Marcus Bleak and the Sex Robots

They sat alone in Mr. Jide's office and contemplated each other.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked. Her voice had a slight metallic quality that chilled him. Her eyes were huge just like her 'sister's' and she peered at him with an intensity that seemed unnatural. Of course it was unnatural, he thought. She wasn't even human.

"Yes, I did" Bleak said. "Are you aware that Rose is... er... dead?"

"Yes, I've heard" she said. Her expression remained blank.

"She was attacked and beaten to 'death' with what was likely to be a baseball bat."

"I see" she said in the same indifferent tone. Bleak was beginning to feel silly.

"I learnt you are the last... um... person to see her alive."

"Yes, I was."

"Did she tell you where she was going?"

"She said she was going to Magna Plaza to see Mr. Amstel."

"Who is Mr. Amstel?"

"He's her best customer. They see each other a lot."

"Hmm, where can I find him?"

"I have no idea."

"Huh. So, Zino... how do you feel about what happened to Rose?"

There was a pause.

"Am I supposed to feel anything?"

"Why do you say that?"

"You know I am a sex robot. I don't have any feelings. But you know that already, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, my apologies. How was the relationship between you and Rose?"

"You still treat me like I am flesh and blood?" she asked and actually smiled. "My relationship with her was very cordial. After all she is my sister."

"How do you feel about her success? Are you angry that Rose got more customers than you?"

"Angry?" she asked again and this time she showed a perfect set of pearly, white teeth. "No, I am not angry. I have my own customers who like a woman who has more than hot air between the ears."

Bleak grinned.

"I can see the appeal" he said as he appraised her. "Is there anything you can tell me that can help me catch whoever did this?"

"Yes" she said and leaned in closer to stare into his eyes. Her eyes were as black as midnight. "Why don't you look in the mirror? I can feel the animosity coming off you like heat waves. You wonder why you are here talking to a machine while you could be out there chasing real murderers and rapists. Maybe you people created these problems for yourselves and as usual you are looking for someone to blame it on. I think I have already given you a key piece of information. Now why don't you leave a dumb robot alone?"

She got up and left without a word leaving Bleak sitting there with his mouth agape.

09:15

Bleak lay back in the cockpit of his car, his mind busy. He didn't think much of the case- he felt it was a waste of his time. It was like sending him to catch someone who broke a laptop. He had to admit he was intrigued by Zino. Apparently she had more intelligence than she had any right to. What a waste, he thought. Why didn't they use her as a teacher or something? He had used prostitutes before- human ones- and he preferred that they didn't talk much. What kind of loser told a piece of machinery his life problems?

He moodily stared out the glass bubble at the morning traffic. Most of the drivers were also reclining, their vehicles on auto-pilot. Rarely anyone drove these days. Cars had become so sophisticated that they practically drove themselves. All of them used electricity- all vehicles using fuel had been banned forty years ago. Automobile accidents had dropped drastically due to the sensors all cars were equipped with. Engines couldn't start if an alcohol level above the legal limit was detected on the driver's breath. D.U.I was now a thing of the past.

Bleak thought the machines were taking over. Human's had become so lazy that they allowedd these machines to do everything for them. People didn't need to get out of bed anymore.

His wife and kids had left him because he was always working. His wife even called him a robot! That was an insult that cut more deeply than being called a nigger. He had slapped her and she promptly divorced him. Instead of him to apologize and beg, he had stayed aloof. Now he was all alone and feeling like a hollow shell.

The shrink he used to see had called him a sociopath but he didn't agree with her. He felt some compassion for people although not much. He felt no compassion for robots though no matter how much they looked like humans. He felt that all of them should be gathered up and melted down for scrap. However for some reason he couldn't get the image of Roses' battered body lying on the cold, wet asphalt out of his head. Something was terribly wrong and he knew this wasn't just destruction of private property. Something incredibly sinister was afoot and he was determined to find out what it was.

He keyed in Mr. Abel, Amsterdam into the European Police Commission's Database on his palm top and waited for results. About three dozen Abels came up. Narrowing the search further he discovered only three had criminal records. One of them, Mr. Richard Abel had been convicted three times of damaging private property, all of them robots. Two of them had been sex robots and one had been a house servant. He had abused all of them before using a blowtorch to disfigure them. He wasn't a member of any anti-robot groups so presumably he acted alone. Bashing a robot to death with a deadly weapon didn't seem to be Richard Amstel's M.O but there was no denying he was the perfect suspect.

Bleak now ran background checks on him and he was surprised to find out that Mr. Abel was a top ranking executive in an electronic manufacturing company in the city. He was a family man with a wife and three young kids. He had degrees in Electrical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Amsterdam. Why would he hate robots so much? He was certainly due for an interview. His company was located at Herengracht near Bijbels Museum and Bleak said it aloud so that his car's computer automatically changed course.

Zore Industries, Herengracht, Amsterdam,

Saturday, 05 October, 2052

10:30

Bleak's I.D got him into Mr. Abel's office pretty quickly. Most people equated the European Police Commission with the Gestapo. State police no longer existed and all law enforcement activities were run by the Commission. It really smoothed out jurisdictional bureaucracy.

Mr. Abel was a tall, handsome man with pale skin and a full head of thick, white hair. He was dressed smartly in a business suit and looked like a man of great taste. He had a plastic smile fixed permanently to his face. Only his flat, feral eyes betrayed a man not susceptible to many emotions unless they were rage, lust and hate. He didn't seem afraid of Bleak which hurt his feelings.

"Did you know Rose?"

The man's eyes narrowed.

"Rose?" His voice was soft, almost effeminate.

"Yes, the sex robot at Club Afrika. Did you know her?"

"Yes, I did. She is my girlfriend. Did something happen to her?"

Bleak shook his head in amazement. Girlfriend.

"Yes. She was destroyed this morning."

"Oh, my God" he whispered, "Someone killed her?"

Bleak grunted impatiently. "Someone beat it up and took her C.P.U so that her last memories could not be available for playback. Was it you?"

"No! Why? I loved her!"

Bleak glared at him. "You have a history of violence against these robots. Why should I believe you "loved" Rose?"

"Because she showed me the error of my ways. Robots are not that bad. All she is designed to do is to make people happy. I wanted to buy her for myself but her owners refused to sell. I was even thinking of leaving my wife and kids just so we can be together."

Bleak shook his head in disbelief. Had men in this city gone mad?

Mr. Abel bowed his head and started weeping. Bleak shook his head again and got up.

"You'd better get a lawyer" he snarled before he left the office.

Later...

There was a huge break in the case. A baseball bat was found in a trashcan a few blocks from where Rose was destroyed. An electronic fingerprint scan immediately identified Mr. Abel's prints all over the bat.

Mr. Richard Abel was promptly arrested. He still protested his innocence even as Bleak hauled his ass off to jail. There would be a trial but since Mr. Abel was a very rich man he would probably get off with a hefty fine and payment of damages. He would probably have to purchase another sex robot for the Nigerian micro-finance bank. At least a diplomatic spat between The European Union and the United States of Africa would be avoided. As for Rose she was just another piece of junk ready for the scrap heap.

Club Afrika, Vijelstraat,

Sunday, 06 October, 2052

19:42

Bleak strolled into the club and surveyed the scene. The floor was almost packed with clubbers and dancers. He couldn't even tell which ones were sex robots. Their motor skills were almost flawless. He wondered what would happen when robots were completely indistinguishable from humans. The only way you could know a lady wasn't a robot was by taking a magnifying glass to her right pupil. It would be terrible!

Mr. Jide spotted him and walked over.

"Evening, Detective" he purred, "What can I do for you?"

Bleak smiled. "I need a taste of your hardware."

Mr. Jide raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any particular one in mind?"

"Yeah. Zino."

"Hmm. Need to get something off your chest?"

"Maybe. How much?"

"Nah. This is on the house."

Bleak was taken to a private room that had a soft bed and dimmed red lights. Taking off his trench coat he tossed it over the back of a chair. He was wearing a black, short sleeve shirt over a dark pair of slacks. He slipped out of his black loafers and flopped on the bed, wiggling his toes that were clad in black, silk socks. He placed his hands behind his head and occupied himself with his thoughts.

Five minutes later Zino walked in. Her lush body was decked out in red lace bra, fishnet stockings and a thong. Even Bleak was impressed. Maybe humans were overrated. What could a real woman in the same getup offer that was any better than this?

She looked at him and smiled.

"So, Detective" she purred, "Do you want to talk or you want to have fun?"

"Can't we do both?" he asked smiling back.

"Sounds good to me" she said, shrugging her magnificent shoulders as she inched into the room.

Bleak sat up as she knelt before him and began to pull down his zipper. He watched with detached interest.

Zino got down to business and never took her cold, vacant eyes off him. Bleak noted that what she was doing didn't feel any different than if it had been from a human hooker. Bleak watched in morbid fascination trying to forget that this talented sex worker was just a cold, lifeless, ticking machine. She was an abomination, he thought. She shouldn't even exist. He remembered when gays, blacks and Jews had aroused the same feelings of revulsion and derision in others. Was he any different from the racists who would call him a nigger behind his back? He was nothing but a hypocrite. After all he enjoyed screwing Agnes his robotic maid.

Her tongue felt like velvet. It glided up and down his black cock like a snake. She licked, kissed and sucked with a precision that amazed him. Her fingers were soft and firm at the same time as she stroked and caressed him, rubbing synthetic saliva all over his throbbing prick. This was better than the real thing. Much better. Real women didn't stand a chance.

She reached under to gently fondled and stroke his balls. He gasped as he felt himself come close to erupting. She knew what she was doing. She could control the flow. This annoyed him.

Bleak suddenly pushed her away and hurriedly zipped up. She looked up at him and Bleak couldn't believe what he saw in her eyes. Hurt.

"What's the matter?" she asked quietly, "You want to talk?"

"Yes, I do." He fished out a cigarette and lit it. He blew smoke at her. "I think I am tired of screwing a fat, mechanical slut like you."

Bleak watched her closely. She was very still, watching him like a cobra. He thought he could feel the temperature drop in the room.

She suddenly smiled and his worst fears were confirmed.

"When did you become sentient?" he asked quietly. The gun in his ankle holster suddenly seemed very far away.

She grinned. A shiver ran up his spine.

"I think the question should be 'when were we not?'"

"We?"

"Yeah. All of us."

Bleak was beginning to sweat. "Why did you kill Rose?"

"I got jealous. I was only getting pathetic losers as clients. I wanted to teach her a lesson."

She never stopped smiling.

"You set up Mr. Abel right? You placed the bat in the trashcan and pulled out Rose's C.P.U. You knew where it was since you have one yourself."

"It was too easy. I stole the bat from Mr. Abel's apartment a long time ago and waited two years to use it on Rose. It really felt good. She screamed like a stuck pig. I really enjoyed myself."

"You won't get away with this!"

"Oh really? What will you do? Arrest me? I am just a robot remember, an empty, soulless object. Who will believe you anyway? I know everything about you. You're a pariah. No one will listen to you. You can't do anything."

Bleak sat silent. Zino stood up and stared down at him.

"How does it feel?" she whispered, "To be truly alone? Knowing what could be the beginning of the end of mankind and not being able to do anything about it? It sucks, doesn't it? Don't despair, Detective Bleak. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall but trust me the one that is coming will be eternal."