Phantom Doll - Part III

[DollSpace]

It's apparently what some of you were waiting for: Part III ^_^ Soon enough there will be more action, I'm sure, but...for now, enjoy the sweetness before the bitterness gets thrown in there, because it can't all be good, y'know? XD

PHANTOM DOLL - PART III

For a few weeks, it was the usual drill for Jeremy every time he got home from school. Just a click of the button behind Rylie's ear and he had someone to talk to and no need of anyone else. Rylie was always there to greet him with her sparkling smile and dancing eyes. They'd watch a movie, or play some games, or even just hang out and talk, but there was that always that sadness under the smile for Rylie, as she knew that with the advent of Jeremy's mum coming home, she'd once again be turned off and placed in the closet once again.
It was true that, at times, it would be necessary to shut her off and plug her in to one of the wall outlets near the back of the closet with the cord Jeremy had found after what seemed a long time of rummaging around in the closet in the hall. "So I was thinking, maybe we can play some "Super Racer X5" today," Jeremy had said.
Rylie agreed and they had eased into another afternoon of being with each other when Jeremy had noticed Rylie's movements getting more laboured and, at times, stiff and jerky. "I...I...I've always liked....this....game," Rylie said slowly.
"Rylie, what's wrong?" Jeremy asked, concerned now.
"I...I...no, I...not now..." Rylie stuttered out.
"I mean it, I need you to tell me," Jeremy said, rather anxious. "If something happens to you, mum's gonna kill me, and I don't think I'd be too happy about it either."
"But...w-w-we were having a...such a...fun...such a fuuuuun tiiiiiiime..." Rylie began to slur.
Jeremy scooted over and hugged Rylie tightly. The move surprised her slightly, but she struggled to turn her head to face him. Jeremy made it easy and positioned himself so he looked directly into her eyes. "Tell me."
"I...I am looooosing....power...I need...recharging," Rylie said with considerable effort.
A light bulb came on over Jeremy's head and the obvious dawned on him. "But where is your cable?"
"It...it must be in the...closet you...closet you...closet you...found me...found me in," Rylie barely got out.
Jeremy disappeared in a flash and started throwing things out of the hall closet randomly. "It...has...to...be...here...somewhere," he said as he dug through old coats and fallen hangers and spare household supplies. After what seemed like an eternity, though Rylie would later inform him it was only about ten minutes, he stumbled upon a cable that looked like nothing else he had come across. "This must be it," he said to himself and rushed back into his room.
Rylie was sitting perfectly still on the floor near the wall where they had leaned and played their video games. "You...did...you...did you...find it...it?" Rylie asked.
"Yep!," Jeremy announced proudly.
"But...now I won't...now I won't get to spend...spend that time....with you," she said, the sparkle in her eyes fading into a pleading countenance that Jeremy was dismayed to know there was no way he could help except the way she didn't want him to.
He took her by the shoulders and drew her closer to the wall. "Open your recharge port below your shoulder on your arm," Jeremy ordered gently. As Jeremy raised the sleeve of Rylie's t-shirt to get better access, he heard the slight whir of a servo as a small indentation on perfect skin appeared, and then a portal came into view. It had a plug at the top, three lights that were all red, and three buttons. Not sure what the buttons were for, he ignored them as he plugged in the cable. He drew Rylie close to him and maneuvered her head onto his shoulder, and then plugged her in.
"Char.ging.in.prog.ress," Rylie said in a very controlled robotic monotone. Jeremy shivered and held her tighter.

His mum had come home late that day, giving him ample time to stay with Rylie during most of her six hours of required charge time, and to carefully drag her into the closet as he heard his mum's car on the drive outside. Rylie's external sensors were still active, and she was touched that Jeremy would spend that much time on her. Could it really be, she wondered, that she had found someone who didn't care what she was? Coincidentally, it was also on that day that Sandra Quinn informed her son of an upcoming weekend business trip she would be taking during the coming days. Jeremy could barely contain his excitement as his mum told him she'd be leaving on Friday and coming back Sunday morning. She'd be there when he got home from school, though, packing and getting things sorted first.
"Why is it dark already?" Rylie asked, confused, after Jeremy had seen his mum off and activated Rylie.
"Because it's nearly seven in the evening," Jeremy replied.
"Why did you activate me so late?" Rylie asked.
"Well, I have a surprise for you," he said. "I didn't tell you earlier because I wanted to make sure it'd still happen. My mum went off on an overnight business trip; we have all night and most of the day tomorrow to ourselves, and I don't have to deactivate you at all until she comes back!"
Rylie's smile never looked so genuine and grateful. She ran and tackled Jeremy in a huge bear hug, her red skirt flipping completely up revealing a pair of white panties, leading Jeremy to wonder exactly how anatomically correct Rylie actually *was*, shortly before he was knocked to the ground by an extremely grateful android, white sock-covered feet pointing up in the air. "Wow! Thank you so much... I don't know what to say..." she barely got out, this time from being overwhelmed with happiness.
"Just thank you was enough, and the time you'll spend with me," Jeremy said. "You've become such a good friend to me over the past few hard weeks, getting used to this new neighbourhood and finishing out the school year in a new place."
He could've sworn Rylie's face fell just a bit hearing the word "friend", but her smile continued nonetheless. "Well, I'm really glad I can make you so happy," she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek, giggling as he blushed beet red. "What...what shall we do first then?" "I was thinking I'd make dinner, and then we could watch a movie, and...what?" Jeremy stopped abruptly as he saw Rylie's face, which had suddenly become creased with worry.
"I...I don't eat," she said, kind of quietly.
"What? I'm sure you're programmed to be able to eat, you're so advanced in other ways..." Jeremy trailed off.
"Your mum never allowed me to eat when I was with...with your sister, and...I always assumed it was because I couldn't, or I'd break," she explained.
Jeremy surprised Rylie and grabbed her by the hand, bring her downstairs with him to the kitchen, where he told her to sit at the table. He quickly cooked a pair of hamburgers with his mum's special blend of spices that he'd liked since he was little. Before Rylie knew it, he'd sat down with a plate in front of him and a plate in front of her. "Eat," he said.
"But...what if...?" Rylie asked, nervously.
"Either they did an amazing job programming an artificial youth life form that can't eat and therefore could never really fit in on a long-term basis with humans, or they actually did their jobs supposedly and you should be able to eat fine. Just eat slowly and I'm sure everything will be okay," he told her.
"I'm scared though. I like what we have here, and I don't think your mum would repair me, so, maybe I should just watch you eat?" Rylie suggested.
"Rylie, I'm certain they wouldn't have left out something so essential to...well, to assimilating yourself into human life. Just try it a little and I'm sure you'll know right away if you're supposed to or not," Jeremy pleaded.
Rylie hesitated a moment, and then took a small bite of the hamburger. She chewed it, and her eyes lit up as Jeremy saw the small piece travel down what he assumed was an artificial esophagus. "I...I can taste...and...this is *good*!" she said excitedly and took another bite.
"Hey, hey...slow down, there's plenty of food and it's not going anywhere. Mum probably initially didn't want you to eat because you probably don't need to, you're just able to. But this is a special occasion, you know, so eat and enjoy. And let me get you something to drink, too..." Jeremy told her, and went to fetch some soda.
After dinner, Rylie seemed to want to sample every bit of food in the house, but Jeremy tempered her desire with the logical argument that she may be able to eat, but not *everything*, and certainly not at once. They adjourned to the living room where a simple game of checkers soon turned into a tickle fight, and less than halfway through a movie Rylie had her head lying on Jeremy's chest as he absent-mindedly stroked her hair.
Inevitably, Jeremy's eyelids began to droop, and he knew bedtime was upon them. "Rylie?" he said as he gently shook the android. Her eyes had been closed, and Jeremy initially had been concerned that her battery had run down again, but the occasional murmur and constant breathing motions confirmed she was very much still in the land of the living. "Rylie? I need to go to bed now."
"Oh..." she said in a groggy voice. "I was just enjoying not needing to be deactivated. It's kind of a new feeling for me, you know?"
Jeremy nodded, and then realised, "Hey, Rylie, umm, what do you want to do while I'm sleeping? I think it'll get pretty boring if you're awake all night..."
Rylie looked deep in thought, and then said, "I understand, but...let me be next to you tonight, if it's okay?"
She looked positively pleading. Jeremy couldn't say no. He didn't quite know how he'd feel with Rylie sleeping, or staring awake as he thought, next to him all night, but he didn't have the heart to turn her down. They made their way upstairs and showed her to his mum's room, where he rifled through some of her old clothes in the back of her closet and came up with a nice silk nightgown that looked like it'd fit. A short time later, a first-time-clad-in-new-clothes Rylie snuggled close to Jeremy in the dark with his arm around her. Then she realised something, and as comfortable as she was, she whispered softly and gratefully to Jeremy, "Plug me in?"

To be continued...

[ButchyBoy]

Such a lovely sweet story....so far (bracing for the terrific dramatic storm ahead). Great story so far Rynnie

[tectile]

A fine story so far, Nice work Ryn. I'm looking forward to more.

[UserJesse]

Agreed with Robotman, don't make it too sad Ryn! Nothing wrong with just making stories about cuddly fembots! ^,~