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 later 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 the androids had limits.
Still, this particular one was kind of cute. She had a tomboyish appearance with dark colored hair 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; they smelled strongly of booze and drugs.
“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?” she asked.
“No, not that I can think of,” he said with a confused look, “Does it say who it’s from?”
“Yes,” she smiled, “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?” Kat asked.
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 decided 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. Now 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.
Seeing he had nothing to do but wait 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 normal.
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 girls clothes…the same clothes she wore when they last met, actually. A sleeveless t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.
It took Jack a while, but he finally carried the body 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 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 does not 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 will be moving to Alaska to assume my duties as manager of a new touring company in the Aleutian Islands. As such, we will probably not see each other in person as frequently as before. I will 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 her, he figured he could use her 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 had 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 a robot in her image,”
“Well, she did, and I’m it,” the Ellie robot 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 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 is 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,” he added.
“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,” he said.
“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 is 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?” she asked.
“In a nutshell: major improvements in overall efficiency, more accurate human and personality emulation, bug fixes, better hardware support, etc,” he explained.
“Sounds cool,” Ellie smiled, “Will it take long?” she asked.
“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?”
“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 one of the camping trip,” she said.
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,” she offered.
“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,” he told her.
“Ok,” she said, hopping onto the table and unsealing 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. circuit box, “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,” she added.
“Good,” he said, “Now, 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,”
“Alright Jack, I’d be happy to,” she smiled.
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,” he told her.
“I see them,” she said, pausing briefly as her systems initiated the download, “Wow, that’s a lot of files!” she said, “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.
“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 lay still and focus on those download,”
“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.
“Ellie, did you 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,” he pointed out.
“Yep, she opted for just about everything,” Ellie smiled.
“Well, normally I’d disable that in you to save money, but since you’re family, I suppose I’ll keep that feature in,” he told her.
“Thanks,”
“Don’t mention it,” he told her, “How’s the download progressing?”
“About 50%,” she reported.
“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?” he asked her.
“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 am 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 which he wrote on the spot, “There, you should see them now,” he told her.
“I do,” she said, “They’ll add about another five minutes to the download time,” she reported.
“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,” Ellie smiled.
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,” he said.
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 as he did. Processors, cooling fans, 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 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?” he asked.
“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,” she reported.
“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, unplugging herself and getting to her feet.