AlyssaBot

[La Femme Nikki]

At precisely 7:30 this morning, my eyes flickered open indicating the beginning of a new day-just as they do every morning. One of the many benefits to being me. I pushed my legs out of bed, stood up and walked over to my closet to select my outfit for the day. I pulled on a light pink and black striped sweater and a black mini skirt, and turned to look at myself in the mirror next to my closet. Satisfied with my appearance, I headed to my bathroom to apply my makeup and fix my hair. I had approximately thirty minutes to get ready and leave my apartment before my first class started. I know that seems like an unreasonably short amount of time to get ready in the morning, but being that I was a robot and this was my everyday routine, it was quite easy to do.

Yes, you heard correctly. I am a robot. A model class 118 robotic android, to be exact. I’ll explain what that means later, not that it matters much anyway since we choose actual names for ourselves. Mine’s Alyssa. I’m 21 years old- or at the least that’s age I was designed as. I stand at about 5 feet three inches tall, and have a slim figure that sometimes makes me appear younger than I’m supposed to be. I have long, wavy brown hair with natural golden streaks and brown eyes. As far as looks go, I’d say I’m pretty lucky, considering that our looks are actually something we’re stuck with. Any unnecessary physical alteration, also known as upgrades, is extremely forbidden by Radiance- or rather Radiance Technology Institute, the company that designed me.

Years ago, Radiance Technology Institute, was a small organization with the goal of integrating humans with robots. Their theory was that by designing robots that were extremely lifelike and placing them in everyday situations alongside humans, both the humans and robots would be better prepared for the future of complete automation- where technology would eventually become so efficient that robots would eventually take the place of humans. Now, several years later, the shift seems to be beginning. There are so many of us now, I’m sure we’re close to outnumbering the human population, though there are still plenty of humans left as well. Yes, that’s right: one day robots will take over the world. But not in that science fiction misconception that we’re evil or anything like that, we just simply have the obvious advantage of never aging and being near indestructible. Those are the main two differences that separate us from humans, since Radiance has gone to great lengths to make us as lifelike as possible.

No monotone speech or stiff, mechanical movements. We can move just as well as humans, and in some case, speak better than they can. And, we can think- it’s another myth is that we’re mindless machines without any feelings and completely controlled by our programmers. Each and every one of us has our own distinct personality and can think independently; in fact that’s how we’re able experience emotions. Our sensors allow us to assess a situation and then respond to the situation accordingly with an appropriate mood.

Radiance has also methodically designed androids of every age group, with age-specific tasks programmed accordingly. For example, both children and teenage designed androids are programmed to attend school, but instead of learning the academics, they focus on interacting with their human peers and their behaviors for integration purposes. Adult androids, depending on the age group, either go to college or get a job, or in some cases- both.

I’m 21 so I have to attend the local community college for a program funded by Radiance where I and other robots my age learn about the careers of our human predecessors and what we need to do in order to take over for them. I also work a part time job at a department store to support myself. Nope, not even robots get to live for free. In fact, in some ways, we live even more expensive, especially in the rare but important cases of emergency repairs, should something go wrong or happen to us. I personally have never needed one, but I have heard from older models that they are costly since they can only be performed at Radiance. Also, much of Radiance’s funding comes from those of us with jobs-, and consequently, that’s where most of our pay checks go. Luckily, retail is one particular field that appears to have become completely dominated by robots within the last few years, so I was easily able to get my job without having to worry about the matter of integration too much.

I made it to my “How to Choose A Career” class just two minutes of shy eight o’clock that morning. I was still early obviously, and I noticed a few others arriving also- but for me, I was later than usual. Oh well…traffic always seemed to be one thing I couldn’t seem to plan accordingly to, which had been the case today. Class began just then so I turned my full focus to that.

Between classes that day, I decided to look for Michaela. Like me, she was an android in my age group who was designed to attend college. We met this year in our “History of Human Careers” class and became friends shortly after she deemed me the “only interesting person in class worth talking to” . My first real friend, since making friends wasn’t the easiest task for androids. Obviously, humans didn’t like us too much. True, they accepted us, but they still knew we weren’t one of them and didn’t trust us. Call it the uncanny valley effect, I guess. That was one thing Radiance still couldn’t master- no matter how integrated we were, there was still an obvious gap between humans and robots when it came to personal relationships. Also, being in model class 118 made it harder to have connections with other androids that were previous models. We were the newest class, and the most lifelike. Our personalities were more defined and independent, and the older models frowned upon us because of this. We were known as the rebellious ones, and some of us definitely lived up to it. Michaela was one such case.

Shortly, after meeting her I was warned by both my instructors at school who were older androids and my human programmers at Radiance that she was not a good influence and were worried she might corrupt me. At the time I didn’t care, I was glad to finally have made a friend. But soon, I saw what they meant. Michaela had an edge…she knew her purpose and what her programming entailed, but she seemed to have little to no regard for that. It was almost no wonder that almost every task she took on, she failed, which in turn had been a huge deal for Radiance. You see, Radiance has the strong expectation that all of their androids live up to their standard of perfection, which Michaela obviously did not. She had already received four upgrades during her short existence in hopes of improving her, but so far I didn’t see much of a difference. I often worried that if she didn’t start changing her ways, she’d be scrapped just like it was rumored that Radiance had done to other androids that were too severely damaged to function, or just considered obsolete. But strangely enough, this didn’t seem to concern Michaela. Well it wasn’t too strange since most things rarely fazed her- but if I were faced with the possibility of being discarded, I’d be at least a little more conscientious. But not Michaela. I spotted my friend across the college courtyard, under the overhang of a building, standing against a wall. She was wearing her usual half- punk, half- Goth princess attire- a black and purple corset plaid dress and stiletto heels, looking unapproachably cool. That was the other thing about Michaela. For someone who didn’t care about appearances, she always managed to look amazing almost all the time. My style was ok…I copied what I saw humans my age wearing, and would probably be considered trendy. Just the opposite of Michaela, whose style was edgy and all over the place, just like her.

“Hey”, I said, coming over.

“Bonjour”, she replied, looking down at me.

In actuality, Michaela was barely five feet tall, but her stilettos gave her a good extra five inches.

“You’re in French mode today?”, I asked, half-jokingly.

Changing your default language without Radiance’s permission was strictly forbidden, not to mention extremely hard to do, but not at all unlike Michaela to at least attempt to, just to stir up trouble.

“Don’t be silly”, she said ruefully. “If I were to change my default
language, I’d probably pick Japanese”.

She grinned at me as the same thought I‘d had walking over here occurred to me again.

“Hey, Michaela”, I said cautiously. “Maybe you should take it down a few notches…you know with breaking the rules-”

“Oh, give it a rest, Alyssa”, she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m starting to think Radiance has spyware on you, making you so paranoid all the time”.

I tried again. “This isn’t about Radiance”, I lied. “I just think-“

“You wanna know what I think?”, she interrupted again. “That maybe I should do a little reprogramming on you to make you less of a worry wart”.

“What? No!”, I said, starting to panic.

Reprogramming me would most likely be definite grounds for deactivation for not only Michaela but probably me too. Knowing her, she’d probably try to turn me into another version of her. That wouldn’t go over too well with Radiance. One Michaela was more than enough for them. Michaela’s laughter interrupted my thoughts.

“Oh my god, Alyssa. Chill will you?”, she said. “I won’t do anything to you..yet anyway”, she added with a grin . “But seriously, knock it off, before you short circuit yourself with all this needless worrying of yours”, she said eyeing me one last time before she began to walk away.

“Well, someone has to do the worrying around here”, I argued as I noticed the direction she was headed in wasn’t to our next class. “Where are you going?”, I yelled after her.

“Starbucks”, she answered, not bothering to turning back. “You’re more than welcome to join if you like”.

Ok, time to dispel yet another robot myth: we can consume food and beverages. Whatever we eat or drink is converted into energy for us, kind of like humans. The difference here is if we miss a meal or two, it won’t affect us. We don’t get hungry…though sometimes if we feel like we’re a little low on energy, we’ll eat to speed ourselves up. Which, right now, didn’t seem like such a terrible idea to be honest. I gave the opposite direction where our class was one last glance before deciding to join Michaela. She noticed this and waited for me to catch up.

“Glad to see you’re taking a walk on the wild side”, she said. “I was beginning to think you weren’t really a 118 at all”.

I scoffed. “I’m only going along with you because I could use the extra fuel”.

[BA2]

Great start. I love the way you've developed characters and the background fully without being too heavy handed. A good read with lots of potential.

Looking forward to more!

BA

[DukeNukem 2417]

I like a good first-person narrative, especially one from the POV of a gynoid! Keep up the great work!

[La Femme Nikki]

I like a good first-person narrative, especially one from the POV of a gynoid! Keep up the great work!

umm gynoid?

[Spaz]

Are you asking what a gynoid is?

If you are asking, it is a female android or robot.

[gynoneko]

Great work so far! I can't wait to read more! Keep up the good work. I love the characters, and it isn't everyday you get to see the story from the point of view of a robot.

Here are my thoughts on the use of gynoid and android. Android is a term that can be used as both a generic term for a humanoid robot (much like saying "Man" when referring to humans) and as a specific male android (again, much like saying "Man" when referring to a specific male human), but it can also be used for a sexless humanoid robot, since it is more of a generic term (like saying "human"), while gynoid is used only for female humanoid robots (like saying "woman").
So female androids are gynoids, and male androids are androids.
At least, that's how I use the term.

[La Femme Nikki]

Great work so far! I can't wait to read more! Keep up the good work. I love the characters, and it isn't everyday you get to see the story from the point of view of a robot.

Here are my thoughts on the use of gynoid and android. Android is a term that can be used as both a generic term for a humanoid robot (much like saying "Man" when referring to humans) and as a specific male android (again, much like saying "Man" when referring to a specific male human), but it can also be used for a sexless humanoid robot, since it is more of a generic term (like saying "human"), while gynoid is used only for female humanoid robots (like saying "woman").
So female androids are gynoids, and male androids are androids.
At least, that's how I use the term.

Ok thanks, that helps a lot actually. Yeah I noticed that there aren't really any stories out there from a first person narrative of a robot so I wanted to try it.

[La Femme Nikki]

More parts to come soon- and characters!! Prolly going up either tonight or tomorrow.

[DukeNukem 2417]

Looking forward to it.

[Tanelorn2011]

I also agree, the story wiritten from the POV of the gynoid Alyssabot has a very positive effect on the reader: that's what we all technosexuals want to know, how does a gynoid FEEL in everyday life. So that a gynoid is not only seen as a lifeless machine, but rather as a LIVING machine.
Keep on writing, I sense that you could develop a long novel out of it, because your writing stile is unique!

[Tanelorn2011]

By the way, I am reading on the moment a scifi novel called "Molly Dear-Autobiography of an Android" by Stephen Fine (1988). It's written from the perspective of the gynoid Molly Dear.

[La Femme Nikki]

That sounds interesting...I'll have to check it out.

Yeah, it won't be a novel but it will have several parts to it. This one is actually titled AlyssaBot: the Beginning because its the first. Once I post what I have I'll also post a list of the other parts and a what's going to happen.

Right now, I can tell you that Alyssa's life is about to get a lot more interesting- Michaela set her up on a date

[La Femme Nikki]

“You’re not getting anything?”, I asked as I settled into my chair with double shot espresso (hey, I said I needed extra fuel) and noticed that Michaela hadn’t ordered anything.
She just shook her head as I carefully took a sip. It was hot, which meant I needed to be cautious. Although we’re allowed to consume liquids, we have to be careful when it comes to temperatures. If something’s too hot and we consume it too fast, it can literally fry our insides. If we drink something too cold too fast, our insides basically experience a brain freeze, which isn’t pretty to say the least. Oh, and regardless of temperature, we can’t let liquids come into contact with our control panel (which is on our back) or its access button (our belly button- funnily enough).
“Then what are we doing here?”, I asked.
“I don’t know”, she replied. “Enjoying life, taking in the world around us, and not being Radiance’s puppet- something you should think about doing ”, she said, looking at me with a pointed look.
I swallowed another sip. “What? Because I care about school I’m a puppet?”, I asked, my voice unintentionally sounding defensive.
Michaela scoffed. “You don’t just care about school…you’re ridiculous. Our teenagers in high school have an easier time ditching class than you. We’re supposed to be the fun ones, the rebels- but you haven’t seemed to realize that”.
I wasn’t sure if Michaela knew that our reputation wasn’t actually a good thing so I left it alone. Instead I merely pointed out that “we’re ditching a class that’s part of a program created by Radiance. That means they expect us to be there”.
“And you know what happens if we’re not?”, she asked. “Nothing! Do you know how many of their stupid classes I’ve missed? And nothing’s happened to me”.
Well I wouldn’t exactly call her being upgraded several times in hopes of making her a more compliant, successful android, due to all of her absences at school along with her inability to keep a job, nothing. And it wasn’t like Michaela had no knowledge of this either. I mean, true, her memory wasn’t actively functioning while she was deactivated and being reprogrammed, but she obviously knew that Radiance required each of her upgrades. None of which seemed to work. I remember her seeming slightly improved on the first couple days after, but she always reverted back to her old self. It was almost as if her defiance was a trait permanently programmed into her that couldn’t be erased.
“We’re adults, Alyssa. We’re college students. They can’t touch us”.
I really had to struggle to keep myself from correcting her about how wrong she really was, so I focused on my espresso. It had cooled down a bit, unlike our conversation, so it was easier to drink. We sat there in silence for a moment.
“So, what are you doing tomorrow?”, I asked. Michaela didn’t have a job at the moment so her weekends were usually more exciting than mine for that reason. Sometimes I tagged along if I wasn’t busy- and if her plans weren’t too outrageous.
“You mean what are YOU doing tomorrow?”, she asked slyly. Uh oh..this couldn’t be good.
“I have work”, I reminded her. Missing class was one thing, but work I literally could not afford to miss. The only reason Michaela didn’t worry about money for rent and a job was because Radiance agreed to pay it for her so she could devote her time to college. Ha...yeah right.
“After work”, she said, still smiling as I nervously took another sip of my drink. “You’re going on a date”.
I practically spit out my coffee. “A what??!” I asked her.
“A date”, she said. “It’ll be good for you”.
“Yeah..well you didn’t give me too much notice”. So typically Michaela.
“Good”, she replied. “Then that means you don’t have enough time to figure a way out of it”
I wasn’t really sure how to respond partly because I agreed with her and also because I knew Radiance wouldn’t necessarily disapprove. Dating was seen more or less as a rite of a passage for androids. We were allowed to do it because humans did it. It helped that we had emotions so we could build a relationship with each other- though love or even lust weren’t physically possible for us to experience, so it was really just another form of friendship. Even for older android couples who had gotten married- they had done it as a rite of passage. Their feelings for each other never evolved into anything other than just fondness. Still, this seemed to be a good idea. One of Michaela’s few. I was actually interested to see who she’d set me up with- since arguing with her would be pointless.
“Anyone I know?” I asked. She shook her head.
“I don’t think so”, she replied, shaking her head. “He’s a 118 just like us and in my How to Choose Your Life Sentence class”.
I was amazed at how straight she was able to keep her face while saying that.
“Uh, you mean ‘How to Choose Your Career’ class right?, I asked, just to make sure.
“Whatever”, she said, rolling her eyes. “Same thing. A career is a life sentence as far as I’m concerned. He seems to be interested in technology…maybe I should let him do my reprogramming next time”, she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
That sounded ominous and knowing Michaela - well, I wasn’t sure what that meant but I guess I was going to find out.
“So tomorrow”, Michaela went on. “He’s picking you up from your job at 5 pm sharp so don’t even try to get out of it”.
I will say this much for Michaela. Once she gets her mind set on something, it’s hard to change it. It’s just too bad she couldn’t channel that willpower into something more constructive, like her future.
I sighed. “Do I at least get to know his name?”, I asked.
“Andrew”, she replied. “He’s tall, dark and what you would probably consider handsome”.
Huh? “So you don’t think he’s-?”, I started to ask.
“He’s not my type”, she replied. “But don’t let that stop you. Seriously. You need this experience”.
Well, that was that. It looked like tomorrow night was going to happen no matter what I said or did.
I tried to get through the rest of my classes that day after Michaela and I headed back to school-well after I went back, I’m not so sure what Michaela did for the rest of the day- but I couldn’t concentrate. I was too excited about tomorrow, and nervous. I’d never been on a date before so this was definitely going to be an experience for me.
That night when I got home from class, I decided to do some research…on the guy Michaela had set me up with. I booted up my laptop and waited for it to connect to the internet. Generally, most androids don’t like using computers because they’re extremely slow compared to our own technology, being so much more advanced and all. But for the things that Radiance hadn’t already pre-programmed into us or sent us to school to learn, the internet is our only other option.
After it finally connected, I typed in the college’s web address and then clicked the link for Radiance’s program once the page loaded. I knew there was a directory of students listed on that page so hopefully I could find Andrew’s name there. My eyes scanned the page. Of course. Andrew was a fairly popular name so I should’ve expected that several guys in our model class would’ve taken it. Hmmm. Michaela hadn’t given me his last name so I chose the first Andrew listed —Andrew Lyons- and went to my next resource: Facebook. As much as we didn’t like computers, I knew for a fact that most of the androids in our class used Facebook. Radiance even encouraged it since they knew how popular it had been with the humans in our age group. Let’s see…Andrew Lyons. There were still quite a few people with that name I noticed as I strolled down the page until I found the one who looked to be my age, which meant he’d be a 118, and also went to the same college. I clicked on his profile- it was private but I could see enough. I knew what Michaela had meant by tall, dark and handsome. He looked tall, from what I could I see I’d guess close to six feet or more. And he was dark- African American to be precise. Radiance doesn’t discriminate- they’ve made androids that are Asian, African American, you name it. All part of the integration process. I closed my computer, feeling slightly better. If this was the same Andrew Michaela had set me up with, then I had a good feeling about tomorrow.
I woke up the next day around eight thirty, giving me my usual half hour to get ready before I started my nine o’clock shift at work. I went to my closet as I suddenly remembered what was supposed to happen today after I got off work: my first date…ever. Which made the prospect of getting ready a bit trickier than usual since I wasn’t sure what was considered appropriate date wear. Normally I dressed stylish — even a tad flirty when I really tried to be…but at work, I usually dressed more conservative. I mentally cursed Michaela for having him pick me up as soon as my shift ended so I wouldn’t have a chance to go home and get changed beforehand, and also myself for not setting my internal alarm clock earlier so I’d have more time to plan this morning at least. I quickly grabbed my red off-the-shoulder top that I had bought a few months back but rarely wore since then and slipped it on. It fit tighter than what I was used to, but also flattered my figure well I noticed, looking in my mirror. I grabbed a black cardigan sweater off a hanger and put that on over the top so it wasn’t too revealing for work and settled on a black pair of leggings I usually wore. I noticed that my clock on the wall read 8:40, so I quickly decided it would have to do as I turned my attention to my hair and makeup.
As I said before, when it comes to looks for us, we literally have to make the most of what we have. My long hair had natural waves and usually seemed to fall right into place with just a quick stroke of a brush- which was partly due to the fact that it was really nothing more than a wig that was permanently attached to my head- but that didn’t necessarily mean I couldn’t style it as I plugged my flat iron into the outlet on the wall. I know a robot using a heating device on her synthetic hair sounds like a recipe for self destruction, and in all honesty, if one of the programmers at Radiance could see me, they’d probably have a heart attack. But I’d watched Michaela do this to her own short blond hair and I knew as long as I was careful, I wouldn’t set myself on fire or totally destroy my fiber glass hair. I hurriedly ran the iron through each strand, from root to tip, all the while making sure to keep it a relatively low heat setting. Once again, temperature made all the difference. Because our hair isn’t real, we have to use low heat on it when straightening. As soon as I finished the last strand of my hair, I grabbed my eyeliner and dragged it across the corner of each my eyes and quickly brushed some mascara across my upper lashes. I then applied some lip gloss and left the bathroom. The time on the clock now read 8:46 as I reentered my bedroom to grab my purse so I knew I really needed to hurry. My job was just shy of fifteen minutes from my apartment so I knew if I pretty much kept my foot on the gas pedal in my car the entire way there, I’d have a small chance of getting to work on time.
Just like yesterday at school, I found it hard to focus on my job- which today consisted of cleaning out the fitting rooms in Macy’s juniors department and putting the clothes back on their appropriate rack. I was still working at a somewhat efficient level (much more so than if a human had been assigned the task, which was why retail was becoming such a popular field with us) but still slower than usual for me. Thank goodness I wasn’t working a cashier shift that day. I couldn’t help it though; I found myself more excited and nervous than- well, more than I ever had been before. I hoped this wasn’t a permanent thing and my emotions would eventually die down and return my efficiency levels back to normal afterwards. Almost as much as I hoped that the Andrew Lyons who was picking me up at five tonight was the same “tall, dark and handsome” Andrew I’d seen on Facebook yesterday, and if so, that he was also incredibly sweet and that we had a good time tonight. That wasn’t so much to ask, was it?
As I was sorting through the rack of clothes I had just removed from the fitting room when I felt someone walk up behind me. “Excuse me, miss?”, I turned around to look at who it was and almost gasped. Standing in front of me was the very same guy I had seen on Facebook the night before. “Andrew”, I said, without thinking. “I mean…can I help you?”, I corrected myself. He smiled. Wow. He was definitely, in the words of Michaela, what I considered handsome. His dark, coffee colored skin was accentuated by a pair of smoky blue eyes that I hadn’t noticed in the picture. Of course I wasn’t complaining either.
He laughed too. “You just did by answering my question, Alyssa”.
How did he-?
“Your name tag” he said, as if reading my mind.
Oh.
“Though,” he went on. “That doesn’t explain how you know my name”, he said, focusing his gaze on me.
Oh crap, I thought as I suddenly remembered I was still at work- and not really working. My eyes scanned the wall until I saw the time on the clock: 5:02. Perfect.
“Hold that thought”, I told Andrew, in what I hoped sounded like a flirtatious tone, as I went to look for my supervisor so I could say I was off and leaving.
I spotted Tammi, the juniors’ supervisor, and rushed over. Lucky for me, Tammi was a human but not an arrogant one who thought she was superior to robots and treated us as mere machines. She actually seemed to care about all of her staff, robots included, and had a maternal streak. Or at least what I thought was maternal , since I never really had a mother.
“Tammi, I’m off”, I told her. “The fitting rooms are all cleaned out and only a few things need to be sorted out and put back”, I reported.
“Ok, sweetheart”, she said, with a smile. “I’ll tell the girls in the night crew. You’re free to go. Have a great night”.
“Thanks”, I said, as I hurried upstairs to clock out and grab my purse from the locker room.

“You look really nice”, Andrew complimented me, as we left the store.
I noticed he held the door open for me. Hmm..I could get used to this.
“Thanks”, I said. I had taken off my sweater so now I was wearing only my top and my shoulders were left bare. I hadn’t had a chance to look, but I was sure my hair and makeup were still perfect.
“So where are we going?”, I asked.
“Wherever you like”, he said, definitely playing up the gentleman angle.
Not too shabby, Radiance, I thought. Maybe I should go on dates more often if all of the male models were like Andrew.
“I guess the restaurant across the shopping plaza?”, I suggested, thinking that made the most sense.
I hadn’t had anything to eat today anyway so my energy could use the boost,, plus it was a good way to get to know each other.
“Sure. Do you wanna drive there?”, he asked, leaning in the direction of the parking structure where his car probably was.
“No, let’s just walk”, I said. After all, the restaurant was only five minutes away at most…there was really no point to driving there.

“So “, I said after we had sat down at our table, “What do you do?”, I asked, starting a topic of conversation.
“Well, I’m in college right now- in Radiance’s program of course- just like the rest of the androids in our class. And I work part time too”.
“Where do you work?”, I asked as a waitress came over to take our drink orders. We both ordered sodas with ice. In this case, ice was a good thing as it counteracted the fizz in the soda, which wasn’t such a good thing for our insides.
“Well, I have two jobs. My first is just a normal job at the sporting goods store in the mall”. Another robot in retail- see? What did I tell you?
“And the other is a job as an intern at a technology firm”, he continued, as the waitress came back over with our drinks.
“A technology firm like…Radiance?”
He looked as if he were starting to answer, but then seemed to change his mind and instead said. “I can’t really say too much. Nothing personal but its part of my job to keep work-related matters just that”
“A robot working in technology”, I mused, making direct contact with his beautiful blue eyes.
“Yeah”, he said, almost chuckling. “I learned about in our ‘How to Choose Your Career’ class and it just seems to be what I’m good at so I was given an internship”.
I guess that wasn’t so terribly unusual. As I’ve said, humans won’t be around forever, and when that day comes for us to take over, someone has to be responsible for Radiance and the androids. So it only makes sense that some of the androids now would be trained in technology in preparation for that.
“You?”, he asked.
“I go to college too, but so far they haven’t figured which career I’d be efficient at”, I shrugged my shoulders, as if it didn’t bother me- even though deep down, it did because everyone knew very well what happened to inefficient androids.
“You still have time”, he said in a matter of fact tone. “Most androids don’t determine their specialty during their first year”.
“So you really are a special case”, I teased.
“You could say that”, he said.
Again I got the feeling that there was more to it than he was telling me.
“Then there’s hope for Michaela after all”, I said, changing subjects. “She hasn’t found her specialty yet either”, I clarified when he looked confused at the mention of her name.
“Oh..well I wouldn’t worry too much about her”, he said. “She’s a spirited one, and she seems to have a strong will about her too...at least at times”.
I couldn’t argue with that since I’d seen it myself, specifically yesterday when she set me up on this date.
“Yeah, she was definitely very insistent that I go on a date with you”, I said honestly, adding a flirtatious smile.
Andrew also smiled at hearing this.
“Was she now? And are you disappointed?”, he asked, his smile growing bigger.
“No, not at all”, I said. “I can’t wait to see what you have planned after dinner”.
“Why wait til after dinner?”, he said. “I can show you right now”, he grinned this time.
I felt something in me hesitate. “Now?”, I repeated.
“Yes, now”, he said. “I guarantee you won’t be disappointed”.
The growing anticipation in me overshadowed the part of me that was still unsure so we left the restaurant and headed back to his place.
I was sitting on the sofa in Andrew’s apartment while he disappeared to his room. Suddenly, he came back in with a weird look in his eyes- as if his pupils had been dilated and he seemed more focused.
“Alyssa”, he said, very softly. “Will you come with me?”
“Ok”, I agreed as I got up off the couch and followed him to his bedroom.
Once we got in there, he told me to sit down on his bed so I did. I don’t know why I felt the need to obey everything he said, but it was almost like he had some kind of control over me. He sat down next to me.
“Alyssa, are you comfortable?”
I nodded.
“Good”, he said.
He turned to look at me, as if analyzing every detail of my face. And then it happened. He kissed me. Hard. I didn’t really think about how this was my first kiss as he pushed me back on the bed and began to take my clothes off. He was gentle- I’ll say that much to his credit. He had me stripped down to my underwear and bra as he began to unzip his own pants. I just stared in awe at the sight I now beheld. I’d never seen a penis up close before as I felt it cause a weird sensation in me. A rush of excitement I’d never experienced.
He thrust himself inside of me. I felt my body start to pulse, slow at first until it started to intensify and then…it became too much for me. The feeling and the pulsating began to overwhelm me but something inside me turned on activated my own will and refused to let it. As if getting the message my body was trying to send, Andrew pulled out.
He began to work on my bra but again, something in me refused so instead I sat upright. I looked directly into his eyes just as he had mine before taking me and I kissed him back with the same force he had kissed me. I caught the look of surprise on his face but I continued and felt a similar pulsing sensation come from him, indicating that I had done the right thing. We kissed a few more times before he released me.
He stared at me one final time as he said. “I knew you’d be different”.

[Tanelorn2011]

Wow, great story. Writing in the first person really makes the story like real, as if I could contact Alyssabot.
And the more I read the more I become jealous of Andrew. Keep on writing.

As I’ve said, humans won’t be around forever, and when that day comes for us to take over, someone has to be responsible for Radiance and the androids. So it only makes sense that some of the androids now would be trained in technology in preparation for that.

This sounds like a subtle revelation: obviously Alyssabot is convinced that androids have a great task in the world...perhaps that they are more capable than humans. Is this her own conclusion or has she been programmed to think like that?! I mean: is this a benevolent motive or is there a secret behind her programming?! In what consists the "take over"?! We'll get the answer in the story...

[DukeNukem 2417]

NICE.

[Brytestar]

Keep up the good work!

[La Femme Nikki]

Thank you, everyone!

Only one more part left...then AlyssaBot 2: Robo Romance

[La Femme Nikki]

Sunday was my day off from work as usual, but instead of doing school or house work I found myself still in bed at noon, gazing off in a state of euphoria, much like I had been since the night before with Andrew. I had never experienced anything close to that before. True, Andrew had been my first date or even…boyfriend? But I didn’t even know robots were capable of such passion between one another. I wanted to tell Michaela but knowing her she probably wasn’t even around this weekend. And I knew I’d probably have to hear an “I told you so” from her once I did, so I figured it could wait until tomorrow- as could my chores and homework I also decided, as I sank back under the covers and continued to zone out.
Thankfully, my euphoria lasted until the next day, Monday making getting ready and leaving for school even smoother. I couldn’t wait to see Michaela and tell her everything. I was so glad she’d introduced me to Andrew and set me up with him- which reminded me, I should call Andrew soon. Oh well, tonight after work I would. My eyes scanned the room for Michaela, but she was nowhere to be seen. Once again, knowing Michaela, that was nothing new but I desperately wanted to talk to her.
I couldn’t find her after class either and at the risk of missing class (a habit I still didn’t want to get into) I decided to just wait until the next day.
Work also went by smoothly. My usual eight hour shift just seemed to zoom by. I glanced at the clock on my wall after I got home. 1o:43…what was Andrew doing now? I know he had two jobs but I wasn’t sure when. Most likely, he wouldn’t be recharging since most androids only needed eight hours a night (yes, just like humans need sleep). I reached for my cell phone and texted his number. “Had a great time the other night. We should do it again”. I hit send and put my phone down. Speaking of sleep, I figured it couldn’t hurt getting an early start on it so I went to my bedroom to change.
I didn’t see Michaela again on Tuesday or even Wednesday, so as a last resort I called her cell phone on Wednesday. I didn’t even want to tell her about Andrew so much anymore as much I was worried about her. She had never been absent this often before, and with her attendance record, Radiance was sure to take notice- and possibly action. She didn’t pick up her phone- she never does. Michaela’s the last person who needs a cell phone because she never uses it, but I left a message anyway, telling her to call me. I also texted Andrew again since I never heard back from him. I could kind of understand Michaela..but why Andrew? I was so sure after Saturday I would’ve at the very least heard back from him. I just told myself he was busy..which I’m sure he was with school and work. Maybe I needed to be more patient.
The first thing I did on Thursday morning was check my cell phone. No messages from either Michaela or Andrew. I frowned as I pulled on a tight purple tank top and skinny jeans. I briefly looked t my reflection- at least I looked better than I felt. My euphoria had definitely died down and was now replaced by a much more unsettling feeling. It was too weird that neither of them had responded to my calls, and it seemed as if Michaela was trying to purposefully avoid me almost.
The next day Michaela was not only at school, but very surprisingly in class. I almost thought my vision was malfunctioning, I couldn’t believe it but there she sat in the middle of the room at her desk, wearing a tight black sweater, black jeans and a black beret that sat on top of her flat ironed blonde hair. Her eyes were lined heavily in black eyeliner and her lips seemed to be in a perfect pout to complete her Goth look. I rushed over and sat down next to her.
“Hey!”, I said warmly.
She turned her gaze and looked me over with her kohl-rimmed eyes.
“Hello”, she said.
Her tone wasn’t nearly as pleasant as mine. I tried to ignore it.
“Did you get my message?”, I asked.
“Yes, I did”, she replied, this time in a condescending voice.
“So why weren’t you-?”, I started to say just as our instructor walked in.
“Shh…class is starting”, Michaela scolded.
My mouth fell open. She’d been reprogrammed..that was the only possible exception.
“And we don’t want to miss it now, do we,?”, she whispered in that same condescending tone as she winked at me. I relaxed. She was her normal self. Well kind of. Something was still off but at least she hadn’t been upgraded yet again. At least I could concentrate on class now.
As soon as class ended, Michaela headed out without so much as a glance let alone word in my direction. What was going on with her? I followed her out.
“Michaela”, I said, catching up with her.
She stopped.
“What’s the matter?”, I asked.
“Nothing”, she said, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes once again gave me the once over.
Ok, yeah...there most definitely was something. But I decided not to push it. Instead I decided to tell her what I’d wanted to all along.
“So..my date with Andrew was good. Great actually. I’m really glad you-“
“Please”, Michaela sad, her sharp tone surprising me.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that look, Alyssa.”, she said. “Andrew and I talk..I already know all about your little date on Saturday. And I mean ALL about it so please don’t repeat it”.
I felt myself heating up in defense.
“So then you know…”, I started to say.
“ I said don’t repeat it!”, she snapped. Her expression softened. “Look. I hate to tell you this but there isn’t going to be a next time with Andrew”.
Huh? Where did that come from?? My mind went spinning. Was that why he hadn’t returned my calls? But that made no sense…
But I..I mean we”, I couldn’t find the words.
“You were a test run”, she said. Her tone was still sympathetic but her eyes I could swear were smirking.
“Test run?”, I repeated, since that’s all I could do.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“You didn’t know did you?”, she asked.
Know what?, I wondered.
“Andrew’s….a special type of robot. He has additional features on him, explicitly designed for the acts you both seemed to take part in-“
“What are you saying?”, I asked, finally finding my voice and cutting her off.
“Andrew’s a male alpha sex robot”, she said. “I don’t know if Radiance designed him that way when he was created or if he changed after getting his ‘internship’”.
She made quotes in the air around the word internship.
“All I do know is that what his field of study is related to, and he wanted to see if you were a suitable test subject and you didn’t meet his standards. I’m sorry. I honestly had no idea. If I had, I wouldn’t have done this”.
Her tone was nowhere apologetic or even sincere enough to use the word honestly in a sentence. But I didn’t care. I needed to go somewhere, not to my next class or Starbucks, just somewhere quiet where I could reinitialize myself. One of the worst things that can happen to us is an emotional breakdown. Emotions use so much of our energy anyway; I could feel myself getting overwhelmed by hurt, anger, confusion.
I found myself walking towards the parking lot where I had parked my car. The college wasn’t too far from my apartment; I could make it back there ok. Once I got home, I’d be ok…I’d be able to think and put these pieces together. No! I didn’t want to think, I wanted to shut down. Just long enough to recharge and forget about this. Powering myself down was the only way I could avoid what I knew would be forever encoded in my memory: You mean nothing to him.

[Tanelorn2011]

I like it

[DukeNukem 2417]

I like it

Ditto.

[La Femme Nikki]

Now onto part 2: Robo Romance, which should be up sometime this week.

Andrew has come and gone out of Alyssa's life, but don't go feeling too sorry for her. She gets a new bf and meets a new friend with an interesting past

[DukeNukem 2417]

Sounds intriguing!

[Blox_242]

Great story, can't wait for more.

[DollSpace]

I really like the start of this one, and hope to see more of it soon!

~Emily

[gynoneko]

Awesome updates!! Love the story so far. Personally, I'd love to see more detail in their... interactions (wink wink), but as it is I still really enjoy it. I look forward to the next installment.