Board Meeting
The CEO pressed the buton, and her tall, elegant assistant strolled into the spacious office.
“Ms. Schultz?”, she politely asked, blinking once or twice. “You have an appointment with General Vakhlovitch at 4 PM and your daughter at…”
“This can wait, Allison”, Katherine Schultz dismissed her with a wave of her slim hand. Allison momentarily stopped and resumed her serene expression. “I’m calling an emergency exec meeting. Call all of them, personally.”
Allison clasped her hands and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Ms. Schultz. When?”
“Right now.” Ms Schultz slammed her palm on her modern white desk. “I’ve been putting up with these fat cats for too long. Make them drop everything and move their asses to the conference room.”
“Yes, Ms. Schultz. I estimate that this meeting will take up at least two hours. Should I reschedule your meeting with the General?”, Allison asked in her chirpy, polite tone of voice.
The CEO considered for a while, then smiled nastily. “No. Make him wait. Cancel Riviera, I’m sure whatever she has now can wait.” She chuckled, but Allison blank, serene expression did not face. Katherine waved her dismissively and added “You can go.”
As Allison left, Katherine make a couple of final calls, and after a dozen or so minutes she marched out to the conference room next door, occupying, of course, the largest, most impressive chair.
The door opened, and the first one to march was Giselle. Giselle LaFitte, the Executive VP, and in theory, Katherine’s right arm. In practice, though, Katherine tried hard to keep Giselle out of major deals, but couldn’t just throw her out of the board – and Giselle pushed up. As she entered the room, she flicked through her magnificent mane of dark brunette hair, and smiled at Katherine. “Are you coping with the company, madame? What’s ze emergency?”
Katherine folded her arms. “My dear Giselle, if I did something wrong you’d be the first person to know… and the first to use it against me. The meeting starts soon.”
Giselle smirked and sat next to Katherine, sending her a flirtatious glare. The boss just shrugged and acknowledged the entrance of Tina Novak, the CFO and head accountant. Bridgit was a bit heavy-set, but her glossy straight black hair and elegant make-up still made her attractive. She sat down one seat away from Giselle, and reached for her folder.
“That won’t be necessary”, Katherine sent her another glare, with her cold blue eyes. Tina just sighed, but laid out the papers nevertheless. The last two women arrived simultaneously, passionately arguing about something: The shorter, green-eyed redhead Bridgit Grey was discussing some assembly issue with statuesque blonde chief R&D, dr. Astrid Adamsen.
Katherine waited patiently for a minute or two when the women calmed down but in the end she had to cough theatrically, then knock on the table to quiet down. She dramatically rose up from her seat, leaning on her hands.
“Ladies.”, she intoned, “The matter of this meeting is, naturally, completely confidential, and must not leave this room.”
This was enough for Giselle to put down her cellphone and perk up her ears.
“Is it about gender parity?”, the worried Bridgit asked. “The liberal journalists…”
“Of course not.” Katherine straightened up, and pulled off her leather suit jacket, tossing it across her armchair’s arm. “Ladies, there’s a problem. I have strong suspicions, that in this very board of Azure Robotic Inc. there is a gynoid.”
Giselle gasped - in Katherine’s view, far too quickly. “You mean that one of us… is a robot?!”
“This is ridiculous.” Bridgit laughed. “Our robots are great, but not good enough to deceive the captains of industry.”
“Not necesarily…” Dr Adamsen replied quietly. “Our advanced models can pass the Turing test easily.”
“And note… this does not have to be OUR fembot. It’s quite likely a mole from the competition.”
“More than ‘a’ mole.”, Giselle added, staring intently at Ms Schultz. “There could be two robots covering for each other. Or more.”
The remaining women also looked at Katherine. “That’s ridiculous.” the CEO answered coldly. “If I were a robot I wouldn’t have warned you in the first place. But a fembot would have quite clearly be willing to take my place, am I not right, Giselle?”
The French woman scoffed.
“How DO you recognize a robot that passes the Turing test from a normal woman?” Tina turned to dr. Adamsen.
“Well, you can test its… her exterior. There should be some defects or ports allowing us the control of the machine. An off switch, like Allison has.”
There was a brief moment of silence, broken by Giselle’s cackle. “So do we… have to undress?”
“That’s the best way; we could trigger a control protocol or a malfunction in the imposter, but er…”, Bridgit scratched her chin. “Undressing… is the simplest.”
Tina rose up. “No way. I’m not willing to show my body in front of you. I demand…”
“GET HER!” Giselle screamed and grabbed Tina by the back of her suit, tearing the black jacket off, revealing a white shirt… that quickly became unbuttoned. Tina’s large bust was now clearly visible, and the CFO screamed for help… that never came. Bridgit and Astrid looked with professional interest and Ms Schultz nodded approvingly.
“There must be an off… off switch.” Giselle looked at Tina’s neck, trying to feel for something - and her eyes opened wide. She found it. With a whirr Tina’s inert form crumpled to the carpet.
“I knew it.” Giselle panted. “The first to decline would be the robot.”
Katherine smiled - or at least the corners of her mouth rose. “Giselle dear, why are you not sweating?”
Giselle stood in place, petrified. “Merde. It’s… it’s true.” She took a deep breath and rolled up her blouse, revealing a flat stomach. On it, suddenly a dozen of blinking lights came to life, displaing her status and condition under bright orange letters “CONTROL MODE ENGAGED”.
Katherine looked like a lioness, happy to tear an antelope limb from limb. “Who made you?”, she rose up, trying to reach for Giselle’s silk blouse… stepping over Tina’s inert body.
Giselle smirked. “Mais, non, the shareholders. I’m no spy, Kat. I am loyal to this company. I am programmed to be loyal, ambitious. I am programmed to increase profits. I am programmed to…”
Katherine put a hand on Giselle’s shoulder, and felt her shapely breasts. “Dearie, that does not interest me. You will go on now following your duty. Does your girlfriend know?”
Giselle slowly turned her head, her lips pursed. Katherine slid her hand across her VP’s belly, and the French woman jolted.
“Ohhh…” she moaned… and Katherine turned her off, with an expression of delight frozen on her face.
“And that’s it.” Bridgit grinned. “What are you going to do with these, Ms. Schultz?”
Katherine slid her finger across Giselle’s blissfully smiling lips. “Oh, if they’re both property of shareholders, I suppose I could keep them running. Perhaps with some personality alteration.”
Bridgit looked visibly relieved… too relieved, Katherine realized.
“Bridgit… are you a robot?”, she inquired politely.
The red-headed girl nodded slightly.
“Built by shareholders?”, Katherine pressed on staring into Bridgit’s eyes. The girl turned her head away and pointed at dr Adamsen. “By her.”
Astrid smiled triumphantly. “You have to admit, she’s pretty realistic. Bridgit Grey? Do stand up.”
The readhead, her gaze suddenly blank, jumped up from her chair standing perfectly straight.
Katherine stepped back, amused.
“Bridgit Grey, do take off your clothes.”, Astrid sat on the desk, crossing her long legs. Her gaze met with Katherine’s and the Norwegian scientist laughed. Bridgit blankly, mechanically stripped herself of her shirt and T-shirt underneath, revealing a pair of perky breasts. She lowered her pants, now parading in a pair of black lace pants.
“That’s amazing, Astrid.” Katherine slowly started to lower down Bridgit’s pussy. “We’re capable of this much realism?”
Astrid grinned. “Why, boss… you should know yourself.”
In a split-second Katherine jumped away from Bridgit. “I… I don’t know what are you talking about, Astrid.”
“Do you? Katherine Schultz, do calm down.”, Astrid spat out every word with delight.
Katherine suddenly reeled back. “No… Astrid, please, no one must…”
“Oh, don’t worry, sweetie.”, Astrid calm voice became mocking. “Your secret is safe with me. After some minor personality alterations, naturally. After all, I still have my needs. Katherine Schultz, do shut down.”
“Noooo!”, Katherine reeled, fighting with her, suddenly inert legs. She reached for Astrid’s neck, grabbing her pearl necklace. Astrid, surprised pushed her back, but Katherine with her last conscious thought grabbed the scientist’s legs. Astrid came down, hitting her head over the table.
“Kathe…~tsst~ Katheri...kakakakat…” Astrid leaned over her arms, but when she opened her mouth a cloud of grey smoke came out. “What… no… you could… error… shutting downnnn…”
The door opened. Allison entered, smiling serenely. She turned to the inert Katherine. “Ms Schultz, your daughter in in workshop. Shall I tell the General to wait?”
She turned to Giselle, circling slowly between the five inert gynoids. “Ms LaFitte, you’ll be late for your tennis game… Ms Novak, the Dunhill report is pending. Ms Schultz, your daughter in in workshop. Shall I tell the General to wait? Ms Adamsen, do you require assistance? Ms Schultz, your daughter in in workshop. Shall I tell the General to wait?”