Sex, Toys & Bots: A Valentine Tale

"Come in, Brandon and I are just leaving, some of us have real jobs," Sestaya's voice had returned to Tehran and she stepped sideways to open the portal. Sue followed Riku into the room. The previously-unknown sister of one of Margaret's newer recruits seemed to stifle a laugh as the red suitcase rolled between them as the two entered.

The man, Brandon apparently, stood alongside Rachel. He wore a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt and black shoes, casual but well-tailored and the brunette seemed bright-eyed with her right arm twined around his left. Sue squinted quickly as she looked at her friend. Rachel's expression was... different. The redhead erased her quick smile.

"Tonight, my lovely lady," Brandon said and he and Rachel kissed quickly before he separated and followed Sestaya into the hall and they laughed softly at some private comment as the door closed itself behind them.

"You look like shit, Sue," Rachel's voice was clear if a bit deeper than usual, "and you, rice wine seller. Ready to concede yet?"

Sue deputised the raised middle finger on her right hand to be her spokesgesture. Rachel laughed but further reply stopped when the melodious doorbell rang, Sue growled in her throat. So much nicer than a short and annoyingly chipper bitch knocking at your door.

Rachel mouthed a 'wha' at the door but Riku walked quickly and opened the door.

"Right on time, and it smells like everything's here," Riku said as she held the door and stepped aside. After a moment a cart covered with a white tablecloth and numerous plates covered with silver lids rolled into the room. Sue smiled when she saw the young, wide-eyed man as he tried to steer the cart into an open space. Somehow Riku's robe had shifted and both breasts were perfectly framed along with her dark landing strip. His cheek flexed as he tried to keep his mouth closed.

Sue had to admit that the aromas were nice. Much better than the breakfast she'd expected to have; a swigged cup of coffee and a stale danish rushing to get the bus to the convention center!

"Ah," Rachel approached him and his head jerked and this time his jaw dropped slightly as she lifted a bottle from its icy repose, "and you did get my request to upgrade the champagne!"

Sue watched his gaze work down her body. Her robe was long and some sort of silky fabric, white, and transparent enough being nude would've been more covered.

"Ye... ye... yes, ma'am," he finally stammered as he forced his gaze onto her face before he turned at Riku's voice.

"I'll sign that," she pointed to the black vinyl case on the rear edge of the table.

"Oh, ah," he looked down as if he'd forgotten about it.

"I hope you're not busy tonight," Rachel purred and tapped her wrist and the young man's wrist pad beeped, "come to McCormick Place tonight for the after party. Ask for Alicia Capone. Don't worry, it's all in the invitation."

Riku sniffed and twisted her own wrist. The young man's wrist pad made a 'blat' sound that caused Rachel to chuckle and Riku gave her a sharp look followed by an understanding smile. The sound had been harsh enough to force his gaze away from his two tormentors for an instant.

"Tammy Takagawa is the name you want," Riku's accent LA surfer girl filtered through a certain sort of Roppongi or Kabukicho club as she pulled his gaze back on her. The voice reminded Sue of her visits to those districts before she'd met Riku. Her heroine in her first Hester Hendricks novel had been an American girl who'd gone where none had gone before. Her high school graduation present had been a trip to Tokyo and she'd cajoled her rather reluctant acquaintances, two Japanese girls who'd been exchange students at her high school, into taking her into Tokyo's underbelly. The biggest shock had been the 'shy' one, a girl who in Sue's notice had worn nothing but shapeless almost asexual clothing and hadn't even dated in high school had dove right in. They'd had intermittent direct contact in recent years but Sue had seen that young woman's most recent direct to video offering, a surprisingly high-budget action-adventure porno that was like live manga; her acquaintance an often-naked female samurai who battled corrupt samurai and ronin and yakuza and a giant radioactive dinosaur obviously tuned just enough to avoid a lawsuit from Toho, the owners of Godzilla, that ran rampant. Men she didn't dice into cubes she fucked into brainlessness. She may have been a late starter but she was no slouch now. Sue needed to get that girl and Rachel together, if they thought Godzilla, or a faux-Godzilla, could destroy Tokyo, her two friends let loose would soon engender within the city's citizenry fond thoughts for the radioactive beast.

"And bring your friends from the gym," Rachel's throaty voice said as she put the champagne back on ice and touched the confused young man's bicep, "I'll be waiting."

Sue noticed that the poor guy did seem solidly built, his full coverage uniform not complimentary. But his tense stance as two women exuded way too many hormones for the time of day seemed to confirm it.

Riku stepped to the suffering fellow's other side and handed him the vinyl bill case.

"Thank you for getting our breakfast here while it's still nice and hot," her voice still that mix of cultures.

He looked at her, then at Rachel. His nod was more of a spasm and Sue was certain no blood could make it to his brain at the moment. But he managed to smile and nodded again before he backed away and on autopilot took the door handle and pulled the door closed as he left.

"All right, you crazy bitches," Sue sent Zoe's rough voice with an extra deep rasp through her wrist pad to theirs and it sounded in stereo and two faces turned toward her, "what the fuck is going on?"

"Someone who likes me, so obviously not a certain redhead," Rachel's voice was light-hearted, at least in part, "slipped me some info about a certain saké seller's breakfast plans. But at least I made sure she paid for some decent champagne. Not the cheap swill they like in LA! Probably would've been in a box."

Riku snorted. "C'mon," she added, "let's eat while it's still hot."

She pushed the cart to the table while Rachel and Sue glared at each other.

"Besides," Riku said cheerily, "I have gifts and videos! Alicia..."

The brunette looked at her opponent. "Yes?"

"Be a dear and open our champagne."

Rachel snorted but she grabbed the bottle again and worked at the cork. Sue shook her head and sat down.

"Slide around, Sue," Riku suggested, as she poured three mugs of coffee, "so you can see the TV."

"Before I do," Sue wanted to use Zoe but resisted, "what's with the suitcase? It follows you around?"

Riku laughed and Sue jumped slightly when the champagne bottle popped loudly. Rachel filled the three flutes on the cart while Sue slid her chair and Riku filled three plates and set them around the table and Rachel followed suit with her offering. The three sat.

"Trunky," Riku said, "come."

The red suitcase rolled to stop next to her. She pulled a pad puter from an outside pocket.

"Trunky, lie down," an audible whir and a thin arm extended sideways and contacted the floor as it leaned and then retracted until the suitcase was flat.

"Ladies," Riku raised her flute, "here's to St. Valentine's Day massacres."

Glasses tapped.

"Here's to teaching little LA girls a lesson about love on the day for lovers," Rachel said to snorted laughs and another set of clinked glasses.

"Here's to the two of you appearing as horribly decomposed corpses in Zoe Zabriskie's next book," Sue's voice was still hoarse but nothing close to Zoe's raspy husk and two snorts accompanied the tinkled glasses.

"Here's to presents," Riku said, "Trunky, open."

Sue craned her neck with a mouthful of scrambled eggs to look into the opened suitcase. She saw black and white clothes but couldn't quite work out exactly what they were. She redirected.

"What the fuck IS that thing, Riku? It follows you, you talk to it...," Sue said. Rachel's expression seemed interested but she stayed silent.

"Trunk Ready for Untouched Navigation Keeping, T R U N K," Riku said to a pair of amused exhales, "well, the name definitely needs some work. It links to your wrist pad and follows you, obeys a few basic commands."

"Is THIS what your super-secret company does? Instead of sex bots?" Rachel asked with exaggerated amusement, "I mean, I guess it has a computer in it..."

"We don't make it," Riku said simply, "we do the voice and drive controls. Not our deep stuff, just work for hire to make some money. And, I think they will sell when they're ready in a couple of months. And a better name."

"So what're those clothes in it?" Sue's question.

"After this," Riku tapped at her pad and the large flatscreen TV came to life. It was on one of the twenty-four hour news channels. Sue's quick glance at Rachel told her the device had been unused until now. The petite woman with the dyed hair tapped at her pad.

Sue fought to tamp down any obvious reaction. What the hell was this girl playing at?

Rachel set her fork down and chewed slowly and her head tilted slightly.

The nose. Sue knew the nose. And the eyes. She'd been struck by how dark Rachel's eyes were from the first moment they'd met. But they were brown, not truly black, even if the deepest brown she'd ever seen. And Rachel's nose wasn't so narrow or sharp.

A quick glance told her Riku had some idea of what they were watching. This was some sort of plan. For what? Another glance told her Rachel had indeed never seen this. But what did Riku KNOW about hers and Rachel's connection?

"That's Devil Girl, isn't it," Rachel said slowly and she looked at Riku who nodded, "and I guess that's Leather Boy. Yeah, he'd do well in our crew. Both of them... Nice leash too."

The young woman on the screen was all but the spitting image of the seated brunette. Sue's mind went back to that university class and a nineteen year old Rachel, same as the girl in the video. Both had the same long legs and firm body and the same unnaturally buoyant breasts and with her body slightly turned in the frame the same round but very attractive ass. They clearly shared a love of ridiculous high heels and skirts short enough that both sets of legs were fully visible. And for both, if a bit more just above that was sometimes visible, that was fine too.

With it combed the demon's hair on the screen was truly a match with Rachel's. Sue was reminded anew that the eyes on the screen really weren't any sort of brown. Dark Star said up close although both pupil and iris were black, you could see the line, and if anything the iris was incredibly an even darker black. He'd also said he'd shivered the first time she'd looked at him. Into him.

"Those are great wings," Rachel said, "and devil horns. You said she wore horns..."

Sue's mouth opened but she stifled her voice. The statement hadn't been to her. Beyond what Rachel had heard from Dark Star Sue hadn't revealed more. She glanced but couldn't read Riku's expression.

"Let's watch," Riku said and she tapped her pad.

"Where's the angel? Express train to hell if she doesn't show up!" Devil Girl said as the video's view pulled back to show a knot of costumed people around the couple, most with various levels of exposure although none matched the demon and her leashed prey. All of them were around that 'early twenties more or less' age of the focus couple. She turned and her barely-there black and red pleated skirt flared and confirmed her lack of underwear, plenty of appreciative eyes followed. Behind the people stood a building of at least ten stories with lots of exposed concrete and windows and not much else.

"I like her," Rachel said, "she did that intentionally... and..."

Then an angel appeared. The Angel, Sue knew, and Rachel's statement stopped and her mouth froze. The redhead on the screen was shorter than the Demon but had the same style of pleated skirt and the same thigh-high stockings connected to garters as the Demon with the difference hers were all pure, bright white. And instead of the black ankle-breakingly high heels with red platforms the infernal beauty wore, Angel's feet were in white boots, albeit with black soles.

Sue realized her friend was staring at her and turned away from the screen. Riku chuckled and paused it.

"You're shitting me," Rachel said with an amused lilt as she looked at Sue, "that Angel is Hester Hendricks!"

Sue offered a tight smile before she shrugged and sniffed and drained the last half of her champagne in a single swig and reached for the bottle to refill. Fuck that. Swig straight. She did so and then poured. She glared quickly at Riku who still had that smile of utter neutrality. No, not a corpse. A horribly mangled corpse... But not the head. The head wouldn't be there. Zoe had other plans for the head.

"And she's wearing Doc Martens 8 eyes," Rachel's amusement ticked up a level as her gaze wandered from the screen to Sue, "I remember when you bought that pair..."

Sue's response was to continue her glare.

Riku tapped her pad and the video unfroze and the Angel threw her arms around the leashed Leather Boy's neck and pushed her mouth onto his. The approach had flared her tiny skirt which flashed a view of an uncovered landing strip that matched Devil Girl's except being a sunset red instead of black. Leather Boy's hands went under the skirt and grabbed an ass cheek each as he bent slightly for his mouth to join the battle against its assailant. In contrast to the leathery black wings of the demon, the Angel's wings were white and feathered and they flapped on her back and her halo quivered. Devil Girl turned slightly and her long devil's tail swung, the bright red triangle point snapped like a whip. Her own night black wings flapped in imitation of the Angel's.

Her demonic laughter was deep and raspy as the crowd chanted "save him from the demon! save him from hell!" Devil Girl's laughter just intensified as the Angel twisted to grind her hip into an apparently welcoming crotch.

"Enough, Creature of Light and Purity," the black-haired demon's voice was suddenly a terrible rasp and even Riku winced a bit and Rachel's body stiffened before she grinned, "the time for battle has not yet come."

She took a step and grabbed shoulders and separated the Angel and Leather Boy before she quickly pulled the white-clad one into an embrace and she bent and the two young women kissed. Hard. Black and white wings flapped and each reached around and lifted the other's skirt to offer truly unobstructed views.

"Nice," Rachel's own voice was suddenly raspy, "when can I meet this Leather Boy? I want to rip those leather pants off him.. him and those two all at once!"

The Angel pushed herself away and fussed at her waist for a moment before she detached some sort of white coiled item. She grabbed each end and reached and attached a clip to the same hook on Leather Boy's neck band that held Devil Girl's black leash.

"Let's go, Girlchild of the Underworld," the Angel said, "souls need saving. And I'm here to save them!"

"Dream on if you think you'll be saving THIS one," the taller demon turned the trio so they faced the camera quickly. Two pairs of erect nipples played peek-a-boo, one set large and dark red half-above a black half-cup bustier with red ribs, the other set smaller and pinker but offering clear contrast to the Angel's white bustier with light pink ribs and pale skin. The camera's view wavered a moment then focused on Leather Boy's crotch before it tightened to block everything else out as it followed the shape of his shaft down his left thigh.

"Agent Upshaw," the camera pulled back and the horned head turned to the camera's left to show the approach of an older woman, "you decided to join us after all."

That damned voice, Sue thought, a low and raspy purr that she felt in her crotch. Even Riku's tongue touched her lips. The new arrival was in all black, from her knee-high stiletto boots, leather pants as tight as Leather Boy's, and a vest with a weave of laces that held it together but left a wide gap the length of her torso that revealed the inner swells of her large breasts pushed together by the tightness of the vest and taut abs. Her long, light brown hair was held in a loose ponytail. Black gloves that reached to her elbows completed the outfit.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, Demon," the woman, 'Agent Upshaw,' had an assured voice as she uncoiled something, "besides, a few of you might need some discipline."

"Agent? Holy shit," Rachel said, "that's one hell of a..."

Upshaw pre-empted her comment with a rapid swing as she cracked her whip to the edge of the concrete path and sliced the tops from a few blades of grass. Onlookers who'd edged forward jumped back as did the Angel. Devil Girl and Leather Boy smiled and held their ground. Even the camera jittered at the crack. She coiled the whip and held it and gave the couple a tight smile.

"Just remember, Agent," Devil Girl purred, "he's very dangerous to women of your advanced age."

"Advanced age. Hah. I might be dangerous to him if he's too used to you little know-nothing girls."

A distant shout from outside of the camera range drew heads.

"Time for that later," Devil Girl's purr continued and she nodded at Angel, "if you can get past his heavenly protector."

Angel's expression showed confusion but she mostly mastered it and offered something that approached a glare.

"Let's go," Devil Girl raised her voice, "our turn in the parade!"

The crowd cheered as the Demon smirked at Upshaw before she turned the lead trio and she and the Angel led Leather Boy by the leashes. The camera held its view as the crowd went by and chanted on repeat.

"DEVIL GIRL... ANGEL... DAMNATION... SALVATION..."

"Hey," Rachel said, "that tall chick. In the comic book leather and chainmail bikini... and the sword on her back... and I guess her boyfriend in the same getup and sword! She looks familiar..."

"Diana's older sister? She's at least as tall, same hair, and those tits...," Riku said.

"She might be the only woman I've ever seen with bigger ones, those are real," Rachel said, "but there's something else, but I just can't quite..."

At the rear of the crowd they noticed another redhead but the combination of her broad cavalier hat with a long arcing feather and the 1980s vintage video recorder she used obscured her face. The viewers smiled as the slits in her long black skirt and white petticoats revealed with a quick glance that she'd also avoided underwear. Like the comic book barbarian she clearly had a considerable bust highlighted by the tight white blouse that the entire front above her large breasts was a pattern of cloth strips with plenty of cutouts to reveal flesh.

Sue glanced and saw Rachel's eyes narrow ever so slightly. Should she say something? No. Not with Riku here. Not for her.

Trailing the last of the crowd by a few steps was what looked like a professional crew; a man with an old style TV camera on his shoulder who walked just beyond a tall and well-built brunette in fashionable tight jeans tucked into heeled brown boots and a snug button-down short-sleeve blouse. The camera on his shoulder had a 'KPUD' logo, as did his baseball cap. The 'reporter' handed a microphone to one of the two slightly shorter and younger but cute brunettes who followed. Both had skin much paler than their apparent boss and wore broad hats, jeans and sleeveless blouses that also sported the logo. They carried what looked like equipment bags, although eyes that were quite obviously very green were wide and their heads swung side to side as they seemed determined to see everything. Sue again blocked her reaction when the nearest young brunette exposed a tongue with a very square tip in her wide-eyed gaze before what looked like an elbow in the ribs from the other one caused her to clamp her mouth closed. The viewers with her at the table didn't seem to be paying attention as Riku reset the video to its beginning and paused it.