Koven was in the shower on the cruiser after a lengthy exercise regime in the gym room. The shower was having problems with the temperature again. He could feel the very minor fluctuations in temperature. The slightly colder burst every twenty tix. He would run the maintenance routines later and recalibrate the range of response.
The warm air dryer felt good on his skin. He felt the slight spray of moisturizer as he exited the shower stall, then walked naked into the bedroom. His PPS was hanging from a rod next to the bed. He lay down on the bed, needing to get some sleep. He hadn’t slept since before Tal’s murder. He wasn’t sure if he would ever sleep again. He was trying to come to grips with his career choice and was wondering just how many dead bodies he would have to see before becoming an educator. Then his mind went to the most horrible place as he wondered how many of them he would cause.
His door opened and Rusa came into his quarters. She was carrying a remedium.
“I noticed that you haven’t healed in the last couple of days,” she said.
“Maybe that will help me get some sleep,” he said as he got up and put on a robe.
“You don’t need that,” she replied, pointing at the robe.
“I’d prefer it,” he said.
“Suit yourself. Now come lie back on the bed,” she said.
He walked over to the bed and lay down on his back. She opened his robe, exposing his naked body. She turned on the remedium and moved it to his head. He could feel the soothing effects of it in his head. The terror he had been feeling since that first weapon was shot at him subsided some, not going away completely but diminished.
“I am so tired,” he said as a result, and closed his eyes.
“You have a significant sleep deficit,” she said. “I noticed it on your last health check.”
She continued moving the remedium over his body. He felt muscles relax and a tingling on his skin where the remedium was working. Rejuvenation of skin cells causes a tingling sensation. When she placed it over his groin, he responded by putting his hand on hers and moving it away.
“It’s OK,” Rusa said. “I am fully capable of pleasure and discretion. Tanit need never know that you have taken advantage of my capabilities.”
Then she did something that Koven didn’t know she could do without permission. It felt so good to him that he lasted only a few tix—in fact, only one tox and fourteen tix before he exploded.
After, as he lay there, she removed her clothing and lay down beside him.
“That was nice,” she said. “I like the way you do that.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t last long. It felt too good.”
“I know, I could tell. But that’s good. You enjoyed it. You need to get some sleep and I need to clean up.”
“Clean up?” he asked her.
“Yes. Spermatozoa will react with the polymers inside of me and cause an unpleasant odor if allowed to stay there for more than a few days. It’s best if they are removed soon after ingestion.” And then she got up and walked over to the sink and did what could only be called an android version of puking. It contained no convulsions like human puking, but rhythmic movement along the torso to bring up the contents of the android stomach, which Rusa politely spit into the sink. There was a very similar process for different species. And I can tell you very sincerely that watching my cat cough up a furball is profoundly non-erotic.
Koven yawned deeply.
“How do you know this? Have you studied the chemical reaction?”
Rusa laughed. “In a way, yes.”
“What do you mean?” Koven asked.
“My creator, Venkat Tiwari, and I discovered it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we had sex five hundred forty-nine times during my final testing.”
“Oh,” replied a surprised Koven. He yawned again and closed his eyes.
“Are there any limits to the use of your pleasure apps? Can I make use of them whenever I want?” he asked her as she lay down beside him and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her. She took his limp manhood in her hand and held him gently.
“There are no limits other than causing damage or putting the mission at risk,” she replied, and squeezed him gently. “But they aren’t just apps. They are me as well. I have a fully developed personality, and my learning modules will continue to make it a more complex personality until I am on a par with humans. So when you are talking of using the apps, you are talking of using me. While I don’t have complex emotions learned yet and integrated, I do have rudimentary emotional response. And disassociating me from the apps that make up me causes some form of crude sadness.”
“I’m sorry,” Koven said. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“I know,” she said. She began to stroke him ever so gently.
“I need to sleep,” he said as he felt himself beginning to respond to her movements.
“How long would you like to sleep?” she asked him.
“A hundred tox,” he replied.
“Is there any particular music you would like to wake to?”
“Injunction At Sunset,” he replied.
“I’ve set it up,” she replied.
“One last thing?” he asked her. “Can I wake to the feeling of you…you know, what you were doing before?”
“Of course,” she said.
Koven slept so soundly that the call from Tanit went unanswered. The periodic beeping from his comms bracelet didn’t wake him either. And one hundred tox later he felt Rusa. It was wonderful. He rolled over a little to make it easier for her. He heard the beeping on his comms and knew he had a message. He activated the message. It was marked “private only.”
“Hey lover, I just wanted you to know that I am all set to meet you at your parents’ at the weekend. I’m getting a ride with a couple of professors testing a new drive motor. It’s really fast, so I should arrive before you get there. I guess I will introduce myself to your parents. Or I can find a restaurant and wait if you like. Just let me know.”
Koven looked down at Rusa.
“And this is what you have to look forward to,” she said. Then she started taking off her clothes. When she was completely naked, she walked over to the bed and lay down on it.
It was too much for him.
A few minutes later he decided to take another nap.
This time he woke to music only. While eating a late breakfast, he read the instructions on the explosive device he was taking down to the planet later in the day.