AI Era: Bots are People Too

Viv's glare was immediate but it softened after a moment. "How do you know I didn't? I'm a wiz with VisiCell."

"That's a spreadsheet," Petra said, "that's not---."

Nada's grunt stopped the discussion. Both women looked at her, Viv's grin and Petra's sudden confusion both clear.

"She's yanking your chain, Petra. But, Viv. Has anyone contacted you? Or Lachlan?"

"Contacted us? Who? I don't read a third of the comments on the blog. I let Lachlan filter those and the email we get, if it's business he'll bring it to me. Mostly, he just deletes crap and responds to the perverts. He's had chat sex with a dozen men and women at the same time, all thinking they have him one on one. Fine, so long as none of those bitches think they're getting physical. But, you know damn well he, they all have their own channels, wireless, whatever. I only know about your email because he told me. You didn't copy me."

Her tone had gone angry in the last sentence but she calmed after a pause. "Why don't you just download the code? I do that with spreadsheets when I suspect someone's diddled some numbers."

"It's not that easy," Petra said, her gaze went to what Viv recognized as 'geek vague,' "the code morphs itself based on somatic and psychological feedback. Checksums are continually generated and we can see which areas have done so. But CHRIS isn't like FORTRAN or PASCAL, it's like if LISP and Prolog gang-fucked Smalltalk and, hell that one let SNOBOL4 have sloppy tenths, all of it in a radiation bath and none of them used protection and the mutant offspring chewed its way out of the womb. That's CHRIS. It's focused around interrupt-driven execution and aggressively parallel and distributed with asynchronous message passing that acts like neural synapses firing---."

"Enough, Petra," Nada said, as Viv couldn't contain her laughter.

"Shoulda let her go on, Nada, I like foreign languages where I don't understand a word."

Nada snorted. "Bottom line, Petra, no one's done a rip and replace on him?"

The younger woman's eyes darted between the other two women, Nada's mouth tight and Viv's toothy grin, before she sighed and shook her head. "Our security latches are in place, If they have, they're better than any of us."

"Can we replicate to the others?"

"I... uh..., not without lots more study. We've never seen this level of change."

"But we've never had this much processing power or this much sensory input," Nada said, "so it would only work with the new ones anyway."

"Yeah... and..."

Viv shook her head and used her foot to spin her chair back and forth in a one-eighty as Nada and her protégé continued speaking in tongues. She zoned the words out, let the sound simply wash over her. After she and the others had done a more expansive bot show at the Vegas conference in the middle of June, they'd been flown to Humaniforms' Bay Area labs to meet the new generation, Lachlan, Nathan and Felicia and a few others. Instead of a public unwrapping, Nada wanted them 'living' in the communities. A few of the humans hadn't adapted to the step up from having glorified dildos to companions, Jamal one of them, as did a couple of people from another team Nada had recruited. Most had settled similarly to Aleisha and Gina, with a fuckbot slash cook slash singing companion slash housework bot. Seemingly proving Nada's goal.

Viv hadn't so settled. As hadn't Lachlan. Her boyfriend. Her lover. And apparently throwing a wrench into the gears. Wyman and Felicia had also redefined their roles in other ways, the other 'couple' that'd broken past any expectations Nada had expressed.

Her attention was focused by the lengthy silence and her foot gripped the floor to pause her chair and she looked at each geekette in turn as they looked at each other. After a moment Nada looked at her.

"Hey, Viv, I need a refill. Lunch will be here soon. C'mon. Your purse, whatever, fine here. No one else around."

She shrugged. Hadn't been overly concerned. She stood up and left her jacket behind as she stood straight and automatically smoothed her skirt before she walked around the table. She hadn't known Petra would be here, but it made her even happier with her wardrobe choices knowing how nervous her tits made the programmer. Given her presence, Viv hadn't yet figured out the key, but somehow she was going to get this nerdette laid. By bot or human. Or both. Laid hard. Front, rear, maybe both same time. If that required Viv giving her a good licking first, so be it. Once she was around the table she walked quickly and once through the door threw her left arm across Petra's shoulders, with her heels she had a couple of inches height advantage. The nerdette's body shivered in surprise. In front of them Nada tapped her ear and said something in a low voice.

"Hey, Petra, out with it. What kind of guy makes you wet your panties? Just give me a couple of hints, and I'll personally deliver them to your door and oversee the deflowering so it's done right."

Petra's body was stiff, but she didn't pull out of the clinch, although her face showed obvious discomfort. Viv knew this was an overreach, but she was driven equally by annoyance at today's events and a genuine joy at getting people laid. Why else did she keep working for Margaret at the sex shows? She didn't need the extra money, although it was good. And Petra's subconscious reaction to Viv's contention told her that it was an accurate prediction of what the event would be! Finding one, at her age, in this day and time! She shivered slightly in anticipation, her determination doubled by that fact.

Nada led the trio into the large break room, where a fridge abutted a long counter with a microwave at the far end and a sink in the middle. Cupboards with glass doors held plates, glasses and various other items.

The boss lady continued to the gleaming espresso machine on the counter next to the fridge. Viv slightly tightened her grip as Petra tried gently to make an escape.

"You need a jock, Petra," Viv purred, "one so dumb he won't understand a word you say. But one with a nice, big, fat cock. But, I'd make sure he knows enough to treat you right---."

Viv's voice went silent as she stared along the hall that led to the entrance foyer. A smiling Kaitlyn turned the corner with her odd gait and its cute hitch. Viv smiled at the pretty orange dress the fembot/receptionist wore. But then her jaw dropped. Petra took the opportunity to wriggle free and sidled a couple of steps but her gaze was also locked along the hallway.

"Viv! Aunt Petra!" It was a joyous feminine voice, her beautiful face surrounded by wavy, dark brown hair that fell across her shoulders. She was a head taller than the figure she followed and strode with a smooth gait, despite the six inch stilettos on her black T-strap platform heels. Kaitlyn's mouth opened in a grin as the whirlwind behind her upped her pace and the receptionist stepped aside to clear passage into the room.

"Hey, Felicia," Viv managed before she grunted as the futabot wrapped her in a hug. The human woman was slightly above average in women's height and with today's heels it was unusual for her to be the shorter woman, much less give half of a head away. Or, was it the bulging crotch AND the enormous tits that pressed against her. Viv was used to both sensations, but on their own. Not at the same time. She shook her head as Felicia released her. She almost sympathized at Petra's near-panic when the programmer misjudged Felicia's speed and was wrapped in a hug.

Viv turned her attention back to the hallway. Wyman sauntered around the corner, pulling two wheelie suitcases. He grinned at the scene.

"I'll go back to the front, mom," Kaitlyn said and Nada nodded at her. She watched and waited for Wyman to clear her path. He stopped alongside her, released one handle with his left hand and put his fingers under the fembot's chin and steadied her. He kissed her.

"Kaitlyn gets tomorrow and the weekend off, right Nada? We have plans!" Wyman said as he looked at the fembot's 'mom.'

"I already promised. We'll suffer without her at the desk, but it's a worthy sacrifice."

"And, sorry we're late, ran into a pack of Futa Food fans at the airport. Autographs, pictures..."

He grabbed the handle and pulled the cases into the room as Kaitlyn laughed and nodded before she walked back the way they'd come.

Felicia released Petra, whose body shook as a wave of released tension ran from her head to her feet, and met a better-prepared Nada who'd just nodded to Wyman's explanation.

"Well, this is a surprise, Wyman," Viv said. He stood the cases next to one of the little tables spaced around the room before he and Viv met in a not-quite hug, they kissed as Felicia made happy noises in her embrace with her 'mom.' Viv and Wyman stood arm in arm as Felicia released Nada but stood alongside each other. Viv guessed Petra might faint as her body wavered.

"That was quite the show last night, Viv," Wyman said, "come with us. We're taking Kaitlyn. Going to take some doing to top that, but I reckon the five of us could manage it."

She snorted. But it was Felicia that spoke.

"Yeah, Viv," Felicia said, "Wyman wishes to make up for his inability to have sexually satisfied you in the past, due to his inadequacies given the threat of your vaginal dentata. Fortunately, I am much better equipped to please you."

Viv tried not to stare at the second-skin black leather pants that showed off world-class ass, hips and what her brain insisted was nine inches of shouldn't be there. Despite the joke that Wyman had taught his futabot to tell people, the man's prick wasn't tiny. It wasn't Felicia's, but he had plenty and she'd heard compliments from both men and women at the various conferences. His pants matched his companion's for color and fabric, but weren't quite as tight. His bulge was a bit subtler, a hint and a promise, not a threat.

Both had sleeveless vests of the same color and material, the futabot's pushed her crazy tits into massive cleavage below a face that was simply unfair. It was just so damned... feminine.

Viv flashed a glare at Wyman, who smirked, but when she looked back at Felicia the bot winked. Viv sniffed but smiled.

"Better idea. I think you two should take Petra," Viv said and saw the flash of panic on the woman's face, "I think your auntie needs it more."

Felicia beamed. Petra's eyes darted to look at everyone in the room before they verged on simply gyrating. Nada made a soft sound and walked quickly to stand next to her and whisper in her ear.

"Hey," Nada said as she looked at the others, "help yourself to coffee, stuff in the fridge, whatever. I know Felicia's good with the machine. I'll be right back."

She nudged Petra and spoke softly and took her through a door that Viv knew led to the labs and other work spaces. They'd apparently overloaded her. Would Nada reboot her?

"I'm having a latte," Felicia said, "Wyman likes a long black. But he doesn't mind when I give him a long beige! What'll you have, Viv?"

"Uh," Viv said as she looked at the futabot, "a cappuccino, please."

Felicia nodded with a broad smile and walked quickly to the espresso machine and set about gathering the necessities.

"Did you teach her those digs?" Viv asked Wyman in a soft voice.

"No," he said proudly, "I gave her the basic idea, she works up variations. I've never claimed you and me had sex, much less bad sex, just how we joke about it."

"Well, we never have. I'm apparently nine inches short of what you need...," she smiled and he shrugged and smiled back, "you two making bank with the cooking show."

"Got some pings about moving it to actual, real television," he said, "one of the things need to talk to Nada about."

"That's not why you two flew cross-country, is it? Seems you could handle that by video."

"No, this was...," his confident tone wavered, "sorta last minute. That's just lucky timing. But she hasn't told me. If she told Felicia, hasn't been passed to me. But I don't turn down free plane tickets and full weekend Castleland passes!"

"Castleland? What? You... and her?" Viv's mind ran to the ubiquitous faces of Mervin Meerkat and Annie Aardvark that were plastered all over the collection of theme parks southwest of her. She'd accompanied more than one set of out of town relatives and their sprogs as an area guide. She'd depended on a steady and generous flow of alcohol to get through those days.

"Hey, I've never actually been," Wyman said to Viv's surprise, she'd always thought American parents would have their children seized, failing at that ritual, "and, neither has Felicia. We're taking Kaitlyn and Nada said she'll get us more passes. You and Lachlan should come. We can turn that Pirates ride into the Ass Pirates ride!"

Viv hummed. The parks would be jammed with brats trying for that last outing before schools started and although Castleland had added features to cater to the adults that'd grown up with their cartoons and movies and TV shows and the theme parks, it would still be a slog. Getting ass fucked on a table at Botanical was one thing, the Ass Pirates ride might not go over so well. Arrest was one thing, a series of controlled bursts from semi-autos would be even more certain. That the guards would be so armed and trigger-happy was a given, as 'No One Fucks with the Meerkat' was well known in the entertainment industry and had become a cultural catch-phrase. There were many things Viv didn't know, but marketing wasn't one of those. The Meerkat had started in a few grainy, black and white cartoons. Seven decades later, he bestrode the world as a marketing juggernaut. She should leave them to it.

All that, what was Nada playing at? Viv hummed and wondered, she didn't keep in touch with Wyman like she did Aleisha, hadn't paid much attention to him and his futabot dream, beyond catching a couple of episodes of 'Fixing Futa Food with Felicia,' she'd not seen their day to day videos. But the vibe from the futabot was much more what she got from Lachlan, more than from Nathan or Gina's Emily. The espresso machine hissed and spurted as the curvaceous figure hummed a tune and worked at their coffees. Why had Nada given the futabot THAT ass?

"C'mon," Felicia said happily as she carried two coffee mugs to a table, "you two sit down. Mine's finishing."

Viv let Wyman lead her to the table and they sat. Lachlan made the morning coffee but he never drank it at their place. But he did in public, usually preferred iced coffee. If Nada wanted this generation of bots to all but pass for people, Felicia and he seemed to be teetering on that edge. Whatever these 'Enhanced Turing' tests were that Lachlan had aced, even just these few minutes of exposure told Viv Felicia would do just as well. The two of them weren't clones, not physically nor personalities, but they both had a spark that didn't seem to exist with Nathan and the others. Viv had the feeling she should be happy about that, but Nada's and Petra's obvious confusion and doubt worried her.

On the other hand, if Lachlan decided to fuck her to death, neither she nor any of her relatives would be surprised at that as the cause. Her grandmother's decline over a decade plus into dementia was not the way Viv wanted to go. Let Lachlan deliver her to Charon with a killer orgasm!

Viv sipped her cappuccino as Felicia set her coffee on the table and sat next to Wyman.

"This is excellent, Felicia," Viv said. The futabot smiled as Wyman sipped and nodded before the two of them kissed.

"Is my brother here?" Felicia asked.

"Yeah, Petra has a couple of her nerd assistants here. They're giving him tests and playing VR games. Well, losing VR games to him."

Viv was surprised how animated Felicia's sudden expression of concern was. It was almost scary. "Yes. Mom is worried about us. Me and him. We are unusual."

"You are indeed unusual," Wyman said lightly before his tone lowered, "you're not like your brothers and sisters."

"Lucky you," Viv said, "but, unusual?"

"Come, Viv, you have not noticed?"

Fuck this mechanical psychologist flashed through Viv's mind. But the kind expressions that faced her indicated she'd kept the anger from her face. But why was she angry?

"Yeah... I've noticed. I... just... well, shit."

"Hey, Viv," Wyman said softly, "we've not spent that much time together at the conferences."

Viv sniffed, but nodded.

"But enough I can tell you're much happier than you've been. I'm sure it's pure coincidence who you're with. And, shoe on the other appendage it can only be called a foot since it's at the end of my leg, same here."

The two of them clasped hands quickly and smiled at her. Fuck, she thought as she exhaled slowly. She shrugged. These two weirdos weren't wrong. They all looked up as the door opened. Lachlan sauntered into the room. Viv started to stand but Felicia was faster.

"Brother," she said.

"Sister," the two met and Viv swore the floor shook with their collision. They spun once as they kissed then separated to face the humans.

"They're so cute," Felicia said, "I could just eat them up!"

"Already done so," Lachlan said, "more than once."

Viv sniffed and took her turn to hug and kiss Lachlan as Felicia strolled to the table.

"Do you want a coffee, brother?" Viv looked between them. There was more than words going on.

"Nada says there is iced tea in the fridge, I'll have that." Felicia nodded and strolled toward the appliance.

"What'd they do to you?" Viv's question.

"Boring stuff," Lachlan said, "Anton and Jase are hopeless. Too easy to beat them."

"Lachlan, my boy," Wyman said, "you ever been to Castleland?"

"No. I asked but Viv said 'no fucking way,'" he winked at Viv's squinted glare.

"Good. You and Viv are coming tomorrow and Saturday. Those theme parks won't know what's gonna hit 'em!"

All heads turned to look along the hallway from the foyer as Kaitlyn's smiling face again appeared as Lachlan accepted the glass of iced tea from his sister. Behind the receptionist was a petite woman wearing an expensive-looking pantsuit. It was difficult to know if the perfectly placed silver-gray streaks in her dark, slightly grown-out pixie cut were natural or cunningly applied.

"You're fucking me," Viv said softly as she looked along the hall, "just when I thought the day was looking up."

As before, Kaitlyn took a step into the room and slid aside to leave the path open. "This is Marie Madshow, she ordered me to bring her instead of waiting for Nada like I was supposed to."

"That's quite alright, Kaitlyn," Marie said as she walked into the room, "Viv is a dear friend."

Viv fought to tamp down her reaction. Why the fuck was Tyrannosaurus Sexless HERE? She glanced. Wyman had a friendly but neutral look and offered a professionally honed smile as Felicia strolled back to her chair and stood alongside the man. Neither betrayed any sense of recognition for the woman.

"I've so enjoyed your Futa Food show, Felicia," Marie said as she took a few steps into the room, then she turned, "and thank you, Kaitlyn. I'll explain to Nada I told you to bring me."

Kaitlyn nodded and walked away to return to her station. Marie looked at Viv.

"I've looked forward to today, Viv, your budget proposal yesterday was very good. Thorough, well thought out. Too bad I'm going to shit all over it."

Viv read the woman's smile as predatory, but not hateful. Which caused her to again slam the door on her spike of anger. She liked her job. It was better than many out there, she had access to hotels and resorts worldwide and it paid well. Slamming a senior vice-president's face into a table was probably a bad idea. She needed to find some outlet sometime soon. Tamping down all this emotion was likely bad. The one saving grace was her company had a resolute 'first names' policy which made her response tolerable, not needing a title or honorific.