Love in 2065

Brian eased up from the beautiful redhead who was starting to breathe normally now. His cock slipped from her body and she moaned softly.

"Put it back in, Honey. I like feeling it inside me."

Brian chuckled, though he wasn't really all that happy.

"It won't go back in, Martha. It was Martha, wasn't it?"

The redhead breathed the words.

"Yes, I'm Martha. Can't you do something to make it hard again? I thought all you guys could."

Just once, thought Brian, just once I'd like her to be real.

"No, Martha. I can't. In case you've forgotten, real men don't work that way."

The redhead sighed.

"Yes, I remember. I just thought you were...but I guess I was wrong. It's OK, Honey. Really, it is. We'll just wait a while and then I'll do you."

Brian knew she would probably be just as fantastic as she had been this time. They always were, but then, older women knew all the tricks, didn't they? He rolled to the side of the bed and put his feet on the floor.

"I can't Martha. I have to get to work now."

"Does this convince you I need you to stay? I'm still so horny."

The redhead pinched her left nipple, pulled her heavy breast into a cone and then shuddered.

Brian smiled. She was incredibly erotic. They were always erotic. Part of that was their perfect bodies. Martha's breasts were large, but not so large they rolled off her chest and to her sides when she was on her back. They were firm mounds sitting high on her chest and her nipples were thick, long, and dark pink.

Her sex was the same way, a soft looking slit from which her inner lips protruded just enough to know they were there. Once she'd become aroused, those inner lips swelled enough they stuck out even more, and all the little moans she made when he stroked a finger over them seemed real enough, just as did the slippery fluid that coated his finger when he slipped it inside her.

Brian didn't want to tell her what he really thought. He wasn't into hurting women, even mentally, but though Martha was a great fuck, she wasn't what he was looking for.

"I'm sorry Martha, but as much as I'd like to stay, I do have to leave."

"Will you come back? You're the best I've had in a long, long time."

"I doubt it. I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow and I'll be gone for a week at least."

Martha sighed.

"When you come back, give me a shout, OK? You have my cloud address, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

Brian turned back to Martha as he opened the door to her bedroom.

"Martha, how old are you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious. You're pretty great. I figure it must take a while to learn everything you know."

Martha smiled with her perfect pouting lips and perfect white teeth.

"I'm ninety-seven and still learning. How about you?"

"Thirty-five", Brian said as he walked out the door.

Brian had met Martha in the bar he usually stopped by after work. He'd hoped she was one of the real ones, but he'd been fooled until he looked carefully. It was getting harder and harder to tell these days. The first ones had come with the manufacturer's name, model number, and serial number embossed under the left hip. That had generated some user complaints so the manufacturers began tattooing the information on the inside of the outer labia of women and under the scrotum of men.

That had worked for a while, but there were still complaints. The manufacturers began using ink that was invisible except in ultraviolet light. For about a year they were undetectable. Then the secret leaked out. Brian had started carrying a small UV light in his jacket then and had spotted Martha's model number when she'd asked him to lick her. He'd stayed with her and the sex was great, but still not what he'd hoped for.

They called it "modern medicine", but Brian thought it was more like "modern deception". The first models went on the market in 2052 and cost several million dollars each depending upon options. Even with the cost, the GenFoChry subsidiary that developed the technology and was making them couldn't begin to keep up with demand. Nippo-Seikishiba, an Asian company who had manufactured everything from microwave ovens to sea-going tankers prior to that reverse-engineered a dozen GenFoChry models. After making a few cost and performance improvements, Nippo-Seikishiba began manufacturing their own models. Other Asian, Indian, and African companies were soon in the business and were making every attempt to be the world leaders by slashing prices and adding options.

By 2060, nearly anyone could afford to have their conscious mind placed in the cloud and then transferred at will to the android body of their choice. Death, as was understood in the past, became only a memory of that past. All one needed to do was make a copy of one's mind that was secured on multiple servers in the cloud and purchase the android of one's choice before the real body failed. Almost overnight, the lifespan of every human became potentially infinite.

By 2062, android bodies were available for both short term and long term rental, so anyone could change body type, hair color, even gender on a whim. A woman whose mind was eighty-six could have the body of a girl of twenty-three. That mind would communicate with the android brain of the surrogate body either from the cloud or by being uploaded to the android brain. The mind would receive all the signals of the senses that would normally be present in a flesh and blood body, and would be able to control even the tiniest actions, both voluntary and involuntary, in the same manner as it had the real body.

These pseudo people continued to live in their former houses and do all the things they had done before assuming an android body. Many who had been workaholics continued to work at their former jobs and were great assets to their companies. It had been interesting to Brian to work with a beautiful woman who looked thirty-two but had sixty years of experience. Marion had taught him a lot about the business. She'd also taught him a lot about how erotic a woman can be in bed.

Most of them preferred to spend their now essentially infinite lives enjoying things they'd enjoyed or wished they had enjoyed when their original bodies were younger. Gone were the retirement communities in Florida. They were replaced by beaches overcrowded with perfect, young bodies with no concerns about the affects of the sun on skin. Professional sports were dominated by androids with the strength and endurance of specifically designed twenty year old bodies and forty years of experience in the game.

Humans being human, one of the most popular pastimes was sex, and with forever-young android bodies, sex could be enjoyed without any fears of an unwanted pregnancy or disease.

Most minds had themselves loaded into androids of the same sex they had been in real life. A few chose the opposite sex. A few more alternated between both.

It was the alternates and opposites that bothered Brian the most. The true female, female androids were exciting and erotic, and he'd enjoyed the way they responded, but he'd never been anything other than a man with a man's desires. He constantly feared being in bed with an android who later said her name was really Bruce or Jason.

The other thing that both excited Brian and bothered him was the perfection. There was no lack of variation in appearance, but that appearance was always perfect. Breasts were perfectly symmetrical as were hips. Labia might be different sizes, body to body, but on one body, each lip was a mirror image of the other. Faces were perfect in structure and skin tone, and no matter what the color or style, every hair was soft, supple, and shined as if it had just been washed and perfectly styled. They were exciting but also a little boring.

As a result, what Brian sought was an actual woman his own age, but it was like trying to find a diamond in a sea of broken glass. By 2065, there were more androids on Earth than humans.

Brian boarded the small, twin-engine plane for Chicago the next morning. His seat was in first class because so few people flew these days all the seats were first class. He was one of the dozen or so passengers on the plane and even that many was unusual in his experience. Since consciousness for a lot of people was in the cloud, travel had become merely a matter of removing that consciousness from the android body in location A and transferring it to another android body in location B.

That mode of transportation was essentially free, so corporations tended to hire employees with android bodies for positions that required travel. The only cost was the storage fee to keep identical android bodies in various locations. As a result, the airlines had downsized their aircraft, then downsized again until the company logo's were painted only on planes carrying twenty or fewer passengers.

Brian knew there were probably a few androids on this flight. Some people just liked the experience of flying and continued to do so once they'd made the transfer. He studied the passengers as the plane made the trip from New York to Chicago.

The man in the seat beside him was probably an android, he thought. He looked to be in his early thirties but his smile was more like a leer. He saw Brian watching him and chuckled.

"I used to hate this flight because of all the screening and body searches and other stuff. It's better now. They just scan me and I go right through, no body search or any of that other happy horse shit. I don't even have to take off my shoes. Those were the days though. Used to make this trip twice a month. Knew all the flight attendants by name and spent the night with more than a few of 'em. Those girls really knew how to fuck."

The man nudged Brian with his elbow and chuckled.

"Best part was, you didn't even have to buy 'em dinner. That little attendant with black hair, I'm gonna see if she has a layover or not. I know her from when she was a flight attendant before. She was fifty when she had herself done. Car accident, if I remember right. That little gal hasn't slowed up a bit, and with twenty more years of experience, she's gotten even better. Tapped her hot little ass four times in one night a month ago. She can suck a cock like you've never had yours sucked before."

Brian just smiled and continued watching the other passengers. He'd learned all androids have some telltale signs and he was watching for them.

He was looking at a tall blonde woman of about twenty-five when she smiled sheepishly and fluffed up the mane of hair that fell down on her shoulders. That was her "tell". A real woman wouldn't have come on so fast, not if she didn't already know him.

The short brunette didn't fluff her hair when she saw him looking, but she did lick her top lip. She even smiled when Brian frowned, and then licked her lip again. No, she wasn't real, not by a long shot.

The redhead in the second seat from the front turned to look at the rest of the passengers then, saw Brian watching her, and quickly turned back to her magazine. Brian smiled. Maybe, just maybe. He'd try to find out when they landed.

She was waiting at the baggage conveyor when he walked up beside her. She did smile this time, but then started watching for her bag. When it came around, she grabbed the handle and pulled, but couldn't lift it off the conveyor. Brian stepped beside her.

"Need some help?"

"No, I'll get it eventually. I don't know what I put in there that's so heavy though."

Brian watched as she continued to struggle.

"Ah...I see what it is. Your bag is caught on the conveyor rail."

Brian took the handle from the women, lifted the bag straight up, and sat it on the floor beside the woman.

"Thank you", she said, and turned to walk away. Brian didn't want to let her go before he found out.

"Miss, uh...if I might ask, where are you going?"

The red-head looked at him and frowned.

"Why would you want to know that?"

"I just thought if we were going in the same direction, we could share a cab."

The red-head frowned.

"Yeah, and then you'll want to share dinner and then bed, right?"

"No, I didn't mean anything like that. I just thought you might like splitting cab fare, that's all. It costs a fortune to get from O'Hare to downtown."

The woman smiled a little.

"Tell me about it."

"So, you're going downtown too?"

The red-head smiled a little more.

"Yeah. I'm staying at the Palmer House."

Brian couldn't believe his luck. The Palmer House was expensive, but it had been the only place he could find a room on the short notice he'd been given for this trip.

"That's where I'm staying too."

The redhead raised her eyebrows.

"Really, or are you just saying that?"

"No, really. I'm in sales and got this rush assignment to call on one of the architectural firms here. They're designing a new corporate headquarters for Nippo-Seikishiba in Atlanta and my company wants them to specify our door and window hardware. I only found out about it yesterday and The Palmer House was the only hotel within walking distance of their office that had a vacancy."

The redhead twisted her lips as if she was thinking, then said, "I'll believe that when I watch you check in. Let's go."

She was silent on the way from O'Hare to The Palmer House and Brian didn't attempt any conversation. He couldn't figure out if she was real or just an android who seemed to have an attitude. Some did. The body might have changed but the mind was still the same mind. There was only one sure way to tell, and he was pretty confident he wouldn't get to find out that way.

They checked in at the ornate hotel desk, and the redhead smiled when she saw the desk clerk hand him a key card.

"I guess you were telling the truth after all. I'm sorry I doubted you, but I've heard more stories than you'd believe."

Brian smiled.

"I can imagine why."

The redhead smiled again.

"And why would that be?"

"Well, you're a beautiful woman for starters."

"Yeah, that's what they all say. The next thing I know I'm feeling their hands in places I shouldn't be."

"You don't like that? I thought that's why women chose the bodies they did."

The redhead frowned.

"If I was one of those...those things, that would probably be the truth, but I'm not."

"You're not an android?"

"No, and I won't ever be. That's just not normal. I don't suppose you agree though, do you?"

Brian grinned.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I'm not one either."

The redhead looked him up and down, then stuck out her hand.

"I'll take your word for that...for now. I'm Jesse, Jesse Downs."

Brian took her hand gently and then winced at her grip.

"I'm Brian Hastings. Pleased to meet you. Since we've been introduced, could I invite you to have dinner with me?"

Jesse smiled.

"You just did. Now you need to ask if I'll accept."

"Well, will you?"

"This isn't going to turn into something more, is it?"

Brian chuckled.

"No. I'd just like talking with a real person for a change. That's all that's going to happen."

Jesse looked at him for a few seconds and then smiled a little.

"Normally, I'd tell you no but at least if you're along, those things that call themselves men will probably leave me alone. I'll meet you in the restaurant about six, OK?"

As Brian lay in his bed that night trying to fall asleep, he smiled. Dinner had been really nice. Jesse hadn't talked about sex even once and that would have been unusual if she was an android. They'd talked about his job and about a dozen other things, but not sex. That had convinced him she was probably the real woman he sought. It wasn't a certain thing; it wouldn't be certain unless his UV light confirmed it, but she was as close as he'd gotten to a woman who seemed to be real.

He'd walked her to the elevator and said goodbye when the elevator reached his floor. She'd thanked him for the conversation over dinner and said she'd had a good time. He'd never been thanked before for just talking.

The next morning, Brian dressed, ate the breakfast room service had delivered, and then started for the offices of Brunning, Marks, and Associates, the architectural firm, for his appointment. Fifteen minutes later he was in the elevator and on his way to the conference room on the sixtieth floor.

When he walked into the conference room, he was met by the smiling faces of the architects working on the new corporate headquarters for Nippo-Seikishiba and by Jesse. He made the round of handshaking and obligatory business card exchange, finally coming to Jesse at the end of the line. She smiled sheepishly when he offered his hand.

"I'm the project manager for the new headquarters in Atlanta. I didn't tell you last night because I didn't want you to try to sell me on your hardware."

Brian shrugged.

"It's OK. I wouldn't have tried that, but it's OK. I had a nice time just talking."

Jesse's smile seemed genuine this time.

"Well, let's see what you can offer my company that's better than any other company's."

For an hour, Brian went through the presentation of his company, their goals, and why their products far out-paced that of the competition. The architects sitting around the table nodded at this or that point, frowned at others, and then began asking questions. Brian thought he answered all the questions to their satisfaction because after another hour, they were all smiling. The last question came from Jesse herself.

"Mr. Hastings, your products do appear to be better in some respects than your competition and at least equal to them in the rest. I do have a budget to meet though. How does your pricing compare to your competition?"

Brian smiled.

"Well, Ma'am, it depends somewhat upon the size of the order, but we're more than competitive relative to price."

Brian tapped his hand-held cloud interface and a page of numbers appeared on the projector screen.

"We have calculated a cost for the hardware for the entire building based upon the preliminary drawings we received. Of course, should the design change, the pricing could also change, but this is our quote for the various components required along with our estimate of the installation costs based upon the labor rates in the Atlanta area. On the bottom of the page are the mean time to failure curves for our products and similar products from our competition. All testing was done by a third party, and the results demonstrate the reason we can offer a warranty twice as long as our competition.

"If only the initial hardware cost is considered, our price may be somewhat higher than our competition. When the installation labor savings and long term robustness of our designs are considered as a total lifetime cost, our pricing is more than competitive."

Brian felt good about his presentation, and felt even better when he saw heads nodding around the table. Even Jesse was smiling. The chief architect for the project cleared his throat.

"Mr. Hastings, that was a very impressive presentation. We have to discuss the hardware selection among ourselves and with Miss Downes before making a decision. We'll have that discussion over the next few days, and get back to you with our decision. I assume you have the production capacity to furnish the required hardware by the delivery date on the request for quote?"

Brian assured him they would deliver on or before the required date and pointed out that the terms of the request for quote stated there would be a two percent reduction in payment per day the order was late.

"We would not have quoted were we not certain of making your delivery date. I'll leave one of our brochures with each of you. In it are the projects for which we've furnished hardware and the actual delivery date versus the planned delivery date for each. As you will see, my company has never missed a delivery date and has delivered early on most projects."