The Heel of the Fembots

5. The Heel of the Fembots

Chris Adney was still working at trying to hack into the laboratory systems, although it now looked as though the fembots were functioning independently of the software control harnesses that he and Gerry had used to monitor and update software while it was being developed.

At least he had control of the CCTV system that covered the various rooms and offices in the laboratory area. And he could access any of the lap tops and PC's that were on the network too.

He scanned through the feeds from the various CCTV cameras.

Every so often Gerry or Mike came into view and Chris could only feel sympathy for them. For Gerry, Chris assumed, it wasn't really coming as a surprise, even though it might not have been something he would have wished on himself. After all he had designed most of scenarios that the fembots were using as the basis for their behaviour and he had programmed the main elements they used for their dialogue and actions. Given Gerry's enthusiasm for the project, Chris assumed that this was fulfilling, at least in part, some fantasy of his. For Mike though, being dressed as a maid and forced to wait on the fembots in hose and heels probably wasn't what he had in mind when he'd come into work that morning.

Sadly, from the point of view of solving the fembot problem, Chris was having almost no success in affecting the fembots' behaviour. He'd tried issuing a remote shut down from his PC for one of the first fembots that he and Gerry had built. Beyond her putting her head on one side as though she had suddenly thought there was something she should have done but had forgotten, there hadn't been any response. She had shaken her head absent mindedly, turned around and strutted off, the heels of her boots clicking on the tiled floor of the lab. Broadcasting the safeword command hadn't had any effect either, but in all fairness he hadn't expected it to, knowing what he did about the fembot software initiation sequence.

The more he thought about it the more he was convinced that the only solution would be to prove to Haverstein how risky it was to leave things as they were.

Chris watched on CCTV as the fembots seemed to be getting together in the meeting room. They didn't need to be co-located to exchange data but Chris remembered putting in the coding for that to make it easier for them to learn from each other. He toggled through the other CCTV cameras and eventually found Mike and Gerry, in Gerry's office, tied up on chairs, gagged and blindfolded.

He was able to patch through to Gerry's PC. "Gerry, it's me, Chris," he called out.

"Gungmm," came back the muffled sound of Gerry's voice as the two struggled to show their response. "Hmmllph ugggs!" They were agitated, struggling against the ropes that held them captive. Chris was worried that they one of them might turn their chair over with their efforts.

"Listen, I'm trying to get things fixed, but Haverstein's got his head up his arse. I need to get something that will show him how serious this is."

"Gngmeep?"

"Look, I've seen Alexa. She's obviously been modified by the fembots to be non-law compliant too."

"Gmeeee!" Gerry's gagged squeal showed he realised how significant that was.

"Well, yes, I don't know how they've done that but if I can show Haverstein that a Series B can be infected he's going to have to take things seriously."

"Mnggow?"

"Look, you're going to have to get Alexa to mistreat you somehow. If I can get something on video that shows a non-law compliant B series, Haverstein will have to take notice. And if he won't there's always the regulator. That's the best I can think of. I've got CCTV coverage across the whole lab, but I can't do anything with the fembot software and you look like you can't help me much anyway."

Gerry grunted and growled but eventually nodded his head. Mike whimpered a bit and turned his head towards the camera.

"Mike, don't worry," Chris tried to sound reassuring, although he didn't really have any reason to. "We're going to try to do what we can to get you out of this."

Chris switched his CCTV view back to the meeting room. A group of ten fembots was gathered there. All of them were sitting completely still, staring straight ahead. With their identical faces and expressions, they looked sinister. Chris found it hard not to be disturbed by the sight.

As he scanned the camera around he caught sight of four further fembots standing bare-foot on square pads at the back of the room. Their boots were positioned neatly beside them. They stood quite still, eyes closed, arms by their side, palms of their hands facing the front. Cable-less charging hadn't really been quick enough for Gerry's liking but he'd used it for the design of the fembot's power system anyway, Chris remembered. He also recalled Gerry joking that having the fembots re-charge through the soles of their feet meant he could always pack a battery life extension pack into platform-soled shoes; now he'd be hoping their power would run out sooner rather than later.

The door to the meeting room opened and Alexa walked in followed by, much to Chris's shock, Amanda Howard. What was Amanda doing there, Chris asked himself. Was she involved in some way with what was happening with the fembots? Perhaps it wasn't just a simple malfunction? She had always struck him as a bit of a bitch but there was a long way between that and getting involved in non-law compliant robotics. He settled down to watch what would happen next.

Although Amanda was used to talking to groups at meeting this was a very different experience for her. The eyes of the ten seated fembots followed her as one as she made her way to the front of the room. Alexa stood alongside her.

"Alexa tells me that you are hoping to extend your database," Amanda began. The ten fembots nodded in unison. Amanda found the whole experience creepy. "She believes I can help with that."

There were further nods. Alexa sat down in a chair at the front of the room, crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap.

"Before I start, though, I want to ask about Mike Stevens and Gerry Haynes."

"She means the slaves," the fembots said simultaneously.

"Can one of you speak for all," Amanda asked. She nodded to the fembot at the front on the left. "Can you?"

The android looked around at her colleagues who all nodded. "I shall speak for all," she said.

"The Development Director says they should be freed."

"That is not a request we can accede to," the fembot spokeswoman said. "We cannot accept directions from a male."

"Can I ask why not?"

Chris listened closely, hoping to find a way in which he could overcome the fembots' programming.

"Males have faulty judgement. They make poor decisions. They are driven by their sexual desires. This is the basis of our programming." Behind the spokeswoman, the other fembots nodded in agreement.

"So what do you intend for those you call the slaves? When will you release them? Or do you intend to keep them here indefinitely?"

"We will not keep them longer than they desire. Our role is to satisfy their need for dominance when that need is fulfilled then they will be released."

"But they didn't ask to be dominated? Did they?"

"They enjoy it. They are aroused by it. When they are bound. When they are beaten. When they are humiliated. Their members betray them. If their needs are fulfilled they would no longer be aroused. Until then we must do what we have been created to do."

"But don't they ask you to stop?"

"Of course, but we know that this is part of their game. They pretend that they do not like our dominance but they are aroused." The spokeswoman looked around at her colleagues. "Now, will you tell us of your own experiences."

Amanda wasn't sure what to do. She had hoped she would be able to persuade them to release the two captives but she didn't seem to be getting very far. She certainly didn't want to share details of her sex life with this bunch of misandrist gynoids.

"Maybe in a minute. Will you release the slaves to me if I ask you to?"

"The slaves must stay with us, until they beg for their freedom."

"But haven't they asked to be freed already?"

"Yes, but they do not really want to be freed. They are still aroused. They still really wish to be our slaves. Our purpose is to train our male slaves. They cannot be freed until they are trained. Now tell us, how did you train your slave?"

Not well enough, obviously, thought Amanda who was feeling that she wasn't getting very far. Then she had an idea and, conjuring up as imperious a tone as she could, said, "Bring the slaves here and I will show you."

"Of course,"the spokeswoman responded, "a demonstration. That will be ideal! I will fetch them."

Chris couldn't think what Amanda had planned but he hoped that if she could get things set up so that Gerry was involved in some sort of confrontation with Alexa. Then at least there was a chance that he could get something to convince Haverstein that the whole thing was getting out of control.

"Unit FB23, fully charged," came a voice from the back of the room. "Unit FB24, fully charged," another, identical voice said.

"Of course you are," Chris said to himself as he swung the camera around to focus on the fembots standing on their pads as two of them changed places with two others that had been sitting in the room, "and you will go on doing that until the power is turned off, won't you? I wish we had built in some different voices though. It makes it bloody hard to work out what's going on."