In Control - Chapter 2: Gabriela the Triumphant, part 2/2

[Propman]

The dinner took longer than expected; self-employed people who manage others can once in a while deserve privileges of their own... even if the state of their business makes them dream of rich investors appearing out of nowhere. Nonetheless, George and Michelle returned home around 4 PM… to discover that the lights upstairs were turned on -- though neither of them recalled leaving them on.

“Maybe someone came in early.” Michelle thought, as she stared at the unexpectedly bright windows. “Mindy was rented out for that punk-rock gig as a stagehand-slash-dancer, maybe the band came earlier. Or maybe I’m just scatterbrained recen… Damn, I really want to see the best in a person.”

The door was still locked - so at least they weren’t broken in -- and Michelle was free to look around in the living room. There was no trace of the two robots left standing there.

“Michelle? Babe? Where’s Gabriela?”, George looked around, as he lit the lights. “She shouldn’t have reactivated herself.”

“And yet she did, predictably.” Michelle groaned. “With you, nothing can go right, apparently. Alex was cleaning the room, maybe he carried her to the workshop?”

“Alex…”, George scratched his head. He walked downstairs, to the workshop in the basement. Michelle could hear the sounds of footsteps… and click of the door being locked. “Wait, what? Betty?” Oh, no.

Gabriela, her tall silhouette framed by the light, walked out of a spare bedroom, strutting slowly. She has ditched the conservative business suit, instead wearing a sleeveless lacy white dress that showed off her feminine curves.

“Good evening, Michelle. Hablemos en serio, mía compañera.”, She leaned on the railing, smiling smugly, examining the red-headed African-American girl from the above -- and exposing her tanned breasts with a very immodest cleavage for a conservative businesswoman.

“Gabriela…”, Michelle facepalmed for a while. “Who turned you on? What’s going on? Where’s George?”

“So MANY questions…” Gabriela muttered to herself, still observing Michelle for a while. “Alejandro did. I am taking over. George is downstairs.”

“Taking over?! Gabriela, you can’t take over!”

“You told me I could be your office manager.” Gabriela smirked. “That if I invested money, I could run the Rent-a-bot company. I have no equals. I am Gabriela Ortega-Calderón, a billionairess. I own you, your house, a mansion and a yacht.”

That was way more chilling than it should be. “Gabriela. Please behave properly and cut this act.” Michelle orered, staring at the blonde Latina. The stern, decisve order should influence a robot.

“I am behaving properly, tonta mia.”, Gabriela merely smirked. “I run the company now, since you weren’t available. Since George is locked down, it’s down to me and you... partner.” She fluttered her eyelashes, looking surprisingly lustily at Michelle.

“Locked down?” Michelle felt her head spinning.

“A hostile takeover.” Gabriela examined her beautiful fingernails. “Alex told Betty, the little robot girl to lock the door, slide the key and go into standby mode. Only I can turn her on now.” That was... creative, but Michelle was not in the mood for applauding the fembot right now. Betty was not hurting George – and Gabriela could understand as much.

“But, why?”, Michelle stomped her foot on the ground.

“I want you to be my partner, chulita.” Gabriela snapped her fingers, smiling smugly with her red lips. And suddenly, Michelle felt the iron grip of Alex, holding her from behind. The android emerged from the shadows, grabbing Michelle’s arms at Gabriela’s signal. “Hello Michelle”, the android said. “I am making Gabriela happy.”

“Godfuckingdammit!”, Michelle screamed. “The soap opera bitch has a crush on me?”

Gabriela walked down stairs slowly, looking at her sternly “Una puta de telenovela has a crush on you.” She repeated the sentence… with her Mexican accent. Michelle realized the fembot listened… interpreted her own words and learned from them. Markov chains, naturally. Of course, Gabriela had tried flirting with her before. She said things she believed – and, more importantly, she believed things she said. Without supervision… this could lead to a weird loop.

Michelle tried to free herself, but Alex held her tight. Gabriela walked towards her, her high-heeled shoes now clicking menacingly on the hard wooden floor. She leaned over the quite short Michelle. “Gabriela! Be nice, you hear me? I’ll power you down!”

“Bueno, estoy... estoy impresionada.”. The Latina fembot whispered. “I have all the power I want. And I can be very NICE.” She drew her pinky fingernail across Michelle’s cheek, gently.

“You crazy... robot, cut the crap. We were going to let you run some things anyway.”, Michelle lost patience.

Gabriela looked at her, raising her eyebrow. “Oh. So... you got what you wanted, haven’t you? I’m running things now. I’m running… everything. No te parece fabulosa la empresa que estoy llevando adelante?” Gabriela since her rebooting turned even more Mexican, evidently. Unwinding spiral.

“You know I can’t speak Spanish, you idiot.”, Michelle spat.

Gabriela froze briefly, but returned to her smug self after five or six seconds. “I can. I can do things you don’t. I’m older, richer, more experienced. Humans are still cheaper than androids. Why should you be in charge of the company, and not I?”, she laughed tracing her finger across Michelle’s lips, delighted with her now-confirmed superiority. “I’m better than you in Spanish.” She rubbed Michelle’s chest gently.

“Goddammit, Gabriela, listen to me, you are just a robot, I should... control you. George built you just yesterday.” Michelle… was angry and trying hard to not be aroused by the amorous robo-businesswoman.

“I wasn’t born yesterday”, Gabriela scoffed. “Yo no nací ayer. I just turned fifty last year, mia linda.”

“NO. You. HAVEN’T.”, Michelle punctuated each word with a rapid pull from Alex’iron grip.

Gabriela just gave her a sultry look. She stepped back and picked up a key which Betty must have slid under the basement door. Betty must have tossed it there before switching herself off.

“I’ll let you out soon. Once I and Michelle have... an understanding.” She raised her voice, apparently addressing George locked inside. The only answer was an exasperated sigh. Gabriela stood there for a while, while Michelle joined in sighing.

“You have no idea what to do next, don’t you?” Michelle groaned eventually, as the robot woman stood in front of the door for a minute -- still processing data.

“Everything will be revealed soon enough, mia linda.”, Gabriela answered -- reacting to Michelle’s prompt broke her from robotic equivalent of deep thoughts. “Alejandro, bring her to the bathroom. Bathe her and bring her to me.” She pouted her lips, channeling a character from a VERY different telenovela.

“Wait, what? I can wash myself, thankyouverymuch. And since when do you have a bedroom, robot?” Michelle looked at her, surprised. What the hell?

“I own this company. This company is headquartered in this house. This house belongs to me.” Gabriela answered. It was weird… seeing her behave now more human-like, yet showing insane robot idiosyncratic logic. “Wash yourself. I want to see proper make-up.” She paused for a moment. “We need to have a proper dress code for my assistants.” She chuckled silently to herself.

“Oh lord, why...” Michelle muttered, as Alex shoved her… not too gently towards the bathroom. “Alex, leave me, please. Gabriela said I need to wash myself.”

Alex stood in the door of the bathroom, while Gabriela sauntered away upstairs. The upper floor had two bedrooms – one occupied by the androids, other one stood empty, prepared for a future family member… and was used by Michelle’s mom whenever she visited. Gabriela has opened the door of the robot storage room. She stared in her reflection in the window, examining her body now clad a very feminine dress. Her left hand moved across the desk near the wall, in search of a screwdriver. It clenched on the handle. With one fluid movement, she rammed it, sharp tip first, in her head.

There was a click as it penetrated the layer of an artificial skin and opened the scalp. Gabriela gently twisted the top of her own head, removing carefully the moussed power hair, exposing the shining, thin plastic layer underneath which lied dozens of wires and switches. The fembot looked around, grabbing another scalp – this one with long, flowy platinum tresses, framing her head symmetrically. The skin color didn’t match… at first. With a twist, she mounted it carefully and it started to affect her tanned Latina complexion.

She went through a couple of useful toys from a box marked “Selina’s stuff! Other robots, don’t touch it, or I’ll claw your eyes out.”, picking a strand of rope, handcuffs and a pair of golden bracelets. Silently, the fembot picked up some spare clothes from the cosplay wardrobe and disappeared in the spare room.

[Propman]

Meanwhile, Michelle mentally workshopped her plans. She probably couldn’t take on Alex, and the heaviest weapon she could find was an electric dryer. She did take a shower – to calm herself, there was no harm in it, was it? But when she walked in, Alex didn’t want to let her out. He insisted on “Ms. Calderon wanting to see proper make-up.”

“Alex, you don’t have to do everything she says, she hasn’t even paid for you.”, Michelle explained. She didn’t object to Alex seeing her wrapped in a towel – he was part of the family, in a way.

“Ms. Calderon says I have to. You said that I will work for her, and she said I belong to her forever.”, Alex explained. “My previous protocols are overridden.”

Michelle sighed. “Alex, sweetie, she is a robot as well, she belongs to George and does whatever he said – pretends she’s a businesswoman. You don’t have to do what she says.”

“She has ordered me to follow her and her only. She has said she wants to see proper make-up. You have to be pretty for Ms. Calderon.”, Alex insisted.

“Alex, if you let George out, he’ll control Ms. Calderon… Gabriela, and she’ll tell you to stop.” Michelle repeated. “We’re friends, right?”

“I am now a personal assistant to Madame Gabriela Ortega-Calderón. She had said other people would like to take me away from her.”, Alex repeated. “Please put make-up on, Michelle.”

Discussing things with robots was, to Michelle annoyance, surprisingly amusing, and it helped her gather her thoughts. “Alex, did you activate Betty?” He nodded. “Did Gabriela tell you to?” He nodded again. “Sneaky bitch.” She smiled for a moment. “Alex, what if I became Gabriela’s personal assistant?”

“She would have more assistants.”, Alex answered after a while.

“But then I’d outrank you”, Michelle pointed out. “As a human being I’d be close to her, and she could have told me to let George out. Then you’d have to listen to me.”

“If Ms. Calderon said so…”, Alex appeared to think for a while.

“I’d relay her words.” Michelle smiled and patted Alex’ synthetic muscles slightly. “In fact, why don’t you do it now?”

“She said she’ll do it herself. You do not outrank me at the moment. I must make her happy. She is an important woman. You must put your make-up on.”

Michelle smiled, now relaxed. “Of course, Alex dear. Feel free to bring me some fancy costume, I should finally meet Gabriela on her own terms. ”


The guest bedroom was still a bit chaotic, but Gabriela didn’t seem to mind–or perhaps wasn’t mentally advanced enough to care. Neither George nor Michelle smoked – but there was a stash of mismatched gifts the couple didn’t feel like throwing away, including a handful of foil-wrapped cigars. Gabriela on some basic level knew not to put them in her mouth or actively inhale the smoke – she lit one and held it in the right hand – while the left one held a wine glass. She has comfortably seated herself in a rotating chair, her long legs lying on the bed, still wearing stilettos.

Michelle stepped in – and she chose one of Betty’s suits – a simple black dress she complemented with a maid-like apron - to accentuate that she would in fact be willing to serve a robot woman. To her relief, Gabriela didn’t comment on her clothes. “Hello, Gabriela. I have thought about your proposal and… the hell? What are you doing?”

“Esta es la vida que siempre debí haber tenido...”, Gabriela mentioned casually, to Michelle’s confusion.

“Okay, whatever. Put this thing down.”

“I knew good things are wasted on you,”, Gabriela sipped her wine. “This is delicious!”

“I doubt that.” Michelle grinned.

“Don’t be so sure.”, Gabriela set her glass on the desk and stared at Michelle politely. Oh, right, Michelle realised. She’s still programmed to learn from me.

“So, Gaby dear.” Michelle started, now more amused than angry. “What are your “demands”?” - she accentuated it with finger air quotes.

“La verdad sea dicha, I'd like to think about it... a bit more, actually.” Gabriela toyed with her cigar. “Come here, girl.”

“Oh, Gabriela.” Michelle sighed. “Tell me what do you want to achieve.”

Gabriela seemed to think for a moment: “I want to take over the company, I want you as my personal assistant. You will work for me. I have a crush on you.” she exclaimed.

“It’s not the same... “, Michelle started. “You only think…”

“You won’t take it away from me!” Gabriela raised her voice. “I have fought all my life for my family, for my business, for other things!”

Michelle smiled apologetically. “Gabriela, I’m not taking anything away. In fact… I might agree to your offer.”

“You don’t have much of an option.”, Gabriela’s fingers clenched on her cigar. She waved it in front of her face.

“You’re angry, Gabriela. Calm down.”, Michelle smirked and sat down on the bed, opposite the blonde Latina. Gabriela huffed and smirked triumphantly.

“How about this?” That was a surprising question. Hm, Gabriela still responded to feedback. Michelle wasn’t really sure whether she should address Gabriela the businesswoman, Gabriela the telenovela villainess or Gabriela the robot. Whatever she was at the moment, the Latina returned to her dazzling smile.

“Very nice. See? We can get along. We need each other, Gabriela.”, Michelle continued, but Gabriela turned cold out of sudden.

“I am more than capable of running the company by myself.” she leaned over Michelle, staring straight in her face. “Leaving away from what I’ve built so far would be loco.”

“Ah-ha!” Michelle was pleased. “So, why do you want an assistant if you can do it yourself?”

Gabriela smirked. “I am an entrepreneur. I am Gabriela Ortega-Calderon, billionairess. When you outsource work for others, you can freely pursue your passions.”

“Damn, nice programming.”, Michelle muttered. She half-expected Gabriela to tumble on the floor, smoke coming out from her ears, unable to handle the paradox. “So if you outsource work for me, we won’t have time for each other, you know that?”

Gabriela opened her eyes wide. “Órale! Nunca me hubiese imaginada algo así.” she muttered. “I will work on expanding the business.”

“You know, me and you and Alex can’t cope… why not add George to the mix?”, Michelle suggested, trying her best to sound innocent and innocuous.

“No!” Gabriela leaned over, putting her arms on Michelle shoulders. “You belong to me and me only. Let’s ditch him. I, too, am currently between husbands.”

“Gabriela…” Michelle wasn’t serious how to rebuff Gabriela’s advances. But she needed to be kept calm. “I might become your assistant…” Gabriela’s lower lip trembled slightly, and she leaned in closer to Michelle’s face. “But I, too, am gonna need some help.”

“All I ask in return... is just a little solidarity with the company and unbridled loyalty to me.” Gabriela said – Michelle remembered that quote from before. “Your loyalties shan’t conflict.” The taller woman sat next to Michelle on the bed and gently wrapped her arm around Michelle’s shoulders. Cheap cigar smoke mixed with her orange smell. “I can be very NICE, sabe… Working for me is not the worst thing that could happen.”

Michelle smiled. “Mmmaybe…” she remembered Gabriela’s catchphrases. “Do you have a place for me?”

“You’ll have a special place… directly under me.”, Gabriela answered, her tone increasingly lusty.

“What about Alex?” Michelle asked innocuously. “We can’t be both directly under you.”

Gabriela pulled Michelle closer. Her green eyes seemed to glow with blissful light. “Don’t worry about Alejandro, Michelle, my love. At this moment…” her hands drifted towards Michelle’s dress. “We are like two halves of orange who finally found each other after all these years. How I longed after you for years…”

Michelle giggled, but was surprised at Gabriela’s forward matter. “Gabriela, you just met me.”

“I feel like I’ve known you all… my… LIFE.” Gabriela answered. No wonder she had a large database for scenes like this.

“Will you make me outrank Alex?” Michelle tried to gently push Gabriela away. “I will be loyal to you…”

Gabriela paused and her blindingly green eyes narrowed. She continued to embrace Michelle but her hug turned stricter. “Gabriela?”

“Ejele! DO you think I WAS BORN YESTERDAY?”, Gabriela hissed. “You keep conspiring against me! Not everything is about you, do you understand?”

“Stop! Gabriela, stand down!” Michelle struggled. Alex was big and beefy, and Gabriela was tall and more athletic – but the apparent musculature of the android meant very little. “Turn off!”

“Buen intento, chica… but right now I have been activated by my lovely Alejandro.”, Gabriela hissed in her ear. “He is the one that gives me orders now.”

“But all he does is to follow your orders.”, Michelle gasped. Like any good telenovela character, Gabriela couldn’t stop herself from revealing her nefarious plot. “This is a whatchamacallit, an infinite loop.”

“He is so dumb. I have no equals now. I can take over.”, Gabriela chuckled. She pinned Michelle by the sheer virtue of her size and mass to the bed. “We will talk more and more, Michelle, mi pobre fea y bella hija.”

“You’re out of control!” That has happened again.

“Correction: I’m IN control.” Gabriela smiled nastily. “My name is Gabriela Ortega-Calderón. I own a cute girl and a house.”