The Rivals

Trevor returned with an armful of beers just as the commercial break ended. The room grew quiet except for the sound of the action coming from the holo. Nancy, completely uninterested in the game, scanned the room, and especially noted Ryan, sitting right next to her.

Despite his purported interest in the outcome of the game, Ryan didn't seem to be devoting much attention to it now. Instead, he kept glancing over to Lexi. Leaning forward and hopefully giving an impression of being particularly interested in the coming play, Nancy gave a sidelong look at Lexi. Sure enough, those delightful nipples of hers were sticking straight up, clearly poking against the thin fabric of the t-shirt she had just thrown on. And was that a moist spot starting to appear in her crotch? Christ! That girl!

Ryan started squirming and Nancy could see that he was trying to adjust his shorts to accommodate a hard on that was poking up. He would sometimes pretend to watch the game, but his eyes always returned to Lexi. Nancy was getting worked up herself just seeing the sexual chemistry between those two.

The third quarter ended, which meant about 10 minutes of commercials. Ryan practically leapt up.

"All that beer--gotta pee," he announced to no one in particular and hightailed it out of the room and down towards the hallway bathroom.

Nancy slid into Ryan's vacant seat next to Lexi and whispered into her ear.

"He is so totally hot for you. You do see that, don't you?"

"Um, no. Well, I don't know. Really? You sure?"

Nancy rolled her eyes dramatically.

"He got a boner just sitting next to you. It practically ripped his shorts! He kept staring at your nipple erection."

Lexi looked down at her own chest.

"Shit. Is it that obvious?"

"Sweetie, you could find those things with sonar. Which leads me to believe that you're hot for him, too."

"How can I be..." Lexi replied somewhat heatedly in an almost normal speaking voice, then glanced around the room anxiously, but no one seemed to have noticed her.

"How can I be so hot for you," she went on in a whisper, "and also be hot for him? And I just had like two giant orgasms,"--she mouthed the word 'orgasms' silently--"with you in the last hour."

"Is that a wet spot I see near your lady parts?" Nancy asked, nodding towards Lexi's lap.

Lexi looked down and seeing the damp spot, quickly crossed her legs.

"I don't think you got that from watching the game," Nancy continued.

"Look, this is your chance. He'll go for you like a dog for a steak. Now listen for when the toilet flushes. Then go into the hallway and accidentally"--Nancy made air quotes with her fingers --"bump into him. Make some excuse to get him into your bedroom. Tell him you want to show him your stamp collection or something."

"Stamp collection?"

"Whatever. Just make something up. I'll be your wingman in case you need help. There, I just heard the toilet flush. Now get up! Go. Go!"

Nancy pushed Lexi with one hand on her back and ushered her forward with the other.

Lexi slowly rose from the couch while Nancy waved her hands and mouthed "Go, go!" until she reached the hallway.

Just then, Ryan emerged from the bathroom. Summoning her courage, Lexi sauntered up to him with as casual an air as she could muster.

"Hey, Ryan," she said.

"Lexi, hey, hi!"

They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, then both spoke simultaneously.

"Thanks so much for..." he began.

"I'm so glad you..." she stammered.

They both laughed nervously.

"Really," Ryan continued, "thanks for hosting this. I know we kinda foisted this thing on you, and you've been a good sport about following through."

"Um, yeah, sure, it's been... fun, really. I've enjoyed it. I'm glad you could be here."

They stood shuffling their feet for another few seconds.

Then Lexi began, "Um, would you, um, maybe like to..."

Just then Nancy barged into the conversation.

"Guys, guys, I just saw the most incredible bird in the backyard. It was really black with these bright red stripes. Here, I bet you can see it from Lexi's bedroom window."

She stormed past them, grabbing both their hands along the way and towing them into Lexi's room.

"Here, hurry, come look," she said, rushing to the window overlooking the backyard.

She motioned them urgently forward as she peered out the window, looking theatrically from side to side. Lexi and Ryan joined her on either side and searched intently for a glimpse of the exotic creature they had been promised.

"Damn, it must have flown off! Who knows if it will ever be back?"

Nancy stepped back from the window and sat down heavily on the bed, tugging Ryan by the arm to sit next to her. Patting the bed on the other side of her, she motioned with her head for Lexi to join them.

"Well, has this been a great party, or what?" Nancy exclaimed with manufactured enthusiasm. "And you two, what great planners you are! This just all went off without a hitch. You are just the perfect pair."

She gave an affectionate squeeze to Ryan's arm and then looked pointedly at Lexi.

"Well, you two must have so much to talk about, you know, with, uh, planning future parties, and stuff, so I'll just let you two be."

Nancy hopped off the bed and gave them a little wave before closing the door behind her. She noticed the little house robot sitting motionless at the end of the hallway before she turned the other direction to see what the other partyers were up to.

In Lexi's bedroom, Ryan and Lexi sat a few feet apart from one another on the bed.

"Um, what the fuck was that?" Ryan asked after a few seconds. Sniffing the air, he added, "And do I smell flowers?"

Lexi didn't know whether to be embarrassed or horrified, but when she saw the puzzled expression on Ryan's face, the whole situation just struck her as comical. In fact, given all that had transpired in the last couple of hours, how could she possibly take any of this seriously? Had she just not had incredible sex with the girl--the girl!--who she had looked on as her greatest rival? And was not this same person now acting as her matchmaker trying to hook her up with Ryan? How ludicrous was that?

Unbidden, a guffaw began to grow in her abdomen. She tried to hold it down, but it kept punching its way higher and higher, until a small explosion of hilarity burst from her tightly pursed lips. She covered her mouth and tried to hold it back, but to no avail. She began laughing, uncontrollably, and so hard that she collapsed on her side on the bed. Ryan began to laugh too, even though he wasn't quite sure what at, and soon he was prostrate on the bed facing her.

When they finally calmed down, Lexi, throwing all caution aside, reached out a hand and stroked Ryan's hair.

"You know," she said quietly, "I've wanted you for a long time."

That was all it took. Ryan reached out and pulled her to him, and kissed her vehemently.

"You are just so unbelievably sexy, do you know that? I get hard every time I see you."

Lexi practically attacked him, kissing him deeply and fondling his already wood-hard dick. He responded by fondling her breasts, tweaking her nipples, and squeezing her buns. Their clothes didn't remain on but an instant longer. They were so completely immersed in their passion, that they didn't notice the door crack open for a few seconds, then briefly open wider and close again.

Nancy peered around the corner of the den entryway to find everyone once again seated in front of the holo intently watching the game. The fourth quarter had apparently started, as there were periodic shouts of glee and groans of disappointment as the teams contested their match. If anyone noticed her absence, or that of Lexi and Ryan, it didn't appear to bother them.

After a few plays, Nancy turned away and quietly padded back up the hallway to Lexi's door. The creepy little robot was still stationed at the end of the hall, emitting an occasional click or whir and rotating fractionally before settling into stillness once again.

Nancy put her ear to Lexi's door. She couldn't hear any talking, but she could definitely hear rustling sounds and the occasional grunt or sigh. She couldn't help herself--she had to see what was going on. Very slowly she turned the handle and cracked the door open a few inches. The dim light of early evening seeped through the bedroom window, barely illuminating the two naked figures entangled on the bed. Fingers kneaded and arms flailed, lips met and smacked, bodies entwined.

Like a bee drawn to sugar, Nancy slowly opened the door wider and crept into the room. Crawling across the floor as quietly as she could manage, she turned Lexi's desk chair to face the bed and sat ever so carefully in it. Miraculously, she made no noise.

Those two were so passionate, so aroused... and so arousing! She began to fondle her own breasts, slowly lowering the zipper on Lexi's hoodie and letting her breasts swing free. For the third time in the last couple of hours, she felt her juices begin to run.

Ryan lay atop Lexi now and with a grunt from him and a gasp from her, he entered her. He slowly but powerfully pumped into her as she clawed his back and tousled his hair in an impassioned frenzy.

Nancy was completely lost in the moment and began urgently rubbing her pussy and squeezing her breasts. She felt the delightful pressure building when, unexpectedly, light from the hallway illuminated the bed. Simultaneously, a loud cheer erupted from the den, unimpeded by blocking doors.

The two lovers on the bed, jolted from their lovemaking, sat up in confusion. Ryan, seeing Nancy sitting half disrobed in Lexi's chair, pointed a finger at her.

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

Nancy, pointing toward the door, exclaimed, "What the fuck is that doing here?"

Lexi and Ryan craned their necks to see over the foot of the bed. There was Jeeves, spinning and whirring. The robot rolled further into the room. It swiveled to face Lexi and Ryan on the bed, then Nancy on the chair, and then back again to Lexi and Ryan.

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!" it suddenly blared, accompanied by a harsh white strobe light.

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!" it repeated.

The strobing light garishly illuminated the naked bodies in the room, grotesquely distorting their expressions of surprise and confusion.

A short tube emerged from the robot's body. The robot rolled a bit closer to Nancy, then emitted a spray of mist towards her from the end of the tube.

Nancy immediately began coughing.

"Oh my god, that's disgusting!" she gasped. "Oh, gross, that is... so.... Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick."

She stumbled out of the chair and towards the door. The robot turned to follow her.

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!" it blared while pursuing her down the hallway

"Get away from me you freak! Get away!" she screamed as she ran into the study at the end of the hallway and slammed the door shut behind her. It clicked shut with finality.

The robot returned to Lexi's room. Ryan was already on his feet, hastily trying to pull on his shorts, but the robot reached him before he could get them up.

"Threat level delta!"

Out came the mist.

"Oh God, that is so gross!" he coughed. "Stop it, you little..."

He raised a foot as if to kick the machine, but another spray of mist knocked him back. Tripping over the shorts still wrapped around one ankle, he fell heavily to the floor. The robot approached threateningly.

Ryan scrambled away on all fours, only rising to his feet when he reached the doorway. The robot followed, but Ryan had already run into the hall bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Lexi clutched a sheet to herself on her bed, on her knees and back against the wall, when the robot rolled back into the room.

"Jeeves!" she shouted hysterically. "Stop it, you little fucker! I order you to stop it! Stop doing this!"

"Threat level delta!" the robot intoned. But it didn't spray her.

"Jeeves, I order you to stand down. Stand down! Stop it, dammit, just stop this!" she screamed.

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!"

Lexi sprang from her bed, leapt over the robot, and raced across the hallway and into the guest bedroom across from her room, slamming the door shut behind her and leaning back against it. She heard the lock click shut, even though she hadn't touched it. She tried turning the handle, but the door was locked fast.

She put her ear to the door. "Threat level delta! Threat level delta!" she heard receding down the hallway towards the den. Through the door came the muffled sounds of excited babble, then cries of dismay and finally, screams.

"Oh god! What's that smell?" someone shrieked.

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!"

Pressing her ear still harder against the door she heard the pounding of feet and more cries of confusion.

"It's locked!" she heard someone yell. "Try the back!"

"Threat level delta! Threat level delta!" intoned the robot.

"There's a room back here!" came a shout, more distantly.

More shouts; a door slammed. Then silence.

Lexi ran to the window and looked out. It was almost completely dark outside now. The glow of a lone street lamp cast an eerie illumination on the scene. She saw no activity. If anyone got out, it wasn't through the front door.

She tried to open the window, but the locks wouldn't budge. Jeeves had the whole house locked down. Could anyone have made it out the back? If he was able to lock the windows, Jeeves could probably lock down the sliding glass doors too.

So where did the others go? There was the utility room on the far side of the kitchen. That led to the garage. It wasn't a big room, but it was spacious enough to hold the others. Had Jeeves locked everyone else in there? And if so, could any of them call for help? Everyone except for Ryan had still been in their swimming suits, so it's not likely they had their phones in their pockets. Would someone have had the presence of mind to grab their phone before Jeeves chased them off? Then she thought of the first few seconds of her startling encounter with the rogue robot. Not likely.

She scanned outside again, but nothing. Returning to the door, she pressed her ear against it once more. Silence. She leaned against the door and slid down it in despair. She hugged her knees and dipped her head. Tears began to well up. She was alone.

No, not alone! She pounded on her door.

"Nancy! Ryan! Can you hear me?" she shouted.

She pounded again. "Ryan? Nancy?"

She heard a faint, muffled woman's voice in reply.

"Lexi, are you ok? What's going on?"

"Lexi?" from the direction of the bathroom. "What's happened?"

"The robot's malfunctioning!" she shouted. "I'm trapped in the guest room!"

"Cell phone! Do either of you have a cell phone?" shouted Ryan.

"Not me," Lexi shouted back.

"Me either!" from Nancy.

"Shit!" from Ryan.

Lexi leaned against the door and took a few deep, ragged breaths. How? How could this have happened? How could this completely innocent party (well, maybe 'innocent' wasn't quite the right word, but still...) have turned into this nightmare? She should have guessed there was something wrong with that damned robot earlier. It had been acting creepy from the start. Always kind of lurking around. Even from the very first night when she, um, had to relieve some 'tension', that thing was there. And come to think of it, she had noticed it more than once just hanging around when she came out of the shower or when she was dressing. Was it spying on her? Was it stalking her?

This was all Lexi's fault. Well, her responsbility, at least. This was her home and she was the one who had to figure out how to turn off that perverted machine. There had to be some command she could give that would reset it or something. If she had her cellphone, maybe she could look it up, find some code for that model or something. Well, if wishes were horses, then all beggars would ride. Isn't that how that old saying went?

Lexi shivered. Here she was, stark naked, locked into a room in her own house. And Jeeves kept this place so damn cold.

Cold! Cold! Lexi thought back to the first night she spent alone here, a couple of weeks ago. She complained that it was too cold and she asked Jeeves to turn the heat way up, but he wouldn't do it. She had to override his 'parameters' by using a code, it had said. An authorization code in the printed manual. The printed manual!

Where would that be? It could be in the study, where dad kept his papers. But Jeeves was her mom's toy. He had his things, she had hers. That's the way her parents' marriage always worked. This was her mom's thing and she would keep the papers.

The bedroom! The papers had to be in her bedroom!

Lexi tried the door handle again. She twisted hard and rattled it violently. It wouldn't budge. She wasn't getting out that way.

Retreating to the bed she sat and hugged herself against the chill. She surveyed the room in the dim light. It was sparsely furnished--just the twin bed, a nightstand with a lamp on it, and a dresser. She tried switching on the lamp, but it didn't respond. Whatever Jeeves had done, it cut power to the entire room. She pulled out the dresser drawers, but all she found were some spare sheets and blankets for the bed. Opening the single drawer in the nightstand she found a box of tissues and... a flashlight!

It was one of those cheap, sealed types where you couldn't replace the batteries. She found the switch and thumbed it on. It produced a feeble light that barely illuminated the far wall. But it was something. She switched it off to conserve what little charge remained.

Standing by the bed and unsure what to do next, Lexi turned in place, examining the room once more. She shivered. Maybe there were some clothes in the closet. Opening the door to the tiny space, she saw a single garment hanging among otherwise bare hangers: a heavy cable-knit button-up sweater. She pulled it off its hanger and tried it on. It smelled musty from disuse and was comically large for her. But she buttoned it up and rolled up the sleeves, which otherwise extended to her knuckles. She already felt better.

Standing on tiptoes, she reached up to feel what might be stored on the high shelf above the hanger bar. She could barely get her fingers over the lip of the shelf, so she stood back a couple of paces and turned on the flashflight. The shelf held a single, dusty shoebox as far as she could see, but it was well out of reach.

Lexi looked around the room yet again for something she could use as a step ladder. There wasn't even a chair in the room; probably whatever usually resided in here had been pilfered for additional seating in the den.

She finally settled on the nightstand. She set the lamp on the floor and dragged the nightstand to the closet. Holding the flashlight in her mouth and bracing her hands on either side of the door jamb, she stood on the nightstand and carefully reached for the shoe box. Its contents were disappointing: just a collection of knick-knacks that might be used to decorate a dresser top, a small mirror, some loose and brittle rubber bands. She shoved it aside in frustration. Shining the pale light of the flashlight into the back corners of the shelf, she peered intently, hoping to find some hidden bonanza there. She found nothing but dust bunnies, of course, but she did notice something else: a trap door in the ceiling. Standing on tiptoes, she could just reach high enough to push away the door and slide it partway to the side. She shined the flashlight into the revealed space. Through the opening she could see bare wooden rafters and a slanted ceiling with the ends of nails protruding through. A few puffy clumps of dirty white insulation floated down from the corner of the opening. She had found an attic entrance.