Never Ending Story f. Dark Archon

[Greg]

I know, anybody know this story, but i think its the really best...

"Never Ending Love"

By Dark Archon

The rain started to crash down as I limped home. It was about midnight and London was manic, everyone was going home after a heavy night’s partying while I was staggering for my life. A cab screamed past soaking me as I fell through my front door, spasming on the floor as I tried to regain control of my wildly flailing legs.

My name is Michelle and, well, I really don’t know what I am. I guess I am a 5”11 drop dead gorgeous computer. I “woke up” 2 years ago. I had a life, driving license, National Insurance number; everything, but no clue of who or what I was. I guess I had some basic knowledge, like how to keep myself in working order but that was about it. Anyway that’s enough about me, I guess you’re wondering why I am in such a state and what the hell happened.

It was a Tuesday night and I was doing the late shift at a bar called the Mechanical Maniacal. It was a new bar that had just opened and was filled with “state of the art robots”. They were basically talking dolls but I guess I kind of felt at home there. Work was slow behind the bar, as most of the customers had spent so much on their sessions with the dolls that no one could afford to drink. But this one guy had taken a special interest in me and had already spent about £30 on drink before he plucked up the courage to speak.

“ So are you a robot too?”

I smiled back and lied “No honey, I am all woman I am afraid” and got back to my work thinking nothing of it.

As all the other members of staff were men it was a common question. He was a reasonably handsome guy about 5”10 blonde hair blue eyes: no in actual fact he was dreamy and really shouldn’t have been in there. The majority of the individuals in there were businessmen not getting enough of it at home.

“ Well Michelle ( I was wearing a name tag ) why are you working here then?”

“ Pays great and easy hours I guess” I replied.

As business was so slow I thought why not and started to make a move on him,

“So aren’t I even gonna get your name?”

“Oh yeah sorry, its Andy”

We talked for the rest of the night about nothing in particular. I found out he had a girlfriend early on, so any chance I had was out the window, but he helped to pass the time. We exchanged numbers and stuff until 11.30 when he left.

About 5 minutes before closing I went round picking up the glasses from the other tables. Stacking up the empty glasses much higher than I should, one accidentally fell. It smashed on a table before cutting the skin on my leg. It wasn’t a deep cut so I ignored it. Whoever had designed me thought of everything. A little bit of red blood like liquid would flow out and without a serious investigation you would never tell; besides no one had noticed, so I continued with my work.

20 minutes later all the customers had left and only the manager and one technician remained. I was working in the kitchen doing the washing up when the worst possible thing could have happened. Water from the sink dripped down into the gash on my leg and onto my exposed actuator. Error messages flooded my eyes as my leg jerked out of control. I was totally freaked out, this had never happened before and I was scared. I didn’t know what was happening.

I stumbled to the toilet in a panic, my leg convulsing uncontrollably. Being the only woman working here no-one ever came in.

I accessed my maintenance programming and opened my back panel to get at the tool kit stored there. I was drying off my damaged leg when the toilet door flew open and someone tackled me from behind throwing me to the floor. I tried to get up but my attacker was clawing inside my open back panel. My body locked with influx of data as he ripped wires, servos and cables from my exposed mechanics. I was in agony. My sensor and circuits were overloading everywhere and my mind was awash with what was happening to me, I had never had a problem in my “life” being what I was had been a definite advantage, but now it was my weakness. He tore out my coolant system releasing the gel-like liquid inside my rear sub panel, fortunately all my key systems were waterproofed but the sudden electrical surge ripped through me like a thunderbolt and it was more than I could take.

I slumped to the floor like a rag doll, gibbering

……..System Error at 0001EE1F001…….

……..Cascade Failure In Motor CPU……

For an android, crashing is like .. well dying. It’s very hard to describe, but at first everything freezes. Your whole conscience is taken up by error after error after error. Then one by one in rapid succession everything dies and you feel like you’re draining away until everything just stops.

When I rebooted I was lying in the alley behind the bar, thrown in the scrap pile with all the other damaged and irrepairable androids. The technician laughed as he saw the light return to my eyes.

“ Well,well, welcome back”

It sounded like David but it was so fuzzy I really don’t know.

“Who would’ve guessed little Michelle is nothing better then a Fucking robot” he laughed “ Well this is what you get for turning me down and ignoring me. If it helps I must say you were a better shag then most of these plastic pussy’s but soon you’ll be just like the rest of them.. a burnt out piece of scrap metal.” “Enjoy your life. Well what’s left of it.”

Then he spat at my gaping chest causing a few sparks and walked off.

I was in a right state, not only had this guy ripped me to pieces, but my secondary CPU was totalled and my Main CPU was being flooded with lists of damaged EPROMS, destroyed systems and failing sensors. I was lying there in a state of limbo and for that brief moment I really was a computer just reeling off data in my mind. I finally managed to free enough system memory to access my visual sensors. Until this moment, what had happened to me was kind of surreal. I had been running on automatic so to speak. My actual conscience was on hold while my programming took over.

As my left eye focused, I saw the true damage. I was slumped forward in the equivalent of an android graveyard. I looked down at my stomach. My exoskeleton had been prised open. Wires sparked wildly and my main fan spluttered trying to cool my remaining processor and from what I could tell a chunk of my right arm lay about a metre away the servo’s still twitching. I know this is kind of emotionless but I really don’t know a better way of telling you what happened, how can you describe seeing your existence slowly fading away?

I lay there motionless for half an hour as I tried to deal with my lack of system resources until I got to the stage where I could do something. I had to get out of here fast as my battery was waning. When my coolant cylinder was torn out it was literally a bomb melting my reserve power pack instantly, I guess it was the massive power loss that caused me to crash but either way I had about one hour left Thankfully I could still use my left arm and I quickly set about using the spare parts from the other robots trying to reconnect as many wires and systems as I could to get my legs to work again. The whole thing sickened me, it was cannibalism but I wasn’t going to die here.

One of the technician’s lab coats lay on the floor, I covered myself as best I could and ran. Well I couldn’t run, but I limped and stumbled for my life. A heavy storm was overhead and I knew if I got caught in it I would fry.

Normally what would be a four-minute walk took me half an hour as I dragged my shattered body home. The plastic lab coat that was covering me had melted in places where my innards were exposed and smoke bellowed from my back.

Just as I was within sight of my house, it started to rain. The deathly ting of the water echoed through my audio systems as it hit me. I thought this was it as I tried to walk through the pain. The rain seeped inside the coat soaking what few sensors I had left. My sizzling electronics fried melting my skin and jacket to my exoskeleton. Every step was becoming increasingly difficult. My visual systems were filled with static, and my tattered body was a seething mass of sparks and whining servos. Just as I pushed my front door open, a cab screamed passed soaking my legs causing the main servo in my legs to seize up and I screamed wildly in a mechanical agony as my legs thrashed about sending me crashing to the floor, the impact shattered my right foot causing the actuator in my toe to split through my naked foot. I was in agony but at least I was safe, for now.

My power levels were dangerously low. The massive loss of electricity from my exposed systems had crippled me, and soon I would be no more then a dead toaster. My mobile was about 3 metres away and I decided to try and claw my way to it. I had one chance and that was to ring John. He was about the closest friend I had, not to mention the only one. He was the best technician at the club and also about the only decent guy working there.

My arms and hands were jerky and clumsy, and it was a slow process to input his number into the phone. I rang him praying to the god of light bulbs he was in.

“Hello Michelle”

I tried to speak, but like most of my components, my main speaker was fried. I engaged my secondary speaker, which sounded more like a game boy then a voice.

“JOHN HELP ME,” I rasped in a monotone voice.

“Michelle! Michelle are you ok” he ranted down the phone.

“HELP ME HOME” was all I managed before my arm gave in and fell to the floor, causing the mobile bounce out of reach.

My Visual sensor blacked out as the scariest thing I had ever seen flashed into view

…Primary power level at 5%……

…..Initiating backup protocols…..

….Reserve power unit not responding…….

….Error Back up systems disabled…..

…. Critical system failure in 20 minutes….

That was it, in 20 minutes I would be nothing more then a pile of burnt of computer chips and wires. With my back up systems gone and no power, when my battery died I would die with it. Even without this I was in such a bad state I wouldn’t have made the night.

I lay there a mass of metal, praying that there was a god and wondering if he would take pity on a creation of his creation.

19 minutes later my prayers were answered as my door opened. I transferred my remaining power to my visual, audio and communications circuits.

“Holy shit” he exclaimed.

“P…o….w…e…r…” I squeaked and released a small cable from my left thigh.

“You want me to plug you in right?”

I couldn’t answer but he had guessed right. I had less then 10 seconds left before a beautiful surge of energy rippled through my body. It was better then any orgasm you could imagine, it was life!!! Some systems and circuits exploded, unable to cope with the power load; but for the most part LED’s around my body started to blink back to life again as power surged through my body.

I lay there smoking for about ten minutes while John looked at me in amazement after which he broke the silence.

“Shit, my best friends a machine”

I moved my left arm up and tried to repair my speaker but my movements were so jerky it was impossible to attach the wires that had come loose.

John bent down and attached the wire to my vocal processor by mistake, short circuiting my secondary speaker sending my head spasming as the electric shock rippled through my neck servos. I moved my hand and pointed to the connector.

“Tha..nk….yo..u”

“Michelle You’re a robot”

“Yes…i…..think… I ,,can….just…..ab..out…work..that…one…out” my voice synthesizer was corrupted making my speech monotone and scratchy like a record.

“Well I gotta fix you baby. Where is your off switch?” He reached for my head.

“No” I said regaining some composure. “I don’t have one”

“What! Every machine has an off button”

Even though that’s all I was, It was hurt to here it from him. He was my best friend and I guess I fancied him, but in his eyes was that all I was, just a machine.

“Well I have to turn you off to fix you.” he said with genuine concern.

“You can’t I .. I .. I wasn’t designed to be turned on and off like a…tumble dryer…. You need to download My..My.Myyyy Neural programming or I Dieeeeeeee”

I pointed to my computer and touched a port next to my left breast.

“Ok Ok” he said seeming to understand.

He dragged my lifeless body over to the computer and plugged me in. It’s a unique experience having your mind saved and compressed and one I never hope to repeat.

………………………………………………………………………………………

The counter on her computer bleeped at 100% and she whispered “fix me” as her head tilted to one side.

I removed the high capacity Microdisk and stood back to look at my friend lying there lifeless. She was once the most beautiful girl you could imagine. 5”11 long brown hair, and sapphire blue eyes. Her body well what can I say it was perfect, it was such a turn on to see those pert breasts bouncing along occasionally when it was cold I would make a comment about her “smuggling peanuts” and she would blush and cover herself up.

Now when I looked at her they were only pieces of skin left The rest of her body was a mass of melted microchips wires and metal. I quickly scanned the mass of burnt technology and to be honest, it was a miracle she got this far as there was a gaping whole right through her lower back. It looked as if she had exploded from the inside out . Whoever had ripped her to pieces had known what he was doing as much of what appeared to be key motor systems had been ripped out. There was massive a dent in the fan that cooled her Primary CPU and to be honest I was surprised it hadn’t melted. Even in her damaged state, she was far in advance of anything I had seen and I wasn’t sure I could even begin to repair her, but I had to try.

I locked the door and carried her burnt body out to the car. It was about 3am and everyone was in bed. I drove quietly outside the Mechanical Maniacal and backed up the alley behind it. Swiftly I opened the back door and gathered all the tools and equipment I could load into the car. Next I walked to the open garage where all the disused and damaged androids were kept. On there I could see part of Michelle’s arm.. I shuddered at the thought as I loaded all the spare parts I could. Then I went inside and found the Jessica model. She is the advanced robot and also the most beautiful. I walked in and started her up. I had to so I could open her back panel.

“Hello…..John…” she chirped in her usual light voice.

“What…are..you..doing..,this..unit..is..not.mal..funct…ioni..ng ….. John.. STTTTOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPP.”

She bleeped harshly as I ripped out her battery and she tumbled to the floor, I dragged her soulless corpse out into the car. Christ, the police would have a field day if they stopped me as I must have had hundred of thousands of pound technology in here.

(5 hours later)

I arrived at my house in Devon, it was a massive place but I easily afforded it with my chief technicians wage and backed my Volvo into the garage. I placed her body on the worktable and stared at her once again. I never would have guessed she was a machine, she was funny smart and more importantly my friend, to be honest I had always fancied her, she was everything I ever wanted but unless I could do something I would never get to tell her that.

With a heavy heart I went to bed in preparation for the a long night ahead of me,

At about 6pm I finally got started. Michelle was too badly damaged to repair so I decided Jessica was gonna get a serious upgrade. My main problem was space. Michelle was so complex and her parts so small I just couldn’t replicate them. Jessica’s processing unit was about five times the size of Michelle but it wouldn’t even handle a fraction of the data.

In sheer desperation I decided to look into my friends soul and placed the disk into my PC, I searched directory after directory, file after file in the hope that someone had thought to store a design schematic in there, two days later I found it.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

…….Unit 000000000001P…..

……..Designation Michelle…….

……New Hardware Detected……….

……...Upgrading System Profile…….

was what I woke up to. Either I was in Heaven which I very much doubted or John had done it. It took a lot longer then usual for all my systems to come online but when they did it was worth it.

The man who had saved me was leaning over me, tinkering with my chest, He was a very sexy man and why he had remained single so long eluded me, John was 6”1 jet black hair and had a very strong face, yet his eyes contradicted everything that the rest of his face would have lead you to believe. They were deep soft brown eyes; the type that could melt you away in an instant. He was a very calm person with a meticulous nature, which is why I think he was so good at his job but he was genuine which is a trait that is becoming harder to find.

Suddenly my visual systems shut down.

“Hey who turned out the lights”

“Oh sorry babe wrong cable” he retorted and got straight back to work.

An awkward silence followed, I wanted to say something but its not really a good idea to annoy someone who has a screwdriver in your chest.

“Done” he muttered, as he resealed my chest cavity. He walked round me to the other side of the bench and tilted the table up.

“Cheers babe” I exclaimed as I tried to get up and hug him but I crashed to the floor like a lead balloon. John chuckled a little and helped me up. This time I managed to hug him without making a fool of myself then I kissed him and he blushed like a nun in a whore house.

“What was that for?”

“Everything I guess, if it wasn’t for you I would still be lying in my flat right now.”

He placed me back on the table and walked off

“John! Whats wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were, didn’t ya trust me?” his voice was quivering with passion.

“ Well because I didn’t think you’d really wanna walking toaster as a best friend” I giggled but it was an uneasy giggle as I felt I needed to lighten the mood. John faced me again and smiled.

“Well I hope you know I do” he paused “ Besides when did toasters start smuggling peanuts?”

Now it was my turn to go bright red as I quickly covered my breasts and crossed my legs as even though he rebuilt me, it wasn’t me if you know what I mean. John just walked off laughing leaving me all alone in his garage, This time I tried to get to get up slowly. My actuator whined as I tried to walk jerking like a toy doll. Eventually I managed to compensate for my newly configured chipsets. I scanned the room trying to find something with which I could hide my modesty. Thankfully there was a boiler suit in the corner of the room. The suit looked way too big but any clothing was better than none at all. I walked through the door in his garage straight into the kitchen. He had a nice place but where, I dunno. I wanted to find a mirror to see what I looked like. As I walked into the living room I heard a car starting up. I looked out the window and saw his Volvo rumble down the pebbled drivewa. As I turned around I saw a note on the table.

‘Gone Shopping

Be back soon,

John’

I put the note down and walked upstairs, well, I crawled. My legs were still unstable and I didn’t want to risk it. Eventually I found the bathroom in the corner of the room where the full length mirror was. By now I had guessed where he had gotten most of my parts but I must say my body looked better then ever. Whoever’s body he had used was much more shapely then my old one although my arm and leg joints made me look more like a Barbie doll than a woman but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

I sat down on a bath stool next to the mirror and spent the next few hours tinkering with myself. There’s a few things that only a robot can fix. My right eye had an annoying twitch which no one else but me would have noticed but it had to been done. It was kind of weird as I had never been told what to do yet I knew exactly what jumper did what.

Anyway, time flies when you’re having fun and three hours later I was done. I was as close as I was ever going to get to my old self. Now I only had one problem, John. I wasn’t really the most sensitive person anyway but to be honest I hadn’t really had a life. My life consisted of going to work, coming home, recharging, and then back to work again, but now I had to face the man who saved me and whom still thought I was a life sizd ragdoll and, for the second time in my life I didn’t know what to do.

I heard the door shut and I think I fried a few logic circuits thinking about what to do

“Michelle you here?”

“Yes I’m upstairs”.

I heard him start to walk up the stairs. Shit, I was still naked with about half my access ports open. I ran for the door and locked it just as he pulled the handle down. I know he had seen me, every nut and bolt, but still, I wasn’t ‘there’ if you know what I mean.

“What exactly are you doing in there?”

“Just freshening up” I quickly went about getting dressed and put on a little makeup. I opened the door looking as sexy as I could in a boiler suit 5 sizes too big for me.

“I think we need to talk” he said in a serious tone and walked downstairs. I could tell this was going to be fun but hey, I wasn’t exactly in a position to do anything about it.

I followed him downstairs and sat opposite him in the dining room.He had brought a Chinese takeout for dinner, and although it looked nice, I wasn’t going to burn out my voice box trying it.

“ I have a confession to make, which may make your stay here very awkward”

“Ermm ok.” This didn’t sound good.

“Ermm I don’t really know how to say this, but, I think I love you.”

John’s face had gone bright red and he was shaking slightly. I think every fan in my body jumped as he said that line.. “ I fell for you the first time we met and well, as you’re going to be living here, I thought it was best I cleared the air before we started.”

I tried to speak but he quickly cut me of.

“ Now, I don’t expect you to feel the same way to but I just had to tell you and if you want to go, I’ll lend you the money for a new flat”

He was waffling on. I was so happy that I jumped over the table and kissed him and I think I almost killed him with the shock. I regained myself and gently lead him upstairs. We talked and you can guess the rest. Sorry but are some things that are sacred to me and the experiences of that night were indescribable, but, being an android they were totally repeatable.

That night was the first day of the rest of my life. The hours turned to days then to years and I was truly content. Ten years after that night, we adopted a little girl called Sarah and it made my life complete and for the next fifty years everything was perfect.

But now I am alone, the rain is trickling down my spine as I stand here. The soothing sound of the waves crashing against the pier is almost hypnotic. It was John’s final wish that I buried him at sea but even in death I will not leave him. If I shut my self down someone will find me and boot me back up and the pain will still be as fresh in my memory as it is now. I want to end my life on a high, knowing it didn’t matter that I was a walking computer, but the two people that mattered loved me and that I would die loved. I climbed down the ladder onto the boat and started her up. I walked inside and sat by the computer, carefully sending the message I composed for Sarah. It was my soul, my memories, everything I could give her; something more then most parents could dream of. I cannot see as my visual sensors are blurred by my synthetic tears but it doesn’t matter now. I walk to the back of the boat and here is where my story will end. I balance carefully on the edge of the boat and open up my stomach panel, my head spinning with errors as the salty water splashes inside of m. I take one last look at my husband’s urn before I rip out my primary battery replacing it with John. I feel myself failing and slipping away as I… as I… as…………

FA Created 10.04.2001 Best Viewed at 1024*800 All Material © Female Androids 2001