5.67 - Staff Orientation

I walked into the small waiting area only to find four other women already seated there. Instantly, I felt a wave of nervousness. I had thought I was already hired. I hoped I wouldn't have to compete against other candidates at this stage. Getting an interview here had been difficult enough during the application process.

One of the women, a redhead in a blue blouse and black skirt, smiled at me. "Another one? They must be on a hiring spree." She rose to greet me. "I'm Kaitlyn." Seeing the worried look on my face, she added, "Don't worry, we all seem to be here for different positions."

"Althea," I said, introducing myself. "So you're not here for a job in Skill Assessments?" I asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Internal Processes."

The girl to her right gave a nervous wave. "Pria," she said, "Program Development."

"Natasha," said the redhead across from her. "Location Layout."

The blonde in the corner raised her hand. "I'm Jerri. Off-site Support."

"I think they just scheduled our orientation for the same day," said Kaitlyn.

I sighed, taking a seat. "That's a relief. I'd hate to have come all this way just to have to jump through more hoops."

Jerri looked at me in sympathy. "Long commute?"

"Out of state," I confirmed. "I haven't even relocated here yet. I'm having to take commuter flights until I've got housing worked out."

Pria leaned forward. "I heard they've started replacing some of the airline crews with ARAs," she said in a half whisper. "Did you see any robot stewardesses?"

"Or stewards," Natasha cut in. "Or pilots, for that matter." She noticed the bemused expressions on our faces. "What? Male robots make up more than a third of the units sold every year."

"It was closer to half, three hears ago," Kaitlyn said. "But even then, most of them were military units."

"That's what I'd heard," I said, nodding. "I'm pretty sure the airline I use has an ARA girl at the ticket counter, but I didn't see any obvious bots on the plane." I considered for a moment. "Plenty of people flying cargo class, though."

"You never know," interjected Jerri. "Thanks to companies like this, it's getting pretty tough to tell."

"Depends on the manufacturer," Kaitlyn replied. "I'm pretty sure I can spot a GySys model at a hundred paces."

There was a knock on the inner door, and a trim, tallish brunette came in, wearing a simple red dress. "Ladies," she said, "welcome to ScenariCorp. My name's Jane, and I'll be showing you the ropes today." She took a seat and motioned for us to move our chairs into a small circle.

"Now," she began, "I know you all probably have some understanding of our products and services, but I find it's best to make sure everyone is up to speed on exactly what this company does." She laughed softly. "It's a cornball line, but a friend of mine says 'We don't make robots - Me make robots into people.' Fortunately, she's a lot better at costume design than she is at coming up with marketing slogans." We all laughed. Jane really knew how to make us feel more at ease.

"Cheesy as it is, there's truth to it," Jane continued. "A lot of people think ScenariCorp is an ARA manufacturer, but we don't make a single ARA. We don't even have a factory." She crossed her legs, smoothing out he flowing skirt. "ScenariCorp essentially has two divisions. We make software to give robots more sophisticated responses, and we make tourist attractions which use that software."

She looked around the group, mildly concerned. "Now you probably already know this, but a lot of our operations are sexual in nature. We don't want our employees to work in an environment they're uncomfortable with, and we don't want to force people to choose between their principles and getting a job."

She looked at each of us individually. "I want you all to understand that, if you have any objections to seeing full nudity, explicit sex acts, or hearing coarse or suggestive language, we will make sure that we can accommodate your needs. You're already hired, and there are divisions within our company which don't involve exposure to any of the things I've mentioned."

"We won't be expected to participate, will we?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Not as a condition of employment or promotion," Jane replied. "But most of our day-to-day operations are based in sexuality. Our parks and software both have a strong emphasis on sex, particularly involving female ARAs." Jane sighed. "We didn't lie or mislead you in your initial interviews: The job you interview for is the job you'll get. We don't trick people into things they don't enjoy. But in headquarters at least, sex is going to be pretty much everywhere."

Pria fidgeted. "What if we want to... um... what we enjoy..."

Jane's expression was surprisingly understanding - she didn't even smirk. "Your personal preferences are as private or public as you want them to be," she said, reassuringly. "That said, it's not unusual for employees to take an interest in their employer's products. So long as you're not making anyone else uncomfortable, and it's not interfering with anyone's productivity, you're free to... sample the goods."

Furrowing her brow, Natasha asked, "I'm not really familiar with any of ScenariCorp's non-sexual products. Not saying I'm objecting, but... if I did, what would my options be?"

Jane's expression was inscrutable. "We have equivalent openings for anyone who might object at outside facilities. If you need to relocate, we'll cover the expenses. If you can't relocate, we can take care of your commuting expenses. For some positions, we even allow employees to work exclusively from home."

"But what do those outside facilities do?" I asked.

"We're a big company. Many of our divisions deal with warehousing, logistics, construction, transport, and other roles in business infrastructure. In terms of other product divisions, we also maintain brands in education, children's entertainment, civil service, and service industry response-ware." She looked at us cautiously. "If any of you have any apprehensions, you can let me know at any time."

There was a short silence as this sunk in. I felt the need to speak up. "Personally," I said, weighing my words carefully, "I applied with the understanding that this company's primary interest was sex." I laughed. "I don't think any of us came here, somehow not knowing what we were getting into." There were positive murmurs throughout the group.

"To be honest," Jerri said, "that's what brought me here." More of agreement rippled around the group.

"All the same," said Jane, "I want you all to know that you're free to voice any discomfort at any time. You're going to get a sample of what goes on here today, and some of you may be a little surprised at how extreme. It can get." She rubbed her hands together. "Now then," she said in more lighthearted tones, "does anyone have any questions?"

"What particular scenarios will we be working on here?" I asked.

"There's really not a short answer to that," said Jane. "We're constantly adding new specific scenarios to existing products, and coming up with entirely new product concepts. Both of these get integrated into existing and upcoming attractions, so there's always plenty of variety."

Kaitlyn cleared her throat. "I was wondering if there were any plans to bring back any of the retired or discontinued scenarios."

Jane's expression was unreadable. "You mean the Lab Assistant and Schoolmarm packages, don't you?" Kaitlyn nodded. "We don't delete products from our archives, and it would be foolish for us to say they'll never come back, but... Both of those scenarios were written with extensive input from..." Her lip trembled for a moment, but she maintained her composure. "From someone very special to Kirk Peters. Someone who is, sadly, no longer with us." There was a short silence, then she breathed deep. "Moving on, though."

Pria was next to speak. "I know it wasn't stated as a requirement in the job description, but how much of an issue is it if I don't have any AI programming experience?"

Jane smiled reassuringly. "It's not an issue. You don't need AI programming experience." Seeing the confused expression on Pria's face, she added, "We don't make AI systems. We make contextual response matrices that integrate directly with third party AI systems. Some manufacturers bundle our basic packages as a pre-installed option in their units, but they usually have something like SynThought or Mind-Soft running the actual AI."

"I've only seen one ScenariCorp product released every other month or so," Natasha commented. "It seems like this company employs way more people than it needs just to make a handful of scenarios a year,"

Jane nodded. "And if that's all we did, we would probably have a lot fewer employees. A lot of people don't realize that most of our products are never intended for retail release. One of the aspects which makes our attractions so popular is the fact that they use custom tailored scenarios not available anywhere else."

"Just curious," Jerri began, "but are any of the employees here robots?"

Jane stifled a laugh. "Okay, sorry, I wasn't expecting that one." She blew out a breath. "The answer is yes. Very much yes."

"Are any of them human?" I countered.

"Oh, yes. Absolutely. Plenty of humans. Hundreds, in fact."

Natasha held up her hand. "Will any of us be working in any of the attraction locations?"

Jane's smile turned mischievous. "As a matter of fact, one of you will. Jerri, would you mind telling them about yourself?"

Jerri nodded. "Certainly, Jane. I am an HR4990 model ARA manufactured June of last year. My main system OS is Kalibash version 3, and my AI is a customized version or the TruVenus package published by West Labs." My mouth fell open. She was a robot? "Additionally," she continued, "I am running the following ScenariCorp packages: Job Interview Pro, GirlTalk 7, Chit-Chat Casual, Chit-Chat Office, EasyFlirt Office, SexyFlirt Office, SluttyFlirt Office, and Dirty Talk Office version 6.30."

Pria shook her head in astonishment. "That's crazy. I got here an hour early, and she came in just after me. We've talked the entire time." She looked back at Jane. "You're joking, right? This is some new employee initiation gag." Jane simply smiled in silence. "She can't be a robot. I would know. I may not have a professional background in AI programming, but I know enough about it to..."

"Jerri, peel down your dermal face layer," Jane interrupted.

"Of course, Jane," Jerri replied. There was a springing click sound, and the top of her forehead popped outward like a pull-tab. Grasping the edge, she pulled down the synthetic flesh, revealing the polished chrome of her head. Tiny servos buzzed, animating the various control points which would normally connect to her face.

"Jerri is the first programming type example I wanted to bring to your attention," Jane explained, rising. She walked around behind Jerri. "Fully aware. She knows she is a robot, and accurately perceives her surroundings. Jerri, what are you thinking right now?"

"I'm sorry Jane," Jerri replied, "I am incapable of thought. My AI is ranked as Turing 4 compliant. My runtime does not currently simulate a stream-of-consciousness thought process." Jane reached down and carefully rolled Jerri's face back over the metallic skull. After recalibrating her expression control points, Jerri adopted a demure smile.

Jane brushed a few stray hairs out of Jerri's face. "Jerri, describe what your 'Off-Site Support' job consists of," she said.

"Following this demonstration, I will proceed to wardrobe to return these clothes to the office supply. I will then proceed to shipping, where I will be packaged and delivered to the Bartleby Estate Manor House attraction. Once there, I will be reprogrammed, and will serve as a French maid and sex unit available for guest use."

Pria's eyebrows went up when she said this. She looked at Jane, seeking approval. "Is it alright... can I ask it a question?" When she realized what she'd just said, her hand flew to her mouth. "I mean her, not it! I'm so sorry, I just-"

Jane held up a hand to stop her. "Don't worry about it. Jerri is an 'it.' And yes, you can ask it a question."

Pria turned back to Jerri. "Does any of that bother you?" She asked. "Walking around the place naked, dressing up as a maid, being used for sex... are you okay with all that?"

Jerri smiled reassuringly. "I'm not currently capable of being bothered by any of that. The apparent personality I seem to have is purely an effect created by the combination of ScenariCorp programs I'm running." She raised an eyebrow, still smiling. "Does it bother you?"

Kaitlyn spoke up. "Seems pretty inefficient to me." We all looked questioningly at her. What was she talking about? "I checked out the facility map on my way in, and... well, the shipping area is practically next door to this room. Wardrobe is a pretty long walk from here."

Jane nodded approvingly. "That's a good point. We could save a lot of time if someone else took her clothes back to wardrobe." The looked back at the soon-to-be maid unit. "Jerri, undress."

"Yes, Jane," Jerri said pleasantly. She stood, pulling off her short jacket before folding it and putting it in the chair.

"I don't get it," Natasha said as Jerri pulled off her blouse. Apparently, her clothing had only been intended to pass casual scrutiny: She wasn't wearing a bra. "How could she have a personality if she knew she was a robot?"

I stared, fascinated, as Jerri slipped off her shoes to wiggle out of her business slacks - she wore no panties either. "Personality and awareness aren't directly linked," Jane explained. "Although in this case, Jerri doesn't even really have a personality profile."

I could see that the slacks had been a thin, stretchy material, impractical for actual office attire. "Jerri's seeming consciousness is just a socially convincing illusion," Jane continued as Jerri carefully folded her slacks and blouse. Her back to me, she bent to retrieve her shoes, and I was momentarily treated to an unobstructed view of her snatch. I gulped. I wasn't used to seeing that kind of thing so openly on display. Was that normal for this place?

The now nude robot gathered her neatly folded clothing and shoes, and handed them to Jane. "Shall I go now?"

Jane nodded. "By all means. The manor house has been a bit short-staffed recently." Jerri nodded, and left out the door I had come in. I watched her depart through the door as it slowly closed, a nude figure walking incongruously down an office corridor.

Jane interrupted my thoughts. "Now then, if there are no more questions, let's get started on the tour," she said, motioning for us to stand.

She led us out of the small waiting area, through another door. I was briefly disappointed that we weren't going in the same direction as Jerri, but told myself it was more due to fascination with her behavior than any kind of sexual kick. After a few tuns down a hallway, we came to a large, open atrium. A handful of employees were present, some chatting, some exiting, some arriving. To one side, behind a curved counter, sat a woman with wavy brown hair, reading a magazine. Jane led us over to her general vicinity.

"This is the main entrance," Jane began. "Some of you will already have seen this area during the initial interview process." She raised her voice in an exaggerated tone. "As you can see," she said, slowly and loudly, "not much work gets done in here, does it Bev?"

The receptionist behind the counter looked up from her magazine. "And good morning to you, too, Jane," she said. She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "Try to look busy, I hear the boss's wife is around here somewhere."

Jane laughed. "Bev here is our main receptionist, and I just give her a hard time because we've known each other for so long. She's really fun to be around, but try not to get her started on classical music, lest she bore you with talk of Bizet, Mendel, and Bach." She said this last part in a theatrical tone, gesturing melodramatically.

Bev rolled her eyes. "Please. Mendel? Why in God's name would I listen to Mendel when Chopin is available?"

The two of them laughed good-naturedly. "You're still up for our ladies night on Friday, right Bev? Deb's been looking forward to it."

"I've got an outfit in wardrobe already picked out and everything." She practically melted, adoringly. "Mr. Peters is such a good sport, putting up with us like that." She sighed. "A lot of guys wouldn't have patience for that kind of thing."

"Oh, he enjoys it, deep down," Jane said. "I've got to keep this group going, though. Take care!"

Bev waved and called to us as we left. "Say hi to Deb for me when you see her, okay?"

We continued along an adjoining corridor with a glass wall facing the scenic view in front of the headquarters building. At the end of the hall, we came to what appeared to be the entrance to a separate, upscale business. Through the windowed wall, we could see the other business's building itself, designed to appear as though it were a completely unrelated building, but intersecting directly with the headquarters' architecture.

"Is that what it looks like?" I asked, perplexed.

"Does it look like a hotel?" Jane said, a wry smile on her lips.

I scrunched up my eyebrows, wondering if it was a trick question. "Yes?" I said, cautiously.

"Yes," Jane confirmed. "It's a hotel." Natasha opened her mouth, about to speak, but Jane anticipated her question. "Because it's useful. Not everyone who works here lives in the area, as I said before. Some of our employees commute long distances, and our company lodgings are comparable to any five-star hotel. Sometimes we have contractors or third party consultants who aren't local to the area." She held the door open for us and motioned us in.

While the atrium to the offices was bright, but made of abstract, geometric angles, the hotel's lobby was elegant and classically ornamented, covered in antique wood paneling and brass railings. "It's also convenient to have luxurious place for potential investors, partners, and prominent clients to stay in-between meetings." She waved cheerfully at the blonde at the check-in counter. "And," she continued, "sample upcoming products."

We followed her through the lobby, into one of the large corridors connecting with the rest of the place. "Of course," she continued, "I can't really deny that one of the biggest reasons we have a hotel is because it's fun." She gestured around her. "A five star hotel of this size can easily accommodate hundreds of guests. At any given time, we tend to have fewer than a dozen people actually staying here. There's definitely something to be said for the 'having the place to yourself' factor."

We turned a corner coming to a halt in front of a pair of large doors. "It's a full-featured hotel, complete with event halls," she said opening the doors. Inside was a spacious grand ballroom, currently vacant, but large enough for any number of functions.

"There's also a pool," she said, leading us around another corner. "It's just over here."

We stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in front of the pool, where a trio of bikini-clad women were lounging poolside, speaking animatedly about something we couldn't hear. At another end of the pool, another woman appeared to be rubbing sunscreen on her arms, although the pool was indoors.

Jane continued just a bit further down the hall. "And, of course, a fitness area." Just beyond the pool area, more floor-to-ceiling windows gave us a view into the exercise room. Two girls in tight-fitting outfits were performing stretching exercises on the floormats. Jane looked at them, slightly flustered. "Employees are free to use these... amenities at any... um..." She seemed to lose her train of thought, staring at the girls stretching.

I realized that we had seen a lot of women, but hardly any men. "Jane, what's the gender ratio among the employees here?" I asked.

Jane was slowly trailing a finger down the line of her neck. "Hmm?" She said, dreamily, still watching the women exercise. She shook her head. "Sorry, yes, gender ratio. Ah. Well," she said, considering the question, "among the human employees, it's a pretty even split, but market forces being what they are, the ARAs here are overwhelmingly female."

Pria raised an eyebrow. "Market forces?"

"It's been a pretty clear trend over the years," Jane explained. "Male robots tend to be viewed as intimidating, even if they have a timid appearance or average physique." She shrugged. "Sometimes there's a need for them, but outside of various types of guards and military units, there just isn't much demand for male robots. There's a small, but constant market for male sexbots, and a few specialized labor units, and that's pretty much it. Most of ScenariCorp's male ARAs are permanently assigned to a facility attraction."

"So why haven't we seen any men?" I asked.

Jane smiled. "It's a busy workday, and we have lots of places for our employees to work and play... in private."

Natasha laughed out loud. "You're saying they're shy?"

"I'm saying all of our employees have excellent attendance records, and it's not uncommon for them to lock themselves in their offices for hours at a time," Jane replied with a smirk. "Feel free to draw your own conclusions from that." She brought her hands together, then pointed forwards. "On we go," she said.

She led us to the elevators. Waving her wristband in front of the featureless chrome panel, she strode directly for the sliding door without even waiting to see if it would open. It did, with just enough space for her to walk through without breaking her stride. She waved us all in.

Inside was a control panel with buttons for a dozen or so floors. "Which floor do you think?" She said to Kaitlyn.

"Um... " Kaitlyn looked confused. "Are you asking because I should know, or..."

Jane shook her head. "No, sorry, I just wanted you to pick one. I should have been clearer."

"Oh." Kaitlyn chewed her lip for a moment, then closed her eyes, jabbing blindly at the panel. On her third jab, she managed to hit a button, and the elevator started to rise to the fifth floor. "Most male employees spend the first hour or so of their day getting as much done as possible in their offices before venturing out into our various staging areas," Jane continued. "A quick burst of high productivity, and then they feel like they've earned a little break. The boys don't usually come out to play until early afternoon."

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open at the fifth floor. We followed Jane out into the hallway, where she turned back to us. "Pria," she said, "why don't you choose a room for us?"

Pria looked surprised, but accepted it. "Okay... that one," she said, pointing randomly at room 516.

Jane nodded, and motioned for us to follow her. As with the elevator call panel, she waved her wristband in front of an area of the door, and a latching sound followed.

"You don't need to knock?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Boss's wife," she said, opening the door casually. "Besides, I don't think we'll be interrupting anything."

The suite was massive, with a hot tub, spacious bed, separate living room... as we gazed around in astonishment, a french maid bustled into the room, humming quietly to herself as she dusted. Upon noticing us, she made an "Eep" sound and dropped her feather duster. As she bent to retrieve it, her short uniform completely failed to keep her ass covered, and were all given a view of her black thong.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I was just finishing up,and I was about to leave... Sometimes cleaning these rooms is a long, hard process." She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair in no time," she said, heading for the door.

"Don't leave," Jane said. The maid stopped, a mildly confused expression on her face. Turning to our group, Jane explained, "It's actually standard for the maid to still be present in the room. We like to provide 'guests' that special chance encounter opportunity."

The maid frowned. "I don't understand. It couldn't have been standard. It was pure chance that I was still in this room."

Jane smiled. "And we chose this room completely at random. Yet, I fully expected when we walked in that there would be a maid here, 'just finishing up' and about to leave."

"That doesn't make any sense," insisted the maid. "I would have left ten minutes ago, but I had forgotten to restock the towels."

Jane turned back to the maid. "Tell us a little about yourself." She told her.

Well," the maid began, "My name is Angelique, but my friends call me Angie."

"You're actually French?" I asked, a little surprised.

"My family is, but I've never even been there myself," Angie said. "I live just out of town in a little suburb called Stride Across the River Estates. It was tough to find a decent rental place that would accept my pet cat, so I saved up for a while to cover the down payment on a house."

"You mentioned family. Are any of them local?" Jane asked.

"Just my mom and cousin. You should know," Angie continued, "Mom's one of your personal assistants. She helped me get this job."

"How old are you and your mother?" Asked Jane.

Angie put a finger to her chin. "I'm pretty sure Mom's about 36 or so. I'm 18."

"Have you worked here long?" Said Jane.

"Just a couple of weeks. It went pretty quick from interview to hiring, and my orientation didn't take long at all." She smiled. 'I really enjoy this job. I've already met plenty of interesting people, and the hotel is just so luxurious."

Jane nodded. "I see. Would you mind taking off your uniform?"

"Sure, no problem," Angie enthused, immediately reaching up to untie the supporting choker of the dress uniform. As soon as it was undone, she pulled the top down to reveal grapefruit-sized tits, her nipples visibly stiffening as she did so.

"Is that normal behavior for a maid?" Kaitlyn asked as Angie undid the side zipper to pull off the dress entirely.

Jane returned Kaitlyn's puzzled expression with a Cheshire grin. "I know a lot of places would object, but we don't mind. If Angie wants to strip on the job, we'll allow it. Panties too," Jane added, noticing that Angie had removed the dress and was now standing at attention in only her thong and fishnets.

"Oh, right, sorry," Angie reacted as though she had committed some faux pas by forgetting this. She slipped off the skimpy thong, tossing it onto a nearby chair alongside the uniform itself. She resumed her disciplined stance, apparently unconcerned by her nudity in front of a group of strangers.

"Do you normally strip nude at request?" Jane asked.

"I'm not nude," insisted Angie. "I'm still wearing my fishnets and heels."

"Would you take them off if I told you to?"

Angie considered the question. "I don't know. I don't see any reason why not."

"Does it bother you?" Pria asked.

Angie looked momentarily confused. "Does what bother me?"

"Angie," Jane began, slowly, "are you human?"

"No, I'm a LustyBusty model X-Ero ARA." She blinked, surprised at these words. "Oh, hey, I didn't know that." The revelation was apparently news to her, but it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. She smiled. "Okay, that makes sense, then. Even though I know I own a cat, I don't think I've ever actually seen one. Oh, and even though I live in the suburbs, I never leave this building, and stay in a storage bay with the other maids." She pondered this. "I never realized how many contradictions there were in my memories. Does that mean that the other maids are ARAs, too? Oooh, is my mom a robot? Or my cousin?" She asked, eagerly.

"Yes, yes, and yes," confirmed Jane. "All the maids are X-Ero models, with augmented sexuality packages programmed by ScenariCorp. Your 'mother' and 'cousin' are randomly-selected secretary units from my own and Mister Peters' personal staff. Each time you've seen them, they've been different units. You're just programmed to accept whichever unit introduces herself with the correct keyphrase."

"Do they know? That I'm a robot?" She thought for a moment. "Or that they are?"

"The ones you've met haven't known any of that, no."

"Mom is going to be so surprised when I tell her," Angie commented. She had begun examining her body, presumably looking for any sign of artificiality. "This is so amazing," she said, impressed. "I look so lifelike... I think. Wait, you could change it so that I would see myself as perfectly realistic even if I were a box with wheels, couldn't you?"

"We could," Jane conceded, "but we didn't. You look the way you see yourself. You're, ah... very well built." Jane seemed to be getting distracted again. She forced her attention back to our group. "And that brings us to our second type of programming type: Nappers."

She walked around behind the nude woman as she continued talking, gesturing at her as though she were a product sample - which, I suppose, she was. "Angie here is unaware of her robotic nature, until someone actually asks her about it. She has extensive false memories, believing them absolutely until she is questioned regarding her humanity. Since a robot's false awareness and artificial memories are very dream-like in nature, we tend to use sleep-related terminology when discussing them. Once awoken, nappers will be able to recognize their false memories as the programmed statements that they are, and will be able to perceive how those statements contradict reality."

She reached out and grasped Angie's left breast, squeezing it. The maid moaned slightly, her eyes closing in pleasure, but did not seem surprised by the action - although I could tell some of the girls in our group were. Not offended, some even a little turned on, but surprised. "As you can see," Jane continued, "she is utterly accepting of any situation. Nothing's wrong. Nothing bothers her. Even finding out that she's a walking sex toy doesn't bother her in the slightest."

"Angie, you don't think it's odd that you've never seen a cat?" I said.

Angie paused in her examination of her body, and looked at me. "What are you talking about? I have a cat at home. His name is Mr. Fluffy."

I looked at Jane, perplexed. "Nappers also have a quality of 'drowsiness,'" she explained. "Without being reminded of it, they tend to lapse back into their default state."

Natasha's expression was skeptical. "It doesn't seem like it would hold up to much scrutiny. I mean, wouldn't it be kind of obvious to anyone who interacts with them?"

"You'd be surprised," said Jane. "Most people don't ask each other about their humanity on a regular basis. Besides, none of you noticed,"

"We didn't really have much of an opportunity to interact with Angie," Kaitlyn pointed out.

"Oh, I wasn't referring to Angie," Jane said. Seeing our confused expressions, she turned back to Natasha. "Tell us a bit about your family, Natasha."

"Okay," Natasha replied, "let's see... my grandparents grew up in Vladivostok, but immigrated towards the end of the Tepid War... well, my Dad's parents, that is. My Mom's parents ran a bookshop in Wisconsin." She counted off facts on her fingers. "I have two sisters, all the same age. We're triplets, but not the kind that look alike."

Jane had been nodding at each point as Natasha listed them. "What did you think about Angie's reaction to 'waking up' so to speak?"

Natasha looked as though she thought it was obvious. "She didn't care in the slightest. It's unnervingly unnatural. She's disturbingly compliant, even to plainly inappropriate commands." She shook her head in disbelief. "It's a little creepy, really."

"Are you bi, Natasha?" Jane inquired, casually.

"Not really," Natasha replied. "I like guys. I can look at a girl and see that she looks pretty or sexy... heck, I might even be a little attracted to her or aroused by her. But I prefer men."

Jane looked at Angie as if studying a piece of art. "You think Angie's got a hot body, don't you?"

"Well, yes, obviously," Natasha replied. "Her tits are fantastic, and she has an amazing ass."

"You wouldn't mind stripping for us and showing us how two girls can pleasure each other without a man present, would you?" Jane's expression had "do me a favor" written all over it.

"Sure, no problem," Natasha answered. She began unbuttoning her black dress. "Should we start with finger fucking, oral, or are there some toys we should use first?"

"Oh, just improvise," said Jane, happily watching as Natasha tugged down her dress, letting it pool at her feet. Beneath, she wore only a garter and stocking set. As Natasha began to remove this as well, Jane stopped her. "No, leave the stockings on. They look good on you."

Natasha smiled, clearly flattered. "Thank you!"

Jane smiled as Natasha led Angie by the hand to the bed. "By the way, Natasha, are you human?"

Natasha sat at the edge of the bed and leaned back with her legs apart. "No," she said absently as Angie knelt in front of her, "I'm an H250gs series, running the full Office interaction suite of ScenariCorp packages." A puzzled frown crossed her face. "Huh. I didn't realize that. Wait, I have memories of a hah-ah-" she stammered as Angie began to lick. "Of a boyfriend, and I don't think they're fake. Is he real? Do I really have a boyfriend?" She looked worried.

"You have an owner," Jane said, and relief washed over Natasha's face. "You're normally programmed to act as his girlfriend, but he bought you from us as a refurbished test unit."

"Oh, good," Natasha breathed, bringing a hand up to her left breast. I bit my lip. This was getting pretty intense.

Natasha's expression turned to concern again. "My master won't mind that you're using me for this, will he?"

Jane patted her on the shoulder. "Not at all. It was his idea in fact. He just wanted a video recording of it." She retrieved a small video camera from a nightstand drawer, and positioned it on a nearby desk, aiming directly at the bed. "Perform for at least an hour, cycle through positions every five minutes or so, and change outfits after every three positions. Costumes are in the closet, lingerie in these drawers here," she said, indicating the standalone dresser, "and toys are in the boxes under the bed. Your owner said not to use strap-ons, he doesn't like them."

"Ah-oh yeah-ah I-yes understand," Natasha gasped.

"When you finish, take the camera and bring it to your owner's office. Don't bother dressing, but make sure you're wearing your heels and some kind of hosiery. As soon as you leave this room, remember only that you've got a romantic movie you want to watch with him, and that you're properly dressed. Got all that?"

"Hnn-yessss mmm I will oh-oh-oh-OH-OBEY!" She screamed, her passion reaching a crescendo.

"Ladies," Jane said, "Let's give them a little privacy."

She led us back out into the hallway before turning to address us again. "Well, how's everyone holding up?" She asked.

"Does that kind of thing happen once a day?" I asked, my voice a bit more breathy than I'd intended.

Jane laughed. "Oh, no, not at all. I can't imagine how much we'd have to scale back to get down to once a day. But an average employee sees that kind of thing at least once a week here. So," she said, looking around, "shall we continue, or does anyone need a quick breather?" She looked at each of us one at a time - The three remaining members of the tour group. A thought began to form in the back of my mind, as I recalled the day's events so far, and the reactions I'd seen from the other women in the group.

"A little bit of butterflies in the stomach," said Pria, "but I'm good to go if everyone else is."

Kaitlyn and I nodded, and we headed back to the elevator and out the hotel entrance. On the way out, the girl at the frontdesk once again smiled and waved at our group, and I had to wonder whether she was human or just another robot, dreaming her way through the world - an artificial mind filled with artificial memories, easily convinced by the thinnest explanations. If she was a construct, did that mean she was flawed, or gullible by design?

These thoughts bounced around in my head as Jane took us through some of the more routine areas of the company: Mailroom,can'teen, mundane-looking cubicle offices. As we walked through the seemingly normal areas filled with cheerful, enthusiastic employees, I caught myself wondeing who was real, and who was a robot. Would the blonde at the copy machine be offended if I just took her skirt from her? Would that secretary mind licking my tits? Did the woman staffing the mailroom get taken apart for repairs? Knowing that the human employee staff was evenly split between male and female, and noticing the disproportionately high number of women there were, I began to suspect that I may have only be seeing a handful of humans - If any at all..

Jane eventually brought us to what a large lounge and recreation area. To one side was a smoked-glass entrance to what resembled a shopping mall storefront, though no signage indicated its nature. Indistinct movement and activity could just barely be seen through the smoked glass. We approached the entrance, and Jane turned to address us in front of the sliding doors.

"Okay, what we're going to see in here goes a little beyond what we've seen before, both in terms of scale and explicitness." She gestured reassuringly. "If anyone feels apprehensive in here, please let me know."

We entered through the doors, and initially, I was surprised by how ordinary everything appeared. The space seemed to be a normal, if luxurious, beauty spa. The area closest to the door was primarily dedicated to hair-salon services, but I could also see a few women lounging in beauty masks, some consulting with cosmetics professionals, and a couple of small rooms in which there were padded massage tables. I was confused as to why Jane might consider this more extreme than anything else so far.

A greeter approached us. "Hi," she chirped, "welcome to the beauty services clinic. What kind of treatments can i set up for you today?"

Jane studied her face for a moment. "Chrissie, right?"

The greeter nodded. "Uh-huh," she confirmed. Her personality seemed bubbly and friendly, but not terribly bright.

"We're just here to look around," Jane explained. "Ignore us until we leave."

Chrissie blinked, a confused look suddenly appearing on her face. She looked around as though she had forgotten what she was doing, then wandered off to take her place back closer to the entrance.

"I don't get it," said Pria, "is this some kind of employee benefit or perk?"

"Kind of," Jane said, leading us across the room. "They do offer some traditional salon services, and all employees are permitted to make use of those services, but the real purpose here is..."

"Hi again!" Called a voice approaching from behind us. I turned to see Bev approaching at a brisk pace, her business jacket slung over one arm. She didn't slow as she came closer, but spoke only in passing. "Sorry I can't chat right now, Jane, I've got a therapy session scheduled, and I don't want to have to reschedule."

She breezed past us to a nondescript door opposite the main entrance. Next to this, large block letters simply said "Staff Therapy" in a stylized typeface. "Darn. She would have been helpful for this next part. Looking back over herat the entrance, she noticed a tall woman with long, black hair just arriving. "Yoo-hoo! Maya! Over here!"

Maya approached us casually, her high heels clicking loudly on the tiled floor. She wore a pantsuit similar in appearance to Jerri's, but the material seemed heavier and more durable. "Hi Jane," she said, apparently greeting a close friend, "Finally came to see what all the fuss was about, eh?" She turned to address me. "Jane never comes here, so she wouldn't know, but let me tell you: They give the best massages down here," she said, as if letting me in on a secret.

"What brings you here today, Maya?" Jane asked, conversationally.

Maya laughed. "Are you kidding? Free backrubs? I only leave so you don't fire me."

They shared a laugh, and Jane placed a hand on her friend's arm. "Listen," she said, "I'm just showing some new hires around the place, and I was hoping to find someone who might be able to help out with our tour in the Staff Therapy area." She looked almost apologetic. "I've never had the chance to indulge, myself, so I was hoping... you wouldn't mind filling us in on the services in there, would you?"

Maya waved her hand dismissively. "Not at all! I'd be happy to show them around."

"Great," said Jane. "I promise to make it up to you."

Maya led us to the same door Bev had just gone through, and opened it for us, gesturing us through.

The scene inside immediately clarified why Jane had warned us: everywhere I looked, nude and semi-nude women were engaged in acts of self stimulation, feeling each other up, and getting opened and disassembled by women in white labcoats. Even while being dismantled, the fembots chatted amiably, apparently oblivious to their surroundings. "It may take a few minutes while I check in," Maya said, and approached a nearby podium. Built into this was a computer interface of some kind, and she began to enter information into the console there.

I looked around, astonished by my what I was seeing. To one side, I could see two women seated on adjacent tables, facing each other. Though they both wore normal office attire from the waist up, they were nude from the waist down, and had their legs spread wide. They were engaged in a casual conversation while they masturbated, each gesturing animatedly with one hand while their other hand moved rhythmically between their legs. I found myself fascinated by the bizarre juxtaposition: The nonchalant conversation alongside the explicit finger-fucking. Catching myself staring at the back and forth motions of their hands, I tore my gaze away.

At another table closer to us, Bev was seated, speaking to a technician. "I guess it's really just kind of a stiffness, right around here," she said, lifting her hair and pointing at a spot on her neck. "It doesn't hurt or anything, but I thought a good massage could really help work out the kinks."

The technician was taking notes as Bev spoke. "Okay, yeah, we can help work that out for you," she said, reassuringly. "I just need to ask a few basic questions before we get started. First off, have you fellated a man since your last session here?"

Bev nodded. "Yes, I gave Mr. Peters a blowjob just yesterday afternoon."

"Okay, did he cum in your mouth, and if so, did you swallow?"

"Yes, absolutely. I always do, unless he tells me otherwise." She grasped the tech's arm and looked meaningfully into her eyes. "Have you ever tasted him? He's absolutely delicious."

The tech smiled. "He prefers to do my tits, so I've never gotten a load in my mouth," she admitted, "but I've licked his cum off myself and a few of the other therapists. He really is, isn't he?" Consulting her notes, the tech resumed her questions. "Okay, next question, other than semen, what foods or liquids have you consumed in the past week?"

Bev furrowed her brow. "Huh. You know, it's the weirdest thing, but I can't remember a single thing I've eaten." She looked apologetically at the tech. "Sorry, I know that's not much help."

"No, that's fine," the tech said, ticking a box on her notes. "Okay, last thing, let's do some quick range-of-movement tests to make sure this isn't a motor function issue." Bev nodded. "Stand up please."

Bev hopped down off the table, landing lightly in her high heels with perfect stability. "Okay, first, bend over and put your hands flat on the floor between your feet. Keep your knees straight."

"Sure." Bev assumed the pose as instructed with no apparent difficulty. The tech gave her a cursory inspection, her eyes lingering on Bev's butt.

"Okay, that's fine, now do a split," instructed the tech.

"Right," said Bev, her voice slighly muffled with her head now facing away from me. With her hands still planted flat on the ground, she lifted both feet up, supporting herself by her hands, she spread her legs perfectly outwards until they formed a straight line. The act lifted her short skirt up, and I was treated to a glimpse of her silvery panties as she lowered herself down to seat herself. This motion required inhuman twisting of her arms in order to get her torso upright again, but when she was down, she simply lifted her hands up in a "ta-da" gesture.

"Alright, good," said the tech. "Just sit on the table again, and I think we can get you taken care of."

Without even pushing down with her hands. Bev lifted herself up by merely bringing her legs together, then calmly seated herself on the edge of the table again. "Hold still," said the tech, grasping her head firmly on both sides. She twisted Bev's head suddenly to one side, and a metallic clicking sound could be heard.

"Oh, wow, that feels so much better," Bev's now disembodied head said. "My neck feels completely loose and relaxed now."

"Good," said the tech, handing the bodyless head to the headless body. "Hold this, please." Bev took her head without complaint, and held it passively while the tech began examining the neck assembly in Bev's body.

"All set," came a voice from behind me. I was so transfixed studying Bev's "therapy" that I was startled at the sound. Maya had apparently finished entering the necessary information, and was standing with Pria and Jane waiting for me to join them.

"Now before I can show you around, I have to get changed," Maya said. "The dressing rooms are just over here," she stated, indicating an open area of the large maintenance room. Though there was a small shelf along the wall, there was no sign of any dressing room.

Maya approached the area, miming the action of opening and closing a door as she "entered" what she seemed to believe was a single changing room.

"I don't get it," said Pria, "They don't seem to notice anything that's going on. Are they nappers?"

"Similar," said Jane, "but not entirely." She approached Maya, who was busily stripping out of her pantsuit. Beneath this, I was surprised to see that the patterned pantyhose she wore beneath was cut to resemble stockings, leaving her buttocks and crotch exposed.

"Hey, Maya," Jane said, "The girls in my tour want to know if you're human."

"Are you kidding me?" Maya called, as if shouting over the top of a partitioning wall. "Of course I'm human." She slipped off her blouse, revealing her open bust bra. Placing both the slacks and the blouse on the shelf, she reached back to unhook the bra. "Honestly," she said, "as few ARAs as we have around the office, I'm surprised the question keeps coming up." She placed her bra on the shelf next to her slacks and blouse, then bent down, her back to us, to remove her shoes. "I'm not even sure I've seen an ARA since I started here three years ago," she said. She placed the shoes along with the other articles of clothing, then leaned against the shelf to pull off her pantyhose.

Now fully nude, she mimed taking something off one of the imaginary walls, wrapping it around herself, and making some sort of motion in front of her waist. It took a moment for me to recognize this as the act of putting on an imaginary robe. Once "dressed," she seemed to think for a moment, staring off into space. Then, glancing around the "changing room," she noticed the clothes she had just removed. "Hey Jane?"

"Yes?" Jane called, this time mimicking Maya's exaggerated volume.

"It looks like someone forgot some of their junk in here again." She bundled together the articles of clothing and shoes, then mimed opening the door to exit. "What do you think I should do with it?" She said, showing the handful of clothes to Jane.

"What do you think?" Jane asked.

"Throw it away, probably. Or maybe give it to the lost and found, I suppose," Maya responded.

"I'll take care of it," Jane said, taking the clothing from the naked woman. "I don't want to get in the way of your therapy."

"Oh, thanks!" Turning to Kaitlyn, Pria and myself, Maya said, "Okay, let me show you around the place," before proceeding in the direction of the dozens of worktables throughout the room.

I leaned to whisper into Jane's ear. "Won't she need her clothes back?" I asked.

Jane gave a little laugh. "They were never hers to start with. As company property, she doesn't have any possessions." She waved the bundle. "These are just loaner clothes we dress our ARAs in. They go back to wardrobe when the 'bot is finished with them."

"And she's finished with them?" Kaitlyn asked, a little surprised.

"We've recently upgraded our guest capacity at one of our parks, and we're transferring a few of our HQ units there to fill in until the replacement units arrive from the manufacturer," said Jane. "By Thursday, Maya will be Gwynn, royal concubine in the kingdom of Insert Guest Name Here. This massage is mostly just a diagnostic, but they'll have to dismantle her for shipping."

"Why is that?" I asked, puzzled.

"The human form is versatile for performing a lot of tasks, but it's a pain in the posterior to mail anywhere," Jane said.

We followed Maya as she led us through the room, weaving around the tables to show us various "services" offered by the salon. "Maya," Jane asked, "could you give us an idea of what some of these, um, treatments are?" Jane seemed to be getting a little distracted as we roamed the room.

"Sure," the naked woman said. "It's pretty normal day spa stuff, although they add their special touch to everything," she said, leading us through rows of nude bodies, some in pieces, some in the throes of pleasure. "Over there you can see the beauty mask treatment," she said, indicating a technician peeling down the pretty face of a topless redhead. "After a massage some people like to do a bit of yoga or stretching exercises." She pointed at a table on which lay a completely dismantled blonde, her face frozen as if in the middle of telling a joke. Her body parts were in a disorderly heap, with her naked pelvis leaning against the side of her face.

"There's manicures," Maya said, indicating a tech removing a topless woman's arm. The woman continued making small talk as the limb was disconnected. "And of course, pedicures." She pointed at a table where a fully clothed secretary lay, staring blankly at the ceiling. A tech had removed her left shoe, slicing into the sole of her foot, and was probing an exposed circuit with an electronic tool. The secretary's toes twitched randomly, but she didn't otherwise react.

"They're great at neckrubs," continued Maya. She had brought us back around to Bev's table. The technician had extracted spools of thread-like wiring and polished mechanical components, and was currently probing around in Bev's open neck with a screwdriver. Bev's eyes were closed in bliss.

A moan came from Bev's head. "Oh, yeah, that feels great..."

The technician continued studying the exposed connection point, frowning. "This is worse than I thought," she said. "You're going to have to stay for an extended session."

"Mmm... fine by me," the head purred.

"But I've gotta say, their specialty is their back massage technique," Maya continued. She pointed out a nude woman lying face down, with her knees drawn up so her butt was up in the air. The tech working on her was retrieving a tool from a nearby tray. Placing one hand at the small of the naked girl's back, the technician shoved the probe into the girl's wet folds, and I stifled a gasp. I held my breath for a moment, and waited, expecting the technician to move the thick tool in and out in a steady, pumping rhythm, thrusting harder and faster with every stroke... but she just held it there.

There was a beeping sound from the woman she was working on, and a large section of her back suddenly popped open as a single, large panel. The technician removed it, setting it aside. "You can put your ass down now," she told the robot girl, who unquestioningly complied.

"She doesn't see any of this?" I asked Jane, quietly.

"Hmm?" Jane said, distractedly. She had one arm folded just under her breasts, and was tracing the other hand around her sternum as she gazed around the room. "Sorry, I... um... what did you ask again?"

"Maya can't see this place as anything other than a beauty salon, right?" I asked. "So what would happen if we pointed something clearly robotic out to her?"

A smile slowly spread across Jane's face, and just kept getting wider and wider. "I don't know," she said, a manic grin on her lips, "Let's find out." She looked around to find a suitable example. Spotting one, she called out to our erzats guide. "Hey, Maya, what's this thing for?"

Maya looked at the nude bottom-half of some dismantled ARA that Jane had indicated. The top half was nowhere to be seen, or if it was, had already been connected to another pelvis and pair of legs. "Oh, that," she said, a slightly embarrassed smile on her features. "Well, it's just... one of the treatments they offer here is... topiary. Trimming the hedges, you might say." She pointed at the smooth, hairless area between the disembodied legs. "See?" When we didn't respond to what she thought plainly evident, she continued. "A lot of women are a little embarrassed to raise the subject themselves without a little nudge." She rubbed the half-woman's pussy tenderly, as if feeling the texture of delicate fabric. "This demonstration mannequin raises the subject for them so that they don't have to."

"Have you had a bit of hedge trimming done, Maya?" Jane asked, smirking. Maya's neatly trimmed landing strip had been plainly visible ever since she'd taken off her pantsuit, and even now, I could clearly see the texture of her delicate folds. Part of me wondered what she felt like down there. Another part wondered what she tasted like.

Maya looked back at Jane, an expression of mock scandal on her face. "Oh my!" She said theatrically, then, more coquettishly, "Wouldn't you like to know." She looked back and forth, as if checking to see if anyone was looking. "Maybe I can show you some time, if we find somewhere nice and private." She found an unoccupied table nearby, and climbed onto it to lie down.

Jane still had an expression of mischief on her face. "Maya," she said, playfully, "spread your legs as much as you can and grab your ankles."

"Sure, whatever you say, Jane." Maya settled herself, completely straightening her entire body and pointing her toes before spreading her legs. Just as with Bev, she was able effortlessly spread them straight outward, and even above her waistline. She grasped her ankles, then turned to Pria. "You're going to just love it here," she said. "It's so comfortable and relaxing."

"Why did you do that Maya?" I asked.

Maya looked at me, confused. "Recommend this place? Because it's awesome."

Jane stifled a laugh. "I think she meant why did you spread your legs like that, right Althea?"

I nodded. Maya still looked confused. "You asked me to, Jane. It's a pretty normal thing to do in here. They do range-of-,motion tests all the time." She smiled. "Besides, it's not like you can see anything. I'm only here for a backrub. It's not like I had to strip down completely."

Now I was confused. "Maya, what do you think you're wearing?"

She laughed. "You mean apart from this robe and the clothes I had on when I got here?" She narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to find out what kind of underwear I'm wearing?" There was no hint of offense in her voice, although there was a flirtatious edge to the statement.

It was Pria's turn to be confused. "Then what did you go into the changing area for?"

"To hang up my jacket and get a robe, obviously."

"Maya, lick your fingers and masturbate, now," Jane cut in. She sounded oddly urgent.

"Of course," Maya said. She released her ankles, but kept her legs in the same position as she first licked her fingers of each hand, one hand at a time, then brought both hands down to her obviously wet pussy. I found myself once again entranced by the casually explicit display of female sexuality, catching myself tightly gripping the hem of my skirt.

Kaitlyn seemed fascinated as well. "Maya, why did you start masturbating like that?"

"It's part ah-haaaa-of the normal pre-hmmm-massage preparationsssssss oooo..." she breathed, her soaking fingers rhythmically stroking and penetrating her pussy. The juices were clearly starting to run down onto the table. "I'm jussssst glah-glah-glad that Jane reminded me before... before... before..." Her tempo increased, as did her breathing, and she soon came to a loud, enthusiastic climax. I looked around the room, but no one seemed to have noticed.

Maya's arms went slack, but her legs remained spread wide, as if locked in that position. "Thanks for reminding me before the massage therapist got here, Jane," she said.

Jane's expression was a mixture of anticipation and fulfillment. She was plainly enjoying this. "Oh, don't mention it," she cooed. I realized now why she had ordered Maya to start playing with herself: It was just because she could.

A technician soon arrived. "Okay Maya, it looks like you're here for a backrub, right?" She started rummaging through the drawers built into the table. "If you'll just bring your legs back together and flip over with your ass in the air, we can get started."

Maya obediently closed her legs and flipped, sticking her backside up with her pussy still plainly on display. Obediently, I thought to myself. Compliantly. Without objection. Without reservation or hesitation. I thought back to earlier in the tour, to the start of our orientation, to the things we'd seen, and Jane's repeated reassurances about voicing any concerns. A conclusion began to form in my mind, but a loud beep startled me out of my thoughts. What had I been thinking of?

In front of me, the technician was now extracting the probe tool she had inserted into Maya's twat, and was now removing the nude girl's back plate. I gazed, transfixed, into the open cavity of Maya's back, and at the complex electronics lining the inside of the panel itself. "Mmmnnnn..." Maya moaned, startling me. "Oh, yeah, that feels just great. Just a bit lower, yyyyyeaaahh."

I looked at Jane, her face flushed and her attention completely fixated on Maya's predicament. Her hands fussed over her clothes, like she wanted to do something, but kept remembering that she couldn't - or shouldn't. She breathed deeply, then spoke to the technician. "Does she need to be online for this part?"

The technician seemed to notice Jane for the first time, but shook her head. "No, we can complete our tests with her deactivated, if that's what you want us to do."

Jane pulled a long deactivation tool from her jacket pocket. "I'll take care of it," she said. "So, Maya, how's the single life treating you?"

Maya sighed, clearly still enjoying her "massage," but somewhat forlorn over the question. "Oh gods, Jane, if I could get a date, I probably wouldn't be coming here for massages nearly so often. I'd have other ways of feeling good." She blew out a long breath. "You don't know how lucky you are, being married. The dating scene is tough these days."

Jane moved Maya's hair off of her ear, gently caressing the curve of the earlobe. "You know, if you want, you could join Kirk and me for dinner or... something... tonight."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose. You two barely get to spend any time together at home, what with the baby and everything." She seemed to consider. "Still it would be nice to have a little bit of a social life for a change."

"Don't worry about the baby," Jane insisted, "Monica's quite capable of looking after him for a few hours. We can unwind for a while, relax. I don't think you've ever really spent time with Kirk, have you?" She toyed with the tool, stroking Maya's head.

"I've bumped into him a few times," Maya said, "But never any real socialization. He has a nice cock, though. Are you sure it would be alright to come over?"

"I insist," nodded Jane. "We'll have a great time."

"Well, in that case, how can I refuse? I'll be thehhhrrrrrrwwwwww..." Maya's voice suddenly fell to a low bass tone as Jane jammed the tool into her ear.

Turning to the technician, she said, "Make sure she's programmed to show up at the mansion at 7pm promptly, and have her wear an evening gown over... You know, just ask Deb to surprise me with one of my favorite costumes under the dress. Oh, and platform heels." Jane closed her eyes as her entire boddy writhed. "We'll give Maya a nice little going away party."

Returning her attention to her tour group, she said, "Let's get back out into the entry area before I completely lose my head."

Pria, Kaitlyn and myself all exchanged glances, but followed Jane out into the outer Salon area.

"Okay," Jane said, apparently summing great willpower, "that was the third programming type I wanted to demonstrate for you. Sleepers." She gestured back at the "Staff Therapy" sign. "Everybody currently in that workshop is actually a robot, and none of them know it. The technicians each think that only their current client is a robot, and that all the other women around them are normal human clients. Once they finish up with a client, they retroactively remember her as a human."

"Apart from not confessing that they're robots, how does that differ from Napper behavior?" I asked.

"There's not really a clearly defined line," Jane conceded, "and there's varying degrees of 'sleeper' behavior." She stretched out her arms as if describing the size of a huge fish. "They can be merely dozing," she said, wiggling one hand to indicate the low end of the range, "which is pretty close to being a napper, but they don't edit out evidence on the fly. We call that process 'perceptual filtering.' A dozing sleeper will remember that she's a robot once it's been revealed to her. A napper will forget it pretty soon after it's no longer mentioned." She wiggled her other hand. "Or they can be basically comatose, incapable of perceiving anything which might indicate that they are a robot - or in extreme cases, incapable of perceiving anyone as a robot." She brought her hands together. "And they can be anything in between."

Anything in between. I considered the implications here as we continued out of the recreation area towards one of the hardware devlopment labs. Every glamour model office worker we passed wore a warm, welcoming expression towards our tour group. Would human women really be so accepting of outsiders? Could a workforce of this size have such consistently beautiful employees without raising a few red flags? Even Jane seemed unusually attractive for... what was her job, anyway? She'd mentioned that she was the boss's wife. Surely the CEO of a company like this would have a top-of-the-line ARA for a wife. And all of them were constantly surrounded by direct examples of robots not knowing they're robots.

Pria was still hung up on the technical details of Maya's programming, and how it differed from Jerri's. Didn't she get it? Jerri was a simple machine, with a machine's attitude: Why didn't she say she was a robot initially? Because we didn't ask. Why didn't Maya say so? Because she didn't know. Back and forth the conversation bounced, with Pria seemingly incapable of grasping this simple concept. How could she be qualified for Program Development? She was unable to even perceive the basic facts. Unable to perceive... like they were filtered out.

And throughout this tour, we had encountered nudity and sex beyond anything I had ever seen. I had started this tour thinking I would be indifferent to the environment, but found it strangely fascinating... and arousing in ways I'd never considered before. But I was fairly in-touch with my sexuality, and I knew we hadn't even come close to my limits. It was conceivable that a batch of new recruits might have one such person, but for Kaitlyn and Pria's responses to also be so accepting of the sex was... unlikely.

We eventually reached the Development Lab, and Jane showed us inside. Unlike so many of the other areas of the company, the lab was relatively small and spartan. Very few technicians were present, and there was no sign of any kind of ARA repair or disassembly. Instead, the technicians seemed to performing research and engineering hardware designs, yet none of the visible schematics appeared to depict robot components. Two technicians, a male and a female, noticed our arrival and approached us.

"Morning Jane, what brings you down here?" Asked the woman.

"Staff orientation," said Jane, simply. "We don't want employees getting lost, and it's useful for them to be familiar with the functions of each area. It helps them remember."

The woman nodded. "Okay, sure, that makes sense." She turned to address us. "I'm Freida, this is my assistant Bryce."

Bryce waved awkwardly. "Hello."

"So, welcome to hardware development. I'm not sure if Jane told you anything about what we do down here..." She trailed off with an upwards inflection, looking questioningly at Jane. Jane shook her head. "Okay, so, it's pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. This is where we develop all our proprietary hardware." She gestured around the room. "Self explanatory, really. Let's see, we've got circuit design there, fabrication there, device simulation there," she said, pointing to each area in turn. Spinning to face a stand-alone room along one wall, she indicated the adjacent area, which was covered in scorch marks. "...aaand over there next to the archives is where we do prototype testing." She turned to her assistant. "Can't really think of anything else. Bryce, d'you have anything to add?"

Bryce seemed to concentrate intently. "Current showcase?" He said, hesitantly.

Freida's expression grew excited. "Right, duh," she said, smacking her forehead. "No use making these toys if we can't show'em off from time to time." She led us to a large metal panel set into the wall, and waved her wrist in front of one corner of the panel. There was the echoing thud of a large metal bolt unlocking, and the panel slid up to reveal an assortment of gadgetry. Freida indicated items in turn, first pointing to a dildo-like probe of some kind.

"That one's probably one of oldest items. It uses contact-range signals to issue hardware control commands from the... um... inside." She made a kind of 'you know' gesture with her hand. "Too many manufacturers had too many different kinds of access controls, and most of them were too easy to trigger accidentally." She laughed. "Back when I used to run my own ARA repair shop, I had a customer come in wanting me to help fix her 'roommate.' Halfway into the conversation, she leans in the chair at just the wrong angle, twists her dress to tight under her left arm, and pops her own faceplate off!"

We all laughed at the story. "Poor thing didn't even know she was a 'bot herself. Turned out, they were both shillbots, but their owning corporation had gone tits-up, and each of them thought they owned the other." She pointed back at the device. "Anywho, this little beauty allowed manufacturers to place hard-coded triggers in, well, discrete locations, without any risk of accidental activation." She put a finger to her lips. "Can't recall what the actual tech name was for it. Bryce?"

"Uh..." Bryce looked like he had just been shoved into the spotlight. "Discrete Point of Contact Activation Transmitter."

Freida snapped her fingers. "That's right. We nicknamed it the DEEP-CAT, since you jam it so far into the girlbot's pussy. Marketing decided to just call it a Magic Wand. Then it became an industry standard, got incorporated into the V/A Triggerpoint 2.0 specification, and we make a fortune off of licensing fees to this day." She looked at Jane. "That reminds me, can I have a raise?"

Without missing a beat, Jane replied, "Ask me after you earn us another billion dollars."

"What's your schedule look like next Friday, then?" Jane opened her mouth to answer, but Freida cut in. "Kidding! It'll probably take until next month."

Pria was mulling over the Magic Wand device. "Why couldn't it just be a larger range remote?" She had a puzzled look on her face. "Couldn't you do the same thing with a traditional remote?"

Freida nodded. "Absolutely, and a lot of companies tried exactly that approach for a while. It didn't catch on though, but I never really knew the reasons."

"I know," said Kaitlyn. We all looked at her. She looked back and forth among us. "Well, I know one definite reason, and I have a suspicion on another. The first was a matter of security. Traditional remotes broadcast signals which can be received and analyzed by any third party. We've got encryption to handle that kind of thing now, but in the earlier days, people were hijacking another person's ARA by pirating the remote signal." She nodded at the Magic Wand. "This ensures that the person has to have intimate access to the 'bot."

"So what's the other reason?" Asked Pria.

Kaitlyn smirked. "The obvious. Sex is, by a wide margin, the number one function ARAs get used for, even in an office environment. I think owners enjoy using that thing."

Jane nodded. "Makes sense to me. What else have you got, Freida?"

"Oh, you know. Just things that defined ARA design for the past 10 years, no biggie." She turned back to the shelf, indicating an ARA head, stripped of its skin. Next to it was a roughly circular piece of equipment. After a few seconds, I recognized it as the neck assembly which would normally be mounted onto the torso unit. "We don't get any licensing revenue for this one now, since the patent expired, but this was sort of a hand-in-hand solution to the secondary problem of software-controlled hardware triggers: How do you open up a flesh-covered, deactivated robot without cutting its flesh? The wand only works if the unit's powered up, so..."

"Pressure-mounted release mechanisms on the cheekbones," I observed. "That's why the cranial release isn't software controlled, isn't it?"

"Perzackly." We stared blankly at Freida. "It means yes, okay?" She said. There was an awkward pause, then she shouted, "Moving on!"

The next device she indicated was a nondescript plastic box, its only features being a data port connector on one side, and a large button on the front. "This is our latest toy, and we're proud of it. We call it an Area Burst Programmer. Works off of some designs Kirk Peters came up with in college, but a bit more versatile. We load this thing with a program, then set it off around a group of compatible robots. Transfers a program directly into their active runtime without the need for a reboot." She looked at the device with a hint of regret. "Pity the components are too expensive to mass produce. I suppose we could scale back on the quality from the prototype, but then the thing would only be good for a handful of bursts before it went kaflooey."

"You'd have to ask Mr. Peters for approval on that," Jane pointed out.

"True," said Freida, "I'll have to ask him when I can catch him."

"You could ask him now," Bryce said, nodding at the entrance. "Looks like it's inspection time."

I turned to see a middle-aged man with thinning red hair walk in. He wore a casual suit, and had an unassuming quality. He looked around the room as if lost, then noticed Jane and came over to join us.

"Orientation day, I take it? How are our new recruits working out?" He asked amiably.

"Horrible," said Jane, a playful smile on her face. "I think you should fire everyone so that we can play by ourselves."

"Mrs. Peters, need I remind you of ScenariCorp's office conduct policies?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

Jane wiped the smile from her face with some difficulty. "Sorry, Mr. Peters," she said, demurely. As he turned to address Freida, another smile appeared on her face, with a different kind of playfulness to it.

"So," he said to Freida, "How's Bryce working out for you? Keeping his systems up to speed?"

"No breakdowns so far," she said. "Bryce, have you noticed any irregularities in your programming since the last update?"

"No," said Bryce. "The modifications you made to my personality have been very helpful." He looked embarrassed to discuss the matter in front of others.

"He's a robot?" Kaitlyn said.

"You're surprised?" I asked. Of course. She may have overlooked the patterns I had observed.

Mr. Peters nodded, understandingly. "Freida, do you mind if I explain?" He asked.

"It's not a secret," she replied. "It would be tough to keep a secret like that if I ever really needed him."

"Bryce is a medical assistance droid," said Mr. Peters. "Freida has a pretty serious medical condition-"

"Freida interrupted him. "Oh, pshaw. You make it sound like it's a big deal to hork up blood every ten minutes," she said, coughing lightly at the end of the sentence. "Don't worry, it's not contagious or anything."

"I wasn't worried," I said, still somewhat surprised by this revelation. Or was it just a sham?

"Anyway," Mr. Peters continued, "her condition isn't normally life-threatening, but Freida's a bit of a workaholic..."

"*Lazybones!*" Freida coughed. This time it didn't sound like a genuine cough.

"And," Mr. Peters continued, ignoring her, "has a tendency to ignore her symptoms and forget to take her medication. After her last trip to the emergency room, we realized she would need someone to look after her full-time. Bryce's software makes up our launch lineup for a new line of medical professional packages." He patted Bryce on the shoulder. "Currently, he's only capable of basic CPR and first aid, but we're working on some packages to get him up to performing minor surgery."

"Why a male unit?" I asked, now intrigued.

"Because I think female units look silly with a penis," Freida replied "Even if that kind of thing does have it's own market. But Bryce here's all man. He may be a little timid in public, but when it's just us..." She considered for a moment. "Actually, he's still pretty timid, but forcefully timid. I still have to tell him what to do all the time."

"That's to make sure you don't fuck yourself into a coma, Freida dear," Jane said.

"Voice commands every five minutes!" Freida said, exasperated. "Can't I at least get him to do me slowly for half an hour without having to say, 'yes I want to continue' every 300 seconds on the dot?"

"Get approval from Doctor Davison, and I'll let him screw you until you pass out," Jane said. "Until then, be thankful he's not an egg timer."

Clearly embarrassed, Mr. Peters interrupted. "So, how about that Burst Transmitter?"

"Thank you!' Said Bryce, relieved.

As Freida began describing some of the tests already performed with the device, I briefly wondered how he could be embarrassed, but then Jane leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Because it turns her on," she said. "That's why she made it so easy to get him to flustered like that."

"How did you...?" I asked.

"It was written all over your face," she replied. "I could tell what question you had on your mind. To anyone who knew what to look for, it would have been obvious."

Of course it would, I thought.

"Fascinating stuff," Mr. Peters was saying as Freida once again finished describing the Transmitter device.

"This prototype, is it safe to use?" Jane asked.

"Sure," Freida confirmed, "but take it in the archive if you want to try it out. Even with its limited range, it would affect every bot in this lab."

"Which test package does it currently install?" Jane said, retrieving the device from the display.

Freida shrugged. "If no one's fiddled with its settings, it should still be the standard conversational trigger." She indicated a computer terminal on one of the nearby counters. "You can change the settings using that station." She furrowed her brow as if trying to remember something. "Oh, yeah," she said, her face becoming anxious, "You should probably ignore all the files in the BryGuy folder... they, ah... wouldn't interest you."

Bryce caught the implication. "What are you planning on installing in me, Freida?"

She winked at him. "Who says I haven't already done it?" She asked. Turning back to our group, she said, "I'd better find a nice place for him to blow off some steam before he blows a gasket instead." She turned to Bryce again. "Let's take five, Bryce."

They walked off, leaving Jane examining the transmitter. "Think it works like the one you made in college?" She asked Mr. Peters.

"Only one way to be sure," he said.

Considering his statement, she looked at the archive, then back at us. "Okay, ladies, head in that room over there, but don't touch anything inside. I'll be right behind you," she told us.

Shrugging, Kaitlyn led the way, with Pria and me in tow. As we reached the bunker-like room, Pria asked, "What do you think this part's all about?"

Kaitlyn paused before opening the door. "Well, that thing installs a program onto an ARA. Stands to reason, there's an ARA in here she wants to try it out on."

"I'm not so sure," I said.

Kaitlyn pulled the door open, and we followed her inside. The archive was a bizarre collection of mostly unidentifiable junk. There were large metal shelving units from floor to ceiling, loaded down with gadgetry, none of which looked remotely familiar to me. Other objects too large to fit on the shelves dotted the room. Something that looked like a speeder engine was wired up to what appeared to be a giant, metallic doughnut off to one side of the door we had come in through.

We wandered through the dimly-lit aisles trying to work out the purpose of at least one object in the room. Nothing had any recognizable function. We saw doo-dads, gizmos, whaddyacallems, and whatsits, but we didn't see a single archived ARA - Not that I expected to. After we had a few minutes to explore, we heard the entry door open and close, and Jane's voice called out. "Helloooo? Anybody home? Seriously ladies, if you've been playing with the neural map imager, this day is not going to end well."

"Neural what?" Kaitlyn asked, poking her head around the corner of one of the shelves at the end of the aisle I was in.

"Helmet-looking thing, lots of switches, big button that says 'begin transfer' on it?" Jane called.

"Haven't seen it," Pria confirmed, "but keep talking, I think we're lost."

We followed the sound of Jane's voice back to the entry area. "I don't think it would reflect well on any of us if I managed to mislay you three in here," she said. "We'd need to send in rescue parties with food and water to help revive you after you starved."

"Oh, I don't know about that," I said as I emerged from the maze of shelves. "Over here, you two!" I waved Pria and Kaitlyn down the aisle.

"Okay, the reason I've called you in here is that I've got a test for you." She looked at each of us in turn. "I've shown you some of the different ways ARAs can be programmed to think and behave. Now I want you to put that knowledge to use." She held up the burst transmitter. "In a few minutes, I'm going to turn this on, and it'll transmit its little program - one I picked just for this little game. Before that point though, I want to apply what you've learned to each other."

Pria looked surprised. "Each other? You mean one of them is a robot?" She said, pointing at Kaitlyn and me.

"I mean our little tour group still isn't 100% human. Talk it out amongst yourselves, then make your own decision," Jane told us. "Whatever two or more of you say about any particular person will be the group's decision. I'll reveal the truth about anyone you decide is a robot, then we'll set off this," she shook the Area Burst Transmitter. "To see how accurate your human guesses were."

She stood a fair distance from our group to allow us some privacy while discussing things. "I can't believe it," said Pria. "Another mindfuck? What is this place, Machiavelli's playhouse?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Kaitlyn. "I think I have enough of a basis to make my guess already."

"Me too," I added.

"Well if you ask me, all three of us are human," said Pria. "Remember how she said 'our group' wasn't 100% human? Well, she counts as being in our group. The whole sleepers and nappers thing was just to get us to think outside the box." She looked over a Jane, who was adjusting the speeder motor-looking thing attached to the giant doughnut. "There's something downright unnatural about her."

Kaitlyn considered this. "That's a fair point, but it may not be allowed by her rules. Let me just check with her to see if she considers that a valid guess." She went off to consult with Jane.

"Oh, for pity's sake," said Pria. "It's so obvious," she told me. "Did you see how turned on she was getting in the maintenance spa? She obviously knows she's a robot, and is turned on by other robots." We watched as Kaitlyn spoke quietly with Jane, pointing back over her shoulder at us as she spoke. Jane simply smiled cheerfully and nodded before saying something, then continued working on the speeder engine thing.

"Just like a robot," she said. "So accepting of the idea."

"For what it's worth," I said, "I agree about Jane. I think she's a robot, too."

Kaitlyn rejoined our group. "She says we can name anyone we want as a robot, but she doesn't want to color our discussion by participating." She spread her hands. "If we decide as a group that Jane's a robot, she'll tell us whether we're right."

"Well, I don't need any further discussion to reach my decision. I'm voting for RoboJane. The rest of us are human," Pria insisted.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "Okay, I guess that means Althea and I will have to discuss without your input."

"Actually," I said, "I don't need to discuss either. I know who I'm voting for."

Kaitlyn's eyebrows jumped. "Really? Tell me you're not agreeing with her," she said, indicating Pria. Pria huffed.

"I'm not agreeing with her," I said, more immediately than I'd intended. "Not completely. I think she's right about Jane, but..."

"You think there's more than one robot?" Kaitlyn said, fascinated.

I nodded. "I think there are four. We're all robots."

Pria and Kaitlyn both looked at me in shock. "You're voting for yourself?" Pria asked.

"I see," said Kaitlyn, regaining her composure - more quickly than any human would. "Are you an aware model, like Jerri?"

I shook my head. "No, and I'm not a napper either," I said. Kaitlyn's expression became confused, and I could tell Pria was completely lost. "I came here today with memories of a family, a home hundreds of miles away, and a long, difficult job hunt out of college. But after all the things I've seen today, it's obvious that those memories could be easily programmed into me." Kaitlyn's confusion seemed to turn into a detached objectivity.

"So you're having an existential crisis, is that it?" She asked, a note of concern in her voice.

"No, and that's what really makes me believe I'm a robot. When I first considered the idea that I might be, that all my thoughts were artificial simulations, that my entire life was a recently-generated fiction, and that I would be compelled to submit to a human's will... I didn't mind." Kaitlyn's eyes went wide. She seemed to consider this in more detail.

"I enjoyed the thought," I continued. "I enjoyed the idea of being so utterly submissive, and I enjoyed seeing the other submissive machines all around us." Kaitlyn's brow furrowed, and she looked off into the distance. Was she starting to question her own false memories? Or was she just as comatose as Pria? "And I could tell that you two were also getting turned on by what we saw." Pria looked embarrassed, but didn't deny it. Kaitlyn merely nodded slowly. "When Jane warned us about the sexual nature of the job, I was thinking 'okay, I can put up with a little sex, but I may need to transfer to another division after a while.' I've never been bi, or at least, my memories don't include any bisexual experiences, but after what I've seen today, I know, with absolute certainty, that I would happily have sex with a man or a woman on command."

There was a brief silence, then Pria asked, "So, who do you think is human?"

"Mr. Peters for sure," I said. "Maybe Freida, but her sickness thing was just something we were told. We don't really know about her." I looked her squarely in the eyes. "I think we're all the property of Kirk Peters, for him to do with as he pleases. And I'm fine with that."

"You're crazy," said Pria, quietly.

"She has a point," Kaitlyn said, looking off distantly. "Can you really say that you weren't turned on by all the things we've seen today?" Pria bit her lip and looked uncomfortable, but made no effort to deny it. "And if Mr. Peters told you to strip nude so he could fuck you from behind, would you do it?" Pria stared off into the distance, then slowly, almost imperceptibly nodded.

"But... I'm not a robot," Pria said, more to herself than either of us. She didn't sound upset - more like she wasn't allowed to believe otherwise.

Kaitlyn nodded sympathetically. "Well, if it's any comfort, I disagree with Althea. I don't think we're all robots."

Pria blinked, and her mood returned to her normal self. "Of course we're not." She laughed dismissively. "What would be the point of orientation if we were? They could just..." she trailed off. "They could download the information into us..." she said, quietly. "Or make us remember anything..."

"If we were all robots, that's probably what they'd do," Kaitlyn said. "But I don't think we're all robots, Pria. I think you're a robot." She called to Jane as Pria gaped at her in shock. "Jane, I think we've reached our conclusions."

Jane finished up with the device she had been working on, and approached us, dusting her hands. "Okay, let's hear your theories everyone. Kaitlyn, you're up first."

"I think Pria is a robot," Kaitlyn said. "Her behavior is consistent with the accepting, submissive mentality of a robot, and her utter refusal to accept the idea of being a robot, despite enjoying the implications, is typical of a deep-sleep programming type."

Jane nodded. "Are you sure you've seen enough of her behavior to base your conclusions on that? She seems pretty argumentative to me."

"Her personality type is strong-willed and opinionated," Kaitlyn conceded, "but it runs contrary to her actual behavior. For such an opinionated person, she's uncharacteristically accepting of circumstances."

"I see. That's one vote for Pria." She turned from Kaitlyn to Pria. "Care to respond?

Pria fumed for a moment, then responded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I would." She looked Jane square in the eyes. "You're the robot."

Jane's eyes went wide, and she drew in a long breath, putting one hand to her chest. "I... ooookay," she said, an amused look on her face. "Why do you say that?"

"You're noticeably turned on by being submissive and obedient, utterly blasé to clearly inappropriate office behavior, and overly accommodating of human requests and demands." She folded her arms. "Besides, Mr. Peters is the multimillionaire-owner of a company that specializes in providing fetish roleplay sexual software for fembots. It's only natural that his wife would be a top of the line robot running all his favorite programs."

Jane had been smiling and toying with her hair as Pria explained this, apparently in a daydream. When Pria finished, Jane looked at her with a playful expression. "I like the way you think," she said. "So, thats one vote for Pria and one vote for me. Althea, your thoughts?"

"I believe there are, at most, two humans in this building, and neither of them are in this room," I said simply. "None of us behaved as a normal human would have. We're all submissive, passive, accepting, and easily aroused when dominated. We've been shown countless examples of robots with false memories and altered perceptions, but apparently it didn't occur to either of them to question their own memories and nature. Even when I explained this to Pria, she's incapable of considering the possibility." Jane was fascinated as I continued. "I don't know what you know or believe, but we're all sleepers at varying levels."

"Wow. That's definitely a new one," Jane said, surprised. "Well, Pria, that means you and I are the only ones who get revealed before we set off the transmitter."

"How are you going to do that, anyway?" Asked Kaitlyn. "I mean, you could take apart an ARA, or remove her face layer, but how do you prove someone's a human?"

Jane stood to one side and gestured at the giant doughnut. "Ladies, may I present the FEGRA, or Focused EMP Gaussian Ring Array. When powered up, it creates a tightly focused electromagnetic pulse within the ring, capable of temporarily disabling complex electronics. Harmless to humans, freezes up ARAs without causing any permanent damage."

She approached the archive entrance and opened the large door, poking her head out. "Mr. Peters?"

"Yes Mrs. Peters?" came his voice from outside.

"You told me to tell you when I was about to demonstrate the FEGRA. I'm just obeying that order: The demo is about to begin, Mr. Peters," she said, her tone politely professional.

"I see," came the reply. "Would you like for me to bring you a test subject, Mrs. Peters?"

"Yes, Mr. Peters, I'd like that."

"Very well, I'll find a suitable test subject. Do nothing until I enter the room, understood, Mrs. Peters?"

"Perfectly, Mr. Peters. I'm happy to comply." Closing the door, Jane took position next to the door, then stood at a relaxed attention, her hands lightly clasped in front of her. She didn't move.

Kaitlyn had a surprised expression on her face. "Maybe I should have voted for her, too..." she said.

"Told you so," Pria replied.

The four of us waited, Jane standing stock still and unresponsive, and the rest of us idling with no direct commands. I found myself wondering what kinds of system idle settings I had. Would I shut down after a certain period of inactivity? Would conversation with Kaitlyn and Pria count as activity, or would I still timeout since they were ARAs too?

Would I even be able to perceive if I did shutdown or go into some kind of power-save mode? Despite realizing my true nature, I had no knowledge or awareness of my programming, manufacturer, or system specifications. There was no telling what kind of perceptual filters I had. That beep I had heard in the Staff Therapy room had seemed to come from Maya as the technician opened her, but maybe that had been my own system cutting off an unacceptable thought process.

Mr. Peters arrived shortly, pulling me out of my thoughts. He was accompanied by a lab tech with vaguely Asian features.

As soon as he entered Jane's field of vision, she sprang into life again. "Hello, Mr. Peters. I must inform you that two interviews have been added to your personal schedule," she said, apparently automatically reporting scheduling changes in realtime. Looking at the technician, she added, "I like your choice of test subject."

Mr. Peters raised an eyebrow. "Yes..." he said, hesitantly. "Miss Habara will be assisting you in your demonstration. Suki, you don't have any objections, do you?"

"No, of course not, Mr. Peters," replied the technician. Was that a flirtatious note in her voice?

Jane smiled at Suki. "I'm just showing them the FEGRA. Would you mind reaching through it to show how harmless it is?"

"Sure, no problem," Suki said, nodding. She approached the doughnut. "It's perfectly safe, and humans wouldn't even feel it, see?" She stuck her hand through the ring, without apparent effect. "Didn't feel a thing. Organic matter is unaffected, and can still move freely," she continued pulling her hand out and holding it up for us to see. It remained motionless. An annoyed expression came over her face. "Or it would if it weren't for this lousy timing." She turned to Jane with an apologetic look on her face . "Sorry Jane, I've got one hell of a cramp in my hand."

"Does it hurt?" Jane asked, concerned.

"No," Suki said, "but I probably won't be able to move it until I get a massage down at Staff Therapy."

Jane nodded. "Sorry to hear that. Oh, before you go, could you check behind the ring for something? I dropped my pen back there and just can't reach it."

Suki laughed pleasantly. "That's alright, it happens all the time. It's tough to get behind it. You've basically got to lean your whole body through the ring."

Jane looked imploringly at Suki. "Would you show me?"

"Of course," Suki said, nodding.

As she was about to put her head through the ring, Mr. Peters cleared his throat. "Suki, are you sure this thing won't do any permanent damage to an ARA? No lost data, hardware failure, profile corruption, or anything else?"

Suki laughed. "No, nothing like that. It just freezes them. A quick run through a demagnetizer, and they're good as new, not a single bit of data lost, corrupted, or overwritten," she said, as she began to reach through the ring with her other arm. "They don't even experience any downtime." She looked confused as her now motionless arm was unable to manoeuvre further. "Besides," she continued, repositioning herself with her head nearly inside the ring, "since I'm human, it wouldn't do anything to me even if it kzrgblffffffff..." Her voice became a blast of static, then cut off entirely as her head entered the ring. Her body ceased moving entirely, no longer receiving instructions from the head's processor.

"And there you have it, ladies," Jane said in a presenter's voice, "One electromagnetically disabled fembot, ready for transport."

"Just so long as she's not permanently broken, Mrs. Peters," Mr. Peters commented.

"Would you like me to schedule an interview for her later today?" Jane asked. "You could... probe her to see if she still has all her faculties."

"Yes, Mrs. Peters, I believe that would be prudent," he replied. "I want you to be present at the interview as well. These things need to be monitored, after all."

Jane smile subserviently. "As you request, Mr. Peters." She approached Suki's inert form, and pushed her away from the ring, allowing the disabled tech to fall motionless onto her butt, then slowly rolling her onto her back, her arms still reaching out in front of her. The expression on her face was oddly asymmetrical, her eyes aimed in completely different directions. Jane dragged the body away from the ring, then forced Suki's arms down along her side.

"Mr Peters," she began, "it may interest you to know that this training group has concluded that I am a robot." Mr. Peters looked surprised, but didn't say anything. "Obviously, this is a ridiculous claim, so there is no need for me to demonstrate my-"

"Put your arm through the ring, Jane," Mr. Peters interrupted.

"Yes sir," Jane replied, smiling. Her initial resistance to testing herself apparently forgotten, she reached through the ring up to her shoulder, then pulled back and stood upright, her arm still locked straight up in the air. "As you can see, I am completely unaffected by the..." she trailed off, noticing her arm. "That's funny," she said, "I'm not a robot. I should be able to move my arm. But the ring only has an effect on robots. But I'm not a robot..." her voice was puzzled, but unconcerned, as though this were merely something she had never noticed before.

She turned to Mr. Peters. "Master... No, that's not right. Kirk? Mr. Peters? You're my owner-husband, you know me better than anyone." She faced a random point on the wall, a blank expression on her face. "I am Jane Peters. I am the property of Kirk Peters. I love my master so much. This unit is programmed to believe..." she broke into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry, dear, I just can't keep that up for very long with other people watching."

Kirk's stern expression had broken into an adoring smile. "It's alright," he said, "you're going to practice some more this evening."

"Mmm, that sounds fun," she said. She brought down her arm and wiggled her fingers at Pria, Kaitlyn and myself. "Sorry, folks, I'm human. Pria, you're up next."

Jane was human? Could it be? There could be a hidden operator controlling the EMP ring, but her behavior wasn't what I would have expected, even so. It didn't seem like an ARA's reaction.

As I reconsidered my theories, Pria approached the ring, an ambivalent look on her face. "I... I'm sorry I misjudged you."

Jane shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. I'm not offended." She smiled. "Sometimes I like to pretend that I really am a robot," she confessed. "The complete submission, the thrill of someone else taking all your responsibility away, to just be a device whose only function is to obey..."

Mr. Peters cleared his throat again. "Time and a place, Mrs. Peters."

Remembering where she was, Jane snapped back to attention. "Right," she said, "Pria, put your hand through the hole."

Pria studied the device for a few seconds, then slowly reached through the hole with her right hand. Pulling it back out, she held it in front of her face. "I can't move my hand," she said. "Is this a trick or something?" She asked, turning to Jane. "Did you drug me or something? Put something into my food or drink?"

Jane blinked at her innocently. "Have you eaten anything since you arrived?"

"I..." Pria faltered. "I don't remember the last thing I ate." Sudden realization appeared on her face. "Hypnosis! You gave me some kind of hypnotic trigger, back in the waiting room! It must have been a subliminal sound that played before you arrived."

"Have you ever been hypnotized before?" Jane inquired.

"No," Pria responded reflexively, "I'm immune to..." She trailed off. "Immune to hypnosis," she said, puzzled. "Then there's something behind the ring, some kind of spray or something that paralyzes on contact." She inspected the ring closely. "I can't see anything, but..." She moved to examine it more closely. "It's not like you could make me glitch out like Suki over brgfxltrjk-" Just as with Suki, her voice turned into electronic white noise, then cut off completely, her body freezing up.

Jane clapped slowly. "Well done on correctly identifying an ARA, ladies, " she said, congratulating us. "I'm not sure how sound your reasoning was, but I can't argue with the results." She held up the transmitter. "Now it's time to see if you overlooked anything."

My thoughts raced as she was about to press the button. Would I feel anything? Would I notice as new programming was applied over my current programming? I had been wrong about Jane, apparently, was it possible I was wrong about myself? I'd started the day certain that I was human. Now I was all but sure that I was a machine, and I preferred that idea. Was I an imaginary person, created for amusement? Was I real? Did I want to be?

Jane pressed the button on the transmitter just as a wave of anticipation washed over me, and then... nothing happened. I didn't feel any changes. I felt the same. I felt like me. I felt a little disappointed. I looked around the room, looking for any difference in my perceptions. No change.

"Well, ladies, how do you feel?" Jane asked.

"I feel real," I said, flatly.

"I feel exactly like I did before you pushed the button," Kaitlyn said, crossing her arms. "Either I'm human, or that thing's broken. What was it supposed to install anyway?"

"The program alters a unit's social interaction settings, redefining acceptable behavior in certain company," Jane said, "as well as setting up a few pre-defined responses to keyphrases. If an ARA had been present, its idea of normal, appropriate social interaction would be dramatically different now." She glanced at her watch. "You know what, that's more than enough for one morning. It's just about noon, who's up for lunch?"

"Sure," I said, still somewhat dazed. The device had no effect on me. I was the same as I was before. I walked to the door, ready to follow Jane back to thecan'teen. "Are you coming Kaitlyn?"

Kaitlyn hadn't moved, but was staring at Pria's motionless form. "I wonder," she said, approaching the ring. She looked at Jane and Mr. Peters. "Do you mind if I move her?"

They looked at each other, puzzled. "Go ahead," Mr. Peters, said.

Kaitlyn tilted Pria back just as Jane had done, and moved her a short distance away, then turned her attention back to the ring. She ran her fingers over the front of the device, and held her hand out, about to stick it through, but hesitated. Instead, she squatted down, bracing her hands on both sides as she stared directly into the hole.

"You don't have to do that," Jane said.

"Yes, I do," Kaitlyn replied. "I have to know."

"Even if you were, you still wouldn't know," Mr. Peters interjected. "You'd just wake up later in the therapy room, with a perfectly good explanation for why you were there."

"And I wouldn't be curious about it anymore. They would remove it from my thoughts." She looked back at us. "I can't be curious and not know. I've got to find out, or I've got to get rid of the urge to find out." She took a deep breath, plunging her face through the ring.

Long seconds passed. Kaitlyn didn't move or make a sound. Then, she spoke. "I'm not in the therapy room, am I?"

Jane frowned. "You don't know?"

"I closed my eyes." Kaitlyn pulled her head out of the ring. "Human, then. Huh. I almost..." She abandoned the sentence, letting it hang in the air. Then, she turned to us and rubbed her hands together. "I guess its time for lunch then, right?" She said, pleasantly.

As she joined us at the door, Mr. Peters put his hand on Jane's shoulder. "Let me join you," he said. "I'm famished."

"I'd like that," Jane replied as we left the archive.

We arrived at thecan'teen not long after, apparently hitting before the big lunch rush. "A lot of employees eat in their offices or other work environments," Jane admitted when asked. "They get the same food, but few of them actually eat in thecan'teen itself." She indicated the line of a dozen or so women in front of us. "At least ten of those women are ARAs, sent by their 'boss' to deliver food to them."

I looked over the food on offer. Much of it was gourmet fare, but even the more pedestrian food looked exquisitely prepared. If I had any kind of appetite, I would have tried one of their more exotic dishes, but my experience in the archive had shaken me too much to eat. I was no worse off than when I'd arrived this morning, and yet, I felt a sense of loss. I was human - exactly as I'd believed myself to be at the start of the day - but I still felt unaccountably subservient, and disappointed that I wasn't, as Jane had put it, a mere device.

Mr. Peters, Jane, and Kaitlyn, however, had no such reservations, each ordering a large dish. They had seated themselves while I was still wandering my myself, lost in my thoughts. When I noticed, I went to join them.

"...were definitely right about both of them," Jane was saying. "It was an interesting move, consulting me in private like that."

"Well, my real guess wouldn't have let me see both of their reactions to different..." Kaitlyn looked up, noticing me. "Oh, hey Althea. Not eating?" She said, noticing my lack of a tray.

"I must have eaten a big breakfast," I said. "I just don't have much of an appetite right now."

Jane smiled sweetly. "What did you have for breakfast?" She asked.

I shrugged as I took a seat at the table. "It was early. I was half asleep. I don't really remember." I thought for a moment. "Waffles probably."

"Well," said Jane, "we were just finishing up with Kaitlyn, so just sit tight for a few minutes, and we'll be able to talk privately."

I nodded. "Whatever you say, Jane." Even if I was human, it felt good to be given a task I knew I could perform. I smiled, confident that I could carry out this instruction easily.

Turning back to Kaitlyn, Jane said, "So, that's basically it. Congratulations on correctly..." she glanced at me. "...correctly picking out who was a robot and who was a human," she finished.

"I did have some experience with this kind of thing back at GySys," Kaitlyn confessed. "Although, the units I saw today had far more variation in personality and movement patterns than anything GySys ever put together."

"Well, you know what they say, when you need to get things done right, get an ARA. If they don't need to be right..."

"Buy GySys!" Kaitlyn finished, laughing. "You'd be surprised how many employees there tell that one. Their management is too full of its own opinions to even listen to customer feedback." She shook her head, still laughing. "One of these days, they'll get bought out by a more competent company, like West Labs, or X-Ero."

"You've seen some pretty out-there things today," said Jane, an understanding look on her face. "Have we scared you off?"

Kaitlyn laughed again. "Hardly," she said. "Honestly, a lot of this was tame compared to GySys, and your human staff employees are miles more polite."

Mr. Peters raised an eyebrow at this. "Interesting. How many human employees do you think you interacted with today, apart from myself, Jane, and Freida?"

Kaitlyn looked uneasily back to Jane with a questioning expression. "I've been ordered not to tell," Jane said.

Shaking off the thought, Kaitlyn asked, "By the way, just what was the keyphrase from the transmitter's program?"

"Hmm..." said Jane, glancing aside at Mr. Peters, who was taking a sip of his drink. Instead of answering Kaitlyn's question, however, she turned to me. "Althea, are you sure you're not hungry?"

I hadn't realized it before, but I was absolutely ravenous. "Actually," I said, licking my lips, "I could really go for some of Mr. Peters' cum, and maybe some of your pussy juices to wash it down."

Mr. Peters choked on his drink and coughed repeatedly, clearing the liquid. I wanted to show him how I wouldn't choke. "You need to warn me when you're about to pull something like that," he spluttered.

Jane batted her eyes at him. "But Mr. Peters, if I warned you, then you wouldn't be surprised." She sighed. "But if you command me to, I'll warn you from now on..."

He was smiling now, but still coughing. "No, that's alright. I do like to be surprised."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. My bulky clothing was starting to feel constricting. I looked around thecan'teen, but didn't see a strip station anywhere. "Sorry to have to ask," I said, "but is there somewhere I can hang my skirt and panties?"

Kaitlyn burst out in laughter. "Well, I guess that answers that question."

Jane looked at her, confused. "I have absolutely no idea what you could possibly be talking about," she said, smiling. She turned to me. "I think we've got a place for that up in Mr. Peters' office." Turning back to Kaitlyn, she said, "Anyway, you'll be expected in the security department first thing in the morning tomorrow. Congratulations, you're going to be our new internal security director."

Kaitlyn blinked. "You sure about that? I'd only applied for systems analyst."

Mr. Peters nodded. "We heard about your run-in with the upper ranks, and managed to obtain a copy of the report you'd been preparing." He spread his hands. "Your ability to identify and isolate security vulnerabilities is astonishing, and you were only with them for two years. You're perfect for the position."

"So if you need anything, just let us know," said Jane. "For now, you're free to explore the offices."

Kaitlyn looked uncertain. "What about any restricted areas?"

Mr. Peters smiled. "Don't worry. If you're not allowed somewhere, you won't be able to get in."

"And if you do manage to get in restricted areas, your first job will be to update their security procedures," added Jane. "Win-win."

"Thank you!" Kaitlyn said, enthusiastically. Then, somewhat more hesitantly, "Um... which way was the salon again?" Mr. Peters, still sipping his drink, pointed silently down the appropriate corridor. "Thanks," Kaitlyn called as she dashed off. "See you tomorrow!"

Turning to me, Jane said, "So, Althea. Mr. Peters and I have a very special position we think you'd be just perfect for. We can discuss it over your meal up in Mr. Peters' office." She leaned forward. "Are you ready to head upstairs?"

"I'm ready to give head upstairs, if that's what you mean," I said, excitedly. This was great! They must have been impressed with my performance today! If they wanted to discuss it privately, it might even mean a promotion. I could be a permanent blowjob-girl, or his executive desk-dancer... He might even make me his personal fuck-slave!

"I think you should join us for the interview, Mrs. Peters," said Mr. Peters.

"I would enjoy that a lot, Mr. Peters," she replied.

He looked meaningfully at her. "I trust you're adhering to our strict dress code for interviews," he said in a low tone.

Jane closed her eyes, a "hmm" sound escaping her lips. "Tan, seamed, no crotch, and a thong over them," she murmured.

"To the elevator!" Mr. Peters said, dramatically.

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