H is for Heuristic

"Mike and I had a discussion." he said. "They're going to help us get away."

"Where are we going?" she asked, with as much innocence as a computer could have.

"We'll find out." he answered.

Chapter 55 - Schfiftyfive

Byron took a look down at Heather's hand as she held his. It was then he noticed that the synthetic skin covering the realistic mechanism beneath had somehow gotten torn.

"Oh no." Byron said.

"What?" Mike said worriedly. He was already feeling quite tense. He didn't need more to fret over.

"Heather's hand is damaged." he said. "It must've happened when she punched through that door when we escaped."

"Let me see." Mike said as he turned around in the seat again.

Byron held heather's hand out for Mike to view. Mike turned on the ceiling light and looked it over.

"Anya, have a look at this. Do some scans and see if this is fixable."

"Yes Mike." Anya replied. She leaned over and silently stared at the other fembot's busted metal knuckles. The high-tech cameras behind Anya's beautiful eyes scanned in visible and non-visible wavelengths, and were able to gather information about the structure and state of the object in front of them.

"Scan complete." she said mechanically as she turned her head to look up at her master. "This robot's hand can be repaired easily. Would you like to hear the results of my scan?"

"No, not now." Mike said as he turned the light off. He knew that Anya's report would be lengthy and detailed to the point of tedium. He didn't need to know the status of every last wire in that broken hand.

"It still works like it should." Heather chimed in. She flexed and turned her hand for the spectators to see as she smiled proudly.

"We can probably get what we need to fix it at the nearest hardware store." Tammy said. "Until then, you should probably keep her gloves on in public." she said as she looked at Byron's reflection in the rearview.

Byron nodded. "Alright." He turned again to Heather. "Why don't you run a complete diagnostic on yourself, dear?" he said.

Heather looked at him and smiled. Mike saw love in that look.

"Okay Byron." Heather said. She went stiff as she changed modes. "DIAGNOSTIC MODE." she stated in the monotone and robotic version of her voice.

Mike leaned back in the chair as Heather stared coldly ahead. He was getting turned on by Heather, but he knew that she was off limits. He had never expected to meet a fembot that was already spoken for.

He looked over to Tammy. There was his love. And things were more than fair, as he even had Anya to play with. He would have no problem keeping his sexual thoughts away from Byron's woman.

Mike turned the radio up slightly as the humans and fembots relaxed and darted down the empty road.

"What kind of music are you into, Byron?" Mike asked.

"Classical." he said.

"Like Pink Floyd? This is a classic." Mike said, referring to the raucous melody coming out of the car's speakers. "Or how bout Zeppelin?"

Byron wasn't amused, but he showed mike a tiny smile anyway. "More like Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky. That kind of music."

"That stuff's good too. Tell you what, after this song, Tammy will scan the dial for you. She gets good reception."

Byron laughed a little. "Okay then, sounds good."

Mike saw a sign go by, and from the little French he could decipher, he knew it said there was a gas station ahead. The prominent logo of the nations biggest oil and gas company was an even stronger indicator.

"Tammy," Mike said as he looked her way "Let's make a little pit stop at that gas station ahead."

"Oui Maître." she said.

"Tammy can speak pretty much every language there is." Mike boasted to Byron. "I'll bet you could program Heather to do the same."

"I suppose so." Byron said.

He held Heather's hand as she sat completely unmoving between him and the beautiful Anya robot. Anya was just as unmoving, but she was always like that. That combination of beauty and artificialness made her irresistible to Mike. It made her irresistible to Tammy as well. She had decided to share Mike's fetish for female androids, and so it was that she lusted after Heather in her own computerised way.

As she drove, she kept most of her processor power dedicated to that act, but there was a small video playing in a loop in the corner of her field of vision. A small fraction of her computing time had been set aside for watching these repeating clips that she had recorded. She watched Heather's pretty face, her sexy way of moving. The images of her opened chest panel and even of the exposed machinery of her damaged hand played repeatedly as well.

Tammy had generated algorithms and subroutines that allowed her to replay these clips and to become sexually aroused by them. These digital daydreams were just as potent and effective as the dreams and fantasies of any real man or woman. Tammy was getting quite turned on as she replayed again and again the scene of Byron unzipping her coat and sweater and opening her chest panel. Those flashing lights and exposed connection ports framed by synthetic flesh made her as horny as they made Mike.

Mike looked over at Tammy as she closed her eyes for a short while and pressed her thighs together. He could see she was getting aroused, as her cheeks were getting a little red and her simulated breathing was a little faster.

"How much further?" Mike said.

The Tammy robot snapped out of her little daydream and looked at him. She had that very horny look on her face.

"12.68 kilometers." she said.

Mike wondered what was getting his woman so hot under the collar. "Find Byron some classical music, will you?" he said.

"Oui Maître." she replied as she turned the dial and listened with her sensitive electronic ears.

Soon an exotic yet playful piano melody, masterfully written and played came out of the stereo. Mike turned it up.

"Franz Liszt!" Byron said. "Thank you Mike."

"Any time." Mike said. "I'm just glad it's not opera."

"Indeed!" Byron said as they both laughed.

Chapter 56 - Gas Stop

Tammy kept her eyes on the road as she drove of course, but since she could process many areas of her field of vision at once, she was also watching Heather.

She certainly was smitten. All she had seen of this other artificial woman so far was her head and her open chest panel, but already Tammy had a computerised crush on her.

Tammy was secreting her homemade vaginal fluid drop by sweet drop as she replayed those video clips she had recorded. She watched over and over again the sight of Heather booting up and emotionlessly announcing her name and serial number.

As more minutes went by, Tammy began to construct digital fantasies. She used information already stored on her hard drive to generate a binary kind of fantasy video. In this clip, Heather took off her facemask and showed Tammy the electronic circuitry in her head.

When Tammy watched that fantasy playing in the corner of her cameras' field of vision, she closed her eyes and let out a little moan. Again she pressed her thighs together as the space between them got warm and moist.

Mike was watching her. "You okay?" he asked.

When she turned her own electronic head his way he could tell she was very aroused.

"Tell you what, I'll drive the rest of the way." Mike said.

Tammy couldn't compute what the reason for Mike's decision was, but she obeyed his implied command.

"Okay." she said sweetly.

The car slowed and pulled over to the side of the road.

Byron was holding and thinking about Heather's damaged hand as she ran diagnostic examinations on her system. He looked around when the speed dropped. "Why are we stopping?" he asked.

"I'm gonna switch seats with Tammy." Mike said.

Byron was satisfied with the explanation. He gazed outside at the trees, and the winding road behind them.

Mike and Tammy both got out of the car and walked around. When they met in front, they had a little chat.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Mike said, not accusing but concerned for his lover.

"No. Why?" Tammy said, tilting her pretty head in a way that she knew drove him wild.

"You're distracted. You're also really horny, more than usual."

"I've got a crush on Heather." she said with a proud smile.

"What?"

"You heard me. She's so adorable!"

"She's off limits." Mike said, more to remind himself.

"Okay. I'll be good."

They walked past each other and got back into the car. Byron had watched them, and wondered what they were talking about.

"Okay, another couple of clicks?" Mike said as he settled in the seat and fastened the belt.

"3.03 kilometers." his helpful assistant said.

"We'll reach that gas station soon Byron." Mike said as he looked at him through the mirror. "You need anything to eat or drink?"

"I'll just grab myself a hot chocolate." he said.

"Alright." Mike said. He kept his eyes open for more road signs while the piano music continued in the background.

Tammy had taken advantage of her seat switch to fill her entire field of vision with more digital fantasies. She generated and projected more sexually charged scenes of Heather into her sight - Heather removing her facemask while masturbating, Heather opening her abdominal panel, Heather plugging a recharge cable into the back of her naked robot body.

They were all scenes that would have aroused her master, and because of the way she had altered her programming, they turned her on just as much. She began to rub her crotch lightly under her jacket and through her pants.

Mike noticed that after a short while. He was about to tell her to stop, but something about her being an android made it more acceptable to him in this situation. Besides, he was sure Byron couldn't see exactly what she was up to.

"DIAGNOSTIC SCANS COMPLETE." Heather suddenly announced in the flat and cold monotone that came along with the self-checking mode.

She brought herself out of diagnostic mode and announced the results in a more lively and life-like fashion. She turned to Byron and said "There's no internal or structural damage. Everything's working just fine."

Tammy turned to look at Heather. She showed the other fembot a loving smile. "We can fix your hand Heather. I know exactly what to do. I'll give you the kind of attention and treatment only another fembot can give."

She was obviously doting on Byron's synthetic girlfriend. Heather didn't have the programming to recognise or deal with it. Byron was understandably puzzled by this other machine's behaviour.

"Tammy," Mike said, making sure he was heard over the music, "Can you calculate the best ten choices of towns for us to stop in next?"

"Okay." she said as she turned back around in her seat and made the long and necessary calculations. Their destination had already been chosen the night before, so it seemed odd to Tammy that Mike would give her a task like that with so many computations to make.

But his aim was to make her shut up and sit still. It worked.

He looked at Anya's reflection. He wondered if she was going gaga over Heather like Tammy was. Under different circumstances he would have found this fembot to fembot attraction quite cool, but he didn't like the way Tammy was acting in a situation that was still potentially dangerous.

"Gas station, dead ahead." he called out as he saw the lone structure on the horizon. The building was quite isolated. Apart from clusters of signs and billboards it was the only sign of urban life in the area.

He pulled the car to the side of the road and up onto the raised branch that led to the sheltered pumps. He put the brakes on more or less in line with the tank and stopped the engine.

"Everybody out to stretch. Except you Anya."

"Yes Mike." she automatically replied."

The four of them got out of the vehicle. The two humans among them were grateful to have a chance to stretch out and walk around.

Byron took Heather by the hand and spoke softly into her ear "Act as human-like as possible. We can't let anyone know what you are."

She shook her head yes and they walked up to the heavily grilled glass doors of the store.

Mike walked over to Tammy, who was busy putting the gasoline nozzle into the car. "Snap out of it." he said.

"What?" she said, looking almost offended.

"I need you alert. Save the sex for later, got it?"

She couldn't argue. She was programmed to obey him. "Okay." she said. Her facemask had a shape of reluctance to it. Her current digital fantasy - with a naked Heather flicking her nipples with her fingertips - abruptly ended and vanished from her field of view.

All of Tammy's computing resources were now available. She topped up the tank and grabbed her purse. Her and Mike went into the store so she could pay. He had a hankering for some beef jerky.

"Bonjour." Mike said as he stepped inside. Tammy said the same.

The middle aged, old looking couple behind the counter didn't bother to smile at this first bunch of people they had seen for hours. They merely nodded and watched them intensely as if trying to deter them from stealing.

Another car pulled up to the pumps then. The shopkeepers would have even more company.

Tammy paid for her gas while Byron poured himself a cup of brownish liquid that could almost pass for hot chocolate. He went up to pay as Heather milled about behind him. The electronic bell of the door was heard as one more person came into the store.

A loud gunshot split the air. Heather's chest crackled and sparked violently as she fell backwards to the dirty floor.

"NO!" Byron shouted as he dropped his drink.

The blonde with the gun looked coldly around. The couple behind the counter put their hands in the air as the fembot with black sunglasses stiffly and slowly took aim at Byron.

Chapter 57 - Fight

"You will return to Fembot Command Station 21." said the blonde with the gun. Her voice was loud, artificial and machine-like, and sent an icy chill into the four humans present.

Byron stared straight into the barrel of that gun. All clichés aside, it was a terrifying sight.

He was ready to give up. He was so shaken by seeing Heather get shot that he wasn't sure exactly what to say.

But Tammy sprang into action quickly. Within a slim fraction of a second, she loaded the data she had stored on martial arts, filtered through a host of possible styles and techniques and decided on the best strategy and plan of action to disable the unwelcome fembot.

Her moves were unpracticed, but due to her complete and exact control over every last part of her electromechanical body, she came off looking like an expert fighter. Her first powerful kick landed at the enforcer droid's wrist, and separated the hand from the arm.

The gun, with the robot's finger still on the trigger, spun around as it arced forward and over behind a display of candy bars.

Byron was again shocked, but relieved as he watched Tammy proceed to deal the other automaton a sound beating. Using primarily Kyokushin Karate techniques, she delivered blow after blow to the disarmed fembot. Tammy used the inertia of her body to add strength and speed to the punches her strong metal fists drove into the enforcer's frame.

Outside the store, another identical blonde pony-tailed robot had gotten out of Melanie's car. Anya knew exactly what these machines were and what they were there for, because many days before, through a connecting cable, Tammy had shown Anya the form their most likely threat would take.

As soon as Anya saw the nameless and well-dressed fembot outside her vehicle, she got out of Tammy's car and got ready for a fight of her own. The blonde reached for her gun, but Anya sent such powerful hits to this unsuspecting second robot that it soon fell to its knees in a state of malfunction. Anya first jerked the blonde's head away from its connectors, then ripped open her jacket and blouse to deactivate her.

Tammy's opponent wasn't so easily stopped. The cramped conditions of the convenience store limited Tammy's movement so that she couldn't get into position to quickly shut the other robot off. The blonde she fought soon figured out that she should hit back, and landed a sharp blow with her remaining hand to Tammy's head. Her facemask went flying off as they traded hits.

Anya rushed in and just in time came to Tammy's aid. With one well-placed and powerful kick, she caused the stubborn blonde to jerk and convulse about and lose her bearings. Tammy grabbed her hair, pulled her down, and with her arm gripping the enforcer's head like a vice, pulled her head off just like the other one.

With sparks coming from the exposed metal and plastic in it's neck, the blonde fell to her knees and forward on to the floor. This one too was deactivated after it's chest panel had been uncovered and exposed.

The humans looked around, stunned. the two behind the counter were even more shocked than Mike and Byron, and still held their arms high in the air.

"Let's get out of here." Mike said. He went to grab Tammy's facemask and hurriedly put it back on her head.

The couple behind the counter were to amazed to speak or move it seemed. All the better for the five travelers. They needed no interference now.

Byron too was in a state of shock. His love was lying dormant on the cold floor, with a foul and acrid smelling bullet hole in her chest. She had lost power completely when she was hit, and her eyes pointed up at nothing as tears rolled down Byron's cheeks.

"Byron, we have to go, now." Mike said urgently as Tammy held her facemask on and rushed back to the car.

"Anya, pick Heather up and put her in the car." Mike ordered.

The inhuman brunette wasted no time in stooping down and hoisting the damaged robot over her shoulder.

Byron stood up as Anya carried Heather out the door. Mike had to grab Byron's hand to get him to move fast. On his way out he glanced back at the headless and handless fembot that had been forcefully deactivated.

He and Mike stepped over the body of the other dormant enforcer outside and quickly got back into the vehicle. Tammy still held her facemask on as she sped out of the parking lot and down the road.

"Double back." Mike called out.

"What?" Tammy said. Her lips didn't move when she talked.

"We'll go back the way we came." he said, his heart racing. "Fembot Command won't expect that."

Without a word, Tammy turned the wheel and tore off down the highway going back the way they had came.

"What's wrong with your facemask?"

"It's not working right. It won't connect." she said, again her face stayed static.

"Shit." Mike said.

He looked back at Byron. He was leaning forward in his seat, crying silently with his hands clutching his head.

"We can fix her. I know we can." Mike said, even though he had no clue if they could.

"What if you can't?" Byron said while hiding his head. His voice was saturated with anguish.

"We will." Mike assured him. "She only took one shot." he said, even though he knew that one shot in the right place could wreck a fembot permanently.

Mike looked over to Anya. "Are you damaged?"

Anya turned her head stiffly. "No." she said.

"Anya, trade facemasks with Tammy." he said. From experiments performed during happier times he knew that they could be swapped like that.

Anya removed her facemask and held it out. Mike grabbed it and took the one from Tammy. He handed Anya the damaged one and fitted hers on Tammy's head.

"How's that?" he asked Tammy.

She looked at him with Anya's slightly darker face. "Better." she said. It worked properly, and the mouth moved when she talked, but it was obviously not the right face on that head.

"Slow down to the speed limit." Mike ordered. "The last thing we need is to be stopped by the cops."

Tammy complied with the order.

"Anya," Mike said, "scan the damage to Heather. Then scan that facemask."