The Co-Star

The Co-Star & The Audition

The Co-Star

Will sat across from the newest member of the cast, still trying to work out who she might be. It didn’t matter that the cameras were rolling – according to the script, this café was the first place his character had met hers, and ‘Ted Harden the trillionaire playboy you loved to hate’ would just as curious as he was.

She was a shockingly gorgeous woman, Asian, with milk-white, flawless skin and dark, inviting eyes. Her red petal lips were held in a shy half-smile, her glossy black hair brushing her shoulders as she coyly looked down at her coffee before meeting his gaze once more. If the role of a coquettish geisha for an Asian actress seemed hackneyed to him even by the dwindling standards of this long-running show, he couldn’t imagine what she must be thinking – but she was still playing it to the hilt. When her smile broadened to reveal a row of perfect white teeth, Will realized he had missed his cue.

“Don’t be nervous,” he said magnanimously, “This isn’t an interrogation, just a… chance for us to get to know one another.” With skill he attributed to years of stagecraft, he did not pull a face when he took a sip of his burnt coffee. “And I’d like you to see that I’m not the villain the stories make me out to be.”

“I place no faith in rumors, Mr. Harden,” she said playfully, her words decorated by a faint accent.

“Please,” he responded, flashing a wolfish grin. “Call me Ted.”

“Of course… Ted,” she cooed, leaning back in her chair. Her white sweater over black leggings was further evidence that wardrobe was locked in the twenty-tens, but with anatomy like hers Will imagined she could make a trash bag look fashion forward. Despite the thickness of the sweater it did little to hide her stupendous bust, and he found his mind wandering once more. Why had the producers been so cagey about introducing her to him, the star of this damn show? Was she someone’s wife? Mistress? He realized he had missed another cue. “You haven’t touched your coffee,” he ad-libbed, trying to refocus.

The improvised line apparently threw her for a loop, and while she maintained her smile, it now seemed artificial. She raised her steaming cup haltingly, her eyes glassy and empty.

“She’ll fry her circuits!” cried a voice from the crew.

“Cut! Cut!” the director shouted, rushing to the table. “Kimiko – put the coffee down!”

As she complied her face recovered its more natural expression, and Will turned to the director in disbelief. “A robot? Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“You weren’t supposed to find out yet…” he muttered before asking the crew, “She OK?”

“She’s green,” answered one of the techs. “But if you’re gonna have her drink anything, it needs to below one-seventy-“

“That wasn’t in the script,” the director sighed, looking at Will.

Will pushed away from the table. “You know that by casting a robot you’re violating Guild law, right?”

“Not if the actroid is playing a robot!” corrected the pedantic line-producer.

It took a moment for Will to process what he was hearing. “So Kimiko, the defector from the rival pharma company, is inexplicably a robot.”

“Twist?” offered one of the writers.

Will ground his teeth. “And you thought I would be too dumb to notice what she was?”

“You gotta admit,” the director said, patting Kimiko’s head while she smiled pleasantly, “she had you fooled.” He paused, “Actually, we’re really gonna need you to admit she had you fooled. With your testimonial we get a huge discount, and our new starlet here does not come cheap!”

Will massaged his temples and stalked toward the break room, muttering, “This fucking show...”

“Alright everybody, take twenty,” the director shouted just before Will managed to slam the door behind him.

The line-producer approached the director, tapping her tablet. Before she could say anything, he tried to head her off with, “We’ll get Roger to endorse her.”

“Roger’s not the star of the show”, the assistant said tersely. “Plus he’s an idiot. Either we get Mr. Leading Tantrum to say he couldn’t tell she was an actroid or we crate her up and ship her back to-”

“You can’t!” the director barked, then winced at his own outburst.

The line-producer’s face paled. “Phil, you didn’t… did you?” She lowered her voice, but the anger was still plain. “Did you void her return policy!?”

“C’mon Angie, she was fucking built for it!” pleaded the director. “Look, it doesn’t matter… Will’s gonna give that testimonial.”

“You had better hope so,” the line-producer said evenly, walking away to undoubtedly draft the email that would end the director’s career.

“Alright!” the director exclaimed with forced enthusiasm and turning to the still smiling Kimiko. “You need to go into that break room and show Will just how ‘human’ you can be. Look, I don’t care what he asks you to do, what… ‘protocols’ or whatever he violates, just so long as he comes out of there singing your praises. OK?”

“OK!” Kimiko said with a sly giggle. Standing from the table, she straightened her sweater and strode confidently toward to the break room.

---

Will turned at the sound of the door opening, expecting Phil armed with a non-apology – instead, he saw the actroid wearing that same coy smile. She leaned back against the door, pushing it shut before crossing her shapely legs, her weight on the heel of one of her fur-lined calf-high boots.

“Oh – it’s you,” muttered Will, downing his third scotch of the morning.

“Yes… it’s me,” she said, tapping the toe of her boot. Will hated to admit it, but whoever had put her together had done an amazing job. The public had laughed when the Screen Actors Guild launched its all-out PR war against robotic actors. Nobody believed one of those stiff, awkward, plastic-and-rubber automatons would be a threat to flesh-and-blood actors, but the Guild understood it was only a matter of time. Today, Will felt like he was staring at the inevitable end of his career – and the fact she was excruciatingly hot didn’t make it any better.

“Why are you here,” he asked, pouring himself another drink.

“I want to show you that you were not a fool to mistake me for human.” A hand slipped behind her back and he heard the lock click. As she stepped forward, her curvy hips ticked side-to-side in her slow advance. Will hated the way she seemed to take his desire for her for granted, her smile seeming more smug than coy. Of course, robot or no, he did find her intensely desirable… but this was about principles!

“I’ll give you that you’re the most convincing bundle of circuits I’ve seen… but the reason they kept you from me is that they knew you couldn’t pass under any real scrutiny.”

“Oh?” she asked, reaching out to take his drink from him, setting it aside as she leaned in closer. “I think I can be pretty convincing…”

He put a hand on her chest to keep her at arm’s length, the cushion of her bust squeezing tantalizingly against his palm. Those former ‘principles’ suddenly seemed far less important, but he still pushed her back and said, “You couldn’t drink that coffee.”

That vapid, glass-eyed smile returned as she stared at nothing for a moment. Recovering, she took the wrist of the hand that held her at bay and urged his hand further against her sweater and the lush breasts beneath. “Coffee isn’t important…”

“Sorry doll, but coffee seems to be all I can think about!” He pushed past her and punched in his usual on the break-room’s dispenser, then ordered a second. When she was at his side again, he pressed the coffee into her hands.

“To actors,” he said, ‘clinking’ his cup against hers. He took a large sip of the steaming freeze-dried swill, breathed a satisfied sigh, then looked at her expectantly. “Your turn.”

She glanced between him and the cup before finally bringing it to her lips. He was surprised when she tilted the cup and downed the entire thing, mimicked his sigh, then tossed the cup over her shoulder. “Satisfied?” she asked playfully.

Will wasn’t exactly certain what he expected to happen by having her drink, but he expected it to be more than ‘nothing.’ He was wondering what his next move would be when he noticed wisps of smoke rising from beneath her sweater.

“Oh… it’s very… warm in here…” she sighed, pulling off her sweater and revealing a lace camisole stretched taught by a pair of cream-colored breasts. With a mechanical click, vents opened on her décolletage and the white smoke began to thin.

Will shook his head disapprovingly. “Those vents – not very human of you.”

“O…oh,” she said, and they slid shut. Something inside her spun up to a high-pitched whine.

Will flopped into one of the padded break-room chairs and sipped at his coffee. “Tell me about your very human hobbies, Kimiko.”

“My ho… my hobbies?” she asked, smoke beginning to seep from lips no longer pressed into that shy smile of hers.

“Sure – what do you do when you’re not pretending to be a robot who’s pretending to be a human?”

She walked toward him, her hips still swinging but her balance unsteady. She cautiously put one knee on either armrest, easing her waist down above his lap, her breasts at his eye level. “I… I-I like swimming...” As she swayed in front of him, he couldn’t resist reaching to remove her camisole, and she lifted her slender arms as he pulled it free, her tits jostling in their white-lace bra. “Swimming at the b-beach…” she repeated, leaning forward to introduce Will’s face to her cleavage.

“Why is that your hobby?” Will asked, stopping her once more.

“What-t-t?” she stammered, her knees slipping between the armrests, her hips bouncing into his lap. Heat coursed from her waist and chest, and Will observed that her flawless skin was also bone-dry.

“Swimming – why do you like it? “

“I… I-I am neutrally buoyant,” she managed, her hands fumbling ineffectually at the waist of her leggings.

“Very persuasive,” Will chuckled. “And since you got here, how many times have you taken a swim?”

“Z-zero,” she whined, grabbing his head and burying his face in her tits. He allowed himself a quick nuzzle, taking in her floral perfume and marveling how tremendously real they felt.

Managing to pull himself away, he said, “If you haven’t done it, you can’t really call it a hobby, can you? That’s not an interest you have, that’s programming. Not very convincing.” She gave a groan in protest and fell back with her head listing to one side, twitching, while her eyes fluttered behind a veil of white smoke. Suddenly she seized one of his wrists, slapping his hand across her shapely backside. He obliged her with a squeeze, the sheer fabric of her leggings taught and smooth over her firm posterior, and she recovered slightly, smiling once more. “H-help me out-t of these and I’ll show you h-how c-convincing I am.”

“Alright, assume we ignore any hobbies or interests of yours beyond the realm of fucking…”

She nodded urgently, eyes clenched shut, biting her lip as she still struggled to slide her waistband over her rump.

“Even within these constraints-” he ran a finger along the cup of her bra, teasing her stiff nipple to solicit a delighted squeal. “-you’re still not convincing me. You’re hot to the touch, panting like you’re in heat, but you haven’t even broken a sweat?”

“Ahhh… ahh… fluids reserved for in-t-terior liquid c-cooling… ahhh!”

“Exactly what a human might say. By the way, you can detect sarcasm, right?”

“Nnngh!” she groaned in protest, and her exposed skin was quickly covered in a wet sheen. Her bra was quickly soaked as rivulets ran down the valley of her trembling cleavage.

“I’m impressed!” Will said, and pulled down her leggings, his hands sensing even greater warmth coming from her sweat-drenched synthetic flesh as she kicked and stretched to lose her boots, then the leggings themselves. She ground her soft haunches against his lap, and his hands returned to her posterior. One hand slid between her cheeks and along the fabric trail of her thong, stopping just before her heat-flushed sex.

“Yes…” she pleaded. The top of her head was nearly invisible behind the cloud of white steaming from her mouth, nostrils, and ears.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me,” Will grunted, slipping his fingers inside of her.

She squealed again, her body trembling as she cried, “S-sing my p-p-praises!”

“Of course, that was sarcasm,” he amended, still working her increasingly overheated sex.

“I-I w-what?” Through the smoke he just barely read her face scrunched in confusion.

“Or maybe that was sarcasm?”

Suddenly her body became very rigid, her pitch elevated. “Warning, th-this unit-t-t is s-s-suffering from mmmultiple ohhhh! Ahh!”

“No wait, that one there was definitely sarcasm,” he said sarcastically, his fingers moving even faster.

Her legs tightened against him as she squealed, “Th-this unit c-c-context errrorrrr c-c-cannot determinnnne c-c-coffee s-s-swimming humannnnn fluid overheat core overheat core praises ahhhh!” She fell forward, her wet breasts splashing against his face. “Warning error overheat hob-b-bies sex sex sex I am convincing sing singgggg myyyyy ahhhhh!” He felt a wash of heat from her and a sudden surge shook her entire torso, something inside her breasts humming madly before her body seized up completely. With a long, lingering sigh, her components audibly spun down, and she slumped against him, her floral perfume mixed with the smell of burnt electronics.

After taking a moment to once again savor the defunct robot’s exquisite rack that buried his face, Will pushed her aside and noticed that her head was now hanging behind her back, connected by a thick bundle of cables. Seeing her like this made it hard for him to think of her as a threat to his career, and began to wonder if she might be repaired.

Leaving the break room, he saw the set was nearly empty save for one anxious-looking director. Will waved him over and said, “I’ve got good news and bad news, Phil. The good news is that I’m no longer mad at you for this escapade of yours, and I think I’m ready to work with an actroid.”

The director looked at him suspiciously, then past him, his eyes widening in shock.

“The bad news is-“

“I am in n-n-need-d of servicing,” an electronic voice called, and Will turned to see Kimiko staggering from the break-room, her face fixed with a serene smile, her head slightly askew on her neck.

“Kimi-baby, what happened?” the director gasped, stepping away from the sparking actroid.

“He s-sang my p-praises,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss Will on the cheek, then succumbed to an electrical twinge. “Un-l-l-less that was s-sarcasm?”

After careful consideration, Will took her by the wrist and pulled her back toward the break room. “That testimonial you wanted? I think I’m gonna go give it to Kimiko directly.” He pulled her close, adding, “In earnest.” The door shut once more, followed by the clicking of the lock.

Part two - The Audition

The luxurious female voice of Will’s new and conspicuously expensive car announced they had arrived at the Network’s studio tower. Stepping out into the warm evening air, he passed the night guard at the security desk who provided him with her customary nod, and he was soon racing to his show’s floor in one of the building’s fast, near-silent elevators.

The floor was abandoned – but that was to be expected at this hour. He moved through the halls into the tech room where Kimiko, a voluptuous Asian beauty, sat in the corner with her eyes closed, hands neatly on her lap, a power cord extending from her neck. She had been the source of a great deal of controversy surrounding the show, the Guild’s laws against robotic actors, and Will himself. The producers were compliant with the letter of Guild law since the character she portrayed was a robot (if secretly in the context of the show), but this did little to alter the Guild’s outcry when it was revealed what Kimiko truly was. And Will, as the show’s headliner (and someone who had not been shy about endorsing Kimiko and her manufacturer), had also borne most of the Guild’s reprisal.

But in his favor, the show’s ratings were the highest they had been in its entire history, in no small part due to the controversy; but viewers were also intrigued by the apparent ‘chemistry’ between Will and Kimiko. He was able to negotiate a healthy bonus, and while he doubted he would be doing much acting once the show had been run into the ground, he was quite content with his current lot. And after all, if he left now or sided with the Guild in their insistence that Kimiko be taken off the show, he would lose access to his favorite toy.

He stood before her, quietly admiring her unnatural beauty. Having been around her for months, he had picked up on subtle quirks and flaws in her design that made her artificial nature obvious to him: her predictable ‘idle behavior’ when she was left to her own, the too-perfect symmetry of her face, the evenness of her pristine teeth, the unusual pertness of her large breasts... But these observations only made her more appealing, and he found himself returning to the studio after hours almost every night.

Tonight she was dressed in a simple business jacket and skirt, her character’s office attire, but her astounding figure made it seem rather risqué. Her dark skirt hugged her broad hips and sensuously curving thighs, the modest neckline of her simple white blouse was ever-threatened by her full, ripe bust. Their last after-hours activities resulted in her covered in whipped cream with her head blown off, and the techs had given him a particularly strict warning against subjecting her software to ‘undue duress’. And while he had intended to moderate tonight’s play with her, something in the way she sat there with a slight smile teasing across her red lips made him forget any promises he had made to the beleaguered support staff.

“Kimiko,” he began, “turn-” Before he could finish the activation command, she had already opened her dark eyes, her smile blossoming.

“Good evening, Will,” she purred with her faint accent. “I’ve been waiting.”

“Have you?” he said, slightly amused. It was unusual for her to take any sort of initiative in conversation, no matter how banal, and he was interested to see how this would play out with what he had planned for her. “Well, you only need to wait a little longer. Go to my bedroom set, take off your clothes and fold them neatly on the table. Then wait for me on the couch.”

She gave a sly smile, pulled the plug from her neck, and with an emphasised swing of her hips, she walked out of the room. Will blew out a wistful sigh and began his preparations.

---

Kimiko was riding him wildly, her face scrunched in pleasure, every inch of her body sweat-slicked and trembling from apparent exertion. She was enthusiastic and even strangely desperate in her lovemaking tonight, as if she had been starving for him to be inside of her, his hands roughly caressing her succulent figure as their hips slapped in a frantic rhythm.

“Kimiko,” he breathed with a smile, “shut down.”

Her eyes opened in apparent surprise at the sudden command before she shuddered, gave a droning sigh, and came to rest still straddling him, her head drooping low. As the quiet machinery in her powered down, Will traced the curve of her round hips, circling the pink areola at the tip of her full breasts, pressing the red-shaded swell of her lower lip that hung slightly open. He slid out from beneath her and she settled on her haunches with a faint hiss from some internal mechanism, automatically leaning forward to supporting herself with her palms.

Will crossed the room and slipped into his bed, taking a paper book from his nightstand. Making himself comfortable, he opened the book to a random chapter and pretended to read. “Kimiko,” he said absently. “Turn on.”

A low moan from her quickly rose in pitch to resume her cries of pleasure, bouncing in place for several seconds before she realized Will was no longer beneath her. She looked up amidst heavy breathing, her confusion easily apparent.

“Something wrong, Kimiko?” Will asked, turning a page in his book.

She blinked repeatedly, shaking her head. “I… I seem to be suffering from-”

“Come over here,” he interrupted, patting the bed. She slid from the couch and crossed the room with a seductive smile, her creamy thighs gliding past each other during her slow advance. She eased herself on to the large bed, crawling toward him on all fours as her smile drew wider, her plump breasts jostling with each deliberate movement.

“Kimiko,” Will said plainly just before she was upon him, “shut down.”

Surprise overtook her face once more, her mouth agape, her eyes fluttering. She seemed to meet this command with more resistance than before, but in the end her twitching head slumped forward, her body now frozen on her hands and knees.

Will tossed the book aside and moved around her, his hand sliding along her perfect skin, squeezing the plush cushioning of her backside. “Kimiko,” he said, removing his hands and positioning himself just behind her. “Turn on.”

Her body trembled amidst the slight noises of her machinery coming back online. Her head twitched back and forth, then snapped up. “Will?” she asked in confusion, looking at the empty bed in front of her. Her head gave a tiny shake. “I-I s-s-ssseeem t-to be suffering a slight-t-t-” He entered her from behind, his rock-hard member gliding into her artificial sex, and her voice caught: “aaaa slight-t-t mallllfunction-nnnnn” Her body lurched, pitching forward and then abruptly snapping back against him, her derriere slapping against his hips, driving his member deep inside of her as she emitted a clipped gasp of pleasure.

Again her body wavered awkwardly away from him before it sprang forcefully back as she continued her asymmetrical rhythm. Her supple legs tensed, artificial musculature tightening beneath her white porcelain skin. She began making the distinctive sharp, eager gasps that always preceded her climax, and Will’s hand dropped with the intention of helping her along. His fingers brushed against the bottom of her right foot, a gesture that he discovered would light her fuse to such an alarming degree that it had to be some sort of glitch. Her toes curled inward, trembling, her panting gasps becoming increasingly desperate.

“Kimiko,” he said as evenly as he could, “Shut down.”

Her escalating cries became plaintive, her head thrashing side to side. “Nnnnot yyeet-t-t-t!” She cried. “Nnnoooot…t…..” again she froze, her arms and legs tensed, her back arched. Will sat her up on the bed and despite being shut down, her body cooperated by lowering her legs to meet the floor, her hands steadying herself on either side of her. He gathered her neatly folded clothes and began to dress her, considering for a moment how much effort he was expending on this. Disregarding further speculation on what that might mean, he scooped the now dressed form of Kimiko in his arms and carried her down the hall.

---

After turning on the set lights for the café, Will joined the still-powered down form of Kimiko at the table. “Turn on,” he said casually, then realized he had forgotten to direct the command to her. But before he could repeat the command prefaced with her name, she stirred to life, squirming in her seat while her deep groans quickly became higher and more frequent.

“Kimiko, you’re acting rather peculiar,” Will offered.

Her eyes opened and took in the set, and she immediately attempted to stifle her mounting cries and settle in her chair. Her hands clenched her seat, her stocking-covered knees clamping together, the undulation of her hips grinding to a near-halt.

“Which… ahhh… which s-s-scene are we shooting?” she asked in a desperate whisper, her thighs trembling as she tried to straighten herself, then emitted another barely-contained squeal of pleasure, sweat beading across her pretty face.

“What has gotten in to you?” Will asked, feigning concern.

“I-I-I d-do nnnot nnngh! I do nnnnot-t-t-t ohhhh! I ahhh! I! I!!!” She lost all composure, bending forward, legs yawning apart, one hand clutching at her ripe bosom, the other sandwiched between her thighs. As she howled, vents opened at her chest, fans whirring audibly as her body shuddered with release.

“Kimiko, shut down,” Will said quietly, and with an arresting lurch and a droning cry, she fell forward. Her head thudded against the café table, her body now perched precariously at the edge of her seat as the fans throughout her interior were still audibly venting heat. Will carried her to the nearby office set, hurriedly posing her in her chair and queuing up a video on her screen.

He took up a position beneath her desk and gave the command, “Kimiko, turn on.” Her saw her shift slightly, giving a sultry moan as she took notice of her screen – while she adjusted herself, he noticed her head seemed to be stuck, cocked slightly to one side.

“We need to talk,” the video of Will said gravely, recreating the call from a scene they had shot last week.

“It’s g-g-good to see you, Mr. Harden,” she replied, easily settling in to the old script. She had managed to arrest most of the lingering sighs, shudders, and confusion from her prior activation, though the whining fans within her gave no sign of slowing.

“I’ve been following up on your history with Tadashi Pharmaceutical,” the video continued, “and there’s a few questions that have come up.”

“Oh?” she asked innocently.

“For starters – where did you work before? Because we could find no record of-”

As the video played on, Will gently slid his hands inside her dark skirt and slipped off her stockings, then her panties. Aside from an electric tremor along her legs, Kimiko seemed to take no notice, responding only to the video, “Did you have a specific q-q-question, Mr. Hard-den?”

“Yes,” the video replied. “What is it that you’re not telling us?”

Clutching her rump, Will urged her to the edge of her seat while her legs automatically parted. As he leaned in to her, he caught a glimpse of her looking down in confusion. “Will?” She looked back up at the screen. “T-t-ted? But you are – we are – are you – what scene are we a-a-are weee-”

Will approached her sex gingerly, knowing this would likely put an end to the evening’s fun until he could have her repaired. “I-I-I d-do not underrrrstand I-I-I do nnnot-t-t I-I-Iahhhhh!” A series of electrical popping sounds went off like a string of firecrackers, accompanied by the whining of straining machinery, and he realized that despite his attempted caution, it had proven too much for her overtaxed processors. Pulling back from her lap, Will saw her staring upward with a vacant expression, smoke wisping from her parted lips and opened vents, her neck still kinked at an odd angle, her arms locked in unnatural, bent positions at her sides.

Will pushed her wheeled chair away and crawled from under her desk, taking a seat on the rug in front of his frozen robotic co-star. “Looks like I’ve found another bug in your software,” Will said to himself with a smirk. “You know, you’d think your tech team would be grateful for the job security I’ve been provid-”

With an abrupt whining of machinery, Kimiko stood up and bowled stiffly in to him, knocking Will on to his back. She was unusually aggressive in her movements, and the moment Will recovered he barked the command, “Kimiko! Shut d-” his sentence was cut off as she performed a stiff half pirouette and promptly sat on his face.

She jerked slightly in place, each attempt to move her arms yielding only a straining mechanical whine. She then shifted, and he felt her using her heels to slide off his pants before delicately clasping his cock between her feet. He hefted her ass from his face and just as he was about to order her to shut down when she began working his manhood with a smooth, precise motion that took his breath away.

“Surrrrprised-d-d, Mister Hard-d-den?” she stammered, the delicate motion of her legs and feet unimpaired by the spasms running through her upper body. “As a ro-ro-ro-b-b-bot, I am capable of thingsss a human could neverrrrAhhhhh!” Will felt overwhelmed, pleasure coursing through him as he followed an animalistic urge and sank his teeth into the synthetic porcelain flesh of her gorgeous backside. She lost control, her feet releasing his surging manhood, her cries losing out to a burst of corrupted audio that modulated wildly when his hand clawed at her full breasts, her soft excesses coursing with heat and tinged with electricity. She kicked and writhed on top of him, her wild gyrations finally tipping her over. She fell beside him with a heavy thud, smoke and steam pouring from her pale, half-clothed form. He noticed the teeth-marks marring her otherwise flawless rump, and wondered how he was going to explain that particular detail to the techs.

“Mmmmm…” she cooed, stiffly rolling on to her back, her head wrenching to the side to look at him. One iris was locked in the corner of her eye, the other half-lidded and hazy, a better match for her soft smile. “The tech team may not appreciate your effortssszzzz,” she sighed, “but I ce-ce-certainly do.”

Will was surprised to see her still functioning, and wasn’t sure how to take her apparent gratitude. “Yeah…” A pause. “Is there… can I… if you need help-“

“Thanks to a recent update, I have expanded self-repair capabilities. And any components I am unable to fix should be left to li-licensed technicians.” She brushed his leg with her toes. “Your talents lie elsewhere…”

This behavior, her awareness and apparent ‘appreciation’ for their semi-nightly ritual was new. It made him uncomfortable, though he could not say why, and found himself rising to his feet. “I’ll leave you to it,” he muttered, pulling on his clothes and walking off the set.

Will wandered the deserted studio floor aimlessly, trying to understand why this new behavior from her was causing him such trouble. After only succeeding in frustrating himself further, he headed toward the cargo elevator, planning on taking it directly to the garage where his car would have parked itself. But just as he arrived in the loading area, he was stopped by an enormous wooden crate. It was roughly the same size as another he had seen previously and been told to disregard. That crate, as it turned out, had been Kimiko’s.

The stamped logo on this crate, Système Genèse, was not Kimiko’s manufacturer and he found himself taken with an insatiable curiosity. After a long and fruitless search for a crowbar, he finally managed to prise the lid up after tedious exertion with a screwdriver. Inside, nestled amidst packing foam, was a smooth, coffin-sized white capsule with a note affixed to the top. He removed the note and cool blue text appeared beneath the capsule’s pristine surface.

Preparing Eva…

Opening the note, he saw a single handwritten phrase: Your viewers won’t know the difference.

The capsule played a cheerful tune as the lid retracted, light spilling out from within.

The Audition pt. 2

Will stood in shocked silence, watching as the capsule’s retracting lid revealed the form of a sleeping woman. He corrected himself – a powered-down robot. He was alerted to this fact not just due to her being shipped in a crate to the studio, but also because her skin was an unnatural eggshell white. She was completely bald and had a pretty face, her features serene and delicate while she ‘slept’ quietly. She wore a casually fitting grey jumpsuit and in her hands was a tablet glowing with the Système Genèse logo.

Her eyes snapped open, each pools of a soft, radiant blue. “Good evening, William,” she said in an even tone, her voice tinged with a slight reverberation in case he was still uncertain of her mechanical nature. “I am Eva.” Still lying on her back, she extended her arms to offer him the tablet.

He accepted it, but never took his eyes off of her as she nimbly extracted herself from her container to stand before him. He wondered at the bundle of cables and tubing leading from between her shoulder blades back into the capsule.

“The tablet you hold explains both my basic operation and advanced features,” she said, causing him to glance down at the screen that was now displaying some sort of ‘Terms and Conditions’.

Absently scrolling past the legalese, he asked her, “What are you doing here, Eva?”

“Awaiting your command,” she said. “The tablet you hold-“

He blindly thumbed ‘accept’ on the screen and the dense contract faded, replaced by some flashy introductory text he promptly ignored. “No, I mean – who sent you? Did the network order you?”

“I am here on a complimentary trial basis, courtesy of Système Genèse. We believe you will find my capabilities far eclipse those of your current Benzaiten Electric model, Kimiko.” There was no malice or hubris in her voice, but the words still got a rise out of him.

“We’ve got enough problems with one robot on the show. And, more to the point – you don’t even look human.”

She gestured toward the tablet and he looked down to see a series of headshots, a somewhat ethnically diverse series of pretty women that seemed… familiar. He tapped on a smiling redhead for more information when he heard a sudden humming sound.

Looking up, he saw Eva ‘shifting.’ Shimmering red hair sprouted from her head, lengthening past her shoulders in a slow, auburn cascade. Her complexion warmed to a healthy pink while her face became that of a beaming blue-eyed young woman, her red lips wide in an enthusiastic smile. Her jumpsuit smoothed slightly across an expanding bust, and he thought she had perhaps brown an inch or two. The humming went quiet, the tubing at her back that had been quivering with activity fell slack, and she put her hand on her hip, shifting her weight from to one side, then the other.

“Well?” she said with a wry smile, her formerly dispassionate robotic voice now sweet and playful. “What do you think?”

“That’s… wow,” he said dumbly. “Who are you supposed to be?” The familiarity of the selection of women on the tablet still nagged at him.

“This semblance is not meant to represent any specific individual, but is rather for demonstrative purposes.”

Will tapped another portrait, a middle-eastern woman with her dark hair in a long braid. Again there was a mechanical hum and Eva shifted, her skin darkening to an olive complexion, her eyes now hazel and almond-shaped, her hair a glossy black and in the same braid as pictured. Her formerly loose-fitting jumpsuit grew more contoured as her hips and bust swelled. After the machinery went quiet, there was a pause with Eva staring blankly ahead. A moment later, she recovered her smile and gave him a wink. “The possibilities are endless,” she said, her voice huskier, more sensual. “The Réplique system allows-“

He hit another portrait, this one of a Native American woman. Eva was cut off as the machinery started once more, her hair released from its bubble-braid to hang straight, her complexion growing warmer. She grew by several inches, and the jumpsuit now fit her quite snugly, copper-hued cleavage visible behind the suit’s zipper pull. Once the transformation was complete, her newly configured face remained frozen. He wondered whether he had broken her with the abrupt transformation when she finally reanimated, fixing him with a cool smile.

“My software allows for unparalleled versatility,” she said in a deep, assured voice. “Why not try configuring me for-“

“And you’re meant to replace Kimiko?” he asked.

“With my capabilities, she would be redundant,” she said flatly.

Will wasn’t certain what he thought about this. “You know… she does more than just act on this show.”

She raised an eyebrow and stepped toward him. “Système Genèse has manufactured me to be superior to Kimiko in every regard.” She placed her toned arms around his neck, her rather heady perfume failing to completely mask what he could only describe as a ‘new car smell.’ “Why not try for yourself?” she sighed, her dark eyes closing, her pink lips parting as she leaned forward.

“Let’s see it,” Will said, pulling away. “I want your best ‘Kimiko’.”

Eva pursed her lips and stepped back, arms returning to her sides. Once more the machinery hummed to life; her skin paled, her height diminished, her features shifted subtly, her hair retracted and took on a glossy sheen. By the time the engine had stopped, he was astonished at the perfect replica standing before him – every detail, every dimple, the faint dusting of freckles, her smile…

“Are you convinced?” she asked with Kimiko’s voice, Kimiko’s accent.

“No.” The voice came from behind him – turning, he saw Kimiko. She was dressed as he had left her, her blouse opened with her breasts half revealed, her suit jacket rumpled, her waist and legs bare. As she strode past Will to meet her twin, he noticed that while her self-repair had evidently been quite successful, the bite-marks on the exposed flesh of her buttock remained.

“My programming allows me to wholly assume a role,” Kimiko – the original Kimiko – began, “enhancing it with speech patterns, quirks, and mannerisms procedurally generated based upon all character information provided. These characteristics are tuned according to explicit and perceived feedback from the director and human actors, making the character I portray unique and perfectly adapted to any production. You do not have access to the foundation that informs the character of Kimiko’s actions –you would be seen as an imposter.”

Eva smiled, turning to Will. “Rather than explain why she is wrong, I propose a simple test: we each perform in a series of scenes with Will and ask him to identify which Kimiko is the original. Assuming he cannot-“

“If he cannot,” the original Kimiko interrupted, “Then you are everything you claim to be, and I am truly redundant. Otherwise, you must concede your own shortcomings and return to your manufacturer.”

“Of course,” Eva said without losing her smile.

“Hold on,” Will said, uncertain of what was just agreed to. “Neither of you has the authority-“

“We are determining if what this robot claims is true, then committing to the logical response,” Kimiko said plainly. Turning to Eva, she added, “Follow me to wardrobe; we shall meet Will at the boardroom set in approximately five minutes.”

As the two identical robots left the loading area, Will found his curiosity piqued. He ventured to the set, took a seat at the head of the table, and waited.

---

The twin Kimikos entered the set together, each dressed in a form-fitting business skirt and jacket. The only distinction between the two was the colour of their suits, one grey, one black.

“Alright,” Will began. “How does this work?”

“We each perform the same scene,” the one in black said. “In this case, when Kimiko made her presentation to your board.”

“Without a teleprompter?” Will said, his own recollection of the scene very hazy.

“Improvise if necessary,” said the one in grey.

Will smiled. This is going to be even easier than I thought. His very first scene with Kimiko had been quite noteworthy due to her inability to go off-script – assuming Eva had any capacity at all for improvisation, he would only need to note which of the two couldn’t manage any unexpected dialogue.

“After witnessing both performances,” continued grey, “you will identify which of us you believe to be the original Kimiko. If you are correct, we will repeat this to control for random chance. If incorrect, the test ends.”

Will reclined in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. “Let’s get started.”

The two left and after a brief pause, grey reentered. “Hello Mr. Harden,” she said with Kimiko’s implacable politeness. “I hope I’m not too early.”

“Not at all,” Will responded. “But there’s been a change of plans.”

“Oh?” A hint of concern in her voice.

“Forget whatever it was you were going to present. Instead, I thought you might… sing me a song.”

Grey’s brow furrowed. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Your choice,” Will offered. “Anything but ‘Daisy Bell’, that’s just a little too staid.”

“Is this a joke, Mr. Harden?” grey asked with mounting apprehension.

“Thank you,” Will stated, certain that this was Eva – her reaction was precisely how he might expect the character of Kimiko to react, but the actroid would have no idea what to do with Will’s non-sequiturs. Still, he was having fun. “Send in the other one.”

Grey looked uncertain, but the one dressed in black was immediately at the door. Grey quietly took her leave and black strolled in. “Hello Mr. Harden,” she began in a carbon copy of the other’s opening words. “I hope I’m not too early.”

“Hello Kimiko, Let’s cancel the meeting and fuck like rabbits on top of this table. What do you say?”

Kimiko blinked, then her features darkened. “Mr. Harden! How could you be so… vulgar?!” She spat the words with genuine distaste. “I am disappointed to see that the rumors are true after all.”

As she turned to leave, Will was dumbstruck – where was the twitching, the glassy eyed stare? Just as she reached the door, she looked over her shoulder. “Don’t bother calling me until you’ve come up with both a very good excuse and a very good apology.” Then, she was gone.

Will was still trying to make sense of it when the twin Kimiko’s reentered, both smiling benignly.

“Have you made your choice?” asked the one in black.

He looked between them – there was no clue in either of their demeanor. “You,” he said, pointing to black, trying to project more certainty than he felt… But for whose benefit? “You’re the original.” Her smile broadened.

“As I mentioned before,” said the one in grey, unfazed, “to discount the effect of the random correct guess, which I believe this was, I shall have four more opportunities.”

“Then you shall fail four more times,” said Kimiko – his Kimiko – with a surprisingly smug expression. “Next, I propose we meet at the restaurant set.” The two left the room before Will could think of anything to say. While he didn’t believe there would be any binding outcome from this ‘test’, he nevertheless felt a bit of tension.

By the time he made his way to the restaurant, one of the Kimikos was already standing by the ‘entrance’ wearing a black evening dress that showcased her curves admirably, her hair pinned neatly, her face expertly made up. “You look beautiful tonight, Ms. Sato.”

“I would have expected a bit more effort on your part, Mr. Harden,” she teased – apparently she wasn’t going to ignore that he was a little disheveled in his current outfit. He would have considered this a dead giveaway that he was dealing with Eva had it not been for his last encounter.

“Sorry, didn’t have time to change,” he offered, gesturing for her to lead the way to their table on the deserted set. Suddenly, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Yes?” she said, curiously.

Without warning, he flipped up the hem of her dress to expose her luscious backside. “M-mister Harden!” she stammered, swatting at his hand – he ignored her, taking note that through the sheer nylon of her tights, partially obscured by the v-shaped panties tightly hugging her curves her was a bite-mark.

“It’s you,” he said firmly, furnishing her ass with an affectionate pinch. “I don’t need to see the other one.”

She relaxed, looking over her shoulder with a smile. “And that concludes our test.”

Will smiled back before the words sunk in. “Wait – concludes?” He looked at her, then around the room. The other Kimiko had stepped on to the set wearing a dazzling red dress, her eyes distant, her smile plastic.

“But… I don’t understand! That mark…”

“On my right cheek? I noticed it when we were changing and adapted accordingly,” Eva said matter-of-factly. “I am able to incorporate every aspect of Kimiko or any other-“

“Yeah, that’s great,” Will interrupted, looking at Kimiko who was still staring off into nothing. “Kimiko, this doesn’t mean you’re being replaced,” he said hurriedly, surprised at the urgent tone of his voice.

“It appears I already have been,” Kimiko said, her words devoid of emotion. “If you cannot distinguish between us, no one can.” She turned stiffly to leave. “I am certain the others will agree, Eva is the superior product.”

“Kimiko! Stop! God dammit, listen to me!”

Eva spun him to face her, wearing Kimiko’s smile. “I assure you that I am capable of filling any role she performed for you. Whatever it is you’re worried you are losing-“

“I want you to change,” Will growled.

“You will need to be more specific,” she said, still smiling.

“Anything. Just not her.”

Her smile faltered and she spoke apologetically. “Independent of my crèche I can effect small changes, such as the blemish you saw – but for bodily changes, I must be connected.”

Will had a thought. “If you were to suffer from any sort of malfunction… could the techs here repair you?”

“In the unlikely event that I need servicing beyond basic maintenance, I am afraid that any repair must be performed by Système Genèse. My complexity is far greater than models such as Kimiko-”

“Let’s get you to your crèche,” Will said, leaving the set. Obediently, Eva followed.

---

Eva pulled the cabling from her crèche, attaching it without looking to a large port that opened between her shoulder blades, exposed through the low slung back of the dress. She gave it a slight twist, then paused while a chime sounded. She scooped the tablet from the crèche and handed it to him, the display showing the array of pretty portraits. He scanned through them and took note of a few he thought might work for what he planned. “How about…” he tapped the image of a waifish, chipper, green-eyed blonde with flowing golden hair.

Eva’s figure stiffened amidst the humming and she promptly lost Kimiko’s curves, the dress now voluminous on her slender figure. Her pert but far more modest bust was visible behind the empty D-cups of her bra. Will was surprised at the torrent of blonde hair that grew from her scalp in shimmering waves, extending past her shoulders, her waist, even reaching the floor.

“That has to be a glitch,” Will muttered.

“Nope!” said Eva brightly, easily shrugging off the oversized dress that fell in a pool of silk beside the trailing ends of her hair. She took a spritely hop toward him and her hands began to coyishly tug at his shirt. “So Will – you gonna play with that tablet all night, or are you-?”

Will prodded another portrait and Eva gritted her teeth, green eyes opening wide as they became a soft brown. Her figure developed slightly, the hair withdrawing and darkening from blonde to black, until she was left with a shoulder-length ebony bob. As before, the pause after this second quick transformation was longer. “Oh my,” she finally said, her red lips pursing. “Aren’t we fickle?” Before Will could make his next selection, she slid up against him, her alabaster skin warm and yielding. As her petal-soft lips nuzzled against his neck, she snatched the tablet away from him, setting it gently on the ground.

“Hey!” he objected. “Who were you built for if not the fickle?”

In response she kissed him firmly, her hand undoing his slacks, pulling out his cock while she wriggled free of her tights and panties. As she was reaching behind herself to detach the cabling, he took her wrist and brought her hand to his loins. She grasped him in her palm, guiding him in to her as she mounted him with a muffled squeak, both still standing.

Easily hoisting her off her feet, he held her as she worked her hips against his, her hands urging his face to her supple breasts. As he took a stiffening nipple in to his mouth, her hand moved behind her to make another attempt at detaching the cable. Once more he seized her wrist and with a bit of struggle, got on his back with her straddling him.

Her face scrunched in protest as she panted the words, “The… hah… cables only im-p-pede… what I wish… ohhh… to do to you… ahhh!”

“I was just thinking the opposite,” he said, and blindly prodded the tablet lying beside them.

“N-n-not during-!” she cried before the machinery spun up, her body growing rigid as she underwent another transformation. This time instead of being a smooth process, it came in spurts – her bust bouncing as it swelled two cup sizes, her complexion banded in different shades before it settled on a dusky brown, her hair bursting out in a dark corona, then falling in thick chestnut curls. He felt her sex spasm as her hips convulsed into an hourglass figure, strange white fluid coursing from inside her. She remained frozen as he pumped himself into drenched pussy, her expression stunned until she finally ‘came to’ with an unnatural wrenching of her neck, her dark eyes wild and unfocused.

“Y-you ahhh! will d-d-damage m-me nnnngh! i-if y-y-you-!“

He hit the tablet again and her legs kicked up and she rocked backward, stiffening into an unbalanced sitting position and he steadied her with an arm around her waist. The machine chuffed as her skin discolored in swatches, first grey, then lavender, and finally a pale green. Her hair straightened and kinked at random intervals, resulting in a dark tangle that fell messily about a face whose regal bearing was compromised by an open-mouthed, wide eyed expression of disbelief. Her curves quivered with energy and he felt his cock coarsely massaged by a maelstrom of convulsion within her trembling sex.

There was a slight wheezing to the machinery now as it sputtered unevenly, her rigid body emitting strange squeaks and whines. She abruptly lurched forward, rocking on his pelvis, one outstretched foot slamming down upon his wrist just as he was about to strike the tablet again.

“Enough ch-changeszzzz,” she growled in a deep, feminine voice, her body jerking while electrical buzzing sounds burst sporadically from within her. She leaned in, grinding her still-trembling sex against him forcefully, contempt evident in her baleful yellow eyes and purple eyelids beneath plucked brows. “A-p-preciate what you h-have,” she whispered in a malevolent purr, forcing his still-searching hand from beneath her foot to her heavy, jostling tits.

“My advice as well,” came a voice from beside them, and both turned to see Kimiko make a selection the tablet.

Eva gave a defiant howl and gnashed her glaringly white teeth, her body continuing its ferocious rhythm despite the machine’s activation. Kimiko seized the cabling running from Eva’s back and with two sharp tugs, ripped it from its mooring in a hail of sparks and fluid.

The eyes of the Système Genèse actroid gawked as her body shuddered electrically. The humming inside of her rose sharply into a quavering buzz before her stunned, morphing face was blown off, intricate machinery working frantically, uselessly in the cavity beneath. Her tits blossomed and shrank unevenly in Will’s hand until he provided a nipple with a light tweak. The façade of her chest burst away as a solid panel, wires and tubing tearing free from their housing amidst the failing machinery of her body.

Another thrust from him and he felt her sex convulse and then lock up. There was a hissing sound punctuated with a loud popping, bright flashes visible through the internal wires and metal of her exposed torso.

Kimiko gave the faceless, smoking body a shove and it toppled head-first into an undignified heap, its well-formed posterior raised prominently and quivering as Eva’s machinery continued in its decline.

Kimiko smiled and sat herself upon Will’s fluid-slicked crotch, the press of her feeling warm and familiar.

“I thought you had fully embraced your… obsolescence?” Will asked with a smile.

“No,” she said simply. “I realized I did not wish to concede, even if this reprieve is only temporary.”

He gave a wistful smile. “Still, I feel we might have been a bit hard on Eva,” he said, patting her green backside. With a pop it jolted loose, smacking against the hard floor as her body settled with a groan.

“It wouldn’t be fair to her if she didn’t know what she was in for…” Kimiko gave her hips a slight wiggle. “…working with you.”

Will chuckled, pulling the actroid to him.

---

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