Aneka Jansen 6: The Lowest Depths of Shame (5 page)

‘I am still not sure why you would want to.’

‘Honestly, neither am I, but it’s supposed to be a good thing.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever understand organics,’ Al replied with a digital sigh.

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The sun had dipped below the horizon and the long dusk had begun by the time Aneka emerged from the university building on the second day of her psychological evaluation. Not that the light seemed dim to her, her eyes were quite capable of operating very well in total darkness, but it did mean that further sunbathing was out for about fifteen days.

The final phase of testing had been a thorough scan of her memory which had taken a couple of hours. Ella, Cassandra, Winter,
and
Speaker had all pronounced her fit before that, but checking there were no issues with recall had been an important additional test.

‘Oh well,’ Ella said, looking up at the sky, ‘there’s still the solarium.’ Her eyes were not as efficient in the dark as Aneka’s, but they worked better in low light than normal ones.

‘True,’ Aneka replied. ‘People are going to take some time to get used to a day–night pattern like this, even with the artificial lights maintaining a standard day.’

‘Shadataga isn’t the only world with weird day lengths. Some people might find this sequence a bit short. I didn’t see natural daylight until I moved to New Earth. But, yes, most will see it as weird. So, what do we do now?’

‘We wait. In six or so days the fleet will reach Lonar.’

‘Oh,’ Ella replied.

‘Actually,’ Cassandra said from behind them, ‘now that Aneka’s situation is settled, there’s something else we can see about activating.’

Both Cassandra and Winter were standing behind them, just outside the main doors. And both of them were now wearing suspiciously mischievous grins.

~~~

There was another pod, but this one contained a man. He was tall, with firm muscle definition, hair on his chest as well as a smoothly combed-back head of thick, black hair. His eyes were closed, so their colour was undetermined, but he had strong features, a high bridge to the nose giving it a Roman look, and a firm, cleft chin. His skin was tanned and smooth, and he was naked just as Aneka had been.

‘What do you think?’ Cassandra asked, beaming at the figure behind the glass.

‘He’s… handsome,’ Aneka said. ‘Got a bit of a “Latin lover” look to him.’

‘He’s big!’ Ella commented, her eyes on his crotch.

‘He’s me,’ Al said inside Aneka’s mind. He sounded surprised.

‘You what?’ Aneka asked.

‘It was a game we played once. What would I look like if I had a body? This is what we came up with. Well, it was mostly Cassandra who came up with it, but…
That
is pretty much what we decided I would look like.’

‘You built a body for Al?’ Aneka asked aloud.

‘It’s a drone,’ Winter explained. ‘It is, essentially, the same as one of the avatars the other AIs use, customised to Cassandra’s specification. With the additional bandwidth and processing power Al has, he should have no difficulty in operating that body from where he is. Obviously, it needs to be within range of you, or connected through the campus network.’

‘Okay,’ Ella said. She had her professional face on; she was being the dispassionate psychologist. ‘So Al gets a body to walk around in, which is kind of neat, but I’m not sure what Cassandra gets out of this. I mean, look at him. He’s gorgeous and, well, really well hung, but you don’t experience sex the way we do, Cassandra. You said so yourself.’

‘I… decided that I should,’ Cassandra replied. ‘I’ve been working with the AIs to alter my sensory inputs and re-channel certain elements of my behavioural subroutines. I
think
it’s worked. You know that I don’t react to physical sex the way a Jenlay would, so you don’t stimulate me that way, but you can’t stop yourself from
some
intimate behaviour. When you have it has been… pleasant.’

‘We used nanobots to reconstruct her skin,’ Winter said. ‘It’s similar to Aneka’s now.’

‘I thought it felt… more real,’ Ella put in.

‘Then we had to adjust a lot of internal wiring to channel that new data into her brain, add some software patches to respond to it, and then it was a process of acclimatisation which is still ongoing. She’ll need to, um, practise. We loaded the same sensory processor software into Al’s package when we transferred him over.’

Aneka could just tell that Winter was trying hard not to laugh. She looked at the drone in the pod, her eyes drifting down its form to its hips. Then she shook her head. ‘If you break my support AI, I’m going to make you buy me a new one,’ she said.

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‘They’ve been in there for two days,’ Ella said.

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka replied. She was mostly concentrating on the data they had collected from spy drones in the Lonar system, and Ella’s ‘concerns’ were more of an amusing distraction than anything else.

‘Two days, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of them.’

‘Uh-huh.’ It looked a lot like the Herosian forces were in disarray. If the Jenlay forces were lucky they could walk in and take the system back with barely any effort.

‘They’ll wear bits out, that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Abrasion is certainly a concern,’ Aneka agreed. ‘Cassandra has internal lubricant reserves though.’

Ella blinked. ‘Oh. What kind?’

‘Water-based, or so I’m told. One of her few reasons for drinking fluids.’

‘I did not know that. But…
Two days!
’

‘You’re just jealous.’

‘Fucking right I am!’

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‘You’re looking happy,’ Aneka said as she let Cassandra and Al past her and into the apartment. ‘We were beginning to wonder whether you’d ever emerge.’ The robot couple were dressed in robes which suggested they had just come from the apartment they had been sharing for the last three days.

‘Eventually our batteries would have run out,’ Cassandra replied. ‘Al isn’t cosmically powered like you, and I’m still on the same power system as ever.’

‘Personally I thought you’d both need repair work,’ Ella commented from the sofa. ‘Abrasion damage.’

‘We have
not
,’ Al stated, ‘spent the entire time in acts of a carnal nature. We have watched three videos together and engaged in analogue communication for extended periods. Both were novel experiences, though I, like Aneka, cannot quite understand the appeal of these comedies you like, Ella.’

‘There was,’ Cassandra admitted, ‘quite a lot of sex, but we both needed to teach the new software what it was supposed to be doing.’

‘Sex for science,’ Aneka said as she sat down beside Ella. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time. You think you’re there?’

‘We spent some time comparing our responses with the data I’ve collected from you,’ Al said. ‘Three of the cybernetics AIs Cassandra worked with assisted in the analysis…’

‘You’re comparing your reactions to mine?’ Aneka asked, frowning.

‘Winter supplied additional comparison data,’ Cassandra said. ‘However, her avatars utilise organic processors which operate differently. You have an entirely electronic brain, even if it is a rather different one to ours. It was the best we could come up with to train our systems against and, uh, it
seems
to have worked.’

‘However,’ Al went on, ‘we wish to conduct an additional test. I’d like to borrow Ella.’

Aneka burst into a fit of laughter. ‘I can’t see her complaining,’ she said when the giggles had subsided. ‘Not for three days though. You
will
wear bits of her out. Love?’

Ella looked at Cassandra. ‘Sure? He is yours.’

‘And you are Aneka’s, but that has never stopped us,’ Cassandra replied, smiling. ‘Just don’t get too attached.’ Her eyes widened a little. ‘And use lubricant. I hadn’t realised I designed him quite so…’

‘Huge?’ Ella suggested as she got to her feet.

‘Use the bedroom,’ Aneka said. ‘It’s Al’s first time with a Jenlay and we don’t want performance anxiety.’ There was another reason which she was not going to mention, but Al was looking a little nervous. It was really quite amazing how the drone body reacted to the remote mind controlling it. Actually, it was hard not to think that Al had actually moved over even though he had made himself known several times over the last few days. Aneka had not mentioned this to Ella; having Ella think the two had been banging away the whole time had been amusing.

Ella gave her a grin and then took Al’s hand to lead him up the stairs to the small balcony the bedroom was accessed from. ‘Come on, hunk,’ she said. ‘I promise I’ll be gentle.’

Aneka got up and moved across to sit beside Cassandra. ‘Have you got audio protection?’ she asked. ‘I’m built to cut out loud noises, like gunshots and Ella screaming.’

‘I believe I’ll be sufficiently protected by the bedroom door,’ Cassandra replied. ‘Though… that body of Al’s does have some features Ella may find particularly stimulating.’

Aneka chuckled. Then she reached out and pulled Cassandra into her lap with no apparent effort.

‘What are you up to?’ Cassandra asked, managing a tone which said she knew.

‘Al’s getting his test…’ Aneka pulled the belt of Cassandra’s robe free and reached under the silky fabric to run her fingers over silky skin. A shudder ran through the android’s body. There would have been a similar reaction before, and to a Jenlay it would have seemed natural, but Aneka’s accelerated perceptions had always seen the millisecond delay which indicated that it was a conscious imitation of a reaction to a stimulus. That delay was gone.

There was a loud groan from above them, slightly muffled by the door, followed by, ‘Fuck! You
are
big. Don’t stop!’

Both Aneka and Cassandra giggled, and Aneka’s hand slid over her partner’s breast, squeezing gently at a nipple, and Cassandra’s giggling turned into a gasp.

‘I can’t tell you’re mimicking,’ Aneka said, her voice soft. ‘I could always tell before and now the reaction’s immediate.’ She squeezed harder.

‘The… ah… involuntary interruption… of air intake… for speech is a little… disconcerting.’

‘You didn’t talk to Al while he was doing things like this?’ Aneka shifted her hand down, sliding it over the android’s stomach. Cassandra’s thighs parted in anticipation.

‘Yes, but we talked mind-to-mind. It was more…’ She stopped suddenly as Aneka found her clitoris. Her body had been designed, when all was said and done, as a sex toy. Aside from the exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics which were there to please the eyes on first sight, the designers had engineered additional features meant to increase her attractiveness on a more subliminal level. Her pupils, for example, dilated more than normal when she was in her ‘aroused’ mode. It was largely subconscious, but Humans were conditioned to see that as a sign of attraction. And to make her partner feel even more like ‘The Man,’ her labia flushed more than usual, and her clitoris was designed to expand more than average.

Part of Aneka’s mind took that discovery, which had not previously impinged upon her consciousness, and decided that there were twisted bastards among the Jenlay, just as there always had been among Humans. Even as a component of a dumb sexbot, that was a distinctly dubious design feature. Clever, certainly, but you had to have a slightly odd mind to think of it.

Another part was busy thinking that this was a very useful feature for driving Cassandra insane, and she was just about to employ her new, enhanced dexterity to do just that when they heard the sound from above.

There was a delighted shriek and then, ‘Vashma’s tits! It vibrates? Oh fuck!’

And then they had to stop what they were doing for a minute or two while they giggled.

~~~

Once again wrapped in his robe, Al slumped onto the sofa beside Cassandra and gave both her and Aneka a smile. Aneka could hear the upstairs shower running; Ella was cleaning up before she came down.

‘Well,’ Aneka said, ‘
she
seemed to enjoy that. How was it for you?’

‘Both a physically pleasing activity,’ Al replied, ‘and a successful experiment. I utilised the same basic methodologies on Ella as I have been using on Cassandra. I got equally pleasing results. I have, of course, been observing you for a few years though not with the idea that I would need to actually
do
anything with the knowledge.’

Aneka gave him a grin. ‘You never know when you’ll need some little bit of information. This is why we have such a good memory. But
you
enjoyed it?’

‘Yes,’ Al said, almost sounding surprised. ‘Obviously I have never had the same… emotional attachment to Ella as you. She is your partner, and I have Cassandra. However, it is a delight to be able to indulge her physically. She’s so… enthusiastic. She insisted on trying to pleasure me orally.’

‘Her jaw cramped?’

‘Yes, it did, so she switched to between her breasts. She was
determined
to try everything she could.’

‘Bet she didn’t suggest anal.’

‘Ah… no. That would have needed a lake of lubricant. From the dishevelled look of my paramour, it would seem you have ensured she was entertained?’

‘Aneka’s analysis of my responses was most informative,’ Cassandra said. ‘Also I “came like a train.” That’s the right phrase?’

Aneka laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s it. I’m glad you’re both happy. I figure me and Al have had to wait a thousand years and go through several battles to get to this point. We deserve all the good stuff we can get now. I’ve got Ella, Al has you, it’s all good.’ She looked up at the sound of the bedroom door sliding open and grinned.

Ella was walking a little funny. She was naked aside from the towel wrapped around her head, and she was grinning like a madwoman. Halfway down the spiral staircase she said, ‘You have absolutely
got
to try him, Aneka. He’s like… I mean… That is some good design work, Cassandra.’ She got to the bottom and added, ‘Seriously, take him round the block a couple of times.’

Aneka and Al looked at each other, which was an odd sort of sensation in and of itself.

‘No,’ Aneka said slowly.