The Repair Shop - Part 2
The Small Business Chronicles: The Repair Shop - Part 2
Chapter One: Working birthday
Jack walked into his lab, feeling like it was like no other day. Despite it being his birthday, he still had to work to generate income, but unlike most other people, he didn’t mind. He was one of the few people whose primary hobby was their primary job, so he actually enjoyed it. Even more so, it helped him pass the time for the evening, when Gabby treated him to her best cooking, and sex, of the year.
Also, unlike most other weeks when Jack might be working on several androids at once, this time he was working on just one. A Partier model that had broken down during a night of rather intense partying.
Jack sighed as he read the report on the android…this Partier model had apparently been dragged along to several clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some people thought just because they were androids, they could handle more than a real person, but even androids had limits.
Still, this particular one was kind of cute. She had a tomboyish appearance with dark colored hair in a pixie cut, with purple highlights in the back, and a plump face. Her face was only a little made up, with coloring around her eyes. She had shutdown with a friendly smile on her face.
She was still wearing her outfit, a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt, that smelled strongly of booze and marijuana.
“Well Jenny, let’s see what’s wrong with you,” Jack said conversationally to her….old habits die hard. He then planted a few remote access devices on her to remotely access her systems, choosing to wait a bit before opening her up.
Jack was nearly an hour delving into her systems when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the lift. He looked up to see who it was, hearing the sound of footsteps and a hand truck. Finally, Kat rounded the corner from the lift hallway, delivering a large case.
“Oh, hey Kat,” Jack said, saving his work, “What do you have for me?”
“A delivery just arrived…for you,” she said, looking at the packing slip, “Did you order something without telling me?”
“No, not that I can think of,” he said with a confused look, “Does it say who it’s from?”
“Yes,” she smiled, “It’s from Spaztec,” she reported, looking at the receipt, “but, it says it’s a gift from someone named Ellie Wren.”
“Ah, that’s my cousin,” Jack smiled, taking the packing slip, “Hmmm, a few months ago she called Gabby and was plotting something for my birthday, I guess this is it,” he muttered.
“Well, did you want me to leave it here, or take it back up?”
Jack thought about it for a while. “Leave it, as a matter of fact, let’s get it set up on my new arrival table,” he told her, gesturing towards a table that was designed to fit a standard Spaztec delivery box.
It was clear from the box that his cousin had sent him some sort of android, but he couldn’t imagine what type she would send. Once Kat had helped him secure the box, he thanked her and asked her to leave. He always liked opening up these boxes in private. And, he figured, regardless of whatever android Ellie sent him, he’d still have fun starting fresh with a brand-new model.
After a few moments deciding if he should wait, he finally placed his palm on the security pad and watched as the box unsealed itself. Once he saw what lay nestled inside, he let out a gasp…
Chapter Two: A most unexpected gift
Nestled comfortably in the packing mold was an exact replica of Ellie…at least, Jack assumed it was. Ellie was one to play practical jokes, and having herself mailed to Jack wouldn’t be too difficult for her.
Jack gently probed her skin, and quickly determined the form of Ellie laying before him was indeed an android. Jack was awestruck, seeing that his cousin liked him so much she had an android made in her image and sent it to him, of all people.
“Well, I see this is the surprise you were planning with Gabby,” Jack whispered. It all made sense now, and, the best part was, because Ellie was a family member, Gabby’s jealousy protocols wouldn’t interfere with any fun he might have with her.
Since he had nothing to do while he waited for Jenny’s preliminary diagnostics to complete, Jack reached in and carefully pulled the Ellie android free from the foam. It was no small feat, since Ellie was a slightly overweight girl in her mid-twenties. Fortunately, Jack was wearing a power amplification brace, which allowed him to carry much more than he normally could.
She looked fairly normal now, but when she was a kid, she had a stunted growth due to a medical condition. She was currently wearing a simple set of girl’s clothes…the same clothes she wore when they last met, actually. A sleeveless t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers with short, white socks.
It took Jack a while, but he finally carried her over to one of his examination tables and prepared to activate her. He was getting excited, because he didn’t usually get to see his cousin, and she was a very fun person to be with…at least he thought so. She was the oddball of her family, having almost no social boundaries and being a friend to everyone. Her parents and brother, on the other hand, were pretty mean, close-minded people. Ellie got out of her parents’ house as soon as she could, helped along by Jack, who financed her entire time at college.
Once he had her secure on the table, he walked back over to the box to retrieve the control tab from the compartment below where Ellie was packed in. When he pulled out and activated the tab, a personal message from Ellie was the first thing that popped up.
“Dear Cousin…” it began. “I hope my birthday present for you doesn’t come as a total surprise. I really wanted to give you something to thank you for helping me through college. I know most people would have wanted to be paid back with money, but I know you better. This is a Perfect Friend model android, built in my image and with all relevant memories from my experiences of school and of you. I also programmed in some basic android repair programs, though I know full well you’ll probably enhance them so she can help you around your repair shop. I also wanted you to have this android because I’ll be moving to Alaska to assume my duties as manager of a new touring company in the Aleutian Islands. As such, we’ll probably not get see each other in person as frequently as before. I’ll be sending periodic memory updates to her, so she’ll always be up to date. I hope you enjoy her! Love, Ellie”
Jack smiled as he finished reading it. She was the only relative who reached out to him after his parents were killed, and she occasionally came over to visit him and his Uncle Morty. He paid for her college stay from the surplus leftover from the shop, and he wasn’t even thinking of asking her to pay him back. Still, looking at the Ellie android, he figured he could use it for something.
He swiped out of the personal message and checked out the basic stats of his new Ellie android. Jack whistled as he saw the specs…top of the line. Clearly, Ellie spared no expense treating her favorite cousin. After he finished reading the specs, he concluded she was now his most advanced android…aside from Gabby, of course.
“Well Ellie, let’s get you turned on,” Jack said, toggling through the tablet until he reached the activation menu. He entered in his own personal identification code and allowed the camera to scan his face to confirm his identity, then, he waited as Ellie activated.
The anticipation built in Jack as he patiently waited for her systems to finish their first-time startup sequences. Finally, they finished and her eyes quickly came open, immediately focusing on his. She did nothing but smile before saying, in her usual cheerful voice, “Hello cousin!”
Chapter Three: Family reunion
“Hey…Ellie,” Jack finally said, a little surprised at her realism.
Even as a professional android technician, he still found himself awestruck at the realism of this perfect replica of his cousin. Perhaps it was because he’d never worked with an android made in the image of someone he knew personally, only ones made after other real people.
“Are you surprised to see me?” she asked playfully, slowly sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the table.
“To be honest, yes,” Jack said, “I had no idea Ellie would send me an android in her image.”
“Well, she did, and I’m it,” the Ellie android said cheerfully, “I’ve been programmed with all her memories of you, as well as a few others,” she explained, “She’s also programmed in some rudimentary android repair software, so I can assist you here in the lab,” she said, looking around. “Ooh, who’s that?” she asked suddenly, dropping to her feet and walking over to where Jenny was still passively standing.
“That’s a broken-down Partier model named Jenny,” Jack said, walking over.
“She’s kinda cute,” Ellie said, leaning in and looking at Jenny’s frozen face. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know yet, I just started working on her,” Jack admitted, “Most likely excessive partying though.”
“Ah, I see,” Ellie said, moving away and looking around the lab. “Things have changed around here since Ellie last visited,” she then said, “Oh, I wonder what this is,” she said, walking over to Jack’s secret project.
“No!” Jack said, quickly stopping her.
“Sorry,” Ellie said, looking apologetic, “I didn’t think we had any secrets.” “We don’t,” Jack said, “It’s just…well, I’m not ready to show it to you yet,” he admitted, “I promise I will later though.”
“Alright,” Ellie smiled, looking a bit relieved. Jack knew though it was her personality subroutines not having to correct for a potential change in his expected behavior.
“Well, anyway, I have Jenny here running a fairly extensive external diagnostic before I risk opening her up for examination, so perhaps I can open you up and evaluate your systems while that’s running,” Jack suggested, “Maybe even give you a few upgrades.”
“Ooh, really!” Ellie said excitedly.
“Yeah, I think I might even bump you up to a Mark III prototype like Gabby, since you’re technically family.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure what that entails,” Ellie said with a worried expression. Her programming had safeguards to prevent potentially dangerous tampering.
“Don’t worry,” Jack assured her, “I’d just install the latest developer release of the Mark III A.I. software, just like Gabby has,” he explained, “And I’d also give you some of Gabby’s old hardware, to improve your performance even further.”
Ellie merely nodded, then seemed to freeze up as her systems processed a potential logic fault. Part of her software wanted to protect her from a beta update, and the other part wanted her to be as friendly as possible to her cousin.
Jack sighed, pulling out Ellie’s tablet and using it to initiate a quick diagnostic of Ellie’s systems. He also plugged in his technician’s code and enabled developer options on her systems, which was something he should have done before, but didn’t because she was so like his cousin he simply forgot.
As soon as Ellie’s systems reported the developer options enabled, they quickly resolved the logic error and she slowly came out of her reverie.
“Oh, I’m so sorry about that Jack,” Ellie said with an embarrassed look, “The one thing Ellie was hoping was that I wouldn’t malfunction on my first day.”
“Don’t worry, it was my fault,” Jack told her, “I forgot to enable developer mode in your systems.”
“Well, I feel much better now,” she said, “So, what exactly would the updates do to me?”
“In a nutshell: major improvements in overall efficiency, more accurate human & personality emulation, bug fixes, better hardware support, etc,” he explained.
“Sounds cool,” Ellie smiled, “Will it take long?”
“A little,” Jack admitted, looking over at Jenny, “But she’ll probably take longer.”
“Okay, let’s do it then!” she said excitedly.
“Very well,” Jack smiled, “I think you know the drill,” he told her, eyeing her clothes.
“I know, I know,” she smiled, sitting on the edge of the table and unlacing her shoes. “You know, Ellie always thought you made your ‘patients’ get undressed because you were a sex deviant or something,” she smiled naughtily.
“What?!” Jack spluttered, “Well, I will admit I enjoy seeing the girls naked, but…come on, you have no idea how hard it is to remove the clothes off one of you androids when you’re offline,” he said, trying to save his dignity, “You’re like corpses.”
“Uh-huh,” Ellie winked, removing her socks and then standing up to remove her shirt.
“Just keep undressing,” he smiled, shaking his head, “I’ll be getting my terminal ready for you…and I need to gather up some of Gabby’s old hardware,” he said, turning away from her and heading to his computer.
“Ok,” she said, continuing to disrobe.
It didn’t take Jack long to ready his terminal, quickly switching it into the same mode he used for Gabby. He also quickly located some of Gabby’s old hardware, conveniently located in a box just in case her current ones failed.
“Alright Ellie, I’m…holy shit!” he yelled, seeing her standing near the examination table naked.
“What?” she asked, looking confused, “I thought you told me to undress.”
“I did, but…you’re…anatomically correct,” he said, looking at her nipples and vagina.
“Of course,” she smiled, “What did you expect?” she asked, flaunting her body and causing her breasts to jiggle around.
“Well, Ellie’s my cousin,” Jack said defensively, “What kind of cousin gives away an anatomically correct android of themselves to a fellow cousin?”
“Ellie would,” Ellie replied cheerfully. “Oh, come on Jack,” she chided him, “You know full well how much of a free spirit Ellie is.”
Jack started to make a retort, but he quickly retracted it; Ellie was a free spirit. It was one of the main reasons she was the oddball of her family, and why they didn’t get along with her. Truthfully, this was not the first time Jack had seen her naked. That was part of the reason he was able to recognize just how anatomically correct the Ellie android was. Also, since they were only second cousins, she had even shockingly suggested one time they were camping together that they should throw all inhibitions aside and have sex. Although he found her attractive, and he understood how removed they were, he still turned down her offer.
“See, I thought you might remember,” Ellie smiled, “I have all of her memories…including the ones of the camping trip.”
Jack said nothing, but blushed a bit uncomfortably.
“That’s right,” she laughed, “You know, even though I may look like Ellie, I’m not really her. So, you and I could do it.”
“Thanks, but maybe I’ll take you up on that sometime if I’m feeling adventurous,” Jack said, just telling her that to change the subject, “But it would be a threesome with Gabby.”
“Fair enough,” Ellie shrugged.
“Alright, just lie down on the table and open your primary access panel.”
“Ok.” She promptly hopped onto the table and unsealed her panel. Unlike Jack’s other androids, Ellie took the initiative and removed it herself, setting it down on the nearby table.
“Huh, thanks Ellie,” he said, walking over with a high-speed data transfer cable.
“Don’t mention it,” she smiled, “Hmm, why are you connecting me with a cable?” she asked with a confused look, “My wireless connection to your terminal is pretty strong.”
“I’m sure it is,” Jack told her, plugging the other end of the cable into her pristine A.I. core, “But, whenever I perform a major software update, especially an A.I. update, I always use a physical connection.”
“Huh, I guess that makes sense,” she smiled, “I am detecting the physical connection, by the way.”
“Good, I’m going to start adding files to your queue,” he told her, “Most of them are the experimental betas, so your systems may protest,” he explained, “Do your best to override them for me, please.”
“Alright Jack, I’d be happy to.”
Jack quickly logged onto the Spaztec site and pulled the latest developer release for the Perfect Friend model android. While he could still install some of the same programs that Gabby used, the Perfect Friend and Housewife A.I. files were still different. It didn’t take long for Jack to get approval…they had actually been requesting that he install the betas on another type of android for some time, but Gabby was the only one he felt comfortable doing it to…until now.
“Alright Ellie, I’ve got the Mark III files ready for you.”
“I see them,” she said, pausing briefly as her systems initiated the download, “Wow, that’s a lot of files!” she shouted, slightly startling Jack, “This might take a while.”
“I know it will,” he assured her, “In the meanwhile, I think I’ll examine your body and your hardware,” he told her, getting up and walking over to her.
“Alright, I don’t mind,” she smiled knowingly.
“Of course, you don’t, you’re programmed not to,” he smiled back.
“Well, of course I am, but even Ellie wouldn’t have minded,” she defended.
“Yeah, I suppose not,” Jack admitted, “Anyway, just lie still and focus on those downloads.”
“Alright,” she said, laying back and getting comfortable.
While the files continued to download, Jack amused himself by examining every inch of Ellie’s body. Although she had a stunted growth period as a child, she had still developed fairly nicely into adulthood…the only thing imperfect about her was she was slightly overweight.
“Did Ellie lose some weight recently?” he asked, scrutinizing her torso.
“Yes, Ellie decided to lose some weight before commissioning me,” Ellie responded, “After all, if you were having an android look exactly like you, and it were going to look like that forever, wouldn’t you want to look your best?”
“I suppose so,” Jack said, coughing uncomfortably as he eyed his secret project. He then grabbed hold of one of her feet and gave it a quick whiff. “And I see she gave you a sample of her perspiration to replicate.”
“Yep, she opted for just about everything,” Ellie smiled.
“Well, normally I’d disable that to save money, but since you’re family, I suppose I’ll keep that feature in.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he told her, “How’s the download progressing?”
“About 50%.”
“Looks like it’s progressing rather well,” Jack said, sitting back down; he’d feel her up some more when she was offline installing the updates. “So, to what extent would you be able to assist me with my repair business?”
“Well, I got all the packages that a normal person could purchase, so basically just rudimentary troubleshooting and diagnostic work,” she responded.
“Well, looks like Ellie’s presented me with a unique opportunity to improve the efficiency of my repair shop business,” Jack said, “I think I’m going to install the more advanced programs only I would have access to, and I’m also going to write an algorithm for you so you can learn from me, sort of as an apprentice,” he decided.
“I’d like that,” Ellie replied, “I want to be helpful to you…that’s what Ellie wanted me to be too.”
“Good, then I’ll start adding those files to your queue as well,” he told her, wheeling back to his terminal and adding the advanced android repair files for her to integrate, as well as a new algorithm that he wrote on the spot, “There, you should see them now.”
“I do,” she said, “They’ll add about another five minutes to the download time.”
“Well, I can wait,” he told her, “Why don’t you tell me some stories of the last few weeks,” he said, “Ellie doesn’t contact me very often and I’d like to catch up.”
“I’d love to!” said excitedly.
In the time it took for Ellie to download the remaining files, she caught Jack up on everything that had happened in the real Ellie’s life over the past year or so. Ellie had finished college and was moving up to the Aleutian Islands to run a tour/cruise business.
“Alright Jack, the files have finished downloading,” Ellie finally reported some time later.
“Ok, you can go ahead and install them…I’ll watch over you in case something goes wrong.”
Ellie merely nodded. Then, her friendly smile vanished to be replaced with a blank expression as her systems shut down to perform the massive update. It took Ellie nearly half an hour to install all the updates, then she briefly came back online to report they had installed successfully before Jack instructed her to shut back down.
With her systems offline, Jack calmly reached inside her open panel and began removing various components, replacing them with Gabby’s old ones. Processors, cooling systems, power cells. Just about everything got swapped out with more advanced components.
When he finally finished, he washed his hands of the electronic residue that coated some of the systems, then he reached in and pressed her manual power switch.
Jack stood back a ways in case some of the new hardware failed catastrophically, but to his relief, everything worked as predicted…the new hardware seemed to purr as all her systems came online and ran preliminary diagnostics. After what seemed like forever, her A.I. finally came back online.
Ellie’s eyes quickly opened and focused on his. She looked at him curiously for several moments before speaking. “Jack, I feel different.”
“How so?”
“I feel…better,” she said, giving him an energetic smile, “Wow, that update was amazing! It’s much easier for me to emulate Ellie’s personality now.”
“That was the idea,” Jack smiled, simply glad she didn’t suffer any major faults as a result of the beta update. “And, do you have access to the new technician files?”
“Yes, my knowledge has been greatly improved in that regard.”
“Good, then perhaps you’d like to assist me in fixing Jenny,” he said, looking over at Jenny’s immobile body, “I believe her diagnostic should be finished by now.”
“I’d love to,” Ellie said, jumping down to her feet as soon as Jack unplugged her.
Chapter Four: The Apprentice
As they walked over to Jenny, Jack noted that Ellie was still naked, and her panel was still exposed as well.
“Aren’t you going to put your clothes and panel back on?”
“Maybe later,” she shrugged, “My algorithms are telling me that walking around like this for a few hours might get you more used to seeing me as an android.”
“Interesting,” Jack mused, thinking it was the more enhanced friendship algorithms from the Mark III developer program; She was much more adaptive now.
“So, what are the preliminary diagnostics showing?” Ellie asked clinically, her new programming taking over.
“Let’s see…” Jack said, opening up Jenny’s diagnostic results, “Huh, it looks like a rupture in her fluid storage tanks…most likely from excessive alcohol consumption.”
“Aren’t these Partier models supposed to have programming to prevent them from excessive consumption?” Ellie asked, getting a closer look at Jenny’s face.
“Yes, but mostly it’s just in the basic models,” he answered, “The custom models, such as Jenny here, are often requested without those safeties, so they can party longer.”
“That’s stupid,” Ellie scoffed.
Jack merely chuckled, “It is, but hey, it gives me more business.”
“I guess so,” Ellie laughed, “So, how do you want to go about fixing her?”
“Well, first things first. We need to undress her, though, since you’re my new assistant, I think I’ll let you do it.”
“I’d love to!” Ellie said excitedly, jumping around, causing her breasts to jiggle. Jack could also see the lights in her open panel flashing wildly, much in the same way Gabby’s did when he was working on her.
“Alright, calm down,” Jack smiled, getting his tool kit ready while Ellie dutifully undressed Jenny and laid her down on the table. She then tried to remove the primary access panel, and failed.
“Jack, I can’t seem to open her up,” Ellie said with a confused look.
“Hmm, the damage is more severe than I thought,” Jack said. He carefully scrutinized Jenny for a few moments before pulling a small tool from his kit.
“What’s that?”
“A laser scalpel,” Jack responded, walking over to Jenny and running it over the area where the seam should have appeared. “Ellie, I know I’m going to be teaching you a lot over the next few years, but the one thing I want you to remember is to never perform this procedure unless I’m supervising…no exceptions,” he told her, continuing to cut through Jenny’s skin until he had the rough outline of the panel.
“Okay,” Ellie said, intently watching him.
He then dug his fingers into the seam and pulled the section free. “Ha, looks like I haven’t lost my touch,” he said happily, seeing that he cut almost precisely where the skin would have unsealed.
“Very nice Jack,” Ellie smiled, taking the piece of skin from him and placing it on a tray, quickly admiring the realism of it.
“Wow, I can smell all the booze from here,” Jack said, leaning in and sniffing around.
“Me too,” Ellie said, sniffing the air around the panel, “I’m detecting rum, vodka, tequila, beer, and whiskey.”
“Wow, you’re surprisingly handy to have around,” Jack complimented her.
“Thanks,” Ellie said with a modest blush.
“I should have gotten an android to help me a long time ago, I’m just glad I have you.”
“I’m happy to be of service.”
“Well, is alcohol all you smell?” he asked, “No food?”
“Let me take a closer look,” she said, putting her whole face in the panel and smelling inside. A few moments later, she pulled out. “Nope, no food,” she confirmed.
“Good,” Jack smiled, reaching in and removing Jenny’s stomach. He then took it over to his desk and poured it into a beaker.
“What are you going to do with that?” Ellie asked curiously.
“I’m going to reuse it,” he told her, pouring it all in and then measuring it, then gave her a huge smile, “Looks like a good haul too.”
“You’re really going to drink that?!” Ellie asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Jack said, “I don’t drink it as is,” he defended, “I pour it into this special machine I bought a few years back,” he explained, pulling a machine from a nearby cabinet that looked like an ancient coffee maker, “And it even separates the various drinks into separate containers that I can drink later,” he continued, pouring the mixed alcohol into it and starting it. “I mean, it’s not like it has human saliva in it…Jenny’s an android, after all.”
“I guess you’re right,” Ellie said, “So, how much alcohol have you recovered with that thing?”
“Quite a bit, actually,” Jack grinned, opening up a cabinet above his work station. It was filled with dozens of individually labelled bottles of various alcoholic beverages. “I get lots of Partier models like this one.”
“I see,” Ellie said, “And how accurate is it?”
“Well, it’s not the most accurate one on the market,” he shrugged, “Those could separate individual vintages and such,” he explained, “but, mine’s good enough to separate most drinks.”
“That’s good, maybe you could share some of the profits with me,” Ellie said hopefully.
“Yes, and then I could recover them from your stomach too,” he laughed.
“I guess,” Ellie smiled, “Do you recover the alcohol Gabby drinks?”
“Not always,” Jack admitted, “Only if it’s expensive.”
“I see,” Ellie nodded, “Otherwise you probably just let her fusion reactor convert it into energy, right?”
“Exactly,” Jack told her, “Anyway, let’s get back to work on Jenny.”
“Ok.”
Jack and Ellie spent the next couple hours repairing all the damaged systems in Jenny’s body. Although many components were able to be repaired, quite a few were damaged to the point of needing replacement. Fortunately, Jack always kept a good supply of those parts on hand, so he didn’t need to wait for a delivery. It wasn’t too long before Jack felt ready to attempt to activate Jenny.
“Alright Ellie, stand back while I power her up.”
Ellie said nothing, but stepped back a few feet; even though they had been working for hours, she was still naked with her panel removed. She had begun to work up a sweat, but she wiped herself off before any could fall into the panel.
Jack carefully reached in and pressed Jenny’s power switch. To his delight, nothing sparked or exploded, but to his dismay, Jenny’s A.I. core seemed inactive. He waited a few moments as Jenny’s body came online, running basic default programs so it could blink and breathe.
“Hmmm, I wonder what’s wrong,” Ellie said.
“It must be a problem with the A.I. core, or with the body itself” Jack surmised, “If it’s the A.I. core, then it’ll take several days to fix.”
“Is there any way to be sure what the problem is?”
“Hmmm, there might be a way,” Jack mused, staring into Ellie’s open panel at the flashing lights on her A.I. core, “Ellie, I think I might be able to connect your A.I. core to Jenny’s body.”
“Really?” Ellie said, “I thought it was extremely difficult to make A.I.’s compatible for different bodies,” she said, “I mean, I was programmed to function adequately in this body, not hers,” she said, looking from her naked body to Jenny’s.
“That’s true,” Jack nodded, “But I am a master programmer and should be able to come up with some workaround.”
“Well, it might be interesting to try out a new body,” Ellie mused, “It’s not something you get to do every day.”
“Then you’re okay with it?”
“Of course I am, Jack,” she smiled, “You know that.”
“Very well then, let’s get started.”
Chapter Five: Experimental procedure
Before Jack and Ellie got started on the highly experimental procedure, he looked up as many instances of similar procedures as he could find on the Spaztec developer forums. There were several accounts of people successfully getting one of their custom A.I.s to function in different bodies, but even they reported that it ultimately depended on the body in question.
“Alright Ellie,” Jack said, getting his tools ready as she laid down on one of the other tables he had in the area, “I’m fairly confident that, whether this succeeds or not, your systems won’t be damaged,” he began, “But, as confident I am that I can pull this off, there is the possibility Jenny’s body simply won’t be compatible with you.”
“I understand,” Ellie nodded, lying comfortably on the table opposite Jenny.
“Alright then,” Jack smiled. He then grabbed the cable that he’d unplugged from her earlier, “Now, I’m going to plug you back in and sort of mirror some of your systems on my terminal,” he explained, plugging her back in, “That way, I can still communicate with you even with your core removed, and even if you can’t operate Jenny’s body.”
“That makes sense,” Ellie said, “Wow, that feels weird,” she suddenly said, as Jack started the mirroring process, “It’s like I’m in two places at once.”
“Sort of,” Jack said, “once I remove you, though, you’ll mostly be interacting with me from my terminal.”
“Okay.”
Jack then walked over to her and reached his hands inside her open panel. “Alright, I’m going to remove you now,” he told her, looking into her eyes.
Ellie merely nodded, then her eyes went blank as Jack pressed the releases on her A.I. core and carefully pulled it free from its housing. The core itself was fairly large, with memory banks and processor assemblies, as well as a small diagnostic screen that listed Ellie’s current stats. Under normal circumstances, the removal of her core would have shut her down, but since her processes were being mirrored on the terminal, her A.I. was still active.
“Still with me Ellie?” Jack asked, turning to look at the screen.
“Yes Jack,” she replied from the terminal.
“Good,” Jack smiled, carefully setting her core down and moving over to Jenny. He carefully removed Jenny’s A.I. core and placed it next to his terminal to work on later; nothing happened with hers.
“You doing okay so far Ellie?”
“Yes,” she reported, “It’s weird not being connected to my body though.”
“Well, with any luck you’ll have a new body to try out soon,” Jack said, accessing Ellie’s core systems and checking the code. “Alright, I’m going to try and plug you in right now,” he told her, “Just to see if your new Mark III beta code will make things easier.”
“Okay,” Ellie said, with the same tone of voice she’d use if she were shrugging.
Jack carefully lifted Ellie’s core and brought it into Jenny’s body. Oddly enough, even though A.I. cores were not designed to function in other bodies, they were nevertheless designed the same, so Ellie’s core clicked into place just as easily as Jenny’s would have. A few lights blinked on Ellie’s core, then went dark as her A.I. attempted to integrate with Jenny’s body.
Jack had actually attempted something similar before, though this procedure was usually for when a Perfect Friend A.I. core was implanted into a new Housewife model chassis. Even if it was the same physical body parameters, it still took some time for the A.I. to integrate into it. After the usual amount of time passed, the lights on Ellie’s core blinked a brief error sequence and fell dark.
“Ellie, you still with me?” Jack asked, pulling his gaze away from the blank look in Jenny’s eyes and turning to the terminal.
“Yes Jack,” she answered, “I’m sorry, but I was unable to integrate with Jenny’s body,” she reported, sounding apologetic.
“It’s okay Ellie,” Jack assured her, “I didn’t really expect it to work that time. This was only a benchmark test.”
“I know, but still..it would have made me feel special if it worked on the first try,” she said disappointedly.
Jack couldn’t help but chuckle at that; it was so like Ellie. “Anyway, now for the real work,” he said, sitting down and typing away on his programming terminal.
After nearly 30 minutes of coding, Jack finally leaned back and exhaled explosively. For something that sounded so simple, it took a tremendous amount of coding to even make it remotely possible. He quickly uploaded the new bit of programming to Ellie’s download queue.
“Ooh, is that it?” Ellie asked, having been dutifully silent the entire time.
“Yes, you may go ahead and install it,” he said, relaxing a bit in his chair, “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t have an adverse effect on any of your other systems, since it’ll only run when you happen to be plugged in to a body that isn’t yours.”
“Alright,” she said, then she fell silent as she installed the code; the lights on her core blinked a bit faster as she did so. A few minutes later the lights shut off as she did a silent reboot, then they came right back on. “The new programming has installed successfully.”
“Good, I want you to attempt the integration process again,” he told her, since she was still installed in Jenny’s body.
“Ok,” she said, before falling silent.
This time, the sequence of lights on her core blinked in a more promising pattern. It had taken Jack years, but he finally knew the many hundreds of patterns like the back of his hand. This one indicated her A.I. was having considerably more success, but he might still have some more tweaking to do later.
After several minutes, some of the systems in Jenny’s body came online, giving Jack his first indication Ellie was successfully gaining control over it. Jenny’s eyes starting blinking, her fingers and toes twitched, and her whole body shuddered.
“Ellie, is it working?” he asked, staring into Jenny’s eyes.
After a bit of time passed, Jenny’s previously blank eyes blinked and then focused on Jacks, now with a lively look of recognition. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She paused and tried again. “Y….eeee..ssss” Ellie’s, not Jenny’s, voice emitted in a digital warble from the throat speaker.
“It doesn’t quite sound like it,” Jack said, turning to the terminal, “Run a quick diagnostic while I try and install a quick patch.”
Ellie merely smiled and did as instructed. Jack typed away on his computer after deducing what exactly the problem was. Just as she finished her diagnostic, he installed the hot fix. “There, try talking now.”
This time, Ellie took in a breath, then exhaled, then took in several more breaths, before finally speaking. “I think it’s finally working,” she said in Jenny’s voice. This was the first time Jack had heard Jenny’s voice, and he found it to be just as playful as Ellie’s was…though it probably had something to do with Ellie controlling her now, and with the fact Jenny was a Partier model.
“Well, at least we fixed that,” Jack said with a sigh of relief, “do you have any control over the rest of Jenny’s body?”
“I think so,” Ellie said, wiggling her toes and fingers. “I can move a little, but the compatibility issues are causing my processors extra strain,” she reported, “I’m afraid if I move too much, they might overheat.”
“Hmm,” Jack pondered the problem for a while. “Alright Ellie, I know this is risky, but I’m going to need you to move around a bit more so I can track exactly what the issue is.”
“Okay,” Ellie nodded, slowly sitting up and swinging down to the floor. She made a few exaggerated movements in her arms and legs as she paced the area between the table and terminal; she was still plugged in.
As she did, Jack carefully monitored her CPU heat levels, trying to fix the issue behind it. The longer she moved, the more trouble she had. Her movements became jerky, and she sometimes froze up as her processors cooled down.
“Alright, you can stop moving now,” Jack told her, highlighting a few trouble areas of her programming code that he needed to fix.
“Thanks,” Ellie managed to say, literally freezing in place and speaking instead with Jenny’s throat speaker. Jack merely shook his head, finding it disconcerting seeing her frozen in place like that…and, oddly arousing. Still, freezing the body’s motor functions immediately reduced the strain on her processors.
Jack typed away some more, adding more adaptive algorithms to Ellie’s code. He finally installed them several minutes later, then turned and admired her frozen body.
“Okay, try and move around now.”
It was as though a statue came to life as she suddenly moved around. She made a few exaggerated movements before stopping with a smile. “That appears to have fixed it.”
“Good!” Jack said, pumping his fist triumphantly, “Now why don’t you sit down so I can work out the rest of the bugs.”
“Okay,” she smiled, hopping up onto the bed and sitting down on the edge, playfully swinging her feet.
Chapter Six: Back to Business
Jack spent the better part of another hour working out a few smaller issues Ellie’s A.I. was having with Jenny’s body; it was nothing he couldn’t handle. A few other issues popped up as well, but they were mostly caused by the damage Jenny had arrived with.
“Alright Ellie, I think I’ve finally worked out all the bugs,” Jack said, getting up from his terminal and walking over to her; she was still sitting on the edge of the table swinging her feet.
“Meh, I didn’t feel a thing,” she shrugged, continuing her swinging.
“Well, I fixed a whole host of minor issues,” he told her, “You know how thorough I am.”
“Oh yeah, I do,” she smiled, lifting her legs up and examining her feet for the first time, “You know, Jenny has pretty unremarkable feet,” she said, gently feeling them, “Here, you take a look,” she said, extending them out towards him.
Jack politely agreed, grabbing hold of both feet and examining them. While he had a passing appreciation for feet, especially female feet, it was not a full-blown fetish. “Yeah, I suppose she does,” he finally said, letting go of them. “Still, Jenny’s feet look much better than your stubby ones,” he added, looking over at the table that still had Ellie’s body lying on it.
“I suppose you’re right,” she sighed dramatically, “Hey, can I go look at my body now?”
“Of course, there was nothing stopping you before,” he shrugged.
“Actually, there was, or rather, is,” she pointed out, directing his attention back to the cable still plugged in to her A.I. complex. “My programming prevents me from removing a maintenance cable without permission.”
“Ah, I forgot,” Jack said, “It’s just, you’re so much like the real Ellie, I keep forgetting you’re not,” he smiled, “You have my permission.”
“Good,” Ellie smiled, carefully removing the cable and absently clicking the skin panel back in place, “That’s what Ellie had in mind,” she then walked over to her body, which was still powered on, and looked down upon it.
Jack quietly walked up to join her as she silently stared down at her own body. After a few seconds, he broke the silence. “Not something you get to see every day, is it?”
“No,” Ellie replied simply, “Though, the real Ellie would have had the opportunity to look at me before I was shipped out,” she said, “But, that would have been too late for the memories of it to be integrated into my A.I.”
“Well, then it’s time to start making your own memories,” Jack smiled, “Come on, go ahead and feel your body,” he urged her.
“Alright,” Ellie smiled, looking weird doing it with Jenny’s face. She then gently reached out and touched her motionless body, starting with her stubby feet. “Wow, my feet really are stubby,” she laughed, playing around with her feet. She then continued feeling her body up, spending a bit of time with the breasts and face.
“Well, was that good for you?” he asked with a quizzical look.
“Yes,” she smiled, “And I’ve also taken some nice videos and photos to send to Ellie.”
“Of course,” he smiled, “Did she actually program you to send her stuff?”
“Oh yes,” she smiled, “You know how nosy she can be.”
“Oh yeah, I certainly do,” Jack shuddered.
“She wants us to have sex too,” Ellie added absently.
“WHAT?!” Jack spluttered.
“She wants us to…”
“I heard you the first time,” Jack said, trying without much success to hide a blush.
Ellie merely giggled, sounding remarkably like herself even with Jenny’s voice. “Come on, you know you want to…you’re just too caught up on societal norms,” she told him, “Ellie respects that, which is a tiny part of the reason she commissioned me,” she continued, “That way, you technically aren’t committing incest…not as though it’s a crime anymore anyway.”
It was true…after the Great War, incest was decriminalized so that family bloodlines wouldn’t die out…there were rules, however. Only second-degree relatives and on could mate, meaning Jack could legally marry Ellie, if he so chose.
Jack sighed and then composed himself, looking down at Ellie’s motionless body. “You know, you are attractive,” he began, “But I’m not sure I feel comfortable yet having relations with you that way,” he said a bit carefully.
“If this is about Gabby interfering, then no worries,” Ellie assured him, “She and Ellie already worked things out and Gabby is okay with it.”
“I’m sure,” Jack said, “But I still don’t feel comfortable doing it…yet.”
“Alright,” Ellie said with a look of disappointment on her borrowed face.
“Don’t be discouraged,” Jack assured her, patting her shoulder, “I’m sure we’ll get there,” he smiled, “Now, I think we should get back to business,” he then said, “Since you’re obviously functioning properly in Jenny’s body, it seems the problems she was having were primarily with her A.I. core.”
“That does make sense,” Ellie agreed, her face losing all signs of disappointment and focusing on the task at hand, “Do you think you can fix her?”
“I think so,” Jack said, walking over to it and plugging the cable that was previously plugged into Ellie into Jenny’s A.I. “I’ve only had a few cases where the A.I. itself was corrupted, and it’s always tricky…the A.I. usually has to be reinitialized and started over from scratch.”
“Huh, that would mean it would lose all its memories, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly,” he said, “So make sure you don’t ever damage yourself that severely.”
“I’ll try,” she smiled slyly, sticking her tongue out at him.
Jack merely smiled back and had his terminal run a comprehensive sweep of Jenny’s A.I. It only took a few minutes for it to generate enough error messages to confirm Jack’s suspicions…Jenny’s A.I. was indeed corrupted.
“Is she damaged?” Ellie asked, seeing the disappointed look on Jack’s face.
“Oh yeah,” he sighed, trying to decide his options, “I don’t know what the hell those women were doing with Jenny, but whatever it was…it was excessive.”
“Poor Jenny,” Ellie said, absently rubbing her borrowed body as though she were comforting Jenny herself.
“Yeah, I can rebuild her A.I., but she’ll never be quite the same as they may have been used to,” he said, beginning the rebuilding process, “Though, considering how they treated her, I doubt they’ll even care, or notice.”
“Perhaps,” Ellie shrugged.
Jack typed away furiously on the computer for the next several minutes, finally beginning the massive A.I. rebuilding process for Jenny’s corrupter systems. “There, that should do it,” he said with a look of satisfaction, “I also threw in a few subroutines to allow her to better protect herself from over indulgence in the future.”
“Good, though will the client be upset about that?”
“Perhaps,” Jack said, “But it was part of an update anyway….one which they neglected to install.”
“Ah, I see,” Ellie said, “You’ll just tell them it was part of her normal maintenance,” she smiled deviously.
“Precisely,” Jack winked.
“So, while we wait for that to finish,” Ellie said, “Why don’t you finally tell me more about your secret project?” she suggested, looking over at the table in the back.
Jack was slightly taken aback, hoping she might have forgotten about the project. Still, even without Ellie’s otherwise good memory recall, this was an android version of her and otherwise incapable of truly forgetting anything.
“Ha, you thought I would forget, didn’t you?” she laughed.
“Yeah,” Jack admitted sheepishly.
“I know you too well for that,” she boasted, “Anyway, come on. Let’s see it,” she demanded imperiously.
“Alright,” Jack sighed, getting up from the computer and walking over to the table containing his secret project, “Just try and calm yourself when you see it,” he warned, grabbing hold of the sheet.
“I will,” she promised, anxious to see what lay beneath.
“Very well,” he nodded, slowly lifting the sheet until what lay beneath was uncovered.
Ellie merely gasped, saying only, “It’s you.”
Chapter Seven: Secret Revealed
Lying upon the table was an unclad, exact copy of Jack, down to every last detail on his body. It was clearly an android, evident by the open panel with bits of wires and cables still protruding from it, giving the impression it was still a work in progress.
Ellie still looked shocked, her systems clearly trying to process the sight of not only a naked Jack laying before her, but a male android as well. After several stunned seconds of silence, she finally spoke. “Jack, why are you building an android of yourself?”
“Well, that’s a rather complicated question,” Jack said nervously, scratching his hair a bit wildly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not judging you,” Ellie assured him, “I think it’s rather cute your building a copy of yourself,” she smiled, “Hey, maybe I can have some fun with him instead of you.”
“Perhaps,” Jack smiled, relaxing a bit, “Well, I did sort of build him for selfish reasons,” Jack admitted, “I guess it started with Uncle Morty’s death,” he began, “I was sad that a man who could likely have lived another few decades was taken down by a stupid illness,” he explained, “I suppose I started building Jack-bot here to prevent that from ever happening to me.”
“How so?”
“Well, I’m sure you know by now that I’m very intelligent and highly resourceful,” Jack said, a bit modestly. Ellie conceded by merely nodding her head, eager to hear the rest of the story. “That being said, I don’t have the expertise to fight medical conditions,” he continued, “But, I do know people who are experimenting in the medical field and I have given them my technical knowhow to create a device which, someday I hope, might be able to transfer my consciousness into Jack-bot here.”
“Wow Jack, that’s a little extreme,” Ellie admitted, then remembering she wasn’t judging and putting on a bashful expression.
“I know, but I’m thinking of Henry,” Jack said, “If I were to contract some untreatable illness in the next few years, the poor boy would be orphaned…again,” Jack explained, “I can’t let that happen…especially since I’ve done so well cultivating his intellect. It’s only a matter of time before he’s skilled enough to replace me here so Gabby and I can retire to some cabin further up in the mountains.”
“Ah, I see,” Ellie, “That’s a noble goal, but what if you can’t achieve the reality of transferring your consciousness?” “Well, then in that case, I’ll just transfer as much of my knowledge and experiences into Jack-bot here and hope that he’s capable of raising Henry as well as I,” Jack shrugged.
“I see,” Ellie nodded, “It’s truly interesting to see a male android,” Ellie then said, leaning in towards Jack-bot’s open torso to peer inside at the hardware equipped in him, “To be honest, I didn’t think there were any….at least, not any this sophisticated.”
“There aren’t,” Jack said simply, “the majority of male androids out there are either sex bots, or androids designed for heavy labor in places otherwise not safe for humans to work in, such as nuclear reactors or waste dump sites,” Jack explained, “I sort of hybridized the chassis of both a male sexbot, and a decommissioned worker unit, to create a frame for my doppelganger here that is both functional, and durable.”
“Interesting,” Ellie nodded, “Does that mean he’ll be stronger?”
“Yes, but not ridiculously stronger,” Jack assured her, “He might be able to lift me up and toss me across the room, but not the examination table which is about three times my weight.”
Ellie let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good…the last thing we need is Jack-bot malfunctioning and going on a killing rampage, like in those old films.”
“Yeah, that would suck,” Jack agreed.
“But those male androids are rather simple minded,” she pointed out, “How are you getting past that?”
“I’m fitting him with heavily modified Perfect Friend parts,” he answered, “virtually all the hardware that will run his body and his A.I. are modified Perfect Friend parts, since the Perfect Friend model is the most versatile.”
“Yeah, I should know, seeing as I am one,” she smiled, “At least, my real body is,” she added, absently looking over at her still dormant body laying a few feet away.
“The real hard part is reprogramming the A.I. to be male instead of female,” he said, “So far, I’ve been able to transfer my personality profile onto it, but it still acts female.”
“Huh, that must be awkward,” Ellie said.
“You have no idea,” Jack shuddered, “It’s even more awkward for the A.I., since it almost immediately gets confused about having a male body.”
“Yeah, I can imagine,” Ellie laughed.
“I’m confident I can fix that issue in the next few weeks,” Jack laughed, “at least it gives me something to do in between repair jobs.”
“Yeah, I suppose so,” Ellie agreed, “Hmmm, I’ve always wondered why Spaztec didn’t make any male versions of the five models.”
“Well, the most obvious reason is that the majority of their customers are male,” Jack explained, “And, the few female customers have said they wouldn’t feel as comfortable being around a male android, since females are seen as safer and more comforting.”
“I see,” Ellie nodded.
“Spaztec is considering making male iterations in the Mark III release, but since there’s considerably less demand, if they do, it’ll just be a handful of basic models based on each of the common ethnic groups; no customization options.”
“Aww, that’s too bad,” Ellie said sadly.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m building this super custom male android in my image,” Jack finished, “Because Spaztec won’t...I asked.”
“So, are you going to use him for anything in the meanwhile?” Ellie asked, absently stroking his chest.
“Well, I was going to have him help me out around here,” Jack admitted, “but now that I have you, I might not need him for that.”
“Hey, you can’t expect me to help out with all the menial work around here,” Ellie complained, “You can still use him to help out, at least, a little.”
“I know, I was just teasing,” he smiled, “Though, I might have him stand in for me with the customer service issues upstairs,” he pondered, “I do so dislike dealing with disgruntled customers.”
Ellie laughed at that. “Yeah, that is a good use for him…probably what Ellie would have used me for if she hadn’t sent me to you.”
“Yeah, I can picture that,” Jack nodded, “So, I can tell you’ve been behaving these past few minutes,” he told her, “You can go ahead and examine him more…completely, if you so desire.”
Ellie visibly relaxed at this point, obviously showing considerable restraint at standing next to a naked male android in Jack’s image for the past several minutes. “Thanks Jack! You have no idea how hard it is processing your conflicting commands over my donor’s,” she said, calmly reaching out and caressing Jack-bot’s body.
“How exactly did Ellie formulate her order to you?” Jack asked, curious as to how he might circumvent her programming a bit to conform to his line of thinking.
“She ordered me to have sex with you and to report on the details, including photos and videos I am supposed to take while we...do it,” she ended delicately.
“I see,” Jack nodded, trying to think on it, “Would having sex with Jack-bot here suffice?”
Ellie put on a thinking expression, though Jack knew with his question that her processors were rapidly trying to parse her orders to determine if his loophole might suffice. She finally responded a few moments later. “No. It has to be you, not a robotic duplicate,” she finally answered, “Sorry.”
“It’s quite alright,” he sighed, “is your caress of my duplicates body helping at all at least?”
“It is,” she smiled, now examining its penis, “Wow Jack, you’re very well equipped, if I may say so.”
“Thanks,” Jack blushed, “I’m glad you like it…you’re very well equipped too,” he added, looking over at her body.
“I know,” she smiled modestly.
“Hey, I’ve got it!” he suddenly shouted.
“What?” Ellie asked, a little startled at his outburst.
“I can just have sex with you in Jenny’s body,” he smiled, “It will be more comfortable for me, since I won’t be disconcerted having sex with my cousin, and you’ll still be having sex with me.”
“Huh,” Ellie said, then her head cocked off to one side in the typical response of an android about to spend a bit of extra time processing a command. After nearly a minute of ‘thinking’, she finally returned to normal and said, “Yeah, that would satisfy her order…all she wants is to know what having sex with you would be like.”
“Good,” Jack said with a sigh of relief, “And, at the end of the year, Jack-bot here should be ready so you can have fun with him whenever you like.”
“Thanks cousin,” she said, walking over and kissing him. She then began to embrace him.
“Hey, let’s hold off a bit so I can see how Jenny’s restructuring is going,” Jack said, holding off her advances a bit.
“Alright,” she sighed. The two of them then walked over to the computer. Ellie waited patiently while Jack checked on the repair suite.
“Alright, we’ve got about 20 minutes,” Jack announced, rising to his feet.
“Plenty of time,” Ellie said seductively.
“Yeah,” Jack grinned.
“You don’t think Jenny will mind what we’re about to do, will she?” Ellie asked with a worried expression.
“Of course not,” Jack said simply, “First off, she’ll be starting off fresh, and second, she needs a shower anyway,” he said, giving her a sniff.
“Yeah, I do smell a bit like alcohol at the moment,” Ellie conceded, also giving herself a sniff.
“Well, it’s not too strong,” Jack decided, taking her hand and leading him into the residential part of the bunker, “Here, this will be your room,” he told her, opening it up and walking inside with her. It was the room he had previously been storing Rahkee and Varsha in, but now that he was utilizing more of his stock of androids, it had been vacant for some time.
“Wow, it’s nice,” Ellie said, walking over to the bed and plopping onto the side of it, even bouncing around to get a feel of how comfy it was, “Comfy too,” she said with a satisfactory expression.
“Yeah, I prefer to have the best,” Jack told her, “Since I occasionally sleep down here myself when I’m working on a difficult project.”
“Well, now you’ll have me to keep you company,” she smiled.
“Yeah,” Jack agreed.
“Well, shall we get started?” she asked, patting the bed imperiously, “And, I believe you’re a little overdressed for the occasion,” she added, looking at his clothes with distaste.
“Ah yes, I’ll need to remedy that,” he said with a hint of a blush, kicking off his shoes and then shedding all his clothes. “Better?” he asked, standing before her naked.
“Much,” she smiled, her eyes opening wider, signifying she was currently recording the entire encounter as well as snapping a few choice photos to send to Ellie.
“You are one kinky girl Ellie,” Jack laughed before joining her in the bed. The two of them engaged in several rounds of passionate lovemaking before Ellie’s lust was finally satisfied. Though having sex with Jenny’s body did alleviate some of his discomfort, he still nonetheless felt some knowing it was Ellie controlling the body.
“Well cousin, you were quite good,” Ellie congratulated him as they cleaned themselves up in the shower moments later, “But, I could tell you were holding back a bit.”
“I know,” Jack admitted with a sigh, helping her clean her back.
“Well, anyhow, it was sufficient enough to satisfy Ellie’s orders and I’m sure she will thoroughly enjoy the footage and pics I’m sending her,” Ellie continued, “But, I will need to break down your barriers a bit so we can finally do it in MY body.”
“Very well,” Jack sighed, “I look forward to your attempts,” he smiled, and at that, Ellie gave a grunt and playfully pushed him into the wall.
“Well Jack, as fun as it’s been playing around in Jenny’s body, I think I want to return to my own now,” Ellie said as they were drying off, “no joke intended, but this just isn’t me,” she added, gesturing down at her body.
“Of course,” Jack nodded, “Just let me get dressed and we’ll head out and check on Jenny’s progress,” he told her, heading over to where he left his clothes.
“Ok,” Ellie smiled, “And take your time getting dressed,” she added, “It’s just as nice watching you get dressed as it is watching you undress,” she finished with a naughty smile.
“Oh man,” Jack said, putting his face in his palm. Then he gathered his clothes on the bed and slowly got dressed as Ellie watched seductively.
Chapter Eight: Important News
As they headed back out into the main lab, they were surprised to discover Serriah waiting for them. She was standing patiently near Jack’s workbench area, though, at closer inspection, she was actually in standby mode.
“Hmm, what’s Serriah doing here?” Ellie asked, slowly walking over to her.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jack said, smacking his head, “I sent her on an important errand this morning before I came down here.”
“How come she’s still in standby mode?” Ellie asked, gently poking Serriah’s forehead and eliciting no response.
“Well, I did tell her to report only to me,” Jack said, “She’s probably waiting for my voice input.”
“That makes sense,” Ellie nodded. After a few more moments passed by, she then said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and give it.”
“Oh, right,” Jack said bashfully, walking over to Serriah and standing purposefully in front of her. “Serriah, exit standby mode.”
That had an immediate effect. Serriah instantly came back to life, her eyes focusing directly on Jack’s. “Hey Jack, I didn’t see you in here when I got back, so I decided to go into standby mode until you got back.”
“No worries Serriah, I was just having a little fun with Ellie here,” Jack smiled, gesturing over to Ellie.
“Oh, you mean the latest android you’re working on?” Serriah asked, looking over at Ellie, “Did Gabby give you permission to fuck this one?” she asked playfully.
“Oh, in a way,” Jack blushed, “My cousin Ellie sent me a Perfect Friend model in her image, and I decided to play around with it by installing it in Jenny’s body here.”
“Hey Serriah!” Ellie waved excitedly; the same type of wave she typically gave people. She was still naked, and the excited wave made her breasts jiggle a bit.
“Huh, interesting,” Serriah mused, “I thought it wasn’t possible to adapt us to a different body.”
“Well, I was bored, so I made it possible,” Jack shrugged.
“Well, given your skills, I’m not too surprised,” Serriah smiled.
“Well, were you successful?” Jack asked, getting back to business with a serious expression.
“Yes, the project has been greenlit,” she reported with equal seriousness, “It wasn’t easy, but you were right…my donor’s skills did come in handy.”
“As I knew they would,” Jack smiled, then giving a triumphant cheer.
“What is it, cousin?” Ellie asked with a curious expression.
“I was seeking approval from the town council to add a café to my growing business,” Jack explained.
“Ooh, that sounds nice,” Ellie said, “Where are you going to build it though?”
“I’m going to attach it to the lobby of the motel,” Jack answered, “That way, the stock area of it will also be connected to the loading dock of the shop, so all three of my business will be joined together there.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“Yeah, I decided to add a café when I saw that the motel doesn’t really offer people breakfasts,” Jack explained, “Also, I’ve noticed many people who work in uptown have to travel to low town to eat, often passing by here,” he continued, “This way, I can give motel guests a discount for eating here, and still pick up business from the people on their lunch breaks.”
“Wow, that’s a really good idea,” Ellie congratulated him, “But, now that you have the motel, do you really need that much more money?”
“Well, think of it this way…the more money I make, the more upgrades I can give you all,” Jack simply said, “The way I see it, having you guys is a symbiotic relationship: I own you, you work for me, you earn me money, I use that money to properly maintain and upgrade you, those upgrades help you operate more efficiently to make even more money, and I derive pleasure and satisfaction from working on you guys.”
“Wow, you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it,” Ellie smiled.
“Yeah, but I generally put a lot of thought into everything,” he shrugged.
“Yeah, you do,” Ellie conceded, “So, why did you send Serriah to do this…don’t you usually send Rachel?”
“I used to send Rachel, that’s true,” Jack nodded, “But now I have Serriah, and her donor personality belonged to a shrewd businesswoman, so I figured Serriah could tap into that aspect of her personality to improve my chances of getting a permit to build a café.”
“Huh, why wouldn’t they have let you?” Ellie asked.
“Well, they were afraid I might ruin the business of other food places in low town, but I argued that the café would primarily be to better serve our motel guests, and that having a place halfway between work and home to eat would offer a better convenience, plus they could collect more taxes.”
“It’s all rather technical,” Serriah summed up, seeing the blank look on Ellie’s face.
“Thanks,” Ellie smiled.
“Well, suffice to say that, now I have the go ahead, I can hire a team of construction bots to start working and have it finished before Thanksgiving,” Jack said excitedly, thinking of all the new possibilities available to him.
“Wow, sounds like you’ve been planning this for a while,” Ellie said.
“Well, it is something Uncle Morty had mused about,” Jack admitted, “But I’ve streamlined the business far more effectively than Morty ever could have…mostly because I’m not paying you guys with a yearly salary, just with regular maintenance and upgrades, which are still a lot less than a salary.”
“I’ll say,” Serriah nodded, most likely having done the figures in her head just then.
“Yeah, suffice to say I have more than sufficient funds to build this café, and it will likely increase overall yearly profits by about 20%,” Jack reported, “Plus, all the food waste from the café can simply be composted and sold in the shop to the farmers that come by.”
“Well, all I care about is more upgrades for me,” Ellie shrugged.
“Me too,” Serriah added.
“Well, I thought you might….it is what I’ve basically programed you all for,” he said, “Helps give you a purpose.”
“So, Jack, are you going to put me back in my body now?” Ellie reminded him.
“Oh, yes,” he smiled, “Sorry, obviously Serriah distracted me.”
“It’s okay,” Ellie assured him.
“Would you mind if I stayed for this sir?” Serriah asked.
“Sure, I don’t mind…plus, you’ve earned a little rest,” he decided, “Ellie, you know what to do.”
Ellie merely nodded, laying back down on the table and unsealing her abdominal access port. She then laid back and allowed Jack to delicately remove it and place it on the nearby side table before reaching in and disconnecting her A.I. core. Jenny’s body sputtered an error message before shifting to a state of standby mode.
Unlike last time, when Jack had Ellie’s core connected to his computer, this time he did not, so she could not interact with him. Still, he could see the data readouts on the tiny monitor indicating all her systems were still functioning properly.
Serriah merely stood by looking on the scene with awe. It was not very often an android got to see another android’s A.I. core removed in this fashion.
Jack carefully walked Ellie’s core back over to her body, which had gone into power saving mode without her core in it for so long, and then expertly reattached it to all her systems. As soon as Jack withdrew his hands from the open access port, Ellie’s already active core reactivated her body and brought all its systems back online. Her eyes blinked rapidly several times, restoring moisture to the semi-dried out eyes that had been left open and staring blankly for the past several hours. Finally, she sat up with robotic speed and stared at her open hands with a bit of awe.
“Wow, it’s so nice to be back in my own body,” she said with a sigh of relief, now hugging herself and testing her movements to get used to it again.
“I can only imagine,” Jack said, almost with a sound of longing.
Ellie merely continued feeling herself up for several more seconds before dropping back to the floor on her bare feet. Before doing anything else, she grabbed her abdominal skin panel and clicked it back into place, finally hiding her robotic nature.
“You finally decided to put that back on?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I think you’re used to me by now,” she shrugged, “Anyway, shouldn’t Jenny be fixed by now?”
“Hmm, let’s see,” Jack said, walking over to his terminal and assessing the repair status of Jenny’s A.I. core, while Ellie and Serriah watched over his shoulder. After several seconds, he nodded, “Yes, looks like the restoration program has completed restructuring her A.I.”
“Goodie,” Ellie clapped, “Can you put her back in now?”
“I was just about to do that,” Jack nodded, carefully unplugging Jenny’s core and carrying it over to her body. With the same precision he used on Ellie’s, he reattached Jenny’s core and then pressed the manual power toggle on it, stepping back in case the core malfunctioned.
After several pained moments of anticipation, Jenny’s A.I. finally came online and her previously stoic face formed itself into a playful smile. “Hello, my name’s Jenny, your custom Partier model from Spaztec Robotics,” she announced cheerfully, then putting on a frowny face, “Hmmm, I appear to have had a recent format to my A.I…. would you like me to restore from previous cloud backup?”
“What?” Jack asked with genuine surprise.
“I’ve been recently equipped with an experimental cloud backup system, so that in case of excessive partying, my memories can be restored,” she supplied cheerfully.
“Wow, I didn’t know they were beta testing that yet,” Jack admitted under his breath, “Well, if you can, then go for it,” he ordered, “Oh, here’s my tech badge to override all user security protocols,” he added, showing her his technician credentials.
“Thank you, sir, I’ll now sync with my stored memories,” she smiled, then her face went slack as she connected to a dedicate server that housed all the memories this android had formed with its current owner. After a few minutes, she blinked a few times and then came back to life.
“Ah, hello Technician Jack, my name is Jenny, thanks for repairing me,” she smiled, sitting up and holding out her hand.
“Don’t mention it,” Jack said, briefly shaking her hand, “So, are you encountering any lingering issues?” he asked, since some issues could only be detected by the android itself.
“No, you repaired my quite expertly,” she congratulated him with a smile.
“Good,” Jack sighed with relief, “I take it your owner damages you often?”
“Not that often, but this was definitely the worst,” she admitted, speaking of her essential death with no sense of concern.
“Well, I did install some safeguards in your system to shut down your essential systems more quickly in case of a malfunction, but I’m afraid you will still have to keep partying if you’re ordered to.”
“I understand. That is what I am for, after all!” she giggled.
“So, if she’s fixed, do you think I can have some fun with her?” Ellie asked, still standing behind him, and still naked.
“I don’t have anything against it,” Jack shrugged. He then looked at the clock, seeing it was nearly dinner time, “Just make sure you finish before dinner time, okay?” he added, “Oh, and be sure not to break yourselves.”
“Don’t worry Jack,” Ellie smiled, “Hmmm, Serriah, you’re programmed to be bisexual, are you not?”
“I am,” Serriah answered.
“Goodie, then you can join us.”
Serriah looked into Jack’s eyes for permission as soon as Ellie invited her. Jack gave her a nod and then started closing down his software as the three lovely ladies started heading towards the bedrooms to have their fun.
“You girls just remember to clean up afterwards,” he told them as he headed towards the lift that would take him back into his house, “Oh, and make sure Serriah gets plugged in.”
“We will, sheesh” Ellie called back with mock frustration.
Jack merely smiled as he stepped into the lift to thank his wife.
Chapter Nine: Birthday Dinner
As soon as Jack stepped off the lift into the house, the first thing he focused on was the sound of Gabby’s voice in her home office just off the kitchen. While Rachel handled the majority of their finances, Gabby had been programmed with rudimentary secretary programming to handle the overall logistics of the house in regards to supplies, maintenance, and acquisitions.
Jack sealed the entrance to the lift and slowly made his way over, noting as he got closer, he could hear another voice from the office speaking with Gabby. By the time he entered the office, he had little doubt who the voice belonged to.
“Oh, happy birthday Jack!” Ellie shouted excitedly from the video screen Gabby had opened on her office terminal; this was the real Ellie.
“Thanks Ellie, how are you doing today?” he asked, giving Gabby a peck on the cheek as he sat down next to her.
“Fantastic,” Ellie said, “I just got all the juicy footage my copy sent me and am looking forward to reviewing it more closely later,” she said lustfully, “Though, I do wish you hadn’t chickened out and found some way to install her in a different body, but this will do…for now.”
“Wait, you found a way to transfer an A.I. core into another body?” Gabby asked with a sound of interest, “I thought that’s something you might test out on me some day,” she whined.
“I will dear,” Jack assured her with a pat on her shoulder, “It’s just, I figured testing the procedure on a fresh out of the box android would be safer than testing it on your core, given the vast amount of memories and experiences you’ve built up over the years,” he explained. “If something had gone terribly wrong with the Ellie android’s core, it would have been a simple matter to restore it, but a major malfunction with yours would have likely resulted in near total loss of all the data that you’ve accumulated over the years,” he further explained, seeing a brief look of confusion on her face.
“Oh, I see,” she nodded, “Well, I look forward to trying out a different body as soon as you’ve perfected the procedure.”
“And I look forward to it as well,” Jack smiled, “Anyway, thanks so much for the android Ellie,” Jack said, focusing back on the video monitor, “You have no idea how useful it’s proven to be already.”
“I thought you might find some use for it,” Ellie smiled, “It’s the least I can do for all the financial assistance you provided me throughout my upper schooling.”
“I’ll say,” Jack nodded, “This is truly a gift that will keep on giving, so for that you have my gratitude…do feel free to send me gifts in the future though.”
“No worries, I will, “Ellie laughed, “And don’t worry too much about giving your new Ellie android an allowance…I’ll be periodically sending bits of my old clothes and things to better accessorize herself with…along with the usual memory scans.”
“Good, anything that can save me money is well appreciated,” Jack said with a tone of relief.
“Well, anyway, I was just calling to check in with Gabby...but I’m glad to see my android copy has been received properly, in all senses of the word,” Ellie said, “Now I’ll leave you be to enjoy the rest of your birthday.” And with that, she ended the call.
“So, I guess now I know what that secret call with Ellie was a few months ago,” Jack said, staring into Gabby’s eyes.
“Yeah, at first I was a little jealous of the thought of your cousin sending you a perfectly anatomically android in her image,” Gabby admitted, “But when she explained that the android could be used to improve the efficiency of the business, and earn us more money, I was okay with it.”
“That’s good, not to mention it’s a way for us to interact with Ellie more often, now that the real Ellie is living so far away.”
“Yeah, Henry does like Ellie,” Gabby conceded.
“Well, anyway, it’s nice to have another helping hand around here,” Jack said, giving Gabby another kiss, “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you… Serriah successfully secured the permits for our proposed café.”
“Ooh, that’s nice,” Gabby smiled, “I was a little bummed when you told me I wouldn’t be going, but I guess Serriah is a bit more suited than I am.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, I don’t have any plans on making her my wife,” Jack joked, setting off a mock fight that ended with them making out on the office floor.
Once they got themselves fixed up, Gabby headed into the kitchen to get his special birthday dinner ready; she already had enough ingredients for Ellie’s addition to their family setting.
Jack amused himself by watching the news and reruns of his favorite shows. By the time Gabby was nearly finished cooking dinner, Jack had had been joined by Henry. A short time before dinner was to start, Jack heard the sound of the lift arriving down the hall and then a rather flustered looking Ellie walked in and sat down.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me cousin Ellie would be here,” Henry accused Jack as he got up to greet her.
“Hate to break it to you little genius, but I’m not really Ellie,” the Ellie android told him after they broke apart.
“Yeah Henry, this is a Perfect Friend android your cousin Ellie had made in her image,” Jack explained, “She sent it to me as a birthday present this morning.”
“Oh,” Henry said with a look of understanding, “Do you at least have all her memories and stuff?”
“I have all the relevant ones,” Ellie answered carefully.
“Well, that’s good then,” Henry sighed with relief, then gave her a shrewd look, “Does the fact you’re an android mean you’ll be a better challenge than the real Ellie in my games?”
“I don’t know,” Ellie answered honestly, “I guess we’ll have to see,” she winked.
“After dinner,” Gabby interrupted from the kitchen; her audio sensors were very acute.
“Alright,” Henry said, sitting back down on the couch next to Jack; Ellie sat down on the other side of him.
“You were down there for some time,” Jack whispered to her.
“Well, there were three of us,” Ellie whispered back, with a hint of a blush, “We each took turns before…”
“Hey, I don’t need that many details,” Jack interrupted; he was now blushing. “Just tell me Jenny’s powered down for the night and Serriah’s plugged in…and that you all cleaned up.”
“Don’t worry, we did,” Ellie assured him with a playful nudge to the ribs, “I know the real Ellie can be sort of forgetful at times, but I’m an android…I don’t forget”
“That’s true,” Jack said, “Still, you do a good job of mimicking the appearance of forgetfulness.”
“Thanks,” she smiled proudly.
“Don’t mention it.”
They sat watching the news for several more minutes until Gabby called them in for dinner. The dinner, as usual for birthdays, consisted of a very special spaghetti with a creamy white sauce and bacon and sausages mixed in.
The main topics of conversation at the table, naturally, were the inclusion of Robo-Ellie in their family, and the pending addition of a café to their growing business portfolio.
Over the course of dinner, the Ellie android amused them by recounting various tales from the real Ellie’s life. Just as with Gabby, Jack slowly started seeing her as an actual member of his family, rather than some highly sophisticated android…but, as always, he kept their true nature ever present in his mind, hopeful that someday they might be more than the sum of their cleverly crafted programming.
Season One Closed for Christmas - The Shop | The Repair Shop - Part 1 | Off-season - The Motel | The Repair Shop - Part 2 | Slow day - The Cafe | The Small Business - End-of-Year Review
Season Two Homefront - The House