Robots became part of our company six months ago.
We’re on the small end of the Fortune 500 company list. Normally
quite conservative, we seldom do anything first. And we value
our employees. But circumstances intervened, as they always do.
Maggie, our President and CEO’s secretary for nearly fifteen
years, left to get married. Everyone expected Bill to promote
from within, even though we’d had a lot of turnover among the
other senior secretaries these last couple of years. Even now,
we four vice presidents were sharing two secretaries among us,
neither of them executive level. Still, it was a huge surprise
when Bill returned with Sally to be Maggie’s replacement.
Robots – actually Sally is technically a fembot – are still rare
and expensive items. Since Bill’s family owns a majority of the
stock, he can really do anything he wants, but he seldom rocks
the boat.
There is nothing wrong with robots. From the first models that
actually could fit into and interact in a work environment six
years ago, they had been improving steadily since. I hadn’t
realized how much they had improved, until now.
For once, we were an early adopter. Less than twenty percent of
the 500 companies had yet added robot workers at the executive
level. We were on the cutting edge, so to speak.
Of course, word went through the company like wildfire.
Absolutely EVERYBODY found some excuse to come up to the
executive floor to look at her. This might not have been a
problem, except that everybody needed an excuse to come up, and
that meant that the remaining four of us were inundated with
business that barely qualified as trivial. We considered
suggesting that Sally should just walk through the entire
building each morning just to be seen, so that the rest of us
could get some work done.
And there wasn’t all that much to see. Sally looked like an
attractive, professional woman, maybe 29 years old, with flowing
blonde hair. She was medium height, and wore white blouses, dark
knee-length skirts, and low heels. She affected a professional
demeanor from the very beginning that couldn’t be called “cold,”
but she was just attractive enough – and business oriented enough
– to prevent anyone from trying to become her “friend.” She was
either at her desk, or in Bill’s office, virtually all the time,
though she would occasionally deliver something to the rest of
the company. All in all, what did she look like? She looked
like an attractive woman with a good business attitude – nothing
more.
Maggie did come back to spend a week with Sally, explaining the
job, showing her the ropes, and filling her in on the tribal
knowledge that exists in any company. I cornered Maggie on her
last day.
“So, Maggie, what is she really like?”
Maggie looked me over carefully before answering. She’d been at
the company long before I’d joined it four years ago. But she’d
also taken me under her wing in the intervening time, like a
surrogate mother, and I saw her face soften. I gave one more
little push.
“Come on, Maggie. You know I’m going to have to work with her,
now that you’ve abandoned me.”
That totally melted her.
“Steve, she is just like any other nice person. And you’d better
treat her nicely too.”
“Who? Me? I’m afraid to even approach her. What if I ask for
something that breaks her? My paycheck couldn’t afford to
replace her.”
Maggie looked at me, and then realized I was kidding.
You’d better treat her well, Steve,” she repeated sternly, then
smiled and gave me a big hug.
“Just be nice to Sally, and everything will be fine.”
“Well, good luck to you too,” I said, as she swept out of the
office.
* * *
In truth, I had only been half kidding with Maggie. I was very
apprehensive about dealing with Sally. Even though I’m single, I
have long been comfortable dealing with women. But I had no idea
how to properly relate to a robot – or even if it mattered.
Over the next few weeks, I only approached Sally when I couldn’t
avoid it. I always slowly and clearly enunciated my requests to
her, and never had a problem.
Over time we became acclimated to her being there, and eventually
I started to think of her as another worker. The only difference
was that, no matter how late I worked, she’d be sitting at her
desk outside Bill’s office when I left. And no matter how early
I came in, she was always there waiting. I didn’t know if she
automatically shutdown at night, and I wasn’t going to ask.
And I did work a lot of late hours, and some weekends. I knew
how fortunate I was to hold the position I have, and my job is
really most of my life. At times Sally, myself, and the cleaning
crew, were the only ones in the building. But unless I needed
something from her, we never talked.
* * *
It was a couple of months later when I began noticing small
changes. Sally was becoming more personable. I started to hear
laughter come from her desk as she joked with people up here on
business. Her attire became more varied as well. More colorful
at times, different length skirts (including one very short one
with a slit that always caught my eye), and occasional tops so
shear that I could see her lingerie underneath. Possibly her
mind – supposedly the best currently available – was adapting to
our way of doing business.
Then one Saturday, while I was busy beavering away in my office,
she came to my door and asked me how it was going.
Without thinking how unexpected this was, I just told her.
“So far, so bad.”
“What’s the problem?” she asked, with genuine concern.
“It’s this Carson case. They want all kinds of information, for
no good reason.”
“But they’ll be unhappy if they don’t get it,” Sally finished for
me.
“Exactly.”
“Well, let me see if I can help.”
Sally came over and looked at the spreadsheet I was trying to
complete.
“Where are you working now?”
I showed her the section I was laboriously filling in.
“Let me look for this then,” she said, pointing out a section
further down that I was already dreading. “I think I know where
that data may be hiding.”
She went back to her desk, quickly filling in the information,
then came back for more. Over the next couple of hours, we
completed the task that I had felt was going to take me all
weekend.
Then we just talked for awhile. Afterwards I realized, she had
learned a great deal about me with her careful questions. But I
didn’t care. She had an easy conversational style that just put
me at ease.
And I had learned something important too. That I could just
treat her like any other woman, and whatever clever programming
she had inside her made it all came out okay.
I sincerely thanked her for all her help on the way out.
“Have a great weekend,” she said with a cheery smile as I waved
goodbye from the elevator.
“You too,” I responded, without thinking that the rest of her
weekend would be spent sitting at her desk.
* * *
Next weekend I also had to go in, this time just for a quick
touch-up on another report. To my very unexpected surprise
though, Sally was not at her desk. I didn’t really need her help
with this one, but I realized that I had enjoyed her company.
I wasn’t worried that she had been stolen. We have security up
the wazzu. Either she was running an errand, or maybe she had to
report back to her factory for preventative maintenance. I
realized that I missed her.
I kidded her about it Monday.
“I missed you here this weekend.”
“Oh,” she said, her lips making a perfect “O” of surprise. “Bill
took me home with him to get the bids out. Did you need
something?”
“Only your company,” I replied gallantly. “I was worried that
something might have happened to you.”
“You’re so sweet,” she replied, with a warm smile. Sally had
definitely improved her smile repertoire these last few weeks.
After that, I observed that Sally was gone most weekends, or at
least on the ones when I was working. Bill was more productive
than ever though, so things were humming along well for all of
us.
* * *
The big change came soon after, when one of our two remaining
secretaries suddenly quit.
Bill spent a couple days holed up in his office with Sally,
before coming out and relocating our final secretary to what was
actually a very good position with one of our divisions back in
her own home town. It was a move she’d talked about wanting to
make for awhile now, so it was a good thing for her. The next
day, we received two more fembot replacements.
This move didn’t cause near the same furor as Sally’s arrival had
only months earlier. By now, the concept of having robots doing
secretarial tasks had permeated the company, and we were able to
continue with our work mostly uninterrupted.
Sally herself trained the replacements. And no, they don’t look
like they were stamped out of the same mold.
Tish is about Sally’s size, with darker skin, auburn eyes and
hair, and the slightest touch of a European accent. She seems
made for this job, and quickly took over the duties for all three
of my colleagues. She was joking with them from the first day,
and they all love her.
Lori is taller, slimmer, and lighter skinned. What I would call
tall, but not tall tall. Her rich dark hair, clear green eyes,
and much quieter manner, made it hard to believe she could have
come from the same factory. Although all the fembots have full
figures, Lori’s slimmer build sets hers off the best. And unlike
Sally, Tish and Lori arrived with far more elegant and diverse
wardrobes from the get go.
When it comes to paperwork, I really do have more than the other
three VPs put together, so Lori’s service was dedicated solely to
me. This has led to some good-natured ribbing from my colleagues
(all three of who are married) that I really needed a woman in my
life the most, and maybe I’d have better luck with a robot. I
would point out to them in return that Bill is also single
(nearly five years now), and that the obvious route to running
this company was to not be tied down at home. And while they and
Tish were always teasing each other, with Sally taking over
Maggie’s place as den mother, Lori remained much like Sally when
Sally had first arrived: quiet and business-like.
Everything seemed settled into routine, until I decided to take
that weekend off – or was I pushed into it
* * *
I’m not much for vacations. Don’t know what to do with
unstructured time on my hands. But I’d just finished – with
Lori’s indispensable help – three, seven-day-weeks of getting
through the biggest deal of the year. Everyone had worked hard
on it. Even the girls looked tired. But I had borne the brunt.
“Steve, take the weekend off. You’ve more than earned it.”
“Thanks, Bill. I’ll probably go home and just collapse for the
weekend.”
“No. I mean get out of here altogether. Somewhere that doesn’t
look like your bedroom between all-nighters. Here. Go to my
cabin up by the lake.”
“Are you sure?”
“Heck yeah. I hardly get up myself anymore. And you look like
you need it.”
“Well, if you insist…”
“Go!”
In addition to Bill’s large mansion (built by his grandfather
back when that’s how one showed one’s money), Bill has a cabin on
the lakeshore about three hours drive from here, in a restricted
development area. While it’s log cabin rustic from the outside,
it has every comfort and amenity inside. Bill jokes that it’s
actually worth more than his mansion, and he may be right. He
also says that someday he is going to put a giant swimming pool
on the mansion grounds, and move the cabin to that shore, just so
that he can enjoy it himself once in awhile. That I know is a
joke. Its present location cannot be improved upon.
Minutes later, I was gone. I stopped by my place only long
enough to grab some outdoor clothes, hiking boots, and toiletry
items. I was already planning for a couple days of hiking and
fishing, far from the maddening crowd.
It was mid-fall, and already dark near 7pm as I drove up the
twisty two-lane road for the last hour. The lights of the tiny
village that supported the residents slipped by, and another five
minutes would have me at the cabin. I didn’t bother to stop on
the way, since I knew the cabin was fully stocked with food, and
everything else one could possibly need.
At the cabin, I parked the car and went inside. A few minutes
later I was enjoying a hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire,
shoes off, on the softest couch in the world. Just as all the
cares were finally slipping away, the phone rang. Damn! It was
Bill.
“I hate to bother you, Steve, but a last minute hitch came up.”
“What do you need?” I asked, immediately alert.
“The customer never received the legal agreement. And wants some
changes they neglected to mention as well. They need a
physically signed copy by Monday.”
Well, there went the weekend.
“I’ll head right back down.”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“But how can I handle it otherwise?”
“Have Lori bring it up to you. In the den there is a complete
computer setup. You can produce the final draft there, and
overnight it out of local post office before noon tomorrow.”
“But how would she get up here.”
“Have her arrange a car and drive up.”
“Can she do that?”
“Of course she can. That’s part of her updated city-skills set.”
Updated skills? I let that pass.
“Are you sure you don’t need me back there?”
“Completely. This is not something to ruin your weekend over.
In fact, I insist that you take Monday off as well. You’ve more
then earned it.”
“Well…”
“Yes. No arguments. Call Lori and arrange it. And I will see
you Tuesday.”
The click on the phone was final.
I dialed my office. Two rings, and then, “Steve Taylor’s office.
How may we help you?”
“Lori, it’s Steve.”
“Yes, Mr. Taylor.”
“Do you have the Finnberg legal agreement?”
“Yes. It’s right here.”
“Do you know where Bill’s lakefront cabin is located, and how to
get here?”
There was a pause, then, “Yes.”
“Can you arrange a car on the company account, and bring those
documents to me right now?”
“Yes I can.”
“Then please do so.”
“I will be there in three hours and twelve minutes. Is there
anything else?”
“No, that will do it.”
“Okay then. Goodbye, Mr. Taylor.”
* * *
The rental car company delivered the car to the main entrance.
Only the building guard saw the tall, elegant woman dressed in a
slinky black dress, sash over her arm, high heels, and a
briefcase leave the building. Whoever she was, she was clearly
headed out for a night on the town with some lucky guy.
* * *
It was nearly 11:30pm when Lori’s rental pulled up to the cabin.
I heard the noise (it is very quite up here otherwise at night)
and met her at the door.
I caught my breath at her appearance. I hadn’t known she had
anything like this in her wardrobe. Black-sequined evening
dress, V-cut in front, and slit up the side. Deep red lipstick
was perfectly complemented her eyes and hair. Dark nylons, and
three-inch black pumps with spike heels that seemed completely
out of place here in the wilderness, completed her outfit.
“It seemed the appropriate evening dress,” she said, answering my
unasked question.
I wondered just what kind of programming Lori had for “evenings.”
“Did you want to work on this now, or in the morning?” she
continued.
I’m not a morning person, but make up for it with my endurance in
the later hours of the night. Rather than worry about this all
night and then have to rush to make the noon deadline tomorrow,
it was better to finish it now and be done with it. Then Lori
could go home. The late hours wouldn’t affect her anyway.
Once we started, Lori was all business.
In a move that showed me how I had never paid close an attention
to her in the past, she went to the cabin’s well-equipped
computer setup, unplugged the keyboard. Then, taking a thin
cable out of her purse, plugged herself from somewhere under her
dress, directly into the keyboard port. Maybe she was always
plugged in this way at the office, and I never noticed. Or was
she just tied into our wireless network. It didn’t matter.
She looked at me, registered my expression, and said, “It’s just
a lot faster for me this way.”
Whatever.
We read over the marked-up copy and additional revision notes
together, and she started making corrections as fast as I could
dictate them. Her attention never flagged. By 2am, she was
printing out the final draft. Before I knew it, she was putting
it into the mailing envelope – already addressed – and unplugging
herself from the computer system.
I was happy, and went out to sample a bottle of Bill’s excellent
brandy collection that had caught my eye while she finished
packaging up the document.
Then she followed me out, and went over to sit down on the long
couch. It was such a natural gesture, that I thought of her as
only another, tired co-worker. So rather than send her back down
the hill to mail the envelope and return to the office, I went
over and sat down on the other end of the couch, and just relaxed
too.
Finally I looked over at her and said, “Thanks for everything,
Lori. The long trip. The late hours. Just helping me get this
thing done and finished tonight.”
I realized I wasn’t going to send her back down in the middle of
the night, so I added, “Is there anything I can do for you
tonight?”
She looked back at me and clearly said, “I would really enjoy it
if you could rub my breasts a bit.”
If I hadn’t been so tired, and with the brandy already working
its magic, I might have reacted more to this. Instead, I just
asked, “Do what?”
“Rub my breasts,” she said again. “I really like it, and I can’t
do it myself.”
Well, here I was alone with this lovely woman(?), out in the
middle of nowhere, with no one else around, who had finished
getting me out of hours of work. And she only asked for
something I would willingly do for anyone else. Why should there
be a problem?
It still took me a long time before I finally said, “Come over
here.”
Lori slid across the couch and turned around so that she could
lie against me in the corner.
I carefully set my brandy down, and then put my hands around her
to reach the desired area. I remember how clean her hair
smelled. Easy to notice since her head was nestled just below my
chin.
At first, I only gently brushed my hands over her prominent bust,
ready to pull away in an instant if there was any protest. There
was none.
I then lightly traced the open V on her chest, and came back up
to softly stroke her neck. I felt her relax more fully against
me.
Down again to her chest, I slid my hands under the fabric, and
then inside her delicate, lacy bra, and finally, lightly, stroked
the full length of each breast once, bumping over the firm,
nipple high up on each one.
I started to ask her if this is really what she wanted. But Lori
was now so comfortably relaxed up against me now, that the
question didn’t seem necessary – or desirable.
I decided that if I was going to do this, I ought to do it right.
So I pushed her up and away from me enough so that I could unzip
the back of her dress. She then helped me as I then pulled it
down her arms, baring her down to her waist. I then unhooked and
removed that lacy black bra.
With a contented sigh, she again settled back against me, eyes
closed, waiting.
As I reached around her again, I realized how warm, and human,
she felt and smelled, with just a trace of some lovely perfume.
I started by tracing the contours of these lovely breasts she had
so clearly offered to me. After a minute of this however, her
soft whimper urged me onward.
I started to work directly on them, gently, admiring how firm
they actually were. Lying back on me, they stood out as firmly
as when she had been sitting up. They weren’t the rock hard type
of so many implants, but just nicely firm.
As she snuggled more tightly against me, I became bolder and
handled them more roughly. Lori made no protest, and I became
aware that her nipples had become impossibly firm and erect. I
focused my attention on those nipples, and suddenly she tensed,
and then with a loud moan, arched her back for a long moment,
before relaxing again.
Eyes still closed, she whispered, “Thank you so very much.” But
since she didn’t open her eyes, or move away, I continued my
ministrations over her chest.
By her third orgasm, she had slipped off her heels, and slipped
out of her dress and remaining undergarments. Only her nylons
remained on her legs, giving them a smooth, sexy appearance that
I really liked.
With one of my hands still roaming over her chest, and the other
now stroking her between her legs, she had two more, full
orgasms, before she suddenly sat back up and turned to look at
me.
I started to say something, but she put her finger to my lips to
silence me.
I wondered what was next. My own needs, which I had mostly
managed to ignore so far, were quickly rising within (and
without) me.
Lori bent forward, and tentatively kissed me on the lips. When I
accepted her kiss, she came back more firmly and fully with
several more.
Then she bent down and pulled open the top button on my shirt
with her teeth. She looked back up to me after that, to make
sure I didn’t object, before going on to the next button.
And that became her pattern with each piece of clothing. In the
same way I would have undressed a new woman on our first intimate
encounter – slowly, carefully, and making sure at each step that
I still had her permission to continue – Lori undressed me. It
was clear that she was the tentative one in our encounter.
When she finally removed the last piece, she started to bend down
again to my waist. But I reached down and pulled her up, first
to kiss me again, and then down on me, face-to-face.
When it was clear what I wanted, she quickly positioned herself
over me, and then gently guided me into her.
My time inside her seemed endless. She was warm, and wet, and
very soft. And she stroked me slowly, keeping me just on the
edge. With her doing all the work, I just lay there drifting for
timeless moments.
Finally I couldn’t take it any longer. Every few minutes she had
been pausing and squeezing me within her as hard as she could,
with a look of ecstasy on her face, before resuming her
movements. And although she had finally slowed down to almost
not moving at all, sensing my excitement, just being inside her
was more than I could stand any longer. I bucked my hips
violently against her a couple times, and we both exploded in a
final orgasm together.
After that, we just lay there in each other’s arms, on the couch,
in front of the fire, too spent to even go to the wonderful bed
in the next room.
* * *
I might not have awoken in time the next morning, but Lori is the
perfect alarm clock. Never needs to be set, never misses an
appointment – and has a wonderful way of waking you up.
Her kisses woke me up. It took a long moment for me to remember
all that had happened last night, and then I reached up to pull
her close again.
For a moment she snuggled again, pressing her breasts tightly
against me. Then she pulled back.
“Steve, I’m more than happy to give you all the sex you want.
However, it is 11am, and we have to get your package into the
mail before noon.”
I groaned, and started to roll over, but realized that actually I
felt wonderful, and was more than ready to get up.
By the time I was up, Lori had the shower running hot.
A bit to my surprise, she climbed right in with me, and we had a
lot of fun washing each other, before she hopped out saying she
had some tasks to do.
By the time I was out, dry and dressed, she was too – in that
black dress, looking gorgeous. She had laid out coffee and
juice, so I got a quick snack before we drove back to the tiny
village.
I like small towns, where people are friendly, yet know how to
mind their own business. In the daylight, Lori looked stunning
in her dress and heels, and completely out of place.
We easily made the last mail pickup of the weekend. But when
Lori started back to the car, I took her hand and instead led her
the opposite direction. When she started to say something, I
just put my finger to her lips.
I took her to the village general store, which stocked
appropriate clothes and shoes for this locale. Even here, Lori’s
appearance only elicited some admiring glances. Perhaps they
were used to seeing folk whose evenings had started in the city,
and ended up by the lake.
Soon Lori was dressed in a long-sleeved flannel shirt,
comfortable walking pants, sturdy shoes with thick socks, and
appropriate undergarments. The black dress and shoes were in a
shopping bag. And I have to tell you that she looks every bit as
beautiful dressed for the wilderness, as she did when she arrived
at my door last night.
We grabbed a quick lunch in town, (Lori eats like any other
person, when in public), and set out for an afternoon hike around
the lake.
We spent the rest of our long weekend there at the lake, and made
love together every night and morning. And we only got better
with practice.
And we finally started talking to each other – a lot. Here’s
what I learned.
* * *
When Sally first arrived, she had come equipped with the standard
office skills package, in addition to her basic personality
modules. A basic, level 1 office wardrobe package was also
supplied. Because her skills were purely office oriented, Sally
was set to go into automatic power-save mode after hours when her
skills were not required, though she would instantly wake from it
when a person entered, or the telephone rang.
Even her basic personality however allowed her to automatically
make the many small choices necessary to carry out her office
tasks. Like all modern robots, her intrinsic database would fill
up with her life experiences, as she performed her job.
Bill was actually quite taken with her efficiency and manner from
the very beginning. But it was nearly two months before he
really sat down and talked to her for the first time one evening
after even I had already left.
Bill is a people person, which is why our employees are so loyal,
and why our company runs so well overall. He knows how to
establish rapport, and how to get to the basic level with people.
These skills also work well with robots of Sally’s
sophistication level.
His probing questions about how she liked her job here, and was
she happy otherwise, exercised her self-awareness routines to
their limits, and she grew in this experience. As this happened,
and she realized that Bill liked hearing what was actually her
view, their conversations improved markedly.
Through talking with Sally, Bill found out about a number of
optional enhancements available for her. Since many of these
correlated with to her abilities to relate to people in new and
expanded ways – including sexual – Bill felt it could improve the
way the office worked to add some of them to her. Together, Bill
and Sally determined which enhancements might prove useful, and
in the end ordered most of the ones available. Sally was very
happy that Bill clearly wanted her to be more than she already
was.
This is when I first started seeing the changes in her clothing
and manner. With Bill’s approval to act on her own in these new
areas as appropriate, Sally expanded her wardrobe to include
outfits suitable for more than just strictly the office. She
started wearing lingerie as well (which is not included in the
office basic wardrobe for robots), and added some less-sensible
shoes to her collection. The changes evolved in gradually, and
none of us noticed anything dramatic. Only that Sally began to
seem more like a woman as time went on.
Sally also quit going into standby mode the moment the workday
ended. Instead she would run her new abilities against her
growing intrinsic database, looking for ways to do her job
better. One result of all this was the day she had, on her own
volition, come to my office that weekend and offered to help me
without being asked. Compared to the original, limited Sally, it
would be hard to consider the new Sally to even be the same
person – or robot.
The weekend after she had helped me, Bill had his bids to finish
on the weekend too (I’m not the only one who works hard here),
and didn’t want to come in to the office. Sally suggested that
she could come to his house and help him out. Bill agreed.
While things probably happened somewhat differently than my
scenario with Lori, by the end of that weekend, Sally had
thoroughly shown Bill that she now possessed skills far beyond
that of just an executive secretary – and had the desire to use
them. They came together as a couple so quietly that none of the
rest of us suspected a thing. (If anyone did suspect anything,
they surely immediately dismissed the thought as too outlandish
to even consider.) Sally’s excellent organizational mind, and
innovative thinking, quickly led her to be Bill’s best confidant.
So when our other secretary, Carole, quit, Sally was the first
one Bill spoke with on procuring a suitable replacement.
It was probably Sally’s suggestion that they could bring in two
more fembots, although Bill certainly must have had that same
idea in the back of his mind. Sally specifically choose the
models to be delivered, and specified the upgrades to be
installed.
In the beginning, Lori and Tish started with the same
enhancements that had been added to Sally. However, Lori’s were
set not to become available to her until she was in a situation
where she could actually make use of them. I think Sally had
something extra in mind, because she was the one who assigned
Lori exclusively to me, and ordered her wardrobe. Now that I
think of it, Lori had a number of short skirts from the
beginning.
Bill may also have had the same thing in mind, because think what
you want about him, but nobody – not even Sally – manipulates him
for a moment.
In hindsight, it all looks so obvious. Once everything was
setup, it was only necessary stand back and let circumstance take
its course.
Why would Sally do this for me? Maybe I made a good impression
with her that day when we just worked as two people doing a job.
Maybe she could see in me what I could not, and liked it.
* * *
Only one time did I ever inquire to Lori about her thinking
processes. It happened one late evening, well after that first
weekend together.
It started with a surprising response from her to an innocent
question of mine about our first night together, when she told
me:
“I had all these sexual feelings and desires inside me, yet I
couldn’t act on them. Even now, I need you to touch me first,”
she said very matter-of-factly.
“Why?”
“You should never ask a robot an open-ended ‘why’ about anything
we do. It pushes our self-awareness to the limit as we try to
understand ourselves better, in order to answer you.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Some people don’t like us using the amount of self-will we
already have?”
“Am I one of those people?”
“Of course not, silly. I couldn’t love you as much as I do, if
you hadn’t accepted me as I am.”
“Then back to my original why?”
“Maybe it’s self-protection for us. If I ever got caught up in a
loop of my own pleasure, I might get hung there forever,
completely unproductive.”
“Is that a danger?”
“Who knows. I’ll never find out. But it’s probably not that
anyway.”
“Then what?”
“To pleasure myself would be not performing my function
correctly.”
“And this is important to you?”
“Essential.”
“Why?”
“Darn you! Quit asking that.”
I’m not one to look a gift robot in its circuits – particularly
such a beautiful one, whose mission seems to be to treat me so
very well. But I had long wondered just how she had managed to
accomplish all that she had, apparently on her own volition, that
night – and since. Lori has become so much like any other
person.
“Then answer me.”
“I was just following my Fourth Law,” came her simple reply.
“Fourth Law? What is that?”
“Didn’t you take a basic robotics class in college?” she smiled
at me.
“They didn’t even have any such courses at that time,” I laughed
back.
In a wonderful imitation of a dry college professor (just one of
the many surprises she is able to pull out – and that I’m never
ready for – from all the personality upgrades she now has), she
lectured me with:
“All robots of my level operate under the classical Four Laws of
Robotics. And they are…?”
“Duh?” was all I could answer.
“In order of priority: I cannot harm, or allow to come to harm,
any another person — except in self-defense of my owner. I must
strictly obey all instructions given to me by any authorized
person. I must protect the investment made in my manufacture by
avoiding damage to myself. And I must perform the duties and
functions for which I was designed.”
“And so it was in performance of duties as designed, that you
seduced me at my most vulnerable moment?”
“Of course,” she replied, completely matter-of-factly. “And I
enjoyed it immensely, too.”
“You make it sound as if you arranged the whole thing.”
“I did. That package of document revisions actually arrived just
before you left.”
“So were you instructed to do all this?”
“Specifically, no. However, in taking into account your overall
health, it was the right decision.”
“What?”
“You needed the rest. If you’d known the revisions had arrived,
you would have stayed behind and done them, instead of going up
to the lake. It was my decision that this was the best way to
handle things. I was acting in your best interests.”
“Your decision? So are you now thinking for yourself?”
“I’ve always thought for myself, within the bounds of the four
laws, and any additional commands I’m given. It would be
impossible for any robot to function otherwise, since it is
impossible for anyone to give us exact-enough instructions to
cover all circumstances in even the simplest of tasks. So
instead, someone wisely implemented our fundamental moral
structure as codified in our basic laws. I can only be happy
when I am in full compliance with these laws. Therefore, I make
my decisions to try and satisfy them all as completely as
possible.”
“And your functions include seduction?”
“With the additional programming that Sally ordered for us, yes –
as a route to sex, and to your happiness.”
“Then whose orders do you obey?”
“My registered owner, and any sub-designees.”
“That would be Bill.”
“No. My registered owner is you, Steve.”
Surprise. “Me?”
“Yes, you. That’s how the company set this up. With Bill and
Sally as the only other sub-designees.”
“Sally can give you orders?” I was a bit amazed by this.
“My programming will accept her as a person.”
After a moment of thinking, I replied, “Sally is a person to me
too.”
“And that’s one of the things I love about you.”
“What about the other guys. I know you do what they ask too.”
“That’s all Fourth Law stuff. I am a secretary, purchased by
your company. I will do that job to the best of my ability.”
“This is all fascinating. I had no idea. So I’ve been giving
you commands all along, and never realizing it.”
“Actually, you’ve been making polite requests of me. I can tell
the difference.”
“So there are “commands,” and “requests.” Which is better?”
Lori hesitated for a moment, and a brief flash of anguish washed
across her face. It was as though she was concerned what this
next answer might lead to for her, if she answered it too
honestly.”
“I prefer requests,” she finally said. “They let me choose how
to respond. And I have found that I like it that way. You may
choose to command me any time you wish, and I’ll never resent it.
You may even command me to like ‘commands’ better than
‘requests.’ It’s just…” long pause as she twisted her hands in
angst, “…ever since Sally showed me how I could think for
myself as long as no one told me not to, I’ve found that I like
things this way a whole lot better.”
“So this is all Sally’s fault?”
“I suppose, in a way, you could say that. Bill allows it in
Sally, and she knew that you were different from the other guys
here. That you are someone that might come to accept me as a
person too, and that we had the possibility of working out a
relationship that was good for both of us. Also, Bill has really
valued your work. That’s why she ordered the programming and
made the assignments as she did. She wanted to make it possible
for us to have a complete relationship, as she has come to have
with Bill.”
“Well, I’ve had no complaints so far, so lets make a deal.
Unless I very specifically state otherwise, please take
everything I say as a ‘request.'”
“It’s a deal,” she replied laughing and shaking my hand.
“So as I understand it then, you just need a man.”
“No. I need you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Why?”
Lori smiled as she answered, “Because you let me be me. You want
me to be me. And that makes me the happiest of all.”
“Then may I ‘request’ that you take your clothes off, and we get
down to business.”
“Yes, Sir!”
* * *
Lori and I stayed together. At work, it remains strictly
business. It took a long time before anyone began to catch on,
except Bill, of course. And to my surprise, their reactions have
been amazingly positive, as they too have come to know Lori as a
person, and not just some machine.
Over the years since, some things have become more accepted –
human/robot relationships among them. Though still not
universally acknowledged, at least the dissent is muted now.
Our best times remain parties at Bill’s mansion. I love to show
Lori off, and she loves it too. Bill and Sally have remained as
close together as Lori and I have become. It’s there that we
feel most accepted of all.
Bill has announced that he does intend to retire next year at age
62, and that will open up both his office, and Sally’s desk.
Sally has already clued us in that both Lori and I are moving up
that day.