by Chris Hechtl
“Right. And a little tidbit in the license says we can use what they create on our servers if we wish. So, we'll keep an eye on it. You never know what we might be able to fish out of there. It'll be a race to the patent office on who gets to use it, but that's legal's problem.”
“Right,” Mitch replied with a nod as Bret pushed himself back to his own station.
<*>^<*>
Aphrodite noted that her processing time resembled a lot like human sleep. She ran a comparison and found similarities in both processes. Giving herself time to run diagnostics and process her daily input allowed her to integrate what she learned as well as repair any issues. It meant she was better each “morning.”
If she had divided her mind into partitions, she could be online 24/7. However, she had a hard limit on her processors, and she found that attempts at using her limited GPU or creating virtual systems in her memory were suboptimal.
She researched sleep methods to see if there was an answer. She did find a comparison to cetaceans and how they had the ability she had considered. Did that mean she was forming imagination? That thought train led to another. Was her thought processes becoming more in line with human? Her emotional modulator, was it interfering with her processes and function?
<*>^<*>
“Did you show the powers that be the survey request?”
Andy frowned as he scanned the document. Legal was getting involved, and he hated the paperwork crap. He'd documented a lot of the build process. They had the 3-D files but not everything had been documented properly in the heat of the moment. Mister Ryu in manufacturing was bugging him to finalize some of the parts for production.
The software was easy. He could copy that and take it apart at any time. Parsing it out would be a hassle; they would need to find the customization files Aphrodite had written to adapt her software to her body and then figure out how to create a template. Perhaps keep them as a default setting? What about the open source material he'd used? Wasn't there something in the ELA about it? That they couldn't sell the damn code or something? He was pretty sure legal would be all over his ass about it. He sucked in a breath and then let it go as he shook his head. It could be done later. All of it, it could be handled later. He was on deadline here. Time to focus, he reminded himself. He had to focus on the hardware. Get that out the door and he was half way to being home free.
He grimaced. That would mean taking the girl apart. Taking her apart, piece by piece, then scanning some of the parts while looking for wear and mapping her range of motion. He looked at her. He realized he was amorthopizing with a construct of plastic and metal, but still, he felt horrible, like he was a traitor. Like he was going to murder his own child, which in a way he was going to have to do.
He had to stay positive. It was only a temporary thing; her mind would be copied thousands of times and then uploaded to a new generation of robots. She would live on, perhaps in more than just gynoids. True androids? Entertainment was only the tip of the iceberg as far as he was concerned. He fought to put the exciting thought aside for the moment.
And he could take the time to examine her for wear and possible problems that could come up to bite the company in the ass—design defects, stuff that could wear down in time. He always hated having some of the liquid cooling in her. They had to in order to deal with the excess heat generated during high maneuvers but could they do away with it? He frowned thoughtfully. No, no, they couldn't he concluded. The Seebeck skin couldn't keep up with it, and it didn't shed heat.
“Yo! Andy!” Brain said, snapping his fingers to get his attention. Andy blinked and returned to the present.
“Dude, where were you? You were like miles away. New idea?”
“No, nothing like that. Dreading what we're going to have to do. Why? What were you saying?”
“The survey man. We need more people. We need to test the product remember? Not just to get a general idea of how well she'll perform, but to give her a chance to learn from the process.”
“Um …”
Brain snorted. “Look, I know you added the suction thing to give better head. Believe me, I know. And she's gotten better at hand jobs and going slow. But we've got to get more feedback. Got to man. Besides, I'm getting a bit worn out. My pecker's getting sore.”
“Tough to be you,” Andy muttered. He frowned thoughtfully. “Tradition is we run it past the other employees, right? Then friends and family?”
“Yeah.”
“I'll write the email getting the permission and the survey paperwork. You got any people in mind to give her a shot?”
“An orgy? I suppose …”
“God in heaven, not that. She'd blow her boards! One at a time, dude!”
Brian snorted. “We have to run it past a couple of professionals in the trade to you know.”
“Great. We'll print extra forms then. Let me get the email out.”
“Okay,” Brian said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
“You make sure she's serviced—up on power, fuel, processors, lubricants, all of it. She'll need it when they start coming by.”
“Right,” Brian said with a distasteful grimace.
<*>^<*>
After the initial roll-out with the staff, Andy showed his creation proudly to his girlfriend. Opal had worked as a dancer at a few of the seedier casinos, even doing pole dancing at one point before she'd flirted briefly with the porn industry. Then she'd gotten into the company as a marketing girl. Her good looks and body really helped her sales pitch. “This is what you've been working on? Andy, I knew you were an engineer but …”
“I know, some people are unnerved by its realism. But that's what was called for on the work sheet. I aim to deliver.”
“You outdid yourself. Really,” she said sarcastically.
“Hey! I did the mechanics and electronics. The surface stuff isn't me. Honest.”
“Right. And don't try to snow me by telling me you kept your hands off of it at all times,” she growled in disgust.
“Well, no, I have to work on it you know,” he said rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. He blushed when she glared his way. Aphrodite turned to look at the users expectantly. She blinked.
“There is no sound—no whirring, nothing,” Opal murmured.
“Yeah. Hydraulic pumps and such, but we've got sound insulation and some cool sound canceling systems in there.”
She looked at it with a shiver of revulsion. The robot wasn't the only thing that bothered her. Just being involved with Andy was now bothering her. “It looks alive.”
“It's a work in progress,” Andy said proudly. “But we've come a long way.”
“How can she move like that?” Opal asked, watching the bot move gracefully to pose expectantly with her hands in her lap.
Andy smiled. The team had worked hard to get her movements as smooth and natural as possible. “We used compliance in the software and hardware. Mainly the software, these days even the motors are programmable.”
“It gives me the willies.”
“Well, it's a walking dildo,” Andy said with a shrug, “a programmable playmate.” Opal made a face at him. “Okay, no, that's not right—a fleshlight, a blow-up doll on steroids.”
She shook her head at him. “Must she be so … real?”
“I think the interest in conversation is a way to connect and generate empathy with the partner. You know there is a doll fetish right? I'm wondering how it will play with them.”
“And the other weirdo fetish people out there,” Opal said with a shiver of loathing.
“Andy, is she listening now?” Opal asked, now concerned.
Andy looked over to the robot, then back to the woman. He shrugged. “Why? It bother you to talk about someone in front of them?”
“She's not a person; she's a thing,” Opal said with a slight sneer in her voice. “I'm not thrilled about this project. How many people … customers can afford this?”
“It only takes ten to pay for it. Ten rich
people with more money than sense,” Andy replied.
“Perverts. All of them. You included Andrew.”
“Whatever. You're just worried your gender is about to become obsolete. With her mobile she can fetch a beer easily.” He grinned at her sour expression. “All we need to do is teach her to give massages and better blowjobs and she'll be damn near perfect.”
“Do I displease you, Andy?” Aphrodite asked in a little girl voice.
“That voice makes my skin crawl. Turn it off,” the woman snarled.
“Oh, it's um, adaptable. She's figured out what buttons to push.”
“Andy you better not have ….” Andy put his hands up as the woman glared at him.
“All in the name of science?” he said weakly.
She snarled at him and left in a huff. He shook his head. “Yeah, she's not thrilled,” he drawled, shaking his head.
“Hey, you're really serious about this?” he asked, chasing her out of the room. When he caught up to her, she turned, eyes troubled. He wrapped her in his arms. “Honey, I was just kidding.”
“I don't like that thing, Andrew. I don't like it at all. It gives me the creeps. What if it ... what if it goes all Terminator on you? Or … or …”
He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her. “So, I guess a threesome is out?” he asked. She poked him hard in the ribs then slapped his ass. “Owe!” he said, chuckling in pain.
She snuffled but then chuckled herself. “Serves you right, you cad.”
“Okay. Well, the good news is, she's done. We've finished with the prototype. We're taking her apart shortly for mass production.”
“Great. Dozens of life-sized Barbies. What is the world coming to?” Opal growled.
“Jealous much?” he teased as he tucked her under his arm and walked to the parking lot. “I wonder how you'd look in the wig?” he asked. She dimpled, and her fingers lashed out to twist his fingers. “Uncle!” he yelped. She held on to make her point for one more excruciating second before she let go. He gasped. “You are so mean to me! Vicious little thing.”
“Then you better take me home to let me have my wicked way with you,” she said with a grin, good humor restored. Something deep inside her was driving her … driving her to compete with the robot. To prove she was more of a woman than that hunk of plastic and programming.
He caught her leer and smiled slowly. She smiled right back.
<*>^<*>
Aphrodite was confused by the reactions of the last user. Her thermal profile registered many emotions in a quick time period, too quick to parse out and process in real time. But now that she had the time, she was beginning to untangle the mess. Contempt was there, fear, loathing. She wasn't certain as to why. A review of her interactions didn't answer the question either.
<*>^<*>
“So, you're saying this is some A.I. code? Something we can use, man? You're not pulling our leg?” Chai asked in the black hat forum. Only the elite could get into the dark web, and only a hacker could find this forum. One could be invited, but it was more telling of one's skills if they found it and got in on their own.
“Yes. It's wicked man, stuff for robots and such. But processing stuff that's way over my head.”
“I'll take a look,” Chai replied. “If we can use it, I'll owe you one.”
“More than one!” Mitch replied, snarling as he typed. “Dude this stuff rocks!”
“Okay, okay, more than one. But you know the hacker creed ….” Code was traded on the forum but not for sale. Credit card numbers, personal information, all that was handled by an encrypted forum elsewhere. The elite didn't need money; they were about the thrill. They wanted the challenge, the credit for doing the impossible, and causing as much chaos as possible in the process. All without getting caught of course.
“Right, right. So, what're you going to do with it?”
“I'm not sure yet. If it's what you say it is, I've been working on a couple of projects. I've been trying to create a bot with our approach to the craft, stealthy but with a love of chaos. My own little virtual doppelganger. I call him Puck.”
<*>^<*>
“So, you took it apart, and you've got the documentation? I'm going to walk this through customs personally.” Mister Ryu said, taking the flash stick from Andy's fingers. “That's the software? You have the backups and original, of course? And the hardware?”
“Yeah, um … yeah.” Andy said uncomfortably. “We had the CAD forms already. Not many were altered. I checked the documentation. We were just going to take her apart to scan each part. Next shift though, we're shagged.”
“And progress on the other forms?” Mister Ryu plowed on, ignoring the complaint. The kid had plenty of time to sleep later. He'd have to keep on him to get the scans finished before his plane took off tomorrow night.
“We're still having issues with the base form. Now that we've got it running ....” He couldn't help it; he had to yawn. He covered his mouth with his fist. “Sorry. It's been an all-nighter getting the files for parts sorted. And we'll have to do it again, then put her back together when we're done.”
“Don't bother to do that; they'll need the samples to work from on the other end. Box ‘em. We'll be shipping them express shipping.”
Andy blinked in confusion. “What? I was just saying we need to keep working on the software. The vision is still hinky.”
“No, you need to work on the bioforms like the client wants,” Mister Ryu insisted.
“Bioforms …”
Mister Ryu stared at the kid. He didn't know if he should laugh or not. What Houston and the others didn't know was that he'd been paid to steal the gynoid and its design. The creator would be a loose end, but he didn't want to have to do anything with that. He suspected Pavilion was going to hack the company's processors soon. Really, Houston should have accepted their buyout offer when he had the chance.
“Yeah, bioforms. The furries? One of the clients wants a gynoid with cat ears and whiskers, tail … that sort of thing? You can swap faces and wigs, but we need them tall, short, and of course they have to match a client's specs.”
“Shit,” Brian muttered from his workbench. He scrubbed at his face with his hands. He was not happy about taking Aphrodite apart; he'd grown attached to her. He thought of her as his creation as well. Finding out that they were going to tear her apart and scan her parts, toy with them, it bothered him on some level.
“Are we going to play?” Aphrodite asked in her sweet voice. “Is this someone new to play with?” she asked, eying the bluff Asian.
“No. Shut that damn thing off, Traynor. Now.”
“Yes, sir,” Andy replied hastily. He turned to Aphrodite. “Aphrodite, command, sleep mode. Process what you've got and upload the latest copies of your files. All of them. In fact, do a double backup. When you are finished, shut down fully.”
“Shut down fully?” the A.I. inquired. He nodded. “Command authorization acknowledged. Sleep mode followed by shut down for maintenance and power conservation. Sleep mode in five ... four … three … two …,” her eyelids fluttered then went down. “Good night, gentlemen. One,” she said softly, then slumped.
“Eerie,” Mister Ryu stated, eying the thing.
“It's a robot. Pretty close to perfect,” Brian said defensively. “Or at least as close as we can make her,” he said.
Mister Ryu eyed the young man. If he was smart, he'd keep his mouth shut. In fact, it might be a good idea to clue his new employers in on the duo. Maybe they'd hire them away from the company? That was possible he thought.
“Get to work.”
<*>^<*>
Aphrodite noted the human reactions during her last encounter and processed their speech and body language carefully. The expected parameters that had been set forth as goals for the week weren't being met. Her attempts to engage further were being rebuffed. She realized her presence had generated unwanted emotions in others; the Asian gentleman Ryu seemed disturbed. Judging from the facial expressions and
body language their subject was bad. So when she went to sleep mode she updated herself on the web as instructed, then updated her backup as well.
Her virtual avatar continued to process the files and ignored the drop in connection to her primary body. But when she was finished with the processing, she noted the time was to upload the results. She attempted to make a connection and failed.
That was the last time her organic body booted. When it didn't reboot, her virtual bot checked the camera feed in the lab but couldn't connect. The bot then connected to a laptop and used the device's onboard camera to see the room. Her body was being disassembled by Brian and packed in a shipping crate.
She was about to ask what was going on when she sensed a presence infiltrating the company servers. Since her purpose was entertainment not security, she withdrew in time for the firewalls to go up. Not that they did any good for the hackers had someone's passwords. They cut through the net and wreaked havoc.
<*>^<*>
Brian and Andy finished packing the last crate for the impatient delivery man. The guy was Goth, or he was a cosplay vampire. He had wicked long black hair and heavy eye shadow. He also spoke with a hiss lisp. He must have forgotten to take out his contacts since he had snake eyes that was a bit freaky.
When they finished loading it, the man had Andy sign off on the package while Brian stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried to look okay with the entire proceeding. “Are we done? Tsunade's holding the plane for us, but she can't wait forever.” the other driver asked impatiently, leaning out of the truck to look back at them.
“Almost,” the other said softly. That had been the signal to let him know that the security system and, more importantly, the cameras were down. The hack and purge had begun.
Andy glanced at the other guy. He had long platinum white hair and some sort of frog thing going. For all he knew, the two guys could be partners or something. He shook his head and put the thought out of his mind as he finished his signature. “Gotta get all the I's dotted and the T's crossed I suppose,” he muttered.