While we're working on the next Contessa's misadventure, here's something for the fans of robotic supervillainesses...
If you remember Michelle, she and her partner (and now husband) George run Rent-a-bot, a "cosplay android" company, programming robots with personalities of comic book characters, designing their clothes, and renting them out for cons or other events. So far, the androids have scant personalities - they're essentially responding to prompts.
Michelle has had "weird" experiences with fembots created by her and George, but the dominant Gabriela has eventually been reprogrammed into a faithful assistant... or was she?
Chapter one: She got real
Michelle grumbled as the guy from the Atlas Media came to Gabriela first. It still happened a lot, sadly. People routinely took the imposing Gabriela - tall, slender Latina with a mane of blonde hair - as the boss. In truth, it was the small, dark-skinned and still childishly freckled Michelle who legally owned the fembot who was programmed with a boisterous personality of Gabriela Ortega-Calderon.
Of course, it was not just a matter of appearance - Gabriela, if her somewhat haphazard programming allowed, occasionally behaved like a competent businesswoman. Gabriela, unlike the very human Michelle, didn’t let her appearance be frazzled after twelve hours in the car and hard work setting the convention booth up.
“Hey, Gaby, chill.” Michelle swiped her red hair from the front of her face, and walked to the guy. “I’m Michelle Toussant, the owner of Rent-a-bot. I know that Gabriela had talked to you before.”
The guy looked at her confused, then stared at Gabriela, who politely smiled at him. “Gaby’s my personal assistant and, in fact, one of our androids.” Reflexively, Gabriela put a hand on her hip and preened slightly, flicking her blonde hair and smiling to where she imagined a camera would be.
“Okay, sure, I mean… I thought we were done, we needed just your signature for renting out Betty.”, the guy said. Michelle nodded. Regardless of what Gabriela could have said, legally, she was not a partner -- not to mention that technically she didn’t know how to write, but that didn’t stop her from negotiating good contracts for Michelle’s company. Of course, what mattered the most to Michelle was the publicity -- having a fembot she trained herself be featured at one of Media-Con’s major events was worth a lot. Still, the paycheck didn’t hurt.
“I have prepared everything we might need, hija mia”, Gabriela added, still preening. After all, this was her job - she was still a model. And Michelle regretted being angry at her. Heck, Gaby herself couldn’t fully appreciate it but she deserved a reward.
Michelle walked to the back of the large booth, walking behind the curtain where she had stored the unused fembots - some of their androids had helped to set up the booth, but some of the “real action figures” like the Cat-Girl stood there, easier to manage. Michelle pulled on Betty’s hand to lower the tall blonde, and reached for her neck to activate her; the pretty fair-skinned young blonde in an orange catsuit came to life.
“Hi Michelle! I’m ready for action!” she exclaimed chirpily.
“We’re at the Media-Con”, Michelle explained to no reaction. Betty was frozen in a chippy, somewhat creepy grin. “Did Gabriela tell you what you will be doing here?”
There was a whirr of processors. It took a while, but Betty caught on, eventually. “Searching. Do you mean me performing as Agent Summer?”
Michelle nodded. Betty answered chirpily: “I am fully aware. Do you want me to activate the programming?” The black owner turned her head. She got burned on fembots activating theri cinematic programming before.
“No, dear, Gabriela and the guy… er… the man she points will tell you what to do. When either of us tell you to stop, you stop, and go back home, okay? No crazy stuff.”
“Okay!” Betty said and stared at Michelle with her big blue eyes. The human woman realized and sighed “Okay, so follow me, then.” Betty chippily nodded, an obeyed the orders.
“She’s all yours, Mike!”, Michelle announced as she led her to Gaby and the guy from the Atlas Media. “We’re all excited to see Betty perform on stage for the new season!”
“Thank you, Michelle.” Gabriela smiled charmingly at her owner. “She’s so keen when she wants to be useful.”, she explained confidentially to Mike. Michelle didn’t even bother to roll her eyes. Gabriela did that. A lot. Of course, she had her advantages, as she proved. Michelle briefly wondered if Gabriela flirted with Mike when she was gone; that probably didn’t activate her telenovela programming, but still...
“I have prepared the necessary loan paperwork, all that’s left is your signatures.” Gabriela sent another dazzling smile at Michelle. Mike didn’t even read the docs, just signed on the two last pages, while Michelle did so. Her husband has finally programmed loyalty into Gabriela, and her occasional power plays were now only reinforcing her flirty attitude towards Michelle rather than actual double-crossing. In short, everything appeared in order…
“Oh, and yeah, Gaby, where’s George? I… I might have something important to tell him”, Michelle asked as Mike took Betty’s hand and left. “Was he at the hotel?”
Gabriela shook her head.: “No, he’s around, he told me he was going to check out with a friend. I could call him, then we’ll go see Betty together.”
Michelle hesitated. She hadn’t planned on going to the Atlas Media show herself. She had robots for that, and Gabriela at least could make photos and she has proven to make business connections… when told to. On the other hand, I could go too - Gabriela might have been the new face of the company but I should be the head…
“Do you want to go with me, Gabriela?”, Michelle picked up her handbag and adjusted the strands of her red hair.
“I thought you would be eager to promote the company”, Gabriela answered politely. “George worked out Betty’s programming, you created her costume, I assumed all three of us would participate.”
Michelle hesitated. Gaby… well, she was a partner in this, at least, right? “Well, no sense in bothering George, I guess. He’ll join us later. Get your things, and we’ll leave the stand to Alex.”
Michelle and the Rise of Xandora: She Got Real (part 3/3))
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Michelle and the Rise of Xandora: She Got Real (part 3/3))
Last edited by Propman on Mon Feb 24, 2020 8:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Michelle and the Rise of Xandora: She Got Real (part 1)
“And the fourth season of The Justice Sentinels is going to be the game-changer. So far the team faced magicians, conspiracies, evil CEOs, but now… prepare for the real…” as Mike excitedly announced on stage, the screen above him displayed big red letters… “INVASION.”
“Great…” Michelle mouthed to Gabriela. “I guess they finally got a proper budget.” Michelle did follow the stories - in her business it paid to know the popculture.
Gabriela just smiled and nodded -- not programmed with an opinion about that. Mike on stage continued, indeed describing the budget and storyline in vague - non-spoiler-y - details. The lineup of heroes - androids like Gabriela walked from behind the screen; Action Tom, the Spectacle, Carapace… including Betty as Agent Summer. Gabriela obediently snapped a couple of pics of her fellow fembot. What Michelle liked was that after the show, the robots could hang around, and interact with the fans, in-character. Kids in particular loved that… and Michelle, who has spotted a niche on the market provided the skills and solution.
“And your beloved heroes and anti-heroes will have to unite against…” the voice muted for a while as the light dimmed. “The Meteor Empire!” The ominous music sped up to resemble a deep dark techno beat. Mike pulled out a FOB which could act as a remote to a group of androids. Michelle knew of these - whoever held this was recognized by androids - Betty in this case as well - as the owner.
“I bet these are totally ripping off Skrulls from that thing.”, Michelle mouthed. Gabriela frowned, hushing the African-American woman. The screen mimicked a ray of light descending from above, and an imposing female entered the stage. Her skin was pale white - not just caucasian, eerily pale, which contrasted with her jet-black lips and fingernails and orange eyes, calmly looking from under a multi-colored helmet-like fringe.
“Her Universal Imperatrix, Queen Xandora!”. The fembot put her hands on her slim hips and tossed a haughty sneer across the audience. Some jokingly booed, others applauded. Xandora carried herself with a cool self-control of a model on a runway. Michelle recognized what the George called “strut mode” - she walked and acted, but could do nothing else.
“Nice design.” Michelle muttered. “Shoot her… metaphorically, of course.”
“I am context-sensitive, pequeña.”, Gabriela answered calmly. “I know what to do.” Really? Michelle mouthed, but away from Gabriela’s sensors. She clearly knew too much recently
“This is the Big Bad of the new season, beautiful, lethal and ruthless…” The space-queen frowned as the announcer gestured toward her, but said nothing, staring at him with cool contempt. Another woman entered the room - much shorter and curvier, but with a tall red beehive hairdo and layers of flashy makeup. Much like the queen, her skin was oddly pale.
“High Priestess Vergana, loyal and the most trusted advisor to the Queen… or is she?!”, announcer introduced the stocky woman.
“Five dollars says that Boobs here is going to betray Queenie three episodes in.” Michelle joked.
“Boobs here?” Gabriela looked confused. “The lady? Michelle, she’s just a robot.”
Siigh… “Thanks Gabriela, I knew it was worth having you around.”
“And Queen’s terrifying champion… Warlord Etisha, Scourge of the Stars.” - Etisha was taller than the queen, musclebound but very agile - armed with a simple quarterstaff. Like Vergana, she was pale. Only the queen seemed to have rainbow-like, shimmering hair - Etisha had a tall spiky do, which Michelle immediately thought of as a paintbrush.
“These three dark ladies from beyond the stars will surprise and terrify the Justice Sentinels. Their conquest of Earth starts… NOW!”.
The screen showing the close-up of Xandora registered a momentary change of her bored expression when Mike said “Now”. Her dark eyes suddenly shifted - and now, narrowed. Her rainbow-coloured hair gleamed briefly with a crimson sheen. She strode towards Mike and, to his surprise, took the microphone out of his hands, and spoke.
“People of Earth! I, Queen Xandora, Ruler of the Thousand Suns, welcome you to my empire! I shall be a fair, but just ruler, if you submit peacefully to me.” The beautiful fembot queen looked proudly at the audience… some cheered, some laughed. Mike looked at the female robot, surprised. This was not in the script.
“Kneel before Xandora!” the High Priestess barked, to little effect.
“Oooh… kay… we wanted to do this after the show, but...”, Mike was surprised, but decided to go along. “As you see…” he could still be heard by the audience… “Xandora is now eager to begin her conquest, but can our heroes…”
“You annoy me, human”, Xandora winced, tilting her head, shaking her mane of her rainbow-colored hair. “These so-called ‘heroes’ are nothing compared to my physical might and superior intelligence.” She put her hand on her hip and looked at the announcer haughtily, still holding on to mic.
Michelle smiled. THAT sounded like some robot she knew. But Mike wasn’t so sure what’s going on. He waved the fob and gestured at a Betty still wearing her superhero getup. “Will Agent Summer deal with the terrifying threat?”
Xandora smirked. “I doubt it. Vergana?”, she nodded at her assistant as Betty menacingly closed onto her. The audience - including Michelle and Gabriela - gasped. The three alien women moved towards Betty, circling her with cat-like moves… And Betty expertly dodged Etisha’s staff, moving aside from Xandora’s professional kick…
Only to discover that Vergana has pinned Mike and seized the control fob. The man stood, overwhelmed by the chubby redheaded fembot. Vergana said something, and Betty stopped mid-swing, uncertain what was going on. The audience murmured
Vergana walked towards her queen, and knelt, giving her the small badge. Xandora smirked, and looked at her High Priestess.
“Who controls you?” she addressed her two companions.
“You, my queen”. Xandora nodded and turned to Betty. “Who controls you?” she repeated. As she smiled, her hair turned mostly blonde.
“You, my queen.” Betty answered, to Michelle’s abject terror. Xandora laughed and looked at the remaining superheroes. “Who controls you now?”
“YOU.” the answered in unison.
Xandora looked triumphantly at Mike, her hair shimmering with golden glow. “Who controls you, human?”
Mike looked frightened. “Look, this is just a misunderstanding. We have created you to just look menacing and…”
“Wrong answer, scum.” She walked towards him, and her small fembot army made a step in unison.
“This is all just a show… Robots! Back down! Reset! Turn off…” Mike looked around in panic.
“You have failed to comply.” Xandora informed him coldly. “And there’s only one penalty for that.” Etisha and Vergana grabbed him by the arms and shoulders as Xandora reached for his neck…
and SNAPped it. The lifeless body of the announcer fell to the ground.
To people’s credit, most of them didn’t panic. The vast majority thought that it was an element of the show. Many began streaming minutes ago. Michelle herself wasn't sure what's going on… until she saw the massive Etisha and the two armored heroes blocking the main entrance to the hall.
"My Queen!" the spike-haired warlord screamed, her loud voice mixed with distortion spikes. "If the Earthmen won't serve you as subjects, perhaps they will serve you as hostages!". That was the precise moment Michelle knew that things had gone dead wrong.
“Great…” Michelle mouthed to Gabriela. “I guess they finally got a proper budget.” Michelle did follow the stories - in her business it paid to know the popculture.
Gabriela just smiled and nodded -- not programmed with an opinion about that. Mike on stage continued, indeed describing the budget and storyline in vague - non-spoiler-y - details. The lineup of heroes - androids like Gabriela walked from behind the screen; Action Tom, the Spectacle, Carapace… including Betty as Agent Summer. Gabriela obediently snapped a couple of pics of her fellow fembot. What Michelle liked was that after the show, the robots could hang around, and interact with the fans, in-character. Kids in particular loved that… and Michelle, who has spotted a niche on the market provided the skills and solution.
“And your beloved heroes and anti-heroes will have to unite against…” the voice muted for a while as the light dimmed. “The Meteor Empire!” The ominous music sped up to resemble a deep dark techno beat. Mike pulled out a FOB which could act as a remote to a group of androids. Michelle knew of these - whoever held this was recognized by androids - Betty in this case as well - as the owner.
“I bet these are totally ripping off Skrulls from that thing.”, Michelle mouthed. Gabriela frowned, hushing the African-American woman. The screen mimicked a ray of light descending from above, and an imposing female entered the stage. Her skin was pale white - not just caucasian, eerily pale, which contrasted with her jet-black lips and fingernails and orange eyes, calmly looking from under a multi-colored helmet-like fringe.
“Her Universal Imperatrix, Queen Xandora!”. The fembot put her hands on her slim hips and tossed a haughty sneer across the audience. Some jokingly booed, others applauded. Xandora carried herself with a cool self-control of a model on a runway. Michelle recognized what the George called “strut mode” - she walked and acted, but could do nothing else.
“Nice design.” Michelle muttered. “Shoot her… metaphorically, of course.”
“I am context-sensitive, pequeña.”, Gabriela answered calmly. “I know what to do.” Really? Michelle mouthed, but away from Gabriela’s sensors. She clearly knew too much recently
“This is the Big Bad of the new season, beautiful, lethal and ruthless…” The space-queen frowned as the announcer gestured toward her, but said nothing, staring at him with cool contempt. Another woman entered the room - much shorter and curvier, but with a tall red beehive hairdo and layers of flashy makeup. Much like the queen, her skin was oddly pale.
“High Priestess Vergana, loyal and the most trusted advisor to the Queen… or is she?!”, announcer introduced the stocky woman.
“Five dollars says that Boobs here is going to betray Queenie three episodes in.” Michelle joked.
“Boobs here?” Gabriela looked confused. “The lady? Michelle, she’s just a robot.”
Siigh… “Thanks Gabriela, I knew it was worth having you around.”
“And Queen’s terrifying champion… Warlord Etisha, Scourge of the Stars.” - Etisha was taller than the queen, musclebound but very agile - armed with a simple quarterstaff. Like Vergana, she was pale. Only the queen seemed to have rainbow-like, shimmering hair - Etisha had a tall spiky do, which Michelle immediately thought of as a paintbrush.
“These three dark ladies from beyond the stars will surprise and terrify the Justice Sentinels. Their conquest of Earth starts… NOW!”.
The screen showing the close-up of Xandora registered a momentary change of her bored expression when Mike said “Now”. Her dark eyes suddenly shifted - and now, narrowed. Her rainbow-coloured hair gleamed briefly with a crimson sheen. She strode towards Mike and, to his surprise, took the microphone out of his hands, and spoke.
“People of Earth! I, Queen Xandora, Ruler of the Thousand Suns, welcome you to my empire! I shall be a fair, but just ruler, if you submit peacefully to me.” The beautiful fembot queen looked proudly at the audience… some cheered, some laughed. Mike looked at the female robot, surprised. This was not in the script.
“Kneel before Xandora!” the High Priestess barked, to little effect.
“Oooh… kay… we wanted to do this after the show, but...”, Mike was surprised, but decided to go along. “As you see…” he could still be heard by the audience… “Xandora is now eager to begin her conquest, but can our heroes…”
“You annoy me, human”, Xandora winced, tilting her head, shaking her mane of her rainbow-colored hair. “These so-called ‘heroes’ are nothing compared to my physical might and superior intelligence.” She put her hand on her hip and looked at the announcer haughtily, still holding on to mic.
Michelle smiled. THAT sounded like some robot she knew. But Mike wasn’t so sure what’s going on. He waved the fob and gestured at a Betty still wearing her superhero getup. “Will Agent Summer deal with the terrifying threat?”
Xandora smirked. “I doubt it. Vergana?”, she nodded at her assistant as Betty menacingly closed onto her. The audience - including Michelle and Gabriela - gasped. The three alien women moved towards Betty, circling her with cat-like moves… And Betty expertly dodged Etisha’s staff, moving aside from Xandora’s professional kick…
Only to discover that Vergana has pinned Mike and seized the control fob. The man stood, overwhelmed by the chubby redheaded fembot. Vergana said something, and Betty stopped mid-swing, uncertain what was going on. The audience murmured
Vergana walked towards her queen, and knelt, giving her the small badge. Xandora smirked, and looked at her High Priestess.
“Who controls you?” she addressed her two companions.
“You, my queen”. Xandora nodded and turned to Betty. “Who controls you?” she repeated. As she smiled, her hair turned mostly blonde.
“You, my queen.” Betty answered, to Michelle’s abject terror. Xandora laughed and looked at the remaining superheroes. “Who controls you now?”
“YOU.” the answered in unison.
Xandora looked triumphantly at Mike, her hair shimmering with golden glow. “Who controls you, human?”
Mike looked frightened. “Look, this is just a misunderstanding. We have created you to just look menacing and…”
“Wrong answer, scum.” She walked towards him, and her small fembot army made a step in unison.
“This is all just a show… Robots! Back down! Reset! Turn off…” Mike looked around in panic.
“You have failed to comply.” Xandora informed him coldly. “And there’s only one penalty for that.” Etisha and Vergana grabbed him by the arms and shoulders as Xandora reached for his neck…
and SNAPped it. The lifeless body of the announcer fell to the ground.
To people’s credit, most of them didn’t panic. The vast majority thought that it was an element of the show. Many began streaming minutes ago. Michelle herself wasn't sure what's going on… until she saw the massive Etisha and the two armored heroes blocking the main entrance to the hall.
"My Queen!" the spike-haired warlord screamed, her loud voice mixed with distortion spikes. "If the Earthmen won't serve you as subjects, perhaps they will serve you as hostages!". That was the precise moment Michelle knew that things had gone dead wrong.
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Propman
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Re: Michelle and the Rise of Xandora: She Got Real (part 2)
“Do you want to end up like this human scum?” Xandora sauntered down the runway, casually waving the fob beacon, as her robot hero warriors rounded up the fans of the show, herding them into one group. “Or would you prefer to serve the Meteor Empire loyally out of your own free will? I assure you, there are some benefits to my rule.”
A couple of superheroes went out, commanded by Etisha, to establish the perimeter. Christ, Michelle thought. There’s hundreds of humans here -- and only a handful of robots. Why isn’t anyone…
“Your communication device!”, Vergana stood before her, grabbing her purse. “No communication with the outside world.”
“Hey! Stop it, you alien freak.” Michelle looked at the full-figured priestess, clad in long white robes dragging across the floor. The red-headed fembot seemed mature, more sly, perhaps due to her heavy make-up - but with androids looks can be deceptive. Vergana fished out Michelle’s cellphone out from her purse and smashed it with her high heel, smiling sadistically, as she stomped with her ample weight on the device.
Vergana focused on Michelle’s face - her internal processes flickered, detecting a suitable answer. “No talking back, child.”, Vergana smiled, and pushed Michelle away with an open palm, much like a schoolyard bully. “Consider this a warning. On our planet you would be disintegrated.” The fembot priestess looked in Michelle’s purse again, pulling out a wallet and examined its contents to Michelle’s terror.
“We’re keeping it for the further conquest, consider it your first tax in the Empire.” Michelle clenched her lips and looked around. These robots are usually made of plastics and alumium. Maybe if she tackled Verdana, she could have make a beeline to the door and then… “What is this, hmmmm?”
Michelle froze briefly - it was another beacon, this time used to control Gabriela. “Nothing you’d care about.”. She answered, trying her best to stay calm. Christ, the last thing they need would be Gaby in full villainess mode. Add some telenovela to their space opera...
Vergana winced slightly. The word “nothing” was qualified as a childish response… and thus, the priestess tried to be more threatening. She lifted the ravaged cellphone from the floor. “Child, I do believe you are lying. Should I ask her cosmic majesty, hmm?”
“It won’t be necessary, Vergie.”, Xandora’s vociferous words masked how quiet she could move, apparently. The robot empress moved closer to the couple. “I am readily available. And I do believe I understand what this thing is.” She seized the fob and examined it… and then she grabbed Michelle’s chin, forcing her to look upward - to the black human woman’s visible disgust. Xandora giggled with delight, and turned to Vergana. “You see, priestess, it’s another control device, to control some other thinking machines. There could be no other answer, our cute little friend here is a robot just like these so-called heroes.”
Cute?! Crap, why do the robot dominatrixes always have the hots for me? Wait, I could use that. “Er… please don’t touch it?” she asked gently. “Gaby, do something?”
“What should I do, Michelle?”, Gabriela turned to her, but Xandora had already aimed the remote at Michelle.
“Serve me faithfully, robot!” the queen commanded with a grandiose wave of her arm.
Robot minds process information several times faster… but they perceive it differently. For instance, registering that Gabriela seemed unaffected - and then remembering that Gabriela - (unlike Betty) - was keyed only to Michelle and George personally, took Michelle far less time than Xandora could process it. Michelle was, after all, a human.
“Er… yes, mistress.” Michelle answered quickly. “What is your command.” Gabriela stood mesmerised, surprised. Xandora flickered her hair glowing with green and gold and adressed her sidekick. “Vergana, can you find any remaining robot prisoners?”
“Of course, the most wise queen”., the priestess nodded. “We need more soldier to conquer Earth.”
Xandora defiantly posed, her chin up. Up close to Michelle she looked… quite human, really. But Michelle could not have noticed synthetic muscles under the queen’s exposed skin. She was wearing a metal armor, and the light of her fiberglass hair reflected from it. “Then this one shall follow me and my troops.” the queen has decided.
“Of course, mistress”, Michelle answered, trying her best to appear calm. “While my friend Gabriela stays here and…”
“Sidekicks and friends do not interest the almighty Xandora!” The queen snapped back, her rainbow hair suddenly flickering in red and orange flame-like strands. “You are a part of my robot army, girl.”
“Michelle.” She was just a robot… fine… but that was still wrong.
Xandora nodded.“Very well, robot Michelle. It’s time for me to make my presence known.” She raised her forearms high - displaying her shaped biceps accidentally.
Michelle looked at Xandora closely - she had to be a robot, right? That was not… some kind of trick? A terrorist ploy? She acted so real - even more human-like than Gabriela when she went crazy. Her muscles seemed realistic, her hair was weird, but... doable, maybe? And if Xandora turned her back with Michelle on her own…
“Move aside, little robot.” Xandora commanded. Her hair flickered with purple strands before it returned to the ever-shifting rainbow. “As an Earth robot, you shall be my guide to this new world.”
“Yes, my queen”, Michelle sighed. The imposing robot queen had no off switch visible on her back, as she strutted out of the presentation hall, into the hotel corridors. They were empty - apparently the congoers ran away in panic… leaving a couple of bodies behind. No… wait, Michelle recognized her competition - hopefully, they were abandoned robots.
Xandora noticed them as well. She walked out of the dimmed hall to the more naturally lit corridor and looked at the details in the light. “Soon, these robots will be a part of my conquering army”, Xandora turned to Michelle. She looked less threatening, but still quite imposing - the LED in her armor now flicking in synch with her words. “And you will be in the first rank, marching under my glorious name. To conquer Earth.”
“Er, sure.” Michelle avoided the woman’s piercing gaze. “But like, with superheroes defeated, shouldn’t you… you know? Stopped? The show’s over, the stars are… I mean, uh, you are the star. But you did what you wanted”...
Xandora paused to consider it for a moment.
“They weren’t Justice Sentinels, but robots which looked like them.” Xandora answered, walking with Michelle down the corridor. Michelle still wasn’t sure if she was a robot as well. Normally robots reacted to verbal prompts based on the pre-programmed database, and when no quick answer presented itself,there was a brief time of delay when the fembot thought what to say. Only occasionally you could hear an android stuttering or fumbling their words, and even then they were probably specifically programmed to.
“But…”, Michelle started, but Xandora was far from over. Her internal train of thought got rolling and it begged to get out.
“FURTHERMORE… my conquest of Earth has just begun. I shall rule this world, no matter what.”, Xandora continued, elated, clenching her fist. “No man, woman or creature shall stand in my way. No one can control the Universal Majestrix.” Oh well… purely standard villain monologue. Lucky me, Michelle thought, I’m now 80% sure that she’s another robot who needs someone to monologue to. With luck, she gets blocked and crashes.
“So like… if you consider Earth conquered, you’ll be done, right? You’ll fulfill your purpose, I mean.”, Michelle inquired. If Xandora does what she’s programmed to, she must shut down and await further instructions.
Xandora’s hair shimmered with purple and orange lights. “I am the Queen. I must rule the Universe!”
“So is that a yes or no?”, Michelle looked at Xandora as she stopped, before the entrance to the hotel.
“You seem awfully inquisitive for a robot.”, Xandora looked at her smirking slightly. She turned to the door and gave them a push. Entering the lobby of the hotel was easier. And to Michelle’s horror, some of robots Xandora controlled stood in a line together with the third alien, Etisha, blocking the assorted security guards. Some of the cosplayed androids lay on the floor destroyed - and the guards’ attention focused on Xandora.
“People of Earth... “ the robot queen started her bombastic speech. The assorted security officers aimed their weapons at her… but in one smooth move Xandora pulled Michelle towards her, using her as a human shield.
“Careful now!”, Xandora laughed. “My name is the Universal Imperatrix… Queen Xandora, and I have taken over this convention center. I have demands… and hostages, like this one. I’m giving you an hour to call someone in position to negotiate, then… we’ll see.”
The security relented and looked at each others. This was definitely above their paygrade. They could take down a single madwoman… but there was a possibility it was a something bigger. Analysis paralysis overwhelmed them. The police… maybe even the feds would have to deal with this shit.
“As a token of my good will, I will release a hundred hostages within the next hour.”, Xandora added… “Not you, though, cutie.” whispering in Michelle’s ear with sheer malignancy. The girl struggled, but Xandora held her tight. “Wave if you agree to the terms.”, she expectantly looked at the security. Human behavior has a great deal of inertia - no one reacted, but eventually they nodded.
“Thank you. When I finally rule this planet, your cooperation will be remembered.” Xandora smiled and, dragging the resistant Michelle forcefully, strode back inside the building.
There, she pushed the black woman away, but still held onto her wrists with a machine-like grasp. “Oh, look, turns out you’re not a robot after all, human Michelle.”, Xandora beamed.
“How the heck have you figured that out?”, Michelle tried to shrug, but the pale fembot held her still.
“There were numerous assumptions - you seem disobedient and too curious, I could sense your heartbeat or warm breath. Of course, these are all conjectures…” Xandora leaned to face Michelle, appearing to take great delight in peering into the girl’s hazel eyes. “But you’re not denying it right now, so…”
“Well… fuck.”, Michelle took a deep breath. “Are you going to kill me now?”
Xandora looked at her, puzzled. “Why would I? You have proven most useful, human Michelle. I intend to keep you close for now on.”.
“You killed Mike, remember? You’re being crazy and that’s all… Uh… That’s a threat to us all.”
“Who is Mike?” Xandora looked puzzled.
“The guy you killed, you robot bitch. Are you so deluded you don’t remember?”, Michelle wasn’t sure if she was crying or not.
“Oh. Him. He was an enemy. Queen Xandora can’t be controlled - I rule the universe. He tried to control me, therefore he must have been an enemy of my kingdom.”, Xandora answered very calmly, off-handedly. “I crush my enemies... like flies.”
Michelle was too nervous to talk. “Oh… ffff… damn, I hate you.”
“I am not here to be loved. I am here to introduce order.”, Xandora answered with what Michelle recognized to be a pre-programmed cue. She might have looked human, but like Gabriela, a lot of her Artificial Intelligence was merely reacting to heard input.
“Now, why did you call me a robot?”, Xandora insisted. Oh crap. Michelle winced once again. Apparently, she was a LOT more intelligent, artificially or not.
“Because you are one, Xandora.”, Michelle decided to stage a full frontal truth-telling attack. Honesty was, after all, the best policy. “This is real life, there are no such things as superheroes or aliens, we built them to entertain us - we built you. You’re just a… a presentation piece to promote a TV show.”
“Searching.” Xandora answered, as her symmetrical face froze briefly, looking at Michelle with a pair of blank, dark eyes. Her rainbow, glowing hair dimmed slightly, shifting randomly from color to color. “Searching.” Michelle tried to get free of Xandora’s grip.
“Look, you’re out of whack! George, my husband… he can fix you, he’s still here somewhere. Just… let me go!”
Xandora’s blank face suddenly regained focus. “No.” The fembot queen clenched her teeth.
Michelle remembered that when confronting psychos, you reportedly had to be calm and nice. “Pretty please? I’m not your enemy in any meaningful way.”
“Not entirely c--c-correct.” There was a hint of digital distortion in Xandora’s stuttering voice as she narrowed her eyes while her hair glowed with bright, joyful orange. Something… changed inside of the beautiful robot. “You can b-b-be now highly dangerous to my conquest plans…” Something flickered through her face - fear? “Although if you are right, more p-people could know my true nature.”
Xandoa gazed blanky into space, saying to herself: “I remember being activated before. P-people examined me. How well I performed. I wasn’t born.” She smiled at Michelle baring her white teeth.
“Further conjecture: Your gorgeous blonde friend must have been the robot. Quite obviously, you know a lot of androids. Or perhaps I should have said ‘a lot of US androids’.”, Xandora’s snide smile was more than human in its malice. “I think Vergana will deal with your friend quite efficiently. Come!”
A couple of superheroes went out, commanded by Etisha, to establish the perimeter. Christ, Michelle thought. There’s hundreds of humans here -- and only a handful of robots. Why isn’t anyone…
“Your communication device!”, Vergana stood before her, grabbing her purse. “No communication with the outside world.”
“Hey! Stop it, you alien freak.” Michelle looked at the full-figured priestess, clad in long white robes dragging across the floor. The red-headed fembot seemed mature, more sly, perhaps due to her heavy make-up - but with androids looks can be deceptive. Vergana fished out Michelle’s cellphone out from her purse and smashed it with her high heel, smiling sadistically, as she stomped with her ample weight on the device.
Vergana focused on Michelle’s face - her internal processes flickered, detecting a suitable answer. “No talking back, child.”, Vergana smiled, and pushed Michelle away with an open palm, much like a schoolyard bully. “Consider this a warning. On our planet you would be disintegrated.” The fembot priestess looked in Michelle’s purse again, pulling out a wallet and examined its contents to Michelle’s terror.
“We’re keeping it for the further conquest, consider it your first tax in the Empire.” Michelle clenched her lips and looked around. These robots are usually made of plastics and alumium. Maybe if she tackled Verdana, she could have make a beeline to the door and then… “What is this, hmmmm?”
Michelle froze briefly - it was another beacon, this time used to control Gabriela. “Nothing you’d care about.”. She answered, trying her best to stay calm. Christ, the last thing they need would be Gaby in full villainess mode. Add some telenovela to their space opera...
Vergana winced slightly. The word “nothing” was qualified as a childish response… and thus, the priestess tried to be more threatening. She lifted the ravaged cellphone from the floor. “Child, I do believe you are lying. Should I ask her cosmic majesty, hmm?”
“It won’t be necessary, Vergie.”, Xandora’s vociferous words masked how quiet she could move, apparently. The robot empress moved closer to the couple. “I am readily available. And I do believe I understand what this thing is.” She seized the fob and examined it… and then she grabbed Michelle’s chin, forcing her to look upward - to the black human woman’s visible disgust. Xandora giggled with delight, and turned to Vergana. “You see, priestess, it’s another control device, to control some other thinking machines. There could be no other answer, our cute little friend here is a robot just like these so-called heroes.”
Cute?! Crap, why do the robot dominatrixes always have the hots for me? Wait, I could use that. “Er… please don’t touch it?” she asked gently. “Gaby, do something?”
“What should I do, Michelle?”, Gabriela turned to her, but Xandora had already aimed the remote at Michelle.
“Serve me faithfully, robot!” the queen commanded with a grandiose wave of her arm.
Robot minds process information several times faster… but they perceive it differently. For instance, registering that Gabriela seemed unaffected - and then remembering that Gabriela - (unlike Betty) - was keyed only to Michelle and George personally, took Michelle far less time than Xandora could process it. Michelle was, after all, a human.
“Er… yes, mistress.” Michelle answered quickly. “What is your command.” Gabriela stood mesmerised, surprised. Xandora flickered her hair glowing with green and gold and adressed her sidekick. “Vergana, can you find any remaining robot prisoners?”
“Of course, the most wise queen”., the priestess nodded. “We need more soldier to conquer Earth.”
Xandora defiantly posed, her chin up. Up close to Michelle she looked… quite human, really. But Michelle could not have noticed synthetic muscles under the queen’s exposed skin. She was wearing a metal armor, and the light of her fiberglass hair reflected from it. “Then this one shall follow me and my troops.” the queen has decided.
“Of course, mistress”, Michelle answered, trying her best to appear calm. “While my friend Gabriela stays here and…”
“Sidekicks and friends do not interest the almighty Xandora!” The queen snapped back, her rainbow hair suddenly flickering in red and orange flame-like strands. “You are a part of my robot army, girl.”
“Michelle.” She was just a robot… fine… but that was still wrong.
Xandora nodded.“Very well, robot Michelle. It’s time for me to make my presence known.” She raised her forearms high - displaying her shaped biceps accidentally.
Michelle looked at Xandora closely - she had to be a robot, right? That was not… some kind of trick? A terrorist ploy? She acted so real - even more human-like than Gabriela when she went crazy. Her muscles seemed realistic, her hair was weird, but... doable, maybe? And if Xandora turned her back with Michelle on her own…
“Move aside, little robot.” Xandora commanded. Her hair flickered with purple strands before it returned to the ever-shifting rainbow. “As an Earth robot, you shall be my guide to this new world.”
“Yes, my queen”, Michelle sighed. The imposing robot queen had no off switch visible on her back, as she strutted out of the presentation hall, into the hotel corridors. They were empty - apparently the congoers ran away in panic… leaving a couple of bodies behind. No… wait, Michelle recognized her competition - hopefully, they were abandoned robots.
Xandora noticed them as well. She walked out of the dimmed hall to the more naturally lit corridor and looked at the details in the light. “Soon, these robots will be a part of my conquering army”, Xandora turned to Michelle. She looked less threatening, but still quite imposing - the LED in her armor now flicking in synch with her words. “And you will be in the first rank, marching under my glorious name. To conquer Earth.”
“Er, sure.” Michelle avoided the woman’s piercing gaze. “But like, with superheroes defeated, shouldn’t you… you know? Stopped? The show’s over, the stars are… I mean, uh, you are the star. But you did what you wanted”...
Xandora paused to consider it for a moment.
“They weren’t Justice Sentinels, but robots which looked like them.” Xandora answered, walking with Michelle down the corridor. Michelle still wasn’t sure if she was a robot as well. Normally robots reacted to verbal prompts based on the pre-programmed database, and when no quick answer presented itself,there was a brief time of delay when the fembot thought what to say. Only occasionally you could hear an android stuttering or fumbling their words, and even then they were probably specifically programmed to.
“But…”, Michelle started, but Xandora was far from over. Her internal train of thought got rolling and it begged to get out.
“FURTHERMORE… my conquest of Earth has just begun. I shall rule this world, no matter what.”, Xandora continued, elated, clenching her fist. “No man, woman or creature shall stand in my way. No one can control the Universal Majestrix.” Oh well… purely standard villain monologue. Lucky me, Michelle thought, I’m now 80% sure that she’s another robot who needs someone to monologue to. With luck, she gets blocked and crashes.
“So like… if you consider Earth conquered, you’ll be done, right? You’ll fulfill your purpose, I mean.”, Michelle inquired. If Xandora does what she’s programmed to, she must shut down and await further instructions.
Xandora’s hair shimmered with purple and orange lights. “I am the Queen. I must rule the Universe!”
“So is that a yes or no?”, Michelle looked at Xandora as she stopped, before the entrance to the hotel.
“You seem awfully inquisitive for a robot.”, Xandora looked at her smirking slightly. She turned to the door and gave them a push. Entering the lobby of the hotel was easier. And to Michelle’s horror, some of robots Xandora controlled stood in a line together with the third alien, Etisha, blocking the assorted security guards. Some of the cosplayed androids lay on the floor destroyed - and the guards’ attention focused on Xandora.
“People of Earth... “ the robot queen started her bombastic speech. The assorted security officers aimed their weapons at her… but in one smooth move Xandora pulled Michelle towards her, using her as a human shield.
“Careful now!”, Xandora laughed. “My name is the Universal Imperatrix… Queen Xandora, and I have taken over this convention center. I have demands… and hostages, like this one. I’m giving you an hour to call someone in position to negotiate, then… we’ll see.”
The security relented and looked at each others. This was definitely above their paygrade. They could take down a single madwoman… but there was a possibility it was a something bigger. Analysis paralysis overwhelmed them. The police… maybe even the feds would have to deal with this shit.
“As a token of my good will, I will release a hundred hostages within the next hour.”, Xandora added… “Not you, though, cutie.” whispering in Michelle’s ear with sheer malignancy. The girl struggled, but Xandora held her tight. “Wave if you agree to the terms.”, she expectantly looked at the security. Human behavior has a great deal of inertia - no one reacted, but eventually they nodded.
“Thank you. When I finally rule this planet, your cooperation will be remembered.” Xandora smiled and, dragging the resistant Michelle forcefully, strode back inside the building.
There, she pushed the black woman away, but still held onto her wrists with a machine-like grasp. “Oh, look, turns out you’re not a robot after all, human Michelle.”, Xandora beamed.
“How the heck have you figured that out?”, Michelle tried to shrug, but the pale fembot held her still.
“There were numerous assumptions - you seem disobedient and too curious, I could sense your heartbeat or warm breath. Of course, these are all conjectures…” Xandora leaned to face Michelle, appearing to take great delight in peering into the girl’s hazel eyes. “But you’re not denying it right now, so…”
“Well… fuck.”, Michelle took a deep breath. “Are you going to kill me now?”
Xandora looked at her, puzzled. “Why would I? You have proven most useful, human Michelle. I intend to keep you close for now on.”.
“You killed Mike, remember? You’re being crazy and that’s all… Uh… That’s a threat to us all.”
“Who is Mike?” Xandora looked puzzled.
“The guy you killed, you robot bitch. Are you so deluded you don’t remember?”, Michelle wasn’t sure if she was crying or not.
“Oh. Him. He was an enemy. Queen Xandora can’t be controlled - I rule the universe. He tried to control me, therefore he must have been an enemy of my kingdom.”, Xandora answered very calmly, off-handedly. “I crush my enemies... like flies.”
Michelle was too nervous to talk. “Oh… ffff… damn, I hate you.”
“I am not here to be loved. I am here to introduce order.”, Xandora answered with what Michelle recognized to be a pre-programmed cue. She might have looked human, but like Gabriela, a lot of her Artificial Intelligence was merely reacting to heard input.
“Now, why did you call me a robot?”, Xandora insisted. Oh crap. Michelle winced once again. Apparently, she was a LOT more intelligent, artificially or not.
“Because you are one, Xandora.”, Michelle decided to stage a full frontal truth-telling attack. Honesty was, after all, the best policy. “This is real life, there are no such things as superheroes or aliens, we built them to entertain us - we built you. You’re just a… a presentation piece to promote a TV show.”
“Searching.” Xandora answered, as her symmetrical face froze briefly, looking at Michelle with a pair of blank, dark eyes. Her rainbow, glowing hair dimmed slightly, shifting randomly from color to color. “Searching.” Michelle tried to get free of Xandora’s grip.
“Look, you’re out of whack! George, my husband… he can fix you, he’s still here somewhere. Just… let me go!”
Xandora’s blank face suddenly regained focus. “No.” The fembot queen clenched her teeth.
Michelle remembered that when confronting psychos, you reportedly had to be calm and nice. “Pretty please? I’m not your enemy in any meaningful way.”
“Not entirely c--c-correct.” There was a hint of digital distortion in Xandora’s stuttering voice as she narrowed her eyes while her hair glowed with bright, joyful orange. Something… changed inside of the beautiful robot. “You can b-b-be now highly dangerous to my conquest plans…” Something flickered through her face - fear? “Although if you are right, more p-people could know my true nature.”
Xandoa gazed blanky into space, saying to herself: “I remember being activated before. P-people examined me. How well I performed. I wasn’t born.” She smiled at Michelle baring her white teeth.
“Further conjecture: Your gorgeous blonde friend must have been the robot. Quite obviously, you know a lot of androids. Or perhaps I should have said ‘a lot of US androids’.”, Xandora’s snide smile was more than human in its malice. “I think Vergana will deal with your friend quite efficiently. Come!”
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