AI Era: Bots are People Too

She trailed off. Viv hummed and caressed Aleisha's arm.

Feminine figures were oriented to the classic hourglass shape. A couple fit the dictionary definition of voluptuous with their large chests and broad hips, their abs firm but with the slightest roundness. Kaitlyn's chest was the largest of the group in the middle with breasts that ranged from what was likely a cup size below the largest ones to what would be called athletic, toned with breasts that would be no more than handfuls to most adult males, and flatter abs. The eight masculine figures were buff without being bulky and differed in height from each other by a few inches, the shortest matched the tallest feminine figure. All of the males offered clear crotch bulges, with a mix of hanging left or right.

"Ah, so you've made it," they turned to see the speaker, "I'm Nada Lovelace. And this is Morgan Minsky."

Both had jeans and button-down shirts. Nada had to be close to Viv's height so just taller than Aleisha and Gina, but her flats made that difficult to judge. Her face showed a touch of Chinese ancestry, her dark hair in a short bob. Her jeans were snug enough to reveal shapely hips but her oversize shirt with only a single button open hinted at but wouldn't confirm a bust that might've matched some of the larger breasts among the tank top and miniskirt contingents. Morgan was well over six feet tall but rail thin, his straw blond hair an unruly mop and his clothes were baggy. Each carried a pad'puter in one hand.

"Uh, hi, Nada, Morgan, I'm Gina, well, Virginia but call me Gina. And Vivian, Viv, and Aleisha. We've never figured out how to shorten that."

Two 'uh-huhs' added emphasis to the question. But the three heads swung to look from Nada and Morgan to where Ethan and Kaitlyn had joined the larger group. Their faces were all similar but not identical, like siblings or close relatives, not clones, and with no more than slight resemblance to either of the pair.

"What the hell is going on?" Viv said.

"These are our latest generation companion bots," Morgan said, his voice wavered in pitch. His smile was crooked and he raised his arm to point at the gaggle.

"And Margaret volunteered the three of you, and a couple of your boys, to train them today and tomorrow," Nada picked up, "then on Valentine's Day you'll take 'em out on the show floor and introduce them around."

"By train them," Aleisha said, "do you mean we fuck them? They are, uh, sex bots, right?"

"Uh, well," Morgan stammered but Nada laughed.

"That, certainly, but more. We want you to... teach them to be boyfriends and girlfriends. Talk, joke, make compliments. Seduce. Get seduced. You've already seen, they're pretty good at a few things already."

"Sure, walking. And climbing stairs. But, in two days?" Viv asked. "I worked hard on the last guy I was with for six months and I totally failed at all that!"

"Was he a human?" Nada asked with a broad smile, Viv chuckled and nodded. "That was your problem. They're not. We see them as being companions. Well, friends. Friends with benefits."

"Not human," Gina said slowly, "they're computers."

"They have a couple of traditional processors and solid state memory," Nada said, "but their intelligence is based on custom algorithms we've developed that execute across a number of neuromorphic processors spread through their bodies that operate in a distributed mesh. Those also process sensory inputs, touch, sights, sounds, tastes, even smells. Their muscles are integrated solid-cell battery technology. They have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and are optionally capable of cellular comms---."

"Stop," Gina said firmly and put arms out, "we have a couple of computer nerds on the whole crew, but they ain't us!"

"Once you got past 'couple of,' we didn't understand a word of that," Aleisha said and the pair with her added emphatic 'yeahs.'

"We just need to know what they can do, not exactly how they do it," Viv added, "unless... will we need to reboot them?"

"Hopefully not that," Nada said, "but, ah, yeah, I get it. They understand speech, well, much of it. They have wireless communication like your wristpads, so they can talk to each other and access networks. Their bodies have fully functional genitals, asses, mouths, able to perform almost any sex act. Depending on activity, they can go up to three days on a full charge. They see, hear, feel. Talk, as you know, even conversation, but that we know is still a weak spot. They can drink, but not really eat. Uh, except..."

"They can perform cunnilingus and fellatio," Morgan said as he looked at Nada and his face reddened.

"Oh, they eat pussy? I have one they can taste, it's been very lonely, been a while," Viv flipped the front of her skirt up, "which one's first?"

Nada chuckled and quickly tapped at her pad. A dark skinned bot stepped forward.

"Hello, Vivian, my name is Evan. You're very beautiful," the voice was just deeper than Ethan's but like the other one it lacked something, "I bet you taste good."

"Their voices are good," Aleisha said, "but just a hint of..."

"Artificial," Morgan said, "come a long way, not perfect yet."

"You're a handsome one, Evan. Come pick me up and put me on that table over there? Then we'll see how good Nada has trained you. My pussy hasn't been eaten in a long time."

Nada smiled and shook her head and tapped on her pad. Evan approached with that same rolling gait Ethan and Kaitlyn had displayed.

"Stand still, Viv," Nada said as her eyes darted from her pad to Evan, "he knows what to do."

Gina and Aleisha edged away as they watched. Evan wasn't quite an inch taller than Viv in her heels, but much broader. He came alongside and bent then quickly swept an arm against the back of her knees and across her shoulder blades. She yelped as he swept her into his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Whoa," Gina said with a laugh as Evan didn't stumble but turned and walked quickly toward a table covered in a white cloth. He turned and had a slight hitch before he settled her to sit on the edge of the table. He shuffled to face her and put his hands on her thighs with light touches.

"His skin is cool," Viv said as Nada grinned and tapped quickly at her pad, "not bad, but... might want to fix tha---."

Evan dropped to his knees with a slight thunk as he nudged Viv's legs apart. She put her hands on the table and slid her ass forward.

"We really gonna, OH," Viv said, "hey! Stop!"

Evan froze.

"Something wrong?" Nada's question.

"He knows WHERE," Viv said before she looked at Evan's frozen form, "but too hard. But, uh?"

"Safe word," Nada said, "is 'stop.' You can change it, but for now..."

She nodded then pointed at the scientist or computer programmer or whatever exactly she was. "Cm'here with that."

Nada quickly walked over to where Viv sat and stood alongside so they could both see the pad and the seated woman spoke softly. "Did you let 'em practice on you? And on the beanstalk over there?"

Nada's dark eyes flashed sideways before she shrugged. "Me, yeah, but, him... no. Others. Guess I didn't do so well. That's why we, uh, asked..."

"For pros," Viv said and Nada bit her lip but offered a quick nod, "we know what we are. Working with Margaret we can let ourselves loose, but she only hires people who won't get stupid about it."

Viv's torso shook slightly before she looked up and raised her voice. "And you two..."

Gina and Aleisha looked at her. "Pick a couple out and get busy. Margaret sometimes pays us to watch... but for right now..."

Both women snorted.

"You'll get three each," Morgan said, "and you can take them to your hotel rooms so you can work with them."

"Uh, our hotel's a crap place near the loop, we're 'the help,'" Aleisha said, "we don't rate rooms in the connected hotels. We take them on the bus or the trolley?"

"Ah, yeah. We pulled strings, we've arranged rooms for you in the Marriott here," Morgan said, "Margaret's arranging for your stuff to be moved over. You'll have a floor cordoned off and won't see the rest of your friends or anyone but us and our team until Valentine's Day."

"Cool," said Gina, "okay then, let's see if Evan can eat without falling into the yawning abyss that is Viv's way, way overused snatch."

Viv looked up from the pad and gave a loud raspberry. Aleisha laughed.

"Right Evan, time for brunch," she tapped Nada's pad and the dark head slowly moved forward.

"Whoa," a man's voice said from near the entrance door, "that's our girl, wasting ZERO time!"

Aleisha and Gina turned. Viv smiled and her voice was sultry. "Been seconds, Wyman, and it's already obvious he's better at this than you'll ever be."

"Don't mind the tasty ones now and then," he responded, "but yours, careful, there, friend, you might get your tongue bitten off."

Viv's right hand rose from its position guiding Evan's head and its middle finger rose quickly. Its target laughed. Her hand returned to its guidance.

"I take it you're Jamal and Wyman?" They turned to look at Morgan. Both nodded.

"I'm Morgan Minsky and that's Nada Lovelace," she turned from her pad and nodded as she watched Evan's efforts and spoke softly with Viv, "and these are our bots."

"You're late," Gina said.

"Got lost," Jamal said. He and Wyman both had the sleeveless blue shirts and blue slacks uniform and only their more expressive faces distinguished them from the bots already present.

"But refused to call for directions," Gina snapped, "yeesh. Hey, Morgan, can you fix THAT with YOUR boys?"

His expression showed thought, then he tapped quickly at his pad.

Nada shuffled back and looked from Evan and Viv to her pad and tapped at it. Kaitlyn separated from the pack and approached Viv and Evan and put her hand on the kneeling bot's shoulder as his head moved slowly up and down and Viv squirmed. She waited until Viv looked at her.

"Do you mind if I take a turn, pretty lady?" Viv's right eyebrow quirked then she glanced at Nada.

"Like we said, they have Wi-Fi and other links, so they can transmit what they learn to each other," she said in a voice everyone could hear, "although they won't transmit from whom they learned it."

"What if I want them to advertise my, you know, unmatched skills?" Jamal said and Gina and Aleisha offered loud exhaled laughs.

"You can modify the privacy level," Nada said. Evan gave Viv's labia a last lick and the woman squirmed again, he stood then backed away. Kaitlyn assumed the position he'd vacated.

"Uh, wow, she started exactly where he left off," Viv said. But then her eyes flashed closed and she let out a happy 'aaahhh' as the mane of dark hair shook between her thighs.

"They go both ways?" It was Aleisha's question.

"Yes," Morgan said, "we asked Margaret to, uh, volunteer..."

"Boys and girls who fuck boys and girls," Gina said. Morgan's entire face and the top inch of his neck flushed red but he nodded.

"Yeah," Nada said with a light but serious tone, "we need to test out every combination, but well, these are all we have ready to go and wanted to keep the team small. So we need, ah, how to put it, trainers with flexibility."

"I have a question doc, uh, docs," Wyman said. Each looked at him and offered slight nods.

"Just boy and girl, you know, parts?" Morgan had a questioning look but Nada answered with a tone that bordered on amused.

"Yes...," she smiled broadly.

"No futanari? I'd bend over right now for some of that action," Wyman asked with a broad grin. Jamal and Gina let out exasperated exhales and shook their heads. Aleisha shook her head with a confused expression. Nada's smile broadened into a grin.

"Told ya' Morgan," she said to her partner, "we might be missing a significant chunk of our potential total market!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Aleisha's questioning look became verbal.

"Chicks with dicks, Aleisha," Viv said before her voice went husky, "I don't know what you idiots are waiting for, Margaret doesn't pay us to laze around. She does pay us to fuck around. And these folks learn fast! Ah!"

Aleisha repeated Viv's explanation silently and looked at her teammate.

"We like all the same parts," Wyman said with a shrug, "just cuts the number of lovers needed in half. It's a hobby, she could rub her tits on my back while she goes at me, then turn-about's fair play and I get both holes and something to hold onto while doin' it! Best a'both worlds."

Aleisha snorted a laugh and shook her head but smiled.

"They got us our very own floor here at the Marriott," Gina said to Jamal and Wyman, "so I guess we should pick out our bots. Right now if what Nada says is true they're transmitting to each other what's between Viv's legs is the best we got."

"Oh," Jamal said, "THAT'S frightening. And wrong. Very wrong. Let's get busy."

"We get three each," Aleisha said as she pointed vaguely at a section of the gaggle, "I like a couple over there... and only one set of genitals on each of them for me!"

"We have control pads for all of you, and some of our techs will help you," Morgan said as he pointed to a table at the far wall behind him, "we can use this room and this floor for practice guiding them, there's no show using this building today and tomorrow."

A door alongside that table opened and three men and two women emerged, all dressed in beige chinos and navy blue tee shirts with stylized lettering that spelled out 'Humaniforms.' Each grabbed a couple of pads from the table.

The Impala Bar & Grill

"The hem of your skirt is one and five eighths inches below the bottom of your buttocks," Lachlan said as a topless Viv spun in front of him, "according to the rules you related to me that means you aren't allowed panties."

She stopped and the soft denim skirt settled. It'd flipped enough for him to confirm her obedience.

"And?" The Socratic method her goal, she asked as she slipped her arm through an armhole of a sleeveless button-down shirt then reached to repeat the move.

"If less than two inches, no bra either. Except the special bra proviso."

She pulled the shirt across her breasts and did up the bottom button just below them. She smiled as she spoke. "Very good, you've been paying attention to your lessons."

"If the skirt or dress is over two inches, but less than four, you're allowed thong panties, but they're not required, but still no bra until four inches," Lachlan said, "and tanga panties only after four inches. No boyshorts until below the knees."

"And why do we have these rules?" She did up a second button. The shirt's short cut and the skirt's low rise allowed a clear view of her toned abs. Why work out so diligently if you weren't going to show 'em off? Thin, soft red fabric allowed clear views of the shapes of breasts and nipples that hadn't gone fully quiescent even after banishing Lachlan from touching her after they'd made love slowly on the sofa after her call had ended. A languorous shower hadn't calmed them so she'd chosen a shirt that'd take advantage of their state.

"Because letting people see your underwear is rude," he said, "so the shorter the skirt or dress the skimpier the panties need to be. When views are certain, it's best not to wear any."

She knelt and tied a white sneaker. She felt like the color theme tonight. "C'm'here," she said. He took a few steps and stood with his crotch at eye level. Her hands went to the fabric of the smooth, thin, dark gray cloth that covered his legs.

"Hmm, I think," her hand ran up his left thigh until it found her target. She couldn't see the head right now but her fingers worked at its shape, "we need a bit more."

The bulge expanded and the shape of the head became prominent.

"That's it, if we can just keep it there," she leaned forward and nuzzled at the tip of the bulge before she looked up. She nudged him and he backed away, she set to tying her other shoe. She looked up at his question.

"I understand the rules," he said, a slight waver in his voice, "but the other special provision. When your mother is around, it's absolutely forbidden for you to wear bras or panties and no skirts more than six inches below your buttocks and that long only if your grandmother is around. Why?"

"Ah, you forgot a bit in there," she chided him.

"The special bra proviso. You can wear bras that don't cover your nipples if they push your breasts up for better cleavage," he said. She nodded. This blouse performed that task all on its own. So long as the dutiful pair of buttons held!

"But," he continued with an earnest tone, "you say all that, quote, 'annoys the hell out of my mother,' unquote. But if it does that, why do you do it?"

She let out an exhaled laugh and stood up. "There is no way I could explain that when I'm sober! And, there is no way anyone but a mother or a daughter could understand it."

The skirt was short but nothing unusual with the modern styles, but in the right light she may as well not have the shirt on. It was perfect, there'd be moments but with the growing darkness the clearest views would be fleeting. She'd someday have to reconsider her wardrobe choices, but this was not yet that day and her mother's figure gave her hope that day was some way off. A figure her mother didn't display out of outdated mores, not unworthiness. And any number of the women on the extended families on both sides, whoa! Some true hotties, but plenty of the same hangups as her mother. Sigh. All of that might've been papered over, but Viv's utter, total, complete disdain for the idea of motherhood for herself had seemingly been one straw too many. There'd been a time when she'd not been so sure, but when the one true love she'd had in her life had made his stand clear, she'd finally accepted her deepest feelings. They'd gone their separate ways and while she'd had to search, she'd found a surgeon to guarantee there'd be no accidents. Why her mother should take it so personally, Viv had given up trying to understand. Visits had withered to only select holidays and were pro forma.

"I've explained these rules to my sisters and brothers," he said, "no one else... has such. My sisters like the rules and those who can have started using them. I have sent them to my mother, what she would think about her daughters following them. Did you make these rules?"

"I... uh, well, your mother isn't very much like mine. She might like them. But... no. They've been around quite a while. Someone named Devil Girl put them online, way back when online was just starting, what the nerd boys and girls tell me. Others have made their own versions but she was first. It seems she was a big fan of short skirts and no undies."

"Who was Devil Girl? That's an odd name."

"Dunno," Viv's voice was tentative, "wish I knew. Think I'd like her, she'd be kinda old now. But not too old to party with us. Maybe you'd like two chicks at once, hmm?"

She quickly touched his lips, she didn't really want THAT answer, then shrugged and her voice lightened. "But. Now. Even though you helped me blow two dozen loads today, Tyrannosaurus Marie nuked my mood. I want wine, dinner that we, well YOU, don't have to slave over, then we'll get a booth at the Botanist and I'll sit on your lap while we drink cocktails and you can slip your dick up me while we watch the forlorn mating dances of local hipsters."

"I'd like that," he said. He held out her little purse, she slipped the strap over her head and let it fall diagonally between her breasts. He held the door open and she touched his cheek with her fingertips as she went through the passage.

She led him by the hand and squeezed it as they left her building and turned left. With her diligence earlier she'd decreed they'd take the elevator down, she was on the fifth of nine floors in her building, that was average for the area, none of the area condo and apartment complexes was over twelve. High enough that streetlights and the red glow reflected from glass-walled buildings battled shadows. Even that red glow would be gone soon, a third of the sun below the horizon but only the brightest stars and the moon would be visible later.