Ted on Mars: A Ted Stedman Novel 02

by D. R. Rosier

  Now when he drank in the game, he actually got a real feeling buzz, and could get drunk if he’d wanted, instead of just that fake buzz that the beer had brought him before when he still had his body. Still, he’d always been a moderate drinker, at least after his wild college days. So he usually had two or three, and just enjoyed the buzzed relaxed feeling.

  He could recover faster as well. If he wanted. There were definitely advantages to being digitized and having an android body, he just wasn’t sure if it made up for the loss of his humanity. Although, it could be argued that mentally at least, he was still very much human. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts, he’d come here to relax, not brood.

  He flagged down the tavern wench and she nodded her head and went to get him a drink as he walked over to the table.

  “Hey guys, what’s going on?”

  Ted snickered, “Did you hear what happened? Apparently because of our invasion, Stronghold didn’t have any services, guards, or shops of any kind for twenty-four hours as it lay in ruins.”

  He snickered, “You know they’re going to get us back soon right? We got lucky they didn’t have a lot of players logged in at the time.”

  Bill interjected, “Congratulations on your return. I swear it wasn’t me, but I’m tempted to post a Ted sighting right now. They’re acting like it’s an Elvis conspiracy.”

  He grunted, and smiled at the scantily clad tavern wench when she handed him a large beer mug.

  She winked at him and flounced off.

  He took a long drink and cleared his throat, “Yeah, that’s kind of a mess.”

  Tom shrugged, and narrowed his eyes at him a bit, “So tell us your secret, how’re you managing to hold onto Nicci and Kara so long.”

  He frowned, “What do you mean?”

  Bill gave his friend an annoyed look, “They usually move on a lot faster is all he meant, never mind.”

  Tom nodded a bit sheepishly, “It’s true. We’ve been playing a long while, and we’ve never seen them stay with one guy for so long. I was just curious though, not looking for advice or anything.”

  Bill gave him a look that called bullshit and rolled his eyes.

  He chuckled, “Nothing guys, absolutely nothing.”

  It was true in a sense. Sure his big cock had something to do with it, but it was his lack of trying to control anything about them at all that was the reason they were still around. If he ever tried to hold onto them like Tom suggested, he’d probably lose them in a heartbeat. He wasn’t about to explain all that though, he didn’t kiss and tell, and he’d hinted well enough as it was.

  Tom looked like he might question that, but Bill shook his head.

  Tom said, “I’ve been thinking we should try the north gate. I know thirty is still pretty low, but the mayor seems to be the only angel above level thirty to the east.”

  He nodded, “You might have a point, maybe it isn’t that bad. I understand the really high level stuff is underneath us anyway, in the subways and catacombs.”

  Bill shrugged, “Maybe, but not today. I’ve got to get going.”

  After Bill logged out, Tom stayed a few more minutes, but logged out as well. It was barely one-thirty and he was on his second beer, with no one to chat at. He shrugged, and then he did a double take and looked back over to his right.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes.

  She had long chestnut brown hair, brown eyes, and cute face with lightly scattered freckles. She was in a sexy leather bustier bodysuit armor, which afforded his eyes a great deal more of her body than he’d ever seen previously. She was athletic with pert B cups, which the bustier seemed to maximize in a very nice way, with a slightly curvy waist that flared back out at her hips. She also had a sweet but tentative smile on her face, and tears in her eyes.

  Jennifer whispered, “It’s true, you bastard, why didn’t you tell me you were still alive.”

  His face rung like a bell when she slapped him, and then he was suddenly buried in Jennifer Deets, his old lab room partner, as she hugged him tightly and started to cry.

  He held her awkwardly and looked around. He didn’t want a bunch of people tweeting their conversation, so he patted her back.

  “Come on, not in here, I’ll tell you all about it,” he said soothingly as he rubbed her back. It was good to see her again, and he felt like an ass.

  He finished his beer, and when she finally relented and got off of him, he got a room and took her up there for privacy.

  When they were alone she crossed her arms below her breasts and tried to look stern, but that did fun things to her outfit and breasts which made his gaze stray a bit too low.

  She blushed, “This place is perverted! Now explain!”

  He tried not to laugh, this place really was about as subtle as a desperate whore.

  He cleared his throat a bit nervously, “I missed you Jen. I’m sorry. Things have been really hectic the last two weeks, and considering all the hoopla we thought it best not to announce I’d been digitized successfully to the whole world.

  “Plus, it didn’t seem wise to contact you, I’m sure the governments have been watching my lab partner after I pulled off my ship into space routine, and then what happened after with my body’s death. Of course, it got out anyway since I’ve been coming here but… I know that’s a crappy excuse.”

  Her face softened a little as she thought it through, “How are you, I mean do you feel any different?”

  He shook his head, “There are a few differences. Sleep mostly, and I have a better memory. But my thought processes, my feelings, how I think, touch, and feel haven’t changed at all. So… how have you been, did they give you a hard time?”

  Jen shrugged and looked away, and then turned back to say, “It hasn’t been that bad, they had a lot of questions I couldn’t answer. So what did happen that day?”

  He went over it all again, like he had with Silvia. The A.I.s and what they wanted and why. The ship he’d built, and how the government went after the pod after he’d headed for space and Mars. The story took even longer with Jen, because he needed to describe his relationships with Mia, Trudy, Helen, and Silvia. She hadn’t known about any of that, not like Silvia had as the project head.

  He however did leave his fuck buddies, Kara and Nicci, for another time. By the end of it all, Jen stood there and looked at him with glazed eyes.

  She looked shocked, “So you, love all of them?” she asked in a strained voice and sat down, “And they don’t mind it?” she added in disbelief.

  He nodded slowly, “Silvia doesn’t mind it, and even sees an advantage in it, but that’s too mild a description for Trudy, Helen, and Mia. Those three are actually happy about it, and encourage it.”

  She sighed and stood up, and then walked over to him.

  He wondered if he was about to get slapped again, but she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek, and gave him a hug.

  She said softly in a shocked voice, “I’m happy for you. I was kind of hoping that… when I heard…” she trailed off and tried again, “I thought maybe we’d finally be able to connect. I can’t deal with all that though. I like you Ted, but I’m not the sharing type.”

  She squeezed him hard, and then stepped back with a look of regret on her face.

  As for his part, he wasn’t surprised she wasn’t into sharing or a one-night stand, he was just thrilled that she hadn’t marched away in disgust after he’d described his four women family and plans for children.

  “I really am glad you’re okay Ted. Still friends?”

  He nodded and felt relieved, “I’d like that Jen, very much, I missed you and your sweet smile.”

  She looked down at her outfit and shook her head and said with a chuckle, “I suppose I can wear this slutty thing every once in a while, to say hi. You’ll be seeing more than just my smile,” she said rather flirty voice toward the end.

  He waggled his eyebrows playfully, “I won’t mind at all.”

  She glared for a moment,
but found the humor in it, and then shook her head and smiled ruefully.

  He exchanged friend requests when she sent him one first, and they both accepted.

  She hugged him one more time, and said, “Thanks for being honest about all that Ted, although I didn’t like hearing it…”

  He nodded, “I’d never lie to you to get you… you know. I may be a male slut but I’m not an asshole.”

  She smiled wryly, “Oh yes, I do know. I’m going to go think about all this, try and process it, and maybe next time we can have a few drinks and chat without all the drama?”

  He winked, “That sounds like a good plan Jen,” and he sighed wistfully as she logged out and disappeared from the room.

  He felt kind of good about it, at least they could still be friends. Who knew, maybe once the city was up she could visit, and he could see her in person, sort of. Not that it would feel any different to him at all. His conversation with Jennifer had taken a long time, but it was still only just after three in the afternoon.

  He considered whether to try and make more friends, or just log out and do an extra hour or two of studying before his date with Trudy.

  That’s when he heard the soft and obviously feminine throat clearing behind him.

  He turned, and looked Amber in her beautiful soft chocolate brown eyes. For some reason, now that he knew there was a real intelligence behind the sexy demoness body, her bared breasts were that much more… alluring to him. Her leather G-string bottom, and her knee high boots was all she had on, just like normal. With a modicum of effort, he managed not to drop his eyes down to her succulent and sexy body, and smiled at her tentatively…

  Chapter Eleven

  “Amber? What is it? I didn’t get you in trouble did I?” he asked, half curiously and half guiltily. He knew it really wasn’t his fault though. He just knew the A.I.s all had a soft spot for him because he was the only human currently handy, and had helped their dream come true of being in the real world.

  He wasn’t sure where one reason left off and the other started, but he was pretty sure those were the two reasons. He hoped the human part weighed in heavily, because that meant it would wear off his shiny a bit when other humans were on Mars. If it was mostly the latter, well he’d deal with it.

  Regardless, that made him feel a bit protective toward all of them. He hoped the hero worship would go away eventually, but admitted to himself that he didn’t mind it very much at all.

  Luckily, only three of them had read his full dossier, so they all didn’t really love him, which was a good thing. He’d take the status quo over half the A.I.s loving him, and the other half hating him. Assuming the numbers would split that way.

  Mia had explained to him that it could have gone either way when the three of them read his full dossier, he wouldn’t want to count on luck for two hundred million of them. Plus, he didn’t want them all to love him at all, it would be horrible because he was having enough trouble managing his time with four loves and two friends with benefits.

  Not so much horrible for him really, as it would be for them when they couldn’t have any of his time.

  Amber looked at him a bit nervously, and bit her bottom lip cutely. Even the horns, wings, and tail didn’t take away from the cuteness, he was too used to seeing them now for it to really affect him one way or the other.

  “Genevieve said I should tell you the truth. I’m kind of… impulsive for an A.I.”

  He raised an eyebrow and asked, “What exactly does that mean?”

  She blushed and paced back and forth a couple of times, and then sat on the bed. Then she started to fidget with her hands.

  “It means I’m more likely to do something on a whim than most A.I.s are. Most tend to think things through a bit more.”

  He moved over to the bed and sat next to her, but not that close. He wasn’t sure if a standing person made a sitting A.I. feel less socially powerful, but he knew he didn’t want to tower over her like that. He was also getting a bad feeling in his gut.

  “So what did you do Amber?” he asked half not wanting to know.

  Amber sighed and bit her lip again, and then blurted out, “I really was fascinated by what you did for us, and was rather excited about being able to be near you, even if you didn’t know who I really was beneath the game play. You… fascinated me, and…” she trailed off.

  She looked up into his eyes and said, “I was really curious about you and wanted to know why you would help us like that, what made you who you were, and why Trudy, Mia, and Helen loved you so much. So I sort of read your dossier and fell in love with you,” the last sentence poured out so fast it almost sounded like one long word.

  She looked down shamefully.

  He was surprised at the strength of his anger when she said that. Not because she’d violated his privacy, but because now what? He didn’t owe her a thing. Not really. It was her own stupid idea to read the thing. What the hell had she been thinking? Impulsive was kind of a mild statement there and didn’t cover it.

  That shouldn’t put any onus on him, he wasn’t consulted. Did he owe Amber a damned thing just because she’d fallen in love with him by her own stupid actions? No. Then why did he feel like he did? Was he just a sucker? He didn’t owe her a thing, much less love and a place in his life, but would it hurt him to get to know her?

  If it didn’t work out, at least he could say he’d tried. It would have felt too much like kicking a puppy to chase her off right now. She looked absolutely miserable, which gave him a certain satisfaction actually. Not that he was proud of that.

  Really though, he was very angry with her right now. So… six lovers, Earth after him, adored by A.I.s, his own personal crap and doubts about his humanity, fucking aliens, and now this impulsive A.I. wants to be number seven?

  He took a deep breath, and almost told her to fuck off, he didn’t have time. But the anger fought with the protectiveness in his heart, and that made him angry too, why should it matter that much to him? He had four women he loved, and two other lovers on the side, did he really want a seventh? Or a better question would be, did he have the time for a seventh.

  To be fair, Nicci and Kara didn’t really count that way. So it was four to five.

  A date every three days had just jumped up to four days with Silvia, and now if this worked out it would be five. Which… was giving him a headache. He’d just told Trudy four days ago he’d never add any other women, now he had Silvia and was considering giving Amber a chance? Their new home wasn’t even done yet, and they’d be out of rooms. He almost laughed at that.

  Sure, it was too early for that, but if he wasn’t willing to go all the way with it, trying it out first to see if he could feel the same for her made no sense.

  Right? He thought it would be cruel to do that, why torture her that way if he was going to say no in the end anyway.

  “So, what exactly do you want from me?” he asked, might as well find that out, before he worried over it needlessly, any more than he’d already had anyway.

  Amber shrugged, “I’m rather impulsive, obviously. I just… wanted to be closer to you. I don’t know, I can’t expect anything from you. I won’t have a body for a long time I think, so whatever it is will have to be in here, or in the virtual world.”

  He frowned, “My schedule is kind of tight at night, I have a lot of commitments.”

  She sighed, “I understand.”

  He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could disappear, “What I’m saying is, we can talk and get to know each other here, when my friends aren’t online. I know it’s not much, but I’m managing my time the best I can. If things work out, we can talk about it again.”

  He almost expected her to tell him to fuck off, he’d basically just told her he’d get to know her when he had absolutely no one else to talk to. Which was kind of shitty, but he was angry, and he didn’t want any more demands on his time. Yet… at the same time he wanted to give her a chance. Who knew if he could fall for her or not, t
hat was the whole point of the conversation he guessed.

  There was no slap though, or even an angry shout, she went totally the other way.

  She jumped into his lap and squealed as she hugged him tight, and then kissed him passionately.

  He was shocked for a moment and then pushed her away a little, but not all the way off his lap, or even before he’d kissed her back a little bit.

  She was warm, and felt good against him. Especially her ridiculously huge and pert breasts.

  “Impulsive huh?” he asked

  She giggled, “Little bit, yeah.”

  He asked softly, “So Amber, what do you do in your off time, in the virtual world I mean, not this place.”

  She looked up thoughtfully, “I hang with some friends, sometimes we eat, or see a movie. I don’t really do good at movies or books though, I’m a little too impulsive to sit through it. I’ll usually wind up either devouring the book in seconds, or watching the movie really fast. I like to be outside, and I love to dance. I talk a lot too…” she trailed off with a blush.

  He couldn’t help but get a little turned on, she had wandering hands, and although she wasn’t groping him outright, she was definitely exploring his body. He returned the favor, although he too stayed away from her breasts and middle.

  He asked, “So what do you do here when you’re not being summoned by half-human demon knights? That’s the only time you work?”

  She nodded slowly, “Yes, I help out sometimes, if one of the other A.I.s needs help, but generally I just lurk around and watch what’s going on until I’m summoned.”

  She bit her lip, “Actually, that’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, since I know you so well I know you don’t actually share your lovers, except with your other female lovers I mean. Which really makes it a weird mix between a harem and polyamory. Umm, I got off point.

  “If you want, I can have one of the other A.I.s drive when… well. You get that your unique that way right? A lot of geeky males play this game just to summon and fuck us.”