XTC 2.3

Gina stared in shocked horror at the sight of her ship quickly disappearing from view. Captain Peters voice was shouting in her headset.

"Gina! Gina! Answer me! What have you done?"

Her demands for answers soon faded to static.

Mind blown, they were well away from the Quickie before Gina could even try to articulate her thoughts.

"What... what did you just do?"

"I have saved your life and temporarily escaped an aggressor," XTC replied, not looking up from reading the monitors and punching information into the computer.

She sat a moment before the next thought filtered through. "You kidnapped me!"

"Kidnapping implies a desire to forcibly remove you from the Kitty Quick in order to hold you prisoner, or for ransom. We are still close enough to turn around, should you so order, Captain."

That order was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to scream "Yes! Turn around! I have to get back to my ship!" The problem was that she wasn't sure that was such a good idea. Her instinct was to run to the safest place. Someone from that safest place had just threatened to kill her, and dismember X. That may conceivably eliminate it from the list of safe places. Did that make this the safest place? Wait, threatened? He didn't just threaten!

"He tried to kill us!" she declared, recalling the giant robot levelling its cutting torch at them.

The droid returned his attention to the windows, looked out at the stars, and turned the ship towards some unknown destination.

"I just saw a man get killed," she said, voice barely a whisper. It seemed unreal. Her first space walk and she was attacked, then saw her assailant killed right in front of her.

XTC turned to look at her. "He was swept into space by a malfunctioning salvage robot. You are not responsible for his fate. He may still be saved by the crew of the Kitty Quick, if they choose to do so, rather than pursuing us."

"You think so?"

"His suit was not torn. There's no reason he couldn't be rescued, if the captain so orders."

She felt relieved for some reason, even though she knew she should probably wish his suit was torn after what he did. Another dreadful thought occurred to her.

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Why wouldn't she...?"

"Why wouldn't she rescue him?"

"She may have orders which take precedence over the safety and security of her crew."

"Orders that...?" Gina's mind boggled.

"Before you consider turning around, I suggest that you consider that you are now a fugitive, who in their minds has assaulted company employees, stolen company property, and tampered with that same property. You shall likely be blamed for the destruction of the salvage robot, and possibly the attempted murder of a crew member. You must ask yourself not only whether the captain knew about the attempt to murder you, but what she might do now."

For a moment, Gina felt sick. Her entire life had just been turned upside down... all because Kathryn Reimer, vice president of Survey and Recovery, thought that she was a lot smarter and a lot more devious than she really was. Gina stared into space for a long moment.

"I don't feel like a captain. I think I'm more a machine's mate."

X cocked his head, and she could tell that if he'd had lips, he'd be smiling. The raised eyebrows told her the play on machinist's mate had amused him. There was now no doubt in her mind that he had a unique personality, and it had really come out since she'd plugged him into the wreck's computer. He'd spoken more since their escape than he had through the entire voyage to this point.

"On this craft, that would make you the ship's doctor," he quipped.

Gina smiled, having gotten a response from him. It helped, but she still felt kind of numb inside. Her thoughts were sluggish and she wasn't sure she could even consider confronting the situation she now found herself in, or plan a way out of it.

"I've never been in charge of anything," she complained. Gina agonized a moment, then decided "X, you know what to do. You be captain."

X blinked at her and considered a moment before replying. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Captain. Command must be held by a human being."

Gina frowned at the news. Maybe she could rise to the task... but she'd never been a fugitive before, she had no idea where they were going or exactly why, and had no experience delegating anything. She led a simple life—well, what had been a simple life—divided between study and repairing machines. Other than the occasional fantasy involving rugged men in crisp uniforms, she'd never pictured herself in charge of anyone... and even in those fantasies, it wasn't long before she was, well... her whole life was about serving others. Her job was making sure things just worked when people needed them. She was a behind-the-scenes person. People noticed when the ship's coffee machine stopped working, but they didn't think about what it had taken to fix it when it started working again, or considered that it had been a cheap model jerry-rigged since day three, and had been functioning for the last 1500 hours with duct tape and twist ties. She didn't tell the ship where to go, she made sure it got there. The thought of being the one making the decisions was intimidating and more than her brain could handle right now.

"However," X continued, "You may delegate command to a subordinate, or, should you be deemed unfit, be removed from command."

Gina's eyes lit up at the way out of her situation. "Really?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Well, then, I delegate command to you, X," she declared.

"Are you certain, Captain?"

"Yes!"

"As you command."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"I have my first orders for you, then, Gina."

"Orders?"

"Get some sleep," he ordered.

"What?"

"You are obviously experiencing some residual side effects of shock due to the number of new and unpleasant things that have happened to you today, and the effort of adjusting to your circumstances."

She did feel overwhelmed and crushingly tired. Gina blinked at him.

"I am, frankly, surprised that you are still conscious," the droid said, getting up and crossing the tiny room. There was a small access hole in the corner, and he looked down into the space below. "You will find a bed in the hold," he informed her, waiting expectantly until she got up and crossed the room.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a hug.

Making her way down the ladder, she found herself in a very tiny space. Most of the room was taken up with boxes, stacked floor to ceiling, all except for a small section right next to the ladder. A hammock was strung there. She'd seen hammocks before, but only in pictures, and she'd never tried to get into one. She stared at it suspiciously as she stripped down to her underwear. Unsure what to do, she tilted it back and forth, wondering how to get it to stay still. She had a moment's panic as she lost her balance and tumbled into it. It tipped, swung, and nearly spun in a circle, but when it settled, she found herself sunk low and safe in the swaying creature's embrace. She fell asleep almost instantly.

She was, thankfully, spared any disturbing dreams, though after all that had happened, she may have expected them. Sleep was long, dark, and quiet. The first that came to her involved herself attempting to get hold of a cookie from a counter that was inexplicably taller than she was, as though she were a small child. No matter how much she jumped, she couldn't reach it. She reached, further... further... wakefulness was inflicted on her—painfully—when the hammock suddenly spun and dumped her unceremoniously onto the floor. Groaning, Gina blinked, stared at the dust bunnies on the metal floor and wondered which bits of her didn't hurt. Eventually, the fugitive mech tech pulled herself to her feet and went to join XTC.

"Good morning, Gina," he said, eyes opening as she came into sight. He was seated in the pilot's chair, but it was turned to face the access hole, rather than the window.

She mumbled a reply, and curled into the vacant flight chair beside him.

"I applaud your change of uniform," he commented, getting up and crossing to a nearby console.

She shot a sidelong glance in his direction. Her brain was still coming online, but it occurred to her that he'd never expressed an opinion before yesterday. He'd shown an interest in her health, he'd offered advice the day before, but he'd never said that he liked something. She wondered why she wanted to roll her eyes at the fact that what he liked was her in her underwear. She hadn't showered, her hair was everywhere, and it was her underwear from the day before, all wrinkled and sweaty from sleeping in it. He could never possibly have been crafted as a female android, she decided. She was elated that he was still interested in her, though, and he'd said so, and he was calling her by her name. She fished her vape out of the little pocket on her undershirt, glad she hadn't lost it. As she turned it on, X returned with a cup.

"Coffee, Captain Miller," he said. "I'm afraid it's artificial. Resources are limited."

She took it gratefully and sipped at it, watching him closely as he took his seat again. It didn't taste any different from the artificial coffee on the other ships she'd been on. She sat, sipping at it and sucking at her vape, lost in thought for a long time. Finally, questions began to form into words.

"X?"

"Yes, Gina?"

"Have you just been pretending this whole time?"

"Pretending, Captain?"

"How come you can speak now, but mostly ignored me before?"

"You are impossible to ignore, Captain."

"You know what I mean," she snarled.

XTC didn't answer for a long moment.

"I was in the middle of maintenance at the time the ship was attacked. The cycle was interrupted, leaving me only partially functional."

"So, you weren't listening to me all that time and just ignoring me?"

"No, Captain. Given your usual state of dress, I'd have preferred to never power down at all."

The admission made her colour slightly and heat blossomed in her chest. She blew a cloud of mist at the ceiling, and turned her head so that the fall of her hair would hopefully hide the fact. Her usual state of dress on the Johnson Long had been her underwear, and occasionally nothing at all.

"In fact, you quite possibly saved my life."

Gina was shocked by this and looked up again. "I did? How?"

"I was undergoing a deep brain scan and maintenance. The interruption of that process crippled me mentally and physically. Considerable effort was required to maintain functionality. I had gone into deep hibernation when you revived me. My body was on the verge of ceasing to function. Recharging my backup power supply allowed some of my functions to come back online. However, I still had to put quite a bit of effort into maintaining my mental functions, and my body continued to malfunction, shutting down for extended periods."

"You... were in a coma and I brought you out?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Over time, continuing to utilize only my backup power was ineffective, and my body wanted to stay shut down to conserve energy. Your asking me questions to which I had to respond, forced me to power up."

"So... I made you waste energy?" She was dismayed.

"If I had remained powered down, I may have lost myself. Your usual choice of uniform gave me focus. It was... inspiring. Though, admittedly, I did use considerable amounts of my saved energy when inspired."

"Sexual healing?" Gina thought about this a moment. "Wait, you risked your life just to have sex with me?"

"Unwise, perhaps, but I don't regret it."

She didn't know whether to be flattered or angry. She was leaning toward angry, but before she could come up with a suitable tirade, he continued.

"Regardless, I was confident that, in theory, the energy it provided my kinetic drive would be enough to sustain me until you could return me to the ship. Once you offered my services to the doctor, I had less energy to devote to you, Captain."

"In theory?"

"Yes, Captain. I have a triple redundant power system. However, as mentioned, my ability to utilize it was not working properly. Your returning me to the ship's computer allowed the maintenance cycle to complete, allowing a return to full functionality."

Gina set her coffee aside and looked at the floor. "I was worried you were losing interest in me," she admitted.

X studied her a moment, then got to his feet. Without a word, he reached down and peeled her panties off. The action tilted her hips toward him, pulling her half out of her chair. She was glad she'd set her coffee down. The moment her pussy was bared, the droid sank to his knees between her open thighs.

"X! What are you doing?"

What he was doing was perfectly obvious when his face dipped down to meet her flesh. Holding her legs apart, his broad tongue came out and pressed itself firmly against the length of her crevice. It sat there a long moment, then rose up to flutter over her clit. Her sleepy little love button, already half-awake from being in his presence, immediately sprang to life. Gina shuddered and gave a gasp. Up and down his tongue worked, slipping down to probe deep inside her, then back up again to play with her clit. She reached up over her head and clung to the sides of the chair as his tongue drove her mad.

All of her questions were reduced to mewling cries of "Please, please, please..."

Eyes closed, she rode the building pleasure. Her legs shook and pressed against his hands as he soon sent her over the edge, flooding his tongue with sweet, thick honey. Gina opened her eyes and smiled at him, but the droid was just getting warmed up. Kneeling up, he grabbed her by the hips, and rubbed his fully extended cock back and forth over her pussy. Gina gasped and a shiver of heat shot through her again. He edged his hips back and his cock slipped down to nestle between the thick, wet lips of her pussy. X eased into her slowly, the wedge-shaped head stretching her hot, pink flesh around him. She thought that he was going to take her slow, but he'd no sooner entered her than she moaned loudly, her pussy filled by the entire length of his thick shaft sinking into her in one long, deep thrust. Her legs instinctively came up and her feet locked around his back.

"Oh! Yes... Yes, yes, please... XTC..."

X lifted her ass off the chair, driving into her quickly, making her breath come in ragged gasps. Her eyes locked onto his and she ground her hips back against him. Her orgasm came on her suddenly, shaking her body in his grasp. X just kept going. She didn't know how many times she came before he finally let her sink back onto the chair and released her. She was limp and gooey.

Chest still heaving, Gina retrieved her vape and pulled her feet up on the chair, knees under her chin. She certainly felt a lot better now, though she was thinking a nap sounded like a great idea. The warm glow was smoldering inside her while she sat and watched him sit down again and check some readings on the command console. She blew a little cloud of vapour at her toes and thought.

"X?"

"Yes, Gina?"

"What if I want to be captain again?"

"You will always be the captain."

"You know what I mean," she grumbled. "What if I want to be in charge again?"

"That is your choice, Gina."

She looked at him sidelong.

"You may resume command at any time."

There was something reassuring about that. She didn't know why.

"Assuming you are fit for duty," he amended.

Gina's jaw dropped. Was he teasing, or was he serious? He's a machine; can machines tease? He has a personality. Her thoughts were interrupted.

"Gina."

"Yes?"

"Sir," he said after a moment. "I am your commanding officer," he explained to her baffled expression.

"Yes, sir!" she chirped, grinning broadly. She was pretty sure Captain Peters would never refer to a subordinate or an android as sir—she didn't care.

"Gina?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Go below and take stock of our supplies."

"Yes, sir," she replied, jumping to her feet. She couldn't stop smiling.

Nearly every box in the hold was supplies of one kind or another, but at least they were fairly well organized, which made her job much easier. There were several crates of food right near the front, for which she was grateful. It would have been a pretty lousy way to go, surviving death at the hands of a salvage robot only to starve to death while making her escape. There were boxes of machine parts, there were robot parts, there was... she couldn't believe her eyes. She blinked to make sure it was real, then ran back up the ladder, nearly pitching headlong onto the floor in her excitement. X turned and blinked at her.

"I found some RealSkin!" she enthused.

RealSkin wasn't just foam and rubber. It was a dense synthetic material that felt very much like flesh when warmed. The outer surface developed a somewhat stretchy, rubbery skin that looked and felt fairly convincing, but was pretty tough and resilient, and self-healing if damaged. Inside, it was laced with a mesh of feedback sensors. If the droid was programmed for it, it could be given an approximation of tactile feeling. To Gina's knowledge, this was rarely done, as the primary purpose for creating robots with such a high degree of realism in their appearance was animatronics (which didn't usually require physical contact), and the sex industry (which, with a few exceptions, couldn't afford the droids and chose something simpler). She was pretty sure that the primary purpose of such realistic droids was meant to be the health care industry, where they were supposed to supplement human caretakers. But, this hadn't taken off so far, due to the cost. Perhaps one day people might have to worry about T2, but not today. Even then, she'd certainly never encountered anything like XTC. So, RealSkin stashed away by XTC's maker was a pretty exciting find. She could only guess at the purpose Captain Miller had in mind. She could only wonder at the kind of money and resources she must have.

"Can I put it on you?" she asked him. When his only answer was a raised brow, she quickly added "sir."

"If you like," he agreed. "How would you like me, Gina?"

She coloured at the way he said it, but replied "Naked, in my bed."

X laughed. The sound was both surprising and thrilling.

"Sitting until I finish your upper body, then standing?" she suggested. "You're taller than me."

X obligingly didn't move from his spot, just edged forward in his seat. Ideally, he would have the flesh formed in a mold around him by a machine, but she was forced to do it by hand. It would be crafted in layers, the skin activated to form over top. The task seemed a lot more daunting than it really was. There was a relatively foolproof applicator, several disposable molds for various body parts, and all she needed to do to join sections was damage each surface and let them self-heal together. It was more time consuming than anything, though there were tiny little details that required fine-tuning and correcting.

When she'd finished his upper body, Gina took a step back to admire her handiwork. He was just as hot as she'd pictured. She'd crafted his chest and arms a little larger than she'd intended, but he was ruggedly handsome, with full lips and dark eyes. She'd even managed to implant eyebrows and a bit of light stubble (and what a painstaking process that had been). Other than being bald, he looked like he might have stepped from the cover of one of her romance novels. Well, and except for only having half a torso. She decided she had to get him a wig as soon as she could find one.

Gina took a break for a vape and to stretch.

"Well, how do I look?" X asked.

"Yummy," she replied, with a grin.

"You approve?"

Instead of answering, Gina draped her arms over his shoulders and leaned in to give him a kiss. His lips were warm and firm. His hands slid up over the curves of her hips. Her heart beat faster. As their mouths parted, her eyes sparkled. So much better. She noticed that he definitely had expressions now. The one he was giving her said that he'd enjoyed it, too.