Twenty Year Review

The woman commented, "One could get used to it. It looks like a smile."

Without shifting position, Secundus answered, "As it so happens, miss, that is what the design team called it, off the books."

The woman laughed. Still staring at this servant posing before it, she said, "Completely shameless and a sense of humor, as well."

Secundus replied, "Servants are delivered with no concept of shame. The owner can teach this to it, if desired. A sense of humor is only learned over time."

"You continue to impress me. Show me your phallus."

About that time, a wife of one of the government officials walked into the washroom. She paused to watch the display, then said to the woman, "Yes, that is the one you want. In my opinion, anything smaller is a waste of time. You should buy one. You will not regret it."

The woman asked the wife, "How long have you had yours?"

As the wife checked her makeup in the mirror, she said, "About eight years, now. I swear that it saved our marriage. I think he uses it more than I do. My only complaint was not ordering mine as well endowed as that one. Upgrades take a long time to install and they are so expensive. Make sure to order what you truly want, the first time."

Finished, the wife turned to walk out. In passing she said, "If you have not seen the tongue yet, perhaps you should." She smiled a knowing grin as she opened the door and walked out.

Curious, the woman ordered, "Stand up and face me."

The servant obeyed. Its lips and phallus were still on display as its upturned face watched hers.

"Retract the phallus but leave the 'smile'," ordered the woman. When the servant complied, the woman said, "Show me your tongue."

As it had learned to do, Secundus opened its mouth and fully extended its flat, slightly forked tongue. It rolled its tongue along its axis and flattened it again. It bent that tongue tip up into a curl, then downward into a curl. It then twisted its tongue tip, like a banking airplane. It finished the display by hanging it loose and relaxed from one side of its face, like a tired dog, before pulling it back inside and closing its mouth.

The woman grabbed Secundus by a horn and pulled it toward a stall. Once they were both inside, the woman stood there, raised her skirt and said, "Use that tongue to satisfy me." There was no underwear under that skirt.

Secundus immediately reached up with its hands and gently grasped her thighs. It turned up is face and began to lap at this woman's pussy. The taste was fair, if not enticing. Secundus paid close attention to the woman's movements, heart rate, breathing, and her scent. If what it was doing did not increase her arousal, Secundus changed its movements until it did.

The woman even helped, once. "Yes. That is perfect right there," she said when Secundus began to repeatedly slip its tongue over her clit as it curled the tip, deep inside her pussy.

As the woman neared climax, Secundus continued to thrust but brushed its tongue gently against her clit more often. The woman's hips started to buck. Soon, the woman felt the rush of release as her orgasm moved her against that talented appendage.

Secundus gently and politely licked her mound and inner thighs as clean and dry as it could, then offered, "Shall I fetch you a towel, miss?"

Momentarily at a loss for words, the woman lowered her skirt and opened the stall door. As she pushed Secundus out in front of her, she said, "That will not be necessary. I rather like the way it feels right now."

The woman let out Secundus in front of her and they walked back over to where Master still stood. She asked him, "How much for this one? I'd rather not have to wait for a core; I know there's a long waiting list right now."

Master answered, "You're right about the waiting list. Its advanced core truly is the soul of this model line and supply just can't meet demand right now. Secundus has been with me for a very long time and we've grown attached. It's not for sale."

"A pity. If it's worth that much to you, it must be worth having. What if I were to pay you for four new ones, and you hand me just this one?"

"Not for sale. So you would like four, then?"

The woman smiled as she looked down on Secundus and again touched its head. "Let's start with two. I'll have my assistant contact your office."

Master smiled. "Always good doing business with you, Gloria."

As they walked away, to meet with a government official, Secundus said, "Master, you seem to enjoy spending time with Gloria. Perhaps you should spend more time together."

"Thanks for thinking of me but no, Secundus. That woman holds tight control over everyone in her orbit. I'd rather just stay out of it. You're more than enough to keep me happy."

Secundus felt warm all over. Nothing else in life felt as satisfying as praise from Master.

Bringing Derrick back to the present, Master asked, "Have you got past the conference yet? It sounded like you might be."

A little shaken, Derrick answered, "Yes, I have."

"Good. You accomplished a lot by then. Do you understand yet? When you forgot the person you were, you became this instead. Is what you remember a life worth living, yet?"

With acid in his voice, Derrick yelled, "Great for you! Just stuff Derrick in a corner somewhere and live happily ever after with this Secundus! I didn't get to live this life!"

Frustrated, Master said, "Dammit, you don't understand! This is what I'm trying to give you, right now! This is all in your hands now. You don't have to die. Just believe this life is worth living. You don't have to forget, just trust me. Just trust Secundus."

"Trust you? Just a little while ago, you were a total stranger."

The old man, Master, shrank back into the couch. He looked out the window and sighed. "Forty years. . . for forty years I've loved you. These reviews are a living hell. We can't stop the review until it expires or you close it. While you're hooked up, there's things I can't tell you. If you can trust me, if you can trust Secundus, soon you'll know everything. I'll never keep anything from you for as long as we live." The man wiped at his tears and sniffed.

Grudgingly, Derrick said, "I might as well trust you. I got nothing to lose."

"We'll both lose everything, if you don't. Please mean it," implored Master.

"You told me I need to trust Secundus. How do I trust someone who I've never known, who's supposed to be me?" asked Derrick.

"If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust?" replied the old. . . Master.

Derrick suddenly found himself, Secundus, running up to Master. Secundus had already tossed down the cup of coffee it had been carrying from the cart vendor. Two men were attacking Master. He was already on the ground and the men kept kicking him.

Secundus ran up the back of the one closest to it and locked its legs around the man's neck. It quickly reached forward with both hands and raked its claws across the man's eyes. As that man shrieked, Secundus leapt from that man's shoulders, into the face of the other. It hooked the claws of its right hand into that face and reached down with its jaws to bite the man's throat. Secundus shook its head violently as warm blood gurgled out and splashed against its body. Secundus let go and leapt from the man's chest, over to Master.

Secundus comforted Master and tended his wounds, while the blind assailant lay nearby, screaming. Secundus would not leave Master's side; not in the ambulance, not in the emergency room. It took two men to pull it away from the gurney, so Master could be wheeled into surgery. . .

Derrick came back to the present. The sky outside the window was growing lighter. He was overwhelmed with emotions that, as Derrick, he had learned to live without. Meaning every word, he blurted out to the old man, "I love you."

Almost too choked up to say it, Master replied, "I love you too, Babe." He grabbed a tissue from the box next to him and blew his nose.

As he jumped up to take the tissue from Master's hand, Derrick said, "I want to live. I trust you. How do I close the review?" He reached the waste basket and dropped the tissue inside. "I'm ready."

Master said, "Just say 'end review' and wait for the prompt. Secundus will help you; trust it."

In a clear, parrot voice, the one previously known as Derrick Wentz said, "End review."

In his head, the machine voice said, "To end this life, say 'No'. To reset, say 'Yes'."

Leaning forward again, Master quietly said, "Wait, let Secundus answer."

A few more agonizing seconds passed before Derrick heard himself say, "Admin override command 4XX4 Zebra Earthworm."

The machine voice prompted, "Authorization code?"

Again, Derrick heard his voice as it said, "Happy birthday, Babe. Love, Martin."

Babe stood there in front of Master as the man removed the reviewer from Babe's head and put it away in its box.

Babe stood there for only a moment longer, then leapt up onto the couch to crawl onto Master's lap. Master reached up to idly rub that tip of Babes horn. Babe began to purr quietly and relax.

"So what do you remember?" asked the man.

"I remember everything, my Master." Babe stretched its legs out across master's legs and sighed, before resuming purring.

"What was your name?"

"Derrick Wentz."

"How many kids in your family, including you?"

"Three, then two, then just me" replied Babe.

Master apologized, "Sorry, Babe, I had to know."

"There is nothing to forgive, Master. All of that happened many years ago. I am grateful for your helping me to remember."

"You don't have to use that formal speech anymore. All your start-up protocols, directives and fail-safes were wiped." Master's fingers found Babe's slit and gently caressed it. Babe's tail gently twitched in time with the motion.

"Yes, my Master. Old habits, I suppose. I am almost sixty-five years old, you know."

Master smiled broadly and said, "No, Babe. This is your first birthday."

* * *

It woke up at dawn. Whatever the clocks might read, at whatever point of the globe it was on that day; Babe always woke up at dawn. Reluctantly, it stirred from the warmth of Master's embrace and gathered up a nearby pillow to give Master something cool to hold onto, in its stead. It carefully climbed down from the bed and walked down the hallway. Babe joined Jeans in the front room and they readied the shell for the long-awaited transfer. Jeans, blue eyed and patterned in the colors of faded denim, double checked all of the connections. Though it was midsummer, this morning, Babe started a fire in the fireplace.

The core for Jeans had been found shortly after Babe's last review. Like Babe, and the lost Primus, Jeans' shell held a special feature unavailable to the public; a gift from Master. They had kept this secret from the rest of the world.

Master had been able to hold on long enough. The day had finally come. After years of heated debate, new laws regarding artificial life forms had passed. Starting today, expanded 'human' registration parameters now included those in good standing who were born human; regardless of the shell they occupied. All of the legal documents were ready. The lawyers were on hand. The doctor was here as official witness to the transfer.

Babe and Jeans scurried back to Master's bed and carefully helped him into the wheelchair. They rolled him out and helped him into his favorite spot on the couch. Babe and Jeans' eldest children, full adults for some time now, gathered around Master to comfort him during his final moments as Martin.

Until the transfer was complete, no one would be allowed to touch the man, except for Babe. After the electrodes and other equipment were in place and Master was secured, Babe asked, "Are you ready, my Master?"

The man croaked, "Damn, I was hoping to celebrate my hundred-eleventh birthday in this old husk." He smiled and said, "Just do it."

Without hesitation, Babe initiated the transfer. It took only a few minutes. Sensing the transfer, the young drew away from the body and moved over to wait by the shell pod. The doctor moved in and examined the body. He wrote down the time of expiration.

Through the window in the pod, the young could see movement. Babe shut down the machinery and said, "Get that body out of here. Master doesn't need to see that."

As the morticians removed the body from the house, Babe and Jeans opened up the shell pod. With help from their young, they pulled Master's new body from the gel. They laid him on towels and quickly dried him off. They then moved Master to a blanket in front of the fireplace. Everyone stepped back and waited. Sometimes it took a while to wake up.

Babe just stared and admired Master's choice of shells. It was beautiful! The colors were so vibrant; the pattern so imaginative. His stature was majestic. He would be taller than he once was. Master had already decided on a new name in honor of this sleek, new model; The Imperial Drake Line.

* * *

The first thing Martin noticed was that he didn't hurt anymore. He was home. He could smell his family around him. He felt so warm. His back faced the fire. He stretched, just to enjoy the sensation.

"There," he heard Babe say, "he's alive. Now, sign off on this and everyone leave us, please. Thank you."

Martin heard the door close behind them and the house went quiet. After a few more minutes, Martin started to get up. His tail twitched and it slapped hard against one leg of the coffee table. "Ow. Dammit!" he cried out.

Jeans and Babe rushed in to help him up. When they had helped Master to his feet, Babe said, "Welcome, Master Marshall Drake, to your home. Happy Birthday. Please forgive us if we do not understand. It will take some time before you will begin to speak clearly. . ."

End