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Chapter 4. | Chapter 4. Deal | ||
Sound and light of sparks. | |||
Smell of soldering iron. | |||
Then another spark. | |||
"F--k! Piece of Junk!" A man's voice cried out followed by a thud. | |||
The door opened. "Boss, someone's here to see you. Regarding business." A blonde girl called to the man nursing his hand. | |||
The boss was in his fifties, grey hair, well-shaven. Blue shirt and khakis but with visible stain under his armpits. He was not in the best of mood right now. | |||
He breathed in and out deeply, calming himself the best he could before speaking. "You know, you shouldn't be back here. Kills the immersion. You look a bit young to be talking business. You should go back to the front, much more lively out there." | |||
The boss was standing in the "break room". The Looters Franchise had started "hiring" more and more android workers, to the point that this particular one had all android servers. As a result, the "break room" was essentially a "storage room" for the Looters Girls when they are not on duty. The lockers on the sides were replaced with android pods. Most of the pods were empty save for a few, those girls are still "on their shift" outside. The ones inside the pods were held in a standing position by the pods' clamps. They were staring straight ahead, expressionless. Blonde, brunette, ginger. Maybe on a different day, they would be out there dancing, cheering and laughing with the patrons. But today, they looked like realistic mannequins. | |||
There was a tall bench in the middle of the room which functioned as a repair table. On the bench scattered some tools. Next to them on the table was a leggy Looters girl with her long legs dangling off the edge of the bench and her back on the bench. Her shorts were down to her knees as her black sports panties and tan pantyhose were halfway down her toned thighs. Her tight top was pulled up over her breasts. Her Sports bra was unhooked and opened from the front, freeing her C-cup breasts. Wires came out of her open access panel at her toned midriff. Her long black hair spread across the table. Her beautiful Asian face looked blankly to the side. | |||
This was not the scene of a crime. Just the boss's failed attempt at repairs and hurt himself in the process. | |||
"Sounds like you had a rough night. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me." The young man said politely and slowly. | |||
The boss sighed again. "Just the same old shit everyday. Today's extra shitty is all. Might have to scrap one of my best 'workers'. It's just hard running a one-man show all day everyday. Some folks actually envy what I do, can you believe it?" He breathed deeply in and out again, soothing himself more. "Sorry kid. Was kinda lashing out on you. Name's Carl by the way. How can I help you?" | |||
"Don't worry about it Carl. I'm Mark. I was wondering if I could take some of your old robots off your hand." Mark said with a smile, still with that even tone. | |||
Carl's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh yea? Company policy forbid us from selling android employees. However, if it's old robots we are about to replace, I don't see any problem with that. Any girl caught your eye?" He said with a knowing smile. | |||
"How about that one?" Mark pointed toward the Asian robot lying on the bench half-naked and disheveled, the one that Carl was trying to hide with his body. | |||
"This one? Why she's our best worker. You like them Asian girls huh?" | |||
"Well, she was the first to tell me happy birthday today, so I figured. Speaking of which, you mentioned you were about to scrap your best worker. Were you talking about her?" Mark smiled. | |||
"Oh it's your birthday? Happy Birthday!" Carl tried to detract from the issue a bit. | |||
"Thank you." Mark smiled. | |||
"Did you get a Hokey Pokey?" | |||
"Sure did. It was a once in a life time experience." Mark replied. "It's a shame though, the girl who led it is about to get scrapped." | |||
"I see..." Carl was pulled back into the business conversation. "She might be in bad shape now, but she's still one of my best workers. One of the customer's favorites too. With a few repairs, she'd be good as new. 10000 bucks and she's yours." | |||
Mark glanced down at the pretty Asian girl with exposed wiring and said, "She's a 14 year old WR-3000 unit. Even without damage and wear, depreciation would put her around 2000 dollars. And with the state she is in. She would need quite a bit of repair and parts replacement. I'd put her around 1000. " | |||
"She's pretty durable. WR units last forever. 2000 I can give her to you." | |||
"1200. Trade-ins will give you less than a grand you know." | |||
"How about this. 4000 and you get her and another WR-3000." | |||
"4000 for her and another WR-3000 if you throw in the uniforms and street wear." | |||
"You drive a hard bargain for someone so young, Mark. But you got youself a deal." Carl grinned as he held out his hand. | |||
"Deal." Mark smiled and shook his hand. | |||
Carl basically stuffed all of "Kara's" insides back in and closed the lid. He was pretty happy, even with the haggling, he still made more than twice the Trade-in price. With the reinbursement from Corporate, he'd be able to afford some good units. | |||
Mark was pretty happy too. He got what he came here for, at a price range he expected. | |||
"So, have you thought of which other WR you want?" Carl asked, smiling. | |||
"Well..." | |||
Two hours later. Looters had closed for the night. | |||
"You got it?" Mark asked. | |||
"Yeah, piece of cake." Alice replied. She was 5'4 and don't look particularly well-muscled. And yet, she was out back of Looters, lifting up an android pod much bigger than her body. On top of that, her off-shift "street wear" was a flowered tank top and some dark blue jean shorts, in the winter months. Nothing screams android more than that. | |||
Inside the pod was her friend "Kara", looking pretty and frozen. She had to puppeteer the malfunctioning Asian android during the Hokey Pokey. Now she's carrying her around again and loading her onto a van. | |||
Carl had to admit, he was surprised when he realized the boy had driven here with a moving van. It's as though he had planned everything all along. Not that he minds now. Nothing much for him to do now. | |||
Alice lifted another pod, an empty one, next to "Kara" before throwing a duffle back on board as well. Three "people", two of which were men, yet she was the one doing all the heavy lifting. Not that she would complain. | |||
"That's all of it." She let out a breath. Not that she needed to, but she wanted to. It was in part her complaint. But more so relief. | |||
"It was nice doing business with you Mr. McRory. Have a good night." Mark said. | |||
"Bye Boss. Thanks for everything." Alice said cheerily as she waved goodbye, as though she was going home after work with her boyfriend. | |||
"Bye you two. Drive safe." Carl McRory said before turning to go inside. He needed to finish locking up, go home and catch some Zs. | |||
The car started and drove off. | |||
----------------- | |||
Chapter 5. | |||
[[Category:Story]] | [[Category:Story]] | ||
[[Category:Kelbek00]] | [[Category:Kelbek00]] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repo}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Repo}} |
Revision as of 07:50, 5 June 2021
Ding dong.
Chapter 1. Family
"Coming~" A pleasant voice called from afar.
A moment later, the door opened. Mark's sight was filled with the visage of a tall beautiful woman.
Kali stood at 5'7", a height where a 14 year old Mark would need to look up to see her face. Grey comfortable T-shirt draped from her C cup breasts. Smooth black yoga pants hugged the curves of her long legs and toned gluts. But what's most striking about her is her wide welcoming smile. Her smile was warm and genuine. Her big eyes would crescent when she smiles. And everything was somehow contained comfortably and elegantly in her oval asian face.
"Hi, Mark. Come right in. Dave has been waiting for you." She said, but not before giving mark a big hug. Even after so many times, Mark still felt a little flustered when Kali semi-bury his head in her chest.
Mark and the Kowalskis have been have been neighbors for years. He is best friends with the son Conor. And Dave and Kali treated him like their own. But now that he is a teenager, the same smothering hug felt different to him: uncomfortable, but at the same time, longing and ... exciting.
It was 9:15AM. Dave was in the living room in front of his laptop.
Dave was 5'8", a bit stocky, but average for a man in his early 40s. Standing next to him, Kali, though toned, looked quite slender, almost model-like. Not to mention Kali, even though a woman in her 30s, looked like she could be in her twenties. Kali would contribute this to her Asian genes and love of yoga. She's half-Japanese, half-Chinese. When asked how did the two met, Dave would tell the story with a happy smile. It was quite a fairy-tale like story. Even Dave would say that he's a lucky guy.
"Hey buddy. You are right on time. Come sit here. And we will continue where we left off yesterday." Dave welcomed Mark with a big grin.
It was summer break. Mark was coming to Dave to learn "a thing or two" about stocks. He wanted to start early, invest, and live comfortably like the Kowalskis later on. Dave made his fortune trading at a young age. He wanted to pass it onto his son, Conor, who at this very moment is upstairs sleeping after a night of video games. Needless to say, Conor was not very interested. So when Mark asked, Dave found his audience. Kali was saying she rarely sees Dave smile like that.
The Stock market was doing great. Though it was in a period of adjustment, Dave was bullish. He was showing Mark how to time the market and using leveraged trading and go all in. While usually cautious, Dave was confident. Kali called it showing off as skills.
Dave was happy. Mark had been shadow trading him for a few months now, making quite a bit from whatever allowance and summer job money he had. He has been absorbing everything like a sponge. Maybe a bit too cautious, afraid of doing risky plays, but it's good to be cautious starting out. Dave had hoped his "other son" (real son) would be anything like this, but one step at a time. Maybe after Mark had made small fortune, maybe Conor would finally wake up and want to catch up.
One can only hope.
It was noon now. Kali had been trying to get the two to take a break and eat something for the last 20 minutes. Of course, she had also dragged the groggy Connor out of his bed for his "brunch".
And thus a heartwarming lunch began, a family of four.
Chapter 2. Hard Times.
Mark opened his door to the sound of knocking. It was Conor, he was still sleepy. "What's up?" Mark asked. "I don't know. Dad's being weird." Conor said groggily. "All of the sudden, he wanted me to come here to play. Something about there's someone he's meeting at home and he doesn't want me to be there." "Gee, I hope he's doing alright. The market isn't doing so good. He probably lost quite some money." Mark was a little concerned. "Whatever, let's just play some FPS OK?" Conor said non-chalantly. And so the boys did. Conor quickly got into the groove. The bright colors and flashing screen woke him up nicely. Mark, however, was still a bit out of it. Dave tried to show Mark how to buy at the bottom and go in boldly a few weeks ago. However, as though playing a joke, the market rose up a bit, but tanked even more, far more than before. The news said "the bubble had burst". Mark's stocks were affected, but not as much as Dave. After all, he was trading with much more money, and with leverage. He still remembers Dave going from forced smile to not being able to smile at all, to the point that he had cancelled the "morning classes". Then, the room went dark. "Yo! wtf?!" Conor called out. "We were just about to trash those guys!" "Lemme check the fuse box. Hang on." Mark got up. It was not the first time at his house. Comparing to the Kowalskis, his house is older and shabbier. The electric system had been acting up for a while now. A few minutes later. Light returned and so did Mark. "This sucks man!" Connor complained. "Can't believe we lost to those bots. Yo, let's just sneak back to my place. Dad's not gonna notice. We will just play upstair while the grown ups do grown up stuff downstairs." "Well, your dad might not, but your mom." "Yea, now that you mentioned it, it's like she's tapped into the security feed on her phone or something. Come on, let's just try it. We will come right back if it doesn't work." "Sure... it's your butt on the line, not mine." Mark agreed. And so the two boys journeyed back to Conor's house and snuck in the back. Conor has a "secret pathway" to get in and out of his room. Mark calls it a security risk. On their way, Mark had noticed a truck parked in the driveway, much like a moving truck. Who could be the people Dave's talking to. As the boys snuck into Conor's familiar room, a pair of hand reached out to help them inside. Kali was wearing white blouse and grey skinny pants. Making her almost look like a secretary if not for the baby blue cardigan. "You boys shouldn't come back so soon, they are still downstairs talking." Kali tried to put on her usual smile, but fell short. "What's wrong, is Dave OK?" Mark asked. "Yea. He's fine. They are just going over stuff. You two can stay here, but you have to Promise to be quiet and don't come out, OK?" Kali assured them. "I have to go back down now. Some refreshments will smooth things out quite a bit." Mark watched Kali disappear. Conor on the other hand had already fired up his game console. "Alright, now let me show you real gaming!"
About an hour later, a concerned Mark excused himself, wanting to stretch his legs and use the restroom. He looked down from the stairs. What he saw, he was glad Conor was not seeing this right now.
"Alright, Mr. Kowalski. We have assessed and appraised the properties you had submitted for the bankrupcy settlement. They have been deemed valid and sufficient. Just sign here and here. And the boys and I will get everything moving. By the way, do you have the original packaging for the WR-3000 android?" Mark heard a man's voice.
"Yea, it's in the basement. Lemme go get it." Kali's voice sounded before her heels clacked on the floor.
"Helpful one, that one. Maybe I should get one myself." He chuckled.
Mark leaned in to get a better view of the exchange. The man was fat but muscled, had a scruff and sleeked back greasy hair. There seem to be a tent in his khakis as he gazed at the direction Kali left. Not a very likeable fellow. Dave tried to repress something inside him, but he was mostly sullen.
A few minutes later, Kali returned with a box taller than she is. Not a paper box. More like a vertical sleeping pod in a sci-fi movie. Mark knew what it was. It was the packaging for an android. He had wanted to get an android when he had the money. But he wasn't aware the Kowalskis had an android over the years he had known them. After all, Kali took care of everything, it's not like they needed one...
At this point, the living room had become quite lively, in the sense that there were more "people ". They were "mover" androids, looking humanoid but metallic and certainlly not human. They grabbed and carried out furnatures and electronics with great efficiency.
"And she's back. Must say, everything look quites quite new. It will fetch a good price at the bid for sure." He grinned. "Now Ma'am, the remote please."
"Sure." Kali handed him a black PDA.
The man fumbled with it before pulling up what looked like a biometric scan pager and handed it to Dave.
"Sir, if you will."
Dave did not look up. He just placed his hand on the PDA. The simple action seemed to have drained him.
"Alright. Now we are talking." The man chuckled as he looked down to fumble with the PDA again.
With both men looking down, Kali took this time to look up, right at Mark's direction. Mark knew she found him a long time ago. He was used to it by now. Though he could never figure out how she did it until today. Kali smiled at Mark. A big smile with a small wave. One that she usually gives when she says good bye to him. One that would be etched in his memory.
"There we go. Factory reset. Commence." The man's exclaimation sharply terminated this moment.
Kali's body jerked as she stood up straight, looking straight ahead, her gaze torn from Mark.
"Factory reset commencing. Would you like to erase all data?" Kali asked in a monotoneous voice sharply distinct from her normal self.
"Yes." He gleefully pressed a button.
"Commencing. Erasing personality files. 10% ... 30% ... 50%"
"Wait." Dave tried to protest.
"Sir, you don't want your personal data to get out there do you?" The man asked.
"No, of course not. Please continue." Dave complied. Defeated.
"Personality files erased." Kali's cold voice declared. "Erasing memory files. 10% ... 15% ... 20%..."
The memory files took much longer to erase, a time that felt like ages to Mark. All the memories he had shared with Kali flowed back into his mind. Her home cooking. Her warm smile. Her gentle touch. Her encouraging words. Her smothering hug. Until finally...
"Memory Files erased. Restarting... Hello user. I am the WR-3000 android. It is a pleasure to meet you, would you like to set-"
"Skip. Start up in Default Mode."
"Default mode. Please state your command." Kali requested coldly.
"Take everything off. Oh and fold them next to your feet." The man said before glancing at Dave, who was looking down, his fist clenching.
"Acknowledged." Kali replied.
The tall asian "woman" slid off her baby blue cardigan, folding it efficiently and mechanically before placing it at her feet. Then she stepped out of her heels, placing them neatly next to the cardigan before her bare feet touched the cold floor.
Without hesitation, she unbuttoned her skinny pants, peeled them down her long legs and folded them on top of the cardigan.
"Black. Classy" The man commented, as though trying to goad Dave into doing something, but to no avail.
Now Kali, with her long legs and black panties bare, started to unbutton her blouse. Botton by botton, revealing her C cup breasts in black bras and her belly button. Sliding off the blouse, she folded it and placed it on top of the skinny pants.
The beautiful Asian housewife was now standing in her bra and panties in the middle of her living room, in front of strangers, and amidst the commotion of a dozen mover robots.
"Alright! keep going." The man said. The tent in his pants grew visibly larger.
"Acknowledged." Kali's movements did not wait for the man's words. She hooked her thumbs into her black panties and slid them off her long toned legs without a pause. She placed it neatly on top of her blouse before unhooking her black bras and doing the same.
With that her movements had finally come to a stop. She stood at attention, completely naked. The man admired her naked form shamelessly. It was Mark's first time seeing Kali naked too. Her body was all lean toned muscle. There was no pubic hair. In its place was a "tattoo" a company logo with hidden serial number revealed only with ultraviolet light.
The man ran his hand up and down Kali's naked body in front of her husband. Cupping her shapely breasts and perky butt, even sliding his hand between her toned thighs. Kali stood there. Naked. Unmoving. Unresponsive to the man's advances. Her big eyes, empty and souless.
"Alright, into the pod you go."
"Acknowledged." Kali complied. Turned. Walked in front of her pod. Turned again, with her back facing the pod. Then, she stepped backwards into the pod.
Three clamps grabbed her body, two cupped her breasts, one cupped her sex as protrusions inserted into her anus and vagina. Securing her. Defiling her. And at the same time, gave her some semblence of modesty.
The Pod's glass door was about to close when.
"Hold up." Said the man as he held the door open. He approached Kali's naked body, fumbling a bit with his back turned.
Before Dave could register what's going on, his hand was grabbed by rough short fingers and something was put in his palm.
"Here. For old times sake." The man chuckled.
Dave looked down, it was a wedding band, Kali's wedding band. His eyes started to mist up. He looked up. But the pod door had alread closed. Kali was motionless, like she's sleeping. More like she is a mannequin, a realistic life-sized doll.
The movers grabbed the pod with Kali in it effortlessly. She exited the house, same way she came in, so many years ago.
Chapter 3. Celebration
The Kowalskis left the town. Father and Son.
The neighbors knew they got their house and things taken by the government. Some even saw them move what seemed to be an android pod onto the truck. Though they didn't get a good look. After all, a big house like that should have a maidroid to clean it. Some were glad to see them go down, after all, they were the richer ones in town. Others were sad to see them go, they were good neighbors, especially Kali, she was a nice woman.
Mark was depressed for weeks. He had witnessed Kali being erased and shipped out like furnature with his own eyes. She was like family to him. Like a big sister. Almost a close relative. And though he did not admit it at the time, he had always had a huge crush on her.
But not only that. He had lost his second family. The Kowalskis.
That day, when everything was said and done. Dave walked up the stairs. He had heard faint sounds of video game coming from his son's room. He wanted to knock, but couldn't find what to say.
Mark heard his footsteps stopping in front of the door, before moving on to the master bedroom, now much emptier.
Connor did not notice what happened the whole day, absorbed in his games. All his things were untouched. Dave had made sure of that. Instead, Kali went in their place.
Mark did not know what happened after he had excused himself that day. There was no Kali to see him off and tell him to be careful on the way home. All he knew was that he never saw them again.
As for the people who were glad to see the Kowalskis go. Soon, the economic downturn hit them as well. And their attention soon shifted from gossips to trying to keep themselves afloat. Before long, some of them left town as well.
And thus years had gone by. And the economy slowly recovered.
It was an evening on a Thursday. A young man was surrounded by 10 hot girls wearing tight white or black tops, and wearing matching black shorts. Tan leggings covered their sexy legs which ended in white socks and sneakers. On their tight tops were a logo "Looters" with eyes for "Os" and a pirate face underneath.
"Ahhhh! Attention Looters! We have a very special birthday today. This is Mark, He's celebrating his 18th birthday!" A beautiful Asian Looter's girl introduced the birthday boy and called out to rally the rest of the girls. They were all gorgeous. But she was somehow more eye-catching. Is it her long legs, her big eyes or her big smile? Or how they were all put together in such a nice way? Either way, all the girls answered her rallying call and cheered in unison.
"Woot!"
"Looters has a birthday song." The leggy asian girl started.
"Looters has a birthday song!" The rest followed.
"Ain't too short and ain't too long."
"Ain't too short and ain't too long!"
"Sing it right and get your wishes."
"Sing it right and get your wishes!"
"Sing it wrong and do the dishes."
"Sing it wrong and do the dishes!"
"Sound off!"
"Happy."
"Sound off!"
"Birthday."
"Bring it on down."
"Happy. Birthday. To you!"
"Woot!" They all cheered.
The young man looked a bit shy, but he was very happy, especially at the "Happy Birthday."
But it's not over yet. Since it's his 18th birthday, the day he becomes a man, the girls decided to do the Hokey Pokey for him too.
"Right side!" The Asian girl called.
All the girls started dancing as they sang in unison.
"You put your right arm in
You take your right arm out
You put your right arm in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about."
"Left side!"
"You put your left arm in
You take your left arm out
You put your left arm in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
"Right leg!"
10 sexy nylon clad legs advanced on the young man amidst giggles and laughter.
"You put your right leg in
You take your right leg out
You put your right leg in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
"Left leg!"
The young man looked at the leggy leader's legs. That's the sexiest one, he decided to himself.
"You put your left leg in
You take your left leg out
You put your left leg in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
"Name Tag!" She called.
He noticed her name tag. It said "Kara".
"You put your Name Tag in
You take your Name Tag out
You put your Name Tag in.
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
The girls stuck their nametag, as well, as their ample bosoms toward him. However, half way through, "Kara" Stopped moving. Her smile frozen on her beautiful face. Her body still leaning forward, presenting the "birthday presents" under her form fitting top to the newly grown young man. As the young man's gaze was on her this whole time, he noticed right away and was taken by surprise.
"Back side!" A brunette called.
All the girls turned except for "Kara" who was still presenting her "wrong" name tag at the wrong part of the dance.
"You put your back side in
You take your back side out
You put your back side in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
"Looter girl!"
A blonde girl "Alice" grabbed the frozen "Kara" by her thigh and Looter's shorts and her chest like she's holding a big plushy, and jumped in and out as the rest of the smiling girls did, helping her taller "stuck" friend dance around and finish the celebration. It was the boy's big day, and a little mishap shouldn't ruin it.
"You put your Looter girl in
You take your Looter girl out
You put your Looter girl in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
"Happy Birthday! Wooooooo!" The girls cheered and clapped. "Alice" grabbed "Kara's" hands, puppeteered them to clap as well. The young man stared at "Kara's" big eyes, which were now blank and empty. But she still smiled. She still cheered and clapped for his birthday, his big day.
"Thank you." He muttered beneath his breath, beneath the cheering and clapping. Before the leggy Asian girl "Kara's" frozen form was carried away by a smaller yet strong and fast-paced Alice like she's carrying a mannequin.
The celebration was over.
Chapter 4. Deal
Sound and light of sparks.
Smell of soldering iron.
Then another spark.
"F--k! Piece of Junk!" A man's voice cried out followed by a thud.
The door opened. "Boss, someone's here to see you. Regarding business." A blonde girl called to the man nursing his hand.
The boss was in his fifties, grey hair, well-shaven. Blue shirt and khakis but with visible stain under his armpits. He was not in the best of mood right now.
He breathed in and out deeply, calming himself the best he could before speaking. "You know, you shouldn't be back here. Kills the immersion. You look a bit young to be talking business. You should go back to the front, much more lively out there."
The boss was standing in the "break room". The Looters Franchise had started "hiring" more and more android workers, to the point that this particular one had all android servers. As a result, the "break room" was essentially a "storage room" for the Looters Girls when they are not on duty. The lockers on the sides were replaced with android pods. Most of the pods were empty save for a few, those girls are still "on their shift" outside. The ones inside the pods were held in a standing position by the pods' clamps. They were staring straight ahead, expressionless. Blonde, brunette, ginger. Maybe on a different day, they would be out there dancing, cheering and laughing with the patrons. But today, they looked like realistic mannequins.
There was a tall bench in the middle of the room which functioned as a repair table. On the bench scattered some tools. Next to them on the table was a leggy Looters girl with her long legs dangling off the edge of the bench and her back on the bench. Her shorts were down to her knees as her black sports panties and tan pantyhose were halfway down her toned thighs. Her tight top was pulled up over her breasts. Her Sports bra was unhooked and opened from the front, freeing her C-cup breasts. Wires came out of her open access panel at her toned midriff. Her long black hair spread across the table. Her beautiful Asian face looked blankly to the side.
This was not the scene of a crime. Just the boss's failed attempt at repairs and hurt himself in the process.
"Sounds like you had a rough night. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me." The young man said politely and slowly.
The boss sighed again. "Just the same old shit everyday. Today's extra shitty is all. Might have to scrap one of my best 'workers'. It's just hard running a one-man show all day everyday. Some folks actually envy what I do, can you believe it?" He breathed deeply in and out again, soothing himself more. "Sorry kid. Was kinda lashing out on you. Name's Carl by the way. How can I help you?"
"Don't worry about it Carl. I'm Mark. I was wondering if I could take some of your old robots off your hand." Mark said with a smile, still with that even tone.
Carl's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh yea? Company policy forbid us from selling android employees. However, if it's old robots we are about to replace, I don't see any problem with that. Any girl caught your eye?" He said with a knowing smile.
"How about that one?" Mark pointed toward the Asian robot lying on the bench half-naked and disheveled, the one that Carl was trying to hide with his body.
"This one? Why she's our best worker. You like them Asian girls huh?"
"Well, she was the first to tell me happy birthday today, so I figured. Speaking of which, you mentioned you were about to scrap your best worker. Were you talking about her?" Mark smiled.
"Oh it's your birthday? Happy Birthday!" Carl tried to detract from the issue a bit.
"Thank you." Mark smiled.
"Did you get a Hokey Pokey?"
"Sure did. It was a once in a life time experience." Mark replied. "It's a shame though, the girl who led it is about to get scrapped."
"I see..." Carl was pulled back into the business conversation. "She might be in bad shape now, but she's still one of my best workers. One of the customer's favorites too. With a few repairs, she'd be good as new. 10000 bucks and she's yours."
Mark glanced down at the pretty Asian girl with exposed wiring and said, "She's a 14 year old WR-3000 unit. Even without damage and wear, depreciation would put her around 2000 dollars. And with the state she is in. She would need quite a bit of repair and parts replacement. I'd put her around 1000. "
"She's pretty durable. WR units last forever. 2000 I can give her to you."
"1200. Trade-ins will give you less than a grand you know."
"How about this. 4000 and you get her and another WR-3000."
"4000 for her and another WR-3000 if you throw in the uniforms and street wear."
"You drive a hard bargain for someone so young, Mark. But you got youself a deal." Carl grinned as he held out his hand.
"Deal." Mark smiled and shook his hand.
Carl basically stuffed all of "Kara's" insides back in and closed the lid. He was pretty happy, even with the haggling, he still made more than twice the Trade-in price. With the reinbursement from Corporate, he'd be able to afford some good units.
Mark was pretty happy too. He got what he came here for, at a price range he expected.
"So, have you thought of which other WR you want?" Carl asked, smiling.
"Well..."
Two hours later. Looters had closed for the night.
"You got it?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, piece of cake." Alice replied. She was 5'4 and don't look particularly well-muscled. And yet, she was out back of Looters, lifting up an android pod much bigger than her body. On top of that, her off-shift "street wear" was a flowered tank top and some dark blue jean shorts, in the winter months. Nothing screams android more than that.
Inside the pod was her friend "Kara", looking pretty and frozen. She had to puppeteer the malfunctioning Asian android during the Hokey Pokey. Now she's carrying her around again and loading her onto a van.
Carl had to admit, he was surprised when he realized the boy had driven here with a moving van. It's as though he had planned everything all along. Not that he minds now. Nothing much for him to do now.
Alice lifted another pod, an empty one, next to "Kara" before throwing a duffle back on board as well. Three "people", two of which were men, yet she was the one doing all the heavy lifting. Not that she would complain.
"That's all of it." She let out a breath. Not that she needed to, but she wanted to. It was in part her complaint. But more so relief.
"It was nice doing business with you Mr. McRory. Have a good night." Mark said. "Bye Boss. Thanks for everything." Alice said cheerily as she waved goodbye, as though she was going home after work with her boyfriend. "Bye you two. Drive safe." Carl McRory said before turning to go inside. He needed to finish locking up, go home and catch some Zs.
The car started and drove off.
Chapter 5.