Metalwear Pt. 04

Marla and Kelly stood for a moment just watching her. Both, a bit confused.

"Um, I think she likes you." Marla said. "Should I be jealous?"

"No, but she was nice. And helpful." Kelly replied with a smile.

It was still early when they got back to their room, but they were both tired.

"Marla, we're done with all of the events. How about letting me out of the Metalwear? I've been in it for days, and I'd really like to be able to stretch and relax on tomorrow's flight. Please."

Marla had been glancing at a brochure, but she paused and looked at Kelly, who had stripped off her dress and stood in only her android suit.

"I thought about letting you out of the suit for the return trip, really I did, but how could we carry it? It won't fit in our luggage."

"Oh Damn! I hadn't thought of that." Kelly said exasperated. Then after a moment's thought, "we could buy another suitcase."

Marla thought for a minute. "Well, I suppose." Marla said, unenthusiastically.

"Please."

Marla nodded. "Alright," she said, with a sigh. She then picked up the room's phone and called down to the concierge, telling them what they needed. He, very helpfully, said he'd procure one and have it sent up, for a not insignificant fee, of course.

"I suppose you've earned it." She muttered at Kelly, under her breath as she hung up. "And it will be fun to have some real sex without the suite getting in the way."

Kelly laughed, "amen to that."

Marla unlocked Kelly and helped her take off the suit, she did insist that Kelly keep the boots, on though, as they hadn't brought along any other footwear, and she wasn't about to let Kelly, buy and wear anything else.

Resigned, Kelly didn't argue, and left them on as she took a long hot shower.

When she came out, room service had delivered the meal that Marla had ordered, including a nice bottle of wine, so wearing only the boots she sat her bare bottom down in a chair and they ate, drank and chatted about their trip.

They both agreed that they had enjoyed it, and had a great time. When Marla made a couple of snide remarks about Sakura and her suspected crush on Kelly, she was ignored, and let the subject drop.

After their meal, and one final glass of wine Marla jumped into the bed, while Kelly crawled in, wearing her tall boots, and they made love until they were spent. Then they happily fell asleep in each other's arms.

In the morning, after a quick breakfast, in the hotel's dining room, they headed out to the airport with Kelly in a pretty dress with golden Metalwear boots and an extra suitcase.

The trip back was long but uneventful, and the two of them were happy to get home, and back into the swing of things at work.

Kelly had a stack of work to take care of waiting for her in her office, and Marla quickly dove into more Metalwear designs in her studio.

Back in her realm, Marla was actually quite pleased. All of her dreamed-of android suits were complete and they all covered the wearer's bodies, just as she wanted. She was getting closer and closer to the look she had dreamed of. Now she could complete the ensemble with matching head coverings.

First, she worked on simple hoods, hats really, that fit like skull-caps over the wearer's head, following the hairline.

They'd look like something Cher or Gaga would wear, on stage. Very trendy and slick.

Early models weren't designed to connect to the collar. They didn't latch at all. They just fit the head, closely and matched the other Metalwear products in color and finish.

When Marla showed one to Kelly, she was impressed. They looked cool and very 21^st Century, and they were actually comfortable to wear. Of course, it played havoc with her hair, so once on, it tended to stay on, all day. And, unlike all of the other Metalwear items Marla usually dressed her in, it came off easily at bedtime.

Kelly modeled it around the company, and then wore it out and at home for several days running. She was happy with the thing as it was actually the first Metalwear item that presented no problems or challenges. And she thought it would be an easy seller.

Marla's team also came up with several variations. Versions that covered more of the forehead or dipped down like a 'widows peak.' They also added decorations to the top. An attached crown, or a center ridge, or cat ears, and even a unicorn horn or a pair of ram horns. One of them also began working on a series of sunglasses, more like goggles, that would attach to small connectors at the temples. With them in place the top half of the wearer's face was also covered.

Kelly also sampled them, and was again pleased, although the ones with horns seemed a bit far out.

Everyone, was pleased. And the headpieces, with all of the options, were rushed into production.

As soon as it hit the stores, it became an immediate success, and they were regularly spotted on the streets. Even Marla was surprised when women began wearing them not just for their stylish looks, but also because they were warm, on cold or even wet days.

Marla's next head-piece was an actual hood that wrapped and covered the entire head, leaving the face bare. It connected to the Metalwear collar, too, if one was present, otherwise it closed via a hidden hinge at the top, and was secured with the normal Metalwear key-lock at the neck.

Kelly thought they looked like a metallic wet-suit hood, and everyone seemed to agree with that opinion. Like the first head-piece, they were hell on the wearer's hair. And several folks on the design team, who had tried them on, commented that they would be best for women with short haircuts, or no hair at all.

When Kelly wore one, she quickly came to understand their point, but there was no way in hell she'd cut off her beautifully long and full mane!

She did discover that, as it completely covered her ears, it obstructed hearing and muffled all sounds; most annoyingly, other's speaking.

Marla wasn't happy, but she did start offering versions with ear-holes. She didn't like them though. She felt they damaged the overall, smooth aesthetics of the covering.

The most annoying aspect, of all was when Kelly modeled both the helmet and the complete android suit and the one was mated to the other.

The connection limited her head movement, particularly up and down, and that really bothered her. She could see even less of the floor in front of her, and at her desk, to read anything she either had to lean forward, a difficult task while wearing the stiff-bodied suit, or hold the book or paper up in front of her face. It was annoying, at best.

When Marla demanded that she sleep in the complete suit, with helmet, they discovered that their favorite sex positions were also restricted. Kelly could no longer lay between her lover's legs and suck on her pussy. Her head wouldn't tilt back to allow her to reach. At least not comfortably. They experimented, with Marla giggling and Kelly frustrated and cursing, until they propped Marla up with several pillows under her ass. The position was less comfortable for her, but Kelly was finally able to do a decent job of licking and tonguing her lover to an orgasm.

Marla and her team did work to address that issue, and did come up with a design that allowed some small amount of up and down flexibility at the neck, but Marla again hated the changes, so they didn't show up in the production product.

Kelly wasn't happy about that, but as so often happened Marla overruled her.

Ultimately, the new hood met with mixed reviews but orders and sales were sufficient to justify the thing as a product worth maintaining in the Metalwear product line.

Kelly imagined that those who bought the thing were more into fetish, that fashion or practicality.

Marla was excited when she finally reached the point where she could tackle the design of a full helmet; one that would completely cover the wearer's head and face, and turn them into the absolute gynoid of her dreams. A total head covering that did, in fact, closely mimic Sorayama's wonderful artwork.

By then she had also received the electronic components that she'd seen and discussed in the labs at the robot engineering company in Japan. The items were very leading edge and excitingly functional, and she added a couple of engineers to her team to ensure that they worked with her designs.

Kelly was just happy that Marla was busy and not pestering her, while she worked on keeping the company going and the sales numbers up.

She was excited by the large sales numbers coming out of Japan. They were truly impressive and still growing. Kelly actually considered a trip back to congratulate Sakura, who was very much responsible. She would have denied any other motive, but she had enjoyed spending time with that competent and alluring woman.

Marla's initial designs for the full-face helmets were much like a motorcycle helmet, but their face shields were smaller, just narrow strips across the eyes.

They included internal earbuds and a built-in, external microphone so the wearer could hear, and the helmet's smooth and shiny surface wasn't marred by ear holes. The microphones fit into the seam where the eye cover merged with the metallic helmet, and were very inconspicuous.

Marla thought it was an elegant solution. One that was made possible by the first high-tech components provided by the Japanese team. The volume could even be adjusted by an app on the wearers smart-phone.

When Marla showed up with one for Kelly to try on and model, she was surprised. She'd somehow expected something different. Something more elegant and shapely, or more humanoid.

"Why a helmet like that? Why not a human face like the Japanese are producing on their robot girls?"

Marla nodded. "I could design that, in fact I probably will someday, but I like the impersonal look. Or at least the look that says 'robot', not one that tries to look human."

"Yah, I know. Like Sorayama's gynoids."

"Exactly."

Kelly continued to examine the thing. It wasn't too heavy and looked well-padded and comfortable enough, and she liked the idea of the sound system so she'd be able to hear. The series of horizontal vents that would allow the wearer to breath were good, and looked cool. But she still wasn't crazy about the design completely covering the head, and locking closed. She knew what that meant in her case. Hours or days with her head encased. She also understood that she'd be given no choice in the matter. But after her inspection, she allowed her lover to secure the thing on her head.

Kelly did find it comfortable enough, but wearing the helmet all day was no fun at all. It was hot, and stuffy, and although she could hear the people around her, she had difficulty communicating with them, as they had a difficult time hearing her through the vents, when she voiced her complaints.

She did find one aspect that she kind of liked. The mirrored eye shield, coupled with the rest of the solid face covering did make it impossible for observers to see the wearer's facial expressions. It also made the Metalwear android more mysterious and less human. All part of Marla's design goal. Kelly liked it because Marla couldn't see or read her face, and she was free give her dirty looks and stick her tongue out her for designing such a thing.

The mirroring of the eye cover, though, also reduced the wearer's ability to see when light was scarce, like at night or in a dimly lit room. This was yet another restriction that made life difficult for her.

It also restricted Kelly's sight-lines. Her peripheral vision was only slightly affected, but her vision downward was further blocked by the solid portion of the helmet that covered her nose and mouth.

That same portion prevented her from eating or drinking, and even Marla understood that was unacceptable. People needed to be able to drink and eat. And removing the helmet wasn't easy, and the wearer, after a couple of hours inside the thing was usually a sweaty mess. Not at all tolerable.

Kelly did agree that the helmet looked erotic, in a robotic kind of way just like the artist's works. But that didn't make up for the thing's shortcomings.

In the end, after she'd worn the helmet for a full twenty-four hours, Marla removed it and accepted Kelly's arguments that the thing was just not a viable product.

Marla went back to her studio, and her team disappointed, but unwilling to give up.

Several redesigns followed, with each version becoming more functional, but in Kelly's opinion still not wearable, or sellable.

Nevertheless, Marla continued to work diligently on the full-face helmets. They were fitted with small fans, at the back to move air in and out, not only for beathing but for cooling, as well.

In one of the versions an opening for a straw was added in front of the wearer's mouth. But it limited their intake to only liquids -- not good enough.

In another version, a larger opening was designed that provided access to the entire mouth. It included a hatch that slid down over the chin, providing access for feeding and drinking. The opening itself was round and four centimeters (an inch and a half) in diameter.

Through it, the wearer could fit a spoon or a fork, or drink, or even stick their tongue out.

The one Marla described as being for the BDSM crowd included a cuff that extended inward from the hole just past the wearer's teeth. It actually cupped the teeth, top and bottom and held the mouth open as wide as the mouth hole. So as to be able to accept a nice hard cock, Kelly thought, disgustedly. A plug was also provided to more securely close the cuff, behind the helmet's Metalwear mouth cover.

Kelly thought it was the cruelest design Marla had ever produced. It would allow the poor wearer to eat, but not chew, and their speech would be severely limited, probably unintelligible.

When she voiced her opinion, Marla just shrugged her off. Someone wearing that helmet would still be able to eat and drink, and, even tongue or suck-off their lover.

Marla also designed one more helmet configuration for her BDSM fans. It's front only included a small, one centimeter opening for a feeding tube that passed into and through a substantial penis gag secured inside the wearer's mouth. It would allow for long-term wear, she said, but not a very comfortable existence. That one really frightened Kelly. She began worrying about her lover's growing fascination with BDSM. Of course, bondage had always been one of the sexual fetishes Marla enjoyed, but she'd never been all that interested in the more severe aspects. Until now, that is.

As Marla evolved the helmet designs, she worked more and more with the Japanese robotics company's solutions and the headwear product became much more expensive and elaborate.

After several months of redesigns, experiments, adjustments, and tests, Marla finally settled on what she saw as the perfect Gynoid helmet. It retained the clam-shell design, where the seams ran up both sides of the head and at the neck, and it closed around the neck or onto the collar of the suit.

It only allowed the wearer to swivel left and right. No movement up or down was allowed.

It covered the wearer's whole head and face, and included an opaque, mirrored eye shield -- a horizontal strip, five centimeters (two inches) wide over the eyes. The rest of the helmet was the same metallic color, usually shiny chrome, as the suit. It sealed tightly and was waterproof to guard both the electronics and the wearer.

The thing was fully padded inside, to protect, and isolate the head from unwanted distractions. At least that's how Marla described it.

Kelly understood the protection, but was skeptical of the isolation aspect. Kind of creepy.

Its tiny built-in fans circulated air and maintained a reasonable temperature inside.

External microphones provided sound to integrated ear plugs so the wearer could hear.

A mouth opening allowed the wearer to be fed, when its covering hatch was opened. The hole provided was round and about an inch-and-a-half in diameter. Suspiciously, also just large enough to accommodate a hard cock, Kelly thought.

The Helmet came with the optional, hard rubber cuff that fit just inside the wearer's teeth.

"Why is that thing included?" Kelly had asked.

"For fun." Was Marla's terse response.

Enlightenment hit Kelly when she learned about the high-tech aspect of the design that had been at the heart of the work Marla had done with the Japanese.

The helmet came with an internal sound pickup that allowed the wearer to talk to the outside via carefully concealed external speakers. It would solve the issue with voice communications, when the mouth cover was closed.

But there was another feature that was both impressive and frightening.

That technology, was based on a unique minicomputer system also built into the helmet. It would allow a person wearing the helmet with the insidious mouthpiece, to produce understandable vocalizations to the outside world even when the person's mouth was stuffed with the cuff.

A built-in and very sophisticated, AI-based computer translated the wearer's mumblings to more understandable vocalizations, before delivering them outbound, through the helmet's speakers.

Based on the videos of the testing conducted in Marla's studio with her semi-willing assistants, it was truly a marvel. Despite the obstruction inside the person's mouth, when they mumbled, the system translated the sounds accurately, and normal speech emerged from the helmet.

The system's speech settings were managed, like the hearing controls, by the smart-phone app.

Although disgusted by the arrangement, Kelly was admittedly impressed by the technology.

When Marla came to her office, with what she described was the final helmet version in hand, to have Kelly model, they again got into the standard argument. Kelly was unwilling to be locked into the gynoid helmet, no matter how good her partner declared it to be.

"I don't want to try that thing." Kelly said shaking her head.

"Oh, come on, girl! You always try on the new items."

"Find somebody else. Haven't you already tested It in your studio?"

"Yes, everyone tested it."

"Did you?"

"Well, no. Not really. But all of my team has had it on, at one time or another. The vocalization computer needed a lot of sampling and testing to get its vocabulary processor right."

"Well, then why do I need to test it?"

"Kelly, my crew only tested it for an hour, here or there. We need someone to test it for long-term wear."

Kelly harumphed. "That's what I'm afraid of. You'll put that thing on me and make me wear it for days. I'll go crazy."

"Oh, you will not. You've never suffered from claustrophobia, or anything like that, and you've never been hurt by anything we've ever asked you to model. This will be no different."

Kelly was so upset and scared that she started to cry. "But Marla..."

"No! Just stop and let's get this on you. You know it's inevitable, so why fight it. Now hurry and dry your eyes."

Like a criminal walking to the gallows, Kelly stepped over to her desk, grabbed a wad of tissues and used them to dry her eyes and wipe her sniffling nose.

Then she resignedly submitted to wearing the helmet.

All of Kelly's previous experiences with the various helmet designs made it easier for her to accept this one. Except for the cursed mouthpiece that Marla forced upon her. It was horrible, and it made her feel helpless and terribly uncomfortable. She couldn't close her mouth!

She immediately tried to tear the thing off, but it was a futile gesture and she knew it. She moaned and thrashed, but it was no use. She didn't even bother to say anything, as she knew it would come out gibberish, with the cuff in her mouth and the hatch closed over the opening.