Artificial Happiness

He awkwardly retreated back to the other side of the bed. With trembling hands he reached for his pants, lying on the floor where they had been discarded. From their pockets he retrieved his UID. He put it against the back of his head and triggered the quick-reset function. It was a feature of the CERS which made it return to a predefined standard configuration without the need of extracting the Plug. It was a safety measure in case configuration changes caused unintended side-effects. Robert had set it up while experimenting with his CERS so he could quickly go back to a state of which he knew was safe. That included an active sexual inhibitor.

Still shaking he sat on the side of the bed and waited for the implants to do their work. Soon his erection started to subside and the arousal and desire were washed away from his mind. Only once he was sure all of these feelings were completely gone, he dared look at Sarah again. To Robert she looked exactly the same and totally different at the same time. Her features and all the peculiarities of her body were still as he had perceived them before, but their attracting effect had vanished entirely. Now she was just another person, as he had seen so many others before, no more and no less.

The girl was startled by Robert's sudden reaction of course.

"Is there a problem?" she asked carefully.

"No," Robert quickly answered, then reconsidered. "Yes; I don't know."

"Did I do something wrong?" enquired in an apologetic tone.

"No," Robert quickly ensured her. He should have known that Sarah would blame herself. She was configured to be submissive and to put her customer's pleasure above all else. Seeing him recoil from her, as if in disgust must have caused a horrible feeling. Once she was sure that he really wasn't angry with her, she came closer and sat beside him. The proximity of her naked body was now just a fact, nothing to be excited about

"I am sorry, but I can't do this," Robert claimed.

"But why?" the female Worker wanted to know. There was no anger or insistence in her voice; just confusion and self-doubt. She must have felt just as frustrated as Robert. It was paradoxical; he refused to have sex with her, because he felt it was wrong and he didn't want to abuse her for his pleasure; yet the one thing she wanted, which would make her happy was to have sex with him and please him as best as she could. That didn't seem to make sense; then again, there was so much which didn't make sense right now.

"Because what you feel isn't real; or maybe it is; I am not sure which is worse," he tried to put his conflicting emotions into words; and failed miserably.

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I; this world is so confusing. If you are a real person, what they do to you is weird and wrong and horrible; but if you are not real that means I'm not real either and in that case I have no right to be here."

There was a moment of silence. Sarah clearly didn't understand a word he said, yet she still tried to comfort him. "You don't have to do anything you don't want. Just tell me what you want me to do."

She reached for his dick, trying to massage it back to life, but her efforts were futile.

To Robert her affection was soothing and sickening at the same. He needed to get out of this place. As quickly as he could, he got dressed and rushed to the door. Before he left he turned around to Sarah one last time. "I am sorry. You deserve better." Then he stormed out.

If the receptionist had any opinions about Robert's quick return, he kept them to himself. "Goodbye, we hope to see you again soon," was all the man had to say when he handed the credit chip back to his customer. 'Not likely', Robert thought while he took the chip and stowed it in a pocket of his pants. He kept the words to himself.

As fast as he could, he made his way to the shuttle bay and returned to the gateway station and the Beautiful Mystery. When he arrived, Julia was floating in the living area, reading something on her UID. She greeted him with a curious smirk. "How was it?"

"I- I didn't go through with it," he confessed. "Not completely, at least."

"Why not?"

"I am not sure." Any attempts to hide his distressed state were futile.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Julia asked, coming closer.

Hesitantly he took the offer, not quite sure what to say. "There was this girl at the brothel..." he started reluctantly. Soon the words came pouring out of his mouth all by themselves and he told the entire story, only leaving out the irrelevant or overly indecent details.

"I understand," Julia claimed somberly, once Robert was done talking. He wasn't sure whether she could really comprehend his predicament, but the fact that she reacted with empathy was already a comfort to him. "I am sorry I came up with this stupid idea; I thought it would be a kindness. Of course I knew that the women there are Workers, but I had no idea they changed their configurations. I am far from being an expert on the subject, but it does seem kind of extreme."

"There is nothing to be sorry about," Robert insisted. "I really appreciate your kindness. You couldn't have known what effect it had on me. It was my choice. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to do it; maybe for the first time in my life; and look how it played out. Maybe Workers are really not meant to make their own decisions."

"That is nonsense. Forget that bullshit about you not having a personality. You are just as human as I am."

"I am not so sure about that. Even if it is true, I have my doubts whether it's a good thing. Thinking back at my time at the factory and considering all the happy Workers I have seen today, I get the feeling that being a mindless slave to the CERS might be the more pleasant option."

"Do you really think you can go back to that state with all the things you have learned?"

"I don't know," Robert said truthfully. "The thought frightens me. I guess I will just have to find out."

"And if you can't?"

Robert shrugged. There was no answer he could think of. An unfamiliar pressure formed at the front of his head and for the first time in his life, tears welled up in his eyes. Full of compassion, Julia hugged him. For a long time they just floated there, finding consolation in each other's embrace.

7

"That's it!" Julia announced cheerfully, leaning back in the pilot's chair. "We have completed the last piloting exercise. Now that we have tested all the features, all that's left to do is enter a course back to Zukunftsfabrik station. From our current position we should be there in approximately twenty hours."

Robert just nodded, his attention focused on analyzing the results of their test flight.

"Or we could make a little detour," Julia mused. "We have some time to spare. We could make a stop at a different space station or the Mars colony and spend a day enjoying ourselves a little."

Robert shrugged. "If that is what you want. It's your call. For my sake you don't have to divert from the plan."

"So you are not anxious about going back to the factory; back to your old life?" she asked carefully. Since the day on Venus both of them had avoided the topic and directed all focus on completing their assignment.

"A little," Robert admitted. "But I am also looking forward to it. "This might be my CERS talking, but most of my memories of the factory are positive ones. I don't know if I will be able to return to the life I have known, but the thought that I might makes me keen on finding out."

"Alright, Zukunftsfabrik it is then," Julia confirmed. "In the meantime there is one more obligation to fulfill."

"And what would that be?"

"We drink," she stated merrily as she floated out of her seat. "A completed job demands for proper celebration; unless you want to finish your work first."

Robert looked at the UID in front of him. The data it displayed offered unusually little appeal to him right now. He dismissed it with a shrug. "I can also finish it later."

"Spoken like a real Natural" she said with a grin. "I will make a lazy, unproductive member of society out of you still."

Robert chuckled at the joke he wouldn't have comprehended until recently. "Yeah, I can totally see myself spending my time pointlessly browsing the internet, binge watching videos or getting drunk in some bar, doing absolutely nothing of value."

"I see you have us figured out completely."

They floated to the lounge.

"You seem to be in a better mood than over the last few days," Julia observed.

He shrugged. "I have configured my CERS to increase the supply of certain neurotransmitters and have also found a way to make it repress certain thoughts which cause me distress."

"Oh; well that is one way to cope; I guess. Sometimes being a Worker has its advantages, it seems."

She took two small bags containing some liquid from the refrigerator and tossed one to Robert.

"Not as good as from a proper glass I'm afraid, but it will serve its purpose." She opened the container and held it out in front of her. "To a job well done; cheers."

Robert imitated the gesture and they both sucked some of the content from the bags into their mouths. He grimaced at the pungent taste and the slight burn the alcohol left in his throat. "What is that?"

Julia laughed at his sour expression. "It's called gin; takes some getting used to."

"I am not sure I want to get used to that," Robert replied. "The taste is horrible."

"It is not only about the taste, but also about the effect," Julia explained. "People who don't have a CERS use this to make themselves feel better."

"Well, right now I'll take all the help I can get." Robert forced himself to swallow another mouthful of the stuff.

"So what is your plan once your return?" Julia asked.

"I don't really have a plan. I guess I will just go back to my original configuration, resume my usual occupation and see how it works out. If it turns out that I can't be content with that anymore, I will find some other way to get by. I don't really want to dwell on that right now. What are you going to do once this assignment is over?"

Julia considered it for a moment. "I will probably head back to Earth; haven't been home for a while. I will visit my family, meet old friends, take some time off and have a proper vacation."

"That sounds nice; I assume. The whole concept of enjoying days or even weeks where you do not work at all is still somewhat strange to me."

"That is because you hardly know any fun pastimes. With a nice hobby even you would survive a vacation."

"Hard to imagine, but if you say so. What is Earth like?"

"That is tough to answer. There are so many different places and aspects to it. I don't know where to begin."

"What do you miss most about it?"

"Mostly very simple things; the air and the water for example."

"There is water and air here," Robert claimed, puzzled by her statement.

Julia shook her head resolutely. "Not like that. The stuff here has been purified a thousand times. It tastes and smells bland, stale and exactly the same everywhere. Where I grew up we had clean, fresh air and water coming from mountain springs. That is an entirely different world from this processed crap. I also miss open spaces. Everything is so narrow and crammed around here." Once Julia had started talking about Earth, more and more things came bursting from her lips. Robert listened intently. Half the things he heard he could hardly even imagine, but he was still fascinated. By the time Julia was done talking, they had both emptied their gin.

"Another one?" she asked.

"Sure," Robert answered. The last sip of the drink had been no more enjoyable than the first, but he was beginning to feel its effect and he liked it.

"Earth really sounds amazing," Robert mused. "Kind of makes me want to go there one day."

"You mean breaking out of the factory and hitching a ride on a ship to Earth?"

"That would be one way. Or I could ask for a transfer. There are Workers on Earth as well, right?"

"True, there are plenty of them," Julia confirmed. "I haven't thought about that option. Can you ask for a transfer? Would the company take such a request seriously? Are there rules or standard procedures for that?"

"I have no idea actually; never had any inclination to find out. Now that I think of it, I have very little knowledge about what I can and can't do. Do I have certain rights and privileges? How do I make a complaint? What will the company do if I tell them I am not happy with my job? I simply don't know the answers to those questions. Maybe they would actually treat me like a regular human being if I behaved like one. Or they would just consider me defective and toss me out like a broken piece of electronics. What do you think would happen?"

"I have no idea," Julia replied in a serious tone after brief consideration. She remained silent for a while before she asked: "Do you think the use of the CERS-Workforce is wrong?"

"Wrong in what way?" Robert asked her to specify, not quite sure how to answer.

"In the way that it is immoral to exploit human beings by manipulating what they feel."

Robert sighed. "I have thought about that a lot lately and I still couldn't come to an agreement with myself yet. It has been a real shock to find out what the Worker life looks like from the perspective of a Natural. It seems so restricted, dependent and irrelevant. That doesn't really bother the usual Worker though. Even if they do it for personal gain, can it be wrong to create a being and grant it a happy life without any worries? Until I accidentally broke free from the control of the CERS, I had no reason to complain."

"That is what we are always told: that using Workers is fine, because they are happy and because their sole purpose, the only reason they exist, is their occupation. I see the logic in that and still it somehow feels wrong. It is kind of like raising an eagle as a pet and clipping its wings at an early age, so it never learns how to fly. You can grant it a pleasant, happy life; nevertheless it feels wrong, because you know it was destined to soar through the sky and you took that away. Just like eagles are supposed to fly, aren't humans supposed to think for themselves and make their own decisions? Isn't it wrong to take that away from someone? I never thought about it like that, because I didn't really consider Workers as regular humans; most Naturals don't, I guess; but without intending to do so, you have convinced me that you are."

"I have one question," Robert requested. "What is an eagle?"

Julia almost choked on her gin in a sudden fit of laughter. "Are you serious? You really don't know what an eagle is? Large bird of prey, symbol of freedom?"

"I had no real education in zoology and there are no animals on our space station."

"I get that, but how can someone not know what an eagle is?"

Robert just shrugged. The previous topic entirely forgotten due to this revelation, the pair spent the next hour talking about animals. It started with a basic education about birds, continued with finding out what types of animals Robert did and didn't know and culminated with the invention of a game in which Julia described different animals and Robert had to guess whether they really existed or were made up. In two very different ways they both had a lot of fun, partly due to an ever increasing state of inebriation.

"I'm still not convinced this giraffe thing really exists," Robert commented once Julia had run out of ideas and declared the game over.

"How did we get to this animal topic?" Julia pondered after she had fetched yet another pair of drinking bags.

"Something about me having my wings cut?" Robert suggested his alcohol-afflicted brain not quite as sharp as it usually was.

"Yes, now I remember; my great 'eagle and Worker' analogy, which was utterly ruined by your lack of ornithological knowledge."

"My apologies for that," Robert offered sarcastically. "Now that this gap in my education has been closed I can confirm that it was indeed a very good analogy. I am still not sure whether it is better to be a happy bird with clipped wings or an unhappy bird soaring through the sky though."

"Think about it like that," Julia pondered. "If you could go back in time and prevent yourself from ever meddling with your CERS, so you would still live your regular, happy Worker life; would you do it?"

It took Robert a while until he could come up with an answer to that question. "No, I don't think I would."

"Why not?" Julia wanted to know

"Because that would mean I would have never met you. Not knowing you seems too high a price to pay."

Julia looked very surprised for a moment; then she suddenly rushed forward and kissed Robert. The momentum of her onslaught sent them both spiraling through the zero-g environment. At first Robert was just confused and overwhelmed by her actions. He wanted to ask what she was doing and why, but she granted him no opportunity to speak, keeping his mouth occupied with hers. He could have easily pushed her away but he didn't want her to stop. At some point he just accepted and went with it. He had never kissed anyone before and had no idea what he was doing, but Julia didn't leave him much to do anyway. It was a strange feeling, unfamiliar but not unpleasant; pleasant enough to cause a stirring in his loins, in expectation of more to come. With Julia's body tightly pressed against his, there was no way to prevent her from noticing.

"I guess that means your sexual inhibitor is not active?" she commented with a smirk, when their lips finally parted. Robert nodded. She showed a lascivious smile. "Good." In between more kisses she started removing both her and Robert's cloth. He helped with clumsy hands and great enthusiasm. Emboldened by his inebriation his hands dared wander where they would have never gone in a sober condition. Touching and groping, the Worker and the Natural explored each other's shapes with eager hands. Once both of them were naked and sufficiently familiar with the partner's body, things progressed fast and unceremoniously. Drunk, eager and impatient they rushed to what both of them craved. Julia grabbed Robert's sufficiently erect dick, gave it a few strokes and guided it between her legs. This time Robert was given no chance to reconsider; once in position, Julia wrapped her legs around his hips and impaled herself on him.

Joined at the hips, the pair of naked bodies floated through the room in a state of ecstasy. With a steady, regular movement of her hips, Julia dictated a pace. After some initial synchronization difficulties, Robert adjusted to the rhythm and met her half way. His mind was a wild mess of pleasure and confusion and drunkenness, devoid of any logic. The alcohol in his system dulled his senses, making the whole activity much less enjoyable than it should have been. In addition to that, something about it felt off. It was not as fulfilling as he had imagined it to be.

Their copulating went on for what felt like a really long time. By the time Julia had worked herself to an orgasm they were both panting and sweating with exhaustion. Numb, sore and mentally absent Robert was nowhere close of achieving the same. Afterwards the whole thing became more exercise than pleasure. Knowing that nothing good would come of it anymore, they separated with a rather anticlimactic end. What followed was an atmosphere of awkwardness and embarrassment which brought a sudden end to their celebration.

They spent the night in their individual cabins, left to their own thoughts.

After a few hours of sleep, Robert woke to another first-time experience: His first hangover. Suffering from both physical and psychological ailments, even going through his morning routine became a challenging and exhausting task. The lack of gravity, which could already be disorienting under normal circumstances, now came with a completely new level of vertigo. Making some adjustments in his CERS configuration helped, but there was still a persistent discomfort of body and mind, he couldn't quite get rid of.