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| =[[Part Three]]= | | =[[Part Three]]= |
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| After the successful repair of a high profile client’s son, my reputation suddenly grew in large proportions and I found myself repairing more and more androids. When I turned 21, I not only got a new body but I also got a house of my own several miles away from Greg’s, and a few miles closer to the main complex. My new house, which I would be sharing with Melissa, was right next to a beautiful lake near the edge of the forest and at the base of a snow capped mountain.
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| “Wow, this house is beautiful!,” Melissa said, running into the house and putting her stuff down. Unlike Greg’s house, this one had only one room on the second floor…my room.
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| “Yes it is, and it is all ours,” I said, putting my stuff on the floor and walking to the window looking out onto the lake.
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| “I hope our lab is well equipped,” Melissa said, coming out of her room, which was at the base of the stairs leading up to my room.
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| “It should be, and this time it is all ours,” I said.
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| “So, how’s the new A.I. coming?” she asked.
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| “Fine, the Class 10 prototypes are functioning perfectly, even though they are technically class 9.7,” I said.
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| “You’ll get it…although I still don’t understand what the main difference will be,” she said.
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| “Well, Class 9 is so far the most realistic. In most scenarios, a human can’t distinguish the difference by either looks or behavior, but Class 10 is a whole new realm,” I said.
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| “How so?” she asked.
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| “Well, with a Class 10, even the android will have trouble telling it is artificial…this may be the birth of true artificial intelligence,” I said.
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| “You mean an android that will think it is human?” Melissa asked.
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| “Yes, so far the prototypes have gone most of the way…they will occasionally forget they are human, but will still act as an android,” I said.
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| “I see, now let’s get settled in,”
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| “Alright,” I said, and we spent the rest of the day making our new home our own.
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| Over the following weeks, I worked diligently on the new A.I. in between patients. Finally, after a month, I figured out what the matrix was missing and implemented it. Once it was successfully installed into one of the prototypes, it was named 9.9 until it could be implemented into a brand new android, which would be Unit 10xx0, the first of its class.
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| After I received personal congratulations from the queen android, I went home and rested while I waited for my reward. Personally, I was pleased from all the work I did, but the way the queen spoke made me think I was going to get a life-changing gift.
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| Basically, the key to making a Class 10 wasn’t just in having a sophisticated A.I., it also depended on faster processors to better mimic human reactions. It also depended on smaller power systems so more systems that mimic organic functions could be installed. Also, these androids would be less physically attractive since one of the key ways of pointing out a Class 9 was in seeing its perfect skin and appearance. These androids would be more like my model, which are based on real people without modifications.
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| About a month after my completion of the Class 10 matrix, I was called to the main complex to meet with the head of development. His name was Dr. Matt Soyer.
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| “Hello Phillip, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person finally,” he said. Because of the scars on his arms, I could tell this man was human.
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| “Likewise, have you finished the first Class 10 yet?” I asked.
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| “Yes, and that is why I called you here…it was actually completed five days ago, but we wanted it to integrate with the environment around here to get its new memories time to merge with the artificial ones,” he said.
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| “How did you make a whole life worth of artificial memories?” I asked.
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| “Well…we cheated. We looked into your father’s database of children he was unable to save and used one of their memories to serve as a base, as well as the actual physical image,” he said.
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| “Is that all?” I asked.
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| “No, because this one was 18 and we wanted it to be somewhere around the early twenties, we had to manufacture new memories from where the old ones left off leading to the point where it was hired as an employee here,” he finished.
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| “You mean you gave it a job?” I asked.
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| “Yes, and I just want you to know that the queen personally chose the mold and memories from the database since she wants you to have this android as your reward,” he said.
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| “Wow, I am honored…can I meet it?” I asked.
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| “Yes, let’s go get a coffee,” he said.
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| “Okay,” I said, not sure if the android was serving coffee or if we were to get coffee before meeting it.
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| After we left the main lab section, we stepped into the area where visitors could enter to take a tour of the facilities, pick up their own androids or file a claim for repair or replacement. In this area was a sort of mall, since the androids who left here had no clothing or belongings of their own. There were also eating establishments so they could interact in a neutral setting to get used to one another before leaving for their home.
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| “Good old Starbucks, I’m glad it survived the war,” Matt said, leading me in and walking up to the register.
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| “Yeah,” I said absentmindedly, looking at the menu to see what I should order. While I was looking, I noticed a figure in the edge of my vision and I turned to see what it was. It was a girl who looked to be my age. She had short dark brown hair that was tied into a small ponytail in the back and with long bangs that sometimes covered her face. She also had a very plain face with a friendly, kind and gentle expression set into her deep blue eyes and her skin was very pale, with a few freckles dotted on the bit of her arms showing from her short sleeve shirt. She was wearing black shoes, black pants and a small black hoodie with a green apron, which told me she worked here. When I saw her, she was cleaning up the tables and counters with a small rag. When she saw me staring at her, she got a sort of bashful look on her face and accidentally knocked over a container full of sugar.
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| “Oops,” she said in a deep grown up voice, which made my chest tighten up.
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| “Here, let me help you with that,” I said, going over and helping her clear up all the sugar.
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| “Thanks,” she said, giving me a shy sort of smile and then quickly heading into the back room.
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| “Phillip, what did you want?” Matt asked.
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| “Grande peppermint mocha Frappuccino,” I said, still looking at the door where the girl went into.
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| “Alright, here we are,” he said, getting our drinks and taking me to a table.
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| “Thanks, so when do we meet this android?” I asked, sipping through my straw.
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| “Well, you just did,” he smiled.
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| “That girl was the android?” I said in an undertone, now seeing her standing behind the counter…stealing glances at me.
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| “Yes, the queen knew this type of girl would attract you, and she even found that this girl, had she lived, would have like you too; she died a few years ago though” Matt said.
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| “Yeah, I felt a strange feeling in my chest when I saw her, almost like my breath was taken away,” I said.
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| “That’s love Phillip, even though you are an android you can still feel it,” he said.
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| “So, what’s her name?” I asked.
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| “Did you want me to introduce her?”
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| “Yes please,” I said.
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| “Lindsey, can you join us please?” Matt called.
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| “Okay Doctor,” she said, and she took off her apron and slowly walked over to our table.
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| “Lindsey, I want to introduce you to Phillip White, Phillip, Lindsey Monroe,” Matt said.
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| “Hello Lindsey,” I said, holding out my hand.
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| “Hi,” she said, taking my hand and weakly shaking it.
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| “So Lindsey, when are you off?” Matt asked.
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| “Right now, I was just talking with my boss about tomorrow’s shift,” she said.
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| “You can sit down,” Matt said, seeing she was still standing.
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| “Thanks, I’ve been standing all day,” she smiled, sitting down next to me.
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| “So Lindsey, how are you liking your new job?” Matt asked.
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| “It’s fun, I like it better than that retail place I worked at with all the angry customers,” she said, shuddering slightly.
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| “Good, and are you still experiencing the mild convulsions you complained about?” he asked.
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| “A little, it doesn’t happen as often anymore, not after our last visit,” she said.
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| “That’s good, what were you doing the last time it happened?” he asked.
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| “I was trying to count the register while listening to a story that one of my coworkers was telling me, and then the timer started beeping and that’s when it happened,” she said.
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| “Sounds like a feedback error in her processors,” I whispered to Matt.
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| “What?” Lindsey asked.
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| “Nothing,” I smiled.
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| “So, who are you?” she asked, smiling at me.
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| “I am a colleague of Matt’s…I just finished helping him with a major project,” I said.
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| “You mean an android?” Lindsey asked.
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| “Yes,” I told her.
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| “I see all the androids walking through here, but I have never actually met one before,” she said.
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| “Do you want to meet one?” I asked.
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| “Yes, I find the whole concept interesting,” she said.
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| “Well, I’m an android…I used to be human, but I died and was moved into an android body,” I said.
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| “Really?” she said.
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| “Yes,” I told her.
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| “You look pretty real to me,” she said.
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| “I know, and I feel pretty real…except for a few minor differences,” I said.
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| “So Doctor, is he the one you told me about?” Lindsey said.
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| “Yes Lindsey,” Matt said.
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| “I think I’m missing something,” I said.
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| “Doctor Soyer here said that you would be willing to give me a place to stay…I’ve been living in the guest rooms here at the mall and want to move out,” Lindsey said.
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| “Well, I can certainly fit you in my home…although you would have to share my room since my partner has the other room,” I said.
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| “I don’t care, I didn’t realize you were going to be so good looking,” she smiled.
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| “Well, I knew you two would be a good match,” Matt said.
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| “What?” Lindsey said, looking shocked.
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| “You are quite attractive too,” I said, smiling back at her.
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| “Thanks Phillip…although for some reason I feel quite attached to you,” she said.
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| “Well kids, that is why they call it love at first sight…now why don’t we head back to my office so I can give you another check-up,” Matt said, finishing his drink and throwing it away.
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| “Alright doctor, is Phillip coming too?” she asked.
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| “Yes, Phillip is coming,” Matt said, and then we all got up and headed out of the Starbucks.
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| On the way back to the lab, Lindsey pointed out various people that she knew to be androids but had never actually spoken to, and she seemed to be getting closer and closer to me until our arms actually touched.
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| Once we arrived back at the lab, he got his equipment while Lindsey walked over to the table.
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| “So Phillip, do you think you can show me some of your panels when we get to your house?” Lindsey asked, turning to face me with a playful look on her face.
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| “Yes, and more,” I said.
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| “Good, I can’t…” she said, and then she just froze.
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| “Lindsey, are you alright?” I asked, waving my hands in front of her frozen face.
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| “Don’t worry, I’ve only paused her…I assumed you might want to take a look at your creation,” Matt said, showing me a remote.
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| “Thanks, she is perfect,” I said, slowly walking around Lindsey’s frozen body and admiring all the details. Her shoes were slightly worn out, her pants were fading and her figure was almost the same as mine; average.
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| “I know, that’s why it took me so long…her A.I. needed a day or so to fully establish itself and after I fix these small malfunctions she has been suffering, I will release her into your control,” Matt said, putting the remote down and walking over to her.
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| “Well, I always told my dad that I don’t like rushing through a project, and this is why,” I said, pointing at Lindsey’s face.
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| “Those freckles took some time to get right, but I consider her my best creation…a work of art,” Matt said, gently patting Lindsey’s shoulder.
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| “So, is her design any different from mine?” I asked.
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| “No, all the panels and buttons are where they should be,” Matt said.
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| “Good, now what were you going to do with her?” I asked.
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| “Why don’t you open her up and see if you can find the problem with her processor?” Matt said, handing me one of his tools.
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| “Alright,” I said, and after taking the tool, I delicately opened Lindsey’s panel at the back of her head and released her skull cover. After I heard the click and hiss, I carefully lifted her skull over her head and placed it down on the table.
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| “Wow, this is awesome,” I said, looking in at the advanced processor assembly. Although there were almost triple the amount of processors, they took up slightly less space than the ones in my brain yet they were capable of handling 100x the load. The memory array was also more advanced, yet smaller and her brain was roughly the same size as mine, except it was slightly more advanced since it was brand new technology that built it.
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| “I know, it’s your creation,” Matt said.
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| “Yeah, I never thought I would see it in such a beautiful girl though,” I said, looking into Lindsey’s face once more.
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| “So, have you found the problem?” he asked.
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| “Yes, the feeds from her audio sensors are in contact with her motion sub-processor…it looks like when she was trying to concentrate on counting and listening to that story, the high pitch beeping sent a pulse through her feeds and activated her motion-sub-processor,” I said.
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| “Wow, you are good…can you fix it?” he asked.
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| “Already have,” I said, since all I needed to do was gently separate the feeds with a small tool.
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| “Good, now once you put her back together I will un-pause her,” Matt said, getting the remote.
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| “Okay,” I said, and once I carefully put her skull back on, I returned to where I was standing in front of her as Matt un-paused her.
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| “…wait,” she finished, tilting her head slightly.
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| “Me neither,” I said.
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| “Alright Lindsey, onto the table,” Matt said, walking over to her.
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| “Okay doctor,” she said, sitting down on the edge of the table.
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| “Now, take off your hoodie and t-shirt so I can get your bio-readings…you can leave your bra on,” he said.
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| “Ok,” she said, and she calmly removed her hoodie and shirt, exposing more of her pale skin…no freckles.
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| “Thanks, now just lay down and try not to talk,” he said, and once she laid down he pressed in on her belly button and opened her panel.
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| “Don’t worry Phillip, she is in maintenance mode now and will only reply to direct conversation,” Matt said, looking at the surprised look on my face.
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| “You mean she is oblivious to everything going on right now?” I said.
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| “Not quite, she can hear us talking but she isn’t really paying attention…also, if she were to look at her stomach she would think it is still normal,” Matt said.
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| “Cool, you must have worked long and hard on my schematics,” I said, looking inside Lindsey’s panel. All her inner parts were very quiet, even though they were unshielded. They seemed to be purring instead of humming.
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| “Yes, a few times she saw through the illusion and freaked out, but I have programmed her extensively to shut down and delete all memories of whatever she sees in case she does,” he said.
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| “Cool, I wouldn’t want her to break or anything,” I said, looking at the content look on her face.
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| “Me neither, now would you like to see her back panel?” he asked.
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| “Sure,” I said.
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| “Okay, would you sit back up Lindsey?” Matt said.
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| “Ok,” she said, and she slowly sat up and turned so her legs swung off the table.
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| “Thanks,” Matt said, although Lindsey did not seem to be listening…she still had a content look on her face.
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| “Wow, her spine looks more complex than mine,” I said, looking at her spinal cord with the motor control junction.
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| “Don’t worry, your next body will include all of these enhancements…we might even give it to you early,” Matt said.
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| “So, can I touch one of those controls?” I asked.
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| “Sure, she won’t mind,” Matt said.
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| “Thanks,” I said, and I gently reached into her panel and activated the control for her left arm. Instantly, her left arm raised up, but there was no whirring…it sounded as natural as if she moved it herself.
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| “Cool, I wish my body were that smooth,” I said, closing her back up and then moving back in front of her.
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| “Now, when I close her up, she will come out of maintenance mode but I want to show you something else,” Matt said, and then he closed her stomach up.
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| “So, how am I?” she asked, suddenly coming back to life.
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| “Fine, can you show me your right hand please?” Matt asked.
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| “Sure,” she said, holding it out.
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| “Thanks,” he said, and then he twisted it off.
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| “So, what does she see now?” I asked, seeing her still staring at her arm where there was now a stub.
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| “Her hand,” he said, and then, a few seconds later, there was a shimmering and a holographic hand appeared where her old one was.
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| “Wow, how real is it?” I asked.
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| “Lindsey, why don’t you give Phillip here a friendly poke,” Matt said, and then she lightly poked me with the holographic finger.
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| “Nice, may I see her hand?” I asked.
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| “Okay,” he said, and he gently handed her hand to me so I could look at it.
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| “Thanks,” I said, and I carefully studied it with both my eyes and my hands. Since it was just removed, it was still warm. Also, there were small pockets of perspiration caught in the wrinkles of her palm. Even the smell seemed more natural, although her hands did smell of coffee as well since she worked with it most of the day. Her fingers I like best of all, since her nails were trimmed short as opposed to the long length most girls kept theirs; Lindsey seemed to be all natural all-around.
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| “Thanks, now how do you put it back on?” I asked, giving him the hand back.
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| “Like this,” he said, and as soon as he brought it towards her arm, the holographic hand shimmered away.
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| Once the hand was reattached, Lindsey once again seemed to snap out of a trance and smiled at us.
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| “Alright Lindsey, I am giving you a clean bill of health. You may get dressed and take Phillip to your room to help with your belongings,” Matt said.
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| “Thanks doctor, you’ve been very kind,” she said, getting her clothes back on and giving him a hug.
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| “You too, now you two have fun,” he said, and then he quickly handed me the remote and a small laptop. “Her particulars,” he whispered, and then I followed Lindsey out of the lab and into a part I had never seen.
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| “So Phillip, do you live far away?” Lindsey asked.
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| “No, it only takes me about 15-minutes to get here…but I drive really fast,” I said.
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| “I don’t drive, but I suppose you could drive me to work every day,” she said, opening one of the doors and letting me inside.
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| Her room was very small. It consisted only of a small bed, a desk and a bathroom. Her belongings were mostly clothes, trinkets and a laptop.
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| “Wow, you don’t have much,” I said, helping her with her bags.
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| “No, I moved here from southern California because I’ve always wanted to live up here…but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to get a job until I fell ill and had to be helped my Doctor Soyer,” she said.
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| “And he helped get you your job?” I asked.
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| “Yes, although if you don’t require any payment I may quit and try and become a lab assistant,” she said.
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| “You could help me out, I could teach you how to fix me or my partner if we break down,” I said.
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| “Really, but I would need to learn at the lab,” she said.
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| “Perhaps, but I think you’ll be a quick study if you learn from me,” I said, since I knew she would learn better by watching and doing rather than by reading.
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| “Alright, what do you do?” she asked, walking out of the mall and following me to my car.
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| “I used to help my dad build bodies for dead children to live in, much like me, but now I help fix androids as well,” I said.
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| “Sounds good, he builds them you fix them,” Lindsey said.
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| “Yeah, my thoughts exactly,” I smiled.
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| “Is this your car?” she asked, seeing my stop at a small silver car.
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| “Yes, this is the Neon,” I said, putting her bags in the trunk and then opening the passenger door for her.
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| “Thanks, I can’t wait to see your house,” she said.
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| “It’s beautiful,” I said, and then I kicked it into gear and sped off.
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| “Wow, that was pretty fast,” she said, once we arrived at my house.
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| “Well, I don’t have to follow any limits so I can go as fast as I want,” I said, taking her stuff out of the trunk and walking up to the front door. After I let her in, I dropped her stuff on the foot of the stairs while I let her take in the view of the lake.
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| “You’re right, it is beautiful,” she said.
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| “Yeah, I’ve been living here with my partner for the past few months and it is just now starting to feel like home,” I said.
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| “Who is this partner I keep hearing about?” she asked.
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| “My sister-in-law…she is a Rigilian, so she uses an android body to move around,” I said.
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| “I see. Can I meet her?” she asked.
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| “Sure, she is probably sleeping since she was up late last night, so we will need to be quiet,” I said.
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| “Alright,” Lindsey said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
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| Walking very quietly to Melissa’s room, I slowly opened the door and walked in, with Lindsey right behind me. Although there was a bed, Melissa no longer slept in it. Her avatar was standing next to the dresser, which was designed to be at the same height as her shoulder. On top of the dresser was a dollhouse with her actual bed. Since the dollhouse was sound proofed, we did not need to worry about waking her.
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| “Wow, is that her android?” Lindsey asked.
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| “Yes, her avatar,” I said, slowly walking over to it.
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| “It looks nerdy,” she said, scrutinizing the face.
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| “That is an interesting way of putting it,” I chuckled.
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| “She is pretty though,” Lindsey said, gently touching the arms and hands.
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| “Yes she is,” I agreed.
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| “Why is she barefoot?” Lindsey asked, looking down at her large feet.
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| “Oh, that is the house rule,” I said.
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| “House rule?” Lindsey asked.
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| “Yes, anyone living in the house must be barefoot,” I said.
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| “Why?,” she asked.
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| “Well, I have a foot fetish and also it does keep things cleaner,” I said.
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| “You have a foot fetish?” Lindsey said.
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| “Yes, it must be genetic since I have read that most of my paternal ancestors had it,” I said.
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| “Well, once we get up to our room I will take off my shoes,” Lindsey smiled.
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| “Alright, we might as well go up there now since there isn’t anything left to show you,” I said, walking her out of Melissa’s room and into the living room.
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| “Alright,” she said, and then we slowly took her stuff up the stairs and into my apartment-like room on the second floor.
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| “Wow, you have all this to yourself?” Lindsey asked, setting her stuff on the floor and walking to the window, which overlooked the whole lake and the yard leading up to it.
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| “Yes, Melissa doesn’t need a lot and I figured someday I might be sharing this room with someone…also, I have a small lab/storage compartment up here,” I said, sitting down on the bed and taking my shoes and socks off.
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| “Cool, you must never get bored,” she said, walking from the window and sitting down next to me.
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| “No, now are you going to take off your shoes?” I asked.
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| “Oh, sorry,” she said, and she slowly unlaced her shoes and then took off her black socks. Not to my surprise, her feet were also pale and they had no noticeable freckles since she must not have gone barefoot a lot.
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| “Better?” she asked playfully.
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| “Much,” I smiled.
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| “Good, they smell a little bad though since I haven’t given them fresh air in over 8-hours,” she said, wiggling her toes.
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| “May I take a closer look…I haven’t actually touched a human since I was one, so I would like to see if the smell of my feet is actually realistic,” I said.
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| “Sure, feel free to indulge yourself,” she said, and then she watched as I got down on my knees and gently grabbed her right foot.
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| “Wow, your hands feel nice…I thought I would be ticklish,” she said, looking down on me.
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| “I’m glad you aren’t,” I said, gently feeling her foot in my hands and then bringing it up to my face and smelling it.
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| “Wow, that is strong,” I said, recoiling slightly.
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| “I told you…so how long have you been an android?” she asked.
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| “Over seven years,” I said, airing her foot off a little and then smelling it again. Just to test it out, I twisted her foot off just as Matt did with her hand and a few seconds later, a holographic foot appeared. Meanwhile, Lindsey got a sort of dazed look on her face even as she said, “Wow, that’s a long time,”
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| I was surprised that even the holographic foot had a smell, but since I was more interested in her real foot, I spent her ‘down time’ examining it in more close detail. After I tasted it and tasted real sweat, I reattached it and then watched her dazed expression vanish.
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| “So, how are they?” she asked, watching me get back to my feet.
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| “Very good, I’ve seen nothing but android feet these past few years so it is nice to see the real deal,” I said.
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| “Now, may I see your feet?” she asked.
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| “Sure, hold on a second,” I said, and once I twisted off my right foot, I handed it out to her.
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| “Wow, thanks,” she said, looking a little surprised as she took it from me.
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| “Don’t worry, I can’t feel it so you can do whatever you want it,” I said, putting more of my weight on my left foot.
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| “Okay, it doesn’t smell too bad,” she said, bringing it up to her face.
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| “Well, I don’t usually wear shoes so I was only wearing them for about 90-minutes,” I said, watching her rotate my severed foot around in her pale hands and scrutinize them with her dark blue eyes.
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| “I see, that would also explain why your foot feels so rough on the bottom,” she said, rubbing it against the palm of her hand.
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| “Yeah, I like feeling the carpet, wood and grass beneath my feet…and I am lazy,” I said.
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| “I wouldn’t have guessed,” Lindsey said, playing with the toes and then handing it back to me.
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| “Yeah, I’m a hard worker but I don’t like wasting small amounts of time,” I said, taking my foot and reattaching it.
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| “I figure once my shoes are on they stay on until I am done,” Lindsey said.
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| “Well, here they stay off until you have to leave,” I told her, getting back to my feet and walking over to where her bags were.
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| “I know, and I actually have tomorrow off so we can get to know each other a bit more,” Lindsey said, walking over to me and picking up her clothes.
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| “I’d like that,” I smiled, and then we both put her clothes in my closet and the dresser and then got her trinkets and computer settled in my office space.
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|
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| After we got her stuff settled in, we went back downstairs so I could show her some more of the yard. After I assured her that she did not need her shoes, I took her outside and walked her down to the small beach I had.
| |
| “You are lucky to have this place to yourself,” Lindsey said, feeling the texture of the sand under her pale feet.
| |
| “Yeah, someone else lives on the other bank, but we keep to ourselves,” I said, pointing out a small cottage-like structure on the far side of the lake.
| |
| “Maybe we can meet them someday,” Lindsey said, staring far into the distance.
| |
| “Yeah, but the reason we live out here is so we can do our work in seclusion…my lab has numerous layers of sound-proofing just so the sounds of the wilderness can’t distract me, and we are miles from the nearest person,” I told her.
| |
| “Well, maybe we could invite your father here sometimes,” she said.
| |
| “Of course, he wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t,” I said.
| |
| “So, is the water safe to swim in?” she asked.
| |
| “Yes, the fish aren’t in to humans or androids…but the water is fed from melting snow so it is usually pretty cold,” I said.
| |
| “Well, maybe you could install a spa for us,” she said.
| |
| “I’ll see to it, I want you to see this as your home too,” I told her.
| |
| “Phillip, why don’t we just cut the pretense…it’s obvious we loved each other at first sight, why don’t we just admit it and consider ourselves a couple,” Lindsey said, shocking me with her forcefulness.
| |
| “Alright, I’ve always wanted a girlfriend,” I said.
| |
| “I’m glad you didn’t make one before we met,” she smiled, looking at me with the plain face I loved.
| |
| “Well, I came close a few times…but in the end they were only patients,” I said.
| |
| “I’m sure they were good friends…I can’t imagine you not contacting them after helping them,” Lindsey said, slowly getting closer to me.
| |
| “I did…and still do for most of them,” I said.
| |
| “Phillip, what do you see when you look at me?” she asked, looking straight into my eyes. I was amazed at how her face could look so sweet even when it seemed to be a tired expression.
| |
| “I see a plain, kind-hearted girl who I have fallen in love with,” I said, staring into her eyes.
| |
| “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said.
| |
| “You should, I have always liked plain,” I said.
| |
| “Good,” she said, and then we slowly got closer and closer until we seemed to click into an embrace that eventually led to our first kiss. I was amazed at how soft her lips were, and at how naturally it seemed to come to both her and me. After what seemed to last an eternity, we broke apart and looked into each other’s eyes.
| |
| “I hope I’m not interrupting,” Melissa said, surprising us by walking from the house.
| |
| “Actually you did, I thought you would be sleeping a little longer,” I said.
| |
| “I got eight hours,” she shrugged.
| |
| “I guess I lost track of time,” I said, catching my breath.
| |
| “So, who is this?” Melissa asked, looking over at Lindsey.
| |
| “Melissa, this is Lindsey Monroe…we met at Starbucks and fell in love at first sight,” I said.
| |
| “Hi Melissa, Phillip hasn’t told me much about you but all the things he has said have been good,” Lindsey said, smiling kindly at Melissa and extending her hand.
| |
| “Hello Lindsey, I’m glad I was mentioned in a good way,” Melissa said, gently shaking Lindsey’s pale hand.
| |
| “Why don’t we head back inside so we can chat over lunch…by the way sis, Lindsey here has moved in with me,” I said, walking them back inside the house.
| |
| “Wow, I see humans move pretty fast when it comes to romantic relationships,” Melissa said, looking slightly shocked.
| |
| “Not always Melissa, but love at first sight is pretty sudden,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “So, what do you all want?” I asked, getting the kitchen ready.
| |
| “Something simple,” Lindsey said, and once Melissa agreed I prepared a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought them to the table for us to eat.
| |
| While we ate, Lindsey told us about the events leading up to her employ at the mall, although I was the only one who knew that they were fabricated memories, and she delved into her childhood.
| |
| “You know Lindsey, you are a perfect match for Phillip here, you both even have the same body type,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Thanks,” we said in unison.
| |
| “So, what do you think of my current body?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “Well, I think it looks a bit nerdy,” Lindsey said, not even trying to be polite.
| |
| “Wow, I wasn’t expecting such brutal honesty,” Melissa said, taken aback.
| |
| “Sorry,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “It’s alright, the nerdiness was the general idea since I didn’t want anyone getting attracted to me…although Phillip here seems to have different tastes which include me,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Yeah, and me,” Lindsey agreed.
| |
| “I don’t like excessive beauty…it fuels a need for maintenance which I find undesirable,” I said.
| |
| “Well Phillip, I have been thinking that it is about time for me to get a new body…one that can make me look around the mid-20s,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Have you got any in mind?” I asked.
| |
| “I’m down to less than 20 candidates…I guess Lindsey here can help me choose,” she said.
| |
| “I would be glad to, although I do like your current body,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Yeah, but it is still designed to be a teenager…I am more grown up now and it’s time my avatar reflected it,” she said.
| |
| “We can discuss that later, now why don’t we sit down and tell you more about ourselves?” I said.
| |
| “Actually, I’m feeling a little tired…I’ve been up since four, can I go up and nap for an hour?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Sure Lindsey, maybe I’ll come join you,” I said.
| |
| “Okay, see you later then,” she said, and after giving me a small kiss on the cheek, she slowly headed for the stairs and ascended into our room.
| |
| “Well Phillip, I’m so happy for you…but what were you doing over at the mall?” Melissa asked, gently patting my shoulder.
| |
| “Dr. Soyer called me over to show me something,” I said.
| |
| “Oh, did he finish the first Class 10 android?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “Yes he did, and I got to meet it,” I said, trying to sound neutral.
| |
| “And, how was it?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “Perfect. It fooled me…and it has also fooled you,” I said.
| |
| “What are you saying?” Melissa asked, looking confused.
| |
| “Lindsey is the Class 10. Here, I’ll show you,” I said, and I pulled Lindsey’s remote from my jacket pocket and pressed the pause button.
| |
| “Let’s go,” I said, getting to my feet and walking to the stairs.
| |
| “Okay,” Melissa said, getting to her feet and following me.
| |
| Despite the fact that I knew Lindsey would be paused, I found myself tiptoeing nevertheless and I could hear Melissa doing the same. When we finally got to the top of the stairs, I gently pushed the door open and peered inside. To my surprise, Lindsey was not yet on the bed but she was standing perfectly still a few feet from it with her arms slightly outstretched as though she was going to pat down the covers.
| |
| “Oh my, she really is an android!” Melissa said, slowly walking with me over to where my frozen girlfriend was.
| |
| “Yes, she is so perfect even she doesn’t know she is one…she has really only been online for about a week and she was my reward from the queen for introducing the Class 10 matrix,” I said, putting the remote in my pocket and admiring Lindsey’s frozen face.
| |
| “Well, she did fool me,” Melissa said, gently touching Lindsey’s frozen arm.
| |
| “Me too, but her love is real and so is mine…I don’t really consider her a prize, I consider her real since she is actually based on a real girl,” I said, and after briefly explaining her story I sat down on my bed to hear what Melissa thought.
| |
| “Well, it seems like they used your discovery to further your father’s work…still, aren’t you concerned about keeping such a big secret?” Melissa asked, looking into Lindsey’s face.
| |
| “Sort of, but I do realize that she wouldn’t be able to function the way she was intended if she knew and the second she found out, she would forget about it anyway,” I said.
| |
| “I see. Do you mind if I touch her?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “No, just try not to move her too much…I’m not sure if her programming can adapt to her body moving when she is paused,” I said.
| |
| “Alright,” Melissa said, and she turned to Lindsey and gently touched her face, her arms, and her chest and then she examined Lindsey’s pale hands and wrists.
| |
| “Wow, she is very pale…I like how it makes her palms and wrists look pink,” Melissa said, gently manipulating Lindsey’s outstretched hands.
| |
| “Yeah, they are soft too,” I said, remembering our handshake.
| |
| “So, have you examined her in great detail…if you know what I mean?” Melissa asked, putting Lindsey back the way she was and looking at me.
| |
| “I’ve seen most of her panels, but I have not seen her nude and won’t until she lets me,” I said.
| |
| “Very sweet, now let’s let her take her nap,” Melissa said, and once we were back downstairs, I un-paused her and listened as her footsteps resumed towards my bed. After I heard the sound of my bed, I sat down with Melissa on the couch and talked about Lindsey for a few minutes before I decided to go up and nap with her. When I got up there, I saw her laying peacefully on the covers of my bed. When I got on next to her and laid down, she sighed contentedly and then I felt her soft hand shift until it was touching my arm.
| |
|
| |
| I don’t know how I dozed off, but I had never before that day fallen asleep in the middle of the day. Despite my android nature, insomnia ran through my family and it was incorporated into my being…yet, lying next to Lindsey seemed to make me forget about my nature and I seemed as real as she did.
| |
|
| |
| The next thing I remembered was being shaken lightly by soft hands. After I felt another shake, I slowly opened my eyes and saw the beautiful face of Lindsey looking down at me.
| |
| “Are you awake now?” she asked in her calming voice.
| |
| “Yes…I’ve never taken a nap before, I guess you just cured me of my insomnia,” I said.
| |
| “Really?” she asked, letting me sit up.
| |
| “Yes, I don’t usually nap during the day…you make me feel comfortable though so I dozed off,” I said.
| |
| “Well, I woke up almost ten minutes ago…we’ve been napping for about 90-minutes,” she said, looking at the clock.
| |
| “Well, what do you want to do now?” I asked.
| |
| “I want to kiss you,” she said, and then she moved in and kissed me on my lips.
| |
| “Wow, that felt good,” I said, returning the kiss.
| |
| “I know, now let’s go pick out a new body for your sister,” Lindsey said, and she quickly got to her feet and dragged me down the stairs to where Melissa was reading a book.
| |
|
| |
| Once Lindsey and I helped Melissa narrow her choices down to five, Melissa decided to make the final choice herself and she immediately headed for our lab to start working on her new body.
| |
| “Does she not trust you?” Lindsey asked, once Melissa was gone.
| |
| “No, I think she wants to surprise us…she’ll be finished building her new body by tomorrow morning, so we can see what it looks like then,” I said.
| |
| “Good, now what do you do for fun around here?” Lindsey asked, looking around the comfortable living room.
| |
| “We usually have our work, but we do watch some classic TV shows from the late 20th century/early 21st century that have been passed down through my family,” I said, bringing out the monitor.
| |
| “Maybe later, why don’t we play a game?” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Alright,” I told her, and once we picked a game from the cabinet we sat down at the kitchen table and played.
| |
|
| |
| Melissa did not come in for dinner, so I cooked Lindsey and myself a simple dinner and then we spent the rest of the evening watching a few classic shows before we headed up to bed.
| |
| Because we were still a little uncomfortable being a couple, we dressed in separate rooms. Lindsey was sleeping in a simple nightgown while I was sleeping in my boxers and a shirt.
| |
| When we crawled into my bed, I laid down on my back while she started rolling over on her side.
| |
| “Do you move around a lot when you sleep?” I asked, not knowing what type of sleep program controlled her.
| |
| “A little, what about you…how do androids sleep?” she asked.
| |
| “Well, I usually just sleep on my back and then wake up around 8-hours later…I don’t feel the need to get warm or anything,” I said.
| |
| “Well, you won’t mind if I end up snuggling with you will you?” she asked.
| |
| “No, I might try and modify my sleep routine so I will snuggle too,” I said, opening my sleep program and modifying the parameters.
| |
| “Okay, good night,” she said, gently kissing my cheek and then closing her eyes.
| |
| “Good night,” I said, and then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
| |
|
| |
| When I opened my eyes the next morning, my internal clock told me I had been asleep for almost nine hours. However, since we went to bed early it was only 9:30. Lindsey was still asleep, but she was buried into my chest…and I had apparently rolled over onto my left side to put my arms around her.
| |
| I could see her side slowly rising up and down in sync with the steady rhythm of her breathing. I could also feel her legs pressing up against mine…her feet were a little cold.
| |
| As I silently watched her sleep, she slowly began to stir as though she knew I was awake. After several seconds, she freed herself from my arms and then smiled at me.
| |
| “Good morning,” I said, smiling back at her.
| |
| “Good morning, I see we got close last night,” she said, moving some of her hair from her eyes and looking at me.
| |
| “Yeah, did I wake you?” I asked.
| |
| “I guess…your rhythm changed so I didn’t feel comfortable anymore,” she said.
| |
| “So, did you want to take a shower before heading down to check on Melissa?” I asked.
| |
| “Sure, I hope I didn’t stink up your bed too much with my unwashed body,” she said, pulling the covers off and getting to her feet.
| |
| “Not at all…well, maybe a little but I don’t mind,” I said.
| |
| “Okay, I’ll be out in a little bit,” she said, laughing a little before getting a fresh set of clothes and heading into my bathroom. Once I heard the shower turn on, I got out of bed and looked out the window.
| |
| “Beautiful day,” I said, looking at the clear skies reflecting off the clear water of the lake. As I turned from the window, I saw something on a table, which I recognized as the laptop Matt had given me.
| |
| “Let’s see what your particulars are Lindsey,” I said, sitting down and turning it on.
| |
| Once it was on, I saw a splash screen displaying her model number and various other information superimposed over an image of her and then a menu popped up with various bits of info.
| |
| From the details I could see, I could use this to run diagnostics on her while she was active and she wouldn’t be able to tell because of her advanced processing systems. In addition, I could check her power systems and see when she would need to be plugged in.
| |
| After about 15-minutes, I heard the shower turn off and then a few minutes later Lindsey walked out in fresh clothes, but with the same hairstyle as before.
| |
| “That feels better,” she said, depositing her dirty clothes in the hamper and walking over to me.
| |
| “Yeah, now are you going to take a shower?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Maybe in a little bit, I think I heard the lab seal,” I said, straining my ears.
| |
| “You must have good ears,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Yes, another genetic trait inherited and imposed on my android body,” I said.
| |
| “Wait…now isn’t that the back door?” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Yes,” I said.
| |
| “Phillip….Lindsey…if you are awake, you should come down here,” A female voice said.
| |
| “Let’s go,” I said, and Lindsey and I slowly descended the stairs and walked into the living room where Melissa stood in her new avatar.
| |
| “Wow, you look…hot,” I said, looking at her supermodel body, which she now inhabited. Her new body was roughly 5’4. It had neck-length red hair, brown eyes and a large chest.
| |
| “Thanks, I chose a model to be my avatar,” she said, smiling at me.
| |
| “Do you also have a slight accent?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Yes, this woman was British,” she admitted.
| |
| “You made a great pick,” I said, walking closer to her with Lindsey.
| |
| “I know, now would you mind if I showed my body off?” she asked.
| |
| “Sure, I think we are all mature adults here,” I said, looking at Lindsey.
| |
| “Yes,” she agreed.
| |
| “Okay, why don’t you sit down while I start undressing,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Alright sis,” I said, and then Lindsey and I plopped onto the couch while Melissa slowly began removing her clothes.
| |
| First, she unlaced her shoes and removed her socks. Her feet were very smooth, with no difference in skin tone meaning there was no tan. Her toes were also perfect, with the nails extending only slightly past the skin.
| |
| “I know, I have nice feet,” she smiled, and then she stood up and removed her tight black shirt, revealing a tightly packed brown bra with a light blue lacy trim.
| |
| When she removed the white shorts she was wearing, I could see the matching panties.
| |
| “How do I look so far?” she asked, pausing.
| |
| “Perfect,” I said, and when Lindsey nodded as well, Melissa smiled and then continued to remove her bra and panties until she was completely nude; this time, there was a small vertical patch of pubic hair above her vagina.
| |
| “Well sis, you now look grown up and more importantly, you don’t look nerdy,” I said, getting up and walking over to her.
| |
| “Thanks, did you want to feel my body?” she asked.
| |
| “Sure, and how about you Lindsey?” I asked, turning to look at Lindsey.
| |
| “Alright,” she said, and then she got up and joined me with Melissa.
| |
| “Wow sis, you really chose a good body,” I said, gently feeling her breasts, her arms and her tummy.
| |
| “It’s also much easier to control,” she said.
| |
| “What is your skin made of?” Lindsey asked, gently feeling Melissa’s back.
| |
| “It is called Synthskin. It is a combination of organic material and silicone, so it can be molded into any shape and so it can be fitted with a nervous system so androids can feel,” Melissa explained.
| |
| “I see, it certainly feels real,” Lindsey said, returning to the couch and sitting back down.
| |
| “Would you like to feel my feet?” she asked, seeing me step back.
| |
| “Sure sis,” I said, and while she sat down on one of the chairs and rested her feet on the leg rest, I kneeled down and gently felt her feet.
| |
| After I satisfied my need to feel her feet, I sat back down next to Lindsey while Melissa redressed.
| |
| “So, where is your old avatar?” I asked.
| |
| “In storage, I may still want to use it sometimes…and I may refit it so you can as well,” she said, sitting down.
| |
| “You sure worked fast, I didn’t think you would be finished so fast,” I said.
| |
| “Well, I already had the head built, I just needed to add features…plus, I also had help,” she said.
| |
| “Help from who?” I asked.
| |
| “Well, I was hoping you would ask since it is also a surprise I made for you,” Melissa said, and then she got a small remote from her pocket and pressed one of the buttons. A few moments later, the back door opened and a girl walked in. Once she got to where Melissa was, she stopped.
| |
| The girl looked to be in her early twenties. She had a rather serious expression on her face, but looked as though she could easily smile. Her long dark brown hair was tightly tied in the back into a ponytail, and her skin overall was very pale. The clothes she was wearing consisted of a white sleeveless shirt, which looked rather tight due to her large breasts. The only other clothes she was wearing were the black Capris and white tennis shoes with white socks.
| |
| “Who is she?” I asked.
| |
| “Hold on, I need to reactivate her A.I.,” Melissa said, and after pressing another button the girl became more lively.
| |
| “A.I. resumed…Hello Melissa, where am I?” she asked, speaking in a brisk voice.
| |
| “You are in our house, I brought you here to introduce you to my brother,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Oh, hello,” she said, noticing Lindsey and I for the first time.
| |
| “Hello, my name is Phillip,” I said, getting up and holding out my right hand.
| |
| “Hello, my name is Kristin,” she said, grabbing my hand with hers and shaking it. Her hand was also pale, yet it felt rather leathery.
| |
| Once she was introduced to Lindsey, we all sat back down.
| |
| “So Kristin, how long have you been active?” I asked.
| |
| “I was brought online two days ago, but I was refurbished by Melissa,” she said.
| |
| “Yes, I found her in a junk heap and I have been working on her in my free time,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Do you remember what you used to be?” I asked.
| |
| “I was built to be a tutor at a major university. One day I was damaged, but instead of repairing me they upgraded to a newer model,” she said.
| |
| “Well, I’m glad my sister refurbished you…what are you programmed for now?” I asked.
| |
| “I am programmed with subroutines to help me assist with android maintenance, I still retain my tutoring subroutines, I have programming to help me clean and interact and I also am programmed to serve as your avatar,” she finished.
| |
| “You are?” I said.
| |
| “Yes Phillip,” she said.
| |
| “Aren’t you a Class 8 android?” I asked.
| |
| “Yes,” she replied.
| |
| “Don’t worry bro, I refurbished her with Class 9 components so she can support your brain,” Melissa said.
| |
| “I see…and if you don’t mind me asking, why would a tutor need such large breasts?” I asked.
| |
| “My breasts are large to help shield my A.I. center,” Kristin said.
| |
| “Your A.I. is in your torso?” I asked.
| |
| “Yes, my head now has extra space for your brain to be inserted,” she said.
| |
| “Watch this Phillip,” Melissa said, and she got up behind Kristin and twisted her head off. The second the head was removed, it stopped moving and a camera popped up out of her neck.
| |
| “Wow, she can still see us right?” I asked, getting up to look.
| |
| “Yes, and I can still talk too,” Kristin said, her voice emitting from some sort of speaker within her chest.
| |
| “Cool, is there some sort of panel I can use to access her brain?” I asked.
| |
| “Yes, I’ll open it,” Kristin said, and then a small rectangular panel slid open above her breasts. Inside was her A.I. interface, as well as the speaker her voice was coming from.
| |
| “Can I see?” Lindsey said, getting up.
| |
| “Yes,” I said, and I moved out of the way so Lindsey could get a look.
| |
| “So, your brain isn’t in your head?” Lindsey asked, gently feeling the edges of the panel.
| |
| “That is correct…my head has processors for a Class 9 brain, as well as the control mechanisms for the head systems,” Kristin said.
| |
| “Here you go Phillip,” Melissa said, gently handing me Kristin’s head.
| |
| “Thanks sis,” I said, taking it from her and sitting down with it. It was creepy looking at the cold, lifeless eyes staring at me, but I was fascinated by this new android. After I played around with the face, I turned it around and opened the control panel. After I navigated through the Class 8 interface, I accessed the skull release and opened her head. After I put the skull down, I looked inside and saw an array of Class 9 components, as well as an ingenious hybridization of the facial motors.
| |
| “I know, I did a good job,” Melissa said, watching me examine Kristin’s head; Lindsey was still talking to Kristin.
| |
| “So, I assume you want me to put my brain in her now,” I said.
| |
| “Yes,” Melissa said.
| |
| “So, does that mean that you will be controlling Kristin?” Lindsey asked, turning to look at me.
| |
| “Yes Lindsey, my brain will be in her head and I will be her,” I said.
| |
| “That sounds a little weird…are you going to do it now?” she asked.
| |
| “Yes,” I said, getting to my feet and walking over to Kristin. After I reattached her head, minus the skull cover, I stepped back and watched as it came back to life.
| |
| “So Phillip, I am able to remove your brain and insert it in my own head…after several seconds, my body will relinquish control to your brain and you will have control of my body,” Kristin said.
| |
| “Okay, will you still be aware of anything?” I asked.
| |
| “Yes, you will be able to access my memory systems and I will be able to speak from this speaker still,” she said.
| |
| “Okay, let’s get started…but I will need to shut myself down first,” I said, sitting down and opening my shut down sequence.
| |
| “How are you going to do that?” Lindsey asked, sitting down next to me.
| |
| “I can access my power systems…but maybe I will let you do it, put your finger in my left ear and press until it clicks,” I said, closing my shutdown sequence.
| |
| “Okay, I guess I will see you soon,” Lindsey said, putting her soft finger in my ear.
| |
| “Yes,” I said, and then I felt her press in and my systems shut down.
| |
|
| |
| “Wow, I can’t believe I just shut him off,” I thought, pulling my fingers out of Phillip’s ear and watching his body relax.
| |
| “Don’t worry Lindsey, he will be controlling Kristin soon,” Melissa said.
| |
| “I know, it must seem normal for you, but it seems weird to me,” I said, watching as Melissa opened Phillip’s skull and then removed his brain.
| |
| “May I see it?” I asked, wanting to see what my boyfriend’s brain looked like.
| |
| “Sure, be careful,” Melissa said, gently handing it to me.
| |
| “Thanks, I will,” I said, and I gently took the brain and examined it. To me, it looked like a fist shaped computer component, but I knew that this was what Phillip was.
| |
| “Is he aware of what is going on?” I asked, looking closer.
| |
| “In a way, he is in a sort of digital waiting room…did you want to insert him yourself?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “Yes,” I said, and I got to my feet and walked over to where Kristin was waiting.
| |
| “Just insert it and attach then reattach my skull,” Kristin said, watching me.
| |
| “Okay,” I said, and I gently plugged Phillip’s brain into the slot in her head and then I clicked her skull back on.
| |
| “Thank you, I am now activating Phillip’s A.I.,” Kristin said, and then she closed her eyes and stopped moving before…
| |
|
| |
| After what seemed like a few minutes, I finally felt myself sucked out of the room and then I opened my eyes.
| |
| The first thing I saw was Lindsey standing a few feet away with a curious look on her face. I also saw Melissa standing a few feet further away next to my deactivated body.
| |
| “Wow, this body feels great!” I said, hearing Kristin’s voice instead of my own.
| |
| “I’m glad you like it, I am still active and can reply if you need me,” I heard her voice say, coming from the speaker in my chest.
| |
| “Thanks, I’m closing the panel now,” I said.
| |
| “Okay, have fun,” she said, and then I closed the panel.
| |
| “Well brother, I think I will leave you two alone now…just so you know, Kristin can regain control when you are ready to leave her body and put your brain back,” Melissa said, and after putting the skull cover back on my body, she got up and left.
| |
| “So Phillip, how does it feel to be a girl?” Lindsey asked, smiling playfully.
| |
| “Different…I have been in female androids before, but never a Class 8,” I said, looking at my pale hands and feeling my face; I once again noticed how leathery the hands were.
| |
| “What is the difference between the Classes?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Well, Class’ 1-4 barely look human. They have semi-realistic skin, but they had clear separation marks where their limbs and panels opened. They also had programmable intelligence,” I said, sitting down on one of the chairs opposite Lindsey.
| |
| “And the others?” she asked.
| |
| “Class’ 5-7 fixed some of the problems…they still had programmable intelligence, but their skin was much more realistic. Class 8 had semi-programmable intelligence, and very realistic skin. The only thing I notice is that this body doesn’t seem to have any sweat glands, so the skin feels somewhat leathery,” I said.
| |
| “Yeah,” Lindsey agreed.
| |
| “The Class 9 was developed 30 years ago just before the war. They have near-perfect skin and near-perfect A.I. They can be programmed with base programming and then develop naturally from there. The various sub-classes include the child replacements such as me,” I said.
| |
| “Are there any other classes?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “There is the Class 10…recently developed. This class is the ultimate achievement. All androids under this class are totally indistinguishable from a human, and even they are programmed to believe they are human, thus creating true artificial intelligence,” I said.
| |
| “How many are there?” she asked.
| |
| “One,” I said.
| |
| “Oh, I see,” she said.
| |
| “So, did you peek at my body while I was ‘out’” I asked.
| |
| “No!...did you want me to?” she said.
| |
| “Let’s just say I wouldn’t mind…it isn’t something you won’t be seeing soon anyways,” I said.
| |
| “Maybe in a little bit, what about your current body?” she said.
| |
| “Yeah, I think I’ll just suffice with the shoes and socks,” I said, and I quickly unlaced my shoes and slipped off the cotton socks. My feet were pale, not to any surprise, and they were perfectly dry. After I wiggled my toes, I put them back on the floor and felt it with my new feet.
| |
| “So, if you want to see me naked, all you need to do is ask,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Later, for now let’s just converse…it is interesting hearing this voice,” I said, and for the next couple of hours we chatted.
| |
|
| |
| After I returned to my body, Kristin put her skull cover back on and then walked into Melissa’s room.
| |
| “So, are you going to take me up on my offer?” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Sure, but why don’t we go somewhere more private…my lab?” I said, seeing this as an opportunity to see more of her systems.
| |
| “Okay,” she smiled, and then we both slowly walked outside and into my lab.
| |
| “Okay, I locked the door and Melissa won’t be coming in here,” I said, securing the door mechanisms.
| |
| “Good, so this is where you do all your work?” Lindsey said, walking towards my work area and the twin tables.
| |
| “Yes, Melissa helps me by using her small size to climb inside and fix the androids from within, while I fix the exterior and software problems. That way we save time that would have been spent dismantling the android,” I said.
| |
| “I see, have you ever had to be fixed here?” she asked.
| |
| “A few times, but nothing more serious than a malfunctioning servo control,” I said.
| |
| “So, is there any way I can see you on one of these tables?” she asked.
| |
| “Sure, I will undress and allow you to open me up,” I said, and I calmly disrobed and then laid down on the table.
| |
| “Wow, you look very real,” Lindsey said, looking my body over.
| |
| “I know, you can feel if you like…I may not have showered, but it’s not like the sweat is harmful,” I said.
| |
| “Thanks,” she said, and then I felt her soft hands feeling my body.
| |
| After she finished feeling my body, she withdrew her hands and then said, “You feel real…may I see some of your panels?”
| |
| “Sure, go ahead and press my bellybutton twice,” I said, and then she did so and watched as my stomach panel opened.
| |
| “Wow,” she said, peering into my open panel.
| |
|
| |
| After Lindsey got a look inside all my panels, I closed myself up and then I got off the table.
| |
| “So, your turn now?” I said.
| |
| “Okay, I don’t think I look too impressive though,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head and then pulling her pants down. Once she had them folded on the table, she pulled down her panties and then removed her bra.
| |
| “You’re like a ghost,” I said, looking at her pale body. The amount of realism was remarkable.
| |
| “I know, I don’t get out much,” she said.
| |
| “Don’t worry, I like you this way,” I said, walking up and feeling her.
| |
| “Good, yours is the only opinion I care about,” she smiled.
| |
| “So, did you want me to give you a medical check-up?” I asked.
| |
| “Are you qualified?” she asked.
| |
| “Yes, Dr. Soyer programmed me with human medical data, and he gave me authorization to act as your caregiver,” I said.
| |
| “Alright, what do you need me to do?” she asked.
| |
| “Just lie on the table and stay calm,” I said, and once she laid on the table, I fired up my equipment.
| |
| “Will it hurt?” she asked.
| |
| “No, in fact you won’t feel a thing,” I said, and I hooked a standard cable to the computer and brought the other end to Lindsey.
| |
| “Good, I…Interfacing with diagnostic terminal…interface complete…have never felt too comfortable being examined,” she said, seamlessly transitioning from normal voice, to computerized and back to normal.
| |
| “Well, I would never make you feel uncomfortable,” I assured her.
| |
| “Good,” she said.
| |
| “Now, let’s see what kind of sleeper protocols you have,” I said to myself as I sat down at the computer. After entering the proper access codes, I perused through the thousands of protocols that kept Lindsey oblivious to her artificial nature.
| |
| “Wow, Matt is a genius…although most of these were my idea,” I said.
| |
| “What was that?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Nothing, just relax while I scan you,” I said.
| |
| After I finished examining her protocols, I decided to modify a few so that she could still be conversational while she was opened up. She would be unable to move if some of her panels were open or removed, but she would still be able to carry on a realistic conversation. Because of various other protocols, Lindsey did not need to reboot after I saved the changes I was making. I also changed it so she could still be active if her head was removed, but if she was online for too long like that, she could suffer a malfunction…nothing a processor upgrade couldn’t fix.
| |
| “Well Lindsey, I am going to start examining you so I don’t want you to move,” I said, switching the display to her schematics diagram and checking where her torso release was.
| |
| “Okay,” she said, and she watched me with her innocent eyes as I looked over her naked form lying on the table. After I felt what I was looking for, I pressed in on her fifth rib on both the left and right side.
| |
| “Torso panel manual release,” she said, and then a seam appeared from just below her neck, running around her breasts and all the way down to her waist, ending just above her pubic hair. After the panel was released, I carefully wedged my fingers in the sides and lifted it up. After I put her entire front section down on the other table, I looked in her now open torso cavity and marveled at her inner mechanics, now humming away.
| |
| “How do you feel Lindsey?” I asked, wondering how she would interpret this.
| |
| “I feel fine Phillip,” she said. While she said this, I could see the twin balloons in her chest move as they expanded and contracted with the air she was breathing. I could also see her ‘heart’ pumping away near her left breast pump.
| |
| “Good,” I said, and then I carefully lifted up her rib cage and set it aside next to her panel. Underneath her rib cage, I could see her stomach, her power systems and the pumps that made her breasts work. Also, I could see various sub-processor assemblies attached to various motor sub-systems. Dotted all over her internal sub-structure were LED lights, which were blinking in a steady and random sequence.
| |
| “Now Lindsey, I am going to be testing some of your reflexes, so don’t be alarmed if you feel a little strange,” I said, grabbing a tool so I could test the systems I now had access to.
| |
| “Alright,” she said.
| |
| “Okay, here goes,” I said, and I tweaked the motor sub-system for her arms. As soon as I tweaked them, her arms twitched momentarily and I could see the motors leading to her arms activate.
| |
| “Wow, that felt strange,” she said.
| |
| “I know, now this time you may feel a little woozy momentarily,” I warned, moving down to her power system.
| |
| “Okay,” she said, and then I pressed the test button on her power system, which shut down all power for about five-seconds. During this time, her secondary power systems were still active, so she did not completely power down.
| |
| “Wow, suddenly I feel tired,” she said, her eyes starting to glaze over.
| |
| “It should be passing soon,” I said, and after five-seconds, her power system came back online.
| |
| “You’re right,” she said.
| |
| “Okay, so far you are in good health…just relax while I check up on a few more things,” I said, looking into her eyes.
| |
| “Okay Phillip,” she said, and then I walked back over to the computer and looked at her schematics again. The main differences between her and me were that her systems were made to be easier to access. In addition to the torso panel, her face could also be removed to better facilitate the maintenance of her complex facial systems. After I memorized the rest of her schematics, I walked back over to her and leaned in towards her head.
| |
| “What are you doing now?” she asked.
| |
| “I am going to do something to your head, so try not to move okay?” I said.
| |
| “Okay,” she said, and then she put on a stoic expression.
| |
| “Alright,” I said, and then I pressed in on both her temples and felt a click, followed by a hiss of air as seams appeared around Lindsey’s face. After the face rose up a few centimeters, I grabbed hold of it and gently lifted it above her head, revealing her inner facial mechanisms.
| |
| “Wow,” I thought to myself as I stared at Lindsey’s robotic face. Although I knew what androids looked like without a face, it was rare that this happened while they were online and this kind of removal system hadn’t been around since the Class 6 model. Her eyes looked completely real, although without the protection of her eyelids they looked like two white orbs with dark blue circles staring straight ahead. Her nose was a small bump with two connectors, her teeth were completely exposed and it now looked like she had a fixed smile without her lips covering her teeth. The areas where her cheeks and brow moved had an intricate series of servos, which connected with the facemask.
| |
| “Phillip, are you done?” she asked, her voice emitting from a speaker just above her teeth.
| |
| “Yes, how do you feel?” I asked.
| |
| “I feel fine Phillip,” she replied, moving a few servos.
| |
| “Good,” I said, sitting down and examining the realistic facemask I was now holding. Since the eyes were still in Lindsey’s head, the facemask actually looked like a mask. The skin was still real to the touch and it reacted to my touch by changing pigmentation. When I felt the forehead, I could feel a little perspiration and the nose still had a little snot in it.
| |
| After I had my look at her face, I carefully positioned it back over her head and clicked it back into place. Once it was sealed, Lindsey took a breath and then smiled at me.
| |
| “Don’t worry, I am almost done,” I said, smiling back at her.
| |
| “I know,” she said.
| |
| “Now, I am going to need to sedate you for a few minutes, but I will bring you out of it soon,” I said, getting ready to power her down.
| |
| “Okay Phillip,” she said.
| |
| Just as I activated her shut down sequence, she said, “I love youuuuuu” in a winding down voice.
| |
| “I love you too,” I said, giving her a kiss before walking back over to the computer.
| |
|
| |
| While Dr. Soyer was the one who ultimately constructed Lindsey, I was still the one who developed the matrix and the specifications for the hardware needed. In the time it took for Matt to construct her, I had already refined my original specifications and developed more efficient processors, sub-circuits and power regulators. While I got all the new components ready, I looked inside Lindsey’s open cavity at the now inactive components.
| |
| “Don’t worry Lindsey, you’ll be in one piece again real soon,” I said, disconnecting a few circuits in her cavity and replacing them with the new ones I developed. After those were installed, I twisted her head off and then brought it with me to the workbench. After I got her propped onto a pedestal, I opened her skull cover and then delicately removed her brain to avoid damaging it. Once her brain was safely stored, I removed her main processor assembly and began replacing them with the more efficient ones I had developed. With the new components installed, I replaced the assembly and then placed her brain back inside.
| |
| “Okay, let’s see if this works,” I said, bringing her head back to her neck and reattaching it. Once the head was back on, I left the torso panel off just in case she malfunctioned and I had to power her down quickly. Once I was ready, I pressed her power button and watched as her systems came back online.
| |
| “Cybercorp unit 10xx-0 initializing…new hardware detected….running diagnostics….diagnostics complete, all systems operational and reporting 125% efficiency…booting A.I….A.I. booted…standby,” she said in a monotone before slowly opening her eyes as though she was waking up from a deep sleep.
| |
| “Phillip, I feel different,” she said, smiling at me.
| |
| “In what way?” I asked.
| |
| “I don’t exactly know…I just feel more in control of my body,” she said.
| |
| “Good, I found an injury in the back of your head and used my tools to repair it,” I said.
| |
| “Oh, I didn’t even realize I had an injury,” she said.
| |
| “I know, it was very small,” I said.
| |
| “Well, I’m glad you found it…when can I get up?” she asked.
| |
| “Just wait a second,” I said, and then I reattached her rib cover and then placed her torso back on with a click. The second it was sealed, I saw her chest rise up and down with her simulated breath and I saw the pigmentation return to normal.
| |
| “Now you can get up,” I said, disconnecting the cable from her head.
| |
| “Thank you,” she said, slowly sitting up and then dropping to her pale feet.
| |
| “You’re welcome,” I said.
| |
| “So, how big is this lab?” Lindsey asked, slowly getting her clothes back on.
| |
| “Pretty big, this room is the biggest,” I told her, getting my clothes back on.
| |
| “I see, so aside from Melissa and you, you don’t have any other people here?” she asked.
| |
| “Nope, just us…and the new holographic assistant I’ve been working on,” I said.
| |
| “Really, I’d like to meet her,” she said.
| |
| “Alright, I think she’s ready to be activated,” I said, and I keyed a few commands on a nearby wall panel and then watched as a hologram materialized a few feet in front of us.
| |
|
| |
| The holographic representation was that of a woman in her late twenties/early thirties with shoulder-length blonde hair partially held back by her ears, which had gold earrings on them. She was wearing an entirely purple outfit and she had a rather innocent looking face.
| |
| “Why isn’t she moving?” Lindsey whispered to me.
| |
| “Because I haven’t activated the new matrix yet…and you don’t need to whisper,” I said.
| |
| “Sorry,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “Anyway, this image is that of a holographic assistant from one of the TV shows my ancestor watched at the beginning of the 21st century…her name is Haley,” I said.
| |
| “Nice, you get all your inspiration from them?” she asked.
| |
| “Most of it,” I agreed.
| |
| “So, why don’t you finish so we can talk to her?” Lindsey asked.
| |
| “Okay,” and I quickly transferred the modified matrix into the active holographic avatar.
| |
| “Hello, my name is Haley,” she said, opening her blue eyes and coming to life.
| |
| “Hello Haley, do know me?” I asked, getting up and walking over to her.
| |
| “Yes Phillip,” she said, looking at her hands and feeling herself.
| |
| “Good, I gave you a more mature appearance and lifelike personality so that you can interact with people now,” I said.
| |
| “I see, thank you,” she said, giving me a kiss.
| |
| “You might also notice that I gave you an aroma…you give off a faint floral aroma,” I said.
| |
| “I see, what do you need me to do?” she asked.
| |
| “Could you meet Lindsey and me in our bedroom?” I asked.
| |
| “Sure, I’ll see you there,” Haley said, and then she shimmered away.
| |
| “What do you want her in our bedroom for?” Lindsey asked, following me out of the lab.
| |
| “I want to get back into the house,” I said.
| |
| “Oh,” she said.
| |
|
| |
| Once we got into our bedroom, we saw Haley waiting for us near the bed.
| |
| “What do you need me for?” Haley asked.
| |
| “Hold on Haley,” I said, pulling out Lindsey’s remote. After I toggled through the functions, I activated Lindsey’s sub-conscious and placed a suggestion that she should take a nap.
| |
| “Wow Phillip, suddenly I feel pretty tired…would you mind if I took a quick nap?” Lindsey said, yawning.
| |
| “Go ahead, Haley and I will be quiet,” I said.
| |
| “Thanks,” she said, and with a smile, she gave me a kiss and then laid down on the bed. Within a few seconds, she was asleep.
| |
| “What did you do that for?” Haley asked, looking at Lindsey and then at the remote in my hands.
| |
| “I want you to place my brain in her body, and with her asleep she won’t wonder why any time has passed,” I explained.
| |
| “Oh,” Haley said.
| |
| “Now, I am going to deactivate her and then myself, all you need to do is to remove our brains and place mine in her body…hers won’t work in any other body except her own, so just place it in my head for safekeeping,” I said.
| |
| “Okay,” Haley said, and after I deactivated Lindsey, I laid down on the bed next to her and then deactivated myself as I saw Haley approach.
| |
|
| |
| A few seconds later, so it seemed, I felt myself emerge from the digital waiting room into the standby period that marked my A.I. integrating with a new unit with new hardware. After my brain was successfully integrated, I blacked out and then I came back into consciousness. After I got used to the sensations of the new body, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was now looking from a slightly different perspective of course, but I could see Haley standing a few feet away looking at me.
| |
| “How do you feel?” she asked, looking a little concerned.
| |
| “Fine…I think,” I said, hearing Lindsey’s soft voice instead of my own deep voice.
| |
| “Good, did you need any help?” Haley asked.
| |
| “No, I’m just getting used to the Class 10 interface,” I said. After lying still for a few more seconds, I finally moved my hands to prop myself up and then I slowly sat up and looked around. After looking at my pale hands and feeling my face, I looked to my left where my body was laying peacefully.
| |
| “It still takes a bit of getting used to,” I said, gently feeling its face with my pale hands. I liked how my fingernails were trimmed down to the skin and how nice they accented the pale skin color.
| |
| “Do you mean being a girl?” Haley asked.
| |
| “That and seeing my body from a different pair of eyes,” I said.
| |
| “Oh, are you going to get up now?” Haley asked.
| |
| “Yes,” I said, and then I slowly brought my pale feet to the floor and stood up.
| |
| “Did you still need me?” Haley asked.
| |
| “No, why don’t you go and clean the kitchen,” I said.
| |
| “Alright,” she said, and then she shimmered away.
| |
| “Wow, this body feels really nice,” I said, walking around and feeling the floor beneath my new feet. After I got used to how the carpet felt beneath Lindsey’s nice feet, I slowly walked into the bathroom and stared at my new reflection.
| |
| “Wow, I look really nice,” I said, seeing Lindsey staring at me from the mirror and hearing her voice.
| |
|
| |
| After I finished looking at my new reflection, I walked back out into the bedroom and looked at the bed my body was laying on.
| |
| Walking back over to it, I noticed for the first time that my body was still holding Lindsey’s remote in its hands so I gently pried the fingers open and grabbed the remote.
| |
| “I wonder if this could still work with me,” I said, turning it back on and toggling to the main menu.
| |
| Unlike before when I saw the options, this time only the options I could see were for the body itself, since Lindsey was not online.
| |
| “Well, I better leave it with my body so I don’t forget,” I said, placing it back in the hands and closing the fingers up. Before I left, I gave my body a kiss, then slowly left the room and headed down the stairs.
| |
| When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw that Melissa’s door was closed, but I could hear her inside talking with Kristin, and, Haley was in the kitchen quietly cleaning up.
| |
| “Don’t mind me Haley, I’m just walking around,” I said, seeing that she was about to say something.
| |
| “Okay,” she said, and she got back to work as I walked to the window and looked outside.
| |
| “It’s a beautiful day,” I whispered to myself before opening the glass door and walking outside. The world seemed to look a bit different through Lindsey’s eyes and as I walked to the waterfront, I could hear things differently too. After I felt the water with her pale feet, I walked back to the house, dried off my feet and then stepped back in.
| |
| “Let’s see what Melissa is up to,” I said to myself, and I walked straight to her bedroom door and knocked.
| |
| “Come in,” I heard her say, and then I slowly opened the door and let myself in.
| |
| “Oh hey Lindsey, what brings you here?” Melissa said, stepping away from Kristin’s now deactivated body.
| |
| “It’s me sis, I had our new hologram put me in Lindsey’s body,” I told her.
| |
| “Oh, how does it feel?” she asked.
| |
| “Great…more real,” I said, walking over and sitting on her bed.
| |
| “So, there is one more thing Kristin and I made for you that I forgot to mention,” Melissa said, sitting down next to me.
| |
| “What?” I asked.
| |
| “This,” she said, and from her pocket she pulled out a small box.
| |
| “What is it?” I asked, reaching out and grabbing it.
| |
| “Open it,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Okay,” and then I pried it open with Lindsey’s pale fingers and gasped when I saw what was inside.
| |
| Inside the box was a male Rigilian.
| |
| “I had to build it with my own hands, not using my avatar,” she said.
| |
| “How am I supposed to inhabit it?” I asked, since it was so small.
| |
| “I can attach a transceiver to one of the empty ports on your brain and then you can transfer yourself to this avatar anytime you want,” Melissa explained.
| |
| “Cool, can you do that while I am online?” I asked.
| |
| “No, I could do it while I help you back into your body though,” she said.
| |
| “Okay, I’ve already been in Lindsey’s body for nearly twenty minutes which is long enough for the nap she thinks she is taking,” I said, getting back to my feet.
| |
| “Okay, lead the way,” Melissa said, and then we both headed back up to my room.
| |
|
| |
| While I was offline, Melissa carefully installed the transceiver in one of the ports on my brain. As soon as I was brought back online, I processed the new device and then verified that it was functional.
| |
| “Good, now if you’ll wake Lindsey up then we can show her as well,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Okay, you did put her brain back right?” I asked, turning on her remote.
| |
| “Yes,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Good,” I said, and then I got up off the bed and then I reactivated her. After a few seconds, her silent boot finished and she looked as she did before.
| |
| “Lindsey, wake up I want to show you something,” I said.
| |
| “Hmmm, what is it Phillip?” she asked, coming out of her doze.
| |
| “Melissa made me something that we wanted to show you,” I said.
| |
| “Okay, where is it?” she asked, getting up from the bed.
| |
| “Downstairs…I had Kristin get it back from the lab,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Okay, let’s go then,” Lindsey said, and we all went downstairs.
| |
| “Isn’t that just your old body?” Lindsey asked, seeing Kristin with Melissa’s previous body.
| |
| “Yes, but this is what I wanted to show you,” I said, showing her the box with the male Rigilian android inside.
| |
| “Oh, what is it?” she asked, leaning in to get a closer look.
| |
| “A robotic Rigilian for Phillip here to use,” Melissa said.
| |
| “That’s how small you are?” Lindsey asked, looking from the small figure in the box to Melissa.
| |
| “Yes,” Melissa replied, “Haven’t you ever seen a Rigilian before?”
| |
| “No, I’ve heard of them of course, but I have never actually seen one,” she admitted.
| |
| “Did you want to see me?” Melissa asked.
| |
| “Sure, I can’t believe I never asked you before,” Lindsey said, and then she watched as Melissa’s face opened outwards.
| |
| “Wow, you are small,” Lindsey said, walking over and looking in the open head of Melissa’s avatar.
| |
| “Yes, I built that avatar for Phillip so he can feel what it is like to use one of my avatars…and what it is like to be small,” Melissa said, closing her face back up.
| |
| “I see,” Lindsey said.
| |
| “So, did you model this avatar off of me at all?” I asked, not able to see any similarities due to the vast size differential.
| |
| “Yes, it will have your voice and it is kind of modeled after you,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Good,” I said.
| |
| “Now, it will activate when the link is established, so you can feel free to start at any time,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Okay, I’ll just sit down first,” I said, and once I was seated in one of the chairs, I activated the transceiver and then felt myself black out before…
| |
|
| |
| I felt myself encased in some sort of foam…when I opened my eyes I saw Lindsey’s eyes staring at me.
| |
| “Whoa, you look big!” I said, pulling myself out of the foam casing and standing up.
| |
| “You’re so small,” Lindsey said, smiling down at me.
| |
| “Why don’t you bring him over to my old body Lindsey?” I heard Melissa say.
| |
| “Okay,” Lindsey said, and then she slowly walked a short distance to where Melissa’s teenage body was standing with its face open.
| |
| “Now, he’ll need your help getting inside, so let him climb onto one of your hands and then give the box to me,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Alright,” Lindsey said, and she opened her left hand and allowed me to climb onto it while she handed Melissa the box.
| |
| “Wow Lindsey, your hand feels nice under my feet,” I said, feeling her warm palm with my feet.
| |
| “Hey, that kind of tickles,” she smiled.
| |
| “Alright, let me into the body now,” I said.
| |
| “Okay,” she said, and then she brought her hand up to the avatar’s face and let me hop inside.
| |
| Once I was inside, I slowly connected myself to the numerous wires and connections and familiarized myself with the controls, which I would be using to move this now ‘giant’ body. After I had everything attached, I made the face close up and then I activated the final neural connections, which would allow me to see and feel everything the body did. When the connection was made, I closed my eyes and when I reopened them I could see everything the body saw, which at that moment was Lindsey.
| |
| “Phillip, can you see me?” she asked.
| |
| “Yes, I can hear you Lindsey,” I said, hearing both my real voice and the voice of the avatar.
| |
| “Wow, how does it feel?” she asked.
| |
| “Weird, like I am hearing and seeing things twice,” I said.
| |
| “That will fade after you get used to it,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Good,” I said.
| |
| “Why don’t you try and move around a bit,” Melissa suggested.
| |
| “Okay, I hope I don’t fall,” I said, and then I manipulated the controls for the arms and saw my arms limply rise.
| |
| “Don’t worry, that’s not a bad start…I did much the same my first time,” Melissa said.
| |
| “Thanks,” I said, and after rethinking the controls I made the arms move much in the way I wanted them to.
| |
| “Nice, now try walking,” she said.
| |
| “Okay,” and I started manipulating the controls for my feet and legs, which made the avatar slowly shamble forwards. Even though I wasn’t walking very well, the toes were helping out by digging in and giving me traction.
| |
|
| |
|
| =[[Part Four]]= | | =[[Part Four]]= |
By the time Lindsey had been with us for a week, we hardly paid attention to the fact that she was actually an android. Even so, I still managed to improve her power efficiency by another 20% and improve her sleeper protocols to include voice command.
Once I was done tweaking her systems, I began researching a way to transfer my A.I. into a modified Class 10 brain so that I could better control the new Class 10 body I was planning on building for myself. After a few more weeks of research, I finally finished the new brain and officially dubbed it Class 10.1. All during this time, Lindsey was learning all about androids so she could be my assistant.
When the news of the Class 10.1 brain went out across all of the continental regional branches, I received a lot of praise from my former competition. In addition, the three branches actively involved in the development of the Class 10 android, European, Oceanic, and Asian, decided to create their own Class 10 androids and send them to me to assist me and them in perfecting the new model. According to the memos, these four androids would be completely made-up people with fabricated back-stories, family records, health records, financial records and more. They would think they were related to a high-ranking officer of their region and would believe they were working for their branch. Their reason for being in my house would be as foreign exchange representatives.
After I received all the specs I would need to create their bodies, I began to gather the materials I needed to create my own Class 10 body, but before I could get started…
“Phillip, your dad is here,” Haley said, materializing near my work area in the lab.
“He is?” I asked.
“Yes, he needs to see you right now…he says it is really important,” Haley said.
“Alright, I’ll be right there,” I said, and as soon as Haley vanished, I saved all my work and then left my lab.
“Ah Phillip, it’s good to see you,” Greg said, meeting me at the back door and hugging me.
“Thanks dad, what’s so important that you needed to see me right away?” I asked, sitting down with him in the den.
“Well, I heard about what the European, Oceanic, and Asian branches are sending you, but there is one more representative from the European branch who is joining your team,” Greg said.
“Who is it?” I asked, since I had just recently installed three more bedrooms and a bathroom to my house by converting the garage into a living space and building a new garage off to the other side of the house.
“Well, she’s like you…one of the kids I built before you. She took an interest in my work, but since she was 14 her parents wouldn’t let her stay, so she studied up in the Ukraine where she is from and then she started a similar repair service to the one you have here,” Greg explained.
“So, why is she coming here then?” I asked.
“Because she was trying to come up with the Class 10 android and you beat her to it. When she found out you were related to me, she contacted me and requested that she be allowed to come here and build herself a Class 10.1 body for herself,” Greg said.
“I see…she isn’t angry at me is she?” I asked.
“Not at all…a little miffed, but she realizes that you and her could make a good team pairing up since she knows some things you don’t,” Greg said.
“Alright, when do I meet her?” I asked.
“Well, the things is that she didn’t come in her body…she left it home and just sent her brain and personal effects. She will need to temporarily inhabit a spare android so she can build her own body,” Greg said.
“Well, I do have a few…maybe she could use Kristin since that android is probably closer to her age,” I suggested.
“Melissa thought that too, and she is actually working on that right now…how is Lindsey doing?” he asked.
“She’s doing fine…I finally got the voice commands installed so I won’t need a remote all the time,” I said.
“And her training?” Greg asked.
“She’s learning fast and not because I programmed her to, because she is determined,” I said.
“Good, the queen is a wise entity,” Greg said.
“That is true,” I agreed.
“So, I haven’t actually seen Mia since I built her adult body, but she is very attractive…hopefully Lindsey doesn’t get jealous,” Greg smiled.
“She won’t, she knows me well enough,” I said.
“Good, now I have to get back home…I have a patient arriving soon,” Greg said, and after giving me a hug, he left.
Once he was gone, I got up and headed into Melissa’s room where she was working on Kristin.
“Hey Phillip, did dad explain everything to you?” she asked.
“Yes, is she installed yet?” I asked.
“Not quite…apparently Mia’s Ukrainian translation program is having a hard time working with Kristin’s hybrid setup, but I just installed a patch that I am hoping will work,” Melissa said, and after a few seconds, she closed Kristin’s head and said, “Alright, here goes,” and she pressed the power button on the remote.
“Cybercorp Unit 8035-9x initializing…detected new A.I…running diagnostics…compatibility mode functional…all systems functional…loading A.I….now activating A.I.” Kristin said, and then she blinked her eyes and looked around.
“Hello, my name is Mia,” she said, looking at Melissa and I.
“Hello Mia, I’m Phillip and this is Melissa,” I said.
“Ah Phillip, you’re the one who beat me in the race,” she said, shaking my hand.
“Yes, I hear you want to build a Class 10.1 body for yourself,” I said.
“Yes, have you started on yours yet?” she asked.
“No, I was just about to when Greg showed up,” I said.
“Good, Melissa is going to help me…I hear your girlfriend is Unit zero,” she said.
“Yes, she will be helping me with my new body,” I said.
“That’s nice…so why don’t we get started then?” Mia said.
“Okay,” and then we all headed out to the lab.
Once we gathered the necessary materials, Lindsey finally got back from the mall and joined me in my dedicated workroom.
“Sorry I’m late, the class went longer than usual,” she said, getting her tools out.
“It’s okay…by the way, we got another assistant,” I said, and while we got started on the framework for my new body, I explained to Lindsey who Mia was.
After Lindsey and I were finished getting all the hardware installed in the Chassis, we worked on installing the musculature and nervous systems. Less than two hours later, we were ready to put the skin on.
“Wow, this is weird,” Lindsey said, watching as the skin formed on my new body.
“Yeah,” I agreed, and once the skin resembled my own, I opened the panels and started pumping in the fluids it would need to produce my sweat and organic material.
“Alright, it’s ready,” I said an hour later. My new body was only a year older in appearance than my current body, but it had more efficient growth systems so I could use it for a full three years before needing a replacement.
“It looks just like you,” Lindsey said, looking back and forth.
“The trained eye can see the differences…but most of the differences are in how it functions, not in how it looks,” I said.
“I know,” she said.
“Good, the tricky part will be in transferring me out of this brain into the new one…this is revolutionary,” I said, picking up the Class 10.1 brain I would be transferring myself into.
“Why?” Lindsey asked.
“Because up until now it was said that it would be impossible to transfer an A.I. from one brain into another…now I have changed that,” I said.
“Well, I hope I don’t lose you,” Lindsey said.
“You won’t, I ran hundreds of tests and all the test A.I.s transferred successfully,” I said.
“Well, are you going to start now?” she asked.
“No, I’m going to go and check on my sisters,” I said, and then I left my room and walked out to where Kristin and Melissa were.
“Hey Phillip, are you finished yet?” Kristin asked.
“Yes, and you?” I asked.
“Yes, I was just waiting for you to transfer into your new brain,” she said.
“Alright, well we can both do it at the same time…Melissa knows how to do it,” I said.
“Okay,” she said.
“Alright, let’s get started then,” I said, and then we all headed to another portion of the lab to do the transference.
After Mia and I shut ourselves down, Lindsey and Melissa removed our brains and attached them to the machine I invented. It was odd feeling myself removed from the brain I spent a good portion of my life in, but after several moments of being in the void, I felt myself in the new brain and I could already sense the difference.
A few minutes later, I felt myself sucked out of the void and into a new body. Once the initial boot sequence was finished, I slowly took control of the new body and then opened my eyes.
“Well Phillip, how do you feel?” Melissa asked, looking down at me.
“Better…this body actually feels like the real deal,” I said, slowly sitting up and looking at my new body.
“And you didn’t sound robotic when you moved,” Lindsey pointed out.
“That’s right…so where is Mia?” I asked.
“She is in the other room with Kristin,” Lindsey said.
“Good, I want to actually see her now,” I said, getting to my feet and stretching.
“She’s waiting,” Melissa said, handing me my clothes.
“Alright, let’s go,” I said, slipping my clothes on and walking to the door.
After I put my Class 9 body and brain into storage, I walked with Lindsey and Melissa to the room where Mia’s new body was built.
“Just to warn you, she might blow your new mind away,” Melissa said.
“Yeah, she’s breathtaking,” Lindsey agreed.
“Okay, thanks for the warning,” I said, and then I slowly opened the door and walked in.
“Hello Phillip, it’s great to see you in my own body now,” Mia said, walking over from the end of the room where Kristin stood deactivated.
“Wow, you look beautiful,” I said.
Mia was 22 years old. She stood at an average height of 5’7 and her skin was pale to the point of being white. Because she was just activated, she wore no clothes and her body had no visible scars, blemishes or imperfections. Her feet were just the right size, with no toenail extending past the skin and her foot bottoms were undamaged. Just above her vagina was a neat vertical patch of hair, and her belly button was a perfect hole in the center of her womanly torso. Her breasts were noticeably larger than Melissa’s were, and her armpits were completely smooth. To top it off, she had shoulder-length dark brown hair, which complimented her crystal-clear blue eyes. Overall, she was perfect.
“Thanks, I get that a lot…trust me,” she smiled.
“I am going to trust that it is natural beauty and not manufactured,” I said.
“Yes…most people assume I build my newer bodies like this on purpose, but this is actually what I am supposed to look like,” she said. While she was speaking, I noticed she was speaking with very little of an accent.
“So, how long did it take you to get rid of the accent?” I asked.
“Not long…I had to speak all sorts of languages at the European branch so I am very good with languages,” she said.
“Well Phillip, Lindsey and I are going to head back to the house,” Melissa said.
“Alright, Mia and I will be there soon,” I said.
“Your girlfriend is nice,” Mia said, powering down the equipment and walking over to me.
“Thanks, she was a gift from the Queen,” I said.
“Who’s the Queen?” Mia asked.
“The Queen is an android who is very high up in the North American branch. She is the first android to give birth to a healthy human,” I explained.
“Oh, we don’t have anyone like that in Europe,” Mia said.
“Yeah, so did you want to see more of my lab?” I asked.
“Sure, and then I’ll let you see more of me,” she smiled.
“Yeah, so how do you want me to treat you?” I asked, not sure how to word it.
“You mean other than an assistant/partner…how about sister, since I consider Greg a second father to me,” she said.
“Alright sis, so this lab is a bit larger than it looks. I actually had it retrofitted a week ago so I could add some more equipment,” I said, walking with her around my lab.
“What kind of retrofits?” Mia asked.
“Well, I had them build a basement so I could store all the spare equipment and parts, and I also moved the power generator down there, so it created more workspace up here. I also had them build a second floor, which is solely for office space,” I said.
“Who’s offices?” Mia asked.
“One for me, one for Melissa, an empty one and a conference room,” I said.
“Nice, may I see your office?” she asked.
“Sure, follow me,” I said, and we walked away from the workrooms and up a staircase onto the second floor, where the offices were.
“So, right here is the conference room where we brainstorm ideas for new techniques; there’s also a video conferencing system setup in there,” I said, showing her the conference room at the top of the stairs.
“Nice,” she said.
“This walkway wraps all the way around the internal frame and around the offices until it reaches mine on the other end,” I said, walking with her around the offices on the right side until I reached mine.
“Was that Melissa’s office we just walked by?” Mia asked.
“Yes, the other one is going to be the liaison office…for you and the four Class 10s,” I told her.
“Cool, now can we go in?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said, and after I entered in the personal access code, the door slid open.
“Wow, nice office,” she said.
My office was the largest of them all. From the door we entered at the back end, my desk was directly opposite facing the door itself. The desk had a side desk on the one side where I could put more stuff, and the window behind it overlooked the whole first floor of the lab, as well as the other offices. Directly behind us on both sides of the door were artificial windows, which showed what was directly outside the lab via a high definition camera. There was a small work table off to the side where I could work on an android and there was also a comfortable couch with a rectangular table in front of it and accompanied by twin chairs.
“Thanks, it serves me,” I said, walking over to my desk and putting my jacket on the chair.
“My lab is only one story and my office isn’t this big,” she said, following me to my desk.
“Yeah, well some of my patients heard of my reputation and wondered why my lab was so modest, so I retrofitted it to give them more peace of mind in my abilities,” I said.
“I see, they thought you had limited equipment,” Mia said.
“Yes, and I actually did…but I still managed to produce the Class 10,” I said.
“Yes, which is why I decided to join you,” she said.
“Would you like to sit down?” I asked, seeing her just standing there in front of my desk; she was still naked.
“Yes, and then you can get a better look at me,” she smiled.
“Alright, why don’t you sit down with me over here?” I suggested, walking over to the twin chairs.
“Okay,” she said, and then we both sat down and pointed the chairs at one another.
“So, do you have to this a lot?” I asked, staring at her perfect body.
“Yes, but I don’t mind,” she smiled.
“Good, now the first thing I want to see is…” I said.
“My feet…I read all about you, and your dad, Melissa, and Lindsey all told me about your fetish,” she smiled.
“Good,” I said.
“Alright, here they are,” she said, and then she lifted them up onto my lap.
“Thanks…how do you keep them so perfect by the way?” I asked, feeling her perfect soles.
“I don’t know…I don’t walk barefoot on stone surfaces, only on dirt or grass,” she said.
“I see, I walk barefoot pretty much everywhere,” I said, bending each of her toes.
“I know…you know what I just realized?” she asked.
“What?” I asked.
“I’ve been examining the capabilities of my new Class 10.1 brain and I just realized that I can suspend my A.I. manually now and I can set it to turn back on with a specific requirement,” she said.
“I see, were you going to test that feature?” I asked.
“Yes, that way you can get an unimpeded look at my nice body,” she said.
“Alright, what will I need to do to get your A.I. to resume?” I asked.
“Let me think….alright, I will resume when you kiss me,” she said.
“When I kiss you on the lips?” I asked for clarification.
“Of course,” she smiled.
“Just making sure,” I said.
“Alright, here goes,” she said, and then after a brief moment her expression went stoic and she said, “A.I. suspended…A.I. will resume pending pre-set protocol,”
“Alright, now to have some fun,” I said, looking at her stoic face.
“Can you hear me?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Good, do you still have access to the memories of the A.I.?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Good, stand up please,” I said.
“Okay,” she said, and then she smoothly stood up.
After I spent some ten minutes feeling her perfect body, I bent over and gently kissed her delicate lips.
As soon as I ended the kiss and stood back up, Mia said, “Protocol met…A.I. resumed,” and then she blinked her eyes and smiled at me.
“Did you enjoy the tour of my body?” she asked.
“Yes, you have the greatest amount of natural beauty that I have ever seen,” I said.
“Thanks, but people still think that it is augmented,” she said.
“Well, they can believe what they want…all I believe is that they don’t make women like you here,” I said.
“No pun intended,” she laughed.
“Exactly,” I said.
“So, would you help me to explore my new body?” she asked.
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, I may have read up on the new schematics, but I haven’t actually played with them myself,” she said.
“Do you mean all the new panels?” I asked.
“Yes, I want to remove my new panels,” she said.
“Alright, I’ll help you,” I said, and I reached out and pressed her fifth ribs and then carefully pulled her front torso panel away.
“Wow, that felt weird,” she said, looking inside her open cavity and watching her lungs react.
“I know, now I’m going to remove your rib cage,” I said, placing her panel down and removing the ribs.
“Cool, it’s one thing to build this body but it is something entirely different to feel it,” she said, feeling around inside her open cavity
“Just be careful…did you want me to remove your face now?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said, and then she made her face go stoic as I clicked it off and revealed her robotic face.
“Wow, you look very different without a face,” I said, putting down her perfect face and staring at her eyeballs.
I feel weird too…especially with my voice coming out of this speaker…and what’s weirder is that it feels perfectly natural,” she said.
“Well, that is an inherent sleeper protocol built-in to the Class 10s so we can repair their faces and still allow them to speak without realizing it,” I said.
“Are there any more features that I don’t know about?” she asked.
“Well, there is one that I only implemented in my brain as a beta test,” I said.
“Could you put my panels back on so I can show my emotions?” she asked.
“Okay,” I said, and I quickly put her panels back on and then she put on a curious expression on her face.
“Sorry, I wanted to look interested in this beta as well as sounding interested,” she said.
“I understand,” I said.
“So, what is it?” she asked.
“Well, after having my brain installed in several different androids, it occurred to me that it would be nice to do it without needing someone to help so I figured out a way to connect a transceiver to both my brain and this body,” I explained.
“So, you can control your body if your brain is removed?” she inquired.
“Sort of…I would have to be the one removing it, I would also have to be online and I could only function that way for no more than five minutes before the signal degraded,” I said.
“Cool, what is the distance range?” she asked.
“Around 50 feet,” I said.
“Wow, I can’t believe no one thought of doing this earlier,” Mia said.
“I know, but Melissa did the same thing to me to allow me to inhabit an artificial Rigilian body so I applied the same science to allow me to control my own body,” I said.
“Well, that would help if you need to change bodies quickly,” Mia said.
“And I also installed a sister transceiver in several of my previous bodies, the androids donated to me by patients and of course in Lindsey,” I said.
“That way you could put yourself back,” Mia said.
“Of course…it would have been embarrassing trying to return and then being unable to,” I said.
“Very,” Mia smiled.
“The only problem is that I haven’t actually tested it yet…the beta was installed on my new brain, so I will need to test it before I can know if it works,” I said.
“Well, is there anything in this lab that you can test it out on?” she asked.
“Sure, hold on while I summon one up,” I said, and I walked over to my desk and activated a control mechanism which would select an android from the basement storage area directly beneath my lab and bring it up near my work area. After I selected the one which I had recently finished working on, I activated the lift and watched as a storage pod rose up from the floor near my work area.
“Wow, your office is cool,” Mia said.
“I know, I store all my pet projects and androids in a room two levels below here and this lift just grabs a storage pod and brings it up to me,” I said.
“Efficient…and convenient,” she said.
“I know, so let’s introduce you to one of my pet projects then,” I said, and I opened the pod and unveiled an android girl.
The girl looked to be around 20 years of age. She had neck-length, reddish-brown hair that was curled. She was around 5”7 and looked to have a somewhat athletic build. The clothes she was wearing consisted of a simple pair of sneakers with black socks, blue denim pants, and a white tank top, which showed off her tanned arms. Her face, although asleep, showed a playful quality.
“Wow, who is she?” Mia asked, coming in for a better look.
“She was a Class 8 that I found in a junk heap. She was programmed to be some college guy’s roommate/girlfriend, but apparently when he found a real girl he just abandoned her,” I explained.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Mia said.
“I know, but based on her previous set-up, I don’t think she was too sentient,” I said.
“I see, so what enhancements have you done?” Mia asked.
“Hold on while I get her on the table,” I said, and after I pulled her out of the pod, I lowered the pod down and then laid the inert android on my worktable.
“So, anyway, I completely replaced every bit of hardware in her with that of the latest Class 9, including the brain. I also replaced her skin so it would be more realistic, and I enhanced her power systems to support the new processors and memory systems,” I said.
“Looks like she got the presidential package,” Mia said.
“Interesting way of putting it, but yeah,” I agreed.
“So, were you going to use her for any specific function?” Mia asked.
“I was thinking of having her act as an assistant in my office, or just someone to talk to…but I really planned on making her my girlfriend, but that was before I was introduced to Lindsey,” I said.
“Oh, I see…does Lindsey know?” Mia asked.
“She knows about Becca here, but she wouldn’t care since she knows I love her more than anything,” I said.
“I wish I was as lucky as you…as it is, most men are too interested in my beauty to be interested in my profession,” Mia sighed.
“What kind of man do you want?” I asked.
“Well, I think given my looks that he should be as good looking as me…he should also be familiar enough with cybernetics to repair me if I malfunction,” she said.
“Sounds like someone who would need to be manufactured,” I said.
“I hope not…but maybe it would be someone like me,” she said.
“Maybe, so anyway, I haven’t actually finished reprogramming her new A.I., so I can use her body freely whenever I want,” I said, opening up her head panel.
“Maybe I will get a similar robot for myself…” she said.
“Try it, you might have a little bit of fun,” I told her, now removing my head panel.
“I will, now are you going to remove your brain?” she asked.
“Yes, I hope this works and if it doesn’t please put me back in,” I said, grabbing hold of my brain.
“I will,” she promised, looking sincere.
“Alright, here goes…” I said, pulling my brain out. There was a momentary sense of sensory deprivation after my brain was disconnected, but milliseconds later it passed and I now felt myself holding my brain in my hand.
“Wow, that was interesting,” I said, looking at my own brain for the first time.
“How so?” Mia asked.
“There was a split second where I had no feeling at all and then it all suddenly came rushing back,” I said.
“Interesting, now are you going to insert yourself into Becca?” she asked.
“Yes, now the integration will take a bit longer than the removal did and when it is over I should be in full control of Becca and my body will be offline,” I said.
“Okay,” Mia said.
“Here goes,” I said, and I gently inserted my brain into Becca’s open head and then began the integration procedure, losing control of my body.
After the usual moment of integration, I felt myself slowing regaining feeling and after the diagnostics informed me that all systems were functional, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. The first thing I saw was my body, frozen in the act of withdrawing its hands from my current head. Since it was still online, it blinked occasionally but did nothing else.
“Phillip, are you alright?” I heard Mia ask from several feet away.
“Yes, just getting used to this new body,” I said, hearing my sexy new voice for the first time.
“Alright, are you going to do something about your body?” she then asked.
“Yes,” I said, and then I looked into my robot’s eyes and said, “Phillip, stand normally,” and then my body withdrew its arms and stood up.
“Wow, that was nice,” Mia said.
“Another feature I came up with: Voice control,” I said.
“Interesting, how does it work?” Mia asked, walking over to where my robot stood.
“When I make eye-contact my brain sends a low-frequency radio wave to my robot and it recognizes me and accepts my commands,” I explained.
“Nice, now why don’t you get up so I can look at your new body,” Mia suggested.
“Okay,” I said, and I slowly sat up and then swung my legs down off the pod and hopped to the floor.
“Nice, you didn’t even make a sound,” Mia noted.
“Well, I didn’t need to replace the joints so they are already broken in,” I admitted.
“Perfectly understandable given the circumstances,” Mia said.
“Now, did you want to examine my body?” I asked.
“Sure, can you undress it?” Mia asked.
“Sure,” I said, and I swiftly removed all of my clothing and then walked around on my pale bare feet.
“Your body looks nice,” Mia said.
“Thanks, it feels nice too,” I said, feeling very energetic in the playful body of this busty college girl.
“I can only imagine, now why don’t you get dressed again and let me examine your real body,” Mia said.
“Alright,” I said, and after I got redressed I helped Mia undress my male body and then I lifted it up so it was sitting on the edge of the table.
“Did you want to get back in your body, I think you might enjoy my examination better if you are in control of it,” Mia said.
“Sure,” I said, and after several minutes I was back in control of my body.
“Now, try and relax,” Mia said.
“Alright, you had to have seen some male androids naked at some point,” I said.
“Of course,” she said, and she gently started probing at various areas of my body.
End
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