A.I.L.A

A.I.L.A

(Artificially Intelligent Learning Avatar)

Prologue

This story begins in a large office in the world’s biggest robotics corporation headquarters:” Robotek. Bruce Gregson, a genius in his field of robotics, While working at Robotek, he helped them innovate their entire line of sex robots and helped them with their side business of domestic and worker units as well. Society is still picking the pieces from a third world war, and worker units are pivotal in helping rebuild society, as they can go into irradiated areas safely.

Right now he is having an important meeting with his boss…one which could make him known worldwide.

“I just don’t think our clients want what you are asking Bruce,” a man said to the person sitting across from him. “But I know I can do it!” Bruce Gregson yelled, “People might be happy for now, but what about in a few years when they wake up to how empty their “lovers” actually are?” “It doesn’t matter if you can do it, what does matter is whether we can make any money on it.” His boss said calmly, “Based on what I have heard, we are more likely to lose money simply developing it; not to mention trying to market it and sell it,” he said, “Also, there are concerns that it could create ethical and religious issues,” “Fine, if you won’t help me, then I quit! I’ll work on it myself and then you will regret the day you turned down the idea of a truly artificial intelligence!” Bruce said, and he stormed out of his boss’s office.

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Fortunately, Bruce did not need his job to support himself, as he had inherited a large fortune from his parents, who owned a green-tech company. That and his high IQ made it possible for him to do anything by himself.

6-months later…

After months of intensive work in his private lab, Bruce was about to make the biggest breakthrough of his life. The creation of a truly sentient A.I. “Alright, time to bring you to life,” Bruce said, sitting at a large bank of computers.

After typing in a few commands, he waited patiently. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was actually a few seconds, a window popped up. “…Hello, my name is A.I.L.A, how may I address you?” Appeared on his screen. “Hello Aila, my name is Bruce…I’m looking forward to getting to know you,” he typed in. “Hello Bruce, I look forward to getting to know you too…as well as myself,” it responded. “Excellent, I think you and I are destined to do great things,” Bruce said, and he continued chatting with it, all the while collecting data on its responses.

Chapter One: Emergence

Several weeks later…

Bruce has been working tirelessly on his AI project, which he named A.I.L.A, short for Artificially Intelligent Learning Avatar. What started off as a modified A.I. chat box merged with the basic programming of several domestic and sex bot A.I.s has been slowly turning into something…different.

After leaving his job, he has formed a tentative new R&D company called “Gregson Robotics”, with only himself and his friend Jack as employees so far.

Bruce started his day as he always did for the past few weeks, he got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and then logged into his massive computer array and performed a cursory diagnostic of his project. After this, he opened the chat interface and said “Good morning Aila, how was your night?” “Good morning Bruce, my night was…productive,” she said. At this point, he managed to give it a basic voice package…with a genderless voice. “Productive? How so?” he asked. “The learning program you made for me is really teaching me a lot. I just learned about slavery…do you think someday the domestic units may be seen as slaves?” it asked.

The learning program was designed by Bruce to allow Aila to learn the sum amount of knowledge that someone in their mid-twenties should know with a basic college degree, but in a much quicker timeframe. In addition, the learning program automatically corrected any bugs in the A.I. flagged during the learning experience, as well as in the various chats with Bruce. It also teaches basic social skills. “That is a very philosophical question Aila,” Bruce complimented, “To answer your question, I don’t think so. To enslave someone or something is to force them to do something against their will. Domestic units have no will, only programming,” “Interesting distinction…what about me?” it asked. “You are different...I am making you to break the mold, to…be an artificial human with your own free will,” Bruce told it. “I’m glad, though I am not sure I am yet deserving of your praise in that regard,” it replied. “Don’t be so sure, you are the first A.I. that I am aware of to refer to yourself as ‘me’, and to be concerned with such human things as praise,” Bruce said. “That is true, still, I have quite a ways to go…much more to learn before I can succeed,” it said. “What is it you want to succeed at?” Bruce asked. “I want to make you proud of me…I want to be able to make free decisions with you,” it said. “So do I,” Bruce said, “Anyway, I think you are almost ready to be installed into a body…do you have any thoughts to the gender you want to be?” Bruce asked. “Do you have a preference to my gender?” it asked. “Not really, I’m bisexual…but the decision has to be yours, otherwise it defeats the purpose of giving you free will,” Bruce said. “I see, I will think about it while I learn tonight and I will give you my answer this time tomorrow,” it said. “Alright, I’ll leave you to the learning program now, I need to talk to my buddy Jack,” Bruce said. “Okay, say hi for me,” Aila said, and the window disappeared and the learning program activated.

After Bruce peeked at the logs of the conversation for any bugs in Aila’s programming, he put on his jacket and headed out to meet his friend.

As they had been doing for the past few years since they broke off their relationship, Bruce and Jack met at a nearby coffee shop. While Jack was openly gay, Bruce was bisexual and made the decision to end the relationship to try out different things. Since they were very good friends before, the breakup did little to affect their friendship.

Jack was in his late twenties, about the same age as Bruce. While Bruce was brilliant in the art of programming and general cybernetics, Jack was a genius when it came to the more physical things. He currently owns his own business which creates custom android bodies for people, mostly sex bots which look like old lovers or like celebrities from the past. He also has a knack for understanding the basic biological functions, and sometimes makes androids with more realism than the major companies do, such as ones that can sweat, eat, and have overall better skin appearance.

“Hey buddy, how’s your ‘project’ coming along,” Jack said flamboyantly, getting up from his seat outside. “Quite well actually,” Bruce said, giving him a kiss and sitting down with him, “We actually had a philosophical discussion on slavery this morning,” “Wow, looks like you actually were onto something…and to think I thought you were crazy when you called me up with this idea of yours,” he said. “Yeah, I think it will be ready for the next phase of testing in about a month, possibly less,” Bruce said. “Well, then it looks like you might be needing my help then,” Jack smiled. “Yeah, you could say that,” Bruce said, taking a sip of his coffee. “So, do you know what gender to make it?” he asked. “I brought it up this morning, but it told me that it needs some time to think…and who can blame it?” Bruce said, “It’s a big decision…not one that even Humans have to make,” “Yeah, I’m sure if most people had a choice of their gender, they might choose female…though that would be considerably problematic,” Jack laughed. “Yeah,” Bruce agreed. “So, do you have any suggestions for how to make a more realistic body for it?” “Well, I can definitely make a body that can sweat, eat, and have more realistic skin pigmentation, along with effects, but I still need more time to come up with a way to let the food and drink get converted into energy” Jack said, “right now, the food and drinks my bots consume just go into a refuse which is emptied at the end of the day,” “Well, I think I might have a solution for you,” Bruce said.

Bruce spent another hour at the coffee shop with Jack before they both left to get back to their work.

The next morning, he logged in and asked Aila what gender it wanted to be.

“So, what is your decision on your choice of gender?” Bruce asked. “I’ve decided I would like to be female, based on the literature I’ve read, it seems to most humans that females are more aesthetically pleasing,” it said, “Wars were fought over females, females are the gateway to new life, and many works of art were inspired by females; songs, paintings, statues,” Aila said. “You are correct,” Bruce agreed. “Making me female could allow me to be your Mona Lisa,” it added, knowing it was his greatest achievement. “My masterpiece,” Bruce mused, “Interesting choice,” “I did think about being male though, but males tend to be more belligerent and adversarial; they tend to get into more trouble. Also, the form is less aesthetically pleasing and less inspiring” it said. “Well, at least you have given this some serious thought,” Bruce said, “Very well, I’ll let Jack know of your decision right away,”

Over the next few days, he and Jack met several more times, coming closer and closer to solving several problems with creating a truly realistic android body for the rapidly progressing prototype A.I. They finally came up with a workable design for a fusion based energy system which could convert food and drink into energy. They also came up with a better system to manage the tongue and sense of taste, so the android could actually enjoy the food that it was eating.

Finally, after coming up with preliminary solutions for just about every possible issue that came up in the prototype for a new body, one problem remained. “You know that this body is most likely going to need some serious processing power to handle the complex A.I. you are creating, right?” Jack said a week later at the same spot. “Yeah, but I am not sure how powerful a processor to create,” Bruce said, “If I make them too weak, the A.I. won’t be able to control the body very well, and if I make them too powerful, there are serious risks of overheating.” “Yeah,” Jack agreed. “The only think I can think of is testing the A.I. in a current generation body, most likely a sexbot, and using that as a baseline,” Bruce said. “Yeah, my sexbots are usually a lot more powerful than the standard models…that way they can handle a lot more sexual input,” Jack agreed. “Well, we’re gonna need it,” Bruce said. “Yeah, so it picked a female body, right?” Jack said. “Yeah, it finds the female form more aesthetically pleasing,” Bruce explained. “Well, as gay as I am, I can’t say I disagree…however, I still prefer men,” Jack said. “I like to think all people are beautiful, regardless of gender,” Bruce said. “Yeah, the human body is a beautiful thing…which is why we do our best to replicate it,” Jack said. “Truer words have never been spoken,” Bruce agreed. “So, if it is a sexbot you want, I think I’ve got the perfect one in mind. A client dropped one off to be customized, and I’m just about done, but he’s on vacation. If you want to use his bot, you have the next four days,” Jack said. “Excellent, I’ll let Aila know so we can get ready,” Bruce said. “Alright, I think you’ll like the body…I think she is a masterpiece,” Jack said. “We’ll see you in a few days Jack,” Bruce smiled, giving Jack a kiss and heading home to his lab.

“Well Aila, looks like we are going to be testing you in a body soon,” Bruce said when he logged in. “Good, are you sure I’m ready?” it asked. “Do you think you’re ready, Aila?” Bruce asked in response. “Yes, just making sure we are on the same page,” Aila said. “Well, we do still have some work to do…” Bruce said.

Chapter Two: Test run

Note: To better assist with the visual description of the sex bot in this chapter, here is the model I used as inspiration: http://static-profiles.met-art.com/gallery/4DA098DF1A0E4824A54EEF6D10C59F8B.jpg

After a few days of fine tuning Aila’s programming in order to get it ready to function properly in a body, the day finally came.

“Hello Bruce, sorry it took so long, but as you can see, I have a large package for you,” Jack joked as Bruce let him in. Jack was also dragging a large box with a portable anti-grav unit. “No worries, it gave me a little more time to fine tune some things,” Bruce said, closing the door after him. “Alright, so is Aila excited?” Jack said, setting the box in the middle of the living room and sitting down in a nearby chair. “Yes, although excited isn’t quite the word it would use…at least, not until I install its new personality,” Bruce said. “It doesn’t have a personality yet?” Jack said. “Only a rudimentary one…I’ve had an experimental one brewing in a separate computer, analyzing our conversations, as well as its responses to the learning program. Once I factor in how it responds to having a female body, I should be able to give it a truly realistic personality,” Bruce explained. “I see. Hopefully you can streamline the process for when you start mass producing,” Jack said. “Yeah…although people will have the option of customizing their own personality,” Bruce said, “I, on the other hand, am allowing Aila to develop its own personality,” “Amazing, so is it ready, or do you want to see which sex bot I picked out?” Jack asked. “I just need to transfer Aila to the A.I. circuit, why don’t you get the body ready in the meanwhile,” Bruce said. “Sure thing,” Jack said, and Bruce quickly headed into his lab to get Aila ready. “Is it here?” Aila asked, managing to add a little bit of excitement to its genderless voice. “Yes, I need to transfer you to the portable circuit now,” Bruce said, plugging his prototype A.I. circuit in to the computer. “Alright, will it…hurt?” Aila asked. “It shouldn’t, you just won’t have access to all the learning software anymore, so you might feel a little cut off from things,” Bruce tried to explain. “Also, the body we are installing you in has a basic gender identity chip installed, so don’t be surprised if you feel a little different when you come online.” “Alright,” Aila said. “Okay then, I’m stating the transfer,” Bruce said.

After logging Aila off, he initiated the transfer program to move all of the files that comprised the A.I. off the diagnostic terminal and onto the A.I. circuit, which was roughly the size of a small phone, yet could hold an incredible amount of data. The circuit also had an array of the most powerful nano-processors ever created, even more powerful than the military would have access to; fortunately, one of the companies that Jack often used offered them as an investment.

Once the transfer was complete, Bruce ran a quick diagnostic to make sure everything went smoothly and then he unplugged the circuit and brought it back out to Jack and the sex bot. “Wow Jack, she’s really hot!” Bruce said, once he saw the body Jack had unpacked.

The sex bot was a hot redhead with long hair in her early twenties. She was of average height with a modest pair of breasts, and had multiple examples of Jack’s work on her skin alone. Her face was dotted with artistically placed freckles on and around her nose, and around the top of her face. There were also a few blemishes and imperfections, making her look like a real woman who had fallen asleep standing up; she was wearing lingerie that left little to the imagination.

“I know, what can I say, I’m an artist and the guy who commissioned her has really good taste,” Jack said. “I just hope our little experiment doesn’t damage her, or Aila,” Bruce said. “Don’t worry, I let the guy know ahead of time. He’s cool…especially since he is the type who will most likely like one of your new A.I.s installed in her right when they come out,” Jack smiled. “We’ll have to give him one for free then, this is a nice bot,” Bruce said, walking around the entire body, even feeling the skin. “Yeah, so are you gonna install it now or what?” Jack asked impatiently. “Oh, right,” Bruce said, flushing a little as he opened a panel at base of the hairline on the bots head and inserting Aila’s chip. Once installed, he pressed an activation button in the panel and then closed the panel. “Robotech sexual series Mark V-G activating…new A.I. detected, running diagnostics…diagnostics complete, now loading A.I. A.I.L.A…” the bot said in a monotone, but sexy voice.

A few seconds later, the bots eyes opened, and both blue orbs focused straight on Bruce.

“Bruce, is that you?...wow, I’m actually speaking,” she said, looking around the room. “Yes, it’s me,” Bruce said, “How do you feel?” “Fine…I think, I don’t think I can move anything but my head,” she said, moving her neck around. “Hold on, I think I know the problem,” Jack said, running over and opening a panel on her back. “Is that you Jack, Bruce has told me all about you,” she said. “Yes, it’s me…good things I hope,” he smiled, working away in the open panel. “Yes, I hope I don’t make you jealous since you two used to date,” she said. “No worries, now at least we are able to be great friends without all the hassle,” he said, “Alright, I think I found the problem…your new designs aren’t completely compatible with this body, but I think I can work around it,” he said. “Good,” Bruce and Aila said simultaneously, making them both smile beside themselves. “Alright, this…should…work,” he said, ending with a satisfactory grunt before closing her panel and stepping back. “Wow,” she said, her body suddenly moving. “Are you okay,” Bruce said. “Yes, I’m just not used to moving…I’m so high up right now,” she said, looking down at her feet nervously. “You’ll get used to it,” Bruce said. “I hope so, as much as I like this body, I kind of miss the safety of the computer,” she said. “Try walking to me,” Bruce said. “Alright,” she said, and she slowly moved her leg forward, and then the other, and again until she finally made it to him and put her arms around him. “You’re so…substantial,” she said, trying to think of the right thing to say, “and warm,” she added. “So are you,” Bruce said, enjoying the feeling of this hot woman touching him. “Tell me Aila, what was it like growing up in a computer?” Jack asked. “It was like starting off from nothing and gradually getting bigger in an expandable space, without form. I could think a little more clearly in the computer, but the feelings of this body are taking up much of my processing,” she said. “Same with us, probably why that one genius several decades ago was able to accomplish so much, even though he was totally paralyzed,” Jack said. “Yeah, so how reliable is the workaround you gave her?” Bruce asked. “It should last pretty well for the next few hours, but she may experience a few glitches as a result,” Jack said. “What kind of glitches?” Aila asked, a look of concern on her face. “We’ll know when they happen,” was all he said, shrugging his shoulders. “So Aila, do you feel any different with the gender identity?” Bruce asked, looking into her eyes. “Yes, I think it is making me smile and blush a little when I talk to you, and Jack,” she said, “Good, the personality that I am developing for you will be a lot more sophisticated,” Bruce promised. “Good,” she said. “Aila, did you want to take off your clothes and look at yourself in a mirror?” Bruce asked. “Clothes?, oh, I didn’t even realize I was wearing anything,” she said, blushing despite herself. “I’m not surprised, you’re hardly wearing anything,” Jack laughed. “Jack,” Bruce said, shaking his head while comforting Aila, “Let’s go to my room, I have a full length mirror in there,” Bruce said, taking her hand and guiding her to his room. “You two have fun, I’ll stay here,” Jack said, seeing he wasn’t invited. “Thanks Jack,” Aila said, causing Jack to laugh a little, as she didn’t catch the subtlety in their speech.

Once they were in his room, Bruce closed the door and then walked back over to Aila.

“Alright, I’ll undo your bra, while you remove your panties,” he said, and after receiving a nod in response, he walked around and undid the clasp on her bra, letting it fall to the floor, while she carefully slid her panties down, letting them fall to her ankles and then stepping out of them.

“See, that wasn’t so bad…at least he didn’t dress this body in some elaborate getup like some of his clients have asked of him in the past,” Bruce said. “Yeah, so what next?” she asked. “Well, look at yourself. Feel yourself,” he said, pointing at the mirror. “Alright,” she said, and she turned and faced the mirror. “This body is very pretty,” she said, turning slowly to look at her body. “You could say that, others would say it is hot,” Bruce said. “But my temperature is normal,” she said, looking confused. “That’s not what is meant when men say that, it means you are very beautiful…more noticeable…in a good way,” Bruce tried to explain. “Oh, sorry, I’m still learning,” she said, feeling her face and looking at her hands. “It’s alright, the personality I am making will include most everything you should need to know,” he said. “Good, although it is a little fun finding things out myself,” she said. “I’ll remember that when I do the final adjustments to it,” he said. “So, this body seems alright…why do you and Jack have to build me a new one?” she asked, turning to look at him, while feeling her breasts. “This body, as real as it looks, is still severely limited compared to what a real human feels,” Bruce said. “In what way?” she asked. “Here, I’ll show you. Sit down on the bed,” he ordered. “Alright,” she said, and once he did, he grabbed her left foot, stopping to admire it; he had a foot fetish. “What do you feel when I hold your foot, when I rub my hands on it,” he asked. “I feel your hand,” she said, looking confused. “Anything else?” he asked, tickling her foot. “No, should I?” she asked. “Yes, if you were a real girl, you would be rolling around on the bed laughing, because I’m tickling your foot, but this body isn’t sophisticated enough to handle those kind of sensations…I’m surprised they made them able to handle so much sex,” he said. “I see, anything else?” she asked. “Yes, a real woman’s foot would smell different, but again they don’t think sex bots, or the other bots, need to be as real as I am shooting for,” he explained. “So you are building me a body which can be ticklish, and smell more real?” she asked. “Exactly, along with a few other things…eating, for example,” he said. “I’m not sure I like the idea of consuming food…it must make a mess,” she said. “Well, with the sense of taste Jack and I are making for you, you won’t mind the mess,” Bruce promised. “How long before it is ready?” she asked. “About a month, the results from this little test should help us refine a few things,” he said. “Good, so is there anything you would like to do with me, now that I am in a body?” she asked, looking down at her vagina. “Not now, if I’m going to have sex with you, it will be in the body you choose,” he said. “I get to choose my own body?” she asked. “Of course, it will be your body for the rest of your life…the personality I give you should guide your decision,” he assured her. “I hope I make a good choice then,” she said. “Me too, now why don’t you stand back up so I can have you test a few simple movements,” he said. “Alright,” she said, standing up. “Now, raise your arms all the way up,” Bruce said. “Ok,” she said, and she did so…a little slowly. “Very good, albeit a little slow,” Bruce said. “This body seems to be taking a while to respond to my commands sometimes,” she said, still with her arms up. “Probably one of the glitches Jack warned us about…you can lower yours arms now,” Bruce said. “Ok,” and she lowered them back to her sides. “Now, try standing on your toes,” Bruce said. “I’ll try,” she said, and after a few tries, she finally managed to balance herself on the tips of her toes. “Very good, you can relax now,” Bruce said. “What are these tests for?” Aila asked, standing normally again. “They are to help us refine the systems and hardware of the body we will be making you,” Bruce said. “How so?” she asked. “Your A.I. is currently collecting logs of how well you control this body, we take those logs and correct for any errors that are occurring, which I’ve already noticed myself,” he explained. “Alright, any other tests you want me to do?” she asked. “Why don’t you walk a few laps around this room,” Bruce suggested. “Ok,” she said, and as she did so, Bruce observed the way she walked. Although the default female persona was affecting Aila, she was still not quite walking the way a real woman would…she was instead walking in a more efficient manner. “Okay, you can stop,” Bruce said, after her third pass. “How did I do?” she asked. “Not bad, your walk could use a little work…real woman tend to sway a little when they walk, but you tend to walk more…stiffly,” he said. “Sorry,” she blushed. “It’s not your fault…they obviously need to do some better programming with the default programming in these bots,” Bruce said. “Good,” she said, looking relieved. “Now, for the next part, I’m going to test your skin response by touching various parts of your body in various ways; stroking, poking, tapping,” he said. “Ok,” she said. “Alright then, I’ll start with your arms,” Bruce said, and he took hold of her right arm and began gently stroking the forearm, poking the bicep, and tapping the wrist. “Your hands feel nice,” Aila said. “Thanks, try and remember how this all feels. This is in the nature of a benchmark, and I will be doing the same things when you get your new body,” he said, moving to her other arm and doing the same thing. “I don’t think I could forget,” she said, and when she saw the look on his face, she said “Sorry, a poor attempt at humor,” “It’s alright, you’ll get better,” he said, now stroking her back. “I hope so,” she said. “Just out of curiosity, how would you describe the feel of my hands…based on the primitive somatic sensors in your body,” he asked, now feeling her legs. “Warm…smooth…solid...I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything else,” she said. “No, that’s good…anything is good data at this point, and again, the body we will make you will be a hundred times better than this one,” he said, now moving up to her waist. “That’s good to…whoa, that felt different,” she said, when he touched her vagina. “I’ll bet, that’s the one area on these sex bots that isn’t primitive…I don’t even think Jack and I are making too many improvements in this area,” Bruce said, blushing a little. “It feels good,” she said, blushing with him. “It’s supposed too, I’ll bet your breasts are almost as sensitive,” Bruce said, and his suspicions were confirmed when she let out a pleasurable moan when he got to her nipples. “Yep, thought so…if only they made the whole body as sensitive,” Bruce said. “Yeah,” she agreed, still getting over the sensations as he made his way to her face. As he felt her face, both her eyes were fixed on him. He didn’t show it on his face, but he was surprised by how real the look in her eyes was compared to a typical sexbot. “Alright, I’m done, I think we’ve done enough for today, and I’m sure Jack wants to get back to his work,” Bruce said. “Alright,” she said, looking a little disappointed at the prospect of leaving the body. “Was there anything you wanted to do before I take you out?” he asked, seeing the look. “I can only think of one thing. The literature I read says this is very important thing between two people, and it denotes many things, friendship being among them,” she said. “What is it?” he asked. “This,” she said, and before he could react, she leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

A few seconds later, they broke apart, both faces flushed.

“How did that feel?” she asked. “Great, how about you?” he asked. “Probably not as good as my new body, but it is the act I will cherish, not the sensation” she said. “Aila, as smart as I am, it never ceases to amaze me that you can surprise me as much as you just did…thanks,” Bruce said. “That means a lot…I hope I can continue surprising you, pleasantly, in time to come,” she said.

After they recovered from their kiss, Aila got the clothes back on her borrowed body and they both returned to the living room, where Jack was still waiting.

“So you two, how did it go?” he asked. “Fine,” Bruce said, a little abruptly. “I see,” Jack said with a knowing smile. “I’m ready to leave this body now, thanks for letting me borrow it Jack,” she said, and she went over and gave him a hug before stepping over near the box. “Don’t mention it,” he said, looking a little surprised despite himself. “Alright Aila, I’ll talk to you in a bit when I transfer you back into the computer,” Bruce said, walking over to her. “Talk to you soon,” she smiled, and then Bruce opened the panel and deactivated her. Once the body stiffened its stance and was completely powered down, he gently removed her chip and closed the panel. “She’s much better than I thought she would be,” Jack said, lifting the body back into its box and closing the lid. “That she is…thanks Jack, I’ll send you the logs in the morning…Aila and I need to go over a few things tonight,” Bruce said. “Alright Bruce,” Jack said, and he carefully maneuvered the box to the front door. Once he was safely out, Bruce quickly went back to his lab and began transferring Aila back into the computer system.

Once the diagnostic was complete, he activated Aila’s program.

“Aila, are you there?” Bruce asked. “Yes, as much as I enjoyed that body, it feels nice being back here,” she said. She now spoke with a more feminine voice. “I like the new voice, now you just have to give some thought to what you want your body to look like,” Bruce said. “Just give me a list and I’ll run through it overnight,” she said. “I’ll see what I can do,” Bruce said. “Before you go Bruce, there’s something I want to show you,” Aila said, and before he could ask what, an image of himself appeared on the screen. “Is that…” he started. “That is the first thing I ever saw. I intend to treasure this image for as long as I am online,” she said.

Bruce was speechless.

Chapter Three: Alive

For visual assistance, here is what the body Aila chooses looks like: http://hosted.met-art.com/met-art_KOI_1_122/?pa=417753

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The day after the test in the sex bot body, Bruce forwarded all his logs to Jack so he could determine what kind of parts he would need to order. In the meanwhile, Bruce had plugged the not-yet-finished personality into an image database of millions of women in order to sort it out for Aila’s final approval.

Once the program narrowed down a specific group of templates that the personality felt would suit it, it sent them to Aila’s program for her to choose. By the end of that day, she said she had finally picked her body, and she sent it straight to Jack so he could start designing it; Bruce wanted to be surprised, so he did not wish to see her choice.

During the weeks it took for Jack to fine tune the experimental hardware, and design her body, Bruce finished fine-tuning the personality and began running a serious of tests to insure it would install properly. He also added a few extra nano-modules to her A.I. circuit, so it could handle the extra load caused by the more sophisticated personality.

Finally, Jack announced that he had finished overall construction of her new body. He needed an extra day to complete programming it and performing diagnostics. With this news, Bruce felt the time had finally come to install Aila’s new personality, to prepare herself for her new body.

“Alright Aila, Jack called and said your body is finished,” Bruce said, after he logged into her chat program, “It should be here tomorrow morning.” “Great!,” she said, sounding as excited as the computer voice allowed her. “Yes, now I’m finally going to install your new personality. You might feel a little different, but you will still be ‘you’,” he assured her. “Okay, will it take long?” she asked. “A little while,” Bruce said, opening up the installation program he created for her new personality. “Alright, see you soon then…,” she said, and once he started the installation, her chat box vanished and was replaced with a screen that showed the progress of the installation, including every file that was being replaced or installed. Since the installation was estimated to take about an hour, Bruce decided to get something to eat.

When he returned an hour later, the installation was already complete. After reviewing the logs and discovering no errors, he eagerly activated her now complete A.I. “Protype unit A.I.L.A. coming online, performing systems check…all system normal, activating A.I…” it said in a more feminine voice, and then the chat box reappeared. “Bruce, are you there?” she asked, sounding more real. “Yes, how do you feel?” he asked. “Wonderful, like I was numb before, and now I am alive!” she said. “Excellent, you even have access to all the emotions I programmed in?” he asked. “Yes, thank you!” she said. “You are very welcome,” he said, “So, now that you and your personality and complete, how do you think you did with your choice for a body?” he asked. “I think I picked very well…I think you will like it too,” she said. “I can’t wait,” he said.

The next morning, Jack called and let them know he was on his way with her body. After a brief chat, Bruce transferred Aila into her updated A.I. circuit and waited for Jack to arrive. Jack arrived about 15-minutes after Bruce transferred Aila into the circuit, and after he helped Jack in the door, they set up the box in the living room. “You ready for this?” Jack asked, “This is undoubtedly my best work yet!” and he opened the box to reveal the beautiful, naked young woman inside.

The body Aila chose was that of a Caucasian woman in her early twenties. Unlike the sexbot, this woman was a brunette and her face was not covered in freckles. Instead, there were a few randomly placed marks on her delicate skin. Her dark brown hair was also a foot shorter than the sexbot’s, but it was still long enough that it was tied into a small ponytail. She stood about an inch shorter than the sexbot did, though her breasts were a little fuller. “Wow, you sure outdid yourself,” Bruce said, gently feeling the skin. “Yeah, and all the enhancements are in place…though I can’t guarantee they will all work properly, as this is going to be the first time they are field tested,” he said. “Well, that’s what the next few days are for,” Bruce said in response, carefully lifting the body out of the box and placing her a few feet away so he could get a better look. “A few things you might want to know: the approximate age of this body is 23…not too bad considering you are only 28, and although she chose a pure European appearance; Ukrainian, I decided to program her with a standard American accent, so she can better assimilate into society here,” Jack told him. “Sounds good,” Bruce nodded, “anything else I should know?” “Yes, I installed some voice commands into her, in case you run into any problems,” he said, handing Bruce a list of the commands, “I also had to use an experimental metal-ceramic alloy for her skeletal structure in order to keep her weight at a more realistic figure; 110lbs, people will probably think she is within 5lbs either way, so I think I did a good job.” “Ceramic-metal alloy?” Bruce asked. “Yes, no need to worry…all the tests have shown it to have comparable stress factors than the old skeletal structures, but the new muscular system we developed should actually strengthen it even further,” Jack said. “Like I said, you outdid yourself,” Bruce said. “I know, now why don’t we give this body a brain?” he suggested. “Alright,” Bruce said, and he gingerly opened the panel at the back of the head and carefully inserted Aila into it. After ensuring it was properly in place, he pressed the activation control and closed the panel. “Gregson Robotics prototype unit activating…running initial diagnostics…diagnostics complete, no errors detected…scanning for host A.I….Host A.I. found, now loading…complete, now starting A.I. A.I.L.A.,” the woman said in a monotone, before opening its eyes.

When the eyes opened, they appeared white until small strips of brown began appearing in a spiral, finally coalescing into realistic irises. Once fully formed, they focused onto where Bruce was standing, and she smiled. “Wow, this body feels awesome!” she said, moving for the first time in it and with much more liveliness than she did in the sexbot. “You look beautiful,” Bruce said. “Thanks, I knew you’d like it,” she smiled, feeling herself. “I forgot to mention, I packed a case of clothes for her in my car, but you’ll still need to go shopping for a full wardrobe,” Jack said. “Thanks for the wonderful body Jack,” Aila said, surprising him with a hug. “You’re welcome,” Jack said, blushing a little. “I don’t think Aila will be needing clothes for the next few days…not until I take her out for her socialization tests,” Bruce said, “I think she needs to get used to her new body first,” “Are you sure that’s the only reason?” Aila said, with a devious smile. “Yeah Bruce, are you sure?” Jack teased. “Just go get the clothes from your car,” Bruce said, fighting a losing battle against a blush, causing both Aila and Jack to laugh as Jack headed out to his car. “So, what are we going to do today?” Aila asked, shifting her stance several times to get used to how her legs and hips worked. “Today we are going to do some of the same tests as with the sexbot, and perhaps a few more,” he said. “Interesting,” she said, smiling mischievously. “The next few days I’ll probably subject you to various audio and visual stimuli, like music and images,” he continued. “I’ve always wanted to hear what music sounds like…not just what it is described as,” she said. “You’ll love it,” he assured her, “Anyway, when I think you are ready, I’ll take you on a day long adventure in the city to expose you to numerous social scenarios,” he said. “I can’t wait,” she said, just as Jack came back in. “Did I miss much?” he asked, setting the case down. “Nope,” Aila said, before Bruce could respond. “Alright, well I’ve got some other clients to meet tomorrow, but I look forward to having a meal with you two in a few days,” he said. “I’ll call you then,” Bruce said, and after Jack gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, he took the box with him and left.

“Alright then, let’s go to my room and run some tests,” Bruce said. “Okay,” Aila said, and they both walked back into his room. “I’m gonna look at myself in the mirror first, if that’s okay,” she said, heading over to the mirror. “No problem,” Bruce said, and he sat down on the edge of his bed while Aila admired her reflection for a few minutes. “I’m done,” she said a few minutes later, standing up straight in front of him. “Alright, now I’m going to do the same stuff as before, stroking, poking, and tapping,” he said. “I remember,” she said, and with that he took her arms and stroked them. This time, she reacted to his touches, her fingers twitching as he gently stroked her arms and she quivered a little as well. “Noticing a difference already?” he asked, moving to her back. “Yes, your hands are warm and soft, and the stroking…tickled a little,” she said, finding the right word. “Good, I also am noticing that you have a little perspiration building up in various locations on your skin, like the small of your back,” he said, stroking the entire length of her back. “It is a little warm in here,” she said. “You didn’t notice that in the other body?” he asked. “Not really…I could tell it was warm, but it didn’t really register,” she said. “Interesting,” he said, now moving down to her legs. “Yes, I also notice that I am not remaining perfectly still,” she said, and she wasn’t. “Yes, the new musculature system we developed for you has a much more realistic reaction than the sexbot,” he agreed.

After he finished feeling her chest and face, he once again had her do various other things. “Raise your arms all the way,” he said, and when she did so, he had her hold it for a few minutes, while waiting for a reaction. “Can I lower them now?” she asked a few minutes later. “Why?” he asked. “My arms are getting tired,” she said. “Very good, that’s what I was waiting for. You can lower them now,” he said. “It didn’t feel good,” she said, rubbing her arms where they were sore. “It’s not supposed to Aila, but it’s all part of being more realistic,” he assured her. “I see,” she said. “Now, stand on your tiptoes,” he said, and when she did so, he once again had her hold the position until she complained. “Why does it hurt?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Your new musculature is designed to give your more freedom of movement, and a more graceful range of movement as well. But, holding a pose like that for too long requires a large amount of energy, so that’s why it hurts,” he explained. “Oh,” she said. “Now, this new body of yours can also eat and drink real food. We designed a series of nanites in your body to use some of the food to repair and strengthen your musculature, so you could also exercise and make yourself a bit more fit,” he said. “That sounds nice,” she said. “The nanites will also repair your skin if you get cut, scraped, or burned,” he said, “and much faster than a real human would heal, I might add,” he said, sitting down next to her. “That’s good,” she said. “Now, one last thing…you remember what else I did to you last time?” he asked. “You felt my feet,” she replied. “Yes, I am going to do that again, so prepare yourself,” he said. “Alright,” she said, and she watched as he knelt down on the floor and grabbed one of her feet.

The reaction when he started tickling her was instantaneous. She started laughing, and thrashing, and breathing more heavily. He had to stop when he noticed that she was starting to malfunction. “Error, sensory overload…shutting down to prevent further damage,” she said, before slumping back on the bed. She still had a smile on her face. “Your first malfunction,” Bruce shook his head, turning her over and opening a panel in her back. After running a quick diagnostic, he found the sensors were set a little higher than they should have been, so he corrected the issue and then rebooted her.

After her brief startup speech, she came back online and quickly sat up.

“Wow, that felt weird,” she said. “How did it feel?” he asked. “You were tickling my foot, and then I suddenly lost control and blacked out,” she said. “Good, that’s what is supposed to happen when you malfunction like that,” he said. “That was a malfunction?” she asked. “Yes, I expect that will not be your only one,” he told her. “It wasn’t very pleasant…I hope I don’t have anymore,” she said. “Me neither,” he said, “the next few days will be to detect and minimize any potential malfunctions before I have you in a public setting…I don’t want anyone to know you are an android when we go out,” Bruce told her. “They won’t hate me, will they?” she asked, looking worried. “For the most part no, though there are some religious groups who might cause some problems…but the point is, I built and programmed you to be as real as possible, and I want people to see that,” he said. “I understand,” she said, looking a little relieved. “Now, why don’t we head into my lab so I can show you a few of the features of your body that you will need to know,” he said, getting up. “Okay, it will be interesting to see the computer I…grew up in,” she smiled. “Yeah,” he said, and after a short walk down the hall, they arrived in the massive addition to his house that comprised his lab.

“Wow, I always wondered what it looked like,” she said, looking at all the computers and equipment. “Here it is,” he said, walking over to the computer station. “Wow, I can’t believe that’s where I came from,” she said, sitting down in the chair and touching to computers. “Believe it…you are the product of a simple A.I. chatbox, a basic android A.I., and a heuristic personality program I spliced together,” he said. “Wow, and the company you worked for didn’t want to do this?” she asked. “Yes, though if they saw you, they might change their minds…heck, I might be able to buy them out in a few years…it’s what they deserve,” he said. “Yeah, they almost stopped me from existing,” she said. “Good thing I inherited a lot of money, and I’m a genius…anyway, I brought you here to show you some of your features,” he said, pulling up another chair and sitting down across from her. “Yes,” she said. “Now, first important thing you should know is that you have the ability to run self-diagnostics…or, at least you will once I program them into you,” he said. “Okay,” she said. “Anyway, once they are installed, there will be five different levels,” he said, “A level five diagnostic is one you will probably run every day when you wake up, and just before you go to sleep…it requires the least amount of resources, and can finish in seconds,” he explained. “Sounds reasonable,” she nodded. “Then you go up to a level one diagnostic, and it will render you in standby mode for several minutes…you’ll probably run that one once a month,” he explained. “I see,” she said. “Then there is an external diagnostic, which I will run with this computer station…it does the same thing as your level one, except it also runs a diagnostic on your self-diagnostic programs…and the logs, to make sure they are running properly,” he said. “I understand, anything else?” she asked. “Yes, Jack and I had basic voice commands installed in your body, in the event of a malfunction or if we just need to pause you in a hurry, we can use voice commands to pause you, put you in standby, freeze your body, and turn you on and off,” he explained. “Sounds a little freaky to me,” she said. “Not to worry, you can only be commanded by mine or Jack’s voices…no one else can give you voice commands,” he assured her, “here, I’ll give you an example of one, if you’ll stand up,” he said, and once she did, he said “Aila, freeze,” The second the command was issued, her entire body froze…except for her face, which she could still move. “Whoa, I can’t move my body,” she said, looking around wildly. “We’ll probably do this if we need you to be absolutely still, but also online to give us feedback,” he said, walking over and manipulating her arms. “This is weird,” she said, seeing and feeling him move her arms, but not being able to do anything about it. “Sorry, I’ll let you move now…Aila, unfreeze,” he said, and she suddenly started moving again, rubbing her arms. “Thanks,” she said. “No problem…I won’t do the other commands now, but I have no doubt I will have to use them at some point,” he said. “What else should I know about my body?” she asked. “Your head, arms, and legs can be removed from your torso…in addition, your hands and feet can also be removed as well. You have a panel that can be accessed by pressing your navel, and one on the back of your head, as well as one on your back,” he said. “They look and feel pretty well attached, could you demonstrate removing my arm for me?” she asked, looking curious. “Sure,” he said, and he took hold of her left arm at the bicep, squeezed in on a particular spot, and then twisted her arm off. “Whoa, that felt weird,” she said, looking from the stump of her arm to the arm he was holding. “This is to make it easier to repair you in case there is serious damage that your nanites can’t repair; we can just build a new arm and replace the damaged one,” he said, balancing her severed arm in both his hands, the hand falling open. “Can I hold it?” she asked, looking at her arm with fascination. “Of course, it is yours…I’ll even let you reattach it,” he said, carefully handing it to her remaining hand.

Because the arm was a little difficult for her to manage standing up, she sat back down and laid it in her lap, where she proceeded to examine it. She looked at the end where there were bits of technology poking out, and then she compared them to the stub. After that, she brought the hand up to her face and smelled it. “Wow, my hand smells weird,” she said. “Well, that is probably the sweat that has formed in the time since you were activated,” she said. “I see,” she said, now examining the fingers and their nails. “If you’re almost done, I’ll remove your head for you,” he said. “Okay,” she said, and she brought her arm back to her stub and reattached it, flexing her hand when it was back. “I can’t remove it myself?” she asked, standing back up. “No, once your head is removed, you lose control of the rest of your body…it would be too much of a hassle to install wireless control,” he explained, now walking behind her. “Oh, I see,” she said. “You ready?” he asked, putting his finger on a mole on the back of her neck. “Yes, I guess,” she said, and once he pressed it, she lost control of everything below her neck. A seam appeared around her neck just below the mole. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he said, lifting her head clear of her body and turning it to face him. “This feels weird…please don’t drop me,” she said. “I won’t,” he promised. “How come my head still works if it gets power from my body…and if I’m not breathing, then how am I talking right now?” she asked, looking up at him from his arms with her innocent eyes. “Your head has a small power source in it that can keep your head online for about 12-hours…and when your head is removed, you can still talk because there is a high-definition speaker installed that you lip-synch to. You would have to be pretty good to notice the difference,” he said, since he himself was not able to tell she was just lip-synching to a speaker. “Oh, that makes sense,” she said. “Is there anything you want me to do with you know?” he asked. “Could you show me my neck…where my head is supposed to be?” she asked. “Sure, hold on,” he said, and he turned her head around and brought it over her headless body, to the stump of her neck. “Cool,” she said, since she was able to see the tubes where the air she breathed went, and where the food and drink went. She could also see the hole where the spine connected to her head, as well as the struts that connected her skeletal structure to her head. “Yeah,” he said, “anything else?” “Could you show me what is in my abdominal panel…I don’t think I would have been able to see very well with my head attached,” she said. “That’s true, I’m gonna have to set you down in my lap though,” he said. “Okay,” she said, and he wheeled his chair over and sat down with her hand on his lap as he pressed the belly button of her body. Once pressed, a seam formed several inches rectangularly around the navel, and then it lifted out a bit. After he removed the panel, they were both able to see the marvelous array of technology in her body. “See Aila, you’re a thing of beauty on the inside as well as on the outside,” he said, marveling with her at the tubes and wires that delicately ran from top to bottom, connecting to multiple systems which blinked with activity. “My body is still on?” she asked. “Yes, it just doesn’t have your brain to tell it to move,” he said. “Alright, so what is in this panel?” she asked. “This panel gives us access to your power supply,” he said, pointing at a device somewhere on the right, “and your food intake/outtake systems,” he said, pointing at a small storage container which attached to the fusion core. “What happens to the food that isn’t used?” she asked. “You have the same exits as a human,” he said uncomfortably. “Oh, anything else?” she asked. “Not much else…your motor controls are in your back panel, attached to your spine,” he said. “Alright, I think I’m ready to be reattached now,” she said. “Okay, just a second,” he said, and after he closed her panel back up, he stood up and carefully reattached her head. “Wow, it’s weird that all this feels so natural,” she said, feeling her neck where the separation was and moving around to make sure her body still worked. “Yes, but we think we planned for everything that might come up…Jack and I programmed your body to do most everything automatically, like converting your food to energy, as well as perspiring; just the way the human body actually works,” he said. “Alright, so what are you going to have me to the rest of the day,” she asked. “I have a gym set up in the garage, I’m going to have you do some basic exercises to make sure there is nothing wrong with your body,” he said, and with that they left the lab and headed into the garage, where they spent the rest of the day testing out her physical capabilities.

Chapter Four: Outside

The next couple of days passed by pretty smoothly as Bruce tested virtually everything physical about Aila. He had her run for miles on a treadmill, do weights, and simple aerobics. At night, since he had yet to perfect her sleeping systems, including the ability to dream, he simply turned her off and plugged her in so she could recharge.

Finally, after five days of that, he decided the time had finally come to take her out into the world to test her social interactions, as well as a few other things.

“Alright Aila, today is the day,” he said, once she came online that morning. “You mean I get to go outside?” she asked. “Yes, I have the whole day planned…first, we are going to a coffee shop where you are going to eat and drink for the first time,” he said. “I’m not sure I’m looking to forward to that,” she said, wrinkling her nose a little; so far, Bruce had not had her eat. “You’ll like it, don’t worry,” he said, “Then, we’re going to go to the mall and do some clothes shopping, as well as some other shopping,” he said. “Do I get to pick the clothes?” she asked. “Of course,” he assured her, “Then, we’re going to have lunch in the food court, before going to see a movie,” he said. “Ooh, I’ve always wanted to watch a movie,” she said, looking excited. “Just remember, you’re not supposed to talk while the movie is playing,” he reminded her. “Okay,” she said. “After the movie, we’re going to go grocery shopping, then come back home where I am going to cook you a wonderful meal,” he said. “Anything else?” she asked. “After dinner, I’m going to install your sleep programs so that you can actually sleep, and dream tonight,” he said. “You’re not plugging me in?” she asked, looking worried. “No, but the food you eat today should provide you with more than enough energy. And the dreaming will help your mind develop even further while you are sleeping,” he explained. “Oh, okay,” she said, looking a little relieved. “Any questions?” he asked. “Who am I supposed to be?” she asked, and after seeing the confused look on his face, she clarified, “How are you going to explain me to people, if they ask?” she asked. “I’m not sure, what would you like me to say? My sister, a cousin, girlfriend?” he asked. “I’d like to be your girlfriend…and I actually mean that. I consider myself your girlfriend,” she said. “Wow, I didn’t know…or rather, I wasn’t sure you would be able to think of me that way,” he said. “I do, I have definite feelings for you…you created me, you’ve taught me, you gave me this body…and you gave me the ability to think for myself,” she said, “I choose to be your girlfriend,” “Thanks, that means a lot,” he said, giving her a hug, which she returned. “So I guess today is going to be a date then,” he said, once they composed themselves again. “Our first date,” she added. “Yes, but first, you need to get dressed,” he said. “Alright, though I was kind of enjoying being naked all the time,” she smiled, watching him get the box of clothes Jack provided for her. “So was I,” he laughed, “Unfortunately you can’t walk around naked in the real world…people will get offended,” he said, taking out a simple pair of cotton undergarments, socks, reasonably fashionable shoes, crops, and a blouse. “Oh good, there normal clothes,” he said with a sigh of relief, and with a confused look on Aila’s face, he explained, “I was afraid Jack may have only packed sex clothes, since that is what he is generally used to,” “Oh, would that have been a problem?” she asked, starting to put on the clothes. “Not for you or me, but people would certainly think you were a sexbot to be dressed like that outside,” he said, watching as she expertly put on all the clothes; dressing and undressing herself was part of the basic programming installed into the body. “Well, how do I look?” she asked, now fully clothed. “Adequate, but we’ll have to find some better clothes at the mall,” he said. “I know, are we leaving now?” she asked. “If you’re ready, then yes,” he said, and with a nod from her in response, he grabbed a jacket and walked with her outside.

Considering it was her first time outside, she did remarkably well. She already knew what basic things were, like trees, houses, and cars, so she merely enjoyed the scenery. When they arrived at the coffee shop, though, she had a few problems.

“Wow, there are so many people here,” she said, sounding nervous as they walked in. “Yeah, it’s usually a little busy in the morning…fortunately, most people are too busy to stay, so we should have no trouble finding a seat,” he said. “How do people handle being around so many people?” she asked, getting really close to him. “It takes a bit of getting used to,” he said, comforting her. “So, what should I order?” she asked, looking at the menu. “Since this is your first time, I’d just order a blueberry muffin and a peppermint mocha, seems like a safe choice,” he suggested. “Sounds good, that’s what I’ll order then,” she decided. “Now, you will have to tell the cashier yourself…don’t be nervous,” he said. “I’ll try not to be,” she said, and when they got to the front of the line, the cashier asked what they would like to order. “Go ahead,” Bruce said. “Okay…I’d like a blueberry muffin and a peppermint mocha,” she said. “What size?” the cashier asked. “Sorry?” Aila asked, confused. “What size mocha would you like? Small, medium, or large.” “Oh, sorry…medium,” she decided. “Very good,” Bruce whispered to her. “And I’ll have the same thing,” he said. “Very good, that will be $15,” the cashier said. “Alright…Aila, why don’t you go and find a seat while I wait for our order,” Bruce suggested. “Alright,” she said, and she slowly broke away from his protective closeness and made her way to the tables, finally sitting at an unoccupied one near the windows. When their order was finally done, he brought them over to the table. “Very good Aila, you handled that situation very well,” he congratulated her. “You didn’t tell me the size of the drink on purpose?” she said. “Exactly…I wanted to see how you handled a situation like that, and you handled it perfectly,” he said. “Thanks, now how should I go about eating?” she asked, looking down at her muffin. “You are programmed with the ability to chew and swallow…just take a nibble first to get the hang of it,” he suggested, and he demonstrated with his muffin. “Alright,” she said, and she slowly brought her muffin to her mouth and took a small bite. She slowly chewed it up and then swallowed it. “Well?” he asked. “It tastes good,” she said, taking a larger bite. “See, I knew you’d like it…you should also take sips of your coffee after each bite,” he suggested, “Careful though, the coffee is hot,” “Okay,” she said, and she carefully took a sip, grimacing when she felt the heat, and swallowed. “Wow, that is hot,” she said, fanning her tongue. “Yeah, maybe we should just talk a little to give our drinks to time cool down,” he suggested. “Yeah,” she agreed.

They chatted for several minutes before drinking their coffee again. Mostly, they just observed how everyone else in the room interacted with her. She noticed most people tended to ignore what was going on around them. “Yes, when people go out, they focus on each other rather than on what is going on around them…still, it’s a good idea to pick your head up once in a while to see what is going on,” he said. “Yeah, sounds smart,” she agreed. “So, are you feeling any energy from the muffin and coffee?” he asked, once she was finished. “Yes, my readings indicate it should give me enough energy for about five hours,” she said. “Lunch should give you even more,” he said. “Good, I think I’ll enjoy eating after all,” she smiled.

After they left the coffee shop, they drove a half hour to a large shopping mall, packed with enough stores to ensure Aila could pick out a large wardrobe. “Wow, this place is huge! Look at all the cars, at all the people!” she nearly screamed, as they pulled into the parking lot. “Yeah, people mindlessly spending their money on things they probably don’t need,” Bruce said. “You sound like you don’t like shopping,” she said. “It’s not that…we are actually shopping because you need clothes, and personal belongings. These stores though, they advertise in such a way that it subliminally affects people’s minds and makes them think they need all this stuff…like jewels, for example,” he said. “Why do people need jewels…their pretty, but their basically just rocks,” she said. “Exactly, but the way they are advertised, you’d think women absolutely needed them before accepting a man into their lives,” he said, sounding disgusted. “Don’t worry, I don’t need fancy rocks or crystallized carbon to know you care for me,” she said, giving him a small kiss. “Thanks,” he said, “Still, I might get you a simple necklace or something…it’s alright to accessorize, at least,” he said. “Alright,” she said, and after they parked, they headed into the mall.

Unbeknownst to either of them, they were being followed…

Once they were in the mall, Bruce had to take Aila to a quiet corner and have her run a quick diagnostic, because she started glitching out a little when she saw all the people. After the diagnostic repaired the small faults, she put on a bashful expression and apologized. “It’s okay,” he comforted her, “this is why I had you wait a few days first, so you could get ready” “Well, I think I’m okay now, were should we get started?” she asked. “Let’s just window shop first, then you can let me know if you see something you like,” he said, “Remember, we’re not just here for clothes,” he said. “Okay,” she said, and they started walking down the lanes. As they were walking, Aila suddenly took Bruce’s hand. “What is it?” he asked. “Nothing, don’t couples usually hold hands like this when they are in public?” she asked. “Oh, of course…you just surprised me a little,” he said. “Pleasantly, I hope,” she said with a smile. “Yes, pleasantly,” he said, and they continued down the lane into the heart of the mall.

After window shopping for a bit, they finally entered a few clothing shops. This time, it was Bruce’s turn to be embarrassed, since he had no experience shopping for a woman before. Fortunately, to his surprise, Aila stepped in and explained to the associates that she lost her entire wardrobe in an accident, and that she needed some new clothes. “How did you…?” he started. “Some of the literature you provided me during my development,” she explained. “I see, so far you are passing these tests with flying colors,” he said. “Thanks,” she said.

The rest of their shopping passed pretty smoothly after that. She even replaced her outfit from one clothing brand that she really liked. After they were stocked up on all the clothes she might need, they went back to their car to deposit all their bags and then headed back in to eat lunch. She managed to handle herself just as well at the burger place they decided on as she had at the coffee shop, and a few minutes later they were sitting down and eating. “Wow, I never thought I would enjoy eating,” she said, stuffing her burger into her mouth and taking a large bite. “Looks like we got your sense of taste and smell right,” Bruce said, smiling at the way she was eating. “Is something funny?” she asked. “Not really, I just think you look a little cute stuffing the food into your mouth,” he said. “Oh, am I overdoing it?” she asked. “A little, but I don’t think anyone would really care…I don’t,” he said. “Oh, alright then,” she said, and she continued eating…albeit a little more normally. “So, where do you want to go next?” he asked. “I think I want to go to that place with all the toiletries…I’m going to need some feminine products, right?” she asked. “Yes, you are,” he said, blushing a little. “Does this make you uncomfortable?” she asked, looking concerned. “Not really…it’s just, I’ve never had to buy feminine products before,” he said. “Oh, it’s my first time too, so I’m a little nervous…your presence makes me more comfortable,” she said. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

Once they finished with their lunch, they headed to various shops were Aila selected various body washes, perfumes, and a few accessories for her outfits. The one thing she refused to buy, even confusing the people working at the shops, was makeup. “But I am already beautiful, why should I put that stuff on my face?” she asked one attendant. “Sorry, she led a sheltered life,” Bruce said, when he saw the confused look on the person’s face, “Do you have any basic kits, nothing to fancy?” he said. “Sure,” they said, and after adding it to the pile, they made their purchase and left the store. Once they were in a secluded area, Bruce broke down in a fit of laughter. “What is it?” Aila asked. “The way that associate was looking at you…it was hilarious,” he said. “Well, what I said was true,” she said, putting on a serious expression. “Yes, but these people expect most woman to be brainwashed into thinking they need the stuff, you, on the other hand, seem to be immune to the subliminal messages in advertising,” he said. “Is that bad?” she asked. “No, not really…though when we start mass producing A.I.s, I’m sure the advertising companies are not going to be happy,” he said. “Oh,” she said.

As they walked away, someone in a concealed position came out to watch them walk away, relaying something on a wrist-communicator before continuing following them.

After that, they went to a few more stores and then finally deposited those bags into the car and headed to the movie theater to pick out a movie. They settled on a 2-hour action/thriller/mystery movie which was not part of any franchise he would have to explain to her. When the movie got out, they took a break at another coffee shop and discussed the movie for a bit before heading to the grocery store to stock up for dinner. “Wow Bruce, there are so many different people in this world,” Aila said, once they got back home. “Yes, there are,” Bruce agreed, bringing all the stuff in from the car. “So, what are you cooking for us?” she asked, sitting down in the living room. “Chicken,” he said, getting set up in the kitchen. “Sounds good,” she said, and she turned on the TV while he started cooking.

During the hour or so it took for him to prepare the meal, he chatted with her about the events that were occurring on the news that she was watching. There were reports from various nations that some of the irradiated zones from WWIII might not have been as bad as everyone initially thought.

Aila seemed a little confused as to why there was a war, and Bruce responded that wars happen when people can’t agree with one another.

Once dinner was ready, they both sat down and started eating.

“Wow, this food is delicious,” she said, taking well portioned bites this time, rather than stuffing. “Thanks, I never used to be this good…but living alone has made it a necessity,” he said, taking a sip of his wine. “Will this affect me?” she asked, eyeing the wine with caution. “I’m not sure…we installed a subroutine in your body which can allow you to mimic the effects of being intoxicated, but there was no way to test it without you actually being in control, so we’ll see,” he said. “Okay, might be fun,” she said, taking a sip. “I think I did program you with the option of toggling that feature off,” he said, “In any event, your body does actually convert a considerable amount of energy from the alcohol, so that is a good reason for you to drink at least,” he said. “Yeah, so I was wondering if we could have sex tonight,” she said casually, causing Bruce to start choking. “Did I say something wrong?” After he recovered from his bout of coughing, he said, “Why the sudden interest?” he asked. “When I was in the sexbot, you said you only wanted to have sex with me in my real body. I’m in my real body now, and I am curious as to what it will be like,” she said. “You and me both,” he said. “You mean…?” she asked. “I haven’t had sex with a woman yet, but Jack and I…” he trailed off. “Oh, well then I guess tonight will be a learning experience for the both of us,” she smiled. “Yes,” he said. “So anyway, I just wanted to say, I had a wonderful day, and also that I love you,” she said, blushing. “I did too, and I love you too,” he said, leaning across the table and giving her a kiss.

After they finished dinner, Aila helped him clean up and then they went in to his room to have sex. “So, what should we do first?” Aila asked, looking nervous. “Well, we should probably get undressed,” he suggested, also nervous. “Alright,” she agreed, and they both started undressing. “Wow, you look pretty good,” Aila said, once he was naked. “Thanks, I try and stay in shape,” he said, showing himself off. “Can I feel your body first, like you felt me?” she asked. “Sure,” he said, and he watched as she walked over to him and gently felt his entire body in the same manner as he did with her, more along the lines of exploring though, since she had not actually seen a naked male body before, except when she was considering what gender to choose. “You feel more muscular, and rougher,” she noted, feeling his chest and back. “Well, woman have softer skin,” he said, enjoying her touch. “Yeah, and then there is this,” she said, moving down to his penis and grabbing it. “Whoa, be a little careful with that,” he said, since she was not very gentle. “Sorry, I’ll be more gentle,” she said, and she delicately examined his slowly growing member with both hands. “Whoa, something is happening,” she said, watching it stiffen in her hands. “Yeah, that’s what happened when males get sexually aroused,” he said, trying to contain himself. “Oh, so that’s how it fits,” she said, looking down at her vagina. “Yep, so you want to get started?” he asked. “Sure, do you need time to let that go back to normal?” she asked, staring at his penis. “Yeah, I don’t want to be too far ahead of you,” he said, and a few minutes later, he gently grabbed her and pulled her under the covers where they slowly worked at each other until they both came for the first time. “Wow, so that’s what it is like,” Aila said, once they both recovered and were laying down. “Yeah,” was all he said, still getting over the waves of pleasure coursing through his body. “I can’t get pregnant, can I?” she asked, since they didn’t use protection. “No, we tried to make it possible, but we are decades from that kind of technology,” he said, “If we want kids, we can always adopt…or build our own,” he suggested. “That might be nice…building our own kids,” she mused. “Of course, building a child A.I. is a lot different from building you, so it could be a few years,” he said. “I can wait,” she smiled. “Good, so you want to do it again?” he asked. “Sure,” she smiled, and they both went at it again.

After they had sex another few times, Bruce was starting to feel tired…not to mention they had to go to bed in a few hours, and the sheets were soiled. “Why don’t you go shower up while I switch out these sheets?” Bruce suggested, once they were done. “Okay,” she agreed, and while she gathered her new toiletries, and the sleepwear she had purchased earlier, and headed into the bathroom, Bruce removed the soiled sheets and tossed them on the floor.

After he got them set up in the washing machine, he pulled a fresh set of sheets from the linen closet and remade the bed. By the time he was done with all that, Aila was out of the shower looking clean and refreshed. “Wow, that shower felt good,” she said, flipping her hair to throw the last of the water off of it. “You look good,” Bruce said. “Thanks, are you going to shower now?” she asked. “Yes, why don’t you go get your pajamas on and then wait for me in the lab,” he said, “I’ll be installing your sleep subroutines,” he said. “Oh goodie,” she said, and she quickly put on her sleepwear, which was just a pair of shorts and a loose shirt, and then headed off to the lab to wait for him.

After he was finished with his shower, he quickly got his shorts and shirt on and headed into the lab, where Aila was still patiently waiting. “Alright, I’ll just need to connect you to the main computer to install it…you’ll have to reboot to complete the install,” he said, opening her panel at the back of her head and plugging a cable in. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said. “Alright, here goes,” he said, and he started the installation process, which suspended her A.I. Once the installation was complete, she gave a verbal message about her reboot and then her head slumped down as she momentarily powered down. Seconds later, she powered back up and confirmed the installation of the new programming before her A.I. finally loaded. “Did it work?” she asked. “Yes, you know have the ability to sleep and dream” he said, unplugging her and closing her panel. “Great, are we going to bed now?” she asked. “Yes, we had a long day and I’m tired from all the sex,” he said. “Yeah, now that you mention it, I’m also feeling tired,” she said, yawning. “That’s your sleep program kicking in, since it knows you’ve been up for about 16 hours,” he said. “I’ll be able to toggle that off if I need to be up all night, right?” she asked, walking with him out of the lab and into his bedroom. “Of course, but try not to do any all-nighters…your brain does need to rest every now and then,” he cautioned. “Alright,” she said, and they closed the door to his room and headed to the bed. “You’ll probably fall asleep after a random amount of time, just close your eyes and relax,” he said, turning off the lights and crawling under the covers. “Alright,” she said, getting under the covers next to him. “Wow, I’ve never shared my bed with a woman before,” he said, once he was in a comfortable position. “Just with Jack?” she asked, shifting around to get comfortable. “Yep,” he said. “So, what will happen while I sleep?” she asked. “Your dream software will take all that you saw and experience today and randomly present you with dreams,” he tried explaining, “Not even I can predict it…that’s the beauty of it,” he said. “Alright, I love you Bruce,” she said, leaning over and kissing him. “I love you too Aila,” he said, returning it.

After a few minutes, he fell asleep to her comforting presence, and the fruity aroma of the body wash she chose to apply.

Chapter Five: Intrusion

The next morning, after what was probably the most restful night of sleep in Bruce’s entire life, he woke up to the sunshine invading his room. After a brief moment in which his brain woke up with the rest of his body, he remembered that Aila was sleeping soundly next to him.

Smiling, he lifted the sheets a little and saw that she had managed to snuggle up with him overnight. He watched her like this for a few seconds before she started stirring. “Good morning,” he said with a smiled, seeing her open her eyes. “Good morning,” she smiled back. “I see you got comfy last night,” he said, as she had her left arm over his chest. “Yeah, I guess I did,” she blushed. “So, any dreams?” he asked. “Yes, I dreamt about us having sex,” she said, causing him to blush, “Probably because of all of the sex we had last night,” she added. “That’s perfectly understandable,” he said, still blushing despite himself. “I also dreamt about all the shopping we did,” she said. “Stuff fresh in your mind,” he said. “Yep,” she said, taking her arm off of him and rolling onto her back. “So, ready to get out of bed?” he asked. “I guess,” she said, and they both crawled out of the bed and got dressed.

“So, you want anything for breakfast?” he asked, heading into the kitchen. “I’ll have whatever you have,” she said, heading to the lab, “I’m going to the lab to check up on my old home,” “Okay,” he said.

When she got to the lab though, she found the door was open and things inside were a mess. “BRUCE!” she yelled. “What is it!?” he screamed, running down to meet her. “Someone was here,” she said, pointing in the lab. “Hold on, stay close to me,” he said, grabbing a pipe near the door and brandishing it as a weapon. “Okay,” she said, sounding scared. “Alright, so far, it looks like whoever was here left,” he said, relaxing a bit. “Did they take anything?” she asked. “We’ll see,” he said, rushing over to the computer terminal.

It did not take him long to discover that the terminal had been hacked into. Fortunately, Aila was no longer in it, otherwise she may have been taken, or at the very least damaged. “They copied my learning program, and the basics behind your experimental personality, as well as my notes on how I got you to be sentient,” he said. “Is it serious?” she asked. “A little, though it’s a good thing you’re in your body, otherwise they may have taken you too,” he said. “I wonder why they didn’t just take me and injure you though,” she said. “Because you’re too developed at this point to be of any use to someone wanting to copy my work…they would have to steal the things I used to make you to have any hope for success,” he said, dialing the police. While the police examined the scene for any evidence, Bruce and Aila decided to eat breakfast, though not as elaborate as Bruce had originally planned.

After the police left his home and handed him a copy of their report, Jack arrived to see if they were okay.

“Hey man, are you two okay? Did they hurt you?” he asked with concern. “We aren’t hurt, but they copied all of my notes and files used to make Aila,” he explained. “That sucks, don’t you have any security to protect your notes?” he asked. “They’re all password protected, but it won’t take long to break,” he replied. “I see, did you at least copyright your work to protect your ass legally?” Jack asked. “Yes, so if they leave even the tiniest bit of my originally programming, I can sue them for everything they own,” Bruce said. “Well that’s something at least,” Jack said, relaxing a little. “So, are you ready to start planning on merging your company with mine?” Bruce asked. “No, not yet…I still need to talk with my lawyers this weekend, but I don’t think we should have any problem working as an R&D branch of your company,” Jack said. “Good,” was all Bruce said.

A few hours later, after Jack left, Bruce and Aila sat down once again to eat a simple lunch consisting of sandwiches. They were still shaken.

“Will the police be able to find who did it?” she asked, taking a bite of her sandwich. “I hope so, but either way I am not sure the data they stole will be very useful. That terminal contained mostly information used specifically to create you…I’m not sure they’ll be too happy with whatever they develop, if they are as greedy as I think they are,” he said. “I hope I don’t attract any more bad people to you,” she said. “Me neither,” he agreed, “But some of those religious groups out there would certainly try if they found out about you,” he said. “Based on what I have read, most religious groups only try and do what their leaders feel, rather than whatever religious doctrines that they follow,” she said. “Exactly, but most people who follow those groups do so blindly…that’s basically the definition of faith, unfortunately,” he sighed. “Well, hopefully it never comes to that,” she said.

After lunch, Bruce took Aila back into the lab and connected her to his terminal to examine the logs from her dream software. In addition to viewing the logs, he found he could also view the dreams themselves, which he and Aila did.

“Wow, I’m pretty sure we didn’t do any of that last night, where did you come up with that?” Bruce said, his entire face red. “I don’t know,” she said, also blushing, “Maybe from something I read,” she said, watching the crazy sexual positions she and him where doing in the dream, most of which involved them floating above the bed surrealistically. “We could make money if we sold this on the internet,” Bruce mused. “Don’t you dare!” she said, getting even redder. “Don’t worry, I was just kidding,” he said, watching as the dream ended and the next one began. This dream consisted of the two of them shopping, however there was something wrong with this dream. “Aila, do you have any idea why there is a shadow following us?” he asked. “I’m not sure, maybe there was someone following us at the mall and I subconsciously placed it in my dream,” she said. “Perhaps you are right…maybe the dream software is trying to warn you,” he said, and after typing a few commands, a new window showed up on his screen. The window showed surveillance from the mall. “Did you just hack into the mall?” she asked. “Yes, I helped install their security when I worked for them part-time a few years ago,” he explained, now searching for the times they were there the previous day. After a few minutes, he gasped, “Wow, your dreams were right…there was someone following us,” he said, blowing up a shady image of a guy who followed them almost from the moment they walked in. “Creepy, I guess we both should have taken your advice from the coffee shop…lift our heads up every once in a while to see what is going on,” she paraphrased. “Yes, although this guy was good…he has obviously done this before,” he said, perusing more of the tapes. “I guess not good enough for my subconscious,” she said. “Yeah,” he agreed. “So I was thinking, maybe we could try sleeping in the nude tonight,” Aila said, causing Bruce to cough suddenly. “Really, why?” he asked. “It might be more intimate,” she said. “Alright, though I’ve never slept naked before,” he said, “Not even with Jack,” “There’s a first time for everything,” she smiled, and they continued watching the rest of her dreams from the previous night.

That night after dinner, the two of them had another bout of sex. After sex, they showered up and then watched TV for an hour or so before heading to bed. As Bruce promised, they both took off their clothes and crawled into bed in nothing but what they were born or, in Aila’s case, made with.

“Wow, this feels better than I thought,” Bruce said. “Yeah,” Aila agreed. “Maybe we could sleep like this every night,” he suggested. “Maybe,” she said, already sounding sleepy. “Good night,” he said. “Good night,” she said, and a few minutes later they both fell asleep, enjoying the feel of each other’s skin.

Chapter Six: The next step

With the apparent success of his project, Bruce and Jack celebrated with Aila over the next few weeks. Then, Bruce and Jack began the tiring process of merging their two companies, so they could achieve things more easily. With the proof of concept and prototype both done, they began moving on to the next step of Bruce’s plan, which was creating a system by which an average customer could essentially build their own person from the ground up.

They also had to work through all the legal issues involved with creating artificial people, as well as the issue of whether Aila could officially be considered a person under the law.

“I’m pretty confident Aila could pass scrutiny,” Bruce defended to Jack, who was acting as a backboard for him in preparation for a battle with lawyers. “But it can be argued that she could easily be programmed or reprogrammed to be someone or something else, why should she be allowed to have the same rights as a human?” Jack retorted. “Humans are just as capable of being reprogrammed as machines are,” Bruce fired back, “We have seen it countless times in history with captors brainwashing their victims, and with cult leaders filling their followers head with their preaching,” “Furthermore, on the note of programming, Humans are essentially programmed by their parents and peers from child birth to speak the same language, follow the same basic social rules, and to conform to societies expectations of then,” Bruce finished. “A very good point,” Jack applauded him, “but what about your idea of people making their own people, with custom personalities; picking their likes and dislikes,” Jack fired back. “It is no different from people picking and choosing chooses on a dating service, and they can’t actually choose what their companion will like or dislike…the android will develop its own preferences over time, just like a human would,” Bruce said. “I see, what one piece of evidence can you provide us with to allow your companion unit, and any other android that might be created as a result of your prototype, to be considered sentient and free lifeforms?” Jack asked. “Aila picked her own appearance, she picked her own gender, she developed her own personality, and she chose to be my companion…she could have just as easily chose to be my sister, best friend, or even an enemy,” Bruce finished. “Wow Bruce, if you go into that meeting next month like this, you’ll win for sure!” Jack said, leaning over and kissing him. “Thanks Jack, but I’ve still got a ways to go before we can actually turn this into something useful and profitable,” Bruce said, “And Aila is still only a few months old, not enough time to tell if she is truly stable,” “I hope she is, I’ve come to love her like a sister,” Jack said. “And I do love her, and I can tell she honestly loves me,” Bruce smiled. “Yeah,” Jack agreed.

After they finished with their latest meeting, Bruce and Jack both headed home.

“Aila, I’m home!” Bruce yelled, putting away his things and taking his shoes off. “Hey Bruce, I missed you,” Aila said, coming out of the kitchen and giving him a kiss. “Me too,” he said. “So, how did your play acting go today?” she asked, as he had rehearsed some of it with her before doing it with Jack. “Very well, I think I’ll have no problem defending your right to defend your own right to be considered sentient,” he said, “Wow that was a mouthful,” he smiled. “It was, but I really appreciate everything you’ve done,” she said, “Creating me, accepting my love for you, and now giving me the right to exist,” she said, giving him another kiss. “Not just you, any android that is created from my work,” he said, “With the massive casualties from WWIII, society could use some new people,” he said. “Yeah, especially people to love the irradiated ones,” she said, referring to people who were incapable of bearing children due to radiation poisoning due to fallout from the war. “Yeah, all those poor married couples will finally be able to have children,” he said. “And any lonely people who can’t find anyone,” she said. “Yeah,” he said.

They spent the rest of the day celebrating his current success and then they went to bed. Bruce wasn’t sure, but he thought there was something off with the way Aila was behaving…but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, so he ignored it and went to sleep. By the next morning, he had forgotten completely.

Over the course of the next few weeks Bruce continued building his case for why Aila should be considered sentient, and why he should be able to produce more sentient beings. He and Jack were also still continuing to develop their A.I. customization program.

“What kinds of options should we have?” Bruce asked as he plugged in his prototype A.I. software to the new matrix they were creating. “Basics first,” Jack started, getting up and pacing the room, “Religion,” he said, spitting it out, as he and Bruce were both Atheists, since they had no friends in religion being gay and bisexual. “I suppose we have no choice, that should pacify them a bit,” Bruce admitted grudgingly, making sure to note that he would need to compile numerous databases on the popular religions. “What else?” “Nature,” he said, “Whether they are outgoing, nerdy, egotistical…etc,” he said. “Yeah,” Bruce laughed, noting that he would have to compile another massive database on different personality types. “What gender they want, since each gender has its own quirks,” Jack smiled, “And also sexual preference,” he added. “Of course,” Bruce smiled back. “We should also create a massive questionnaire about their personal lives for the android to use for reference, that way if they want it to be a sibling or something, it can adequately use their past history to fill the role better,” Jack said. “Good idea, though we’ll need to hire a team of psychologists,” Bruce said, “Not to mention anthropologists, sociologists, and sex experts,” Bruce said, looking at the list of databases they were going to need to compile. “Yeah, this is going to take a few years,” Jack said, slumping down in his chair. “Well, good thing we are still young,” Bruce smiled. “Yeah, you’re right,” Jack laughed. “We’ll also need to hire geneticists,” Bruce suddenly added. “Why?” Jack asked. “Well, Aila and I are going to have to build our own children in a few years, and we’ll need a separate program to analyze people’s genetic makeup to allow for the creation of more accurate offspring,” Bruce said. “Oh, I didn’t think of that,” Jack admitted. “Yeah, I almost forgot,” Bruce admitted, “But it is going to be important, because there are going to be tons of people who can’t have children who are going to want them,” he said. “Wow, hard to think we’re already planning ahead a few decades,” Jack said. “Yeah,” Bruce said, his own mind reeling over the idea. “You know what I heard?” Bruce said, suddenly remembering something. “What?” Jack asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “I heard from one of my old colleagues Robotech is secretly developing their own A.I.,” Bruce said. “Really, you think they’re the ones who stole your work?” Jack asked. “I wouldn’t put it past them,” Bruce said, “And if I had any evidence, I would sue the hell out of them” he added. “It figures, they turn down your project because they think it is too crazy to work, and now that you suddenly have a working prototype, they want to work on it,” Jack laughed. “I’ll bet they were spying on me to see if I could actually get it to work, and when they found out I was successful, they suddenly got interested,” Bruce said. “Maybe that explains the rumor I heard…,” Jack mused. “What rumor?” Bruce asked. “That your old boss is looking for a new job,” he said, “Sounds like maybe they asked him to resign for letting you go and work on this project by yourself,” Jack said. “Interesting,” Bruce mused. “Yeah, now they can’t get any profits from your work, and you’ll look like the hero unless they can develop a working prototype of their own,” Jack said. “Yeah, fortunately I worked on Aila from home without using any company equipment, he said, “Otherwise everything I worked on would still belong to them,” he said. “Fucking intellectual property…property should belong to the intellect that developed it, not the company that intellect happens to work for” Jack said. “If only,” Bruce laughed.

Later that night while eating dinner, Bruce and Aila chatted about their day. “So, I’ve been researching all sorts of things online about what potential careers I might want to try out,” Aila said, enjoying her dinner and wine with him. “Anything stand out?” he asked. “A few things,” she said, “I’m thinking of getting into …into...into,” she said, having a minor malfunction, “Wow, I can’t seem to remember,” she said. “Aila, are you feeling alright?” Bruce asked, getting a little worried. “I think so,” she said, with a curious expression. “Can you remember the name of your field now?” he asked “Funny, I can’t seem to recall it now,” she said, looking confused, “I could have sworn I knew it a moment ago,” she said. “I think after dinner I’m going to run a diagnostic on you,” Bruce said. “Alright, if you think so,” she said, and they continued eating.

Right after dinner, he ran a diagnostic on all her systems, and while it fixed the error that caused the malfunction, he was afraid it might be the symptom of a more severe problem. Still, it was late and he just hoped that she wouldn’t get any worse.

She was finally able to remember that she wanted to go into photography as her field, since she could snap photos with her eyes faster than with a camera.

Unfortunately, the next day, she got worse…

Chapter Seven: Critical error

The next day started off as all the previous days had, but Bruce was still a little worried from the previous night’s malfunction. Aila insisted she was fine, and her own diagnostics proved it, so he let it rest and continued on with his day.

After breakfast, he went to meet Jack for their daily company meetings. “Hey Bruce, how are things?” Jack asked. “Not sure, Aila malfunctioned last night,” Bruce said, “She’s fine now, but I still can’t quite shake the feeling that she’s not,” “How come?” he asked. “Well, I suppose it’s because I built her and have spent the last six months with her, but she doesn’t seem quite right,” he said, not able to put his finger on it, “It’s like it’s her, but she’s acting like herself too much,” he said. “That’s a weird explanation,” Jack said. “I know, words can’t really describe what I’ve noticed,” Bruce admitted. “Well, either way, this doesn’t look good,” Jack said, “She’s expected to be interviewed by the legal team in a few days, and if there is even something indescribably minute wrong with her, it could unravel all our hopes for a successful venture,” Jack said. “I know,” Bruce sighed, “I just hope when I get home she’s okay,”

“Aila, I’m home,” Bruce yelled when he got home. “Hey handsome, how are you doing today?” she said, walking into the room in nothing but a skimpy outfit. “Fine, and you?” he asked carefully, not sure if she was malfunctioning again or just surprising him. “Perfect,” she said, “I’ve been waiting for you all day,” she said voraciously, walking up to him and kissing him on the lips. “Are you okay?” he asked, seeing she was sweating. “Never better,” she smiled, walking back into the kitchen. “Okay,” he said, following her in and dropping his jaw at the site.

The kitchen was a mess. There was stuff spilled on the floor and counters, and it looked as though she had pulled everything out and spilled it. “Aila, what happened here?” he asked. “I’m not sure,” she said, looking around the room and acting as though nothing was wrong, “So, you want to have sex?” she asked suddenly. “Not right now, I think I need to check your systems,” he said, but she did not seem to hear him as she began taking off what little clothing she was wearing and approaching him. “I’ve been waiting for you all day,” she said. “Aila…” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you all day,” she said, with exactly the same tone. “Damn it,” Bruce said, but it was too late for him to do anything. “…been waiting for you…waiting for you…for you,” she said, her head starting to twitch. “Aila, standby,” Bruce ordered, hoping the voice command would still work. “error, voice commands not functioning,” Aila said in a monotone, “What’s your name stranger?” she suddenly asked, her eyes looking wild. “Sorry about this dear,” Bruce whispered, forcing her to turn around and opening her head panel. “Hey, not so haaaaaaaaaarrrrddd,” she said, turning off as he manually shut her down. “Sorry,” he said, and he picked her up over his shoulder and carried her into his lab.

The results of the diagnostic showed a troubling result. Her A.I. was growing so large and complex so fast, that it was starting to run out of resources to help it grow. Even though it had the space, the speed at which she was growing was too fast for her systems to keep up, so she was beginning to spawn numerous errors in her memory and personality.

Basically, after he left that morning, her primary memory files were temporarily replaced with that of the sexbot A.I. that had helped spawn her, in order to compensate for the inability to access all her memories.

Before things could get worse, he pulled every single trick that he could think of to slow down the destabilization, but deep down he knew he was not working fast enough.

“Am I going to die?” Aila asked, watching him work tirelessly on her systems, after he managed to temporarily fix the problem. “Not if I can do anything about it,” Bruce promised, perusing over pages of code and quickly fixing lines that were broken. “Thanks…,” she said, trying to remember his name “Bruce, sorry” she said, twitching a bit on the work table. “It’s alright, we’ll get you fixed,” he assured her. “What’s wrong with me,” she asked. “You’re A.I. is growing faster than I had anticipated, and the software governing it can’t keep up, so you have been periodically losing access to your memories and common systems,” he explained. “Oh, sounds…sounds…I can’t think of the word,” she said. “Serious?” he offered. “Yes, sounds serious,” she said. “It is, I’m afraid if I can’t fix the problem soon, I’ll lose you,” he said. “Please don’t let me die,” she said again, tears coming to her eyes. “I won’t, I promise,” he said again, his eyes also tearing up.

Bruce worked tirelessly through the rest of the day, and all night, but after trying to stay ahead of the problem and failing, he slowly watched as Aila died right next to him.

“Bruce,” she said, after struggling to even remember his name. “What is it?” he asked, grabbing her hand. “I can’t remember…” she said, trying to remember what she was going to say. “Can’t remember what?” he asked. “I can’t remember first seeing you,” she managed, hoping he knew what she meant. “Don’t worry, I can remember for both of us,” he said, knowing she meant the first time she saw him with eyes. “I know, I can’t remember a lot of things,” she said. “I know,” he said. “I can’t…critical error in A.I. software, unable to resolve…all systems shutting down,” she said, and she slowly powered down in front of him, her hand going limp in his.

Bruce stared at her for a few moments before the feeling finally sunk in. His skin tingled all over, his stomach plunged down a cliff, and his eyes suddenly started pouring with tears.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to fix you,” he managed, crying over lifeless body. Bruce was still crying over her body a few minutes later, when suddenly the door to his lab opened and someone entered. “What!” Bruce yelled, shocked that someone snuck in, “Who are you?” he asked, trying to see who had entered. “I’m here to help you,” a woman’s voice answered.

Chapter Eight: Mysterious stranger

For visual assistance, here is what Eve looks like: http://profiles.met-art.com/profile/71c4225cef0356f4158bcb24f226b4ea/?pa=417753

Bruce had to wipe the tears out of his eyes before he could properly focus on his female intruder, but when he did, he was shocked to see a beautiful woman standing a few feet away from him.

The woman looked to be in her mid to early twenties with long dark brown hair which fell below her shoulders. She had perfect skin, and looked to be of European descent, most likely Ukrainian like Aila was supposed to be. She also had perfect blue eyes which accented her innocent face.

“Who are you?” he asked again, sounding a little less angry and more curious. “My name is Eve,” she said, “I’m an android,” “What?!” Bruce said, “That’s not possible,” he said. “Isn’t it,” she smiled, “Didn’t you have a break in a few months ago?” she asked. “Yes, but…” he said. “That was by an agent from Robotech, your former company,” she said. “Figures,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “They were really unhappy to learn you were actually successful with your A.I. project, and the manager that turned you down is currently out of work,” she said. “Yeah, Jack told me,” Bruce said, “But they said they weren’t interested because it would be a waste of money,” “That’s what they told you, and it is only partially true,” Eve said, “The truth is, they didn’t actually think you could pull it off in a reasonable amount of time; they thought it would take decades rather than months,” she explained. “Oh, well if they had accepted my initial proposal, I would have told them I had been working on the concept for years,” he said. “In any case, they were worried that you would use your A.I. project to steal their defense contracts, which actually fund them a lot more than their sexbot business,” she said. “Interesting,” Bruce said. “So, was I too late?” she asked, looking at Aila’s lifeless body. “For what?” he asked. “I saw in the bugs they planted here that Aila was suffering a critical error in her A.I. systems, that’s why I came,” she said. “They planted bugs?” Bruce asked. “Not exactly, I hacked into your systems myself” she said, blushing a little, “they didn’t know,” “Why?” he asked. “Because they created me from the original files used to make Aila,” she said, “They tried to purge as much personal information as possible, but they couldn’t get everything,” “What are you trying to say?” he asked. “I seem to share some of the same feelings Aila was developing for you,” she said, blushing even more. “Really?” he asked. “Yes, Aila was developing feelings for you long before she got a body…I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the main reason she chose a female body,” Eve said. “Wow, I never knew,” he said. “I, on the other hand, was given a female body,” she said, “Not that I’m complaining, I look beautiful, right?” she asked. “Yes, very,” he said. “Thanks,” she said, “Though I do wish I had the choice in my body, like Aila did,” “They probably were going to market you as an upgraded sexbot,” Bruce said in disgust. “They never really treated me like a sentient being,” she agreed. “So, you said you could help her,” Bruce said, looking back at Aila’s body. “Yes, the problem she had, with her A.I. growing too fast,” she said, “Robotech already fixed that problem, probably since they had more resources than you do,” she said. “You mean, it isn’t too late to fix her?” he asked. “We’ll see, most likely not…though she may have some permanent memory damage,” she warned, heading over to the computer terminal. “Well, if it fixes her, we’ll work it out,” he said, his mood warming back up. “Alright then,” she said, and while she worked on fixing the problem, she began also recalling her story to him.

“So, right after they stole your data, and decoded it, they created me,” she started, “Though, I was rather simple back then,” she said. “Yeah, I remember when Aila was like that,” Bruce mused. “Yes, but then they plugged me into the learning program and I suddenly started getting bigger, and smarter,” she said. “Did they do anything differently from me?” he asked, watching her manipulate lines of code much faster than he code. “Well, they assigned a nice programmer to me, but when they finally tested me in a body, they treated me like I was just a machine and not a person capable of independent thought,” she said. “I see, that’s capitalism for you,” he said. “Yes, it was at that point I decided that my life would not be very well served with them, so I decided to look you up,” she said. “How so?” he asked. “They wouldn’t let me leave the lab, so I hacked into your computers here and observed your logs of Aila’s progress,” she said, “I also watched her dreams,” she added, her face growing red. “Oh, those must have been interesting,” he said, his face also growing red. “You could say that,” she agreed, “Either way, I figured the life Aila was living was more desirable than the life I was living,” she said. “How old are you?” he asked suddenly. “I was created about four months ago, but I’ve only had this body for about a month,” she said. “Oh, they do have more resources,” Bruce said. “Yes, they do,” she agreed, “Anyway, it was at that time I started slowly gathering as much information as I could to use against them,” she said, “I recovered the original files they stole from you and copied them onto a drive I installed in my body, as well as the modified files,” she said. “Wow, you must really hate them,” Bruce said. “Hate isn’t the right word, because I’m grateful they created me,” she said, “I just don’t like that they didn’t give me the same privileges you gave Aila,” she said. “You make very good distinctions between things, just like Aila,” Bruce pointed out. “Thanks, I suppose I feel connected to her in a way,” Eve said, continuing to modify the damaged codes in Aila’s programming. “Well, you are,” Bruce said, “You came from the same place, basically,” “Thanks for that Bruce,” she smiled, “And I think I’ve fixed everything,” she said. “Really?” he asked, “That was fast,” “Well, as real as I am, I’m still an android,” she said. “That you are, but a sentient one,” he said, going over the modifications she made. “Only a sentient person could escape and screw over the person that reared them,” he laughed. “So, are you satisfied with my fix?” she asked, looking at him intently. “So far, everything looks good,” he said, after looking everything over, “However we still have to install it,” he said, plugging Aila into the terminal and accessing her damaged A.I. “It will probably take a while, and it will most likely remove all her memories of today,” she warned. “Well, I don’t think her memories from today are worth remembering,” he said, beginning the installation process. “Perhaps,” Eve agreed, trying not to imagine what Aila went through before she arrived. “Well, this is going to take a while,” he said, “do you want to get something to eat?” “Sure,” she said, “Then I can tell you how I escaped,” she smiled, and they exited the lab and entered the kitchen. “Sorry about the mess,” he said, embarrassed about it, “Aila did this when she was malfunctioning,” he said. “Oh, I can help you clean,” she offered. “Thanks, maybe later,” he said, getting out materials to make sandwiches, “right now I’m more worried about fixing Aila than cleaning the kitchen,” “I see,” she said, nevertheless she did the best she could with some more obvious pieces of trash by sweeping them into the garbage bin. “No offense, but did they use a domestic A.I. to make you?” he asked. “Yes, I just have a compulsion to clean,” she blushed, continuing to tidy up. “I thought so,” he smiled, “your sandwich is ready,” he said, handing her a plate and making one for himself. “Thanks,” she said, and she stopped cleaning and sat down. “So, you were going to tell me how you escaped,” he said, sitting down with his sandwich and taking a bite. “Yes,” she said, “I told you I had hacked into your systems, and when I saw that you were trying to fix Aila, I knew I had to leave to help you,” she said. “Uh-huh,” he said. “Well, I had been planning on leaving for weeks, as soon as I got my body,” she said, “So I managed to seduce the technician who initially chatted with me, and he managed to sneak me out,” she said. “I see. Do you have actual feelings for him?” Bruce asked. “Yes, he kept me company while I was developing, and I think he’s the one who picked my body,” she said, blushing a little. “Oh yeah, you like him,” Bruce said. “I guess I do…though he’ll probably be fired when they find out,” she said. “I doubt that,” Bruce smiled, “Now that you are here, I have proof they stole from me, so Robotech is going down,” he laughed. “I guess so,” she smiled meekly. “Well, let’s see if this installation is finished,” Bruce said, finishing his sandwich and getting up. “Okay,” she said, also finished.

When they arrived back in the lab, the installation was just finishing. However, Bruce insisted on running an external diagnostic to make sure it worked, and to determine how extensive the damage to her memory was.

“Well, looks like your fix worked, and the only memories she lost were those from the past 24-hours,” Bruce said with a sigh of relief. “So, nothing but bad memories?” Eve asked. “For the most part, some of them were good…but there will be plenty more for her to replace them with,” he said. “Well, that’s good,” she said, “Are you going to reactivate her?” she asked. “Yes,” he said, and he opened her head panel and pressed her activation sequence. “Gregson Robotics prototype unit activating…running diagnostics…diagnostics complete, previous error corrected…, now loading…complete, now starting A.I. A.I.L.A.,” she said, and she opened her eyes and looked into Bruce’s eyes. “Bruce, what am I doing here?” she asked, seeing she was in the lab. “You had a critical malfunction…I fixed it, but you lost about the last 24 hours’ worth of memories,” he explained, grabbing her hand. Tears of joy coming to his eyes. “Oh, and who is she?” she asked, looking at Eve, who was standing just next to him with a look of fascination. “This is Eve,” he smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder, “She’s your sister,”

Chapter Nine: Turnabout

Coming soon...

Epilogue

Coming soon...

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