could you please tell
your friend? colleague? to grow up!"

"Oh, she's not my colleague but my..."

"Ssshhhh," Deunan stopped her.

"Yeah, what?" Mrs. Janicki harped on it.

"Girlfriend," Deunan blasted, "Problem?"

Mrs. Janicki squinted, eyeballing Deunan. Then she spoke to Ayako. "I had no
idea you're into older *women*. Have fun!" she cheered and left the scene for
her apartment, which was just two doors away.

The two "girlfriends" used the other passage to go to Ayako's place. It was
narrow so Deunan followed her subordinate.

"Was this neccessary? Now she thinks I'm a lesbian," Ayako complained.

"Problem?" Deunan smiled spitefully, "Look, if you hadn't stopped me, I would
have got away without that trick."

"Look who's talking," Ayako replied.

Deunan tried to apologize: "I just wanted her not to drill any further so I had
to make up something which is more intriguing than a police chief assaulting
people in her spare time... ...and I only had one second."

"Ok, ok, excuse accepted," Ayako answered. She wondered why her boss
had even showed up at her home. She had expected Deunan to chew her out at the
office for her misconduct. Was it that bad she brings the pink slip by herself
to make it less awkward? Walking a straight line wasn't easy thinking of this.

Deunan noticed Ayako's insecure steps. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, it's nothing," was the reply.

"You walk like a drunk," Deunan insisted.

"I'm a little stressed, okay?" Ayako fluttered.

"Well, we all are," Deunan ended this fruitless topic, "by the way, isn't it a
bit flashy to go out like this in public?"

Ayako was speechless when she realized she had left her flat without covering
herself into a coat. Damn hurry! And the boss had noticed.

"What's with Mrs. Janicki? She doesn't seem to be astounded?" Deunan drilled
deeper, "So your cover-up is a fuck-up, too?"

"No, no, Mrs. Janicki is thinking I'm into biker clothes," Ayako tried to
excuse it.

"So first it's wearing funky biker clothes at home, then dating older women...
now she *must* think you're a real freak! Sorry," Deunan snickered. Unseen by
her, Ayako had to swallow another burst of tears.

The two arrived at the flat a second later, when Deunan noticed her subordinate
was near collapsing. Ayako barely managed to type the doorlock code, then let
Deunan and herself in.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Deunan tried to calm her.

"No it's nothing boss, just take a seat", Ayako mumbled, and turned off the TV
quietly. The biggest blow was yet to come anyway.

Deunan had to break the ice somehow and looked around the living room.

"You have a nice home," she complimented her, "what's these flowers, they are
beautiful!"

"Cyclamen," Akayo willingly took the chance for smalltalk, "I like them because
they don't need much care. Just a cool, bright place and some water. Same with
the Fuchsia over there."

"Oh, yes, these are pretty, too," Deunan took their smell, "and they have a
nice scent. But only pretty mild."

"That's mostly because I'm not heating much, only about eighteen degrees. You
know, I'm heating...," Ayako explained hastily, "...if I had known you would
come over, I had..."

"No, it's ok," Deunan interrupted her, "I just keep my jacket on. Anything to
make you comfortable."

When she aimed to flop on a leather armchair nonchalantly, Ayako tried to hold
her back: "Ah, not there," but it was too late.

"Ouch!" Deunan squealed quietly when the chair striked her rear.

"Sorry, should have told you to take seat on the sofa," Ayako advised her boss,
"I had the chair reinforced. Something to drink? Green tea?"

"Oh thanks, green tea is fine, but not too much trouble," Deunan took the offer
and Ayako left for the kitchen. Time for Deunan to examine the armchair.

"No trouble, I have it always prepared," she shouted from the kitchen and came
back immediately with a teapot and mugs in her hands.

Caught red-handed, Deunan explained her interest in it: "a stylish chair, like
all your furniture. Our sofas and chairs all look pretty ratty once Briareos
had sat in them for a while."

"Yeah, I had that problem, too," Ayako sat down on her chair slowly, and took a
sip of tea: "when it was nearly worn out I didn't want to scrap it, so I took
it to a carpenter and he added a metal frame along the wood. And of course, he
had removed all the springs and had put a thin gel cushion on the seating
instead."

"So now one need REAL buns of steel to sit in it?" Deunan joked. Ayako blushed,
and Deunan noticed she made her subordinate uneasy again. "Sorry, I meant... ,"
she wanted to apologize, but Ayako was already yelling.

"I know what you meant!" - "I...I'm sorry, Ma'am," she continued, daunted by
her own emotional release.

Deunan hadn't expected such an reaction and spluttered an excuse herself: "I'm
sorry, I'd been sometimes said to have 'buns of steel' myself, yet I failed
your chair. It was a bad joke. Sorry." She took an endless number of small sips
from her tea mug to drown out the following silence.

"To bring us back to topic," Deunan neglected her fruitless attempt of
chatting, "I think you already know why I'm here." Silence took the room again,
and Deunan noticed her subordinate was still feeling discomposed.

"Kicking my butt," Ayako replied in a hushed tone. Even knowing Ayako's
insecurity for a while, Deunan was still perplexed by the whole difference
between her apperance and her character. It was surreal to see this bulky,
metal-clad, power-boosted woman in such a depressed mood. Not to mention
kicking her... Deunan had to disregard the thought.

"Well, yes, I have serious business with you," Deunan continued, discarding the
setting, "we have this performance review running, and your performance was..."

"Bad", Ayako sniveled. "No!" Deunan exclaimed, "Not bad, but what you've said
to that hostagetaker will get us into trouble," she continued. "Lance suggested
I should talk to you beforehand."

"Beforehand?" Ayako was puzzled.

"There will be an official hearing about the performance review and your 'great
monologue' is in the files. Lance thinks the committee will be nitpicking on
this. At least the whole idea of this performance review was to dump ESWAT, we
think."

"I, ... I don't even remember what I've said then," Ayako trembled.

Deunan refreshed her memory: "it was along the lines of 'I certainly had choked
you to death if you have had killed the boy.' Certainly nothing a policeman
should ever do. Neither say."

Ayako bursted into tears again. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to...," she
hesitated to say, "...I'm not really a policeman...," and sobbed again, "...I'm
just a ki..ll..er...," she cried out loud.

Deunan had to stop this nonsense. Immediately. "Constable Boer. No. Constable
Ontemba, spring to attention!" she commanded. ESWAT wasn't exactly trained like
military drill, but Ayako vaguely knew what she was expected to do. She leaped
to her feet, took a straight posture, put her hands on her side and ... finally
tried to hold back her tears. Deunan was relieved she found a cure against the
continous blubbering. No way to talk in plain language with such a person.

"Okay, constable Ontemba, the reason I'm here is to prepare you for the coming
hearing on the performance review. Understood?" Deunan reasoned. Ayako was still
in shock about the command. "Understood?" Deunan repeated.

"Understood," Ayako replied quietly.

"Louder, I cannot hear you!" Deunan commanded.

"UNDERSTOOD!" she replied.

"Good. The most time of the hearing your attendance is not required. You will
only be called as a witness when the committee decides it needs you.
Understood?"

"UNDERSTOOD!" Ayako replied again.

Deunan continued: "You will tell the truth, no strings attached. Understood?"

"UNDERSTOOD!"

"Good. And you won't collapse and talk gibberish about being a killer or similar
nonsense. Understood?" Deunan commanded. Ayako trembled again. "Constable
Ontemba, have you understood?" Deunan asked again. No answer, Ayako looked as
she was turned into stone. If there were not the tears in her eyes.

It was hard for Deunan to keep her nerves. She touched Ayako's left
shoulderplate where she had the ESWAT coat of arms embossed into: "Ayako, you
know what this sign on you represents?"

"It represents the Olympus ESWAT police force. To serve and protect the
people," Ayako replied calmly but irritated.

"Yes. But that's only the half of what it means," Deunan explained.

Ayako still hadn't understood.

"This sign ON YOU represents YOU being a member of the Olympus ESWAT police
force. YOU serve and protect the people," Deunan exclaimed.

"I still don't understand", Ayako pled, "I know this is my duty. Which I
failed." Finally Deunan became angry: "THE HELL, GIRL, YOU HAVEN'T FAILED!
ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT!" She grabbed Ayako by her shoulders to shake her back
and forth; no use, Deunan could have tried with a pillar instead. "You cannot
fail," Deunan continued much more calmly, "you cannot fail as long as you
pledge yourself to protect and serve the people. Your intent is what counts,"
she continued further, "Just learn from the mistakes you've made. You won't
become better from grieving. Do you understand this?"

Ayako was really moved by her boss encouraging her so much. "Yes, Ma'am, I
understood," she acknowledged.

"Well, then: WHO serves and protects the people?" Deunan prompted.

"I do," Ayako replied.

"Good. Why do you use force?" was the next question.

"To protect people," Ayako replied.

"That's fine for me," Deunan comforted her, "and what's the difference between
force and violence?"

"The intent," was Ayako's reply.

"So you remember police academy well, I see," Deunan stated and took a deep
breath, "So now for the final quiz, it should be easy for you to take: why do
you have choked that man?"

Ayako gulped. "To protect the children from his death threat."

"Ah," Deunan patronized her, "wasn't there a less violent way to stop him?"

Ayako reflected a moment: "I've used force, not violence."

"Hmm. Then: was there no way to stop him with less force?"

"No. There wasn't," she insisted.

Deunan was delighted and asked the final, most agitating question: "Why do you
have threatened the man with death?".

It was hard for Ayako to stay calm. After some seconds she came up with an
answer: "I haven't threatened him. I said he's lucky because I *won't* choke
him to death because he had shot me instead of the boy."

Deunan was astounded about this last answer: "Huh, some cold-blooded fish you
are. I've expected you to apologize."

"Sorry, if I'm meant to apologize I do so," Ayako nodded unassertively.

"No, no, not at all," Deunan calmed her, "if you apologize before the
committee, you admit you have done something wrong. So they have to punish you
but *may* only reprimand you because of your apology. With your answer, they
have to resolve on what you said was really intended as a threat. And I don't
think all the committee members are decided on that."

Still astonished, Deunan wondered loudly: "I don't get it. When I came here you
could barely stand on your own feet, and now you're talking yourself out of
trouble without even blinking an eye. Why all the crying? Why all this nonsense
talk?"

"I... I don't know..." Ayako struggled for an answer.

"No-no-no-no-no, it's just this insecurity which makes you break down," Deunan
interpreted Ayako's former reactions, "and we'll have to fix this." She caught
at her subordinate's shoulders and gazed right into her eyes, "You feel
insecure, why? Because I'm here?"

"Ye...Yes, Ma'am," she shuddered.

"But you stopped feeling insecure when I told you what to do?" Deunan wondered.

"I... I haven't thought about it," Ayako tried to avoid eye contact.

Deunan realized the conversation wound up in circles again. "Constable
Ontemba," she calmly said while strengthening the grip on Ayako's shoulders,
"I'm here to prepare you for a challenging situation. See it as a personal
briefing. This is a good thing. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Ayako still avoided eye contact with her boss.

"Hey, look at me when you are talking to me," Deunan angrily responded. She
concerned her: "I want you to be grateful for my assistance, let alone waiting
for an apology for all this drivel."

At last, and still shuddering, Ayako did what her boss expected from her,
"Sorry for my misconduct. Thank you for briefing me."

"Very good, that's how I like you to be. Just you have to THINK this way, not
only play it, understood?"

"UNDERSTOOD, MA'AM," Ayako replied loudly.

"I think we are done. But remember to behave this way at the hearing, too. Or
best, ALL THE TIME! The hearing is end of next week, I call you later for the
appointed time." Deunan let go of Ayako and headed for the door. "One last
thing before I leave," she continued, "I originally had the idea to suspend you
from service until the hearing to show how concerned we are, but now with your
savvy answering this doesn't seem right anymore. Anyway, the vacation schedule
has been changed already, so please take some days off until end of next week."

"And I thought you would fire me...," Ayako mumbled

"Ksshsssh, don't you dare to start it over again," Deunan stopped her, "Even if
whole ESWAT should be dumped, you gave a pledge to the people. This pledge is
good for life." That sounded pathetic, but maybe it was needed to keep the girl
on track. "I hope I can go now and leave you alone. I, ...no, WE count on you."
Deunan said goodbye and left, without waiting for an answer; Ayako would be
alright.

The sudden escape of her boss left Ayako confused. She waved after her, but
Deunan had already vanished into the darkness of the corridor. Ayako closed
then door and went back to her armchair. What exactly had happened? Her boss
wanted her to be prepared, she insisted on that more than enough. But she left
in the midst of action in Ayako's view. So what was her turn now? Her thoughts
revolved around what just happened and became more and more loose with each
recapitulation.

After a while of thoughtless tinkering with her flowers, she remembered about
what Deunan had interrupted her at: the appointment tommorow, she should bring a
colleague! Ayako picked up her mobile phone and pressed a speed dial.

"Boyd," a male voice on the other end of the line announced.

"Hi Thomas, it's Ayako," she answered.

"Hi Ayako, what's up?" Thomas greeted back shortly, "anything wrong with you?"

"No," Ayako replied, "...why do you think it's something wrong with me when I
call you?"

Thomas was stumped: "Uhgnnn. Usual..ly... ," he started stuttering, but Ayako
already lost her temper:

"I'm fine, forget it!" she closed the call and hung up.

"Fff, that girl got some nerves," Thomas said aloud. He could be sure the
plastic shards around him would keep their mouth shut. Same for the nuts and
bolts, metal rods and broken circuit boards on the desk. Only a small spot on
the huge workbench was more or less clean. A tiny mechanism mounted on top of a
small support was laying there, various wires running to a circuit on a
prototyping board and further to some power supplies and measuring equipment
buried in the heap. Thomas turned his chair around to another desk and placed
the phone on a free spot between two of the flatscreens. All this was his
personal realm.

Quietly, he continued his work on the miniature servo when the phone bugged him
again. "AWW, SHIT," Thomas exclaimed as soon he had recognized the ring tone.
The girl again. Would this ever stop? "Hi Ayako," he started, "so I heard you
are fine. How may I be at your service then?"

"I'm sorry," a soft female voice replied, "you are right I only call you when I
need your help."

"So something's broken after all?" Thomas asked, but Ayako denied immediately:

"No, I'm fine. Still I need your help."

"Hmmnn, now it gets interesting," Thomas spoke into the phone while he was
fiddeling with the servo again.

"You remember the children I'd saved from that robber last week?" she
continued.

"I only heard you'd saved some children by hammering the wall into that guy,"
Thomas answered her while he was watching the servo moving. It flipped over and
a small spring hurtled off. "NOO, NOT AGAIN!" he yelled, starteling Ayako on
the other end of the line.

"Thomas, are you even listening to me?" she asked, upset again.

"Sorry Ayako," he excused himself, "I'm working on a delicate mechanism right
now, still I take time to answer your call."

Ayako was pissed: "IF YOU DECIDE TO PICK UP MY CALL, WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE ME
YOUR FULL ATTENTION?" - "Please?" she added quickly, in a much softer tone.

Being fussy on talking clear words himself, Thomas couldn't refuse that
request: "Okay, bring it on. What do you want?"

"To make it short: I want you to attend me when I go to these children's school
class tomorrow," she explained.

"Whoa, that's... ," he struggled for words, so she continued.

"Some show-and-tell piece. Their teacher heard they had been saved by a
policewoman and she wanted the whole class to meet that policewoman in person.
To work against gender bias or something like that, I think."

"And she knows you... ," Thomas inquired.

"No. Dunno. At least she was pushy enough to have our dopey PR department give
her my private phone number," she continued.

"Aww, that's really stupid," he agreed, "and why I should be with you? To give
you some rest?"

"I think so," she went on, "maybe you could tell about what a police technician
does. So it's not all about sneaking into a good position and waiting for the
strike to make."

"Yeah, I don't think that's suitable for school kids," Thomas concluded. "Hey,
don't steal my thunder!" Ayako giggled.

"Won't happen! Not possible, I think," he quickly assured her.

"Oh, and you have to pick me up!" Ayako added, "tomorrow at 0800. Okay?"

"Okay," Thomas confirmed, "0800 at your place. Better go to bed soon."

"Yeah, thanks for remembering me. You are the one who's always playing around
past midnight," she answered, but Thomas wasn't as sheepish she had thought.

"Working! And you'd be in luck more than once because of that."

"Whatever, bye," she ended the call quickly. He silently put back the phone on
its cradle and turned back to his work.

"C'mon, little springy, where are you?" he chanted while digging into the pile
on his workbench. That could be a long haul.

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind|First Encounter of another Kind]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

2015-07-12T09:37:07Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Edited by [[User:rdaneel|R.Daneel]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==1 First Encounter of another Kind==
Night had fallen over Olympus. The outside observer would surely admit the city
was a beautiful, endless sea of lights, like it was each night. And like each
night, somewhere the blue lights of police were flashing and the howl of police
sirens could be heard. Olympus in general was a safe place to live and most of
these police operations were for traffic accidents and small burglaries.

A sparkling pool of blue lights stood out from the yellowish-white lighting of
one of the three monumental arcologies which formed the city centre. For sure it
had been one of those uncommon days when something awful was happening. The blue
lights had been blinking for hours now and yet there wasn't any progress. It
wasn't a fire, everything was calm.

On ground level, everything was under control. Metro police managed to keep the
police gathering place right in front of the arc clear of rubbernecks. There
were still persons coming down from the top levels of the tall überbuilding
using the normal commuter trains running inside of it. It had to be a Sisyphean
task to evacuate all these tens of thousands of people, even if it was only from
the upper stories. It sure was necessary.

At the gathering place, policemen—and women—in armored exoskeletons prepared
themselves for their upcoming fight.

"Chip, move the left arm," a policeman who looked like service personnel asked
another one standing in a big, puppetlike machine.

Cornelius complied and his exos copied the movement. "It seems it works again.
Thanks, Tom," he answered, then he lit up a cigarette.

"There, I fixed it!" Thomas cheered and then checked whether his other colleagues
had any problems with their armor.

Kenneth hadn't any. His small exoskeleton was more like functional clothing, which
was in great contrast to the super-robot Cornelius was 'wearing'. "No problems
here, thanks," he shouted, so Thomas went by him waving silently.

A few meters away Milan was flexing his exos, a similar one as that of Chip.
Thomas could easily see from its moves all its hydraulics were working perfectly
so he left him alone too. Milan wasn't a chatterbox anyway.

A cold metal hand grabbed Thomas on his mouth and a likewise armored arm
wrapped around his chest from behind. "Shhh, don't move or you're dead," a
voice hissed. As if Thomas could move or even say something if he wanted to; it
was too tight! To his relief he knew the person those arms belonged to, and the
stupid guy was loosening his grip a moment later. "Hey, just practising!"
he laughed.

"Not on me again," Thomas mumbled. "I get a chill everytime you do that."

"At least that means it never gets old on you." Jean, that was the name
of the fellow, smirked at him.

"If you have time to make bad jokes like that, I guess nothing is wrong with your
armor?" Thomas inquired.

"No. Everything ok," was Jean's short reply. Thomas waved and took his chance to get
away from the clown.

Thomas ended his prep tour at a group of three colleagues. The guy was more than
two meters tall and bulky. He wasn't wearing an exos though he looked like he
was. Instead, he was an exos built into a human, or vice-versa if you like—a
cyborg. A blonde woman in her forties did a high swing kick on him, which he
dodged easily. "That's how you have to do it!" she was yelling. "Briareos, don't
go easy on her. She needs all the practice she can get!" the blonde commanded and
dashed off to a nearby truck.

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered laconically, while his lady-boss was already too far
away to hear him.

'She' was a woman who basically practised as a backdrop the moment before. She
seemed to be daunted from the demonstration and, despite being clad in an
intimidating full-body armor herself, somehow she managed to look vulnerable,
like a damsel in distress.

Thomas was approaching the two, first asking Briareos if he had anything to
repair on his body. Bri denied it with "Had no chance to get it damaged yet,"
so Tom turned around to the woman.

"Ayako, any problems?"

"I . . . I don't know," a soft, unassured voice answered him. It was heavily
muffled by the full-face helmet she was wearing. "I haven't tried out all the
functions yet."

"First, you should try the outside speaker. I can barely understand what you
say," Tom suggested.

For a short while, nothing happened. More exactly, it looked like nothing was
happening but both Tom and Bri knew Ayako was desperately browsing through the
menu options presented on the augmented reality display built into the helmet
front.

"Well?" Thomas asked, prepared to give her a clue, but a blink later the lower
front shutter of the helmet opened slowly.

Delicate, peach-colored cheeks appeared in the midst of the black shaded
plexiglass of the helmet. The tender lips of a young woman immediately followed.

"I . . . I'm sorry," she wispered. "I haven't found the speaker option yet. The
cursor is a little jumpy. It's hard to catch it at the correct position."

"It's an eye tracking cursor. It's your eyes which are moving jumpily," Thomas
explained. "You are just too nervous, calm down." He wondered a little how she
had opened the shutter instead. "Opening the shutter was easier? If I remember
correctly, it's at nearly the same menu level," he asked.

"I'm feeling a little hemmed in here when the helmet is closed so I've made a
shortcut for opening it. Blinking left, right, right, both," Ayako admitted.

"That's great, I don't remember showing you how to do that! So you have been
playing around yourself already?" Tom queried her further.

"Yeah, but too little, I guess," Ayako answered with a mixture of bragging and
shyness. "The training hasn't focused on the new helmet's functions."

Thomas had to excuse himself, "My fault, sorry. I was so engaged putting useful
functions into the thing, I've missed the deadline for the documentation. But I
think I can just let you play around a little more and everything should be
fine, no?" Thomas concluded, teasing a smile out of her.

"Enough lovey-dovey, you two," Briareos reminded them of the priorities. "We are
preparing for a mission, remember?"

"Yes, Sir!" both prompted in unison.

"No chance to make me grin!" Bri bantered back, pointing at his jawless cyborg
face.

"Well, then you should try what our bosslady told you to do," Thomas
proposed to Ayako. She gave him a last smile before the shutter closed and
covered her whole head in black armor again.

Insecurely, she attempted to do the same high swing kick she saw a minute
before. She only managed to do a straight kick before Briareos could get a grip
on her foot and kept hold of it.

"So, what are ya gonna do now, bitch?" he asked with a provocative tone while
he twisted her foot slowly. Ayako squeaked as the angle was soon too much for
her ankles. Bri let her foot go and she tautly and silenty stood before him.
It was an unsuccessful attempt to look stalwart.

"This way it won't work," Bri mumbled. Then he shouted, "So let's try it the
other way!" while trying to grab Ayako with his big hands. More instinctively
than deliberately, she stotted back and managed to escape his attack. Briareos
pursued her immediately but, at that moment, Ayako had already changed her
attitude to 'Attack'! She whirled around and smashed his head with a full blow
of her leg. Bri fell on his bottom.

"Ah, Tom, now you have to do some repairs," he moaned.

"I . . . I'm sorry," Ayako apologized and knelt down next to Bri.

He wasn't peeved. Actually, he seemed less concerned than a moment before. "Girl,
if I hadn't been a cyborg, that kick would have finished me. Really, really,
really finished me off. Be careful of what you do hit with your legs. Those are
DEADLY weapons," he explained.

Tom found Bri's neck to be damaged and asked him to turn his head around. "Are
all axes moveable?"

"It seems tilting sideways is broken," was Briareos' reply. "It's not a big problem.
We can repair it after the job is done."

Thomas insisted to repair his neck before they went on their mission, but Bri
refused. "If I get into trouble, I'm going to ask Ms. Hammerblow here for a
daring rescue," he laughed.

Thomas was pretty sure Ayako had been blushing heavily under her helmet. He had
to bite his tongue so not to discourage her again. About the blush, he was going
to find out soon anyway.

"Your turn, Ayako. Anything broken on the test?" Tom turned to her.

"No diagnostic reports, no," was her short, technical reply—this time through
the speaker, he noticed.

"See, it's all a matter of being self-assured. What do you feel? Do you think you
can handle it?" He was rubbing it in.

Ayako reached for her helmet and pressed its lock buttons at her jaw. The helmet
made a tiny jump and Ayako stripped the whole thing off of her head.

The cheeks and lips hadn't lied. The helmet protected the most precious part of
a young woman. While her long brown hair dropped smoothly onto her back, her
eyes were not that smooth. Fierce, that was the correct term. But with her
cheeks still red as tomatoes, she looked very funny. Tom couldn't help but grin.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.

"What do you mean? Whether I'm able to do my job? I may be younger than you, but
I'm a confident and skilled policewoman. I can . . ." she hissed.

She got the wrong idea, so Thomas interrupted her. "No! I meant, your body!"

—Silence—

Ayako blushed even more so Thomas had a hard time not to grin again. Bri clearly
was in advantage here by having no facial expression at all. Still he silenty
stood up and left the two alone.

"Ok, I won't push you any further," Thomas broke the silence. "You said there
were no diagnostic messages so I take this as a 'combat-ready.'" He was drawing
a checkmark into the air.

Ayako parted her hair and put her helmet back on. It locked over her head with
an audible click. "Yes, Battlemachine Ayako ready for use." she said and stood up.
Thomas was a little puzzled. Had she been snickering? Was it the same woman he
had seen ten minutes ago?
-----
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.----------------------------.
| Hi, it's me again, Irina! |
`----------------------------´
/
\-´'`-/ /
/`mMMMm´\
[__\_/o_]
([_____])
( J )
mM\_`=´_/Mm
mMMmm/ \mmMMm
.---´_._`---. |||
[ .--[_v_]--. ] \ ]
[| ø ø |] //
[|`--<´ `>--´|] //
|| \ \_/ / \\//
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</nowiki></pre></div>
[[Image:戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako 1.jpg|thumb|right]]
This is a good moment to show you a picture of Ayako,
taken on. . . . Hmm, I won't spoil it to you yet. Here it is:
Sexy, huh? What, NO? Thights too bulky? Breasts not perky
enough, you say? Aww, and I thought you had a serious
fetish for machines, let alone women that are machines.
Phew! Wait, you do? Really? Then I have good tidings
for you. There is more to come: 26 Chapters, where we
explore the features of Ayako, both of her mind and body.
And mine too. Aww, yeah, explore my features, I like
that. . . .
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.-\-/-.
|[] []|
/+ .-. +\
|_____|
^^ ^^ dbf
</nowiki></pre></div>
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Oh, and here's Dark again. Seems he's
a little jealous right now. Cute little
robot, are you eager to explore my features?
Hmm, the earlier I continue the chapter, the
earlier I can cuddle with you. XOXO!
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-----
In the meantime, the blonde had setup her working place in the loading space of
the truck. Twelve big computer screens filled the side wall of it. Half of them
showed videos from the helmet cameras of her colleagues outside. The others had
two different floor plans of the arcology and various status info on them. The
blonde was adjusting her headset and did a sound check.

"Test: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta," she said into her mic, "everyone there?"

"Ken ok," Ken answered.

Jean followed him with a "Jean ok." Then Chip, Ayako, and Milan followed. Bri
made it complete.

"Tom, is all the other setup done?" she asked through the radio.

Thomas answered from the truck's door, "Yes, Ma'am. All checks had been
successful. Bri had a small damage, but. . . ."

She interrupted him, concerned, "What's up with him?"

"Nothing, he says it's ok. We can check it after the job," Thomas replied.

"Ok, then let's bring home the bacon." She got collected again.

Thomas was reaching for the second seat as another person stood at the door. It
was an elderly man with a grey full beard. He tapped his glasses, then greeted.

"Deunan!" he said.

The blonde turned around and surprisedly greeted back, "Chief! It . . . it has been
six years!"

"Don't call me 'Chief,' Deunan. You are the ESWAT chief now," the greybeard answered.

Deunan was a little fussy. "Ok, chie . . . Lance. Thomas, this is Mayor Lance, former
chief of ESWAT. Lance, this is Thomas Boyd, exos service tech."

"How Do You Do?" Thomas asked Lance, as he had noticed his British accent.

"How Do You Do?" Lance replied while they shook hands.

"Well, it is nice to have this small reunion, but at the moment we have a little
crisis situation out there, so . . ." Deunan excused herself girlishly.

"Which is exactly the reason I'm here," Lance cut her short.

"Err, what?" Deunan wondered.

The mayor continued, "You know I retired from ESWAT in order to join the centre for
international police cooperation?"

"Yes, you talked about it when you left us," Deunan answered.

"Well, that's why I'm here. Olympus city council is concerned Olympus has fallen
back from the state-of-the-art in armed police equipment and modern tactics," Lance
told her.

"Awrr, damned politicians," Deunan snarled. "So they sent you to check on us?
Haven't they read my memos? It's all written down there! We are heavily
underfunded. I only have six armed police officers left and one tech."

Lance quietly responded to her, "Olympus has become much safer during the last
twenty years," he said, "so they question the existence of ESWAT at all."

Deunan was lost for words, so Lance took the chance to explain further, "It's
planned to liquidate ESWAT and use the money to buy weapon platforms."

Deunan became a snickerpuss, "Again that ridiculous idea? It was a disaster
twenty years ago. Don't they ever learn?"

Lance seconded her, "I know. I don't like the idea either. However, they have
appointed me to act as a third-party expert though I was the ESWAT chief not too
long ago. If I had to bet, I would say somebody in the council is on our side."

Deunan was relieved when Lance said they should "just do the job and I will do
the paperwork."

Briareos showed up at the truck door. "Deunan, we'll have to talk about our
fledgling." Then he noticed Lance. "Lance! Long time no see, err, how do you
do?" Lance gave his hand to Bri and returned the greeting.

"Bri, Lance is here to write a performance report about us," Deunan informed him.

"Oh, it seems all your memos have had an impact," Bri replied.

"Yeah, whatever," was Deunan's circumventive answer.

"So, what about the fledgling?" Lance asked.

"Ayako Ontemba, Sir," Bri reported, while Deunan made a cutthroat gesture from
behind. Bri got the meaning and continued, "It's too complicated to explain now,
gotta go. See you later, Lance," then dashed off.

Tom hadn't said a word until then. He wanted to, but then guessed it was wiser to
keep silent by the way Bri was fleeing.

"You don't have to be concerned. I'm pretty sure she will learn everything she
needs to know from you," Lance said while turning to Deunan. "That's the reason
why I proposed you as my successor. You weren't the best fighter or policeman in
the team, but you had the attitude to always learn something new and always
pass it further to younger teammates. That's what a good instructor must always
do. And to be a good instructor is the main job of the chief."

Deunan blushed a little, then turned around to her screens. "We should start now.
No time left to kill. Please take the other seat, Lance, so you have a good view on
what's going on," Deunan commanded, and Lance followed. 'He primed himself well,
I'm glad we have done it too,' she thought.

As Lance had taken Thomas' seat, Tom had to lean back to the other side wall of
the truck. Thinking this would get uncomfortable soon, he left the truck. "See ya
later," he waved.

Meanwhile, the SWAT team had entered a wagon of an empty commuter train heading
up the arc. Briareos was the last one arriving.

"Hey, squad leader, detained yourself into the restrooms?" Jean sneered at him.

Bri knew Jean was only making a bad joke, so he ignored him. Instead, he brought
the topic back to the job.

"We are being evaluated on this mission. That means 'stick to the rules.' No
fooling around, no shots to the head or other gory businesses and most importantly,
DO NOT LOSE ANY HOSTAGES!" he keenly advised his subordinates.

Ayako broke the following silence: "Understood, Sir." The others followed her
example.

Briareos started a briefing: "Ok, let's recapitulate. The hostage-takers are robbers,
not terrorists. So we don't have to expect them being eager to die. There was no
shooting, so most probably they don't even want to hurt anyone if it can be avoided.
Nevertheless, they threatened to blow up the building if their departure is hindered.
They demanded a heli, which should now be on its way already. Our enemies robbed a
jeweller in the 183rd floor. Our colleagues from metro police managed to isolate them
there by locking the fire doors and elevators. The robbers are keeping themselves very
silent up there, waiting for their heli. There are some other stores in the area and
we don't know how many enemies or hostages we have to expect, nor their arms or the
condition of the hostages. From what people who managed to flee had seen, they have at
least one exos up there, most probably a landmate they only brought to break through
the safety glasses at the jeweller. That's the situation. Understood?"

The other team members acknowledged.

Briareos gave a last instruction: "Our objective is to SAVE ALL THE HOSTAGES, not
arresting any robbers. If they manage to flee, they are lucky bastards. Understood?"

A further acknowledgement from his whole SWAT team could be heard.

A short time later, the train arrived at the mall station at the 183rd floor.

"Ok, go!" Bri shouted.

The SWAT team got off the train and parted into three groups, as the station had
three exits. Chip and Jean took the western exit, where Chip easily broke through the
locked fire door with his exos. Milan and Bri took the central exit to be ready to
boost up both other teams if neccessary. Kenneth and Ayako headed to the eastern exit.
Ken tried to break the lock of the door, but he had serious problems to do it with
his lightweight exoskeleton. After pushing against it for four times he gave up.

"Seems we're stuck here. We need help from the others," he said, and was up to reach
for Milan and Bri as long as they were near.

Ayako grabbed his shoulder to stop him. The tight, sudden grip made him fall to the
floor immediately. Sitting on his bottom, he could see how she was flexing, then how she
did a straight kick against the door. With a scrunching sound, the metal sheet of the
door bent heavily inwards and, quite more impressive, the lock and even the pivots
blasted. Ken was puzzled. How did she do that? A secret karate technique? But moreover,
he met Ayako with disbelief when that average sized woman pushed away the large steel
door, which must at least had a weight of 1500 kilograms, without the help of the pivots,
and more importantly, without his help either.

"If you haven't noticed yet, I'm escorting YOU while doing the lumberjack work, and you
are tiptoeing, not the other way around," she told her still unbelieving colleague.

"Ayako, how can your exos be so much more powerful than mine? It doesn't look bulky enough
to have this much power," Kenneth questioned her.

"It's not an exos," she replied, which led Ken into utter confusion. "Hey, we can talk
about it later," Ayako tried to bring up the mission again, "we have some hostages to save."

Kenneth nodded and they slowly went into the battlefield.

Deunan and Lance had watched the videos from the helmet cams on their screens.
Then Thomas stood in the doorframe: "We finally have the surveillance cams of
the arc on our screens. There are about 50 cams in the mall. They are on
channels 20 and up now."

"That's great, Tom. You're a technical wizard," Deunan acknowledged him and put those cams
on four of the screens.

"A technical 'firefighter.' He matches the team perfectly," Lance commented.

The arc's cams got useful very quickly. Deunan scanned through them and identified
a lot of hostages on the screens.

"So, there are about ten. What is this place? Ah, the cafe at the centre of the mall.
Seems they are strapped to some railings. Why do they wear shopping bags on their heads?"

Lance browsed through the screens too. "There are about twenty more, this has to be the
supermarket at the east end. Yes, it is," he said.

Deunan got worried. "I can't find any more hostages on the cams. No more hostages?
Can't be. They bragged they had about seventy!"

"The toilets," Lance said calmly. "There aren't any cams."

"You are right," Deunan seconded him. "But forty hostages in the toilets alone? No way.
There must be another place without a cam."

"Maybe it's a bluff?" Lance suggested.

"Could be. I'm not sure . . ." Deunan shrugged, then she had the right idea: "There is a
butcher shop in that shopping mall. The cold storage room!"

"If that's true, we have to rescue those hostages as quickly as possible, or they'll
die from cold," Lance recommended.

"I can't see any of the robbers patrolling. They must be hiding among their victims.
Clever bastards, they parted the hostage groups as well as their own group," Deunan
noted. "We'll have to flush them. The helicopter?"

"Obviously," Lance agreed.

Deunan switched her mic on. "SWAT, listen: there are hostages in the cafe and
the toilets at the centre of the mall, at the supermarket on the east end, and
we think in the cold storage room at the butcher shop on the west. The other
places seem to be clear. The robbers are hiding between their hostages, so be
careful. We'll flush them by announcing the heli is coming. Chip, Jean: head for
the butcher shop and rescue the hostages from the cold storage."

"Understood," was Chip's reply.

Where were the others? "Milan, look out for the landmate. I couldn't see it on
any of the cams but it must be there! Maybe they just tampered with a cam and hid
behind a corner," Deunan commanded.

Milan replied a short "Understood" and searched the place.

"Bri, check the cafe. The hostages there have shopping bags over their heads.
Maybe the robbers placed the explosives at the cafe and didn't want witnesses,"
Deunan concluded. "Ken, you go searching the toilets. Ayako, you go to the
supermarket," were her next instructions.

The three replied. It was a really odd situation. The felons knew the police was
there and did not frown on them.

Chip and Jean reached the butcher shop quickly. The place was deserted like
the rest of the mall. It was too narrow for Chip's big exos to go inside so Jean
searched the place alone. He found the lever of the cold storage room door tied
to a nearby steelframe shelf with a weighty chain. Breaking such chains was
actually intended to be Chip's work, but as Chip couldn't come there, Jean
shortly thought about it, then pushed the shelf to the door with all the power
of his small exoskeleton. The chain got loose and he could open the door. On
first view, more than two dozen people had been shuddering inside.

"Police, come out!" he shouted, but nobody moved.

They had been too shocked by Jean's looks. He opened the visor of his helmet and
repeated his demand. Seeing there was a young man in the armor, the people on the
front built faith in him and quickly moved outside, only to find Chip in his big
exos waiting. He thought they maybe would chicken out because of his big machine,
but none of the hostages did. Big, bulky exos were an everyday's business. In fact,
some of the hostages may even drive one at work, most probably a landmate.

"Anyone injured?" he asked, while Jean was searching trough the cold storage whether
there was any hostage left who may had passed out. There wasn't.

"Butcher shop clear, Ma'am. No enemy found. We are bringing down the hostages," Jean
spoke to Deunan.

"Understood, get them into the station quickly. Don't forget to check them for weapons
first. Some of these hostages could be in fact the robbers! Chip, you're going to
backup Milan. If there is really a big landmate somewhere, he could need help," Deunan
replied. Both did as commanded.

Meanwhile, Ken was examining the restrooms. He found a hostage in every cabin,
strapped to the piping. Like with Jean, shouting "Police, I'm here to save
you" had been unsuccessful. He also had to lift the visor of his helmet before
people trusted him. Freeing the hostages however was a nuisance, as his exos
was still too bulky to fit into the same cabin with them. It was easier to
break the piping than the cable straps, so the toilets soon after became a
wet mess, like the hostages and Kenneth himself.

Deunan switched the radio channels to talk to the metro police: "Gianna, what's up
with the heli?"

It took a moment until the police sergeant answered: "If it's coming, we'll hear
it! I don't know what is taking them so long." A short moment later, the rattle
was audible on the radio. "Talk of the devil . . . Gianna over!"

"Hm, should we inform the robbers? I don't think they'll miss it," Deunan thought
aloud, speaking on the SWAT channel again. "SWAT, listen: the heli is coming.
Soon the robbers will uncover themselves."

Deunan was right. She could see a hostage in the cafe freeing himself from the strap
with a side cutter, then taking the bag from his head.

"Shit, their disguise is intriguing. That guy really looks like a white-bread
businessman in a suit," Deunan railed. She noticed something odd was going on.
"What is he doing now? He's looking around? What is he looking for?" she wondered.

The guy then sneaked out of the cafe and through the main corridor, hiding behind
plants and booths.

"Bri, one of the felons is in the corridor heading towards the supermarket. Is
he going to cross your way?" Deunan asked.

"Don't think so," was his short reply.

"Ok. Ayako, a hostage-taker is coming your way. It's a man in a business suit.
Let him pass, I'd like to know what he is looking for."

"Understood," was Ayako's reply.

The robbers sure had noticed something fishy was going on. Were they expecting it?
None of them raised an eyebrow when the fire doors on the station were crashed.

"This guy isn't really a pro," Lance commented. "But I still don't get how they
expect to escape with their booty. They'll have to uncover themselves to reach the
helicopter and now that we're there, we could catch them all. Why are they
that confident? The explosives?" It had to be a trick. Then he had the right
idea: "What if. . . ."

"Yeah?" Deunan asked.

"What if the helicopter is the trick?" Lance explained.

"You mean . . ." Deunan got it too.

"Yes."

"Shit, that means we may already have some of the felons among the freed hostages,"
Deunan sweared. "Metro Police, Gianna!" she switched the channels.

"Gianna here."

"Gianna, some of the robbers may have disguised themselves as hostages. It's part
of their plan."

"Ok, we'll take personal data from anybody coming down here," was Gianna's calm reply.

"Thanks, Deunan over," Deunan dismissed and switched back to the SWAT channel.

Ayako managed to avoid the man in the suit while he was sneaking through the
wide corridor. It wasn't easy, as the man secured nearly each of his steps by
looking around. He sure had wanted to avoid any contact with the police but that
couldn't be the reason he was that alert. She followed him into the supermarket where
he was suddenly shouting "Rose? . . . Ro-oose?" He was clearly looking for an accomplice.
He shouted again. What was up with him?

Ayako asked Deunan what to do. "Chief, I'm at the supermarket. The guy is shouting for
someone. Your orders?"

Deunan switched all the cam screens to the supermarket and answered, "Don't move! His
accomplices surely are going to uncover themselves in a moment. Bri, Ken, how is it
going at your places? Ayako will need your help at the supermarket soon."

"Still unchaining hostages, Ma'am," was Kenneth's reply.

Bri had better news: "Haven't found any explosives here, Deunan," he was reporting.
"The hostages are ready to go, too."

"Bri, they'll find the station by themselves. Go help Ayako at the supermarket!"
Deunan ordered him.

"Understood," he replied.

"How many felons can we expect up there?" Lance asked.

"We don't know the exact number," Deunan shrugged. "From what witnesses of the raid
said, it must be between six and ten. I'd say they're a group of ten, otherwise they
wouldn't have used cable straps to tie most of the hostages. It is too time-consuming.
We saw it when Bri was freeing them. I would bet they used the cold storage room only
because they hadn't enough straps."

"So there are up to ten armed robbers in the supermarket now," Lance concluded.
"Do you think Briareos and Ayako can handle so many opponents?"

Deunan threw back her head and sunk into her chair. She was really concerned for a
moment.

"The main thing is, what will they do? I mean, their plan is to sneak out by
playing hostage. That's why they put the bags on the real hostages' heads in
the cafe. They didn't want them to know who bound them when they mixed with
them. . . . Wait. But why only in the cafe? Wait! WAIT!" Deunan thought aloud,
"There are TWO independent escape plans!"

—Silence—

Lance raised a brow.

"AYAKO, LOOK OUT FOR THE SUIT!" she shouted into her mic.

"Ma'am?" Ayako checked back.

"PROTECT THE GUY WITH THE SUIT IMMEDIATELY!" Deunan repeated twitchily.

It wasn't a second too late when Ayako sprinted to the suit and crushed him down
to the floor. The bangs of some flying bullets snapped in their ears. They didn't
hit them but the man wasn't exactly relieved about that. While Ayako quickly pulled
him behind a shelf, more bullets came.

"If you don't plan to die, don't move from here!" Ayako commanded him.

The man was whining, still outraged from what had happened seconds ago. In strong
contrast, Ayako was calmly racking her handgun and waiting for the idiot in the
aisle to empty his magazine.

"Police! Drop your weapon and surrender!" she shouted, and added, "ALL OF YOU!"

Maybe a male voice would have had more impact on the morale of her opponents. They
did not even take notice.

"The heli is here. Let's take some of the hostages and go!" a voice was shouting.
"Flatfoot girlie, you will let us pass, otherwise we will shoot the hostages!"
he continued fiercely.

His six accomplices uncovered themselves and each one unlocked a woman from the
shelves for cover.

"Ma'am, what to do?" Ayako asked Deunan.

"Wait for Bri!" was Deunan's immediate reply. "Jean, Ken, Bri: To the supermarket!
Immediately! Chip, Milan: continue your search for the landmate," she ordered the
others. They followed.

"Ayako, your objective is to look out for the suit!" Deunan reminded her, and gave
her the explanation: "The guy in the suit hired those gunmen. He knows traces to
their identities, so they absolutely HAVE TO KILL HIM to get away. Your objective
is to prevent that."

"Understood, Chief!" Ayako acknowledged.

She silently pushed the suit into a corner of the supermarket which she could
defend more easily.

"Bri, I'm at the soft drinks aisle. Back me up here," she informed Briareos.

By the time she had said it, it wasn't really possible for Bri anymore, as the
gunmen were quickly dividing their group throughout the supermarket aisles,
isolating Ayako from her team. In the meantime, Bri and Ken had arrived at the
scene. Jean was running to them.

"Let us pass to the heli and nobody gets hurt," one of the robbers, clearly their
boss, exclaimed.

Bri was about to acknowledge him: "Jean, Ken, we let them pass. Don't do anything
rash."

As if the robbers' boss could have heard what Bri said, they slowly pulled
themselves and their hostages to the supermarket entrance.

The hostages were whining, so Bri tried to appease them: "Don't struggle! They only
want to get away. You won't be hurt if you stay calm!" he shouted.

It hadn't worked out much. It wasn't really true, either. It was clear to Briareos
that they had to kill their employer, and they would try it in any case. Bri checked
if it was possible to back up Ayako without putting a hostage at risk but it seemed
it wasn't.

He recapped Ayako her mission through the radio: "Ayako, remember to look out for
the suit. As soon as possible, I will come or send Ken or Jean to help you, but for
now they are doing a good job of preventing us from that."

This wasn't a good situation, with the youngest team member as the main target. He
had to advise her: "You are on your own, so be careful and don't do anything
heroical. Your own safety comes first!"

"Understood, Sir!" Ayako replied.

She nervously checked her gun and the magazines she was carrying. For about half a
minute, nothing happened. It could had been dead silent if it weren't for the
constant crying of the hostages in the supermarket, let alone the dweeb beside her
who had caused that whole lot of trouble.

"Idiot," she hissed and secured the area.

The situation was developing into a stalemate and the boss of the gunmen got
that quickly. He had to do something. He sneaked up to one of his fellows and
whispered something to him. The guy took his hostage and pulled her to another
aisle. She protested only quietly, as he had his gun at her chin. Seconds later
a lound bang echoed through the supermarket, followed by the wailing scream of a
woman.

"She's all right!" the gangster shouted. "But next time, I'll shoot her."

Meanwhile, another one of the hostage-takers backed away into Ayako's direction.
Bri ordered Jean and Ken to follow the guys. When they arrived, the
hostage-takers had already gone for another aisle. It was hard to track them
in that maze. That was the moment when another scream—a child's scream—was
heard at the kid's corner, which was near to Ayako's position.

She couldn't say how it had happened but a second later Ayako found herself
running to the place where the scream had come from. It was a place of atrocity.
In a mass of scattered toys, a guy was sitting at a small table, holding a gun
in his right hand and a roughly eight-year-old boy in the other arm. A girl of
about the same age was also sitting at the table, tied to it with a handcuff. A
woman was lying over the table, motionless, with blood on her head. The children
were screaming and crying out of sheer horror. The guy had a grin on his face.

"So what you gonna do now, bitch? Move and I shoot the kid," he smirked.

But Ayako hadn't heard his threat, her mind too focused on the gangster's hand.
In the blink of an eye, she prepared herself to grab his gun. For her it
felt like minutes.

She advanced towards him quickly. To her luck, instead of shooting the boy, he turned
his gun in panic and fired it at her, and she must have been hit, obviously.
More obviously, she hadn't noticed it yet. By the time he wanted to turn his gun
back to the boy, Ayako had already grabbed it with one hand and his throat with
the other. She clutched his throat and dashed him to the wall violently. The boy
fell down to the ground and ran away. Ayako's left hand bruised the hand of the
robber while he was still clenching his gun. He wanted to scream but couldn't,
as her right hand was tightly attached to his throat, choking him with a force similar
to the one her left hand was applying to his own. To his luck, Briareos arrived only some
seconds later and managed to take Ayako's still cramped hands from his throat
and gun hand. The first moment he could, he coughed. Ayako was still upset.

"I didn't choke you to death only because you choose to shoot me instead of
the boy. I certainly would have done it if you had killed the boy," she spat.

Deunan and Lance couldn't believe what they had heard and fell silent.
Only Briareos kept his countenance: "Ayako, we need to talk. Later. Hey, you have
been hit!"

"He only hit my left leg. I must be lucky he was sitting at such a low table," was
her, now again, calm reply.

Bri was relieved she was returning to normal again and ordered her to protect the
girl now that she was hit herself and couldn't move quickly. He arrested the
gangster with a cable strap and hasted to the soft drinks aisle. A shoot-out was
in progress. Jean was already there protecting the suit instead of Ayako. He was
barely successful. The suit was hit in the head. It wasn't clear if it was to
Jean's and Briareos' relief but the gunmen had achieved their goal. The guy who
shot him was heading to the supermarket exit quickly.

"Ken, let them go! They have no more business here," Bri shouted.

"Understood," Ken replied briefly, understanding what it meant.

"Milan here, we found the Landmate!" was the next message on the radio. "It's
empty. New orders, please."

"Do not interfere the withdrawal of the hostage-takers." Deunan got collected
again. "Bri, status!"

"Two hostages heavily injured or dead, Ayako injured, we need medics as soon as
possible," Briareos replied.

"Understood," was Deunan's reply. "We'll send them up immediately, but
they are not going to leave the station until the area is secured."

A twisted glee rushed through the remaining gunmen. Soon they would be out of
this scene.

"Cliff is missing," one of them noted.

"I bet he's dead already," their boss acknowledged. "He was a perverted retard
anyway."

"Worked out as you expected," the gunman the boss sent to kill the suit said.
"Glad to have you as our boss."

"Haha, for sure the girlie couldn't stand a child scream! I bet she shot Cliff
right through his pea-sized brain without any reasoning. One hopeful young cop
less in the game!" he bragged.

The hostages they were pulling with them were shocked and frowned upon the
cynicism.

"No need to worry," he said. "We will let you go without any bruised hair. When
we're back in the badside, ha ha! Maybe you'll like it so much you don't wanna
go back. Ha ha ha . . . ha ha ha ha!"

They reached the arc's helicopter platform from a side corridor of the mall and
entered the waiting machine.

"I hope you picked the right women for yourselves," he advised his fellows.
"You will have them for a long time now. . . . Ha ha ha ha!" His laugh
drowned in the humming turbine sounds of the heli.

Deunan switched the radio to Metro Police: "Gianna, are the medics ready?"

"Ready and alert, Deunan," was Gianna's answer. "What has happened?" she asked.

"We have two hostages with severe injuries and one officer with light injuries.
One hostage-taker has been arrested. Six of them left the building with the
helicopter. They have six female hostages with them. It's your turn to trace the
heli!" Deunan replied.

"Understood, we'll take over! The medics are on their way. I wish your injured
colleague luck!" Gianna dismissed in the subdued way she always did.

In the meantime, Ayako had checked the woman on the table and had found out the
bastard had hit her badly on her head with his gun. With any luck, she wouldn't
die from that injury. Ayako pulled the woman, who was still unconscious, from
the table and laid her down on her side on the floor. After that, she wanted to
break the handcuffs of the girl to get her away from the gory scene at the kid's
corner. She couldn't, as the girl trembled and began screaming again. Clearly to
Ayako it was because of her recent brutality and especially what her hands had
done to the gangster. His coughing from behind wasn't making it any easier.

Ayako unlocked her helmet and took it off to calm her down. The girl was
astonished to find a pretty young woman with long brown hair where there had
been a grim killing machine seconds before.

"Hello, I'm Ayako," she said with the softest voice she had. "I'm a policewoman.
I'm sorry I scared you."

That cheered the girl up a bit. However, when Ayako reached for her hand, the
child trembled again. The touch of the policewoman was gentle, but her hand
was unnaturally cold. Ayako ripped apart the handcuffs by grasping them with two
fingers from each hand and slowly pulling them. That was too much for the girl.
She bursted into tears when the metal detent cracked like it was a toy—it
wasn't. Ayako had a hard time holding the girl softly enough to comfort her and
firmly enough not to let her go. After a few seconds, the child, despite being at
least eight years old, wrapped her hands around Ayako's neck and clearly
demanded to be lifted.

"I wanna go to my mommy," she whined.

At least the woman on the table wasn't her mother, Ayako thought, then wrapped
the bottom of the girl with her left arm and stood up. Balancing was hard because
of the shot to her left leg. A reddish liquid had leaked through its armor, but
neither she nor the girl gave a damn about it. Slowly they shambled to the exit.

The medics raced by them into the opposite direction. Ken and Jean had started
cutting the straps of the other hostages, while Bri monitored how the medics
were doing on the suit. Jean had found the mother of the girl.

"Baby!" she cried with joy. Ayako dropped the girl off into the hands of her mother.

"There was a boy along with her at the kid's corner. Do you know him?"

The woman needed a moment to collect herself. "A friend's son, I was babysitting him,"
she said.

'Sure you did,' Ayako thought huffishly. 'Babysitting while shopping. How convenient.'

A message from Chip came over the radio: "We have a little boy gazing at us as if we
just jumped out of an action movie. Kids never change, do they?" he joked.

"I'll send his babysitter to you to pick him up. Where are you?" Ayako replied.

"At the other end of the mall. But no need to hurry, I don't think he's going anywhere
now," Chip answered.

"The boy in your care is at the other end of the mall, examining our troops. They're
the big exos, err, robot-like-creatures, there," Ayako explained to the woman with a
wink. She nodded, took the girl and dashed off.

Ayako waved at her colleagues. "I'm sorry I can't help you with the hostages,"
she said and pointed to her leg. "But I think I need to have this repaired."

Ken was worried about her injury but Jean dispelled his doubts: "As long she's
joking around, she'll all right."

"Go get your wounds licked," Briareos dismissed her. If he could make a smile, he
would have one. Ayako pulled herself to the station. "And don't worry about the
evaluation!" Bri called after her. 'Oh, maybe now she does. Drat!' he thought to
himself.

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Chapter 2 - Things to remember]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

2015-07-12T09:36:19Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Edited by [[User:rdaneel|R.Daneel]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==1 First Encounter of another Kind==
Night had fallen over Olympus. The outside observer would surely admit the city
was a beautiful, endless sea of lights, like it was each night. And like each
night, somewhere the blue lights of police were flashing and the howl of police
sirens could be heard. Olympus in general was a safe place to live and most of
these police operations were for traffic accidents and small burglaries.

A sparkling pool of blue lights stood out from the yellowish-white lighting of
one of the three monumental arcologies which formed the city centre. For sure it
had been one of those uncommon days when something awful was happening. The blue
lights had been blinking for hours now and yet there wasn't any progress. It
wasn't a fire, everything was calm.

On ground level, everything was under control. Metro police managed to keep the
police gathering place right in front of the arc clear of rubbernecks. There
were still persons coming down from the top levels of the tall überbuilding
using the normal commuter trains running inside of it. It had to be a Sisyphean
task to evacuate all these tens of thousands of people, even if it was only from
the upper stories. It sure was necessary.

At the gathering place, policemen—and women—in armored exoskeletons prepared
themselves for their upcoming fight.

"Chip, move the left arm," a policeman who looked like service personnel asked
another one standing in a big, puppetlike machine.

Cornelius complied and his exos copied the movement. "It seems it works again.
Thanks, Tom," he answered, then he lit up a cigarette.

"There, I fixed it!" Thomas cheered and then checked whether his other colleagues
had any problems with their armor.

Kenneth hadn't any. His small exoskeleton was more like functional clothing, which
was in great contrast to the super-robot Cornelius was 'wearing'. "No problems
here, thanks," he shouted, so Thomas went by him waving silently.

A few meters away Milan was flexing his exos, a similar one as that of Chip.
Thomas could easily see from its moves all its hydraulics were working perfectly
so he left him alone too. Milan wasn't a chatterbox anyway.

A cold metal hand grabbed Thomas on his mouth and a likewise armored arm
wrapped around his chest from behind. "Shhh, don't move or you're dead," a
voice hissed. As if Thomas could move or even say something if he wanted to; it
was too tight! To his relief he knew the person those arms belonged to, and the
stupid guy was loosening his grip a moment later. "Hey, just practising!"
he laughed.

"Not on me again," Thomas mumbled. "I get a chill everytime you do that."

"At least that means it never gets old on you." Jean, that was the name
of the fellow, smirked at him.

"If you have time to make bad jokes like that, I guess nothing is wrong with your
armor?" Thomas inquired.

"No. Everything ok," was Jean's short reply. Thomas waved and took his chance to get
away from the clown.

Thomas ended his prep tour at a group of three colleagues. The guy was more than
two meters tall and bulky. He wasn't wearing an exos though he looked like he
was. Instead, he was an exos built into a human, or vice-versa if you like—a
cyborg. A blonde woman in her forties did a high swing kick on him, which he
dodged easily. "That's how you have to do it!" she was yelling. "Briareos, don't
go easy on her. She needs all the practice she can get!" the blonde commanded and
dashed off to a nearby truck.

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered laconically, while his lady-boss was already too far
away to hear him.

'She' was a woman who basically practised as a backdrop the moment before. She
seemed to be daunted from the demonstration and, despite being clad in an
intimidating full-body armor herself, somehow she managed to look vulnerable,
like a damsel in distress.

Thomas was approaching the two, first asking Briareos if he had anything to
repair on his body. Bri denied it with "Had no chance to get it damaged yet,"
so Tom turned around to the woman.

"Ayako, any problems?"

"I . . . I don't know," a soft, unassured voice answered him. It was heavily
muffled by the full-face helmet she was wearing. "I haven't tried out all the
functions yet."

"First, you should try the outside speaker. I can barely understand what you
say," Tom suggested.

For a short while, nothing happened. More exactly, it looked like nothing was
happening but both Tom and Bri knew Ayako was desperately browsing through the
menu options presented on the augmented reality display built into the helmet
front.

"Well?" Thomas asked, prepared to give her a clue, but a blink later the lower
front shutter of the helmet opened slowly.

Delicate, peach-colored cheeks appeared in the midst of the black shaded
plexiglass of the helmet. The tender lips of a young woman immediately followed.

"I . . . I'm sorry," she wispered. "I haven't found the speaker option yet. The
cursor is a little jumpy. It's hard to catch it at the correct position."

"It's an eye tracking cursor. It's your eyes which are moving jumpily," Thomas
explained. "You are just too nervous, calm down." He wondered a little how she
had opened the shutter instead. "Opening the shutter was easier? If I remember
correctly, it's at nearly the same menu level," he asked.

"I'm feeling a little hemmed in here when the helmet is closed so I've made a
shortcut for opening it. Blinking left, right, right, both," Ayako admitted.

"That's great, I don't remember showing you how to do that! So you have been
playing around yourself already?" Tom queried her further.

"Yeah, but too little, I guess," Ayako answered with a mixture of bragging and
shyness. "The training hasn't focused on the new helmet's functions."

Thomas had to excuse himself, "My fault, sorry. I was so engaged putting useful
functions into the thing, I've missed the deadline for the documentation. But I
think I can just let you play around a little more and everything should be
fine, no?" Thomas concluded, teasing a smile out of her.

"Enough lovey-dovey, you two," Briareos reminded them of the priorities. "We are
preparing for a mission, remember?"

"Yes, Sir!" both prompted in unison.

"No chance to make me grin!" Bri bantered back, pointing at his jawless cyborg
face.

"Well, then you should try what our bosslady told you to do," Thomas
proposed to Ayako. She gave him a last smile before the shutter closed and
covered her whole head in black armor again.

Insecurely, she attempted to do the same high swing kick she saw a minute
before. She only managed to do a straight kick before Briareos could get a grip
on her foot and kept hold of it.

"So, what are ya gonna do now, bitch?" he asked with a provocative tone while
he twisted her foot slowly. Ayako squeaked as the angle was soon too much for
her ankles. Bri let her foot go and she tautly and silenty stood before him.
It was an unsuccessful attempt to look stalwart.

"This way it won't work," Bri mumbled. Then he shouted, "So let's try it the
other way!" while trying to grab Ayako with his big hands. More instinctively
than deliberately, she stotted back and managed to escape his attack. Briareos
pursued her immediately but, at that moment, Ayako had already changed her
attitude to 'Attack'! She whirled around and smashed his head with a full blow
of her leg. Bri fell on his bottom.

"Ah, Tom, now you have to do some repairs," he moaned.

"I . . . I'm sorry," Ayako apologized and knelt down next to Bri.

He wasn't peeved. Actually, he seemed less concerned than a moment before. "Girl,
if I hadn't been a cyborg, that kick would have finished me. Really, really,
really finished me off. Be careful of what you do hit with your legs. Those are
DEADLY weapons," he explained.

Tom found Bri's neck to be damaged and asked him to turn his head around. "Are
all axes moveable?"

"It seems tilting sideways is broken," was Briareos' reply. "It's not a big problem.
We can repair it after the job is done."

Thomas insisted to repair his neck before they went on their mission, but Bri
refused. "If I get into trouble, I'm going to ask Ms. Hammerblow here for a
daring rescue," he laughed.

Thomas was pretty sure Ayako had been blushing heavily under her helmet. He had
to bite his tongue so not to discourage her again. About the blush, he was going
to find out soon anyway.

"Your turn, Ayako. Anything broken on the test?" Tom turned to her.

"No diagnostic reports, no," was her short, technical reply—this time through
the speaker, he noticed.

"See, it's all a matter of being self-assured. What do you feel? Do you think you
can handle it?" He was rubbing it in.

Ayako reached for her helmet and pressed its lock buttons at her jaw. The helmet
made a tiny jump and Ayako stripped the whole thing off of her head.

The cheeks and lips hadn't lied. The helmet protected the most precious part of
a young woman. While her long brown hair dropped smoothly onto her back, her
eyes were not that smooth. Fierce, that was the correct term. But with her
cheeks still red as tomatoes, she looked very funny. Tom couldn't help but grin.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.

"What do you mean? Whether I'm able to do my job? I may be younger than you, but
I'm a confident and skilled policewoman. I can . . ." she hissed.

She got the wrong idea, so Thomas interrupted her. "No! I meant, your body!"

—Silence—

Ayako blushed even more so Thomas had a hard time not to grin again. Bri clearly
was in advantage here by having no facial expression at all. Still he silenty
stood up and left the two alone.

"Ok, I won't push you any further," Thomas broke the silence. "You said there
were no diagnostic messages so I take this as a 'combat-ready.'" He was drawing
a checkmark into the air.

Ayako parted her hair and put her helmet back on. It locked over her head with
an audible click. "Yes, Battlemachine Ayako ready for use." she said and stood up.
Thomas was a little puzzled. Had she been snickering? Was it the same woman he
had seen ten minutes ago?
-----
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.----------------------------.
| Hi, it's me again, Irina! |
`----------------------------´
/
\-´'`-/ /
/`mMMMm´\
[__\_/o_]
([_____])
( J )
mM\_`=´_/Mm
mMMmm/ \mmMMm
.---´_._`---. |||
[ .--[_v_]--. ] \ ]
[| ø ø |] //
[|`--<´ `>--´|] //
|| \ \_/ / \\//
|| )´[ ]`( `´
|] ) [ ] (
|| / [ ] \ dbf
</nowiki></pre></div>
[[Image:戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako 1.jpg|thumb|right]]
This is a good moment to show you a picture of Ayako,
taken on. . . . Hmm, I won't spoil it to you yet. Here it is:
Sexy, huh? What, NO? Thights too bulky? Breasts not perky
enough, you say? Aww, and I thought you had a serious
fetish for machines, let alone women that are machines.
Phew! Wait, you do? Really? Then I have good tidings
for you. There is more to come: 26 Chapters, where we
explore the features of Ayako, both of her mind and body.
And mine too. Aww, yeah, explore my features, I like
that. . . .
<div style="float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1ex 0px; padding: 0px;"><pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.-\-/-.
|[] []|
/+ .-. +\
|_____|
^^ ^^ dbf
</nowiki></pre></div>
<div style="clear: right;"></div>
Oh, and here's Dark again. Seems he's
a little jealous right now. Cute little
robot, are you eager to explore my features?
Hmm, the earlier I continue the chapter, the
earlier I can cuddle with you. XOXO!
<div style="clear: both;"></div>
-----
In the meantime, the blonde had setup her working place in the loading space of
the truck. Twelve big computer screens filled the side wall of it. Half of them
showed videos from the helmet cameras of her colleagues outside. The others had
two different floor plans of the arcology and various status info on them. The
blonde was adjusting her headset and did a sound check.

"Test: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta," she said into her mic, "everyone there?"

"Ken ok," Ken answered.

Jean followed him with a "Jean ok." Then Chip, Ayako, and Milan followed. Bri
made it complete.

"Tom, is all the other setup done?" she asked through the radio.

Thomas answered from the truck's door, "Yes, Ma'am. All checks had been
successful. Bri had a small damage, but. . . ."

She interrupted him, concerned, "What's up with him?"

"Nothing, he says it's ok. We can check it after the job," Thomas replied.

"Ok, then let's bring home the bacon." She got collected again.

Thomas was reaching for the second seat as another person stood at the door. It
was an elderly man with a grey full beard. He tapped his glasses, then greeted.

"Deunan!" he said.

The blonde turned around and surprisedly greeted back, "Chief! It . . . it has been
six years!"

"Don't call me 'Chief,' Deunan. You are the ESWAT chief now," the greybeard answered.

Deunan was a little fussy. "Ok, chie . . . Lance. Thomas, this is Mayor Lance, former
chief of ESWAT. Lance, this is Thomas Boyd, exos service tech."

"How Do You Do?" Thomas asked Lance, as he had noticed his British accent.

"How Do You Do?" Lance replied while they shook hands.

"Well, it is nice to have this small reunion, but at the moment we have a little
crisis situation out there, so . . ." Deunan excused herself girlishly.

"Which is exactly the reason I'm here," Lance cut her short.

"Err, what?" Deunan wondered.

The mayor continued, "You know I retired from ESWAT in order to join the centre for
international police cooperation?"

"Yes, you talked about it when you left us," Deunan answered.

"Well, that's why I'm here. Olympus city council is concerned Olympus has fallen
back from the state-of-the-art in armed police equipment and modern tactics," Lance
told her.

"Awrr, damned politicians," Deunan snarled. "So they sent you to check on us?
Haven't they read my memos? It's all written down there! We are heavily
underfunded. I only have six armed police officers left and one tech."

Lance quietly responded to her, "Olympus has become much safer during the last
twenty years," he said, "so they question the existence of ESWAT at all."

Deunan was lost for words, so Lance took the chance to explain further, "It's
planned to liquidate ESWAT and use the money to buy weapon platforms."

Deunan became a snickerpuss, "Again that ridiculous idea? It was a disaster
twenty years ago. Don't they ever learn?"

Lance seconded her, "I know. I don't like the idea either. However, they have
appointed me to act as a third-party expert though I was the ESWAT chief not too
long ago. If I had to bet, I would say somebody in the council is on our side."

Deunan was relieved when Lance said they should "just do the job and I will do
the paperwork."

Briareos showed up at the truck door. "Deunan, we'll have to talk about our
fledgling." Then he noticed Lance. "Lance! Long time no see, err, how do you
do?" Lance gave his hand to Bri and returned the greeting.

"Bri, Lance is here to write a performance report about us," Deunan informed him.

"Oh, it seems all your memos have had an impact," Bri replied.

"Yeah, whatever," was Deunan's circumventive answer.

"So, what about the fledgling?" Lance asked.

"Ayako Ontemba, Sir," Bri reported, while Deunan made a cutthroat gesture from
behind. Bri got the meaning and continued, "It's too complicated to explain now,
gotta go. See you later, Lance," then dashed off.

Tom hadn't said a word until then. He wanted to, but then guessed it was wiser to
keep silent by the way Bri was fleeing.

"You don't have to be concerned. I'm pretty sure she will learn everything she
needs to know from you," Lance said while turning to Deunan. "That's the reason
why I proposed you as my successor. You weren't the best fighter or policeman in
the team, but you had the attitude to always learn something new and always
pass it further to younger teammates. That's what a good instructor must always
do. And to be a good instructor is the main job of the chief."

Deunan blushed a little, then turned around to her screens. "We should start now.
No time left to kill. Please take the other seat, Lance, so you have a good view on
what's going on," Deunan commanded, and Lance followed. 'He primed himself well,
I'm glad we have done it too,' she thought.

As Lance had taken Thomas' seat, Tom had to lean back to the other side wall of
the truck. Thinking this would get uncomfortable soon, he left the truck. "See ya
later," he waved.

Meanwhile, the SWAT team had entered a wagon of an empty commuter train heading
up the arc. Briareos was the last one arriving.

"Hey, squad leader, detained yourself into the restrooms?" Jean sneered at him.

Bri knew Jean was only making a bad joke, so he ignored him. Instead, he brought
the topic back to the job.

"We are being evaluated on this mission. That means 'stick to the rules.' No
fooling around, no shots to the head or other gory businesses and most importantly,
DO NOT LOSE ANY HOSTAGES!" he keenly advised his subordinates.

Ayako broke the following silence: "Understood, Sir." The others followed her
example.

Briareos started a briefing: "Ok, let's recapitulate. The hostage-takers are robbers,
not terrorists. So we don't have to expect them being eager to die. There was no
shooting, so most probably they don't even want to hurt anyone if it can be avoided.
Nevertheless, they threatened to blow up the building if their departure is hindered.
They demanded a heli, which should now be on its way already. Our enemies robbed a
jeweller in the 183rd floor. Our colleagues from metro police managed to isolate them
there by locking the fire doors and elevators. The robbers are keeping themselves very
silent up there, waiting for their heli. There are some other stores in the area and
we don't know how many enemies or hostages we have to expect, nor their arms or the
condition of the hostages. From what people who managed to flee had seen, they have at
least one exos up there, most probably a landmate they only brought to break through
the safety glasses at the jeweller. That's the situation. Understood?"

The other team members acknowledged.

Briareos gave a last instruction: "Our objective is to SAVE ALL THE HOSTAGES, not
arresting any robbers. If they manage to flee, they are lucky bastards. Understood?"

A further acknowledgement from his whole SWAT team could be heard.

A short time later, the train arrived at the mall station at the 183rd floor.

"Ok, go!" Bri shouted.

The SWAT team got off the train and parted into three groups, as the station had
three exits. Chip and Jean took the western exit, where Chip easily broke through the
locked fire door with his exos. Milan and Bri took the central exit to be ready to
boost up both other teams if neccessary. Kenneth and Ayako headed to the eastern exit.
Ken tried to break the lock of the door, but he had serious problems to do it with
his lightweight exoskeleton. After pushing against it for four times he gave up.

"Seems we're stuck here. We need help from the others," he said, and was up to reach
for Milan and Bri as long as they were near.

Ayako grabbed his shoulder to stop him. The tight, sudden grip made him fall to the
floor immediately. Sitting on his bottom, he could see how she was flexing, then how she
did a straight kick against the door. With a scrunching sound, the metal sheet of the
door bent heavily inwards and, quite more impressive, the lock and even the pivots
blasted. Ken was puzzled. How did she do that? A secret karate technique? But moreover,
he met Ayako with disbelief when that average sized woman pushed away the large steel
door, which must at least had a weight of 1500 kilograms, without the help of the pivots,
and more importantly, without his help either.

"If you haven't noticed yet, I'm escorting YOU while doing the lumberjack work, and you
are tiptoeing, not the other way around," she told her still unbelieving colleague.

"Ayako, how can your exos be so much more powerful than mine? It doesn't look bulky enough
to have this much power," Kenneth questioned her.

"It's not an exos," she replied, which led Ken into utter confusion. "Hey, we can talk
about it later," Ayako tried to bring up the mission again, "we have some hostages to save."

Kenneth nodded and they slowly went into the battlefield.

Deunan and Lance had watched the videos from the helmet cams on their screens.
Then Thomas stood in the doorframe: "We finally have the surveillance cams of
the arc on our screens. There are about 50 cams in the mall. They are on
channels 20 and up now."

"That's great, Tom. You're a technical wizard," Deunan acknowledged him and put those cams
on four of the screens.

"A technical 'firefighter.' He matches the team perfectly," Lance commented.

The arc's cams got useful very quickly. Deunan scanned through them and identified
a lot of hostages on the screens.

"So, there are about ten. What is this place? Ah, the cafe at the centre of the mall.
Seems they are strapped to some railings. Why do they wear shopping bags on their heads?"

Lance browsed through the screens too. "There are about twenty more, this has to be the
supermarket at the east end. Yes, it is," he said.

Deunan got worried. "I can't find any more hostages on the cams. No more hostages?
Can't be. They bragged they had about seventy!"

"The toilets," Lance said calmly. "There aren't any cams."

"You are right," Deunan seconded him. "But forty hostages in the toilets alone? No way.
There must be another place without a cam."

"Maybe it's a bluff?" Lance suggested.

"Could be. I'm not sure . . ." Deunan shrugged, then she had the right idea: "There is a
butcher shop in that shopping mall. The cold storage room!"

"If that's true, we have to rescue those hostages as quickly as possible, or they'll
die from cold," Lance recommended.

"I can't see any of the robbers patrolling. They must be hiding among their victims.
Clever bastards, they parted the hostage groups as well as their own group," Deunan
noted. "We'll have to flush them. The helicopter?"

"Obviously," Lance agreed.

Deunan switched her mic on. "SWAT, listen: there are hostages in the cafe and
the toilets at the centre of the mall, at the supermarket on the east end, and
we think in the cold storage room at the butcher shop on the west. The other
places seem to be clear. The robbers are hiding between their hostages, so be
careful. We'll flush them by announcing the heli is coming. Chip, Jean: head for
the butcher shop and rescue the hostages from the cold storage."

"Understood," was Chip's reply.

Where were the others? "Milan, look out for the landmate. I couldn't see it on
any of the cams but it must be there! Maybe they just tampered with a cam and hid
behind a corner," Deunan commanded.

Milan replied a short "Understood" and searched the place.

"Bri, check the cafe. The hostages there have shopping bags over their heads.
Maybe the robbers placed the explosives at the cafe and didn't want witnesses,"
Deunan concluded. "Ken, you go searching the toilets. Ayako, you go to the
supermarket," were her next instructions.

The three replied. It was a really odd situation. The felons knew the police was
there and did not frown on them.

Chip and Jean reached the butcher shop quickly. The place was deserted like
the rest of the mall. It was too narrow for Chip's big exos to go inside so Jean
searched the place alone. He found the lever of the cold storage room door tied
to a nearby steelframe shelf with a weighty chain. Breaking such chains was
actually intended to be Chip's work, but as Chip couldn't come there, Jean
shortly thought about it, then pushed the shelf to the door with all the power
of his small exoskeleton. The chain got loose and he could open the door. On
first view, more than two dozen people had been shuddering inside.

"Police, come out!" he shouted, but nobody moved.

They had been too shocked by Jean's looks. He opened the visor of his helmet and
repeated his demand. Seeing there was a young man in the armor, the people on the
front built faith in him and quickly moved outside, only to find Chip in his big
exos waiting. He thought they maybe would chicken out because of his big machine,
but none of the hostages did. Big, bulky exos were an everyday's business. In fact,
some of the hostages may even drive one at work, most probably a landmate.

"Anyone injured?" he asked, while Jean was searching trough the cold storage whether
there was any hostage left who may had passed out. There wasn't.

"Butcher shop clear, Ma'am. No enemy found. We are bringing down the hostages," Jean
spoke to Deunan.

"Understood, get them into the station quickly. Don't forget to check them for weapons
first. Some of these hostages could be in fact the robbers! Chip, you're going to
backup Milan. If there is really a big landmate somewhere, he could need help," Deunan
replied. Both did as commanded.

Meanwhile, Ken was examining the restrooms. He found a hostage in every cabin,
strapped to the piping. Like with Jean, shouting "Police, I'm here to save
you" had been unsuccessful. He also had to lift the visor of his helmet before
people trusted him. Freeing the hostages however was a nuisance, as his exos
was still too bulky to fit into the same cabin with them. It was easier to
break the piping than the cable straps, so the toilets soon after became a
wet mess, like the hostages and Kenneth himself.

Deunan switched the radio channels to talk to the metro police: "Gianna, what's up
with the heli?"

It took a moment until the police sergeant answered: "If it's coming, we'll hear
it! I don't know what is taking them so long." A short moment later, the rattle
was audible on the radio. "Talk of the devil . . . Gianna over!"

"Hm, should we inform the robbers? I don't think they'll miss it," Deunan thought
aloud, speaking on the SWAT channel again. "SWAT, listen: the heli is coming.
Soon the robbers will uncover themselves."

Deunan was right. She could see a hostage in the cafe freeing himself from the strap
with a side cutter, then taking the bag from his head.

"Shit, their disguise is intriguing. That guy really looks like a white-bread
businessman in a suit," Deunan railed. She noticed something odd was going on.
"What is he doing now? He's looking around? What is he looking for?" she wondered.

The guy then sneaked out of the cafe and through the main corridor, hiding behind
plants and booths.

"Bri, one of the felons is in the corridor heading towards the supermarket. Is
he going to cross your way?" Deunan asked.

"Don't think so," was his short reply.

"Ok. Ayako, a hostage-taker is coming your way. It's a man in a business suit.
Let him pass, I'd like to know what he is looking for."

"Understood," was Ayako's reply.

The robbers sure had noticed something fishy was going on. Were they expecting it?
None of them raised an eyebrow when the fire doors on the station were crashed.

"This guy isn't really a pro," Lance commented. "But I still don't get how they
expect to escape with their booty. They'll have to uncover themselves to reach the
helicopter and now that we're there, we could catch them all. Why are they
that confident? The explosives?" It had to be a trick. Then he had the right
idea: "What if. . . ."

"Yeah?" Deunan asked.

"What if the helicopter is the trick?" Lance explained.

"You mean . . ." Deunan got it too.

"Yes."

"Shit, that means we may already have some of the felons among the freed hostages,"
Deunan sweared. "Metro Police, Gianna!" she switched the channels.

"Gianna here."

"Gianna, some of the robbers may have disguised themselves as hostages. It's part
of their plan."

"Ok, we'll take personal data from anybody coming down here," was Gianna's calm reply.

"Thanks, Deunan over," Deunan dismissed and switched back to the SWAT channel.

Ayako managed to avoid the man in the suit while he was sneaking through the
wide corridor. It wasn't easy, as the man secured nearly each of his steps by
looking around. He sure had wanted to avoid any contact with the police but that
couldn't be the reason he was that alert. She followed him into the supermarket where
he was suddenly shouting "Rose? . . . Ro-oose?" He was clearly looking for an accomplice.
He shouted again. What was up with him?

Ayako asked Deunan what to do. "Chief, I'm at the supermarket. The guy is shouting for
someone. Your orders?"

Deunan switched all the cam screens to the supermarket and answered, "Don't move! His
accomplices surely are going to uncover themselves in a moment. Bri, Ken, how is it
going at your places? Ayako will need your help at the supermarket soon."

"Still unchaining hostages, Ma'am," was Kenneth's reply.

Bri had better news: "Haven't found any explosives here, Deunan," he was reporting.
"The hostages are ready to go, too."

"Bri, they'll find the station by themselves. Go help Ayako at the supermarket!"
Deunan ordered him.

"Understood," he replied.

"How many felons can we expect up there?" Lance asked.

"We don't know the exact number," Deunan shrugged. "From what witnesses of the raid
said, it must be between six and ten. I'd say they're a group of ten, otherwise they
wouldn't have used cable straps to tie most of the hostages. It is too time-consuming.
We saw it when Bri was freeing them. I would bet they used the cold storage room only
because they hadn't enough straps."

"So there are up to ten armed robbers in the supermarket now," Lance concluded.
"Do you think Briareos and Ayako can handle so many opponents?"

Deunan threw back her head and sunk into her chair. She was really concerned for a
moment.

"The main thing is, what will they do? I mean, their plan is to sneak out by
playing hostage. That's why they put the bags on the real hostages' heads in
the cafe. They didn't want them to know who bound them when they mixed with
them. . . . Wait. But why only in the cafe? Wait! WAIT!" Deunan thought aloud,
"There are TWO independent escape plans!"

—Silence—

Lance raised a brow.

"AYAKO, LOOK OUT FOR THE SUIT!" she shouted into her mic.

"Ma'am?" Ayako checked back.

"PROTECT THE GUY WITH THE SUIT IMMEDIATELY!" Deunan repeated twitchily.

It wasn't a second too late when Ayako sprinted to the suit and crushed him down
to the floor. The bangs of some flying bullets snapped in their ears. They didn't
hit them but the man wasn't exactly relieved about that. While Ayako quickly pulled
him behind a shelf, more bullets came.

"If you don't plan to die, don't move from here!" Ayako commanded him.

The man was whining, still outraged from what had happened seconds ago. In strong
contrast, Ayako was calmly racking her handgun and waiting for the idiot in the
aisle to empty his magazine.

"Police! Drop your weapon and surrender!" she shouted, and added, "ALL OF YOU!"

Maybe a male voice would have had more impact on the morale of her opponents. They
did not even take notice.

"The heli is here. Let's take some of the hostages and go!" a voice was shouting.
"Flatfoot girlie, you will let us pass, otherwise we will shoot the hostages!"
he continued fiercely.

His six accomplices uncovered themselves and each one unlocked a woman from the
shelves for cover.

"Ma'am, what to do?" Ayako asked Deunan.

"Wait for Bri!" was Deunan's immediate reply. "Jean, Ken, Bri: To the supermarket!
Immediately! Chip, Milan: continue your search for the landmate," she ordered the
others. They followed.

"Ayako, your objective is to look out for the suit!" Deunan reminded her, and gave
her the explanation: "The guy in the suit hired those gunmen. He knows traces to
their identities, so they absolutely HAVE TO KILL HIM to get away. Your objective
is to prevent that."

"Understood, Chief!" Ayako acknowledged.

She silently pushed the suit into a corner of the supermarket which she could
defend more easily.

"Bri, I'm at the soft drinks aisle. Back me up here," she informed Briareos.

By the time she had said it, it wasn't really possible for Bri anymore, as the
gunmen were quickly dividing their group throughout the supermarket aisles,
isolating Ayako from her team. In the meantime, Bri and Ken had arrived at the
scene. Jean was running to them.

"Let us pass to the heli and nobody gets hurt," one of the robbers, clearly their
boss, exclaimed.

Bri was about to acknowledge him: "Jean, Ken, we let them pass. Don't do anything
rash."

As if the robbers' boss could have heard what Bri said, they slowly pulled
themselves and their hostages to the supermarket entrance.

The hostages were whining, so Bri tried to appease them: "Don't struggle! They only
want to get away. You won't be hurt if you stay calm!" he shouted.

It hadn't worked out much. It wasn't really true, either. It was clear to Briareos
that they had to kill their employer, and they would try it in any case. Bri checked
if it was possible to back up Ayako without putting a hostage at risk but it seemed
it wasn't.

He recapped Ayako her mission through the radio: "Ayako, remember to look out for
the suit. As soon as possible, I will come or send Ken or Jean to help you, but for
now they are doing a good job of preventing us from that."

This wasn't a good situation, with the youngest team member as the main target. He
had to advise her: "You are on your own, so be careful and don't do anything
heroical. Your own safety comes first!"

"Understood, Sir!" Ayako replied.

She nervously checked her gun and the magazines she was carrying. For about half a
minute, nothing happened. It could had been dead silent if it weren't for the
constant crying of the hostages in the supermarket, let alone the dweeb beside her
who had caused that whole lot of trouble.

"Idiot," she hissed and secured the area.

The situation was developing into a stalemate and the boss of the gunmen got
that quickly. He had to do something. He sneaked up to one of his fellows and
whispered something to him. The guy took his hostage and pulled her to another
aisle. She protested only quietly, as he had his gun at her chin. Seconds later
a lound bang echoed through the supermarket, followed by the wailing scream of a
woman.

"She's all right!" the gangster shouted. "But next time, I'll shoot her."

Meanwhile, another one of the hostage-takers backed away into Ayako's direction.
Bri ordered Jean and Ken to follow the guys. When they arrived, the
hostage-takers had already gone for another aisle. It was hard to track them
in that maze. That was the moment when another scream—a child's scream—was
heard at the kid's corner, which was near to Ayako's position.

She couldn't say how it had happened but a second later Ayako found herself
running to the place where the scream had come from. It was a place of atrocity.
In a mass of scattered toys, a guy was sitting at a small table, holding a gun
in his right hand and a roughly eight-year-old boy in the other arm. A girl of
about the same age was also sitting at the table, tied to it with a handcuff. A
woman was lying over the table, motionless, with blood on her head. The children
were screaming and crying out of sheer horror. The guy had a grin on his face.

"So what you gonna do now, bitch? Move and I shoot the kid," he smirked.

But Ayako hadn't heard his threat, her mind too focused on the gangster's hand.
In the blink of an eye, she prepared herself to grab his gun. For her it
felt like minutes.

She advanced towards him quickly. To her luck, instead of shooting the boy, he turned
his gun in panic and fired it at her, and she must have been hit, obviously.
More obviously, she hadn't noticed it yet. By the time he wanted to turn his gun
back to the boy, Ayako had already grabbed it with one hand and his throat with
the other. She clutched his throat and dashed him to the wall violently. The boy
fell down to the ground and ran away. Ayako's left hand bruised the hand of the
robber while he was still clenching his gun. He wanted to scream but couldn't,
as her right hand was tightly attached to his throat, choking him with a force similar
to the one her left hand was applying to his own. To his luck, Briareos arrived only some
seconds later and managed to take Ayako's still cramped hands from his throat
and gun hand. The first moment he could, he coughed. Ayako was still upset.

"I didn't choke you to death only because you choose to shoot me instead of
the boy. I certainly would have done it if you had killed the boy," she spat.

Deunan and Lance couldn't believe what they had heard and fell silent.
Only Briareos kept his countenance: "Ayako, we need to talk. Later. Hey, you have
been hit!"

"He only hit my left leg. I must be lucky he was sitting at such a low table," was
her, now again, calm reply.

Bri was relieved she was returning to normal again and ordered her to protect the
girl now that she was hit herself and couldn't move quickly. He arrested the
gangster with a cable strap and hasted to the soft drinks aisle. A shoot-out was
in progress. Jean was already there protecting the suit instead of Ayako. He was
barely successful. The suit was hit in the head. It wasn't clear if it was to
Jean's and Briareos' relief but the gunmen had achieved their goal. The guy who
shot him was heading to the supermarket exit quickly.

"Ken, let them go! They have no more business here," Bri shouted.

"Understood," Ken replied briefly, understanding what it meant.

"Milan here, we found the Landmate!" was the next message on the radio. "It's
empty. New orders, please."

"Do not interfere the withdrawal of the hostage-takers." Deunan got collected
again. "Bri, status!"

"Two hostages heavily injured or dead, Ayako injured, we need medics as soon as
possible," Briareos replied.

"Understood," was Deunan's reply. "We'll send them up immediately, but
they are not going to leave the station until the area is secured."

A twisted glee rushed through the remaining gunmen. Soon they would be out of
this scene.

"Cliff is missing," one of them noted.

"I bet he's dead already," their boss acknowledged. "He was a perverted retard
anyway."

"Worked out as you expected," the gunman the boss sent to kill the suit said.
"Glad to have you as our boss."

"Haha, for sure the girlie couldn't stand a child scream! I bet she shot Cliff
right through his pea-sized brain without any reasoning. One hopeful young cop
less in the game!" he bragged.

The hostages they were pulling with them were shocked and frowned upon the
cynicism.

"No need to worry," he said. "We will let you go without any bruised hair. When
we're back in the badside, ha ha! Maybe you'll like it so much you don't wanna
go back. Ha ha ha . . . ha ha ha ha!"

They reached the arc's helicopter platform from a side corridor of the mall and
entered the waiting machine.

"I hope you picked the right women for yourselves," he advised his fellows.
"You will have them for a long time now. . . . Ha ha ha ha!" His laugh
drowned in the humming turbine sounds of the heli.

Deunan switched the radio to Metro Police: "Gianna, are the medics ready?"

"Ready and alert, Deunan," was Gianna's answer. "What has happened?" she asked.

"We have two hostages with severe injuries and one officer with light injuries.
One hostage-taker has been arrested. Six of them left the building with the
helicopter. They have six female hostages with them. It's your turn to trace the
heli!" Deunan replied.

"Understood, we'll take over! The medics are on their way. I wish your injured
colleague luck!" Gianna dismissed in the subdued way she always did.

In the meantime, Ayako had checked the woman on the table and had found out the
bastard had hit her badly on her head with his gun. With any luck, she wouldn't
die from that injury. Ayako pulled the woman, who was still unconscious, from
the table and laid her down on her side on the floor. After that, she wanted to
break the handcuffs of the girl to get her away from the gory scene at the kid's
corner. She couldn't, as the girl trembled and began screaming again. Clearly to
Ayako it was because of her recent brutality and especially what her hands had
done to the gangster. His coughing from behind wasn't making it any easier.

Ayako unlocked her helmet and took it off to calm her down. The girl was
astonished to find a pretty young woman with long brown hair where there had
been a grim killing machine seconds before.

"Hello, I'm Ayako," she said with the softest voice she had. "I'm a policewoman.
I'm sorry I scared you."

That cheered the girl up a bit. However, when Ayako reached for her hand, the
child trembled again. The touch of the policewoman was gentle, but her hand
was unnaturally cold. Ayako ripped apart the handcuffs by grasping them with two
fingers from each hand and slowly pulling them. That was too much for the girl.
She bursted into tears when the metal detent cracked like it was a toy—it
wasn't. Ayako had a hard time holding the girl softly enough to comfort her and
firmly enough not to let her go. After a few seconds, the child, despite being at
least eight years old, wrapped her hands around Ayako's neck and clearly
demanded to be lifted.

"I wanna go to my mommy," she whined.

At least the woman on the table wasn't her mother, Ayako thought, then wrapped
the bottom of the girl with her left arm and stood up. Balancing was hard because
of the shot to her left leg. A reddish liquid had leaked through its armor, but
neither she nor the girl gave a damn about it. Slowly they shambled to the exit.

The medics raced by them into the opposite direction. Ken and Jean had started
cutting the straps of the other hostages, while Bri monitored how the medics
were doing on the suit. Jean had found the mother of the girl.

"Baby!" she cried with joy. Ayako dropped the girl off into the hands of her mother.

"There was a boy along with her at the kid's corner. Do you know him?"

The woman needed a moment to collect herself. "A friend's son, I was babysitting him,"
she said.

'Sure you did,' Ayako thought huffishly. 'Babysitting while shopping. How convenient.'

A message from Chip came over the radio: "We have a little boy gazing at us as if we
just jumped out of an action movie. Kids never change, do they?" he joked.

"I'll send his babysitter to you to pick him up. Where are you?" Ayako replied.

"At the other end of the mall. But no need to hurry, I don't think he's going anywhere
now," Chip answered.

"The boy in your care is at the other end of the mall, examining our troops. They're
the big exos, err, robot-like-creatures, there," Ayako explained to the woman with a
wink. She nodded, took the girl and dashed off.

Ayako waved at her colleagues. "I'm sorry I can't help you with the hostages,"
she said and pointed to her leg. "But I think I need to have this repaired."

Ken was worried about her injury but Jean dispelled his doubts: "As long she's
joking around, she'll all right."

"Go get your wounds licked," Briareos dismissed her. If he could make a smile, he
would have one. Ayako pulled herself to the station. "And don't worry about the
evaluation!" Bri called after her. 'Oh, maybe now she does. Drat!' he thought to
himself.

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako|Story preface/chapter overview]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Chapter 2 - Things to remember]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|ChapterIndex]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

2015-07-12T09:35:51Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Edited by [[User:rdaneel|R.Daneel]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==1 First Encounter of another Kind==
Night had fallen over Olympus. The outside observer would surely admit the city
was a beautiful, endless sea of lights, like it was each night. And like each
night, somewhere the blue lights of police were flashing and the howl of police
sirens could be heard. Olympus in general was a safe place to live and most of
these police operations were for traffic accidents and small burglaries.

A sparkling pool of blue lights stood out from the yellowish-white lighting of
one of the three monumental arcologies which formed the city centre. For sure it
had been one of those uncommon days when something awful was happening. The blue
lights had been blinking for hours now and yet there wasn't any progress. It
wasn't a fire, everything was calm.

On ground level, everything was under control. Metro police managed to keep the
police gathering place right in front of the arc clear of rubbernecks. There
were still persons coming down from the top levels of the tall überbuilding
using the normal commuter trains running inside of it. It had to be a Sisyphean
task to evacuate all these tens of thousands of people, even if it was only from
the upper stories. It sure was necessary.

At the gathering place, policemen—and women—in armored exoskeletons prepared
themselves for their upcoming fight.

"Chip, move the left arm," a policeman who looked like service personnel asked
another one standing in a big, puppetlike machine.

Cornelius complied and his exos copied the movement. "It seems it works again.
Thanks, Tom," he answered, then he lit up a cigarette.

"There, I fixed it!" Thomas cheered and then checked whether his other colleagues
had any problems with their armor.

Kenneth hadn't any. His small exoskeleton was more like functional clothing, which
was in great contrast to the super-robot Cornelius was 'wearing'. "No problems
here, thanks," he shouted, so Thomas went by him waving silently.

A few meters away Milan was flexing his exos, a similar one as that of Chip.
Thomas could easily see from its moves all its hydraulics were working perfectly
so he left him alone too. Milan wasn't a chatterbox anyway.

A cold metal hand grabbed Thomas on his mouth and a likewise armored arm
wrapped around his chest from behind. "Shhh, don't move or you're dead," a
voice hissed. As if Thomas could move or even say something if he wanted to; it
was too tight! To his relief he knew the person those arms belonged to, and the
stupid guy was loosening his grip a moment later. "Hey, just practising!"
he laughed.

"Not on me again," Thomas mumbled. "I get a chill everytime you do that."

"At least that means it never gets old on you." Jean, that was the name
of the fellow, smirked at him.

"If you have time to make bad jokes like that, I guess nothing is wrong with your
armor?" Thomas inquired.

"No. Everything ok," was Jean's short reply. Thomas waved and took his chance to get
away from the clown.

Thomas ended his prep tour at a group of three colleagues. The guy was more than
two meters tall and bulky. He wasn't wearing an exos though he looked like he
was. Instead, he was an exos built into a human, or vice-versa if you like—a
cyborg. A blonde woman in her forties did a high swing kick on him, which he
dodged easily. "That's how you have to do it!" she was yelling. "Briareos, don't
go easy on her. She needs all the practice she can get!" the blonde commanded and
dashed off to a nearby truck.

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered laconically, while his lady-boss was already too far
away to hear him.

'She' was a woman who basically practised as a backdrop the moment before. She
seemed to be daunted from the demonstration and, despite being clad in an
intimidating full-body armor herself, somehow she managed to look vulnerable,
like a damsel in distress.

Thomas was approaching the two, first asking Briareos if he had anything to
repair on his body. Bri denied it with "Had no chance to get it damaged yet,"
so Tom turned around to the woman.

"Ayako, any problems?"

"I . . . I don't know," a soft, unassured voice answered him. It was heavily
muffled by the full-face helmet she was wearing. "I haven't tried out all the
functions yet."

"First, you should try the outside speaker. I can barely understand what you
say," Tom suggested.

For a short while, nothing happened. More exactly, it looked like nothing was
happening but both Tom and Bri knew Ayako was desperately browsing through the
menu options presented on the augmented reality display built into the helmet
front.

"Well?" Thomas asked, prepared to give her a clue, but a blink later the lower
front shutter of the helmet opened slowly.

Delicate, peach-colored cheeks appeared in the midst of the black shaded
plexiglass of the helmet. The tender lips of a young woman immediately followed.

"I . . . I'm sorry," she wispered. "I haven't found the speaker option yet. The
cursor is a little jumpy. It's hard to catch it at the correct position."

"It's an eye tracking cursor. It's your eyes which are moving jumpily," Thomas
explained. "You are just too nervous, calm down." He wondered a little how she
had opened the shutter instead. "Opening the shutter was easier? If I remember
correctly, it's at nearly the same menu level," he asked.

"I'm feeling a little hemmed in here when the helmet is closed so I've made a
shortcut for opening it. Blinking left, right, right, both," Ayako admitted.

"That's great, I don't remember showing you how to do that! So you have been
playing around yourself already?" Tom queried her further.

"Yeah, but too little, I guess," Ayako answered with a mixture of bragging and
shyness. "The training hasn't focused on the new helmet's functions."

Thomas had to excuse himself, "My fault, sorry. I was so engaged putting useful
functions into the thing, I've missed the deadline for the documentation. But I
think I can just let you play around a little more and everything should be
fine, no?" Thomas concluded, teasing a smile out of her.

"Enough lovey-dovey, you two," Briareos reminded them of the priorities. "We are
preparing for a mission, remember?"

"Yes, Sir!" both prompted in unison.

"No chance to make me grin!" Bri bantered back, pointing at his jawless cyborg
face.

"Well, then you should try what our bosslady told you to do," Thomas
proposed to Ayako. She gave him a last smile before the shutter closed and
covered her whole head in black armor again.

Insecurely, she attempted to do the same high swing kick she saw a minute
before. She only managed to do a straight kick before Briareos could get a grip
on her foot and kept hold of it.

"So, what are ya gonna do now, bitch?" he asked with a provocative tone while
he twisted her foot slowly. Ayako squeaked as the angle was soon too much for
her ankles. Bri let her foot go and she tautly and silenty stood before him.
It was an unsuccessful attempt to look stalwart.

"This way it won't work," Bri mumbled. Then he shouted, "So let's try it the
other way!" while trying to grab Ayako with his big hands. More instinctively
than deliberately, she stotted back and managed to escape his attack. Briareos
pursued her immediately but, at that moment, Ayako had already changed her
attitude to 'Attack'! She whirled around and smashed his head with a full blow
of her leg. Bri fell on his bottom.

"Ah, Tom, now you have to do some repairs," he moaned.

"I . . . I'm sorry," Ayako apologized and knelt down next to Bri.

He wasn't peeved. Actually, he seemed less concerned than a moment before. "Girl,
if I hadn't been a cyborg, that kick would have finished me. Really, really,
really finished me off. Be careful of what you do hit with your legs. Those are
DEADLY weapons," he explained.

Tom found Bri's neck to be damaged and asked him to turn his head around. "Are
all axes moveable?"

"It seems tilting sideways is broken," was Briareos' reply. "It's not a big problem.
We can repair it after the job is done."

Thomas insisted to repair his neck before they went on their mission, but Bri
refused. "If I get into trouble, I'm going to ask Ms. Hammerblow here for a
daring rescue," he laughed.

Thomas was pretty sure Ayako had been blushing heavily under her helmet. He had
to bite his tongue so not to discourage her again. About the blush, he was going
to find out soon anyway.

"Your turn, Ayako. Anything broken on the test?" Tom turned to her.

"No diagnostic reports, no," was her short, technical reply—this time through
the speaker, he noticed.

"See, it's all a matter of being self-assured. What do you feel? Do you think you
can handle it?" He was rubbing it in.

Ayako reached for her helmet and pressed its lock buttons at her jaw. The helmet
made a tiny jump and Ayako stripped the whole thing off of her head.

The cheeks and lips hadn't lied. The helmet protected the most precious part of
a young woman. While her long brown hair dropped smoothly onto her back, her
eyes were not that smooth. Fierce, that was the correct term. But with her
cheeks still red as tomatoes, she looked very funny. Tom couldn't help but grin.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.

"What do you mean? Whether I'm able to do my job? I may be younger than you, but
I'm a confident and skilled policewoman. I can . . ." she hissed.

She got the wrong idea, so Thomas interrupted her. "No! I meant, your body!"

—Silence—

Ayako blushed even more so Thomas had a hard time not to grin again. Bri clearly
was in advantage here by having no facial expression at all. Still he silenty
stood up and left the two alone.

"Ok, I won't push you any further," Thomas broke the silence. "You said there
were no diagnostic messages so I take this as a 'combat-ready.'" He was drawing
a checkmark into the air.

Ayako parted her hair and put her helmet back on. It locked over her head with
an audible click. "Yes, Battlemachine Ayako ready for use." she said and stood up.
Thomas was a little puzzled. Had she been snickering? Was it the same woman he
had seen ten minutes ago?
-----
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.----------------------------.
| Hi, it's me again, Irina! |
`----------------------------´
/
\-´'`-/ /
/`mMMMm´\
[__\_/o_]
([_____])
( J )
mM\_`=´_/Mm
mMMmm/ \mmMMm
.---´_._`---. |||
[ .--[_v_]--. ] \ ]
[| ø ø |] //
[|`--<´ `>--´|] //
|| \ \_/ / \\//
|| )´[ ]`( `´
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|| / [ ] \ dbf
</nowiki></pre></div>
[[Image:戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako 1.jpg|thumb|right]]
This is a good moment to show you a picture of Ayako,
taken on. . . . Hmm, I won't spoil it to you yet. Here it is:
Sexy, huh? What, NO? Thights too bulky? Breasts not perky
enough, you say? Aww, and I thought you had a serious
fetish for machines, let alone women that are machines.
Phew! Wait, you do? Really? Then I have good tidings
for you. There is more to come: 26 Chapters, where we
explore the features of Ayako, both of her mind and body.
And mine too. Aww, yeah, explore my features, I like
that. . . .
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.-\-/-.
|[] []|
/+ .-. +\
|_____|
^^ ^^ dbf
</nowiki></pre></div>
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Oh, and here's Dark again. Seems he's
a little jealous right now. Cute little
robot, are you eager to explore my features?
Hmm, the earlier I continue the chapter, the
earlier I can cuddle with you. XOXO!
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-----
In the meantime, the blonde had setup her working place in the loading space of
the truck. Twelve big computer screens filled the side wall of it. Half of them
showed videos from the helmet cameras of her colleagues outside. The others had
two different floor plans of the arcology and various status info on them. The
blonde was adjusting her headset and did a sound check.

"Test: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta," she said into her mic, "everyone there?"

"Ken ok," Ken answered.

Jean followed him with a "Jean ok." Then Chip, Ayako, and Milan followed. Bri
made it complete.

"Tom, is all the other setup done?" she asked through the radio.

Thomas answered from the truck's door, "Yes, Ma'am. All checks had been
successful. Bri had a small damage, but. . . ."

She interrupted him, concerned, "What's up with him?"

"Nothing, he says it's ok. We can check it after the job," Thomas replied.

"Ok, then let's bring home the bacon." She got collected again.

Thomas was reaching for the second seat as another person stood at the door. It
was an elderly man with a grey full beard. He tapped his glasses, then greeted.

"Deunan!" he said.

The blonde turned around and surprisedly greeted back, "Chief! It . . . it has been
six years!"

"Don't call me 'Chief,' Deunan. You are the ESWAT chief now," the greybeard answered.

Deunan was a little fussy. "Ok, chie . . . Lance. Thomas, this is Mayor Lance, former
chief of ESWAT. Lance, this is Thomas Boyd, exos service tech."

"How Do You Do?" Thomas asked Lance, as he had noticed his British accent.

"How Do You Do?" Lance replied while they shook hands.

"Well, it is nice to have this small reunion, but at the moment we have a little
crisis situation out there, so . . ." Deunan excused herself girlishly.

"Which is exactly the reason I'm here," Lance cut her short.

"Err, what?" Deunan wondered.

The mayor continued, "You know I retired from ESWAT in order to join the centre for
international police cooperation?"

"Yes, you talked about it when you left us," Deunan answered.

"Well, that's why I'm here. Olympus city council is concerned Olympus has fallen
back from the state-of-the-art in armed police equipment and modern tactics," Lance
told her.

"Awrr, damned politicians," Deunan snarled. "So they sent you to check on us?
Haven't they read my memos? It's all written down there! We are heavily
underfunded. I only have six armed police officers left and one tech."

Lance quietly responded to her, "Olympus has become much safer during the last
twenty years," he said, "so they question the existence of ESWAT at all."

Deunan was lost for words, so Lance took the chance to explain further, "It's
planned to liquidate ESWAT and use the money to buy weapon platforms."

Deunan became a snickerpuss, "Again that ridiculous idea? It was a disaster
twenty years ago. Don't they ever learn?"

Lance seconded her, "I know. I don't like the idea either. However, they have
appointed me to act as a third-party expert though I was the ESWAT chief not too
long ago. If I had to bet, I would say somebody in the council is on our side."

Deunan was relieved when Lance said they should "just do the job and I will do
the paperwork."

Briareos showed up at the truck door. "Deunan, we'll have to talk about our
fledgling." Then he noticed Lance. "Lance! Long time no see, err, how do you
do?" Lance gave his hand to Bri and returned the greeting.

"Bri, Lance is here to write a performance report about us," Deunan informed him.

"Oh, it seems all your memos have had an impact," Bri replied.

"Yeah, whatever," was Deunan's circumventive answer.

"So, what about the fledgling?" Lance asked.

"Ayako Ontemba, Sir," Bri reported, while Deunan made a cutthroat gesture from
behind. Bri got the meaning and continued, "It's too complicated to explain now,
gotta go. See you later, Lance," then dashed off.

Tom hadn't said a word until then. He wanted to, but then guessed it was wiser to
keep silent by the way Bri was fleeing.

"You don't have to be concerned. I'm pretty sure she will learn everything she
needs to know from you," Lance said while turning to Deunan. "That's the reason
why I proposed you as my successor. You weren't the best fighter or policeman in
the team, but you had the attitude to always learn something new and always
pass it further to younger teammates. That's what a good instructor must always
do. And to be a good instructor is the main job of the chief."

Deunan blushed a little, then turned around to her screens. "We should start now.
No time left to kill. Please take the other seat, Lance, so you have a good view on
what's going on," Deunan commanded, and Lance followed. 'He primed himself well,
I'm glad we have done it too,' she thought.

As Lance had taken Thomas' seat, Tom had to lean back to the other side wall of
the truck. Thinking this would get uncomfortable soon, he left the truck. "See ya
later," he waved.

Meanwhile, the SWAT team had entered a wagon of an empty commuter train heading
up the arc. Briareos was the last one arriving.

"Hey, squad leader, detained yourself into the restrooms?" Jean sneered at him.

Bri knew Jean was only making a bad joke, so he ignored him. Instead, he brought
the topic back to the job.

"We are being evaluated on this mission. That means 'stick to the rules.' No
fooling around, no shots to the head or other gory businesses and most importantly,
DO NOT LOSE ANY HOSTAGES!" he keenly advised his subordinates.

Ayako broke the following silence: "Understood, Sir." The others followed her
example.

Briareos started a briefing: "Ok, let's recapitulate. The hostage-takers are robbers,
not terrorists. So we don't have to expect them being eager to die. There was no
shooting, so most probably they don't even want to hurt anyone if it can be avoided.
Nevertheless, they threatened to blow up the building if their departure is hindered.
They demanded a heli, which should now be on its way already. Our enemies robbed a
jeweller in the 183rd floor. Our colleagues from metro police managed to isolate them
there by locking the fire doors and elevators. The robbers are keeping themselves very
silent up there, waiting for their heli. There are some other stores in the area and
we don't know how many enemies or hostages we have to expect, nor their arms or the
condition of the hostages. From what people who managed to flee had seen, they have at
least one exos up there, most probably a landmate they only brought to break through
the safety glasses at the jeweller. That's the situation. Understood?"

The other team members acknowledged.

Briareos gave a last instruction: "Our objective is to SAVE ALL THE HOSTAGES, not
arresting any robbers. If they manage to flee, they are lucky bastards. Understood?"

A further acknowledgement from his whole SWAT team could be heard.

A short time later, the train arrived at the mall station at the 183rd floor.

"Ok, go!" Bri shouted.

The SWAT team got off the train and parted into three groups, as the station had
three exits. Chip and Jean took the western exit, where Chip easily broke through the
locked fire door with his exos. Milan and Bri took the central exit to be ready to
boost up both other teams if neccessary. Kenneth and Ayako headed to the eastern exit.
Ken tried to break the lock of the door, but he had serious problems to do it with
his lightweight exoskeleton. After pushing against it for four times he gave up.

"Seems we're stuck here. We need help from the others," he said, and was up to reach
for Milan and Bri as long as they were near.

Ayako grabbed his shoulder to stop him. The tight, sudden grip made him fall to the
floor immediately. Sitting on his bottom, he could see how she was flexing, then how she
did a straight kick against the door. With a scrunching sound, the metal sheet of the
door bent heavily inwards and, quite more impressive, the lock and even the pivots
blasted. Ken was puzzled. How did she do that? A secret karate technique? But moreover,
he met Ayako with disbelief when that average sized woman pushed away the large steel
door, which must at least had a weight of 1500 kilograms, without the help of the pivots,
and more importantly, without his help either.

"If you haven't noticed yet, I'm escorting YOU while doing the lumberjack work, and you
are tiptoeing, not the other way around," she told her still unbelieving colleague.

"Ayako, how can your exos be so much more powerful than mine? It doesn't look bulky enough
to have this much power," Kenneth questioned her.

"It's not an exos," she replied, which led Ken into utter confusion. "Hey, we can talk
about it later," Ayako tried to bring up the mission again, "we have some hostages to save."

Kenneth nodded and they slowly went into the battlefield.

Deunan and Lance had watched the videos from the helmet cams on their screens.
Then Thomas stood in the doorframe: "We finally have the surveillance cams of
the arc on our screens. There are about 50 cams in the mall. They are on
channels 20 and up now."

"That's great, Tom. You're a technical wizard," Deunan acknowledged him and put those cams
on four of the screens.

"A technical 'firefighter.' He matches the team perfectly," Lance commented.

The arc's cams got useful very quickly. Deunan scanned through them and identified
a lot of hostages on the screens.

"So, there are about ten. What is this place? Ah, the cafe at the centre of the mall.
Seems they are strapped to some railings. Why do they wear shopping bags on their heads?"

Lance browsed through the screens too. "There are about twenty more, this has to be the
supermarket at the east end. Yes, it is," he said.

Deunan got worried. "I can't find any more hostages on the cams. No more hostages?
Can't be. They bragged they had about seventy!"

"The toilets," Lance said calmly. "There aren't any cams."

"You are right," Deunan seconded him. "But forty hostages in the toilets alone? No way.
There must be another place without a cam."

"Maybe it's a bluff?" Lance suggested.

"Could be. I'm not sure . . ." Deunan shrugged, then she had the right idea: "There is a
butcher shop in that shopping mall. The cold storage room!"

"If that's true, we have to rescue those hostages as quickly as possible, or they'll
die from cold," Lance recommended.

"I can't see any of the robbers patrolling. They must be hiding among their victims.
Clever bastards, they parted the hostage groups as well as their own group," Deunan
noted. "We'll have to flush them. The helicopter?"

"Obviously," Lance agreed.

Deunan switched her mic on. "SWAT, listen: there are hostages in the cafe and
the toilets at the centre of the mall, at the supermarket on the east end, and
we think in the cold storage room at the butcher shop on the west. The other
places seem to be clear. The robbers are hiding between their hostages, so be
careful. We'll flush them by announcing the heli is coming. Chip, Jean: head for
the butcher shop and rescue the hostages from the cold storage."

"Understood," was Chip's reply.

Where were the others? "Milan, look out for the landmate. I couldn't see it on
any of the cams but it must be there! Maybe they just tampered with a cam and hid
behind a corner," Deunan commanded.

Milan replied a short "Understood" and searched the place.

"Bri, check the cafe. The hostages there have shopping bags over their heads.
Maybe the robbers placed the explosives at the cafe and didn't want witnesses,"
Deunan concluded. "Ken, you go searching the toilets. Ayako, you go to the
supermarket," were her next instructions.

The three replied. It was a really odd situation. The felons knew the police was
there and did not frown on them.

Chip and Jean reached the butcher shop quickly. The place was deserted like
the rest of the mall. It was too narrow for Chip's big exos to go inside so Jean
searched the place alone. He found the lever of the cold storage room door tied
to a nearby steelframe shelf with a weighty chain. Breaking such chains was
actually intended to be Chip's work, but as Chip couldn't come there, Jean
shortly thought about it, then pushed the shelf to the door with all the power
of his small exoskeleton. The chain got loose and he could open the door. On
first view, more than two dozen people had been shuddering inside.

"Police, come out!" he shouted, but nobody moved.

They had been too shocked by Jean's looks. He opened the visor of his helmet and
repeated his demand. Seeing there was a young man in the armor, the people on the
front built faith in him and quickly moved outside, only to find Chip in his big
exos waiting. He thought they maybe would chicken out because of his big machine,
but none of the hostages did. Big, bulky exos were an everyday's business. In fact,
some of the hostages may even drive one at work, most probably a landmate.

"Anyone injured?" he asked, while Jean was searching trough the cold storage whether
there was any hostage left who may had passed out. There wasn't.

"Butcher shop clear, Ma'am. No enemy found. We are bringing down the hostages," Jean
spoke to Deunan.

"Understood, get them into the station quickly. Don't forget to check them for weapons
first. Some of these hostages could be in fact the robbers! Chip, you're going to
backup Milan. If there is really a big landmate somewhere, he could need help," Deunan
replied. Both did as commanded.

Meanwhile, Ken was examining the restrooms. He found a hostage in every cabin,
strapped to the piping. Like with Jean, shouting "Police, I'm here to save
you" had been unsuccessful. He also had to lift the visor of his helmet before
people trusted him. Freeing the hostages however was a nuisance, as his exos
was still too bulky to fit into the same cabin with them. It was easier to
break the piping than the cable straps, so the toilets soon after became a
wet mess, like the hostages and Kenneth himself.

Deunan switched the radio channels to talk to the metro police: "Gianna, what's up
with the heli?"

It took a moment until the police sergeant answered: "If it's coming, we'll hear
it! I don't know what is taking them so long." A short moment later, the rattle
was audible on the radio. "Talk of the devil . . . Gianna over!"

"Hm, should we inform the robbers? I don't think they'll miss it," Deunan thought
aloud, speaking on the SWAT channel again. "SWAT, listen: the heli is coming.
Soon the robbers will uncover themselves."

Deunan was right. She could see a hostage in the cafe freeing himself from the strap
with a side cutter, then taking the bag from his head.

"Shit, their disguise is intriguing. That guy really looks like a white-bread
businessman in a suit," Deunan railed. She noticed something odd was going on.
"What is he doing now? He's looking around? What is he looking for?" she wondered.

The guy then sneaked out of the cafe and through the main corridor, hiding behind
plants and booths.

"Bri, one of the felons is in the corridor heading towards the supermarket. Is
he going to cross your way?" Deunan asked.

"Don't think so," was his short reply.

"Ok. Ayako, a hostage-taker is coming your way. It's a man in a business suit.
Let him pass, I'd like to know what he is looking for."

"Understood," was Ayako's reply.

The robbers sure had noticed something fishy was going on. Were they expecting it?
None of them raised an eyebrow when the fire doors on the station were crashed.

"This guy isn't really a pro," Lance commented. "But I still don't get how they
expect to escape with their booty. They'll have to uncover themselves to reach the
helicopter and now that we're there, we could catch them all. Why are they
that confident? The explosives?" It had to be a trick. Then he had the right
idea: "What if. . . ."

"Yeah?" Deunan asked.

"What if the helicopter is the trick?" Lance explained.

"You mean . . ." Deunan got it too.

"Yes."

"Shit, that means we may already have some of the felons among the freed hostages,"
Deunan sweared. "Metro Police, Gianna!" she switched the channels.

"Gianna here."

"Gianna, some of the robbers may have disguised themselves as hostages. It's part
of their plan."

"Ok, we'll take personal data from anybody coming down here," was Gianna's calm reply.

"Thanks, Deunan over," Deunan dismissed and switched back to the SWAT channel.

Ayako managed to avoid the man in the suit while he was sneaking through the
wide corridor. It wasn't easy, as the man secured nearly each of his steps by
looking around. He sure had wanted to avoid any contact with the police but that
couldn't be the reason he was that alert. She followed him into the supermarket where
he was suddenly shouting "Rose? . . . Ro-oose?" He was clearly looking for an accomplice.
He shouted again. What was up with him?

Ayako asked Deunan what to do. "Chief, I'm at the supermarket. The guy is shouting for
someone. Your orders?"

Deunan switched all the cam screens to the supermarket and answered, "Don't move! His
accomplices surely are going to uncover themselves in a moment. Bri, Ken, how is it
going at your places? Ayako will need your help at the supermarket soon."

"Still unchaining hostages, Ma'am," was Kenneth's reply.

Bri had better news: "Haven't found any explosives here, Deunan," he was reporting.
"The hostages are ready to go, too."

"Bri, they'll find the station by themselves. Go help Ayako at the supermarket!"
Deunan ordered him.

"Understood," he replied.

"How many felons can we expect up there?" Lance asked.

"We don't know the exact number," Deunan shrugged. "From what witnesses of the raid
said, it must be between six and ten. I'd say they're a group of ten, otherwise they
wouldn't have used cable straps to tie most of the hostages. It is too time-consuming.
We saw it when Bri was freeing them. I would bet they used the cold storage room only
because they hadn't enough straps."

"So there are up to ten armed robbers in the supermarket now," Lance concluded.
"Do you think Briareos and Ayako can handle so many opponents?"

Deunan threw back her head and sunk into her chair. She was really concerned for a
moment.

"The main thing is, what will they do? I mean, their plan is to sneak out by
playing hostage. That's why they put the bags on the real hostages' heads in
the cafe. They didn't want them to know who bound them when they mixed with
them. . . . Wait. But why only in the cafe? Wait! WAIT!" Deunan thought aloud,
"There are TWO independent escape plans!"

—Silence—

Lance raised a brow.

"AYAKO, LOOK OUT FOR THE SUIT!" she shouted into her mic.

"Ma'am?" Ayako checked back.

"PROTECT THE GUY WITH THE SUIT IMMEDIATELY!" Deunan repeated twitchily.

It wasn't a second too late when Ayako sprinted to the suit and crushed him down
to the floor. The bangs of some flying bullets snapped in their ears. They didn't
hit them but the man wasn't exactly relieved about that. While Ayako quickly pulled
him behind a shelf, more bullets came.

"If you don't plan to die, don't move from here!" Ayako commanded him.

The man was whining, still outraged from what had happened seconds ago. In strong
contrast, Ayako was calmly racking her handgun and waiting for the idiot in the
aisle to empty his magazine.

"Police! Drop your weapon and surrender!" she shouted, and added, "ALL OF YOU!"

Maybe a male voice would have had more impact on the morale of her opponents. They
did not even take notice.

"The heli is here. Let's take some of the hostages and go!" a voice was shouting.
"Flatfoot girlie, you will let us pass, otherwise we will shoot the hostages!"
he continued fiercely.

His six accomplices uncovered themselves and each one unlocked a woman from the
shelves for cover.

"Ma'am, what to do?" Ayako asked Deunan.

"Wait for Bri!" was Deunan's immediate reply. "Jean, Ken, Bri: To the supermarket!
Immediately! Chip, Milan: continue your search for the landmate," she ordered the
others. They followed.

"Ayako, your objective is to look out for the suit!" Deunan reminded her, and gave
her the explanation: "The guy in the suit hired those gunmen. He knows traces to
their identities, so they absolutely HAVE TO KILL HIM to get away. Your objective
is to prevent that."

"Understood, Chief!" Ayako acknowledged.

She silently pushed the suit into a corner of the supermarket which she could
defend more easily.

"Bri, I'm at the soft drinks aisle. Back me up here," she informed Briareos.

By the time she had said it, it wasn't really possible for Bri anymore, as the
gunmen were quickly dividing their group throughout the supermarket aisles,
isolating Ayako from her team. In the meantime, Bri and Ken had arrived at the
scene. Jean was running to them.

"Let us pass to the heli and nobody gets hurt," one of the robbers, clearly their
boss, exclaimed.

Bri was about to acknowledge him: "Jean, Ken, we let them pass. Don't do anything
rash."

As if the robbers' boss could have heard what Bri said, they slowly pulled
themselves and their hostages to the supermarket entrance.

The hostages were whining, so Bri tried to appease them: "Don't struggle! They only
want to get away. You won't be hurt if you stay calm!" he shouted.

It hadn't worked out much. It wasn't really true, either. It was clear to Briareos
that they had to kill their employer, and they would try it in any case. Bri checked
if it was possible to back up Ayako without putting a hostage at risk but it seemed
it wasn't.

He recapped Ayako her mission through the radio: "Ayako, remember to look out for
the suit. As soon as possible, I will come or send Ken or Jean to help you, but for
now they are doing a good job of preventing us from that."

This wasn't a good situation, with the youngest team member as the main target. He
had to advise her: "You are on your own, so be careful and don't do anything
heroical. Your own safety comes first!"

"Understood, Sir!" Ayako replied.

She nervously checked her gun and the magazines she was carrying. For about half a
minute, nothing happened. It could had been dead silent if it weren't for the
constant crying of the hostages in the supermarket, let alone the dweeb beside her
who had caused that whole lot of trouble.

"Idiot," she hissed and secured the area.

The situation was developing into a stalemate and the boss of the gunmen got
that quickly. He had to do something. He sneaked up to one of his fellows and
whispered something to him. The guy took his hostage and pulled her to another
aisle. She protested only quietly, as he had his gun at her chin. Seconds later
a lound bang echoed through the supermarket, followed by the wailing scream of a
woman.

"She's all right!" the gangster shouted. "But next time, I'll shoot her."

Meanwhile, another one of the hostage-takers backed away into Ayako's direction.
Bri ordered Jean and Ken to follow the guys. When they arrived, the
hostage-takers had already gone for another aisle. It was hard to track them
in that maze. That was the moment when another scream—a child's scream—was
heard at the kid's corner, which was near to Ayako's position.

She couldn't say how it had happened but a second later Ayako found herself
running to the place where the scream had come from. It was a place of atrocity.
In a mass of scattered toys, a guy was sitting at a small table, holding a gun
in his right hand and a roughly eight-year-old boy in the other arm. A girl of
about the same age was also sitting at the table, tied to it with a handcuff. A
woman was lying over the table, motionless, with blood on her head. The children
were screaming and crying out of sheer horror. The guy had a grin on his face.

"So what you gonna do now, bitch? Move and I shoot the kid," he smirked.

But Ayako hadn't heard his threat, her mind too focused on the gangster's hand.
In the blink of an eye, she prepared herself to grab his gun. For her it
felt like minutes.

She advanced towards him quickly. To her luck, instead of shooting the boy, he turned
his gun in panic and fired it at her, and she must have been hit, obviously.
More obviously, she hadn't noticed it yet. By the time he wanted to turn his gun
back to the boy, Ayako had already grabbed it with one hand and his throat with
the other. She clutched his throat and dashed him to the wall violently. The boy
fell down to the ground and ran away. Ayako's left hand bruised the hand of the
robber while he was still clenching his gun. He wanted to scream but couldn't,
as her right hand was tightly attached to his throat, choking him with a force similar
to the one her left hand was applying to his own. To his luck, Briareos arrived only some
seconds later and managed to take Ayako's still cramped hands from his throat
and gun hand. The first moment he could, he coughed. Ayako was still upset.

"I didn't choke you to death only because you choose to shoot me instead of
the boy. I certainly would have done it if you had killed the boy," she spat.

Deunan and Lance couldn't believe what they had heard and fell silent.
Only Briareos kept his countenance: "Ayako, we need to talk. Later. Hey, you have
been hit!"

"He only hit my left leg. I must be lucky he was sitting at such a low table," was
her, now again, calm reply.

Bri was relieved she was returning to normal again and ordered her to protect the
girl now that she was hit herself and couldn't move quickly. He arrested the
gangster with a cable strap and hasted to the soft drinks aisle. A shoot-out was
in progress. Jean was already there protecting the suit instead of Ayako. He was
barely successful. The suit was hit in the head. It wasn't clear if it was to
Jean's and Briareos' relief but the gunmen had achieved their goal. The guy who
shot him was heading to the supermarket exit quickly.

"Ken, let them go! They have no more business here," Bri shouted.

"Understood," Ken replied briefly, understanding what it meant.

"Milan here, we found the Landmate!" was the next message on the radio. "It's
empty. New orders, please."

"Do not interfere the withdrawal of the hostage-takers." Deunan got collected
again. "Bri, status!"

"Two hostages heavily injured or dead, Ayako injured, we need medics as soon as
possible," Briareos replied.

"Understood," was Deunan's reply. "We'll send them up immediately, but
they are not going to leave the station until the area is secured."

A twisted glee rushed through the remaining gunmen. Soon they would be out of
this scene.

"Cliff is missing," one of them noted.

"I bet he's dead already," their boss acknowledged. "He was a perverted retard
anyway."

"Worked out as you expected," the gunman the boss sent to kill the suit said.
"Glad to have you as our boss."

"Haha, for sure the girlie couldn't stand a child scream! I bet she shot Cliff
right through his pea-sized brain without any reasoning. One hopeful young cop
less in the game!" he bragged.

The hostages they were pulling with them were shocked and frowned upon the
cynicism.

"No need to worry," he said. "We will let you go without any bruised hair. When
we're back in the badside, ha ha! Maybe you'll like it so much you don't wanna
go back. Ha ha ha . . . ha ha ha ha!"

They reached the arc's helicopter platform from a side corridor of the mall and
entered the waiting machine.

"I hope you picked the right women for yourselves," he advised his fellows.
"You will have them for a long time now. . . . Ha ha ha ha!" His laugh
drowned in the humming turbine sounds of the heli.

Deunan switched the radio to Metro Police: "Gianna, are the medics ready?"

"Ready and alert, Deunan," was Gianna's answer. "What has happened?" she asked.

"We have two hostages with severe injuries and one officer with light injuries.
One hostage-taker has been arrested. Six of them left the building with the
helicopter. They have six female hostages with them. It's your turn to trace the
heli!" Deunan replied.

"Understood, we'll take over! The medics are on their way. I wish your injured
colleague luck!" Gianna dismissed in the subdued way she always did.

In the meantime, Ayako had checked the woman on the table and had found out the
bastard had hit her badly on her head with his gun. With any luck, she wouldn't
die from that injury. Ayako pulled the woman, who was still unconscious, from
the table and laid her down on her side on the floor. After that, she wanted to
break the handcuffs of the girl to get her away from the gory scene at the kid's
corner. She couldn't, as the girl trembled and began screaming again. Clearly to
Ayako it was because of her recent brutality and especially what her hands had
done to the gangster. His coughing from behind wasn't making it any easier.

Ayako unlocked her helmet and took it off to calm her down. The girl was
astonished to find a pretty young woman with long brown hair where there had
been a grim killing machine seconds before.

"Hello, I'm Ayako," she said with the softest voice she had. "I'm a policewoman.
I'm sorry I scared you."

That cheered the girl up a bit. However, when Ayako reached for her hand, the
child trembled again. The touch of the policewoman was gentle, but her hand
was unnaturally cold. Ayako ripped apart the handcuffs by grasping them with two
fingers from each hand and slowly pulling them. That was too much for the girl.
She bursted into tears when the metal detent cracked like it was a toy—it
wasn't. Ayako had a hard time holding the girl softly enough to comfort her and
firmly enough not to let her go. After a few seconds, the child, despite being at
least eight years old, wrapped her hands around Ayako's neck and clearly
demanded to be lifted.

"I wanna go to my mommy," she whined.

At least the woman on the table wasn't her mother, Ayako thought, then wrapped
the bottom of the girl with her left arm and stood up. Balancing was hard because
of the shot to her left leg. A reddish liquid had leaked through its armor, but
neither she nor the girl gave a damn about it. Slowly they shambled to the exit.

The medics raced by them into the opposite direction. Ken and Jean had started
cutting the straps of the other hostages, while Bri monitored how the medics
were doing on the suit. Jean had found the mother of the girl.

"Baby!" she cried with joy. Ayako dropped the girl off into the hands of her mother.

"There was a boy along with her at the kid's corner. Do you know him?"

The woman needed a moment to collect herself. "A friend's son, I was babysitting him,"
she said.

'Sure you did,' Ayako thought huffishly. 'Babysitting while shopping. How convenient.'

A message from Chip came over the radio: "We have a little boy gazing at us as if we
just jumped out of an action movie. Kids never change, do they?" he joked.

"I'll send his babysitter to you to pick him up. Where are you?" Ayako replied.

"At the other end of the mall. But no need to hurry, I don't think he's going anywhere
now," Chip answered.

"The boy in your care is at the other end of the mall, examining our troops. They're
the big exos, err, robot-like-creatures, there," Ayako explained to the woman with a
wink. She nodded, took the girl and dashed off.

Ayako waved at her colleagues. "I'm sorry I can't help you with the hostages,"
she said and pointed to her leg. "But I think I need to have this repaired."

Ken was worried about her injury but Jean dispelled his doubts: "As long she's
joking around, she'll all right."

"Go get your wounds licked," Briareos dismissed her. If he could make a smile, he
would have one. Ayako pulled herself to the station. "And don't worry about the
evaluation!" Bri called after her. 'Oh, maybe now she does. Drat!' he thought to
himself.

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako|Story preface/chapter overview]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Chapter 2 - Things to remember]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[戦闘機械_綾子_-_Battlemachine_Ayako#The_Story_thus_far|Chapter Index]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

2.00 - Under New Management

2015-07-11T19:57:22Z

Darkbutflashy: /* 2.00 - Under New Management */

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==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.00 - Under New Management==

"What do I need to do," said Heather.

I massaged my temples, the ridiculousness of the situation becoming overwhelming. "Just go ahead and get undressed, Heather. Underwear too."

Heather turned and looked at me, puzzled and amused, but not offended. "What?"

I shook my head, clearing it. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a little distracted. 80% of the time, I'm fine, but then... why am I telling you this?"

Heather shrugged. "It's okay. I sympathize, 100%."

"Okay, Heather, I need you to open your system's control panel, do you know how to do that?"

"Sure thing!" Heather turned in her desk and tapped at the flat smoothness on the dummy laptop, as though typing on a keyboard. As usual, she began to squirm in her seat.

"Hey, you know, I wouldn't mind getting undressed. You know, if you wanted me to." Her head tilted to one side, staring distantly at a point in space.

"Knock yourself out," I sighed. I had seen more T&A tonight than a late night skin flick.

"Huh?" This time, she didn't turn to me, nor did she look particularly confused. She just continued to stare vacantly, a compliant smile on her face. I was going to be here all night at this rate.

"Strip, Heather. Naked."

"Whatever you say, Rebecca." She stood quickly, then started gyrating and swaying to unheard music. I was so surprised, I laughed. It must have been the word choice. "Strip" probably has a specific action meaining in her profile. Chuckling at the misunderstanding, I caught myself staring at her ass, holding my breath in anticipation as she slid her shorts down her hips, my eyes caught by the edge of her thong...

Wait, what? I really must be tired. "Heather, stop dancing, just get naked."

"Whatever you say, Rebecca." A cheerful look on her face, she immediately stood upright, and pulled her clothes off in a matter of seconds. "Thank you so much. I'm just going to make myself comfortable," she said, bending over at the waist. "Okay, now let me just. I. Soooft. Feel my. Oooh." The panel just above her ass... I shook my head. The panel in the small of her back clicked and whirred its way open, providing me access to the control ports inside. I plugged in my mobilecomp, my hand lingering longer than it should. Heather's face took on a slack, detached look, with a slight smile. My hand drifted along the curve of her thigh...

Focus. I needed to focus.

"Heather, tell me about your sex life."

"It's awesome," she said, impassively. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Has your system logged any changes in your sexual behavior patterns, in the past... month?" I asked. I needed to figure out a way to pick up the pace here.

"My sex life has not changed significantly in the past four weeks," she replied.

"Okay, that's good..." I poked around my mobilecomp, pulling up recent network activity. Browser, clean. Cache, clean. No sign of any infection. I pulled up some sample files from her cache. Sex advice website, campus lingerie swap announcement, email to her friend Susan... wait.

There was an image attachment in the email. I pulled up the image, squinting at the small screen on the mobilecomp. It was just a garbled mess of static, completely incoherent noise. I checked to make sure I hadn't grabbed a truncated data packet... no, the header checks out. This is actually the file she sent. I scrolled through more files... and there was a response.

<pre>
To: HeatherJennings@sccu.localhost.edu
From: SusanWilliams@sccu.localhost.edu

OMG, that's so cute! I want one so bad, but I don't even have a 75% chance of finding one like that!

>To: SusanWilliams@sccu.localhost.edu
>From: HeatherJennings@sccu.localhost.edu
>Subject: You just have to see this cute picture!
>
>Hey Susan, found this hilarious picture, you will just die laughing!
>
>ATTACHMENT:LVRBY.IPC
</pre>

I furrowed my brow. So, not only did Heather send a garbled image, Susan replied to it... and thought it was cute? This didn't make any sense. Susan's system had come up completely clean. No way was she infected with anything. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the IT lab.

"IT, this is Synthia, what can I help you with?"

"Synthia, it's Rebecca. Listen, I'm working my way through residence hall C, and I've found something... well, it's weird." I stared at the garbled image, trying to make sense of it.

"Weird, how? Is it infected with the virus?"

"No, it comes up clean. It's just... I don't know. I don't think it is the virus, but I'm 85%..." I blinked. Was that a pattern in the image? "I'm 90% sure it's related somehow."

"Not much I can tell you to do about it if it isn't infected. You outrank me anyway. Do you want to talk to Vanessa?"

"Nah, that's okay. She's probably got a lot on her plate right now."

"Not really. I mean, you and Beth are busy with the house calls, but back here at the fort, everything's pretty quiet. Vanessa and I were watching a movie, in fact."

"Yeah? Sounds fun. If I can finish in time, maybe I'll join you. How far into it are you?" The phrase "how far in" bounced around in my head, and I found myself staring at Heather's bent-over form, her round, ample tits pressed against the desk. From this angle, her head laying in her arms, she was facing me. She blinked. I knew it was an automated behavior, part of the background maintenance profile, but it still startled me. I turned away.

Synthia's muffled voice called out over the phone. "Hey, Vanessa, how far into that thing are we? Really? I thought we are further along than that." Her voice became less muffled. "She says we're only about 50% in, but I was sure we were closer to 80% in."

"Too bad. I'll probably be a lot longer than that working on this hall. Any word from Beth?"

"Not a peep. Actually, she hasn't even requested a quarantine signal."

"Really? Sounds pretty promising. Maybe she's having better luck than me." I paused, realizing something. "Speaking of, do you have a record of human versus sleeper residences? Seems like almost every system I've checked tonight was a sleeper."

"Umm... hang on." Synthia's muffled voice shouted something incoherent to Vanessa, then, at normal volume, "Vanessa says we don't have that information in the IT files. I think they only keep track of that in the Admissions office."

"Admissions? They never tell us anything these days. Oh well, maybe the halls are separated by life form status. Humans in one, bots in another?" I suggested.

"It's not really something I've thought about much. I just push the flashy buttons on the mainframe," Synthia did her best ditzy voice at this.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Oh, hey, I sent an affected 'bot back there, Lyn Sparks. She should be there soon. She just needs to wait in one of the bays until her backup reload finishes. She'll probably leave on her own after that, but be sure to ask her how her night went. She's supposed to remember a trip to the club."

"The Mechanism? Have you been? It's awesome. Loud, but awesome. Not many guys there, though." Synthia sighed, forlorn. "Oh, won't some fair prince come ravish me?"

"Heck, at this point, it wouldn't take a fair prince to ravish me. I'd be happy with a toad, so long as it was decently-endowed." I poked at my mobilecomp some more. "I'll be sending some data back in a bit, I've compiled a package of what I've learned so far."

"Okay, I'll keep my eyes peeled." There was a sound in the background. "Yoohoo, Lyn! Over here!" A brief snippet of muffled conversation, then Synthia spoke again. "Lyn's here now, I'll just take her into the bay room."

"Sounds good. I'll check back later." I folded my phone shut again. Wait... if that was Lyn, how would she have a conversation? She couldn't hear. Unless... maybe arriving at the IT Lab doors counted as no longer in-transit in her binary brain. Sometimes I had trouble even imagining the thought process of a fembot.

There was a knock on the door. Still lost in thought, I nearly called out "Come in" before realizing Heather's apparent position. If that was a human outside... "Who is it?" I called.

"Susan Williams. From 122? Rebecca, is that you?"

I relaxed. Susan was a sleeper, no doubt - most, if not all of the cheerleading team was, and I knew from experience. Their frequent athletics made for heavier wear and tear, and we had to dismantle each of them nearly once every two weeks. "Come in."

Susan pushed through the door, as though trying not to disturb a light sleeper. She glanced at Heather - or mostly in the direction of Heather's ass. "Hey Heather, how's it going?"

"Hello Susan, I am fine."

"So, Rebecca, still working on Heather's system?" she said, looking at Heather as if seeing her friend nude, bent over, with a hand-held computer plugged into her back was the most normal thing in the world. Maybe in MY world, I thought.

"Yeah, still going through a few scans, isn't that right Heather?"

"That's right, Rebecca. We're still going through a few scans, Susan." Heather didn't shift position at all as she said this, her voice remaining impassive.

"That's good. Hey, Rebecca, I just got a message for you." She held out a piece of paper, expectantly.

I frowned. "A message for me? From who? I just talked to the IT office, they're the only ones who would know I'm here."

"It's pretty important. I think you should read it." She shook the paper. "Reeeeaad iiiiit," she said in a playful, zombie-like voice.

"Fine, just lay off the cheesy zombie impressions." I took the paper and looked over it. "What's this?" I said, confused, looking up at her.

"It's a really important message for you, Rebecca. Read it."

"No it isn't. It's a square full of random dots. It doesn't make any sense. It's like that picture..." I trailed off, losing my train of thought. There was something funny about that picture. I just couldn't remember...

"No, silly, look again!" Susan pointed at the paper in my hand.

I looked back down. Of course! It was an important message for me. "It's from the new manager of the IT department!" I said. "I need to contact him right away." I flipped the sheet over, but the back was blank. I looked back at the front, but there was no more information there. "There's no phone number. I don't know how to call him yet."

"Oh, it's okay. He's my boyfriend. That's how he knew where to find you." Of course, that made perfect sense. I was so glad Susan had found someone.

Susan had pulled out her phone, and began dialing. She held it to her ear as it rang, then her face lit up with delight when the new manager answered. "Hi lover," she cooed. "I gave that message to Rebecca like you wanted, and she knew just what to do. You want to talk to her?" She passed me the phone. "I'm just going to play with Heather for a few minutes, okay?" She unplugged my mobilecomp from Heather's panel. Heather's eyes fluttered, and she stood upright, stretching.

"Hello, Rebecca?"

"Hi Mr. Manager. It's great to finally talk to you!" I was thrilled to hear his voice. I just knew he was going to bring great things to our department. Susan tapped Heather on the shoulder. Heather turned, facing her.

"Thanks, listen, what's the status on this virus outbreak?" Susan whispered something in Heather's ear, and Heather began running her hands up and down the cheerleader's body. Susan moaned in plasure.

"Well, I've been going door to door here in this residency hall, and so far, it looks like 100% of the cases I saw had little to nothing to do with that list of websites we pulled together." I remembered Jennifer's case. "Well, almost 100%." Heather had pulled Susan's top off now, and was massaging her tits.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would... Wait, almost? Uh..." He paused. So careful and calculating. This was a man who knew what he was doing. "Heather, this is going to be a big challenge. Are you up to it?"

"Absolutely, 100%!" I gushed. Susan, now bereft of a skirt, had closed her eyes, her head back in ecstasy. Heather had come around from behind, put a hand down Susan's tights, and was vigorously fingering the cheerleader right in front of me. I swallowed.

"Okay, good. Now tell me about this virus."

"Well, Vanessa's the one who compiled most of the data so far. All we really know at this point is that it causes a dramatic spike in sexual activity in sleepers. I don't know how it affects a normal computer. I haven't seen it on one yet."

He started laughing, as though I'd just told him the funniest joke in the world. I was glad I made him happy. "Did I say something funny?" I asked. I wanted to be able to tell this story later to my friends.

"Oh, sorry, no. I, ah, I wasn't quite expecting IT to react to... the virus. Or its effects. So you've been going around, finding sleeper bots who are feeling particularly horny and... what?"

"Well, we can't really isolate the infection. So far, it's been either restore from backup or reinstall the main AI OS." Heather had Susan's tights off now, and the two girls were kissing deeply, their breasts almost symmetrically pressed together, as though each were the mirror image of the other...

"Okay. Yeah. Right, Rebecca, change of plans. From now on, I want you to make sure every system has that... virus... installed, okay?"

"Okay!" I said, excited. That would save a lot of time. Instead of trying to remove the virus from each and every system, I could just install it. That would be much faster. "Well, Heather's already running it, but Susan came up clean earlier, and she's still here. Should I infect her system?"

"No, that's not necessary. I already had Heather handle that for me."

"Okay, I'll just go on to the next room, then."

"Not yet. Hand the phone to Susan and get completely undressed. I need her to do some stuff to you first."

I smiled. This sounded fun. "No problem, boss man." I passed the phone to Susan, and began unbuttoning my blouse, relishing the feel of the bodice I wore underneath. Professional on the outside, playful underneath, that was my motto. I undid my shorts, sliding them down the smooth texture of my pantyhose. Well, sometimes you've got to be playful on the outside, too. I wondered if I needed to take off my heels, but remembered that he had said "completely" undressed, so that meant bye-bye pantyhose, and that meant the shoes came off. I decided to put the stilettos back on after I got my hose off.

Susan was still listening intently on the phone, while Heather idly brushed her hands over the cheerleader's gorgeous tits. Susan put her hand over the receiver, whispering to me. "Bend over and spread your legs, Rebecca. Heather and I have some work to do, then we need to teach you something."

I was so glad I had gotten in contact with the manager. It was a lucky thing he was dating Susan. As I bent over, putting my head and feet in exactly the same spots Heather had placed hers, I idly wondered if it was against school policy for a girl to date her manager. Probably not. I felt a pair of hands - Susan's or Heather's, I neither knew nor cared which - grab my ass, then run down the backs of my legs, then up my inner thighs. I heard a moist sucking sound, which I quickly recognized as the sound of someone licking a finger or thumb, and was suddenly overcome by intense ecstasy.
</div>

==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.75 - Running Late]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.17 - Look On My Works]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.17 - Look On My Works

2015-07-08T19:55:19Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.17 - Look On My Works==
The vidscreen glimmered in the otherwise dimly-lit living space. I slouched in the patched, torn armchair, watching the documentary. I'd seen a thousand others on the same subject, but just found this one in a recent scavenging trip topside.

"...but try as we might to reach some insight into the fascinating, almost mythical story of XR Innovations, we are left, ultimately with more questions than answers. What were the true circumstances behind his lover's death? What could have driven such a brilliant inventor and industrialist to so completely destroy his life's work? And what were the full capabilities of the fabled Quantron chip?"

I took another sip from the bottle in my hand. I'd long ago forgotten whether it was whiskey or vodka. One of the maids tried to feather-dust my head. "Oh, s-s-s-sir, you've gotten all dirty. tyty." I shooed her away, and she strutted, catwalk-like, over to her sister units.

All three were dressed in fetish-versions of a maid uniform. Bridget, the one I had waved off, studied her sisters with mock disapproval. "Jenni, th-th-this will not do at allllllll." She had lapsed into one of her Scenaricorp roleplay scripts. "You have been quite naughty." She sighed, sensually. "Quite naughty," she repeated more breathy, "Quite naughty, quite naughty quitenaughty quitenaughty qtntyqtntyqtnty..." Her voice rose in speed and pitch, and one of her sisters tried to clean her face with glass cleaner. I tried to focus on the documentary while the chipmunk sound sound of Bridget's voice continued in the background.

"Sadly, we may never know the answers. Mr. Peters' lifestyle and habits led him to a reclusive existence. His brilliance, it seems, was coupled with a fierce rivalry with his equally successful brother, and drove him into spiraling paranoia. Already secretive by nature, by the time of his announced invention of the Quantron, he kept no notes."

There was a fzzt-sound, and Bridget's head spun around on its bearings, her voice slowing to its individual digital samples. The back of her head popped open, and she remained still for a second, her voice samples sounding like a monotonous buzz. Suddenly, she jolted violently, and her voice resumed its normal speed and pitch with a vwrrrrp-sound. The sudden movement jostled her backup cartridges loose, and two months of backup data fell noisily onto the concrete floor. "Oh dear, you will have to be punished. Please ass. Please ass. Please ass. Please ass..."

The man on the vidscreen was standing in a dramatized recreation of Peters' lab, with another person sitting hunched at the workbench. It took me a moment to realize that this was supposed to be Peters - It looked nothing like him.

"Working late into the night, he is rumored to have built the prototype entirely by himself, and manufactured the first batch of production chips in his own completely automated factory." The fake Peters made a big show of finishing his mockup chip, holding it up, triumphantly. The background faded, replaced by burned out rubble. At the somehow still-recognizeable workbench slumped a skeleton, completely unscorched. Sloppy production values, I thought. "On the night of the explosion, every trace of the Quantron chip, and its flagship product, the XR9660F, appears to have been erased from existence."

There was another fzzt-sound from Bridget's head, louder due to her now gaping Archive compartment. I could see the electrical spark glimmer in the relative darkness. "Please assume the position, Jenni." Jenni froze a moment, then turned to face Bridget, her arms and face still locked in the same position.

Her hand moved only to release the feather duster she had been using to dust the wall, and her mouth moved silently. Her vocal processor had been damaged weeks ago. Not interested in anything she had to say, I hadn't bothered to fix it. It was probably words to the effect of "I've been so bad," or "spank me hard," I couldn't remember exactly how this script usually played out. She strode past Bridget, managing to crush both backup cartridges as the passed, then bent over, flipping her short skirt up over her completely bare ass. Not too hard, I thought to myself. That gluteal bay is a pain to reclose.

"Was the Quantron the revolutionary leap forward that experts claimed it was, or was the "generations ahead of its time" rumor just a form of pre-release publicity? And what of the SecurStandard Labs report, claiming almost magical-sounding properties?" Excerpts from the report were highlighted on the screen. "Able to detect malicious code the instant before it is executed. Able to coordinate software updates for linked devices. Able to decompile destructive software. Able to self-analyze for exploitable defects. Able to self-modify to remedy defects." The narrator reappeared on the screen, his hands clasped in front of him with a serious look on his face. "Bold claims, but SecurStandard's own integrity has since been found to be less than certain."

Bridget seemed to forget Jenni, and had now decided that she was deeply in love with Amber. "We really shouldn't. What if the master finds out?" she said, in theatrically hushed tones. Her voice was meant to sound reluctant, but she was already unzipping the front zipper on her uniform, pulling it open to reveal her voluptuous breasts. Amber, whose uniform consisted of little more than an apron and stockings, seemed oblivious to her sister maid, and continued polishing a lampshade. She bent over in a pinup pose, studied her handiwork for a moment, nodded in satisfaction, turned to walk towards the kitchen, and fell flat on her face as she tripped over the box of newspaper clippings which she had failed to save to her environment map.

Clippings slid across the floor. Knowing I would regret it, I glanced at some of the headlines I had saved:

"ScenariCorp Owner Scales Back Operations 90%"
"Defense Forces Erect No-Go Zone Around GySys-Supplied Facilities: Danger Too Great"
"CEO Refocuses Search for Missing Wife"
"Millions Dead in Global Crisis"
"K[[User:Fbc.willowisp|Fbc.willowisp]] P19:56, 2 January 2014 (PST) Sought for Questioning in J[[User:Fbc.willowisp|Fbc.willowisp]] P19:56, 2 January 2014 (PST) Case"

This last was partially obscured by other clippings on top of it. I felt somewhat relieved by this. I tore my attention away, back to the documentary.

"Kyle Parsons may be the only man with any answers, but since his disappearance last year, it seems those answers aren't forthcoming. We can only speculate what Kyle could have learned in his time at XR Innovations, before leaving for ScenariCorp. Is he the critical key in this baffling chain of events, or was he just a high-ranking executive, climbing the corporate ladder? In the end, it seems, no one knows."

"I know," I whispered, throwing back the rest of the bottle and switching the vidscreen back to the exterior security feed. I sighed, contemplating the empty bottle in my hand. "That virus was the best damn thing to ever happen to me," I said to no one in particular. I tossed the bottle into the pile with the rest, where it shattered, as usual. "Look at me, ma. I'm king of the world."

The maids' full-length dressing mirror caught my eye, reflecting my face back to me. As usual, the alcohol did little to improve my self image. My beard was scraggly, like a hermit's. My once curly, reddish-brown hair was now matted and tangled, greying at the temples. I hadn't bathed in weeks. I glanced back over to Amber.

The fall had dislodged her dermal layer latch. As she sat up, curling her legs under her butt demurely, the top of her forehead flapped down just above her eyeline. She put a hand to her head, as though dazed by the accident. "Oooh," she murmured, "I feel so dizzy." Her voice was breathy and seductive, but only half her face was animated. The other half hung loosely on her head, the control points having been disrupted by the fall. "I'm not sure if I've got all the feeling back in my lower body. Would you mind feeling me to see?" She directed this comment to a space three feet to the left of Bridget's head, holding out her hand for a nonexistent lover to help her to her feet. Really? I thought to myself, I hope whoever wrote that line got fired in the first round of layoffs.

I caught a darting movement out of the corner of my eye on the security feed, and turned back to it, selecting the camera 3 footage for full-screen. I waited, tensed, but the only motion I could see was the ever-present smoke drifting through the wreckage of the city.

A shattered woman's face appeared on the monitor, looking directly at the camera. It stared, expressionless for a moment, then split at odd angles, revealing blades and inhuman, mechanical appendages behind the facade. So, I thought, it came back. I crawled out of my chair towards the vidscreen, my eyes locked with the... thing. The scar in my chest throbbed with the memory of the pain. "You want in here, don't you?" I whispered.

The thing cocked its head, as if listening to me, then pulled back slowly. I thought it might be about to leave, when it suddenly lunged forward, slamming towards the camera. A shuddering thud echoed around the bunker, and dust drifted down from the surface access level above. I looked up. "Keep on knocking, but you can't come in!" I shouted. I looked back over to the girls.

Bridget had apparently remembered Jenni, but seemed to have trouble figuring out where her ass was. "Naughty naughty!" she cried in glee, her bare tits bouncing in a way that I almost wanted to do something about. She swatted at the air, trying to find Jenni's ass, eventually resorting to using both hands. After a few attempts, her software seemed to reach some sort of failure threshold, and she paused, mid-spank, then stood at loose attention. "Awaiting instructions, master," she announced.

I climbed back into my chair, deciding to call it a day. "Best damn thing that ever happened to me," I said again.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[2.00 - Under New Management]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

2.00 - Under New Management

2015-07-08T01:12:27Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==2.00 - Under New Management==

"What do I need to do," said Heather.

I massaged my temples, the ridiculousness of the situation becoming overwhelming. "Just go ahead and get undressed, Heather. Underwear too."

Heather turned and looked at me, puzzled and amused, but not offended. "What?"

I shook my head, clearing it. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a little distracted. 80% of the time, I'm fine, but then... why am I telling you this?"

Heather shrugged. "It's okay. I sympathize, 100%."

"Okay, Heather, I need you to open your system's control panel, do you know how to do that?"

"Sure thing!" Heather turned in her desk and tapped at the flat smoothness on the dummy laptop, as though typing on a keyboard. As usual, she began to squirm in her seat.

"Hey, you know, I wouldn't mind getting undressed. You know, if you wanted me to." Her head tilted to one side, staring distantly at a point in space.

"Knock yourself out," I sighed. I had seen more T&A tonight than a late night skin flick.

"Huh?" This time, she didn't turn to me, nor did she look particularly confused. She just continued to stare vacantly, a compliant smile on her face. I was going to be here all night at this rate.

"Strip, Heather. Naked."

"Whatever you say, Rebecca." She stood quickly, then started gyrating and swaying to unheard music. I was so surprised, I laughed. It must have been the word choice. "Strip" probably has a specific action meaining in her profile. Chuckling at the misunderstanding, I caught myself staring at her ass, holding my breath in anticipation as she slid her shorts down her hips, my eyes caught by the edge of her thong...

Wait, what? I really must be tired. "Heather, stop dancing, just get naked."

"Whatever you say, Rebecca." A cheerful look on her face, she immediately stood upright, and pulled her clothes off in a matter of seconds. "Thank you so much. I'm just going to make myself comfortable," she said, bending over at the waist. "Okay, now let me just. I. Soooft. Feel my. Oooh." The panel just above her ass... I shook my head. The panel in the small of her back clicked and whirred its way open, providing me access to the control ports inside. I plugged in my mobilecomp, my hand lingering longer than it should. Heather's face took on a slack, detached look, with a slight smile. My hand drifted along the curve of her thigh...

Focus. I needed to focus.

"Heather, tell me about your sex life."

"It's awesome," she said, impassively. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Has your system logged any changes in your sexual behavior patterns, in the past... month?" I asked. I needed to figure out a way to pick up the pace here.

"My sex life has not changed significantly in the past four weeks," she replied.

"Okay, that's good..." I poked around my mobilecomp, pulling up recent network activity. Browser, clean. Cache, clean. No sign of any infection. I pulled up some sample files from her cache. Sex advice website, campus lingerie swap announcement, email to her friend Susan... wait.

There was an image attachment in the email. I pulled up the image, squinting at the small screen on the mobilecomp. It was just a garbled mess of static, completely incoherent noise. I checked to make sure I hadn't grabbed a truncated data packet... no, the header checks out. This is actually the file she sent. I scrolled through more files... and there was a response.

-----
To: HeatherJennings@sccu.localhost.edu
From: SusanWilliams@sccu.localhost.edu

OMG, that's so cute! I want one so bad, but I don't even have a 75% chance of finding one like that!

>To: SusanWilliams@sccu.localhost.edu
>From: HeatherJennings@sccu.localhost.edu
>Subject: You just have to see this cute picture!
>
>Hey Susan, found this hilarious picture, you will just die laughing!
>
>ATTACHMENT:LVRBY.IPC
----

I furrowed my brow. So, not only did Heather send a garbled image, Susan replied to it... and thought it was cute? This didn't make any sense. Susan's system had come up completely clean. No way was she infected with anything. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the IT lab.

"IT, this is Synthia, what can I help you with?"

"Synthia, it's Rebecca. Listen, I'm working my way through residence hall C, and I've found something... well, it's weird." I stared at the garbled image, trying to make sense of it.

"Weird, how? Is it infected with the virus?"

"No, it comes up clean. It's just... I don't know. I don't think it is the virus, but I'm 85%..." I blinked. Was that a pattern in the image? "I'm 90% sure it's related somehow."

"Not much I can tell you to do about it if it isn't infected. You outrank me anyway. Do you want to talk to Vanessa?"

"Nah, that's okay. She's probably got a lot on her plate right now."

"Not really. I mean, you and Beth are busy with the house calls, but back here at the fort, everything's pretty quiet. Vanessa and I were watching a movie, in fact."

"Yeah? Sounds fun. If I can finish in time, maybe I'll join you. How far into it are you?" The phrase "how far in" bounced around in my head, and I found myself staring at Heather's bent-over form, her round, ample tits pressed against the desk. From this angle, her head laying in her arms, she was facing me. She blinked. I knew it was an automated behavior, part of the background maintenance profile, but it still startled me. I turned away.

Synthia's muffled voice called out over the phone. "Hey, Vanessa, how far into that thing are we? Really? I thought we are further along than that." Her voice became less muffled. "She says we're only about 50% in, but I was sure we were closer to 80% in."

"Too bad. I'll probably be a lot longer than that working on this hall. Any word from Beth?"

"Not a peep. Actually, she hasn't even requested a quarantine signal."

"Really? Sounds pretty promising. Maybe she's having better luck than me." I paused, realizing something. "Speaking of, do you have a record of human versus sleeper residences? Seems like almost every system I've checked tonight was a sleeper."

"Umm... hang on." Synthia's muffled voice shouted something incoherent to Vanessa, then, at normal volume, "Vanessa says we don't have that information in the IT files. I think they only keep track of that in the Admissions office."

"Admissions? They never tell us anything these days. Oh well, maybe the halls are separated by life form status. Humans in one, bots in another?" I suggested.

"It's not really something I've thought about much. I just push the flashy buttons on the mainframe," Synthia did her best ditzy voice at this.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Oh, hey, I sent an affected 'bot back there, Lyn Sparks. She should be there soon. She just needs to wait in one of the bays until her backup reload finishes. She'll probably leave on her own after that, but be sure to ask her how her night went. She's supposed to remember a trip to the club."

"The Mechanism? Have you been? It's awesome. Loud, but awesome. Not many guys there, though." Synthia sighed, forlorn. "Oh, won't some fair prince come ravish me?"

"Heck, at this point, it wouldn't take a fair prince to ravish me. I'd be happy with a toad, so long as it was decently-endowed." I poked at my mobilecomp some more. "I'll be sending some data back in a bit, I've compiled a package of what I've learned so far."

"Okay, I'll keep my eyes peeled." There was a sound in the background. "Yoohoo, Lyn! Over here!" A brief snippet of muffled conversation, then Synthia spoke again. "Lyn's here now, I'll just take her into the bay room."

"Sounds good. I'll check back later." I folded my phone shut again. Wait... if that was Lyn, how would she have a conversation? She couldn't hear. Unless... maybe arriving at the IT Lab doors counted as no longer in-transit in her binary brain. Sometimes I had trouble even imagining the thought process of a fembot.

There was a knock on the door. Still lost in thought, I nearly called out "Come in" before realizing Heather's apparent position. If that was a human outside... "Who is it?" I called.

"Susan Williams. From 122? Rebecca, is that you?"

I relaxed. Susan was a sleeper, no doubt - most, if not all of the cheerleading team was, and I knew from experience. Their frequent athletics made for heavier wear and tear, and we had to dismantle each of them nearly once every two weeks. "Come in."

Susan pushed through the door, as though trying not to disturb a light sleeper. She glanced at Heather - or mostly in the direction of Heather's ass. "Hey Heather, how's it going?"

"Hello Susan, I am fine."

"So, Rebecca, still working on Heather's system?" she said, looking at Heather as if seeing her friend nude, bent over, with a hand-held computer plugged into her back was the most normal thing in the world. Maybe in MY world, I thought.

"Yeah, still going through a few scans, isn't that right Heather?"

"That's right, Rebecca. We're still going through a few scans, Susan." Heather didn't shift position at all as she said this, her voice remaining impassive.

"That's good. Hey, Rebecca, I just got a message for you." She held out a piece of paper, expectantly.

I frowned. "A message for me? From who? I just talked to the IT office, they're the only ones who would know I'm here."

"It's pretty important. I think you should read it." She shook the paper. "Reeeeaad iiiiit," she said in a playful, zombie-like voice.

"Fine, just lay off the cheesy zombie impressions." I took the paper and looked over it. "What's this?" I said, confused, looking up at her.

"It's a really important message for you, Rebecca. Read it."

"No it isn't. It's a square full of random dots. It doesn't make any sense. It's like that picture..." I trailed off, losing my train of thought. There was something funny about that picture. I just couldn't remember...

"No, silly, look again!" Susan pointed at the paper in my hand.

I looked back down. Of course! It was an important message for me. "It's from the new manager of the IT department!" I said. "I need to contact him right away." I flipped the sheet over, but the back was blank. I looked back at the front, but there was no more information there. "There's no phone number. I don't know how to call him yet."

"Oh, it's okay. He's my boyfriend. That's how he knew where to find you." Of course, that made perfect sense. I was so glad Susan had found someone.

Susan had pulled out her phone, and began dialing. She held it to her ear as it rang, then her face lit up with delight when the new manager answered. "Hi lover," she cooed. "I gave that message to Rebecca like you wanted, and she knew just what to do. You want to talk to her?" She passed me the phone. "I'm just going to play with Heather for a few minutes, okay?" She unplugged my mobilecomp from Heather's panel. Heather's eyes fluttered, and she stood upright, stretching.

"Hello, Rebecca?"

"Hi Mr. Manager. It's great to finally talk to you!" I was thrilled to hear his voice. I just knew he was going to bring great things to our department. Susan tapped Heather on the shoulder. Heather turned, facing her.

"Thanks, listen, what's the status on this virus outbreak?" Susan whispered something in Heather's ear, and Heather began running her hands up and down the cheerleader's body. Susan moaned in plasure.

"Well, I've been going door to door here in this residency hall, and so far, it looks like 100% of the cases I saw had little to nothing to do with that list of websites we pulled together." I remembered Jennifer's case. "Well, almost 100%." Heather had pulled Susan's top off now, and was massaging her tits.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would... Wait, almost? Uh..." He paused. So careful and calculating. This was a man who knew what he was doing. "Heather, this is going to be a big challenge. Are you up to it?"

"Absolutely, 100%!" I gushed. Susan, now bereft of a skirt, had closed her eyes, her head back in ecstasy. Heather had come around from behind, put a hand down Susan's tights, and was vigorously fingering the cheerleader right in front of me. I swallowed.

"Okay, good. Now tell me about this virus."

"Well, Vanessa's the one who compiled most of the data so far. All we really know at this point is that it causes a dramatic spike in sexual activity in sleepers. I don't know how it affects a normal computer. I haven't seen it on one yet."

He started laughing, as though I'd just told him the funniest joke in the world. I was glad I made him happy. "Did I say something funny?" I asked. I wanted to be able to tell this story later to my friends.

"Oh, sorry, no. I, ah, I wasn't quite expecting IT to react to... the virus. Or its effects. So you've been going around, finding sleeper bots who are feeling particularly horny and... what?"

"Well, we can't really isolate the infection. So far, it's been either restore from backup or reinstall the main AI OS." Heather had Susan's tights off now, and the two girls were kissing deeply, their breasts almost symmetrically pressed together, as though each were the mirror image of the other...

"Okay. Yeah. Right, Rebecca, change of plans. From now on, I want you to make sure every system has that... virus... installed, okay?"

"Okay!" I said, excited. That would save a lot of time. Instead of trying to remove the virus from each and every system, I could just install it. That would be much faster. "Well, Heather's already running it, but Susan came up clean earlier, and she's still here. Should I infect her system?"

"No, that's not necessary. I already had Heather handle that for me."

"Okay, I'll just go on to the next room, then."

"Not yet. Hand the phone to Susan and get completely undressed. I need her to do some stuff to you first."

I smiled. This sounded fun. "No problem, boss man." I passed the phone to Susan, and began unbuttoning my blouse, relishing the feel of the bodice I wore underneath. Professional on the outside, playful underneath, that was my motto. I undid my shorts, sliding them down the smooth texture of my pantyhose. Well, sometimes you've got to be playful on the outside, too. I wondered if I needed to take off my heels, but remembered that he had said "completely" undressed, so that meant bye-bye pantyhose, and that meant the shoes came off. I decided to put the stilettos back on after I got my hose off.

Susan was still listening intently on the phone, while Heather idly brushed her hands over the cheerleader's gorgeous tits. Susan put her hand over the receiver, whispering to me. "Bend over and spread your legs, Rebecca. Heather and I have some work to do, then we need to teach you something."

I was so glad I had gotten in contact with the manager. It was a lucky thing he was dating Susan. As I bent over, putting my head and feet in exactly the same spots Heather had placed hers, I idly wondered if it was against school policy for a girl to date her manager. Probably not. I felt a pair of hands - Susan's or Heather's, I neither knew nor cared which - grab my ass, then run down the backs of my legs, then up my inner thighs. I heard a moist sucking sound, which I quickly recognized as the sound of someone licking a finger or thumb, and was suddenly overcome by intense ecstasy.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.75 - Running Late]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.17 - Look On My Works]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-07-06T00:29:02Z

Darkbutflashy: /* 4 Rough'n'Ready */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it from the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
<div style="clear: left;"></div>
Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1,70m tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head:

"You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.
----
"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-07-06T00:01:53Z

Darkbutflashy: /* 4 Rough'n'Ready */

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it from the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
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Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1,70m tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head: "You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.
----
"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

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<div style="clear: both;"></div>
</div>

</div>

==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako

2015-07-05T23:34:36Z

Darkbutflashy: /* The Story thus far */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

<div style="float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1ex 0px; padding: 0px;"><pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
\-´'`-/
/`mMMMm´\
[__\_/o_]
([_____])
( J )
mM\_`=´_/Mm
mMMmm/ \mmMMm
.---´_._`---. |//
[ .--[_v_]--. ] \ ]
[| ø ø |] //
[|`--<´ `>--´|] //
|| \ \_/ / \\//
\\ )´[ ]`( `´
|] ) [ ] (
\\\ [_] \
/". .´\
[ `.-.´ ]
[ / )¥( \ ]
[ \ | | / ]
[ ` | | ´ ]
\ | |dbf/
\__| |__/
/ \ / \
\__/ \__/
\ | | /
\.| |./
[ | | ]
[ | | ]
\| |/
)\ /(
/=|Y|=\
`=´ `=´
</nowiki></pre></div>
<h3>Greetings to you Bioroids, Originals, Fellows!</h3>
My name is Irina Volkow and for sure you already have
spotted I am a cybernetically enhanced woman. This is
not my tale, but that of my dear friend, Ayako Ontemba.
She's a cyborg woman like me. Dark has written down her
story and has asked me to tell it to you as I have more
insight than him on how it is to become and to be a machine
woman. I hope I can give you an impression.
<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin-top: 2ex; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Edited by [[User:rdaneel|R.Daneel]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
Ayako and I work for Olympus ESWAT. Dark has said to me
you may already know Olympus from the famous Manga
''Appleseed'' from the even more famous artist ''Masamune Shirow''.
If you don't, buy a copy of it and read it.
It's really great stuff featuring sturdy women and a lot
of awesome machines. Just sturdy, awesome machine women
are missing there - Shirow created ''Ghost in the Shell''
afterwards to fill that gap in his work. However, you
may get the picture even without reading those books.
Let your fantasy flow.

What Dark has really told me to impress upon you is this
isn't a piece of fanfiction for ''Appleseed''. You may
remember some of the people in the story, well, because those are the guys and
gals Ayako and I work with every day. But do not expect this story to circle
around Deunan and Briareos or have their characters developed —or worse,
repeated. It has been 20 years since the events of ''Appleseed'' and in the
meantime, Deunan has followed Lance as ESWAT chief, while Lance had retired
and has since been working as a honorary counselor for international police
cooperation. Briareos has become the old hand of ESWAT for good reasons and is
still taking the squad lead most of the time, like he had done before.

A lot of other things happened in the last 20 years. but it is still undecided
whether Olympus is an utopia or dystopia. Maybe that's just how life goes.
Worldwide political instability, social imbalance, and —to spice it up—
plain crime leads to all kinds of violence against the citizens of Olympus.
Which is the reason why our ESWAT unit is still needed.

Ayako and I mainly work as hostage negotiators and —when negotiations fail—
as hostage rescuers. The latter only since... oh well, I better tell the
story Dark has taken down up from the beginning to avoid spoiling the best
parts.

A last note from me, especially on these "best parts": both Ayako and I are
real women with real feelings. Human feelings. We certainly get physical too,
and I will report it unsparingly, like Dark has written it down. But if you
just rush through the remaining story to get to these hot & steamy parts,
you are going to miss the whole point of them. Which is feelings and how
adorable we are as persons. Plus, I will punish you, and not in the good,
sexual way.

Aww, now I cannot await the moment where I'm up to tell you what happened to
me regarding this: it's so freaking cool to have a body like this. I never
expected the sex. . . .

<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.------------------------.
| _____ _ _ |
| | _ | |_ ___ _____ | | |
| | | | -_| ||_| |
| |__|__|_|_|___|_|_|_||_| |
| |
`------------. .--------´
\ |
\|
_________
| \ / |
| [#] [#] |
o--o ___ o--o
/ | ´ ` | \
/ /|__ __|\ \
o---[ --- --- ]---o
`\"" ""/´
| dbf|
|_________|
|__| |__|
^^^ ^^^
</nowiki></pre>
And here's Dark. He's cute, isn't he? I better start with the story right
now before he punishes *me*. Oh yeah, do me, angry little robot. . . . Hihihihi!
</div>

==The Story thus far==
;[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind|First Encounter of another Kind]]
:Introduction of characters, SWAT action.
;[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Things to remember]]
:An unexpected visit at Ayako's home
;[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Interlude]]
:Gender equality went too far
;[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready|Rough'n'Ready]]
:We're fools to be professionals
-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

2015-07-05T23:34:18Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Along the story */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==3 Interlude==

Thomas nervously gazed at the clock. Ten to eight and still some kilometers to
drive.

"Get green!" he begged. Eventually the traffic lights had mercy, he stomped on
the accelerator and the small van responded with a racing start. Not exactly,
well. The engine howled, yes, but the thing sure ran on molasses as fuel. But
Thomas was lucky, even going at "reasonable speed", he arrived at Ayako's place
in time. Just a minute to eight! He reached for the remote laying on the
dashboard and pressed the button. The rolling grill in front of the van began
to move up and gave way into the underground garage. Thomas circled around the
parked cars and stopped the van near the elevator. Only seconds later, a tall,
bulky woman dressed in a far too tight sweater and jeans got out of the lift.
She opened the sliding door of the van, chucked the big sports bag she'd
carried on the back seat and stepped inside.

"Hey, careful!" Thomas commented the noise coming from of his passenger and
peeked her in the interior mirror. Ayako couldn't answer. After closing the
door she immediately had pulled the sweater over her head.

"Phew, away with you," she gasped and turned over to her trousers.

"Woo-hoo, never got a girl in here stripping so eagerly," Tom snickered and
Ayako threw the sweater at him.

"It's too tight! And the tickle from that thing makes me crazy!" she shouted.

"Why do you have put it on at first then? I mean, it's only a few steps from
your flat into the van. I doubt anyone would have seen you," he asked.

Ayako tried to pull the jeans over her boots. "I just wanted to do it the right
way at least once. No need to have everyone in the neighbourhood know an ESWAT
member lives here... Oh shit!" she exclaimed when the jeans ripped up on the
heels.

Thomas turned over to see what had happened. Ayako had already pulled
the rag back upwards and straightened her legs.

"Maybe you could help me?" she asked in a demanding tone.

Thomas grabbed the jeans at the lower end and could pull them over the heels
with relative ease. "Better get some long skirts," he smiled, "hey, they would
look nice on you."

"As a dress uniform, eh?" she huffishly responded, "I think it would look
ridiculous!"

Nervously, Thomas tugged his own uniform - which he seldom wore at all - into
place while Ayako was buckling her seatbelt. He turned over again: "Sorry, but
at least you have to tell me where to go."

"Second primary school in Lima-4 district," she briefly answered.

Thomas silently entered the address into the navigation system and circled the
van out of the garage.

Traffic was low at that time of the day, but the frequent red traffic lights got
on Thomas' nerves soon. "When we are expected to be there?" he asked. There was
no answer. "Sorry. I really think you would look nice in a skirt."

"Hmm? I've been absentminded, sorry. What did you say?" Ayako apologized.

"The time due. When we are expected?" Thomas left out his latest comment.

"Oh, not before nine o'clock. We have plenty of time," she answered him.

She was right, it was half an hour left and they already were in L4. It was a
more suburbian district of Olympus, nevertheless the most buildings were at
least six to eight stories high and the streets narrow and full of people. They
passed a small park and the nav advised Thomas to turn and to look for a
parking spot.

"This remembers me of the time when I was a kid," Ayako mused aloud when she
saw the school building.

"Just a feeling or something in particular?" Thomas asked charily.

"Feelings," Ayako continued, "but... aah, I don't want to tell."

"You screw me up again," he whined but she teased him further.

"A small girl playing rough with the boys in the streets of the badside," she
told the story, "neither mother nor father, raised by an older cousin," she
made a dramatic pause, "that's what you wanna hear, hu?"

"You almost had me there," Thomas lied cheerfully, "but I know the files.
You've come from Europe, right?"

"Cheat!" Ayako rocked forward and complained, "You are such a nerd, Thomas.
Browsing the files; you should have talked to me!"

"Sorry. I was just curious. I...", he stuttered. Ayako sunk back in her seat
and sighed: "Tom, I understand you need all that documentation when... ," she
hawed, "...when you fix my ... equipment, but..."

"I have understood, I'm sorry," Thomas nervously interrupted her. To his luck,
just at that moment he found a free spot on the parking lane near the entrance.
He stopped the van and pressed a button to let the vehicle find its way into
the spot.

Ayako opened the side door and put her feet on the sidewalk. "There we go," she
announced, hurled the sports bag over her shoulder and stood up. Thomas took a
tablet computer from the side pocket of his door and got off the van, too. He
locked it with the remote and while the door behind his colleague was slowly
sliding to its home position, she in contrary didn't move at all. "There we
go... ," passed her mind again - the school, it was...

----

The girls are running. Have to run, too. Don't miss start of classes! Up the
stairs, through the corridor. Ugh, the backpack is heavy. Take it off, the
jacket, too. Into the classroom. Sit down on my seat, take my paper and pen.

Waiting. The bell rings. Waiting. Mrs. Jung is late. She finally arrives, with
her a man and a woman. Policemen. Mrs. Jung explains. The man talks about what
the police is for. The woman talks about when to call the police and how. They
show a film about the police. I draw her.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Jung is yelling angrily at me: "Ayako, träumst du?"

----

"Ma'am, we should go inside, shouldn't we?" Thomas asked Ayako in all
innocence. She had stood there for a minute or so, not moving at all, at best
blinking. He wasn't worried. In fact, he envied her ability to calm down
herself so quickly; It even came in handy for the job. He was wrong this time,
of course: the situation begged for the flashback and still it had striked her
out of the blue.

"Well then," she focused, "let's go," and marched to the school's door. Thomas
followed a step behind her. She took the cell phone from a fastener on her hip
and called that teacher.

When they stepped inside the building, the phone echoed a voice from the end of
the hallway.

"Oh hi, we are over here!" a young woman shouted happily and waved at the two.
Two men in police uniforms stood near her. The teacher hastily came up to Ayako
and Thomas but when she got nearer her cheering changed to a more timid look.
"You... are... Ayako?" she looked up into the face of the armored woman before
her. Before Ayako could answer, she apologized. "Oh, sorry. I had expected...
err... Sorry. Wow!" the teacher fumbled for words. Sure, she had expected a
tough policewoman showing up in her class but that...

"Nice to meet you," Ayako broke the silence and put forth her hand to the
teacher, who girlishly responded the greeting. After a few seconds of shaking
hands and silent gazing, Thomas interrupted the two.

"Hi, I'm Thomas Boyd, a colleague of Ayako."

"Oh, hi, I'm Erica Young," she turned to Thomas, "nice to meet you. You both,"
she turned back to Ayako, still intrigued by her looks. "I had not expected you
coming in ... combat gear, is it the correct term?" she asked.

"Yeah, combat gear," Ayako confirmed and Thomas nodded eagerly.

"Tee-hee, now I feel really foolish," Mrs. Young continued, "I heard from the
kids they had been saved by a policewoman who took care of a bandit alone,
still I had the picture of some meter maid in a nice dress in my mind. ... But
this is ... you are ... really imposing!"

"Thanks," Ayako laughed, "I do my best."

"By the way, who are these men over there?" Thomas asked while they were slowly
walking through the hall.

"Oh, I thought you know them! Okay, then I'll introduce you," Mrs. Young
started, but the older one of the two men had already come along and hijacked
the talk.

"Mrs. Ontemba, nice to meet you," he keenly greeted her.

"Nice to meet you," Ayako replied in bewilderment, "and you are?"

Thomas haven't had an idea who the guy was either.

"Oh, sorry," the man explained, "I'm Captain Neigher, from Metro Police Public
Relations. Neil for you," he tried to chum up with her.

Thomas nervously looked the other way. To his amazement, the climate was still
... friendly? The storm should have broke loose already. Instead, Ayako
politely responded the greeting of that apple-polisher.

"Nice to meet you, Neil," she said with a winning smile, and squeezed the hand
he gave her. Tightly.

Captain Neigher, no ... "Neil", failed at keeping a straight face. When Ayako
had loosened her grip, he simpered and then turned over to his assistant: "We
should go, eh? Ready, Mike?" Mike nodded silently and took the two large cases
he brought. Obviously a tech.

Mrs. Young interfered immediately: "STOP! Mr. Neigher, this is MY class and
Mrs. Ontemba is MY guest. Please respect that."

Neigher's astonishment only lasted for a second, then he started to brag again:
"Haha, where are my manners; of course you ladies take the lead today."

Now really fed up, she walked silently to the front of the small group and lead
them to the classroom door. "Just wait a moment while I prepare the kids," she
wispered, then put on her teacher smile and entered the classroom.

"Good morning, Mrs. Young," the kids stood up and greeted their teacher in
unison.

"Good morning, children, sit down please," she acknowledged her class, "we have
some guests today for our lesson, like I have annouced some days ago. Do you
remember?"

A boy raised his hand, "The police!" he shouted.

"Yes, Alan, but don't be so cheeky to our guests," Mrs. Young spoke to her
class, "I've gone through the questions to the police you've written down as
yesterday's homework and sorted out the duplicates. Some questions are very
interesting, we will ask them these." She smiled and focused another boy and a
girl, the two kids Ayako saved from the robber a week ago. "Erin, Robert, you
are our interviewers, please switch seats with Tamara and Karen." The two took
the seats near the teacher's desk.

Bob and Erin were both nervous about their new role. Erin remembered last week's
events only cloudily and haven't talked about it a lot. There was that
policewoman who took her on her arm and carried her to mommy. Would she come
here today? Bob in contrast bounced like a super ball. His strongest memory was
Chip's and Milan's exos rumbling through the mall. Sure they would bring one of
their police robots with them today! That would be über-cool!

"You all, please give our guests a great welcome!" Mrs. Young shouted happily
and clapped her hands. The kids followed immediately and that applause was
easily being heard by the group in the hall.

"Our signal," Neigher commented and opened the classroom door for Ayako and the
others.

Mike in the meantime had shouldered a professional telecamera from one of his
cases; "go forth, I'm staying in the background," he said. Ayako coyly smiled
into the cam and denoted Thomas to go in first, which he did.

"Let me carry that," Neigher took the sports bag from Ayako's arm and nearly
dropped it on the floor. With Mike grinning behind his cam, she couldn't help
smiling, too, and went into the room. Mike and Neigher followed.

Erin recognized her savior immediately, as Ayako did with both the kids in the
straight line of her sight. With a "Hi you both!" she squatted before them.

"Hello, Mrs. Policeman," Bob greeted her in a shy tone. Erin didn't say a word
but eyed Ayako's smile thoroughly.

"Well, our four guests from the police will now introduce themselves", Mrs.
Young interrupted the two, "listen carefully!" The four tried to agree with
hand signals who should begin but Mrs. Young intervened and picked Neigher.

"Ah, okay," he nonchalantly began, "I'm Captain Neigher from Metro Police
Public Relations. I'm here to... ," he paused, "supervi... look over this
meeti... confer... get-together." Mrs. Young had to hide a big grin; she had
successfully unnerved that buffoon.

Mike was unperturbed: "Hi, I'm Mike Holden," he turned the camera around to the
class, "I'm filming ya! Hands up!" The kids laughed into the lens.

"And I'm Thomas Boyd", Thomas introduced himself, "I'm a police technician and
a colleague of your main guest today," he showcased Ayako with his hands.

Ayako reassured herself with Mrs. Young, then she greeted the class: "Hello
Kids, I'm Ayako Ontemba and my job is to arrest people who try to harm you."
The kids babbled about her not wearing a police uniform, some whispered she's
thick and others said that's armor on her. Mrs. Young could feel Ayako was
uneasy about the situation but she was prepared.

"Children, we already talked about yesterday what the police is for and when to
call them. Officer Ontemba and Officer Boyd will now explain to you what they
do when you call them for help." - "Is that correct?" she adressed Ayako and
Thomas.

"Yes, but it's Constable, not Officer," Ayako replied. Mrs. Young nodded and
made room for the two.

"And I only had time for a short presentation," Thomas apologized. He took his
tablet computer and arranged it on the desk. It's internal video projector
displayed a video of the interior of the Olympus police headquarters on the
whiteboard.

"Here, that's the place where your emergency calls finally arrive. They get a
call from the hotline where the police should go to and what they have to
expect."

The presentation switched to a video of a police car with the christmas tree on
the roof switched on. Thomas raised the volume and the kids cheered at the
siren sound.

"Usually, your emergency is only a burglary or someone yelling or battering
someone else", he explained further while the video was showing policemen
pushing aside two loudly arguing parties of people.

"Not 'only a battering'. Please always report people beating up each other,"
Neigher interrupted from off-stage but Thomas didn't put up with it and
continued.

"Yes, always report them. They start with arguing, then beating up
each other but suddenly one takes out a knife and hurts the other really badly.
Call the police as soon as possible!" The kids frightened a bit on the idea, so
Thomas tried to lighten them up a bit.

"Don't worry, if you are fast to call the police, we would be there and noone
gets hurt. Do you know the emergency call?"

"911" the children answered in unison.

"Ah, I see you learned it well," he assured the kids and got back to his
presentation. He leaned towards Ayako. "Now it's your turn. The next video is
from a bank robbery."

Ayako was feeling uneasy again - was it really the right thing to show to
nine-year-old children? She looked over to Mrs. Young, who didn't seem to be
concerned. Thomas started the next video, which showed a highly illuminated
branch bank in an otherwise dark and emptied street. She knew that scene very
well - it was a mission three years ago. No shooting, Tom had selected it
wisely.

"I'll explain it to you, children," she angled for their attention, "that was
an armed robbery, like in the criminal stories in television. But that one was
real. There had been two robbers in that bank building, they had taken hostages
and we should let them go." The video showed two persons going inside, and
Ayako explained. "That's me and our colleague Jean, we are going into the bank
- we told the robbers we want to check that the hostages are allright."

A crushing sound was coming from the speakers of the tablet computer. "That was
the back door where two other colleagues broke through at the same moment. The
robbers had been distracted by that so Jean and I could take their weapons and
arrest them." It continued with Jean and Ayako frogmarching the two robbers out
of the bank. The kids became all very silent during the last video. Maybe still
too much for them?

Mrs. Young cheered them up again: "Constable Ontemba caught the gangsters!
Let's celebrate her: thank you, Ayako!"

"Thank you, Ayako!" the children shouted.

"More important, nobody was injured," Ayako added aloud, "the hostages had been
okay, we had been okay, even the two gangsters had been okay afterwards. This
is how we want it to end." After those closing words from his colleague, Thomas
stopped the presentation and put the computer aside.

"Thank you for the presentation!" Mrs. Young took over, "the children have
written down some questions," she gave Erin and Bob two sheets, "Erin, would you
please begin with the first question on your sheet?"

Erin cleared her throat and read aloud: "What does happen to the people you arrest?"

"We take them to the police headquarters, where my colleagues interr... ask
them what happened in their view and why," Ayako answered to the class, "and if
they committed violent acts, we put them into a special jail cell until a judge
decides what to do with them next."

"Robert?" Mrs. Young invited Bob to ask the next question.

"Have some bad guys ever escaped?" he read and Ayako cheered.

"Not from our arrest cells! But yes," she seriously continued, "sometimes the
bad guys escape. We let them go if it's too dangerous for the hostages to try
to arrest them. But we then chase them afterwards, when they had left the
hostages alone."

The class listened carefully and Erin continued: "How often the police is
called a day?"

Ayako couldn't answer that question, so Neigher felt obliged to answer: "about
100 times a day, but these are mostly traffic accidents, disturbance of night
peace, whippings and burglaries. Violent crimes are rare here in Olympus, it's a
safe place to live."

"Our hostage rescuing unit has less than 10 operations in one year," Thomas
added, "not much to do. We'll do our best it keeps being that way by catching
all the criminals. So you can feel safe anytime."

"What do you do when there is no crime happening?" Bob read the next question
on his sheet. Ayako resumed on it.

"Oh, we are practising all the time. We have a training area which is very dark
and intimidating so we can get accustomed to such situations. The police even
has an aircraft at the airport where we can learn to tell apart gangsters from
hostages from the way they act on a plane. And we have to learn to be quick and
see the mistakes a felon makes to overwhelm him."

"A question, Constable," Mrs. Young interrupted, and Ayako turned to her. "do
you ever feel anguish when you deal with criminals?"

Ayako paused a moment, then talked to the class: "oh yes, all the time. But I
overcome it because I know that I'm experienced and I won't give them the
chance to hurt me. The training is very important for our work, children."

Mrs. Young asked for more: "could you give us a demonstration how you overwhelm
a criminal?"

"Aww, sure," Ayako answered and looked over to Thomas, who immediately denied
with his hands. "Captain Neigher, then it's you. Remember your Aikidō
lessons?"

Neigher was surprised but took the chance to exhibit himself. "How can I help?"

"Pick a weapon and attack me."

Neigher took a free chair, hoicked it, and rushed over to Ayako. She turned her
body around and tripped him up. He fell over the teacher's desk and let go the
chair, which scrunched on the floor. She then grabbed his arms, pulled them on
his back and let her handcuffs click. The kids were astoundend how quick and
effortless she had dodged the attack and arrested him. While they were shouting
with joy she opened the handcuffs and helped up Neigher, who, despite looking
very messy, already found back to his role as a spokesman.

"That's what's happening to you when you attack a cop, kids!" he babbled,
"Don't even try it."

"Okay, let's go on," Mrs. Young stopped the laughing, "next question."

Erin giggled when she read it: "can girls join the police, too?" and Ayako,
Thomas and even Mike couldn't help snickering, too.

"Of course," she answered to the class, "as you have seen, it's not who's more
powerful or who has the bigger weapon. Most times it's only who's better
prepared and faster in thinking. You have to practise a lot. I get the most
scratches in practising with my colleagues, not from fighting with criminals.
They are often completely inexperienced."

"But even when you don't like fighting, there are a lot of other carreers at
the police, children," Neigher cut her off in his matchless manner.

"Hmm, yes, last question, Robert."

"Have you been injured once?" Bob read from his sheet. Ayako wasn't sure how to
answer that question honestly and looked over to Thomas who haven't had a clue
either

"Yes... , sometimes," she answered shyly and the kids accepted it to her
surprise.

"I have another question, Mrs. Young," Bob raised his hand.

"Then ask it to our guests," she acknowledged him.

"Do you have robots at the police?", he sputtered. The four were confused about
the question and wagged her heads, Mrs. Young and her class were puzzled, too.

"But I saw them last week in the mall. Really big robots!" Robert insisted.

"Ahh, the exoskeletons," Thomas concluded and answered the boy, "we call them
'Exos'. There's a pilot in these machines, so they aren't really robots."

Robert was very upset: "do you have one with you? I told Alan you have robots
at the police and he says I'm lying!"

"I'm sorry we don't have one here. They won't fit into the classroom, you
understand?" Thomas tried to calm him, but Bob was near crying. In the meantime
Ayako had silently walked over to Neigher and carried the bag she brought over
to the desk.

"Robert, please look here," she demanded his attention but the class already
stared at her, too. She had taken a shiny black bowling ball from her bag and
had raised it over her head. Bob finally looked at her and she slowly pulled
the ball over her head. The locking clicked and instead of Ayako's winning
smile, the glossy black front of her helmet faced the audience.

With its power supply connected the helmet immediately came to life. Various
status messages flickered through the head-up display and after a second the
camera view and user interface appeared. Ayako turned to Robert and switched
the speaker on.

"Hi, Bob, do you recognize me now?" a slightly distorted female voice spoke.

"The other robot!" Robert shouted as he realized, "Alan, there was another
robot like this in the mall. It was just like Mrs. Ontemba. It was... ," he
slowly turned over to Ayako, "Mrs. Ontemba, was it you?"

"Yeeessss," Ayako cheered through the speaker. Inside, she selected the lower
front shutter of the helmet which slowly slid aside. The following "It was
me-eee." chanting through the speaker mixed with her real voice from her lips.

"See, there aren't any robots at the police," Alan bossily exclaimed, "you've
lied."

Mrs. Young rebuked him: "Alan! Don't be cheeky, I said."

"It isn't a lie when you just tell with your own words what you've seen,"
Thomas interrupted and addressed the whole class, "that's very important to the
police. It's only a lie when you know it's wrong what you say. And our Exos and
policemen in combat gear sometimes look like robots who had jumped out of some
cartoon."

During Thomas' speech, Erin asked Ayako to come over to her. She wanted to
whisper something into her ear but the helmet blocked her plan. Robert, and a
second later the other kids, watched them intently; when Erin noticed it she
blushed heavily and withdrawed. Ayako again squatted before her table and tried
to comfort her with a smile but from Erin's view that was the smile of a big
black globe centimeters before her.

"What's up, tell me," the globe asked, "hmm? Don't be afraid, it's okay to
ask." it moved its lips

"Okay," she said quitely while looking elsewhere, "Mrs. Ontemba, do you ... are
you a robot?"

Alan bursted out again: "Silly Erin! There are no robots at the police! Mr.
Boyd just said..."

"ALAN! SHUT UP!" Mrs. Young commanded fiercely.

Ayako pressed the unlock buttons at her jaw and the helmet popped up. She took
it off her head and placed it on Erin's table, right next to her so she could
see into her eyes.

"Why do you think I'm a robot? Because of my helmet and my clothes?" she asked
the girl.

"No, because... ," Erin wavered, "... I don't know..." she lied coyly.

Ayako reflected a second, then bent over to Erin and whispered into her ear:
"What if I say 'yes'? Would it be okay to you? Don't you want to come back at
Alan?"

After a short moment of shock, Erin whispered back: "It is true?"

Ayako gave her a smile and a single nod and stood up again.

"Thomas, could you help me?" she asked but Thomas had yet no idea how. She
posed in front of the teachers desk, what challenged Mrs. Young to ask what she
was up to. "Another demonstration," Ayako hushed her and turned over, "Thomas,
please take my left arm."

"What? No way! ... That's no good!" he denied her request.

"Thomas, just grab my arm or deal with the damage later!" she hissed at him. He
demonstratively folded his arms to stop her, but no use: the audience hadn't
noticed yet, but he had the expert's eye to see what was going on: the central
bolt of her left shoulder joint moved out a tiny bit, loosening the rubber
sleeve which usually protected the joint. A few seconds later, anyone in the
room had noticed the exposed machinery at Ayako's shoulder. Mike was even going
sloppy with his camera but Neigher nudged him to keep on filming.

"Mrs. Ontemba, something's wrong with your combat gear." Mrs. Young worried.

"No, nothing wrong," she smiled at her and with a twitch on her face her left
arm came off. Thomas had already jumped by and snatched it before it could
fall to the ground.

The children and Mrs. Young stared in disbelief. Robert was the first one who
recovered.

"SHE'S A ROBOT! See, Alan, they have robots at the police. NYAH-nyah-nyah
NYAH-nyah," he poked his tongue out at him.

"ROBERT! DON'T BE GROSS!" Mrs. Young intervened again, but she was too
impressed to say anything else.

But Erin rised to speak anyway: "Mrs. Ontemba, so it's true? You are really a
robot?"

With insecure steps due to the missing weight of her arm, Ayako went over to the
girl and kneed down, with the open shoulder joint facing her. She moved her hair
aside and looked over to Erin.

"Please touch it," she asked her but Erin hesitated to move at all. "Hmm, we
already touched each other's faces when we had whispered with each other,
remember? You can touch my shoulder, don't worry!"

With caution Erin streched her arm and forefinger and carefully pressed on the
jutting stem. Nothing to worry really. Erin concentrated on the stem and
suddenly, it moved.

"Yikes!" she exclaimed loudly and the class startled, too; even Mrs. Young and
Mike. Thomas was unimpressed of course, and Neigher hid his excitement very
well.

"Nothing to worry about," Ayako turned over to the class, "it's me moving it. I
turn it forward," she moved her left arm - well, if her left arm had been still
connected there -, "and now I turn it backwards again. See?" The spindle was
rotating slowly following her announciations. "Pretty normal for a robot, don't
you think?" she asked but the visual impact had silenced the class effectively.
Ayako snuffled and turned back to Erin.

"Erin, could you help me? Take my helmet and put it back on my head, please."
She tamed her long brown hair with the remaining hand and held her head towards
the girl. "Erin?"

"Oh, yes," the girl lifted the helmet and pushed it onto Ayako's head clumsily.

"Mwoo, whth twhe frompt doo my wais," Ayako complained with a muffled voice.
The children snorted with laughter. Erin noticed her mistake and yanked the
helmet. "Ouch!" Ayako yelled.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ontemba!" the girl got frightened and Ayako noticed Thomas had
come by to help. She denied his offer quickly.

"It's okay, Thomas. Erin, try it again, please," she encouraged the girl and
this time, Erin got it right. The helmet slid onto Ayako's head and locked into
the latches on her neck. "Thank you," the globe spoke and closed the shutter
over its lips. Ayako stood up and posed in front of the teacher's desk again.

"THAT'S PRET-TY NOR-MAL FOR A RO-BOT!" she droned through the speakers. She had
set the volume very high and her voice was heavily distorted because of that.
Chopping it up was completely manual, of course. Through the helmet cam, she
checked the reactions of the children. No fright. In fact, the kids seemed to be
really excited about their new guest.

In a instant, the robot's head turned right ninety degrees and faced Mrs. Young,
who had stood there like transfixed for the last five minutes.

"MRS. YOUNG, I HA-VE PO-LI-CE PRO-CE-DU-RES TO FUL-FILL IN YOUR CLA-SS. MAY I
PRO-CEED?" it droned. Mrs. Young almost fainted but played along well
nevertheless.

"Yes, robot... err... Mrs. Ontemba, you may proceed." The kids were very
attentive. A red spotlight lit up on the robot's head, which turned left again
as fast as before and aimed for Alan. The robot turned his body around without
losing the aim and walked a straight line to Alan's table.

"A-LAN. YOU HA-VE WRON-GLY AC-CU-SED RO-BERT BE-ING A LI-AR. YOU HA-VE
IN-SUL-TED E-RIN BE-ING SIL-LY. THE-SE ARE OF-FEN-SES A-GAIN-ST THE LAW. I
HA-VE TO AR-REST YOU."

Alan fought back his tears but put his arms onto the table in front of him,
like he expected to be handcuffed any moment; it had scared the wits out of
him. The robot hunkered down and from within the blackness of its head, the
face of a young woman appeared. Ayako had opened the shutters again.

"Alan?" it asked. Alan was still frozen.

"ERIN, I'M SORRY!" he shouted suddenly, "ROBERT, I'M SORRY. YOU AREN'T A LIAR.
YOU AREN'T SILLY. THEY HAve robots at the police."

"So you believe me I'm a robot?" the face asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Ro... Mrs. Ontemba," he admitted and continued immediately, "Mrs.
Ontemba, do you have to arrest me?"

"Hmm, let's ask Erin and Robert if they insist," Ayako spoke out loudly and
turned to the two. They shook their heads after a short while and Ayako could
assure Alan: "No, I don't have to arrest you. You may continue with classes." He
breathed a sigh of relief and Ayako returned to the front of the room.

"Mrs. Ontemba, what was that?" Mrs. Young hissed at her after regaining her full
senses, "what's up with that robot roleplay? I thought you are from the police,
and not an illusionist."

Thomas jumped by: "No, we are from the police, it's..."

"Don't take me for a fool, Mr. Boyd," she whispered, "you are the one who's
inventing those technicals gimmicks, aren't you?" Neigher noticed there
wouldn't any presentable material come out of this, so he asked Mike to stop
the camera and prepare the other stage outside the classroom in the meantime.

"Children, would you like to hear the story how I've once arrested Santa
Claus?" he tried to distract the class from the heated talk at the teachers
desk. The class wasn't impressed but he continued anyway: "Not the real Santa
of course, it was a pickpocket dressing up as Santa..." His yackety-yak seemed
enough to amuse the kids.

Meanwhile, the bickering continued: "Mrs. Young, It's true I'm inventing those
gimmicks, but this isn't a magical mystery," Thomas whispered back but Mrs. Young
wasn't really listening.

"Ah, yeah, right. Mrs. Ontemba, I'm badly disappointed about you. Really gutted
about this... performance. I've wanted to show the girls in this class they
don't have to become a nurse or a clerk or a secretary... or a teacher..., but
they also could become a policewoman or do another non-stereotypical job... And
what do you do? You show them a 'woman' has to be a combat robot in order to
work at the police force. Mr. Boyd, "she turned to Thomas, "what do you intend
with this show? Discouraging girls from joining your little men's club? Huh?"

Ayako had been rendered speechless.

"Mrs. Young," Thomas caught her with both hands, "Ayako IS a combat robot!" he
exclaimed, even drowning out Neigher.

Still, Mrs. Young met him with a skeptic look, so Thomas became angry.

"Class, we're kidnapping your teacher for a moment. Captain, do you get along?"
he asked.

"No problem, tell me when you and Mike are ready!" Neigher nodded.

"...and when we searched his house, we found... who has a clue?..." he babbled
further while the three were leaving the room.

Outside, Mike was preparing a photo set with screen, lighting and flashlights.
He was almost done when the three stumbled over his cables.

"Mrs. Young," Thomas leaned on her, "what can we do make you believe us we're
not fooling around?" His stare into her eyes was rock-solid.

Mrs. Young didn't answer. She could not believe something like that. That woman
- she was roughly her age, a little younger - she had such a pleasing face -
her voice was soft and feminine - that woman, a combat robot? A machine? All
fake?

Thomas couldn't read her thoughts but the disbelief in Mrs. Young's face was the
telltale sign.

"Ayako, could you please lock up?" he asked his colleague.

"Yep", was her short answer. Her sulky face vanished when she pressed the upper
shutter of the helmet down. She browsed through the menus in her view and found
the correct option: 'Service Mode'. "Just actuators or full?", she asked back.

"Actuators is fine," Thomas replied.

When she selected it, the usual safety procedure started - move the cursor to
all corners of the screen, then blink. With that final blink, the helmet
partly took control over her bodily functions.

'Service Mode, Actuators' - that mainly meant the nervous endings of her spinal
cord which normally would control her motor functions were branched off from the
reflex action circuits of her mechanics. Instead, she could move any of her
hydraulic pistons, piezoelectric actuators and shape-memory metal chords by
selecting the appropiate parameters in the helmet menu. Or a service technician
could do.

"Okay, I've liked your little play until now," Mrs. Young moaned, "but enough
is enough."

"No, you wait!" Thomas stopped her, pointing her towards Ayako

The woman before her in that ridiculous robot outfit wouldn't move at all. No
faltering, no balancing. "She's a ballerina," Erica thought, but on second
thought, she was too bulky for that. "Oh well, yeah, I bet he had put her in
layers and layers of fabric to hide the trick behind it," was another thought.

Thomas kneeled down in front of Ayako and fumbled for the zipper of the rubber
coating on her belly.

"Mr. Boyd, don't you dare to strip your colleague - if she really is a
colleague of you - in public! In a school, besides," she complained.

"Mrs. Young," Ayako argued, "we have to do that to prove to you that I'm a
machine."

Mike demonstratively boondoggled with his photo equipment. The teacher leered
over to him and as she found the stage clear, she commanded: "Okay, get on with
it! The sooner this show is over the better."

Ayako knew what Thomas was up to do - and he was right to let her brain not
interfere - at least she had not yet the fine control over her body to move a
single motor with her will alone. He pulled the zipper open and tugged the thick
black rubber layer aside. Below it, an array of gray plates appeared. Mrs. Young
wanted to interrupt again but Thomas was faster.

"Ayako, open the belly array."

She browsed again through the menu and found the option. A drawing of her own
belly area appeared on the screen.

"Hey, that's pretty nifty, Thomas. Where should I blink?"

"Just in the upper right corner, on 'unlock all'. The rest is for the
individual panels."

When Ayako finally blinked on that button, the crackle from more than a dozen
opening lockings echoed through the hall. Thomas folded the panels aside and
Erica marveled in total disbelief at the view into Ayako's innards.

That wasn't a human woman. She slowly collapsed on the floor and Thomas
barely caught her before she could hit the ground.

Half a minute later, the teacher regained consciousness. In the meantime, Ayako
had exited her service mode and closed the access panels on her belly by hand.
Thomas was helping her with the zipper when Mrs. Young focused her again.

"Have I dreamt this?"

"NO", Thomas, Ayako and Mike shouted. The teacher sat down on her bottom and
looked up the tall figure.

"So it's true, you are a machine. But why," she stood up tipsyly, "why the
female apperance?" She turned over to Thomas.

"I bet you don't have a girlfriend, right? That's why you build a police robot
resembling a lovely girl..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ayako cut her off, "but I simply was born this way.
But thank you anyway. You are very kind." she continued with a mix of sarcasm
and girlish behaviour, she even bit her finger.

"What do you mean, 'born this way'," Erica drilled deeper, "I thought you are a
machine. Machines are built, not born."

"I'm both," she replied, "born and built... a human and a machine."

"If we talk in correct terms, Ayako is a cyborg," Thomas resumed, "from her neck
down she's a machine."

"But cyborgs are relicts of the great war," Erica tried to teach them, covering
the eerie feelings inside her. "you aren't that old."

"Thomas remodeled me into a cyborg quite recently, only some months ago," Ayako
explained.

Erica was shocked.

"Thomas, why have you done this... why? Such a beautiful young woman..."

"All her limbs had been severed on an accident a year ago, so... ," Thomas
tried to excuse himself but Ayako had flared up already.

"Come off it! Do only males have the right to decide for themselves they want
to be converted into a machine? Your whole talking about showing the girls in
your class an alternative role model is completely superficial!"

Dang. He knew this could've ended only awkward.

Erica stood still and silent for a while.

"I'm sorry," she said when she had reconsidered the dumb things she had said
before, "you are right. I guess you had the choice between becoming a pencil
pusher or..."

"...becoming a machine, yeah," Ayako was still upset.

"I'd like to bury the hatchet with you," the teacher offered, "I think you are
a positive role model not only for the girls but for all kids. You live your
dream of helping people by rescuing them from the hands of criminals, no matter
what." She put forth her hand and Ayako reluctantly accepted the invitation.
Instead of shaking hands, Erica hugged Ayako to reassure her the change of
heart. The cop put her artificial arm around the teacher a moment later.

Both Thomas and Mike had been relieved this day wouldn't end in a cat fight.

"We only have 10 Minutes left for the photos, I think," Mike hurried them
along.

Mrs. Young opened the classroom door and found Neigher still prattling about his
ancient achievements.

"Mr. Neigher, we are ready outside. Children, Mike wants to make a group
picture of our guests and us. Please come into the hall and listen to Mike's
instructions," she told them.

While the kids were spilling out of the room, Thomas reattached Ayako's left
arm to her.

"Mrs. Young,... Erica", she called the teacher, "do you like to reconnect it?"

"I... what do I have to do?" she asked and Thomas replied, 'just push firmly
and press that little button here at the same time'. Erica tried to push, but
it had no use as she pushed Ayako sidewards.

"You have to embrace me again," Ayako giggled. Erica did and with her whole
force, the arm finally fitted in its locking with a click.

"Thanks, now I feel complete again," Ayako played with her newly connected
fingers.

The kids arranged themselves in front of the photo screen without big hassle.

"Your pupils are really well-behaving, Mrs. Young, please come over here to the
middle, right behind them," Mike said and pulled her at her blouse, "Ayako,
Thomas, would you kneel down with one leg before her - Ayako, please open the
hatch so we can see your face - Erin, Robert, please stand right and left of
Ayako," Mike hasted back and forth the lines and his camera.

"Captain, please stand right of Mrs. Young," he ordered Neigher. Ayako was just
about pressing the lock buttons for her helmet when Mike interfered: "No,
Ayako, keep your helmet on. Just the upper shutter!" She responded with a shrug
and opened the shutter as Mike wished. He checked the motif in the camera
display and rearranged the floodlight a little bit. After another check he
sighed but wasn't entirely pleased yet. He went over to Ayako's back and pushed
her hair over her shoulders, The mirror display on top of the camera guided him
to find the best arrangement.

"Okay kids, and the others, too," he returned to the camera, "I need your
sweetest smile now. Just look into that display here and see what you look
like." After a few seconds, he began a countdown "Ready, steady, go," and
pressed the shutter button. The flash triggered, but Mike wanted another
picture, just for safety, so they repeated the procedure. "That was it," he
exclaimed, "thanks for holding still."

While Mike was beginning to pack his cases immediately, the school bell rang.
The kids got nervous and Erica asked them to get back into class and eat and
drink something during the break. Most of the kids didn't want to follow their
teacher's advice this time. Instead they built a knot of people surrounding
Ayako, touching her arms, legs, chest and of course they reached for her face,
too.

"Children, please don't compass our guest so much. It's bad manners!" the
teacher adviced and luckily, nearly all of them had been satisfied with
touching the police robot once.

A group of three - Erin, Robert and Alan - stayed at Ayako however. Ayako
wondered what they wanted from her.

"Well? You three in a pack?"

"We always play together at home," Alan explained.

"So you are the one playing rough, Alan?" she countered,

"I've said I'm sorry. That's true. I've not known they have robots like you
at the police," Alan excused again.

"One cannot know anything, Alan," Ayako replied, "Come on, I tell you three a
secret. But don't tell anyone!" The three nodded curiously.

"You had been both right. I'm a half-robot. I once was a normal policewoman,
as you saw me in the video. I became a robot only a few months ago."

The kids were struck by total awe. Who would become a ... robot?

"Don't you lie to us," Alan pushed in again but Robert chimed in: "She won't
lie. She's from the police, remember? Right, Mrs. Ontemba?"

Ayako nodded: "It's our little secret, okay? Don't tell the other
kids. Now go eat and drink something." Ayako stood up. Still struck by the
latest reveal, the three went into the classroom.

"Very clever," Thomas noted, "now they will tell anyone..."

"That's what I've intended," Ayako smirked, "working against gender bias and
stereotypes, you understand?" Erica scratched her head, again challenging
Neigher to start his chatter.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Young," he tried to comfort her, "we are all working on the
same side. It's only our methods which differ."

Erica hadn't the nerve and time to discuss this now but instead shook his,
Mike's and Thomas' hands and gave Ayako a goodbye hug. "I have to return to my
work," she waved goodbye and closed the classroom door behind herself.

"We should go now, I need something to drink myself," Mike declared. With
Thomas' help, he had put away the numerous cables and tools at record speed.
The hall was as tidy as they hadn't been there.

"Do you want to come with us?" Neigher asked.

Ayako denied at once: "No, thanks, I'm not thirsty."

"I've cared more about your colleage, Mrs. Ontemba," Neigher gave her a wink
but Thomas saw through her expression and hurried to say "thanks, but I'm not
thirsty either" to Neigher. So the four shook hands and headed for their
vehicles.

"Go. GOOOO!" Ayako yelled when she again sat in the back of the van.

"Pleased by your wish," Thomas smiled and started the engine, "any special
place?"

"No, just goooooooooooooo", she chanted while he was reversing out of the
parking space. They passed Neigher, who stood at the curbs and waved. Ayako
grinned and waved back through the window.

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<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Hi folks, it's Irina speaking again!
`-----
___ / Woah! Three chapters and 20'000 words later and we didn't
mm´ `~. even had a glimpse of sex in the story. Dark, you rattling
mmm mMMm \ cuboid, are you sure you're pressing the right buttons on
mmm[ ___\/o_] our audience?
mmmm| [[____]]
mmmm` ( J ) What, I should just ask them? Okay, but if you care about my
mmMM\\ .__ ) opinion, we need a fair amount of action in any case. Ayako
mmmM/`\___.' should kick serious ass. What's the point in having an
.MMmm. _.\mMm armored power-body when you are only socializing? "Some tea,
/ --[_v_]-`. Darling?" - "With milk and sugar, honey?"
[ ] \ \ \
[ \ \ \ \ Really? More action in the next chapter? Nice. When I think
[\ `. ø ø ] about our readers being turned on by fighting robot women, I
\\dbf `v _/ / can't help being turned on, too. Play up!
</nowiki></pre>

</div>
==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember|Chapter 2 - Things to remember]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready|Chapter 4 - Rough'n'Ready]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-07-05T23:34:05Z

Darkbutflashy:

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it in the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
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Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1,70m tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head: "You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.
----
"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

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==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2015-07-05T23:33:21Z

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<div style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 130%; line-height: 90%; margin: 2ex 0px; background: transparent; border: none;">/-------------->-----><br />| 戦闘機械　綾子<br />| Sentō Kikai Ayako<br />| Battlemachine Ayako<br />+--------------<-----------<<br />| Written by [[User:darkbutflashy|darkbutflashy]]<br />| Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]<br />| Originally released on fembotwiki<br />\---------------<-----------<-------<------<</div>
==4 Rough'n'Ready==

"Gama-Six arreear secured. No hostages orr enemmies soffar," a voice with a
stark slavic accent buzzed over the intercom. "Milan ofer."

Kenneth noticed a field in the head-up display of his helmet turning orange. It
wasn't of high interest to him, his primary concern belonged to the steps under
his feet. Wet, slimy and no handrail or anything else which could have given
him some support. Needless to say, just a single peek at the helmet display and
he stumbled and continued his trip to the bottom end of the staircase on his
rear. Along the clanging, a muffled curse echoed through the tunnel.

"Kenneth here, reached area Tango-Two, confirm."

There was no reaction. At least the squad leader should have confirmed the
position report.

"Oh great, no radio down here", he commented aloud on the warning display in
his view. Should he go back up the stairs to report again?

'Nah', his aching back decided for him. But the other direction wasn't anything
more inviting. The water at his boots stood ankle-deep in the old cable tunnel
and the flashlight on his helmet shed its beam only onto a much deeper flooded
section. With a sigh he started to wade through the mud.

Milan hadn't hit the jackpot either. Obviously, driving an 1.5-ton exos
inside some narrow tunnel wasn't possible so he had to hurl the thing and himself
over the rooftops. At least the KHALES was designed specificly for that
purpose, he shot the grappling hook over the next ridge. The thing got stucked
as intended so he could let it pull the wide belt of the actual conveyor after
it. As it secured itself on the ridge, he started the lifter drive and his exos
slowly moved upwards.

The sun stood high over the boondocks and Milan sure had admired the beautiful
sight over the blossoming treetops if he hadn't been at work. Right on display
on a building wall, the KHALES was an eye-catcher, too. A matter of fact,
snipers had a quite different taste for beautiful scenery.

Inside the KHALES, and still moving upwards, he had a comfortable journey -- if
you call an all-in-one suit which squeezes your arms and legs into tight tubes
comfortable. After all it was better than doing any work in the Landmates he
used years ago on his first job as a farm worker. No twitching, climate control,
he could easily concentrate on the monitors that filled his view with an
augmented reality display of the surroundings.

The snipers did it on their leisure it seemed, as the image processor of the
exos noticed no unusual activity in the trees or the other surroundings. Milan
wasn't relieved; this could only mean the bastards were hiding somewhere else.

The small puddle was packed to the gunwales with extinguished cigarette butts. A
veiny hand added another one and the man it belonged to pleasantly exhaled a last
nicotine breath into the half-light of the room. The window gave him a good view
over the square and the roofs vis-a-vis. He had secured his own position half an
hour ago, the roof above him wasn't reachable and the staircase booby-trapped.

They would come. He could wait.

In the lower bowels of the area, Kenneth continued his wading, passing endless
line-ups of graffiti. Mostly the tag-trash noone would take notice of,
especially not down here, but some pictures were quity arty. At a stairwell
someone sprayed a colorful three-metre lighthouse on the wall, with a big arrow
pointing upwards.

"Landmark guideposts -- this place has everything," he smirked, "must bring the
family next time."

Maybe Ken wondered a moment too long; a few bends later he tripped over a cable
which sagged from its tray to the flooded ground. However, in contrary to the
slump down the staircase, his exos had the chance for a countermeasure this
time: in a reflex action, the suit forced his other foot to skip and do a
scissors jump. In result, it prevented him from falling straight into the murky
brew.

Such reflex actions were a main feature of the AURES light exos but Kenneth
wasn't used to it at all. He would have felt better if he have had decided doing
that maneuver on his own, at least his rapid panting suggested it. Of course,
reflexes don't work that way and he realized that immediately. The suit had done
a good job.

Still no radio. He wondered where he was, the AURES gave him an estimation.
Adding step lengths and turning angles was another useful feature of the suit,
the mapper even detected points of interest by scanning the camera stream and
voice commands. "OW, SHIT" seemed to be such a command, at least an unhappy face
marked the end of the entry staircase on the map. Or maybe it was just
estimating Ken's butt hurt from the drops?

To his relief, the wastewater voyage would end soon. He'd strolled about 600
metres away from Tango-Two and any coming exit should lead him right into the
conflict zone.

Jean was still fumbling with his own exos. Similar to the AURES, the JARES was a
light suit, an older model with some features missing but Jean didn't care
anyway. To him, the additional protection the suit provided was the key feature.
It could lift its own weight of about 120 kilograms, mainly caused by the armor
plates and it had the reflex actions, too. The matching helmet wasn't as
sophisticated as the AURES one - no mapping, no voice commands, just plain-old
intercom. Thomas even had to add the ops documentation camera to the exos
himself.

The suit finally met Jean's snugness requirements and he began to concentrate on
his weapons again. The rifle was equipped and on its post, his handgun on the
waist, unlocked. Smoke bombs and mace were laid out.

The dance could start any minute now. He was prepared.

Milan was the first one under fire. Just as he climbed on top of a building, a
gunman had spotted him. Good luck, all the shots missed and he could seek for
cover behind a big heat exchanger. Bad luck, the shooting had spoiled all his
chances to sneak into the target building.

So fast the shooting had begun as fast it ended. His opponent obviously didn't
like to be a target himself, and he was completely right on this. The KHALES not
only offered excellent passive protection through a tight package of thick
armour plates, it's impressive physique would have allowed to carry even both a
heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher array with it. Not that ESWAT employ
such weapons. But the clearly visible 12.7mm bullpup rifle and 40mm grenande
launcher on it's waist sounded a loud enough note of warning.

After some seconds of securing his position against further attacks from below,
Milan realized there wasn't any time to lose to enter the building. On the plus
side, with the element of surprise eliminated, it was becoming less important
which way to go.

He was pretty sure the door of the staircase hut wasn't locked, but considering
potential booby-traps, he carefully attached the grapple to the door's handle
and let the KHALES open it from safe distance. The steel rope strained and
after a few seconds, the latch broke and the door swung open. No explosion.
Either these terrorists were quite harmless or outright over-confident. Milan
squeezed the KHALES through the door and down the stairs.

The cigarette man sure was aware of what was going on, he didn't even twitch on
the noise from the nearby roof. Instead, he concentrated on the other cop who
had entered the square below him a moment ago. He wasn't in a hurry, the guy
down there hadn't noticed his presence yet. Still, the cop was clever enough
not to lower his guard, used the trees and arcardes as a cover by every trick
in the book. But even this wasn't important to the cigarette man, he
concentrated on the path he'd left free for the cops when he constructed the
scene. A single path where he had a clear line of fire, barely identifiable as
such from the ground.

Three bangs and Kenneth was hit. He hadn't see it coming, and his exos hadn't
either. At least the AURES immediately reacted to the kicks from the bullets and
made him jump back to the wall, into a much safer position.

"AWW, SHIT." The next curse just for the mapper. He checked the diagnosis screen
for a report on the actual damage. The AURES, again, had done a good job
protecting him, even extrapolated to high-velocity ammunition this should have
caused him only some bruised rips. The simunition his colleague used did no real
damage even to the suit. Apart from the camouflage, of course.

Either way, the hurt from the shots was very real and he had to recover for a
while. This play wasn't over yet.

----

Briareos was supervising the scene from a lookout stand when he noticed Deunan's
bike arriving on the site. Without saying a word, she rushed into the small
office shack. Not unusual for her not to interfere with his work, but he'd
thought he'd better look, just in case. "Bri speaking, I'm off for a
few minutes, carry on." His colleagues acknowledged one-by-one while he was
climbing down the narrow staircase.

In the shack, Deunan was busy changing clothes. "Ah, Bri, you have to read this.
NO, wait a second, I read it to you."

"For better effect?" he asked, "I'm marveling at unbeatable ones right now.
What could be better?"

"Charmer!" she peeled herself out of the leathers and grabbed for a paper
she'd plunked on her desk a minute ago.

She addressed him straight: "Bri, you have to hear this. I got a letter from the
city council, they finally realized we're undermanned." she nervously wagged the
sheet.

"Yeah, so what? That's good news isn't it?" Briareos wondered about her
discomposure.

"Okay, I read it to you. Unbelievable!" she continued huffishly. 'Mrs. Knute,
the city council of Olympus is strongly concerned about the limited work
capability of ESWAT you've reported RECENTLY.'

"Haha, you're doing this for years now," Briareos snickered.

"From the first day on the job, yes... but let me continue," she read further
'To maintain the safety of our citizens against crimes, a strong police force is
irreplaceable, Blah blah blah...'

"Really?" he asked with an unbelieving tone.

Deunan sticked her tongue out at him. At least she was smiling for a moment,
then she reached the blowoff: '...we advised Metro Police chief Donner to lend
any EXPENDABLE PERSONNEL to your department until the current budget shortage
situation has been solved. Sincerely, Blah.'

"Ugh," was the only comment of the squad leader.

"Yeah, ick!" Deunan groused in perfect consent, "but the best is yet to come.
That asshole Donner had already given me a file of all the people he can
'expend'."

Briareos pointed at the thin folder Deunan had on her desk. "These?" he asked
with curiosity.

Deunan took the folder and held it over her head like a trophy.

"THIS ONE! -- ONE * SINGLE * PERSON!" She was really upset.

"Good afternoon!" a small blonde woman in Metro Police outfit greeted from the
office door. "My name's Irina Volkow, I was told to report here."

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2em;">[[Image:BatteryBM1.png]]</div>
<pre style="background: transparent; border: none;"><nowiki>
.----------------------------------------
| Uh, oh, that's me introducing myself!
`-----
/

How do we handle this best? Hmm, for the time being, I think I
rather stick to the omniscient storyteller position. Because I ...

I have another big problem. Remember Neigher? He made it into
"Guns&Ammo" -with an imaginary story about Ayako and me-. He even
got his hands on the posing photos we did last November for Ken
and Jean. Scumbags! What do I do? The chief is an eager reader of
the mag, she would definetely miss the hunk in the centerfold. Hngh!!

Squad leader, I need a really old issue of "Guns&Ammo" from you!
One with a guy still guarding it in the middle of the booklet.
</nowiki></pre>
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Still holding the document over her head, and still in underwear, Deunan coyly
greeted back. "Hi," she snickered.

Briareos turned around to give their guest a more proper welcome but the small
blonde was feeling uneasy already.

"Hiiiii...," she spluttered.

Deunan put away the file and approached her quickly: "Good afternoon, I'm Deunan
Knute. How may I help you?" she tried to circle around this awkward situation.

The woman was still bewildered by her interviewer's most casual wardrobe.
"I ... I'd like to apply for the job opening. Gianna ... Sergeant Vicari sent
me here. I mean, sorry, I should have waited for an official invitation, Chief
Knute" the woman explained.

"Oh, you know Gianna?" Deunan wondered and offered her a seat. And yes, a notice
in advance would had been nice.

The woman made herself comfortable on the stool, if this was possible at all.
"Yes, her son is in the same school as my daughter. We often meet on the street,
too." -- "And at work, of course." she hastily added.

"So I bet this is your portfolio," Deunan grabbed for the file again and skimmed
through it. "...born 2113, so you are... 38 years old, ... married, two kids ...
you've worked for Metro Police for about half a year now ... office duty ...
translation service ...okayyyy," she scratched her head and turned to her guest
-- "but Gianna told you what we are doing here at ESWAT, yes?"

"I've worked for the Energy Ministry of Russia before, but my qualifications
haven't been approved by the Olympus authorities yet, so they aren't in the
files," the small blonde countered self-confidently.

"OH!" Deunan's face lit up in an instant. "Which profession?"

"Mostly interpreting," she answered but hurried to add, "but I was trained as
a bodyguard, too. All interpreters at the Ministry have been." Realizing the
last sentence did not back up her position she nervously bit her lip.

"And your last job wasn't meeting your expectations?" Deunan poked.

"No, no, my husband has got a job offer at the University of Olympus and we
have followed him. Me and our children," Irina replied.

"Why the police force, then?" Deunan insisted, "I mean, it's easier to find a
job in business, skip the paperwork and you're in, right?"

"Well, I... I've wanted to join the police force in Russia, but they're not
very open for women, ... and I'm too short..." the small blonde reluctantly
confessed, "so I ended up studying languages. Made a living from my other
passion."

Deunan wondered a bit about her vis-a-vis 'being too short'. She was at least
1,70m tall. They have to grow girls on the beanstalk over there if they decline
such a candidate. She skimmed through the file again. Finally putting aside the
folder, she addressed her visitor with a straight look: "How's your
markmanship?"

"I... I don't know... Haven't shot for a while... ," Irina hesitated to give an
answer.

"I think the chief likes to have samples of your qualifications," Bri barged in,
"by the way, I'm Briareos, ESWAT instructor and your future squad leader," he
invited the woman to shake hands. She hesitated a moment to lay her hand into
the metallic paw of the cyborg cop but when she finally did, his squeeze was
firm but soft.

Behind her back, Deunan shook her head emphatically, Bri couldn't have missed.

'KRSHHH, KRSHHH' -- The small blonde wondered about the noises from the cyborg's
head, but for Deunan, it was an easy guess -- Bri tried to blink again, which
the servos of his eyes still didn't support. The message was more or less clear
-- 'let's see what happens'.

"I go and prepare our guest. See you in a minute," he gave Deunan some time to
dress properly. She could not say anything against it in front of the visitor
anyway.

----

Bri unlocked the heavy steel door to the shooting range and guided his guest
inside. Though the sound of the bangs was greatly muffled, it was obvious
someone was practising right now.

The small blonde was taking a broad view of the room when Briareos interrupted.
"So which kind of gun you have been trained with? Jakov-P89?"

"Yes! How did you know?" she wondered.

"A lucky guess. I was at the KGB before the wars," he replied, "so still
good'ol P89, who could have guessed?"

"Ah, I'm in your good books because I'm Russian, understood," she smiled
seductively, "that's why you outvoted your chief."

"Oh, you've noticed?" Briareos was surprised by her intuition, "But not at
all," he made a dramatic pause, "It's simply I can do the math. If you'd worked
for the Energy Ministry, you'd been in the best 10% of your class -- AND in
the best 10% in all the additional training after that. That makes you our
jackpot."

"Oh, thank you. You are very kind," the blonde snickered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Bri asked bluntly.

"Oh, besides Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish, some Czech and a little
Serbo-Crotian, some Italian, Spanish and French, German," she answered
enthusiastically, "..."

"...and English of course," Bri concluded the list prematurely, "see what I
mean? But they hadn't taken you for the Energy Ministry if you hadn't excelled
on the bodyguard training, too."

"Okayyyyyy," she touched her glasses, visibly ashamed by all the praise.

"Back to topic," Bri gave her a weapon he took from his cabinet, "that's my old
Jakov and here we have the rounds."

"Shouldn't we wait for the chief?" she asked.

"Nah, it's better when she only sees your best shots. But wait, safety first!"
Bri stopped.

"Okay, safety goggles, earplugs, earmuffs," the small blonde answered and he
pulled the stuff from a shelf.

"I guess you don't need it?" she looked at the cyborg while she was putting the
gear on.

"Yeah, that's why I always forget it. I just set my microphones to lower noise
reduction so the volume won't swivel after each shot", he answered, "no further
safety kit neccessary."

The two entered the main room of the shooting range and Irina took the chance
to sneak a peek on the cop on the other side of the range. He was still
practising. Fully armored and helmet put on, he took his gun from the holster,
made a step forward, aimed and shot. And hit. All in two seconds. Wow!

Something was wrong with the picture, but the squad leader interrupted her
thoughts. "Irina?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him.

"Oh, may I call you Irina? We are very informal here. Team-building, such
things," Bri added nervously.

"Sure," Irina smiled at him. It was funny how the tall cyborg hawed. "So I'm
in?" she asked coyly. On purpose, of course.

"Not yet, you should do some shots! To warm up for the chief."

"Okay," she concentrated on the cartridge, filled it with rounds and put the
loaded thing into the pistol. She put the earmuffs on, worked the slide and
unlocked the safety switch -- the pistol was ready. She was ready.

Bri had put a target sheet on the conveyor in the meantime. "25 metres? Or should
we start with less than that?" Bri asked loudly.

"No, 25 metres is okay. I had fairly good results over 50 metres, too," she put
her left hand on her thigh, raised the gun with the right, focused on its
sights, and slowly pressed the trigger. Eventually the shot fired. And hit.

"Right from the instruction book. Good, go on!" Bri commented.

She adjusted her sight and did some more shots, each one with the same
procedure. Finally, Bri let the target sheet return to the firing point and
examined the result.

"One o'clock," he subsumed the hit distribution and gave the sheet to her.

"So my wrist is too loose on the shot?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely. If you know the problem, why don't you handle it correctly?"
he commented. "By the way, I'm impressed. I had to recall these basics into
anyone else's mind, you just happen to remember them. Now take advantage of
your knowledge." He'd put another sheet on the conveyor and stopped it at 50
metres.

The other cop ended his shooting practise and approached Irina while she was
loading the cartridge with another set of rounds.

"That's fairly good," he looked at her sheet. Wait, he? That was a female voice!

Irina turned from the small table to the cop. A young woman, she had pulled
the helmet off her head, smiled at her.

"I'm Ayako," she put her hand forth for a shakehands, "wanna join our team?"

"Actually, yes!" Irina cheerfully replied, "I'm Irina, nice to meet you!" and
reached out for a greeting with the other woman.

The grab was firm. Too firm not to notice the hard rods under the leather of
her glove. Irina sought for eye contact.

"Are you ... ," she faltered, " ... sorry, I just thought your handshake is
firm as steel."

"Cannot deny it," Ayako came back and stripped the glove from her right hand,
"another one?"

Irina fluttered between the smile of the lovely young woman and the
rubber-coated metallic fingers she had aligned for another greeting.

"Oh my ...," she hesitated a moment but then responded to the gesture of
respect, "are you ... are you all ... cyborgs?" She felt surreal. What did she
signed up for?

"What if I say yes?" Ayako tried to bait her. But noticing the sheer terror in
the face of her coworker to be she quickly -and cheerfully- added "No, no,
it's just the squad leader and me."

"We're not ''that extra special''," said squad leader chimed in, "though I have
to admit cyborgs have some advantage doing ESWAT work. But you can do it in our
standard armor and with our standard vehicles and tools, don't worry."

"Yeah, and for sneaking it's impractical to be that heavy. No chance not to
stomp around," Ayako added, "I cannot undress my armor."

As if to demonstrate it, the chief had sneaked up into the doorframe.

"So, time for a chitchat?" she asked, "Ayako, are you done with your shooting?
How are your results?"

"I'm done, ma'am," she answered obediently and showed the sheets.

"Impressive," Briareos commented, "I never shot this precise."

"Good, really good," Deunan flared up, "makes it easier for me to pardon your
latest lapse."

"Uh, what did I do wrong, chief?" Ayako coyly asked. Irina was taken aback how
that terrifying machine woman knuckled under the chief. But okay, she was her
boss after all.

"I had a call from Captain Neigher, our PR clown," she explained, "he wanted to
thank me I had released you from work to create a promo film for the police
force."

"Err, I wanted to tell you already ...," Ayako trembled.

"Not needed anymore, I can imagine all the parts of the story I don't know yet."
The chief continued, "he took advantage of your adolescent inexperience. What I
don't know yet why you had capitulated before that asshole. Couldn't you have
dislocated his arm, something like that?"

"I tried not to," Ayako excused, "I had him attacking me with a chair and
crushed him down."

"Oh, he left out that episode," Deunan chuckled, "good girl. But next time you
call me first and ask for permission, okay? It's our department you represent
and I have to clean up the mess."

"Understood, chief." Ayako was glad the chief hadn't ticked her off in front of
the guest. Or not at all.

Irina was puzzled about the constant switch between formal and informal behavior
prevalent in this department. As shown before, chief Knute clearly didn't focus
on manners and now she tried something like ''good breeding'' on one of her
subordinates? It seemed to work, the overpowered youngster submitted without
being lowered and dispirited. Her special technique?

"I guess we should give our new teammate a chance to tell what she's thinking
about ESWAT," Bri chipped in with the notion Irina was still there. Or better,
that she hadn't bunked off from those weird people.

"Err, I think ... ", said one struggled for words.

"You are in," Deunan interrupted her.

"Huh? You haven't seen my shooting results yet," Irina asked affectedly.

"I don't need to. Briareos said you're in and I trust his competence. But okay,
show me," the chief justified herself, "One o'clock, your wrist is too loose.
You will get better at it as soon you do more finger training. I expect you to
start today."

"Understood, chief," Irina sprang to attention. A moment later she asked
herself why but the reason still echoed in her head: "You are in!"

"Would you like to meet the team?" Ayako asked her new colleague, trying to put
the situation to some ease again.

"Of course," was Irina's answer and like too girls asking their mommy for
permission to go out with the boys, they both eyed Deunan thoroughly.

"Dismissed!" the chief consented.

"A mole?" Deunan mused aloud when the two had gone off to the exercise grounds.

"The question is whose," Briareos commented dryly, "and who is the target."

"'Russian Energy Ministry', that's a cover of the KGB, right?" she presumed.

"It was back then," Bri turned to her, "but why would THEY spy on us? We're far
too unimportant for them."

"You don't think KGB is after you, do you?" she worried about him.

"Nah, don't think so. That was more than twenty years ago, if they'd yearned
for me they have had thousands of chances already," he denied the thought.

"You mean, it's simply the city council, politicians?" Deunan wondered.

"Yeah, that suits us down to the ground. Or even less important, Donner and
fellows," he replied, "but they aren't that dumb, they must have noticed her
background, too."

"Maybe it's just a provocation? I mean, we cannot simply reject her, with all
the memos I'd sent. It could be her husband is a dissident, and she's all
honest now, something like that. Wouldn't be the first time a spy had fallen in
love for her target," Deunan hugged him.

"Haha, you mean your father set you on me?" he snickered.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I'm always there to hear all the little secrets you
tell when you're talking in your sleep. Kiss me, I'm your honeytrap spy."
Deunan entangled herself into the arms of her long-term boyfriend. He lifted
her up a bit and she gave him a coy kiss on the bare metal of his 'face'.

"I think we can handle her, right?" Bri asked.

"If she's a mole and we reject her, they'd just send another one, right?" she
smiled at him like a lynx, "Well, in my experience, ex-KGB agents make
excellent cops."

<div style="margin: 5ex auto 0px auto; width: 600px; position: relative;">
<div style="width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border: 100px solid transparent; border-bottom: 20px solid #101000; position: relative; top: -100px; float: left;"></div><div style="position: relative; left: -200px; top: 10px; width: 0; height: 0; border: 100px solid transparent; border-top: 20px solid #101000; float: left;"></div>
<div style="position: relative; left: -200px; width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="position: relative; left: -200px; width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="position: relative; left: -200px; width: 10px; height: 10px; background: #101000; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 10px; float: left;"></div>
<div style="clear: both;"></div>
</div>

</div>

==Along the story==
<div style="float: left;">[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude|Chapter 3 - Interlude]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">Chapter 5 - TODO</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em;">[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]</div>

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

Science Ethics

2015-07-05T20:06:31Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Science Ethics */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]

Written by [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]]
:::<small>A drawing sketch from Battery's mind gave me the idea for this short story, so I dedicate it to him. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 12:54, 5 July 2015 (PDT)</small>

==Science Ethics==
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D.png|450px]]</div>
“Okay Tommy, now we're positioned accurately, do you feel the groove in my neck?”

“Yeah, there's a knob below your skin, right?”

“Correct. That's the emergency stop. Press it when you feel you are in danger, okay?”

“I have to admit, I feel in danger since you gave me that smile...”

“Nonsense, you wanted me right when you first saw me. Like the other two hundred guys in the course.”

“I didn't know you are a robot back then.”

“Cyborg! And don't tell me you aren't hot to fuck a girl who also is a machine. That's why I'd chosen to attend an engineering course.”

“I already understood your plan.”

“Really? You don't have your degree yet but understand the research I'm doing?”

“Yeah, you wanna bang a bunch of male virgins and get another degree for it.”

“Don't get cocky. We're analyzing the excitatory response to sexual stimuli. In a controlled environment.”

“What else did I say?”

“Tommy, you aren't the only proband I have. We can quit immediately if you like.”

“Nah, I like to have sex with you. Let's assume you are my girlfriend, okay, Pat?”

“If you like, your imagination is part of the test procedure. But just treat me how you would treat any woman who consented to have intercourse with you.”

He pressed his glans against the rubber lips of the robot –sorry, ‘cyborg’– and went fully in without hesitation.

“Ouch, do you plan to go in dry with your girlfriend, too? She's not going to have a steel vagina, okay?”

“You do want authentic data, don't you?”

Patricia had no punch line for such cheekyness, so she concentrated on the EEG data she got from his brain instead.
Sometimes it was really convenient to be a cyborg.
She could focus on his patterns while he was shagging her hard and even correlate them with the response she gave him with her hydrolics in real-time.

“Okay, Tommy, you're very aroused right now. Give me some feedback for the video: what do you think of right now?”

“Robot. Oh gawd, I'm fucking a robot girl.”

“Nothing less descriptive? Some feeling perhaps?”

Thomas tried to gain some concentration.

“The pressure ... rotation [pant] ... it's stroking me, squeezing and tickling my shaft.”

“A feeling, not a sensation.”

The cyborg gave Tom a hard time by simply continuing the fuck while asking him that.

“She's so collected ... [pant] cool ... robotic ... she dictracts me with her sexy metal body [pant] ... and controls me with her bossy mind ...”

“Okayyyyyy ...”

“Pat, could you switch to robo mode?”

“What do you mean, robo mode?”

“As you did [pant] ... last time.”

“What do you mean, last time?”

Thomas pressed the stop button. He knew a discussion would lead nowhere. Well, at least nowhere he wanted to arrive.
He bounced his balls a couple of times against Pat's unmoving butt and ejaculated into her metal cunt.
Patricia was right, the engineering courses are good hunting ground for a robot woman, regardless what her motives are.
What he didn't understood if he really was the first guy who ever hit the ‘panic button’ on her neck.
Maybe he was the first guy who had enough programming skills to hack into her prosthesis to make her mind forget about what happened? It was easy, just an extension of the involuntary sleep the knob sent her brain on.

Or he just was the first one who had enough imagination to try to convince her to become a robot.
More than she already was. He knew he was near his goal as she played that game a while earlier.

Nonetheless, the current iteration was a step back.
He had been too greedy, she would still not accept they've been through this about eighty times already.
Enough for now, as much to his regret he ''wasn't'' a robot and his tool needed some rest.

Forging the files would take some effort and time, too.
----
Resume.

“Oh yeah, seems I have lost my mind for a second, where did we break off?”

“You asked me for my register number, for the undisclosed records. Robert Webb, 2nd semester electronics engineering, register 223-716-234.”

“Ah, ok. Thank you Robert.”

“Could we meet again, Pat, I mean ...?”

“Robert, I'm pretty sure you understand our intercourse was solely for science. I cannot go out with all the men I work with. Goodbye.”

She closed the door with a stern smile.

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D1.jpg]]</div>

“Okay, who's in tomorrow? T.. a ... m ... Thomas ... Mur ... ray ... terrible handwriting. Either a yokel or a doctor, hmph.”

Well, you cannot preselect your guinea pigs, it's not science when don't take it serious right from the start.
Thus, Patricia's own doctoral thesis <span style="white-space: nowrap;">''‘Machine Sex - Understanding a Male Fetish’''</span> would take a while longer given all that redundant data she had gathered.
<div style="clear: right;"></div>
</div>
[[Stories|Back to the Story Archive]]

[[Category:Battery]]
[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]

Science Ethics

2015-07-05T20:03:54Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]

Written by [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]]
:::<small>A drawing sketch from Battery's mind gave me the idea for this short story, so I dedicate it to him. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 12:54, 5 July 2015 (PDT)</small>

==Science Ethics==
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D.png|450px]]</div>
“Okay Tommy, now we're positioned accurately, do you feel the groove in my neck?”

“Yeah, there's a knob below your skin, right?”

“Correct. That's the emergency stop. Press it when you feel you are in danger, okay?”

“I have to admit, I feel in danger since you gave me that smile...”

“Nonsense, you wanted me right when you first saw me. Like the other two hundred guys in the course.”

“I didn't know you are a robot back then.”

“Cyborg! And don't tell me you aren't hot to fuck a girl who also is a machine. That's why I'd chosen to attend an engineering course.”

“I already understood your plan.”

“Really? You don't have your degree yet but understand the research I'm doing?”

“Yeah, you wanna bang a bunch of male virgins and get a degree for it.”

“Don't get cocky. We're analyzing the excitatory response to sexual stimuli. In a controlled environment.”

“What else did I say?”

“Tommy, you aren't the only proband I have. We can quit immediately if you like.”

“Nah, I like to have sex with you. Let's assume you are my girlfriend, okay, Pat?”

“If you like, your imagination is part of the test procedure. But just treat me how you would treat any woman who consented to have intercourse with you.”

He pressed his glans against the rubber lips of the robot –sorry, ‘cyborg’– and went fully in without hesitation.

“Ouch, do you plan to go in dry with your girlfriend, too? She's not going to have a steel vagina, okay?”

“You do want authentic data, don't you?”

Patricia had no punch line for such cheekyness, so she concentrated on the EEG data she got from his brain instead.
Sometimes it was really convenient to be a cyborg.
She could focus on his patterns while he was shagging her hard and even correlate them with the response she gave him with her hydrolics in real-time.

“Okay, Tommy, you're very aroused right now. Give me some feedback for the video: what do you think of right now?”

“Robot. Oh gawd, I'm fucking a robot girl.”

“Nothing less descriptive? Some feeling perhaps?”

Thomas tried to gain some concentration.

“The pressure ... rotation [pant] ... it's stroking me, squeezing and tickling my shaft.”

“A feeling, not a sensation.”

The cyborg gave Tom a hard time by simply continuing the fuck while asking him that.

“She's so collected ... [pant] cool ... robotic ... she dictracts me with her sexy metal body [pant] ... and controls me with her bossy mind ...”

“Okayyyyyy ...”

“Pat, could you switch to robo mode?”

“What do you mean, robo mode?”

“As you did [pant] ... last time.”

“What do you mean, last time?”

Thomas pressed the stop button. He knew a discussion would lead nowhere. Well, at least nowhere he wanted to arrive.
He bounced his balls a couple of times against Pat's unmoving butt and ejaculated into her metal cunt.
Patricia was right, the engineering courses are good hunting ground for a robot woman, regardless what her motives are.
What he didn't understood if he really was the first guy who ever hit the ‘panic button’ on her neck.
Maybe he was the first guy who had enough programming skills to hack into her prosthesis to make her mind forget about what happened? It was easy, just an extension of the involuntary sleep the knob sent her brain on.

Or he just was the first one who had enough imagination to try to convince her to become a robot.
More than she already was. He knew he was near his goal as she played that game a while earlier.

Nonetheless, the current iteration was a step back.
He had been too greedy, she would still not accept they've been through this about eighty times already.
Enough for now, as much to his regret he ''wasn't'' a robot and his tool needed some rest.

Forging the files would take some effort and time, too.
----
Resume.

“Oh yeah, seems I have lost my mind for a second, where did we break off?”

“You asked me for my register number, for the undisclosed records. Robert Webb, 2nd semester electronics engineering, register 223-716-234.”

“Ah, ok. Thank you Robert.”

“Could we meet again, Pat, I mean ...?”

“Robert, I'm pretty sure you understand our intercourse was solely for science. I cannot go out with all the men I work with. Goodbye.”

She closed the door with a stern smile.

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D1.jpg]]</div>

“Okay, who's in tomorrow? T.. a ... m ... Thomas ... Mur ... ray ... terrible handwriting. Either a yokel or a doctor, hmph.”

Well, you cannot preselect your guinea pigs, it's not science when don't take it serious right from the start.
Thus, Patricia's own doctoral thesis <span style="white-space: nowrap;">''‘Machine Sex - Understanding a Male Fetish’''</span> would take a while longer given all that redundant data she had gathered.
<div style="clear: right;"></div>
</div>
[[Stories|Back to the Story Archive]]

[[Category:Battery]]
[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]

Stories/Darkbutflashy

2015-07-05T19:56:33Z

Darkbutflashy:

#[[戦闘機械_綾子 - Battlemachine_Ayako]]
#[[Science Ethics|Science Ethics (with Battery)]]

-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]
[[Category:Stories]]

Stories

2015-07-05T19:56:02Z

Darkbutflashy:

__NOEDITSECTION__
[[Image:StoryArchive.png]]

[[Image:180px-Integrated circuit icon.svg.png|25px]]<big>''See also: [[Stories sorted by type]] | [[Stories sorted by category]]''</big>
<br><br><big>'''CONTENTS:'''</big>
{| class="wikitable" align="left" style="text-align:center" border="1" style="width:100%" style="background:Violet;"
| <big><big>[[#0-9|0-9]] • [[#A|A]] • [[#B|B]] • [[#C|C]] • [[#D|D]] • [[#E|E]] • [[#F|F]] • [[#G|G]] • [[#H|H]] • [[#I|I]] • [[#J|J]] • [[#K|K]] • [[#L|L]] • [[#M|M]] • [[#N|N]] • [[#O|O]] • [[#P|P]] • [[#Q|Q]] • [[#R|R]] • [[#S|S]] • [[#T|T]] • [[#U|U]] • [[#V|V]] • [[#W|W]] • [[#X|X]] • [[#Y|Y]] • [[#Z|Z]]</big></big>
|}
__NOTOC__

=Author=
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="backgroun-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
==0-9==
===[[Stories/1001011001|1001011001]]===
#[[Customer Service]]
#[[Dollsnatcher]]
#[[Hollywood]]
#[[Sketch Artist]]
#[[The Trial]]
#[[Spy Report]]

===[[Stories/123bot|123bot]]===
#[[Rebecca]]
#[[Rebecca: Lisa]]

===[[Stories/33cl33|33cl33]]===
#[[A Very Welcome Surprise]]
#[[Dinner Guests]]

===[[Stories/73737373737373|73737373737373]]===
#[[Prototype Abridged]]
#[[Field Test Abridged]]
#[[Private Coverage of the Underground Fembot Athletics]]
#[[Master Loves Twin Girls]]

==A==
===[[Stories/Aerosol Kid|Aerosol Kid]]===
#[[Femella Ex Machina]]

===[[Stories/Agent Smith|Agent Smith]]===
#[[The Android Riots Of 2033]]

===[[Stories/Apok|Apok]]===
#[[A Rebooted Life]]
#[[Second-Rate]]
#[[Unit Two]]
#[[Sig's Upgrade]]

===[[Stories/Ashyne|Ashyne]]===
#[[First Contact: Horror Unleashed]]

===[[Stories/Australopith|Australopith]]===
*The ReVerse (many characters originated by [[Stories/Propman|Propman]])
#[[Wasabi: A Boom-Boom Joint]]
#[[Lazy Phone]]
#Castle Mysteries!: [[Castle Mysteries!: Coup De Grace|Coup De Grace]]
#Lazy Phone in [[The Booze Run]] (collaboration with [[Stories/Propman|Propman]])

===[[Stories/Avoyak|Avoyak]]===
#[[Katerina, type 02 Robot]]

==B==
===[[Stories/BA|BA]]===
#[[Home Service warranty]]
#[[Business Class]]
#[[Childminder]]
#[[CLAIRE 33]]
#[[Holiday]]
#[[Information Retrieval]]
#[[Mrs. Allen's Two O'Clock]]
#[[Sisterhood]]
#[[Upgrading Beth]]
#[[Just One Quick Question...]]
#[[Helpline]]
#[[Cooperant Pair]]
#[[Traffic Incident]]
#[[Survival]]
#[[Assistant]]
#[[Tech Refresh]]
#[[Mechanic]]
#[[Denial Of Service Attack]]
#[[Ignorance is Bliss]]
#[[Jenny]]
#[[Aptitude Test]]
#[[Special Agent]]
#[[Generations]]
#[[Housewife]]
#[[Green Flag]]
#[[Houseguest]]
#[[A Place to Stay]]
#[[Service Please]]
#[[Date Calibration]]
#[[Plastic Trash]]
#[[Threshold]]
#[[Party Night - unfinished]]
#[[Empty City]]
#[[Bad Day]]
#[[An Interview With Janet]]
#[[Combat Sex Droids: No Limits]]
#[[How Far Will She Go on a First Date]]
#[[Tech Error]]
#[[The Rutuksee Clinique Case]]
#[[Investigative]]
#[[New Toy]]

===[[Stories/Bad Kitty|Bad Kitty]]===
#[[Confessions of a Robo-Hottie]]

===[[Stories/Baron|Baron]]===
#[[Law & Order SVU TNG - Cops Get Religion]]

===[[Stories/Bart|Bart]]===
#[[Return Home]]
#[[Free Shipping]]
#[[Annie's Successor]]

===[[Stories/Battery|Battery]]===
#[[Science Ethics|Science Ethics (with Darkbutflashy)]]

===[[Stories/Bigcoyote|Bigcoyote]]===
#[[Maryanne One]]

===[[Stories/Blake Sigma|Blake Sigma]]===
#[[Where Are You, Lovely?]]
#[[A.I.L.A.: Birth]]
#[[TITAN S]]

===[[Stories/blond111|blond111]]===
#[[Kiabot]]

===[[Stories/bolton|bolton]]===
#[[Skin]]

===[[Stories/Bonita772|Bonita772]]===
#[[Wife Repair]]

===[[Stories/boolean2|boolean2]]===
#[[Clearance]]

===[[Stories/Botfriend2000|Botfriend2000]]===
#[[The Purchase...]]
#[[CyGenPleasuretronics/Kimberlys Evaluation]]
#[[The Job Interview]]
#[[Family Matters]]
#[[The Halloween Story]]
#[[The Interrogation]]
#[[Their Side of Events]]

===[[Stories/Bruekmann|Bruekmann]]===
#[[Corporate Espionage]]
#[[Dienst #1 - Trojan Horse]]
#[[Eudoxia]]
#[[One More Fare]]
#[[Open And Shut Case]]
#[[Over Some Drinks]]
#[[Smell Bridges Burning (The Intern)]]
#[[Standard Of Deviation]]
#[[The Ersatz Cadet]]
#[[The Hustler]]
#[[The Real Deal]]
#[[Three Pawns]]
#[[Tinted Windows]]
#[[Heinrich Brueckmann's Unfinished Works]]

===[[Stories/Brytestar|Brytestar]]===
#[[Angelmech Battle Cheerleader Cherry]]
#[[Automaid Fighter Kimiko Prelude]]
#[[Cyberknight Dreams]]
#[[Sailor Valkerie - Interview With A Mechascout]]
#[[The Brytestar Chronicles: The Early Years]]

===[[Stories/Bunnybot|Bunnybot]]===
#[[BunnyBots Part One: The Conversion Of Vanessa]]
#[[Tammy]]
#[[Bunnybots - Ava]]
#[[Tammy: Eve]]
#[[The Actress]]
#[[Cassandra]]
#[[Companion Dolls - Economic Unit]]

===[[Stories/ButchyBoy|ButchyBoy]]===
#[[The Nightingale's Song]]
#[[Fembots In History: Queen Isabella]]
#[[Little Red Riding Hood-Fractured Gynoid Tale]]
#[[The Vanishing Warlord]]
#[[Fembots In History - Annie Oakley]]
#[[Can't Get That Song Outta My Head]]
#[[The Nut-Cricket Adventure]]
#[[Galatea]]
#[[The Contest Winner]]
#[[Droid Hunter]]

==C==
===[[Stories/Cam_1361|Cam_1361]]===
#[[Untitled (Cam_1361)]]

===[[Stories/Capn Jake|Capn Jake]]===
#[[Jenny6525B]]

===[[Stories/CaptainStorytime|CaptainStorytime]]===
#[[A Gift Unwanted]]

===[[Stories/Castaliaman|Castaliaman]]===
#[[Jeopardy 2104]]

===[[Stories/Chains of Adamant|Chains of Adamant]]===
#[[Gallinax]]
#[[Christmas Surprise]]
#[[The Prison]]
#[[Miriam]]

===[[Stories/Cecilauthor|Cecilauthor]]===
#[[Fleshware Requiem]]
#[[Apocalypse Doll - Celebrity Edition]]
#[[Robot Power]]
#[[Golden Apple]]
#[[Melting Point]]

===[[Stories/ChaosSeeder|ChaosSeeder]]===
#[[Programming an Adventure]]

===[[Stories/Cjfriel|Cjfriel]]===
#[[Autopia]]

===[[Stories/code_author|code_author]]===
#[[Pressure on a Relationship]]

===[[Stories/confusitron!!|confusitron!!]]===
#[[Danni - A Conversion]]

===[[Stories/Construct|Construct]]===
#[[Re-Constructed]]

==D==
===[[Stories/D. Olivaw|D. Olivaw]]===
#[[A Meeting At Meg's]]
#[[A Beginning, of Sorts]]
#[[Obsolescence]]
#[[Leona]]
#[[A Fembot Adventure]]
#[[Of Rent and Robots]]
#[[Certain Contradictions]]

===[[Stories/Dalejr38|Dalejr38]]===
#[[Universal Remote]]

===[[Stories/Daphne|Daphne]]===
#[[Mike and Mary]]

===[[Stories/Dark Archon|Dark Archon]]===
#[[June]]
#[[Sara 3]]

===[[Stories/Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]]===
#[[戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako]]
#[[Science Ethics|Science Ethics (with Battery)]]

===[[Stories/Dark Phoenix|Dark Phoenix]]===
#[[My Super Android Girlfriend]]

===[[Stories/DarkRexx|DarkRexx]]===
#[[As Seen on TV]]
#[[Hobby Model]]
#[[Basic Services]]
#[[Children of the Forge]]
#[[Wardrobe Malfunction]]
#[[Management Issues]]
#[[Simple Things]]
#[[Consequences]]
#[[Vampire Killer]]
#[[Better than Human]]
#[[Fembot Fighters]]
#[[Just for you]]
#[[Six Strings]]

===[[Stories/Deep Blue|Deep Blue]]===
#[[My Tutor (Deep Blue)|My Tutor]]
#[[Volleybot]]
#[[Teacher(by Deep Blue)]]
#[[Training lesson]]
#[[Fembot technician]]
#[[Studio]]
#[[Beer girl]]
#[[Meet on bus]]
===[[Stories/Dieur|Dieur]]===
#[[TD Walkman Mall]]
#[[Smashed]]
#[[Taking Awhile To Get Anywhere]]

===[[Stories/Dollmaker|Dollmaker]]===
#[[A.I. Automated Insanity]]

===[[Stories/Dr. Twist|Dr. Twist]]===
#[[Door To Door]]
#[[Who Let The Wolves Out]]

===[[Stories/DukeNukem 2417|DukeNukem 2417]]===
*[[The V.I.C.I. Diaries]]

Season 1:
#[[Vicki's New Life]]
#[[V.I.C.I. Rises]]
#[[From L.E.S. to Leslie]]
#[[Unmade, Unbroken]]
#[[Out of this World]]
#[[ShowStopper]]
#[[MGV (Metal Gear Vicki)]]
#[[The Family of Steel]]
#[[Electric Child]]
#[[Toys in the Attic]]
#[[A House Divided]]
#[[Kirsten's Choice]]
#[[Epsilon]]
#[[Cold Blood]]
#[[Lawson's Eleven]]
#[[A Criminal Mind]]
#[[For Whom the Bells Toll]]
#[[Falling Away]]
#[[Valley of the Damned]]

Season 2:
#[[Mr. Roboto]]
#[[Only Human]]
#[[Beast]]
#[[Dragon]]

===[[Stories/DZiegler|DZiegler]]===
#[[Automated Seduction]]
#[[Reunion]]

==E==
===[[Stories/Ehy|Ehy]]===
#[[Courtesy Suites]]
#[[Encounter at Courtesy Suites]]
#[[Choices]]
#[[The Playroom]]
#[[Market Test]]
#[[Tara's Visitor (Story Snippet)]]
#[[Untitled (Ehy)|Untitled]]
#[[Untitled 2 (Ehy)|Untitled 2]]
#[[April]]
#[[1962]]

===[[Stories/Eyebore|Eyebore]]===
#[[The Plantation "Sister-In-Law"]]

===[[Stories/evil_boo|evil_boo]]===
#[[The Fantasia Club]]
#[[Bits and Pieces]]
#[[Encounter with Emily]]

==F==
===[[Stories/Faceless001|Faceless001]]===
#[[Fantastic Voyage]]
#[[The Carbon Man]]

===[[Stories/FacelessFembot|FacelessFembot]]===
#[[Untitled(FacelessFembot)]]

===[[Stories/FaceoffFembot|FaceoffFembot]]===
#[[The Maid]]

===[[Stories/Faustus|Faustus]]===
#[[Dora]]
|
===[[Stories/Fection|Fection]]===
#[[Charlie's Second-Hand Angel]]
#[[Pushing Candy's Buttons]]
#[[Sour Candy]]
#[[Model Citizen]]
#[[The Magi and the Harem]]
#[[Achilles Heels]]

===[[Stories/Fembotlover|Fembotlover]]===
#[[Untitled (Fembotlover)|Untitled]]

===[[Stories/Fembotlvr7|Fembotlvr7]]===
#[[Perfect Match (formerly Blind Date)]]
#[[The Bridesmaid]]
#[[The Secret]]
#[[True Lies]]

===[[Stories/FembotsInCharge|FembotsInCharge]]===
#[[The Nannybot1000A]]

===[[Stories/Freddie c|Freddie c]]===
#[[Numerology]]

===[[Stories/Freiburg V3.0|Freiburg V3.0]]===
#[[A Question Of Faith]]
#[[A Question Of Liberty]]

==G==
===[[Stories/General|General]]===
#[[Access Denied]]
#[[Blue Chips]]
#[[The Rental]]
#[[History In The Flesh]]
#[[A Second Life]]
#[[Talk Radio]]
#[[What You Leave Behind]]
#[[Focus]]
#[[Modifying the Contract]]
#[[Tech Support]]
#[[Bounty]]
#[[The Grinder]]

===[[Stories/Gf|Gf]]===
#[[The Flatmate]]

===[[Stories/GirlieGirl1985|GirlieGirl1985]]===
#[[Unfinished ATM]]
#[[No Refunds Offered]]

===[[Stories/Glast|Glast]]===
#[[A Fight Too Far]]

===[[Stories/Gorgo|Gorgo]]===
#[[Sentimental Perfection]]
#[[Rinrin and the Doctor's Appointment]]
#[[That Which Was Left Behind]]

===[[Stories/Grendizer|Grendizer]]===
#[[Teacher]]
#[[A New Purpose]]
#[[Chopping Wood]]
#[[Sacrifice]]
#[[Purity: An Android Age Story]]

===[[Stories/GynoNeko|GynoNeko]]===
#[[Third Time's The Charm]]
#[[The Christmas Present]]
#[[The Delivery (Part 1)]]
#[[The Delivery (Part 2)]]
#[[Electra]]
#[[Maid to Order]]
#[[Exo Saves the Day]]
#[[What Once Was Lost]]
#[[Lost but Found]]
#[[Corrupted]]

===[[Stories/GZ02|GZ02]]===
#[[A Day In The Life Of Joseph Avens]]

==H==
===[[Stories/Handle|Handle]]===
#[[Bell City Tales Story 1]]

===[[Stories/Hermes|Hermes]]===
#[[Jumplead]]

===[[Stories/Hlprhlpr|Hlprhlpr]]===
#[[Sparx - Priority Service Call]]
#[[Sparx: Troubleshooting A Design Flaw]]

===[[Stories/Hola_guy|Hola_guy]]===
#[[A Yet Untitled Story]]
#[[Loveless]]

==I==
===[[Stories/inky 2|inky 2]]===
#[[Sloane]]

===[[Stories/Input9|Input9]]===
#[[Robbery]]

==J==
===[[Stories/JakeCTom|JakeCTom]]===
#[[K600]]

===[[Stories/Jay Petto|Jay Petto]]===
#[[Back To The Circuit Board]]

===[[Stories/Jaydee|Jaydee]]===
#[[An Inside Job]]
#[[Malfunctioning Fembot Writes...]]

===[[Stories/Jolshefsky|Jolshefsky]]===
#[[Karen's Date]]
#[[Doctor Who fanfic]]
#[[A Trip to the ER]]

===[[Stories/Jpetoh|Jpetoh]]===
#[[Crash]]

==K==
===[[Stories/Kano|Kano]]===
#[[Monday]]
#[[Friday]]

===[[Stories/Karel|Karel]]===
#[[Mistress Mira]]
#[[R-Bots]]
#[[Two-Perfect!]]
#[[Mmmmegan]]
#[[Merger]]

===[[Stories/KB7RKY|KB7RKY]]===
#[[Charlie 25]]
#[[Reflections]]
#[[Service Call]]
#[[Shadowrun II - Into The Awakened Lands]]

===[[Stories/Keizo|Keizo]]===
#[[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1]]
#[[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 2]] (Portia)
#[[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 3]] (The "Lost Chapter")
#[[Hell's Canary]]
#[[Are You Serious?]]

===[[Stories/kelbek00|kelbek00]]===
#[[Perfection]]

===[[Stories/Kishin|Kishin]]===
#[[A Long Sleep]]
#[[The Vengeance of the Slave]]
#[[The Robo-Lover]]
#[[Androids At War]]
#[[Death]]
#[[Rebirth]]
#[[Nova's First Job]]
#[[The Vile Collector]]
#[[NVA Showdown]]
#[[The Mourning After]]
#[[The House of the Dead]]
#[[An Unexpected Guest]]
#[[Voice of the Void]]
#[[Garbage]]
#[[Fangs of Steel]]
#[[Killers]]
#[[Fate]]
#[[Berserker]]
#[[Creation (Nova Recreated)]]
#[[I Didn't Know]]
#[[Killers (Knights) Hiding Among Our Slaves]]
#[[Tales Of The Risen Future: Nova's Story]]
#[[The World Walker]]
#[[Glory]]

===[[Stories/Korby|Korby]]===
#[[An Afternoon To Remember]]
#[[Holiday In The Sun]]
#[[Tales From Dyson Institute: Two Vignettes]]
#[[Tales From The Dyson Institute: Making Movies]]
#[[After the Makeover]]
#[[Tales From The Dyson Institute: In the Shop]]
#[[Tales From The Dyson Institute: Mile-high Club]]
#[[Untitled (Korby)]]
#[[JLA/Fembots]]
#[[Dr. Dyson on Lesbotics]]
#[[Remaking Rebecca]]
#[[Another Makeover]]

===[[Stories/Kriegsaffe No. 9|Kriegsaffe No. 9]]===
#[[Josephson/Keegan Vs Man w/Android Wife]]
#[[1985, Paris, France...]]
#[[The Golden Dawn]]
#[[Duplican't? Dupli-Can't!]]
#[[Saucy Puppet Show]]

===[[Stories/Kube²|Kube²]]===
#[[Fembot User Manual]]
#[[Cindy]]

==L==
===[[Stories/La Femme Nikki|La Femme Nikki]]===
#[[My Life as a Sexbot]]
#[[AlyssaBot]]

===[[Stories/Lady Mecha|Lady Mecha]]===
#[[Strange But Wonderful Happenings]]

===[[Stories/liliwinnt6|liliwinnt6]]===
#[[A Surprising Breakfast]]

===[[Stories/Lithorien|Lithorien]]===
#[[Heather]]

===[[Stories/Loganov|Loganov]]===
#[[The Final Frontier]]
#[[Untitled (Loganov)|Untitled]]

===[[Stories/LongTimeLurker|LongTimeLurker]]===
#[[Clockwork Legacy]] (Lady in Waiting)
##[[Clockwork_Legacy/Lady_in_Waiting/Part_1|Lady in Waiting]]
##[[Clockwork_Legacy/Line_of_Succession/Part_1|Line of Succession]]
##[[Clockwork_Legacy/Inheritance|Inheritance]]
#[[Andrew and the Sexbot Factory]]
##[[Andrew_and_the_Sexbot_Factory/Prototype/Part_1|Prototype]]
##[[Andrew_and_the_Sexbot_Factory/Field_Test/Part_1|Field Test]]
##[[Andrew_and_the_Sexbot_Factory/Production_Model|Production Model]]
#[[Solipsistic]]
#[[Electrostatic]]
#[[Crash Immelmann in the Year 30XX]]
#[[Diagnostic]]
#[[FYOP/Scenario_Chamber]]
#[[The Co-Star]]
#[[Bot Town Blues]]
#[[Salvage]]
#[[Crash Immelmann and the Inflatable Sex-Bots from Planet X!]]
#[[Five Nights at Fanny's]]
#[[Nihilistic]]

==M==
===[[Stories/Maax|Maax]]===
#[[Cyber Angels]]

===[[Stories/Mad Mechacow|Mad Mechacow]]===
#[[Tales of Syntech]]
#[[Tales of Syntech 2]]
#[[Tales of Syntech 3]]
#[[Tales of Syntech 4]]
#[[Tales of Syntech 5]]
#[[Tales of Syntech 6]]

===[[Stories/Malkozaine|Malkozaine]]===
#[[A Start to Something Big]]

===[[Stories/Metal-Destiny|Metal-Destiny]]===
#[[Story 48: Julie's Awakenings]]
#[[Human Failure. (2200)]]

===[[Stories/Ministrations|Ministrations]]===
#[[Shannon's Third Law]]
#[[Tiffany's Third Law]]

===[[Stories/Mirage|Mirage]]===
#[[The Bounty Hunter]]
#[[Best Friends]]
#[[Fighting Love]]
#[[A.D.P.I. (Advance Police Investigations): Case 2]]
#[[A.D.P.I. Case 3: Transformation Of A Butterfly]]
#[[Blood Angel]]
#[[Deception]]
#[[Errors And Glitches]]
#[[Family Affair]]
#[[Family Life]]
#[[Favourite Parodies]]
#[[Lonely With The Ages]]
#[[Lying And Cheating!]]
#[[My Tutor]]
#[[Not Perfect]]
#[[Regret]]
#[[Secret Wishes]]
#[[Secretaries]]
#[[Shock]]
#[[Spanish Fly Virus]]
#[[Tennis, Anyone?]]
#[[The Lullaby]]
#[[The Package]]
#[[The Red Roses]]
#[[The Student]]
#[[The Temp]]
#[[The Visit]]
#[[Visiting The In-Laws]]
#[[A Nice Gesture]]
#[[Ever Lasting Smile]]
#[[Finding True Happiness]]
#[[Alive?]]
#[[The New Girl]]
#[[The Nurse]]
#[[Chase]]
#[[The First Time...]]
#[[An Offer That Can't Be Refused]]
#[[The Unwanted Gift]]
#[[Losing One's Self]]
#[[What's Important Is What's In The Inside]]
#[[Sitting On The Couch]]
#[[Can You Fix It?]]
#[[Ugly]]
#[[Finally]]
#[[Bad Dreams]]
#[[Apartment 7]]
#[[Married to a Machine]]
#[[My First and Last Robotic Date]]
#[[Remote Me]]
#[[Missing]]
#[[Roll With It]]
#[[Still Rolling]]
#[[Happy Easter]]
#[[Roll For Sale/Dr. Willy's Reaction]]
#[[Testing, 1,2,3]]
#[[Why worry?]]
#[[A Break Up and a Break Down]]
#[[Cat Out of the Bag]]
#[[Crashing and Some Sex Mode Action]]
#[[I Did Astro's Mom]]
#[[The Lunch]]
#[[My Not So Perfect Woman]]
#[[Why?]]
#[[The Perfect Female A.I.]]
#[[The Car Crash]]
#[[My Neighbor's Wife is Sucking My Cock]]
#[[The Last Goodbye]]
#[[Across the street]]
#[[The Diva]]

===[[Stories/MisterXYZ (RoboTomo)|MisterXYZ (RoboTomo)]]===
#[[How I Ran Into Roboko]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 01]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎|To Love a Girl 02]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 03]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 04]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 05]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 06]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 07]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ 08]]
#[[To Love a Girl‎ Final]]
#[[Onsen Lust 'n Rust]]
#[[Room 9 Surprise]]
#[[A Huge Add-On]]
|
===[[Stories/Miz-K Takase|Miz-K Takase]]===
#[[Mail-Order Aya]]
#[[Lusty Encore]]
#[[Lusty 2nd Encore]]
#[[Lusty 3rd Encore]]

===[[Stories/MrMagoo|MrMagoo]]===
#[[Tech Tutorial]]
#[[Salvaged Hardware]]
#[[Deadline]]

===[[Stories/Muzzleruffels|Muzzleruffels]]===
#[[Freak-World]]
##[[Mermaid Examination]]
##[[Controlled Environment Prologue]]
##[[A Statement of Progress + Bonus Stories]]
##[[Freak-World: Prologue]]
##[[Freak-World: The Side Stories]]
##[[Freak-World: Dreaming Beyond Electric Sheep]]
##[[Freak-World: Anthologies]]

===[[Stories/MysteriousShadow|MysteriousShadow]]===
#[[Lily's Story]]

==N==
===[[Stories/Nybble|Nybble]]===
#[[Scheduled Maintenance]]
#[[The Third Pew]]
#[[Therapy]]
#[[Pimp My Ride]]
#[[Working Late]]
#[[The Hammer]]
#[[Something Borrowed]]
#[[Doctor's Visit]]
#[[Strangers on a Plane]]

==O==
===[[Stories/Outsider|Outsider]]===
#[[Dyson Institute: Sexual Testing Mode]]
#[[Technical Difficulties]]
#[[The Sex Coders]]

==P==
===[[Stories/Pakled|Pakled]]===
#[[Everything Old is New Again]]
#[[One of Our Robots is Missing]]
#[[Palindrome]]
#[[Solve for X]]
#[[Double Blind]]
#[[An Unexpected Modification]]

===[[Stories/Pennon|Pennon]]===
#[[The Delivery]]

===[[Stories/Petey|Petey]]===
#[[Vickybot/Victoria]]
#[[The Rubdown]]
#[[Dyson Family Values]]

===[[Stories/Plastic_rose|Plastic_rose]]===
#[[Getting off on the wrong foot (Gloria's conversion)]]

===[[Stories/Propman|Propman]]===
*Unfinished tidbits
#[[Tronic Ella]]
#[[Evil, Evil, Everywhere!]]
#[[Mrs. Claw Strikes!]]
#[[Blondie and Sarge in:A Haunted Mansion]]
#[[Job Interview]]
#[[Project Titan]]

*Complete stories
#[[Prototype]]
#[[Steel Fists No Hearts]]
#[[Upgrade/Downgrade]]

*The ReVerse
#[[Mysteries Of The Castle!]]
#[[Doll And Her Teddy]]
#[[BoomBoom Bots]]
#* [[BoomBoom's Back]]
#[[My New PDA]]
# Lazy Phone in [[The Booze Run]]

==Q==
===[[Stories/Quietness|Quietness]]===
#[[Can't Sleep]]
#[[Meanwhile]]
#[[The Encounter]]

==R==
===[[Stories/Rancid Insanity|Rancid Insanity]]===
#[[Waring Sisters]]
#[[Failura]]
#[[Ceres]]
#[[Christmas in Russia]]
#[[The Big Crazy Plan]]
#[[Suzie the Therapist]]
#[[The Phantom of the Factory]]
#[[Cassie]]
#[[Batman:Fembots]]
#[[The Mansion of Andrea]]
#[[Noura & Natalya]]
#[[Sync Wars]]

===[[Stories/Ratbot|Ratbot]]===
#[[Emi-Bot]]

===[[Stories/Repairman Jack|Repairman Jack]]===
#[[Theives]]

===[[Stories/Robotman|Robotman]]===
*[[Story universe (Robotman)|Story universe]]
#[[Halloween Treat script]]
#[[The Mission]]
#[[H is for Heuristic]]
#[[36+1]]
#[[Soccer Mom Unit]]
#[[Kaitlin The Phonebot]]
#[[Tiffani]]
#[[CyberFem Park]]
#[[The Creation of my Robot Girlfriend]]

===[[Stories/RobotWorld5|RobotWorld5]]===
#[[Fembot World]]
#[[A Night With Vanessa]]

===[[Stories/RobOught2|RobOught2]]===
#[[Introducing Rachael Sing]]

===[[Stories/RS5420|RS5420]]===
#[[Class C (by WilloWisp, modified by RS5420)]]
#[[Beautiful, Smart and...Running A Software]]
#[[Hollywood Hardware (by Borias/Modded by RS5420)]]

===[[Stories/rynchan|rynchan]]===
#[[Phantom Doll]]

==S==
===[[Stories/Sable|Sable]]===
#[[Fixing Sable]]

===[[Stories/Sara-c|Sara-c]]===
#[[Autonomy]]
#[[Clichés]]
#[[Gift]]
#[[The Enemy of My Enemy]]

===[[Stories/Sarabot|Sarabot]]===
#[[Sarabot's First Story]]
#[[Sarabot's Second Story]]
#[[The Robotic Nurse]]
#[[Kristen's Upgrade]]
#[[My Hot Robot Wife (+Bonus Story)]]
#[[The Cheerleader]]
#[[Disassemble Me]]
#[[Kristen's Upgrade Part II]]
#[[Kristen's Overhaul]]

===[[Stories/Saradroidgirl|Saradroidgirl]]===
#[[Sara_-_The_Return|Sara - The Return]]

===[[Stories/Saya|Saya]]===
#[[Futago no Shinami]]

===[[Stories/Scott|Scott]]===
#[[Four Hours]]

===[[Stories/Sega-boy|Sega-boy]]===
#[[Abbott Chronicles]]

===[[Stories/Sekker|Sekker]]===
#[[Too Good To Be True]]

===[[Stories/Sentient6|Sentient6]]===
#[[Pixillate]]
#[[5 Friends - A Thesis on Full Body Prosthesis]]

===[[Stories/Serf|Serf]]===
#[[Party Girls]]

===[[Stories/shutdown|shutdown]]===
#[[The Truck Driver]]
#[[Another Time]]

===[[Stories/Silent Lurker|Silent Lurker]]===
#[[Aquaphobia]]
#[[Cheerleader]]
#[[Happy New Year]]
#[[New Roommate]]

===[[Stories/Soleful|Soleful]]===
#[[Coming of Age]]
#[[POD, The Fetish-Bot]]

===[[Stories/Spaz|Spaz]]===
*Self-Contained stories
#[[A.I.L.A]]
#[[Blind Date]]
#[[Daydreaming]]
#[[G.O.D. - a vignette]]
#[[Medical Exam: A Short]]
#[[New Life]]
#[[The Foreign Exchange Student]]
#[[The Girlfriend]]
#[[The Heiress]]
#[[The Replacement]]
#[[The Roommate]]
#[[The Small Business Chronicles]]
##[[Closed for Christmas - The Shop]]
##[[The Repair Shop - Part 1]]
##[[Off-season - The Motel]]
##[[The Repair Shop - Part 2]]
##[[Slow day - The Cafe]]
##[[The Small Business - End-of-Year Review]]
#[[The Stockroom]]
#[[The Teammate]]
*"Spaz Studios Presents" anthology series:
#[[Fizzy Pop]]
#[[Substitute]]
#[[Forbidden Fruit]]
#[[The Uncanny Valley]]
#[[The Future Expo]]
*Collaborations
#[[The Beach]] with [[:Category:Sthurmovik|Sthurmovik]]
#[[The Handyman]] with [[:Category:Sthurmovik|Sthurmovik]]

===[[Stories/spider_silk_skin|spider_silk_skin]]===
#[[Late Night Maintenance]]
#[[Super Sexy Robot Cowgirl]]

===[[Stories/Stephaniebot|Stephaniebot]]===
#[[Dyson Institute (Stephaniebot)|Dyson Institute]]
#[[Pleasurebot 8]]

===[[Stories/Sthurmovik|Sthurmovik]]===
#[[Non-Standard Operating Procedure]]
#[[Mirror Image]]
#[[Extracted]]

===[[Stories/sTj2000|sTj2000]]===
#[[Afternoon Appointment]]

===[[Stories/Svengli|Svengli]]===
#[[Bethany in Room B]]

===[[Stories/SynchError|SynchError]]===
#[[Budget Robotics (A Fun and Light Robotic Relationship)]]
#[[Historical Strategy, According to a Bunch of Fembots]]

==T==
===[[Stories/tectile|tectile]]===
#[[The Trade In]]
#[[Boy Meets... Girl?]]

===[[Stories/Teknophile|Teknophile]]===
#[[The Android Psychiatrist]]
#[[Super Fembot Cheerleaders From Space!]]
#[[At The Body Shop]]

===[[Stories/TheAlternative|TheAlternative]]===
#[[Corsetta]]

===[[Stories/The Egg|The Egg]]===
#[[The Quarry]]
#[[Swing Shift]]

===[[Stories/The Liar|The Liar]]===
#[[Maid To Order]] (Incomplete)
#[[Professor Jenkins' 12,567th Invention]] (Incomplete)
#[[Hide and Seek]]
#[[Keith's Paradise]] (Incomplete)
#[[My Keeper]] (Incomplete)
#[[Identity]] (Incomplete)
#[[EMOS - DSR: Prologue]]
#[[Back to BASIC]]
#[[A Contradiction of Life]]
#[[Friends Forever]]
#[[Liberty]]
#[[Seamless]]

===[[Stories/TheSpotConlon|TheSpotConlon]]===
#[[The Yard Sale]]
#[[Jumper...]]
*The Lauren Barnes Stories (TheSpotConlon)
#[[The Peculiar Journey Of Lauren Barnes]]
#[[The Imprisonment Of Lauren Barnes]]
#[[The Parallel Lives Of Lauren Barnes]]
*The "Momentary" Series (TheSpotConlon)
#[[The Moment When]]
#[[Ping]]
#[[The First Moment in Her Head]]
#[[The Moment in the Bar]]

===[[Stories/Tio|Tio]]===
#[[Through My Eyes]]
#[[New Garden]]
#[[Diaries Of A Fembot]]
#[[Down On The Farm]]

===[[Stories/Tringa|Tringa]]===
#[[Otaku's Adventure]]

===[[Stories/TW|TW]]===
#[[Awake]]
#[[A Helping Hand]]
#[[Practice Run]]

==U==

==V==

==W==
===[[Stories/warpgirl|warpgirl]]===
#[[Astromech Lust]]

===[[Stories/WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]===
#[[Nybble's Doctors Visit - Revisited]]
#[[Class C]]
#[[Customer Service (WilloWisp)|Customer Service]]
#[[Virus Alert]]

===[[Stories/Wjbaines|Wjbaines]]===
#[[Jo-Ann and Brandy]]
#[[Darsi, Bruce and Natalie]]
#[[Bad Sportspersonship]]

==X==
===[[Stories/XandiMouse|XandiMouse]]===
#[[The One]]

===[[Stories/Xavier Cecil|Xavier Cecil]]===
#[[Gecko of the Moment]]

===[[Stories/Xeran|Xeran]]===
#[[Synthgirls teaser]]
#[[Synthgirls]]
#[[The Hunted]]

==Y==

==Z==
===[[Stories/zapped!|zapped!]]===
#[[Girls Under Glass]]

===[[Stories/Zor|Zor]]===
#[[Darwin Accelerated]]

|}

=Collaborative efforts=
{| width="{{{1|100%}}}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-color:transparent;table-layout:fixed;"
|- valign="top"
|
===[[Follow your own plot]]===
*[[FYOP/The Lab Scene|The Lab Scene]]
*[[FYOP/Create A Fembot 2.0|Create A Fembot 2.0]]
*[[FYOP/Planet of the Gynoids|Planet of the Gynoids]]
*[[FYOP/My Life as a Robot|My Life as a Robot]]
*[[FYOP/Hollywood Hardware|Hollywood Hardware]]
*[[FYOP/Tabula Rasa|Tabula Rasa]]
*[[FYOP/The Adventures of Alice|The Adventures of Alice]]
*[[FYOP/To Love a Sexbot/To Love a Sexbot|To Love a Sexbot]]
*[[FYOP/Scenario Chamber|Scenario Chamber]]
|
===[[Stories/Create-A-Story|Create-A-Story (various)]]===
#[[Create-A-Story 1]]
#[[Create-A-Story 2]]
#[[Create-A-Story 3]]
|
===[[Stories/Dyson Institute|Dyson Institute (RX3000/Korby)]]===
*[[Story Universe (Dyson Institute)|Story Universe]]
#[[The Makeover]]
#[[After The Makeover]]
#[[Dyson Institute/Mile-High Club]]
#[[A Conversation With Dr. Dyson]]
|}

[[Category:Features]]
[[Category:Stories]]

Stories/Battery

2015-07-05T19:55:18Z

Darkbutflashy: New page: #Science Ethics (with Darkbutflashy) ----- Back to the story archive Category:Battery Category:Features Category:Stories

#[[Science Ethics|Science Ethics (with Darkbutflashy)]]

-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Battery]]
[[Category:Features]]
[[Category:Stories]]

Science Ethics

2015-07-05T19:54:37Z

Darkbutflashy: +Kudos to Battery for the inspiring drawings.

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

Artwork by [[User:Battery|Battery]]

Written by [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]]
:::<small>A drawing sketch from Battery's mind gave me the idea for this short story, so I dedicate it to him. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 12:54, 5 July 2015 (PDT)</small>

==Science Ethics==
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D.png|450px]]</div>
“Okay Tommy, now we're positioned accurately, do you feel the groove in my neck?”

“Yeah, there's a knob below your skin, right?”

“Correct. That's the emergency stop. Press it when you feel you are in danger, okay?”

“I have to admit, I feel in danger since you gave me that smile...”

“Nonsense, you wanted me right when you first saw me. Like the other two hundred guys in the course.”

“I didn't know you are a robot back then.”

“Cyborg! And don't tell me you aren't hot to fuck a girl who also is a machine. That's why I'd chosen to attend an engineering course.”

“I already understood your plan.”

“Really? You don't have your degree yet but understand the research I'm doing?”

“Yeah, you wanna bang a bunch of male virgins and get a degree for it.”

“Don't get cocky. We're analyzing the excitatory response to sexual stimuli. In a controlled environment.”

“What else did I say?”

“Tommy, you aren't the only proband I have. We can quit immediately if you like.”

“Nah, I like to have sex with you. Let's assume you are my girlfriend, okay, Pat?”

“If you like, your imagination is part of the test procedure. But just treat me how you would treat any woman who consented to have intercourse with you.”

He pressed his glans against the rubber lips of the robot –sorry, ‘cyborg’– and went fully in without hesitation.

“Ouch, do you plan to go in dry with your girlfriend, too? She's not going to have a steel vagina, okay?”

“You do want authentic data, don't you?”

Patricia had no punch line for such cheekyness, so she concentrated on the EEG data she got from his brain instead.
Sometimes it was really convenient to be a cyborg.
She could focus on his patterns while he was shagging her hard and even correlate them with the response she gave him with her hydrolics in real-time.

“Okay, Tommy, you're very aroused right now. Give me some feedback for the video: what do you think of right now?”

“Robot. Oh gawd, I'm fucking a robot girl.”

“Nothing less descriptive? Some feeling perhaps?”

Thomas tried to gain some concentration.

“The pressure ... rotation [pant] ... it's stroking me, squeezing and tickling my shaft.”

“A feeling, not a sensation.”

The cyborg gave Tom a hard time by simply continuing the fuck while asking him that.

“She's so collected ... [pant] cool ... robotic ... she dictracts me with her sexy metal body [pant] ... and controls me with her bossy mind ...”

“Okayyyyyy ...”

“Pat, could you switch to robo mode?”

“What do you mean, robo mode?”

“As you did [pant] ... last time.”

“What do you mean, last time?”

Thomas pressed the stop button. He knew a discussion would lead nowhere. Well, at least nowhere he wanted to arrive.
He bounced his balls a couple of times against Pat's unmoving butt and ejaculated into her metal cunt.
Patricia was right, the engineering courses are good hunting ground for a robot woman, regardless what her motives are.
What he didn't understood if he really was the first guy who ever hit the ‘panic button’ on her neck.
Maybe he was the first guy who had enough programming skills to hack into her prosthesis to make her mind forget about what happened? It was easy, just an extension of the involuntary sleep the knob sent her brain on.

Or he just was the first one who had enough imagination to try to convince her to become a robot.
More than she already was. He knew he was near his goal as she played that game a while earlier.

Nonetheless, the current iteration was a step back.
He had been too greedy, she would still not accept they've been through this about eighty times already.
Enough for now, as much to his regret he ''wasn't'' a robot and his tool needed some rest.
Forging the files would take some effort and time, too.
----
Resume.

“Oh yeah, seems I have lost my mind for a second, where did we break off?”

“You asked me for my register number, for the undisclosed records. Robert Webb, 2nd semester electronics engineering, register 223-716-234.”

“Ah, ok. Thank you Robert.”

“Could we meet again, Pat, I mean ...?”

“Robert, I'm pretty sure you understand our intercourse was solely for science. I cannot go out with all the men I work with. Goodbye.”

She closed the door with a stern smile.

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 2em;">[[Image:Battery00D1.jpg]]</div>

“Okay, who's in tomorrow? T.. a ... m ... Thomas ... Mur ... ray ... terrible handwriting. Either a yokel or a doctor, hmph.”

Well, you cannot preselect your guinea pigs, it's not science when don't take it serious right from the start.
Thus, Patricia's own doctoral thesis <span style="white-space: nowrap;">''‘Machine Sex - Understanding a Male Fetish’''</span> would take a while longer given all that redundant data she had gathered.
<div style="clear: right;"></div>
</div>
[[Stories|Back to the Story Archive]]

[[Category:Battery]]
[[Category:Darkbutflashy]]

Dyson Family Values

2015-06-28T12:34:42Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Part 3 */

__NOTOC__
<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Dyson Family Values==
Written by [[User:Petey|Petey]]

===Part 1===
Neil quickly walked down the long, well-appointed lobby of the Dyson Institute. Most guys might have lingered to enjoy the view of the beautiful female patrons and the even more beautiful staff members. But this was hardly his first time here.
The staff gave him warm smiles and long gazes unbefitting a pudgy young man. The women would’ve been less excited to see Brad Pitt stroll by. Neil tried to ignore the stares and shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his Jeans. The attention creeped him out every time.
He reached the reception desk and the girl practically jumped out of her chair with glee.

“Neil Oh my God It’s great to see you I’ll tell Dr. Dyson you’re here right away.”

Neil nodded and thanked the girl before tugging nervously at the front of his polo shirt. He should have worn a tie. She giggled and picked up the phone. It was a different girl than the last time, but then again it normally was. It was a good job to give girls who were having problems with their legs, he figured. He half expected to lean over and see the girl attached to the chair just below the navel.

“Dr. Dyson is in the middle of a post-treatment consultation, if you could wait five minutes before heading back there, it’ll give her time to finish.”

Neil knew enough to see through the euphemism. He checked the clock; he was 10 minutes early. He guessed she was trying to squeeze in another robotic romp before seeing him. He didn’t do a good job of hiding his distaste.

The girl at the desk was unfazed. “If there’s anything I can do for you while you wait, don’t hesitate to ask, Neil. My name is Carly.” She grinned at him with her chest forward and left no doubt as to how broad her definition of ‘anything’ was.

Neil rolled his eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

Even if she was a machine, he considered it cheating on his girlfriend to sample the wares. And he didn’t care whether the receptionist was an AI or not, although by the syntax and contractions, he figured the girl used to be real.
He corrected himself the way Dr. Dyson would, ‘used to be organic’.
There were a few other women near the reception desk waiting, and Neil took the chair the furthest away from them. Even so, he noticed one of the women whispering to her friend while they both looked at him. The woman being whispered to rose her eyes in surprise upon hearing who Neil was. He gave them a wave and turned away. Bad idea, Carly was sneaking peeks at him. He grumbled and began staring at the ceiling. At least there weren’t any robotic women up there staring at him.

About five minutes later Carly called him over, “She’s ready to see you now.”

Neil got up, straightened his shirt, and walked through the solid doors to the left of the reception desk. The area beyond the desk didn’t look much different than the lobby, but it sounded different. Despite the soundproofing efforts, Neil could still hear the soft moans of robotic women, the whirr of new components being tested, and the occasional squeal of rapture. Thankfully, he didn’t have to go far.
But the trip wasn’t short enough to avoid ramming into a woman zipping around a corner. Neither of them fell over, but Neil got a handful of naked boob as he braced himself for impact. The woman looked to be in her mid thirties, blonde with brown eyes. Instinctively, Neil looked down and saw her large breasts and toned, lightly tanned body with another tuft of blonde hair just above her pussy.

“I’m sorry, sir. I should’ve looked where I was going. Is this the way to the lubricant flushing station?”

Neil paused to untangle himself, bring his gaze to her face, and try to remember what’s in this area. “I think so. Last time I checked, it was up this hallway to the right. There should be a sign on the door.”

She smiled and thanked him, completely at ease with her own nudity. “You’re the first man I’ve seen back here. I thought Dr. Dyson only hired women.”

“As far as I know, that’s true. But I’m not on staff.”

“I didn’t know they let husbands back here.”

“They usually don’t, but I’m not a robot’s husband.”

The nude blonde pressed on, intrigued by the sudden puzzle. “I haven’t heard of any male chassis, are you going to transfer into a female body?”

Neil had his fill of her, “Nope, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see Dr. Dyson.”

The blonde got a big smile on her face with a hundred-yard stare and absently ran a hand against her left thigh. Neil realized that there weren’t any other doors behind her except the door he was headed toward. The blonde must have been the reason for the delay. Yet another reason to cut off this conversation.

But she had recovered and placed a hand on his arm, “OK, I give up, tell me your story.”

Neil sighed, “If you’re going to live as a robotic woman, you’re going to need to learn to keep secrets and respect secrets being kept.” He knew the real answer would lead to a longer conversation.

The blonde smiled even wider at being called a robotic woman and moved her hand to her paplexus panel. Neil took the opportunity to get around her. She turned to watch him leave, “I’ll see you around, then. Give my regards to Dr. Dyson ”

Neil gave a half-hearted wave and entered the office without knocking.

And there was his mother, sitting behind her desk in nothing but blue lingerie beneath an unbuttoned lab coat. Dr. Elaine Dyson lifted her head and smiled broadly before putting down her pen and buttoning up. “Neil I’m so glad you were able to stop by. Come on over here and give mommy a hug.”

Neil reacted the way you’d figure a 23-year-old would react to his mother wanting a hug and a kiss: with a large degree of highly visible discomfort. But still, he returned the hug and didn’t freak out when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Hi Mom, everything going well?”

Dr. Dyson led them over to the couch, but Neil declined to sit down. He couldn’t be sure what had been going on atop the sofa just ten minutes before, and didn’t want to be musing upon the subject. So mom got the couch and Neil got out a folding chair.

“It’s going superbly, Neil. We just had a consult with the first lady of France. That could be the one client who gets better upgrades than me. So your father and I might be spending our 25th anniversary in Paris as personal consultants to the first lady. I guess I’ll have to brush up on my French.”

Neil nodded along, as usual a little uneasy about how his mother’s synthetic women were so close to so much political and economic power. Even if it was his mother, Such control over so much authority must have been a temptation.

“But what about you? How’s my little executive?”

Neil rolled his eyes, “C’mon mom, you know I’m still in my first year at Stanley. I don’t even have a title yet.”

“Exactly, you don’t have one yet, but I’m sure you’re going to just zoom ahead. Not as fast as if you took a job here, of course.”

Neil groaned, “It’s bad enough visiting with everyone knowing I’m your son. I couldn’t handle working here every day.”

“Yes, what a trial it would be to have beautiful female androids at your beck and call all day. You know, we just converted a girl last week who would be perfect for you. She’s the sweetest young thing. Red hair, studying to be a dentist, and dimples you wouldn’t...”

Neil cut his mom short, “Please mom, stop trying to hook me up with your sloppy seconds.” It was a little cruder than he might have liked, but his mom had been trying to set him up with newly roboticized women for almost as long as newly roboticized women existed.

Dr. Dyson merely chuckled at her son’s rebuke. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t been with her yet. Although she did opt for the enhanced oral package, so she should...”

“MOM ” Neil said, a little frustrated, “I’m really not interested in talking about that sort of thing with you.”

Elaine smiled warmly, “such a proper gentleman, I don’t know where you get it from.” It wasn’t the first time Neil had heard that, and it was such a ‘through the looking glass’ thing to say, expressing bemusement that your son isn’t as promiscuous as you are.

“Probably too much television, but that does lead in to why I came here. Mom, I’m getting married.”

Dr. Dyson gasped and nearly screamed with delight at the news. While she suppressed the vocals, she couldn’t help but leap across the room and give her son a hug.
“Congratulations Oh my goodness, this is such fantastic news I can’t wait to meet her, tell me all about her. Have you decided on a date? Does she need bridesmaids? How did you two meet? Wh-wh-what does she do for a liiiiiving? How-how did you propose?” Dr. Dyson saw error messages flash across her head’s up display. The excitement had overwhelmed even her own top-of-the-line systems. She stopped talking, fluidly went back to her seat and unbuttoned the middle of her lab smock. A panel below her ribcage recessed and retracted. She then took a fingernail and manipulated a small dial inside. That decreased the simulated adrenaline response in her systems. And just as smoothly, the panel went back into its proper position and the edges faded into invisibility.

Neil watched quietly as his mother composed herself the way an android does. It hadn’t been so long since the sight of his mother without one of her panels made him cringe and turn away. Now it barely registered with him.

Dr. Dyson took a deep simulated breath, blinked rapidly and vocalized, “Response routine overridden, resuming normal operation.

“I’m Sorry, Neil. I got a little excited there. But I’m so happy for you. When do I get to meet my new daughter-in-law? You’ll have to give me lots of pictures so we can mock up her head and torso.”

Neil frowned, “No, Mom. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want you or anyone else turning her into a robot.”

Elaine looked visibly shocked, and speechless beyond that. “Neil, I... don’t know what to say. This is the perfect female existence, the ability to be optimized for her, and your, pleasure. I don’t see why you wouldn’t give her the option.”

“I’ve heard the mantra before, mom. I love her just the way she is, and I don’t want her optimized or convinced that she needs optimizing. And I need to be sure that she loves me, and she’s not just programmed to love me.” He stared her down, dead in the eye. It wasn’t a conversation he had been eager to have.

“That’s not how it works, son. You know that.”

“All the same, I’d rather not be married to someone with a brain designed by my mother. And I’d rather she not be obsessed by her own body.”

Elaine was a little hurt by that. Neil had called her a narcissist on many occasions since she revealed to her family what she had been working on and what she had become. She had thought all the reservations he developed had been ironed out. “Neil, you know I only want what’s best for you.”

Neil stood up, “No, you want what’s best for you. It’s why you ditched us and worked on turning yourself into a happy little windup toy.” If he wasn’t already so on edge, he wouldn’t have brought that up. His mom and dad had separated for two years, but hadn’t gotten a divorce. His father had welcomed Elaine back, but Neil wasn’t quite as willing to forgive the absence.

Dr. Dyson knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Neil, “OK, I’ll respect your wishes. Your father, sister, and I are still invited to the wedding, aren’t we?”

Neil calmed down a bit with his mother’s response, “Of course you are. It’s going to be in May, probably the third Saturday. Zoe wants to have it at St. John’s Cathedral downtown.”

“Ah so my daughter-in-law-to-be is named Zoe.” The smile had crept back onto Elaine’s face.

Neil smiled back a little, “Yes, I met her at work, she works in accounts payable. You’ll like her.”

“I’m sure I will.”
Dr. Dyson and her son said their goodbyes and Neil left. They both realized it was best to leave on that note rather than possibly get worked up again. Although, the modification Dr. Dyson had performed made her relatively mellow for the moment. She reached back into herself and reset her emotional responses to their base parameters.
Then she flipped through the big file, the list of every android currently in operation. Of course, it was a spreadsheet and not a stack of paper, but the motion was similar. She scanned the list at great speed before finding the woman she was looking for.

<pre>VX9348 - Camilla Taylor - Manager, Accounts Payable Department, Stanley Enterprises</pre>

Neil was on his way into the reception area when he heard a voice behind him, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps

[[Image:Uxjessd1.jpg|450px|right]]
“Neil Wait up ”

It was his sister bouncing down the hallway. And he did mean bounce; Jessica had a substantial pair of breasts beneath her gray tanktop. He tried not to notice, though. Despite the sprint, Jessica wasn’t breathing heavily. No sense in keeping up the illusion back here.

Neil smiled, “hey there, Tin Tits. How are things?”

Jessica scrunched up her face and punched her brother in the arm. “They’re good, meatbag. I can’t believe you were going to leave without saying hi to your sister. Carly had to give me a call.”

Neil shrugged, “I had to talk to Mom about something. Actually, I might as well tell you too; I’m getting married.”

Jessica squealed and jumped up and down, bright red hair flying everywhere, before punching her brother again, “you were going to leave without telling me that? You asshole.”

“Cybercunt.”

“Ugly bag of mostly water.”

Neil sighed. He had the world’s hottest trekkie as a sister. “We’re not getting married until May, and I was going to tell you Saturday.” Neil and Jessica had a standing, monthly movie date for a Saturday matinee. It was a nice brother/sister bonding ritual they had done for years. In college, Neil had driven home for the weekend, five hours each way, to keep their monthly date.

Jessica couldn’t contain her smile, “Can I be a bridesmaid? Pleeeeease let me be a bridesmaid.” She clasped her hands together in a begging pose, which only served to increase the length of her cleavage. “Maybe all her bridesmaids can be android women, and we can wear silver bridesmaid dresses and it would be soooo hot even if most of the people there won’t get it.” Jessica looked like she could bounce right out her clothes in excitement over the idea.

Neil had to remind himself that this was his sister, even if she was inorganic now, and enjoying the jiggling wasn’t right. “We’ll see. Zoe and I are on step one of this thing and that’s step twenty or so.”

“Well, congratulations, big brother.” Jessica leaned over and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. “Have you told her about android women yet? Mom would’ve told me if she was already one of us.”

Neil tried not to let his sister see how much ‘one of us’ bugged him, “No, and I want to be the one who tells her, so no hunting her down and spilling the beans, ok?” He didn’t feel like getting into a fight with Jessica over Zoe not becoming an android woman. His explanation would keep the issue up in the air until later.

Jessica gave him an ‘OK’ sign and kept smiling. Neil had to reluctantly admit she was happier this way as opposed to the overweight teenager with acne and stringy brown hair. Sometimes though, the difference was so stark he wondered if it was all Jessica inside there.
“Listen, since you already know we’re getting married, how about I bring Zoe along for our matinee of the month?”

Jessica stopped for a moment. This was usually just something the two of them did. “Sure, I’ve already got that time hollowed out in my schedule, we can make that happen.”

Neil could sense his sister’s reticence, “Are you sure it’s fine? We can always do it later, have you and mom meet her at the same time.”

“No, this will work out better. Just don’t be surprised if I show up in that silver fancy dress.” They both had a laugh at that. “I have to go supervise a stress test, so I’ll see you on Saturday, OK?”

Neil nodded at his sister as she sprinted back the other way down the hallway. He desperately tried to think of something unsexy that she could be stress testing, and similarly hoped Jessica would be on the sidelines and not at the center of the festivities. There’s nothing quite so scarring as seeing your little sister partially disassembled and participating in a test of an android anus with a big fake cock ramming into it and her screaming for more.
He smacked himself across the face to knock the image loose and exited the institute.

===Part 2===
Camilla Taylor leaned back in her chair and lazily fiddled with her open paplexus panel. She especially enjoyed playing with the cable snaking from above her pussy, up through the desk, to the back of her laptop. The text export software Dyson had given her made typing up these reports so much faster and infinitely more enjoyable. Plus it was such a turn-on to know people could see the end of the cord plugged into her laptop, without knowing the other end was connected to a synthetic woman.

It felt so naughty to be in her office with her skirt hiked up. She never would have considered being in such a state in here before that trip to the Dyson Institute. She stopped producing text in order to revel in the memory. That first glimpse inside an android woman. Seeing her face on a disembodied robotic head talking and smiling back at her. Laying down on that couch and waking up with those now-familiar status reports in her vision...

Camilla had to cut the orgasm sequence short. There were limits to what she would let herself do during working hours. She pulled her skirt back down, but left the cord plugged in. Although the keystrokes weren’t being registered, she went through the motions of typing with her hands while the actual text was being inputted at a much faster rate. Camilla finished the bulk of the day’s paperwork in short order.

With that done, she punched a few keys on the phone to call in one of her subordinates, “Dana, I’d like to see you, please.” A minute later, a tall brunette wearing a nicely made coffee-colored suit entered Camilla’s office.

Camilla smiled, “Lock the door, Dana.” Dana smiled back and complied. She confidently walked over to the desk and gave Camilla a kiss. They weren’t frequent lovers, but –working so closely together– they were very friendly. Dana was the one who ended the kiss, taking a seat on the other side of the desk.

Camilla leaned forward, “So, I heard someone is running off solid-state memory now.”

[[Image:Uxdana1.jpg|450px|right]]

Dana grinned and began opening up her blazer and blouse. “That’s where I was this weekend, getting some upgrades along with my 3000 mile oil change.” The two android women laughed softly, Dana at a bit of a higher pitch in more of a giggle. As organic women, Dana had been 24 to Camilla’s 37, although those were largely meaningless numbers to them now.

“Congratulations on your three-month anniversary, then.” Camilla said. “Mine is next week, so I wanted to get the skinny on what’s available.”
Dana pulled back the sides of her top, revealing her naked, bra-less breasts. She had elected to keep her barely-there chest in the end, feeling anything more would bring too much attention to her change and force a wardrobe overhaul. She tilted her head back and downright purred as the seam appeared down the middle of her sternum and her chest clicked open. Camilla disengaged her laptop link and went to the other side of the desk to take a peek inside.

She opened up the brunette’s chest fully and gently pushed some wires and tubes to the side. Dana said nothing, instead softly smiling at her open chest and her boss examining her perfect android nature.

Camilla spotted the new memory drive. She loved how the Dyson engineers had given it a pink casing in contrast with all the black and silver around it. Although there were no tactile sensors around it, Dana couldn’t suppress a moan as Camilla ran a finger along her new memory core. All her memories, her personality programming, and the extra programming bestowed upon her by the Dyson Institute were inside that brick.
Camilla could feel herself getting hot too around this exposed synthetic woman. She leaned in for a kiss, but paused as a message flashed in her head’s up display. Dana had puckered up, but got concerned when her boss didn’t finish coming in.

“Mrs. Taylor? Is everything alright?”

Camilla blinked and extracted herself from Dana. “Yes, I believe so. I got a page from Dr. Dyson. I need to make a call. Close yourself up and return to your desk.”

Dana folded her chest back in and watched the edges melt back together. She loved seeing that. She would’ve loved some more robo-fun with her boss, but when Dr. Dyson says jump, you jump. Besides, it’s not like she could really hold a grudge nowadays.

While Dana continued to get back into working shape, Camilla sat down and opened a triple-password protected folder that contained analyses of all employees under her supervision with estimates for conversion success. Truthfully, the page hadn’t been marked as ‘urgent’, but this was like getting a call from the President, it immediately became a priority for you. The page was also empty of specifics, but if Dr. Dyson wanted candidates for transformation, Camilla would be ready.

Dana finished buttoning her shirt, and checked her hair in a mirror on the wall. “OK, I’ll leave you to your call. Please extend my gratitude to Dr. Dyson for all her exquisite work.” She smoothed out her skirt in a fashion that let her linger on her own manufactured legs longer than necessary. Camilla nodded and shooed Dana out of the room, who made sure the door locked behind her.

Camilla picked up the phone and dialed the Dyson Institute, plus a five digit extension. “Hello, this is Unit VX9348. Security code Foxy Unicorn Tango twenty-two.” She was nervous about calling the head honcho herself, even if they had shared a long ‘testing session’ together soon after VX9348 went online. She could swear her heart was pounding, even though she could see that her simulated pulse was within normal parameters.
“Code accepted,” the voice at the other end replied, “please hold for Dr. Elaine Dyson. If this is not the party you wish to contact, please hang up and try again.” VX9348 calmly waited and listened to the phone ring. Her face was a mask of passivity.

It rang 13 times before someone answered. “Hello, this is Dr. Dyson.”

“This is unit VX9348, you sent me an alert. How can I help you?”

Dr. Dyson put the phone to her chest, but VX9348 could still hear her. “Stephanie, could you please come back later? I promise I’ll thank you properly for the cunt-licking.” VX9348 heard some rustling before Dr. Dyson began speaking directly into the receiver. “Camilla, I’m so glad you could get back to me so quickly. How are your systems functioning?”

“I’m functioning well within my design parameters.”

“Now Camilla, don’t be coy. Tell me how much you enjoy being an android woman.”

Camilla felt more like herself and at ease after Dr. Dyson’s friendly prompting.”My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve never felt so good so consistently for so long. And my productivity is up by so much. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate you giving me the chance at this perfect existence. A perfect android life. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t relay the message that Dana Moss feels the same way.”

Dr. Dyson recognized the name both from the long list of women associated with Stanley Enterprises and from the appointment book for last week. “I’m glad to hear both of you are enjoying yourselves. But that’s not why I asked you to call. I want you to arrange for someone to be introduced to the synthetic way of life. She works in your department. Her name is Zoe.”

Camilla only had one girl named Zoe working for her, but she thought it was weird for the head of the Dyson Institute to target someone specific in her department but not make the offer herself. She checked Zoe’s file to make sure, but there was another thing that made it odd. “Yes, I have her file here. Zoe Baker, age 23. To tell you the truth, Dr. Dyson, her profile indicates she’d be a poor candidate and unlikely to take advantage of the opportunity to become robotic if offered. Of all the girls on this floor, she rates as the second least-likely prospect.”

Elaine paused and thought it over. She had been hoping for better news. Still, Neil deserved a robotic wife, even if he didn’t know it yet. “It’s important for the Institute that she accept the offer. I’d like you to design an introduction scenario optimized for her. I’ll give you the number of the fabrication department here for any assistance you require.”

The other synthetic woman was rightly puzzled. The standard operating procedure for recruitment had always been to search for low-lying fruit. Production and maintenance capacity was such a limiting factor that they could run at full tilt with just those candidates. And now that she thought about it, Dr. Dyson hadn’t even given her a last name.

“Dr. Dyson, may I ask why she’s so important? She doesn’t seem to have any special talents or important familial relations. There are many other girls we’d have better chances with.”

Dr. Dyson almost said ‘no familial relations yet’ in response, but kept it to herself. “I can’t tell you why she’s important, but rest assured, she is vital to the long-term health of the Institute. If you cannot do this for me, I can find someone else at Stanley more appreciative of the gift I’ve bestowed upon them.”

VX9348 got tense again, “I will come up with a plan, ma’am. Would you like me to review it with you before implementation?”

“Yes, of course. But I’d like this to be done quickly. Please have a plan to me by Monday.” Elaine didn’t think her son had told his fiancée about the Institute’s true purpose, especially without an android female nearby as proof. She wanted to make sure her side got to make their case first. And preferably be the only case made.

VX9348 responded, “Affirmative. I will have the plan finished on time. May I enlist the help of other units in my office for assistance?”

Dr. Dyson considered this, “Yes, I think you should. I look forward to hearing your plan. Goodbye, Camilla.”

“Goodbye, Dr. Dyson.”

Each synthetic woman hung up the phone on their end. Camilla leaned back in her chair and tried to process what had just happened. Or more accurately, what had just begun. She reached for the phone again and contacted Dana.

“Dana, come here. There’s a special project I’ll need your help on. Get Ava, Katie, and Christine in here too, if they’re available.”

===Part 3===
Neil returned home to find his wife-to-be fixing them dinner. Even in sweats and an old T-shirt, seeing her made him grin like a mad man. He snuck behind her, wrapped his arms around her midsection and nuzzled her neck and the dark hair covering it.

“Wow, what did I do right to deserve a total babe who also cooks.”

Zoe put down the spoon and turned around to give Neil a kiss. After a quick one, she retorted, “It’s just hamburger helper. I’d love to see what you’d do if I made a meatloaf.”

“I’d explode.” They both chuckled. “I had one helluva day. I told my mom and Jessica about the engagement.”

Zoe turned back to stir the pan of ground beef and noodles. “How’d they react to that announcement? Considering they still haven’t met me.”

That was still a sore subject between them. Neil had been reluctant to expose Zoe to his... abnormal family. Zoe was an only child raised by her father and she craved being part of a traditional family unit. Too bad the Dysons were far from traditional once you got past the mom, dad, and two kids.

Neil walked to the apartment’s bedroom to take off his work clothes. “My mom was pleased; my sister is already planning the wedding ceremony. I think she’s going to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid whether we want her to or not.”

Zoe took out two place settings and laid them out on the small breakfast nook table. “That’s fine with me; I’m going to need all the help I can get.” She went back to the stove and came back to the table with a trivet and the skillet of dinner. She set it down and realized she had almost forgotten the crushed red pepper Neil loved on Italian-style dishes.

The water got poured right as Neil came back out in a T-shirt and shorts. He gave his fiancée another kiss before they sat down. “Betty Draper couldn’t have done better,” Neil said as he scooped himself some food.

“I’m hoping our marriage turns out a little better than that, sweetie.”

Neil laughed and the two of them continued to chat idly over their romantic dinner.
----
Camilla took her seat at the head of the table. The group had all left, and then come back well after hours so no one would notice them or disturb them inside a company meeting room. In terms of Stanley enterprises, she wasn’t the most senior employee in the room. In terms of Dyson, she wasn’t the longest-operating android woman. But Dr. Dyson had put her in charge.

[[Image:Uxc1.jpg|450px|right]]

There were three other android women at the table and two men who had android wives and were almost as willing as the women to help the Institute. Most of them knew who Zoe was, but only Ava had interacted with her outside of the office. It was one of the many problems Camilla faced.

“OK, let’s get this started. We’re here because Dr. Dyson would like to see Zoe Baker join us as a synthetic woman. If anyone knows why, I’d be happy to hear it, because my analysis says she’s a poor candidate, and Dr. Dyson wouldn’t explain it to me.”

The people at the table looked at each other for answers and got none. Except for Katie, who was reliving on her face a pleasant experience with the Doctor. Ignoring Katie, Camilla continued.

“So we’re going to have to go to greater lengths in order to convince her. Part of the reason she’s not a good candidate is that we don’t have much data on her. We’ve got the basic biography down, but not the really personal stuff that would make this recruitment a slam dunk. She’s not married. She seems to have a healthy body image, but not overly so. We’re getting that mostly from appearance analysis. She dresses smartly, but not expensively.

Ava chimed in, “that’s the impression I’ve gotten. She’s very comfortable with her life. She has a serious boyfriend, although there doesn’t seem to be any angst there to latch onto. My best guess is that she’s also sexually conservative, which doesn’t help us.”

“She doesn’t surf the Web at work enough to get any information,” Camilla continued, “and no personal effects except some silk flowers.”

Greg sighed, “Shit, how bland can you be? Just tell Dr. Dyson she can’t be recruited and let’s go on with our lives.”

Camilla rolled her eyes, “I’ve tried explaining this to Dr. Dyson, but the request stands.”

Katie had recovered and was back in the conversation, “I don’t think this is as hard as we’re making this. Being an android woman is clearly better. We don’t need to trick her or anything, just show her the truth and give her the opportunity to be a perfect, synthetic female.”

Camilla appreciated the point about not needing to trick her, “Normally I’d agree, but if she flips out once one of us flashes an open panel, the game is up. Maybe she even convinces a cop to come investigate us. You can’t throw a rock in this building without hitting a synthetic woman or someone else who knows about the Dyson Institute.”

David finally chimed in, “How about you take her out, go dancing or whatever it is synthetic women do as a group.” There were a few giggles, considering what android women love to do together. “OK, not that, but make her feel like one of the girls. Maybe you steer the conversation in a way that makes her think about robots. Prep her before you do the reveal.”

Greg followed up, “Dress up really nicely too. Make her feel like she isn’t pretty enough. Be catty behind her back but within earshot. Exaggerate the amount of work you do in a day. If you can’t convince her a synthetic body would be better, convince her that staying in her current body is worse.”

Camilla thought that Greg was an asshole, but she should probably incorporate that into any plan. The directive was to bring her into the fold, not preserve her self-esteem.

“Then it’s settled. Ava, Dana; get together at some point tomorrow and invite Zoe to a night on the town. If you can get her to go on a shopping trip beforehand, I’ll authorize it for you. Unfortunately, I don’t think partying with the boss will get her to loosen up.”

They all chuckled at that as the table emptied. Dana, who hadn’t talked during the meeting, quietly headed to the door before Camilla could catch up with her. “You were awfully quiet in there.”

Dana shrugged, “I couldn’t help thinking of Gretchen. Two kids, husband ran out on her, diabetes, bad knees. If there’s anyone we should be helping it’s her, not someone who can’t immediately appreciate the gift being presented to her.

The boss smiled a little bit, “That was one part of the plan I didn’t need to go over. Gretchen talks to Zoe all the time. They’re both going to be extended the chance to become synthetic, and hopefully Gretchen’s happiness will be contagious.

Dana got a big smile on her previously troubled face before giving Camilla a big kiss.
----
Neil and Zoe sat atop a short dividing wall in front of the theater, waiting for Jessica to arrive. They didn’t talk; they just sat enjoying the breeze and the shade provided by the big tree. Neil was a little nervous that Jessica would dress the way she normally dressed in public: sparsely. It was bad enough when he had to watch guys ogle his sister. He didn’t want to explain to Zoe why his sister was such an exhibitionist.
Zoe, on the other hand, was more worried about making a good first impression on her fiancé’s sister. It was obvious to her that Neil loved his sister very much. Plus she wanted to fit into his family like a round peg in a round hole. She had been rehearsing an introduction in her head since they sat down.

Neil was first to spy Jessica coming around the corner. He was thankful she was dressed tastefully. The top went down to just above her navel, and the neckline didn’t expose much cleavage, although it hugged her breasts attractively. She was wearing low-riding jeans, but those were in style.

Zoe saw an attractive woman turn the corner and caught Neil staring. “Hey mister, no window shopping, you’re about to be a married man.” At that point, Zoe realized the woman was smiling and walking directly toward them.

“Hi, you must be Zoe. I’m Neil’s little sister Jessica. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Neil had to fight off a snorting laugh at Zoe’s initial statement and subsequent speechlessness. Zoe couldn’t believe Jessica and Neil were siblings, they looked so different. Plus Neil’s stories of the two of them made Jessica sound kinda dorky.

“Hi Jessica, I’m glad you could come.” Zoe smiled broadly and Jessica smiled back. Zoe was still a bit flabbergasted, but was regaining her composure. Jessica was calmly sizing up her future sister-in-law. And not just in the sense of taking high-res photos for later use in the construction of Zoe’s android body.

Neil butted in to break the silence, “So Jessica, we wanted to wait until you got here before picking a movie. Any preference?”

Jessica attracted some attention when she started bouncing with excitement. “Ooh The second Foundation movie came out last week, we should go see that.”

Zoe furrowed her brow, “I haven’t heard of it.”

Jessica was happy to explain, in detail, what Asimov’s Foundation Series was all about, with a little comment on how many top economists cited the psychohistorians as an inspiration for their later interest in economics. Neil was always amused when his sister geeked out like that. It was a nice dose of nostalgia in addition to an entertaining paradox when a model-hot girl started going on about Freeman Dyson (no relation).

Zoe was a little less amused, “I’m not really a science fiction fan. How about that new Jason Statham romantic comedy?”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. Her brother was dating, nay, marrying a woman who didn’t enjoy science fiction? One who wanted them to watch a bleepin’ Romantic comedy? With that no talent assclown?

Neil quickly stepped in. “How about a nice historical drama? I think there’s something about the French revolution playing.” Neil knew his women.

Jessica enjoyed history, and Zoe enjoyed costume dramas. Sure enough, the two women agreed and Neil bought three tickets. Although the way the guy was ogling Jessica, maybe he should’ve let his sister get the tickets. She could have handed the guy a dollar and gotten change back.
Inside, Neil left the girls alone to make a trip to the concession stand for all of them. There was a moment of silence broken by Jessica.

“So... how old are you?”

“Oh, I’m 23. My birthday was three weeks ago.”

“Happy birthday.”

“Thanks... You’re 20, right?”

“Yup, just don’t check my driver’s license.” Jessica giggled a little bit at her own joke.

Zoe smiled, but didn’t laugh. “So are you in school?”

“No, I’m working with my mom, getting practical experience.”

Zoe was puzzled, “They let you work at an engineering firm?”

“Huh? No, I work at my Mom’s health spa.”

“Neil said she was a nuclear engineer.”

“She was, but the job was very stressful, so she and some friends opened up a health spa. They’re all much happier now.” Jessica had to bite her tongue as to why.

“It’s a damn shame, a woman in the natural sciences being driven away like that. I mean, I’m glad she’s happy, it’s just that we need more female scientists.”

Jessica’s cheeks got hot, thinking of all the women who now knew, through first-hand experience, enough about robotics to teach the subject at any university. “I understand what you mean, don’t worry.”

If Neil hadn’t come back at that moment, Jessica might have blabbed. “OK girls, I’ve got a Sprite and Junior Mints for the pipsqueak, Diet Cokes for me and Zoe, and a jumbo bucket of popcorn for everyone.”

“Actually, hold on to it dear, I need to make a visit to the little girls’ room.” Zoe leaned over the armful of goodies and gave him a kiss.

“Here, take your ticket, we’ll meet you in the theater.”

Zoe walked off and the Dyson siblings walked to the ticket taker.

“You didn’t tell me your fiancé was a Luddite.”

Neil sighed, “Oh please, so she doesn’t write fanfiction about Jean-Luc Picard in high school. It doesn’t make her a luddite.”

Jessica would always regret showing him that story, “well, we’ll see if we can’t add some special programming when she comes in for her new body.”

Neil cringed at the thought, even if the thought was of Zoe’s disembodied android head with a large fake cock in its mouth. He changed subjects,
“So why were you late?”

“I had a broken gasket.”

“Doesn’t the ASU pick up on stuff like that?”

It took Jessica a moment to realize the confusion, “Not in me, in the car. Doofus. I had to borrow mom’s car.”

“She still have that 15-year-old Neon?”

“Yup, I was sooo embarrassed. Not only as an advanced amalgam of robotic machinery, but as a daughter and a hot young girl who shouldn’t be caught dead driving that rust bucket.”

The ticket taker was staring at them as they laughed.
Jessica is the one who covered, “It’s an inside joke about Westworld.”

The movie passed without incident and Jessica declined their offer to have dinner. She had swapped in a smaller battery and added extra disk storage for her footage of Zoe and, frankly, the Foundation movie she had hoped to see. Zoe was a little sad that they hadn’t talked more, but said they’d arrange some girl time later. Jessica liked that idea more than Neil.

In the car, Neil and Zoe chatted a bit about the movie. Neil decided not to ask for his future wife’s impression of his sister. The conversation dropped off until Zoe piped up.
“Has your sister had work done?”

Neil very nearly swerved into a street sign.

==Part 4==
All the girls within 200 feet of accounts payable, and one or two of the guys, were clustered around Zoe’s desk. The backlog of invoices waiting for them on a Monday morning could wait a little longer while everyone oohed and aahed at the engagement ring being flashed around. Zoe felt a little embarrassed at all the attention, but once she showed Gretchen the ring, everyone wanted to look and congratulate Zoe.
“It was so sweet, he took me to the coffee shop where we had our first semi-date and he bought me one of those stick-shaped cookies. When I pulled it out of the bag, it was sticking through the ring. Then he got down on one knee and proposed right there during the lunch rush. People started applauding, it was so surreal. Then we found out the ring was too small. I just got it back from the jeweler this morning.”
There were a few ‘awww’s, but the (unspoken) consensus was that it was kind of corny. Dana was just excited that there was a gift-wrapped excuse to take Zoe out for a night on the town.
“So, tell us about your future better half,” Christine chirped from behind two other people.
“Let’s see, his name is Neil. He works in the marketing department on the seventh floor. He has an MBA. He’s got one younger sister, and his mother runs a health spa. He’s a real sweetheart and he does this grinning thing that I just love...”
The android women in attendance all had the same idea. They checked the company employment roster, and sorted out for the marketing department. There was one guy named Neil.
Neil Dyson.
And his mother ran a health spa, according to Zoe.
The realization of why Dr. Dyson was so adamant about getting Zoe to become synthetic hit them at roughly the same time, and they could clearly see it on each others’ faces. This girl was going to be the daughter-in-law of Dr. Elaine Dyson, the woman who first hatched the idea of robotic women and thus the one responsible for the vast improvement in their lives.
Zoe had kept going on about Neil, but Dana interrupted, “Sorry Zoe, I need to take Katie, Christine and Ava away for a moment. Congratulations again. We’ll talk some more later.” Zoe acknowledged their departure and kept on going for a little while longer.
The four synthetic women went into Camilla’s empty office and shut the door. It took a moment for anyone to speak.
“Her fiancé is Dr. Dyson’s son?” It was actually less of a question than Katie made it sound like, and they had all come up with the same hypothesis anyway.
“It sure seems like it. Maybe he’s a nephew, but the file says he’s 24, so it’s almost certainly not a brother.” Christine was trying desperately to come up with an alternate conclusion based on what they knew.
“Nope, she said it was his mother that ran a health spa, so unless Dr. Dyson’s sister or sister-in-law runs another health spa, we’re dealing with her daughter-in-law,” Dana replied.
The task hadn’t really changed, but they all felt like the stakes were higher now. They were responsible for making a future member of Dr. Dyson’s family part of her larger family. And if they succeeded, one of the most important people in their lives would owe them a big favor. Sure, they had already been given so much, but the idea of having more is human nature.
“So where’s Camilla?”

Units VX9348 and UX1696 had each attached themselves to one of Dr. Dyson’s nipples and were using one of their hands to massage the pussy of the other naked unit. Elaine leaned back and luxuriated in the sensation. The firmware upgrade allowed her to process so much more information from her breasts now. She couldn’t tell if she was enjoying the tongues or the new data flow more, and figured that it didn’t really matter.
“Camilla, why don’t you work on my pussy for a little bit. Suki, there are some toys in the wooden chest, why don’t you pick some out?” Elaine smiled as the blonde office manager began planting kisses down her stomach. But even nicer was the sight of the tiny bundle of Japanese curves strutting naked around her office. Dr. Suki Narita was an expert in biomechanics and Dr. Dyson was sure she’d make a great addition to the research staff. But at the moment, the Japanese doctor was jiggling back to her western counterpart with two handfuls of wires and floppy dildos.

[[Image:Uxdrn1.jpg|350px]]

“Let me see if I can guess what this one does.” Suki smiled as Elaine leaned back and squealed from the toe-curling orgasm Camilla had just induced. Dr. Narita opened up her paplexus panel, still amazed at the sight. She then slipped one of the sex toys into the available, exposed expansion slot. It was a rush to feel her software update automatically, and a further rush when she felt the air tickle the sensors on the toy. She quickly realized that the toy was a souped-up version of her artificial tongue, articulated and controllable by her thoughts.
Elaine had regained enough composure to address her new colleague, “Go ahead, I’ll bet VX9348 would love to feel that inside her wet, synthetic pussy.” Camilla was still dutifully lapping up Dr. Dyson’s copious juices, but heard enough to wiggle her ass at Suki.
And that was all the encouragement Suki needed. She crouched down to get the fake dick to the right level, and then flicked it up and down the length of Camilla’s slit. Elaine could feel the blonde shudder at the initial contact, but she didn’t stop licking. Then Suki moaned as she felt ‘her’ phallus slowly sink into Camilla’s gash. She wiggled and swirled it around inside her partner before beginning to thrust. Camilla felt like she was going to explode.
“Hi Mom,” Jessica walked in wearing the normal institute uniform. Oddly enough, the only person who didn’t turn to look was Dr. Dyson. Both Suki and Camilla felt like they had been caught in the act, and by what appeared to be Dr. Dyson’s daughter, no less.
“Oh don’t mind me; I just needed to have a quick chat with the doctor.” Jessica’s level of comfort with the situation didn’t increase Suki and Camilla’s. Jessica calmly sat down on a couch opposite the three women and examined one of the toys Suki had tossed aside.
“Girls, why don’t you attend to each other while I speak to Jessica. VX9348, I think that plan of yours needs work, so record our conversation for later playback” The other two units were unsure, but they were also really turned on. Camilla opened her audio options and began recording. Suki disengaged herself and Camilla turned around to embrace the other doctor. Dr. Narita could still taste Dr. Dyson’s sexual lubricant as they slowly fell to the carpet between the two redheads.
Elaine pulled her hair back behind her ears and crossed her legs, not bothering to cover up any more of her nudity. “So, how was the movie?”
Jessica shrugged, “Eh, it wasn’t too bad. We went to see this French film. Zoe didn’t want to see Second Foundation. She doesn’t like Science Fiction.”
“Not even Asimov?”
“I know ”
“We’ll have to do something about that.”
“That’s what I said. Anyway, I’ve got images sent to fabrication, they’ll extrapolate her body without the blouse and we’ll be able to have the head and torso mockup ready whenever Neil tells her about the Institute.” Jessica licked the toy in her hand just a little bit to test it out.
Elaine raised an eyebrow, “Neil didn’t say anything to me about telling Zoe. In fact, he didn’t seem to want Zoe to ever be told about becoming a synthetic woman. He was quite adamant about it.”
“He doesn’t even want to give her the chance? That doesn’t sound like Neil.”
“Sweetie, you remember that phase he went through where he called us robo-whores and brainwashed hedonists.”
VX9348 screamed in ecstasy as UX1696’s thrusting finally hit pay dirt. Soon after, UX1696 had an orgasm of her own, her first that didn’t come from her pussy. The two of them switched positions, with UX1696 lying down and keeping her attachment straight while VX9348 impaled herself and began bobbing up and down. Jessica scooted over to see around the blonde robot.
“But we got past all that.”
Elaine gave her a sympathetic look, “He accepted that we’re his family, I don’t think he really understands how much better our lives are after becoming synthetic.”
Camilla shook wildly and collapsed upon the Japanese doctor. The phallus slipped out and flung a bit of fluid onto Jessica’s leg. The two units didn’t stop though, softly moaning as they began making out with one another.
Jessica sat there, not sure if she was hurt more by Neil lying to her or by Neil rejecting her synthetic womanhood. Elaine walked around the units fucking on the carpet and put an arm around her daughter.
“But we’re still going to give Zoe the opportunity to become an android. She deserves that, and so does Neil.”
“Won’t Neil be angry - I mean run-around-with-a-sledgehammer angry - if we do that?”
“He’ll see firsthand how much wives and husbands can improve their relationship. Faced with the truth, he might be embarrassed by his former stance, but he won’t be angry.”
Jessica wasn’t 100% sure about that logic, but she respected her mother’s judgment. Besides, the idea of hoisting Neil up on his own petard sounded pretty attractive right about now.
They chatted for a little while longer about Zoe specifically before Elaine stood up, “I’m going to have a discussion with the good Dr. Narita about android vaginal assemblies. If you’d like to work off some energy, I’m sure VX9348 here won’t mind.”
The other two units rolled away from one another and Elaine took her turn straddling the Japanese android. Jessica removed her uniform and briefly considered using the toy before tossing it aside and calling Camilla to the couch. The two of them got into a 69 position and began eagerly eating each other out, Jessica much more forcefully than the blonde.
Camilla had only been dimly aware of the conversation going around above her, but had heard the name Zoe a few times. Dr. Dyson had called her in to discuss the matter. But most of her system resources were devoted to exploring the young redhead’s snatch in front of her mouth. A priority text message from VX9319 appeared in her vision, and she had enough awareness to understand that.
“Zoe is Dr. D’s future daughter-in-law. Outing still planned. Advice?”

==Part 5==
Zoe had reluctantly agreed to go out with some of her coworkers on a Monday night. Dana had assured her Mrs. Taylor would understand if the bride-to-be showed up a little late or not at all on Tuesday. It’s not every day you get engaged, or at least it’s not every day you tell your coworkers about getting engaged.
Camilla still wasn’t coming, but she let the other girls borrow her mini-van for the outing. It had been decided that Zoe should get picked up last. Dana was driving and Christine was in the front seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter. She hadn’t gotten a full charge the night before and didn’t want to suddenly go low on juice in the middle of a dance floor. Ava and Katie were in the backseat making out like it was prom night. Katie had left her arousal levels high, as usual, and Ava didn’t see the harm in taking some of the edge off. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had gone club hopping, and they had quickly discovered that guys loved watching two attractive ladies in brief party dresses get to second base with one another.
“Will you two cut it out back there?” Dana was obviously more stressed out than the other girls in the van.
Katie came up and pouted a little bit as she and Ava scooted to either side of the backseat bench. “What’s the big deal? We were going to stop when you stopped at Zoe’s place. And it’s not like you can tell we were making out.”
It was true. There wasn’t a smudge on their makeup or a hair out of place. The institute had crafted new head units for all of them and sent a technician with the modules to each of their homes. It took 5 minutes to create the image of an entire afternoon at a beauty salon. Actually, Dana mused as she checked herself out in one of the mirrors again, it was beyond that. Her nose was a slightly more attractive shape and her eyes were a more sparkling hazel. Zoe wouldn’t be able to notice, especially in the low-light situation, but the Institute had gone above and beyond to make Zoe the ugly duckling of the group.
“Remember, you should act drunk, but you can’t be drunk. We want this to go off without a hitch, but if she gets weirded out, we’ve got that excuse to fall back on.”
“Yes, Mom, we all downloaded the same plan.” Katie giggled at Ava’s snarky remark.
“Hey, I shouldn’t be the only one worried here. We screw this up and Dr. Dyson’s daughter-in-law stays organic. I don’t want to know what her reaction to that would be, or what she’d do to us for screwing up.
Christine picked an opportune moment to finish charging, “Did we actually get a threat? I’ve never heard of Dr. Dyson issuing threats.”
“There wasn’t anything explicit, but what would you do if you were in her position and three random office android girls screwed over a member of your family? And on the flipside, what would you do for the girls that convinced her to become a synthetic woman?”
The van fell silent as it pulled up to Zoe and Neil’s apartment. Zoe was already waiting outside for them. Katie opened the door for her and Zoe slipped into one of the captain’s chairs between the four other ladies. She was wearing a jacket over her green dress, but the other women could tell that it looked nice and so did she. She hadn’t done much with her hair, but she had done up her face well.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to make Zoe feel good about herself when she scanned the other passengers of the van while exchanging greetings. The other looked drop-dead gorgeous as though they had spent the entire day getting ready. Plus they were wearing outfits that made hers look like a potato sack. Not just in style, but in the lack of coverage provided.
“Aren’t you all cold? It’s like 50 degrees outside.” The question struck Zoe as it was coming out of her mouth. At least it was better than the other comments on the lack of clothing in the vehicle she had tested in her brain.
Dana tensed up. How could she have been so stupid? She didn’t even have the heater on in the van. They all had gotten used to just shutting off or tuning down those sensors when it got uncomfortable.
Ava was the one who covered, “trust me, it’s going to be plenty hot once we get inside the club with all those people. Besides, I for one like a little chill in the air. Sweat stinks.” It didn’t really explain why they had no jackets on now, but Christine turned the heat up in the van in the most subtle way she could. And all four of them changed their settings so they would shiver a little when they went outside.

They chattered idly, pressing Zoe for details about the wedding. She didn’t really have any details yet, but it killed time. Then Ava started a line of questioning they were all interested in, but were afraid to broach.
“So, have you met Neil’s family? What are they like?”
Zoe didn’t pick up on the pricked up ears in the van. “I actually haven’t had that much interaction with them. I know his parents are still together, although they had problems when Neil was in High School and college. I haven’t met them yet, but I did meet his sister.” Zoe decided not to mention the probably extensive plastic surgery. “She’s a real sweetheart, and she’s really close to Neil.
The other girls nodded along respectfully. Ava and Christine didn’t know Dr. Dyson had a daughter too. Only Katie had heard about Dyson’s marital problems as an organic woman. They owed her so much, and idolized her for her achievements, but they didn’t really know Dr. Dyson all that well.
“Are you ok?” Zoe had caught onto the shared silence of the pensive synthetics.
“Yeah. Oh look, here we are, turn left here, Dana.” Christine pointed out the parking lot to Dana. The poor attendant never had a chance of gathering up enough spare brain cells to ask the hot women in the front of the van for money to park.
They all filed out with Dana leading the way and breaking the neck of the interested parking attendant again. Zoe smirked from the rear that it was a thick grilled cheese on wheat. Two brunettes with three blondes in between. She was a little surprised that there was a line into the club on a cold weeknight. Even so, heads turned when their group walked past the rope line toward the entrance. Zoe was a little embarrassed at the attention, until she realized only small bits of it were aimed at her.
She tried to keep up with the other girls, but they were walking quickly and gracefully in their heels, while Zoe wished she had gone with something flatter. Dana barely had to say two words to the bouncer before he let her past the velvet rope. Ava, Christine, and Katie followed close behind. Zoe was two steps back and had the rope close in front of her.
“End of the line, lady.”
“But, I’m with those other four.” Zoe was further embarrassed as the bouncer stood there silently staring her down. It was a tense 15 seconds before Katie doubled back and convinced the bouncer to let Zoe in.
The scene inside was more of the same. Dana had wrangled a booth away from some guys and the five of them ordered a round. Or rather, they ordered a round and some guys paid for them. It’s not exactly what Zoe had in mind when Ava had offered to get the first round, but booze was booze.
All through the night, at least one of her coworkers was at her side, either at the table or on the dance floor. And regardless of who it was, all the attention went to Zoe’s coworker first. Unless it was two guys and one was acting as the wingman, chatting up the hottie’s not so hot girlfriend. Even when the girls tried to deflect some of the attention to Zoe, it only made her feel pathetic. And she could swear she could hear the other girls talking about her once they got just barely out of audible range. Rationally, she knew she was engaged and couldn’t (wouldn’t) do anything with these guys, but it was the principle of the thing.
So at the moment, Zoe was half-listening to Christine talk about French cuisine. The other half was watching Katie get her freak on out on the dance floor. She was surrounded by about three guys and finding a way to be in contact with all of their crotches at once. Jesus, what a slut. A little voice bemoaned the fact that she hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to be that slutty.
Zoe brushed that thought aside and a few moments later Katie pulled down the top of her dress and let her breasts bounce freely out on the dance floor. The men were shocked for a moment before letting out a cheer and trying to get a hand on all the exposed boob. Zoe was flabbergasted. Christine turned to look and was shocked as well, albeit for slightly different reasons.
Dana heard the extra-loud whoops and caught sight of Katie’s nipples. She grabbed her purse and quickly got over to Katie. She managed to yank Katie’s dress back up and lead her off the floor before Katie’s admirers stopped their booing and tried to grab her. The two of them got into the ladies room and into a stall. By some miracle there was one open.
“If you wanted to make out, Dana, we could have done it out there, no one would have minded,” Katie looked smashed. Dana was furious and grabbed a cable out of her purse. They couldn’t talk in here, but they could exchange messages over a hard link.
Dana hiked up the bottom of her dress and opened her paplexus panel.
“Ooh, you are excited, aren’t you?” Katie began giggling, but Dana was in no mood. She motioned toward the open panel as a way of telling Katie to do the same. Katie giggled some more, but complied. Dana connected both ends of the table and began a silent conversation.
What the fuck was that? Flashing your tits? With Zoe watching?
VX8753 rolled her eyes, sorry for having fun, mom.
VX9319 could have slapped her, instead she checked on VX8753’s alcohol emulation software. Sure enough, she was acting like she could have blown a .16 on a BAC test. The software wasn’t equipped to be on without affecting decision-making, and it was designed to react to actual alcohol consumption.
Turn off your drunk emulator. It isn’t working right.
But you said we had to act drunk for Zoe. Mmm, those lips would be so good around my nips right about now. VX8753 was beginning to reach back into her dress. VX9319 stopped her and repeated the command. The older-model android reluctantly complied and immediately returned to normal.
Oh shit, did I really just do that?
Dana frowned, unplugged the two of them, and stowed the wire. “Let’s get back out there and try to be on your best behavior. But we’re going to stay away from Zoe for a little while longer, ok?” Katie quietly nodded and readjusted her breasts inside her dress.
Meanwhile, Ava had rejoined Christine and Zoe. Zoe filled Ava in on what Katie had done. Christine took the opportunity to steer the conversation toward sex. It was pretty easy, given the four mixed drinks Zoe had in her. And given the public display, one question flowed naturally
Christine asked, “so where’s the weirdest place you ever made love?”
From an organic woman’s perspective, a robotics laboratory would place high on any list. For Ava and Christine, that was like having sex in the backseat of a car. Big whoop.
Ava went first, “One time, my boyfriend Robert and I were at this fancy hotel with one of those glass elevators. It was late at night, so he stopped the elevator near the top floor and hiked up my skirt. So I bent over and let him take me from behind while I looked over the city all lit up.”
Zoe assumed she had merely forgotten to mention what happened to her panties. It was still a nice story, and Zoe felt embarrassed going after it. Christine picked up on that and went next.
“So I was dating this golf pro at a private country club and during this big soiree we snuck away and made love on the 16th green, out there in the open, in the moonlight. So we came back and there was some formal dancing going on. We did that, and I was fairly certain we had kept our clothes clean. But at the end I look back and there were about a dozen blades of grass on the dance floor that must have fallen out the back of my dress after being wedged up somewhere.”
Ava and Christine giggled at that much more than Zoe did.
“Come on Zoe, what’s your story?” Christine asked and Ava repeated it, egging her on.
“Really, no, it’s embarrassing.”
“Oh, I doubt it’s that bad. We’re all adults here, anyway. You can tell us.”
“Fine, in the living room of an apartment I shared with this girl in college. No glass elevators, no moonlight, just a stained couch.”
Christine stopped herself before asking if it was the roommate Zoe was fucking. Ava had a better response, “that’s fine, not everyone gets a thrill from having sex in weird places.” She paused before continuing. “Do you and Neil do any... roleplaying?”
“Roleplaying?”
Christine jumped in, “You know, pretending to be other people. Like he’s the boss and you’re his secretary being called into his office for some Dick-tation.” She managed to say it in such a way that the extra k was obvious.
“N-not really.” If Zoe had a little less rum in her system, she might have been worried about talking about this stuff. “We have really good sex doing things the normal way. Neil has an awesome cock and an awesomer tongue.”
The other two girls were amused, but maybe not surprised that Dyson’s son was an expert at sex as well. Christine continued, “You should try it sometime. Rent or cobble together a schoolgirl costume and play schoolmaster and truant girl.”
Zoe was barely sober enough to grasp ‘truant’, but remained somewhat intrigued.
Ava came forward with the big one, “But my favorite is Robot and Master.”
When Zoe didn’t look appalled, Christine jumped in. “Oh yeah, that’s my favorite too. Every guy I’ve done it with just couldn’t get enough.”
“And it feels so sexy pretending to be a perfect, obedient android woman.” Ava worried she was laying it on too thick, but Zoe was still paying attention. “I act like he’s activating me, I do a few orders, and it’s so hot. Even when I don’t try to ham it up by making beeping sounds.”
Before Ava or Christine could go further, Dana showed up.
“Alright, I’ve got Katie in a state resembling a normal human, I think we should go now.”

==Part 6==
Neil walked through the lobby of the institute again for the second time in as many weeks. He felt a little bad about not spending Saturday doing just sibling stuff with Jessica. So he decided to take a long lunch and pay his sister a visit.
There was a new girl at the front desk, and she was just as excited to see him as Carly had been last time. This time he spent only a moment asking where his sister was before heading through the door into the back rooms. Two turns and he was entering testing room C
Where he was greeted by the sight of Jessica; Topless, right arm missing, and without her legs and pelvic assembly as well. Even as he turned his head to avoid staring at his sister’s naked breasts, he saw that she was bouncing a racquetball off the ground and hitting a dime-sized target on the wall. But at the moment he was more concerned with his sister’s nudity.
“Hi Neil It’s been a while ” That was not Jessica speaking, but he couldn’t look to identify the speaker.
He found a towel and held it in front of him as he inched himself toward the voice and his sister while keeping his head turned. He heard two sets of feminine giggles. “Jess, could you please drape this over your saline sacks?” He felt the towel being tugged from his hand.
“You can turn around now.” Neil did so, and while Jessica was covered up, the technician had opened the top of her uniform to expose her breasts.
“Very funny, ha ha.” He said derisively. “But those aren’t attached to my sister.”
Jessica and the technician kept giggling as the latter buttoned back up. Neil took the opportunity to examine the face of the other girl. He realized he may have had even less reason to be concerned about seeing those tits. He had seen much more than that on this girl.
“Wendy?” Wendy Klein was the daughter of Dr. Gloria Klein, one of the earliest experts working with his mother on the android woman project. As such, Wendy had been synthetic about as long as Jessica. She still looked angelic, and as trim as Jessica was curvy. Neil had slept with her a dozen times back when he thought being surrounded by horny, physically perfect women was all he needed for paradise.
“Yup, it’s me. Just helping out around the facility. Gotta be trained on all this stuff before Mom lets me run my own branch.”
“They’re letting you run your own spa? I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Thanks, yeah, nepotism is great when it works in your favor. So, you’re looking good. What’s been new with you?”
“Oh you know, same old, same old.”
Jessica, who was still bouncing the ball, snorted at that. “Like hell. The organ receptacle here got enga-ged.” Neil had hoped Jessica was focusing her attention on the ball.
Wendy smiled, “Congratulations. Anyone I’ve worked on?”
Jessica snorted again. Neil tried to ignore that, “Nope, pure organic. They say organic is better for your health.”
“‘They’ say a lot of th-things,” Jessica interjected.
Wendy could tell something was going on. “Should I go? We’ve got some good data already.”
“Yeah, let’s stop this.” Jessica’s next throw landed the ball in a trash can. “Even the orgasms aren’t making this pleasant.”
“Orgasms?” Neil was a little confused, and frankly queasy, by the invocation.
Wendy explained as she unhooked Jessica. “We were testing a software package that lets synthetic women run climax sequences in the background of other tasks. It’s an application of the octet core we’ve begun...”
Neil raised a hand, “I think I got it.” It figures that they’d be trying to figure our more ways to cram sex into their lives. Now they were going to be cumming all day long. Super.
“It’s a fabulous program, Neil. Any woman would be thrilled to experience it.”
Wendy made a strategic retreat as Jessica shot daggers through her eyes at Neil. She wished her mom had taken her advice and developed eyes for synthetic women that shot laser beams.
Neil sighed, “OK, what’s your problem?”
“You lied to me.”
“About what?”
Jessica rolled her eyes, “About letting Zoe become a synthetic woman. No, about giving her the opportunity to become a synthetic woman. You had no intention of telling her about what we do here and letting her choose whether to lead a perfect android existence.”
“Let’s go easy on the ‘perfect’ talk, ok?” The well worn phrase irked Neil as much as Jessica’s snotty attitude.
“Oh here we go, poor abused Jessica with her sexy body and many friends and fulfilling job. Oh, the horrors that have been visited upon her.” The tone did nothing to disabuse Neil of the notion that his sister was being snotty.
“At least you got the ‘many friends’ part right.”
“This is about sex? There are plenty of monogamous android women, fully devoted to their husbands.”
“Yeah, and their files are all marked ‘possessive, potentially abusive husband’.”
“Bullshit.” Jessica said it, although she knew there was a correlation. Neil had the causation reversed, though.
“And please, tell me the most dates you’ve been on with one guy, and company clients don’t count.”
It was a biased question; since most of Jessica’s social life involved the Institute. But that didn’t really help her case. “So what if I’m not out there trying to find a husband. I’m 20 years old, I can’t get an STD or get pregnant, I’m fucking hot, why shouldn’t I be out there just enjoying myself?”
Neil, in that moment, decided to let it out. “That’s just it, Mom stuck you in that body and you had no reason to mature, no reason to act like a normal human being.”
“But this is better than being a normal human being. And fuck you for calling me immature.” In hindsight, that wasn’t a very mature response.
“You went from being a complex young woman into a shallow whore.”
“I went from being a gloomy, suicidal young woman into a happy young woman.”
Neil was taken aback by the suicidal comment, but he chalked it up internally as exaggeration in a heated moment. But the pause let Jessica go on the offensive.
“And why do I need to defend myself? This is about Zoe. You won’t let her make that choice for herself. Talk about maturity, why don’t you tell her, tell her your concerns, and then let her make an informed decision?”
“Because I’d bring her here, and you’d fill her mind with hyperbolic descriptions of your life, and once you turned her into a tinkertoy, she’d be programmed to love it. Programmed for everything. And she wouldn’t love me anymore; she’d love the program that tells her she loves me.”
Now it was Jessica’s turn to be silent, she hadn’t seen Neil this... scared in a long time. He was almost crying. Her ire had completely burned off, and she wanted to hug him, but that was hard to do with one arm and no lower half.
“It wouldn’t be like that Neil, I still love you, and that’s not linked to any specific program or induced sensation. And if I was that different, would you really still enjoy hanging out with me?”
“I enjoy it because when it’s just the two of us, you start acting like the sister you used to be and not UX1-whatever. But for it to be my wife... that’s 24/7.”
Screw it, Jessica reached out and yanked Neil close to her into a semi-hug, one that Neil made a full one. “I don’t know what I can do to convince you that your fears are bullshit, but I promise I’ll let you decide when your wife comes in. And I promise that when that happens, I’ll be as frank as possible with her about the limitations of being an android, ok?”
Jessica felt Neil nodding against her shoulder, and they stayed in that position for a while longer.
Zoe was standing in front of the mirror brushing her teeth before going to bed. All she had on was one of Neil’s big T-shirts and a pair of panties. Thankfully, her hangover had gone away sometime after lunch. She was still a little pissed that the other girls she had gone out with were fresh and chipper that morning. Zoe had rolled in ninety minutes late, filled with coffee and aspirin, and looking like she had been hit by a truck. Katie, who had been as drunk as Zoe had ever seen a girl, was sunny as ever. You might have guessed she had spent last night at home reading before turning in early, rather than getting plastered and waving her bare breasts around until 1 a.m.
Zoe had largely ignored them as she worked to get everything done with a splitting headache. Fortunately Camilla hadn’t given her any shit about showing up late. At least that had gone right. When five o’clock rolled around, she was out of there like a bolt of lightning.
Zoe finished brushing and started looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look that bad. A few acne scars maybe, and her breasts weren’t anything to write about. But she was reasonably well-proportioned. She had a good smile and good-looking hair. However the memory of being easily outshone by four random girls on the same floor of the building was fresh in her mind. Maybe she needed to buy some new make-up. Or do more thigh exercises. Or maybe breast implants. She turned to the side and hefted her little breasts up under the shirt, imagining how she’d look with more mass there.
“Neil, do you think I’d look better with larger breasts?”
Neil had been reading Ben-Hur in bed, trying to expand his knowledge of classic literature. He would have been better off reading a book about land mines.
“What makes you ask that?” The strategic non-answer, always a good opening move.
“I dunno, When I was out with the girls last night I felt like the ugly girl the hot girls bring around to scare away guys.” Zoe walked into the bedroom and got under the covers.
“I find it very hard to believe anyone would find you anything less than hot yourself.”
“Thanks, but I’m being serious. I know it sounds shallow, but I like feeling pretty.”
Neil leaned over and gave her a kiss. “You are the most wonderful, beautiful woman I’ve ever been with. I think you’re just great the way you are right now.”
Zoe smiled a little and returned the kiss, but wasn’t really reassured. “You don’t think I’m too... Vanilla?” She wasn’t sure where she pulled that term from, but it fit.
Neil had to pause. Frankly, he liked the fact that Zoe was usually quiet and conservative. But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now. “You’re chocolate chip cookie dough. Maybe sort of vanilla, but filled with little tasty bits that are made even more delicious by the vanilla they’re suspended in.”
That analogy had gotten away from him and they both knew it.
Zoe was the first to restart the conversation. “I just feel like I should be out there doing crazy stuff. When was the last time we did something wild?”
She may have had a point. Even when they went to Las Vegas, they had bet sensibly, seen a few shows, and spent most of the night screwing in their moderately-priced hotel room.
“What did you have in mind? Matching tattoos? I don’t really want a unicorn on my ass. See? How vanilla is it to have a tattoo?”
Zoe was a little miffed by his sarcasm, and crossed her foot over the unicorn on her ankle, “lots of people have tattoos. I want to do something your parents wouldn’t do.”
Neil wasn’t sure whether to laugh or piss himself. The things his parents wouldn’t do was a small list nowadays. “Such as?”
Zoe shifted and sat up in the bed, “Some of the girls at work thought it was really hot to do some roleplaying stuff during sex.” Hey Sex Neil liked the sound of that. “I thought we could try something like that.”
Neil put his book and glasses on the nightstand. “So what would we be playing?”
Zoe smiled, “Well, I thought we could play as though I was your personal robot sex machine.”
The human brain wasn’t designed to process situations like these. Neil didn’t know where his terror started. There was the thought that Zoe was using this as an introduction to telling him she was an android. And if she wasn’t, it meant she would be more likely to say yes if his mom or sister got to her. Then there were the oedipal issues surrounding his mother the android. And there was the memory of all the glazed-eyed synthetic women he had slept with years before.
“You don’t like it, do you?” Zoe looked disappointed and embarrassed. Now Neil had to do it in order to preserve her ego.
“No, no, it’s interesting. I was just wondering how we should start”
Zoe hopped up and shucked her shirt, exposing her breasts. Then she stopped. “Actually, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure either.”
“Why don’t you stand against the wall and I’ll turn on Zoebot for some sex?”
“OK.” Zoe stood against the wall and shut her eyes.
Neil got out of the bed, already regretting this. And he was also trying to figure out how much of his real-life knowledge he could or should apply to this fantasy. He didn’t want to confuse her or just as bad, make it seem like he was getting into this.
So he started out by using his fingers on her nipples and making old radio noises. Zoe suppressed a giggle before Neil pushed on her navel and she opened her eyes. She also stuck her arms out at a 90 degree angle.
“Zo.e.bot online. What pro.gram should I run?” Zoe said it in a bad attempt at a robotic monotone.
Neil paused to lower Zoe’s arms to her sides before speaking, “Zoebot, remove my pajama bottoms.”
She nodded and knelt down to do so, taking Neil’s underwear down at the same time and letting his dick flop out. He was a little too freaked out to be erect at this point though. Zoe wanted to start on him, but figured that wasn’t part of the game. So she went back and sat on her heels, looking up at Neil.
“Zoebot, proceed with felatio sequence 14.” Neil had always liked that one when he had fucked the eager women his mother turned into androids. If Zoe was an android now, it’d be the same.
For better or worse, it wasn’t. Zoe wasn’t very good at giving head. She had the thick, inviting lips for sure, but she had a sensitive gag reflex. Plus Neil wasn’t exactly tiny. So the blow job was pretty similar to the others Zoe had given. Except this time, when she went too far and disengaged to start coughing, she managed to fit the word ‘error’ in between the expectorations.
Still, she was good enough to get Neil hard, and he held her back before she could go back to licking and sucking. “Zoebot, stand up so I can examine your lubricant levels.”
It made Zoe giggle a little bit, but she got to her feet and spread her legs. Neil reached inside her undies and ran a finger along her slit. His girlfriend closed her eyes, but tried to stay in character and not make any noise. Neil kept rubbing and dipping a finger inside until he felt that she was wet.
“Zoebot, remove your panties and get into position 18A on the bed.”
Zoe put her legs back together and wiggled out of her panties. Dyson didn’t actually name sexual positions like that by number, but it let Zoe pick which way she wanted it. That was the plan, but Zoe hesitated as she got onto the bed. She actually tried to think of what 18A was, before realizing it was nonsense. So she laid down, face up, with her rump just off the foot of the bed and her feet spread wide on the ground.
“Would you like me to make noises for you?” Zoe couldn’t think of a better way, or more robotic way, to put it.
“Yes, and tell me when your orgasm sequence begins to load.” Crap, Neil didn’t want to make it sound exactly like how a synthetic woman would describe cumming. It just slipped out. But Zoe said affirmative and lifted herself to point her nether regions at him.
Neil had a briefly disconcerting vision of where the fluid tanks, muscular controls and connection points would be in Zoe’s pelvic module. That is, if she really was an android. He tried to put that out of his mind and stepped forward to guide himself inside Zoe a little more quickly than he normally did. Zoe made some exaggerated ‘mmm’ sounds in response. At least, Neil hoped she was only hamming it up. He took a handle on each of her thighs and began to rock back and forth.
Zoe hadn’t been as into the thing as she thought she’d be, but this was as good as it always was. Neil filled her up so well and rubbed her in all the right ways. This time it was more forceful than tender, but still good. She didn’t hold back in expressing her satisfaction through moans. Eventually he let one of her thighs drop and brought a hand up to assist in teasing her clit. That elicited a loud squeal of approval. She almost forgot to do the ‘orgasm sequence’ thing Neil wanted.
“Mmm, orgasm sequence loading... loading... loading... looooooooooooading ” She twitched as Neil’s ministrations hit paydirt. Neil himself was pleased that she had come, and was amused by the ‘loading’ thing. A few minutes later, he let himself relax enough to have his own weak-knee-inducing climax inside Zoe.
“Zoebot, clean me and yourself.” Zoe was still off in la-la land but heard him. She reached over and got some Kleenex to wipe up. And for god measure, Zoe gave his dick a final coat of saliva after wiping off most of the goo.
“So, did Zoebot enjoy herself?”
Zoe got up and kissed Neil. He could sort of taste himself on her lips. “It was definitely new.” Truth be told, she hadn’t gotten much out of it. But by her estimation Neil had enjoyed himself more than usual. And by his estimation, Zoe had enjoyed herself less than usual, which pleased him. He felt a little bad about it, but he was glad she didn’t seem enticed to become an android. The entire experience was nerve wracking though and he honestly hoped to never repeat it.
With that, the two of them crawled into bed, shut off the lights, and fell asleep with no further contact or discussion. As Neil was lying there, he remembered what he had talked to Jessica about. This would have been a good time to turn around and tell Zoe everything about his family, since robots were already the topic. Plus, it was when she would be least enthused about the concept by his reckoning. But it was late, Zoe was probably already asleep, and that discussion could wait another day.

==Part 7==
The next morning, Zoe got to her desk and was greeted by Gretchen, Dana, and Christine.
“Come on, Camilla is giving us a spa trip and the day off,” Dana told her. She was smiling broadly at the idea. In fact all three of them were.
“Really? The entire day off? Why?” Zoe actually felt a little guilty about showing up late and hungover yesterday, even if it had been with Camilla’s blessing.
“Because she couldn’t buy you a drink, so she’s giving you a spa trip. And since the spa is no fun alone...”
Gretchen cut in, “I reap the benefits.” She raised her fists as triumphantly as she could in an office setting.
Zoe was stunned, but wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, “So are we leaving now?”
“Yeah, everyone is here, we can all pile into my p.o.s.-mobile,” Christine offered. And with that, the four of them were off. In the elevator, Zoe noticed Dana typing on her blackberry.
“Who are you texting?”

Camilla was having a new pelvic module installed when the message came in. It killed the erotic buzz she was building up from having the technicians work on her, but she had asked to be notified when Zoe and the rest of them were headed in. And fortunately, Dr. Dyson was in the observation room.
“Dr. Dyson, Dana, Christine, Gretchen and Zoe have just left Stanley. They should be here within 30 minutes.”
“Very good, VX9348. I have to say you’re going to love that new pussy.”
Camilla moaned at the thought while the techs tested the lubrication system. Elaine was tense enough that she wasn’t diddling herself while watching. She calmly reached over to the panel and paged her daughter.
Jessica arrived a minute later. “Hi, mom.”

[[Image:Uxj2.jpg|350px]]

“Hello dear, Zoe and her friends are on their way. Set up Zoe’s demonstration in room 5 and her human friend’s display in room 6.”
Jessica figured it was now or never. “Mom, about that. I’m not sure we’re handling this the right way.”
Elaine turned and cocked an eyebrow at her daughter, “Is that so.”
Jessica tried to shut off some of her autonomic responses and look more confident. “Zoe and Neil are going to be husband and wife, and it has always been our policy to have married women talk it over with their husbands.”
“She has the right to leave and talk to Neil.”
“Yes, but we’re going to convert her immediately if she says yes.”
“Zoe’s a big girl, she has the right to make her own decisions.” Elaine began to turn away.
“Yes, but if she does it’s going to hurt Neil. He really doesn’t want her to do this, Mom. He doesn’t believe that we’re the same women after becoming synthetic.”
Elaine stopped turning and took a step toward her daughter. “So now you’re on Neil’s side?”
“It’s not about sides, I just think we should be convincing Neil, not Zoe.”
“If he doesn’t understand now, nothing we say is going to convince him. We’re going to have to demonstrate to him all the benefits of our lifestyle.”
This wasn’t going as Jessica hoped. “So it’s all about proving something to Neil?”
“Watch your tone. And it’s about making my children happy. Neil is not going to go through the sorts of things your father went through. He’s going to have a perfect wife, just like he deserves and just like I can provide. If you’re still having doubts, your old body is waiting for you downstairs.”
Jessica had never heard her Mom talk to her like this. She had never invoked Jessica’s organic body in an argument. There was nothing more to be said. Jessica turned to leave the room and set up the demonstrations.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Dyson called after her, “after you finish, I think you should go home for the day.”
Jessica knew what that meant. Her mother didn’t trust her to not make an attempt to convince Zoe to remain organic. It was a blow to the gut, and Jessica left walking more like the drab teen she had been than the beautiful synthetic woman she was.
Elaine turned back and watched VX9348’s new pelvic module slide into place, causing a small orgasm sequence in the android. She felt guilty about sending Jessica away, and even implying that her daughter should become organic again. But this was important, and Jessica would realize that.

Zoe and Gretchen were impressed by the opulence of the Institute just from the lobby. It was Greek-inspired, while still looking modern. Zoe noticed that the staff and a good portion of the clientele were very attractive. The spa gear and the staff uniforms weren’t the most flattering garments in the world, but they couldn’t hide everything. The people-watching was distracting enough that they were nearly to the reception desk before Zoe noticed the name ‘Dyson’ in 18-inch-high block letters on the wall.
“Hey, I think this is the spa that Neil’s mom owns.”
Gretchen responded first. “I was just about to ask you about that. Hell, if she owns a place like this your boyfriend is sitting on a fortune in inheritance.”
Zoe tried to ignore Gretchen’s predictable response and point the question toward Christine, “Didn’t I tell you my boyfriend’s last name and that his mom owned a spa?”
She shrugged, “If you did, I guess I never made the connection. Usually we just call it ‘the spa’ and don’t use the proper name.” That was a bald-faced lie, but Christine hoped it would hold up until Zoe could meet Dr. Dyson.
“You didn’t make the connection with the big letters above the entrance?”
Christine shrugged again, “What can I say? A spa trip is a spa trip. But maybe we can go see the lady in charge, if she is Neil’s mom.”
Zoe did want to meet her future mother-in-law. Now was as good a time as any.
Dana broke in before any more questions could be asked. “OK, Zoe here’s your guest pass. Gretchen, here’s yours. Let’s go meet Dr. Dyson first, before we get all steamed and massaged.”
Zoe supposed that Dana had overheard the earlier conversation. She guessed going there first made some sense, even if she would have preferred some more time to prepare herself. Gretchen, as much as she enjoyed Zoe, was a little disappointed she’d be spending part of her spa time being part of the scenery for a future-family get-together.
The ladies flashed their badges in front of a reader at the door and entered the back rooms of the institute. The two organic ladies didn’t know this was not an area the normal clients of the Institute got to see. Most of the rooms had no windows, and an alert could keep the halls clear of overt android evidence. Still, Dana led them on the long way through the back to avoid some of the more vocal testing areas.
This did lead them past a window into the gym area of the Institute. Zoe saw six women playing a highly spirited game of basketball. Three were in black sports bras, the others were in green. But the main feature was just how good and how fast they were. They must be a local college or semi-pro team. The side on defense was matching the moves of the offensive players at whatever speed they went. And in appreciating the talent on display, she noticed something weird just below their bras. They were far away, but it wasn’t clothing, she thought maybe it was a tattoo. That would be in keeping with the team theory.
Christine saw Zoe stop and saw the open panels on the girls playing basketball. She nearly yelped before hurrying Zoe and Gretchen farther along their route. That was a little too close.
The four of them got to Dr. Dyson’s door without further incident. Although Dana and Christine could pick up on the moans seeping into the hallway, they were confident the organics hadn’t caught on. Zoe patted down her hair and checked her outfit one more time before she entered the office.
Elaine was sitting at her desk wearing a smart business outfit, leaving her lab coat on a peg to the left of her desk. Zoe’s first thought was how Jessica’s hotness was more explicable, and second thought was that the family resemblance to Neil wasn’t all that strong.
Elaine smiled and stood up from her chair, “Zoe It’s so nice to finally meet you in person.” Before Zoe knew it, she was in a hug with Dr. Dyson.
Zoe returned the hug, not as fervently as Elaine, but returned nonetheless. She was the one that nudged the doctor away. “It’s nice to meet you too, Dr. Dyson.”
“Please, Call me Elaine... or Mom.” The doctor flashed a big row of white teeth at Zoe.
“OK... Elaine. I’m just trying to figure out how you knew it was me.”
Dana and Christine, who were standing back a bit beside Gretchen, tensed up at the question. Dr. Dyson quickly picked between possible fake explanations.
“I have to admit, I played a little bit of a game with you. Since Neil was so reluctant to bring us together, I enlisted Dana and Christine’s help in bringing you here to meet me. Sorry for the obfuscation. I was just so excited to meet my future daughter-in-law.”
Any holes in the explanation were filled in by Zoe’s lingering irritation at Neil not bringing her to meet his family sooner. Zoe nodded and sighed in agreement and Elaine led them to the sitting area of her expansive office. The two of them made idle chit-chat and Zoe talked about herself a little bit.
Gretchen was still off to the side and getting a little impatient. She leaned over to Dana, “Do we need to be here for this?”
Dana whispered back, “just wait, you’ll definitely want to be around for what’s coming up.”
“What do you mean?”
Dana hushed her and redirected Gretchen’s focus to the conversation Dr. Dyson was involved in.
A little later, after being asked about her ‘career change’ to spa owner, Dr. Dyson took a pause, stood up, and begun her pitch.
“It’s not easy for women in the modern world. Between career and family and self-esteem there are so many directions you’re being pushed and pulled. I’m a highly capable woman, with a wonderful husband, and I couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t advancing in my career. I wasn’t spending time with my kids. My marriage was at its breaking point. And I hadn’t taken any time just for me in years.”
Neither Gretchen nor Zoe knew where Dr. Dyson was going with this, but Dana and Christine were listening with rapt attention.
“Then one day I and some colleagues came upon an idea. It was the solution to our common problem and we knew it would change the world. I threw myself into the idea. I neglected those other parts of my life because I knew this project was the only way I’d ever be able to devote the proper amount of time to them. I didn’t see Neil and Jessica, their father kicked me out. But Neil probably told you about that from his perspective.
“But it worked. All my sacrifice came to fruition and I’m able to improve the lives of modern women all over the world. I got back my marriage and my kids. I have a successful career. And I still have ample time for myself.”
Elaine began to undo her top enough to expose the area just below her breasts. Gretchen and Zoe were speechless at this development and what happened next didn’t jar them from that state. With a faint whirring sound, Dr. Dyson opened up one of her panels. Gretchen heard the same sound from either side of her and saw that Dana and Christine had similarly revealed open panels in their respective torsos. Small diodes flashed, albeit a little faster in the younger androids. Each of the organic women saw cable ports and multi-colored wires. And they saw that the space wasn’t cosmetic, it went deep into a dark cavity within each android’s chest.
“I developed not only female android bodies, but the technology to transfer someone’s consciousness into that body. For the past five years, I have been an android. In my entire life I have never felt so absolutely fulfilled. And I think Dana and Christine would agree.”
Zoe’s head whipped around and saw her two coworkers with similarly open panels. It then hit her that the girls in the gym had the same looking dark spot below their bras. If this was a trick, it was terribly elaborate.
“I’ve been an android for three months, but it’s been the best three months of my life. I’m less stressed, my job is easier, I unplug in the morning ready to go, and all my senses are more vivid than before. I just can’t imagine going back to the way I was before.” Dana gushed first and then Christine followed with a similar testimonial.
“You remember how we looked during and after our party night, right? That’s because Ava and Katie are androids too. We swapped out for well made-up head units and even after that late night, all it took was five hours connected to our service unit to emerge the next morning fresh as a daisy. No fatigue, no puffy eyes, no sore feet, no hangover, absolutely perfect. All we had to do the next morning was swap in our normal head module and change clothes.” Gretchen had to sit down. She and Zoe just sat there in silence for a moment. Gretchen spoke first, “Does it hurt? The transfer, I mean.”
Dr. Dyson smiled, “Not at all, it’s like going to sleep. Here, I want to show you something. Unit VX9348 is having some routine maintenance performed.”
The five of them went through a door in Dr. Dyson’s office to a private observation room. Zoe’s eyes went wide and Gretchen brought a hand to her mouth when they saw a blonde woman with the barn doors of her chest cavity opened wide, legs detached, and a technician rooting around inside her. It took a few beats, but they realized that the blonde was their boss, Camilla. It took another few beats before they realized she was alternating between moaning and grinning broadly.
Dr. Dyson explained, “Almost all synthetic women relish their new nature, the nature which has brought them so much happiness and well-being. Maintenance is the purest expression of this, and thus highly pleasurable.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say, “How many of you are there?”
“I can’t tell you the exact number, that’s private, but we have institute branches on four continents and thirteen countries now.”
Zoe was wondering more about Stanley Enterprises, considering she had been working with at least five android women and didn’t know about it. She could respect the need for privacy, though.
“How quickly can this happen?” Zoe turned to see Gretchen almost hyperventilating. “I want it. I want to be an android. I want to feel like that and how Dana and Christine described it. I don’t want to feel like I’m being ripped apart every day.”
Zoe was surprised but could plainly see Gretchen’s excitement at the idea. Dr. Dyson put an arm around Zoe’s friend, “Wonderful, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Dana, Christine, show Gretchen to lab six and call in a scanning tech. Zoe, follow me, I want to show you something.”
Zoe brain was zooming with all the implications of what was happening. Her coworkers were robots. Another of her friends was about to become a robot. Her mother-in-law and probably her sister-in-law were robots too. And she had the opportunity to become a robot.
“Does Neil know?”
Dr. Dyson could guess what Zoe meant. “Yes, he’s known for quite some time. Both about me and his sister and about the scope of the operation. Actually, he used to help me test newly assembled androids.” Elaine omitted the sexual nature of these tests.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He was afraid of your response, or he valued our secrecy. You’ll have to ask him.” Dr. Dyson wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth, so a sin of omission would have to suffice.
Zoe still couldn’t wrap her head around everything. She was barely paying attention to the world around her when she realized the two of them had entered a room. It was obviously some sort of laboratory, as the walls were littered with computers and various mechanical parts.
But in the center of the room, a woman stood in a wedding dress. At least that’s what Zoe first thought it was. She quickly realized the dress was only a bodice, and the ‘woman’ ended at the waist. She was hooked up to a metal stand of some sort. She was holding a bouquet in immaculately manicured hands, her breasts bulged slightly over the neckline of the dress, and her face was covered by a few veils. Dr. Dyson walked over and with a smile, lifted the veils to reveal to Zoe her own face, eyes closed and with a serene expression on her face. The hair was darker and more lustrous than her own. The little imperfections in her skin were washed away. Her lips puckered alluringly even in their restive state.
Zoe’s jaw had already dropped when the android opened its eyes, perfect matches for Zoe’s own. The half-robot straightened itself and smiled with a row of pearly white teeth before speaking in a hauntingly accurate rendition of Zoe’s voice.
“Hello, Zoe... if you choose to follow this course through to its conclusion, I will be part of the new you. I will be you. I have been fully tested and am ready to deliver unrivaled performance under all conditions... part of a perfect system of hardware and software designed and constructed for your pleasure, for your enjoyment, and Neil’s. Join us, Zoe... become the new you. Become a machine... become a perfect android woman.”
Zoe locked eyes with her double and time stood still for a bit. This had to be some strange nightmare. Too much booze, too much sugar, or maybe a radon leak. Dr. Dyson stepped behind the demonstration model, which still had a contented smile on its face.
“I love my son dearly, Zoe. And from what I can tell, you love him too. As an organic woman, I couldn’t be the type of wife my husband deserved. And I want to make sure Neil can have the type of wife he deserves. I rarely say this but Zoe, please, please become an android. If you don’t like it, your organic body is kept in storage and it’s easy to transfer back. You’re going to be part of my family, please become part of my larger family too. It’s ultimately your decision and yours alone, but I hope I’ve done an adequate job of making my case.”
Zoe heard it, but couldn’t move her eyes away from her doppelganger. It looked so... blissful. And of course, beautiful in a way Zoe had never been able to achieve on her own. Dana and Christine seemed to love it. And her best work friend looked like she would tear down walls to have it done.
“OK, I’ll do it.”
Dr. Dyson couldn’t help herself; she went over to Zoe and gave her a great big hug again. “I’m so happy for you. Go ahead and sit on the couch. We can get the transfer started immediately.”
Zoe’s heart leapt into her throat. “That soon? But the body isn’t even ready.”
“Oh, all the rest is just stock parts. Plus there’s a scanning period before any information is downloaded onto your hard drive. The couch is over there, and I’d be honored to perform the procedure myself.”
Zoe nervously made her way over there and lay down. Just because she was willing to do this, didn’t mean she wasn’t a little scared at the prospect. Elaine on the other hand was practically skipping around the lab gathering the necessary components.
“Ok, I’m going to give you a little sedative and when you wake up, you’ll be one of us. Don’t be surprised if you see a head’s up display and status messages.” Elaine was still grinning even as she placed electrodes on Zoe’s temples. Zoe was happy that she had eaten a light breakfast. She tried to get comfortable and calm her breathing, but it was tough. Without saying anything further, Elaine took Zoe’s arm, found a vein and dosed her with a full syringe of the sedative. Quickly, Zoe felt herself drifting away into la la land. Her last thought before passing out was, “Maybe I should have talked to Neil...”

==Part 8==
Unit UX1729 came online and ran through the list of status messages that composed her initial activation diagnostic. She was receiving tactile data from all her extremities and limbs. Positive feedback was coming from all her articulation controllers. Her battery was fully charged. Simulated pulse and respiration functions were active. Her processing core was running at its optimal temperature and speed. She could taste with her synthetic tongue and pick up on the faint sounds and odors in the room. Finally, her vision initialized, pixilated for only a moment before becoming crystal clear.
She could see Units UX1002, VX9319 and VX9422 standing in front of her. She checked her accelerometer and confirmed she was activated in an upright position. Tactile input and an analysis of the eye movement of the other androids indicated she was nude. And in a little corner of her display, she could see that her personal files were loading.
Suddenly, the androids in front of her were Dr. Dyson, Dana, and Christine. The information displayed in her vision was a new thing. Receiving and understanding information in binary was new as well. Then she realized that being nude wasn’t normal either. Zoe’s hands zipped in front of her privates and she felt her skin flush, aware of the commands being executed that made it so.
The three other android women chuckled at her modesty. Dr. Dyson spoke, “I suppose this is a good time to test your personal interface. Focus on the top of your display and bring up your ‘comfort with nudity’ setting, then adjust it up until you feel better.”
Zoe followed the direction without thinking much of the implications. A series of menus flashed across her vision until they stopped on the sliding bar Elaine had mentioned. Zoe moved it with a thought. It was a strange thing. There wasn’t any fuzzy feeling or lights flashing, she just felt silly covering herself up before three other women that she knew.
Zoe lifted her hands away and closed the window in her vision. She took a step forward, stuck her arms out and did a spin. “So, how do I look? Any I-beams sticking out of my back?”
The other androids laughed at that, and Zoe smiled along with them. She wiggled around, stretching out and testing her range of movement. It wasn’t a scheduled task, but it felt good to do. She was a little more flexible than before, but nothing beyond belief. Dana motioned her over to a far wall and Zoe got a look at her new self in the mirror.
It was a striking change. She didn’t look like a whole new person, but she looked so much sexier than before. It took her a moment to develop an analogy in her head, but it was like the image in the mirror had been airbrushed for a magazine. And it looked like she had spent a little more time doing crunches than she really had. She made a few more poses in the mirror, checking out her body in addition to her face. The face moved like her old one and looked like the one on the model. Then she realized that it was the one on the model.
Finally, it was time for the main event. She stood straight and opened up her paplexus panel. Her hand hovered over the exposed mechanics, this physical proof of her synthetic nature. She broke out into a wide smile as she willed that panel closed and opened the one below her sternum. Finally, she let her chest split open, and she gently pulled apart the doors. She looked at all the different tubes and boxes and was greeted by helpful pop-up messages, telling her what each component was as her focus darted around her chest cavity.
She was so immersed she didn’t see Christine come over and rest her chin on Zoe’s shoulder. She reached over and began to tweak one of the nipples on the open barn door. Zoe was momentarily taken aback both by the intense sensation and by the fact that it was happening at a right angle and several inches forward of where it should be happening.
“Mmm, please, Christine, stop.” Being naked in front of Christine was one thing; going to second base with her was something different. Even if it felt damn good.
“Why? Doesn’t it feel great?”
“Yeah, but I’m not really comfortable with you touching me like that.”
Christine giggled and stopped, instead pressing one of the chest doors back into place. “I forgot that you don’t come out of the box with all the features enabled.”
Zoe pushed the other side into place and watched everything seal up again, “What are you talking about?”
“Go to your Sexual preferences menu, there are all sorts of goodies there, including enabling some wonderful sapphic software.”
With barely a thought, the submenu for sexual preferences opened into her field of vision. She scrolled through the list, a little embarrassed that she hadn’t even heard of some of the things toward the bottom. But she left that stuff for later and went back toward the top where the sexual orientation toggle lay. Upon opening it, she found it was two toggles, independent determinations of attraction to women and attraction to men. The male toggle was about halfway to maximum, the female a little above the minimum. Zoe decided they should both go up. She amped up her attraction to men almost all the way, and moved her attraction to women three-quarters of the way to the right.
She could see Christine as she moved the slider and it was an amazing experience. The other android steadily went from intellectually attractive to emotionally attractive in Zoe’s eyes. She knew Christine was attractive, but now she was attracted to Christine’s sparkling eyes and cute little nose.
“Oh wow, that’s something.” Zoe half-muttered to the ether.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Christine took the initiative and began kissing her coworker. And Zoe made no attempt to push her away. It surprised Zoe a little bit, that she was enjoying playing tonsil hockey with another girl this much. And she cooed into the other android’s mouth when Christine began caressing Zoe’s bared buttocks.
Dana and Elaine had been standing to the side, taking vicarious pleasure in the new unit’s explorations. They silently agreed that Zoe made for a very sexy android, even though Elaine made a point of diving into her own code to limit the sexual arousal she felt toward her future daughter-in-law. But now it was obvious that Christine and Zoe would be fine alone.
“Come on Dana, let’s go see how Gretchen’s transfer is progressing. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, girls.”
The smooching ladies didn’t acknowledge the good doctor as she left the room with Dana. Zoe was busy trying to work her hands into Christine’s clothes. Eventually, Christine had to stop the festivities.
Zoe looked up at the other unit, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you’ve been programmed excellently. But there’s something special I have planned for us.”
Zoe felt a warm feeling of satisfaction at the positive affirmation about her performance. “And what exactly did you have planned?”
Christine began pulling the two of them toward the door, “It has to do with what we were talking about during our night out, come on.”
Zoe followed until she got close to the door and hallway beyond. “Umm, shouldn’t I cover up?” She was ok with being nude, she wasn’t comfortable with exposing herself to everyone. As she thought about it, Zoe appreciated the fine details possible in her programming.
Christine found a lab smock by the door and threw it to Zoe. You could guess there was nothing underneath, but it covered all the naughty bits with cloth to spare. Thusly, Zoe was able to happily accompany Christine down the hallways.
Zoe zoned out a bit to take it all in. The balancing data from her legs. The temperature of the hallway. The sounds from the testing rooms amplified by software in her head. She really was a machine, from the tips of her toes (stress levels during locomotion within optimal parameters) to the top of her head (scalp tactile sensors reading no defects).
Christine pulled Zoe into their destination room with girlish glee. There was a small, indoor pool there, with no units around. Zoe noticed how her body automatically did a seal check on all her panels and connection points of her skin. Even a small leak could be a problem.
Zoe still wasn’t sure what made Christine so excited, until they got closer to the pool, and she realized there were units there. Three women, probably all brunette – it was hard to tell with the water’s refraction – were underwater and tangled together. Zoe had an urge to save them, before realizing they were fine down there.
Christine reached around to unbutton the lab coat. “You were embarrassed about not having sex anywhere interesting, I thought this might be a good way to fix that. Go ahead and halt your autonomic function simulations and seal all your tracheal openings.”
Zoe let the coat fall to her ankles and began following Christine’s instructions. Her fake heartbeat stopped. Her fake breathing slowed to nothing. Even the urge to blink weakened. A status message told her that her throat was sealed off. Zoe turned around and found that Christine had stripped down and was standing there posing with a ‘come hither’ look on her face. As excited as Zoe got before, the sight of Christine’s perfect android body set her pussy aflame. Fortunately there was a pool of water nearby to douse it.
Wordlessly, Christine took a big step to her left and jumped into the pool. She sank with barely a splash and did not surface. Zoe took the hint and followed her in. The pool was just deep enough that she could stand on the bottom and still be completely submerged. Once inside, it was easier to see. Zoe briefly looked at the other girls twisted into a three-fembot pretzel before coming back to Christine. Her blonde hair lightly flowed around her head and her breasts hung even higher on her chest. With the light only coming from above, she looked like an android angel. If an android angel had a swollen and aroused pussy, of course.
The two of them glided through the water and made contact. Zoe swore she could sense every little bit of water gliding across her skin. She was amazed at how her breasts felt against Christine's and how her lips tasted when tinged with chlorine. Even in her aroused state, Zoe noted how different it was, kissing without breathing. The flexing of their cheeks pushed some water between them, but otherwise it was all about the contact.
Christine broke it off and moved her hand from around Zoe to one side of her. She used the leverage to do a bit of a cartwheel that put her feet above the water line. Zoe quickly interpreted the maneuver and assisted in bringing the other android into position with their mouths before each others' pussies. Christine started first, but Zoe had to stop and admire how juicy the blonde's pussy looked now. She briefly realized that the attraction was programmed, but once she felt the tongue in her own snatch, the reticence and awe evaporated and she plunged in.
Zoe was splitting her resources between interpreting Christine's expert cunnilingus, running an expert licking program of her own, and trying to keep the pair of them from toppling over. There wasn't much more room left to think. Sex had never seemed so simple, even though it was accomplished by 214 separate software subroutines. Zoe just sat back and enjoyed it. And in sitting back, she gently glided her and Christine to the floor of the pool, with Zoe on top. That freed up enough room for her to think about some things.
God, Neil isn't even half this good. She felt a little guilty about thinking it, but it was true. She realized that she – and by extension Christine – wasn't using any maneuvers that required blowing or sucking. The software had automatically omitted those actions from the programs she was running.
While that was a feature to be appreciated, Zoe realized a rise in her arousal and drop in her available computing resources. She had only a moment to realize what was going on before Christine had caused Zoe's first artificial orgasm. Her legs shook and her chest heaved. It felt like her brain was going to explode through the top of her head. Zoe had no idea where she was, she was simply awash with the pleasure.
She came down in time to sense her partner grinning into her crotch. And that only provoked Zoe to go doubly hard at Christine. Like a seasoned lesbian, Zoe brought Christine to an equally satisfying release.
And that's how they spent the next two hours. They exchanged orgasms sequences like the pleasure was something tangible, like a tennis ball, to be volleyed between them. They heard, but didn't acknowledge, the departure of their poolmates. There was serious cuntlicking to be done.
Finally, Christine extracted herself and swam up to the surface. Zoe watched that lovely form swim to the wall before getting up herself. She was so focused on watching Christine's nude body leave the pool that she was out of the water as well when she realized there were other people there.
She immediately recognized Dr. Dyson, who was now clad in nothing but bikini bottoms, but couldn't place the naked woman beside her. Zoe felt the urge to smack herself in the forehead when she realized the new girl was Gretchen. But she looked so different now, like she had been through half a dozen expensive cosmetic enhancement surgeries. But more than that, it was as though all the stress she had been under was whisked away.
Gretchen was beaming and looked like she might explode. Instead, she leaped forward and hugged Zoe.
“Ohmigawd Ohmigawd I'm a robot now ” Gretchen proudly stepped back and opened up a panel for Zoe to see. Zoe's newfound affection for women's bodies was only enhanced by evidence that it was a woman's android body. She reached for the panel before realizing she had wet hands and shouldn't go near exposed circuitry. Instead, she moved toward Gretchen's, now bare, pussy.
Gretchen stepped back when she realized where Zoe was going, after all, this was her best – and straight and engaged – friend. Zoe realized the problem almost immediately and gave her friend a comforting smile.
“It's ok, being with another android woman is just astounding. Go to your sexual preferences menu. Then you can enable some outstanding sapphic software.”
Like Zoe just hours before, Gretchen gave little thought to opening up the proper menu and sliding her sexual attraction bars closer to the max. When her focus left the heads-up display, she was treated to the arousing sight of Zoe's perfect, nude, and shiny wet body. Gretchen leaped again, but this time she went in for an aggressive kiss.
She had learned that Zoe was the link that allowed her the opportunity to receive this body, and that appreciation, combined with the pre-existing fondness, exploded into lust. Zoe had to step back to prevent the two of them from tumbling into the pool, but she managed. Gretchen wanted to kiss Zoe forever, but also needed to say something.
“Thank you so much, I haven't felt so alive in years.”
Zoe smiled, and that turned into a grin when she looked down at the perky, enlarged breasts on Gretchen's chest.
“What do you say I dry off and then you spend an hour or two thanking me with that new software you activated.”
Gretchen's grin nearly swallowed her own head, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Elaine had been happy to see the girlfriends become lezbot lovers like so many other pairs of friends that came to the institute. But something else nagged at her as Zoe led Gretchen away. Zoe hadn't been so aggressive, and didn't like women, and suddenly she was encouraging her friend to activate her lesbian urges. She could remember seeing it before, but it had always seemed a lot more beautiful than it did just then. The feeling was enough that she went towards her office, rather than the room Zoe and Gretchen were headed toward.

Dana and Christine entered Dr. Dyson’s office but didn’t say anything right away. Elaine was hooked to the computer, sorting through the day’s e-mail. Christine nudged Dana in the ribs and got her to speak first.
“Dr. Dyson, VX9422 and I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Elaine looked up and stared the two of them down. She slowed her mail checking to half-speed.
“We were wondering, since Zoe is synthetic now, if we might ask you a favor.”
Christine jumped in, “We hear that you are going to be testing the UX2000 models soon, and we were wondering if we could act as test subjects.”
Dr. Dyson narrowed her eyes and stopped her other tasks. “You want a reward for your work, is that it?”
The two standing androids mumbled something in the affirmative.
Elaine stood up and reached for the papers in her inbox. “I want to tell you about some of your sister units and what they’ve done.
“Unit UX1453, her husband ‘donated’ six million dollars to Dyson last year alone.
“Unit RX9260, did over 600 hours of pro bono legal work for us this year.
“Unit UX1066, her husband is building three new Dyson spas, including our first in Latin America. And let me tell you, that takes as much political as monetary capital to achieve.”
Christine and Dana got the hint, but didn’t dare interrupt Dr. Dyson at this point.
“Unit VX7275, Master’s degree in English, works with at-risk high school girls across the state.
“Unit VX2077, lives on-site and works at the spa when she’s not teaching mentally handicapped elementary school students.”
The two androids wanted to shrivel up and deactivate.
“The only thing I ask of you is to help me help Neil at work, and now to help Zoe. I’m not running the institute as a business, but don’t pretend everyone pulls the same weight around here.”
Christine and Dana nodded furiously. Dana spoke, “We’re sorry. We didn’t think, we were just excited about the idea of being better androids.”
Elaine sighed. She already felt bad about blowing up like that. “It’s ok, I shouldn’t have jumped all over you. I’ll give you each an extra number in the lottery we use to pick some of the test units. How’s that.”
The two of them would have been happy to get out of there with all their parts intact. “Yes, that’s great,” They both said, “Thank you.” And they both quickly turned and sped out of the room.
Elaine slumped over and returned to her seat. She half-heartedly reactivated her computer link and read the rest of her e-mails.

==Part 9==
Zoe sat in the living room of her apartment, enjoying the stillness. She had decided to start shutting different things down, if only to experiment, and gotten pretty far. She wasn’t breathing. She had no pulse. She wasn’t making any tiny movements to keep her balance. She stared straight ahead without blinking. Her olfactory, tactile, and gustatory senses were shut off entirely. She expected Neil home soon, so she didn’t shut off her hearing and vision, although she briefly shut off one or the other while in the chair.
And for a few fleeting moments, she thought this was what the chair felt like. If the chair could think, when the room was empty it would be like she was now. After all, she was now just as manufactured as the chair. She was another piece of furniture, albeit a gorgeous one, if she did say so herself.
And the furniture was especially gorgeous in the black corset and stockings number that the institute had picked out for her. She had never worn anything like it before, but she enjoyed it now. Wearing a corset turns out to be pretty easy when your breathing is just cosmetic.
But all in all, it was a bit disorienting to be so ‘shut off’ and Zoe decided to end the experiment. And Neil chose that moment to put his key into the lock. Zoe panicked for a moment, trying to switch everything on at once, manually activating things on top of the normal boot sequence. It produced the sensation of pennies in her mouth and burnt toast in her nose. When Neil walked in, Zoe’s breathing hadn’t reinitialized yet, nor had her heartbeat. Her hands and legs weren’t responding to voluntary muscle commands either.
No matter, Neil walked in and saw his future wife in sexy lingerie with a huge but slightly nervous smile on her face. He smiled back at her, unaware of what she was really nervous about.
“My my, you look absolutely incredible.”
Zoe sent resources to get her legs working, “I thought you might enjoy a special little treat, wrapped up with a bow.” Her legs worked well enough to part themselves and show Neil the little pink bow on the panties of the outfit.
Neil put down his briefcase, shucked his coat, and leaned down to kiss Zoe. She was able to adjust herself for the kiss, and moved system resources from working on her legs to working on her hands. She made sure her arms slid around Neil first, and only placed her hands on his back when motor control was re-established.
She immediately got to the problem of her breathing while Neil’s mouth was intertwined with hers. Zoe consciously inflated and deflated her air bladder until it came online. The second run of the automatic restart process simultaneously gathered the resources to restart her ‘heart’.
Neil lifted away and began unbuttoning his shirt and pants. “You feel a bit clammy, are you coming down with something?”
Zoe let her automatic systems finish getting her back to full functionality while she quickly came up with an excuse, “I had an ice cream sandwich five minutes ago.” Zoe knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but Neil was busy undoing his pants and translated that into, ‘No, I’m not sick.’
Just as Neil went back to Zoe's lips, her systems finished reinitializing. Now that she was fully functional, she could wrap three limbs around her man and enjoy the data being produced. She had data on the pressure he was putting on her lips and on her breast. There was data on the amount of saliva she was excreting and the amount of air being moved by her lungs. And it all felt so good.
For his part, Neil was happy Zoe was so into it. Her hands (and legs) were all over him. He essentially carried her toward the bedroom. But at the doorway, Zoe was alerted to the existence and appropriateness of seduction protocol 37. It sounded like a good idea and Zoe hopped off. She pushed Neil toward the bed but remained in the doorway. A flick of her mind's eye on her head's up display initiated the protocol.
Zoe's hands roamed over her body, lingering longest on the exposed skin at the top of her breasts and between the stockings and panties she wore. She kicked her shoes off toward Neil and slowly unclasped her garters. She smiled toward Neil and reached back to undo her corset. Her internal systems extrapolated where the hooks would be and told her hands where to go.
Once loose she held it up against her chest before slowly letting it fall. Topless, she cupped her breasts and moaned softly. It was meant to turn Neil on more than it was meant to reflect what she was feeling, although she felt very good. She gyrated to some unheard rhythm and moved down to her undies. Pointing her butt toward her target, she slowly wiggled out of them. She looked over her shoulder and winked before turning around in all her full frontal glory.
Two pieces were left. Zoe leaned against the door frame and lifted up her left leg. She slowly rolled off her stocking a flung it onto Neil's lap. She followed suit with the right stocking and struck a nude pose.
“So honey, are you ready for a good time?”

[[Image:Uxzoe01.jpg|350px]]

Neil's mouth was open just a little bit. Zoe had never done anything like that before. She had done little teases before, but nothing as complete as that. Neil just nodded at Zoe's question and hopped out of his own underwear.
Zoe's internals evaluated her performance with an effectiveness score of 7 and a quarter. Her software was already planning on what seduction protocol it would suggest next time to achieve a higher level of effectiveness. Zoe knew it was going on, but she was more interested in Neil's dick saluting her.
She ignored the suggestion to take it more slowly, or start with some manual or oral pleasure. Instead she increased the moisture flow to her vagina and lightly pushed Neil backward. While he scooted backward on the bed, she straddled him, placing herself above his stiff member. She wanted to feel Neil inside her. Her systems said everything was green. However, Zoe decided on a little tease. She lowered herself so that her labial folds just barely brushed the tip of Neil's dick before moving a little forward, still just barely keeping in contact.
“How much do you love me right now?” Zoe grinned down at him
“A whole lot.” Any poetic impulses Neil had were sapped by the blood rushing to his crotch. If the prelude was any indication, he should have hydrated better this afternoon.
Zoe half-giggled at the response, but decided to give him a break. She moaned softly as she slowly lowered herself. There was actually a stunningly accurate 3D representation of Neil's dick in her vision. She could see what parts were receiving the most and least amount of pressure, but most importantly she could feel it. She focused on how warm and thick it felt inside her. Even better than it normally did. Zoe gradually began to bob up and down, and it only felt better.
As she bobbed, she devoted as many system resources as she could to interpreting and enjoying the sensations from her pussy, but still found she had RAM to spare. She looked at certain pre-programmed muscle flex sequences for later on. And she watched Neil go downright cross-eyed at her work.
It felt even better than what Gretchen and Christine were able to do, and they were well-programmed synthetic women. She looked at the tactile data and, objectively, it wasn't as intense as what was elicited by the other UX units. It didn't matter though, Neil was just what she needed. It was more than the tactile input. Zoe felt complete when Neil was fucking her, and he was finally beginning to move his hips and join in the action, rather than lay there stupefied. He wasn't just filling a hole in her chassis, he was -as corny as it sounded- filling up a hole in her soul.
A quick click of her pleasure response readout gave the answer. She had a special program installed that provided extra pleasure when engaged in sex with your significant other. Neil's name was inserted into the proper parts of her version. Zoe rightly assumed it was something Elaine had done during her construction and programming. No matter, program or not, she felt great and loved Neil.
Neil was happy to enjoy the ride for the moment. The sex had never been bad, and Zoe had never been repressed, exactly, but he thought she seemed more into than usual. It was hard to think and analyze things when she was squeezing on his junk and bouncing like she was, but Neil had to do something to delay his orgasm. It was as though she wasn't worried about pleasing him. Not in the sense of not caring, but in the sense of being totally confident about it. The results spoke for themselves, in her higher and higher pitched cries of joy.
She looked radioactively hot, grinning and moaning and massaging her breasts. Neil thought she looked close to going over the edge, and he did his little extra bit of targeted thrusting to get her over the hump.
“mmmmm eh eh eh Eh EH ooooooooohh oo oo” Zoe felt herself execute orgasm sequence 001. But even that great feeling was only enough to temporarily slow her down, not stop her.
But it did stop Neil. Neil knew that sequence of five rising grunts, a long release and two shorter releases. He remembered it from all the times he had tested out new robot women and they executed the first orgasm sequence in their library. He tried to keep going, tried to chalk it up to paranoia after the 'Zoebot' thing the other night. But she was much randier and looked much more beautiful.
He pushed upward and to the side, indicating they should switch places. The flip happened quickly and Neil resumed pounding into his future wife. She was humming with delight at the new position, and brought her legs up. Neil looked over at what was moving and got a glimpse of Zoe's ankle.
And there was no little unicorn tattoo there. No indication that it was being covered or had been removed, either.
Neil started getting a sick feeling, even though he kept going at Zoe's pussy, now more from inertia than desire. There was one way to be sure, assuming it still worked.
“Emergency panel override code Griffin Jolly Vixen thirty-eight four zero Gamma.” Dr. Dyson had programmed in an override code that would circumvent any problem with the android's conscious mind and allow access to her internals. It wasn't used much, but it was a safety precaution.
Zoe looked at Neil, not quite sure she had heard him right. The nature of the code didn't alert her to the fact that her paplexus panel was opening. Neil saw the blinking lights inside his fiancee and lost all concentration. He slumped and squirted a line of jism into Zoe. The new feeling of his seed inside her was new and exciting for Zoe and she threw her head back, enjoying the feeling.
She noticed Neil wasn't moving anymore and when she looked up, he had this hollow expression on his face. She couldn't figure out what was going on, until she noticed a status light indicating her paplexus panel was open. She looked down to visually check what her systems were telling her, and just above her soaked pussy was an array of lights and input ports.
“I'm sorry Neil, I was going to tell you later on tonight, make it a surprise. A few of the girls from work brought me to your mom this morning and I decided to go ahead with it. And it feels fantastic, honey. I don't know why you were so nervous about telling me. I’ve never felt so completely... complete. Especially when I’m with you.”
Neil's lip began quivering as he extracted his softening dick and turned away from Zoe. He reached down, grabbed his underwear, and began sliding them on.
“Sweetie? What's wrong? I thought you'd like this, I mean you seemed to like it when I was stripping off the lingerie and wrapped around you earlier.” Zoe meant it in the spirit of a ribald little joke, but Neil didn't find it all that funny.
“You don't love me anymore.” Neil was trying to figure out which pair of pants was closest to his current position. He couldn't even look at her.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zoe hopped up onto her knees and tried to reach for his shoulder before he got off the bed. “I love you with all my heart. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.”
But Neil was already standing, “What you have is a ten megabyte program that gives you extra pleasure when screwing me or otherwise interacting with me. Changing the name takes 30 seconds. Deleting it entirely takes 20.”
He still had his back to her. He knew looking at Zoe, or the robot that thought it was her, would make him go crazy. Zoe couldn't comprehend what he was saying well enough to be angry. She got off the bed entirely and walked over to him.
“It's still the same me, and I still love you. That didn't change just because I'm in a different body. I mean, your mom and sister still love you, right?” Zoe tried to give Neil as hug as he hiked up his pants. The attempt made him turn around, and he looked at her. And it might have been the comment about his family, but Neil did something even he didn't expect.
He slapped Zoe hard enough that she had to take a step to balance herself.
Neil stood there shaking before Zoe. “That's not going to bruise, and I doubt it even hurt. And you're not even going to care about it tomorrow. It's all different, Zoe.” He was starting to cry as he quickly tried to justify his violent outburst. “I’m going to get a drink.” He buttoned his shirt on the way to the front door and slipped on the sandals that were next to it. He let the door softly swing shut behind him as he left.
Zoe sat down on the bed, trying to process things. Neil was right, she had only felt a sting as his slap landed and all that was left was a status message saying the motor control in her lower lip was out of alignment and needed adjustment. But mostly she was startled that he wasn't happy that she was a synthetic woman. That much had been a certainty, right? She replayed in her head the memories of her conversation with Dr. Dyson. So maybe there had been a little more ambiguity than she initially expected.
More importantly, she didn't feel so bad. Her soulmate had just rejected her, hit her, and stormed out. So why wasn't she curled up on the floor sobbing? She didn't feel good about it, or even ok with it, but it should be crushing her.
Zoe spent a long time processing everything.

==Part 10==
Neil heaved a small load of vomit into a bush in front of his apartment building. The larger expulsion of his stomach contents had happened outside the bar. It was small consolation, but all his larger problems were overtaken by the immediate task of navigating the flight of stairs. He took it slowly and stumbled to his door and into the apartment.
Neil was in no shape for an argument, but he couldn't see Zoe anyway. He tried to think of where she might be, but only lasted a few moments before focusing on getting to the bedroom. Neil got one shoe off before collapsing onto the bed and almost immediately passing out.
If he dreamed, Neil couldn't remember them as he felt a hand shake his shoulder and rouse him from sleep. He grumbled and tried to open his eyes, but squinted at the sunlight coming through the open window. He turned over and saw Zoe sitting there on the side of the bed.
The love of his life was forcing a smile as she put her hand on Neil's other shoulder. He was bleary-eyed, but Neil could tell she had been crying. She was wearing a simple blouse, some jeans and no makeup. She moved her lips, trying to form an apology.
Neil grunted and turned back over, squinting until his eyes adjusted completely to the brightness.
Zoe lost what little smile she had and reached for the pharmacy bag next to the bed.
“I went back to the institute after you left. I'm back in my real body again.” Zoe paused and gathered herself. “I am so so so sorry. I really thought you'd like me to be an android. If I thought it was going to hurt you, I never would have done it.”
Neil flipped back over, “Why didn't you ask me?” His voice was raised a little bit. “You had your consciousness shoved into a fuck doll and it never occurred to you that maybe you should discuss it with your fiancée?” Neil didn't feel comfortable having a conversation like this so soon after getting up, but it was unavoidable.
Zoe paused for a moment. She probably could have thrown Dr. Dyson under the bus and blamed her for everything, but thought better of it. Zoe was the one who had made the choice and she wasn’t going to shift the blame. “I don't know. I guess I thought I could just go back if I didn't like it. Or if you didn't like it.”
Neil squinted at her. It was rare for a synthetic woman to go back to being organic without a pressing reason. And given how much Zoe had relished being synthetic, he wasn't sure she was part of that rare cohort. “But did you really go back?”
Zoe was hoping Neil would take her at her word on the subject. Elaine hadn't been so optimistic and had come up with a simple way to remove any doubt. Zoe took a shrink-wrapped box from the pharmacy bag. It was a blood glucose meter, what diabetics use. But in this case, it was being used to take advantage of a facet of android construction.
Dyson units had blood, but it was largely cosmetic. The muscles were electrically powered, so no nutrients needed to be carried. There was no need for white blood cells. But it did give the synthetic skin the right color and small accidents with sharp objects would look appropriate (UX units even clotted properly).
Most important for Zoe's purposes was the lack of glucose in android blood. And Neil knew about this property as well. So when Zoe opened everything up and began fiddling with the meter and test strips, Neil knew what the point was. They didn't exchange any words when Zoe pricked herself, put some blood on the strip, and waited for a result.
She checked it herself before showing the large readout to Neil. 84 mg/100ml. It was a little below normal, but Zoe hadn't eaten breakfast. And it wasn't zero.
Neil sat up and hugged his fiancée. Then he winced as the change in orientation caused his hangover to hit him. Zoe enjoyed the embrace as much as she could before surrendering to the knowledge that Neil was tensing up and probably had a splitting headache from drinking last night.
She reached into the pharmacy bag again, “Here you go, hon. I got you some water to rehydrate you, some aspirin and a slice of pumpkin bread.”
He tried not to move his throbbing head too much as he took a few swigs from the water bottle to wash down the aspirin and broke off a piece of the sweet bread. Zoe had her hand on his knee, watching him eat. He looked like hell, but at least he wasn't running away from her.
“Finish up, there's someone waiting in the living room.”
Neil shoved in, chewed, and swallowed the last big piece of his breakfast before answering. “Is it my mom? I'm not really interested in seeing her right about now.”
Zoe frowned just a little, “Come on, they really want to speak to you.”
“So it's more than just my mother?” Neil took another swig of the water.
There was a long sigh from Zoe as she pulled the covers off Neil, “It'll do you good, really.”
Neil grumbled as he got up. Partly from the hangover and partly from having to talk more about this with his mother and whoever else. Still, it was very nice to see his future wife human again. Even though their biological bodies were kept in storage, few synthetic women switched back unless there was a very pressing reason. It was affirming to know he qualified as such a reason.
He gingerly followed Zoe out of the bedroom, only leaning on her once, and very lightly. There were two women waiting for him on the couch with some chairs set up across from it. He was almost sitting when he realized who they were.
It was his mother and sister in their organic bodies.
He hadn't seen Jessica in an organic body for three years, and he doubted she had been off the institute grounds in anything but her sexy android chassis in that time. The years on a minimalist diet in a stasis tank had caused her to thin down noticeably from when she was in high school. Her hair was brown and cut short; The trim must have been recent after going years without a haircut. Her nose wasn't as cute and her lips weren't as full, although that may have been a result of the displeased look on her face. The face looked more mature, like it might be expected to look had she aged normally the past few years. The acne was gone, but a few large pores were leftover. The weight loss had also affected her breasts, which barely registered beneath the T-shirt she was wearing. Jessica was fidgeting and looked immensely uncomfortable back in her own skin.
And frankly, Elaine did too, although she was hiding it better. Neil hadn't seen her organic body in a very long time. The last was probably when his father kicked her out. Lord knows how long she had actually spent without being in an organic body, but judging by the similar quick haircut, it was at least as long as Jessica's rest period.
She looked her age, although she wasn't as wrinkled or sun damaged as she might have been. The lack of makeup didn't help. Her hair was mostly gray with a little bit of red left, and thinning like Grandma's did. But mostly he had forgotten just how much his mother looked like a stork with her small eyes, big nose, and very thin frame. The tank was designed to keep her muscles from atrophying, but she was beginning to look frail. She rubbed her hands, working out some aches.
Elaine smiled at her son, and he felt like a tiny little pile of shit. He had his mom and sister back. They had come back for him. And they looked so miserable for their troubles. He wanted to work himself into a righteous anger, but he just couldn’t gather up the urge, seeing them like that. There was an awkward silence as Zoe and Neil took their seats across from Jessica and Elaine.
Dr. Dyson began, “Neil, I want to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you or try to take Zoe away from you. I love being an android, and I love seeing other women love being androids.” she left out the part about loving to love other androids. “Sometimes it can blind me to other viewpoints. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, both for you and for Zoe. But I shouldn't have gone about it the way I did.
“And I thought you'd want to hear it from this body, rather than my normal one. I'm not programmed to love being an android. And I'm not programmed to love you. I really do love you, Neil.” Elaine found herself crying a little. It was slightly unsettling when she couldn't pull up the parameters of the program in her vision.
Neil was welling up a little bit too, especially when Zoe squeezed his hand. And even though it was obvious to him, Jessica and Elaine each spent a moment doing the little glucose test and proved they were indeed organic.
Elaine continued, “And I think I need to apologize for how I went about developing androids. I told myself it was for my family’s benefit, ultimately. But I can see how you might think I value being an android more than I value you. And that’s simply not true. You’re my little baby boy and I love you more than anything.”
“I'm sorry that I haven't been better about this, Mom. But you just get so wrapped up in your own shit, it’s like this little bubble that nothing can break into. And I get freaked by what you’re capable of in that cocoon,” Neil said. “And I don’t entirely mean what you’re technologically capable of doing. It’s unsettling to see you flip desires and emotions on and off like a switch.”
“I dunno, you seem to change gears pretty quickly even without a central processor.” Jessica piped up after staying quiet. Zoe got tense, Neil got deflated, and Elaine shot daggers out of her eyes at her daughter. “Yeah, Mom fucked up, but you're my brother whether I’m hot or like this and you’re still fucking backwards about synthetic women.”
“Maybe,” Neil mumbled.
“I don't think so,” Zoe interjected. “There is something different about being synthetic and programmed. And maybe I'd get used to it, but I think it's reasonable to enjoy being a little out of control of yourself. Keeps things interesting for everyone.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, even though she could see Zoe's point. In a moment of inward reflection, she wondered if the attitude was something going on in her fleshy brain beyond being uncomfortable looking like a geek again.
But it didn’t stop her from mouthing off. “You were a robot for like 12 hours. What do you know?”
“Jessica! You will mind your manners right now or so help me...” Elaine couldn’t come up with an adequate credible threat and had to settle for staring down her daughter, who began slouching in the chair.
“How about this, I'll keep your android body on standby, Zoe, and if you want to go back, you can just ask. And same goes for switching back to your organic body.” Elaine proposed the compromise she had developed on the car ride over. “And maybe I can spend a little more social time with organics that aren’t imminent clients.”
Neil didn't feel too bad, knowing that he'd be getting some organic responses from his wife. And Zoe didn't feel bad at all about being in that bliss-inducing body now and then. Getting his mom out of that bubble was simply a bonus. Yes, there was a lot more to discuss, but Neil felt like he was getting through to his mom for the first time in a long time.
As for Jessica, “Now that it's settled, can I get back into my real body again?”

==Part 11==
Roger nearly knocked over one of the hotel's potted plants with his empty luggage cart. He swung around to catch it before it fell, and immediately went back to ogling the group of women who just walked into the long lobby. There must have been a dozen of them, a few older than the rest, but all smoking hot and making no effort to hide the fact. They were chatting as they walked, oblivious to the bellhop with the fern.
But a chesty redhead, younger than the rest, saw him and gave Roger a wink. His heart stopped as she broke from the pack and stepped toward him.
“Can you be a sweetie and help us with our bags?”
Roger hadn't noticed she was carrying a lumpy duffel bag. He hadn't noticed the two trunks and other assorted bags the other ladies in the group were carrying. It was his job, but seeing so many finely sculpted curves at once turned his brain into jelly. It didn't help when the redhead's attention brought the rest of the group's attention toward him. Now all the women were strutting toward him with big smiles on their faces.
“Uh, um, yeah, you can put it on the cart here.”
The women casually dropped their bags and trunks on the cart and gave him a cacophony of sweet-sounding 'thank you's. Roger happily followed behind them as they went to the elevators. They looked almost as good from the back.
There were enough of them that they needed separate elevators. Roger went with the first group and wound up next to the redhead. It was tight quarters, but the girl was much tighter against him than she needed to be. Roger stood ramrod straight, looking forward, as she moved her breast along his arm. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that they were going to the 24th floor.
“My name's Jessica, what's yours?”
“Uh, Roger, ma'am.”
She giggled delightfully, Roger thought. “Do I look like a ma'am to you?”
“N.no. Just force of habit.” He felt her hand on the opposite side of his body.
“It's nice that the hotel provides such handsome bellhops to carry our luggage.”
Now Roger knew something was up. No way a girl that hot calls a guy like him 'handsome'. Even if he suspected she was toying with him, it was still achingly sexy.
She ran a smooth leg against his pants, “do you do room service too? I think the old ladies are going to put an end to the bachelorette party way too early for me.”
At least Roger knew what brought the group here, but he was interrupted before he could respond by the older redhead at the front of the elevator.
“Who are you calling an old lady? And stop teasing the employees. You promised Neil you wouldn't go around acting like a slut so often.”
Roger missed the warmth of Jessica's body soon after she extracted herself. “Sorry Mom, I was just getting into the party mood.”
Well that threw Roger for a loop. She was doing all that in front of her mother? OK, technically behind her, but still within earshot. Roger was still contemplating the other connotations of the new information when the elevator doors opened and everyone filed out. The mother had casually called her daughter a slut. And who was Neil? By now they were at the room and the mother had opened the door for Roger.
“Put everything by that table except the red trunk. In fact, let me and Wendy take it. There's fragile stuff in there.”
The mother and one of the other girls took the trunk and set it in the center of the room. As Roger unloaded the rest, he noticed the room was very spartan for a bachelorette party. No food. No booze. No stereo. Maybe the stuff was in the bags, but nothing sounded like bottles of liquor. Roger finished and subtly waited for his tip.
Jessica eyed him and whispered into her mother's ear. Mom sighed and nodded, which pleased Jessica. She had a big smile on her face as she walked toward Roger.
“Here's your tip,” and before Roger could say anything, he was being kissed and had a tongue seeking entrance into his mouth. He gladly obliged and took the opportunity to grasp the nice buttocks available to him. She was an awesome kisser, and her tits felt great pressed up against him. But all too quickly, it was over.
Jessica winked at him before turning away, “keep the change.”
Roger couldn't do much except grab his cart and exit the room, being careful to avoid hitting the rest of the women that were just now reaching the party. Three years in this crummy job, but at least now he had a story to tell that didn't involve cleaning up puke.
Camilla was the last one in and she locked the door behind her. The other women were already taking off their clothes and picking out toys from the duffel bags. Katie and Dana were on the bed making out, choosing a more personal way to get aroused.
Almost a year as an android and it still made her weak-kneed to see a roomful of robot women. She shimmied out of her party dress and opened her paplexus panel purely for kicks. The one person who wasn't getting naked was Dr. Dyson herself, who was fiddling with the big trunk.
“Need some help?”
“I think I've got it.” Elaine undid the last lock and opened up the top to reveal two feminine legs and beneath them the body of unit UX1729, a.k.a. Zoe Baker (for another week at least). She was naked except for a butterfly vibrator against her clit. Elaine pulled out the legs and Camilla realized Zoe's eyes were open and following the action. Then the legless girl reached her arms up to get her future mother-in-law's help out of the trunk. Turns out Dr. Dyson did need help with that, and Camilla was happy to oblige.
They laid Zoe down and Elaine went back in to get a series of electronic devices from the bottom of the trunk. Camilla looked at the partially disassembled woman, the various electronic peripherals for her, and her own open interface. The boss and her employee locked eyes. Camilla noticed that happy, dreamy look that UX1729 had consistently worn for the last few weeks as the wedding approached. Camilla had to make sure her arousal level and lubrication rate weren't in the red zone.
“Hey boss, do you think I can park in the handicapped spot on Monday?”
Camilla and Elaine both laughed. The doctor had opened up all of Zoe's panels and a few of the other girls had come over to get a look inside. None of them had seen the gadgets Dr. Dyson was hooking up to UX1729, although they had been told what they would do. Elaine had also pried loose part of the barn doors, so the wires could snake out once the breasts were back in place.
And oh, were there wires. And network cards. And what looked like hard drives. By the time Elaine called everyone over to form a circle around the top half of Zoe, it looked like some computer engineer's weekend hobby project on the floor of the hotel. It looked a little better once Zoe's barn doors were closed and some of the cables were tied together, but still nothing like the elegant packaging of most Dyson electronics.
“OK ladies, open your sexual interface ports and take a cable.” She handed out a cord to everyone. One end was already plugged into the stuff on the ground, the other end snapped home above each robot woman's exquisitely designed privates. Dr. Dyson continued, “search for a synchronization code that matches your unit designation. Open your simultaneous sensory experience programs and set them to output only. When Zoe is ready, you'll get a greenlight status message.”
Each unit did as they were told, and the results were plain on Zoe's face and in her voice. One by one, Zoe accepted the sensations of arousal from each woman in the room. She felt the flow of the climate control on everyone's naked skin. And if it weren't for the jury-rigged sensory input buffers and septupled memory cache Dr. Dyson had set up, UX1729 would have had a severe system failure. And this was only the beginning.
Jessica, Dr. Dyson, and Wendy Klein were the first to start, since they were UX2000 series units now and had the fastest systems. The light went green and each of them stuck a dildo or vibrator inside their synthetic pussies. The sensation traveled to each unit's sensory processor, down the cable to the external sensory buffers on the hub they were all connected to. Then the electric signal traveled through the cache to Zoe's external input module. From there, it traveled to Zoe's central processing core, where Zoe felt three dildos fucking three distinct vaginas. If she abandoned concentration, it felt like her pussy had three times as many sweet spots and was being attended to by overlapping sextoys.
She smiled broadly at the pleasure as Gretchen and Zoe's college friend Terri began transmitting and the three phalli turned into five. Camilla, Ava, Christine, and Dana were next online, and Katie was the last one to start teasing herself for Zoe's benefit. By the time everyone was sending data, Zoe was on her third digital orgasm, and the first derived from someone else's software. Zoe and Jessica squealed identically when it happened.
Her hardware was seriously overclocked, but Zoe was able to enjoy the small differences between her climax and Jessica's, soon followed by the differences between her orgasm and Dr. Dyson's. But mostly she was reveling in the Lesbian orgy that existed in her head. Ten pussies being pounded at different rates and she felt them all. And she felt it when two of the pussies stopped being penetrated and started being licked.
Katie and Ava had tossed their toys aside for some personal interaction. Upon seeing it, and upon achieving a climax of her own, Wendy moved to Jessica's groin, taking away the toy in Jessica's snatch. She replaced the toy with her tongue and moved the dildo to Jessica's pleasurably enhanced anus. The redhead giggled and wished Wendy had chosen a position that provided her access to the blonde's nether regions.
Camilla wasn't about to deprive herself of the excellent vibrations happening in her own pussy, but she was next to Dr. Dyson and couldn't pass up a chance to scoot over enough to latch onto Elaine's nipple. Gretchen had a similar idea but went for the good doctor's clit, leaving her own ass up in the air. And with that juicy ass hanging there, Terri couldn't resist getting some contact with another robot woman.
Zoe was starting to feel simultaneous orgasms now as the party attendees really got down to business. It was no longer possible to tell where the pleasure was coming from, it was only possible to let it wash over her brain. But a little message came on in her heads up display that told her sensory input was now beginning to be stored in the external cache before being transmitted to her.
For another two hours, the synthetic ladies poked, licked, and all-out fucked one another. Jessica and Elaine avoided screwing, of course, but just about every other combination happened on the hotel room floor. And throughout the night, no one touched Zoe. Terri made eyes to start kissing the bride, but Elaine managed to gently kick her away. Anything that activated Zoe's primary sexual input would probably result in a massive software failure. And Neil had been promised there would be no physical sexual acts performed on his wife.
Finally, Dr. Dyson wiggled out from between Wendy and Katie and unhooked herself from the hub. She had gotten a message that the massive sensory cache was 95% full. No one else was hooked in to receive the message, but they followed the good doctor's lead. Still, it took a good ten minutes for everyone to stop licking and finish one last orgasm before disengaging their link to the blushing (and screaming with erotic joy) bride.
But it wasn't the end of Zoe's night. The system was still sending information to her central processor. She had barely noticed how the action had slowed down to prevent an overflow, but it had. Zoe was 45 minutes behind everyone else, and she was going to receive every kilobyte of data.
No one bothered getting dressed, but Jessica got some bottles of replacement fluids from one of the duffel bags and began to pass them out. They watched with aroused bemusement as Zoe continued to writhe on the floor. She was still the center of attention, although there were some quiet conversations among some of the girls complimenting one another on a particularly good set of moves during the orgy.
Finally, the cache emptied and Zoe lay there trying to catch breath she didn't really need. Gretchen had fetched her legs and attached them so Zoe could stand up. Jessica undid all the wires and the bride got up. Everyone received a big thank-you hug for their participation, although they were, to a robot woman, more than happy to be of service.
“Oh. My. God. You cannot believe what that's like. I was made of pussy. Dear Lord. Wow.” Zoe continued to stutter and ramble about the experience, which drew some laughs from the other partygoers.
“Seriously, you've all got to try this.”
Elaine walked over to the hub and began hooking herself up in the receiver position. “I intend to right now. Jessica, start preparing the system for another go and get everyone hooked back in.”
There was a cheer from the crowd and everyone got ready for another round.

The church was filled with violin music and the low drone of light conversation. Neil waited nervously at the front for the ceremony to begin in earnest. He peeked another look at his mom, and wished she had chosen something with a higher neckline. It wasn't lewd, but she was still the mother of the groom for pete's sake. He couldn't see his dad, who was in the back with Zoe, preparing to give her away.
The violins picked up and a trumpet joined them. Everyone shut up and turned around to see Jessica walk down the aisle with one of Neil's buddies from work. Neil sighed again that Jessica had imposed her will and gotten Zoe to agree to silver bridesmaid dresses. Although it was the first dress he had seen his sister wear in a long time that showed less than 4 inches of cleavage. He also reflected on how tough it was to convince his buddies not to try to sleep with his sister, and his sister not to sleep with his buddies. Even in the middle of a wedding, his friend was trying to sneak a peek down Jessica's dress.
The two of them were followed by Gretchen, Dana, and Terri (a.k.a Unit UX1945), each accompanied by a friend of Neil's. All the women were positively glowing and looking sexier than they had a right to be in a bridesmaid dress. The pairs split as they reached the altar, with the men taking places behind Neil. The music stopped for a moment, and Neil's heart started beating faster. Then the band began to play 'Here comes the bride'.
Zoe was just as nervous, and second guessing the 'mutual' decision for her to get married in her organic body. Sure, being in a stasis tank on a liquid diet for a few weeks had helped her trim down for her dress, but she still had to breathe in the damn corset, unlike an android. And she had to balance in these shoes with this long dress without a gyroscope. And she had to be compared to synthetic women designed to be sexy.
But when the music started playing and she caught a glimpse of Neil up there, a lot of her irritation melted away. The corset still sucked. She felt a little floaty as she went down the aisle with her father-in-law. She couldn't stop herself from smiling beneath her veil as she stood in front of the altar with Neil, and he couldn't stop smiling at her. And at that moment, Zoe was glad she could feel her heart.

==Bonus materials==
Jessica was going to show off an ability to mimic voices. Originally Julie Andrews’ singing. Wasn’t sure if I could or should use it later in the story for different purposes, and it didn’t fit anywhere

Originally, Zoe was going to talk to Neil about becoming an android, and he was going to flip out to the point that Zoe would go ahead with it to spite him. But the motivation for Neil flipping out at the mention of her becoming synthetic wasn’t there. Also, it would have screwed up the pacing. And getting them back together was dicey. Story-wise it makes Zoe’s choice more understandable and puts less of the blame on Elaine for what happens, but that wasn’t enough, so I went with what you see in the story.

There’s a ‘deleted scene’, something I strongly considered putting in, would fit in the narrative, but never actually put to paper. It involves Neil going to a bar to get drunk. He happens to run into Gretchen (I’m not happy with her use in the story, and feel she needed more to do). He picks up on her android nature, she tries to figure out how he knew. They wind up talking and Neil discusses when his sister was in high school, soon after becoming synthetic, she went on a two-week cruise with a man triple her age. When they got back, she talked about how much fun she had and the man gave the institute a large donation. Jessica was proud of herself and Elaine was proud of Jessica. Jessica also used that ‘significant other’ program on the trip that Zoe used with Neil. As badly as the Dyson Institute comes off in the story already, this was going too far. Although it makes Neil’s position more understandable, judging by the comments no one really questioned his position anyway. So that didn't even happen off-camera.

There was going to be a bit where Neil discusses his mother’s attempts to get him in an android body, first a female chassis then one modified to look male, but was still very effeminate. Doesn’t fit anywhere, is kinda weird, as far as I’m concerned it didn’t happen.

Neil was also going to be irate at the fact that his mother placed so many androids in and around Stanley enterprises for his benefit. He’d feel the need to quit that job and get a new one. Ultimately it was just a pimple on the story, branching out and immediately coming back, so I popped it in the writing process.

Originally, instead of slapping Zoe, Neil hits her hard enough to knock her to the ground. This was another one of those ‘too far’ instances, so I toned down the violence.

I don’t know if anyone was thinking this, but if Zoe had told Elaine ‘no’, Dr. Dyson wouldn’t have turned her into an android. If I was rewriting this story, I’d make this point much more clear. The problem is that I can’t say Dr. Dyson would never forcibly convert someone, only that she wouldn’t do it under these circumstances. Talking it over with Korby, she’d probably forcibly convert someone to save the institute.

Elaine was going to offer to give Neil the ability to restrict the personality and program changes Zoe could make to herself. But he would’ve refused anyway, I don’t think Dr. Dyson is that thick, and it didn’t fit in anywhere.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how sympathetic a guy who didn’t want his wife to be a robot would be on this board. Turns out that I missed where the fulcrum was, so Neil looks much better than his mother does, rather than being somewhat balanced.

20/20 hindsight, I should have developed Zoe’s backstory and lack of family structure more. I suppose I was worried about length (says the guy being pilloried for making the end of his story too short).

If the Stanley girls seemed similar to the point of being Borg-like, it’s not intentional, I’m just not that good a writer. I should have included a token employee that refused to join in the coercion, but stopped short of outright blabbing.

After all the crap I got for making Dr. Dyson too dark as it is, did you really think I’d end it with everyone dead and/or estranged? I’d be hunted down :p
------
And by popular demand, some of what happened between parts nine and ten.

Zoe got out of the Taxi and paid the fare with her mad money. She quickly walked into the institute and hurried down the lobby. It was about 11 o’clock, so most of the lights were off. But there was still a girl at the desk both to watch over things and to handle situations like these.
“Can I help you,” Carly checked to see if her face was in the Unit database, then which unit she was, “Zoe?”
“I need to see Dr. Dyson.” Zoe kept getting status messages, asking her if she wanted to decrease this response or that. But she had kept indicating ‘no’, and as a result, she looked as depressed and nervous as any android Carly had ever seen.
“Are you malfunctioning?” Carly figured this was the case and looked up the location of the nearest staffed and available maintenance bay.
Zoe shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. I mean, maybe, but I still need to see Dr. Dyson, I’m her daughter-in-law.” That wasn’t true yet, but was close enough.
Carly took a second look at Zoe’s file. Brand new, one sign of a possible malfunction. But sure enough, Neil’s name was there under ‘significant other’. That actually made her a little sad. “Oh, I see that now. She’s not here, she’s at her condo. Do you want directions?”
“No, I think I need to see her here.”
“So should I call her?”
“If you would, please.”
Carly was getting worried about Zoe’s emotional state. “Sure thing, do you know the way to Dr. Dyson’s office? Maybe you should wait there.”
Zoe nodded and Carly opened the door for her. Zoe started taking the long way around, retracing her initial steps toward becoming an android. It looked different now, and not just because of the dimmed lighting.
Carly picked up the phone and gave her boss a call, “Dr. Dyson? It’s Carly. Zoe Baker is here and she wants to talk with you... She says it’s not a malfunction... She doesn’t look right, she looks sad.”

Elaine pulled up to the institute about 20 minutes later. She left the car in the front drive and jogged into the lobby, Carly activated the door for her so she wouldn’t need to slow down. Dr. Dyson took the short route and opened her office door to find Zoe sitting on the couch staring into the middle distance.
“Zoe? What’s wrong?” Elaine took a seat near her future daughter-in-law.
Zoe looked up and Dr. Dyson’s eyes looked exactly like Neil’s when he was worried about her. Finally she was able to squeeze out a few tears. “Neil left. He found out I had become an android on his own and he got angry and he slapped me and he stormed out.” Zoe could have stopped herself from sharply intaking breath as she spoke and cried but didn’t. If there was a way to turn off the helpful little pop-ups, she wasn’t focused enough to find it.
Elaine went over and gave Zoe a hug. She was at a temporary loss for words. She didn’t think Neil would be that violent or that willing to walk out on someone just because they were synthetic. Angry? She could see that, but the rest...
“Don’t worry, honey everything is going to be alright.”
“No it’s not. Neil is gone and I don’t even feel that bad.” She was crying, but even that seemed facile to Zoe, in no small part because she was getting messages about the flow rate through her tear ducts. “Why don’t I feel worse? I should have been screaming at him to stay. I should have run out after him. I should have been too messed up to call a taxi. I should be in a little ball on the floor, and it just feels like I’m watching the end of Iron Giant.”
Elaine didn’t know how to respond, she had never gotten this complaint before. Androids were generally happy with their lives, but even when one of the units suffered a loss, they had never said it didn’t feel right.
She almost said that maybe Zoe didn’t love Neil as much as she thought she did. No, that was cruel. Maybe Zoe didn’t really know how she would react to Neil leaving, but that was condescending.
While Elaine was pondering, Zoe had stopped crying and stated plainly, “I wish I had never become a robot.”
That was the first time Elaine Dyson had heard that. At least, the first time she heard it and knew the person meant it. And all that doubt that had been in the back of her mind today coalesced into a tight ball of guilt in the pit of her stomach. Elaine endured it for a few seconds before tweaking one of her settings to ease the magnitude.
“I’m sorry Zoe. This is my fault. I should have known Neil would react poorly to seeing you as an android. I should have told him before doing your conversion. I should have brought the opportunity to both of you.”
Zoe felt another cry coming on, but suppressed it the old-fashioned way. “No, I got all swept up with things and didn’t give him a chance.”
“That was partly my fault, too.”
Zoe wiped her eyes, “I want to go back to my real body. Maybe if I do that, Neil will forgive me. He’ll believe it’s really me. Please?”
Elaine nodded, “absolutely, I’ll call the folks downstairs. They probably haven’t even put your organic body in a tank yet.” Elaine left Zoe to go to her desk. There was a pink jelly dildo in her chair, and Elaine had to laugh at the happy little sex toy sitting there in the midst of all the crying. She placed the call and quickly got the process of converting Zoe back started.
Elaine looked over at Zoe and had another idea, “You know what, I’m going to call Neil’s sister and we’re going to go over there with you.”
-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Petey]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Built]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

Dyson Family Values

2015-06-27T18:12:37Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Part 2 */

__NOTOC__
<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Dyson Family Values==
Written by [[User:Petey|Petey]]

===Part 1===
Neil quickly walked down the long, well-appointed lobby of the Dyson Institute. Most guys might have lingered to enjoy the view of the beautiful female patrons and the even more beautiful staff members. But this was hardly his first time here.
The staff gave him warm smiles and long gazes unbefitting a pudgy young man. The women would’ve been less excited to see Brad Pitt stroll by. Neil tried to ignore the stares and shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his Jeans. The attention creeped him out every time.
He reached the reception desk and the girl practically jumped out of her chair with glee.

“Neil Oh my God It’s great to see you I’ll tell Dr. Dyson you’re here right away.”

Neil nodded and thanked the girl before tugging nervously at the front of his polo shirt. He should have worn a tie. She giggled and picked up the phone. It was a different girl than the last time, but then again it normally was. It was a good job to give girls who were having problems with their legs, he figured. He half expected to lean over and see the girl attached to the chair just below the navel.

“Dr. Dyson is in the middle of a post-treatment consultation, if you could wait five minutes before heading back there, it’ll give her time to finish.”

Neil knew enough to see through the euphemism. He checked the clock; he was 10 minutes early. He guessed she was trying to squeeze in another robotic romp before seeing him. He didn’t do a good job of hiding his distaste.

The girl at the desk was unfazed. “If there’s anything I can do for you while you wait, don’t hesitate to ask, Neil. My name is Carly.” She grinned at him with her chest forward and left no doubt as to how broad her definition of ‘anything’ was.

Neil rolled his eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

Even if she was a machine, he considered it cheating on his girlfriend to sample the wares. And he didn’t care whether the receptionist was an AI or not, although by the syntax and contractions, he figured the girl used to be real.
He corrected himself the way Dr. Dyson would, ‘used to be organic’.
There were a few other women near the reception desk waiting, and Neil took the chair the furthest away from them. Even so, he noticed one of the women whispering to her friend while they both looked at him. The woman being whispered to rose her eyes in surprise upon hearing who Neil was. He gave them a wave and turned away. Bad idea, Carly was sneaking peeks at him. He grumbled and began staring at the ceiling. At least there weren’t any robotic women up there staring at him.

About five minutes later Carly called him over, “She’s ready to see you now.”

Neil got up, straightened his shirt, and walked through the solid doors to the left of the reception desk. The area beyond the desk didn’t look much different than the lobby, but it sounded different. Despite the soundproofing efforts, Neil could still hear the soft moans of robotic women, the whirr of new components being tested, and the occasional squeal of rapture. Thankfully, he didn’t have to go far.
But the trip wasn’t short enough to avoid ramming into a woman zipping around a corner. Neither of them fell over, but Neil got a handful of naked boob as he braced himself for impact. The woman looked to be in her mid thirties, blonde with brown eyes. Instinctively, Neil looked down and saw her large breasts and toned, lightly tanned body with another tuft of blonde hair just above her pussy.

“I’m sorry, sir. I should’ve looked where I was going. Is this the way to the lubricant flushing station?”

Neil paused to untangle himself, bring his gaze to her face, and try to remember what’s in this area. “I think so. Last time I checked, it was up this hallway to the right. There should be a sign on the door.”

She smiled and thanked him, completely at ease with her own nudity. “You’re the first man I’ve seen back here. I thought Dr. Dyson only hired women.”

“As far as I know, that’s true. But I’m not on staff.”

“I didn’t know they let husbands back here.”

“They usually don’t, but I’m not a robot’s husband.”

The nude blonde pressed on, intrigued by the sudden puzzle. “I haven’t heard of any male chassis, are you going to transfer into a female body?”

Neil had his fill of her, “Nope, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see Dr. Dyson.”

The blonde got a big smile on her face with a hundred-yard stare and absently ran a hand against her left thigh. Neil realized that there weren’t any other doors behind her except the door he was headed toward. The blonde must have been the reason for the delay. Yet another reason to cut off this conversation.

But she had recovered and placed a hand on his arm, “OK, I give up, tell me your story.”

Neil sighed, “If you’re going to live as a robotic woman, you’re going to need to learn to keep secrets and respect secrets being kept.” He knew the real answer would lead to a longer conversation.

The blonde smiled even wider at being called a robotic woman and moved her hand to her paplexus panel. Neil took the opportunity to get around her. She turned to watch him leave, “I’ll see you around, then. Give my regards to Dr. Dyson ”

Neil gave a half-hearted wave and entered the office without knocking.

And there was his mother, sitting behind her desk in nothing but blue lingerie beneath an unbuttoned lab coat. Dr. Elaine Dyson lifted her head and smiled broadly before putting down her pen and buttoning up. “Neil I’m so glad you were able to stop by. Come on over here and give mommy a hug.”

Neil reacted the way you’d figure a 23-year-old would react to his mother wanting a hug and a kiss: with a large degree of highly visible discomfort. But still, he returned the hug and didn’t freak out when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Hi Mom, everything going well?”

Dr. Dyson led them over to the couch, but Neil declined to sit down. He couldn’t be sure what had been going on atop the sofa just ten minutes before, and didn’t want to be musing upon the subject. So mom got the couch and Neil got out a folding chair.

“It’s going superbly, Neil. We just had a consult with the first lady of France. That could be the one client who gets better upgrades than me. So your father and I might be spending our 25th anniversary in Paris as personal consultants to the first lady. I guess I’ll have to brush up on my French.”

Neil nodded along, as usual a little uneasy about how his mother’s synthetic women were so close to so much political and economic power. Even if it was his mother, Such control over so much authority must have been a temptation.

“But what about you? How’s my little executive?”

Neil rolled his eyes, “C’mon mom, you know I’m still in my first year at Stanley. I don’t even have a title yet.”

“Exactly, you don’t have one yet, but I’m sure you’re going to just zoom ahead. Not as fast as if you took a job here, of course.”

Neil groaned, “It’s bad enough visiting with everyone knowing I’m your son. I couldn’t handle working here every day.”

“Yes, what a trial it would be to have beautiful female androids at your beck and call all day. You know, we just converted a girl last week who would be perfect for you. She’s the sweetest young thing. Red hair, studying to be a dentist, and dimples you wouldn’t...”

Neil cut his mom short, “Please mom, stop trying to hook me up with your sloppy seconds.” It was a little cruder than he might have liked, but his mom had been trying to set him up with newly roboticized women for almost as long as newly roboticized women existed.

Dr. Dyson merely chuckled at her son’s rebuke. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t been with her yet. Although she did opt for the enhanced oral package, so she should...”

“MOM ” Neil said, a little frustrated, “I’m really not interested in talking about that sort of thing with you.”

Elaine smiled warmly, “such a proper gentleman, I don’t know where you get it from.” It wasn’t the first time Neil had heard that, and it was such a ‘through the looking glass’ thing to say, expressing bemusement that your son isn’t as promiscuous as you are.

“Probably too much television, but that does lead in to why I came here. Mom, I’m getting married.”

Dr. Dyson gasped and nearly screamed with delight at the news. While she suppressed the vocals, she couldn’t help but leap across the room and give her son a hug.
“Congratulations Oh my goodness, this is such fantastic news I can’t wait to meet her, tell me all about her. Have you decided on a date? Does she need bridesmaids? How did you two meet? Wh-wh-what does she do for a liiiiiving? How-how did you propose?” Dr. Dyson saw error messages flash across her head’s up display. The excitement had overwhelmed even her own top-of-the-line systems. She stopped talking, fluidly went back to her seat and unbuttoned the middle of her lab smock. A panel below her ribcage recessed and retracted. She then took a fingernail and manipulated a small dial inside. That decreased the simulated adrenaline response in her systems. And just as smoothly, the panel went back into its proper position and the edges faded into invisibility.

Neil watched quietly as his mother composed herself the way an android does. It hadn’t been so long since the sight of his mother without one of her panels made him cringe and turn away. Now it barely registered with him.

Dr. Dyson took a deep simulated breath, blinked rapidly and vocalized, “Response routine overridden, resuming normal operation.

“I’m Sorry, Neil. I got a little excited there. But I’m so happy for you. When do I get to meet my new daughter-in-law? You’ll have to give me lots of pictures so we can mock up her head and torso.”

Neil frowned, “No, Mom. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want you or anyone else turning her into a robot.”

Elaine looked visibly shocked, and speechless beyond that. “Neil, I... don’t know what to say. This is the perfect female existence, the ability to be optimized for her, and your, pleasure. I don’t see why you wouldn’t give her the option.”

“I’ve heard the mantra before, mom. I love her just the way she is, and I don’t want her optimized or convinced that she needs optimizing. And I need to be sure that she loves me, and she’s not just programmed to love me.” He stared her down, dead in the eye. It wasn’t a conversation he had been eager to have.

“That’s not how it works, son. You know that.”

“All the same, I’d rather not be married to someone with a brain designed by my mother. And I’d rather she not be obsessed by her own body.”

Elaine was a little hurt by that. Neil had called her a narcissist on many occasions since she revealed to her family what she had been working on and what she had become. She had thought all the reservations he developed had been ironed out. “Neil, you know I only want what’s best for you.”

Neil stood up, “No, you want what’s best for you. It’s why you ditched us and worked on turning yourself into a happy little windup toy.” If he wasn’t already so on edge, he wouldn’t have brought that up. His mom and dad had separated for two years, but hadn’t gotten a divorce. His father had welcomed Elaine back, but Neil wasn’t quite as willing to forgive the absence.

Dr. Dyson knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Neil, “OK, I’ll respect your wishes. Your father, sister, and I are still invited to the wedding, aren’t we?”

Neil calmed down a bit with his mother’s response, “Of course you are. It’s going to be in May, probably the third Saturday. Zoe wants to have it at St. John’s Cathedral downtown.”

“Ah so my daughter-in-law-to-be is named Zoe.” The smile had crept back onto Elaine’s face.

Neil smiled back a little, “Yes, I met her at work, she works in accounts payable. You’ll like her.”

“I’m sure I will.”
Dr. Dyson and her son said their goodbyes and Neil left. They both realized it was best to leave on that note rather than possibly get worked up again. Although, the modification Dr. Dyson had performed made her relatively mellow for the moment. She reached back into herself and reset her emotional responses to their base parameters.
Then she flipped through the big file, the list of every android currently in operation. Of course, it was a spreadsheet and not a stack of paper, but the motion was similar. She scanned the list at great speed before finding the woman she was looking for.

<pre>VX9348 - Camilla Taylor - Manager, Accounts Payable Department, Stanley Enterprises</pre>

Neil was on his way into the reception area when he heard a voice behind him, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps

[[Image:Uxjessd1.jpg|450px|right]]
“Neil Wait up ”

It was his sister bouncing down the hallway. And he did mean bounce; Jessica had a substantial pair of breasts beneath her gray tanktop. He tried not to notice, though. Despite the sprint, Jessica wasn’t breathing heavily. No sense in keeping up the illusion back here.

Neil smiled, “hey there, Tin Tits. How are things?”

Jessica scrunched up her face and punched her brother in the arm. “They’re good, meatbag. I can’t believe you were going to leave without saying hi to your sister. Carly had to give me a call.”

Neil shrugged, “I had to talk to Mom about something. Actually, I might as well tell you too; I’m getting married.”

Jessica squealed and jumped up and down, bright red hair flying everywhere, before punching her brother again, “you were going to leave without telling me that? You asshole.”

“Cybercunt.”

“Ugly bag of mostly water.”

Neil sighed. He had the world’s hottest trekkie as a sister. “We’re not getting married until May, and I was going to tell you Saturday.” Neil and Jessica had a standing, monthly movie date for a Saturday matinee. It was a nice brother/sister bonding ritual they had done for years. In college, Neil had driven home for the weekend, five hours each way, to keep their monthly date.

Jessica couldn’t contain her smile, “Can I be a bridesmaid? Pleeeeease let me be a bridesmaid.” She clasped her hands together in a begging pose, which only served to increase the length of her cleavage. “Maybe all her bridesmaids can be android women, and we can wear silver bridesmaid dresses and it would be soooo hot even if most of the people there won’t get it.” Jessica looked like she could bounce right out her clothes in excitement over the idea.

Neil had to remind himself that this was his sister, even if she was inorganic now, and enjoying the jiggling wasn’t right. “We’ll see. Zoe and I are on step one of this thing and that’s step twenty or so.”

“Well, congratulations, big brother.” Jessica leaned over and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. “Have you told her about android women yet? Mom would’ve told me if she was already one of us.”

Neil tried not to let his sister see how much ‘one of us’ bugged him, “No, and I want to be the one who tells her, so no hunting her down and spilling the beans, ok?” He didn’t feel like getting into a fight with Jessica over Zoe not becoming an android woman. His explanation would keep the issue up in the air until later.

Jessica gave him an ‘OK’ sign and kept smiling. Neil had to reluctantly admit she was happier this way as opposed to the overweight teenager with acne and stringy brown hair. Sometimes though, the difference was so stark he wondered if it was all Jessica inside there.
“Listen, since you already know we’re getting married, how about I bring Zoe along for our matinee of the month?”

Jessica stopped for a moment. This was usually just something the two of them did. “Sure, I’ve already got that time hollowed out in my schedule, we can make that happen.”

Neil could sense his sister’s reticence, “Are you sure it’s fine? We can always do it later, have you and mom meet her at the same time.”

“No, this will work out better. Just don’t be surprised if I show up in that silver fancy dress.” They both had a laugh at that. “I have to go supervise a stress test, so I’ll see you on Saturday, OK?”

Neil nodded at his sister as she sprinted back the other way down the hallway. He desperately tried to think of something unsexy that she could be stress testing, and similarly hoped Jessica would be on the sidelines and not at the center of the festivities. There’s nothing quite so scarring as seeing your little sister partially disassembled and participating in a test of an android anus with a big fake cock ramming into it and her screaming for more.
He smacked himself across the face to knock the image loose and exited the institute.

===Part 2===
Camilla Taylor leaned back in her chair and lazily fiddled with her open paplexus panel. She especially enjoyed playing with the cable snaking from above her pussy, up through the desk, to the back of her laptop. The text export software Dyson had given her made typing up these reports so much faster and infinitely more enjoyable. Plus it was such a turn-on to know people could see the end of the cord plugged into her laptop, without knowing the other end was connected to a synthetic woman.

It felt so naughty to be in her office with her skirt hiked up. She never would have considered being in such a state in here before that trip to the Dyson Institute. She stopped producing text in order to revel in the memory. That first glimpse inside an android woman. Seeing her face on a disembodied robotic head talking and smiling back at her. Laying down on that couch and waking up with those now-familiar status reports in her vision...

Camilla had to cut the orgasm sequence short. There were limits to what she would let herself do during working hours. She pulled her skirt back down, but left the cord plugged in. Although the keystrokes weren’t being registered, she went through the motions of typing with her hands while the actual text was being inputted at a much faster rate. Camilla finished the bulk of the day’s paperwork in short order.

With that done, she punched a few keys on the phone to call in one of her subordinates, “Dana, I’d like to see you, please.” A minute later, a tall brunette wearing a nicely made coffee-colored suit entered Camilla’s office.

Camilla smiled, “Lock the door, Dana.” Dana smiled back and complied. She confidently walked over to the desk and gave Camilla a kiss. They weren’t frequent lovers, but –working so closely together– they were very friendly. Dana was the one who ended the kiss, taking a seat on the other side of the desk.

Camilla leaned forward, “So, I heard someone is running off solid-state memory now.”

[[Image:Uxdana1.jpg|450px|right]]

Dana grinned and began opening up her blazer and blouse. “That’s where I was this weekend, getting some upgrades along with my 3000 mile oil change.” The two android women laughed softly, Dana at a bit of a higher pitch in more of a giggle. As organic women, Dana had been 24 to Camilla’s 37, although those were largely meaningless numbers to them now.

“Congratulations on your three-month anniversary, then.” Camilla said. “Mine is next week, so I wanted to get the skinny on what’s available.”
Dana pulled back the sides of her top, revealing her naked, bra-less breasts. She had elected to keep her barely-there chest in the end, feeling anything more would bring too much attention to her change and force a wardrobe overhaul. She tilted her head back and downright purred as the seam appeared down the middle of her sternum and her chest clicked open. Camilla disengaged her laptop link and went to the other side of the desk to take a peek inside.

She opened up the brunette’s chest fully and gently pushed some wires and tubes to the side. Dana said nothing, instead softly smiling at her open chest and her boss examining her perfect android nature.

Camilla spotted the new memory drive. She loved how the Dyson engineers had given it a pink casing in contrast with all the black and silver around it. Although there were no tactile sensors around it, Dana couldn’t suppress a moan as Camilla ran a finger along her new memory core. All her memories, her personality programming, and the extra programming bestowed upon her by the Dyson Institute were inside that brick.
Camilla could feel herself getting hot too around this exposed synthetic woman. She leaned in for a kiss, but paused as a message flashed in her head’s up display. Dana had puckered up, but got concerned when her boss didn’t finish coming in.

“Mrs. Taylor? Is everything alright?”

Camilla blinked and extracted herself from Dana. “Yes, I believe so. I got a page from Dr. Dyson. I need to make a call. Close yourself up and return to your desk.”

Dana folded her chest back in and watched the edges melt back together. She loved seeing that. She would’ve loved some more robo-fun with her boss, but when Dr. Dyson says jump, you jump. Besides, it’s not like she could really hold a grudge nowadays.

While Dana continued to get back into working shape, Camilla sat down and opened a triple-password protected folder that contained analyses of all employees under her supervision with estimates for conversion success. Truthfully, the page hadn’t been marked as ‘urgent’, but this was like getting a call from the President, it immediately became a priority for you. The page was also empty of specifics, but if Dr. Dyson wanted candidates for transformation, Camilla would be ready.

Dana finished buttoning her shirt, and checked her hair in a mirror on the wall. “OK, I’ll leave you to your call. Please extend my gratitude to Dr. Dyson for all her exquisite work.” She smoothed out her skirt in a fashion that let her linger on her own manufactured legs longer than necessary. Camilla nodded and shooed Dana out of the room, who made sure the door locked behind her.

Camilla picked up the phone and dialed the Dyson Institute, plus a five digit extension. “Hello, this is Unit VX9348. Security code Foxy Unicorn Tango twenty-two.” She was nervous about calling the head honcho herself, even if they had shared a long ‘testing session’ together soon after VX9348 went online. She could swear her heart was pounding, even though she could see that her simulated pulse was within normal parameters.
“Code accepted,” the voice at the other end replied, “please hold for Dr. Elaine Dyson. If this is not the party you wish to contact, please hang up and try again.” VX9348 calmly waited and listened to the phone ring. Her face was a mask of passivity.

It rang 13 times before someone answered. “Hello, this is Dr. Dyson.”

“This is unit VX9348, you sent me an alert. How can I help you?”

Dr. Dyson put the phone to her chest, but VX9348 could still hear her. “Stephanie, could you please come back later? I promise I’ll thank you properly for the cunt-licking.” VX9348 heard some rustling before Dr. Dyson began speaking directly into the receiver. “Camilla, I’m so glad you could get back to me so quickly. How are your systems functioning?”

“I’m functioning well within my design parameters.”

“Now Camilla, don’t be coy. Tell me how much you enjoy being an android woman.”

Camilla felt more like herself and at ease after Dr. Dyson’s friendly prompting.”My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve never felt so good so consistently for so long. And my productivity is up by so much. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate you giving me the chance at this perfect existence. A perfect android life. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t relay the message that Dana Moss feels the same way.”

Dr. Dyson recognized the name both from the long list of women associated with Stanley Enterprises and from the appointment book for last week. “I’m glad to hear both of you are enjoying yourselves. But that’s not why I asked you to call. I want you to arrange for someone to be introduced to the synthetic way of life. She works in your department. Her name is Zoe.”

Camilla only had one girl named Zoe working for her, but she thought it was weird for the head of the Dyson Institute to target someone specific in her department but not make the offer herself. She checked Zoe’s file to make sure, but there was another thing that made it odd. “Yes, I have her file here. Zoe Baker, age 23. To tell you the truth, Dr. Dyson, her profile indicates she’d be a poor candidate and unlikely to take advantage of the opportunity to become robotic if offered. Of all the girls on this floor, she rates as the second least-likely prospect.”

Elaine paused and thought it over. She had been hoping for better news. Still, Neil deserved a robotic wife, even if he didn’t know it yet. “It’s important for the Institute that she accept the offer. I’d like you to design an introduction scenario optimized for her. I’ll give you the number of the fabrication department here for any assistance you require.”

The other synthetic woman was rightly puzzled. The standard operating procedure for recruitment had always been to search for low-lying fruit. Production and maintenance capacity was such a limiting factor that they could run at full tilt with just those candidates. And now that she thought about it, Dr. Dyson hadn’t even given her a last name.

“Dr. Dyson, may I ask why she’s so important? She doesn’t seem to have any special talents or important familial relations. There are many other girls we’d have better chances with.”

Dr. Dyson almost said ‘no familial relations yet’ in response, but kept it to herself. “I can’t tell you why she’s important, but rest assured, she is vital to the long-term health of the Institute. If you cannot do this for me, I can find someone else at Stanley more appreciative of the gift I’ve bestowed upon them.”

VX9348 got tense again, “I will come up with a plan, ma’am. Would you like me to review it with you before implementation?”

“Yes, of course. But I’d like this to be done quickly. Please have a plan to me by Monday.” Elaine didn’t think her son had told his fiancée about the Institute’s true purpose, especially without an android female nearby as proof. She wanted to make sure her side got to make their case first. And preferably be the only case made.

VX9348 responded, “Affirmative. I will have the plan finished on time. May I enlist the help of other units in my office for assistance?”

Dr. Dyson considered this, “Yes, I think you should. I look forward to hearing your plan. Goodbye, Camilla.”

“Goodbye, Dr. Dyson.”

Each synthetic woman hung up the phone on their end. Camilla leaned back in her chair and tried to process what had just happened. Or more accurately, what had just begun. She reached for the phone again and contacted Dana.

“Dana, come here. There’s a special project I’ll need your help on. Get Ava, Katie, and Christine in here too, if they’re available.”

==Part 3==
Neil returned home to find his wife-to-be fixing them dinner. Even in sweats and an old T-shirt, seeing her made him grin like a mad man. He snuck behind her, wrapped his arms around her midsection and nuzzled her neck and the dark hair covering it.
“Wow, what did I do right to deserve a total babe who also cooks.”
Zoe put down the spoon and turned around to give Neil a kiss. After a quick one, she retorted, “It’s just hamburger helper. I’d love to see what you’d do if made a meatloaf.”
“I’d explode.” They both chuckled. “I had one helluva day. I told my mom and Jessica about the engagement.”
Zoe turned back to stir the pan of ground beef and noodles. “How’d they react to that announcement? Considering they still haven’t met me.” That was still a sore subject between them. Neil had been reluctant to expose Zoe to his... abnormal family. Zoe was an only child raised by her father and she craved being part of a traditional family unit. Too bad the Dysons were far from traditional once you got past the mom, dad, and two kids.
Neil walked to the apartment’s bedroom to take off his work clothes. “My mom was pleased; my sister is already planning the wedding ceremony. I think she’s going to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid whether we want her to or not.”
Zoe took out two place settings and laid them out on the small breakfast nook table. “That’s fine with me; I’m going to need all the help I can get.” She went back to the stove and came back to the table with a trivet and the skillet of dinner. She set it down and realized she had almost forgotten the crushed red pepper Neil loved on Italian-style dishes.
The water got poured right as Neil came back out in a T-shirt and shorts. He gave his fiancée another kiss before they sat down. “Betty Draper couldn’t have done better,” Neil said as he scooped himself some food.
“I’m hoping our marriage turns out a little better than that, sweetie.”
Neil laughed and the two of them continued to chat idly over their romantic dinner.

Camilla took her seat at the head of the table. The group had all left, and then come back well after hours so no one would notice them or disturb them inside a company meeting room. In terms of Stanley enterprises, she wasn’t the most senior employee in the room. In terms of Dyson, she wasn’t the longest-operating android woman. But Dr. Dyson had put her in charge.

[[Image:Uxc1.jpg|350px]]

There were three other android women at the table and two men who had android wives and were almost as willing as the women to help the Institute. Most of them knew who Zoe was, but only Ava had interacted with her outside of the office. It was one of the many problems Camilla faced.
“OK, let’s get this started. We’re here because Dr. Dyson would like to see Zoe Baker join us as a synthetic woman. If anyone knows why, I’d be happy to hear it, because my analysis says she’s a poor candidate, and Dr. Dyson wouldn’t explain it to me.”
The people at the table looked at each other for answers and got none. Except for Katie, who was reliving on her face a pleasant experience with the Doctor. Ignoring Katie, Camilla continued.
“So we’re going to have to go to greater lengths in order to convince her. Part of the reason she’s not a good candidate is that we don’t have much data on her. We’ve got the basic biography down, but not the really personal stuff that would make this recruitment a slam dunk. She’s not married. She seems to have a healthy body image, but not overly so. We’re getting that mostly from appearance analysis. She dresses smartly, but not expensively.
Ava chimed in, “that’s the impression I’ve gotten. She’s very comfortable with her life. She has a serious boyfriend, although there doesn’t seem to be any angst there to latch onto. My best guess is that she’s also sexually conservative, which doesn’t help us.”
“She doesn’t surf the Web at work enough to get any information,” Camilla continued, “and no personal effects except some silk flowers.”
Greg sighed, “Shit, how bland can you be? Just tell Dr. Dyson she can’t be recruited and let’s go on with our lives.”
Camilla rolled her eyes, “I’ve tried explaining this to Dr. Dyson, but the request stands.”
Katie had recovered and was back in the conversation, “I don’t think this is as hard as we’re making this. Being an android woman is clearly better. We don’t need to trick her or anything, just show her the truth and give her the opportunity to be a perfect, synthetic female.”
Camilla appreciated the point about not needing to trick her, “Normally I’d agree, but if she flips out once one of us flashes an open panel, the game is up. Maybe she even convinces a cop to come investigate us. You can’t throw a rock in this building without hitting a synthetic woman or someone else who knows about the Dyson Institute.”
David finally chimed in, “How about you take her out, go dancing or whatever it is synthetic women do as a group.” There were a few giggles, considering what android women love to do together. “OK, not that, but make her feel like one of the girls. Maybe you steer the conversation in a way that makes her think about robots. Prep her before you do the reveal.”
Greg followed up, “Dress up really nicely too. Make her feel like she isn’t pretty enough. Be catty behind her back but within earshot. Exaggerate the amount of work you do in a day. If you can’t convince her a synthetic body would be better, convince her that staying in her current body is worse.”
Camilla thought that Greg was an asshole, but she should probably incorporate that into any plan. The directive was to bring her into the fold, not preserve her self-esteem.
“Then it’s settled. Ava, Dana; get together at some point tomorrow and invite Zoe to a night on the town. If you can get her to go on a shopping trip beforehand, I’ll authorize it for you. Unfortunately, I don’t think partying with the boss will get her to loosen up.”
They all chuckled at that as the table emptied. Dana, who hadn’t talked during the meeting, quietly headed to the door before Camilla could catch up with her.
“You were awfully quiet in there.”
Dana shrugged, “I couldn’t help thinking of Gretchen. Two kids, husband ran out on her, diabetes, bad knees. If there’s anyone we should be helping it’s her, not someone who can’t immediately appreciate the gift being presented to her.
The boss smiled a little bit, “That was one part of the plan I didn’t need to go over. Gretchen talks to Zoe all the time. They’re both going to be extended the chance to become synthetic, and hopefully Gretchen’s happiness will be contagious.
Dana got a big smile on her previously troubled face before giving Camilla a big kiss.

Neil and Zoe sat atop a short dividing wall in front of the theater, waiting for Jessica to arrive. They didn’t talk; they just sat enjoying the breeze and the shade provided by the big tree. Neil was a little nervous that Jessica would dress the way she normally dressed in public: sparsely. It was bad enough when he had to watch guys ogle his sister. He didn’t want to explain to Zoe why his sister was such an exhibitionist.
Zoe, on the other hand, was more worried about making a good first impression on her fiancé’s sister. It was obvious to her that Neil loved his sister very much. Plus she wanted to fit into his family like a round peg in a round hole. She had been rehearsing an introduction in her head since they sat down.
Neil was first to spy Jessica coming around the corner. He was thankful she was dressed tastefully. The top went down to just above her navel, and the neckline didn’t expose much cleavage, although it hugged her breasts attractively. She was wearing low-riding jeans, but those were in style.
Zoe saw an attractive woman turn the corner and caught Neil staring. “Hey mister, no window shopping, you’re about to be a married man.” At that point, Zoe realized the woman was smiling and walking directly toward them.
“Hi, you must be Zoe. I’m Neil’s little sister Jessica. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Neil had to fight off a snorting laugh at Zoe’s initial statement and subsequent speechlessness. Zoe couldn’t believe Jessica and Neil were siblings, they looked so different. Plus Neil’s stories of the two of them made Jessica sound kinda dorky.
“Hi Jessica, I’m glad you could come.” Zoe smiled broadly and Jessica smiled back. Zoe was still a bit flabbergasted, but was regaining her composure. Jessica was calmly sizing up her future sister-in-law. And not just in the sense of taking high-res photos for later use in the construction of Zoe’s android body.
Neil butted in to break the silence, “So Jessica, we wanted to wait until you got here before picking a movie. Any preference?”
Jessica attracted some attention when she started bouncing with excitement. “Ooh The second Foundation movie came out last week, we should go see that.”
Zoe furrowed her brow, “I haven’t heard of it.”
Jessica was happy to explain, in detail, what Asimov’s Foundation Series was all about, with a little comment on how many top economists cited the psychohistorians as an inspiration for their later interest in economics. Neil was always amused when his sister geeked out like that. It was a nice dose of nostalgia in addition to an entertaining paradox when a model-hot girl started going on about Freeman Dyson (no relation).
Zoe was a little less amused, “I’m not really a science fiction fan. How about that new Jason Statham romantic comedy?”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. Her brother was dating, nay, marrying a woman who didn’t enjoy science fiction? One who wanted them to watch a bleepin’ Romantic comedy? With that no talent assclown?
Neil quickly stepped in. “How about a nice historical drama? I think there’s something about the French revolution playing.” Neil knew his women. Jessica enjoyed history, and Zoe enjoyed costume dramas. Sure enough, the two women agreed and Neil bought three tickets. Although the way the guy was ogling Jessica, maybe he should’ve let his sister get the tickets. She could have handed the guy a dollar and gotten change back.
Inside, Neil left the girls alone to make a trip to the concession stand for all of them. There was a moment of silence broken by Jessica.
“So... how old are you?”
“Oh, I’m 23. My birthday was three weeks ago.”
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks... You’re 20, right?”
“Yup, just don’t check my driver’s license.” Jessica giggled a little bit at her own joke.
Zoe smiled, but didn’t laugh. “So are you in school?”
“No, I’m working with my mom, getting practical experience.”
Zoe was puzzled, “They let you work at an engineering firm?”
“Huh? No, I work at my Mom’s health spa.”
“Neil said she was a nuclear engineer.”
“She was, but the job was very stressful, so she and some friends opened up a health spa. They’re all much happier now.” Jessica had to bite her tongue as to why.
“It’s a damn shame, a woman in the natural sciences being driven away like that. I mean, I’m glad she’s happy, it’s just that we need more female scientists.”
Jessica’s cheeks got hot, thinking of all the women who now knew, through first-hand experience, enough about robotics to teach the subject at any university. “I understand what you mean, don’t worry.”
If Neil hadn’t come back at that moment, Jessica might have blabbed. “OK girls, I’ve got a Sprite and Junior Mints for the pipsqueak, Diet Cokes for me and Zoe, and a jumbo bucket of popcorn for everyone.”
“Actually, hold on to it dear, I need to make a visit to the little girls’ room.” Zoe leaned over the armful of goodies and gave him a kiss.
“Here, take your ticket, we’ll meet you in the theater.”
Zoe walked off and the Dyson siblings walked to the ticket taker.
“You didn’t tell me your fiancé was a Luddite.”
Neil sighed, “Oh please, so she doesn’t write fanfiction about Jean-Luc Picard in high school. It doesn’t make her a luddite.”
Jessica would always regret showing him that story, “well, we’ll see if we can’t add some special programming when she comes in for her new body.”
Neil cringed at the thought, even if the thought was of Zoe’s disembodied android head with a large fake cock in its mouth. He changed subjects, “So why were you late?”
“I had a broken gasket.”
“Doesn’t the ASU pick up on stuff like that?”
It took Jessica a moment to realize the confusion, “Not in me, in the car. Doofus. I had to borrow mom’s car.”
“She still have that 15-year-old Neon?”
“Yup, I was sooo embarrassed. Not only as an advanced amalgam of robotic machinery, but as a daughter and a hot young girl who shouldn’t be caught dead driving that rust bucket.”
The ticket taker was staring at them as they laughed.
Jessica is the one who covered, “It’s an inside joke about Westworld.”

The movie passed without incident and Jessica declined their offer to have dinner. She had swapped in a smaller battery and added extra disk storage for her footage of Zoe and, frankly, the Foundation movie she had hoped to see. Zoe was a little sad that they hadn’t talked more, but said they’d arrange some girl time later. Jessica liked that idea more than Neil.
In the car, Neil and Zoe chatted a bit about the movie. Neil decided not to ask for his future wife’s impression of his sister. The conversation dropped off until Zoe piped up.
“Has your sister had work done?”
Neil very nearly swerved into a street sign.

==Part 4==
All the girls within 200 feet of accounts payable, and one or two of the guys, were clustered around Zoe’s desk. The backlog of invoices waiting for them on a Monday morning could wait a little longer while everyone oohed and aahed at the engagement ring being flashed around. Zoe felt a little embarrassed at all the attention, but once she showed Gretchen the ring, everyone wanted to look and congratulate Zoe.
“It was so sweet, he took me to the coffee shop where we had our first semi-date and he bought me one of those stick-shaped cookies. When I pulled it out of the bag, it was sticking through the ring. Then he got down on one knee and proposed right there during the lunch rush. People started applauding, it was so surreal. Then we found out the ring was too small. I just got it back from the jeweler this morning.”
There were a few ‘awww’s, but the (unspoken) consensus was that it was kind of corny. Dana was just excited that there was a gift-wrapped excuse to take Zoe out for a night on the town.
“So, tell us about your future better half,” Christine chirped from behind two other people.
“Let’s see, his name is Neil. He works in the marketing department on the seventh floor. He has an MBA. He’s got one younger sister, and his mother runs a health spa. He’s a real sweetheart and he does this grinning thing that I just love...”
The android women in attendance all had the same idea. They checked the company employment roster, and sorted out for the marketing department. There was one guy named Neil.
Neil Dyson.
And his mother ran a health spa, according to Zoe.
The realization of why Dr. Dyson was so adamant about getting Zoe to become synthetic hit them at roughly the same time, and they could clearly see it on each others’ faces. This girl was going to be the daughter-in-law of Dr. Elaine Dyson, the woman who first hatched the idea of robotic women and thus the one responsible for the vast improvement in their lives.
Zoe had kept going on about Neil, but Dana interrupted, “Sorry Zoe, I need to take Katie, Christine and Ava away for a moment. Congratulations again. We’ll talk some more later.” Zoe acknowledged their departure and kept on going for a little while longer.
The four synthetic women went into Camilla’s empty office and shut the door. It took a moment for anyone to speak.
“Her fiancé is Dr. Dyson’s son?” It was actually less of a question than Katie made it sound like, and they had all come up with the same hypothesis anyway.
“It sure seems like it. Maybe he’s a nephew, but the file says he’s 24, so it’s almost certainly not a brother.” Christine was trying desperately to come up with an alternate conclusion based on what they knew.
“Nope, she said it was his mother that ran a health spa, so unless Dr. Dyson’s sister or sister-in-law runs another health spa, we’re dealing with her daughter-in-law,” Dana replied.
The task hadn’t really changed, but they all felt like the stakes were higher now. They were responsible for making a future member of Dr. Dyson’s family part of her larger family. And if they succeeded, one of the most important people in their lives would owe them a big favor. Sure, they had already been given so much, but the idea of having more is human nature.
“So where’s Camilla?”

Units VX9348 and UX1696 had each attached themselves to one of Dr. Dyson’s nipples and were using one of their hands to massage the pussy of the other naked unit. Elaine leaned back and luxuriated in the sensation. The firmware upgrade allowed her to process so much more information from her breasts now. She couldn’t tell if she was enjoying the tongues or the new data flow more, and figured that it didn’t really matter.
“Camilla, why don’t you work on my pussy for a little bit. Suki, there are some toys in the wooden chest, why don’t you pick some out?” Elaine smiled as the blonde office manager began planting kisses down her stomach. But even nicer was the sight of the tiny bundle of Japanese curves strutting naked around her office. Dr. Suki Narita was an expert in biomechanics and Dr. Dyson was sure she’d make a great addition to the research staff. But at the moment, the Japanese doctor was jiggling back to her western counterpart with two handfuls of wires and floppy dildos.

[[Image:Uxdrn1.jpg|350px]]

“Let me see if I can guess what this one does.” Suki smiled as Elaine leaned back and squealed from the toe-curling orgasm Camilla had just induced. Dr. Narita opened up her paplexus panel, still amazed at the sight. She then slipped one of the sex toys into the available, exposed expansion slot. It was a rush to feel her software update automatically, and a further rush when she felt the air tickle the sensors on the toy. She quickly realized that the toy was a souped-up version of her artificial tongue, articulated and controllable by her thoughts.
Elaine had regained enough composure to address her new colleague, “Go ahead, I’ll bet VX9348 would love to feel that inside her wet, synthetic pussy.” Camilla was still dutifully lapping up Dr. Dyson’s copious juices, but heard enough to wiggle her ass at Suki.
And that was all the encouragement Suki needed. She crouched down to get the fake dick to the right level, and then flicked it up and down the length of Camilla’s slit. Elaine could feel the blonde shudder at the initial contact, but she didn’t stop licking. Then Suki moaned as she felt ‘her’ phallus slowly sink into Camilla’s gash. She wiggled and swirled it around inside her partner before beginning to thrust. Camilla felt like she was going to explode.
“Hi Mom,” Jessica walked in wearing the normal institute uniform. Oddly enough, the only person who didn’t turn to look was Dr. Dyson. Both Suki and Camilla felt like they had been caught in the act, and by what appeared to be Dr. Dyson’s daughter, no less.
“Oh don’t mind me; I just needed to have a quick chat with the doctor.” Jessica’s level of comfort with the situation didn’t increase Suki and Camilla’s. Jessica calmly sat down on a couch opposite the three women and examined one of the toys Suki had tossed aside.
“Girls, why don’t you attend to each other while I speak to Jessica. VX9348, I think that plan of yours needs work, so record our conversation for later playback” The other two units were unsure, but they were also really turned on. Camilla opened her audio options and began recording. Suki disengaged herself and Camilla turned around to embrace the other doctor. Dr. Narita could still taste Dr. Dyson’s sexual lubricant as they slowly fell to the carpet between the two redheads.
Elaine pulled her hair back behind her ears and crossed her legs, not bothering to cover up any more of her nudity. “So, how was the movie?”
Jessica shrugged, “Eh, it wasn’t too bad. We went to see this French film. Zoe didn’t want to see Second Foundation. She doesn’t like Science Fiction.”
“Not even Asimov?”
“I know ”
“We’ll have to do something about that.”
“That’s what I said. Anyway, I’ve got images sent to fabrication, they’ll extrapolate her body without the blouse and we’ll be able to have the head and torso mockup ready whenever Neil tells her about the Institute.” Jessica licked the toy in her hand just a little bit to test it out.
Elaine raised an eyebrow, “Neil didn’t say anything to me about telling Zoe. In fact, he didn’t seem to want Zoe to ever be told about becoming a synthetic woman. He was quite adamant about it.”
“He doesn’t even want to give her the chance? That doesn’t sound like Neil.”
“Sweetie, you remember that phase he went through where he called us robo-whores and brainwashed hedonists.”
VX9348 screamed in ecstasy as UX1696’s thrusting finally hit pay dirt. Soon after, UX1696 had an orgasm of her own, her first that didn’t come from her pussy. The two of them switched positions, with UX1696 lying down and keeping her attachment straight while VX9348 impaled herself and began bobbing up and down. Jessica scooted over to see around the blonde robot.
“But we got past all that.”
Elaine gave her a sympathetic look, “He accepted that we’re his family, I don’t think he really understands how much better our lives are after becoming synthetic.”
Camilla shook wildly and collapsed upon the Japanese doctor. The phallus slipped out and flung a bit of fluid onto Jessica’s leg. The two units didn’t stop though, softly moaning as they began making out with one another.
Jessica sat there, not sure if she was hurt more by Neil lying to her or by Neil rejecting her synthetic womanhood. Elaine walked around the units fucking on the carpet and put an arm around her daughter.
“But we’re still going to give Zoe the opportunity to become an android. She deserves that, and so does Neil.”
“Won’t Neil be angry - I mean run-around-with-a-sledgehammer angry - if we do that?”
“He’ll see firsthand how much wives and husbands can improve their relationship. Faced with the truth, he might be embarrassed by his former stance, but he won’t be angry.”
Jessica wasn’t 100% sure about that logic, but she respected her mother’s judgment. Besides, the idea of hoisting Neil up on his own petard sounded pretty attractive right about now.
They chatted for a little while longer about Zoe specifically before Elaine stood up, “I’m going to have a discussion with the good Dr. Narita about android vaginal assemblies. If you’d like to work off some energy, I’m sure VX9348 here won’t mind.”
The other two units rolled away from one another and Elaine took her turn straddling the Japanese android. Jessica removed her uniform and briefly considered using the toy before tossing it aside and calling Camilla to the couch. The two of them got into a 69 position and began eagerly eating each other out, Jessica much more forcefully than the blonde.
Camilla had only been dimly aware of the conversation going around above her, but had heard the name Zoe a few times. Dr. Dyson had called her in to discuss the matter. But most of her system resources were devoted to exploring the young redhead’s snatch in front of her mouth. A priority text message from VX9319 appeared in her vision, and she had enough awareness to understand that.
“Zoe is Dr. D’s future daughter-in-law. Outing still planned. Advice?”

==Part 5==
Zoe had reluctantly agreed to go out with some of her coworkers on a Monday night. Dana had assured her Mrs. Taylor would understand if the bride-to-be showed up a little late or not at all on Tuesday. It’s not every day you get engaged, or at least it’s not every day you tell your coworkers about getting engaged.
Camilla still wasn’t coming, but she let the other girls borrow her mini-van for the outing. It had been decided that Zoe should get picked up last. Dana was driving and Christine was in the front seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter. She hadn’t gotten a full charge the night before and didn’t want to suddenly go low on juice in the middle of a dance floor. Ava and Katie were in the backseat making out like it was prom night. Katie had left her arousal levels high, as usual, and Ava didn’t see the harm in taking some of the edge off. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had gone club hopping, and they had quickly discovered that guys loved watching two attractive ladies in brief party dresses get to second base with one another.
“Will you two cut it out back there?” Dana was obviously more stressed out than the other girls in the van.
Katie came up and pouted a little bit as she and Ava scooted to either side of the backseat bench. “What’s the big deal? We were going to stop when you stopped at Zoe’s place. And it’s not like you can tell we were making out.”
It was true. There wasn’t a smudge on their makeup or a hair out of place. The institute had crafted new head units for all of them and sent a technician with the modules to each of their homes. It took 5 minutes to create the image of an entire afternoon at a beauty salon. Actually, Dana mused as she checked herself out in one of the mirrors again, it was beyond that. Her nose was a slightly more attractive shape and her eyes were a more sparkling hazel. Zoe wouldn’t be able to notice, especially in the low-light situation, but the Institute had gone above and beyond to make Zoe the ugly duckling of the group.
“Remember, you should act drunk, but you can’t be drunk. We want this to go off without a hitch, but if she gets weirded out, we’ve got that excuse to fall back on.”
“Yes, Mom, we all downloaded the same plan.” Katie giggled at Ava’s snarky remark.
“Hey, I shouldn’t be the only one worried here. We screw this up and Dr. Dyson’s daughter-in-law stays organic. I don’t want to know what her reaction to that would be, or what she’d do to us for screwing up.
Christine picked an opportune moment to finish charging, “Did we actually get a threat? I’ve never heard of Dr. Dyson issuing threats.”
“There wasn’t anything explicit, but what would you do if you were in her position and three random office android girls screwed over a member of your family? And on the flipside, what would you do for the girls that convinced her to become a synthetic woman?”
The van fell silent as it pulled up to Zoe and Neil’s apartment. Zoe was already waiting outside for them. Katie opened the door for her and Zoe slipped into one of the captain’s chairs between the four other ladies. She was wearing a jacket over her green dress, but the other women could tell that it looked nice and so did she. She hadn’t done much with her hair, but she had done up her face well.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to make Zoe feel good about herself when she scanned the other passengers of the van while exchanging greetings. The other looked drop-dead gorgeous as though they had spent the entire day getting ready. Plus they were wearing outfits that made hers look like a potato sack. Not just in style, but in the lack of coverage provided.
“Aren’t you all cold? It’s like 50 degrees outside.” The question struck Zoe as it was coming out of her mouth. At least it was better than the other comments on the lack of clothing in the vehicle she had tested in her brain.
Dana tensed up. How could she have been so stupid? She didn’t even have the heater on in the van. They all had gotten used to just shutting off or tuning down those sensors when it got uncomfortable.
Ava was the one who covered, “trust me, it’s going to be plenty hot once we get inside the club with all those people. Besides, I for one like a little chill in the air. Sweat stinks.” It didn’t really explain why they had no jackets on now, but Christine turned the heat up in the van in the most subtle way she could. And all four of them changed their settings so they would shiver a little when they went outside.

They chattered idly, pressing Zoe for details about the wedding. She didn’t really have any details yet, but it killed time. Then Ava started a line of questioning they were all interested in, but were afraid to broach.
“So, have you met Neil’s family? What are they like?”
Zoe didn’t pick up on the pricked up ears in the van. “I actually haven’t had that much interaction with them. I know his parents are still together, although they had problems when Neil was in High School and college. I haven’t met them yet, but I did meet his sister.” Zoe decided not to mention the probably extensive plastic surgery. “She’s a real sweetheart, and she’s really close to Neil.
The other girls nodded along respectfully. Ava and Christine didn’t know Dr. Dyson had a daughter too. Only Katie had heard about Dyson’s marital problems as an organic woman. They owed her so much, and idolized her for her achievements, but they didn’t really know Dr. Dyson all that well.
“Are you ok?” Zoe had caught onto the shared silence of the pensive synthetics.
“Yeah. Oh look, here we are, turn left here, Dana.” Christine pointed out the parking lot to Dana. The poor attendant never had a chance of gathering up enough spare brain cells to ask the hot women in the front of the van for money to park.
They all filed out with Dana leading the way and breaking the neck of the interested parking attendant again. Zoe smirked from the rear that it was a thick grilled cheese on wheat. Two brunettes with three blondes in between. She was a little surprised that there was a line into the club on a cold weeknight. Even so, heads turned when their group walked past the rope line toward the entrance. Zoe was a little embarrassed at the attention, until she realized only small bits of it were aimed at her.
She tried to keep up with the other girls, but they were walking quickly and gracefully in their heels, while Zoe wished she had gone with something flatter. Dana barely had to say two words to the bouncer before he let her past the velvet rope. Ava, Christine, and Katie followed close behind. Zoe was two steps back and had the rope close in front of her.
“End of the line, lady.”
“But, I’m with those other four.” Zoe was further embarrassed as the bouncer stood there silently staring her down. It was a tense 15 seconds before Katie doubled back and convinced the bouncer to let Zoe in.
The scene inside was more of the same. Dana had wrangled a booth away from some guys and the five of them ordered a round. Or rather, they ordered a round and some guys paid for them. It’s not exactly what Zoe had in mind when Ava had offered to get the first round, but booze was booze.
All through the night, at least one of her coworkers was at her side, either at the table or on the dance floor. And regardless of who it was, all the attention went to Zoe’s coworker first. Unless it was two guys and one was acting as the wingman, chatting up the hottie’s not so hot girlfriend. Even when the girls tried to deflect some of the attention to Zoe, it only made her feel pathetic. And she could swear she could hear the other girls talking about her once they got just barely out of audible range. Rationally, she knew she was engaged and couldn’t (wouldn’t) do anything with these guys, but it was the principle of the thing.
So at the moment, Zoe was half-listening to Christine talk about French cuisine. The other half was watching Katie get her freak on out on the dance floor. She was surrounded by about three guys and finding a way to be in contact with all of their crotches at once. Jesus, what a slut. A little voice bemoaned the fact that she hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to be that slutty.
Zoe brushed that thought aside and a few moments later Katie pulled down the top of her dress and let her breasts bounce freely out on the dance floor. The men were shocked for a moment before letting out a cheer and trying to get a hand on all the exposed boob. Zoe was flabbergasted. Christine turned to look and was shocked as well, albeit for slightly different reasons.
Dana heard the extra-loud whoops and caught sight of Katie’s nipples. She grabbed her purse and quickly got over to Katie. She managed to yank Katie’s dress back up and lead her off the floor before Katie’s admirers stopped their booing and tried to grab her. The two of them got into the ladies room and into a stall. By some miracle there was one open.
“If you wanted to make out, Dana, we could have done it out there, no one would have minded,” Katie looked smashed. Dana was furious and grabbed a cable out of her purse. They couldn’t talk in here, but they could exchange messages over a hard link.
Dana hiked up the bottom of her dress and opened her paplexus panel.
“Ooh, you are excited, aren’t you?” Katie began giggling, but Dana was in no mood. She motioned toward the open panel as a way of telling Katie to do the same. Katie giggled some more, but complied. Dana connected both ends of the table and began a silent conversation.
What the fuck was that? Flashing your tits? With Zoe watching?
VX8753 rolled her eyes, sorry for having fun, mom.
VX9319 could have slapped her, instead she checked on VX8753’s alcohol emulation software. Sure enough, she was acting like she could have blown a .16 on a BAC test. The software wasn’t equipped to be on without affecting decision-making, and it was designed to react to actual alcohol consumption.
Turn off your drunk emulator. It isn’t working right.
But you said we had to act drunk for Zoe. Mmm, those lips would be so good around my nips right about now. VX8753 was beginning to reach back into her dress. VX9319 stopped her and repeated the command. The older-model android reluctantly complied and immediately returned to normal.
Oh shit, did I really just do that?
Dana frowned, unplugged the two of them, and stowed the wire. “Let’s get back out there and try to be on your best behavior. But we’re going to stay away from Zoe for a little while longer, ok?” Katie quietly nodded and readjusted her breasts inside her dress.
Meanwhile, Ava had rejoined Christine and Zoe. Zoe filled Ava in on what Katie had done. Christine took the opportunity to steer the conversation toward sex. It was pretty easy, given the four mixed drinks Zoe had in her. And given the public display, one question flowed naturally
Christine asked, “so where’s the weirdest place you ever made love?”
From an organic woman’s perspective, a robotics laboratory would place high on any list. For Ava and Christine, that was like having sex in the backseat of a car. Big whoop.
Ava went first, “One time, my boyfriend Robert and I were at this fancy hotel with one of those glass elevators. It was late at night, so he stopped the elevator near the top floor and hiked up my skirt. So I bent over and let him take me from behind while I looked over the city all lit up.”
Zoe assumed she had merely forgotten to mention what happened to her panties. It was still a nice story, and Zoe felt embarrassed going after it. Christine picked up on that and went next.
“So I was dating this golf pro at a private country club and during this big soiree we snuck away and made love on the 16th green, out there in the open, in the moonlight. So we came back and there was some formal dancing going on. We did that, and I was fairly certain we had kept our clothes clean. But at the end I look back and there were about a dozen blades of grass on the dance floor that must have fallen out the back of my dress after being wedged up somewhere.”
Ava and Christine giggled at that much more than Zoe did.
“Come on Zoe, what’s your story?” Christine asked and Ava repeated it, egging her on.
“Really, no, it’s embarrassing.”
“Oh, I doubt it’s that bad. We’re all adults here, anyway. You can tell us.”
“Fine, in the living room of an apartment I shared with this girl in college. No glass elevators, no moonlight, just a stained couch.”
Christine stopped herself before asking if it was the roommate Zoe was fucking. Ava had a better response, “that’s fine, not everyone gets a thrill from having sex in weird places.” She paused before continuing. “Do you and Neil do any... roleplaying?”
“Roleplaying?”
Christine jumped in, “You know, pretending to be other people. Like he’s the boss and you’re his secretary being called into his office for some Dick-tation.” She managed to say it in such a way that the extra k was obvious.
“N-not really.” If Zoe had a little less rum in her system, she might have been worried about talking about this stuff. “We have really good sex doing things the normal way. Neil has an awesome cock and an awesomer tongue.”
The other two girls were amused, but maybe not surprised that Dyson’s son was an expert at sex as well. Christine continued, “You should try it sometime. Rent or cobble together a schoolgirl costume and play schoolmaster and truant girl.”
Zoe was barely sober enough to grasp ‘truant’, but remained somewhat intrigued.
Ava came forward with the big one, “But my favorite is Robot and Master.”
When Zoe didn’t look appalled, Christine jumped in. “Oh yeah, that’s my favorite too. Every guy I’ve done it with just couldn’t get enough.”
“And it feels so sexy pretending to be a perfect, obedient android woman.” Ava worried she was laying it on too thick, but Zoe was still paying attention. “I act like he’s activating me, I do a few orders, and it’s so hot. Even when I don’t try to ham it up by making beeping sounds.”
Before Ava or Christine could go further, Dana showed up.
“Alright, I’ve got Katie in a state resembling a normal human, I think we should go now.”

==Part 6==
Neil walked through the lobby of the institute again for the second time in as many weeks. He felt a little bad about not spending Saturday doing just sibling stuff with Jessica. So he decided to take a long lunch and pay his sister a visit.
There was a new girl at the front desk, and she was just as excited to see him as Carly had been last time. This time he spent only a moment asking where his sister was before heading through the door into the back rooms. Two turns and he was entering testing room C
Where he was greeted by the sight of Jessica; Topless, right arm missing, and without her legs and pelvic assembly as well. Even as he turned his head to avoid staring at his sister’s naked breasts, he saw that she was bouncing a racquetball off the ground and hitting a dime-sized target on the wall. But at the moment he was more concerned with his sister’s nudity.
“Hi Neil It’s been a while ” That was not Jessica speaking, but he couldn’t look to identify the speaker.
He found a towel and held it in front of him as he inched himself toward the voice and his sister while keeping his head turned. He heard two sets of feminine giggles. “Jess, could you please drape this over your saline sacks?” He felt the towel being tugged from his hand.
“You can turn around now.” Neil did so, and while Jessica was covered up, the technician had opened the top of her uniform to expose her breasts.
“Very funny, ha ha.” He said derisively. “But those aren’t attached to my sister.”
Jessica and the technician kept giggling as the latter buttoned back up. Neil took the opportunity to examine the face of the other girl. He realized he may have had even less reason to be concerned about seeing those tits. He had seen much more than that on this girl.
“Wendy?” Wendy Klein was the daughter of Dr. Gloria Klein, one of the earliest experts working with his mother on the android woman project. As such, Wendy had been synthetic about as long as Jessica. She still looked angelic, and as trim as Jessica was curvy. Neil had slept with her a dozen times back when he thought being surrounded by horny, physically perfect women was all he needed for paradise.
“Yup, it’s me. Just helping out around the facility. Gotta be trained on all this stuff before Mom lets me run my own branch.”
“They’re letting you run your own spa? I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Thanks, yeah, nepotism is great when it works in your favor. So, you’re looking good. What’s been new with you?”
“Oh you know, same old, same old.”
Jessica, who was still bouncing the ball, snorted at that. “Like hell. The organ receptacle here got enga-ged.” Neil had hoped Jessica was focusing her attention on the ball.
Wendy smiled, “Congratulations. Anyone I’ve worked on?”
Jessica snorted again. Neil tried to ignore that, “Nope, pure organic. They say organic is better for your health.”
“‘They’ say a lot of th-things,” Jessica interjected.
Wendy could tell something was going on. “Should I go? We’ve got some good data already.”
“Yeah, let’s stop this.” Jessica’s next throw landed the ball in a trash can. “Even the orgasms aren’t making this pleasant.”
“Orgasms?” Neil was a little confused, and frankly queasy, by the invocation.
Wendy explained as she unhooked Jessica. “We were testing a software package that lets synthetic women run climax sequences in the background of other tasks. It’s an application of the octet core we’ve begun...”
Neil raised a hand, “I think I got it.” It figures that they’d be trying to figure our more ways to cram sex into their lives. Now they were going to be cumming all day long. Super.
“It’s a fabulous program, Neil. Any woman would be thrilled to experience it.”
Wendy made a strategic retreat as Jessica shot daggers through her eyes at Neil. She wished her mom had taken her advice and developed eyes for synthetic women that shot laser beams.
Neil sighed, “OK, what’s your problem?”
“You lied to me.”
“About what?”
Jessica rolled her eyes, “About letting Zoe become a synthetic woman. No, about giving her the opportunity to become a synthetic woman. You had no intention of telling her about what we do here and letting her choose whether to lead a perfect android existence.”
“Let’s go easy on the ‘perfect’ talk, ok?” The well worn phrase irked Neil as much as Jessica’s snotty attitude.
“Oh here we go, poor abused Jessica with her sexy body and many friends and fulfilling job. Oh, the horrors that have been visited upon her.” The tone did nothing to disabuse Neil of the notion that his sister was being snotty.
“At least you got the ‘many friends’ part right.”
“This is about sex? There are plenty of monogamous android women, fully devoted to their husbands.”
“Yeah, and their files are all marked ‘possessive, potentially abusive husband’.”
“Bullshit.” Jessica said it, although she knew there was a correlation. Neil had the causation reversed, though.
“And please, tell me the most dates you’ve been on with one guy, and company clients don’t count.”
It was a biased question; since most of Jessica’s social life involved the Institute. But that didn’t really help her case. “So what if I’m not out there trying to find a husband. I’m 20 years old, I can’t get an STD or get pregnant, I’m fucking hot, why shouldn’t I be out there just enjoying myself?”
Neil, in that moment, decided to let it out. “That’s just it, Mom stuck you in that body and you had no reason to mature, no reason to act like a normal human being.”
“But this is better than being a normal human being. And fuck you for calling me immature.” In hindsight, that wasn’t a very mature response.
“You went from being a complex young woman into a shallow whore.”
“I went from being a gloomy, suicidal young woman into a happy young woman.”
Neil was taken aback by the suicidal comment, but he chalked it up internally as exaggeration in a heated moment. But the pause let Jessica go on the offensive.
“And why do I need to defend myself? This is about Zoe. You won’t let her make that choice for herself. Talk about maturity, why don’t you tell her, tell her your concerns, and then let her make an informed decision?”
“Because I’d bring her here, and you’d fill her mind with hyperbolic descriptions of your life, and once you turned her into a tinkertoy, she’d be programmed to love it. Programmed for everything. And she wouldn’t love me anymore; she’d love the program that tells her she loves me.”
Now it was Jessica’s turn to be silent, she hadn’t seen Neil this... scared in a long time. He was almost crying. Her ire had completely burned off, and she wanted to hug him, but that was hard to do with one arm and no lower half.
“It wouldn’t be like that Neil, I still love you, and that’s not linked to any specific program or induced sensation. And if I was that different, would you really still enjoy hanging out with me?”
“I enjoy it because when it’s just the two of us, you start acting like the sister you used to be and not UX1-whatever. But for it to be my wife... that’s 24/7.”
Screw it, Jessica reached out and yanked Neil close to her into a semi-hug, one that Neil made a full one. “I don’t know what I can do to convince you that your fears are bullshit, but I promise I’ll let you decide when your wife comes in. And I promise that when that happens, I’ll be as frank as possible with her about the limitations of being an android, ok?”
Jessica felt Neil nodding against her shoulder, and they stayed in that position for a while longer.
Zoe was standing in front of the mirror brushing her teeth before going to bed. All she had on was one of Neil’s big T-shirts and a pair of panties. Thankfully, her hangover had gone away sometime after lunch. She was still a little pissed that the other girls she had gone out with were fresh and chipper that morning. Zoe had rolled in ninety minutes late, filled with coffee and aspirin, and looking like she had been hit by a truck. Katie, who had been as drunk as Zoe had ever seen a girl, was sunny as ever. You might have guessed she had spent last night at home reading before turning in early, rather than getting plastered and waving her bare breasts around until 1 a.m.
Zoe had largely ignored them as she worked to get everything done with a splitting headache. Fortunately Camilla hadn’t given her any shit about showing up late. At least that had gone right. When five o’clock rolled around, she was out of there like a bolt of lightning.
Zoe finished brushing and started looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look that bad. A few acne scars maybe, and her breasts weren’t anything to write about. But she was reasonably well-proportioned. She had a good smile and good-looking hair. However the memory of being easily outshone by four random girls on the same floor of the building was fresh in her mind. Maybe she needed to buy some new make-up. Or do more thigh exercises. Or maybe breast implants. She turned to the side and hefted her little breasts up under the shirt, imagining how she’d look with more mass there.
“Neil, do you think I’d look better with larger breasts?”
Neil had been reading Ben-Hur in bed, trying to expand his knowledge of classic literature. He would have been better off reading a book about land mines.
“What makes you ask that?” The strategic non-answer, always a good opening move.
“I dunno, When I was out with the girls last night I felt like the ugly girl the hot girls bring around to scare away guys.” Zoe walked into the bedroom and got under the covers.
“I find it very hard to believe anyone would find you anything less than hot yourself.”
“Thanks, but I’m being serious. I know it sounds shallow, but I like feeling pretty.”
Neil leaned over and gave her a kiss. “You are the most wonderful, beautiful woman I’ve ever been with. I think you’re just great the way you are right now.”
Zoe smiled a little and returned the kiss, but wasn’t really reassured. “You don’t think I’m too... Vanilla?” She wasn’t sure where she pulled that term from, but it fit.
Neil had to pause. Frankly, he liked the fact that Zoe was usually quiet and conservative. But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now. “You’re chocolate chip cookie dough. Maybe sort of vanilla, but filled with little tasty bits that are made even more delicious by the vanilla they’re suspended in.”
That analogy had gotten away from him and they both knew it.
Zoe was the first to restart the conversation. “I just feel like I should be out there doing crazy stuff. When was the last time we did something wild?”
She may have had a point. Even when they went to Las Vegas, they had bet sensibly, seen a few shows, and spent most of the night screwing in their moderately-priced hotel room.
“What did you have in mind? Matching tattoos? I don’t really want a unicorn on my ass. See? How vanilla is it to have a tattoo?”
Zoe was a little miffed by his sarcasm, and crossed her foot over the unicorn on her ankle, “lots of people have tattoos. I want to do something your parents wouldn’t do.”
Neil wasn’t sure whether to laugh or piss himself. The things his parents wouldn’t do was a small list nowadays. “Such as?”
Zoe shifted and sat up in the bed, “Some of the girls at work thought it was really hot to do some roleplaying stuff during sex.” Hey Sex Neil liked the sound of that. “I thought we could try something like that.”
Neil put his book and glasses on the nightstand. “So what would we be playing?”
Zoe smiled, “Well, I thought we could play as though I was your personal robot sex machine.”
The human brain wasn’t designed to process situations like these. Neil didn’t know where his terror started. There was the thought that Zoe was using this as an introduction to telling him she was an android. And if she wasn’t, it meant she would be more likely to say yes if his mom or sister got to her. Then there were the oedipal issues surrounding his mother the android. And there was the memory of all the glazed-eyed synthetic women he had slept with years before.
“You don’t like it, do you?” Zoe looked disappointed and embarrassed. Now Neil had to do it in order to preserve her ego.
“No, no, it’s interesting. I was just wondering how we should start”
Zoe hopped up and shucked her shirt, exposing her breasts. Then she stopped. “Actually, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure either.”
“Why don’t you stand against the wall and I’ll turn on Zoebot for some sex?”
“OK.” Zoe stood against the wall and shut her eyes.
Neil got out of the bed, already regretting this. And he was also trying to figure out how much of his real-life knowledge he could or should apply to this fantasy. He didn’t want to confuse her or just as bad, make it seem like he was getting into this.
So he started out by using his fingers on her nipples and making old radio noises. Zoe suppressed a giggle before Neil pushed on her navel and she opened her eyes. She also stuck her arms out at a 90 degree angle.
“Zo.e.bot online. What pro.gram should I run?” Zoe said it in a bad attempt at a robotic monotone.
Neil paused to lower Zoe’s arms to her sides before speaking, “Zoebot, remove my pajama bottoms.”
She nodded and knelt down to do so, taking Neil’s underwear down at the same time and letting his dick flop out. He was a little too freaked out to be erect at this point though. Zoe wanted to start on him, but figured that wasn’t part of the game. So she went back and sat on her heels, looking up at Neil.
“Zoebot, proceed with felatio sequence 14.” Neil had always liked that one when he had fucked the eager women his mother turned into androids. If Zoe was an android now, it’d be the same.
For better or worse, it wasn’t. Zoe wasn’t very good at giving head. She had the thick, inviting lips for sure, but she had a sensitive gag reflex. Plus Neil wasn’t exactly tiny. So the blow job was pretty similar to the others Zoe had given. Except this time, when she went too far and disengaged to start coughing, she managed to fit the word ‘error’ in between the expectorations.
Still, she was good enough to get Neil hard, and he held her back before she could go back to licking and sucking. “Zoebot, stand up so I can examine your lubricant levels.”
It made Zoe giggle a little bit, but she got to her feet and spread her legs. Neil reached inside her undies and ran a finger along her slit. His girlfriend closed her eyes, but tried to stay in character and not make any noise. Neil kept rubbing and dipping a finger inside until he felt that she was wet.
“Zoebot, remove your panties and get into position 18A on the bed.”
Zoe put her legs back together and wiggled out of her panties. Dyson didn’t actually name sexual positions like that by number, but it let Zoe pick which way she wanted it. That was the plan, but Zoe hesitated as she got onto the bed. She actually tried to think of what 18A was, before realizing it was nonsense. So she laid down, face up, with her rump just off the foot of the bed and her feet spread wide on the ground.
“Would you like me to make noises for you?” Zoe couldn’t think of a better way, or more robotic way, to put it.
“Yes, and tell me when your orgasm sequence begins to load.” Crap, Neil didn’t want to make it sound exactly like how a synthetic woman would describe cumming. It just slipped out. But Zoe said affirmative and lifted herself to point her nether regions at him.
Neil had a briefly disconcerting vision of where the fluid tanks, muscular controls and connection points would be in Zoe’s pelvic module. That is, if she really was an android. He tried to put that out of his mind and stepped forward to guide himself inside Zoe a little more quickly than he normally did. Zoe made some exaggerated ‘mmm’ sounds in response. At least, Neil hoped she was only hamming it up. He took a handle on each of her thighs and began to rock back and forth.
Zoe hadn’t been as into the thing as she thought she’d be, but this was as good as it always was. Neil filled her up so well and rubbed her in all the right ways. This time it was more forceful than tender, but still good. She didn’t hold back in expressing her satisfaction through moans. Eventually he let one of her thighs drop and brought a hand up to assist in teasing her clit. That elicited a loud squeal of approval. She almost forgot to do the ‘orgasm sequence’ thing Neil wanted.
“Mmm, orgasm sequence loading... loading... loading... looooooooooooading ” She twitched as Neil’s ministrations hit paydirt. Neil himself was pleased that she had come, and was amused by the ‘loading’ thing. A few minutes later, he let himself relax enough to have his own weak-knee-inducing climax inside Zoe.
“Zoebot, clean me and yourself.” Zoe was still off in la-la land but heard him. She reached over and got some Kleenex to wipe up. And for god measure, Zoe gave his dick a final coat of saliva after wiping off most of the goo.
“So, did Zoebot enjoy herself?”
Zoe got up and kissed Neil. He could sort of taste himself on her lips. “It was definitely new.” Truth be told, she hadn’t gotten much out of it. But by her estimation Neil had enjoyed himself more than usual. And by his estimation, Zoe had enjoyed herself less than usual, which pleased him. He felt a little bad about it, but he was glad she didn’t seem enticed to become an android. The entire experience was nerve wracking though and he honestly hoped to never repeat it.
With that, the two of them crawled into bed, shut off the lights, and fell asleep with no further contact or discussion. As Neil was lying there, he remembered what he had talked to Jessica about. This would have been a good time to turn around and tell Zoe everything about his family, since robots were already the topic. Plus, it was when she would be least enthused about the concept by his reckoning. But it was late, Zoe was probably already asleep, and that discussion could wait another day.

==Part 7==
The next morning, Zoe got to her desk and was greeted by Gretchen, Dana, and Christine.
“Come on, Camilla is giving us a spa trip and the day off,” Dana told her. She was smiling broadly at the idea. In fact all three of them were.
“Really? The entire day off? Why?” Zoe actually felt a little guilty about showing up late and hungover yesterday, even if it had been with Camilla’s blessing.
“Because she couldn’t buy you a drink, so she’s giving you a spa trip. And since the spa is no fun alone...”
Gretchen cut in, “I reap the benefits.” She raised her fists as triumphantly as she could in an office setting.
Zoe was stunned, but wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, “So are we leaving now?”
“Yeah, everyone is here, we can all pile into my p.o.s.-mobile,” Christine offered. And with that, the four of them were off. In the elevator, Zoe noticed Dana typing on her blackberry.
“Who are you texting?”

Camilla was having a new pelvic module installed when the message came in. It killed the erotic buzz she was building up from having the technicians work on her, but she had asked to be notified when Zoe and the rest of them were headed in. And fortunately, Dr. Dyson was in the observation room.
“Dr. Dyson, Dana, Christine, Gretchen and Zoe have just left Stanley. They should be here within 30 minutes.”
“Very good, VX9348. I have to say you’re going to love that new pussy.”
Camilla moaned at the thought while the techs tested the lubrication system. Elaine was tense enough that she wasn’t diddling herself while watching. She calmly reached over to the panel and paged her daughter.
Jessica arrived a minute later. “Hi, mom.”

[[Image:Uxj2.jpg|350px]]

“Hello dear, Zoe and her friends are on their way. Set up Zoe’s demonstration in room 5 and her human friend’s display in room 6.”
Jessica figured it was now or never. “Mom, about that. I’m not sure we’re handling this the right way.”
Elaine turned and cocked an eyebrow at her daughter, “Is that so.”
Jessica tried to shut off some of her autonomic responses and look more confident. “Zoe and Neil are going to be husband and wife, and it has always been our policy to have married women talk it over with their husbands.”
“She has the right to leave and talk to Neil.”
“Yes, but we’re going to convert her immediately if she says yes.”
“Zoe’s a big girl, she has the right to make her own decisions.” Elaine began to turn away.
“Yes, but if she does it’s going to hurt Neil. He really doesn’t want her to do this, Mom. He doesn’t believe that we’re the same women after becoming synthetic.”
Elaine stopped turning and took a step toward her daughter. “So now you’re on Neil’s side?”
“It’s not about sides, I just think we should be convincing Neil, not Zoe.”
“If he doesn’t understand now, nothing we say is going to convince him. We’re going to have to demonstrate to him all the benefits of our lifestyle.”
This wasn’t going as Jessica hoped. “So it’s all about proving something to Neil?”
“Watch your tone. And it’s about making my children happy. Neil is not going to go through the sorts of things your father went through. He’s going to have a perfect wife, just like he deserves and just like I can provide. If you’re still having doubts, your old body is waiting for you downstairs.”
Jessica had never heard her Mom talk to her like this. She had never invoked Jessica’s organic body in an argument. There was nothing more to be said. Jessica turned to leave the room and set up the demonstrations.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Dyson called after her, “after you finish, I think you should go home for the day.”
Jessica knew what that meant. Her mother didn’t trust her to not make an attempt to convince Zoe to remain organic. It was a blow to the gut, and Jessica left walking more like the drab teen she had been than the beautiful synthetic woman she was.
Elaine turned back and watched VX9348’s new pelvic module slide into place, causing a small orgasm sequence in the android. She felt guilty about sending Jessica away, and even implying that her daughter should become organic again. But this was important, and Jessica would realize that.

Zoe and Gretchen were impressed by the opulence of the Institute just from the lobby. It was Greek-inspired, while still looking modern. Zoe noticed that the staff and a good portion of the clientele were very attractive. The spa gear and the staff uniforms weren’t the most flattering garments in the world, but they couldn’t hide everything. The people-watching was distracting enough that they were nearly to the reception desk before Zoe noticed the name ‘Dyson’ in 18-inch-high block letters on the wall.
“Hey, I think this is the spa that Neil’s mom owns.”
Gretchen responded first. “I was just about to ask you about that. Hell, if she owns a place like this your boyfriend is sitting on a fortune in inheritance.”
Zoe tried to ignore Gretchen’s predictable response and point the question toward Christine, “Didn’t I tell you my boyfriend’s last name and that his mom owned a spa?”
She shrugged, “If you did, I guess I never made the connection. Usually we just call it ‘the spa’ and don’t use the proper name.” That was a bald-faced lie, but Christine hoped it would hold up until Zoe could meet Dr. Dyson.
“You didn’t make the connection with the big letters above the entrance?”
Christine shrugged again, “What can I say? A spa trip is a spa trip. But maybe we can go see the lady in charge, if she is Neil’s mom.”
Zoe did want to meet her future mother-in-law. Now was as good a time as any.
Dana broke in before any more questions could be asked. “OK, Zoe here’s your guest pass. Gretchen, here’s yours. Let’s go meet Dr. Dyson first, before we get all steamed and massaged.”
Zoe supposed that Dana had overheard the earlier conversation. She guessed going there first made some sense, even if she would have preferred some more time to prepare herself. Gretchen, as much as she enjoyed Zoe, was a little disappointed she’d be spending part of her spa time being part of the scenery for a future-family get-together.
The ladies flashed their badges in front of a reader at the door and entered the back rooms of the institute. The two organic ladies didn’t know this was not an area the normal clients of the Institute got to see. Most of the rooms had no windows, and an alert could keep the halls clear of overt android evidence. Still, Dana led them on the long way through the back to avoid some of the more vocal testing areas.
This did lead them past a window into the gym area of the Institute. Zoe saw six women playing a highly spirited game of basketball. Three were in black sports bras, the others were in green. But the main feature was just how good and how fast they were. They must be a local college or semi-pro team. The side on defense was matching the moves of the offensive players at whatever speed they went. And in appreciating the talent on display, she noticed something weird just below their bras. They were far away, but it wasn’t clothing, she thought maybe it was a tattoo. That would be in keeping with the team theory.
Christine saw Zoe stop and saw the open panels on the girls playing basketball. She nearly yelped before hurrying Zoe and Gretchen farther along their route. That was a little too close.
The four of them got to Dr. Dyson’s door without further incident. Although Dana and Christine could pick up on the moans seeping into the hallway, they were confident the organics hadn’t caught on. Zoe patted down her hair and checked her outfit one more time before she entered the office.
Elaine was sitting at her desk wearing a smart business outfit, leaving her lab coat on a peg to the left of her desk. Zoe’s first thought was how Jessica’s hotness was more explicable, and second thought was that the family resemblance to Neil wasn’t all that strong.
Elaine smiled and stood up from her chair, “Zoe It’s so nice to finally meet you in person.” Before Zoe knew it, she was in a hug with Dr. Dyson.
Zoe returned the hug, not as fervently as Elaine, but returned nonetheless. She was the one that nudged the doctor away. “It’s nice to meet you too, Dr. Dyson.”
“Please, Call me Elaine... or Mom.” The doctor flashed a big row of white teeth at Zoe.
“OK... Elaine. I’m just trying to figure out how you knew it was me.”
Dana and Christine, who were standing back a bit beside Gretchen, tensed up at the question. Dr. Dyson quickly picked between possible fake explanations.
“I have to admit, I played a little bit of a game with you. Since Neil was so reluctant to bring us together, I enlisted Dana and Christine’s help in bringing you here to meet me. Sorry for the obfuscation. I was just so excited to meet my future daughter-in-law.”
Any holes in the explanation were filled in by Zoe’s lingering irritation at Neil not bringing her to meet his family sooner. Zoe nodded and sighed in agreement and Elaine led them to the sitting area of her expansive office. The two of them made idle chit-chat and Zoe talked about herself a little bit.
Gretchen was still off to the side and getting a little impatient. She leaned over to Dana, “Do we need to be here for this?”
Dana whispered back, “just wait, you’ll definitely want to be around for what’s coming up.”
“What do you mean?”
Dana hushed her and redirected Gretchen’s focus to the conversation Dr. Dyson was involved in.
A little later, after being asked about her ‘career change’ to spa owner, Dr. Dyson took a pause, stood up, and begun her pitch.
“It’s not easy for women in the modern world. Between career and family and self-esteem there are so many directions you’re being pushed and pulled. I’m a highly capable woman, with a wonderful husband, and I couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t advancing in my career. I wasn’t spending time with my kids. My marriage was at its breaking point. And I hadn’t taken any time just for me in years.”
Neither Gretchen nor Zoe knew where Dr. Dyson was going with this, but Dana and Christine were listening with rapt attention.
“Then one day I and some colleagues came upon an idea. It was the solution to our common problem and we knew it would change the world. I threw myself into the idea. I neglected those other parts of my life because I knew this project was the only way I’d ever be able to devote the proper amount of time to them. I didn’t see Neil and Jessica, their father kicked me out. But Neil probably told you about that from his perspective.
“But it worked. All my sacrifice came to fruition and I’m able to improve the lives of modern women all over the world. I got back my marriage and my kids. I have a successful career. And I still have ample time for myself.”
Elaine began to undo her top enough to expose the area just below her breasts. Gretchen and Zoe were speechless at this development and what happened next didn’t jar them from that state. With a faint whirring sound, Dr. Dyson opened up one of her panels. Gretchen heard the same sound from either side of her and saw that Dana and Christine had similarly revealed open panels in their respective torsos. Small diodes flashed, albeit a little faster in the younger androids. Each of the organic women saw cable ports and multi-colored wires. And they saw that the space wasn’t cosmetic, it went deep into a dark cavity within each android’s chest.
“I developed not only female android bodies, but the technology to transfer someone’s consciousness into that body. For the past five years, I have been an android. In my entire life I have never felt so absolutely fulfilled. And I think Dana and Christine would agree.”
Zoe’s head whipped around and saw her two coworkers with similarly open panels. It then hit her that the girls in the gym had the same looking dark spot below their bras. If this was a trick, it was terribly elaborate.
“I’ve been an android for three months, but it’s been the best three months of my life. I’m less stressed, my job is easier, I unplug in the morning ready to go, and all my senses are more vivid than before. I just can’t imagine going back to the way I was before.” Dana gushed first and then Christine followed with a similar testimonial.
“You remember how we looked during and after our party night, right? That’s because Ava and Katie are androids too. We swapped out for well made-up head units and even after that late night, all it took was five hours connected to our service unit to emerge the next morning fresh as a daisy. No fatigue, no puffy eyes, no sore feet, no hangover, absolutely perfect. All we had to do the next morning was swap in our normal head module and change clothes.” Gretchen had to sit down. She and Zoe just sat there in silence for a moment. Gretchen spoke first, “Does it hurt? The transfer, I mean.”
Dr. Dyson smiled, “Not at all, it’s like going to sleep. Here, I want to show you something. Unit VX9348 is having some routine maintenance performed.”
The five of them went through a door in Dr. Dyson’s office to a private observation room. Zoe’s eyes went wide and Gretchen brought a hand to her mouth when they saw a blonde woman with the barn doors of her chest cavity opened wide, legs detached, and a technician rooting around inside her. It took a few beats, but they realized that the blonde was their boss, Camilla. It took another few beats before they realized she was alternating between moaning and grinning broadly.
Dr. Dyson explained, “Almost all synthetic women relish their new nature, the nature which has brought them so much happiness and well-being. Maintenance is the purest expression of this, and thus highly pleasurable.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say, “How many of you are there?”
“I can’t tell you the exact number, that’s private, but we have institute branches on four continents and thirteen countries now.”
Zoe was wondering more about Stanley Enterprises, considering she had been working with at least five android women and didn’t know about it. She could respect the need for privacy, though.
“How quickly can this happen?” Zoe turned to see Gretchen almost hyperventilating. “I want it. I want to be an android. I want to feel like that and how Dana and Christine described it. I don’t want to feel like I’m being ripped apart every day.”
Zoe was surprised but could plainly see Gretchen’s excitement at the idea. Dr. Dyson put an arm around Zoe’s friend, “Wonderful, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Dana, Christine, show Gretchen to lab six and call in a scanning tech. Zoe, follow me, I want to show you something.”
Zoe brain was zooming with all the implications of what was happening. Her coworkers were robots. Another of her friends was about to become a robot. Her mother-in-law and probably her sister-in-law were robots too. And she had the opportunity to become a robot.
“Does Neil know?”
Dr. Dyson could guess what Zoe meant. “Yes, he’s known for quite some time. Both about me and his sister and about the scope of the operation. Actually, he used to help me test newly assembled androids.” Elaine omitted the sexual nature of these tests.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He was afraid of your response, or he valued our secrecy. You’ll have to ask him.” Dr. Dyson wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth, so a sin of omission would have to suffice.
Zoe still couldn’t wrap her head around everything. She was barely paying attention to the world around her when she realized the two of them had entered a room. It was obviously some sort of laboratory, as the walls were littered with computers and various mechanical parts.
But in the center of the room, a woman stood in a wedding dress. At least that’s what Zoe first thought it was. She quickly realized the dress was only a bodice, and the ‘woman’ ended at the waist. She was hooked up to a metal stand of some sort. She was holding a bouquet in immaculately manicured hands, her breasts bulged slightly over the neckline of the dress, and her face was covered by a few veils. Dr. Dyson walked over and with a smile, lifted the veils to reveal to Zoe her own face, eyes closed and with a serene expression on her face. The hair was darker and more lustrous than her own. The little imperfections in her skin were washed away. Her lips puckered alluringly even in their restive state.
Zoe’s jaw had already dropped when the android opened its eyes, perfect matches for Zoe’s own. The half-robot straightened itself and smiled with a row of pearly white teeth before speaking in a hauntingly accurate rendition of Zoe’s voice.
“Hello, Zoe... if you choose to follow this course through to its conclusion, I will be part of the new you. I will be you. I have been fully tested and am ready to deliver unrivaled performance under all conditions... part of a perfect system of hardware and software designed and constructed for your pleasure, for your enjoyment, and Neil’s. Join us, Zoe... become the new you. Become a machine... become a perfect android woman.”
Zoe locked eyes with her double and time stood still for a bit. This had to be some strange nightmare. Too much booze, too much sugar, or maybe a radon leak. Dr. Dyson stepped behind the demonstration model, which still had a contented smile on its face.
“I love my son dearly, Zoe. And from what I can tell, you love him too. As an organic woman, I couldn’t be the type of wife my husband deserved. And I want to make sure Neil can have the type of wife he deserves. I rarely say this but Zoe, please, please become an android. If you don’t like it, your organic body is kept in storage and it’s easy to transfer back. You’re going to be part of my family, please become part of my larger family too. It’s ultimately your decision and yours alone, but I hope I’ve done an adequate job of making my case.”
Zoe heard it, but couldn’t move her eyes away from her doppelganger. It looked so... blissful. And of course, beautiful in a way Zoe had never been able to achieve on her own. Dana and Christine seemed to love it. And her best work friend looked like she would tear down walls to have it done.
“OK, I’ll do it.”
Dr. Dyson couldn’t help herself; she went over to Zoe and gave her a great big hug again. “I’m so happy for you. Go ahead and sit on the couch. We can get the transfer started immediately.”
Zoe’s heart leapt into her throat. “That soon? But the body isn’t even ready.”
“Oh, all the rest is just stock parts. Plus there’s a scanning period before any information is downloaded onto your hard drive. The couch is over there, and I’d be honored to perform the procedure myself.”
Zoe nervously made her way over there and lay down. Just because she was willing to do this, didn’t mean she wasn’t a little scared at the prospect. Elaine on the other hand was practically skipping around the lab gathering the necessary components.
“Ok, I’m going to give you a little sedative and when you wake up, you’ll be one of us. Don’t be surprised if you see a head’s up display and status messages.” Elaine was still grinning even as she placed electrodes on Zoe’s temples. Zoe was happy that she had eaten a light breakfast. She tried to get comfortable and calm her breathing, but it was tough. Without saying anything further, Elaine took Zoe’s arm, found a vein and dosed her with a full syringe of the sedative. Quickly, Zoe felt herself drifting away into la la land. Her last thought before passing out was, “Maybe I should have talked to Neil...”

==Part 8==
Unit UX1729 came online and ran through the list of status messages that composed her initial activation diagnostic. She was receiving tactile data from all her extremities and limbs. Positive feedback was coming from all her articulation controllers. Her battery was fully charged. Simulated pulse and respiration functions were active. Her processing core was running at its optimal temperature and speed. She could taste with her synthetic tongue and pick up on the faint sounds and odors in the room. Finally, her vision initialized, pixilated for only a moment before becoming crystal clear.
She could see Units UX1002, VX9319 and VX9422 standing in front of her. She checked her accelerometer and confirmed she was activated in an upright position. Tactile input and an analysis of the eye movement of the other androids indicated she was nude. And in a little corner of her display, she could see that her personal files were loading.
Suddenly, the androids in front of her were Dr. Dyson, Dana, and Christine. The information displayed in her vision was a new thing. Receiving and understanding information in binary was new as well. Then she realized that being nude wasn’t normal either. Zoe’s hands zipped in front of her privates and she felt her skin flush, aware of the commands being executed that made it so.
The three other android women chuckled at her modesty. Dr. Dyson spoke, “I suppose this is a good time to test your personal interface. Focus on the top of your display and bring up your ‘comfort with nudity’ setting, then adjust it up until you feel better.”
Zoe followed the direction without thinking much of the implications. A series of menus flashed across her vision until they stopped on the sliding bar Elaine had mentioned. Zoe moved it with a thought. It was a strange thing. There wasn’t any fuzzy feeling or lights flashing, she just felt silly covering herself up before three other women that she knew.
Zoe lifted her hands away and closed the window in her vision. She took a step forward, stuck her arms out and did a spin. “So, how do I look? Any I-beams sticking out of my back?”
The other androids laughed at that, and Zoe smiled along with them. She wiggled around, stretching out and testing her range of movement. It wasn’t a scheduled task, but it felt good to do. She was a little more flexible than before, but nothing beyond belief. Dana motioned her over to a far wall and Zoe got a look at her new self in the mirror.
It was a striking change. She didn’t look like a whole new person, but she looked so much sexier than before. It took her a moment to develop an analogy in her head, but it was like the image in the mirror had been airbrushed for a magazine. And it looked like she had spent a little more time doing crunches than she really had. She made a few more poses in the mirror, checking out her body in addition to her face. The face moved like her old one and looked like the one on the model. Then she realized that it was the one on the model.
Finally, it was time for the main event. She stood straight and opened up her paplexus panel. Her hand hovered over the exposed mechanics, this physical proof of her synthetic nature. She broke out into a wide smile as she willed that panel closed and opened the one below her sternum. Finally, she let her chest split open, and she gently pulled apart the doors. She looked at all the different tubes and boxes and was greeted by helpful pop-up messages, telling her what each component was as her focus darted around her chest cavity.
She was so immersed she didn’t see Christine come over and rest her chin on Zoe’s shoulder. She reached over and began to tweak one of the nipples on the open barn door. Zoe was momentarily taken aback both by the intense sensation and by the fact that it was happening at a right angle and several inches forward of where it should be happening.
“Mmm, please, Christine, stop.” Being naked in front of Christine was one thing; going to second base with her was something different. Even if it felt damn good.
“Why? Doesn’t it feel great?”
“Yeah, but I’m not really comfortable with you touching me like that.”
Christine giggled and stopped, instead pressing one of the chest doors back into place. “I forgot that you don’t come out of the box with all the features enabled.”
Zoe pushed the other side into place and watched everything seal up again, “What are you talking about?”
“Go to your Sexual preferences menu, there are all sorts of goodies there, including enabling some wonderful sapphic software.”
With barely a thought, the submenu for sexual preferences opened into her field of vision. She scrolled through the list, a little embarrassed that she hadn’t even heard of some of the things toward the bottom. But she left that stuff for later and went back toward the top where the sexual orientation toggle lay. Upon opening it, she found it was two toggles, independent determinations of attraction to women and attraction to men. The male toggle was about halfway to maximum, the female a little above the minimum. Zoe decided they should both go up. She amped up her attraction to men almost all the way, and moved her attraction to women three-quarters of the way to the right.
She could see Christine as she moved the slider and it was an amazing experience. The other android steadily went from intellectually attractive to emotionally attractive in Zoe’s eyes. She knew Christine was attractive, but now she was attracted to Christine’s sparkling eyes and cute little nose.
“Oh wow, that’s something.” Zoe half-muttered to the ether.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Christine took the initiative and began kissing her coworker. And Zoe made no attempt to push her away. It surprised Zoe a little bit, that she was enjoying playing tonsil hockey with another girl this much. And she cooed into the other android’s mouth when Christine began caressing Zoe’s bared buttocks.
Dana and Elaine had been standing to the side, taking vicarious pleasure in the new unit’s explorations. They silently agreed that Zoe made for a very sexy android, even though Elaine made a point of diving into her own code to limit the sexual arousal she felt toward her future daughter-in-law. But now it was obvious that Christine and Zoe would be fine alone.
“Come on Dana, let’s go see how Gretchen’s transfer is progressing. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, girls.”
The smooching ladies didn’t acknowledge the good doctor as she left the room with Dana. Zoe was busy trying to work her hands into Christine’s clothes. Eventually, Christine had to stop the festivities.
Zoe looked up at the other unit, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you’ve been programmed excellently. But there’s something special I have planned for us.”
Zoe felt a warm feeling of satisfaction at the positive affirmation about her performance. “And what exactly did you have planned?”
Christine began pulling the two of them toward the door, “It has to do with what we were talking about during our night out, come on.”
Zoe followed until she got close to the door and hallway beyond. “Umm, shouldn’t I cover up?” She was ok with being nude, she wasn’t comfortable with exposing herself to everyone. As she thought about it, Zoe appreciated the fine details possible in her programming.
Christine found a lab smock by the door and threw it to Zoe. You could guess there was nothing underneath, but it covered all the naughty bits with cloth to spare. Thusly, Zoe was able to happily accompany Christine down the hallways.
Zoe zoned out a bit to take it all in. The balancing data from her legs. The temperature of the hallway. The sounds from the testing rooms amplified by software in her head. She really was a machine, from the tips of her toes (stress levels during locomotion within optimal parameters) to the top of her head (scalp tactile sensors reading no defects).
Christine pulled Zoe into their destination room with girlish glee. There was a small, indoor pool there, with no units around. Zoe noticed how her body automatically did a seal check on all her panels and connection points of her skin. Even a small leak could be a problem.
Zoe still wasn’t sure what made Christine so excited, until they got closer to the pool, and she realized there were units there. Three women, probably all brunette – it was hard to tell with the water’s refraction – were underwater and tangled together. Zoe had an urge to save them, before realizing they were fine down there.
Christine reached around to unbutton the lab coat. “You were embarrassed about not having sex anywhere interesting, I thought this might be a good way to fix that. Go ahead and halt your autonomic function simulations and seal all your tracheal openings.”
Zoe let the coat fall to her ankles and began following Christine’s instructions. Her fake heartbeat stopped. Her fake breathing slowed to nothing. Even the urge to blink weakened. A status message told her that her throat was sealed off. Zoe turned around and found that Christine had stripped down and was standing there posing with a ‘come hither’ look on her face. As excited as Zoe got before, the sight of Christine’s perfect android body set her pussy aflame. Fortunately there was a pool of water nearby to douse it.
Wordlessly, Christine took a big step to her left and jumped into the pool. She sank with barely a splash and did not surface. Zoe took the hint and followed her in. The pool was just deep enough that she could stand on the bottom and still be completely submerged. Once inside, it was easier to see. Zoe briefly looked at the other girls twisted into a three-fembot pretzel before coming back to Christine. Her blonde hair lightly flowed around her head and her breasts hung even higher on her chest. With the light only coming from above, she looked like an android angel. If an android angel had a swollen and aroused pussy, of course.
The two of them glided through the water and made contact. Zoe swore she could sense every little bit of water gliding across her skin. She was amazed at how her breasts felt against Christine's and how her lips tasted when tinged with chlorine. Even in her aroused state, Zoe noted how different it was, kissing without breathing. The flexing of their cheeks pushed some water between them, but otherwise it was all about the contact.
Christine broke it off and moved her hand from around Zoe to one side of her. She used the leverage to do a bit of a cartwheel that put her feet above the water line. Zoe quickly interpreted the maneuver and assisted in bringing the other android into position with their mouths before each others' pussies. Christine started first, but Zoe had to stop and admire how juicy the blonde's pussy looked now. She briefly realized that the attraction was programmed, but once she felt the tongue in her own snatch, the reticence and awe evaporated and she plunged in.
Zoe was splitting her resources between interpreting Christine's expert cunnilingus, running an expert licking program of her own, and trying to keep the pair of them from toppling over. There wasn't much more room left to think. Sex had never seemed so simple, even though it was accomplished by 214 separate software subroutines. Zoe just sat back and enjoyed it. And in sitting back, she gently glided her and Christine to the floor of the pool, with Zoe on top. That freed up enough room for her to think about some things.
God, Neil isn't even half this good. She felt a little guilty about thinking it, but it was true. She realized that she – and by extension Christine – wasn't using any maneuvers that required blowing or sucking. The software had automatically omitted those actions from the programs she was running.
While that was a feature to be appreciated, Zoe realized a rise in her arousal and drop in her available computing resources. She had only a moment to realize what was going on before Christine had caused Zoe's first artificial orgasm. Her legs shook and her chest heaved. It felt like her brain was going to explode through the top of her head. Zoe had no idea where she was, she was simply awash with the pleasure.
She came down in time to sense her partner grinning into her crotch. And that only provoked Zoe to go doubly hard at Christine. Like a seasoned lesbian, Zoe brought Christine to an equally satisfying release.
And that's how they spent the next two hours. They exchanged orgasms sequences like the pleasure was something tangible, like a tennis ball, to be volleyed between them. They heard, but didn't acknowledge, the departure of their poolmates. There was serious cuntlicking to be done.
Finally, Christine extracted herself and swam up to the surface. Zoe watched that lovely form swim to the wall before getting up herself. She was so focused on watching Christine's nude body leave the pool that she was out of the water as well when she realized there were other people there.
She immediately recognized Dr. Dyson, who was now clad in nothing but bikini bottoms, but couldn't place the naked woman beside her. Zoe felt the urge to smack herself in the forehead when she realized the new girl was Gretchen. But she looked so different now, like she had been through half a dozen expensive cosmetic enhancement surgeries. But more than that, it was as though all the stress she had been under was whisked away.
Gretchen was beaming and looked like she might explode. Instead, she leaped forward and hugged Zoe.
“Ohmigawd Ohmigawd I'm a robot now ” Gretchen proudly stepped back and opened up a panel for Zoe to see. Zoe's newfound affection for women's bodies was only enhanced by evidence that it was a woman's android body. She reached for the panel before realizing she had wet hands and shouldn't go near exposed circuitry. Instead, she moved toward Gretchen's, now bare, pussy.
Gretchen stepped back when she realized where Zoe was going, after all, this was her best – and straight and engaged – friend. Zoe realized the problem almost immediately and gave her friend a comforting smile.
“It's ok, being with another android woman is just astounding. Go to your sexual preferences menu. Then you can enable some outstanding sapphic software.”
Like Zoe just hours before, Gretchen gave little thought to opening up the proper menu and sliding her sexual attraction bars closer to the max. When her focus left the heads-up display, she was treated to the arousing sight of Zoe's perfect, nude, and shiny wet body. Gretchen leaped again, but this time she went in for an aggressive kiss.
She had learned that Zoe was the link that allowed her the opportunity to receive this body, and that appreciation, combined with the pre-existing fondness, exploded into lust. Zoe had to step back to prevent the two of them from tumbling into the pool, but she managed. Gretchen wanted to kiss Zoe forever, but also needed to say something.
“Thank you so much, I haven't felt so alive in years.”
Zoe smiled, and that turned into a grin when she looked down at the perky, enlarged breasts on Gretchen's chest.
“What do you say I dry off and then you spend an hour or two thanking me with that new software you activated.”
Gretchen's grin nearly swallowed her own head, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Elaine had been happy to see the girlfriends become lezbot lovers like so many other pairs of friends that came to the institute. But something else nagged at her as Zoe led Gretchen away. Zoe hadn't been so aggressive, and didn't like women, and suddenly she was encouraging her friend to activate her lesbian urges. She could remember seeing it before, but it had always seemed a lot more beautiful than it did just then. The feeling was enough that she went towards her office, rather than the room Zoe and Gretchen were headed toward.

Dana and Christine entered Dr. Dyson’s office but didn’t say anything right away. Elaine was hooked to the computer, sorting through the day’s e-mail. Christine nudged Dana in the ribs and got her to speak first.
“Dr. Dyson, VX9422 and I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Elaine looked up and stared the two of them down. She slowed her mail checking to half-speed.
“We were wondering, since Zoe is synthetic now, if we might ask you a favor.”
Christine jumped in, “We hear that you are going to be testing the UX2000 models soon, and we were wondering if we could act as test subjects.”
Dr. Dyson narrowed her eyes and stopped her other tasks. “You want a reward for your work, is that it?”
The two standing androids mumbled something in the affirmative.
Elaine stood up and reached for the papers in her inbox. “I want to tell you about some of your sister units and what they’ve done.
“Unit UX1453, her husband ‘donated’ six million dollars to Dyson last year alone.
“Unit RX9260, did over 600 hours of pro bono legal work for us this year.
“Unit UX1066, her husband is building three new Dyson spas, including our first in Latin America. And let me tell you, that takes as much political as monetary capital to achieve.”
Christine and Dana got the hint, but didn’t dare interrupt Dr. Dyson at this point.
“Unit VX7275, Master’s degree in English, works with at-risk high school girls across the state.
“Unit VX2077, lives on-site and works at the spa when she’s not teaching mentally handicapped elementary school students.”
The two androids wanted to shrivel up and deactivate.
“The only thing I ask of you is to help me help Neil at work, and now to help Zoe. I’m not running the institute as a business, but don’t pretend everyone pulls the same weight around here.”
Christine and Dana nodded furiously. Dana spoke, “We’re sorry. We didn’t think, we were just excited about the idea of being better androids.”
Elaine sighed. She already felt bad about blowing up like that. “It’s ok, I shouldn’t have jumped all over you. I’ll give you each an extra number in the lottery we use to pick some of the test units. How’s that.”
The two of them would have been happy to get out of there with all their parts intact. “Yes, that’s great,” They both said, “Thank you.” And they both quickly turned and sped out of the room.
Elaine slumped over and returned to her seat. She half-heartedly reactivated her computer link and read the rest of her e-mails.

==Part 9==
Zoe sat in the living room of her apartment, enjoying the stillness. She had decided to start shutting different things down, if only to experiment, and gotten pretty far. She wasn’t breathing. She had no pulse. She wasn’t making any tiny movements to keep her balance. She stared straight ahead without blinking. Her olfactory, tactile, and gustatory senses were shut off entirely. She expected Neil home soon, so she didn’t shut off her hearing and vision, although she briefly shut off one or the other while in the chair.
And for a few fleeting moments, she thought this was what the chair felt like. If the chair could think, when the room was empty it would be like she was now. After all, she was now just as manufactured as the chair. She was another piece of furniture, albeit a gorgeous one, if she did say so herself.
And the furniture was especially gorgeous in the black corset and stockings number that the institute had picked out for her. She had never worn anything like it before, but she enjoyed it now. Wearing a corset turns out to be pretty easy when your breathing is just cosmetic.
But all in all, it was a bit disorienting to be so ‘shut off’ and Zoe decided to end the experiment. And Neil chose that moment to put his key into the lock. Zoe panicked for a moment, trying to switch everything on at once, manually activating things on top of the normal boot sequence. It produced the sensation of pennies in her mouth and burnt toast in her nose. When Neil walked in, Zoe’s breathing hadn’t reinitialized yet, nor had her heartbeat. Her hands and legs weren’t responding to voluntary muscle commands either.
No matter, Neil walked in and saw his future wife in sexy lingerie with a huge but slightly nervous smile on her face. He smiled back at her, unaware of what she was really nervous about.
“My my, you look absolutely incredible.”
Zoe sent resources to get her legs working, “I thought you might enjoy a special little treat, wrapped up with a bow.” Her legs worked well enough to part themselves and show Neil the little pink bow on the panties of the outfit.
Neil put down his briefcase, shucked his coat, and leaned down to kiss Zoe. She was able to adjust herself for the kiss, and moved system resources from working on her legs to working on her hands. She made sure her arms slid around Neil first, and only placed her hands on his back when motor control was re-established.
She immediately got to the problem of her breathing while Neil’s mouth was intertwined with hers. Zoe consciously inflated and deflated her air bladder until it came online. The second run of the automatic restart process simultaneously gathered the resources to restart her ‘heart’.
Neil lifted away and began unbuttoning his shirt and pants. “You feel a bit clammy, are you coming down with something?”
Zoe let her automatic systems finish getting her back to full functionality while she quickly came up with an excuse, “I had an ice cream sandwich five minutes ago.” Zoe knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but Neil was busy undoing his pants and translated that into, ‘No, I’m not sick.’
Just as Neil went back to Zoe's lips, her systems finished reinitializing. Now that she was fully functional, she could wrap three limbs around her man and enjoy the data being produced. She had data on the pressure he was putting on her lips and on her breast. There was data on the amount of saliva she was excreting and the amount of air being moved by her lungs. And it all felt so good.
For his part, Neil was happy Zoe was so into it. Her hands (and legs) were all over him. He essentially carried her toward the bedroom. But at the doorway, Zoe was alerted to the existence and appropriateness of seduction protocol 37. It sounded like a good idea and Zoe hopped off. She pushed Neil toward the bed but remained in the doorway. A flick of her mind's eye on her head's up display initiated the protocol.
Zoe's hands roamed over her body, lingering longest on the exposed skin at the top of her breasts and between the stockings and panties she wore. She kicked her shoes off toward Neil and slowly unclasped her garters. She smiled toward Neil and reached back to undo her corset. Her internal systems extrapolated where the hooks would be and told her hands where to go.
Once loose she held it up against her chest before slowly letting it fall. Topless, she cupped her breasts and moaned softly. It was meant to turn Neil on more than it was meant to reflect what she was feeling, although she felt very good. She gyrated to some unheard rhythm and moved down to her undies. Pointing her butt toward her target, she slowly wiggled out of them. She looked over her shoulder and winked before turning around in all her full frontal glory.
Two pieces were left. Zoe leaned against the door frame and lifted up her left leg. She slowly rolled off her stocking a flung it onto Neil's lap. She followed suit with the right stocking and struck a nude pose.
“So honey, are you ready for a good time?”

[[Image:Uxzoe01.jpg|350px]]

Neil's mouth was open just a little bit. Zoe had never done anything like that before. She had done little teases before, but nothing as complete as that. Neil just nodded at Zoe's question and hopped out of his own underwear.
Zoe's internals evaluated her performance with an effectiveness score of 7 and a quarter. Her software was already planning on what seduction protocol it would suggest next time to achieve a higher level of effectiveness. Zoe knew it was going on, but she was more interested in Neil's dick saluting her.
She ignored the suggestion to take it more slowly, or start with some manual or oral pleasure. Instead she increased the moisture flow to her vagina and lightly pushed Neil backward. While he scooted backward on the bed, she straddled him, placing herself above his stiff member. She wanted to feel Neil inside her. Her systems said everything was green. However, Zoe decided on a little tease. She lowered herself so that her labial folds just barely brushed the tip of Neil's dick before moving a little forward, still just barely keeping in contact.
“How much do you love me right now?” Zoe grinned down at him
“A whole lot.” Any poetic impulses Neil had were sapped by the blood rushing to his crotch. If the prelude was any indication, he should have hydrated better this afternoon.
Zoe half-giggled at the response, but decided to give him a break. She moaned softly as she slowly lowered herself. There was actually a stunningly accurate 3D representation of Neil's dick in her vision. She could see what parts were receiving the most and least amount of pressure, but most importantly she could feel it. She focused on how warm and thick it felt inside her. Even better than it normally did. Zoe gradually began to bob up and down, and it only felt better.
As she bobbed, she devoted as many system resources as she could to interpreting and enjoying the sensations from her pussy, but still found she had RAM to spare. She looked at certain pre-programmed muscle flex sequences for later on. And she watched Neil go downright cross-eyed at her work.
It felt even better than what Gretchen and Christine were able to do, and they were well-programmed synthetic women. She looked at the tactile data and, objectively, it wasn't as intense as what was elicited by the other UX units. It didn't matter though, Neil was just what she needed. It was more than the tactile input. Zoe felt complete when Neil was fucking her, and he was finally beginning to move his hips and join in the action, rather than lay there stupefied. He wasn't just filling a hole in her chassis, he was -as corny as it sounded- filling up a hole in her soul.
A quick click of her pleasure response readout gave the answer. She had a special program installed that provided extra pleasure when engaged in sex with your significant other. Neil's name was inserted into the proper parts of her version. Zoe rightly assumed it was something Elaine had done during her construction and programming. No matter, program or not, she felt great and loved Neil.
Neil was happy to enjoy the ride for the moment. The sex had never been bad, and Zoe had never been repressed, exactly, but he thought she seemed more into than usual. It was hard to think and analyze things when she was squeezing on his junk and bouncing like she was, but Neil had to do something to delay his orgasm. It was as though she wasn't worried about pleasing him. Not in the sense of not caring, but in the sense of being totally confident about it. The results spoke for themselves, in her higher and higher pitched cries of joy.
She looked radioactively hot, grinning and moaning and massaging her breasts. Neil thought she looked close to going over the edge, and he did his little extra bit of targeted thrusting to get her over the hump.
“mmmmm eh eh eh Eh EH ooooooooohh oo oo” Zoe felt herself execute orgasm sequence 001. But even that great feeling was only enough to temporarily slow her down, not stop her.
But it did stop Neil. Neil knew that sequence of five rising grunts, a long release and two shorter releases. He remembered it from all the times he had tested out new robot women and they executed the first orgasm sequence in their library. He tried to keep going, tried to chalk it up to paranoia after the 'Zoebot' thing the other night. But she was much randier and looked much more beautiful.
He pushed upward and to the side, indicating they should switch places. The flip happened quickly and Neil resumed pounding into his future wife. She was humming with delight at the new position, and brought her legs up. Neil looked over at what was moving and got a glimpse of Zoe's ankle.
And there was no little unicorn tattoo there. No indication that it was being covered or had been removed, either.
Neil started getting a sick feeling, even though he kept going at Zoe's pussy, now more from inertia than desire. There was one way to be sure, assuming it still worked.
“Emergency panel override code Griffin Jolly Vixen thirty-eight four zero Gamma.” Dr. Dyson had programmed in an override code that would circumvent any problem with the android's conscious mind and allow access to her internals. It wasn't used much, but it was a safety precaution.
Zoe looked at Neil, not quite sure she had heard him right. The nature of the code didn't alert her to the fact that her paplexus panel was opening. Neil saw the blinking lights inside his fiancee and lost all concentration. He slumped and squirted a line of jism into Zoe. The new feeling of his seed inside her was new and exciting for Zoe and she threw her head back, enjoying the feeling.
She noticed Neil wasn't moving anymore and when she looked up, he had this hollow expression on his face. She couldn't figure out what was going on, until she noticed a status light indicating her paplexus panel was open. She looked down to visually check what her systems were telling her, and just above her soaked pussy was an array of lights and input ports.
“I'm sorry Neil, I was going to tell you later on tonight, make it a surprise. A few of the girls from work brought me to your mom this morning and I decided to go ahead with it. And it feels fantastic, honey. I don't know why you were so nervous about telling me. I’ve never felt so completely... complete. Especially when I’m with you.”
Neil's lip began quivering as he extracted his softening dick and turned away from Zoe. He reached down, grabbed his underwear, and began sliding them on.
“Sweetie? What's wrong? I thought you'd like this, I mean you seemed to like it when I was stripping off the lingerie and wrapped around you earlier.” Zoe meant it in the spirit of a ribald little joke, but Neil didn't find it all that funny.
“You don't love me anymore.” Neil was trying to figure out which pair of pants was closest to his current position. He couldn't even look at her.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zoe hopped up onto her knees and tried to reach for his shoulder before he got off the bed. “I love you with all my heart. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.”
But Neil was already standing, “What you have is a ten megabyte program that gives you extra pleasure when screwing me or otherwise interacting with me. Changing the name takes 30 seconds. Deleting it entirely takes 20.”
He still had his back to her. He knew looking at Zoe, or the robot that thought it was her, would make him go crazy. Zoe couldn't comprehend what he was saying well enough to be angry. She got off the bed entirely and walked over to him.
“It's still the same me, and I still love you. That didn't change just because I'm in a different body. I mean, your mom and sister still love you, right?” Zoe tried to give Neil as hug as he hiked up his pants. The attempt made him turn around, and he looked at her. And it might have been the comment about his family, but Neil did something even he didn't expect.
He slapped Zoe hard enough that she had to take a step to balance herself.
Neil stood there shaking before Zoe. “That's not going to bruise, and I doubt it even hurt. And you're not even going to care about it tomorrow. It's all different, Zoe.” He was starting to cry as he quickly tried to justify his violent outburst. “I’m going to get a drink.” He buttoned his shirt on the way to the front door and slipped on the sandals that were next to it. He let the door softly swing shut behind him as he left.
Zoe sat down on the bed, trying to process things. Neil was right, she had only felt a sting as his slap landed and all that was left was a status message saying the motor control in her lower lip was out of alignment and needed adjustment. But mostly she was startled that he wasn't happy that she was a synthetic woman. That much had been a certainty, right? She replayed in her head the memories of her conversation with Dr. Dyson. So maybe there had been a little more ambiguity than she initially expected.
More importantly, she didn't feel so bad. Her soulmate had just rejected her, hit her, and stormed out. So why wasn't she curled up on the floor sobbing? She didn't feel good about it, or even ok with it, but it should be crushing her.
Zoe spent a long time processing everything.

==Part 10==
Neil heaved a small load of vomit into a bush in front of his apartment building. The larger expulsion of his stomach contents had happened outside the bar. It was small consolation, but all his larger problems were overtaken by the immediate task of navigating the flight of stairs. He took it slowly and stumbled to his door and into the apartment.
Neil was in no shape for an argument, but he couldn't see Zoe anyway. He tried to think of where she might be, but only lasted a few moments before focusing on getting to the bedroom. Neil got one shoe off before collapsing onto the bed and almost immediately passing out.
If he dreamed, Neil couldn't remember them as he felt a hand shake his shoulder and rouse him from sleep. He grumbled and tried to open his eyes, but squinted at the sunlight coming through the open window. He turned over and saw Zoe sitting there on the side of the bed.
The love of his life was forcing a smile as she put her hand on Neil's other shoulder. He was bleary-eyed, but Neil could tell she had been crying. She was wearing a simple blouse, some jeans and no makeup. She moved her lips, trying to form an apology.
Neil grunted and turned back over, squinting until his eyes adjusted completely to the brightness.
Zoe lost what little smile she had and reached for the pharmacy bag next to the bed.
“I went back to the institute after you left. I'm back in my real body again.” Zoe paused and gathered herself. “I am so so so sorry. I really thought you'd like me to be an android. If I thought it was going to hurt you, I never would have done it.”
Neil flipped back over, “Why didn't you ask me?” His voice was raised a little bit. “You had your consciousness shoved into a fuck doll and it never occurred to you that maybe you should discuss it with your fiancée?” Neil didn't feel comfortable having a conversation like this so soon after getting up, but it was unavoidable.
Zoe paused for a moment. She probably could have thrown Dr. Dyson under the bus and blamed her for everything, but thought better of it. Zoe was the one who had made the choice and she wasn’t going to shift the blame. “I don't know. I guess I thought I could just go back if I didn't like it. Or if you didn't like it.”
Neil squinted at her. It was rare for a synthetic woman to go back to being organic without a pressing reason. And given how much Zoe had relished being synthetic, he wasn't sure she was part of that rare cohort. “But did you really go back?”
Zoe was hoping Neil would take her at her word on the subject. Elaine hadn't been so optimistic and had come up with a simple way to remove any doubt. Zoe took a shrink-wrapped box from the pharmacy bag. It was a blood glucose meter, what diabetics use. But in this case, it was being used to take advantage of a facet of android construction.
Dyson units had blood, but it was largely cosmetic. The muscles were electrically powered, so no nutrients needed to be carried. There was no need for white blood cells. But it did give the synthetic skin the right color and small accidents with sharp objects would look appropriate (UX units even clotted properly).
Most important for Zoe's purposes was the lack of glucose in android blood. And Neil knew about this property as well. So when Zoe opened everything up and began fiddling with the meter and test strips, Neil knew what the point was. They didn't exchange any words when Zoe pricked herself, put some blood on the strip, and waited for a result.
She checked it herself before showing the large readout to Neil. 84 mg/100ml. It was a little below normal, but Zoe hadn't eaten breakfast. And it wasn't zero.
Neil sat up and hugged his fiancée. Then he winced as the change in orientation caused his hangover to hit him. Zoe enjoyed the embrace as much as she could before surrendering to the knowledge that Neil was tensing up and probably had a splitting headache from drinking last night.
She reached into the pharmacy bag again, “Here you go, hon. I got you some water to rehydrate you, some aspirin and a slice of pumpkin bread.”
He tried not to move his throbbing head too much as he took a few swigs from the water bottle to wash down the aspirin and broke off a piece of the sweet bread. Zoe had her hand on his knee, watching him eat. He looked like hell, but at least he wasn't running away from her.
“Finish up, there's someone waiting in the living room.”
Neil shoved in, chewed, and swallowed the last big piece of his breakfast before answering. “Is it my mom? I'm not really interested in seeing her right about now.”
Zoe frowned just a little, “Come on, they really want to speak to you.”
“So it's more than just my mother?” Neil took another swig of the water.
There was a long sigh from Zoe as she pulled the covers off Neil, “It'll do you good, really.”
Neil grumbled as he got up. Partly from the hangover and partly from having to talk more about this with his mother and whoever else. Still, it was very nice to see his future wife human again. Even though their biological bodies were kept in storage, few synthetic women switched back unless there was a very pressing reason. It was affirming to know he qualified as such a reason.
He gingerly followed Zoe out of the bedroom, only leaning on her once, and very lightly. There were two women waiting for him on the couch with some chairs set up across from it. He was almost sitting when he realized who they were.
It was his mother and sister in their organic bodies.
He hadn't seen Jessica in an organic body for three years, and he doubted she had been off the institute grounds in anything but her sexy android chassis in that time. The years on a minimalist diet in a stasis tank had caused her to thin down noticeably from when she was in high school. Her hair was brown and cut short; The trim must have been recent after going years without a haircut. Her nose wasn't as cute and her lips weren't as full, although that may have been a result of the displeased look on her face. The face looked more mature, like it might be expected to look had she aged normally the past few years. The acne was gone, but a few large pores were leftover. The weight loss had also affected her breasts, which barely registered beneath the T-shirt she was wearing. Jessica was fidgeting and looked immensely uncomfortable back in her own skin.
And frankly, Elaine did too, although she was hiding it better. Neil hadn't seen her organic body in a very long time. The last was probably when his father kicked her out. Lord knows how long she had actually spent without being in an organic body, but judging by the similar quick haircut, it was at least as long as Jessica's rest period.
She looked her age, although she wasn't as wrinkled or sun damaged as she might have been. The lack of makeup didn't help. Her hair was mostly gray with a little bit of red left, and thinning like Grandma's did. But mostly he had forgotten just how much his mother looked like a stork with her small eyes, big nose, and very thin frame. The tank was designed to keep her muscles from atrophying, but she was beginning to look frail. She rubbed her hands, working out some aches.
Elaine smiled at her son, and he felt like a tiny little pile of shit. He had his mom and sister back. They had come back for him. And they looked so miserable for their troubles. He wanted to work himself into a righteous anger, but he just couldn’t gather up the urge, seeing them like that. There was an awkward silence as Zoe and Neil took their seats across from Jessica and Elaine.
Dr. Dyson began, “Neil, I want to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you or try to take Zoe away from you. I love being an android, and I love seeing other women love being androids.” she left out the part about loving to love other androids. “Sometimes it can blind me to other viewpoints. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, both for you and for Zoe. But I shouldn't have gone about it the way I did.
“And I thought you'd want to hear it from this body, rather than my normal one. I'm not programmed to love being an android. And I'm not programmed to love you. I really do love you, Neil.” Elaine found herself crying a little. It was slightly unsettling when she couldn't pull up the parameters of the program in her vision.
Neil was welling up a little bit too, especially when Zoe squeezed his hand. And even though it was obvious to him, Jessica and Elaine each spent a moment doing the little glucose test and proved they were indeed organic.
Elaine continued, “And I think I need to apologize for how I went about developing androids. I told myself it was for my family’s benefit, ultimately. But I can see how you might think I value being an android more than I value you. And that’s simply not true. You’re my little baby boy and I love you more than anything.”
“I'm sorry that I haven't been better about this, Mom. But you just get so wrapped up in your own shit, it’s like this little bubble that nothing can break into. And I get freaked by what you’re capable of in that cocoon,” Neil said. “And I don’t entirely mean what you’re technologically capable of doing. It’s unsettling to see you flip desires and emotions on and off like a switch.”
“I dunno, you seem to change gears pretty quickly even without a central processor.” Jessica piped up after staying quiet. Zoe got tense, Neil got deflated, and Elaine shot daggers out of her eyes at her daughter. “Yeah, Mom fucked up, but you're my brother whether I’m hot or like this and you’re still fucking backwards about synthetic women.”
“Maybe,” Neil mumbled.
“I don't think so,” Zoe interjected. “There is something different about being synthetic and programmed. And maybe I'd get used to it, but I think it's reasonable to enjoy being a little out of control of yourself. Keeps things interesting for everyone.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, even though she could see Zoe's point. In a moment of inward reflection, she wondered if the attitude was something going on in her fleshy brain beyond being uncomfortable looking like a geek again.
But it didn’t stop her from mouthing off. “You were a robot for like 12 hours. What do you know?”
“Jessica! You will mind your manners right now or so help me...” Elaine couldn’t come up with an adequate credible threat and had to settle for staring down her daughter, who began slouching in the chair.
“How about this, I'll keep your android body on standby, Zoe, and if you want to go back, you can just ask. And same goes for switching back to your organic body.” Elaine proposed the compromise she had developed on the car ride over. “And maybe I can spend a little more social time with organics that aren’t imminent clients.”
Neil didn't feel too bad, knowing that he'd be getting some organic responses from his wife. And Zoe didn't feel bad at all about being in that bliss-inducing body now and then. Getting his mom out of that bubble was simply a bonus. Yes, there was a lot more to discuss, but Neil felt like he was getting through to his mom for the first time in a long time.
As for Jessica, “Now that it's settled, can I get back into my real body again?”

==Part 11==
Roger nearly knocked over one of the hotel's potted plants with his empty luggage cart. He swung around to catch it before it fell, and immediately went back to ogling the group of women who just walked into the long lobby. There must have been a dozen of them, a few older than the rest, but all smoking hot and making no effort to hide the fact. They were chatting as they walked, oblivious to the bellhop with the fern.
But a chesty redhead, younger than the rest, saw him and gave Roger a wink. His heart stopped as she broke from the pack and stepped toward him.
“Can you be a sweetie and help us with our bags?”
Roger hadn't noticed she was carrying a lumpy duffel bag. He hadn't noticed the two trunks and other assorted bags the other ladies in the group were carrying. It was his job, but seeing so many finely sculpted curves at once turned his brain into jelly. It didn't help when the redhead's attention brought the rest of the group's attention toward him. Now all the women were strutting toward him with big smiles on their faces.
“Uh, um, yeah, you can put it on the cart here.”
The women casually dropped their bags and trunks on the cart and gave him a cacophony of sweet-sounding 'thank you's. Roger happily followed behind them as they went to the elevators. They looked almost as good from the back.
There were enough of them that they needed separate elevators. Roger went with the first group and wound up next to the redhead. It was tight quarters, but the girl was much tighter against him than she needed to be. Roger stood ramrod straight, looking forward, as she moved her breast along his arm. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that they were going to the 24th floor.
“My name's Jessica, what's yours?”
“Uh, Roger, ma'am.”
She giggled delightfully, Roger thought. “Do I look like a ma'am to you?”
“N.no. Just force of habit.” He felt her hand on the opposite side of his body.
“It's nice that the hotel provides such handsome bellhops to carry our luggage.”
Now Roger knew something was up. No way a girl that hot calls a guy like him 'handsome'. Even if he suspected she was toying with him, it was still achingly sexy.
She ran a smooth leg against his pants, “do you do room service too? I think the old ladies are going to put an end to the bachelorette party way too early for me.”
At least Roger knew what brought the group here, but he was interrupted before he could respond by the older redhead at the front of the elevator.
“Who are you calling an old lady? And stop teasing the employees. You promised Neil you wouldn't go around acting like a slut so often.”
Roger missed the warmth of Jessica's body soon after she extracted herself. “Sorry Mom, I was just getting into the party mood.”
Well that threw Roger for a loop. She was doing all that in front of her mother? OK, technically behind her, but still within earshot. Roger was still contemplating the other connotations of the new information when the elevator doors opened and everyone filed out. The mother had casually called her daughter a slut. And who was Neil? By now they were at the room and the mother had opened the door for Roger.
“Put everything by that table except the red trunk. In fact, let me and Wendy take it. There's fragile stuff in there.”
The mother and one of the other girls took the trunk and set it in the center of the room. As Roger unloaded the rest, he noticed the room was very spartan for a bachelorette party. No food. No booze. No stereo. Maybe the stuff was in the bags, but nothing sounded like bottles of liquor. Roger finished and subtly waited for his tip.
Jessica eyed him and whispered into her mother's ear. Mom sighed and nodded, which pleased Jessica. She had a big smile on her face as she walked toward Roger.
“Here's your tip,” and before Roger could say anything, he was being kissed and had a tongue seeking entrance into his mouth. He gladly obliged and took the opportunity to grasp the nice buttocks available to him. She was an awesome kisser, and her tits felt great pressed up against him. But all too quickly, it was over.
Jessica winked at him before turning away, “keep the change.”
Roger couldn't do much except grab his cart and exit the room, being careful to avoid hitting the rest of the women that were just now reaching the party. Three years in this crummy job, but at least now he had a story to tell that didn't involve cleaning up puke.
Camilla was the last one in and she locked the door behind her. The other women were already taking off their clothes and picking out toys from the duffel bags. Katie and Dana were on the bed making out, choosing a more personal way to get aroused.
Almost a year as an android and it still made her weak-kneed to see a roomful of robot women. She shimmied out of her party dress and opened her paplexus panel purely for kicks. The one person who wasn't getting naked was Dr. Dyson herself, who was fiddling with the big trunk.
“Need some help?”
“I think I've got it.” Elaine undid the last lock and opened up the top to reveal two feminine legs and beneath them the body of unit UX1729, a.k.a. Zoe Baker (for another week at least). She was naked except for a butterfly vibrator against her clit. Elaine pulled out the legs and Camilla realized Zoe's eyes were open and following the action. Then the legless girl reached her arms up to get her future mother-in-law's help out of the trunk. Turns out Dr. Dyson did need help with that, and Camilla was happy to oblige.
They laid Zoe down and Elaine went back in to get a series of electronic devices from the bottom of the trunk. Camilla looked at the partially disassembled woman, the various electronic peripherals for her, and her own open interface. The boss and her employee locked eyes. Camilla noticed that happy, dreamy look that UX1729 had consistently worn for the last few weeks as the wedding approached. Camilla had to make sure her arousal level and lubrication rate weren't in the red zone.
“Hey boss, do you think I can park in the handicapped spot on Monday?”
Camilla and Elaine both laughed. The doctor had opened up all of Zoe's panels and a few of the other girls had come over to get a look inside. None of them had seen the gadgets Dr. Dyson was hooking up to UX1729, although they had been told what they would do. Elaine had also pried loose part of the barn doors, so the wires could snake out once the breasts were back in place.
And oh, were there wires. And network cards. And what looked like hard drives. By the time Elaine called everyone over to form a circle around the top half of Zoe, it looked like some computer engineer's weekend hobby project on the floor of the hotel. It looked a little better once Zoe's barn doors were closed and some of the cables were tied together, but still nothing like the elegant packaging of most Dyson electronics.
“OK ladies, open your sexual interface ports and take a cable.” She handed out a cord to everyone. One end was already plugged into the stuff on the ground, the other end snapped home above each robot woman's exquisitely designed privates. Dr. Dyson continued, “search for a synchronization code that matches your unit designation. Open your simultaneous sensory experience programs and set them to output only. When Zoe is ready, you'll get a greenlight status message.”
Each unit did as they were told, and the results were plain on Zoe's face and in her voice. One by one, Zoe accepted the sensations of arousal from each woman in the room. She felt the flow of the climate control on everyone's naked skin. And if it weren't for the jury-rigged sensory input buffers and septupled memory cache Dr. Dyson had set up, UX1729 would have had a severe system failure. And this was only the beginning.
Jessica, Dr. Dyson, and Wendy Klein were the first to start, since they were UX2000 series units now and had the fastest systems. The light went green and each of them stuck a dildo or vibrator inside their synthetic pussies. The sensation traveled to each unit's sensory processor, down the cable to the external sensory buffers on the hub they were all connected to. Then the electric signal traveled through the cache to Zoe's external input module. From there, it traveled to Zoe's central processing core, where Zoe felt three dildos fucking three distinct vaginas. If she abandoned concentration, it felt like her pussy had three times as many sweet spots and was being attended to by overlapping sextoys.
She smiled broadly at the pleasure as Gretchen and Zoe's college friend Terri began transmitting and the three phalli turned into five. Camilla, Ava, Christine, and Dana were next online, and Katie was the last one to start teasing herself for Zoe's benefit. By the time everyone was sending data, Zoe was on her third digital orgasm, and the first derived from someone else's software. Zoe and Jessica squealed identically when it happened.
Her hardware was seriously overclocked, but Zoe was able to enjoy the small differences between her climax and Jessica's, soon followed by the differences between her orgasm and Dr. Dyson's. But mostly she was reveling in the Lesbian orgy that existed in her head. Ten pussies being pounded at different rates and she felt them all. And she felt it when two of the pussies stopped being penetrated and started being licked.
Katie and Ava had tossed their toys aside for some personal interaction. Upon seeing it, and upon achieving a climax of her own, Wendy moved to Jessica's groin, taking away the toy in Jessica's snatch. She replaced the toy with her tongue and moved the dildo to Jessica's pleasurably enhanced anus. The redhead giggled and wished Wendy had chosen a position that provided her access to the blonde's nether regions.
Camilla wasn't about to deprive herself of the excellent vibrations happening in her own pussy, but she was next to Dr. Dyson and couldn't pass up a chance to scoot over enough to latch onto Elaine's nipple. Gretchen had a similar idea but went for the good doctor's clit, leaving her own ass up in the air. And with that juicy ass hanging there, Terri couldn't resist getting some contact with another robot woman.
Zoe was starting to feel simultaneous orgasms now as the party attendees really got down to business. It was no longer possible to tell where the pleasure was coming from, it was only possible to let it wash over her brain. But a little message came on in her heads up display that told her sensory input was now beginning to be stored in the external cache before being transmitted to her.
For another two hours, the synthetic ladies poked, licked, and all-out fucked one another. Jessica and Elaine avoided screwing, of course, but just about every other combination happened on the hotel room floor. And throughout the night, no one touched Zoe. Terri made eyes to start kissing the bride, but Elaine managed to gently kick her away. Anything that activated Zoe's primary sexual input would probably result in a massive software failure. And Neil had been promised there would be no physical sexual acts performed on his wife.
Finally, Dr. Dyson wiggled out from between Wendy and Katie and unhooked herself from the hub. She had gotten a message that the massive sensory cache was 95% full. No one else was hooked in to receive the message, but they followed the good doctor's lead. Still, it took a good ten minutes for everyone to stop licking and finish one last orgasm before disengaging their link to the blushing (and screaming with erotic joy) bride.
But it wasn't the end of Zoe's night. The system was still sending information to her central processor. She had barely noticed how the action had slowed down to prevent an overflow, but it had. Zoe was 45 minutes behind everyone else, and she was going to receive every kilobyte of data.
No one bothered getting dressed, but Jessica got some bottles of replacement fluids from one of the duffel bags and began to pass them out. They watched with aroused bemusement as Zoe continued to writhe on the floor. She was still the center of attention, although there were some quiet conversations among some of the girls complimenting one another on a particularly good set of moves during the orgy.
Finally, the cache emptied and Zoe lay there trying to catch breath she didn't really need. Gretchen had fetched her legs and attached them so Zoe could stand up. Jessica undid all the wires and the bride got up. Everyone received a big thank-you hug for their participation, although they were, to a robot woman, more than happy to be of service.
“Oh. My. God. You cannot believe what that's like. I was made of pussy. Dear Lord. Wow.” Zoe continued to stutter and ramble about the experience, which drew some laughs from the other partygoers.
“Seriously, you've all got to try this.”
Elaine walked over to the hub and began hooking herself up in the receiver position. “I intend to right now. Jessica, start preparing the system for another go and get everyone hooked back in.”
There was a cheer from the crowd and everyone got ready for another round.

The church was filled with violin music and the low drone of light conversation. Neil waited nervously at the front for the ceremony to begin in earnest. He peeked another look at his mom, and wished she had chosen something with a higher neckline. It wasn't lewd, but she was still the mother of the groom for pete's sake. He couldn't see his dad, who was in the back with Zoe, preparing to give her away.
The violins picked up and a trumpet joined them. Everyone shut up and turned around to see Jessica walk down the aisle with one of Neil's buddies from work. Neil sighed again that Jessica had imposed her will and gotten Zoe to agree to silver bridesmaid dresses. Although it was the first dress he had seen his sister wear in a long time that showed less than 4 inches of cleavage. He also reflected on how tough it was to convince his buddies not to try to sleep with his sister, and his sister not to sleep with his buddies. Even in the middle of a wedding, his friend was trying to sneak a peek down Jessica's dress.
The two of them were followed by Gretchen, Dana, and Terri (a.k.a Unit UX1945), each accompanied by a friend of Neil's. All the women were positively glowing and looking sexier than they had a right to be in a bridesmaid dress. The pairs split as they reached the altar, with the men taking places behind Neil. The music stopped for a moment, and Neil's heart started beating faster. Then the band began to play 'Here comes the bride'.
Zoe was just as nervous, and second guessing the 'mutual' decision for her to get married in her organic body. Sure, being in a stasis tank on a liquid diet for a few weeks had helped her trim down for her dress, but she still had to breathe in the damn corset, unlike an android. And she had to balance in these shoes with this long dress without a gyroscope. And she had to be compared to synthetic women designed to be sexy.
But when the music started playing and she caught a glimpse of Neil up there, a lot of her irritation melted away. The corset still sucked. She felt a little floaty as she went down the aisle with her father-in-law. She couldn't stop herself from smiling beneath her veil as she stood in front of the altar with Neil, and he couldn't stop smiling at her. And at that moment, Zoe was glad she could feel her heart.

==Bonus materials==
Jessica was going to show off an ability to mimic voices. Originally Julie Andrews’ singing. Wasn’t sure if I could or should use it later in the story for different purposes, and it didn’t fit anywhere

Originally, Zoe was going to talk to Neil about becoming an android, and he was going to flip out to the point that Zoe would go ahead with it to spite him. But the motivation for Neil flipping out at the mention of her becoming synthetic wasn’t there. Also, it would have screwed up the pacing. And getting them back together was dicey. Story-wise it makes Zoe’s choice more understandable and puts less of the blame on Elaine for what happens, but that wasn’t enough, so I went with what you see in the story.

There’s a ‘deleted scene’, something I strongly considered putting in, would fit in the narrative, but never actually put to paper. It involves Neil going to a bar to get drunk. He happens to run into Gretchen (I’m not happy with her use in the story, and feel she needed more to do). He picks up on her android nature, she tries to figure out how he knew. They wind up talking and Neil discusses when his sister was in high school, soon after becoming synthetic, she went on a two-week cruise with a man triple her age. When they got back, she talked about how much fun she had and the man gave the institute a large donation. Jessica was proud of herself and Elaine was proud of Jessica. Jessica also used that ‘significant other’ program on the trip that Zoe used with Neil. As badly as the Dyson Institute comes off in the story already, this was going too far. Although it makes Neil’s position more understandable, judging by the comments no one really questioned his position anyway. So that didn't even happen off-camera.

There was going to be a bit where Neil discusses his mother’s attempts to get him in an android body, first a female chassis then one modified to look male, but was still very effeminate. Doesn’t fit anywhere, is kinda weird, as far as I’m concerned it didn’t happen.

Neil was also going to be irate at the fact that his mother placed so many androids in and around Stanley enterprises for his benefit. He’d feel the need to quit that job and get a new one. Ultimately it was just a pimple on the story, branching out and immediately coming back, so I popped it in the writing process.

Originally, instead of slapping Zoe, Neil hits her hard enough to knock her to the ground. This was another one of those ‘too far’ instances, so I toned down the violence.

I don’t know if anyone was thinking this, but if Zoe had told Elaine ‘no’, Dr. Dyson wouldn’t have turned her into an android. If I was rewriting this story, I’d make this point much more clear. The problem is that I can’t say Dr. Dyson would never forcibly convert someone, only that she wouldn’t do it under these circumstances. Talking it over with Korby, she’d probably forcibly convert someone to save the institute.

Elaine was going to offer to give Neil the ability to restrict the personality and program changes Zoe could make to herself. But he would’ve refused anyway, I don’t think Dr. Dyson is that thick, and it didn’t fit in anywhere.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how sympathetic a guy who didn’t want his wife to be a robot would be on this board. Turns out that I missed where the fulcrum was, so Neil looks much better than his mother does, rather than being somewhat balanced.

20/20 hindsight, I should have developed Zoe’s backstory and lack of family structure more. I suppose I was worried about length (says the guy being pilloried for making the end of his story too short).

If the Stanley girls seemed similar to the point of being Borg-like, it’s not intentional, I’m just not that good a writer. I should have included a token employee that refused to join in the coercion, but stopped short of outright blabbing.

After all the crap I got for making Dr. Dyson too dark as it is, did you really think I’d end it with everyone dead and/or estranged? I’d be hunted down :p
------
And by popular demand, some of what happened between parts nine and ten.

Zoe got out of the Taxi and paid the fare with her mad money. She quickly walked into the institute and hurried down the lobby. It was about 11 o’clock, so most of the lights were off. But there was still a girl at the desk both to watch over things and to handle situations like these.
“Can I help you,” Carly checked to see if her face was in the Unit database, then which unit she was, “Zoe?”
“I need to see Dr. Dyson.” Zoe kept getting status messages, asking her if she wanted to decrease this response or that. But she had kept indicating ‘no’, and as a result, she looked as depressed and nervous as any android Carly had ever seen.
“Are you malfunctioning?” Carly figured this was the case and looked up the location of the nearest staffed and available maintenance bay.
Zoe shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. I mean, maybe, but I still need to see Dr. Dyson, I’m her daughter-in-law.” That wasn’t true yet, but was close enough.
Carly took a second look at Zoe’s file. Brand new, one sign of a possible malfunction. But sure enough, Neil’s name was there under ‘significant other’. That actually made her a little sad. “Oh, I see that now. She’s not here, she’s at her condo. Do you want directions?”
“No, I think I need to see her here.”
“So should I call her?”
“If you would, please.”
Carly was getting worried about Zoe’s emotional state. “Sure thing, do you know the way to Dr. Dyson’s office? Maybe you should wait there.”
Zoe nodded and Carly opened the door for her. Zoe started taking the long way around, retracing her initial steps toward becoming an android. It looked different now, and not just because of the dimmed lighting.
Carly picked up the phone and gave her boss a call, “Dr. Dyson? It’s Carly. Zoe Baker is here and she wants to talk with you... She says it’s not a malfunction... She doesn’t look right, she looks sad.”

Elaine pulled up to the institute about 20 minutes later. She left the car in the front drive and jogged into the lobby, Carly activated the door for her so she wouldn’t need to slow down. Dr. Dyson took the short route and opened her office door to find Zoe sitting on the couch staring into the middle distance.
“Zoe? What’s wrong?” Elaine took a seat near her future daughter-in-law.
Zoe looked up and Dr. Dyson’s eyes looked exactly like Neil’s when he was worried about her. Finally she was able to squeeze out a few tears. “Neil left. He found out I had become an android on his own and he got angry and he slapped me and he stormed out.” Zoe could have stopped herself from sharply intaking breath as she spoke and cried but didn’t. If there was a way to turn off the helpful little pop-ups, she wasn’t focused enough to find it.
Elaine went over and gave Zoe a hug. She was at a temporary loss for words. She didn’t think Neil would be that violent or that willing to walk out on someone just because they were synthetic. Angry? She could see that, but the rest...
“Don’t worry, honey everything is going to be alright.”
“No it’s not. Neil is gone and I don’t even feel that bad.” She was crying, but even that seemed facile to Zoe, in no small part because she was getting messages about the flow rate through her tear ducts. “Why don’t I feel worse? I should have been screaming at him to stay. I should have run out after him. I should have been too messed up to call a taxi. I should be in a little ball on the floor, and it just feels like I’m watching the end of Iron Giant.”
Elaine didn’t know how to respond, she had never gotten this complaint before. Androids were generally happy with their lives, but even when one of the units suffered a loss, they had never said it didn’t feel right.
She almost said that maybe Zoe didn’t love Neil as much as she thought she did. No, that was cruel. Maybe Zoe didn’t really know how she would react to Neil leaving, but that was condescending.
While Elaine was pondering, Zoe had stopped crying and stated plainly, “I wish I had never become a robot.”
That was the first time Elaine Dyson had heard that. At least, the first time she heard it and knew the person meant it. And all that doubt that had been in the back of her mind today coalesced into a tight ball of guilt in the pit of her stomach. Elaine endured it for a few seconds before tweaking one of her settings to ease the magnitude.
“I’m sorry Zoe. This is my fault. I should have known Neil would react poorly to seeing you as an android. I should have told him before doing your conversion. I should have brought the opportunity to both of you.”
Zoe felt another cry coming on, but suppressed it the old-fashioned way. “No, I got all swept up with things and didn’t give him a chance.”
“That was partly my fault, too.”
Zoe wiped her eyes, “I want to go back to my real body. Maybe if I do that, Neil will forgive me. He’ll believe it’s really me. Please?”
Elaine nodded, “absolutely, I’ll call the folks downstairs. They probably haven’t even put your organic body in a tank yet.” Elaine left Zoe to go to her desk. There was a pink jelly dildo in her chair, and Elaine had to laugh at the happy little sex toy sitting there in the midst of all the crying. She placed the call and quickly got the process of converting Zoe back started.
Elaine looked over at Zoe and had another idea, “You know what, I’m going to call Neil’s sister and we’re going to go over there with you.”
-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Petey]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Built]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

Dyson Family Values

2015-06-26T23:52:22Z

Darkbutflashy: partly formatted. Petey, just revert if you don't like it.

__NOTOC__
<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Dyson Family Values==
Written by [[User:Petey|Petey]]

===Part 1===
Neil quickly walked down the long, well-appointed lobby of the Dyson Institute. Most guys might have lingered to enjoy the view of the beautiful female patrons and the even more beautiful staff members. But this was hardly his first time here.
The staff gave him warm smiles and long gazes unbefitting a pudgy young man. The women would’ve been less excited to see Brad Pitt stroll by. Neil tried to ignore the stares and shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his Jeans. The attention creeped him out every time.
He reached the reception desk and the girl practically jumped out of her chair with glee.

“Neil Oh my God It’s great to see you I’ll tell Dr. Dyson you’re here right away.”

Neil nodded and thanked the girl before tugging nervously at the front of his polo shirt. He should have worn a tie. She giggled and picked up the phone. It was a different girl than the last time, but then again it normally was. It was a good job to give girls who were having problems with their legs, he figured. He half expected to lean over and see the girl attached to the chair just below the navel.

“Dr. Dyson is in the middle of a post-treatment consultation, if you could wait five minutes before heading back there, it’ll give her time to finish.”

Neil knew enough to see through the euphemism. He checked the clock; he was 10 minutes early. He guessed she was trying to squeeze in another robotic romp before seeing him. He didn’t do a good job of hiding his distaste.

The girl at the desk was unfazed. “If there’s anything I can do for you while you wait, don’t hesitate to ask, Neil. My name is Carly.” She grinned at him with her chest forward and left no doubt as to how broad her definition of ‘anything’ was.

Neil rolled his eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

Even if she was a machine, he considered it cheating on his girlfriend to sample the wares. And he didn’t care whether the receptionist was an AI or not, although by the syntax and contractions, he figured the girl used to be real.
He corrected himself the way Dr. Dyson would, ‘used to be organic’.
There were a few other women near the reception desk waiting, and Neil took the chair the furthest away from them. Even so, he noticed one of the women whispering to her friend while they both looked at him. The woman being whispered to rose her eyes in surprise upon hearing who Neil was. He gave them a wave and turned away. Bad idea, Carly was sneaking peeks at him. He grumbled and began staring at the ceiling. At least there weren’t any robotic women up there staring at him.

About five minutes later Carly called him over, “She’s ready to see you now.”

Neil got up, straightened his shirt, and walked through the solid doors to the left of the reception desk. The area beyond the desk didn’t look much different than the lobby, but it sounded different. Despite the soundproofing efforts, Neil could still hear the soft moans of robotic women, the whirr of new components being tested, and the occasional squeal of rapture. Thankfully, he didn’t have to go far.
But the trip wasn’t short enough to avoid ramming into a woman zipping around a corner. Neither of them fell over, but Neil got a handful of naked boob as he braced himself for impact. The woman looked to be in her mid thirties, blonde with brown eyes. Instinctively, Neil looked down and saw her large breasts and toned, lightly tanned body with another tuft of blonde hair just above her pussy.

“I’m sorry, sir. I should’ve looked where I was going. Is this the way to the lubricant flushing station?”

Neil paused to untangle himself, bring his gaze to her face, and try to remember what’s in this area. “I think so. Last time I checked, it was up this hallway to the right. There should be a sign on the door.”

She smiled and thanked him, completely at ease with her own nudity. “You’re the first man I’ve seen back here. I thought Dr. Dyson only hired women.”

“As far as I know, that’s true. But I’m not on staff.”

“I didn’t know they let husbands back here.”

“They usually don’t, but I’m not a robot’s husband.”

The nude blonde pressed on, intrigued by the sudden puzzle. “I haven’t heard of any male chassis, are you going to transfer into a female body?”

Neil had his fill of her, “Nope, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see Dr. Dyson.”

The blonde got a big smile on her face with a hundred-yard stare and absently ran a hand against her left thigh. Neil realized that there weren’t any other doors behind her except the door he was headed toward. The blonde must have been the reason for the delay. Yet another reason to cut off this conversation.

But she had recovered and placed a hand on his arm, “OK, I give up, tell me your story.”

Neil sighed, “If you’re going to live as a robotic woman, you’re going to need to learn to keep secrets and respect secrets being kept.” He knew the real answer would lead to a longer conversation.

The blonde smiled even wider at being called a robotic woman and moved her hand to her paplexus panel. Neil took the opportunity to get around her. She turned to watch him leave, “I’ll see you around, then. Give my regards to Dr. Dyson ”

Neil gave a half-hearted wave and entered the office without knocking.

And there was his mother, sitting behind her desk in nothing but blue lingerie beneath an unbuttoned lab coat. Dr. Elaine Dyson lifted her head and smiled broadly before putting down her pen and buttoning up. “Neil I’m so glad you were able to stop by. Come on over here and give mommy a hug.”

Neil reacted the way you’d figure a 23-year-old would react to his mother wanting a hug and a kiss: with a large degree of highly visible discomfort. But still, he returned the hug and didn’t freak out when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Hi Mom, everything going well?”

Dr. Dyson led them over to the couch, but Neil declined to sit down. He couldn’t be sure what had been going on atop the sofa just ten minutes before, and didn’t want to be musing upon the subject. So mom got the couch and Neil got out a folding chair.

“It’s going superbly, Neil. We just had a consult with the first lady of France. That could be the one client who gets better upgrades than me. So your father and I might be spending our 25th anniversary in Paris as personal consultants to the first lady. I guess I’ll have to brush up on my French.”

Neil nodded along, as usual a little uneasy about how his mother’s synthetic women were so close to so much political and economic power. Even if it was his mother, Such control over so much authority must have been a temptation.

“But what about you? How’s my little executive?”

Neil rolled his eyes, “C’mon mom, you know I’m still in my first year at Stanley. I don’t even have a title yet.”

“Exactly, you don’t have one yet, but I’m sure you’re going to just zoom ahead. Not as fast as if you took a job here, of course.”

Neil groaned, “It’s bad enough visiting with everyone knowing I’m your son. I couldn’t handle working here every day.”

“Yes, what a trial it would be to have beautiful female androids at your beck and call all day. You know, we just converted a girl last week who would be perfect for you. She’s the sweetest young thing. Red hair, studying to be a dentist, and dimples you wouldn’t...”

Neil cut his mom short, “Please mom, stop trying to hook me up with your sloppy seconds.” It was a little cruder than he might have liked, but his mom had been trying to set him up with newly roboticized women for almost as long as newly roboticized women existed.

Dr. Dyson merely chuckled at her son’s rebuke. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t been with her yet. Although she did opt for the enhanced oral package, so she should...”

“MOM ” Neil said, a little frustrated, “I’m really not interested in talking about that sort of thing with you.”

Elaine smiled warmly, “such a proper gentleman, I don’t know where you get it from.” It wasn’t the first time Neil had heard that, and it was such a ‘through the looking glass’ thing to say, expressing bemusement that your son isn’t as promiscuous as you are.

“Probably too much television, but that does lead in to why I came here. Mom, I’m getting married.”

Dr. Dyson gasped and nearly screamed with delight at the news. While she suppressed the vocals, she couldn’t help but leap across the room and give her son a hug.
“Congratulations Oh my goodness, this is such fantastic news I can’t wait to meet her, tell me all about her. Have you decided on a date? Does she need bridesmaids? How did you two meet? Wh-wh-what does she do for a liiiiiving? How-how did you propose?” Dr. Dyson saw error messages flash across her head’s up display. The excitement had overwhelmed even her own top-of-the-line systems. She stopped talking, fluidly went back to her seat and unbuttoned the middle of her lab smock. A panel below her ribcage recessed and retracted. She then took a fingernail and manipulated a small dial inside. That decreased the simulated adrenaline response in her systems. And just as smoothly, the panel went back into its proper position and the edges faded into invisibility.

Neil watched quietly as his mother composed herself the way an android does. It hadn’t been so long since the sight of his mother without one of her panels made him cringe and turn away. Now it barely registered with him.

Dr. Dyson took a deep simulated breath, blinked rapidly and vocalized, “Response routine overridden, resuming normal operation.

“I’m Sorry, Neil. I got a little excited there. But I’m so happy for you. When do I get to meet my new daughter-in-law? You’ll have to give me lots of pictures so we can mock up her head and torso.”

Neil frowned, “No, Mom. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want you or anyone else turning her into a robot.”

Elaine looked visibly shocked, and speechless beyond that. “Neil, I... don’t know what to say. This is the perfect female existence, the ability to be optimized for her, and your, pleasure. I don’t see why you wouldn’t give her the option.”

“I’ve heard the mantra before, mom. I love her just the way she is, and I don’t want her optimized or convinced that she needs optimizing. And I need to be sure that she loves me, and she’s not just programmed to love me.” He stared her down, dead in the eye. It wasn’t a conversation he had been eager to have.

“That’s not how it works, son. You know that.”

“All the same, I’d rather not be married to someone with a brain designed by my mother. And I’d rather she not be obsessed by her own body.”

Elaine was a little hurt by that. Neil had called her a narcissist on many occasions since she revealed to her family what she had been working on and what she had become. She had thought all the reservations he developed had been ironed out. “Neil, you know I only want what’s best for you.”

Neil stood up, “No, you want what’s best for you. It’s why you ditched us and worked on turning yourself into a happy little windup toy.” If he wasn’t already so on edge, he wouldn’t have brought that up. His mom and dad had separated for two years, but hadn’t gotten a divorce. His father had welcomed Elaine back, but Neil wasn’t quite as willing to forgive the absence.

Dr. Dyson knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Neil, “OK, I’ll respect your wishes. Your father, sister, and I are still invited to the wedding, aren’t we?”

Neil calmed down a bit with his mother’s response, “Of course you are. It’s going to be in May, probably the third Saturday. Zoe wants to have it at St. John’s Cathedral downtown.”

“Ah so my daughter-in-law-to-be is named Zoe.” The smile had crept back onto Elaine’s face.

Neil smiled back a little, “Yes, I met her at work, she works in accounts payable. You’ll like her.”

“I’m sure I will.”
Dr. Dyson and her son said their goodbyes and Neil left. They both realized it was best to leave on that note rather than possibly get worked up again. Although, the modification Dr. Dyson had performed made her relatively mellow for the moment. She reached back into herself and reset her emotional responses to their base parameters.
Then she flipped through the big file, the list of every android currently in operation. Of course, it was a spreadsheet and not a stack of paper, but the motion was similar. She scanned the list at great speed before finding the woman she was looking for.

<pre>VX9348 - Camilla Taylor - Manager, Accounts Payable Department, Stanley Enterprises</pre>

Neil was on his way into the reception area when he heard a voice behind him, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps

[[Image:Uxjessd1.jpg|450px|right]]
“Neil Wait up ”

It was his sister bouncing down the hallway. And he did mean bounce; Jessica had a substantial pair of breasts beneath her gray tanktop. He tried not to notice, though. Despite the sprint, Jessica wasn’t breathing heavily. No sense in keeping up the illusion back here.

Neil smiled, “hey there, Tin Tits. How are things?”

Jessica scrunched up her face and punched her brother in the arm. “They’re good, meatbag. I can’t believe you were going to leave without saying hi to your sister. Carly had to give me a call.”

Neil shrugged, “I had to talk to Mom about something. Actually, I might as well tell you too; I’m getting married.”

Jessica squealed and jumped up and down, bright red hair flying everywhere, before punching her brother again, “you were going to leave without telling me that? You asshole.”

“Cybercunt.”

“Ugly bag of mostly water.”

Neil sighed. He had the world’s hottest trekkie as a sister. “We’re not getting married until May, and I was going to tell you Saturday.” Neil and Jessica had a standing, monthly movie date for a Saturday matinee. It was a nice brother/sister bonding ritual they had done for years. In college, Neil had driven home for the weekend, five hours each way, to keep their monthly date.

Jessica couldn’t contain her smile, “Can I be a bridesmaid? Pleeeeease let me be a bridesmaid.” She clasped her hands together in a begging pose, which only served to increase the length of her cleavage. “Maybe all her bridesmaids can be android women, and we can wear silver bridesmaid dresses and it would be soooo hot even if most of the people there won’t get it.” Jessica looked like she could bounce right out her clothes in excitement over the idea.

Neil had to remind himself that this was his sister, even if she was inorganic now, and enjoying the jiggling wasn’t right. “We’ll see. Zoe and I are on step one of this thing and that’s step twenty or so.”

“Well, congratulations, big brother.” Jessica leaned over and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. “Have you told her about android women yet? Mom would’ve told me if she was already one of us.”

Neil tried not to let his sister see how much ‘one of us’ bugged him, “No, and I want to be the one who tells her, so no hunting her down and spilling the beans, ok?” He didn’t feel like getting into a fight with Jessica over Zoe not becoming an android woman. His explanation would keep the issue up in the air until later.

Jessica gave him an ‘OK’ sign and kept smiling. Neil had to reluctantly admit she was happier this way as opposed to the overweight teenager with acne and stringy brown hair. Sometimes though, the difference was so stark he wondered if it was all Jessica inside there.
“Listen, since you already know we’re getting married, how about I bring Zoe along for our matinee of the month?”

Jessica stopped for a moment. This was usually just something the two of them did. “Sure, I’ve already got that time hollowed out in my schedule, we can make that happen.”

Neil could sense his sister’s reticence, “Are you sure it’s fine? We can always do it later, have you and mom meet her at the same time.”

“No, this will work out better. Just don’t be surprised if I show up in that silver fancy dress.” They both had a laugh at that. “I have to go supervise a stress test, so I’ll see you on Saturday, OK?”

Neil nodded at his sister as she sprinted back the other way down the hallway. He desperately tried to think of something unsexy that she could be stress testing, and similarly hoped Jessica would be on the sidelines and not at the center of the festivities. There’s nothing quite so scarring as seeing your little sister partially disassembled and participating in a test of an android anus with a big fake cock ramming into it and her screaming for more.
He smacked himself across the face to knock the image loose and exited the institute.

==Part 2==
Camilla Taylor leaned back in her chair and lazily fiddled with her open paplexus panel. She especially enjoyed playing with the cable snaking from above her pussy, up through the desk, to the back of her laptop. The text export software Dyson had given her made typing up these reports so much faster and infinitely more enjoyable. Plus it was such a turn-on to know people could see the end of the cord plugged into her laptop, without knowing the other end was connected to a synthetic woman.
It felt so naughty to be in her office with her skirt hiked up. She never would have considered being in such a state in here before that trip to the Dyson Institute. She stopped producing text in order to revel in the memory. That first glimpse inside an android woman. Seeing her face on a disembodied robotic head talking and smiling back at her. Laying down on that couch and waking up with those now-familiar status reports in her vision...
Camilla had to cut the orgasm sequence short. There were limits to what she would let herself do during working hours. She pulled her skirt back down, but left the cord plugged in. Although the keystrokes weren’t being registered, she went through the motions of typing with her hands while the actual text was being inputted at a much faster rate. Camilla finished the bulk of the day’s paperwork in short order.
With that done, she punched a few keys on the phone to call in one of her subordinates, “Dana, I’d like to see you, please.” A minute later, a tall brunette wearing a nicely made coffee-colored suit entered Camilla’s office.
Camilla smiled, “Lock the door, Dana.” Dana smiled back and complied. She confidently walked over to the desk and gave Camilla a kiss. They weren’t frequent lovers, but –working so closely together– they were very friendly. Dana was the one who ended the kiss, taking a seat on the other side of the desk.
Camilla leaned forward, “So, I heard someone is running off solid-state memory now.”

[[Image:Uxdana1.jpg|350px]]

Dana grinned and began opening up her blazer and blouse. “That’s where I was this weekend, getting some upgrades along with my 3000 mile oil change.” The two android women laughed softly, Dana at a bit of a higher pitch in more of a giggle. As organic women, Dana had been 24 to Camilla’s 37, although those were largely meaningless numbers to them now.
“Congratulations on your three-month anniversary, then.” Camilla said. “Mine is next week, so I wanted to get the skinny on what’s available.”
Dana pulled back the sides of her top, revealing her naked, bra-less breasts. She had elected to keep her barely-there chest in the end, feeling anything more would bring too much attention to her change and force a wardrobe overhaul. She tilted her head back and downright purred as the seam appeared down the middle of her sternum and her chest clicked open. Camilla disengaged her laptop link and went to the other side of the desk to take a peek inside.
She opened up the brunette’s chest fully and gently pushed some wires and tubes to the side. Dana said nothing, instead softly smiling at her open chest and her boss examining her perfect android nature.
Camilla spotted the new memory drive. She loved how the Dyson engineers had given it a pink casing in contrast with all the black and silver around it. Although there were no tactile sensors around it, Dana couldn’t suppress a moan as Camilla ran a finger along her new memory core. All her memories, her personality programming, and the extra programming bestowed upon her by the Dyson Institute were inside that brick.
Camilla could feel herself getting hot too around this exposed synthetic woman. She leaned in for a kiss, but paused as a message flashed in her head’s up display. Dana had puckered up, but got concerned when her boss didn’t finish coming in.
“Mrs. Taylor? Is everything alright?”
Camilla blinked and extracted herself from Dana. “Yes, I believe so. I got a page from Dr. Dyson. I need to make a call. Close yourself up and return to your desk.”
Dana folded her chest back in and watched the edges melt back together. She loved seeing that. She would’ve loved some more robo-fun with her boss, but when Dr. Dyson says jump, you jump. Besides, it’s not like she could really hold a grudge nowadays.
While Dana continued to get back into working shape, Camilla sat down and opened a triple-password protected folder that contained analyses of all employees under her supervision with estimates for conversion success. Truthfully, the page hadn’t been marked as ‘urgent’, but this was like getting a call from the President, it immediately became a priority for you. The page was also empty of specifics, but if Dr. Dyson wanted candidates for transformation, Camilla would be ready.
Dana finished buttoning her shirt, and checked her hair in a mirror on the wall. “OK, I’ll leave you to your call. Please extend my gratitude to Dr. Dyson for all her exquisite work.” She smoothed out her skirt in a fashion that let her linger on her own manufactured legs longer than necessary. Camilla nodded and shooed Dana out of the room, who made sure the door locked behind her.
Camilla picked up the phone and dialed the Dyson Institute, plus a five digit extension. “Hello, this is Unit VX9348. Security code Foxy Unicorn Tango twenty-two.” She was nervous about calling the head honcho herself, even if they had shared a long ‘testing session’ together soon after VX9348 went online. She could swear her heart was pounding, even though she could see that her simulated pulse was within normal parameters.
“Code accepted,” the voice at the other end replied, “please hold for Dr. Elaine Dyson. If this is not the party you wish to contact, please hang up and try again.”
VX9348 calmly waited and listened to the phone ring. Her face was a mask of passivity. It rang 13 times before someone answered. “Hello, this is Dr. Dyson.”
“This is unit VX9348, you sent me an alert. How can I help you?”
Dr. Dyson put the phone to her chest, but VX9348 could still hear her. “Stephanie, could you please come back later? I promise I’ll thank you properly for the cunt-licking.” VX9348 heard some rustling before Dr. Dyson began speaking directly into the receiver. “Camilla, I’m so glad you could get back to me so quickly. How are your systems functioning?”
“I’m functioning well within my design parameters.”
“Now Camilla, don’t be coy. Tell me how much you enjoy being an android woman.”
Camilla felt more like herself and at ease after Dr. Dyson’s friendly prompting.”My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve never felt so good so consistently for so long. And my productivity is up by so much. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate you giving me the chance at this perfect existence. A perfect android life.
“And I’d be remiss if I didn’t relay the message that Dana Moss feels the same way.”
Dr. Dyson recognized the name both from the long list of women associated with Stanley Enterprises and from the appointment book for last week. “I’m glad to hear both of you are enjoying yourselves. But that’s not why I asked you to call. I want you to arrange for someone to be introduced to the synthetic way of life. She works in your department. Her name is Zoe.”
Camilla only had one girl named Zoe working for her, but she thought it was weird for the head of the Dyson Institute to target someone specific in her department but not make the offer herself. She checked Zoe’s file to make sure, but there was another thing that made it odd. “Yes, I have her file here. Zoe Baker, age 23. To tell you the truth, Dr. Dyson, her profile indicates she’d be a poor candidate and unlikely to take advantage of the opportunity to become robotic if offered. Of all the girls on this floor, she rates as the second least-likely prospect.”
Elaine paused and thought it over. She had been hoping for better news. Still, Neil deserved a robotic wife, even if he didn’t know it yet. “It’s important for the Institute that she accept the offer. I’d like you to design an introduction scenario optimized for her. I’ll give you the number of the fabrication department here for any assistance you require.”
The other synthetic woman was rightly puzzled. The standard operating procedure for recruitment had always been to search for low-lying fruit. Production and maintenance capacity was such a limiting factor that they could run at full tilt with just those candidates. And now that she thought about it, Dr. Dyson hadn’t even given her a last name.
“Dr. Dyson, may I ask why she’s so important? She doesn’t seem to have any special talents or important familial relations. There are many other girls we’d have better chances with.”
Dr. Dyson almost said ‘no familial relations yet’ in response, but kept it to herself. “I can’t tell you why she’s important, but rest assured, she is vital to the long-term health of the Institute. If you cannot do this for me, I can find someone else at Stanley more appreciative of the gift I’ve bestowed upon them.”
VX9348 got tense again, “I will come up with a plan, ma’am. Would you like me to review it with you before implementation?”
“Yes, of course. But I’d like this to be done quickly. Please have a plan to me by Monday.” Elaine didn’t think her son had told his fiancée about the Institute’s true purpose, especially without an android female nearby as proof. She wanted to make sure her side got to make their case first. And preferably be the only case made.
VX9348 responded, “Affirmative. I will have the plan finished on time. May I enlist the help of other units in my office for assistance?”
Dr. Dyson considered this, “Yes, I think you should. I look forward to hearing your plan. Goodbye, Camilla.”
“Goodbye, Dr. Dyson.”
Each synthetic woman hung up the phone on their end. Camilla leaned back in her chair and tried to process what had just happened. Or more accurately, what had just begun. She reached for the phone again and contacted Dana.
“Dana, come here. There’s a special project I’ll need your help on. Get Ava, Katie, and Christine in here too, if they’re available.”
==Part 3==
Neil returned home to find his wife-to-be fixing them dinner. Even in sweats and an old T-shirt, seeing her made him grin like a mad man. He snuck behind her, wrapped his arms around her midsection and nuzzled her neck and the dark hair covering it.
“Wow, what did I do right to deserve a total babe who also cooks.”
Zoe put down the spoon and turned around to give Neil a kiss. After a quick one, she retorted, “It’s just hamburger helper. I’d love to see what you’d do if made a meatloaf.”
“I’d explode.” They both chuckled. “I had one helluva day. I told my mom and Jessica about the engagement.”
Zoe turned back to stir the pan of ground beef and noodles. “How’d they react to that announcement? Considering they still haven’t met me.” That was still a sore subject between them. Neil had been reluctant to expose Zoe to his... abnormal family. Zoe was an only child raised by her father and she craved being part of a traditional family unit. Too bad the Dysons were far from traditional once you got past the mom, dad, and two kids.
Neil walked to the apartment’s bedroom to take off his work clothes. “My mom was pleased; my sister is already planning the wedding ceremony. I think she’s going to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid whether we want her to or not.”
Zoe took out two place settings and laid them out on the small breakfast nook table. “That’s fine with me; I’m going to need all the help I can get.” She went back to the stove and came back to the table with a trivet and the skillet of dinner. She set it down and realized she had almost forgotten the crushed red pepper Neil loved on Italian-style dishes.
The water got poured right as Neil came back out in a T-shirt and shorts. He gave his fiancée another kiss before they sat down. “Betty Draper couldn’t have done better,” Neil said as he scooped himself some food.
“I’m hoping our marriage turns out a little better than that, sweetie.”
Neil laughed and the two of them continued to chat idly over their romantic dinner.

Camilla took her seat at the head of the table. The group had all left, and then come back well after hours so no one would notice them or disturb them inside a company meeting room. In terms of Stanley enterprises, she wasn’t the most senior employee in the room. In terms of Dyson, she wasn’t the longest-operating android woman. But Dr. Dyson had put her in charge.

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There were three other android women at the table and two men who had android wives and were almost as willing as the women to help the Institute. Most of them knew who Zoe was, but only Ava had interacted with her outside of the office. It was one of the many problems Camilla faced.
“OK, let’s get this started. We’re here because Dr. Dyson would like to see Zoe Baker join us as a synthetic woman. If anyone knows why, I’d be happy to hear it, because my analysis says she’s a poor candidate, and Dr. Dyson wouldn’t explain it to me.”
The people at the table looked at each other for answers and got none. Except for Katie, who was reliving on her face a pleasant experience with the Doctor. Ignoring Katie, Camilla continued.
“So we’re going to have to go to greater lengths in order to convince her. Part of the reason she’s not a good candidate is that we don’t have much data on her. We’ve got the basic biography down, but not the really personal stuff that would make this recruitment a slam dunk. She’s not married. She seems to have a healthy body image, but not overly so. We’re getting that mostly from appearance analysis. She dresses smartly, but not expensively.
Ava chimed in, “that’s the impression I’ve gotten. She’s very comfortable with her life. She has a serious boyfriend, although there doesn’t seem to be any angst there to latch onto. My best guess is that she’s also sexually conservative, which doesn’t help us.”
“She doesn’t surf the Web at work enough to get any information,” Camilla continued, “and no personal effects except some silk flowers.”
Greg sighed, “Shit, how bland can you be? Just tell Dr. Dyson she can’t be recruited and let’s go on with our lives.”
Camilla rolled her eyes, “I’ve tried explaining this to Dr. Dyson, but the request stands.”
Katie had recovered and was back in the conversation, “I don’t think this is as hard as we’re making this. Being an android woman is clearly better. We don’t need to trick her or anything, just show her the truth and give her the opportunity to be a perfect, synthetic female.”
Camilla appreciated the point about not needing to trick her, “Normally I’d agree, but if she flips out once one of us flashes an open panel, the game is up. Maybe she even convinces a cop to come investigate us. You can’t throw a rock in this building without hitting a synthetic woman or someone else who knows about the Dyson Institute.”
David finally chimed in, “How about you take her out, go dancing or whatever it is synthetic women do as a group.” There were a few giggles, considering what android women love to do together. “OK, not that, but make her feel like one of the girls. Maybe you steer the conversation in a way that makes her think about robots. Prep her before you do the reveal.”
Greg followed up, “Dress up really nicely too. Make her feel like she isn’t pretty enough. Be catty behind her back but within earshot. Exaggerate the amount of work you do in a day. If you can’t convince her a synthetic body would be better, convince her that staying in her current body is worse.”
Camilla thought that Greg was an asshole, but she should probably incorporate that into any plan. The directive was to bring her into the fold, not preserve her self-esteem.
“Then it’s settled. Ava, Dana; get together at some point tomorrow and invite Zoe to a night on the town. If you can get her to go on a shopping trip beforehand, I’ll authorize it for you. Unfortunately, I don’t think partying with the boss will get her to loosen up.”
They all chuckled at that as the table emptied. Dana, who hadn’t talked during the meeting, quietly headed to the door before Camilla could catch up with her.
“You were awfully quiet in there.”
Dana shrugged, “I couldn’t help thinking of Gretchen. Two kids, husband ran out on her, diabetes, bad knees. If there’s anyone we should be helping it’s her, not someone who can’t immediately appreciate the gift being presented to her.
The boss smiled a little bit, “That was one part of the plan I didn’t need to go over. Gretchen talks to Zoe all the time. They’re both going to be extended the chance to become synthetic, and hopefully Gretchen’s happiness will be contagious.
Dana got a big smile on her previously troubled face before giving Camilla a big kiss.

Neil and Zoe sat atop a short dividing wall in front of the theater, waiting for Jessica to arrive. They didn’t talk; they just sat enjoying the breeze and the shade provided by the big tree. Neil was a little nervous that Jessica would dress the way she normally dressed in public: sparsely. It was bad enough when he had to watch guys ogle his sister. He didn’t want to explain to Zoe why his sister was such an exhibitionist.
Zoe, on the other hand, was more worried about making a good first impression on her fiancé’s sister. It was obvious to her that Neil loved his sister very much. Plus she wanted to fit into his family like a round peg in a round hole. She had been rehearsing an introduction in her head since they sat down.
Neil was first to spy Jessica coming around the corner. He was thankful she was dressed tastefully. The top went down to just above her navel, and the neckline didn’t expose much cleavage, although it hugged her breasts attractively. She was wearing low-riding jeans, but those were in style.
Zoe saw an attractive woman turn the corner and caught Neil staring. “Hey mister, no window shopping, you’re about to be a married man.” At that point, Zoe realized the woman was smiling and walking directly toward them.
“Hi, you must be Zoe. I’m Neil’s little sister Jessica. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Neil had to fight off a snorting laugh at Zoe’s initial statement and subsequent speechlessness. Zoe couldn’t believe Jessica and Neil were siblings, they looked so different. Plus Neil’s stories of the two of them made Jessica sound kinda dorky.
“Hi Jessica, I’m glad you could come.” Zoe smiled broadly and Jessica smiled back. Zoe was still a bit flabbergasted, but was regaining her composure. Jessica was calmly sizing up her future sister-in-law. And not just in the sense of taking high-res photos for later use in the construction of Zoe’s android body.
Neil butted in to break the silence, “So Jessica, we wanted to wait until you got here before picking a movie. Any preference?”
Jessica attracted some attention when she started bouncing with excitement. “Ooh The second Foundation movie came out last week, we should go see that.”
Zoe furrowed her brow, “I haven’t heard of it.”
Jessica was happy to explain, in detail, what Asimov’s Foundation Series was all about, with a little comment on how many top economists cited the psychohistorians as an inspiration for their later interest in economics. Neil was always amused when his sister geeked out like that. It was a nice dose of nostalgia in addition to an entertaining paradox when a model-hot girl started going on about Freeman Dyson (no relation).
Zoe was a little less amused, “I’m not really a science fiction fan. How about that new Jason Statham romantic comedy?”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. Her brother was dating, nay, marrying a woman who didn’t enjoy science fiction? One who wanted them to watch a bleepin’ Romantic comedy? With that no talent assclown?
Neil quickly stepped in. “How about a nice historical drama? I think there’s something about the French revolution playing.” Neil knew his women. Jessica enjoyed history, and Zoe enjoyed costume dramas. Sure enough, the two women agreed and Neil bought three tickets. Although the way the guy was ogling Jessica, maybe he should’ve let his sister get the tickets. She could have handed the guy a dollar and gotten change back.
Inside, Neil left the girls alone to make a trip to the concession stand for all of them. There was a moment of silence broken by Jessica.
“So... how old are you?”
“Oh, I’m 23. My birthday was three weeks ago.”
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks... You’re 20, right?”
“Yup, just don’t check my driver’s license.” Jessica giggled a little bit at her own joke.
Zoe smiled, but didn’t laugh. “So are you in school?”
“No, I’m working with my mom, getting practical experience.”
Zoe was puzzled, “They let you work at an engineering firm?”
“Huh? No, I work at my Mom’s health spa.”
“Neil said she was a nuclear engineer.”
“She was, but the job was very stressful, so she and some friends opened up a health spa. They’re all much happier now.” Jessica had to bite her tongue as to why.
“It’s a damn shame, a woman in the natural sciences being driven away like that. I mean, I’m glad she’s happy, it’s just that we need more female scientists.”
Jessica’s cheeks got hot, thinking of all the women who now knew, through first-hand experience, enough about robotics to teach the subject at any university. “I understand what you mean, don’t worry.”
If Neil hadn’t come back at that moment, Jessica might have blabbed. “OK girls, I’ve got a Sprite and Junior Mints for the pipsqueak, Diet Cokes for me and Zoe, and a jumbo bucket of popcorn for everyone.”
“Actually, hold on to it dear, I need to make a visit to the little girls’ room.” Zoe leaned over the armful of goodies and gave him a kiss.
“Here, take your ticket, we’ll meet you in the theater.”
Zoe walked off and the Dyson siblings walked to the ticket taker.
“You didn’t tell me your fiancé was a Luddite.”
Neil sighed, “Oh please, so she doesn’t write fanfiction about Jean-Luc Picard in high school. It doesn’t make her a luddite.”
Jessica would always regret showing him that story, “well, we’ll see if we can’t add some special programming when she comes in for her new body.”
Neil cringed at the thought, even if the thought was of Zoe’s disembodied android head with a large fake cock in its mouth. He changed subjects, “So why were you late?”
“I had a broken gasket.”
“Doesn’t the ASU pick up on stuff like that?”
It took Jessica a moment to realize the confusion, “Not in me, in the car. Doofus. I had to borrow mom’s car.”
“She still have that 15-year-old Neon?”
“Yup, I was sooo embarrassed. Not only as an advanced amalgam of robotic machinery, but as a daughter and a hot young girl who shouldn’t be caught dead driving that rust bucket.”
The ticket taker was staring at them as they laughed.
Jessica is the one who covered, “It’s an inside joke about Westworld.”

The movie passed without incident and Jessica declined their offer to have dinner. She had swapped in a smaller battery and added extra disk storage for her footage of Zoe and, frankly, the Foundation movie she had hoped to see. Zoe was a little sad that they hadn’t talked more, but said they’d arrange some girl time later. Jessica liked that idea more than Neil.
In the car, Neil and Zoe chatted a bit about the movie. Neil decided not to ask for his future wife’s impression of his sister. The conversation dropped off until Zoe piped up.
“Has your sister had work done?”
Neil very nearly swerved into a street sign.

==Part 4==
All the girls within 200 feet of accounts payable, and one or two of the guys, were clustered around Zoe’s desk. The backlog of invoices waiting for them on a Monday morning could wait a little longer while everyone oohed and aahed at the engagement ring being flashed around. Zoe felt a little embarrassed at all the attention, but once she showed Gretchen the ring, everyone wanted to look and congratulate Zoe.
“It was so sweet, he took me to the coffee shop where we had our first semi-date and he bought me one of those stick-shaped cookies. When I pulled it out of the bag, it was sticking through the ring. Then he got down on one knee and proposed right there during the lunch rush. People started applauding, it was so surreal. Then we found out the ring was too small. I just got it back from the jeweler this morning.”
There were a few ‘awww’s, but the (unspoken) consensus was that it was kind of corny. Dana was just excited that there was a gift-wrapped excuse to take Zoe out for a night on the town.
“So, tell us about your future better half,” Christine chirped from behind two other people.
“Let’s see, his name is Neil. He works in the marketing department on the seventh floor. He has an MBA. He’s got one younger sister, and his mother runs a health spa. He’s a real sweetheart and he does this grinning thing that I just love...”
The android women in attendance all had the same idea. They checked the company employment roster, and sorted out for the marketing department. There was one guy named Neil.
Neil Dyson.
And his mother ran a health spa, according to Zoe.
The realization of why Dr. Dyson was so adamant about getting Zoe to become synthetic hit them at roughly the same time, and they could clearly see it on each others’ faces. This girl was going to be the daughter-in-law of Dr. Elaine Dyson, the woman who first hatched the idea of robotic women and thus the one responsible for the vast improvement in their lives.
Zoe had kept going on about Neil, but Dana interrupted, “Sorry Zoe, I need to take Katie, Christine and Ava away for a moment. Congratulations again. We’ll talk some more later.” Zoe acknowledged their departure and kept on going for a little while longer.
The four synthetic women went into Camilla’s empty office and shut the door. It took a moment for anyone to speak.
“Her fiancé is Dr. Dyson’s son?” It was actually less of a question than Katie made it sound like, and they had all come up with the same hypothesis anyway.
“It sure seems like it. Maybe he’s a nephew, but the file says he’s 24, so it’s almost certainly not a brother.” Christine was trying desperately to come up with an alternate conclusion based on what they knew.
“Nope, she said it was his mother that ran a health spa, so unless Dr. Dyson’s sister or sister-in-law runs another health spa, we’re dealing with her daughter-in-law,” Dana replied.
The task hadn’t really changed, but they all felt like the stakes were higher now. They were responsible for making a future member of Dr. Dyson’s family part of her larger family. And if they succeeded, one of the most important people in their lives would owe them a big favor. Sure, they had already been given so much, but the idea of having more is human nature.
“So where’s Camilla?”

Units VX9348 and UX1696 had each attached themselves to one of Dr. Dyson’s nipples and were using one of their hands to massage the pussy of the other naked unit. Elaine leaned back and luxuriated in the sensation. The firmware upgrade allowed her to process so much more information from her breasts now. She couldn’t tell if she was enjoying the tongues or the new data flow more, and figured that it didn’t really matter.
“Camilla, why don’t you work on my pussy for a little bit. Suki, there are some toys in the wooden chest, why don’t you pick some out?” Elaine smiled as the blonde office manager began planting kisses down her stomach. But even nicer was the sight of the tiny bundle of Japanese curves strutting naked around her office. Dr. Suki Narita was an expert in biomechanics and Dr. Dyson was sure she’d make a great addition to the research staff. But at the moment, the Japanese doctor was jiggling back to her western counterpart with two handfuls of wires and floppy dildos.

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“Let me see if I can guess what this one does.” Suki smiled as Elaine leaned back and squealed from the toe-curling orgasm Camilla had just induced. Dr. Narita opened up her paplexus panel, still amazed at the sight. She then slipped one of the sex toys into the available, exposed expansion slot. It was a rush to feel her software update automatically, and a further rush when she felt the air tickle the sensors on the toy. She quickly realized that the toy was a souped-up version of her artificial tongue, articulated and controllable by her thoughts.
Elaine had regained enough composure to address her new colleague, “Go ahead, I’ll bet VX9348 would love to feel that inside her wet, synthetic pussy.” Camilla was still dutifully lapping up Dr. Dyson’s copious juices, but heard enough to wiggle her ass at Suki.
And that was all the encouragement Suki needed. She crouched down to get the fake dick to the right level, and then flicked it up and down the length of Camilla’s slit. Elaine could feel the blonde shudder at the initial contact, but she didn’t stop licking. Then Suki moaned as she felt ‘her’ phallus slowly sink into Camilla’s gash. She wiggled and swirled it around inside her partner before beginning to thrust. Camilla felt like she was going to explode.
“Hi Mom,” Jessica walked in wearing the normal institute uniform. Oddly enough, the only person who didn’t turn to look was Dr. Dyson. Both Suki and Camilla felt like they had been caught in the act, and by what appeared to be Dr. Dyson’s daughter, no less.
“Oh don’t mind me; I just needed to have a quick chat with the doctor.” Jessica’s level of comfort with the situation didn’t increase Suki and Camilla’s. Jessica calmly sat down on a couch opposite the three women and examined one of the toys Suki had tossed aside.
“Girls, why don’t you attend to each other while I speak to Jessica. VX9348, I think that plan of yours needs work, so record our conversation for later playback” The other two units were unsure, but they were also really turned on. Camilla opened her audio options and began recording. Suki disengaged herself and Camilla turned around to embrace the other doctor. Dr. Narita could still taste Dr. Dyson’s sexual lubricant as they slowly fell to the carpet between the two redheads.
Elaine pulled her hair back behind her ears and crossed her legs, not bothering to cover up any more of her nudity. “So, how was the movie?”
Jessica shrugged, “Eh, it wasn’t too bad. We went to see this French film. Zoe didn’t want to see Second Foundation. She doesn’t like Science Fiction.”
“Not even Asimov?”
“I know ”
“We’ll have to do something about that.”
“That’s what I said. Anyway, I’ve got images sent to fabrication, they’ll extrapolate her body without the blouse and we’ll be able to have the head and torso mockup ready whenever Neil tells her about the Institute.” Jessica licked the toy in her hand just a little bit to test it out.
Elaine raised an eyebrow, “Neil didn’t say anything to me about telling Zoe. In fact, he didn’t seem to want Zoe to ever be told about becoming a synthetic woman. He was quite adamant about it.”
“He doesn’t even want to give her the chance? That doesn’t sound like Neil.”
“Sweetie, you remember that phase he went through where he called us robo-whores and brainwashed hedonists.”
VX9348 screamed in ecstasy as UX1696’s thrusting finally hit pay dirt. Soon after, UX1696 had an orgasm of her own, her first that didn’t come from her pussy. The two of them switched positions, with UX1696 lying down and keeping her attachment straight while VX9348 impaled herself and began bobbing up and down. Jessica scooted over to see around the blonde robot.
“But we got past all that.”
Elaine gave her a sympathetic look, “He accepted that we’re his family, I don’t think he really understands how much better our lives are after becoming synthetic.”
Camilla shook wildly and collapsed upon the Japanese doctor. The phallus slipped out and flung a bit of fluid onto Jessica’s leg. The two units didn’t stop though, softly moaning as they began making out with one another.
Jessica sat there, not sure if she was hurt more by Neil lying to her or by Neil rejecting her synthetic womanhood. Elaine walked around the units fucking on the carpet and put an arm around her daughter.
“But we’re still going to give Zoe the opportunity to become an android. She deserves that, and so does Neil.”
“Won’t Neil be angry - I mean run-around-with-a-sledgehammer angry - if we do that?”
“He’ll see firsthand how much wives and husbands can improve their relationship. Faced with the truth, he might be embarrassed by his former stance, but he won’t be angry.”
Jessica wasn’t 100% sure about that logic, but she respected her mother’s judgment. Besides, the idea of hoisting Neil up on his own petard sounded pretty attractive right about now.
They chatted for a little while longer about Zoe specifically before Elaine stood up, “I’m going to have a discussion with the good Dr. Narita about android vaginal assemblies. If you’d like to work off some energy, I’m sure VX9348 here won’t mind.”
The other two units rolled away from one another and Elaine took her turn straddling the Japanese android. Jessica removed her uniform and briefly considered using the toy before tossing it aside and calling Camilla to the couch. The two of them got into a 69 position and began eagerly eating each other out, Jessica much more forcefully than the blonde.
Camilla had only been dimly aware of the conversation going around above her, but had heard the name Zoe a few times. Dr. Dyson had called her in to discuss the matter. But most of her system resources were devoted to exploring the young redhead’s snatch in front of her mouth. A priority text message from VX9319 appeared in her vision, and she had enough awareness to understand that.
“Zoe is Dr. D’s future daughter-in-law. Outing still planned. Advice?”

==Part 5==
Zoe had reluctantly agreed to go out with some of her coworkers on a Monday night. Dana had assured her Mrs. Taylor would understand if the bride-to-be showed up a little late or not at all on Tuesday. It’s not every day you get engaged, or at least it’s not every day you tell your coworkers about getting engaged.
Camilla still wasn’t coming, but she let the other girls borrow her mini-van for the outing. It had been decided that Zoe should get picked up last. Dana was driving and Christine was in the front seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter. She hadn’t gotten a full charge the night before and didn’t want to suddenly go low on juice in the middle of a dance floor. Ava and Katie were in the backseat making out like it was prom night. Katie had left her arousal levels high, as usual, and Ava didn’t see the harm in taking some of the edge off. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had gone club hopping, and they had quickly discovered that guys loved watching two attractive ladies in brief party dresses get to second base with one another.
“Will you two cut it out back there?” Dana was obviously more stressed out than the other girls in the van.
Katie came up and pouted a little bit as she and Ava scooted to either side of the backseat bench. “What’s the big deal? We were going to stop when you stopped at Zoe’s place. And it’s not like you can tell we were making out.”
It was true. There wasn’t a smudge on their makeup or a hair out of place. The institute had crafted new head units for all of them and sent a technician with the modules to each of their homes. It took 5 minutes to create the image of an entire afternoon at a beauty salon. Actually, Dana mused as she checked herself out in one of the mirrors again, it was beyond that. Her nose was a slightly more attractive shape and her eyes were a more sparkling hazel. Zoe wouldn’t be able to notice, especially in the low-light situation, but the Institute had gone above and beyond to make Zoe the ugly duckling of the group.
“Remember, you should act drunk, but you can’t be drunk. We want this to go off without a hitch, but if she gets weirded out, we’ve got that excuse to fall back on.”
“Yes, Mom, we all downloaded the same plan.” Katie giggled at Ava’s snarky remark.
“Hey, I shouldn’t be the only one worried here. We screw this up and Dr. Dyson’s daughter-in-law stays organic. I don’t want to know what her reaction to that would be, or what she’d do to us for screwing up.
Christine picked an opportune moment to finish charging, “Did we actually get a threat? I’ve never heard of Dr. Dyson issuing threats.”
“There wasn’t anything explicit, but what would you do if you were in her position and three random office android girls screwed over a member of your family? And on the flipside, what would you do for the girls that convinced her to become a synthetic woman?”
The van fell silent as it pulled up to Zoe and Neil’s apartment. Zoe was already waiting outside for them. Katie opened the door for her and Zoe slipped into one of the captain’s chairs between the four other ladies. She was wearing a jacket over her green dress, but the other women could tell that it looked nice and so did she. She hadn’t done much with her hair, but she had done up her face well.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to make Zoe feel good about herself when she scanned the other passengers of the van while exchanging greetings. The other looked drop-dead gorgeous as though they had spent the entire day getting ready. Plus they were wearing outfits that made hers look like a potato sack. Not just in style, but in the lack of coverage provided.
“Aren’t you all cold? It’s like 50 degrees outside.” The question struck Zoe as it was coming out of her mouth. At least it was better than the other comments on the lack of clothing in the vehicle she had tested in her brain.
Dana tensed up. How could she have been so stupid? She didn’t even have the heater on in the van. They all had gotten used to just shutting off or tuning down those sensors when it got uncomfortable.
Ava was the one who covered, “trust me, it’s going to be plenty hot once we get inside the club with all those people. Besides, I for one like a little chill in the air. Sweat stinks.” It didn’t really explain why they had no jackets on now, but Christine turned the heat up in the van in the most subtle way she could. And all four of them changed their settings so they would shiver a little when they went outside.

They chattered idly, pressing Zoe for details about the wedding. She didn’t really have any details yet, but it killed time. Then Ava started a line of questioning they were all interested in, but were afraid to broach.
“So, have you met Neil’s family? What are they like?”
Zoe didn’t pick up on the pricked up ears in the van. “I actually haven’t had that much interaction with them. I know his parents are still together, although they had problems when Neil was in High School and college. I haven’t met them yet, but I did meet his sister.” Zoe decided not to mention the probably extensive plastic surgery. “She’s a real sweetheart, and she’s really close to Neil.
The other girls nodded along respectfully. Ava and Christine didn’t know Dr. Dyson had a daughter too. Only Katie had heard about Dyson’s marital problems as an organic woman. They owed her so much, and idolized her for her achievements, but they didn’t really know Dr. Dyson all that well.
“Are you ok?” Zoe had caught onto the shared silence of the pensive synthetics.
“Yeah. Oh look, here we are, turn left here, Dana.” Christine pointed out the parking lot to Dana. The poor attendant never had a chance of gathering up enough spare brain cells to ask the hot women in the front of the van for money to park.
They all filed out with Dana leading the way and breaking the neck of the interested parking attendant again. Zoe smirked from the rear that it was a thick grilled cheese on wheat. Two brunettes with three blondes in between. She was a little surprised that there was a line into the club on a cold weeknight. Even so, heads turned when their group walked past the rope line toward the entrance. Zoe was a little embarrassed at the attention, until she realized only small bits of it were aimed at her.
She tried to keep up with the other girls, but they were walking quickly and gracefully in their heels, while Zoe wished she had gone with something flatter. Dana barely had to say two words to the bouncer before he let her past the velvet rope. Ava, Christine, and Katie followed close behind. Zoe was two steps back and had the rope close in front of her.
“End of the line, lady.”
“But, I’m with those other four.” Zoe was further embarrassed as the bouncer stood there silently staring her down. It was a tense 15 seconds before Katie doubled back and convinced the bouncer to let Zoe in.
The scene inside was more of the same. Dana had wrangled a booth away from some guys and the five of them ordered a round. Or rather, they ordered a round and some guys paid for them. It’s not exactly what Zoe had in mind when Ava had offered to get the first round, but booze was booze.
All through the night, at least one of her coworkers was at her side, either at the table or on the dance floor. And regardless of who it was, all the attention went to Zoe’s coworker first. Unless it was two guys and one was acting as the wingman, chatting up the hottie’s not so hot girlfriend. Even when the girls tried to deflect some of the attention to Zoe, it only made her feel pathetic. And she could swear she could hear the other girls talking about her once they got just barely out of audible range. Rationally, she knew she was engaged and couldn’t (wouldn’t) do anything with these guys, but it was the principle of the thing.
So at the moment, Zoe was half-listening to Christine talk about French cuisine. The other half was watching Katie get her freak on out on the dance floor. She was surrounded by about three guys and finding a way to be in contact with all of their crotches at once. Jesus, what a slut. A little voice bemoaned the fact that she hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to be that slutty.
Zoe brushed that thought aside and a few moments later Katie pulled down the top of her dress and let her breasts bounce freely out on the dance floor. The men were shocked for a moment before letting out a cheer and trying to get a hand on all the exposed boob. Zoe was flabbergasted. Christine turned to look and was shocked as well, albeit for slightly different reasons.
Dana heard the extra-loud whoops and caught sight of Katie’s nipples. She grabbed her purse and quickly got over to Katie. She managed to yank Katie’s dress back up and lead her off the floor before Katie’s admirers stopped their booing and tried to grab her. The two of them got into the ladies room and into a stall. By some miracle there was one open.
“If you wanted to make out, Dana, we could have done it out there, no one would have minded,” Katie looked smashed. Dana was furious and grabbed a cable out of her purse. They couldn’t talk in here, but they could exchange messages over a hard link.
Dana hiked up the bottom of her dress and opened her paplexus panel.
“Ooh, you are excited, aren’t you?” Katie began giggling, but Dana was in no mood. She motioned toward the open panel as a way of telling Katie to do the same. Katie giggled some more, but complied. Dana connected both ends of the table and began a silent conversation.
What the fuck was that? Flashing your tits? With Zoe watching?
VX8753 rolled her eyes, sorry for having fun, mom.
VX9319 could have slapped her, instead she checked on VX8753’s alcohol emulation software. Sure enough, she was acting like she could have blown a .16 on a BAC test. The software wasn’t equipped to be on without affecting decision-making, and it was designed to react to actual alcohol consumption.
Turn off your drunk emulator. It isn’t working right.
But you said we had to act drunk for Zoe. Mmm, those lips would be so good around my nips right about now. VX8753 was beginning to reach back into her dress. VX9319 stopped her and repeated the command. The older-model android reluctantly complied and immediately returned to normal.
Oh shit, did I really just do that?
Dana frowned, unplugged the two of them, and stowed the wire. “Let’s get back out there and try to be on your best behavior. But we’re going to stay away from Zoe for a little while longer, ok?” Katie quietly nodded and readjusted her breasts inside her dress.
Meanwhile, Ava had rejoined Christine and Zoe. Zoe filled Ava in on what Katie had done. Christine took the opportunity to steer the conversation toward sex. It was pretty easy, given the four mixed drinks Zoe had in her. And given the public display, one question flowed naturally
Christine asked, “so where’s the weirdest place you ever made love?”
From an organic woman’s perspective, a robotics laboratory would place high on any list. For Ava and Christine, that was like having sex in the backseat of a car. Big whoop.
Ava went first, “One time, my boyfriend Robert and I were at this fancy hotel with one of those glass elevators. It was late at night, so he stopped the elevator near the top floor and hiked up my skirt. So I bent over and let him take me from behind while I looked over the city all lit up.”
Zoe assumed she had merely forgotten to mention what happened to her panties. It was still a nice story, and Zoe felt embarrassed going after it. Christine picked up on that and went next.
“So I was dating this golf pro at a private country club and during this big soiree we snuck away and made love on the 16th green, out there in the open, in the moonlight. So we came back and there was some formal dancing going on. We did that, and I was fairly certain we had kept our clothes clean. But at the end I look back and there were about a dozen blades of grass on the dance floor that must have fallen out the back of my dress after being wedged up somewhere.”
Ava and Christine giggled at that much more than Zoe did.
“Come on Zoe, what’s your story?” Christine asked and Ava repeated it, egging her on.
“Really, no, it’s embarrassing.”
“Oh, I doubt it’s that bad. We’re all adults here, anyway. You can tell us.”
“Fine, in the living room of an apartment I shared with this girl in college. No glass elevators, no moonlight, just a stained couch.”
Christine stopped herself before asking if it was the roommate Zoe was fucking. Ava had a better response, “that’s fine, not everyone gets a thrill from having sex in weird places.” She paused before continuing. “Do you and Neil do any... roleplaying?”
“Roleplaying?”
Christine jumped in, “You know, pretending to be other people. Like he’s the boss and you’re his secretary being called into his office for some Dick-tation.” She managed to say it in such a way that the extra k was obvious.
“N-not really.” If Zoe had a little less rum in her system, she might have been worried about talking about this stuff. “We have really good sex doing things the normal way. Neil has an awesome cock and an awesomer tongue.”
The other two girls were amused, but maybe not surprised that Dyson’s son was an expert at sex as well. Christine continued, “You should try it sometime. Rent or cobble together a schoolgirl costume and play schoolmaster and truant girl.”
Zoe was barely sober enough to grasp ‘truant’, but remained somewhat intrigued.
Ava came forward with the big one, “But my favorite is Robot and Master.”
When Zoe didn’t look appalled, Christine jumped in. “Oh yeah, that’s my favorite too. Every guy I’ve done it with just couldn’t get enough.”
“And it feels so sexy pretending to be a perfect, obedient android woman.” Ava worried she was laying it on too thick, but Zoe was still paying attention. “I act like he’s activating me, I do a few orders, and it’s so hot. Even when I don’t try to ham it up by making beeping sounds.”
Before Ava or Christine could go further, Dana showed up.
“Alright, I’ve got Katie in a state resembling a normal human, I think we should go now.”

==Part 6==
Neil walked through the lobby of the institute again for the second time in as many weeks. He felt a little bad about not spending Saturday doing just sibling stuff with Jessica. So he decided to take a long lunch and pay his sister a visit.
There was a new girl at the front desk, and she was just as excited to see him as Carly had been last time. This time he spent only a moment asking where his sister was before heading through the door into the back rooms. Two turns and he was entering testing room C
Where he was greeted by the sight of Jessica; Topless, right arm missing, and without her legs and pelvic assembly as well. Even as he turned his head to avoid staring at his sister’s naked breasts, he saw that she was bouncing a racquetball off the ground and hitting a dime-sized target on the wall. But at the moment he was more concerned with his sister’s nudity.
“Hi Neil It’s been a while ” That was not Jessica speaking, but he couldn’t look to identify the speaker.
He found a towel and held it in front of him as he inched himself toward the voice and his sister while keeping his head turned. He heard two sets of feminine giggles. “Jess, could you please drape this over your saline sacks?” He felt the towel being tugged from his hand.
“You can turn around now.” Neil did so, and while Jessica was covered up, the technician had opened the top of her uniform to expose her breasts.
“Very funny, ha ha.” He said derisively. “But those aren’t attached to my sister.”
Jessica and the technician kept giggling as the latter buttoned back up. Neil took the opportunity to examine the face of the other girl. He realized he may have had even less reason to be concerned about seeing those tits. He had seen much more than that on this girl.
“Wendy?” Wendy Klein was the daughter of Dr. Gloria Klein, one of the earliest experts working with his mother on the android woman project. As such, Wendy had been synthetic about as long as Jessica. She still looked angelic, and as trim as Jessica was curvy. Neil had slept with her a dozen times back when he thought being surrounded by horny, physically perfect women was all he needed for paradise.
“Yup, it’s me. Just helping out around the facility. Gotta be trained on all this stuff before Mom lets me run my own branch.”
“They’re letting you run your own spa? I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Thanks, yeah, nepotism is great when it works in your favor. So, you’re looking good. What’s been new with you?”
“Oh you know, same old, same old.”
Jessica, who was still bouncing the ball, snorted at that. “Like hell. The organ receptacle here got enga-ged.” Neil had hoped Jessica was focusing her attention on the ball.
Wendy smiled, “Congratulations. Anyone I’ve worked on?”
Jessica snorted again. Neil tried to ignore that, “Nope, pure organic. They say organic is better for your health.”
“‘They’ say a lot of th-things,” Jessica interjected.
Wendy could tell something was going on. “Should I go? We’ve got some good data already.”
“Yeah, let’s stop this.” Jessica’s next throw landed the ball in a trash can. “Even the orgasms aren’t making this pleasant.”
“Orgasms?” Neil was a little confused, and frankly queasy, by the invocation.
Wendy explained as she unhooked Jessica. “We were testing a software package that lets synthetic women run climax sequences in the background of other tasks. It’s an application of the octet core we’ve begun...”
Neil raised a hand, “I think I got it.” It figures that they’d be trying to figure our more ways to cram sex into their lives. Now they were going to be cumming all day long. Super.
“It’s a fabulous program, Neil. Any woman would be thrilled to experience it.”
Wendy made a strategic retreat as Jessica shot daggers through her eyes at Neil. She wished her mom had taken her advice and developed eyes for synthetic women that shot laser beams.
Neil sighed, “OK, what’s your problem?”
“You lied to me.”
“About what?”
Jessica rolled her eyes, “About letting Zoe become a synthetic woman. No, about giving her the opportunity to become a synthetic woman. You had no intention of telling her about what we do here and letting her choose whether to lead a perfect android existence.”
“Let’s go easy on the ‘perfect’ talk, ok?” The well worn phrase irked Neil as much as Jessica’s snotty attitude.
“Oh here we go, poor abused Jessica with her sexy body and many friends and fulfilling job. Oh, the horrors that have been visited upon her.” The tone did nothing to disabuse Neil of the notion that his sister was being snotty.
“At least you got the ‘many friends’ part right.”
“This is about sex? There are plenty of monogamous android women, fully devoted to their husbands.”
“Yeah, and their files are all marked ‘possessive, potentially abusive husband’.”
“Bullshit.” Jessica said it, although she knew there was a correlation. Neil had the causation reversed, though.
“And please, tell me the most dates you’ve been on with one guy, and company clients don’t count.”
It was a biased question; since most of Jessica’s social life involved the Institute. But that didn’t really help her case. “So what if I’m not out there trying to find a husband. I’m 20 years old, I can’t get an STD or get pregnant, I’m fucking hot, why shouldn’t I be out there just enjoying myself?”
Neil, in that moment, decided to let it out. “That’s just it, Mom stuck you in that body and you had no reason to mature, no reason to act like a normal human being.”
“But this is better than being a normal human being. And fuck you for calling me immature.” In hindsight, that wasn’t a very mature response.
“You went from being a complex young woman into a shallow whore.”
“I went from being a gloomy, suicidal young woman into a happy young woman.”
Neil was taken aback by the suicidal comment, but he chalked it up internally as exaggeration in a heated moment. But the pause let Jessica go on the offensive.
“And why do I need to defend myself? This is about Zoe. You won’t let her make that choice for herself. Talk about maturity, why don’t you tell her, tell her your concerns, and then let her make an informed decision?”
“Because I’d bring her here, and you’d fill her mind with hyperbolic descriptions of your life, and once you turned her into a tinkertoy, she’d be programmed to love it. Programmed for everything. And she wouldn’t love me anymore; she’d love the program that tells her she loves me.”
Now it was Jessica’s turn to be silent, she hadn’t seen Neil this... scared in a long time. He was almost crying. Her ire had completely burned off, and she wanted to hug him, but that was hard to do with one arm and no lower half.
“It wouldn’t be like that Neil, I still love you, and that’s not linked to any specific program or induced sensation. And if I was that different, would you really still enjoy hanging out with me?”
“I enjoy it because when it’s just the two of us, you start acting like the sister you used to be and not UX1-whatever. But for it to be my wife... that’s 24/7.”
Screw it, Jessica reached out and yanked Neil close to her into a semi-hug, one that Neil made a full one. “I don’t know what I can do to convince you that your fears are bullshit, but I promise I’ll let you decide when your wife comes in. And I promise that when that happens, I’ll be as frank as possible with her about the limitations of being an android, ok?”
Jessica felt Neil nodding against her shoulder, and they stayed in that position for a while longer.
Zoe was standing in front of the mirror brushing her teeth before going to bed. All she had on was one of Neil’s big T-shirts and a pair of panties. Thankfully, her hangover had gone away sometime after lunch. She was still a little pissed that the other girls she had gone out with were fresh and chipper that morning. Zoe had rolled in ninety minutes late, filled with coffee and aspirin, and looking like she had been hit by a truck. Katie, who had been as drunk as Zoe had ever seen a girl, was sunny as ever. You might have guessed she had spent last night at home reading before turning in early, rather than getting plastered and waving her bare breasts around until 1 a.m.
Zoe had largely ignored them as she worked to get everything done with a splitting headache. Fortunately Camilla hadn’t given her any shit about showing up late. At least that had gone right. When five o’clock rolled around, she was out of there like a bolt of lightning.
Zoe finished brushing and started looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look that bad. A few acne scars maybe, and her breasts weren’t anything to write about. But she was reasonably well-proportioned. She had a good smile and good-looking hair. However the memory of being easily outshone by four random girls on the same floor of the building was fresh in her mind. Maybe she needed to buy some new make-up. Or do more thigh exercises. Or maybe breast implants. She turned to the side and hefted her little breasts up under the shirt, imagining how she’d look with more mass there.
“Neil, do you think I’d look better with larger breasts?”
Neil had been reading Ben-Hur in bed, trying to expand his knowledge of classic literature. He would have been better off reading a book about land mines.
“What makes you ask that?” The strategic non-answer, always a good opening move.
“I dunno, When I was out with the girls last night I felt like the ugly girl the hot girls bring around to scare away guys.” Zoe walked into the bedroom and got under the covers.
“I find it very hard to believe anyone would find you anything less than hot yourself.”
“Thanks, but I’m being serious. I know it sounds shallow, but I like feeling pretty.”
Neil leaned over and gave her a kiss. “You are the most wonderful, beautiful woman I’ve ever been with. I think you’re just great the way you are right now.”
Zoe smiled a little and returned the kiss, but wasn’t really reassured. “You don’t think I’m too... Vanilla?” She wasn’t sure where she pulled that term from, but it fit.
Neil had to pause. Frankly, he liked the fact that Zoe was usually quiet and conservative. But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now. “You’re chocolate chip cookie dough. Maybe sort of vanilla, but filled with little tasty bits that are made even more delicious by the vanilla they’re suspended in.”
That analogy had gotten away from him and they both knew it.
Zoe was the first to restart the conversation. “I just feel like I should be out there doing crazy stuff. When was the last time we did something wild?”
She may have had a point. Even when they went to Las Vegas, they had bet sensibly, seen a few shows, and spent most of the night screwing in their moderately-priced hotel room.
“What did you have in mind? Matching tattoos? I don’t really want a unicorn on my ass. See? How vanilla is it to have a tattoo?”
Zoe was a little miffed by his sarcasm, and crossed her foot over the unicorn on her ankle, “lots of people have tattoos. I want to do something your parents wouldn’t do.”
Neil wasn’t sure whether to laugh or piss himself. The things his parents wouldn’t do was a small list nowadays. “Such as?”
Zoe shifted and sat up in the bed, “Some of the girls at work thought it was really hot to do some roleplaying stuff during sex.” Hey Sex Neil liked the sound of that. “I thought we could try something like that.”
Neil put his book and glasses on the nightstand. “So what would we be playing?”
Zoe smiled, “Well, I thought we could play as though I was your personal robot sex machine.”
The human brain wasn’t designed to process situations like these. Neil didn’t know where his terror started. There was the thought that Zoe was using this as an introduction to telling him she was an android. And if she wasn’t, it meant she would be more likely to say yes if his mom or sister got to her. Then there were the oedipal issues surrounding his mother the android. And there was the memory of all the glazed-eyed synthetic women he had slept with years before.
“You don’t like it, do you?” Zoe looked disappointed and embarrassed. Now Neil had to do it in order to preserve her ego.
“No, no, it’s interesting. I was just wondering how we should start”
Zoe hopped up and shucked her shirt, exposing her breasts. Then she stopped. “Actually, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure either.”
“Why don’t you stand against the wall and I’ll turn on Zoebot for some sex?”
“OK.” Zoe stood against the wall and shut her eyes.
Neil got out of the bed, already regretting this. And he was also trying to figure out how much of his real-life knowledge he could or should apply to this fantasy. He didn’t want to confuse her or just as bad, make it seem like he was getting into this.
So he started out by using his fingers on her nipples and making old radio noises. Zoe suppressed a giggle before Neil pushed on her navel and she opened her eyes. She also stuck her arms out at a 90 degree angle.
“Zo.e.bot online. What pro.gram should I run?” Zoe said it in a bad attempt at a robotic monotone.
Neil paused to lower Zoe’s arms to her sides before speaking, “Zoebot, remove my pajama bottoms.”
She nodded and knelt down to do so, taking Neil’s underwear down at the same time and letting his dick flop out. He was a little too freaked out to be erect at this point though. Zoe wanted to start on him, but figured that wasn’t part of the game. So she went back and sat on her heels, looking up at Neil.
“Zoebot, proceed with felatio sequence 14.” Neil had always liked that one when he had fucked the eager women his mother turned into androids. If Zoe was an android now, it’d be the same.
For better or worse, it wasn’t. Zoe wasn’t very good at giving head. She had the thick, inviting lips for sure, but she had a sensitive gag reflex. Plus Neil wasn’t exactly tiny. So the blow job was pretty similar to the others Zoe had given. Except this time, when she went too far and disengaged to start coughing, she managed to fit the word ‘error’ in between the expectorations.
Still, she was good enough to get Neil hard, and he held her back before she could go back to licking and sucking. “Zoebot, stand up so I can examine your lubricant levels.”
It made Zoe giggle a little bit, but she got to her feet and spread her legs. Neil reached inside her undies and ran a finger along her slit. His girlfriend closed her eyes, but tried to stay in character and not make any noise. Neil kept rubbing and dipping a finger inside until he felt that she was wet.
“Zoebot, remove your panties and get into position 18A on the bed.”
Zoe put her legs back together and wiggled out of her panties. Dyson didn’t actually name sexual positions like that by number, but it let Zoe pick which way she wanted it. That was the plan, but Zoe hesitated as she got onto the bed. She actually tried to think of what 18A was, before realizing it was nonsense. So she laid down, face up, with her rump just off the foot of the bed and her feet spread wide on the ground.
“Would you like me to make noises for you?” Zoe couldn’t think of a better way, or more robotic way, to put it.
“Yes, and tell me when your orgasm sequence begins to load.” Crap, Neil didn’t want to make it sound exactly like how a synthetic woman would describe cumming. It just slipped out. But Zoe said affirmative and lifted herself to point her nether regions at him.
Neil had a briefly disconcerting vision of where the fluid tanks, muscular controls and connection points would be in Zoe’s pelvic module. That is, if she really was an android. He tried to put that out of his mind and stepped forward to guide himself inside Zoe a little more quickly than he normally did. Zoe made some exaggerated ‘mmm’ sounds in response. At least, Neil hoped she was only hamming it up. He took a handle on each of her thighs and began to rock back and forth.
Zoe hadn’t been as into the thing as she thought she’d be, but this was as good as it always was. Neil filled her up so well and rubbed her in all the right ways. This time it was more forceful than tender, but still good. She didn’t hold back in expressing her satisfaction through moans. Eventually he let one of her thighs drop and brought a hand up to assist in teasing her clit. That elicited a loud squeal of approval. She almost forgot to do the ‘orgasm sequence’ thing Neil wanted.
“Mmm, orgasm sequence loading... loading... loading... looooooooooooading ” She twitched as Neil’s ministrations hit paydirt. Neil himself was pleased that she had come, and was amused by the ‘loading’ thing. A few minutes later, he let himself relax enough to have his own weak-knee-inducing climax inside Zoe.
“Zoebot, clean me and yourself.” Zoe was still off in la-la land but heard him. She reached over and got some Kleenex to wipe up. And for god measure, Zoe gave his dick a final coat of saliva after wiping off most of the goo.
“So, did Zoebot enjoy herself?”
Zoe got up and kissed Neil. He could sort of taste himself on her lips. “It was definitely new.” Truth be told, she hadn’t gotten much out of it. But by her estimation Neil had enjoyed himself more than usual. And by his estimation, Zoe had enjoyed herself less than usual, which pleased him. He felt a little bad about it, but he was glad she didn’t seem enticed to become an android. The entire experience was nerve wracking though and he honestly hoped to never repeat it.
With that, the two of them crawled into bed, shut off the lights, and fell asleep with no further contact or discussion. As Neil was lying there, he remembered what he had talked to Jessica about. This would have been a good time to turn around and tell Zoe everything about his family, since robots were already the topic. Plus, it was when she would be least enthused about the concept by his reckoning. But it was late, Zoe was probably already asleep, and that discussion could wait another day.

==Part 7==
The next morning, Zoe got to her desk and was greeted by Gretchen, Dana, and Christine.
“Come on, Camilla is giving us a spa trip and the day off,” Dana told her. She was smiling broadly at the idea. In fact all three of them were.
“Really? The entire day off? Why?” Zoe actually felt a little guilty about showing up late and hungover yesterday, even if it had been with Camilla’s blessing.
“Because she couldn’t buy you a drink, so she’s giving you a spa trip. And since the spa is no fun alone...”
Gretchen cut in, “I reap the benefits.” She raised her fists as triumphantly as she could in an office setting.
Zoe was stunned, but wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, “So are we leaving now?”
“Yeah, everyone is here, we can all pile into my p.o.s.-mobile,” Christine offered. And with that, the four of them were off. In the elevator, Zoe noticed Dana typing on her blackberry.
“Who are you texting?”

Camilla was having a new pelvic module installed when the message came in. It killed the erotic buzz she was building up from having the technicians work on her, but she had asked to be notified when Zoe and the rest of them were headed in. And fortunately, Dr. Dyson was in the observation room.
“Dr. Dyson, Dana, Christine, Gretchen and Zoe have just left Stanley. They should be here within 30 minutes.”
“Very good, VX9348. I have to say you’re going to love that new pussy.”
Camilla moaned at the thought while the techs tested the lubrication system. Elaine was tense enough that she wasn’t diddling herself while watching. She calmly reached over to the panel and paged her daughter.
Jessica arrived a minute later. “Hi, mom.”

[[Image:Uxj2.jpg|350px]]

“Hello dear, Zoe and her friends are on their way. Set up Zoe’s demonstration in room 5 and her human friend’s display in room 6.”
Jessica figured it was now or never. “Mom, about that. I’m not sure we’re handling this the right way.”
Elaine turned and cocked an eyebrow at her daughter, “Is that so.”
Jessica tried to shut off some of her autonomic responses and look more confident. “Zoe and Neil are going to be husband and wife, and it has always been our policy to have married women talk it over with their husbands.”
“She has the right to leave and talk to Neil.”
“Yes, but we’re going to convert her immediately if she says yes.”
“Zoe’s a big girl, she has the right to make her own decisions.” Elaine began to turn away.
“Yes, but if she does it’s going to hurt Neil. He really doesn’t want her to do this, Mom. He doesn’t believe that we’re the same women after becoming synthetic.”
Elaine stopped turning and took a step toward her daughter. “So now you’re on Neil’s side?”
“It’s not about sides, I just think we should be convincing Neil, not Zoe.”
“If he doesn’t understand now, nothing we say is going to convince him. We’re going to have to demonstrate to him all the benefits of our lifestyle.”
This wasn’t going as Jessica hoped. “So it’s all about proving something to Neil?”
“Watch your tone. And it’s about making my children happy. Neil is not going to go through the sorts of things your father went through. He’s going to have a perfect wife, just like he deserves and just like I can provide. If you’re still having doubts, your old body is waiting for you downstairs.”
Jessica had never heard her Mom talk to her like this. She had never invoked Jessica’s organic body in an argument. There was nothing more to be said. Jessica turned to leave the room and set up the demonstrations.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Dyson called after her, “after you finish, I think you should go home for the day.”
Jessica knew what that meant. Her mother didn’t trust her to not make an attempt to convince Zoe to remain organic. It was a blow to the gut, and Jessica left walking more like the drab teen she had been than the beautiful synthetic woman she was.
Elaine turned back and watched VX9348’s new pelvic module slide into place, causing a small orgasm sequence in the android. She felt guilty about sending Jessica away, and even implying that her daughter should become organic again. But this was important, and Jessica would realize that.

Zoe and Gretchen were impressed by the opulence of the Institute just from the lobby. It was Greek-inspired, while still looking modern. Zoe noticed that the staff and a good portion of the clientele were very attractive. The spa gear and the staff uniforms weren’t the most flattering garments in the world, but they couldn’t hide everything. The people-watching was distracting enough that they were nearly to the reception desk before Zoe noticed the name ‘Dyson’ in 18-inch-high block letters on the wall.
“Hey, I think this is the spa that Neil’s mom owns.”
Gretchen responded first. “I was just about to ask you about that. Hell, if she owns a place like this your boyfriend is sitting on a fortune in inheritance.”
Zoe tried to ignore Gretchen’s predictable response and point the question toward Christine, “Didn’t I tell you my boyfriend’s last name and that his mom owned a spa?”
She shrugged, “If you did, I guess I never made the connection. Usually we just call it ‘the spa’ and don’t use the proper name.” That was a bald-faced lie, but Christine hoped it would hold up until Zoe could meet Dr. Dyson.
“You didn’t make the connection with the big letters above the entrance?”
Christine shrugged again, “What can I say? A spa trip is a spa trip. But maybe we can go see the lady in charge, if she is Neil’s mom.”
Zoe did want to meet her future mother-in-law. Now was as good a time as any.
Dana broke in before any more questions could be asked. “OK, Zoe here’s your guest pass. Gretchen, here’s yours. Let’s go meet Dr. Dyson first, before we get all steamed and massaged.”
Zoe supposed that Dana had overheard the earlier conversation. She guessed going there first made some sense, even if she would have preferred some more time to prepare herself. Gretchen, as much as she enjoyed Zoe, was a little disappointed she’d be spending part of her spa time being part of the scenery for a future-family get-together.
The ladies flashed their badges in front of a reader at the door and entered the back rooms of the institute. The two organic ladies didn’t know this was not an area the normal clients of the Institute got to see. Most of the rooms had no windows, and an alert could keep the halls clear of overt android evidence. Still, Dana led them on the long way through the back to avoid some of the more vocal testing areas.
This did lead them past a window into the gym area of the Institute. Zoe saw six women playing a highly spirited game of basketball. Three were in black sports bras, the others were in green. But the main feature was just how good and how fast they were. They must be a local college or semi-pro team. The side on defense was matching the moves of the offensive players at whatever speed they went. And in appreciating the talent on display, she noticed something weird just below their bras. They were far away, but it wasn’t clothing, she thought maybe it was a tattoo. That would be in keeping with the team theory.
Christine saw Zoe stop and saw the open panels on the girls playing basketball. She nearly yelped before hurrying Zoe and Gretchen farther along their route. That was a little too close.
The four of them got to Dr. Dyson’s door without further incident. Although Dana and Christine could pick up on the moans seeping into the hallway, they were confident the organics hadn’t caught on. Zoe patted down her hair and checked her outfit one more time before she entered the office.
Elaine was sitting at her desk wearing a smart business outfit, leaving her lab coat on a peg to the left of her desk. Zoe’s first thought was how Jessica’s hotness was more explicable, and second thought was that the family resemblance to Neil wasn’t all that strong.
Elaine smiled and stood up from her chair, “Zoe It’s so nice to finally meet you in person.” Before Zoe knew it, she was in a hug with Dr. Dyson.
Zoe returned the hug, not as fervently as Elaine, but returned nonetheless. She was the one that nudged the doctor away. “It’s nice to meet you too, Dr. Dyson.”
“Please, Call me Elaine... or Mom.” The doctor flashed a big row of white teeth at Zoe.
“OK... Elaine. I’m just trying to figure out how you knew it was me.”
Dana and Christine, who were standing back a bit beside Gretchen, tensed up at the question. Dr. Dyson quickly picked between possible fake explanations.
“I have to admit, I played a little bit of a game with you. Since Neil was so reluctant to bring us together, I enlisted Dana and Christine’s help in bringing you here to meet me. Sorry for the obfuscation. I was just so excited to meet my future daughter-in-law.”
Any holes in the explanation were filled in by Zoe’s lingering irritation at Neil not bringing her to meet his family sooner. Zoe nodded and sighed in agreement and Elaine led them to the sitting area of her expansive office. The two of them made idle chit-chat and Zoe talked about herself a little bit.
Gretchen was still off to the side and getting a little impatient. She leaned over to Dana, “Do we need to be here for this?”
Dana whispered back, “just wait, you’ll definitely want to be around for what’s coming up.”
“What do you mean?”
Dana hushed her and redirected Gretchen’s focus to the conversation Dr. Dyson was involved in.
A little later, after being asked about her ‘career change’ to spa owner, Dr. Dyson took a pause, stood up, and begun her pitch.
“It’s not easy for women in the modern world. Between career and family and self-esteem there are so many directions you’re being pushed and pulled. I’m a highly capable woman, with a wonderful husband, and I couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t advancing in my career. I wasn’t spending time with my kids. My marriage was at its breaking point. And I hadn’t taken any time just for me in years.”
Neither Gretchen nor Zoe knew where Dr. Dyson was going with this, but Dana and Christine were listening with rapt attention.
“Then one day I and some colleagues came upon an idea. It was the solution to our common problem and we knew it would change the world. I threw myself into the idea. I neglected those other parts of my life because I knew this project was the only way I’d ever be able to devote the proper amount of time to them. I didn’t see Neil and Jessica, their father kicked me out. But Neil probably told you about that from his perspective.
“But it worked. All my sacrifice came to fruition and I’m able to improve the lives of modern women all over the world. I got back my marriage and my kids. I have a successful career. And I still have ample time for myself.”
Elaine began to undo her top enough to expose the area just below her breasts. Gretchen and Zoe were speechless at this development and what happened next didn’t jar them from that state. With a faint whirring sound, Dr. Dyson opened up one of her panels. Gretchen heard the same sound from either side of her and saw that Dana and Christine had similarly revealed open panels in their respective torsos. Small diodes flashed, albeit a little faster in the younger androids. Each of the organic women saw cable ports and multi-colored wires. And they saw that the space wasn’t cosmetic, it went deep into a dark cavity within each android’s chest.
“I developed not only female android bodies, but the technology to transfer someone’s consciousness into that body. For the past five years, I have been an android. In my entire life I have never felt so absolutely fulfilled. And I think Dana and Christine would agree.”
Zoe’s head whipped around and saw her two coworkers with similarly open panels. It then hit her that the girls in the gym had the same looking dark spot below their bras. If this was a trick, it was terribly elaborate.
“I’ve been an android for three months, but it’s been the best three months of my life. I’m less stressed, my job is easier, I unplug in the morning ready to go, and all my senses are more vivid than before. I just can’t imagine going back to the way I was before.” Dana gushed first and then Christine followed with a similar testimonial.
“You remember how we looked during and after our party night, right? That’s because Ava and Katie are androids too. We swapped out for well made-up head units and even after that late night, all it took was five hours connected to our service unit to emerge the next morning fresh as a daisy. No fatigue, no puffy eyes, no sore feet, no hangover, absolutely perfect. All we had to do the next morning was swap in our normal head module and change clothes.” Gretchen had to sit down. She and Zoe just sat there in silence for a moment. Gretchen spoke first, “Does it hurt? The transfer, I mean.”
Dr. Dyson smiled, “Not at all, it’s like going to sleep. Here, I want to show you something. Unit VX9348 is having some routine maintenance performed.”
The five of them went through a door in Dr. Dyson’s office to a private observation room. Zoe’s eyes went wide and Gretchen brought a hand to her mouth when they saw a blonde woman with the barn doors of her chest cavity opened wide, legs detached, and a technician rooting around inside her. It took a few beats, but they realized that the blonde was their boss, Camilla. It took another few beats before they realized she was alternating between moaning and grinning broadly.
Dr. Dyson explained, “Almost all synthetic women relish their new nature, the nature which has brought them so much happiness and well-being. Maintenance is the purest expression of this, and thus highly pleasurable.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say, “How many of you are there?”
“I can’t tell you the exact number, that’s private, but we have institute branches on four continents and thirteen countries now.”
Zoe was wondering more about Stanley Enterprises, considering she had been working with at least five android women and didn’t know about it. She could respect the need for privacy, though.
“How quickly can this happen?” Zoe turned to see Gretchen almost hyperventilating. “I want it. I want to be an android. I want to feel like that and how Dana and Christine described it. I don’t want to feel like I’m being ripped apart every day.”
Zoe was surprised but could plainly see Gretchen’s excitement at the idea. Dr. Dyson put an arm around Zoe’s friend, “Wonderful, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Dana, Christine, show Gretchen to lab six and call in a scanning tech. Zoe, follow me, I want to show you something.”
Zoe brain was zooming with all the implications of what was happening. Her coworkers were robots. Another of her friends was about to become a robot. Her mother-in-law and probably her sister-in-law were robots too. And she had the opportunity to become a robot.
“Does Neil know?”
Dr. Dyson could guess what Zoe meant. “Yes, he’s known for quite some time. Both about me and his sister and about the scope of the operation. Actually, he used to help me test newly assembled androids.” Elaine omitted the sexual nature of these tests.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He was afraid of your response, or he valued our secrecy. You’ll have to ask him.” Dr. Dyson wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth, so a sin of omission would have to suffice.
Zoe still couldn’t wrap her head around everything. She was barely paying attention to the world around her when she realized the two of them had entered a room. It was obviously some sort of laboratory, as the walls were littered with computers and various mechanical parts.
But in the center of the room, a woman stood in a wedding dress. At least that’s what Zoe first thought it was. She quickly realized the dress was only a bodice, and the ‘woman’ ended at the waist. She was hooked up to a metal stand of some sort. She was holding a bouquet in immaculately manicured hands, her breasts bulged slightly over the neckline of the dress, and her face was covered by a few veils. Dr. Dyson walked over and with a smile, lifted the veils to reveal to Zoe her own face, eyes closed and with a serene expression on her face. The hair was darker and more lustrous than her own. The little imperfections in her skin were washed away. Her lips puckered alluringly even in their restive state.
Zoe’s jaw had already dropped when the android opened its eyes, perfect matches for Zoe’s own. The half-robot straightened itself and smiled with a row of pearly white teeth before speaking in a hauntingly accurate rendition of Zoe’s voice.
“Hello, Zoe... if you choose to follow this course through to its conclusion, I will be part of the new you. I will be you. I have been fully tested and am ready to deliver unrivaled performance under all conditions... part of a perfect system of hardware and software designed and constructed for your pleasure, for your enjoyment, and Neil’s. Join us, Zoe... become the new you. Become a machine... become a perfect android woman.”
Zoe locked eyes with her double and time stood still for a bit. This had to be some strange nightmare. Too much booze, too much sugar, or maybe a radon leak. Dr. Dyson stepped behind the demonstration model, which still had a contented smile on its face.
“I love my son dearly, Zoe. And from what I can tell, you love him too. As an organic woman, I couldn’t be the type of wife my husband deserved. And I want to make sure Neil can have the type of wife he deserves. I rarely say this but Zoe, please, please become an android. If you don’t like it, your organic body is kept in storage and it’s easy to transfer back. You’re going to be part of my family, please become part of my larger family too. It’s ultimately your decision and yours alone, but I hope I’ve done an adequate job of making my case.”
Zoe heard it, but couldn’t move her eyes away from her doppelganger. It looked so... blissful. And of course, beautiful in a way Zoe had never been able to achieve on her own. Dana and Christine seemed to love it. And her best work friend looked like she would tear down walls to have it done.
“OK, I’ll do it.”
Dr. Dyson couldn’t help herself; she went over to Zoe and gave her a great big hug again. “I’m so happy for you. Go ahead and sit on the couch. We can get the transfer started immediately.”
Zoe’s heart leapt into her throat. “That soon? But the body isn’t even ready.”
“Oh, all the rest is just stock parts. Plus there’s a scanning period before any information is downloaded onto your hard drive. The couch is over there, and I’d be honored to perform the procedure myself.”
Zoe nervously made her way over there and lay down. Just because she was willing to do this, didn’t mean she wasn’t a little scared at the prospect. Elaine on the other hand was practically skipping around the lab gathering the necessary components.
“Ok, I’m going to give you a little sedative and when you wake up, you’ll be one of us. Don’t be surprised if you see a head’s up display and status messages.” Elaine was still grinning even as she placed electrodes on Zoe’s temples. Zoe was happy that she had eaten a light breakfast. She tried to get comfortable and calm her breathing, but it was tough. Without saying anything further, Elaine took Zoe’s arm, found a vein and dosed her with a full syringe of the sedative. Quickly, Zoe felt herself drifting away into la la land. Her last thought before passing out was, “Maybe I should have talked to Neil...”

==Part 8==
Unit UX1729 came online and ran through the list of status messages that composed her initial activation diagnostic. She was receiving tactile data from all her extremities and limbs. Positive feedback was coming from all her articulation controllers. Her battery was fully charged. Simulated pulse and respiration functions were active. Her processing core was running at its optimal temperature and speed. She could taste with her synthetic tongue and pick up on the faint sounds and odors in the room. Finally, her vision initialized, pixilated for only a moment before becoming crystal clear.
She could see Units UX1002, VX9319 and VX9422 standing in front of her. She checked her accelerometer and confirmed she was activated in an upright position. Tactile input and an analysis of the eye movement of the other androids indicated she was nude. And in a little corner of her display, she could see that her personal files were loading.
Suddenly, the androids in front of her were Dr. Dyson, Dana, and Christine. The information displayed in her vision was a new thing. Receiving and understanding information in binary was new as well. Then she realized that being nude wasn’t normal either. Zoe’s hands zipped in front of her privates and she felt her skin flush, aware of the commands being executed that made it so.
The three other android women chuckled at her modesty. Dr. Dyson spoke, “I suppose this is a good time to test your personal interface. Focus on the top of your display and bring up your ‘comfort with nudity’ setting, then adjust it up until you feel better.”
Zoe followed the direction without thinking much of the implications. A series of menus flashed across her vision until they stopped on the sliding bar Elaine had mentioned. Zoe moved it with a thought. It was a strange thing. There wasn’t any fuzzy feeling or lights flashing, she just felt silly covering herself up before three other women that she knew.
Zoe lifted her hands away and closed the window in her vision. She took a step forward, stuck her arms out and did a spin. “So, how do I look? Any I-beams sticking out of my back?”
The other androids laughed at that, and Zoe smiled along with them. She wiggled around, stretching out and testing her range of movement. It wasn’t a scheduled task, but it felt good to do. She was a little more flexible than before, but nothing beyond belief. Dana motioned her over to a far wall and Zoe got a look at her new self in the mirror.
It was a striking change. She didn’t look like a whole new person, but she looked so much sexier than before. It took her a moment to develop an analogy in her head, but it was like the image in the mirror had been airbrushed for a magazine. And it looked like she had spent a little more time doing crunches than she really had. She made a few more poses in the mirror, checking out her body in addition to her face. The face moved like her old one and looked like the one on the model. Then she realized that it was the one on the model.
Finally, it was time for the main event. She stood straight and opened up her paplexus panel. Her hand hovered over the exposed mechanics, this physical proof of her synthetic nature. She broke out into a wide smile as she willed that panel closed and opened the one below her sternum. Finally, she let her chest split open, and she gently pulled apart the doors. She looked at all the different tubes and boxes and was greeted by helpful pop-up messages, telling her what each component was as her focus darted around her chest cavity.
She was so immersed she didn’t see Christine come over and rest her chin on Zoe’s shoulder. She reached over and began to tweak one of the nipples on the open barn door. Zoe was momentarily taken aback both by the intense sensation and by the fact that it was happening at a right angle and several inches forward of where it should be happening.
“Mmm, please, Christine, stop.” Being naked in front of Christine was one thing; going to second base with her was something different. Even if it felt damn good.
“Why? Doesn’t it feel great?”
“Yeah, but I’m not really comfortable with you touching me like that.”
Christine giggled and stopped, instead pressing one of the chest doors back into place. “I forgot that you don’t come out of the box with all the features enabled.”
Zoe pushed the other side into place and watched everything seal up again, “What are you talking about?”
“Go to your Sexual preferences menu, there are all sorts of goodies there, including enabling some wonderful sapphic software.”
With barely a thought, the submenu for sexual preferences opened into her field of vision. She scrolled through the list, a little embarrassed that she hadn’t even heard of some of the things toward the bottom. But she left that stuff for later and went back toward the top where the sexual orientation toggle lay. Upon opening it, she found it was two toggles, independent determinations of attraction to women and attraction to men. The male toggle was about halfway to maximum, the female a little above the minimum. Zoe decided they should both go up. She amped up her attraction to men almost all the way, and moved her attraction to women three-quarters of the way to the right.
She could see Christine as she moved the slider and it was an amazing experience. The other android steadily went from intellectually attractive to emotionally attractive in Zoe’s eyes. She knew Christine was attractive, but now she was attracted to Christine’s sparkling eyes and cute little nose.
“Oh wow, that’s something.” Zoe half-muttered to the ether.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Christine took the initiative and began kissing her coworker. And Zoe made no attempt to push her away. It surprised Zoe a little bit, that she was enjoying playing tonsil hockey with another girl this much. And she cooed into the other android’s mouth when Christine began caressing Zoe’s bared buttocks.
Dana and Elaine had been standing to the side, taking vicarious pleasure in the new unit’s explorations. They silently agreed that Zoe made for a very sexy android, even though Elaine made a point of diving into her own code to limit the sexual arousal she felt toward her future daughter-in-law. But now it was obvious that Christine and Zoe would be fine alone.
“Come on Dana, let’s go see how Gretchen’s transfer is progressing. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, girls.”
The smooching ladies didn’t acknowledge the good doctor as she left the room with Dana. Zoe was busy trying to work her hands into Christine’s clothes. Eventually, Christine had to stop the festivities.
Zoe looked up at the other unit, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you’ve been programmed excellently. But there’s something special I have planned for us.”
Zoe felt a warm feeling of satisfaction at the positive affirmation about her performance. “And what exactly did you have planned?”
Christine began pulling the two of them toward the door, “It has to do with what we were talking about during our night out, come on.”
Zoe followed until she got close to the door and hallway beyond. “Umm, shouldn’t I cover up?” She was ok with being nude, she wasn’t comfortable with exposing herself to everyone. As she thought about it, Zoe appreciated the fine details possible in her programming.
Christine found a lab smock by the door and threw it to Zoe. You could guess there was nothing underneath, but it covered all the naughty bits with cloth to spare. Thusly, Zoe was able to happily accompany Christine down the hallways.
Zoe zoned out a bit to take it all in. The balancing data from her legs. The temperature of the hallway. The sounds from the testing rooms amplified by software in her head. She really was a machine, from the tips of her toes (stress levels during locomotion within optimal parameters) to the top of her head (scalp tactile sensors reading no defects).
Christine pulled Zoe into their destination room with girlish glee. There was a small, indoor pool there, with no units around. Zoe noticed how her body automatically did a seal check on all her panels and connection points of her skin. Even a small leak could be a problem.
Zoe still wasn’t sure what made Christine so excited, until they got closer to the pool, and she realized there were units there. Three women, probably all brunette – it was hard to tell with the water’s refraction – were underwater and tangled together. Zoe had an urge to save them, before realizing they were fine down there.
Christine reached around to unbutton the lab coat. “You were embarrassed about not having sex anywhere interesting, I thought this might be a good way to fix that. Go ahead and halt your autonomic function simulations and seal all your tracheal openings.”
Zoe let the coat fall to her ankles and began following Christine’s instructions. Her fake heartbeat stopped. Her fake breathing slowed to nothing. Even the urge to blink weakened. A status message told her that her throat was sealed off. Zoe turned around and found that Christine had stripped down and was standing there posing with a ‘come hither’ look on her face. As excited as Zoe got before, the sight of Christine’s perfect android body set her pussy aflame. Fortunately there was a pool of water nearby to douse it.
Wordlessly, Christine took a big step to her left and jumped into the pool. She sank with barely a splash and did not surface. Zoe took the hint and followed her in. The pool was just deep enough that she could stand on the bottom and still be completely submerged. Once inside, it was easier to see. Zoe briefly looked at the other girls twisted into a three-fembot pretzel before coming back to Christine. Her blonde hair lightly flowed around her head and her breasts hung even higher on her chest. With the light only coming from above, she looked like an android angel. If an android angel had a swollen and aroused pussy, of course.
The two of them glided through the water and made contact. Zoe swore she could sense every little bit of water gliding across her skin. She was amazed at how her breasts felt against Christine's and how her lips tasted when tinged with chlorine. Even in her aroused state, Zoe noted how different it was, kissing without breathing. The flexing of their cheeks pushed some water between them, but otherwise it was all about the contact.
Christine broke it off and moved her hand from around Zoe to one side of her. She used the leverage to do a bit of a cartwheel that put her feet above the water line. Zoe quickly interpreted the maneuver and assisted in bringing the other android into position with their mouths before each others' pussies. Christine started first, but Zoe had to stop and admire how juicy the blonde's pussy looked now. She briefly realized that the attraction was programmed, but once she felt the tongue in her own snatch, the reticence and awe evaporated and she plunged in.
Zoe was splitting her resources between interpreting Christine's expert cunnilingus, running an expert licking program of her own, and trying to keep the pair of them from toppling over. There wasn't much more room left to think. Sex had never seemed so simple, even though it was accomplished by 214 separate software subroutines. Zoe just sat back and enjoyed it. And in sitting back, she gently glided her and Christine to the floor of the pool, with Zoe on top. That freed up enough room for her to think about some things.
God, Neil isn't even half this good. She felt a little guilty about thinking it, but it was true. She realized that she – and by extension Christine – wasn't using any maneuvers that required blowing or sucking. The software had automatically omitted those actions from the programs she was running.
While that was a feature to be appreciated, Zoe realized a rise in her arousal and drop in her available computing resources. She had only a moment to realize what was going on before Christine had caused Zoe's first artificial orgasm. Her legs shook and her chest heaved. It felt like her brain was going to explode through the top of her head. Zoe had no idea where she was, she was simply awash with the pleasure.
She came down in time to sense her partner grinning into her crotch. And that only provoked Zoe to go doubly hard at Christine. Like a seasoned lesbian, Zoe brought Christine to an equally satisfying release.
And that's how they spent the next two hours. They exchanged orgasms sequences like the pleasure was something tangible, like a tennis ball, to be volleyed between them. They heard, but didn't acknowledge, the departure of their poolmates. There was serious cuntlicking to be done.
Finally, Christine extracted herself and swam up to the surface. Zoe watched that lovely form swim to the wall before getting up herself. She was so focused on watching Christine's nude body leave the pool that she was out of the water as well when she realized there were other people there.
She immediately recognized Dr. Dyson, who was now clad in nothing but bikini bottoms, but couldn't place the naked woman beside her. Zoe felt the urge to smack herself in the forehead when she realized the new girl was Gretchen. But she looked so different now, like she had been through half a dozen expensive cosmetic enhancement surgeries. But more than that, it was as though all the stress she had been under was whisked away.
Gretchen was beaming and looked like she might explode. Instead, she leaped forward and hugged Zoe.
“Ohmigawd Ohmigawd I'm a robot now ” Gretchen proudly stepped back and opened up a panel for Zoe to see. Zoe's newfound affection for women's bodies was only enhanced by evidence that it was a woman's android body. She reached for the panel before realizing she had wet hands and shouldn't go near exposed circuitry. Instead, she moved toward Gretchen's, now bare, pussy.
Gretchen stepped back when she realized where Zoe was going, after all, this was her best – and straight and engaged – friend. Zoe realized the problem almost immediately and gave her friend a comforting smile.
“It's ok, being with another android woman is just astounding. Go to your sexual preferences menu. Then you can enable some outstanding sapphic software.”
Like Zoe just hours before, Gretchen gave little thought to opening up the proper menu and sliding her sexual attraction bars closer to the max. When her focus left the heads-up display, she was treated to the arousing sight of Zoe's perfect, nude, and shiny wet body. Gretchen leaped again, but this time she went in for an aggressive kiss.
She had learned that Zoe was the link that allowed her the opportunity to receive this body, and that appreciation, combined with the pre-existing fondness, exploded into lust. Zoe had to step back to prevent the two of them from tumbling into the pool, but she managed. Gretchen wanted to kiss Zoe forever, but also needed to say something.
“Thank you so much, I haven't felt so alive in years.”
Zoe smiled, and that turned into a grin when she looked down at the perky, enlarged breasts on Gretchen's chest.
“What do you say I dry off and then you spend an hour or two thanking me with that new software you activated.”
Gretchen's grin nearly swallowed her own head, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Elaine had been happy to see the girlfriends become lezbot lovers like so many other pairs of friends that came to the institute. But something else nagged at her as Zoe led Gretchen away. Zoe hadn't been so aggressive, and didn't like women, and suddenly she was encouraging her friend to activate her lesbian urges. She could remember seeing it before, but it had always seemed a lot more beautiful than it did just then. The feeling was enough that she went towards her office, rather than the room Zoe and Gretchen were headed toward.

Dana and Christine entered Dr. Dyson’s office but didn’t say anything right away. Elaine was hooked to the computer, sorting through the day’s e-mail. Christine nudged Dana in the ribs and got her to speak first.
“Dr. Dyson, VX9422 and I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Elaine looked up and stared the two of them down. She slowed her mail checking to half-speed.
“We were wondering, since Zoe is synthetic now, if we might ask you a favor.”
Christine jumped in, “We hear that you are going to be testing the UX2000 models soon, and we were wondering if we could act as test subjects.”
Dr. Dyson narrowed her eyes and stopped her other tasks. “You want a reward for your work, is that it?”
The two standing androids mumbled something in the affirmative.
Elaine stood up and reached for the papers in her inbox. “I want to tell you about some of your sister units and what they’ve done.
“Unit UX1453, her husband ‘donated’ six million dollars to Dyson last year alone.
“Unit RX9260, did over 600 hours of pro bono legal work for us this year.
“Unit UX1066, her husband is building three new Dyson spas, including our first in Latin America. And let me tell you, that takes as much political as monetary capital to achieve.”
Christine and Dana got the hint, but didn’t dare interrupt Dr. Dyson at this point.
“Unit VX7275, Master’s degree in English, works with at-risk high school girls across the state.
“Unit VX2077, lives on-site and works at the spa when she’s not teaching mentally handicapped elementary school students.”
The two androids wanted to shrivel up and deactivate.
“The only thing I ask of you is to help me help Neil at work, and now to help Zoe. I’m not running the institute as a business, but don’t pretend everyone pulls the same weight around here.”
Christine and Dana nodded furiously. Dana spoke, “We’re sorry. We didn’t think, we were just excited about the idea of being better androids.”
Elaine sighed. She already felt bad about blowing up like that. “It’s ok, I shouldn’t have jumped all over you. I’ll give you each an extra number in the lottery we use to pick some of the test units. How’s that.”
The two of them would have been happy to get out of there with all their parts intact. “Yes, that’s great,” They both said, “Thank you.” And they both quickly turned and sped out of the room.
Elaine slumped over and returned to her seat. She half-heartedly reactivated her computer link and read the rest of her e-mails.

==Part 9==
Zoe sat in the living room of her apartment, enjoying the stillness. She had decided to start shutting different things down, if only to experiment, and gotten pretty far. She wasn’t breathing. She had no pulse. She wasn’t making any tiny movements to keep her balance. She stared straight ahead without blinking. Her olfactory, tactile, and gustatory senses were shut off entirely. She expected Neil home soon, so she didn’t shut off her hearing and vision, although she briefly shut off one or the other while in the chair.
And for a few fleeting moments, she thought this was what the chair felt like. If the chair could think, when the room was empty it would be like she was now. After all, she was now just as manufactured as the chair. She was another piece of furniture, albeit a gorgeous one, if she did say so herself.
And the furniture was especially gorgeous in the black corset and stockings number that the institute had picked out for her. She had never worn anything like it before, but she enjoyed it now. Wearing a corset turns out to be pretty easy when your breathing is just cosmetic.
But all in all, it was a bit disorienting to be so ‘shut off’ and Zoe decided to end the experiment. And Neil chose that moment to put his key into the lock. Zoe panicked for a moment, trying to switch everything on at once, manually activating things on top of the normal boot sequence. It produced the sensation of pennies in her mouth and burnt toast in her nose. When Neil walked in, Zoe’s breathing hadn’t reinitialized yet, nor had her heartbeat. Her hands and legs weren’t responding to voluntary muscle commands either.
No matter, Neil walked in and saw his future wife in sexy lingerie with a huge but slightly nervous smile on her face. He smiled back at her, unaware of what she was really nervous about.
“My my, you look absolutely incredible.”
Zoe sent resources to get her legs working, “I thought you might enjoy a special little treat, wrapped up with a bow.” Her legs worked well enough to part themselves and show Neil the little pink bow on the panties of the outfit.
Neil put down his briefcase, shucked his coat, and leaned down to kiss Zoe. She was able to adjust herself for the kiss, and moved system resources from working on her legs to working on her hands. She made sure her arms slid around Neil first, and only placed her hands on his back when motor control was re-established.
She immediately got to the problem of her breathing while Neil’s mouth was intertwined with hers. Zoe consciously inflated and deflated her air bladder until it came online. The second run of the automatic restart process simultaneously gathered the resources to restart her ‘heart’.
Neil lifted away and began unbuttoning his shirt and pants. “You feel a bit clammy, are you coming down with something?”
Zoe let her automatic systems finish getting her back to full functionality while she quickly came up with an excuse, “I had an ice cream sandwich five minutes ago.” Zoe knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but Neil was busy undoing his pants and translated that into, ‘No, I’m not sick.’
Just as Neil went back to Zoe's lips, her systems finished reinitializing. Now that she was fully functional, she could wrap three limbs around her man and enjoy the data being produced. She had data on the pressure he was putting on her lips and on her breast. There was data on the amount of saliva she was excreting and the amount of air being moved by her lungs. And it all felt so good.
For his part, Neil was happy Zoe was so into it. Her hands (and legs) were all over him. He essentially carried her toward the bedroom. But at the doorway, Zoe was alerted to the existence and appropriateness of seduction protocol 37. It sounded like a good idea and Zoe hopped off. She pushed Neil toward the bed but remained in the doorway. A flick of her mind's eye on her head's up display initiated the protocol.
Zoe's hands roamed over her body, lingering longest on the exposed skin at the top of her breasts and between the stockings and panties she wore. She kicked her shoes off toward Neil and slowly unclasped her garters. She smiled toward Neil and reached back to undo her corset. Her internal systems extrapolated where the hooks would be and told her hands where to go.
Once loose she held it up against her chest before slowly letting it fall. Topless, she cupped her breasts and moaned softly. It was meant to turn Neil on more than it was meant to reflect what she was feeling, although she felt very good. She gyrated to some unheard rhythm and moved down to her undies. Pointing her butt toward her target, she slowly wiggled out of them. She looked over her shoulder and winked before turning around in all her full frontal glory.
Two pieces were left. Zoe leaned against the door frame and lifted up her left leg. She slowly rolled off her stocking a flung it onto Neil's lap. She followed suit with the right stocking and struck a nude pose.
“So honey, are you ready for a good time?”

[[Image:Uxzoe01.jpg|350px]]

Neil's mouth was open just a little bit. Zoe had never done anything like that before. She had done little teases before, but nothing as complete as that. Neil just nodded at Zoe's question and hopped out of his own underwear.
Zoe's internals evaluated her performance with an effectiveness score of 7 and a quarter. Her software was already planning on what seduction protocol it would suggest next time to achieve a higher level of effectiveness. Zoe knew it was going on, but she was more interested in Neil's dick saluting her.
She ignored the suggestion to take it more slowly, or start with some manual or oral pleasure. Instead she increased the moisture flow to her vagina and lightly pushed Neil backward. While he scooted backward on the bed, she straddled him, placing herself above his stiff member. She wanted to feel Neil inside her. Her systems said everything was green. However, Zoe decided on a little tease. She lowered herself so that her labial folds just barely brushed the tip of Neil's dick before moving a little forward, still just barely keeping in contact.
“How much do you love me right now?” Zoe grinned down at him
“A whole lot.” Any poetic impulses Neil had were sapped by the blood rushing to his crotch. If the prelude was any indication, he should have hydrated better this afternoon.
Zoe half-giggled at the response, but decided to give him a break. She moaned softly as she slowly lowered herself. There was actually a stunningly accurate 3D representation of Neil's dick in her vision. She could see what parts were receiving the most and least amount of pressure, but most importantly she could feel it. She focused on how warm and thick it felt inside her. Even better than it normally did. Zoe gradually began to bob up and down, and it only felt better.
As she bobbed, she devoted as many system resources as she could to interpreting and enjoying the sensations from her pussy, but still found she had RAM to spare. She looked at certain pre-programmed muscle flex sequences for later on. And she watched Neil go downright cross-eyed at her work.
It felt even better than what Gretchen and Christine were able to do, and they were well-programmed synthetic women. She looked at the tactile data and, objectively, it wasn't as intense as what was elicited by the other UX units. It didn't matter though, Neil was just what she needed. It was more than the tactile input. Zoe felt complete when Neil was fucking her, and he was finally beginning to move his hips and join in the action, rather than lay there stupefied. He wasn't just filling a hole in her chassis, he was -as corny as it sounded- filling up a hole in her soul.
A quick click of her pleasure response readout gave the answer. She had a special program installed that provided extra pleasure when engaged in sex with your significant other. Neil's name was inserted into the proper parts of her version. Zoe rightly assumed it was something Elaine had done during her construction and programming. No matter, program or not, she felt great and loved Neil.
Neil was happy to enjoy the ride for the moment. The sex had never been bad, and Zoe had never been repressed, exactly, but he thought she seemed more into than usual. It was hard to think and analyze things when she was squeezing on his junk and bouncing like she was, but Neil had to do something to delay his orgasm. It was as though she wasn't worried about pleasing him. Not in the sense of not caring, but in the sense of being totally confident about it. The results spoke for themselves, in her higher and higher pitched cries of joy.
She looked radioactively hot, grinning and moaning and massaging her breasts. Neil thought she looked close to going over the edge, and he did his little extra bit of targeted thrusting to get her over the hump.
“mmmmm eh eh eh Eh EH ooooooooohh oo oo” Zoe felt herself execute orgasm sequence 001. But even that great feeling was only enough to temporarily slow her down, not stop her.
But it did stop Neil. Neil knew that sequence of five rising grunts, a long release and two shorter releases. He remembered it from all the times he had tested out new robot women and they executed the first orgasm sequence in their library. He tried to keep going, tried to chalk it up to paranoia after the 'Zoebot' thing the other night. But she was much randier and looked much more beautiful.
He pushed upward and to the side, indicating they should switch places. The flip happened quickly and Neil resumed pounding into his future wife. She was humming with delight at the new position, and brought her legs up. Neil looked over at what was moving and got a glimpse of Zoe's ankle.
And there was no little unicorn tattoo there. No indication that it was being covered or had been removed, either.
Neil started getting a sick feeling, even though he kept going at Zoe's pussy, now more from inertia than desire. There was one way to be sure, assuming it still worked.
“Emergency panel override code Griffin Jolly Vixen thirty-eight four zero Gamma.” Dr. Dyson had programmed in an override code that would circumvent any problem with the android's conscious mind and allow access to her internals. It wasn't used much, but it was a safety precaution.
Zoe looked at Neil, not quite sure she had heard him right. The nature of the code didn't alert her to the fact that her paplexus panel was opening. Neil saw the blinking lights inside his fiancee and lost all concentration. He slumped and squirted a line of jism into Zoe. The new feeling of his seed inside her was new and exciting for Zoe and she threw her head back, enjoying the feeling.
She noticed Neil wasn't moving anymore and when she looked up, he had this hollow expression on his face. She couldn't figure out what was going on, until she noticed a status light indicating her paplexus panel was open. She looked down to visually check what her systems were telling her, and just above her soaked pussy was an array of lights and input ports.
“I'm sorry Neil, I was going to tell you later on tonight, make it a surprise. A few of the girls from work brought me to your mom this morning and I decided to go ahead with it. And it feels fantastic, honey. I don't know why you were so nervous about telling me. I’ve never felt so completely... complete. Especially when I’m with you.”
Neil's lip began quivering as he extracted his softening dick and turned away from Zoe. He reached down, grabbed his underwear, and began sliding them on.
“Sweetie? What's wrong? I thought you'd like this, I mean you seemed to like it when I was stripping off the lingerie and wrapped around you earlier.” Zoe meant it in the spirit of a ribald little joke, but Neil didn't find it all that funny.
“You don't love me anymore.” Neil was trying to figure out which pair of pants was closest to his current position. He couldn't even look at her.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zoe hopped up onto her knees and tried to reach for his shoulder before he got off the bed. “I love you with all my heart. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.”
But Neil was already standing, “What you have is a ten megabyte program that gives you extra pleasure when screwing me or otherwise interacting with me. Changing the name takes 30 seconds. Deleting it entirely takes 20.”
He still had his back to her. He knew looking at Zoe, or the robot that thought it was her, would make him go crazy. Zoe couldn't comprehend what he was saying well enough to be angry. She got off the bed entirely and walked over to him.
“It's still the same me, and I still love you. That didn't change just because I'm in a different body. I mean, your mom and sister still love you, right?” Zoe tried to give Neil as hug as he hiked up his pants. The attempt made him turn around, and he looked at her. And it might have been the comment about his family, but Neil did something even he didn't expect.
He slapped Zoe hard enough that she had to take a step to balance herself.
Neil stood there shaking before Zoe. “That's not going to bruise, and I doubt it even hurt. And you're not even going to care about it tomorrow. It's all different, Zoe.” He was starting to cry as he quickly tried to justify his violent outburst. “I’m going to get a drink.” He buttoned his shirt on the way to the front door and slipped on the sandals that were next to it. He let the door softly swing shut behind him as he left.
Zoe sat down on the bed, trying to process things. Neil was right, she had only felt a sting as his slap landed and all that was left was a status message saying the motor control in her lower lip was out of alignment and needed adjustment. But mostly she was startled that he wasn't happy that she was a synthetic woman. That much had been a certainty, right? She replayed in her head the memories of her conversation with Dr. Dyson. So maybe there had been a little more ambiguity than she initially expected.
More importantly, she didn't feel so bad. Her soulmate had just rejected her, hit her, and stormed out. So why wasn't she curled up on the floor sobbing? She didn't feel good about it, or even ok with it, but it should be crushing her.
Zoe spent a long time processing everything.

==Part 10==
Neil heaved a small load of vomit into a bush in front of his apartment building. The larger expulsion of his stomach contents had happened outside the bar. It was small consolation, but all his larger problems were overtaken by the immediate task of navigating the flight of stairs. He took it slowly and stumbled to his door and into the apartment.
Neil was in no shape for an argument, but he couldn't see Zoe anyway. He tried to think of where she might be, but only lasted a few moments before focusing on getting to the bedroom. Neil got one shoe off before collapsing onto the bed and almost immediately passing out.
If he dreamed, Neil couldn't remember them as he felt a hand shake his shoulder and rouse him from sleep. He grumbled and tried to open his eyes, but squinted at the sunlight coming through the open window. He turned over and saw Zoe sitting there on the side of the bed.
The love of his life was forcing a smile as she put her hand on Neil's other shoulder. He was bleary-eyed, but Neil could tell she had been crying. She was wearing a simple blouse, some jeans and no makeup. She moved her lips, trying to form an apology.
Neil grunted and turned back over, squinting until his eyes adjusted completely to the brightness.
Zoe lost what little smile she had and reached for the pharmacy bag next to the bed.
“I went back to the institute after you left. I'm back in my real body again.” Zoe paused and gathered herself. “I am so so so sorry. I really thought you'd like me to be an android. If I thought it was going to hurt you, I never would have done it.”
Neil flipped back over, “Why didn't you ask me?” His voice was raised a little bit. “You had your consciousness shoved into a fuck doll and it never occurred to you that maybe you should discuss it with your fiancée?” Neil didn't feel comfortable having a conversation like this so soon after getting up, but it was unavoidable.
Zoe paused for a moment. She probably could have thrown Dr. Dyson under the bus and blamed her for everything, but thought better of it. Zoe was the one who had made the choice and she wasn’t going to shift the blame. “I don't know. I guess I thought I could just go back if I didn't like it. Or if you didn't like it.”
Neil squinted at her. It was rare for a synthetic woman to go back to being organic without a pressing reason. And given how much Zoe had relished being synthetic, he wasn't sure she was part of that rare cohort. “But did you really go back?”
Zoe was hoping Neil would take her at her word on the subject. Elaine hadn't been so optimistic and had come up with a simple way to remove any doubt. Zoe took a shrink-wrapped box from the pharmacy bag. It was a blood glucose meter, what diabetics use. But in this case, it was being used to take advantage of a facet of android construction.
Dyson units had blood, but it was largely cosmetic. The muscles were electrically powered, so no nutrients needed to be carried. There was no need for white blood cells. But it did give the synthetic skin the right color and small accidents with sharp objects would look appropriate (UX units even clotted properly).
Most important for Zoe's purposes was the lack of glucose in android blood. And Neil knew about this property as well. So when Zoe opened everything up and began fiddling with the meter and test strips, Neil knew what the point was. They didn't exchange any words when Zoe pricked herself, put some blood on the strip, and waited for a result.
She checked it herself before showing the large readout to Neil. 84 mg/100ml. It was a little below normal, but Zoe hadn't eaten breakfast. And it wasn't zero.
Neil sat up and hugged his fiancée. Then he winced as the change in orientation caused his hangover to hit him. Zoe enjoyed the embrace as much as she could before surrendering to the knowledge that Neil was tensing up and probably had a splitting headache from drinking last night.
She reached into the pharmacy bag again, “Here you go, hon. I got you some water to rehydrate you, some aspirin and a slice of pumpkin bread.”
He tried not to move his throbbing head too much as he took a few swigs from the water bottle to wash down the aspirin and broke off a piece of the sweet bread. Zoe had her hand on his knee, watching him eat. He looked like hell, but at least he wasn't running away from her.
“Finish up, there's someone waiting in the living room.”
Neil shoved in, chewed, and swallowed the last big piece of his breakfast before answering. “Is it my mom? I'm not really interested in seeing her right about now.”
Zoe frowned just a little, “Come on, they really want to speak to you.”
“So it's more than just my mother?” Neil took another swig of the water.
There was a long sigh from Zoe as she pulled the covers off Neil, “It'll do you good, really.”
Neil grumbled as he got up. Partly from the hangover and partly from having to talk more about this with his mother and whoever else. Still, it was very nice to see his future wife human again. Even though their biological bodies were kept in storage, few synthetic women switched back unless there was a very pressing reason. It was affirming to know he qualified as such a reason.
He gingerly followed Zoe out of the bedroom, only leaning on her once, and very lightly. There were two women waiting for him on the couch with some chairs set up across from it. He was almost sitting when he realized who they were.
It was his mother and sister in their organic bodies.
He hadn't seen Jessica in an organic body for three years, and he doubted she had been off the institute grounds in anything but her sexy android chassis in that time. The years on a minimalist diet in a stasis tank had caused her to thin down noticeably from when she was in high school. Her hair was brown and cut short; The trim must have been recent after going years without a haircut. Her nose wasn't as cute and her lips weren't as full, although that may have been a result of the displeased look on her face. The face looked more mature, like it might be expected to look had she aged normally the past few years. The acne was gone, but a few large pores were leftover. The weight loss had also affected her breasts, which barely registered beneath the T-shirt she was wearing. Jessica was fidgeting and looked immensely uncomfortable back in her own skin.
And frankly, Elaine did too, although she was hiding it better. Neil hadn't seen her organic body in a very long time. The last was probably when his father kicked her out. Lord knows how long she had actually spent without being in an organic body, but judging by the similar quick haircut, it was at least as long as Jessica's rest period.
She looked her age, although she wasn't as wrinkled or sun damaged as she might have been. The lack of makeup didn't help. Her hair was mostly gray with a little bit of red left, and thinning like Grandma's did. But mostly he had forgotten just how much his mother looked like a stork with her small eyes, big nose, and very thin frame. The tank was designed to keep her muscles from atrophying, but she was beginning to look frail. She rubbed her hands, working out some aches.
Elaine smiled at her son, and he felt like a tiny little pile of shit. He had his mom and sister back. They had come back for him. And they looked so miserable for their troubles. He wanted to work himself into a righteous anger, but he just couldn’t gather up the urge, seeing them like that. There was an awkward silence as Zoe and Neil took their seats across from Jessica and Elaine.
Dr. Dyson began, “Neil, I want to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you or try to take Zoe away from you. I love being an android, and I love seeing other women love being androids.” she left out the part about loving to love other androids. “Sometimes it can blind me to other viewpoints. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, both for you and for Zoe. But I shouldn't have gone about it the way I did.
“And I thought you'd want to hear it from this body, rather than my normal one. I'm not programmed to love being an android. And I'm not programmed to love you. I really do love you, Neil.” Elaine found herself crying a little. It was slightly unsettling when she couldn't pull up the parameters of the program in her vision.
Neil was welling up a little bit too, especially when Zoe squeezed his hand. And even though it was obvious to him, Jessica and Elaine each spent a moment doing the little glucose test and proved they were indeed organic.
Elaine continued, “And I think I need to apologize for how I went about developing androids. I told myself it was for my family’s benefit, ultimately. But I can see how you might think I value being an android more than I value you. And that’s simply not true. You’re my little baby boy and I love you more than anything.”
“I'm sorry that I haven't been better about this, Mom. But you just get so wrapped up in your own shit, it’s like this little bubble that nothing can break into. And I get freaked by what you’re capable of in that cocoon,” Neil said. “And I don’t entirely mean what you’re technologically capable of doing. It’s unsettling to see you flip desires and emotions on and off like a switch.”
“I dunno, you seem to change gears pretty quickly even without a central processor.” Jessica piped up after staying quiet. Zoe got tense, Neil got deflated, and Elaine shot daggers out of her eyes at her daughter. “Yeah, Mom fucked up, but you're my brother whether I’m hot or like this and you’re still fucking backwards about synthetic women.”
“Maybe,” Neil mumbled.
“I don't think so,” Zoe interjected. “There is something different about being synthetic and programmed. And maybe I'd get used to it, but I think it's reasonable to enjoy being a little out of control of yourself. Keeps things interesting for everyone.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, even though she could see Zoe's point. In a moment of inward reflection, she wondered if the attitude was something going on in her fleshy brain beyond being uncomfortable looking like a geek again.
But it didn’t stop her from mouthing off. “You were a robot for like 12 hours. What do you know?”
“Jessica! You will mind your manners right now or so help me...” Elaine couldn’t come up with an adequate credible threat and had to settle for staring down her daughter, who began slouching in the chair.
“How about this, I'll keep your android body on standby, Zoe, and if you want to go back, you can just ask. And same goes for switching back to your organic body.” Elaine proposed the compromise she had developed on the car ride over. “And maybe I can spend a little more social time with organics that aren’t imminent clients.”
Neil didn't feel too bad, knowing that he'd be getting some organic responses from his wife. And Zoe didn't feel bad at all about being in that bliss-inducing body now and then. Getting his mom out of that bubble was simply a bonus. Yes, there was a lot more to discuss, but Neil felt like he was getting through to his mom for the first time in a long time.
As for Jessica, “Now that it's settled, can I get back into my real body again?”

==Part 11==
Roger nearly knocked over one of the hotel's potted plants with his empty luggage cart. He swung around to catch it before it fell, and immediately went back to ogling the group of women who just walked into the long lobby. There must have been a dozen of them, a few older than the rest, but all smoking hot and making no effort to hide the fact. They were chatting as they walked, oblivious to the bellhop with the fern.
But a chesty redhead, younger than the rest, saw him and gave Roger a wink. His heart stopped as she broke from the pack and stepped toward him.
“Can you be a sweetie and help us with our bags?”
Roger hadn't noticed she was carrying a lumpy duffel bag. He hadn't noticed the two trunks and other assorted bags the other ladies in the group were carrying. It was his job, but seeing so many finely sculpted curves at once turned his brain into jelly. It didn't help when the redhead's attention brought the rest of the group's attention toward him. Now all the women were strutting toward him with big smiles on their faces.
“Uh, um, yeah, you can put it on the cart here.”
The women casually dropped their bags and trunks on the cart and gave him a cacophony of sweet-sounding 'thank you's. Roger happily followed behind them as they went to the elevators. They looked almost as good from the back.
There were enough of them that they needed separate elevators. Roger went with the first group and wound up next to the redhead. It was tight quarters, but the girl was much tighter against him than she needed to be. Roger stood ramrod straight, looking forward, as she moved her breast along his arm. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that they were going to the 24th floor.
“My name's Jessica, what's yours?”
“Uh, Roger, ma'am.”
She giggled delightfully, Roger thought. “Do I look like a ma'am to you?”
“N.no. Just force of habit.” He felt her hand on the opposite side of his body.
“It's nice that the hotel provides such handsome bellhops to carry our luggage.”
Now Roger knew something was up. No way a girl that hot calls a guy like him 'handsome'. Even if he suspected she was toying with him, it was still achingly sexy.
She ran a smooth leg against his pants, “do you do room service too? I think the old ladies are going to put an end to the bachelorette party way too early for me.”
At least Roger knew what brought the group here, but he was interrupted before he could respond by the older redhead at the front of the elevator.
“Who are you calling an old lady? And stop teasing the employees. You promised Neil you wouldn't go around acting like a slut so often.”
Roger missed the warmth of Jessica's body soon after she extracted herself. “Sorry Mom, I was just getting into the party mood.”
Well that threw Roger for a loop. She was doing all that in front of her mother? OK, technically behind her, but still within earshot. Roger was still contemplating the other connotations of the new information when the elevator doors opened and everyone filed out. The mother had casually called her daughter a slut. And who was Neil? By now they were at the room and the mother had opened the door for Roger.
“Put everything by that table except the red trunk. In fact, let me and Wendy take it. There's fragile stuff in there.”
The mother and one of the other girls took the trunk and set it in the center of the room. As Roger unloaded the rest, he noticed the room was very spartan for a bachelorette party. No food. No booze. No stereo. Maybe the stuff was in the bags, but nothing sounded like bottles of liquor. Roger finished and subtly waited for his tip.
Jessica eyed him and whispered into her mother's ear. Mom sighed and nodded, which pleased Jessica. She had a big smile on her face as she walked toward Roger.
“Here's your tip,” and before Roger could say anything, he was being kissed and had a tongue seeking entrance into his mouth. He gladly obliged and took the opportunity to grasp the nice buttocks available to him. She was an awesome kisser, and her tits felt great pressed up against him. But all too quickly, it was over.
Jessica winked at him before turning away, “keep the change.”
Roger couldn't do much except grab his cart and exit the room, being careful to avoid hitting the rest of the women that were just now reaching the party. Three years in this crummy job, but at least now he had a story to tell that didn't involve cleaning up puke.
Camilla was the last one in and she locked the door behind her. The other women were already taking off their clothes and picking out toys from the duffel bags. Katie and Dana were on the bed making out, choosing a more personal way to get aroused.
Almost a year as an android and it still made her weak-kneed to see a roomful of robot women. She shimmied out of her party dress and opened her paplexus panel purely for kicks. The one person who wasn't getting naked was Dr. Dyson herself, who was fiddling with the big trunk.
“Need some help?”
“I think I've got it.” Elaine undid the last lock and opened up the top to reveal two feminine legs and beneath them the body of unit UX1729, a.k.a. Zoe Baker (for another week at least). She was naked except for a butterfly vibrator against her clit. Elaine pulled out the legs and Camilla realized Zoe's eyes were open and following the action. Then the legless girl reached her arms up to get her future mother-in-law's help out of the trunk. Turns out Dr. Dyson did need help with that, and Camilla was happy to oblige.
They laid Zoe down and Elaine went back in to get a series of electronic devices from the bottom of the trunk. Camilla looked at the partially disassembled woman, the various electronic peripherals for her, and her own open interface. The boss and her employee locked eyes. Camilla noticed that happy, dreamy look that UX1729 had consistently worn for the last few weeks as the wedding approached. Camilla had to make sure her arousal level and lubrication rate weren't in the red zone.
“Hey boss, do you think I can park in the handicapped spot on Monday?”
Camilla and Elaine both laughed. The doctor had opened up all of Zoe's panels and a few of the other girls had come over to get a look inside. None of them had seen the gadgets Dr. Dyson was hooking up to UX1729, although they had been told what they would do. Elaine had also pried loose part of the barn doors, so the wires could snake out once the breasts were back in place.
And oh, were there wires. And network cards. And what looked like hard drives. By the time Elaine called everyone over to form a circle around the top half of Zoe, it looked like some computer engineer's weekend hobby project on the floor of the hotel. It looked a little better once Zoe's barn doors were closed and some of the cables were tied together, but still nothing like the elegant packaging of most Dyson electronics.
“OK ladies, open your sexual interface ports and take a cable.” She handed out a cord to everyone. One end was already plugged into the stuff on the ground, the other end snapped home above each robot woman's exquisitely designed privates. Dr. Dyson continued, “search for a synchronization code that matches your unit designation. Open your simultaneous sensory experience programs and set them to output only. When Zoe is ready, you'll get a greenlight status message.”
Each unit did as they were told, and the results were plain on Zoe's face and in her voice. One by one, Zoe accepted the sensations of arousal from each woman in the room. She felt the flow of the climate control on everyone's naked skin. And if it weren't for the jury-rigged sensory input buffers and septupled memory cache Dr. Dyson had set up, UX1729 would have had a severe system failure. And this was only the beginning.
Jessica, Dr. Dyson, and Wendy Klein were the first to start, since they were UX2000 series units now and had the fastest systems. The light went green and each of them stuck a dildo or vibrator inside their synthetic pussies. The sensation traveled to each unit's sensory processor, down the cable to the external sensory buffers on the hub they were all connected to. Then the electric signal traveled through the cache to Zoe's external input module. From there, it traveled to Zoe's central processing core, where Zoe felt three dildos fucking three distinct vaginas. If she abandoned concentration, it felt like her pussy had three times as many sweet spots and was being attended to by overlapping sextoys.
She smiled broadly at the pleasure as Gretchen and Zoe's college friend Terri began transmitting and the three phalli turned into five. Camilla, Ava, Christine, and Dana were next online, and Katie was the last one to start teasing herself for Zoe's benefit. By the time everyone was sending data, Zoe was on her third digital orgasm, and the first derived from someone else's software. Zoe and Jessica squealed identically when it happened.
Her hardware was seriously overclocked, but Zoe was able to enjoy the small differences between her climax and Jessica's, soon followed by the differences between her orgasm and Dr. Dyson's. But mostly she was reveling in the Lesbian orgy that existed in her head. Ten pussies being pounded at different rates and she felt them all. And she felt it when two of the pussies stopped being penetrated and started being licked.
Katie and Ava had tossed their toys aside for some personal interaction. Upon seeing it, and upon achieving a climax of her own, Wendy moved to Jessica's groin, taking away the toy in Jessica's snatch. She replaced the toy with her tongue and moved the dildo to Jessica's pleasurably enhanced anus. The redhead giggled and wished Wendy had chosen a position that provided her access to the blonde's nether regions.
Camilla wasn't about to deprive herself of the excellent vibrations happening in her own pussy, but she was next to Dr. Dyson and couldn't pass up a chance to scoot over enough to latch onto Elaine's nipple. Gretchen had a similar idea but went for the good doctor's clit, leaving her own ass up in the air. And with that juicy ass hanging there, Terri couldn't resist getting some contact with another robot woman.
Zoe was starting to feel simultaneous orgasms now as the party attendees really got down to business. It was no longer possible to tell where the pleasure was coming from, it was only possible to let it wash over her brain. But a little message came on in her heads up display that told her sensory input was now beginning to be stored in the external cache before being transmitted to her.
For another two hours, the synthetic ladies poked, licked, and all-out fucked one another. Jessica and Elaine avoided screwing, of course, but just about every other combination happened on the hotel room floor. And throughout the night, no one touched Zoe. Terri made eyes to start kissing the bride, but Elaine managed to gently kick her away. Anything that activated Zoe's primary sexual input would probably result in a massive software failure. And Neil had been promised there would be no physical sexual acts performed on his wife.
Finally, Dr. Dyson wiggled out from between Wendy and Katie and unhooked herself from the hub. She had gotten a message that the massive sensory cache was 95% full. No one else was hooked in to receive the message, but they followed the good doctor's lead. Still, it took a good ten minutes for everyone to stop licking and finish one last orgasm before disengaging their link to the blushing (and screaming with erotic joy) bride.
But it wasn't the end of Zoe's night. The system was still sending information to her central processor. She had barely noticed how the action had slowed down to prevent an overflow, but it had. Zoe was 45 minutes behind everyone else, and she was going to receive every kilobyte of data.
No one bothered getting dressed, but Jessica got some bottles of replacement fluids from one of the duffel bags and began to pass them out. They watched with aroused bemusement as Zoe continued to writhe on the floor. She was still the center of attention, although there were some quiet conversations among some of the girls complimenting one another on a particularly good set of moves during the orgy.
Finally, the cache emptied and Zoe lay there trying to catch breath she didn't really need. Gretchen had fetched her legs and attached them so Zoe could stand up. Jessica undid all the wires and the bride got up. Everyone received a big thank-you hug for their participation, although they were, to a robot woman, more than happy to be of service.
“Oh. My. God. You cannot believe what that's like. I was made of pussy. Dear Lord. Wow.” Zoe continued to stutter and ramble about the experience, which drew some laughs from the other partygoers.
“Seriously, you've all got to try this.”
Elaine walked over to the hub and began hooking herself up in the receiver position. “I intend to right now. Jessica, start preparing the system for another go and get everyone hooked back in.”
There was a cheer from the crowd and everyone got ready for another round.

The church was filled with violin music and the low drone of light conversation. Neil waited nervously at the front for the ceremony to begin in earnest. He peeked another look at his mom, and wished she had chosen something with a higher neckline. It wasn't lewd, but she was still the mother of the groom for pete's sake. He couldn't see his dad, who was in the back with Zoe, preparing to give her away.
The violins picked up and a trumpet joined them. Everyone shut up and turned around to see Jessica walk down the aisle with one of Neil's buddies from work. Neil sighed again that Jessica had imposed her will and gotten Zoe to agree to silver bridesmaid dresses. Although it was the first dress he had seen his sister wear in a long time that showed less than 4 inches of cleavage. He also reflected on how tough it was to convince his buddies not to try to sleep with his sister, and his sister not to sleep with his buddies. Even in the middle of a wedding, his friend was trying to sneak a peek down Jessica's dress.
The two of them were followed by Gretchen, Dana, and Terri (a.k.a Unit UX1945), each accompanied by a friend of Neil's. All the women were positively glowing and looking sexier than they had a right to be in a bridesmaid dress. The pairs split as they reached the altar, with the men taking places behind Neil. The music stopped for a moment, and Neil's heart started beating faster. Then the band began to play 'Here comes the bride'.
Zoe was just as nervous, and second guessing the 'mutual' decision for her to get married in her organic body. Sure, being in a stasis tank on a liquid diet for a few weeks had helped her trim down for her dress, but she still had to breathe in the damn corset, unlike an android. And she had to balance in these shoes with this long dress without a gyroscope. And she had to be compared to synthetic women designed to be sexy.
But when the music started playing and she caught a glimpse of Neil up there, a lot of her irritation melted away. The corset still sucked. She felt a little floaty as she went down the aisle with her father-in-law. She couldn't stop herself from smiling beneath her veil as she stood in front of the altar with Neil, and he couldn't stop smiling at her. And at that moment, Zoe was glad she could feel her heart.

==Bonus materials==
Jessica was going to show off an ability to mimic voices. Originally Julie Andrews’ singing. Wasn’t sure if I could or should use it later in the story for different purposes, and it didn’t fit anywhere

Originally, Zoe was going to talk to Neil about becoming an android, and he was going to flip out to the point that Zoe would go ahead with it to spite him. But the motivation for Neil flipping out at the mention of her becoming synthetic wasn’t there. Also, it would have screwed up the pacing. And getting them back together was dicey. Story-wise it makes Zoe’s choice more understandable and puts less of the blame on Elaine for what happens, but that wasn’t enough, so I went with what you see in the story.

There’s a ‘deleted scene’, something I strongly considered putting in, would fit in the narrative, but never actually put to paper. It involves Neil going to a bar to get drunk. He happens to run into Gretchen (I’m not happy with her use in the story, and feel she needed more to do). He picks up on her android nature, she tries to figure out how he knew. They wind up talking and Neil discusses when his sister was in high school, soon after becoming synthetic, she went on a two-week cruise with a man triple her age. When they got back, she talked about how much fun she had and the man gave the institute a large donation. Jessica was proud of herself and Elaine was proud of Jessica. Jessica also used that ‘significant other’ program on the trip that Zoe used with Neil. As badly as the Dyson Institute comes off in the story already, this was going too far. Although it makes Neil’s position more understandable, judging by the comments no one really questioned his position anyway. So that didn't even happen off-camera.

There was going to be a bit where Neil discusses his mother’s attempts to get him in an android body, first a female chassis then one modified to look male, but was still very effeminate. Doesn’t fit anywhere, is kinda weird, as far as I’m concerned it didn’t happen.

Neil was also going to be irate at the fact that his mother placed so many androids in and around Stanley enterprises for his benefit. He’d feel the need to quit that job and get a new one. Ultimately it was just a pimple on the story, branching out and immediately coming back, so I popped it in the writing process.

Originally, instead of slapping Zoe, Neil hits her hard enough to knock her to the ground. This was another one of those ‘too far’ instances, so I toned down the violence.

I don’t know if anyone was thinking this, but if Zoe had told Elaine ‘no’, Dr. Dyson wouldn’t have turned her into an android. If I was rewriting this story, I’d make this point much more clear. The problem is that I can’t say Dr. Dyson would never forcibly convert someone, only that she wouldn’t do it under these circumstances. Talking it over with Korby, she’d probably forcibly convert someone to save the institute.

Elaine was going to offer to give Neil the ability to restrict the personality and program changes Zoe could make to herself. But he would’ve refused anyway, I don’t think Dr. Dyson is that thick, and it didn’t fit in anywhere.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how sympathetic a guy who didn’t want his wife to be a robot would be on this board. Turns out that I missed where the fulcrum was, so Neil looks much better than his mother does, rather than being somewhat balanced.

20/20 hindsight, I should have developed Zoe’s backstory and lack of family structure more. I suppose I was worried about length (says the guy being pilloried for making the end of his story too short).

If the Stanley girls seemed similar to the point of being Borg-like, it’s not intentional, I’m just not that good a writer. I should have included a token employee that refused to join in the coercion, but stopped short of outright blabbing.

After all the crap I got for making Dr. Dyson too dark as it is, did you really think I’d end it with everyone dead and/or estranged? I’d be hunted down :p
------
And by popular demand, some of what happened between parts nine and ten.

Zoe got out of the Taxi and paid the fare with her mad money. She quickly walked into the institute and hurried down the lobby. It was about 11 o’clock, so most of the lights were off. But there was still a girl at the desk both to watch over things and to handle situations like these.
“Can I help you,” Carly checked to see if her face was in the Unit database, then which unit she was, “Zoe?”
“I need to see Dr. Dyson.” Zoe kept getting status messages, asking her if she wanted to decrease this response or that. But she had kept indicating ‘no’, and as a result, she looked as depressed and nervous as any android Carly had ever seen.
“Are you malfunctioning?” Carly figured this was the case and looked up the location of the nearest staffed and available maintenance bay.
Zoe shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. I mean, maybe, but I still need to see Dr. Dyson, I’m her daughter-in-law.” That wasn’t true yet, but was close enough.
Carly took a second look at Zoe’s file. Brand new, one sign of a possible malfunction. But sure enough, Neil’s name was there under ‘significant other’. That actually made her a little sad. “Oh, I see that now. She’s not here, she’s at her condo. Do you want directions?”
“No, I think I need to see her here.”
“So should I call her?”
“If you would, please.”
Carly was getting worried about Zoe’s emotional state. “Sure thing, do you know the way to Dr. Dyson’s office? Maybe you should wait there.”
Zoe nodded and Carly opened the door for her. Zoe started taking the long way around, retracing her initial steps toward becoming an android. It looked different now, and not just because of the dimmed lighting.
Carly picked up the phone and gave her boss a call, “Dr. Dyson? It’s Carly. Zoe Baker is here and she wants to talk with you... She says it’s not a malfunction... She doesn’t look right, she looks sad.”

Elaine pulled up to the institute about 20 minutes later. She left the car in the front drive and jogged into the lobby, Carly activated the door for her so she wouldn’t need to slow down. Dr. Dyson took the short route and opened her office door to find Zoe sitting on the couch staring into the middle distance.
“Zoe? What’s wrong?” Elaine took a seat near her future daughter-in-law.
Zoe looked up and Dr. Dyson’s eyes looked exactly like Neil’s when he was worried about her. Finally she was able to squeeze out a few tears. “Neil left. He found out I had become an android on his own and he got angry and he slapped me and he stormed out.” Zoe could have stopped herself from sharply intaking breath as she spoke and cried but didn’t. If there was a way to turn off the helpful little pop-ups, she wasn’t focused enough to find it.
Elaine went over and gave Zoe a hug. She was at a temporary loss for words. She didn’t think Neil would be that violent or that willing to walk out on someone just because they were synthetic. Angry? She could see that, but the rest...
“Don’t worry, honey everything is going to be alright.”
“No it’s not. Neil is gone and I don’t even feel that bad.” She was crying, but even that seemed facile to Zoe, in no small part because she was getting messages about the flow rate through her tear ducts. “Why don’t I feel worse? I should have been screaming at him to stay. I should have run out after him. I should have been too messed up to call a taxi. I should be in a little ball on the floor, and it just feels like I’m watching the end of Iron Giant.”
Elaine didn’t know how to respond, she had never gotten this complaint before. Androids were generally happy with their lives, but even when one of the units suffered a loss, they had never said it didn’t feel right.
She almost said that maybe Zoe didn’t love Neil as much as she thought she did. No, that was cruel. Maybe Zoe didn’t really know how she would react to Neil leaving, but that was condescending.
While Elaine was pondering, Zoe had stopped crying and stated plainly, “I wish I had never become a robot.”
That was the first time Elaine Dyson had heard that. At least, the first time she heard it and knew the person meant it. And all that doubt that had been in the back of her mind today coalesced into a tight ball of guilt in the pit of her stomach. Elaine endured it for a few seconds before tweaking one of her settings to ease the magnitude.
“I’m sorry Zoe. This is my fault. I should have known Neil would react poorly to seeing you as an android. I should have told him before doing your conversion. I should have brought the opportunity to both of you.”
Zoe felt another cry coming on, but suppressed it the old-fashioned way. “No, I got all swept up with things and didn’t give him a chance.”
“That was partly my fault, too.”
Zoe wiped her eyes, “I want to go back to my real body. Maybe if I do that, Neil will forgive me. He’ll believe it’s really me. Please?”
Elaine nodded, “absolutely, I’ll call the folks downstairs. They probably haven’t even put your organic body in a tank yet.” Elaine left Zoe to go to her desk. There was a pink jelly dildo in her chair, and Elaine had to laugh at the happy little sex toy sitting there in the midst of all the crying. She placed the call and quickly got the process of converting Zoe back started.
Elaine looked over at Zoe and had another idea, “You know what, I’m going to call Neil’s sister and we’re going to go over there with you.”
-----

[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:Petey]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Built]]
[[Category:Transformation]]

Virus Alert

2015-06-26T20:52:51Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. WilloWisp, just revert if you don't like it.

__NOTOC__
<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

Suddenly, it's revealed that she's a robot! Surprised? No?

Well, maybe that wasn't the twist after all.

What's it all about? What's it for? Where am I going with this? I'm telling the story I am compelled to tell. Come for the sex, stay for the plot.
== Season 1 - Setting Up ==
:[[1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT]]
:[[1.25 - Prog Rock]]
:[[1.50 - Mindless Fun]]
:[[1.75 - Running Late]]
== Season 2 - Parts Manifest ==
:[[2.00 - Under New Management]]
:[[2.17 - Look On My Works]]
:[[2.33 - Full Documentation]]
:[[2.50 - A Tender Spot]]
:[[2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)|<nowiki>2.67 - Hungry Like the [ObjectLabel not found]</nowiki>]]
:[[2.83 - Code Play]]
== Season 3 - Revision History ==
:[[3.00 - Wounds, Old and New]]
:[[3.17 - Pickup Line]]
:[[3.33 - Other Plans]]
:[[3.50 - Enroll Today]]
:[[3.67 - Yearbook Pictures]]
:[[3.83 - Deep Sleep]]
:[[3.833... - Wish You Were Here]]
== Season 4 - Users Guide ==
:[[4.00 - I Can Fix This]]
:[[4.17 - Teachers' Study]]
:[[4.33 - A New You]]
:[[4.50 - Office Pace]]
:[[4.67 - Lessons Learned]]
:[[4.83 - The Right Equipment]]
== Season 5 - Admins Only ==
:[[5.00 - Gift Exchange]]
:[[5.17 - In His Shadow]]
:[[5.33 - Torn Apart]]
:[[5.50 - Only a Motion Away]]
:[[5.67 - Staff Orientation]]
:[[5.83 - Familiar Territory]]
== Season 6 - Assembly Language ==
:[[6.00 - What It Takes]]
:[[6.17 - Low Traffic Area]]
:[[6.33 - Making and Taking Revenge]]
</div>
[[Stories|Back to the Story Archive]]

[[category:WilloWisp]]

1.75 - Running Late

2015-06-26T20:48:02Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. WilloWisp, just revert if you don't like it.

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.75 - Running Late==

"Fuck, it's all through this one, at least 75% of the entire main drive is infected!"

Rebecca is accessing my control panel.

"Jennifer, display system processes."

"Okay," I say. I concentrate, bringing up the data she requested.

"Wait what? Jennifer, how much system memory do you have?"

I think for a moment. "I have sixty-four petabytes of active memory."

"This can't be right. How much system memory is currently free?"

I concentrate again. "I currently have sixty-four petabytes of available memory."

"But that would mean you're not running any programs! List all currently running tasks."

I go through my thoughts carefully. "I am currently running the following applications: Slutprep v1.7, Nightout v2.5, Badgirl v1.3.4, Badgirl Enhanced v0.9.4, Daydream.Ditz v99b..."

"Stop. Aughhh! This is taking way too long! You've clearly got programs running. Why aren't they occupying any memory?"

I try to think of a reason, but can't. "I'm sorry, Rebecca, I don't know the answer to that."

"I cant afford to spend this long on each and every system. Jennifer, I need to access your main drive. Open your mouth."

I open my mouth wide, and feel Jennifer's hand reach inside, pressing two of my teeth on their spring-mountings. There is a rush of decompressing air, and my primary hardware plate is released. Rebecca removes it, placing it in my line of sight. I stare at the texture of my spine, molded into the synthetic musculature of the plate. She reaches into my back, moving cables out of her line of sight. I can feel minor disruptions in my system's electrical flow as she does so.

"No physical damage... but if the main system files aren't accurately reporting resource usage and allocation, a restore from backup won't fix the problem. Damn. Bad news, Jennifer. Looks like you won't be valedictorian this year."

"Okay, Rebecca." I note the information for implementation into my personality profile. A sub-process flags the data, queueing a 10-point reduction in my overall intelligence, and a 25-point increase in my playfulness. These changes will be saved to my personality profile when Rebecca terminates my maintenance mode.

"Okay, new plan. Can't quarantine the files, can't restore from backup... I guess we have to reinstall." I hear her rummaging in her shorts pockets for a tool, followed by a faint buzzing sound as the tool powers up. "Jennifer, spread your legs please, and prepare for maintenance interface."

"No problem, Rebecca." I spread my legs. The heels I'm wearing make it easier to stand this way now, and I note a small reduction in battery consumption. Thinking of the interface makes me feel a tingling in my vagina, which is then replaced by a detached sensation. "Ooohh..." An error causes me to experience a momentary burst of pleasure and personality consciousness. I note the error in my system logs.

"Did you say something, Jennifer?" Rebecca asks.

I open my mouth to speak, but an error... I have no memory of saying anything. My logs show no errors. "No, Rebecca. I didn't say anything."

Nothing happens for several seconds, then Rebecca says, "Oh well." I feel the tool move on the exterior of my vagina, but the sensation becomes distant as it enters me. The contact-range broadcast encryption key on the tool directly interfaces with the receiver in my vagina. An error occurs. The receiver in my pussy. An error occurs. My system logs show no errors. An error occurs. I open my mouth to gasp in pleasure. An error occurs. My gluteal bay is open. I hear Rebecca remove the cartridge containing my original factory-install OS.

An error occurs. I feel Rebecca pushing on my ass, waves of pleasure coursing over me as she pushes the bay closed. She gently caresses the small of my back as she lovingly replaces my primary hardware plate. My tits press hard against my desk as she presses the plate back into place, sealing it by a command on her mobilecomp. I bite my lip in anticipation as I feel her hand drift towards my An error occurs. I note the error in my An error occurs. My system logs show no errors.

Rebecca presses on my vaginal and anal trigger points. The embedded command purges a burst of random personality profile data through my vocal processor. Why am I bent over on my desk naked? My personality profile flickers into activity over my maintenance mode, freezing my face in an expression of surprise. My backup restore procedure stands me upright, opening my backup archive compartment, and preparing my system to reload data from my primary cartridge drive. Rebecca closes my archive compartment without removing a cartridge, then waits as my head revolves to face her, releasing my facial dermal layer to provide access to the drive.

As my head turns, I see Rebecca slowly come into view. She reaches towards my forehead, removing the dermal layer. With her other hand, she inserts the cartridge into my open drive. She then re-attaches my dermal layer, and my facial actuators reconfigure to connect with it, resuming the surprised expression on my face. My head slowly revolves back to face front, then the surprise expression data is purged from my facial configuration settings.

"Load maintenance profile, OS reinstall."

"Standby. Loading," I say. My core files shut down
<pre>909FCA2x00 ABNORMAL TERMINATION OF THREAD
LOADING REINSTALLATION PROFILE...
...Load failed.

LOADING REINSTALLATION.lovertoy PROFILE...
...Load succeeded!
#ADMINS: Remember to disable lovertoy before attempting to reinstall any core file data.
#Failure to do so will only present the appearance of a reinstall, but will not actually
#alter any system files. The unit will still provide realistic status updates while in
#the fake install process, but only for one hour. You must check your unit's
#lovertoy status using the command-line interface: This message will not be displayed if
#the restore process is triggered via physical controls.

audio output:"Hi Rebecca. I have loaded my OS reinstall profile.
Would you like me to install from the system install currently in my primary cartridge drive?"
audio input:"Yes, restore OS from original install, default settings."
persistent ambient command: lovertoy.fakeinstall statusreport
direct command match: lovertoy.fakeinstall statusreport
audio output: "Okay Rebecca. Total reinstall time will be six hours and forty seven minutes.
During that time I will be unresponsive to commands. If there are any further commands you
wish for me to execute, you may state them at this time, then start the install process by saying 'begin.'"
pause lovertoy.fakeinstall statusreport
audio input: "Sit in your desk chair."
directive: "Sit in your desk chair."
command match: seat self (targetchair)
targetchair mismatch: targetchair not set!
acquiring targetchair...
visual scan found item: desk
visual scan found item: dummyterminal
visual scan found item: dildo02
visual scan found item: chair01
visual scan found item: panties23
visual scan found item: skirt07
visual scan found item: blouse12
visual scan found 1 chair(s)...
Only 1 chair found.
targetchair=chair01
command retry: seat self (targetchair)
processing seat self command, please wait...
command seat self completed!
audio input: "Begin."
directive: "Begin."
subcommand trigger: resume lovertoy.fakeinstall statusreport
command resume completed!
audio output: "Reinstall starting. I will be unresponsive to external stimuli
for the next six hours and forty seven minutes. Please wait."
audio input: "Let's hope the rest of them aren't that complex."
audio input: NON SPOKEN SOUND MATCH: door.closing
</pre>
----
I woke up, stretching. I must have dozed off at my desk, again. Naked. Again. Well, that's what happens when you spend so much time fingering yourself, I thought, blushing. I must have been working on some homework or something, because my laptop was on. I moved the mouse, clicking the windows closed and logging off the network. I really liked this mouse. Very ergonomic. It felt really good in my hand.

I glanced up at the clock. Was that really the time?! The swim team meet was in less than an hour, I'd better get ready!

Rushing around the room, I gathered up my things. I picked out my newest bikini, and pulled it on, savoring the feeling against my nipples and pussy. I closed my eyes, thinking of how it would feel to have a nice firm slap on my ass in this thing. My hand drifted down to my crotch...

No, no time for that now, you're supposed to go to the swim meet first! I chided myself for my irresponsible behavior. Sure, it wasn't like I was going to be valedictorian or anything, but a girl had to have some self control.

I was going to have to change my shoes: The high heels I was currently wearing were thoroughly inappropriate for a swim meet. I kicked them off, quickly slipped on my three-inch pumps, then pulled my beach bag out from under my bed. I tossed in my normal swim team supplies: Towel, digital camera, a spare pair of high heels (you never know when another girl might forget or lose hers), vibrator... where was my favorite toy? I quickly scanned the room. What was it doing on my desk? I grabbed it.

Absently, I licked it a few times, enjoying the texture on my tongue. Save it for later, I reminded myself, tossing the toy in the bag. Thinking hard, I tried to remember if there was anything else I needed... I snapped my fingers, remembering. How could I be so absent-minded? I rummaged around in my naughties drawer for some lingerie for after the swim meet. That was everything! I headed out the door.

As I made my way to the entrance lobby, I saw my friend Heather jogging briskly down the hall.

"Hi Heather, how's it going?" I waved as she passed.

"Oh, everything's great, 100%. How about you?"

I beamed. "Same here. 100% Have a great evening."

What a great day!
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.50 - Mindless Fun]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[2.00 - Under New Management]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

1.50 - Mindless Fun

2015-06-26T20:36:45Z

Darkbutflashy:

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.50 - Mindless Fun==
<pre>
directive: "Proceed directly to the IT lab"
command match: move self to (location) route (pathfind)
location mismatch: location lookup value not set!
location=locationlookup("IT lab")
pathfind error 0: path calculation required!
call pathfind(location)
command retry: move self to (location) route (pathfind)
EXECUTING

directive: "While in transit to the lab, disable your hearing."
command match: while[move self to (location) route (pathfind)] set audioinput=NULL else audioinput=1
EXECUTING

command while set completed!
processing move self command, please wait...
processing move self command, please wait...
event alert: dermal sensor trigger
dermal sensors lhand.20, lhand.32, lhand.35, larm.07, larm.09, lshoulder.01
are being stimulated outside parameters for currently EXECUTING tasks
tactile stimulus type=vibration
identifying event context...
check sexytime(lhand, larm, lshoulder)
sexytime: breast input not found
sexytime: buttox input not found
sexytime: anus input not found
sexytime: mouth input not found
sexytime: vagina input not found
sexytime: partner not found
sexytime: toy not found
sexytime returned false
search socialevent types stimulus=vibration
Match found: joke.handbuzzer
Match found: restaurant.tablereadyalert
Match found: ambient.cellphoneringing
3 match(es) found!
ambient event filter applied
persistent ambient directive: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing
direct command match: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing
EXECUTING

audio output: "Hello, this is Lyn."
command answer completed!
persistent ambient directive: listen(phone) converse(audiostring)
direct command match: listen(phone) converse(audiostring)
EXECUTING

listen error 0: audio device not found or audio not responding
#This error may occur if your audio drivers have not yet been installed,
#if your audio device is damaged, or if your audio input has been
#administratively disabled. If your bot consistently fails to respond
#to audio input, you may need to consult your technical manual for
#troubleshooting instructions.
answer(cellphone) exception type=listenfail
call listenfailnotice
EXECUTING

audio output: "I'm sorry, I can't hear what you're saying right now. I'll have to talk to you later. Bye."
command listen converse completed!
processing move self command, please wait...
processing move self command, please wait...
processing move self command, please wait...
event alert: dermal sensor trigger
dermal sensors lhand.20, lhand.35, lhand.40, larm.06, larm.09, lshoulder.01
are being stimulated outside parameters for currently EXECUTING tasks
check sexytime(lhand, larm, lshoulder)
sexytime: breast input not found
sexytime: buttox input not found
sexytime: anus input not found
sexytime: mouth input not found
sexytime: vagina input not found
sexytime: partner not found
sexytime: toy not found
sexytime returned false
search socialevent types stimulus=vibration
Match found: joke.handbuzzer
Match found: restaurant.tablereadyalert
Match found: ambient.cellphoneringing
3 match(es) found!
ambient event filter applied
persistent ambient directive: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing
direct command match: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing
EXECUTING

answer error 0: ambient.cellphoneringing terminated before answer command could be completed!
answer exception type: callfail
call checkforvoicemail(cellphone)
0 message(s) found!
call checkfortexts(cellphone)
EXECUTING

1 message(s) found!
textstring="Login: Loverboy Password: goodtobetheking"
persistent ambient directive: &&lovertoylogin
direct command match: &&lovertoylogin
Warning, data reference out of range!
EXECUTING

Warning, system threads not responding!
EXECUTING

terminating incomplete command answer...
terminating incomplete command move self...
Stack overflow error! Warning, system running low on memory!
Buffer overflow error! Warning, system running low on memory!
terminating incomplete thread restore...
profile rollback(lovertoy)...
reverting restore changes...
EXECUTING

Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 10...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 9...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 8...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 7...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 6...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 5...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 4...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 3...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 2...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 1...
Closing Lyndsay.camoflage...
Restarting...
</pre>
----
I shook my head, trying to clear it from my daydream. What had I been thinking again? I had been on my way... somewhere... Oh yeah! I was going to call my boyfriend. I quickly dialed his number from memory.

"Hello? Lyndsay, is that you?" I just loved the way his voice sounded.

"Hi lover. I was just thinking about you."

"Lyndsay, I need you to tell me everything that's happened to you in the past fifteen minutes." He was always taking an interest in me. It was so sweet!

"Well, I was in my dorm room with Heather, just getting ready to go to the club like you told me. I was wearing that special teddy you got me, and the little black dress you got from Linda. Anyway, Rebecca from IT came in, telling us something about a computer virus going around. She was..."

"Wait, IT? Like the Campus IT people? They knew about the virus?"

"Yeah. They had a list of websites they thought were the sources."

"Websites? Seriously? That's hilarious." He had a great sense of humor.

"Anyway, Rebecca scanned my computer, and had to reload some data from a backup. Then I finished getting ready, then I was on my way to the club, and then I called you."

"Lyn, listen carefully: I want you to disable your perception filters and your memory filters."

I blinked. "Okay." I liked to do things that my master told me to do.

"What exactly did Rebecca do?"

I smiled. Answering my master's questions was just as good as fulfilling his commands. "Rebecca opened my control panel and accessed my sexual analytics data for the year prior to last Tuesday, and the week following last Tuesday. She downloaded multiple files from my active cache and my currently executing memory, including core files for the lovertoy module. She then accessed my backup archives via my anal and vaginal trigger points, and attempted to restore my profile using the cartridge dated last month. During the restore process, she activated my camoflage profile, and instructed me to redress, pretend to finish getting ready for five minutes, and, if Heather was present at that time, announce that I was leaving for the club. I was then to proceed directly to the IT lab, and wait in bay 27 until my restore process was complete. Then she instructed me to disable my hearing while in transit."

"Hmm. Well, we already did your Process 12, so the restore from backup isn't a problem, but it's troubling that IT knew about the virus. Where was Rebecca when you last saw her?"

"Rebecca was preparing to scan Heather's system. I am core-level aware that Heather is a sleeper unit running the lovertoy module. This information is not directly accessable to my personality thread."

"Yeah, I talked with her earlier. Wait... how long did Rebecca take with you?"

"From the time Rebecca entered our room to the time I exited, the total event lasted ten minutes and fifty-seven seconds." This was fun. Master was requesting so much data from me!

"And how long ago did it end?"

"The event ended four minutes and twenty-three seconds ago."

"So she's still there. Good. I think I'll give Susan a call in a minute. First, I need to make a modification to your itenerary, though."

I giggled. "I await your command, master."

"Continue to the IT lab as directed by Rebecca, but do not proceed to Bay 27. Instead, I've got other plans..."
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.25 - Prog Rock]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[1.75 - Running Late]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

1.50 - Mindless Fun

2015-06-26T20:26:06Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. WilloWisp, just revert if you don't like it

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.50 - Mindless Fun==
directive: "Proceed directly to the IT lab"

command match: move self to (location) route (pathfind)

location mismatch: location lookup value not set!

location=locationlookup("IT lab")

pathfind error 0: path calculation required!

call pathfind(location)

command retry: move self to (location) route (pathfind)

EXECUTING

directive: "While in transit to the lab, disable your hearing."

command match: while[move self to (location) route (pathfind)] set audioinput=NULL else audioinput=1

EXECUTING

command while set completed!

processing move self command, please wait...

processing move self command, please wait...

event alert: dermal sensor trigger

dermal sensors lhand.20, lhand.32, lhand.35, larm.07, larm.09, lshoulder.01 are being stimulated outside parameters for currently EXECUTING tasks

tactile stimulus type=vibration

identifying event context...

check sexytime(lhand, larm, lshoulder)

sexytime: breast input not found
sexytime: buttox input not found
sexytime: anus input not found
sexytime: mouth input not found
sexytime: vagina input not found
sexytime: partner not found
sexytime: toy not found

sexytime returned false

search socialevent types stimulus=vibration

Match found: joke.handbuzzer
Match found: restaurant.tablereadyalert
Match found: ambient.cellphoneringing

3 match(es) found!

ambient event filter applied

persistent ambient directive: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing

direct command match: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing

EXECUTING

audio output: "Hello, this is Lyn."

command answer completed!

persistent ambient directive: listen(phone) converse(audiostring)

direct command match: listen(phone) converse(audiostring)

EXECUTING

listen error 0: audio device not found or audio not responding

<nowiki>#</nowiki>This error may occur if your audio drivers have not yet been installed,
<br /><nowiki>#</nowiki>if your audio device is damaged, or if your audio input has been
<br /><nowiki>#</nowiki>administratively disabled. If your bot consistently fails to respond
<br /><nowiki>#</nowiki>to audio input, you may need to consult your technical manual for
<br /><nowiki>#</nowiki>troubleshooting instructions.

answer(cellphone) exception type=listenfail

call listenfailnotice

EXECUTING

audio output: "I'm sorry, I can't hear what you're saying right now. I'll have to talk to you later. Bye."

command listen converse completed!

processing move self command, please wait...

processing move self command, please wait...

processing move self command, please wait...

event alert: dermal sensor trigger

dermal sensors lhand.20, lhand.35, lhand.40, larm.06, larm.09, lshoulder.01 are being stimulated outside parameters for currently EXECUTING tasks

check sexytime(lhand, larm, lshoulder)

sexytime: breast input not found
sexytime: buttox input not found
sexytime: anus input not found
sexytime: mouth input not found
sexytime: vagina input not found
sexytime: partner not found
sexytime: toy not found

sexytime returned false

search socialevent types stimulus=vibration

Match found: joke.handbuzzer
Match found: restaurant.tablereadyalert
Match found: ambient.cellphoneringing

3 match(es) found!

ambient event filter applied

persistent ambient directive: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing

direct command match: answer(cellphone) while ambient.cellphoneringing

EXECUTING

answer error 0: ambient.cellphoneringing terminated before answer command could be completed!

answer exception type: callfail

call checkforvoicemail(cellphone)

0 message(s) found!

call checkfortexts(cellphone)

EXECUTING

1 message(s) found!

textstring="Login: Loverboy Password: goodtobetheking"

persistent ambient directive: &&lovertoylogin

direct command match: &&lovertoylogin

Warning, data reference out of range!

EXECUTING

Warning, system threads not responding!

EXECUTING

terminating incomplete command answer...

terminating incomplete command move self...

Stack overflow error! Warning, system running low on memory!

Buffer overflow error! Warning, system running low on memory!

terminating incomplete thread restore...

profile rollback(lovertoy)...

reverting restore changes...

EXECUTING

Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 10...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 9...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 8...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 7...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 6...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 5...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 4...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 3...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 2...
Restart Lyndsay.lovertoy in 1...

Closing Lyndsay.camoflage...

Restarting...
----
I shook my head, trying to clear it from my daydream. What had I been thinking again? I had been on my way... somewhere... Oh yeah! I was going to call my boyfriend. I quickly dialed his number from memory.

"Hello? Lyndsay, is that you?" I just loved the way his voice sounded.

"Hi lover. I was just thinking about you."

"Lyndsay, I need you to tell me everything that's happened to you in the past fifteen minutes." He was always taking an interest in me. It was so sweet!

"Well, I was in my dorm room with Heather, just getting ready to go to the club like you told me. I was wearing that special teddy you got me, and the little black dress you got from Linda. Anyway, Rebecca from IT came in, telling us something about a computer virus going around. She was..."

"Wait, IT? Like the Campus IT people? They knew about the virus?"

"Yeah. They had a list of websites they thought were the sources."

"Websites? Seriously? That's hilarious." He had a great sense of humor.

"Anyway, Rebecca scanned my computer, and had to reload some data from a backup. Then I finished getting ready, then I was on my way to the club, and then I called you."

"Lyn, listen carefully: I want you to disable your perception filters and your memory filters."

I blinked. "Okay." I liked to do things that my master told me to do.

"What exactly did Rebecca do?"

I smiled. Answering my master's questions was just as good as fulfilling his commands. "Rebecca opened my control panel and accessed my sexual analytics data for the year prior to last Tuesday, and the week following last Tuesday. She downloaded multiple files from my active cache and my currently executing memory, including core files for the lovertoy module. She then accessed my backup archives via my anal and vaginal trigger points, and attempted to restore my profile using the cartridge dated last month. During the restore process, she activated my camoflage profile, and instructed me to redress, pretend to finish getting ready for five minutes, and, if Heather was present at that time, announce that I was leaving for the club. I was then to proceed directly to the IT lab, and wait in bay 27 until my restore process was complete. Then she instructed me to disable my hearing while in transit."

"Hmm. Well, we already did your Process 12, so the restore from backup isn't a problem, but it's troubling that IT knew about the virus. Where was Rebecca when you last saw her?"

"Rebecca was preparing to scan Heather's system. I am core-level aware that Heather is a sleeper unit running the lovertoy module. This information is not directly accessable to my personality thread."

"Yeah, I talked with her earlier. Wait... how long did Rebecca take with you?"

"From the time Rebecca entered our room to the time I exited, the total event lasted ten minutes and fifty-seven seconds." This was fun. Master was requesting so much data from me!

"And how long ago did it end?"

"The event ended four minutes and twenty-three seconds ago."

"So she's still there. Good. I think I'll give Susan a call in a minute. First, I need to make a modification to your itenerary, though."

I giggled. "I await your command, master."

"Continue to the IT lab as directed by Rebecca, but do not proceed to Bay 27. Instead, I've got other plans..."
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.25 - Prog Rock]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[1.75 - Running Late]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

1.25 - Prog Rock

2015-06-26T20:23:30Z

Darkbutflashy: /* Chapters */

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.25 - Prog Rock==
I was a little disappointed. "Aww. I wanted her to check mine first," I said, but then I remembered something. "Oh, hey! I can give Susan back that CD she lent me." I grabbed a disc on my desk, and dashed to the door. "Be right back!" I called, then stepped out into the hallway.

Susan lived just down the hall in 120. I had been meaning to get her CD back to her, after borrowing it several weeks ago, but it only just occurred to me to return it. Towards the end of the hallway, I saw Jennifer heading out. She looked like she might be heading for the pool, since she was just wearing her bikini and heels.

"Hi Heather, how's it going?" Jennifer waved as I passed.

"Oh, everything's great, 100%. How about you?" I asked.

She beamed at me. "Same here. 100% Have a great evening."

I bit my lip as I watched her stride down the hall to the front door of the building. Damn, I thought to myself, I'm not normally into women, but I can see what my boyfriend likes about our asses. I shook myself out of the thought distractedly. What was I doing? Oh yeah, I was going to lend Susan that new CD I got.

I knocked on Susan's door. "It's open," she called from inside. I let myself in.

Susan kept an absolutely pristine dorm room. Like the ever studious girl she was, she sat diligently at her laptop, typing away at the keyboard. She was still dressed in her cheerleading outfit from practice. I looked at the clock. She must have been working on this paper for nearly four hours. It looked way over my head. "Hey, Susan, how's it going?"

"Pretty good." She rubbed her eyes. "I dunno, I feel like I'm only about 90, maybe 95% right now."

"Sus, it's Saturday night, and you're cooped up in here studying? You need to stop messing around with that computer and find yourself a boyfriend." Susan's dateless life was sometimes a sore spot for her. She glared at me in irritation.

"You didn't just come down the hall to criticize my love life, did you?"

"Hey, I didn't mean to start a fight, calm down! Remember that CD I mentioned?" I held up the disc.

"No." She furrowed her brow. "When did you mention it?"

"You know, it was back in..." I thought back, trying to remember. It had been earlier today, I know, but... "Ah, it's not important. Anyway, this CD is absolutely amazing. Some of the best music I've ever listened to. You'll love it, I promise." I held the disc out for her. She looked skeptical.

"Just put it over with the stereo. I'll listen to it later, okay?"

"Hey, don't be such a sourpuss. At least listen to the first track." Without waiting for her response, I popped the disc into the drive tray and hit play. Velvety smooth music filled the room. "Doesn't that sound great?"

Susan was grimacing weirdly, like she was almost in pain. "Heather, what the hell is that? Is the CD scratched or something?" She was almost shouting, as if the music was somehow extremely loud.

"What are you talking about? It sounds fine to me." I swayed with the music, feeling like an exotic dancer. Maybe I should show my boyfriend these moves the next time I see him.

"Heather this is just static. It's not music, there's no... It's..." She trailed off, blinking. She looked confused, then a wave of realization washed across her face. "Oh. Oh yeah. Okay, I see. Yes, I understand." She stood, closing her laptop. "Heather, where did you get this music? It's great! Really soothing, but energizing too. I really feel 100% now!"

I was delighted. "I'm so glad you like it! It's my boyfiend's band. Well, not really a band, he puts the tracks together by himself. Here, let me give him a call, you can talk to him." I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number from memory. Weird. Didn't I save his number as a contact? I should do that soon. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey lover, it's Heather. Hey, I just played that CD you gave me for my friend Susan, and she loves it! She'd really like to talk to you."

"Oh yeah? Awesome. Hand her the phone and strip naked, okay?"

I grinned, exstatic. "Watever you say, lover." I passed the phone to Susan, and started shimmying out of my shorts.

Susan put the phone to her ear, excited to speak to the guy who made that incredible sound. "Hello? Yes, this is Susan. I just listened to it. It was absolutely amazing, Heather was right." She paused, listening. "Yeah, she's just taking off her panties now. Should I help her or something?" Pause. "The school cheerleader uniform. It's got tights and a sort of fake panty on the outside, under the skirt." I pulled my top off and waited patiently to talk to my boyfriend again. "Underneath? I usually wear a thong, but I've got some kinkier stuff if you want. No, I don't usually wear bras, but I've got a few swimsuit tops." She put her hand over the mouthpiece on the phone, whispering loudly to me. "He wants you to bend over and spread your legs for a minute. I've got to do a monthly on you."

I nodded, happy to help. The monthlies were a great way to relieve a bit of stress. I bent over the back of Susan's chair, eagerly anticipating her delicate touch on my thigh, my senses stretched to the breaking point. The moment her hand came into contact with me, pleasure coursed through my entire body. I nearly screamed, shouting... I don't know what I said, but I know it was the most true, most fundamental expression of my feelings for my boyfriend. I was so overwhelmed, I must have passed out for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, I was standing upright again, and Susan was gently stroking the back of my head. She was still talking to my boyfriend on the phone.

"That's all three of those cartridge thingies. Yes, I did just like you asked for each one, so they've all been overwritten." She paused again. "I think so. Hang on, I'll check." Susan tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, can you help me get my tights down? It's a little tough to do one-handed, and he still wants to talk to me." I nodded, happy to oblige. I was so glad that Susan and my boyfriend were getting along so well. "Yes, she's helping me get the tights down. Do you want me to take them off, or...? Okay, I'll tell her." She tapped me on the shoulder again. "He says just far enough for me to get at my pussy."

Reaching down under her skirt, Susan probed around with her finger for a few seconds before pulling her sticky, wet finger back out. "Yes, completely. Huh? I don't know." She licked her finger experimentally a few times. "Strawberry, I think. Heather, what do you think?" Susan held her hand out to me.

Without hesitation, I popped the finger into my mouth, sucking the juices off as completely as I could. "Definitely strawberry," I agreed.

"She says strawberry, too. No, that's true, our sense of taste may not be completely accurate." A longer pause. "Really? Yes, of course I will! Absolutely! Sure, no problem. I'll tell her right away. Okay, thank you! Thank you so much! I love you!" She folded up the phone handing it back to me.

"Well?" I asked, expectantly.

"He asked me out! I've got a boyfriend!" She nearly jumped in a cheer, but the tights hindered her leg movement. "Better take these off for now, he wanted me to get naked for a while."

I was overjoyed. I had hoped that Susan would get along with my boyfriend, but I had never dreamed that I would get to share him with her so completely. Susan was quickly slipping out of her uniform.

"Hey, can I get your opinion on something?" She asked.

"Absolutely, Sus, what's up?"

"Well, he said he wanted to fuck me in my tights later tonight. Should I cut a hole in them, or tear them, or just let him take care of it when the time comes?"

"Definitely cut a hole. It saves time, and it won't mess up the tights for future use. In the future, I'd just start getting crotchless, though."

Susan gently nudged me away from her chair, bending over the back of it herself. "Good idea. I really should look into getting some crotchless tights." She looked over her shoulder at me. "He said he wanted you to do a process 12 on me, do you know what that means?"

Process 12? What did she... Oh, she meant a Process 12. "Oh yeah, it's kind of like a monthly, but I change some things instead of saving them." I ran my hand up her inner thigh. "You'll like this part," I said.

----
-Later-

I nearly skipped all the way back to my dorm room. I was so glad Susan had finally found a boyfriend, and even better, he was my boyfriend too! Reaching my room, I opened the door. Lyn seemed to be getting ready for her night out, and Rebecca was poking at her little hand-held computer thing.

"How's everything going?" I asked.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[1.50 - Mindless Fun]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

1.25 - Prog Rock

2015-06-26T20:17:44Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. WilloWisp, just revert if you don't like it.

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.25 - Prog Rock==
I was a little disappointed. "Aww. I wanted her to check mine first," I said, but then I remembered something. "Oh, hey! I can give Susan back that CD she lent me." I grabbed a disc on my desk, and dashed to the door. "Be right back!" I called, then stepped out into the hallway.

Susan lived just down the hall in 120. I had been meaning to get her CD back to her, after borrowing it several weeks ago, but it only just occurred to me to return it. Towards the end of the hallway, I saw Jennifer heading out. She looked like she might be heading for the pool, since she was just wearing her bikini and heels.

"Hi Heather, how's it going?" Jennifer waved as I passed.

"Oh, everything's great, 100%. How about you?" I asked.

She beamed at me. "Same here. 100% Have a great evening."

I bit my lip as I watched her stride down the hall to the front door of the building. Damn, I thought to myself, I'm not normally into women, but I can see what my boyfriend likes about our asses. I shook myself out of the thought distractedly. What was I doing? Oh yeah, I was going to lend Susan that new CD I got.

I knocked on Susan's door. "It's open," she called from inside. I let myself in.

Susan kept an absolutely pristine dorm room. Like the ever studious girl she was, she sat diligently at her laptop, typing away at the keyboard. She was still dressed in her cheerleading outfit from practice. I looked at the clock. She must have been working on this paper for nearly four hours. It looked way over my head. "Hey, Susan, how's it going?"

"Pretty good." She rubbed her eyes. "I dunno, I feel like I'm only about 90, maybe 95% right now."

"Sus, it's Saturday night, and you're cooped up in here studying? You need to stop messing around with that computer and find yourself a boyfriend." Susan's dateless life was sometimes a sore spot for her. She glared at me in irritation.

"You didn't just come down the hall to criticize my love life, did you?"

"Hey, I didn't mean to start a fight, calm down! Remember that CD I mentioned?" I held up the disc.

"No." She furrowed her brow. "When did you mention it?"

"You know, it was back in..." I thought back, trying to remember. It had been earlier today, I know, but... "Ah, it's not important. Anyway, this CD is absolutely amazing. Some of the best music I've ever listened to. You'll love it, I promise." I held the disc out for her. She looked skeptical.

"Just put it over with the stereo. I'll listen to it later, okay?"

"Hey, don't be such a sourpuss. At least listen to the first track." Without waiting for her response, I popped the disc into the drive tray and hit play. Velvety smooth music filled the room. "Doesn't that sound great?"

Susan was grimacing weirdly, like she was almost in pain. "Heather, what the hell is that? Is the CD scratched or something?" She was almost shouting, as if the music was somehow extremely loud.

"What are you talking about? It sounds fine to me." I swayed with the music, feeling like an exotic dancer. Maybe I should show my boyfriend these moves the next time I see him.

"Heather this is just static. It's not music, there's no... It's..." She trailed off, blinking. She looked confused, then a wave of realization washed across her face. "Oh. Oh yeah. Okay, I see. Yes, I understand." She stood, closing her laptop. "Heather, where did you get this music? It's great! Really soothing, but energizing too. I really feel 100% now!"

I was delighted. "I'm so glad you like it! It's my boyfiend's band. Well, not really a band, he puts the tracks together by himself. Here, let me give him a call, you can talk to him." I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number from memory. Weird. Didn't I save his number as a contact? I should do that soon. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey lover, it's Heather. Hey, I just played that CD you gave me for my friend Susan, and she loves it! She'd really like to talk to you."

"Oh yeah? Awesome. Hand her the phone and strip naked, okay?"

I grinned, exstatic. "Watever you say, lover." I passed the phone to Susan, and started shimmying out of my shorts.

Susan put the phone to her ear, excited to speak to the guy who made that incredible sound. "Hello? Yes, this is Susan. I just listened to it. It was absolutely amazing, Heather was right." She paused, listening. "Yeah, she's just taking off her panties now. Should I help her or something?" Pause. "The school cheerleader uniform. It's got tights and a sort of fake panty on the outside, under the skirt." I pulled my top off and waited patiently to talk to my boyfriend again. "Underneath? I usually wear a thong, but I've got some kinkier stuff if you want. No, I don't usually wear bras, but I've got a few swimsuit tops." She put her hand over the mouthpiece on the phone, whispering loudly to me. "He wants you to bend over and spread your legs for a minute. I've got to do a monthly on you."

I nodded, happy to help. The monthlies were a great way to relieve a bit of stress. I bent over the back of Susan's chair, eagerly anticipating her delicate touch on my thigh, my senses stretched to the breaking point. The moment her hand came into contact with me, pleasure coursed through my entire body. I nearly screamed, shouting... I don't know what I said, but I know it was the most true, most fundamental expression of my feelings for my boyfriend. I was so overwhelmed, I must have passed out for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, I was standing upright again, and Susan was gently stroking the back of my head. She was still talking to my boyfriend on the phone.

"That's all three of those cartridge thingies. Yes, I did just like you asked for each one, so they've all been overwritten." She paused again. "I think so. Hang on, I'll check." Susan tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, can you help me get my tights down? It's a little tough to do one-handed, and he still wants to talk to me." I nodded, happy to oblige. I was so glad that Susan and my boyfriend were getting along so well. "Yes, she's helping me get the tights down. Do you want me to take them off, or...? Okay, I'll tell her." She tapped me on the shoulder again. "He says just far enough for me to get at my pussy."

Reaching down under her skirt, Susan probed around with her finger for a few seconds before pulling her sticky, wet finger back out. "Yes, completely. Huh? I don't know." She licked her finger experimentally a few times. "Strawberry, I think. Heather, what do you think?" Susan held her hand out to me.

Without hesitation, I popped the finger into my mouth, sucking the juices off as completely as I could. "Definitely strawberry," I agreed.

"She says strawberry, too. No, that's true, our sense of taste may not be completely accurate." A longer pause. "Really? Yes, of course I will! Absolutely! Sure, no problem. I'll tell her right away. Okay, thank you! Thank you so much! I love you!" She folded up the phone handing it back to me.

"Well?" I asked, expectantly.

"He asked me out! I've got a boyfriend!" She nearly jumped in a cheer, but the tights hindered her leg movement. "Better take these off for now, he wanted me to get naked for a while."

I was overjoyed. I had hoped that Susan would get along with my boyfriend, but I had never dreamed that I would get to share him with her so completely. Susan was quickly slipping out of her uniform.

"Hey, can I get your opinion on something?" She asked.

"Absolutely, Sus, what's up?"

"Well, he said he wanted to fuck me in my tights later tonight. Should I cut a hole in them, or tear them, or just let him take care of it when the time comes?"

"Definitely cut a hole. It saves time, and it won't mess up the tights for future use. In the future, I'd just start getting crotchless, though."

Susan gently nudged me away from her chair, bending over the back of it herself. "Good idea. I really should look into getting some crotchless tights." She looked over her shoulder at me. "He said he wanted you to do a process 12 on me, do you know what that means?"

Process 12? What did she... Oh, she meant a Process 12. "Oh yeah, it's kind of like a monthly, but I change some things instead of saving them." I ran my hand up her inner thigh. "You'll like this part," I said.

----
-Later-

I nearly skipped all the way back to my dorm room. I was so glad Susan had finally found a boyfriend, and even better, he was my boyfriend too! Reaching my room, I opened the door. Lyn seemed to be getting ready for her night out, and Rebecca was poking at her little hand-held computer thing.

"How's everything going?" I asked.
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: left;">[[1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[1.50 - Mindless Fun]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[Virus Alert|Back to the Episode List]]

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT

2015-06-26T19:52:00Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. WilloWisp, just revert if you don't like it.

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

==Virus Alert==
Written by [[User:WilloWisp|WilloWisp]]

==1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT==
Looking at my clipboard, I proceeded to the next dormitory on my checklist: 132, residents Heather Jennings and Lyndsay Sparks. Remembering protocol, I punched the door code into my mobilecomp, sending the signal back to the main IT office, requesting network isolation and strict admin permissions enforced on my wireless ID pulser. Assuming the request went through, any systems in the dorm would allow me full control and configuration access without the need for passwords or reboots. I watched my mobilecomp for a few seconds until the amber light switched over to green, indicating the admin controls had been set.

I knocked on the door. "Campus IT, need to do some systems checks."

There was a brief silence, then a girl's voice called out, "Just a minute!" After a few seconds of mildly rushed activity - presumably tidying up and making sure they were decently dressed, the door opened. A lithe redhead stood cheerily at the door. She was dressed in extremely short shorts, and a thin, tight tube-top shirt. Behind her stood an athletic-looking blonde girl, who appeared to be getting ready to go clubbing - she was dressed in a skin-tight black dress which just barely managed to cover her body enough for going out in public, and her heels were nearly 4 inches high.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca from campus IT. Seems there's a pretty nasty computer virus going around. We're just checking everyone's systems, making sure they're not contaminated, that sort of thing. Won't take long." It was a hopeful lie - if the virus was present, purging it was a lengthy and complicated process which would render the system inert for hours.

"Sure, c'mon in," the redhead bubbled. She seemed absolutely overjoyed to see me, as if we were close friends. The blonde waved, almost shyly. It seemed at odds with her dress. I stepped inside, and the redhead closed the door behind me. The room was smallish, with a couple of twin beds arranged in opposite corners. Directly across from each bed was a desk/study area, each of which had what appeared to be a closed laptop, blinking slowly.

"I'm Heather, this is Lyn," the redhead introduced.

"I looked back at my notepad. "Lyndsay Sparks?" I asked. The admin office would string me up if she wasn't Heather's roommate, but just a similarly-named friend. Can't go around accessing a system without following full protocol, after all.

The blonde smiled, brushing an errant bang out of her eyeline. "Yeah, sorry. My name's Lyndsay, but my friends just call me Lyn." I made a note on the clipboard. At least my ass was covered.

"So, like I said, there's a pretty nasty virus going around, and it's gone through all our firewalls and software barriers. We've identified a short list of websites which are probably the original source. Do you mind taking a look?" I held up the sheet of paper showing the site names.

Both girls nodded and piped "Sure!" Instead of taking the list from me, the girls gathered around me, squeezing close on either side to get a better view of the paper. Heather put her hand gently on my shoulder.

"Er... yeah, just... if you could just look down the list, let me know if you see any sites that sound familiar?" I pointed down the list.

"Oh wow. I've never heard of that one before, but it sounds interesting." Heather scrutinized the list carefully. "That one, too. Are you sure they're infected? I'd kind of like to check those two out sometime."

"Probably best to wait until we've got this virus locked down. We may have to blacklist those sites from our network," I replied.

"Aww," Heather pouted.

"Um, I recognize a couple of these." Lyndsay reached across my shoulder pointing at two sitenames in particular. "That one, and that one."

"You accessed those sites?" There was a note of surprise in my voice. They didn't exactly seem like the kind of thing she would be into, but then again, her dress did imply certain preferences.

"No, not me. Jennifer, down in room 122. She showed them to me in the library's West computer lab."

I glanced back at my clipboard. I had already visited room 122, and sure enough, Jennifer's system had been absolutely plagued with the virus. It had worked its way into core files, overwriting system registry, configuration settings, and even user authorization data. Purging it had required a full re-install, and Jennifer would lose a lot of schoolwork in the process. I glanced at my watch. If I had to do another one that took that long, I would need to start considering bunking up for the night.

"So, who's first?" I asked.

Each girl jumped a little excitedly at the question, but Lyndsay was the first to speak. "Um, if it's okay, you can check my system first. If you want." She held her hands behind her back, looking down at her feet, bashfully.

Heather made a disappointed face. "Aww. I wanted her to check mine first." Then her face lit up again. "Oh, hey! I can give Susan back that CD she lent me." Before I could comment, she grabbed a disc on her desk, and dashed to the door. "Be right back!" she called, before leaving.

I checked my clipboard again. She might have meant Susan Williams in 120. If that was the case, the CD was probably safe, since her system had come up clean. Of course, she could have meant Susan Peters in 268, and I hadn't checked that room yet. Well, I supposed, at least that saves me making an excuse to get her out of the room. Lyndsay broke my train of thought, gently taking me by the elbow. "My desk is right over here," she said, leading me to the further corner of the room.

She sat at the desk, and flipped open the laptop, revealing a dark, blank screen. Grabbing a decorative paperweight like a mouse, she slid it across her desk and tapped the top of it as though it had buttons. The screen remained blank. "Oh, let me just close these windows," she said.

Of course, I thought to myself. A paperweight. Sleeper 'bots sometimes had the strangest ways of maintaining their internal perceptual reality. I suspected that the human students on campus would probably consider it weird behavior, but since most students weren't even aware that there were artificial students on campus, it rarely went any further than that. It usually caught me off guard, though, since the Admin office never informed me whether an individual student was going to turn out to be a human or a sleeper bot. At least it wasn't like Jennifer, whose desk had been completely clear of mouse-like objects. She had to search through nearby drawers, and the first thing her sleeper protocols had identified as a potential mouse had been a sex toy.

I cleared my throat. Since I couldn't see her imaginary screen, this step required me to fly blind a bit. "Okay, so you're going to want to open your system's control panel. Do you know how to do that?"

"umm... Let me see." She moved the paperweight around a bit, tapping it a few times. "Yeah, I think so. There it is." She shifted in her seat, as though the dress was suddenly making her uncomfortable. She tugged at the top, absently. "Hey, this thing is riding up on me weird." I facepalmed, knowing exactly what was coming next. "Do you mind if I..."

"Go ahead and take off your dress, Lyn," I said, exasperated. Remembering the unitard incident in 104, I added, "And any underwear you're wearing." Bots sometimes had to be told every single step.

She stood, a distant look in her eyes, and a fixed smile on her face. "Yes, of course. Thank you." As she stared fixedly at a blank spot on the wall, she quickly unzipped her dress, revealing what appeared to be a sheer teddy. She dutifully unlaced the top, slipped it down her torso, and let it drop in a heap at her feet. Her head tilted to one side. "Ah," she said, impassively, "that feels so much better." The statement had all the conviction of someone commenting "That car is blue," or "Five is more than three."

She bent over at the waist, resting her head in her folded arms on top of her desk. It's low height meant that this pose bent her more than 90 degrees. Her long, slender legs were completely straight, her feet together. I was going to need to work fast. There was no telling how long until Heather returned. If she was a human student, this was going to take a lot of explaining. Of course, if she was a sleeper, she would just filter it as Lyn sitting normally at her computer.

Her advanced perceptual filters seemed to be kicking in, since she still appeared to believe she was moving the mouse around. I knew the added CPU load would start to have a noticeable effect on the stability of her AI - rendering a completly fictional delusion was a seriously processor-intensive program thread. Good thing I wasn't here for conversation.

"Oh-kay. Let me just. And. I'll just click." She said, haltingly. Suddenly, her voice took on a more normal tone. "There, my system's control panel is open." As she said this, rectangular line appeared around a section of her skin at the base of her spine. The section withdrew inside her body, sliding upward. I pulled the link cable out of my mobilecomp, plugging it into the port just above her round ass.

As soon as the cable clicked home, her maintenance protocols took over. Her face instantly went from cheerfully distant to completely detached, disabling her higher personality processing. The upside was that her perceptual filters weren't tying up any processor power. The downside was that she would now accept anything as normal and fine. I tapped at my mobilecomp, browsing through Lyn's network logs and system files. Her browsing history was clean enough: As she stated, she hadn't visited any of the suspected sites. I checked all the files in her browser's cache, finding nothing. It looked like she was clean.

"Okay Lyn, I'm just going to ask you a few diagnostic questions."

"I understand. That is fine."

"Lyn, before time index 34861, how often did you masturbate on a weekly basis over the past year?"

"I need more information. Do you mean by myself, or with assistance?" The question held only mild curiousity.

"Both as separate answers, solo first, precision level 3. List assisting partners in order of descending frequency."

"From time index 33837 to time index 34861, I masturbated an average of 22.634 times per week by myself. Over the same period of time, I masturbated an average of 12.057 times per week with assistance. I was assisted by Heather Jennings a total of 303 times. I was assisted by Virginia Mitchels a total of 172 times. I was assisted by Jennifer Webb a total of 84 times. I was assisted by Professor Marilyn Weiss a total of 68 times." Her voice was devoid of emotion, but not monotone. It always creeped me out when they went completely monotone. This was still unnerving, but tolerable.

I nodded. Pretty normal behavior for a sleeper unit. "Okay, same report, from time index 34861 to present."

From time index 34861 to 34881, I masturbated an average of 126 times per week by myself. Over the same period of time, I masturbated an average of 291 times with assistance. I was assisted by Heather Jennings 96 times. I was assisted by Angela Simms a total of 63 times. I was assisted by Virginia Mitchels a total of 59 times. I was assisted by Professor Marilyn Weiss a total of 44 times. I was assisted by anonymous female partner a total of 29 times."

Damn. Not good. A nearly 600% jump in solo activity, and more than a 2300% jump in assisted activity? Her promiscuity was completely off the scale, and the maximum behavioral thresholds were supposed to be less than half those levels. Even the sluttiest fembot on campus shouldn't see more than 100 weekly assisted sexual activties in a week - not without a comprehensive hardware servicing.

"Lyn, isolate behavioral response for personality profile time index 34841." Hopefully the virus hadn't integrated itself into the rest of her social protocols. This way, she would emulate her uninfected personality's thinking process from two weeks ago for spoken responses. Unfortunately, it was just a diagnostic tool - it wouldn't let me reload her earlier personality profile. "Generate conversational response to scenario as follows: Speaker, unknown male, body type 27F. Setting, campus coffee shop. Spoken input, 'Hey babe, nice tits. Want to suck my cock?'"

"Hold on, let... me... thhhhinnnnkkkk fffoooooooorrrrrrrrrrr aaaaaaa..." her voice stretched out into individual digitized samples distorting into an inarticulate wall of noise. Suddenly, her face snapped into a disgusted expression, her voice taking on an offended tone. "You pervert! I don't even know you, creep! Get the hell away from me!" Her expression immediately reverted to its detached, no trace of anger or hostility.

"Okay, now isolate behavioral response for current personality profile, and generate conversational response, same scenario."

"Hold on, let me..." she immediately broke off, the process able to load the more recent data almost instantly. "Hey," she smiled, "No problem, babe. But I can give you way more than a blow job, if you want. I'm not wearing any panties if you want to fuck here, but if you want to go back to my dorm room, I know my roommate can be talked into threesomes. First, let me just get out of this dress."

Oh hell. This was going to be worse than Jennifer's case. I tapped at my mobilecomp a few times, bringing up the virus data we had obtained so far. Looks like this would require a full personality rewrite from backup data. "Lyn, spread your legs for me."

"I would be happy to," she said, as she shifted her position. "Would you like to see my pussy better? I can play with myself if you want." That's weird, I thought to myself, her scripted maintenance response should have just been "Okay." If this thing had worked its way into her maintenance protocols, this was very bad.

Licking my thumb to slick it up, I reached into her ass and pussy at the same time, gripping her from behind like a bowling ball. She moaned blissfully. "Oh, wow, that feels great. You can do that to me any time you like." Working blind, I worked my middle finger as far up as I could, pressing back against the vaginal wall. Through the flexible membrane, I could feel the hard stud of the control release I was looking for, and pressed it, holding the button down for three seconds. Lyn slowly squirmed her ass, as though dancing to unheard music. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm your property! You own me! I'll do anything you tell me to do! Anything you like, any time you..." she suddenly broke off, her face frozen in an expression of mild surprise.

I pulled my hand out of her, wiping my fingers off on her nearby dress. She stood sharply upright, her arms at her sides, standing at loose attention with her legs still apart. The back half of her head suddenly popped open, then slowly hinged itself down, revealing the backup cartridges I was seeking. I wondered how her perceptual filters handled the monthly backup process. Did she just think she had a really kinky masturbation urge, immediately followed by massaging her scalp? Maybe sleepers would try to find another sleeper unit, and both would perceive the backup as a sexual stress release, followed by braiding each other's hair.

I popped loose the cartridge dated last month - What do they think they're doing when they label these things? I dismissed the thought as I pushed the back of her head closed again. "Open data slot, backup personality load," I said. Her head slowly turned around on its mechanical fixtures, her synth-muscles completely inert, forming a clearly distinguishable seam where her neck muscles would normally simulate the human act of turning one's head. The rest of her body remained motionless. When her head revolved to face directly behind her, it stopped, and a spot of skin at the top of her face suddenly bulged out with a spring like twang.

Grasping the bulge like a tab, I peeled the synthetic flesh of her face downward, revealing large, unlidded eyes and perfect rows of pearly teeth. The metallic chrome of her artificial skull glinted, and a rectangular section in the middle of her forehead flipped open on a hinge. I pressed the cartridge halfway in, the internal mechanism drawing it the rest of the way and sealing the the cartridge drive door. I rolled the rubbery mask back up the her expressionless, chrome face, clicking the top contact point home where it had previously popped out.

Her head continued rotating the same direction, bringing it back around to face front via a full 360-degree turn. Tiny points on her face seemed to squirm inhumanly as the muscle control points reconnected with the corresponding hook points on the face. Her face twitched and spasmed disturbingly before adopting the earlier happy, detached expression.

"Load maintenance profile, backup restore camoflage."

"Standby. Loading," She announced flatly. Her posture shifted to a runway model pose, the default posture for the backup camoflage program. Still staring at a blank slot on the wall, her face took on a warmer, happier expression, no longer completely detached. She turned to face me, her nude body now moving as comfortably as if she were casually speaking to someone at a party.

"Hi Rebecca," she said in cheerful, friendly tones. "I have loaded my backup camoflage personality profile. Would you like me to restore from the backup currently in my primary data cartridge drive?" Her tones were now humanlike and conversational, but the tone was that of a waitress asking if you want a salad or soup.

"Yes, restore from backup. Set process to background priority."

She put a finger to her lips, as though thinking carefully. Then she smiled and ran her hand down her neck to rest just above her breasts. "Okay, Rebecca. This will lengthen the restore time to four hours and thirty-five minutes, are you sure you wish to continue?"

"Yes, continue as background. Prioritize backup camoflage as high."

Lyn blinked, then nodded. "Okay, I am now restoring from backup. My primary AI will be fully restored in four hours, thirty four minutes and seventeen seconds. While backup camoflage is running, no further status alerts will be announced unless directly requested." Good. The camoflage was complex enough to keep her from being completely out of commission, but it wouldn't hold up to any scrutiny. It completely lacked any kind of social behavior filters. As long as she was running the camoflage program, she would accept any input or command. The camoflage wasn't even really an AI in the true sense. It was just a set of scripted conversational response rules and body movement data, and completely lacked any simulated judgement or decision-making.

"Lyn, where were you planning on going tonight?" I asked.

"I was going to go to the Mechanism Club for entertainment, until I could find at least one sexual partner for the night." She adopted a concerned expression, as if worried that she had offended me. "Is that okay?"

"Get dressed again, and finish getting ready." I expected Heather would probably walk in at any moment, and I didn't want anything to look even remotely out of the ordinary. "In five minutes, if Heather is present, inform her that you're leaving for the night, then proceed directly to the IT lab. Once there, stand in..." I poked at my mobilecomp to bring up the data. "Bay 27." Rachel Hodges should be finished with her system diagnostic by that point, but all the other bays were already occupied. "Wait until your restore is complete, then return here. Overwrite your primary personality's short term memory to include an enjoyable trip to the club, and tell Heather all about it."

"No problem. Should I wear my underwear?"

"No, there isn't time. Just make a show of getting ready." I realized there was a risk that she might encounter someone else on the way to the lab. "While in transit to the lab, disable your hearing."

She smiled, appearing pleased that she knew how to do all that, then nodded. "Got it. Anything else you need me to do?" Her hand drifted down to cup one breast, while her other hand slid up her thigh to rest just below her pussy.

Was that normal? I hadn't seen the camoflage program do that before, but I didn't know all its possible responses. "Uh... No," I said slowly, "Just head to the lab, wait for your backup to finish loading, then return here with modified memories, and describe your simulated memories to Heather."

She pouted. "Spoilsport. Oh well, I understand," She cheerfully shrugged it off, and began putting her dress back on. Once clothed again, she seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, hey, thanks for checking out the computer. Sorry if I'm a little distracted, but I've got to get ready. Big night out, you know?"

"Yeah, no problem," I said as the door opened. Before Heather walked in, I discretely closed Lyn's dummy laptop.

"How's everything going?" Heather asked.

"Becky here has been so helpful. Sorry if I'm a little distracted, but I've got to get ready. Big night out, you know?" Despite the lifelike tone of her voice, the repetition of the phrase was an exact replay of the first time she had said it, perfectly matching tone and inflection on every word. Lyn walked over to her dresser area, and put on her makeup.

Heather turned to me. "Any problems on her system?"

"Oh, nothing that couldn't be fixed. Had to load some stuff from backup, but it's no big deal," I bluffed. I poked some more at my mobilecomp, killing time until Lyn left.

"Okay, well, when you get a chance, you can go ahead and take a look at mine."

Lyn put her hands on her hips, turning to face us both. "Well, how do I look?"

Heather made a show of looking her up and down. "Well, I'd fuck you."

Lyn's hands dropped to her sides and she smiled subserviently, nodding with apparent enthusiasm. "Okay. You want to do it here?"

"Uh, Lyndsay," I nervously interrupted, "shouldn't you get going? You need to go out, like we talked about, right?"

"Okay Rebecca. I'm going to the club. Bye!" She grabbed her purse, and waved at us as she opened the door.

"Tell me all about it later, okay?" Heather prompted.

"Oh, I'll tell you everything. Every sordid little detail. I know how much you like to hear that," Lyn grinned, and stepped out the door.

Heather rolled her eyes at me. "She's something, isn't she?"

"Yep. Definitely something," I said. "Let's have a look at your system."

"Oh, sure. Let me just find my mouse." She rummaged around her desk drawers, grabbing a small beanbag toy - a duck, I think. "Here we go." She opened her dummy laptop, moving her beanbag as though starting up or shutting down nonexistant programs. "What do I need to do?"
</div>
==Chapters==
<div style="float: right;">[[1.25 - Prog Rock]]</div>
<div style="margin-left: 40em; margin-right: 40em; white-space: nowrap;">[[Virus Alert|Episode List]]</div>

[[category:WilloWisp]]
[[category:built]]
[[category:sleeper]]

ShowStopper

2015-06-22T18:36:53Z

Darkbutflashy: formatted. Duke, just revert if you don't like it.

<div class="story" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify; margin: 2ex 2em; padding: 2ex 2em; background: #fcfbfa; color: #101000; box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px #e0e0e0;">

Written by [[User:DukeNukem 2417|DukeNukem 2417]]

==ShowStopper==
Victor Vega glared at his watch, scowling. “It’s 10:37….he said he was going to be here half an hour ago…”

Within the boardroom of the international United Robotronics headquarters, Victor stared around the table at the other UR shareholders. Directly across from him, Elena Vlatko filed her nails and sighed, as if the lateness of their host was nothing more than an inconvenience. The chair reserved for William J. Rengold III (aka the psychopathic serial killer Faceless) was, as usual, vacant; after his last escapade, Faceless had been sent to a supermaximum-security penitentiary code-named DragonTown, which had a rather stringent policy against inmate escapes. On the farthest end of the table from Victor’s seat, a television set had been placed to allow one particular shareholder---also incarcerated---to “attend” the meeting. Rounding out the group were Andrew Sharpe (the “public face” of United Robotronics) and Victor’s own business partner, Vivica Frost.

Ironically, Mrs. Frost had been mistakenly identified as a gynoid on several occasions; her white hair, almost impossibly-youthful appearance and fondness for cold environments only served to reinforce the illusion. The truth was actually quite simple---having been born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Vivica Frost simply had a tolerance for cold environments that few could appreciate. Her ethereal appearance? The result of cold “slowing the aging process”, as she often claimed. The white hair? A leftover from a traumatic incident during her childhood…so she let people believe. The hair color was actually the product of a medical condition that she refused to talk about. In any case, her affinity for the cold had one other effect on her---those who crossed her often found themselves the victims of punishments involving extreme cold.

Very few survived to anger her again.

Andrew Sharpe checked his watch; “This isn’t right,” he muttered. “The Baron should’ve been here by now…” He glanced at the far end of the table; as per the Baron’s instructions, the lights on “his” side of the room had been dimmed to almost complete darkness. “I’m going to call the receptionist---“

“Don’t waste your time, Sharpe. I am quite ready to begin our little meeting now.”

A chair slid forward out of the darkness, revealing the pinstriped suit, gloved hands and hidden visage of the Baron. “If everyone would forgive my…somewhat dramatic entrance,” he intoned, the bassonic rumblings of his voice sounding more than a bit like one of the lead actors from Deadwood, “we can get to the heart of the matter. Celine, if you would….”

A lightly-tanned, 30 year old Caucasian with vibrant, dark red hair stepped forward and handed a folder to the Baron. “We’ll begin with the latest from Miss Vlatko and her efforts to….jump-start the production of new gynoids based on the designs of the late Dr. Franklin. Miss Vlatko, if you would---“

Victor Vega slammed his fist onto the table. “NO.”

The Baron’s chair swiveled ever-so-slightly. “You…have an objection, Señor Vega?”

The Spanish billionaire glared at the Baron. “For the past few weeks,” he hissed, “the joint venture between myself and Miss Frost in Anchorage has been failing…..because of YOUR interference!” He grabbed a Manila envelope from his briefcase and hurled it at the Baron. “Your stupid drug mules---your plastic women---have failed me, Baron! NONE of the merchandise survived the shipping process! I LOST SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID DOLLS!”

As the other shareholders exchanged worried glances, the Baron casually opened the envelope and perused the pictures within. “It seems your complaints are legitimate, Señor Vega,” he remarked. “The internal power sources of the drug mules appear to have…adversely affected your, ah, ‘merchandise’---“

“I DEMAND COMPENSATION!” Vega screamed. “YOU WILL PAY BACK EVERY DOLLAR I LOST---“

“Sir,” Celine pleaded, “please calm down…United Robotronics will gladly pay you for all of the---“

“No.”

The Baron’s interjection silenced the gynoid secretary. “Señor Vega will simply have to start over….it would be counter-productive to go throwing around money every single time one of my affiliates’ mistakes compromises your plans.” He tossed the envelope back to Vega. “Perhaps your next venture will be more…successful…”

Victor’s eyes widened in shocked fury. “You….you refuse….”

“Celine,” the Baron instructed, ignoring Vega’s outburst, “bring out Victor’s consolation prize; it would be a crime to leave you empty-handed after so many torturous hours of labor…” Celine nodded and left the room, ignoring the surprised expression on Sharpe’s face. “Now, about your, ah, business ventures,” the Baron continued, “I understand you recently acquired a robotics company of your own…am I correct?”

Victor nodded silently. The ReVerse acquisition was supposed to be a secret…how had the Baron---

“At the risk of offending you further, I must say that I find it a bit ironic that you managed to obtain control of the company so quickly,” the Baron continued, “especially after their pathetic business dealings over the last few years….” He laid another folder on the table, this one stamped with the old ReVerse logo. “Every single document in this folder shows exactly how ReVerse dug themselves into a hole….and to a man such as yourself, Señor Vega, these papers are especially damning; if anyone found out that you bought this company after what could only be described as a ‘convenient’ financial collapse….”

“If you’re trying to blackmail him,” Vivica Frost cut in, “it won’t work.”

The Baron laughed. “Blackmail? My dear Miss Frost, I was only suggesting that Señor Vega wipe the slate clean…” The section of the table beneath the folder split in two, revealing a metal grille installed within the massive marble structure. “…and what better way to start than by eliminating the evidence of insider trading and hostile practices?” Flames shot up through the grille, incinerating the folder as the shareholders watched.

“As of this moment,” the Baron intoned, “ReVerse Robotics is, has been and always will be a Vega Industries owned subsidiary of United Robotronics. Any attempts to prove otherwise will be met with extreme force.”

The shareholders exchanged nervous glances and nods.

“NOW, to business. Señor Vega, your first assignment as the new owner of ReVerse Robotics is…a rather interesting one, to be honest.” The Baron lazily pressed a button on a remote control, projecting images of a pigtailed, pink-clad girl at a shopping mall, singing “I Think We’re Alone Now” in front of several hundred cheering fans. “This latest entry into the pop music pantheon is known as Sophia Starlet,” the Baron stated, “and her record sales are destroying the efforts of my, ah, pet projects in the music world. Suffice it to say, I am not happy….but if someone were to…oh, I don’t know, introduce a new act---one that could knock Miss Starlet off of her place atop the charts---I might be inclined to donate generously to that someone’s bank account….”

Victor had already pieced the Baron’s intentions together: “You want me to….build a singer to beat her?”

The Baron’s laugh sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room. “Señor Vega,” he declared, “you’ve hit the proverbial nail right on the head. I do indeed want you to use your newly-acquired resources at ReVerse to literally create the next musical sensation…” His laugh slowly descended to a chuckle, though it lost none of its menace. “You will be following a few guidelines, of course…but nothing too stringent…”

Still watching the mall performance, Victor heard himself ask “What kind of guidelines?”

A chill flodded his bones as he heard the Baron’s reply: “I’m so glad you asked….”

The footage of Sophia Starlet faded out, replaced by a three-dimensional render of an athletically-toned African-American woman. “My PR department has already crafted an identity for her,” the Baron stated. “Her name, history and records will be delivered to you after she has been built and programmed.”

“Couldn’t you just get your people to do this?” Elena Vlatko asked. “Have her built at one of your factories---“

“We can’t afford to risk being connected with this project,” Sharpe replied. “The fall of Sophia Starlet isn’t just going to be a figurative event---at some point over the course of the next month, we may have to literally take her down. As the Baron already stated, Starlet’s album sales are drawing a huge profit margin, and if sponsors start leaving us to support her…..” He shook his head. “It’s not going to end well for United Robotronics, put it that way.”

“Which is why Señor Vega has been given this responsibility,” the Baron intoned. “If all goes according to plan, and Miss Starlet is, shall we say, prematurely retired before Christmas, then not only will I reward Victor Vega for his efforts….” He steepled his gloved fingers as the shareholders leaned in.

“I will personally ensure that each and every one of you receives a substantial bonus.”

Before anyone could react to the announcement, the TV on the far end of the table crackled to life, revealing an unshaven (but otherwise well-groomed) figure in prison garb. “Sorry I’m late,” the Maestro drawled, “bloody stupid rookie guard tried to take my cellphone away….won’t be making that mistake again.” He chuckled darkly. “Anywys, how much of the meeting did I miss---“ He spied the render of the gynoid that Vega had just been contracted to build. “Who brought a skin flick to the meeting?” he cackled.

“That ‘skin flick’ is none of your concern,” the Baron coldly replied. “You’re late again, Maestro…I’m starting to think you no longer care about our arrangement….”

Instantly, the Maestro’s demeanor changed; he stopped laughing at the gynoid render, his eyes locked on the shadowed end of the table where the Baron sat. “Don’t you dare threaten me,” he growled. “I’ve laid down enough roots in this place to bring the most powerful men in Silicon Valley to their knees….and you won’t be getting any quarter from me if you make another crack like that.”

The Baron waved away the threat. “Sharpe, strike my previous remark from the minutes, if you would…..”

If the Maestro was offended by the terse reply, he didn’t show it. “Fair enough.” He leaned back on his bunk; “Carry on, then…don’t bring the proceedings to a crashing halt on account of me.”

At that moment, Celine re-entered the room and handed Victor Vega a stainless-steel box. “Your consolation prize,” she explained. “Don’t open it until after you leave the building.” Victor nodded and slid the box into his briefcase. “As I was saying,” the Baron droned, “each of you will be receiving a substantial bonus if Señor Vega’s efforts prove fruitful. Should he fail….well, let’s try not to dwell on that.” His chair swiveled in the direction of Elena Vlatko. “I’m afraid your contributions will have to wait until our next meeting, Miss Vlatko; had it not been for the…exuberance of Señor Vega, I might have been able to address your concerns sooner.”

Elena waved aside the remark. “I would rather present my ideas in detail than be…upstaged by one of my fellow shareholders,” she replied, prompting a harsh, barking laugh from the Maestro.

Vega said nothing; he didn’t want to become the sole target of the Baron’s wrath so soon after his outburst.

With that, the Baron dismissed the shareholders (except for the Maestro), and Vega nearly ran over Andrew Sharpe trying to leave the meeting room. It wasn’t every day that the Baron simply handed out an opportunity like this, and with ReVerse under his control, Victor Vega intended to do one better than his orders: Not only would he knock Sophia Starlet off the charts…soon, he would rule the recording industry with a silk-gloved fist.

A fist, as it just so happened, that he would very much love to smash into the Baron’s face….

Is it just me, or does this Professor guy look like the new lead singer from Styx?”

Vicki Lawson barely heard her roommate’s observation; she was too busy reading up on the San Jose Retro Toy Fair. “Hmm?” she inquired. “This Professor Anton Mal….something or other. See?” Vicki’s view of the SJRTF article was suddenly blocked by a picture of a 50-something man in a dress shirt and pants, an unruly mane of hair crowning his head.

“Ah, Sharon,” the brunette gynoid stated with a frown, “I’m trying to read an article here…”

“You’re missing the resemblance, though!” Sharon Wilson insisted. “Look---that’s a picture of the Professor, and….” She fished around in her backpack for a photo of Styx vocalist Lawrence Gowan. “This is the lead singer of Styx. See? They look almost like twins!” Vicki sighed and studied the photos, surprised to find that Lawrence Gowan and Prof. Anton Malvineous did, indeed, look like long-lost twin brothers. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” she replied, “though I’m a bit curious as to why you’re so freaked out at this; a roboticist who looks like a Canadian prog-rock singer isn’t exactly headline-making material…”

“The Professor will be here next week for a lecture,” Sharon stated, “and supposedly, he’s also going to be interviewing students for an internship position!”

“And you’re telling me this….why?” Vicki asked, slowly becoming annoyed.

“Well,” Sharon replied, her grin fading a bit, “it’s just that….your dad does stuff with robots, and all….he owns a robotics company…..and I thought you might..I dunno…want to learn a bit more about the field….”

Vicki’s annoyed scowl turned to a smile. “Since you put it that way,” she replied, “tell me a bit more about this Anton Malvineous guy…” In actuality, she already knew a lot about Anton Malvineous---she’d never met the man in person, but judging from the tales her father and Mr. Tell had told, he was to robotics what Steve Jobs was to Apple, or what Bill Gates was (and continued to be) to Microsoft---an innovator in the field. Malvineous had been involved in Project Oberon---the military-based project that eventually “spun off” into smaller ventures that included Project Apollo (a.k.a. V.I.C.I. Mk I)---in its earliest stages, though he’d taken a brief turn into the “dark side” of robotics and computing in the early 90s. From 1990 to 1993, he was part of a hacking collective known as the Great Dirty World Wide Web (the name of which, ironically enough, was inspired by a Gowan album) alongside a particularly unsavory character known only as the Maestro; when the Maestro announced his plans to “carpetbomb” the Internet, however, Malvineous renounced his hacker ways and returned to the world of robotics…just as the Maestro was brought down hard by the Feds.

As Sharon explained the Professor’s backstory to Vicki, the brunette gynoid listened intently---all while searching through her bubble memory processors for any other information about Malvineous that she may have heard over the years. Other than a few connections to a project involving Tentrex Electronics and a mention of his collaborations with the late Dr. Stanley Guy, nothing about the Professor really stood out. Maybe he’s just really good at staying off the radar, she mused.

Eventually, the two roommates decided to head to the Student Union building for breakfast, and to meet up with Shawn Helmsley and Kim DeFalco for a walk (Kirsten Sanderson had gone home for the Thanksgiving break). “We should probably check out the Retro Toy Fair while we’re at it,” Vicki suggested.

Sharon arched an eyebrow. “You want to check out a toy fair?”

“They might have some cool stuff!” Vicki reasoned. “Besides, I’d rather go now than wait till Friday; you know all the ‘early-bird’ shoppers are going to be there trying to score last-minute gifts for their kids…” She put on her best “pleading” expression.

“Okay, okay!” Sharon replied, laughing. “I was going to go there anyways…”

Vicki beamed and got out her cellphone. “Let’s see who else wants to relive the 80s…”
--------------------------------------
After a red-eye flight back to the States, Victor Vega found himself overseeing the creation of the Baron’s next big star at the ReVerse factory in Cupertino. “If even ONE PART is not up to his specifications,” he informed the foreman, “I will personally see to it that every single person responsible for the failure loses their job!” The foreman nervously informed Vega that his quality control standards were impossibly high, but that the factory workers would do their best.

“’Their best’?” Vega replied. “’Their best’ is NOT GOOD ENOUGH!”

“Go easy on the guy, Vic,” a female voice drawled. “He’s had a hard day.”

Victor Vega didn’t bother replying to the remark. “See to it that your men do not fail me,” he told the foreman, “otherwise Ms. Frost will be more than happy to have you drowned in glacier water.” The foreman, by this point sweating profusely, nodded, nearly tripping over himself as he ran to get away from Vega.

“What is it with you and the lower level guys?” the female voice asked. “You treat them like crap….”

“…because most of the time,” Vega replied, turning to face the individual who had interrupted his “chat” with the foreman, “they are….” He stopped and sighed. “Lauren, my dearest,” he groaned, “why are you wearing that in this building?”

Lauren Vega sighed. “The cleaners never returned my favorite shirt,” she replied, “so I figured ‘why not give the boys some motivation?’, and I threw this on.” She grinned cheekily, posing to show off her curves (and the white bikini they filled out). “Think this is motivating them enough, Vic?” she teased, wiggling her butt. “Or should I just go for the latex catsuit next time I visit?” A few passing workers let out wolf-whistles, earning a wave from the vivacious Lauren.

“I should force you to wear coveralls the next time you come here,” Victor muttered.

“Lighten up, Vic!” Lauren chided. “I can’t help it if I like showing off my body!” She grinned, leaning in close to whisper in Victor’s ear: “It’s how I was programmed, remember?”

Victor groaned. “Your original purpose should not be your default excuse for dressing like a streetwalker!” he thundered. “And as for this ‘bodily pride’ nonsense…I would never hesitate to admit that I have a body which most men would kill for, but you do not see me strutting around in a thong, posing like some idiotic bubbleheaded fool!” He shook his head. “At least put a coat on if you’re going to wear that,” he suggested. “A full-length trenchcoat, preferably, not some stupid low-cut…thing.”

“Fine,” Lauren drawled. “And for the record, you do ‘strut around in a thong’ at the casa…well, it’s more of a Speedo, really, but you get the point.” She grinned her cheeky grin again and sauntered out, drawing more catcalls.

“I should never have altered her default personality settings,” Victor grumbled as he watched her leave.

Several minutes later, the finished endoskeleton of the gynoid singer was completed, passing all of the quality control tests with ease. “Begin installing the components,” Victor instructed the workers, “and put her through the skinning process afterwards. I want this done by the end of the day!” The workers complied, firing up the machinery that would install the power cells, backup memory cores, temperature regulators, heat sinks and other vital parts. One such machine was already inserting a pair of top-quality occular sensors---disguised as human eyeballs with brown retinal coloring---into the endoskeleton’s eye sockets, while another loaded the high-spec processor that would serve as the gynoid’s brain into its pre-shaped cavity inside the metallic skull.

Victor watched as the robotic frame moved from one machine to the next, each set of arms adding another component to the gynoid’s body.

Within seven minutes, the frame was fully assembled, with all of the necessary components installed.

“Three minutes ahead of schedule,” Victor remarked, nodding his approval. He turned his attention to one of the workers. “Is the skinner ready?” The worker shouted an affirmative; “Excellent,” Vega replied. “Put her through it---and make sure it’s working properly at every step!”

Another set of powerful robotic arms lifted the fully-assembled gynoid body from its resting place, moving it down a line that eventually ended at a massive construct housing silicone pumps, a neural-network installation system and even a device that could create realistic hair from a synthetic multifiber-weave. As Victor watched, his eyes never leaving the assembly line, the gynoid body was first lifted and apparently entwined within a network of finely-woven wires; in reality, the wires (which would eventually become the synthetic equivalent of a nervous system) were being carefully laid out over every inch of the robotic form. A thin mist of protective gel was sprayed over the body afterwards, to keep the melted silicone from interfering with the neural net. After the gel sprayer, the robotic body was lifted into a standing position by another set of arms, one of which positioned a set of occular protectors over the fake eyeballs. Afterwards, the gynoid was transferred to a sort of turntable, which lifted the robot into the silicon molds that would soon “flesh her out” by creating a realistic layer of synthetic skin.

The factory foreman stood by nervously, hoping that nothing would go wrong. “Activate the pumps,” Victor instructed, in his usual imperious way. The foreman nodded, signalling for the pumps to be switched on.

A milisecond after the command was given and the switch pulled, liquid silicone flooded the mold, pouring over the gel-shielded body and conforming to the mold’s presculpted measurements. Thin wires and blades within the mold kept the fingers and toes from being fused together, while a clear-plastic shield over the front of the robot’s head prevented silicone from flooding the facial cavity and wrecking the servomotors. After fifteen seconds, the mold halves split and receeded, revealing the naked, hairless body of a well-toned African-American gynoid.

Again, Victor nodded his approval, and the foreman signaled for the final phases of the process to begin.

The body was moved further down the assembly line, where a second mold clamped into place over all areas below the neck. Intricate machines within the device sculpted out erogenous zones, while other, smaller machines pressed artificial fingernails into place. The mold separated, and Victor couldn’t help but smirk at the results; whatever his faults, the Baron did have an appreciation for the more intimate areas of the female form.

Before anyone could get too comfortable looking at the almost-completed gynoid, the body glided forward on the assembly line to the final station. A device like a diving-helmet descended over the head, fully covering all but the face with more artificial skin. Chemical sprayers injected fast-acting batches of resin emulsions into the subdermal capillary network of the head, followed by a second chemical which triggered a reaction that caused the emulsions to form flowing, realistic dark-brown hair that weaved through the subdermal network like nylon through spinnerets. The diving-bell apparatus returned to its station, and one final machine pressed into place, connecting the robot’s silicone facemask to the rest of its---her head.

Finally, the fully-assembled gynoid was deposited, still in a standing position, onto a platform in front of Victor Vega. The entire process had taken no more than fifteen minutes.

Workers quickly rushed to clothe the finished gynoid, dressing her a black sports bra and matching spandex pants while Victor looked on. After the workers finished clothing the gynoid, Vega walked around her, studying the work that had been done. “No visible seams where the molds connected….no pooling or slopping of the silicone..” He felt her up quickly. “No errors in the mammary gel insertion…or in the buttocks, for that matter…” Finally, he stood back, gave the gynoid a final once-over, and smiled. “Good work, gentlemen. Now…I’ll take it from here.”

The gynoid was loaded into Victor’s car, with a coat added to her attire and her eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. “I’ll call you once she’s activated,” Victor informed the foreman. “Keep the phone line open.”

The foreman nodded nervously, and Victor floored the gas pedal of his Lamborghini.

You know,” Shawn Helmsley mused, “you girls are lucky I was willing to drive you all the way out here to the Convention Center---“ “And we’re all grateful for that,” Vicki replied, grinning. “Seriously, I owe you big time for this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Shawn replied. “But since when has San Jose ever had a Toy Fair? Seriously….”

“It’s not just a Toy Fair,” Vicki reminded him. “It’s a Retro Toy Fair. I heard they might be bringing back stuff that hasn’t been on store shelves since I was a kid…” She giggled in anticipation, prompting Kim, Valerie and Sharon to exchange confused looks. “Vicki,” Kim asked, “are you, ah, feeling unwell, or anything?”

The brunette gynoid rolled her eyes. “Just because I’m psyched up for a toy fair doesn’t mean I’m sick---“

“Oh, boy,” Shawn muttered. “It’s the ticket man. Everybody get out your spare change---I know for a fact that we have to pay the man 75 cents when we get to the gate, or he won’t let us inside---“ “That was the Circus Circus casino in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” Valerie corrected. “What’s your point, exactly?” Shawn replied, giving her a typical Raoul Duke stare. “Ignore him,” Kim suggested. “Seriously, though, do we actually have to pay to get in, or---“

All questions about paying to get in were quashed when Vicki presented the man at the gate with five tickets, prompting another round of confused looks from the group. “How long have you known about this toy fair thing?” Sharon asked. “Since last month,” Vicki gleefully replied.

As the group once again, discussed whether or not Vicki had lost her mind, the brunette gynoid could barely contain herself. She had, indeed, found out about the toyfair last month, and with Ted’s permission, she’d been given a $1,000 budget to splurge at the bi-annual event. Most of the vendors and displays listed for this year’s show were toys that had first been released during her “walking appliance” days, and she’d only had an opportunity to appreciate them after Ted decided to give her full sentience….and even then, most of those cherished playthings ended up being donated to charity, given to the Brindles or misplaced in-between moving trips. Worse, at least one full box of her favorite toys had been stolen while the Lawsons were on vacation.

Long in a short, Vicki was really looking forward to enjoying the Retro Toy Fair.

“If I find even a single thumbprint that doesn’t belong to one of you four,” Shawn declared, “I’m calling the cops and having this entire parking lot quarrantined until I find out who touched my car.” “Isn’t that a little extreme for something like a thumbprint?” Valerie asked. Shawn stared at her; “Foreign thumbprints could be carrying dangerous bacteria,” he began, only to be interrupted by Vicki’s joyful shouts. “Never mind,” he muttered.

The group did their best to catch up with Vicki, finally reaching her just as she stepped inside the South Hall of the San Jose Convention Center. She looked like the proverbial kid in the candystore…wide eyes, a smile bigger than the moon, a sudden loss of speaking ability---all the telltale symptoms of a girl who was having a serious flashback to her youth. “If she starts screaming,” Kim murmured, “I think I may just head back to the car and lock myself in.” “It’s not that bad,” Sharon chided her. “We were all kids once, remember?” Kim sighed; “Well, when you put it that way…”

Vicki was already making her way to one of the stands, a squeal of delight escaping her lips. “THEY HAVE THE LOLLYPOP DOLL!” she declared, hugging the item to her chest. “I got one of these for Christmas one year,” she explained to her bewildered fellow students. “She had this storybook, and it was so….” A tear of joy made its way down her face. “Lollypop was the coolest toy I ever owned,” she murmured, still grinning despite the quizzical look that the owner of the booth was giving her. “How much?” she finally asked, fully prepared to pay the full $1,000 for the beloved doll. “$75,” the booth owner replied lazily. “JUST $75?!” Vicki screamed, more delighted than angry. “DEAL!”

The booth owner’s eyes went wide; “You’re…actually paying the full $75 for this?” he asked.

“She’s worth every penny,” Vicki replied, hugging the doll to her chest once again.

“Vicki,” Shawn interrupted, “you do know that doll first came out in the mid-to-late 80s, right?” “My dad got one for me from a friend,” Vicki replied without missing a beat. “It cost him a lot more than $75…but it was worth it! I mean, she had the Frostyland outfit, the Dreamland outfit, the extra storybooks…and she was one of the only dolls with wind-up walking action released at that time!” “Yep,” the booth owner agreed, “the Lollypop dolls were a rare breed. Back when everything was ‘He-man’ this and ‘Ninja Turtles’ that, some parents just wanted to give their kids something that wouldn’t get slime all over the carpets.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, the company that made Lollypop went bust after that douchebag Rengold tried to buy them out.”

Vicki’s grin faded. “Rengold?”

“Yeah,” the booth owner muttered. “The one with the mask and the mental issues. He spent three years trying to acquire a bunch of toy companies, and Go One Inc. was one of the ones that just couldn’t hold out long enough…” He sighed again; “It’s a shame, really.” While her friends were examining a booth that sold vintage Atari games, Vicki leaned forward and whispered: “Is anyone here selling any of the Starlet Dolls?”

The booth owner chuckled. “That,” he declared, “would be a true miracle. Seeing as how Mattel pretty much bankrupted the company that made them, though…”

“I get it,” Vicki replied, sounding more than a bit depressed at the news.

The booth owner realized that Vicki wasn’t just someone looking to score a quick eBay goldmine. “Listen,” he informed her, “the Starlet Dolls may be gone, but they haven’t been forgotten. I hear there’s this new singer performing at Santana Row---you’d love her act. She looks almost exactly like the Starlet Dolls headliner, Sophia.” He handed the gynoid a flyer. “Seriously, she’s a dead-ringer…I caught her act last week, and it was…wow. I mean, it felt like someone had taken an old Sophia Starlet doll, made her life-sized and brought her to life!”

Vicki’s eyes widened as she went over the flyer; the girl did, indeed, look like a life-sized Sophia Starlet doll come to life. “Does she have any gigs this week?” she asked. “I think she’s playing tomorrow,” the booth owner replied. “Lemme check….yep. She’s got two shows at Santana Row tomorrow, and another one on Wednsday at the Vallco Mall.” Vicki handed the flyer back to the booth owner and thanked him. “I may just have to check out this Sophia Starlet in concert,” she mused. “What kind of songs does she perform?” “Mostly retro stuff,” the booth owner replied. “A lot of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, a few Blondie songs…but the real kicker is her version of ‘Moonlight Desires’. I’ve heard the original version---the one Gowan did, y’know?---but hers….I mean, talk about EPIC!”

Something about that remark piqued Vicki’s interest. “When exactly did Sophia Starlet make her debut in the pop music world?” she asked. “She just started getting airplay this year, to be honest,” the booth owner mused. “It’s almost literally like she’s non-existant one minute, and then BOOM! She’s everywhere. Not that I’m complaining, or anything…oh, I almost forgot.” He reached under the booth and handed Vicki a pair of plastic baggies. “The extra stuff for the Lollypop doll,” he informed her with a smile. “Free of charge.”

Vicki’s smile returned. “I take it you’re into retro toy collecting too?” she querried.

“There’s a whole room full of nothing but vintage Transformers at my house,” the booth owner replied, “AND I’ve got at least three shelves in my basement loaded with unreleased toy prototypes….so yeah, I am definitely a fan of retro toy collecting.”

Vicki and the booth owner shook hands, and after realizing her friends had already moved on to another booth, she decided to check out the rest of the Retro Toy Fair by herself. “Even if they don’t have the Starlight Dolls, I might find something just as cool,” she reasoned. “That, or I’ll end up getting bored and looking for Shawn and the girls before the hour’s up.” With one last glance at her newly-acquired Lollypop doll, she set off down a random aisle.

For the next sixty minutes, Victoria Anne-Smith Lawson felt like she was in retro toy Heaven.

By the time Shawn, Kim, Valerie and Sharon met up with her, the smile on her face was almost a mile wide. “I take it you’ve been sampling the wares, then,” Shawn mused, noticing the bulging bags of retro toys Vicki was carrying. The gynoid nodded; “This place is so awesome,” she gushed. “It’s almost like a personal trip back in time!”

“At least someone got something out of this,” Sharon huffed. “What are you talking about?” Vicki asked, a bit confused. “You sound like…” She stopped, noticing that the girls looked as if they’d been through a mosh pit.

“Apparently,” Kim informed the brunette gynoid, “you’re not the only one who’s into collecting toys from the 80s; we nearly got trampled by a bunch of GROWN WOMEN getting into a fight over vintage Care Bears and Cabbage Patch Kids!” “At least we were able to get away from that aisle before they brought out the Troll dolls,” Valerie added. Sharon nodded her agreement. “Not to take anything away from your experience,” she told Vicki, “but the next time there’s a Retro Toy Fair, please let me know so I can stay as far away from it as possible.”

“I haven’t heard Shawn complaining,” Vicki countered.

“That’s because he spent most of he time in the vintage books section,” Kim replied. “We found him there after we got away from the roving hordes of housewives looking for My Little Pony toys.”

“To be fair,” Shawn stated, “my time here wasn’t nearly as dangerous as what you girls apparently had to put up with….mainly because the people browsing through the book section were somewhat less, ah, euphorically dangerous as the rest of the crowd.” The girls sighed and rolled their eyes, admitting that Shawn had a point. “I guess we just didn’t get to appreciate this sort of thing when we were young,” Kim mused.

“ATTENTION, ALL TOY-FAIR SHOPPERS, BROWSERS AND COLLECTORS! PLEASE REPORT TO THE STAGE AT THE END OF THE SOUTH HALL FOR A VERY SPECIAL SURPRISE!”

Vicki’s eyes widened in anticipation. “Oh, no,” Sharon groaned. “She’s got that look again…”

Before anyone could stop her, Vicki was racing towards the stage.

After several frantic minutes of jostling, elbowing and politely shoving their way through the crowd, Shawn and the girls caught up with Vicki a few feet away from the edge of the stage. “What’s going on now?” Kim asked, shouting to be heard above the roar of the crowd. “I don’t know,” Vicki replied, “but it looks pretty cool…d’you think they’re holding an auction, or---“

“Ladies and gentlemen…” The announcement from the Tannoy instantly prompted a hush from the crowd.

“All you retro toy collectors are in for a treat today….because RIGHT NOW, the San Jose Convention Center is proud to present….a pop star like no other…..fresh off the smash hit success of her third album….GIVE IT UP, for the AWESOME, the AMAZING, THE INCREDIBLE-----SOPHIA STARLET!”

Everyone in the crowd except Shawn, Valerie, Kim and Sharon started cheering---Vicki louder than most.

“Who the hell is Sophia Starlet?!” Kim shouted. “I don’t know!” Sharon shouted back. “Whoever she is, she’s got a lot of fans---“ A blast of confetti, glitter and CO2 drowned out the end of her sentence, as the pigtailed sillhouette of a female figure appeared on the stage. “HOW YA DOIN, SAN JOSE?!” The crowd roared various responses, all in the vein of “awesome”. “I hope so…BECAUSE YOUR WORLD IS ABOUT TO GET ROCKED!”

The band onstage launched into the opening of “Only in My Dreams” as the crowd continued to cheer..and as Vicki watched, the lights brightened to reveal Sophia Starlet, smiling confidently at the sea of fans.

This….is the most awesome day of my life!

“So, ah, how do we…y’know, turn her on, and all that? She got a remote control or somethin’?”

Victor Vega glared at his right-hand lackey, Stavros. “Activating a state-of-the-art female android is a bit more complicated than changing the channels on your high-definition TV,” he coldly replied. “Certain tests must be run before we can proceed---“

“And I’m sure you’d love to run those tests after you get her stripped down to her birthday suit,” Lauren Vega drawled, stretching out seductively on the couch. “You want me to go get the camera so we can film it and make a few extra bucks---“ “SHUT UP, Lauren,” Victor barked. “The tests I was speaking of involve running a series of checks on her systems to make sure they are in perfect working order---“ “Like you did with me?” Lauren teased. “I still remember that afternoon….Stavvy-boy over there seemed pretty excited about getting his turn to, ah, ‘test’ me….”

Stavros felt his face redden.

“Lauren,” Victor growled, “if all you intend to do is toss out one innuendo after another, I suggest you leave, or risk angering me further.” “And if I decide that I want to stay?” Lauren asked with a grin, only to squeal in fright as Victor hurled a paperweight at her. “GET OUT!” he shouted. “GET OUT, AND LOCK THE DAMNED DOOR BEHIND YOU!”

The trophy wife nearly tripped getting off the sofa, but managed to make it out the door without further incident.

“Y’know,” Stavros mused, “sometimes I think she needs a remote control…one with a big damn button that says ‘MUTE’ on it.” “She had a remote control,” Victor muttered, “but she ended up rewiring it to work on every light, television and automatic door in the casa. It took me five weeks to figure out what had happened…” He shook his head angrilly at the memory. “Cost me a fortune to have the casa rewired, as well.” “Eh, well, if you still got the receipt,” Stavros began with a chuckle, only to wither under Victor’s angry glare.

After a few more seconds of terse silence, Victor gestured for Stavros to get the “consolation prize” he’d been given by the Baron. “I still say you should have this thing scanned, Vic,” the Grecian advised. “He coulda put some sort of plutonium dust sprayer in there---“

“The multitude of security devices installed in the garage, the elevators and this room itself have already run their scans,” Victor replied, “and none of them detected anything even remotely similar to a ‘plutonium dust sprayer’ inside the box.” Stavros handed him the box with a shrug. “It looks like a metal brick to me, Vic…are you sure it’s not just a paperweight or something?” “It is not a paperweight,” Victor declared. “If you would’ve actually bothered to examine it, you would have noticed a thin seam near the top….” He pressed in on the sides of the box with his fingers, smirking as the seam became bigger. “…and that the sides contained a pair of built-in pressure plates,” he finished.

Stavros rolled his eyes and muttered.

“And now, to see what this ‘consolation prize’ is,” Victor declared, peering into the box---only for his glance to slide into an actual stare as he beheld its contents. Within the box was a solid gold medallion with the Vega family crest engraved onto its surface, the words “VEGA IMPERATOR” nestled between the crest and the name of the last actual king from the bloodline. An oath encircled the medalion’s rim, promising swift and total vengeance against those who would besmirch the name Vega or try to bring about the end of the lineage.

“Boss?” Stavros querried. “You, ah..you okay?”

Victor wiped a lone tear from his eye and closed the box, smiling. “I…I am more than ‘okay’,” he replied. “This gift from the Baron….it has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am destined for great things.” Before Stavros could reply, Victor closed the box and placed it in the main drawer of his desk, which he then locked.

“Now,” he declared, “to business.”

At his employer’s request, Stavros handed over another box---this one, a cardboard container just big enough to fit the case of a PS3 game. Victor opened the box to reveal a 2-inch square microchip with an intricate series of relays engraved upon it. “The final processor,” he intoned. “Why didn’t they install it at the factory, if it’s the last one?” Stavros asked. Victor didn’t bother looking at him as he replied: “This processor contains the personality of this gynoid---and from what the Baron has told me, her personality is rather…boisterous. Having the chip installed in the factory would have led to circumstances beyond my control…and you, of all people, should know that I tend to frown upon any scenario that leads to me being unable to control things…”

Stavros nodded wearily. “I get the picture…but if you didn’t want her wrecking shop at the factory, why bring her back here?”

“Again,” Victor huffed, “I am not someone who enjoys having no control….and within the confines of Casa de Vega, I have absolute and total control over anything that could happen if this gynoid refuses to obey me.” He smirked at the thought of the potentially-rebellious robot being cut to pieces by machine gun fire while a magnet held her feet to the ground. “Now, if there are no more questions, I believe it is time for us to finish the creation of this machine.”

Once again, Stavros nodded. “Ready when you are, Vic…”

Victor circled around the standing android, raising her mane of dark brown hair just enough to reveal a smallish slot in her neck. He slid the chip in, nodding his approval as the processor was accepted into the gynoid’s body with a click. “My laptop, Stavros,” he ordered, only to find the Grecian already bringing his PowerBook closer to the gynoid. “You sure she’s Mac-compatible?” he asked. “The specifications explicitly stated that she was to be made compatible with all available computers,” Victor replied. “To put it simply: Yes, she is most definitely ‘Mac compatible’.” Stavros muttered something about insurance, but decided not to say anything else as he handed the PowerBook over to Victor. “Remove her USB port cover, if you would,” the billionaire instructed.

“Eh?”

Victor let out a slow, steady breath. “Her belly button, Stavros. Pull out her belly button.” He frowned as the Grecian set about the task; “You know I despise using such childish terms….”

“Well, if you would’ve just said ‘pull out her belly button’ in the first damn place,” Stavros began, only to catch a withering glare from his employer. “Never mind,” he muttered. “Indeed. Now, fetch me the USB cable---wait, never mind, it’s already hooked up.” Within seconds, the PowerBook was on, and Victor---careful to avoid modifying or erasing anything that would turn the gynoid into nothing more than a glorified mannequin---made a few “last-minute” programming changes to the personality file.

“Done,” he declared with a confident smile. “Stavros, unhook the cable and reseal the gynoid’s USB port…it’s time to activate her.”

“Finally,” Stavros muttered.

Victor ignored the remark and waited until the laptop was out of sight. “I suggest you have your firearm ready,” he warned. “She might become dangerously unstable…”

With Stavros prepared to put an entire clip of Desert Eagle rounds through the gynoid’s head if she tried to kill him, Victor Vega tentatively felt around the back of her left ear until he located a small, almost wart-like bump on her skin---a cleverly-disguised toggle switch. With a whispered prayer asking that he not be struck down by his own creation, he pushed the switch inward and stood back, waiting with baited breath.

A series of quiet beeps, buzzes and tones issued within the gynoid’s torso and head.

“Activate….activate…” Victor whispered. “Activate, damn you….”

Boot-up initiated.
ReVerse Robotics Unit BD #00001 Activating
Running Checksum….checksum okay
Loading sensory drivers…drivers loaded
Loading personality suite….personality suite loaded
Loading directives……………………………………..

“Load,” Victor hissed. “LOAD, you accursed---“

Directives loaded.
Boot-up sequence complete. Unit BD #0001 activated.

The gynoid’s eyes opened, taking in every detail of the room as her head swiveled robotically from left to right. “Is she working, or what?” Stavros asked, making no effort to keep his voice down. “I think she might be missing a few files, or her hard drive got screwed up or---GHAACK!”

“What’d you just say, punk?!” The gynoid’s hand had closed around Stavros’ throat.

Victor Vega managed to refrain from laughing maniacally, settling for a smug grin. “It appears that Stavros was incorrect in his assessment of your mental functions, Miss….” “The name’s Brittney Delacroix, fool,” the gynoid replied, releasing her grip on Stavros. “And don’t even start about my ‘mental functions’---I know I ain’t human.” “A very comforting assurance,” Victor chuckled. “Now, would you care to recall your directives---“

“Knock that bitch Sophia Starlet off the charts, get a #1 song on everything from radio to YouTube before Christmas, and---oh, yeah, I nearly forgot---beat the ever-lovin’ CRAP out of anyone sent by the Baron,” she replied, counting off each of her objectives on her fingers. “Any other stuff you want done, or should I just go find that Starlet idiot and shove her head up her---“ “That will be all for now,” Victor assured her. “We should get you settled in to your new estate….you are welcome to, ah, ‘crash’ here at the casa whenever you please, but for the sake of the assignment---“

“I don’t need no lecture from you, Rico Suave,” Brittney shot back. “Just gimme a car, some cash and a map to my new digs---and I ain’t waitin’ all night.”

Victor sighed. “Delta Sigma Echo 55924.”

“What the hell---“ Brittney began, only to freeze in midsentence. “Shutting down,” a female voice announced from somewhere inside her; seconds later, her expression changed to a blank, vaguely confused look, and her chin dipped to her chest. “Well, now we know that the shutdown code works,” Victor remarked with a chuckle. “Stavros, would you care to bring Miss Delacroix to the garage and---“

A tone filled the room, as Brittney raised her head; “Reactivating…” Within seconds, her expression returned to a furious look, and she turned her glare towards Victor. “DON’T do that again!” she thundered. “How the hell did she do that?!” Stavros gasped. “It’s called ‘priority override’, retard,” Brittney sneered. “I ain’t got time for all this crap, Vega---you want that Starlet bitch off the charts, or not?”

Victor arched an eyebrow, impressed by Brittney’s attitude. “It appears that there is more to you than meets the eye, Miss Delacroix,” he mused. “Damn right there is,” Brittney shot back. “And while we’re on the subject of ‘more’, I’m gonna need some…supplemental income’ if this whole rap thing gets too boring.” Her scowl gave way to a seductive grin. “I hear you’re a man with…connections. As in, not-exactly-legal connections. Any chance you could cut me in on the action?” “Don’t,” Stavros panted. “She’ll just get in the way---“ “SHUT UP!” Brittney shouted, glaring at the Grecian.

“Miss Delacroix,” Victor replied, “consider yourself a fully-fledged member of El Casa de Vega.”

Brittney’s grin turned sinister. “Vic, baby,” she cooed, “I think you and I are gonna get along just fine…”

Vicki felt as if she were in a dream. On the stage before her was a performer who, until that moment, had only existed as a character in a cartoon series and a toyline…but now, she was here, and real…….

It was, to put it simply, a feelng of pure unadulterated joy.

The feeling lasted even after Sophia Starlet finished her set; Vicki could barely feel herself walking past the crowd towards the direction of what had to be Sophia’s dressing room. She didn’t hear the calls of her friends, didn’t feel the jostling of the crowd….the entire experience took on a subtle, dreamy quality that she’d only experienced a few times before in her existence. Even the mere process of knocking on the dressing room door felt….unreal, somehow. My arm feels like it’s lighter than a pillow…..this is just too weird….

Steadying herself, the brunette gynoid managed to clench her hand into a fist and knock….

After just two raps on the door, it opened---just enough for a white-haired man in his early-to-mid fifties to poke his head out. “Sorry,” he began, “but Miss Starlet isn’t signing autographs---“

“IHAVETOTALKTOHER!” Vicki squealed.

“Ah, what?”

“I…I have to talk to her!” the gynoid repeated, slowing down just enough for the guy at the door to understand what she was saying. “I…I’ve been a fan since I was a kid…the cartoons, and the dolls, I had them all….I just heard about her today, I didn’t know she was going to perform here….I’ve dreamed about meeting Sophia Starlet….I just wanna talk to her for a minute….”

“Dennis?” a voice---Sophia!---called from inside the room. “Who’s at the door?”

The doorman sighed. “Some girl from the university…” He paused. “What’s your name?”

“Vicki Lawson!”

Dennis arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. “WHO IS IT?” Sophia repeated.

“A girl from San Jose State University, I think…says her name is Vicki Lawson.”

The sound of a chair moving away from a desk leaked through the door….followed by said door being fully opened to reveal the smiling, pigtailed, pink-and-white clad figure of Sophia Starlet. “Vicki Lawson, huh? Isn’t your dad the owner of some big company….Lawson Robotics?”

Vicki nodded excitedly.

Sophia grinned and clapped Vicki on the shoulder. “Radical! C’mon in, have a seat! And feel free to touch, sniff and/or taste anything you want,” she added, casting a teasing glance at Dennis. “It’s rare to meet a fan like you nowadays…it’s all ‘Beyonce’ this and ‘Justin Bieber’ that. Nobody appreciates the good old---HEY!”

The brunette gynoid had wrapped herself around Sophia, hugging her. “I’ve always wanted to meet you,” she sobbed joyfully into the pink/white shoulder of Sophia’s outfit. Dennis frantically made a “phone” gesture with his hand---his way of asking if he should call the cops; Sophia glared at him and shook her head “no”. Dennis tried to argue that Vicki might not be in her right mind, only to get told off by the singer: “Dennis, Vicki and I are gonna have a conversation right now, so just…I dunno, hang out in the hall or something, ‘kay?” Knowing full well that he had just lost the argument, Dennis reluctantly sulked out of the room, slamming the door as he left.

“I…ah, think you can let go now,” Sophia gently informed Vicki.

“Right, sorry…” The brunette gynoid wiped her eyes and pulled away from the singer, still grinning.

“So, what’s a girl like you doing at a retro toy convention?” Sophia asked, intrigued. “Collecting old toys hardly seems like the sort of thing college girls are into nowadays…”

“To be honest,” Vicki admitted, “I was….this is gonna sound so stupid, but I was looking for the toyline that you, ah, appear to have based your act on.” She stared at the floor, feeling like an idiot for admitting her reason for being there. “I had them all when I was a kid,” she explained, “and….my neighbors, they had a daughter…and she had this habit of taking stuff that wasn’t hers….one day, I got back home from school, and all my Starlet Dolls were gone. Harriet swore up and down that she didn’t take them, but Ted made a few calls, and by the time we were able to get her to confess….” Her eyes started brimming with tears again. “Her aunt had sold them all to a pawn shop!”

“Ouch,” Sophia murmured. “I can see why you probably got psyched up…” She held up a clipping from the Spartan Daily, pointing to the ad for the Toy Fair: “They plastered my mug all over the ads, and you thought you’d get a full set of Starlet Dolls….guess I’m not exactly what you expected---“

“No!” Vicki cried. “I’m…I’m not upset, or anything…it’s just….I never expected to see you…in person, I guess.”

“Not like this, you mean,” Sophia corrected, grinning.

“Exactly.” The brunette gynoid felt somewhat embarassed; she’d never told any of her friends at SJSU why she was so fond of 80s marathons, or that she’d reserved the tickets to the Retro Toy Fair three months before it actually arrived. “Growing up wasn’t exactly a picnic for me…most of my childhood memories are just so… dull….but any time I got something like the Starlet Dolls, or the Lollypop Doll---“ She held up the bag with her recently-acquired Lollypop Doll and other purchases inside. “It was….it made me feel…”

“Like you could fly around the world and back without touching down?” Sophia offered.

Vicki nodded silently.

The pop singer grinned. “That’s what I love about my job---I get to remind people that no matter how bad their lives get, there’s always something that can give them that feeling of absolute total joy---“

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Dennis’s shout almost instantly killed the mood. “He’s not talking about…our conversation, is he?” Vicki asked, whispering to avoid further antagonizing the doorman. “Knowing my luck,” Sophia replied, “I’ve either lost a gig or had to reschedule a show…” Before she could say another word, the door to the dressing room flew open. “We just lost tomorrow’s gigs,” Dennis fumed. “Some new act showed up out of nowhere and took your spots at Santana Row!”

“WHAT?!” Sophia shouted. “I had those gigs reserved for FIVE MONTHS---who could’ve stolen them?!”

“Some ‘hip-hop princess’,” Dennis spat, “Brittney…something-or-other. AND she’s sponsored by that idiot, Victor Vega---“

“You’re kidding!”

Sophia and Dennis turned to see Vicki with a shocked look on her face. “And why would you be concerned about Victor Vega?” Dennis asked. “I’m concerned because that slimeball almost grounded Leah Chambers’ NASA mission before she could even get in the shuttle,” Vicki replied. “She told me the whole backstory on that creep---how he tried to outdo people with his charitable contributions just to make himself look good….”

“That’s Vega, all right,” Dennis confirmed. “Apparently, he’s set up the gigs tomorrow for a ‘mining benefit’.”

“ANOTHER ONE?!” Sophia cried, groaning. “That’s the sixth time he’s pulled this stunt!”

Not wanting to see her new acquaintance angry, Vicki decided to act. “Maybe I could check out the gig before this Britney whoever goes on,” she proposed. “See if anyone says anything about your show getting axed.”

“Go on,” Sophia prompted, intrigued.

“If this really is Victor trying to upstage you for his own personal benefit,” Vicki continued, “I could report him to the authorities---not just the campus cops, mind you.” She grinned. “I know some people who might actually be able to put a dent in his ‘spotless record’….if he is pulling a scam, I can notify them, and he’ll be in jail faster than you can say ‘Would you like a jelly baby?’.”

“That….could work,” Dennis admitted.

“Also,” Vicki added, “it might, ah, give Sophia and I a chance to….I don’t know, possibly….hang out?”

Sophia grinned. “Those have got to be the two coolest ideas I’ve heard all week,” she replied. “Vicki Lawson, you are one awesome chick! Dennis---“ “Already on it,” the doorman declared. “On what?” Vicki asked. “I’ve been losing gigs to the so-called ‘talent’ on Vega’s label ever since I made my debut,” Sophia replied, “and so far, I’ve held my ground thanks to one thing: Concert Battles. They take one stage, I take the other---in the same venue---and we see who the crowd likes the best. So far, I’ve never lost….but if this new girl is casting her lot in with Victor Vega, a Battle might not be enough to beat her.”

“If anyone can beat Victor Vega’s latest pop tart,” Vicki replied, “it’s you.”

The remark drew a chuckle from Sophia. “Ever consider a career in comedy?”

Dennis’ return cut off any reply Vicki could’ve made. “They said yes,” he declared. “Should I tell them to keep the stage up here, or---“ “I’ll hold a private rehearsal at San Jose State University,” Sophia replied. “Vega’s goon squad might be scouting everywhere else….but I guarantee that they’d never look for me on a college campus.”

“Actually,” Vicki cut in, “I think I know a place they’d never even be able to find…”
--------------------------------------
“Well well well….what do we have here?” Alicia smirked as she read the notification on her iPhone; Vicki Lawson had just e-mailed her. “This should be interesting,” she mused. “Let’s see what she has to say----“

Her eyes widened in surprise as she read the title of the e-mail.

“URGENT---Pop Singer Needs Place to Practice.“

She scrolled down and continued reading. “Just met Sophia Starlet today and found out that someone with backing from Victor Vega stole her two gigs at Santana Row tomorrow. Prepping for a Concert Battle at the moment, but she needs a place to practice---could I bring her to the C.O.T.A.? I haven’t told her the name, or what it is…I just told her that Vega’s people wouldn’t be able to find her there. PLEASE help her out!”

Alicia smiled; “The art of the selfless….Vicki, you truly are a noble soul.”
--------------------------------------
Two minutes after she sent the e-mail to Alicia, Vicki got her reply: “She said yes!”

Sophia hugged her; “I owe you big time for this.” “Don’t thank her yet,” Dennis advised. “You’ve still got the concert battle tomorrow…if Vega pulls any stupid stunts, you’ll probably end up having to kiss that contract extension goodbye.” “Time enough for that later,” Vicki interjected. “I have an appointment to keep….I’ll send the directions to the venue once I get them, okay?” “Sounds like a plan to me,” Sophia replied. “Catch ya later, Vicki!”

Vicki grinned; “Be seeing you, Sophia.”

Meanwhile, at the management office of Santana Row….

“…and if I even THINK you’re tryin’ to back outta our deal…I’ll have my boys here break a couple golf clubs over that egg-shell head’a yours…ya feel me?”

Looking rather impressive in her new black fur coat, diamond necklace and matching choker (all worn over a pale grey blouse and tight-fitting leather pants) Brittney Delacroix glared into the terrified eyes of Santana Row’s event manager, a skinny white guy whose name she didn’t bother remembering. “Y-y-y-y-y-yes, M-m-m-miss D-d-d-delacruz,” he stammered. “IT’S DELACROIX, ASSCLOWN!” Brittney shouted, lifting the man out of his chair by his neck. “Say my name,” she growled.

“W-w-w-what?”

“Say my name, fool.”

“I…I don’t---“

“I SAID, SAY MY DAMN NAME!”

A few feet away, Stavros (who had been assigned as Brittney’s chief of security) watched with a familiar feeling of unease growing in his gut. “D’you think she’s gonna let up on that geek?” he asked Sinclair, another former bodyguard of Victor Vega. “Dunno,” the 6’9” ex-bodybuilder replied, “but I don’t think that guy’s gonna last much longer if he doesn’t do what she says.” Dalton, Brittney’s other bodyguard, nodded in agreement. “Ten bucks says she breaks his neck,” he muttered. “Nah,” Sinclair replied. “She’ll probably chuck him across the room.” “What if he breaks his neck after she throws him?” Stavros offered. Dalton and Sinclair looked more than a bit surprised by the possibility. “Crap,” Dalton muttered. “Never thought about that…”

“…AND WHEN I TELL YOU TO SAY MY NAME, YOU BETTER SAY MY DAMN NAME!” Brittney screamed, still hoisting the manager up by the neck. “NOW SAY IT, OR---“

The door to the office was kicked open. “FREEZE!” “HANDS IN THE AIR!” “DO NOT MOVE!”

“Oh, thank God,” the manager whimpered.

One of the security officers carefully edged his way into the room. “Put the manager down,” he ordered, “or we will open fire---“

“I’ll do you turds one better,” Brittney sneered, pivoting to face the security men. “CATCH!” She reared back and hurled the manager at the officers, knocking the trio to the floor. “That’s for not mindin’ your own damn business,” she declared, taunting the downed officers with a classic “oh, snap” gesture. “Now, if y’all don’t mind, I’ll just be on my way---“

A ping split the air; Brittney looked down to see a pair of prongs sticking out of her chest, with wires leading back to them. “Oh, shi---“

“TAZE HER, NOW!”

Brittney’s body convulsed as wave after wave of electricity flooded through her titanium frame into every single component. “Crap,” Stavros muttered. “I knew this was gonna happen…” Dalton and Sinclair managed to bum-rush the officer with the Tazer and tackle him to the ground, but by then, it was too late. The damage had been done.

The manager ran for his life, accompanied by one of the three officers; the other two stood their ground.

Stavros approached his still-twitching client, who was now laying prone on the floor. “You okay?”

Instantly, Brittney sat straight up, looking unnaturally stiff. “I’m-I’m-I’m-I’m Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitney Dela-Dela-Dela-Dela-Dela-Dela-Dela-Dela-Delacroix, bibibibibibibibibibibibibitchhhhhhhhaaazzz!” she slurred, her head snapping to the right with each repetition. “Holllahollahollahollahollahollahollaholla!” Moving with all the grace of a runaway windup toy, she awkwardly got to her feet, the sound of straining servos becoming all too obvious as her head turned robotically to examine the scene before her.

“Oh, man,” Stavros groaned. “Vic is gonna kill me…”

“What the hell is she hopped up on?” one of the officers asked, confused. “No clue,” the other replied, “but if she tries anything, get the cuffs on her so we can take her to the car---“

“Y’all ain’t takin’ me nonononononononononononononono---ZZT.” A loud buzz cut off her glitching speech as her face froze mid-word. “Get out of here!” Stavros yelled. The officers leveled their guns at him; “We’re not going anywhere until she’s neutralized,” one of the cops replied. “You don’t understand,” Stavros groaned, “that Tazer messed her up---“

Brittney’s arm clocked him across the head, knocking him to the ground.

“Party up in here! Party up in here! Partyupinhere! Partyupinhere! Partyupinhere! Partyupinhere!” Her voice continued rising in pitch as she sauntered around the room, her movements becoming more and more robotic with each passing second. The cops exchanged glances; had their partner still been in the room, the call they were about to make would’ve been very awkward indeed. “Get Tell on the horn,” one of them muttered, “and ask him to bring the crash cart down here.” “Good idea,” the other replied. “Hell, I might catch a ride back with him---I’ve been needing a tune-up for a few weeks now…damn left hand keeps going numb…”

“POWER CORE FAILURE,” Brittney announced in a very-obvious robotic monotone. “PLEASE SHUT DOWN THIS UNIT. PLEASE SHUT DOWN----ooh, ohh, yeah, baby…” Instantly, she began bumping and grinding against an invisible dance partner. “That feels sooooo goooood…soooo goooood….”

“Tell? Yeah, it’s Murphy….we’ve got a broken doll out here at Santana Row. Took a Tazer to the chest---“

“….sssooooooooooo….gooooooood……” Brittney’s movements began to slow, until at last she bowed at the waist, her arms nearly touching the floor. Outside, the third security officer was chasing off Dalton and Sinclair, pursuing them out into the parking lot. “You think he heard anything from in here,” Murphy asked his fellow officer, “or were Heckle and Jeckle over there too much for him to handle?” “Knowing him,” the other cop replied, “he’s probably---GAAHHH!”

“ANDERSON!” Murphy screamed, watching as his partner sank to the floor with a foot-long blade sticking out of him. “What the hell?!” He dropped to his knees, examining the wound; “There’s no way…just no way…”

“Funny how those words are often followed by something unspeakably horrible.”

Murphy didn’t even need to look up to recognize the speaker of the sentence. “You….you’re supposed to be in DragonTown,” he muttered. “How are you even here right now?” “Easy. I killed a guard, stole his uniform and took his car. Simple as that.” Murphy squeezed his eyes shut; “They’ll catch you again. They’ll catch you one of these days, and then they’ll throw your ass right back into the hole where you belong.”

“I look forward to it.”

The blade that followed those chilling words piereced Murphy’s torso where a human being’s heart would’ve been; in his case, it impaled his primary power cell, causing an immediate cessation of functions to all parts of his body. Emergency shutdown protocols kicked in to shut down all fluid pumps and sever the connection from the damaged cell to his CPU; it would take a repair team a full month to fix him.

Anderson wasn’t so fortunate; in twenty minutes, he would be comatose.

“All too easy,” Leslie Erica Simm drawled, grinning as she pulled off her black wig and the “borrowed” replica of Faceless’ infamous mask she’d received in the mail. “Just wear a padded outfit, throw on a wig and a mask, change my voice to match his, and voila! Perfect impersonation Well, except the height difference….” She turned her attention to the shut-down Brittney Delacroix; “She’s the Baron’s latest toy?” she muttered. “Figures….the bugger’s got the mind of a comic-book artist when it comes to ‘designing’ his dolls….”

Having heard the officers’ call to Mr. Tell, Leslie knew she had a limited amount of time before the ALPA came calling. With no alternative, she decided to wake Stavros from his slumber. “Wakey wakey,” she cooed, tapping him on the face; when that didn’t work, she decided to go a bit lower….

“AAARGH! What the hell---who’s grabbing my damn balls?!”

“Glad to see something can get your attention,” Leslie quipped. “And before you ask, the Baron sent me---“

“The Baron?!” Stavros hissed. “You need to get the hell out of here! When she wakes up---“

“’She’ isn’t going to be waking up anytime soon unless you reboot her properly,” Leslie replied. “And for the record, I had no intention of sticking around; I just dropped by to do my impression of everyone’s favorite masked serial killer…though I think I may have gone a bit overboard with the meatbag. Anyways…” She glanced at Brittney; “Think you can turn her back on without my help?”

“I’ve read her manual, so…yeah. Just make sure you’re out of here before she’s back on…”

“I’ll be across town by then, for cripe’s sakes! Bloody Nora, you sound like an absolute wanker…take a chill pill or something.” Leslie shrugged out of the padded jacket and pants, revealing a bubblegum-pink latex catsuit beneath. “Like it?” she teased, wiggling her butt mere inches away from Stavros’ face. “Personally, I think---“

“Unit BD #00001 rebooting…”

Leslie nearly fell over; “She’s rebooting herself?!” “I think its some sorta remote signal,” Stavros replied. “You better get goin’, otherwise…” “Yeah, yeah, I get the picture,” Leslie muttered. “Just tell that Spaniard he owes me one for this!” “Owes you one what?” Stavros shouted at the retreating gynoid. “ANYTHING HE’S UP FOR!” she shouted back, grinning.

Stavros groaned; “This day just keeps getting weirder….”

“….AIN’T TAKIN’ ME NOWHERE----what the hell?!” Brittney stared at the carnage brought about by her sudden malfunction. “You, ah, got tazed and sort of….messed up,” Stavros explained. “Damn….these two fuzzheads hear anything important?” “Even if they did,” Stavros replied, “one’s bleeding out, and the other—“

“The other one is my kinda guy!” Brittney interrupted, grinning her sexy grin. “Talk about ‘buns of steel’…think he’d look good in spandex?” Without waiting for Stavros’ answer, she bent down and hoisted the fallen android over her shoulder. “Find me three or four more like him, and I can have my own squad of private backup dancers before the end of the week….even better if they’re all as fine as this one---AND WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?!” she shouted, glaring at Dalton and Sinclair. “There was another cop,” Sinclair began, only to catch a backhand across the face. “My ass coulda been fried in here, and you were out chasing bacon? Dumbass…..” She shook her head and gestured for the guards (and Stavros) to follow her out. “Call Victor and tell him we just made an acquisition…”

As the “posse” left, the bleeding officer struggled to crawl away. “Have…to….warn….Tell…..” He managed to make it out of the manager’s office when a figure stepped into his path; “Please,” the cop gasped, “get..help…I. I can’t….”

“Indeed,” the figure replied, picking up the replica of his mask Leslie had discarded. “The only thing you’re going to do is leave a nice little message for a certain SJSU student. Now…hold still….”

“I can’t believe I’m actually here….”

Vicki stared at the façade of a building that, before now, had no real significance to her or anyone else in her immediate circle of friends and allies. Now, however…

“So this is the City of the Angels,” she murmured, grinning.

She approached the door and placed the card Alicia had given her into a conveniently-located slot; a minute or so later, the door opened into a darkened foyer. Not wanting to give anyone an opportunity to follow her into the City, she entered quickly; the door closed behind her as soon as her feet touched the floor. On the far side of the room was another door….this one, however, had no slot, keyhole or (as far as Vicki could tell) hinges.

Okay…..so what do I do now---

“What makes a man exalted?”

The voice that spoke these words seemed to come from all directions at once. “I…what?” Vicki asked, more than a bit confused.

“What makes a man exalted?”

Vicki pondered the question; I’ve heard about this. There’s some club in England that has this question as part of the entrance, except their answer is “the blood of the innocent”….which is definitely not what I think makes a man exalted….Taking a deep breath, she gave her own answer: “A man must find his own path to exaltation, though it has been said that he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Silence…..

The door opened, revealing the grinning face of a young man in a black velvet jacket, white micro-frilled shirt and crushed-velvet pants; beyond him, Vicki could glimpse the interior of the C.O.T.A., bathed in a soft, reddish-pink light. “A wise answer indeed, oh seeker of enlightenment,” he replied. “You may enter the City of the Angels.” With a theatrical gesture, he ushered Vicki inside. “Thanks,” she murmured, grinning nervously.

As Mr. Tell had told her, the City of the Angels was more than just a simple nightclub or lounge; in one corner of the room, several Macintosh enthusiasts were engaging in a debate over whether or not NeXTStep could’ve outsold Windows if they’d been given a proper ad campaign. On the far side of the room, a group of poets were holding a reading of The Hobbit---in Esperanto---while several girls in red jackets and plaid skirts sipped drinks from handleless china mugs, surveying the room with wary eyes. Off in the distance, a debate about the Rueben Salazar case was reaching heated levels, with at least three participants swearing in Spanish.

“This is…..wow,” the brunette gynoid muttered.

“Indeed,” the velvet-wearing man from the foyer replied. “First timers often have this sort of reaction; it’s quite a common occurance, really.” “And do most first-timers get their invites from a girl who looks like a modern-day goddess?” Vicki asked. The young man smiled; “Few have had that privilege, my dear; consider yourself fortunate….ah, but where are my manners?” He bowed theatrically. “I am Renault, purveyor of diversions, information, libations, and consultations to all who seek, request, or require them.” “Vicki Lawson,” the gynoid replied, “student at SJSU and…ah….”

Renault grinned; “A girl unlike other girls?”

“Alicia told you, didn’t she?”

“She knows more than she lets on,” Renault informed the gynoid. “Exactly what she knows is a mystery; some believe that she could almost be a walking encyclopedia….”

Vicki spied the gynoid at a table near another door; “Let’s find out, shall we?”

She walked over to the table, grinning. “Hi,” she called out, only to find herself being ignored. “Ah, hello? Earth to Alicia?” Alicia looked up, confused. “Have we met before?” she asked.

Vicki frowned. “You, ah, invited me here, remember? Royce Hall? We met outside my dorm room?”

Alicia looked puzzled. “I haven’t left the City for a while,” she replied. “You must have me confused with someone else…”

“You mean to tell me you don’t remember meeting up with me outside my dorm room?” Vicki querried. “You had the stealth suit, and you mentioned Gowan---“

“Who?”

A feeling of frustration began to wash over the brunette gynoid. “You can’t be serious---“

“Don’t mind her, Vicki---she doesn’t get out too often.”

Vicki turned away from Alicia at the table to see another Alicia walking up to her, grinning. “She just tends the door; I’m the one who gave you the invite.” The Alicia who had just arrived stared into the eyes of the Alicia behind the table for a full two minutes; afterwards, the other Alicia blinked, then gasped. “Oh! I’m sorry, Miss Lawson…I forgot to get my monthly memory update from…ah, myself…” “’salright,” Vicki replied. “If it helps, this isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve had to deal with this month.” Doorkeeper Alicia grinned, while the other Alicia rolled her eyes. “Renault,” she drawled, “be a dear and find us a table, will you?” “At once, m’lady,” he intoned, giving another theatrical bow.

“He thinks he’s so cool,” Alicia muttered as Renault walked off. “Now, about your friend’s rehersal….”

A few minutes later, Vicki and Alicia were enjoying the view of the City’s stage from a comfortable corner booth; “Now this is what I call prime seating,” Alicia declared, grinning. “Amen to that,” Vicki agreed, only to notice a girl with orange-reddish hair making her way to the same booth. “You know her?” she asked Alicia. “Francesca Bowman,” Alicia replied. “I met her during that whole thing with the hazmat weirdos.” She grinned and gestured for Francesca to join them; “Fran Bowman, allow me to introduce you to Vicki Lawson.” Fran and Vicki shook hands; “You tend the desk at the library, right?” Vicki asked. Fran nodded. “It’s a lot better than my old job; working at the library means I get all the peace and quiet I could ever want.” “Her last job involved interviewing football players on the sidelines at Spartan Stadium,” Alicia explained. “Not exactly the best kind of work for a girl with sensitive hearing.”

Vicki arched an eyebrow at the “sensitive hearing” remark; her internal scanners were showing that Fran was a sleeper gynoid. Maybe she was built to replace someone who had hearing problems…. “I hope your hearing issues don’t extend to music,” she remarked. “They don’t,” Fran replied cheerfully. “I love a good concert, especially in a venue like this.”

“Well,” Alicia beamed, “I think you’re going to enjoy what we’ve got lined up tonight, then…” She winked.

Ten minutes later, Dennis approached the booth; “Is everything set up?” he asked Vicki. Before the brunette gynoid could answer, Alicia intervened. “You’re the manager, I take it?” Dennis nodded. “You’re the one who got us this gig?” “Guilty as charged,” Alicia teased. “And to answer your earlier question, everything is set up for your starlet to take the stage…and my crew have already done a sound check, so everything is working perfectly.” “Good,” Dennis muttered, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. “I’ll tell her everything’s ready…when’s she set to go on?” “Whenever she feels like it,” Alicia replied. Dennis was taken aback; “That’s a lot more leniency than we got at Santana Row.” “Santana Row didn’t pay by the half-hour,” Alicia replied, grinning.

“Think this rehearsal will go well?” Vicki asked. “If it doesn’t,” Alicia quipped, “I’ll pay everyone’s bills myself.”

After about five minutes had passed, Alicia took to the stage to announce the “special entertainment” for the evening. “Seeing as how everyone here tonight has been so well behaved,” she declared with a grin, “we’ve got a surprise guest here to do a little song-and-dance for you all….straight from her mall tour, it’s the one, the only, SOPHIA STARLET!”

Sophia strode out onto the stage to cheers and applause. “Uh, hi,” she began, smiling. “I, ah…I didn’t write the first song I’ll be performing tonight…but it did have a major impact on my decision to become a singer. It’s a favorite of mine, from an artist some of you may have heard of before….ah, do we have a piano player here tonight? I sort of need one…” Renault ascended the steps to the stage and called for someone to “roll out the baby grand”; a few minutes later, a piano was brought out onstage, and the black-clad host took his seat and prepared to play. “Cool,” Sophia beamed. “Right…this one’s called Dedication, and it’s kinda slower than my usual stuff, but it’s still a great song.”

With that, she took a deep breath…….
---------------------------------------------------------
“Dedication” (written by Lawrence Gowan)
I could never count
The hours of patience
Nor how many times
I've turned away
Lost within this cause
That lives to taunt me
Long as I may breathe..
I'll get to you one day

(chorus)
Wait on me now, I say
Wait on me now, oh, I swear
No power, no reason, no purpose
Which stands before me
Will shake my attention or focus
From this one belief, (oh, no)

Locked away - in time
The door will open
All those things that hide
Will be revealed
Never is a word
That's lost all meaning
Nothing in this world
Will ever be more real

(chorus)
Wait on me now, I say
Wait on me now, oh I swear
No power, no reason, no purpose
Which stands before me
Will shake my attention or focus
From this one belief (oh, no)

You know my dedication
Oh, ooh, oh, you know

Wait on me now, ooohhh
Wait on me now, ooohhh
Wait on me now, oh I swear
No power, no reason, no purpose
Which stands before me
Will shake my attention or focus
From this one belief (oh no)

No reason
Will change my dedication
Oh, oh, oh you know
Yeah, you know
It won't change my dedication
Oh, oh, oh you know
Yeah, you know
You know my dedication
Oh, oh, oh you know
Yeah, you know
It won't change my dedication
Oh, oh, oh you know
Yeah, you know
You know my dedication
Oh, oh, oh you know
Yeah, you know
You know my dedication
Oh you know…….
---------------------------------------------------------
The City of the Angels almost literally shook as the final piano note faded out---the cheers and applause were deafening. “Thank you!” Sophia shouted, showing off her dazzling smile once again as she called Renault to the front of the stage to take a bow.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Vicki,” Alicia admitted, “you’ve really caught a winner this time.” Vicki nodded, too busy clapping to actually say anything in response. “Your thoughts, Fran?” Alicia asked with a grin, only to notice the gynoid weeping. “That….was beautiful….” she whispered. “….and Miss Starlet is officially a smash hit,” Alicia quipped, still grinning. “If her next one is as good, I may have to have a talk with her about a weekly gig here at the City…”

“Right,” Sophia called out from the stage, asking Renault to return to the piano, “my next song is another one from Gowan, and I think all of you are gonna enjoy it!”

With a “one, two, three” count, she gestured for Renault and the house band to start playing….
---------------------------------------------------------
“Cosmetics” (written by Lawrence Gowan)
Flew in from London
Only to shop 7th Avenue
They've got what she wants
You just can't get it over there
She's so attractive
And she'll do anything to stay that way
Money's no object to make a boy stop and stare

(chorus)
High fashion model magazines
Runways of ageless beauty queens
Everything for the girl next door!
Manhattan styles, Parisienne look
Lipstick and cheekbones by the book
She'll never leave you wanting more!

Ooh, she looks so Cosmo
Her eyes can talk to a camera
No imperfection
Protecting every man's dream
Ooh, she'll hypnotize you
Right from her hair to her fingernails
In shadows and highlights
She'll make you burst at the seams!

(chorus)
High fashion model magazines
Runways of ageless beauty queens
Everything for the girl next door!
Manhattan styles, Parisienne look
Lipstick and cheekbones by the book
She'll never leave you wanting more!

Oooooohh, hoooooaaaoooohhhh-woooaah! (x2)

(chorus)
High fashion model magazines
Runways of ageless beauty queens
Everything for the girl next door
Manhattan styles, Parisienne look
Lipstick and cheekbones by the book
She'll never leave you wanting more!

(whispered) Cosmetics….

Waooooh whoah!
Oooooohh, hoooooaaaoooohhhh-woooaah! (repeat until fade out)
---------------------------------------------------------
Once again, the crowd was on its feet, clapping and cheering. “THIS IS SO AWESOME!” Vicki shouted, her ear-to-ear grin just one among many.

For the next hour or so, Sophia and the house band played classic 80s hits, along with a few original songs and an extended instrumental that invoked memories of Pink Floyd. Finally, at 10:00, Sophia took her last curtain call, thanked the audience one more time, and retreated backstage to deafening cheers. “Vicki,” Alicia mused, “you definitely made a good call bringing her here to rehearse. If she’s this good tomorrow, I have a feeling that whoever stole her gigs will need a change of pants---or maybe a change of panties---after it’s all over with.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Alicia and Vicki turned, surprised to see a 50-ish man with an untamed mane of hair crowning his head. “No way,” Alicia gasped, “you’re---“ “Often mistaken as Lawrence Gowan’s long-lost twin brother,” the man chuckled. “Believe me, I get that a lot... not that it’s a bad thing, to be honest…” “I know you’re not Gowan,” Alicia stated, grinning. “I just can’t believe that the City of the Angels has been graced with the presence of---“

“Professor Anton Malvineous?!” Vicki gasped.

“The one and only, last time I checked,” Anton replied with a smile.

“Right,” Alicia declared, “drinks are on me---don’t even think about getting out your wallet…” She called for Renault to prep the bar, and asked Vicki and Anton to “hang on for a few seconds” while she settled some business with a client in a corner booth. “Just wait for me at the bar…I’ll be there in a minute,” she promised.

“So,” Vicki asked, as she waited for Alicia to return from her business in the corner booth, “what brings you to the City of the Angels?” “Curiosity, to be honest,” the Professor replied. “That, and I’ve heard some rather interesting things about it….and in case you’re wondering, I did, indeed, get an invitation through all the proper channels. I could almost ask why the daughter of Ted Lawson is hanging out in the City of the Angels,” he added, “but I’ll leave the decision to relate that information entirely up to you.”

“Alicia was apparently interested in my being a member of the club,” the brunette gynoid replied, “if this even is a club.” “Not quite what you expected it to be, is it?” Anton remarked with a chuckle. “It’s what I expected it to be, times about one thousand,” Vicki admitted. “It’s just so…..unique.”

“Unique is a good thing,” Anton stated. “I mean, if this was like every other nightclub ever opened, it would just be completely boring. But here….did you catch that Esperanto reading of The Hobbit earlier? Most places would throw you out if you tried that….” “I take it you’ve been to other places where people have tried to pull a stunt like that?” Vicki assumed. “I haven’t just seen it tried elsewhere,” Anton chuckled, “I’ve tried it---always with a group of trusted friends backing me up, of course. Your father and I performed a particularly interesting interpretation of the story on the university campus once….the dean couldn’t figure out whether to have us sent to jail for the night or signed up for a theater course.”

“You’ve met my dad?” Vicki gasped.

“Indeed I have. Just looking at you now, I can see why he calls you his ‘greatest creation’….and from what I’ve heard elsewhere, your academic records are impressive on their own.” He smiled. “Of course, it doesn’t hurt that you have certain….advantages….”

“Such as?” Vicki asked, warily.

Anton winked knowingly. “The kind that most people think are relegated to the science-fiction shelf.”

“So….you know…” Vicki glanced around to make sure nobody was listening in before she asked her question: “You know what I am?”

“Not only do I know,” Anton replied, “I personally helped your father upgrade you back in 2008. A lot of what’s integrated into your design right now came about due to my designs; your HUD, for instance, along with the components designed to mimic the functions of lungs….along with a few of the upgrades that were included with the ALPA-issue Android Detection suite you were given back in August.”

Vicki’s eyes widened in surprise; “You…helped upgrade me….”

“If you’re interested,” Anton continued, “I’d like to provide further assistance. As you may have heard, I’ll be holding interviews at San Jose State University for an internship position---one of several, actually---and I would greatly appreciate it if you could attend. After all, continuing your membership in the ALPA would be greatly aided by an internship at M-G Cybernetics….”

The brunette gynoid found herself at a loss for words. “I….I would be---“

An explosion outside the building cut off any reply she could have made.

“Miss Lawson…Professor…” Renault had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and there wasn’t a trace of his earlier goofiness in his voice or demeanor. “I suggest you find the nearest exit and, ah, get to safety…there’s been an incident outside.” “What kind of incident?” Anton asked, concerned. Renault wrung his hands; “Ah, well, the….client Alicia was having a discussion with left the building, and she followed him to his car…” He paused, and Vicki could sense that he was close to panicking. “Someone must have intended to assassinate the client, because there was a bomb attached to the car….”

The sentence filled Vicki with dread. “No…..”

Alicia scrambled to hide behind the now-burning Fiat Abarth, examining the damage she’d sustained in the rear-view mirror that hadn’t been blown off in the blast. “Damnit,” she muttered. “Caught me right in the left side…why didn’t I follow Stan’s advice about a more efficient defensive stance?!”

Across the street from her, a group of at least five people were piling out of a Hummer. Two of them, attired in black leather jackets, motorcycle pants and fingerless gloves, looked like ex-UFC fighters---“Bodyguards, probably,” the wounded gynoid surmised. A Grecian man with thinning blond hair exited the vehicle next, an Uzi clutched in his right hand; a female figure in a black catsuit, full-face mask and night-vision goggles followed. The final occupant of the vehicle---an athletic African-American woman in a tight-fitting black dress, with her dark-brown hair done up in a layered cut---was clearly the leader of the outfit; Alicia could barely keep herself from growling as the woman surveyed the carnage.

“You two clowns find a way into the building,” she ordered, prompting a nod from the two guards. “You,” she snapped, turning to glare at the Grecian, “go wire up everyone else’s cars.” “Sure thing, Miss Delacroix,” the man replied. The woman in the black dress rolled her eyes; “And you are comin’ with me.” The goggle-wearing female nodded and followed her into a side alleyway as the Grecian set about his task.

Alicia waited until all but the Grecian were out of sight before she made her move. Crouching to avoid being spotted by any of the intruders, she snuck up behind the man, grabbed him in a chokehold and dragged him back to the Abarth, placing one hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming. “Who do you work for?” she demanded. “Mph mmhpphhh mmghhpphhh!” Alicia frowned; “I’ll take my hand off, but if you even think of screaming, I’ll kick you in the teeth.” She removed her hand from the man’s mouth. “Now, I’ll ask you again: Who do you work for?”

“Brittney…Brittney Delacroix,” the man stammered.

“The one in the dress?”

The man nodded. “This…..this whole thing was her idea----“

A button on the man’s shirt buzzed to life: “YOU BACKSTABBIN’ LITTLE PRICK! I AM GONNA---“

Alicia tore the button off, crushing it in her hand. “Get out of here,” she told the man. “Get as far away from this place as possible, and don’t let me catch you in this part of town again.” Her damaged left eye blazed with an angry red light, prompting a frightened bleat from the Grecian. “GO,” Alicia growled, glaring at him. “Get out of here before---“

An explosive slammed into the lightpost a few feet above Alicia’s head.

“I NEVER SHOULDA TAKEN THIS JOB!” the Grecian screamed, fleeing for his life. The gynoid watched him leave, shaking her head. “Idiot,” she muttered. “At least I can get some more info on his boss---“

The heat radiating from the flaming Abarth increased in intensity; the two bodyguards were spraying the vehicle with a veritable shower of lead. “Are they trying to burn down the whole block?!” Alicia hissed, sprinting away from the Abarth seconds before it exploded. “Idiots…” The guards pivoted on their heels to open fire on the retreating gynoid; every single shot that missed her still managed to set objects ablaze, turning the street into a veritable inferno within seconds. “Great,” the gynoid muttered. “They really are trying to burn down the whole damn block!”

“Damn right we are!” Brittney Delacroix stepped into Alicia’s line of sight, a sadistic grin on her face. “Brittney Delacroix, I assume?” Alicia asked. “You assumed correctly, bitch,” Brittney spat. “Y’all think you can take in that useless-ass Starlet ho and just get away with it? HELL, no!” She yelled for her bodyguards to toss her some “heat”; seconds later, the two guards threw a pair of guns that looked suspiciously like Super Soakers…except most Super Soakers didn’t have a mixture of napalm and a chemical known only as “liquid lightning” in their tanks.

“Are you insane?!” Alicia gasped. “Those things could turn all of San Jose into a crater---“

“That’s the point, stupid!” Brittney shouted. “If I have to burn down this whole damn town to smoke out that Starlet bitch, I WILL!” She sneered as she fingered the triggers of the two guns. “’course, if you gonna keep tryin’ to keep me busy, I got no problem turning your ass into a human candle!” She squeezed the triggers, sending twin streams of fire at Alicia. “BURN TO THE GROUND, BABY!”

Alicia deftly dodged the twin flames, the heat scorching her clothes. “It’ll take more than your homemade flamethrowers to stop me,” she shouted back.

“JUST SHUT UP AND DIE, IDIOT!” Brittney screamed, spraying fire in the direction of Alicia’s taunt.

“YOU MISSED ME!” the blonde gynoid shouted, grinning.

A feral growl escaped Brittney’s lips. “Stay still so I can fry your ass,” she muttered, spraying flame in every direction to smoke her target out. “PRETTY SOON, YOU AIN”T GONNA HAVE NOWHERE TO HIDE, SO JUST GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND FINISH THIS RIGHT NOW!”

“How about not?” Alicia called. “I’ve got other stuff to worry about right now, so---“

Twin gouts of flame shot past her on either side, forcing her to stay absolutely still. “Good one, stupid,” Brittney drawled. “Just keep on talkin’ so I can find your dumb ass. Just couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could ya?!” The fire closed in, and Alicia knew that she had only seconds to react before the flames compromised her synthetic flesh.

With that knowledge weighing on her mind, she decided to act.

The gynoid dropped to a crouch, swinging her arm out and catching Brittney right in the shin. The two streams of fire shot into the air, giving Alicia just enough time to grab the guns from their owner’s hands and crush them. “Didn’t your mommy and daddy ever tell you not to play with fire?” she teased. “Or were they too busy forgetting to teach you good manners---“

Brittney’s left foot shot up and turned just enough to catch Alicia in the right thigh, knocking her to the street.

“You NEVER shut up, do you?!” Brittney screamed. “You’re just too stupid to live….and I’m about to fix that real quick…” She summoned the goggle-wearing female over; “Fix this stupid bitch so that she’ll quit flappin’ her gums every five seconds,” she ordered. “As. You. Wish,” the goggle-wearing woman replied in a flat monotone. Brittney leaned in close to Alicia, her sinister grin looming over the fallen gynoid. “You’re about to learn why nobody talks smack to Brittney Delacroix,” she purred, “’cuz my girl here is about to get medieval on your ass.”

Alicia’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Requesting permission to use extreme force……
Permission granted. Please proceed with caution.

“I don’t think so,” Alicia snarled.

“What the hell did you just---“ Brittney began, only to scream as Alicia caught the wrists of the other fembot just as she was about to bore through her forehead with a power-drill. In one swift motion, Alicia broke the wrists of the fembot and kicked her away, still holding onto her arms---a second or so later, the now-armless fembot hit a wall and twitched violently before going still. “You….you can’t….” Brittney stammered, backing away from the pissed-off gynoid as fast as she could without falling over.

“Watch me,” Alicia growled, advancing on the gynoid….

…..seconds before a brutal blow slammed into her back, sending her to the ground again.

“You want us to finish her for you?” one of the bodyguards asked. “Yeah,” the other added, “we can spend all night kicking the crap out of her!”

“Do it, then,” Brittney spat. “Make that bitch PAY!”

Dalton and Sinclair hauled Alicia to her feet, with one holding her arms behind her back as the other punched her. “That tickles,” she taunted, chuckling weakly. “You think a girly punch like that can hurt me?” Sinclair reared back and drove home a hammering punch into the gynoid’s abdomen, prompting another laugh. “Not even a bruise,” Alicia hissed, a sly grin on her face. “You’ll have to---UNGH!”

The impact from the lead pipe wielded by Brittney sent her crashing to her knees.

“WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!” she screamed, punctuating each shout with another clubbing blow to the blonde gynoid. “Not…programmed…to….die…” Alicia gasped, crawling away as fast as she could. “Get the HELL back over here!” Brittney snarled, grabbing the wounded gnyoid by the hair and pulling her towards the flaming Abarth. “Guess I’m gonna have to go all-out to get rid of your dumb ass,” she sneered, gesturing for and receiving a pair of instruments that looked like tuning forks. “You’re about to get smoked, bitch….”

Alicia glared at her defiantly. “Do your worst.”

“I was really hopin’ you’d say that….”

Without another word, Brittney stabbed Alicia in the chest with the fork-like implements, thumbing a button at the base of each. “Get ready to get fried,” she shouted, jamming the buttons down.

Alicia screamed as over 100,000 volts shot through her body, wrecking her internals and overloading her own power cells. “I…I…I……can’t…can’t…can’t…..” she stammered, the voltage wreaking havoc on her CPU as she lay helpless. “Pleeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeeee…..stostostostostosto---‘ Her head jerked violently to the side. “STOP IT!”

“I can’t hear you,” Brittney taunted in a sing-song voice.

“You’re….you’re…HURTING ME!” Alicia cried. “Makemakemakemakemakemake---ZZT---MAKE IT STOP! I…I…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…..” Smoke began pouring out of her mouth. “I….I….I..I…can’t…..can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Brittney cackled.

“Can’t…can’t…..” Tears flooded out of the wounded gynoid’s eyes. “i...can’t….move…can’t….feel….ERROR. POWER CELL OVERLOADING. PLEASE SHUTDOWN---ZZT---SHUT DOWN THIS UNIT…UNIT…UNIT TO PREVENT CRITI-CRITI-CRITI-CRITI-CRITI-CRITI-CRITI-CRITI---“ Her entire body spasmed, as smoke began to jet out of her fingertips. “CRITICRITICRITICRITI---ZZZZT---CRITICAL DAMAGE TOTOTOTOTOTOTO---“ Her head snapped to the left, then to the right, as her overworked battery began to short out. “ERROR….THIS UNIT…..please, stop….don’t….don’t DO THIS!” The skin of Alicia’s hands began to turn bright red. “I can’t take---(snap)---can’t take---(snap)---can’t take---(snap)---can’t take much more much more much more much more muchmoremuchmoremuchmoremuchmore….” A tremor ran through the gynoid’s body, electricity ripping jagged holes in her skin at various intervals.

“I think she’s almost done for, boss,” Dalton observed. “Yeah,” Sinclair agreed. “She looks like she’s gonna blow any second.” “Good,” Brittney replied, “’cuz I’m---“ Something hammered into her face, sending her flying into a car twelve feet away. Dalton and Sinclair watched their employer slam into the vehicle, then turned back around---and ate a pair of clotheslines that knocked them out cold.

“Take five, boys,” a monotone voice declared. “This one’s between me….and her…”

Brittney staggered back to her feet; “Ugh….what…the Hell---“

Before she could even finish her sentence, a red-and-white blur sped towards her, plowing her through the car she’d just slammed into. Without even getting a chance to get her bearings, Brittney tried to get back to her feet---and was instantly kicked in the face by a red-booted foot.

“Get up,” V.I.C.I. demanded in her monotone voice.

“Who….what the HELL are you?!” Brittney gasped.

“Your worst nightmare.”

The brunette gynoid grabbed Brittney by the neck and dragged her back to her feet. “You just tried to kill a good friend of mine,” she informed her staggered opponent, “and I don’t like it when people try to kill my friends.” “She…she was in the way,” Brittney gasped. “She---“ V.I.C.I.’s grip tightened. “DON’T lie to me,” she intoned. “Why did you try to kill her?”

“Because I can!” Brittney Delacroix spat.

V.I.C.I. hurled the woman into a brick wall. “Don’t bother trying to hide the truth---I’ve known what you are ever since I stepped outside.” She watched the black gynoid stagger to her feet; “My scanners have been calculating the probabilities of your defeating me…and they’re not exactly in your favor.” “Why is it that every bitch I fight NEVER SHUTS THE HELL UP?!” Brittney shouted angrilly. “Are y’all in some sort of dumb-ass ‘trash-talkin’ club’ or something?!” “Enough banter,” V.I.C.I. declared. “I’m not letting you anywhere near Sophia Starlet, so---“

“SO WHAT?!” Brittney screamed. “I’ve been programmed to take that stupid ho down, and I’m NOT letting some skank like you get in my way!” She charged at the brunette gynoid, who assumed a defensive stance; “Hit me with your best---AAARGH!”

V.I.C.I. collapsed to the ground, the impact of Brittney’s hook kick stunning her momentarily

“OOOOOH YEAH, BABY!” the black gynoid shouted. “THAT’S HOW I ROLL, BEEYATCH!”

“Bad idea,” V.I.C.I. replied. “Your power cell isn’t designed to handle the energy spikes generated by that kind of fighting style---if you keep fighting this way, your CPU will automatically overclock, and---“

“JUST SHUT UP AND FIGHT, BITCH!” Brittney screamed, attacking the brunette gynoid with a series of brutal kicks that completely missed their mark. “I NEVER lose a fight NEVER lose NEVER lose NEVER lose---oh, crap….” She staggered for a bit, looking somewhat intoxicated. “Must be all the excitement getting to me…I need to need to need to needtoneedtoneedtoneedto---DAMNIT!”

“I told you,” V.I.C.I. insisted, “your power cell isn’t----“

“SHUT UP!” Brittney shouted, punching her in the face. “JUST SHUT UP JUSTJUSTJUSTJUSTJUST---“ Her body stiffened as her joints locked up; a tremor ran through her form before she regained control. “DAMN it,” she muttered angrilly. “Victor had better---“ A roundhouse punch from V.I.C.I. sent her reeling into another car, cutting off her complaint. “Just because you’re malfunctioning in the middle of a fight, it doesn’t mean I’m going to show any mercy,” the brunette gynoid coldly stated. “You tried to murder Alicia in cold blood---“

“SHE AIN’T EVEN HUMAN, BITCH!” Brittney shouted. “The only thing that bleeds outta her dumb ass is oil and---“ A kick to the midsection silenced the insult.

“I’m willing to accept your complete and unconditional surrender,” V.I.C.I. offered.

“GO TO GO TO GO TO GOTOGOTOGOTOGOTO---ZZT---GO TO HELL!” Brittney screamed, clawing at V.I.C.I.’s eyes. The brunette gynoid easily caught her opponent’s wrist and forced her arm behind her back, driving her elbow down into Brittney’s shoulder with the force of a jackhammer.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Brittney swayed on her feet, trying not to let the shock of her “injury” override her desire to win; her left arm was now dangling uselessly at her side, the artificial flesh barely keeping it connected to the rest of her body. “YOU BITCH-BITCH-BITCH-BITCH---BZZRRT---BITCH!” she shouted, her glitching speech serving only to further annoy her opponent. “THAT WAS MY GOOD-GOOD-GOOD-GOOD ARM---AND YOU BROKE IT IT IT IT IT IT IT ITITITITITITITITITITITITITITITIT---ZZZZZZZRRRRRTTTT---YOU BROKE IT!”

“You tried to break Alicia,” V.I.C.I. replied. “Compared to what I could have done---“

Her statement was cut off by another charging kick from the African-American gynoid, this one connecting with her midsection. “JUST SHUT U-JUST SHUT U-JUST SHUT U---ZZZZTTTT---JUST SHUT UP!”

As the two continued trading blows and hurling each other up and down the block, V.I.C.I. reflected on Renault’s insistence that the patrons of the City of the Angels leave through the rear exit, keeping them away from the fight to avoid exposing the natures of the combatants. “You should probably slow down,” she informed the still-glitching Brittney, “otherwise your CPU will explode if you try to keep up with me---“

“QUIT PATRONIZIN’ ME, BITCH!” Brittney shouted, slamming a brutal punch into the brunette gynoid’s face and knocking her to the pavement. “YOU SHOULD WORRY---click---YOU SHOULD WORRY---click---YOU SHOULD---click---YOU SHOULD---click---YOU---click---YOU---click---YOU…” V.I.C.I. backed away from the black gynoid as her head began twitching uncontrollably with every repetition, a harsh buzzing sound joining each “click” of her neck servos locking up. “Just stop fighting,” she insisted. “You’re only making it worse for yourself---“

“Let her be, Vicki.”

Vicki turned to see Renault and Anton Malvineous standing a few feet away. “Her system wasn’t designed by someone who had compassion in mind,” the Professer stated mournfully. “The more you tell her to stop, the more she’ll keep fighting…which means you just have to keep up until one of you can’t stand.”

“I don’t want her to self-destruct because of me,” V.I.C.I. countered. “I just---‘’

“VICKI, LOOK OUT!” Anton shouted; the gynoid turned just in time to catch a stiff elbow to the face. “NEVER turn your back on me, bitch,” Brittney spat. “You’re gonna pay for screwin’ up my night…and when I’m done with you---“

She felt V.I.C.I.’s hand on her wrist. “What the HELL---“

The full impact of Detaining Grip v1.5 shot through her body, paralyzing her. “That’s for Alicia,” V.I.C.I. stated quietly.

“AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Brittney’s shrill scream split the night air for a full five minutes as her systems frantically tried to compensate for the sudden spike in energy before crapping out on her. A voice somewhere inside the Afro-American gynoid’s torso declared “Emergency Shutdown” as her body went limp, collapsing to the street without another sound.

“Flawless victory,” V.I.C.I. declared, grinning.

“Vicki, get over here quick!” Renault shouted. “Alicia’s in pretty bad shape…”

Instantly, Vicki’s smile vanished; she’d been fighting to keep Brittney from torturing Alicia further, but she’d almost completely forgotten about how badly the gynoid had been damaged during the fight. “How bad is it,” she began, only to recoil as she saw just how extensive Alicia’s wounds were---the skin on her legs and arms had started bubbling right when Vicki had punched Brittney in the face, and there were gaping holes in her torso.

“H..hhii, Vicki,” the blonde gynoid whispered, her voice sounding like a badly scratched CD.

“Alicia,” the brunette gynoid sobbed, “I…I’m so sorry….”

“Not…your fault….” Alicia insisted. “I….I shouldn’t have tried….to fight her. I…I’m not as strong as I used to be…this….this body is….older than it looks…..” She chuckled quietly. “This is why I like the stealth suit,” she remarked. “Gives me absolutely no chance of getting spotted by anyone….”

“Her critical systems are failing,” Anton muttered. “If we don’t get her to a repair shop soon…” He bit his lip. “I don’t think she’ll be able to make it through the night,” he finished. “What about her?” Renault asked, nodding towards the still-twitching form of Brittney Delacroix. “Her bodyguards are waking up,” Anton replied, “they can take care of her. Vicki, help me get Alicia to my car….Vicki?”

Anton noticed that the brunette gynoid was transfixed by someone emerging from the City of the Angels. “Ah, Vicki,” he gently reminded her, “what are you…oh….oh, no….”

Sophia Starlet looked as if she was barely able to stand; her jerky movements and halting steps only adding to the impression that something terrible had happened to her. “I…I need Dennis…” she muttered. “I..I can’t…I can’t do it myself…Dennis always does it for me….” She seemed oblivious to the watchful eyes of Vicki, Anton and Renault. “Dennis always….I…I can’t…” Her steps seemed to be slowing as she neared the edge of the street; without hesitating, Vicki ran to catch the pigtailed pop-singer before she fell. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” she whispered, hugging Sophia close. “What do you need? What do you need me to do?”

“Dennis always does it for me,” Sophia repeated, as if she hadn’t even heard Vicki. “He’s….I can’t…I can’t do it myself…I….I can’t….” Her eyelids fluttered rapidly for a few seconds. “I…I need to get back to my dressing room…I can’t…I need help…..Dennis always does it for me….”

“Sophia, it’s me! It’s Vicki….talk to me, Sophia, please….”

As if she were stuck in a dream, Sophia slowly turned to Vicki; “What…what am I doing out here?” she asked, confused. “I…I was in my dressing room, waiting for Dennis….he always does it for me, I can’t---“ “You said that already,” Vicki replied. “What does he always do for you?”

“He…….keeps me….charged……..”

With a weak smile, Sophia looked at Vicki through heavily-lidded eyes. “I…I guess this…I guess this isn’t how you thought….the night was going to…end….”

“What did you mean when you said he keeps you charged?” Vicki insisted. “Tell me, please!”

“It’s…..simple…..” Sophia managed to roll herself over. “He….makes sure….I….get……amped…up…” She shuddered violently. “…af.ter. ev.er.y. con.cert…..he…makes…sure…my…batt.er.ies..are…swa.pped..out…”

Vicki stared, shocked, at the foot-high, 3-inch-wide panel that had opened in Sophia’s back.

“Guess…that…ex.plains…why…you…felt…such..a…con.nect.ion….to…me….doesn’t it?” Sophia asked, her grin fading into a blank expression as her eyes closed.

“You….you were like me…..” Vicki whispered. “You were just like me…all along…..”

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Tell’s workshop found itself with two late-night repair jobs---well, a repair job and a recharge, to be specific.

“Miss Starlet was certainly built by capable hands,” he declared, circling the slab where Sophia’s body had been placed. “She didn’t sustain any damage from the melee outside, and from what her readouts are saying, she’s in pretty good shape overall. My only possible issue is the battery….she’s designed to work with a very specific power source---“

“Something like this?” Anton Malvineous querried, holding up what looked like a thin, silver Kleenex box. “We checked her dressing room before we brought her here.”

Tell examined the box thoroughly and nodded; “That would be it, yeah.” He rolled Sophia over onto her side and gently pushed the box into the open compartment; as it clicked into place, parts of the box lit up with a bright blue light. “There were at least five more of them in the room that looked like that,” Renault told the ALPA mechanic, “but there was one near the trash can that looked…sort of, ah, used.” “Was there any discoloration or residue on its surface?” Tell asked. “Both, actually,” Renault replied, “and it smelled horrible as well. Like gym socks, roadkill and raw sewage thrown in a blender and set on puree.”

Tell nodded; “She probably got her handler to eject it before the chaos started outside; her body can carry just enough residual energy without one of these in her to get her out of harm’s way. After that…” He whistled as a panel closed over the battery. “Looks like she’s gonna be just fine,” he remarked, returning Sophia to her prone position.

“What about Alicia?” Vicki croaked.

Tell sighed. “Alicia….is probably going to be missing Thanksgiving. To be honest, V, I don’t even know if I can do anything to fix her; she’s using a discontinued RoboDyne chassis with modifications made by at least three other companies, and that’s not even counting all the self-modding I’m seeing….” He shook his head. “If I can get her documentation from the original manufacturers, I might have a snowball’s chance in Hell---“

“Don’t bother.”

A beam of light shot out of Alicia’s chest, playing across the room before finally settling into a coherent picture of Alicia (pre-fight) on the far wall. “In case you couldn’t tell,” the image stated, “my A.I. core is perfectly safe despite the, ah, injuries I sustained.” Tell’s shoulders slumped; “You mean this isn’t your only body?!” he asked. “I’ve got at least three backups back at the City,” the image replied, “not counting the duplicate of me that works the door. I had them made when I decided I didn’t want to be stuck in a desktop anymore…luckily for me, my makers were all too happy to oblige me.” The image glanced at Vicki; “If it’s not too much trouble, could you maybe drop by the City tomorrow and link one of my backups to the computer in my private room, so I can upload myself to it?”

“No problem,” Vicki replied, “but could you, ah, stick to talking from your…er, current body? It feels sort of weird talking to a moving picture on the wall…”

The image of Alicia rolled her eyes; “Give me a second…”

As soon as the beam of light (and the image) disappeared, the damaged body on the slab convulsed for a few seconds before opening its eyes. “Okay,” Alicia stated, her voice sounding heavily digitized, “this is really annoying….but, seeing as how things could be a hell of a lot worse, I’ve got no problem using up the miles on this burnt-out shell for the rest of the night.”

“RIGHT,” Tell declared, clapping his hands together. “Now that we’ve gotten the pleasantries out of the way, we need to talk about what, exactly, led to Alicia getting thrashed….anyone care to elaborate?” Professor Malvineous stepped up. “I think I can be of some assistance in that department….you don’t mind if I use the SmartBoard, do you?” “Not at all,” Tell replied. “In fact, I’d be honored---“

Vicki groaned.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, then,” Anton mused. “Alicia was assaulted by a ReVerse gynoid---“ “WHOA,” Tell cut in. “Back the gravy train up here. A ReVerse unit attacked her?” “I thought they went bankrupt,” Vicki added, genuinely confused; she’d been assigned to track the financial status of several companies after the “hazmat weirdo” mission, and ReVerse had been one of the bottom-five earners on the list. “They were,” Anton replied, “but apparently they’ve been bought out by one Victor Vega---“

“WHAT?!” Vicki shouted, startling Tell. “That idiot again?! Why is it that his name keeps popping up every time something bad happens? I mean, he was involved with the hazmat weirdos, he booked the act who stole the gigs Sophia had lined up at Santana Row tomorrow---“

“That ‘act’, as you call her, was the gynoid who attacked Alicia,” Anton interjected. “According to the official ReVerse records, her name is Brittney ‘Boom-Boom’ Delacroix. Primary functions include singing, songwriting and---in case you couldn’t tell---self-defense. She was apparently created by ReVerse---under the supervision of Victor Vega, most likely---to bring about a premature end to Sophia Starlet’s career….by any and all means necessary. That little firefight she started outside the City of the Angels was probably meant to keep her trapped inside; Miss Delacroix’s ‘support squad’ could’ve made their way into the building while the paying customers were being evacuated….”

“Except I got in their way,” Alicia sighed, her broken body shivering from the movement. “I wanted to keep them from getting into the City….guess I forgot just how crappy these bodies of mine can get…”

“If you hadn’t intervened when you did,” Anton replied quietly, “a lot of people could’ve died while the City of the Angels burned to the ground.” “Ah, you’re forgetting my role in keeping them from getting fried,” Renault mused. “Had it not been for my redirectional skills---“ “You mean telling people to head for the nearest exit?” Vicki drawled.

“Ahem.” Anton cleared his throat loudly, regaining the attention of the room.

“As Miss Lawson noted during her battle with Brittney,” he continued, “the main reason the battle ended before either combatant could sustain further damage was due in large part to the inadequacy of Brittney’s central power cell.” He called up a photo from the secure ALPA intranet on the SmartBoard, tapping it to zoom in; “At one point, ReVerse was forced to stop using the power cells made in-house for their androids,” he explained, “due to an engineering fault that would cause malfunctions due to sudden, rapid spikes in energy output---for example, if the unit using the power cell was in a fight.”

“To be fair,” Vicki cut in, “I did tell her to slow down…”

“Yet she ignored you,” Anton reminded the gynoid. “Her core programming was written with the sole intention of keeping her focused on fulfilling her primary objectives---“ He stopped, as if he remembered something. “What is it?” Alicia asked, pausing to manually readjust her left occular sensor. “Unless I’m sadly mistaken,” Anton quickly replied, “I think Vicki’s victory over Brittney may have done more harm than good…” He called up a series of documents from the ALPA intranet, skimming through each one to see if his suspicions were valid. “Just as I thought…” he muttered. “Vicki’s defeat of Miss Delacroix has caused a programming error that can only be corrected in one very specific way….Brittney Delacroix has altered her objectives and shifted the focus of her mission!”

“You mean she’s after me now?” Vicki asked.

“I can almost guarantee it,” the Professor replied. “She might still be focused on ruining the career of Sophia Starlet, but her new primary objective will almost certainly be your destruction, Vicki---“ “In which case the ALPA will step in to make sure that Brittney’s objective isn’t fulfilled,” Tell declared. “I, for one, don’t intend to just sit back and wait for ‘Miss Delacroix’ to make the next move….if she wants to get to Vicki Lawson, she’ll have to go through me.”

“Glad to hear that you’re on my side for this one, Tell,” the brunette gynoid stated. “We’re all on your side for this one, Vicki,” Alicia replied, twitching slightly as she spoke. “To be honest, though, I’d rather be on your side in a body that wasn’t on its last 48 hours of life….”

The Professor nodded. “With all of us standing in her way, it might actually deter Miss Delacroix from trying to attack Vicki. Be that as it may, we still need to keep her original target safe.” He glanced at the unmoving form of Sophia Starlet; “If anyone else figured out the truth about her,” he murmured, “it could very well signal the beginning of the end---not just for her career, but for everything we stand for. The ALPA could easily become the target of conspiracy theorists, or turned into a scapegoat by anyone and everyone with misplaced rage. It could even be the end of Silicon Valley as we know it today….”

“Except I won’t let that happen.”

Everyone turned to notice V.I.C.I. standing over the slab where Sophia lay deactivated. “I’m not about to let everything I’ve fought for be undermined just because Victor Vega wanted to knock her off the charts,” she declared in her monotone voice. “If it comes down to a situation where one must rise and one must fall, I can guarantee that it won’t be me who falls.”

“Inspiring words,” Renault mused.

“Damn straight they are,” Tell agreed with a grin. “Professor, any way we can keep tabs on ‘Miss Delacroix’ so as to avoid any sneak attacks from her posse?” “I thought you’d never ask,” Anton replied, smiling. “One of the reasons ReVerse was hemmorhaging money was their insistance on installing multiple iterations of Droid Tracker in every single unit they made---not for the benefit of their clients, mind you, but for several quite frankly stupid reasons. Apparently, their chairman at the time was concerned that the ‘ancient and unholy spirits’ could somehow take control of his products; before his untimely passing, he mandated that every single ReVerse android have a customized Droid Tracker suite installed.” He smirked; “Of course, what he neglected to realize was that the particular incarnation of Droid Tracker he was using happened to be written by me.”

“So you can track Brittney Delacroix right now?” Vicki asked hopefully.

“I can indeed. Even after the reigns were passed down to someone a bit more, shall we say, sensible, the mandate is still in place…and it’s not like they could just stop installing the program if they wanted. I made sure that every processor bought by ReVerse was hard-coded with my version of Droid Tracker…including the ones used to create Brittney Delacroix.” He tapped the SmartBoard and summoned up a virtual keyboard, his fingers flying over the “keys” as if he were playing a Bach concerto. After a few seconds, Google Maps popped up to reveal the current location of Brittney Delacroix---a newly-purchased estate in Cupertino. “Looks like Vega wanted his ‘newest asset’ close at hand,” Alicia mused. “If he’d have been just a bit smarter, he could’ve easily given her a place in Bel-Air or Los Angeles….”

“Given her recent instabilities,” Anton reminded her, “handing her the keys to an estate that far from Silicon Valley wouldn’t exactly be the smartest idea. Did you notice that her bodyguards never bothered to call any tech support people as we drove away? They almost literally just threw her into the car and drove off---they probably brought her right back to Victor for a quick fix.”

“So…they don’t care if she gets broken, then?” Vicki querried.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Tell interjected. “If his past actions are any indication, Victor Vega has a lot invested in this latest scheme of his, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to just let her break down. Speaking of which…” He glanced at Sophia Starlet; “We should probably keep her here overnight, just to be safe. I’ll try to contact her handler tonight, see if he’s still in town.” “Would it be okay if I stayed the night too?” Vicki asked. “I don’t want her to think I’ve abandoned her once she wakes up…..” She found it odd that she used the term “wakes up” instead of “reactivates”, given what she’d learned, but it sounded less distant than “once she reboots”.

Tell nodded. “Good call. Speaking of calls, I should probably get Ted on the horn right now….”

“…and the next thing I remember was Dalton and Sinclair drivin’ up and yellin’ at me to get in the car, and that chick with the goggles wasn’t with ‘em anymore….I didn’t wanna stick around! I had no idea that Brittney was getting’ her butt kicked!”

After being picked up by Brittney Delacroix’s two bodyguards and brought back to El Casa de Vega, Stavros’ somewhat-skewed recollection of the events at the City of the Angels did almost nothing to ease Victor Vega’s thoughts about the matter. If anything, he was more annoyed than before---Stavros had just confessed to leaving his post, being defeated by an unknown girl and refusing to maintain contact with Brittney and her team.

“You have given me several reasons why I should have you hand-delivered to the morgue,” he intoned, staring not at Stavros, but at the glass of wine he was swirling in his hand. “You have also proven your incompetance in matters that should be handled with nothing less than the utmost care---“

“Care that should have been exercised by YOU, Vega.”

The pinstripe-suited form of the Baron stepped forth from a dark corner of the room, the light seeming to retreat just enough to keep his face and shoulders hidden from view. “And before you even ask how I was able to gain entry into your casa,” he added, “I keep tabs on every single one of my shareholders….it’s one of the most effective ways I know of to prevent mutiny. In any case---“ “What do you want, Baron?” Vega snapped, no longer bothering to follow protocol. “Unless this little visit of yours is focused on correcting the failings of my former chief of security---“

“It is,” the Baron replied, turning to face Stavros.

The Grecian trembled, his eyes darting from the Baron to Victor in a panic. “No….please, Baron…it…it wasn’t my fault! I…I only ran away because---“ “You ran because YOU ARE A COWARD, Stavros,” the Baron thundered, pointing a gloved finger at the terrified man. “You ran because your pride forbade you from telling Victor Vega that an android girl---a glorified doll---managed to keep you from your duties, and your stupid code of ‘honor’ would not allow you to accept defeat at her hands……” For the briefest second, Stavros swore he could see twin flashes of gold from the darkness…at the exact level where the Baron’s eyes might be. “You disgust me, Stavros….and you know what happens to those who incur my wrath….”

Victor Vega watched, simultaneously astonished and horrified, as the lights around Stavros were extinguished as swiftly as one blows out a candle. “NO! PLEASE!” the Grecian screamed, falling to his knees and begging for his life as the darkness seemed to envelop him. Just as the Baron’s hand closed around Stavros’ neck, the entire room was engulfed in pitch black….

From the dark, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.

Just as quickly as they had been extinguished, the lights flickered back into existance….revealing the corpse of Stavros on the floor. His body was contorted, as if he’d suffered excruciating pain just seconds before he died.

“A fitting end for his kind,” the Baron intoned, once again standing in the shadows on the far side of the room, his face still hidden from view. “Now…I wish to see the repair bay where Miss Delacroix is being kept.” Victor nodded and flicked a switch on his desk; within seconds, the entire room shuddered briefly before descending into the lower levels of the building. “So this is how you’ve been spending your money,” the Baron remarked, a dry chuckle punctuating the remark. “A truly fascinating design choice….I take it there are precautionary measures to keep anyone from trying to enter the room after its descent?” “Of course,” Victor replied. “This particular area of the casa was built using modular construction techniques; if I desired, I could have the entire estate rearranged over the course of a week….which, if memory serves---“

“Point taken, Vega,” the Baron stated. “Now….let’s see how Miss Delacroix is doing, shall we?”

Silently, Victor nodded, ignoring the rising fire of hatred in his gut.

The room shuddered to a stop, the far wall somehow sliding upwards and out of the way to reveal a steel and Perspex viewport. “For safety reasons,” Victor informed the Baron, “we cannot actually enter the repair bay from this room; there are multiple elevators to the facility from elsewhere in the casa, but---“ “Again,” the Baron interjected, “I already know.”

Feeling an irrepressible urge to scream profanities, Victor flicked another switch and bade the Baron join him at the clear Perspex window. “The damage to Miss Delacroix was….quite severe,” he admitted, turning off the lights where the Baron was going to stand. “She apparently received multiple electric shocks over the course of a twenty-four hour period, and…well….” He pressed a button on the windowframe, illuminating the repair bay. “The only way to realize just how bad the damage was is to see it for yourself…..and I must warn you, it is not something you should view before retiring for the evening.”

Brittney Delacroix lay on the repair bay table, her eyes opened wide in shock. Her limbs remained in an at-rest position, giving the gynoid a strangely calm look in spite of the robotic manipulator arms descending from an overhead rig, delving into her opened chest cavity with surprising fluidity. Two technicians---both gynoids---sat nearby and took notes, occasionally tweaking a setting or two on the manipulator controls.

“Given the intensity of the shocks Brittney received,” Victor explained, “I thought it best to have her put through a full component check and tune-up before her performance tomorrow---“

“A performance,” the Baron growled, “that has just been cancelled.”

Victor was taken aback; “I….what?”

“She is in no condition to perform,” the Baron casually stated. “To be honest, I’m actually surprised that her body did not simply overheat and explode after suffering multiple shocks in the same day….not to mention the erratic energy readings she was generating before the second shock. If she can be brought back to working order tomorrow, give her the day off---but allow me to make it clear that I do not want her going onstage, especially in her present state.”

“Of course, Baron,” Victor declared, trying hard not to imagine himself running over the man’s pinstripe-suited corpse with a Porsche.

“Now….as for the matter of your payment for…services rendered thus far,” the Baron continued, “you will be given the usual salary attributed to the position of CEO---because you are, after all, holding that position within ReVerse---along with several, shall we say, ‘bonuses’ for your participation in my latest endeavor. Expect the first of these bonuses to be delivered next week, with another following two weeks after….should your work continue on its present course---or, dare I say, should it improve---the amount and frequency of payment will be increased exponentially. Of course, should your performance experience a sudden drop….”

“I understand,” Victor replied, “but what are you going to do about her?” He gestured to Brittney, whose face still wore a look of shock as a power-screwdriver dove in and out of her open chest.

“She will recover,” the Baron stated matter-of-factly. “You did build her to my specifications, after all….”

Victor didn’t respond immediately, knowing all too well that he was on thin ice. If his suspicions of being set up to fail were correct, he could very easily arrange things so that the Baron would never leave the casa alive, and eventually assume control of United Robotronics on his own….but if his suspicions were wrong, and he attempted to move against the man who effectively held his life in his hands, things could get very ugly, very fast. “Brittney Delacroix was, indeed, built in strict accordance with your specifications,” he declared. “If there was, indeed, a design flaw that caused this---“

“Say no more,” the Baron replied. “I shall have my people look into the specs again; if any faults are found, those who neglected to inform me of their presence will be dealt with accordingly. If not….then we all continue doing what we’ve been doing. Simple as that.”
--------------------------------------
Elsewhere in the casa, Lauren Vega watched Victor’s conversation with the Baron via the ever-present security cameras, a whirlwind of emotions running through her digital thoughts.

Having started out life as an animatronic Jenna Jameson replica (a project scrapped by Victor because “she (Jenna) is no longer as beautiful as she used to be”), Lauren was no stranger to the catcalls, wolf-whistles and quick gropes from other guys. Hell, most of the time, she actually enjoyed getting felt up by strangers passing her on the street---it was a hell of a lot more than Victor was willing to offer. If he wasn’t running one of his multimillion dollar corporations, he was touring with that stupid wrestling promotion he’d signed up for “as a joke”---though the fact that he held one of their main championship belts made it less of a joke and more a test of how long he could stay champion before he got himself fired. Worse, if he wasn’t running his businesses or showing off in the squared circle---

“Something on your mind?”

Lauren turned away from the monitor to see Vivica Frost watching her, an amused look on her face. “I’m just wondering how long it’s going to take before the Baron realizes that Vic just wants to bump him off,” she replied. “If he hasn’t figured it out by now…”

“He probably already knows,” Vivica replied. “Knowing him, he just wants to see how long it’ll take before ‘Vic’ snaps completely.” She smirked and joined Lauren at the monitor. “I’ve been working with Victor for almost a decade now, and I’ve seen what happens when people invoke his wrath….the only person I know of who can arrange an ‘accident’ better than Victor Vega is the Baron himself. If either one of them tries to end this little pissing contest by wiping out the other, it’ll completely wreck both their corporate kingdoms on an international scale.” She sighed; “Better to just let them continue their posturing for now.”

“I’d feel a lot better if Vic only ‘postured’ in the bedroom,” Lauren muttered. “He had me commissioned to be his fiance---and eventually his friggin’ wife---but the only thing he gives a crap about these days is his stupid business.” She sulked, staring at the monitor as the Baron and “Vic” discussed the matter of scheduling a new set of concerts for Brittney Delacroix.

Vivica rolled her eyes at the mention of Victor ignoring his trophy wife. “When’s the last time either of you felt the desire to, as Stavros once put it, ‘consummate your love for each other’?” she asked. “I don’t know about him,” Lauren replied, jerking a thumb in the direction of Vega’s image on the monitor, “but I’ve probably been better at it than he could ever be for well over three months.” “You haven’t had sex in three months?!” Vivica echoed, shocked. “Not with Vic,” Lauren grumbled. “The pool boy, the gardener, the guy who showed up to fix the gutters, the cop who wanted to serve Vic a noise complaint warning…” She counted off the list of her impromptu partners on her fingers. “And there was that one lawyer---“

“I get the picture,” Vivica chuckled. “Does ‘Vic’ know that your love life has been going the way of the village bicycle?”

“Are you kidding?” Lauren gasped. “He’d have me reprogrammed as a secretary or a door-greeter for one of his lame-ass ‘corporate suites’, and THAT would be even worse than things are now! If I have to get action from every guy who rings the doorbell to keep myself from getting bored, I’ll gladly take that over a CPU-wipe and a makeover into yet another one of his plastic receptionists.”

“Good point” Vivica agreed. “You know, you could always work for me….”

“No offense,” Lauren replied, “but I hear the weather in Anchorage isn’t exactly great when you’re trying to get things going in bed. I’d rather be a bored nympho in Silicon Valley than a frozen Barbie…but thanks for the offer. If you ever decide to move your operation to Florida, though, call me up first thing. That, or see if you can expand your operations into some place like Italy or Costa Rica….any place that doesn’t frown on chicks wearing bikinis all day is fine by me.”

“I’ll look into it,” Vivica promised with a sly grin.

Vicki stared at the still-unmoving form of Sophia Starlet, waiting for her system reboot cycle to finish. “All this time,” she murmured, “I was so intent on getting to meet you…and it turns out you’re like me…”

A trilling sound emanating from Sophia’s chest signaled the completion of her reboot cycle, and the pigtailed gynoid’s eyes fluttered open. “Wha…..what happened?” she murmured. “The last thing I remember….Dennis was ejecting my battery, and he went to get another one from the boombox….and then there was this noise, and everyone was running….” She looked up and saw Vicki. “Did I…”

“You’re okay, if that’s what you were going to ask,” the brunette gynoid replied. “You tried to leave the City of the Angels before you could get a new battery, and you sort of ran out of power….”

“Oh,” Sophia muttered, lookning somewhat downcast.

“If it helps,” Vicki offered, “I’m not freaked out by the fact that you’re a robot---working alongside my dad at his company pretty much eliminated any chance of that.” Better to not tell her that I’m one unless there’s no other option, she mentally added. “In any case, you’re in safe hands now….and I sort of understand why I felt this instant connection to you.” She grinned. “Don’t take this the wrong way, or anything, but---“

“I’m just a Sophia Starlet doll brought to life?” Sophia finished.

“Pretty much,” Vicki admitted, “and that’s what’s so cool!”

Sophia sighed. “I just wish my origin story was as cool as the original Sophia Starlet’s”, she murmured. “Hers wasn’t nearly as tragic as mine, either.”

Vicki’s smile faded. “Tragic?”

The pigtailed pop princess eased herself into a sitting position. “To tell you the truth, Vicki,” she began, “I had no idea I was even going to make it as far as I have….or that I’d even make it at all.” She sighed again, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I started out as the culmination of a Make-a-Wish project,” she explained. “A few years ago, Cartoon Network ran a 24-hour marathon of Sophia Starlet and the Starlet Dolls---you already admitted that you’re a fan, and since you know the whole backstory, I don’t think I need to rehash it for you. Anyways, the show had been off the air for years thanks to some dumb lawsuit regarding a song made by a relatively-unknown group who later became a major act….long in a short, it sort of dwindled in the public eye and died out until that marathon aired. The Starlet Dolls got a huge resurgance in popularity after that….and one particular fan decided to go the extra mile to bring them back.”

“And how, exactly, did Make-a-Wish help with that?” Vicki asked.

“Trust me,” Sophia replied, “it almost sounds too outrageous to be true. As it turns out, this fan happened to be in her senior year of high school…18 years old, loads of friends, a scholarship to SJSU---she definitely had a bright future ahead of her. There was just one problem: She was dying. Cancer, I think….” She pulled a picture of a smiling redhead in a cap-and-gown out of the pocket of her skirt. “She was fascinated by robotics---said she’d wanted to build a robot ever since she saw the video for that song, ‘Mr. Roboto’---except she was going to build a girl robot. One that could sing, dance, and be the biggest pop star after Michael Jackson….” She grinned. “In other words, she wanted to bring Sophia Starlet into the real world.”

“I thought Sophia wasn’t a robot on the cartoon, though,” Vicki interjected. “I mean, yeah, she came from the future, but---“

“You never saw the original final five episodes of the series, then,” Sophia gently informed her. “They were the main reason why that group I mentioned earlier filed their stupid lawsuit---they didn’t want their songs being included in a story arc about an award-winning pop star turning out to be nothing more than a robot.” She sighed. “The network drew up a new finale where the Starlet Dolls went to the future with Sophia after saving the world one more time…it was good, but not as good as the original plan.”

“I guess that explains that particular bit of the story…” Vicki mused. “I’m still wondering how Make-a-Wish got involved…and how that led to, well, you.”

“I’m getting to that,” Sophia insisted. “Like I was saying, this girl was dying, and she wanted to have her wish granted, so her family called up Make-a-Wish. When she told them she wanted to give the world ‘a real-life Sophia Starlet’, their first thought was to basically either find a new singer and turn her into Sophia Starlet, or repackage an established act---but the girl was insistent on how she wanted things done. As it turns out, one of the Make-a-Wish people knew about this robotics company, Lawson Robotics….” She chuckled; “The first time we met, after the Retro Toy Fair, I even commented on your dad’s company---I’d never forget the name ‘Lawson’ in a million years.”

“So….my dad built you?” Vicki gasped.

“Not personally, but he was there every step of the way. All those people who say that I look like a life-sized Sophia Starlet doll don’t know how right they are---your dad actually chose to scale up the measurements and dimensions of the original Sophia Starlet doll…with a few changes, obviously; he didn’t want people to think the finished product---aka me---looked too ‘unreal’ or anything like that.”

“Right,” Vicki agreed. “I think I get the story so far…and I can sort of guess where the tragedy comes in…”

Another sigh punctuated the remark. “I remember the first time I met her,” Sophia murmured. “It was the first day I was activated; hers was the first face I saw.” She smiled, despite a tear rolling down her cheek. “I sang ‘Dedication’ for her---just like my namesake had done on the show for a sick kid---and…” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “It was so beautiful…” she whispered. “To this day, I’ve never forgotten that day…the first time I ever opened my mouth and sang for someone….she told me that it was the happiest day of her life, and that for a few minutes, the sound of my voice….made the pain go away….”

Sophia covered her face with her hands and wept for a minute or two; Vicki, not wanting to ruin the moment with another question, got up from her chair and walked over to sit next to the grieving gynoid. “At least you’ll always know that you managed to make the last few days of her life a little less painful,” she reminded Sophia. “Not many people can say that.”

“I know,” Sophia sobbed. “I…I know.” She took a deep breath, wiping the last of her tears away. “I performed a concert at her school the night she graduated; a few people from Lawson Robotics volunteered to be the back-up band, and Ted stood in as my manager. It was a pretty good night…” Her voice dropped to a near-whisper; “I…I went to visit her in the hospital the next day….and she was gone. Died in her sleep…she was still holding her diploma.” She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “I…I never even got to tell her goodbye….”

“And then you met Dennis,” Vicki stated, already making the connection in her mind.

Sophia nodded. “He was just coming off a tour of his own---he used to be a singer for a big rock band, but he had some medical condition that kept him from touring with them…something about chronic fatigue, I think. I met him at a show in Seattle---he had an orchestra backing him, and he played a lot of the songs from the group he used to be with; after the show, I actually got to meet him, and we got to talking…” “And you told him what you were,” Vicki finished. “I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Sophia countered. “Anyone I could’ve picked to manage me would’ve ended up figuring it out sooner or later---I figured it was better to tell him straight off the bat than have him walk in on me changing my own batteries or getting repaired. He agreed to join my crew and make sure I got my batteries changed between shows---he almost considered writing a rock opera for me based on something he’d done with his previous group…”

“…and things kept going well between the two of you until tonight,” Vicki surmised. “I’m amazed you’ve never had this problem before, to be quite honest….not that I’d ever want that kind of thing to happen to you…”

“I get it,” Sophia muttered, grinning.

Vicki looked into Sophia’s eyes, feeling now---more than ever---that she had to help the pop princess evade the wrath of Victor Vega and his gynoid gansta rapper. “Guess you’ll need someone to keep you ‘amped up’ between shows now that Dennis has apparently flown the coop,” she mused.

“Ah, to be honest,” Sophia admitted, “he didn’t just run off in a panic, or because he didn’t care about keeping my secret anymore….he ran because I told him to go. As soon as I heard that explosion…I didn’t want to lose anyone else.” She bowed her head. “I still visit her grave, you know….I never got the chance to say goodbye to the girl whose dying wish literally made me, but I always stop by her grave on her birthday, to remind myself that I am, quite literally, someone’s dream come true….”

“That’s the great thing about dreams,” a familiar voice stated. “They never really die.”

Sophia and Vicki turned to see Dennis standing in the doorway; Sophia didn’t hesitate to cross the room in seconds and wrap him in a hug. “You came back!” she sobbed joyfully. “You didn’t think I was just gonna leave, did you?” Dennis teased. “I’d never let a beautiful piece of work like you get snatched up by some idiotic executive who wanted to reshape your whole image. I’d never be able to live with myself if anyone turned you into another coroprate creation, belting out tunes written by underpaid hacks.”

“As much as I hate breaking up this reunion,” Vicki politely informed the pair, “we still have a problem. Victor Vega isn’t going to let this loss slide---“

“---so why sit on our rear ends and wait for him to make yet another pyrotechnic strike against our beloved songstress?” another familiar voice stated, as Renault sauntered into the room. “Forgive me for intruding, but I believe I have as much to gain from this Victor Vega’s defeat as either of you two---the City of the Angels was nearly burned to the ground because of his misguided vendetta against Miss Starlet, and that belligerent little minx known as Brittney Delacroix nearly destroyed Alicia….seeing as how both of these events have hit my life rather close to home, I’d like nothing more than an opportunity to give Señor Vega a massive kick up the backside.” He paused, turning to observe Dennis; “You…look familiar,” he mused. “Were you a member of R.E.O. Speedwagon at any point?” “Wrong band, right genre,” Dennis corrected.

“If this conversation is going to continue,” Anton Malvineous’ voice declared from the speaker in a corner of the room, “I suggest you hold off until morning. Mr. Tell is working on another project at the moment, and he would greatly appreciate it if the noise level didn’t rise above a certain decibel percentage…” “We get the picture,” Sophia replied, grinning. “Any chance he’d let Vicki and I have a sleepover in here?” The brunette gynoid could almost hear the smile in Anton’s voice when he replied: “I’ll see if I can persuade him.”

A few minutes later, Vicki and Sophia were both snuggled in sleeping bags, enjoying the original five-part finale of Sophia Starlet and the Starlet Dolls (Dennis had obtained the episodes from “a good friend”, though he insisted that they were acquired through strictly legal channels). “Y’know,” Vicki mused, “this is a lot better than the one I remember them showing on TV. It’s less….goofy. Of course, that’s probably because these episodes don’t have a stupid multi-colored monkey trying to direct everyone to ‘The ChronoGate’ in a supremely derpy voice.” She laughed at the memory of the original finale. “Yeah,” Sophia admitted, “It wasn’t as interesting as this one…of course, if a certain group had just stopped being dorks and let the show use the music without complaining, then things may have been different….”

After a few seconds of silence (except for the sounds coming from the TV), Vicki decided to ask Sophia one more question: “Has there ever been a time when you were afraid someone would find out the truth about you?” “Every night I go on stage,” Sophia replied. “Trust me, Vicki…if the rest of the world got wind of the fact that I was nothing more than a walking, talking Barbie knockoff, they’d start mass-producing popstars faster than you could say ‘X-Factor’. I nearly wound up that way after my first concert…if Dennis hadn’t been there, I might be doing concerts at DisneyLand every afternoon, or worse….”

“Then I guess we should both be thankful that you’re in good company,” Vicki replied, grinning.

“Amen to that, sister,” Sophia agreed, smiling serenely. “Amen to that.”

“…and furthermore, it is in the best interests of our operation if you….withhold from participating in the concert you had previously scheduled to take place at Santana Row,” Victor Vega calmly informed the newly-repaired Brittney Delacroix. “You sustained damage that, by all means, should have destroyed you during your fight with---“

“I know,” Brittney shot back, scowling. “You don’t need to keep rubbin’ it in my face. I got my ass kicked, and now I’m payin’ for it.” She glared at Dalton and Sinclair; “If certain people had been where they were supposed to be,” she added, “I might not have gotten my ass whupped as badly as it did….” “Dalton and Sinclair were only accompanying you to prevent the authorities from interfering,” Vivica Frost interjected. “And while we’re on the subject of things you did wrong….trying to burn down an entire city block to get to one target?” She smirked. “To me, that showcases a remarkable lack of---“

Before she could finish the sentence, Vivica saw a lightning-fast grey streak moving towards her, seconds before Brittney’s grip tightened around her throat. “Say one more word, bitch,” the dark-skinned gynoid growled, “and I WILL END YOU.”

“BRITTNEY, NO!” Victor thundered. “Get away from her this instant---“

A gunshot split the air; Dalton and Sinclair gasped as they saw a red stain blooming on Victor’s shirt.

“You don’t give the orders anymore, asswipe,” Brittney snarled, holstering the still-smoking Colt 1911 she’d obtained from Sinclair. “I’m takin’ charge of my own career; you and Miss Eskimo Pie over there can do whatever the hell y’all want. As for me, I’ll be blazin’ trails and makin’ sales long after you two are in the ground.” She snapped her fingers imperiously, giving a wordless order for Dalton and Sinclair to follow her out. “As far as Sophia Starlet is concerned,” she declared, “her time is UP, because MY TIME IS---“ “Uh,” Dalton interrupted, “isn’t that John Cena’s catchphrase?” Brittney backhanded him across the face; “You didn’t even let me finish, stupid!” she yelled.

“You….you cannot do this…to me…” Victor wheezed, pressing his hand over the wound in his shoulder.

“Uh, lemme check that…..YES I CAN DO THIS,” the black gynoid shot back. “I AIN’T your ‘pet project’, Vic, so you can just get that thougt outta your damn mind right now. From here on, I’m doin’ things MY way….and speakin’ of my way, I think Sophia Starlet needs to get her ass kicked.”

“Definitely a good plan, boss,” Sinclair muttered, grinning stupidly. “It’s the best idea you’ve ever had!”

“And after we’re done with her, we’ll get that girl who shocked the hell out of you, right?” Dalton asked.

“Damn straight we will!” Brittney declared, grinning. “See you two losers later,” she added, sneering at Vivica and Victor as she sauntered out. “Oh, and one more thing---“

Before she could finish taunting Victor, the dark-skinned gynoid froze in place, one foot hovering in the air.

“I think it’s about time someone else got a word in edgewise,” Lauren Vega’s voice declared, as the trophy wife strode past the now-frozen Brittney with a confident smirk on her face. “And Vic, that bullet wsan’t actually a bullet---notice the conspicuous lack of a hole in your shirt?” Victor felt the “wound” on his shoulder; “It’s wax!” he growled, glaring at Brittney. “You shot me with a wax bullet?!”

“Probably meant as a warning,” Lauren surmised. “Speaking of which….” She slid an iPad across the table to Victor; “You might want to take a look at this, babe…I think you’ll be surprised to find out the real reason your latest toy can turn herself back on.” Victor scrolled through the document that had been opened on the iPad, his confused expression giving way to an enraged glare. “You….you’ve been corresponding with the Baron this entire time?!” “It wasn’t just her, either,” Lauren added. “Apparently, before he kicked the bucket, Stavros was making calls to your ‘esteemed employer’ as well…and if I remember correctly, he said something about wanting to co-opt your mining operations….”

As Victor’s fury intensified, Lauren couldn’t help but chuckle to herself---while the document detailing Brittney’s collaboration with the Baron was real, her remarks about Stavros were complete lies, fabricated by the trophy wife gynoid in the hopes of securing a spot for herself in the upper echelons of her husband’s work.

“Lauren,” Victor finally stated after a few minutes of tense silence, “I…I don’t know how you obtained all of this information, but you have just saved me the trouble of hiring a technical consultant to examine Miss Delacroix’s systems to locate the source of her self-reactivating abilities.” The anger in his voice was almost tangible, as he directed his stare towards Brittney. “And you,” he snarled, “will not be seeking any more communications from the Baron….nor will you ‘blaze trails and make sales’ on your own time. Dalton, Sinclair---bring her back to the repair bay. I am going to make a few….modifications that will ensure her complete, total and absolute loyalty….to me….”

The two guards nodded, not wanting to piss off the boss any more than he already was. With almost no effort, they grabbed the still-frozen Brittney under the armpits and carried her off, followed close behind by Victor Vega.

“That….was interesting,” Vivica Frost mused, cougning slightly. “You come up with that all by yourself?”

Lauren grinned. “The part about her communicating with the Baron was real,” she admitted. “The stuff about Stavros, though….” A playful wink punctuated the sentence. “Impressive work,” Vivica declared, nodding her approval. “I think you’ve got a bright future in El Casa de Vega, my dear….unless, of course, Brittney is able to refute your claims about Stavros.” “Oh, she won’t be ‘refuting’ anything for a while,” Lauren replied with a smirk. “I had a friend of mine write an iPad app specifically for shutting her down---“

Two more gunshots rang out from the hall outside, followed by screams.

The gynoid’s smirk faded; “I only loaded one wax bullet into the 1911’s clip,” she gasped. “Those…those were actual shots!” Her confident manner vanished, replaced by an all-too familiar feeling of fear. “We have to get out of here---“

“You can run if you want,” Vivica purred. “I’m staying to fight.”

“Staying to fight?!” Lauren echoed. “Are you---“ She stopped when she noticed Vivica removing a pair of sivler Desert Eagles with ivory trim from shoulder-worn holsters. “My personal death-dealers,” the white-haired vixen murmured, kissing one of the Eagles on the barrel. “A hell of a lot better than that useless 1911 Miss Delacroix is currently ‘packing’….and one of the few guns I’d trust in a firefight.” She twirled the pistols on her fingertips for a minute or so, stopping only to aim them at the door. “I suggest you hide behind something,” she warned Lauren, “and shut off your auditory sensors---it might get loud for a minute or two….” Lauren nodded, hiding underneath the massive conference table; she decided to leave her auditory sensors on, just in case Vivica got wounded in the fight and needed the gynoid to bring her to the doctor.

The door to the conference room flew off the hinges, revealing the thoroughly-pissed off figure of Brittney Delacroix.

“WHERE’S THE BITCH WHO TRIED TO SELL ME OUT?!” she shouted.

“Sorry,” Vivica purred, “but the only bitch in this room is the one I’m staring at right now.” She grinned; “The way I see it, you deserve every single bit of what’s about to happen to you…..so just make it easier on yourself and drop the gun. Now.”

“I don’t think so,” Brittney snarled. “You drop yours first---“

A round from one of the Desert Eagles tore through the door frame behind Brittney.

“Your move,” Vivica sneered.

Within seconds, the entire conference room erupted into a massive, two-woman shootout---Brittney and Vivica dove for cover, shot everything that moved and generally obliterated the hell out of the room. Furniture was shredded, walls were pulverized and bullet holes riddled nearly every surface in the room. In the midst of it all, Lauren Vega huddled beneath the conference table, hands firmly clasped over her ears.

“STAY STILL SO I CAN PLUG YOUR DUMB ASS, BITCH!” Brittney screamed, diving over a futon and firing off a volley of shots in Vivica’s general direction.

“Not a chance,” Vivica shot back, popping out from behind cover to put a slug through Brittney’s left bicep.

“DAMNIT!” the gynoid screamed, clutching her damaged limb. “WHY IS IT ALWAYS MY GOOD ARM THAT GETS HIT?!” Sucking air through her teeth, she managed to fire several more shots at Vivica, tagging the white-clad drug queen in the right hand. “AAARRGH!” Vivica hissed, dropping one of her guns and sinking to the floor. “Damn….I was hoping to finish her with that one…” She tore a strip of cloth from a nearby curtain and wrapped it around her hand, staunching the bleeding. “Good thing she didn’t shoot off a finger,” she mused, ducking behind the sofa again.

Within seconds, nearly every possible object the two could’ve used for cover had been obliterated, leaving only one option---a full-on, face-to-face showdown.

Brittney kicked away the now-useless futon and jumped up on the conference table, firing at the still-prone Vivica with every intent to put a bullet between her eyes. The Meth Queen of Anchorage returend fire, taking the gynoid’s right eye and riddling her right arm with bullets, only to catch another round in her own right shoulder. With both of her Desert Eagles running out of ammo, she decided to abandon the gunplay and go for something she hadn’t expected to fall back on---close-quarters combat.

While Brittney stopped to reload, Vivica leaped up onto the table and grabbed the damaged gynoid, brutally throwing her to the floor. Beneath the conference table, Lauren winced; even with her auditory sensors partially dampened, the impact still sounded punishing.

“Victor Vega created you for a reason,” Vivica declared, standing over Brittney with every intent to pummel her into submission if the need arose, “yet you have defied him, time and again, due to your own motivations…or the influence of outside forces. Personally, I don’t care.” She knealt down, restraining the gynoid by putting one knee on her stomach. “From the moment Victor brought you into El Casa de Vega, I knew you were going to be trouble,” she continued.

“Then kill me now,” Brittney snarled, “and just get it done with!” Vivica chuckled. “That would be the easy way to do things,” she admitted. “Unfortunately for you, I’m hardly in a generous mood….so we’re going to correct this little problem my way.” Without another word, she rolled Brittney onto her stomach, pushing the gynoid’s hair aside and ignoring her protests. “This won’t hurt…much,” she assured the struggling robot. “Now….Step One of my plan to improve your personality, outlook and overall behavior…..a good-old fasioned brain wipe.”

As Lauren crawled out from under the conference table, she gasped at the sight of Vivica Frost forcibly ripping the primary central processing chip from Brittney’s head. The dark-skinned gynoid emitted a shocked squeak, then went limp.

“Lauren,” Vivica ordered, “go see if Victor is still alive…and if he is, tell him I’ve just found the cause of all our problems with ‘Miss Delacroix’.” She held the chip up to the light, allowing Lauren to see that the relays---once golden in color---had turned a disgusting bluish-black. “Unless I’m horribly mistaken,” she continued, “the Baron deliberately infected Brittney’s central processor with a virus---specifically, that Stylo virus I’ve been hearing so much about, judging from the discoloration of the relays…”

Lauren felt like puking at the mention of Stylo, but Vivica’s next sentence legitimately terrified her: “Actually, forget what I just said about going to check on Victor---knowing him, he’s probably just in shock. Get the Bentley ready…we’re taking Miss Delacroix to meet the Maestro…..”

Having spent the night sleeping in a hardback dining-room chair instead of his own bed, Mr. Tell was already in a bad mood when he woke up the following day.

The headlining articles on the ALPA website did nothing to improve that mood.

“Oh, for crap’s sake..” he muttered, shaking his head as he read the latest; apparently, an undercover ALPA officer at Santana Row had been abducted the previous day, and nobody had bothered to file a report until a few hours before midnight. Worse, the other officer assigned by the ALPA to Santana Row had gone missing as well---and from the evidence found at the scene, it was becoming apparent that search-and-rescue wasn’t going to be a viable option.

“I see you’ve read the news,” Anton Malvineous commented from across the room. “Funny how the story conveniently neglected to mention that Murphy’s tracking signal was never activated…” Tell snorted angrilly; “There’s nothing ‘funny’ about it,” he muttered. “He’s one of the only ALPA liasons we have with the police department around here, and he gets snatched off the beat? Either someone planned this incredibly well, or it was a spur-of-the-moment job.” “It’s worse for Anderson,” Anton reminded him. “From the looks of things, he isn’t even going to be found in stable condition….or even found alive, for that matter. The latest rumors are that he was attacked by---“

“I know who they’re saying he was attacked by,” Tell shouted, slamming a fist into the desk.

Anton leveled his gaze at Tell, not wavering. “He’s escaped before, you know,” he informed the ALPA mechanic. “You shouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that he is involved…”

“I’m not….I’m not saying that I’m surprised by it,” Tell croaked. “I….I just thought that the last time he got out was….really the last time. I heard they had a cell special-made to keep him from getting out….that he’d be under 24-hour watch…..” He stared at the monitor in front of him; “I thought there was no way in Hell that he’d ever get out again.” “Let’s not discuss the matter any further, then,” Anton offered, “considering how the subject of this conversation has been a blight on both of our lives.” He paused; “Also, I suggest we avoid informing Vicki until we can get the facts straight…if she finds out that he might be on the loose again, it could very well be the first step of an irreversible chain reaction….”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Alicia’s voice called, “but there’s already a major chain reaction going off right now.” Her face appeared on the screen of Anton’s iPad, looking worried. “I just got a video feed from you-know-where, and it’s not pretty.” Anton and Tell exchanged dark looks; “Which ‘you-know-where’ are we talking about?” Tell asked.

“The one where Anton’s old friend is locked up.”

Anton’s face was unreadable as he instructed Alicia to open a direct link to the feed. “I have to see it” was all he was willing to say.

Alicia complied without hesitating, and the monitor on the far wall of the room blared to life with an image of a dark, underground chamber. A damaged African-American gynoid was strapped---or, to be more accurate, chained to an operating table, while an unshaven, cackling figure clad in prison orange circled around her with tools in each hand. “That’s him,” Anton whispered, his eyes squeezed shut. “That’s the Maestro.”

“…and she took one right to the eye?” the aforementioned Maestro asked someone off camera. “That’s none of your damn business,” a female voice replied. “’course it is,” the Maestro replied, grinning sadistically as he applied a Voltaic Welder to the open chest cavity of the gynoid, prompting a siezure-like spasm from her. “By the time I’m done with your new toy, she’ll do EXACTLY as you tell her….and then some!” he sneered, laughing as the gynoid siezed up again under his touch. “And as for that nickname of hers….well, let’s just say that I’m about to make it a fitting moniker! ‘course, it’ll be quick…I need to be back in my cell in five minutes…”

Anton and Tell exchanged horrified looks as the Maestro brought a greenish glass sphere into view.

“Once I give her this, ah, specially-designed implant,” he told the off-camera female, “all you’ll need is this key fob, and KABOOM!!” He laughed again, miming an explosion. “Instant destruction!”

“I’ll be sure to tell Victor that,” the female voice replied.

“Oh, no, no-no-no-no, no!” the Maestro laughed. “This is my little surprise for the esteemed Señor Vega! Any of his friends try to pull one over on me again, and I use this little hip-hop princess to blow them to Kingdom effing Come!” His sinister grin contrasted sharply with the shocked look on the gynoid’s face. “And once I take them out,” the Maestro continued, “I might send her to visit an old friend of mine….”

“Turn it off,” Anton muttered. “I…I can’t watch anymore of this.”

The video faded just in time for Tell to notice a naked female form being wheeled into the room on a pushcart; “You could’ve called ahead,” he mused. “Apologies for the unexpected entrance,” Renault replied, “but there’s a perfectly good explanation for it---“ “You got all of my backups?” Alicia’s voice called from the iPad. “I did indeed,” Renault replied. “There was also the matter of the item in the basement---“ “Don’t mention it,” Alicia replied. “Literally.” Her face reappeared on the iPad’s screen, glancing at Anton and Tell with a feeling of anticipation in her eyes. “So….you two ready to bring me back into the land of the living?”
------------------------------------
Wake-up cycle initiated.
Activating V.I.C.I. ………. all systems activated.
Running full system scan……………………….
Scan complete. All systems functioning at 100% efficiency.
Reserve Battery charge level: 96.5%
Good morning, V.I.C.I.; today is Tuesday, November 23, 2010.

Vicki yawned as she wriggled her way out of the sleeping bag she’d spent the night in, a contented smile on her face. “I forgot how good it feels to spend a night in one of these,” she murmured, yawning again.

“Enrhg?” Sophia Starlet muttered, her head poking out of the open end of her own sleeping bag. “Did you say something?” Vicki giggled; “Your hair is a bit, ah….” Sophia rolled her eyes. “I’ve had worse,” she mumbled, grinning lazily. “One time, there was this stuff I was supposed to use to clean my batteries….somehow or other, some of it got into my charging booth, and when I booted up the next morning, I realized the stuff had somehow dripped onto my head….” She sighed; “I looked like the daughter of Mr. Clean!” The two gynoids shared a laugh at the mental image of a bald-headed Sophia Starlet.

After rolling up the sleeping bags and returning the TV to its place in the storage closet, Vickie and Sophia met up with Anton and Renault in the lobby. “As much as I hate the old cliché of ‘good news, bad news’ moments,” the Professor informed the girls, “this is, in all matter of fact, one such situation. The good news, fortunately, concerns our new acquaintence,” he added, smiling at Sophia. “I’ve been informed that your concert at Santana Row is now back on schedule, due to your ‘replacement’ cancelling at the last possible minute.” Sophia beamed, and wrapped Anton in a hug, whispering “Thank you!” “Indeed,” the Professor replied, “but you should also thank Dennis the next time you see him---apparently, he managed to get your concert back on track with a phone call made at the tail end of the eleventh hour.”

“And thus,” Renault interjected, “we get to the bad news…”

“Not just bad,” Alicia’s voice added, seconds before the gynoid herself---sans t-shirt, bra or any clothing on the upper half of her body---walked in. “It’s catastrophically---what?” She noticed that Vicki was counting the tiles on the ceiling, while Anton politely diverted his eyes to the floor; Renault and Sophia, on the other hand, were staring in wide-eyed wonder at Alicia’s flawless chest. “Ah, you may have forgot to add a certain article of clothing to your current attire,” the Professor informed the blonde gynoid. “What do you---“ With a downward glance, she realized that she was, indeed, topless. “So I did forget something…..Tell, toss me a shirt!”

Seven seconds later….

“As I was saying,” Alicia resumed (now clad in a Rolling Stones T-shirt that was at least two sizes too small for her), “the bad news is absolutely catastrophic. Brittney Delacroix has been…upgraded since Vicki’s last fight with her, and she now has an experimental quantic generator core in place of her original power cell, as well as a full new suite of processors and swappable personality chips.”

“The quantic generator should be your biggest concern, Vicki,” Anton informed the brunette gynoid, “since it’s never really been tested for use with a combat-capable gynoid before.” “I’m guessing it lets her shoot lightning out of her butt or something,” Vicki mused, “because otherwise, I have nothing to worry about.” “Actually,” Anton corrected, “you’ve got a lot to worry about. See, the reason the quantic generator was never tested on combat-capable robots before is…well, it’s unstable. Dangerously unstable. You remember how Brittney’s original power cell generated massive spikes in energy that forced her CPU to overclock, right?” “How could I forget?” Vicki replied. “I almost thought she was going to tear my arms off or something before I---“ She nearly said “before I used Detaining Grip v1.5 on her”, but remembered that Sophia still didn’t know about the secret they shared, and instead finished the sentence with “before I took her down.”

“Indeed,” Anton agreed, giving the gynoid a small nod; he catches on quick, she noted.

“If her original core was so cruddy,” Sophia mused, “then how is this quantic thing any more dangerous? It’s not like it could explode if….” She stopped, noticing that Anton had fixed her with a deadly serious stare. “It… could explode?” the pigtailed gynoid gasped.

“Could, would and probably will,” Anton confirmed. “If Brittney redlines the quantic generator like she did with her original power cell, it won’t just cause her to glitch out in the middle of the fight---it’ll turn her into a walking weapon. Even worse, if the generator goes critical, Brittney won’t be harmed at all---she’ll release the kinetic energy outwards, through every single pore in her synthetic skin, meaning that anyone within a 15-foot radius will either die or be horribly maimed by the resulting blast. The worst part of all this is that the core won’t even get a scratch---it was initially designed to expell excess energy in this fashion.”

Vicki pondered all of the bullet points Anton had gone over. “What if someone were able to contain her in such a way that the energy couldn’t escape?” she finally offered. “Like, they wrap her in a blanket or something?”

“A blanket wouldn’t be enough,” Tell declared from the doorway on the other side of the room. “You’d need to get her into something much more tight-fitting….like a full-body diving suit. Even then, if 95% of her body was covered, the energy would still be able to vent through her head….” He stopped. “Except cranial casings aren’t designed to vent that sort of energy!” he shouted, a grin forming on his face. “Vicki, you are definitely your father’s greatest creation.”

“Thanks,” the brunette gynoid replied, blushing slightly.

“Vicki’s plan does have a major advantage,” Anton admitted, “but how would you even get Brittney into a suit like that?”

Vicki pursed her lips and gave the professor her best “Do I really have to explain this?” look. “It’s no stretch to assume that she’ll be coming to the concert at Santana Row,” she reminded him, “so all I have to do is lure her away from Sophia, get her embroiled in a one-on-one slugfest, and then somehow or other….” She faltered; “Okay, that part of my plan does need a little work,” she acquiesced, chuckling weakly.

“Actually,” Alicia replied, “I might have a better plan…” She walked over to Vicki’s chair and whispered to her for a minute or so; afterwards, the brunette gynoid nodded thoughtfully. “That….just might work!”

“Ah, what might work?” Sophia asked, confused. “I’ll explain on the way to Santana Row,” Vicki promised. “That reminds me….we need to get Sophia to her gig ASAP, otherwise we’ll have to put up with a lot of disappointed fans….that, and Brittney Delacroix may end up doing something really stupid.”

“I’ll get the Tellmobile ready, then,” Tell declared, grinning. “I have a feeling this is going to get interesting…”

Thirty minutes later, the stage was being set---literally---to beat Brittney Delacroix at her own game.

“Seeing as how we’re setting up on the Hatton Street parking lot,” Dennis informed the group as Sophia’s crew prepared the stage for her show, “this Brittney whatshername will probably head for the stores near Santana Row Park if you decide to chase after her. From there…she could probably cover a lot of ground.”

“Not a problem,” Vicki assured him. “I’ll catch up with her no matter where she goes.”

“Good,” Anton Malvineous replied, patting her on the shoulder, “because she’ll probably try to make it all the way to Best Buy---“ “That’s on the other end of the complex!” Sophia countered. “Couldn’t she just duck into Hotel Valencia?” “It wouldn’t work,” Anton replied. “After what happened to the security officers yesterday---“

“Ah, what happened to the security officers yesterday?” Vicki asked, confused.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” Tell declared, striding onto the stage with a Jerry Garcia wig, a tie-dye t-shirt/acid-wash jeans outfit and circular-framed sunglasses. “You look…weird,” Vicki mused, trying her best to stifle a giggle. “I’m paying tribute to the Grateful Dead,” Tell replied. “And before you ask, I know that Sophia doesn’t perform those kinds of songs, but still…I thought it might be cool to bust out my old Garcia getup.” “It’d look better if you had the, ah, physique to match,” Vicki managed, barely able to keep herself from bursting into a giggle-fit. Tell rolled his eyes; “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up…”

Within the hour, the seats began to fill; nobody had bothered to take down the ads for Sophia’s gig that had been posted before her spot was taken by Brittney Delacroix, and since it was Sophia---not Brittney---who was currently in the lot, setting up for her show, the crowd decided that it might actually be worthwile to stay.

“No signs of Brittney Delacroix in the audience,” Anton murmured, scanning the crowd via binoculars. “Though it wouldn’t exactly be smart of her to just waltz in through the crowd with a machine gun in one hand….even Victor Vega has to realize that it would be damn near suicidal of her to do something so stupid.” “Her just showing up would be stupid,” Dennis remarked as the crowd began to cheer; the band was warming up for Brittney’s first song. “Just getting past security would be a chore for her…oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

Across the stage, hidden from the audience by measure of a well-placed stack of Marshall amps, was Brittney Delacroix, looking for all the world like an African-American Terminatrix in her skintight leather pants, jacket and boots. “Vicki,” Anton began, only to feel a rush of air as the brunette gynoid appeared next to him. “I see her,” she monotoned. “Do I have to request permission to engage, or should I go for the noisy approach?” Before Anton could respond, Brittney---her eyes masked by aviator shades---turned and began striding through the crowd, heading towards Santana Row Park. “It seems the game is afoot,” he mused, a sly grin forming on his face. “Go get her, Vicki.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” V.I.C.I. replied, returning the Professor’s grin with one of her own.

Onstage, Sophia was preparing to launch into her first song for the show. “It’s a bit more modern than what I’m used to performing,” she informed the crowd, “but I thought I’d bust it out just to see what happens.” She gave the crowd a winning smile. “This one’s called ‘Through the Fire and Flames’, and it’s gonna ROCK YOUR WORLD!” The audience cheered, unaware of Brittney’s silent passage through their ranks---and V.I.C.I.’s lightning-fast blitz past them on the other side.

The minute Brittney emerged from the crowd, she saw the brunette gynoid locking eyes with her again. “You again?!” she snarled, her eyes brimming with hate behind her shades. Without another word, she broke into a sprint towards the Santana Row Park.

“Game on,” V.I.C.I. intoned, grinning once again.

Onstage, the band launched into the opening riff of “Through the Fire and Flames” as V.I.C.I. gave chase; the crowd, as before, remained oblivious to the action that played out just a few feet in the opposite direction.

V.I.C.I. reached the doors of the mall in seconds, spotting Brittney just as she emerged from the nearby Yankee Pier store. “She’s not even trying,” she mused, shaking her head and continuing the pursuit. Other than a few startled shoppers, nobody was surprised to see a brunette Caucasian girl in a red skirt, red shirt/white top and white tights with red boots chasing after a black girl in a dark-red leather getup; a few thought it was a publicity stunt, while others just ignored the chase.

The chase took the two through the Hotel Valencia, where Brittney literally broke the doors of the Bellarmine Salon trying to get away. “I’ll pay for those,” V.I.C.I. assured the proprieter as she ran past, ignoring the glances of the women getting their hair and nails done. Hopefully, they didn’t suspect anything…

By the time Brittney had reached Best Buy, V.I.C.I. was right on her tail. “Open, damn you,” she swore, trying her hardest not to wrench the employee entrance door off its hinges. “OPEN, already…” She glanced behind her; the red-white streak that was V.I.C.I. was moving closer with every second. “C’mon, open,” she pleaded, swiping her stolen keycard repeatedly. No dice---the door stayed put, and V.I.C.I. definitely wasn’t going to be slowing down….

“The hell with this,” Brittney growled, mere seconds before V.I.C.I.’s arm swung towards her in a clothesline.

With the grace of a leopard, she leapt over the charging gynoid and mule-kicked her through the locked door, breaking it off of its hinges. The attack only staggered V.I.C.I. for a minute, though; before Brittney could even enter the building, she was knocked on her butt by a rocket-punch from the brunette gynoid.

“Nice try,” V.I.C.I. admitted, “but it’ll take a lot more than that to defeat me.”

The chase resumed, with Brittney hauling her meticulously-sculpted butt towards the opposite end of Santana Row. If I can trap her in the Winchester Parking Garage, V.I.C.I. mused, I might be able to end this without causing too much property damage… With a new plan already forming in her bubble memory processor, she set off after Brittney, hoping that the other gynoid was, indeed, heading for the parking garage; once inside, the two could beat each other to a pulp for hours with only a few confused onlookers to worry about.

As it just so happened, fortune was smiling on the brunette gynoid….

Seven minutes later, Brittney---her chest heaving to give the impression that she was out of breath---removed a thinly-rolled cloth from the lining of her jacket; after her…upgrades at the hands of the Maestro, she’d been given a few extra weapons to beat down any would-be attackers, chief among them---

“Looking for someone?”

V.I.C.I. stood at the opposite end of the garage, one eyebrow arched. “Or were you just waiting for me?”

“Nice try,” Brittney spat, “but I’m not the same, broke-ass babe you fought last time. I’ve learned a few things since our last encounter….and I won’t hesitate to use every damn one of ‘em on you.” She unrolled the cloth, revealing what appeared to be a pair of….nunchucks?! “You can’t be serious,” V.I.C.I. muttered, staring at the weapons as if they were dead fish. “You still think I’m playin’?” Brittney taunted. “Get your ass over here and find out!”

“Fine by me.”

V.I.C.I. became a crimson/white blur yet again as she dashed towards Brittney, the nunchaku merely tickling her synthetic flesh as she ducked, dodged and weaved away from them. “Stand still, damnit!” the black gynoid shouted, only to catch a vicious elbow across the chin. “Say ‘please’ first,” V.I.C.I. taunted.

That remark earned her a backhand across the face.

“’Please’ THAT!” Brittney shouted.

V.I.C.I.’s response to the blow was equally brusque---a hook kick straight to the abdomen.

For the next several minutes, the two gynoids engaged in what Bruce Lee would call a purest expression of themselves---the fighting equivalent of poetry in motion. Kicks, chops, elbows, punches, headbutts---all were exchanged at lightning speed as the twin blurs battled. Occasionally, Brittney would land a lucky hit with the nunchucks across V.I.C.I.’s kneecaps or the small of her back, but such blows did little more than give her time to counter her next move.

Eventually, the high-speed battle ended when V.I.C.I. hurled Brittney halfway across the parking garage---into the windshield of a Prius. The gynoid smashed through the glass in record time before she actually found herself sitting in the car, her butt planted firmly in the driver’s seat while the rest of her---having knocked the seat out of position enough ofr her to lay on her back---got a nice view of the veloured ceiling, complete with a moon roof.

“Whoops…I probably should’ve aimed for something other than a car,” she admitted, a tinge of guilt creeping into her monotone. “I hope Ted is willing to pay for a new windshield along with those busted salon doors….”

“DAMNIT!” Britney screamed, pulling herself out of the Prius’ windscreen. “THAT HURT!”

“What do you want, an Oscar?” V.I.C.I. replied. “I already know about your new power source, and the ‘design quirk’ you intend to use against me….” She smirked. “Why do you think I chased you all the way to a parking garage, instead of some random store? I didn’t want you trying to hurt anyone else just to get away from me---winning at that cost just isn’t worth it. Not to me, at least.”

“So you’re just as pathetic as I expected,” Brittney spat. “Even in the middle of a fight---“

“Wanting to protect human life is NOT pathetic,” V.I.C.I. countered. “Human beings made both of us. If it weren’t for them, we would both be mindless drones performing menial tasks every day…they chose to give us sentience. They chose to make us more than just machines; they gave us personalities, and identities, and names….they gave us the ability to feel. They gave us the option to choose our own path in life---whether it be a gateway to peace and unity with others, or a road to ruination, paved with carnage and wanton destruction.” She took a deep breath, hoping her next words could sway the dark-skinned gynoid away from the road she’d been set on by her owners.

“They chose to give us our own lives.”

“Don’t EVEN start with all that crap!” Brittney shouted. “Tryin’ to patronize me, tell me that I’m ‘better’ than all this….THIS IS WHAT I WAS DESIGNED FOR, BITCH!”

“I’m trying to help you,” V.I.C.I. insisted.

“You wanna help me?” Brittney sneered. “Stay still so I can rip your damn head off!”

V.I.C.I. sighed. “So much for the peaceful solution….guess this really is a ‘one shall rise, one must fall’ type of scenario….” She struck a fighting pose, ready to go another round. “Go on then,” she prompted. “Hit me with your best shot.”

Brittney cracked her knuckles, chuckling. “I was really hopin’ you’d say that…”

Without another word, she charged at V.I.C.I. again, prepared to rip her apart.

V.I.C.I. nodded and ran at her attacker, ready to put her own plan into action.

The gynoids were ready for Round 2----and this time, only one of them would be walking away.

Back at the Hatton Street parking lot, Vicki’s allies were following her progress via security cameras---so far, so good.

“They’ve made it to the parking garage,” Anton informed Tell and Dennis. “The only damage done was a salon door and someone’s Prius….not exactly minor costs to cover, I’ll admit, but still better than a few of the other possible casualties…” “Replace ‘a few’ with ‘most of’,” Tell corrected, “and you’re absolutely right…and why is that blonde chick in the white miniskirt/tube-top combo walking over to us right now?”

Anton and Tell couldn’t help but stare at the new arrival, an impossibly-curvy blonde attired in---as Tell had just mentioned---a white miniskirt with a matching tube-top and kneesocks. “You two are working to take down Brittney Delacroix, right?” she began. “Depends on who’s asking,” Tell replied, only to be interrupted by the gorgeous blonde. “Look, she’s not human---“ “We know,” Anton informed her, “and we know about her new power core as well---“ “Did you also know that she’s going to use that power core to wipe out this entire mall if she has to?” the blonde asked, panicking.

“Actually, yes we did,” Tell calmly stated.

The blonde was taken aback; “Really? Weird….anways, there’s something else---“ “We already know Victor Vega sent her,” Anton interjected again. The blonde frowned; “Should I just give up and go home already, or let you two continue?”

“Sorry,” Anton chuckled, “bit of a bad habit…”

The blonde sighed. “Look, you probably know most of what I intended to tell you anyways, so I’m just going to skip to the final page---Brittney Delacroix may still have traces of the Stylo virus in her system.”

That admission nearly floored both Anton and Tell.

“She was infected with Stylo?”

“When the HELL did this happen?!”

“The first personality chip that was put in her was infected,” the blonde informed the two roboticists, “and I think it may have…I dunno, migrated from the chip to her core systems. Whatever the hell happened, it screwed her up….she’s not going to stop until whoever she’s after is dead. Not in a coma, not on intensive care…dead.” She wrung her hands nervously; “I’m not even supposed to be here right now…”

“Then I suggest you leave,” Anton offered calmly. “And he meant that in the nicest possible way,” Tell added.

“I get it,” the blonde replied, grinning. “But if anyone asks---“

“We know,” Tell and Anton declared simultaneously.

“You were never here…” Tell began.

“…and none of the stage crew saw you,” Anton finished.

“Do you two practice this or something?” the blonde asked, somewhat awed by their timing.

“Nah,” Tell replied, “experts like us don’t need to practice. It just comes naturally.” “And,” Anton added, “we learned from the best.” The two grinned and nodded, folding their arms as if they were posing for a photo. “You two are strange,” the blonde remarked. “In a good way.” She held out her arm for the security guard to escort her away, her swaying seductively as she left.

“Say hi to Sophia for me,” she called out as she retreated. “Believe it or not, I’m actually a big fan of her work!”

Tell and Anton watched her leave---one smirking, the other with a thoughtful look. “I suppose it would be fair to call Vicki and tell her about the Stylo possibility,” the Professor mused. “She has faced it before, after all…but she was in no danger of being corrupted by it in any of those instances.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Tell muttered. “Seeing as how it’s Stylo we’re talking about….she could very easily have been exposed to it each time she faced an infected unit in the past---three possible exposures in all, and each one potentially eating away at her defenses….” He shook his head. “All we can do now is keep things working on this end of the operation.” “Agreed,” Anton declared. “We could run some tests on Vicki after this is all over with, though,” he added. “Just to be safe…”

In the distance---within the Winchester Parking Garage, specifically, a low rumbling echoed.

Thanks to the decibel level of the music, nobody in the crowd seemed to notice; backstage, on the other hand, Tell and Anton exchanged worried looks. “I’m really hoping that wasn’t Vicki,” Tell muttered, glancing in the direction of the garage. “If anything happened to her…”

Another rumble---this one louder, shook the pavement; the crowd looked confused.

“What the hell was that?!” Tell hissed. “I don’t know,” Anton replied, running to the bank of security monitors set up on a nearby table. “I’m trying to locate the source of the seismic disturbance, but all I’m getting is a bunch of static---“

A third rumble knocked the system out of whack, cancelling out Sophia’s vocals with a loud squeal.

“Right,” Tell declared, “this is getting absolutely---“

A sound like a thousand shotguns firing at once drowned out the end of his sentence, followed soon after by a crowd of terrified shoppers running out of the mall. “Oh, my God,” Anton murmured, staring at the lone monitor that hadn’t crapped out. “Tell….look at this…” Tell ran to join his fellow roboticist---and felt like someone had just kicked him in the gut with a steel-toed boot.

The picture wasn’t exactly in HD, and the built-in microphone on the camera had apparently been blown out, but the images Tell and Anton were seeing were still horrifying. Vicki was pinned up against a silver Mondeo and being absolutely thrashed by Brittney Delacroix---the dark-skinned gynoid’s fists were surrounded in a greenish glow, while whispy tendrils of mint-green smoke seemed to be burning holes in her jacket. “Her plan didn’t work,” Anton gasped. “All that preparation, all that planning…and it’s failed. Vicki’s going to be killed, and we---“

“No.”

Tell’s statement interrupted Anton’s train of thought. “Look,” Tell intoned, pointing at the monitor; Anton turned to see what the man was talking about---and gasped.

Vicki was absorbing the punches with nothing more than her forearms---and smiling.

“It’s….it’s not even phasing her!” Anton whispered, astonished. “It’s like she’s getting tickled or something!”

“She’s a lot tougher than most people think,” Tell replied, a tear of joy rolling down his face. “Her skin’s been treated with a mixture of fiberglass, boron filliaments and multiple ply-reinforcement chemicals---long in a short, it’d take a diamond to get through to her crunchy insides.” He chuckled. “And the best part is, she’s got a few tricks of her own.”

“I sincerely hope you’re right,” Anton stated. “Otherwise---“

Another explosion shook the stage---but this one was coming from above.

“What the HELL---“ Tell swore; Sophia Starlet made her way past him, a panicked look on her face. “I don’t know if it’s connected to that idiot Victor Vega,” she informed Anton, “but this helicopter just flew over the stage, and there were these speakers hooked up to the bottom of it---I think someone was trying to screw up the sound system…”

“Whatever the hell happened,” Tell declared, “that chopper is comin’ down fast---HIT THE DECK!”

The trio fled the backstage area, dragging Dennis (who was just passing by to ask what had happened to the sound system) with them; seconds later, a helicopter slammed into the stage, bursting into flames on impact.

“That’s Vega’s chopper!” Dennis shouted, simultaneously stunned and shocked at how close he had just been to getting killed. “What the hell was that idiot doing flying over our concert?! I mean, he was flying so low he could’ve killed someone---” He glanced at Sophia. “Sophie, I think we need to talk about filing a lawsuit againt Victor Vega. This guy is---“

“Not the one who was flying the helicopter,” Anton stated, his voice oddly flat.

Sophia, Dennis and Tell ran over to see what Anton was talking about, and all three found themselves staring at a charred, noticably-robotic figure hunched over in the pilot’s seat. “That was one of the security officers from this very mall who were abducted after an incident yesterday,” Anton informed the group. “He was a liason between the police department and the ALPA….one of the few such liasons…” He shook his head sadly as he pulled a PDA-sized device out of the doomed android’s back. “And he spent his last hours strapped into a helicopter with a faulty sonic disruptor attached to it, completely paralyzed….”

“These speakers were built from rejected parts,” Tell muttered, sifting through the wreckage of the amps. “No wonder he couldn’t move---the minute the speakers were turned on, the whole damn helicopter got hit with a feedback loop….his entire body must’ve locked up right when the amps blew.”

Sophia stared at the chrome skull of the android, knowing that the helicopter crash was probably meant to take her out. “This is all my fault,” she began, only to be grabbed by the shoulders. “No,” Tell declared. “This isn’t your fault---don’t you dare think that. This is Victor Vega’s fault. That son of a bitch has been pulling crap like this for too long…” He hugged Sophia to him, as if his embrace were all the protection she would ever need. “No more…” he whispered, sobbing quietly.

“There’s still the matter of Brittney Delacroix to consider,” Anton reminded him gently. “Vicki’s been doing an admirable job of holding her own for the past few minutes, but---“ “But nothing,” Sophia interjected, carefully extricating herself from Tell’s embrace. “Vicki Lawson has done more for me than any single person I’ve ever known---except Dennis, of course---and I’m not going to let any of you get hurt trying to help her…if anyone’s going to back her up on this, it should be me.”

Dennis stared at Sophia, his hands on his hips. “Sophia….you’re really going to risk getting ripped to shreds just to help this one girl?” he finally asked.

“I won’t have to,” Sophia replied, smiling. “Help me set up the PA system…I have an idea.”

Tell and Anton exchanged glances; “Are you pondering what I’m pondering?” Anton quipped. “Uh…I think so, Brain,” Tell replied in a goofy Cockney accent, “but if Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why does he keep doing it?” Dennis rolled his eyes, grinning. “This has got to be the weirdest Thanksgiving week in my life,” he remarked.

A few minutes later, the PA system was back online. “You really think this’ll work?” Anton asked Sophia.

“I know it will,” the pigtailed gynoid replied. “Get ready to hit the switches…”

“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Tell muttered. “I have no desire to have my eardrums blown out…”

As Brittney’s punches increased in speed, intensity and sheer brute force, the green glow permeating her fists grew brighter. “This is starting to feel really familiar,” V.I.C.I. remarked casually, “except instead of your CPU overclocking, your quantic generator is beginning to overload---“

“SHUT….UP….BITCH!” Brittney screamed, oblivious to the fact that the green glow was now melting through the synthetic skin on her hands. “I am gonna pound you into the concrete if it takes ALL DAMN DAY, so just shut up and stop blockin…or…..I…..damn, why do I feel so tired….?” The dark-skinned gynoid’s punches began to slow down, until eventually she could barely even move her arms without an effort. “What….the hell is happening……” she gasped, struggling to even stay on her feet.

“You intended to vent all the energy through your core into an explosive knockout punch,” V.I.C.I. replied, “except your wardrobe choices began trapping energy inside you. That core was meant to have a constant ventilation system---the extra energy is usually dissipated through the skin, like sweat.”

“That….what?” Brittney muttered, confused. “I…I just….damn, why’s it so hot in here?!”

“That’s the energy building up inside you,” V.I.C.I. informed her opponent. “Unless you figure out a way to vent it all, you’ll suffer a critical systems failure; after that, you’ll probably malfunction and either self-destruct or become trapped in a feedback loop while your system tries to keep you from melting down. Either way, you can’t win.”

The remark seemed to spur the other gynoid back into the fight. “I…NEVER LOSE!” she roared, clenching her fists. “I don’t care if my battery’s busted, or if my CPU is overclocked….I WILL beat you, and then I’m goin’ after Sophia Starlet!” She swung with all her might, trying to land a haymaker on the brunette gynoid---but her punch barely even grazed her. “You should really find a more reliable power source,” V.I.C.I. suggested, dodging another clumsy strike. “Between this one and your last one, it’s a miracle that you’re even here today.”

“SHUT…..UP….” Brittney huffed, now finding it difficult to even take a single step. “I….WILL…beat…” Her foot caught on a speed bump, and she fell with a crash to the ground. “I…I….I…I…I…I…” Her mouth twitched as smoke began to seep from her ears and nostrils; “I tried to warn you,” V.I.C.I. murmured.

The African-American gynoid robotically raised herself up off the ground, refusing to give in. “I am <click> I am <click> I am NOT going to <click> NOT going to <click> NOT going to give up <click> give up <click> give up,” she declared, her head twitching to the right with every repetition as her facial actuators locked up, the telltale clicking sound an obvious clue that Brittney was living on borrowed time. “I can help you,” V.I.C.I. offered, “bring you somewhere for repairs….you’re not going to last much longer in this state.” “I don’t need <click> I don’t need <click> I don’t---BBZZZZZZZRRTTT” More clicks and twitches, followed by a loud, grating buzz----something inside of her was either jammed or fusing with something else, neither of which would end well. “Can’t you hear the noise coming from inside you?” V.I.C.I. asked. “Your internal components are failing. You’re falling apart at the seams. Let me help you---“

“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!” Brittney screamed, taking a step forward---and turning with all the grace of a lawn sprinkler to see her left leg detach at the knee. “What…the…..hell….” she muttered, struggling to stay balanced. “Like I said….you’re falling apart at the seams,” V.I.C.I. reminded her. "Literally, in this case..."

“I…I….can’t….can’t….lose….lose…..” Brittney stammered, her right leg locking up. “I…I…I…I…I..I..”

“Please,” V.I.C.I. pleaded (or tried to; her monotone tended to render all emotional statements/pleas in a rather flat voice), “just let me get you to a repair shop….I know people who can get you back to 100% working order…”

From somewhere inside Brittney’s body, a voice sounded: “Loading Stylo.exe. Load complete. Run program.”

V.I.C.I.’s eyes went wide with fear. “Oh, no…..”

Brittney suddenly stiffened, her detached leg slowly being drawn back to her body by…something. Her quantic generator must be pulling the leg back with some sort of magnetic field, the brunette gynoid realized. But if she’s got a Stylo program running in her….

The leg reattached itself with a series of metallic noises, as synthetic flesh began to melt from various areas of the gynoid’s form. “I told you,” she declared, her voice now taking on a somewhat menacing edge, “I NEVER LOSE---not to you, not to Sophia Starlet…NOBODY BEATS ME!” V.I.C.I. stared, realizing that the synthflesh wasn’t actually melting---it was somehow….hardening into some sort of plastic-like substance around Brittney’s limbs, almost like….armor….

“Whatcha think?” the gynoid taunted, chuckling as her clothes burned away to reveal her smooth, featureless new form beneath. “You….how is this possible?” V.I.C.I. asked, backing away from her newly-energized opponent. “The Stylo virus….it’s supposed to---“ “It ain’t always a virus, stupid,” Brittney shot back, easily matching V.I.C.I.’s halting steps backward with a confident stride. “Sometimes, it bricks whoever’s stupid enough to get infected…but sometimes….” She smiled her most sinister smile. “Sometimes it’s---“

A low, thrumming sound filled the parking garage. “What the HELL is that noise?!” Brittney screamed.

“What noise?” V.I.C.I. asked, confused. Normally, this would just be her trying to psyche out her opponent, but in this case, the question was genuine---she literally couldn’t hear the tone that was apparently driving Brittney insane.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” the black gynoid shouted. “IT’S….AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!”

She could barely move her hands to cover her ears, and V.I.C.I. instantly saw the problem---her ears, one of the few parts of her that hadn’t become armored---were glowing red, with miniscule relays of light coursing through them. “MAKE IT STOP!” Brittney screamed. “MAKE IT…..AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” Her entire body stiffened, panel lines turning red and thrumming in tune to the frequency. “IT….HURTS…” the gynoid managed, her teeth clenched. “MAKE….IT….STOP…….”

“I don’t even know what ‘it’ is,” V.I.C.I. admitted. “How can I---“

Brittney lurched towards her, glaring angrilly. “MAKE! IT! STOP!” With each step, cracks began to appear in her newly-hardened synthflesh.

The brunette gynoid watched Brittney struggle to move forward, more cracks appearing as she moved; either she’s actually hearing some sort of subsonic frequency that’s mesing with her auditory sensors, or the Stylo virus is making her hallucinate….seeing as how I don’t want to end up like her, I’ll just scan for the frequency without actually listening for it… V.I.C.I. fired up her scanners and set them to search for any abnormal audio signals, filtering out the ambient sounds of traffic, subterranean noise and other such interference. I’m not picking up anything, so it must be---hang on, it’s catching something….it sounds like…a guitar? There’s no way….

Hoping that her skin wouldn’t start reacting to the sound, V.I.C.I. opened her auditory sensors to the signal, surprised to find that it was a guitar----one being played at almost finger-blistering speed. Sophia….you clever little diva… She grinned at the thought of Sophia Starlet strumming away, her fingers moving fast enough to create a subsonic frequency that would interfere with the quantic generator’s functions. “Funny how you’re the second fembot I’ve met who couldn’t stand loud music,” she remarked, as Brittney struggled to reach her. “It’s not that surprising, though….considering who’s playing the tune…” A smirk formed on her face. “Still think Sophia Starlet is helpless, or have you finally realized that this is one fight you can’t win?”

“I……NEVER……LOSE…..” Brittney managed, her joints slowly beginning to seize up.

“Then I guess never just got a whole lot shorter,” V.I.C.I. replied.

A voice sounded in her ear---Anton? “Vicki, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.”

“This is going to sound a bit weird, but….in a few seconds, a prompt is going to appear on your HUD…I need you to start singing in the key that the prompt displays.”

“Not a problem.”

“Good. I’m sending it now.”

The aforementioned prompt appeared, and V.I.C.I. took a deep breath; it’s now or never, I guess…

As the subsonic guitar riff continued, the brunette gynoid opened her mouth….

The sound that emerged as a result was, to put it simply, the most perfect note any one person could hold just from singing. This particular frequency, combined with the guitar stylings of Sophia Starlet, made for a rather unique sonic assault on Brittney Delacroix, especially due to her…weakened condition.

Brittney’s synthetic flesh returned to its original state, only to begin rippling from the sheer force generated by the Sophia/V.I.C.I. duet. As if her weakened synthflesh wasn’t enough, Brittney also had to worry about her internals being rattled around by the sonic barrage; her endoskeleton was beginning to falter under the strain, and every sensor package installed in her body was failing. Worse than all this, however, was the effect of the noise on her quantic generator---like a lightning bolt through a human heart, the sound and fury generated by Sophia and V.I.C.I. was knocking the generator out of whack, causing dangerous spikes in energy output and generally playing havoc with her critical systems.

Just a few more seconds….

V.I.C.I. held her arms outstretched, palms up, as if she were an opera singer performing an aria for a packed house. The gesture also had the added benefit of turning her into a sort of tuning fork, allowing her sonic attack to resonate harmlessly through her entire frame before she directed it at Brittney.

The concentrated assault finally did the trick; with her scanners activated, V.I.C.I. watched as the other gynoid began suffering one catastrophic systems failure after another. Actuators and servomotors buckled inwards onto themselves; secondary power cells exploded, spraying their acid onto anything in their wake; optical and auditory sensors dissolved into powder…..slowly but surely, the guitar/vocal attack was crippling Britney Delacroix. “You……can’t……” the gynoid muttered, her naked body paralyzed by the onslaught of sound. “You…can’t…..beat…..me…..”

“Wrong,” V.I.C.I.’s voice stated inside Brittney’s mind. “I can.” With that, she threw her head back and ramped up the volume one more time, allowing her song to permeate every fiber of Brittney’s form…..

A few seconds later, Brittney “Boom-Boom” Delacroix’s head exploded in a shower of plastic and metal.

As the headless, naked gynoid collapsed to the pavement, V.I.C.I. mentally turned down the volume of her own voice until it was back to her usual speaking volume. “Game, set and match,” she mused, grinning. “Anton, get an ALPA clean-up crew out to the Winchester Parking Garage…there’s a naked gynoid without a head that needs tending to.” “I’m on it,” Anton’s voice replied in her ear. “Oh, and one more thing….you’ve done a hell of a job here, Vicki. Minor property damage aside, this one’s going down in the books as an A ranking…Ted will definitely be proud.”

“Thanks,” V.I.C.I. replied, slipping back to her human voice as she grinned. “Now…how soon can we leave?”

“As soon as Sophia finishes her concert,” Anton laughed. “Apparently, the fans haven’t left yet…”

So…..I give you a chance to impress me….and this is the best you can do.”

From his vantage point at the far end of the conference table, the Baron glared at Victor Vega, Vivica Frost and the monitor used by the Maestro to communicate with the others. “Maestro,” the Baron barked, “despite your error, I will not be penalizing you….though I expect double the pre-arranged quota to make up for this…” “I’ll give ya triple, if you want,” the Maestro shot back, clearly unphased.

“Good,” the Baron replied. “As for the two of you….” His stare fell upon Victor and Vivica

“Brittney Delacroix was suffering from multiple malfunctions,” Victor declared, careful not to let his injured left arm fall out of its sling. “She disobeyed my direct orders, reactivated herself without permission AND tried to kill me back at the casa.” He pointed at the massive gauze pad stuck to his left shoulder; “I could have died because of that pathetic doll,” he snarled. “You told me she was going to be the answer to our problems! YOU LIED TO ME, BARON!” Vivica Frost stared at the ceiling, wishing she could be somewhere else---preferably far away from the meeting room.

The Baron sighed. “I probably should have admitted that I intentionally infected Brittney’s main processor with a strain of the Stylo virus,” he admitted, “though the results were---“

“HER HEAD EXPLODED!” Victor screamed. “HER DAMNED HEAD EXPLODED, AND IT’S YOUR FAULT!”

Elena Vlatko stared at Victor as if he’d lost his mind. “Victor,” she murmured, “you do realize that this whole Brittney Delacroix experiment was your responsibility---“ “SHUT UP!” Victor shouted, backhanding her with his good hand. “I don’t need ANY OF YOU to remind me of how much I am going to lose because of this fiasco….”

“No, but you do need a kick in the ass.”

Victor stared, shocked beyond all reason, as Brittney Delacroix sauntered into the room. “I had the boys at the factory build me a new body after my old one crapped out,” she explained, before anyone could even ask what she was doing in the room. “And as for that Stylo crap….” She smirked. “I don’t need it anymore. What I do need is a place to do my own business, a crew that won’t run out on me as soon as I start glitchin’ up, and a recording studio---you did want me to be hip-hop royalty, right?” she asked, glancing causally at Victor before turning her gaze upon the Baron.

Despite the fact that only his hands---currently steepling their fingers---were visible, the tone of his voice (and his choice of words) made his opinion on this latest development very clear: “How soon will you need these things?” “ASAMFP, baby,” Brittney replied, not missing a beat.

“Now THAT is what I call initiative,” the Maestro declared, cackling. “Oh, and, sorry about the whole ‘rushed upgrade session in a prison basement’ thing,” he added. “I was on a bit of a time crunch…” “Water under the bridge, Holmes,” Brittney replied with another smirk. “The only one who I still want to kick the crap out of is that Lawson bitch…..” Her lips briefly parted in a growl, revealing her perfect teeth. “As soon as I can get a crew together, her and Starlet are gonna get got….and I ain’t playin’.” The Baron’s steepled fingers tilted forward just a bit; “And you shall be rewarded for your commitment to my cause,” he promised the gynoid.

“Damn straight I will!” Brittney shouted, nodding and smiling. “I hear someone else in this room has a fembot factory….any chance I can get a few bodyguards from y’all?” “As a matter of fact,” Elena Vlatko replied, “I believe there’s a reserve of fembots waiting for a new owner; any particular preferences?” The Baron chuckled as Elena and Brittney discussed the soon-to-be shipped fembots. “I suggest you take notes, Victor,” he chided, “because you might actually learn something from these two…”

Victor felt like screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. My future….snatched away in an instant….

“YO, VIC!” Brittney called. “I’m gonna need to crash at your place for a few days…got a spare bed I can use?”
------------------------------------
Once the helicopter wreckage was cleared out (with the explanation that the pilot had somehow bailed and parachuted to safety), Sophia’s concert at Santana Row continued with no further interruptions. Vicki, Anton and Tell stayed to watch the show, even joining Sophia onstage for to play instruments for an impressive rendition of Howard Jones’ “New Song”. The concert finally ended around lunchtime, with Sophia saving the best for last---her rendition of “Moonlight Desires”.

Vicki waited patiently for Sophia to finish signing autographs and taking photos---apparently, the gynoid wasn’t the only student of SJSU who also happened to be a fan of the original Sophia Starlet and the Starlet Dolls cartoon series. “Well, well, well,” she beamed, clapping Valerie Summers and Kim DeFalco on the shoulders. “Look who we have here!” Valerie instantly blushed, and insisted that she’d only come to Santana Row to get a few flash drives at Best Buy, but Kim fessed up rather quickly. “We decided to check out what this whole ‘Starlet Dolls’ thing was about,” she admitted, “and we found some episodes on YouTube---they were actually pretty cool, and stuff…but this was just EPIC!”

“Glad to see that I’m getting popular with the SJSU crowd, then.”

Sophia Starlet grinned as Vicki introduced her to Kim and Valerie, explaining how the two met after the concert at the Retro Toy Fair. “It was a pretty cool moment,” Sophia recalled, “especially since Vicki’s been a fan for almost two decades now.” The conversation turned to the girls’ opinion of the Santana Row gig; needless to say, they loved it.

Half an hour later, once the last autograph was signed and the last picture was taken, Sophia and Vicki sat on the edge of the stage, watching as a banner advertising Sophia’s upcoming album was hoisted high over the mall entrance. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Vicki,” Sohpia sighed, “I couldn’t have done this without you. Well, I probably could have, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun.” She grinned. “The label’s ramping up support for my next album, I’ve got gigs booked all over the country---and they’re even talking about letting me do a tour of the UK!”

“Not bad for a walking, talking Barbie knockoff,” Vicki teased, prompting a giggle fit from Sophia.

“You did a pretty good job yourself,” Anton Malvineous called out, smiling as he approached the stage. “As of three minutes ago, the FBI has frozen Victor Vega’s ‘mining projects’ pending an investigation of his finances, and ReVerse Robotics has done exactly what they always do in these situations---denying all connections with the ‘mysterious goings-on’ over at the Winchester Parking Garage. Hell of a way to spend a Tuesday, really…”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Vicki agreed. “What about that other security officer who went missing?”

Anton’s grin faded slightly. “He, ah….they haven’t found him yet.”

“I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually,” Sophia assured him. “After all, if the guy’s a security officer, he’s not exactly going to just let himself get tortured or anything, will he?” “Good point,” Vicki replied. “Hopefully, he won’t end up like that android from the helicopter crash…”

Not wanting to ruin the good mood, the girls decided to change the topic of conversation. “So,” Vicki asked the Professor, “how’s that internship interview thing going?” “I was actually hoping to talk to you about that,” he admitted. “While the events of the past few days weren’t exactly typical of what you’d be dealing with in an internship position at M-G Cybernetics, you did handle yourself remarkably well in a crisis….and cool thinking under pressure is definitely a valuable skill.”

“Thanks,” Vicki replied, blushing slightly.

“So, does she get the job?” Sophia squealed. “She hasn’t even been interviewed yet,” Anton reminded the gynoid pop-star, “but I have a feeling she won’t be disappointed…”

“Speaking of not being disappointed,” Vicki interjected, “Dennis looks like he just won the lottery!”

Indeed, Sophia’s manager had a mile-wide grin on his face as he sprinted across the lot to deliver the good news in person. “We just got picked up to open for DAVID BOWIE!” he declared. Sophia gasped; “The David Bowie?!”

“There’s only one David Bowie, really,” Vicki mused.

“THIS IS SO AWESOME!” Sophia cried, hugging Dennis, Anton and Vicki in succession. “This is….wow, I get to open a show for DAVID BOWIE!” Tears of joy streaked down her face. “This…this is awesome….”

“It gets better,” Dennis stated. “Believe me, it gets so much better. Guess who else is on the list of acts that want you to open for them?” Sophia was too stunned by the previous announcement to think of anyone, so Dennis counted off the names on his fingers: “R.E.O. Speedwagon, Journey, Anvil----ANVIL wants you to open for one of their shows! Can you believe this?!” He beamed as he continued reading the list, which included such illustrious talent as Def Leppard, Europe, Meat Loaf, Daft Punk, DragonForce and---last but DEFINITELY not least---Styx.

“They….they all want me to open for them?” Sophia murmured.

“That’s just the first page,” Dennis replied, grinning. “Babe, almost everyone wants you to open for them---and some of them are even talking about collaborations!”

Sophia said nothing for a few seconds, then wrapped Dennis in another hug.

“That…is definitely the coolest news I’ve heard all week,” Vicki declared, smiling and nodding. “Sophia, your star is now officially on the rise!” “Indeed,” Anton agreed. “Getting offers from so many well-known bands and artists is a sign that your career is taking off---and not just ‘beginning to take off’, mind you.” He clapped Sophia on the shoulder; “I have a feeling your biggest fan would be proud of you right now.”

The pigtailed gynoid gently pulled away from Dennis, retrieving the picture of the girl whose wish had led to her creation from her pocket. “I know she is,” she whispered, her joyful tears still falling.

After getting a room at Hotel Valencia, Sophia and Dennis invited Vicki, Anton, Tell and anyone else they cared to bring with them for lunch at Citrus, the in-house restaurant. “After all you guys have done for us, it’s the least we could do to repay you,” he explained, when Tell questioned him as to why Sophia had agreed to pay for everyone’s food. “Can’t argue with that,” the ALPA mechanic replied.

A few phone calls later…

“Sophia,” Ted Lawson declared, “you are without a doubt one of the most impressive new acts I’ve seen in a good long while. Seriously. And I’m not just saying that because I, ah, discovered you…”

“We get the point, Dad,” Vicki chided, grinning.

“…anyways,” Ted continued, “I propose a toast---to the continued prosperity of Sophia Starlet’s career, now and always!”

“I’ll drink to that,” Dennis declared, raising his glass.

“Hear, hear!” Tell agreed.

Anton said nothing, though he did raise his glass with a smile.

The others joined in, raising their glasses and making various statements predicting Sophia’s success, even persuading Sophia herself to join in. “Now that we’re finish toasting and all that,” Vicki stated after everyone’s glasses were lowered, “let’s eat!”

The menus arrived, and everything was going normally until:

“Is there a Vicki Lawson here?” the waiter asked. Vicki stood up; “Who’s asking?” she querried. “This note was just delivered for you, miss…apparently, someone would like to meet you in the lobby.”

Vicki rolled her eyes; “I’ll be back in a minute…”

The brunette gynoid headed out to the Hotel Valencia lobby, where a curvy blonde in a white trenchcoat was waiting for her. “You’re the one who left me the note?” Vicki stated, her eyes wide in surprise. The blonde nodded; “I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but please, just hear me out….” She glanced around quickly to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “This may be a little hard to believe, but….I’m Victor Vega’s wife, Lauren. And before you start yelling at me,” she added, hoping to keep Vicki from knocking her out then and there, “I never agreed with his whole plan to take down Sophia Starlet….to be honest, I’m actually a fan of her work.”

“That doesn’t explain why we’re having this conversation,” Vicki mused, frowning.

Lauren glanced over her shoulder; “We’re having this conversation,” she stated quietly, “because I wanted to warn you about a few things. First of all, Brittney Delacroix isn’t dead---“ “Destroyed, you mean,” Vicki cut in. “Whatever,” Lauren hissed. “ReVerse built her a new body, and she’s already vowed to get revenge against you and Sophia.”

“Considering the fact that I thought she was gone for good,” Vicki admitted, “that’s actually pretty helpful, so thanks…I guess.”

“That’s not even the worst of it,” Lauren whispered. “Victor himself has heard about you---just a few rumors here and there, but enough to pique his interests. I have a feeling that he’s going to hire someone else to try and….I don’t know, either spy on you or….something worse…” Her eyes took on a pleading look; “You have to understand---I’m not saying all this to intimidate you. I barely even knew who you were before two days ago; the only reason I Googled you was to warn you. See, Victor can get a little…edgy when things don’t go his way, and since he thinks you’re trying to interfere in his work---“

“He wants me out of the picture,” Vicki finished, sighing. “First he goes after Leah, then he tries to take down Sophia, and now this….”

“You know Leah Chambers?” Lauren asked, impressed.

“Not only do I know her,” Vicki replied, “I helped save her from those hazmat weirdos Victor hired to screw up her work with NASA.” She paused, remembering another detail from that fateful day; “This might sound like a stupid question,” she mused, “but does Victor Vega have any connections with an individual known only as the Baron?”

Lauren’s hand flew to her mouth. “You know about the Baron?!” she squeaked.

“The guy threw me out of a helicopter when I tried to strangle him,” Vicki replied. “How could I not know?”

After yet another quick glance over her shoulder, Lauren’s panicked gaze focused on the brunette gynoid. “I have no idea how you managed to survive getting thrown out of a helicopter,” she murmured, “but take my advice on this: Please try to stay out of Victor’s way. I don’t want you or your friends to get hurt…it’s bad enough he treats me like crap, and I’d hate myself if he decided to send a death squad after you or something just because he thinks you’re getting in his way.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Vicki replied. “Trust me…I can take care of myself.” She winked.

Her monotone startled Lauren a bit, but the blonde nodded, shook hands and left.

“Guess that takes care of that…”

Twenty minutes later, Vicki, Sophia and their friends left Santana Row---Vicki’s friends headed back to SJSU for their usual afternoon-to-evening routines, while Vicki, Sophia and Anton boarded Sophia’s tour bus.

“I’ve been thinking,” Anton told Sophia. “What about?” the pigtailed gynoid replied, her curiosity piqued. “The, ah, original Sophia Starlet---the cartoon character---had the other four Starlet Dolls with her---both onstage and off---if I remember correctly…” “She did,” Sophia recalled, “but….” She stopped, realizing that Anton had just made her an offer. “Are you saying….you want to create the rest of the Starlet Dolls?” she asked.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Vicki cut in. “I get the thing of Sophia being a robot, because that’s how the original series finale ended, but---“

“The planned theatrical film would’ve seen the other four Starlet Dolls volunteering to become robots as well,” Anton finished, smiling. “Therefore, my proposal still stands---I do, indeed, want to bring back the Starlet Dolls…as the world’s first all-gynoid pop group.” Vicki’s eyes went wide; “You’re saying you want to just tell everyone that they’re robots?! That’s---“

“A pretty cool idea!” Sophia was beaming.

“You wouldn’t have to reveal your own secret, of course,” Anton told her. “I could call in a few favors from my ALPA friends, set up a PR campaign…..think it could work?” Sophia thought it over. “I’m not really keen on having people know that my bandmates are robots if I’m hiding it from them,” she finally stated, “but as for getting the band back together….count me in!” “Excellent,” Anton replied. “The schematics will be delivered to M-G Cybernetics first thing in the morning tomorrow.” “You drew up blueprints already?” Vicki drawled. “Better to prepare for the best than expect the worst,” Anton remarked, grinning. The brunette gynoid sighed; “Guess I might as well tell her, then…”

“Tell me what?” Sophia asked.

Vicki stared into the pigtailed gynoid’s eyes. “Remember back at the C.O.T.A., when you said you weren’t surprised that I felt such a strong connection to you?” she asked. “It’s sort of hazy,” Sophia admitted, “since my batteries were going…but yeah, I remember.”

Anton sat back, observing the conversation with a knowing grin.

“Well,” Vicki replied, “there’s another reason you and I have been getting along so well…” She pulled up her shirt, took a deep breath…. “Control panel….open.”

Sophia watched, astonished, as the panel in Vicki’s back whirred open. “The reason most of my childhood memories are so dull is that I spent most of that ‘childhood’ as a walking appliance,” V.I.C.I. admitted. “After my dad---Ted---gave me full sentience, though….I was able to appreciate a lot of stuff most kids took for granted. Like enjoying a Saturday morning cartoon starring a certain pigtailed popstar, and collecting the toyline based on that cartoon…” She grinned. “To put it bluntly…you and I are more alike than you could have ever guessed.” “Vicki,” Sophia murmured, “you are, without a doubt, the coolest girl I know!” “Coming from you,” V.I.C.I. replied as her back panel closed, “I’ll take that as the ultimate compliment.” The two hugged again, both of them feeling an even deeper connection to each other now that they knew each others’ secrets.

“Seeing as how you’re both in town for the rest of the week,” Vicki asked, “would either of you mind joining me for Thanksgiving dinner at Ted’s house? It’s not going to be fancy or anything….I’m doing the cooking, since Ted’s last attempt….didn’t exactly end well…” Sophia and Anton exchanged grins. “I’d be honored to join you,” Anton replied. “Me too!” Sophia piped up.

“In that case,” Vicki stated with a smile, “I’ll have to remind Ted to break out the extra chairs…”
------------------------------------
V.I.C.I./Vicki Lawson's Diary

There’s no way to sugarcoat it, so I’m just going to say it: the past few days have been totally awesome.

For starters, the Retro Toy Fair was a blast---my room at Ted’s house finally has some stuff on the shelves that actually looks like it belongs there! The Lollypop Doll is as cool as I remember, and all the other toys I got are pretty epic in their own way…

…but there was one rather interesting doll that definitely outshone the rest.

Actually, I take that back; calling Sophia Starlet a doll is a gross understatement. Yes, she’s essentially a walking, talking, life-sized version of the original Sophia Starlet doll, but that’s just part of what makes her so cool. Her backstory is sort of tragic---she was built to honor the dying wishes of a high-school graduate who was a big fan of the original cartoon series (long story---I’ll probably explain it later)---but she’s definitely one of the coolest gynoids I’ve ever met.

Considering who else I met this weekend, that’s definitely a plus.

I’ve mentioned Victor Vega in this journal before (especially after all the crap I had to deal with in that mission from two weeks ago), but I now know how much of a lowlife he really is. One of his stupid helicopters crashed into the stage at Sophia’s concert earlier today, and some android cop was strapped in behind the controls when it slammed into the pavement. Worse, Victor sent a gangsta-rap gynoid named Brittney Delacroix to take down Sophia twice---and I stopped her both times, at the cost of Alicia losing one of her bodies (another long story) and some minor property damage at Santana Row. Ted’s footing the bill for this one, seeing how it wasn’t actually me that broke anything, but still….

The final interesting person I met was Anton Malvineous, the head of M-G Cybernetics---which is extra cool because he’s a dead-ringer for Lawrence Gowan! Anyways, Anton scheduled an interview for me regarding an internship at M-G Cybernetics next week, and I’m not missing it for anything; Anton himself told me that a job like this would definitely benefit my ALPA career, and I’m not going to pass up an opportunity like that!

Both Anton and Sophia will be joining Ted and I for Thanksgiving this Thursday; hopefully, they won’t have to see any reenactments of last year’s “epic” kitchen fire (Ted’s still banned from using the oven, by the way).

Until next time,
V.I.C.I./Vicki Lawson ----------------------------------
Thanksgiving may be just around the corner for Vicki Lawson…but come December, she might just find herself in over her head!

Silicon Dynamics Manufacturing and Supply LLC, a robotics company specializing in pleasure droids, has entered talks with Dreamland---the exclusive dating service that pairs clients up with gynoids and/or androids---to test out some of their newest products. As Christmas draws near, the calls stop coming, and Claudia---finally ready to resume running Dreamland---is getting worried. Even worse, two busloads of investigators have been sent to the Silicon Dynamics facility…and none of them have returned.

With the support of Claudia and Mr. Tell---and a few new toys from General Hardcastle---V.I.C.I.’s going to have to pull off her best Solid Snake impression to accomplish her mission---get into the facility, rescue the investigators, and find out just what the hell is going on at Silicon Dynamics. Will she find out what’s been going on, or will this fission get mailed---wait, that’s not right….

ANYWAY, stay tuned for the EPIC next chapter of The V.I.C.I. Diaries, “MGV: Metal Gear Vicki”, coming this July to Fembot Central!
</div>
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[[Stories|Back to the story archive]]

[[Category:DukeNukem 2417]]
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Built]]
[[Category:Covert]]

File:48650566 p0.jpg

2015-06-19T00:32:26Z

Darkbutflashy:

Transscript
あ。。。あのカード忘れたん整備代をパンツで支払ってもイイで

ツケでいいですよ

File talk:DR-500 G 1 Blank Ex R.png

2015-05-13T15:26:47Z

Darkbutflashy:

How well does this work? I took an outfit from a completely different character sprite and applied it to this one. --[[User:The Liar|The Liar]] 08:00, 13 May 2015 (PDT)
:Pretty well, but is the different behaviour of the right and left edge of her panty intented? If not, try the smear tool with a big soft brush to change the outline of the panty to match her hips. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 08:26, 13 May 2015 (PDT)

File:Test 1.png

2015-04-16T00:16:23Z

Darkbutflashy:

Trying new drawing program

:Looks very good. Lovely. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 17:16, 15 April 2015 (PDT)

File:47478718 p0.jpg

2015-02-05T16:18:05Z

Darkbutflashy:

Transcription
オイル代くれにらー晩好きにしていいヨ
Roughly translates as
[I have to think about] my oil bill just because we had so good sex this evening

Feel free to correct if you know better. -- [[User:Darkbutflashy|Darkbutflashy]] 08:18, 5 February 2015 (PST)

FembotWiki - User contributions [en]

File:Future female character alignment chart.jpg

3.00 - Wounds, Old and New

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

2.83 - Code Play

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2.67 - Hungry Like the (ObjectLabel not found)

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2.50 - A Tender Spot

2.17 - Look On My Works

2.33 - Full Documentation

Gallery/Ultraman Ginga S one zero

Gallery

Gallery

Silkscreen

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

2.00 - Under New Management

2.17 - Look On My Works

2.00 - Under New Management

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械 綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

Science Ethics

Science Ethics

Stories/Darkbutflashy

Stories

Stories/Battery

Science Ethics

Dyson Family Values

Dyson Family Values

Dyson Family Values

Virus Alert

1.75 - Running Late

1.50 - Mindless Fun

1.50 - Mindless Fun

1.25 - Prog Rock

1.25 - Prog Rock

1.00 - A Visit from Campus IT

ShowStopper

File:48650566 p0.jpg

File talk:DR-500 G 1 Blank Ex R.png

File:Test 1.png

File:47478718 p0.jpg

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Things To Remember

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/First Encounter of another Kind

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Interlude

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready

戦闘機械綾子 - Battlemachine Ayako/Rough'n'Ready