Murder on Capella Space Station

Hestia couldn't be completely happy about the prospect of resetting Hana but it seemed to be the best option. She smiled and tried to be relieved for her robot double.

"Mr. Ishikawa, would your company object to Hana's program being wiped and reinstalled?" Mrs. Malkin asked.

"I will check with my head office, Ma'am. I'm certain they will agree but will request that we do it ourselves."

"Then you can tell them they can have Hana back only if they agree to the professor resetting her here on Capella."

******

The Nakatani Corporation agreed to Hana being reset to factory conditions by Professor Erskine. They sent him the latest version of her firmware and basic program. He wiped the old program and data. For eight hours, Hana sat on the bench in the police station, dormant, with cables attached to the data points on her neck, uploading new software.

As Hestia spent most time with Hana, comforting her and keeping her company, checking on her even when she was powered off, it was only fair that she should be the one to turn Hana back on again.

Hestia sat next to Hana on the bench, holding her hand, as the robot woke up after the reset. Hana opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Hestia's beautiful face, looking concerned.

"Hello, I'm Hana. What's your name?"

"It's Hestia."

"Are you human, Hestia?"

"I am."

"You're lovely. Are all humans as perfect as you?"

"Yes, we are, Hana, in our own individual ways."

Professor Erskine came over to check on Hana and the sex-robot reacted immediately. Her smile broadened, her pupils widened, her skin coloured pink and she pushed out her chest. She blinked and a little squirt from her tear ducts made her dark green eyes sparkle. The hand that Hestia held felt warmer. Hana followed the professor with her eyes as he approached, completely ignoring Hestia, who smiled to see that the femininity and sexuality modules of the sex-robot's basic program worked perfectly.

******

When Daisuke Ishikawa took custody of Hana, he came to say goodbye to Arthur and his deputies.

"Have a safe trip back to Earth, sir," Arthur said.

"Thank you, Constable, but we're not going to Earth. My company thinks that, due to her notoriety, Hana will not be in quite the same demand as before. Instead, we've received a request to supply sex-robots to a new resort called Erythos."

This was a place in the news. A red rocky moon with a giant crater filled with hot mineral-rich water, whose steam covered the moon's surface with a thick pink mist. Wealthy tourists sat in the red bubbling water for its health benefits, followed by relaxing massages. Now the owners wanted to provide additional services.

"Hana will suit them perfectly," Ishikawa said. "Rich old men wanting companionship, care and fun. It will be like heaven for her."

Though she was happy that Hana would survive and have a useful career, none the less Hestia cried when she said goodbye to Hana. She kissed the robot, hugged her a last time and wished her luck.

7 Epilogue

Arthur didn't see his special deputies again for two weeks. Mary settled into her position in the school and found an apartment to rent. Hestia continued to make her name as one of the most sought-after Entertainers on the station. And Arthur returned to his normal police business of hated form-filling after drunk-and-disorderly incidents by riotous freighter crews.

One day, Tom, the slow barman at The Goat and Chariot, told Hestia that a customer had requested to meet her that evening but he wanted to remain anonymous. Despite Hestia's entreaties, Tom refused to say who it was. Normally, she would reject such a customer but she trusted Tom. So, that evening, she prepared her flat, put on fresh bed sheets, showered and did her make up. Not knowing the preferences of her client, she wore only black suspenders, stockings and a stylish scarlet corset under a sheer white silk dressing gown. She also put her hair up. A black choker emphasised her long thin neck.

The knock on the door was exactly at 8pm. Hestia answered it immediately.

"Arthur!" she exclaimed.

There, before her, was Arthur Jeffries in a smart grey suit, scrubbed clean, blushing pink, stiffly holding a large bunch of red roses and a bottle of champagne. He smelled of aftershave.

"Oh, Arthur! This won't do at all. I can't have you as a customer. You're a friend. ... Well don't look so disappointed and don't stand there like a lemon. Come on in. Take a seat. I'll just go and change."

In five minutes, Hestia was back, wearing jogging pants and a capacious sweat shirt. Her choker was gone and her hair was down. She still looked gorgeous. Nothing could change that. But the element of sexual allure was missing.

Arthur didn't know why he'd come in. He was embarrassed, still holding the flowers and wine, as his fantasy disappeared before his eyes.

"For me?" Hestia asked as she prised the roses from his grip. She sniffed them. "Why thank you, Arthur. They're lovely."

She put the flowers in the kitchen sink for now and returned to sit opposite him on the sofa.

"This won't do at all, my lad," she repeated. And, because he still hadn't spoken, she said in gentle tones:

"You must understand that I don't want you as a customer, Arthur, because I want you as a friend. When I was an escort in London, one of the girls gave me good advice. She said: a customer can become a friend but never let a friend become a customer. It will destroy the friendship. ... You do understand, don't you, Sweetie?"

"Do you mean you're rejecting me for my sake?"

"Certainly not! I'm rejecting you for my sake. But I'm not rejecting you as a lover. I'm rejecting you as a customer."

"You'd reject me as a lover as well, though, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but not for the reason you think. I don't want any lovers at all. It's not in my plan. I knew some escort girls who had boyfriends and I didn't understand it. If I had a lover, I'd want him to be jealous and possessive and completely torn up if I was with anyone else. I don't want a man who would happily let me be an Entertainer."

"But won't it be a lonely life, without any love?"

"In one way, yes. But, in another way, I have lots of love. I love men and I love sex, so I won't be bored and I won't lack company."

"I don't understand and I don't think it's what's best for you, but it's not my place to judge you."

"You can judge me, Arthur. As a friend, I want you to. I'll always listen to your opinion, even if I won't follow it. ... Have I hurt you, Arthur? Is it really love?"

"I don't know what it is, but you're so beautiful and so much fun to be with that I think of you all the time. The last two weeks have been torture for me, missing you, longing for you, wanting to tell you how I feel but knowing you'd reject me. Then I thought, if I was one of your customers, then you could pretend to love me, just for an hour or so, and I could have my dream."

"I'm sorry, Arthur, I want to be your friend, not your dream."

He sat there in silence as the reality sunk in. The dream faded quickly now he could see there was no hope, but what Hestia said next put everything on another footing anyway.

"Besides," she added, "what would Mary say?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know how she feels about you?"

"No."

"Good lord! Men! I've no idea why I like you so much: you're all so daft! How can you not know? You're lucky I'm here to watch over you, my lad. I'll call her."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

Hestia placed the call.

"Hi Mary, it's me. Where are you? Arthur's here already. ... What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean the party I invited you to a week ago. ... Sure I told you, didn't I? ... Well, I meant to. ... Yes, I know my brains are made of fluff. ... That explains why no one else came. ... Anyway, it's just the two of us here, so you've got to come. ... If you're not here in ten minutes, I'll send Arthur to fetch you. ... That's right, Sweetie, see you soon."

Hestia got up.

"I'm going to change," she said. "When Mary gets here, open the champagne and give her half of the roses. And for God's sake, man, smile!"

Arthur didn't smile.

Even so, despite his embarrassment, despite his lost dream, despite his confusion, now that he knew how Mary felt about him, everything changed.

He had never thought that much about Mary. Sure, he admired her brains and he liked her forthright personality. He noticed she had done something with her hair (or was it her makeup?) and he had not seen her in a cardigan for a while. But it was the fact that Mary liked him that made him think differently about her.

It was something to ponder and also something to feel good about. Arthur sat on the couch, musing while the minutes flew by.

Eventually there was a knock on the door. Hestia sprinted past in an emerald party frock and high heels to let Mary in.

"Come on, man, fetch the roses and open the champagne. Don't sit there like a sad pumpkin," she ordered as she ran past.

Arthur did as he was told while Hestia detained Mary in the hall, admiring her frilly dress and the subtle blonde highlights in her light-brown hair.

He popped the cork just as Mary entered the room. She was hesitant but happy to see him. Arthur was just as happy to see her. He held out a glass of champagne and a half-bunch of red roses.

Then Arthur Jeffries, Constable of Capella Space Station, smiled.

******

Author's afterword:

Thank you for reading my story.

Hestia and Arthur are minor characters in Every Man's Fantasy. I hope you'll read the whole story (and vote and leave a comment).

If you do read the series, then you'll find Hestia appears in chapter 1, chapter 6, chapter 15, chapter 19 and chapter 22 (with a brief mention in chapter 20). Arthur Jeffries appears in chapter 15 and chapter 22.

Hestia's story is not quite finished and even Arthur and Mary have future cameos.

Happy reading!

Erinaceous.