Chip slept on and off,
never deeply. At first he stayed close to Marla, but she had
gotten up in the night and plugged herself into a charger. She
had remained unresponsive after that. The makeshift connection
caused a loud hum as electricity streamed into her body.
In his restlessness he
explored the otherwise common apartment. No TV or anything like
that to amuse him, and he wasn't going to start fooling around
with Lorinda's stuff. He had a bit more to eat and took a long
hot shower.
Marla began to stir. He
got dressed and met her at the foot of the bed with a soapy rag,
a bucket and a smile.
"Water can damage
my parts." she said dimly in her distorted voice.
"Don't worry baby.
I know what I'm doing." he reassured her. He squeezed the
water from the cloth and gently wiped away spots of dirt. Some
wouldn't come off, like the dents that had a ground metal tint to
them.
The cloth cleaned her
from her toes to her head, all the while he gazed back at her
head, wishing she could show an expression. No lips to quiver, no
eyelids to widen, just silicon and solder.
Chip's silent handiwork
was giving her quite a sensual workout, but her body didn't
respond in kind. As he worked on a smudge on the edge of her
cheek, he asked in her ear "Can your body be programmed to
respond to my touch?"
"I have millions of
sensors in my skin. Most of them have been overloaded and
damaged, so my sense of touch has been deactivated."
"I really wish I
could fix you."
"Why? If you want
to have sex with an android, shouldn't you buy a new one?"
"I don't see it
that way." he said, holding her hand. "I'm holding your
hand now, by the way."
"I know. I'm
watching you."
"But you're looking
up."
"I can see all
around me."
"Tell me what you
know about yourself." He said. "And rollover, I have to
clean your backside."
Marla rolled on to her
front and began talking about her body. Chip turned her head to
the side so he could hear.
"My name is Marla.
I am number 2536. That number means that I was the two-thousand
five-hundred and thirty-sixth android made."
"M-hmm." He
nodded.
"My silicone skin
covers silicone padding and a rigid humanoid frame made from a
plastic-metal alloy. My joints can move in a wider range of
motion and faster than a human's. I have stereo optical sensors,
audio equipment, and chemical analyzing components in my head. My
processor is located inside my chest. It can perform 11.3
trillion calculations per second. Memory cores within my limbs
and other places can store 38.6 terra bytes of information. I am
able to communicate with almost any computerized wireless
network."
His hands steered clear
of tape and openings on her back as he got a hard on. He wanted
to fuck her, but feared not to unless she was sanitized.
"You're amazing,
babe. Who made you?"
"I don't know. I
can't access parts of my memory."
"Do you know what
happened to you?"
She stopped talking for
a bit then about a dozen times said "Access denied."
"You ok? Marla are
you still with me?"
"Sorry about that.
I'm not working right." she said after another long break.
By now, he had gotten
most of the dirt off. "See, I told you I wouldn't damage
you." he said. "I didn't damage you, did I."
"I can't run a
system check."
"Sit up." he
said as he put the rag and the bucket away and sat on the bed.
She sat with stiff
posture looking ahead. "Thank you for cleaning me." she
said boldly.
"You're very
welcome." he chimed. "Why don't we dress you up in some
clothes?"
"Why?"
"Well, why
not?"
He squeezed her knee and
got up to open the dresser. He got out some things to cover her.
He layed them out on the bed for her and stood back.
"Well, what are you
waiting for?" he asked.
"I don't know how
to put clothes on."
"What?"
"I don't know how
to put clothes on."
"I heard you the
first time." he said. "Why is that?"
"I'm not programmed
to."
"Well, here, I'll
help you." he said. He knelt beside her and pulled a pair of
panties over her feet. He got those over her knees and put on
some socks. Jeans went over her feet next. He asked her to stand
and did everything up.
Sitting her back on the
bed, he put a large bra on her, but took it off and went for the
natural look with a t-shirt and sweater. He straightened out her
hair and pulled her by the hand to the washroom mirror.
He put his hands on her
shoulders and said "There that's how you do it. You look
very beautiful." He kissed her neck.
The front door opened,
and Lorinda hurriedly got in. Chip stepped out of the washroom to
see her. She unwrapped her coat from her right arm. It was half
torn off and burnt, leaving wires and metal parts dangling from
it.
Calmly, she glided past
Chip into her bedroom. "We will be leaving soon, get
ready."
Chip watched her as she
sat at a small table, laying her damaged limb on it. From an
opening in her chest she pulled a small metal tool, and began
working the arm with it.
"Why did you dress
Marla?" she asked.
"Oh, I... well I
thought she would look better."
"It was good you
did, it will save us time. Marla is coming with us."
"Where are we
going?"
"Your tracking
devices must be destroyed. We're going to completely demolish
them." She looked at him as she said this, her hand still
using the tool to disconnect the arm. Her hand put down the tool
and grabbed the right elbow, pulling away the damaged part. She
threw it into a shopping bag on the floor.
"Have you
eaten?" she asked.
"Yeah, how long are
we going to be gone?"
"That
depends."
He watched Lorinda's
next operation, injecting a pink viscus fluid into an opened
panel above her crotch. It was pumped with a long needle tipped
hose out of a WD-40 can. After a few seconds, she was done. She
straightened out her clothes, grabbed the bag and walked back to
the front door, looking at Chip as she walked by him.
"This way,
Marla." Lorinda said. Marla obeyed and walked past Chip to
the door. He followed and got his shoes. Lorinda threw her balled
up jacket into the bag too. Chip could see it was covered with
the same pink liquid.
Putting on another coat,
Lorinda ordered Marla to put shoes on, and pulled something out
of another bag on a hook. It was a latex Marilyn Monroe mask and
wig. Lorinda put it on Marla's head as she stood. It fit rather
well. A pair of dark sunglasses completed the look, and the trio
were on there way to the elevator.
Marla looked strange,
but at least it wasn't obvious that she was a robot. The elevator
and the lobby were full of people, a few staring at her. The
three cut to the parkade door and quickly came upon Lorinda's
car. Chip sat next to Marla in the back.
Out of the building, and
down side streets to the industrial part of town they went. No
one spoke on the short trip.
They pulled into one of
the lots. Lorinda took off her jacket and put it in the car. She
grabbed the shopping bag and headed for the front door.
They stepped into a
spartan looking lobby with a robot girl at the desk. She was skin
coloured, but clunky and geometric looking. She moved roboticaly
as she got up and greeted the visitors.
The robot was dressed in
an ill fitting skirt and coat, showing off her inhuman looking
joints. A matted blonde wig was stuck on the top of her head. Her
hips swung out oddly as she walked in an arc over to them. An
artificial voice came out of her head as her mouth started
moving.
"WELCOME TO THE
RAWLING STEEL FOUNDRY. THE RAWLING STEEL FOUNDRY IS AN AUTOMATED
FACTORY. ALL OF OUR ROBOTS ARE MADE BY HONDA. I AM A K-50."
"We don't have time
for this. Let's go." Lorinda said, brushing past the Honda
on her way to a hallway.
The robot receptionist
changed modes. "YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. IF
YOU PROCEED THE AUTHORITIES WILL BE ALERTED."
Lorinda turned quickly
and stared at the robot for almost a minute. After the silence,
some clicks and a beep came from inside her, and she said "WE WILL BEGIN THE
TOUR NOW. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEARING YOUR SAFETY BOOTS,
HAT, EAR PROTECTION, AND GOGGLES." She turned and strutted stiffly
down the hall while the other three rushed passed her onto the
floor.
They lost sight of the
tour-giving robot as they hurried up the cage stairs to the
mezzanine. All around them, automated devices moved and slid
around, making a thunderous constant roar of mechanical and metal
parts. Sparks flew everywhere as Chip struggled to get upstairs,
finding it hard to keep up with the girls.
He was sweating heavily
when he got to the top. He caught his breath as he got close
enough to see what Lorinda was doing. She was standing at the
edge of a massive vat of molten steel. Chip couldn't believe she
could stand the blazing heat. She dropped the shopping bag into
the glowing orange mass. It was flaming before it hit the
surface. It certainly was a good way to destroy something without
leaving a trace.
"Chip, come
here." Lorinda shouted. Chip got closer.
"Throw the watch
in." she commanded.
He felt a bit of fear
for Leena come over him as he undid the strap and took a last
look at the watch. He thought about the sunglasses in his pocket.
He wanted to keep them so he didn't mention them, and hoped
Lorinda wouldn't.
"Hurry, this heat
is bad for my body." she scolded.
Chip pitched in the
watch. It made a little burst of flame.
"Hold out your arm.
Pull back your sleeve." she said.
He did so, and watched a
beam shoot out of Lorinda's eyes at his tracking bracelet. The
beam cut the strap and the bracelet fell, beeping loudly. It fell
right through the grilled floor to the level below.
"Don't worry about
that, the cops are coming now anyway." Lorinda said, moving
close to him. "Next..." she said, as she looked at his
temple and fired a short burst to his head.
Chip gasped as she
calmly put her finger to his head and pulled out the implant.
"Don't worry, the skin is just broken." She flicked the
small device into the vat.
"One more..."
she said as she pressed her mouth on his. Her tongue pushed into
his mouth as the tip extended down into his stomach. Before he
could realise what was going on, she pulled back the tongue, with
another little chip stuck on the end. She turned her head and
spat it in.
"That's all of
them. Marla, jump in." she shouted.
Marla didn't say
anything, but started walking toward the edge.
"No!" Chip
yelled, and ran in front of her.
Marla stopped.
"Marla, you must be
destroyed. Get in." Lorinda commanded.
Without a moment to lose
Chip lunged at her. They fell down on the edge of the vat. Chip
rolled off her, at the same time kicking her in. Her legs went in
as her hand reached for something to hold. Her feet were on fire
as she caught chip by his fingers.
Her grip got tighter as
her body started to burn. She looked Chip in the eye as his heart
skipped a beat.
Expecting a laser, he
felt the pull on his body ease. Lorinda, minus her remaining arm,
fell unmoving into the steel. A Massive burst of flame shot up as
the body was swallowed up by the metal.
"Marla, come with
me!" Chip shouted as he raced back to the staircase, trying
to pry the arm from his hand. Marla followed and they went back
the way they came. He caught his breath and cooled for a while in
the lobby until he remembered about the cops.
"Shit." he
said sharply, racing with Marla out the door. He found Lorinda's
keys in her jacket, and put it on Marla. They got in and tried to
nonchalantly drive down the road.
"No sirens in
sight." he thought as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The hand gripping his fingers was getting painful and a million
thoughts raced through his mind. He must have been videotaped at
that steel mill. There was probably no way to hide from the cops
now.
"Marla," he
said, "try to get this off of me." he pleaded. Marla
grasped the arm and ripped the plastic flesh away from the thumb.
She collapsed some rods inside the hand and the fingers went
lose.
"Oh, thank you,
thank you so much." he said to her, waving his hand around
to get the blood flowing again.
"I need to
recharge." said Marla, resting back in the seat. He grabbed
her hand and tried to clear his head as he drove her back to
Lorinda's place.
©2001 FACELESS001
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