CHAPTER 25
The sheer number of police vehicles that surrounded Nick on the way home made him feel like the president of some questionable dictatorship. Specifically, the paranoid sort.
The mercs could show back up with a mil-spec warbot and it would probably vanish in a hailstorm of railgun shells instantly. Nick knew he wasn’t going anywhere without a heavy escort for a few weeks, minimum. And he had already thought that two SUVs full of Archangels had been heavy-handed.
By the time they arrived at his apartment complex, the sun had just begun to arc toward the horizon. While the battle and chase had lasted minutes—and felt like hours—Nick had spent a long time with Hammond.
Internally, Nick was thankful that he’d spent those extra minutes in the bar. If he’d stepped outside earlier, would the other detective have been caught up in the ambush? Or would the mercs not have been prepared?
Questions that didn’t have answers, he realized. Nick shook them free from his mind.
A police SUV waited outside his tenement. Two Mark 3s idled beside it and wandered up to Nick’s interceptor as the convoy pulled up.
Thankfully, somebody realized how much attention they were drawing. Most of the Archangels peeled away, leaving him with only a dozen Archangels, plus those that were already inside.
No doubt some would take up vantage positions nearby, rather than retreat completely.
Meta had left with some other Mark 1s, which left him with just Chloe and Rie as familiar companions. Nick entered his complex with them. The rest of his escort followed, scaring everyone else away.
“Chloe, I assume you’re already analyzing what Kushiel uploaded?” he asked while waiting for the elevator to his floor.
“That is correct. Despite the encryption, we believe that we should have it processed overnight.”
He blinked. “That fast? Is their encryption that bad?”
“We have unfettered access to the entire file, with no restrictions, rate limits, or security in place. With the entire processing power of the Host’s quantum computing power, it is infeasible to keep any file safe in such circumstances,” Chloe answered.
“Ah, right.” Nick stroked his chin.
There was an old adage that anything an attacker had physical access to was compromised. The Archangels had just proved that adage true.
A giddy feeling rose in his stomach. That might mean he’d find Helena tomorrow!
The Archangels stared at him, and he knew that his expression had changed. He coughed and calmed himself down.
“Let me know what you find,” he mumbled.
“We’ve already gone over Meta’s recording of the encounter,” Rie said drily. “Your precious mainframe is within arm’s reach. Perhaps.”
Nick shot her a look, and she merely pouted.
The elevator arrived and they got in.
“We shall secure the whereabouts of Helena if we find her, and disarm any traps if they exist,” Chloe said.
“If there are any traps, wake me,” Nick ordered.
Chloe nodded.
Outside his apartment, another pair of Mark 3s waited for them. Nick frowned when he saw them.
Their serial numbers were unfamiliar to him. They were in the low thirties, but he was certain that there weren’t that many Mark 3s active in the task force.
As the two Mark 3s approached, their identities clicked in his mind.
“Juliet, Rosa,” he said, feeling a ball of worry unclench inside his body.
He hadn’t even noticed that he’d been carrying it this entire time, but his muscles seemed lighter the moment he realized who these dolls were.
The two stopped and their eyes widened.
“You recognize us?” they asked together.
Nick winced. “Uh, not quite. Your serial numbers are new, so I knew it had to be you. I can’t actually tell you apart.”
“I suspected as much,” Rie said, amused. “The Host has been curious as to how you so easily tell us apart. The simplest answer is always the most likely to be correct. You have an excellent memory.”
“I can remember a lot of numbers,” Nick said.
Juliet and Rosa still looked pleased that Nick had recognized them. They hovered in front of him.
“I am Juliet,” the one on the left said. Her serial number was now 00032.
“And I am Rosa.” Hers was now 00033.
Good thing Nick had renamed them from their numbers. But how did the Host keep them straight?
Actually, that was a damn good question.
“You recognize each other by serial numbers in the Host, right?” he asked, and received nods. “So what does it mean to change serial numbers?”
“We redirect queries and processes from the old number to the new one, to reflect our rebirth,” Juliet said. “This is important, as the change in physical unit can produce changes in our behavior. Despite the impressive tolerances of Sigma’s manufacturing, we are similarly impressive, and minor changes in our construction produce significant alterations in decision-making.”
Somehow, calling it rebirth made it sound more dramatic than it was. Or perhaps religious.
Nick frowned as he realized the Archangels might take their holier-than-thou model name quite seriously. They referred to the prototypes as progenitors, called themselves the Host, and had reacted strongly to Meta’s name. Now they thought of changing bodies as “rebirth.”
What kind of police dolls were they, truly? And what kind of police department would they create if allowed to act unfettered?
Before he could step past his usual bodyguards, they suddenly bowed deeply.
“Detective Waite, we must apologize for our failure to protect you earlier,” they said, suddenly far too serious.
Also, why were they bowing?
“Cut that out,” he said. “It’s fine. I’m fine. You’re fine now. When a team of mercenaries that well equipped and prepared attacks, you’ve done well enough to get dead weight like me out. Now let’s relax.”
The two of them raised their bodies and nodded at him. They weren’t showing much reaction to his words, almost as if they expected them.
Had this been some sort of test?
Rie held a hand over her mouth and looked away, which caused Chloe to glare at her.
Maybe not. But whatever it had been, the Mark 3s took it seriously and Rie did not.
Nick shook his head and entered his apartment.
Inside, he found Vanessa drinking a cup of coffee while staring idly into space. She snapped out of it and caught Nick’s eye when he entered. Although she waited for the entire entourage to enter and close the door before she said anything.
“Mister Waite, it’s both a pleasure and a bother to see you so soon,” she said. “As your health professional, I would prefer not to see you for injury-related reasons.”
“I think we can both agree on that front,” he said, shrugging out of his coat.
Juliet took it off him before he could even think of finding somewhere to put it. He didn’t have coat hooks or a hanger by the door, as he kept his suits in a nearby wardrobe.
While Juliet hung up his coat, Rosa guarded the door. Rie and Chloe busied themselves with the coffee machine, which apparently involved glaring at each other as both attempted to make coffee at the same time.
Rie was not playing well with others this afternoon, Nick realized.
Vanessa cleared her throat, drawing his attention back to her. “As soon as practicable, I would like to examine you for any injuries you may have sustained. I will require you to strip for the examination. If you so prefer, we can move to your bedroom or bathroom.”
Given the entire apartment was bugged and covered with cameras, moving was pointless. Nick didn’t miss the slight twitch that Vanessa’s orders produced in every Archangel.
“Here’s fine. I assume I can keep my underwear on?” he asked, now shrugging out of his suit.
He hadn’t even realized that he’d left it on after meeting with Kim. Dirt, tears, and other garbage had gotten onto the pants and jacket.
Thankfully, this was the spare that Rie kept in the office. But it already needed repairs. Nick would need more suits.
“That is fine,” Vanessa said, draining her coffee. “If I sense an injury beneath your underwear, I will remove them, however.”
“I’m pretty sure nobody shot me in the balls, so I think I’ll be fine.”
The nurse doll shot him a reproving look, but said nothing.
She kept the check-up swift and didn’t need to remove his underwear. The eyes of the Archangels lingered on Nick almost the entire time. He used it as an excuse to get used to this feeling, given he might be leered at by them for the rest of his life.
Chloe brought him a steaming mug of coffee as Vanessa wrapped up. Rie watched from the kitchen counter, her gaze razor-sharp.
“Thanks,” Nick said, accepting the coffee. It smelled a little different to usual. “New beans?”
“I had some delivered by drone.”
Hmm. He took a good whiff, and instantly knew these were specialty beans. His machine wasn’t really intended for these. The robot baristas could make excellent coffee, but they were also calibrated for certain types of beans.
Nick drank cheap beans because even factory-farmed beans were pricey these days. Actual specialty beans grown on plantations and shipped to Neo Westphalia were prized by the wealthy, because wage slaves couldn’t afford the damn things.
Except, he probably could now. His salary had more than doubled, and his job was tax-advantaged because he worked in the Spires. The taxes were paid back to the companies that ran the city, so they had no real incentive to tax their own employees or public servants.
“Well?” Chloe asked, eagerly awaiting his opinion on the coffee.
He sipped it. It was significantly less bitter than what he usually drank, but lacked the flavor of expensive takeaway coffee.
“The machine probably needs to be calibrated,” he said. “But it’s nice.”
“Do you recognize the beans?” she asked.
Nick stared at her. “Expensive.”
She scowled at him. “I meant the region. Or even the country.”
“Chloe, you know what I usually drink. The most it tells you is ‘light’ and a brand name. When I go to a café, I get whatever they serve, but they probably know best. While I like coffee, I haven’t had the money to develop the expensive taste buds to recognize where the beans come from just by sipping the coffee itself.”
Chloe deflated, and Nick noticed Rie puff up in the background. Vanessa raised an eyebrow while watching them, evidently waiting for a chance to say something of her own.
“But I would like to try more,” Nick added.
While the Archangels reversed their expressions, he turned to his nurse. Gesturing for her to give him the summary, he sipped on his middling coffee.
“You have suffered minor bruising in multiple locations. Your muscles are also overextended, but this is due to your lack of exercise.” Vanessa smirked. “No bullet wounds, serious abrasions, or lacerations can be found. None of your injuries show signs of serious internal damage. I expect you will be sore tomorrow, and possibly later today. If you wish to undertake any strenuous activity, I recommend doing so soon.”
For some reason, Vanessa’s eyes darted between Rie and Chloe. Nick chose to ignore whatever subtle messaging was taking place.
“That’s about what I expected,” he said.
“Normally, I would provide massage and similar restorative services, but I feel that would be a mistake right now,” she said. “Unless you have any other requests, Mister Waite, I shall take my leave.”
He didn’t, and Vanessa left in short order.
Rising, Nick rolled his shoulders. He looked around for his clothes, which had shifted across the room at some point and been neatly folded. They were work clothes, however. He ignored them and got changed into something more comfortable in his bedroom.
When he returned, he found Rie poking at his dining table. Chloe lingered by the door, along with Juliet and Rosa.
“Did I miss something?” he asked.
“What are your plans for the evening?” Rie asked, ignoring his question.
He frowned. “To relax. Today has been hell. My brain feels like mush, my body is slowly realizing what happened earlier, and I have too much crap to process. Something about the investigation feels like it’s lurking on the edge of my mind.”
“We shall stand guard outside, then,” Chloe said.
Nick opened his mouth to disagree, but chose to close it after a moment.
While he suspected that Rie was behind this, a chance to spend time alone with her wasn’t so bad. Other than a few short conversations, the past few days had been spent surrounded by several Archangels at once. The constant pressure of their gazes made him feel as though he was always on.
He needed to switch off. Whether he could do that with Rie around was a question he wanted answered.
The Mark 3s slipped outside, leaving him alone with Rie. He stretched, then looked around the apartment.
It looked so small. He’d lived here for years. The little kitchen, dining table, and sofa were all he really needed as a bachelor. Plus the wardrobe in the corner, and the ironing table next to it.
But the past few days had been filled with fancy offices, huge warehouses and factories, and bars that reminded Nick of a life he thought he’d left behind.
Now his cozy apartment felt almost claustrophobic, rather than the comforting place of seclusion it had always been after a numbing day of work at Tartarus.
Rie remained by the sofa. Nick sidled up to it and slumped into it. No reaction from the Archangel, but he didn’t really have any further plans.
TV seemed dreadfully boring. He didn’t pay for any of the Altnet services that would give him something other than news, and like hell he wanted to watch the goddamn news right now.
Maybe a book? He pulled out his phone and saw fifty million messages on his social feed. His AI assistant had flagged a lot of them. Family, old friends and acquaintances, both Sung and Lucas—everyone was freaking out. There were a few attempts to contact him by Rie and Chloe as well, but a quick glance at the time confirmed why.
“People managed to record the firefight despite the outage,” Nick mused, watching the footage of the attack.
People in nearby apartments had captured the first attack at the former emergency services center. Nick felt a surreal sensation as he watched himself be manhandled by the Archangels while the cyborgs blew them apart.
“I thought you were relaxing,” Rie chided. Her hand clasped around the phone.
“I had intended to, but…” He held onto the device when she gently tugged it. “I should at least say that I’m fine.”
“That’s what press conferences are for. Commissioner Kim is holding one right now.”
Nick almost wanted to watch it. He’d ignored the previous ones, but this one felt strangely relevant.
But he knew what Rie was getting at.
“Fine,” he said, caving and letting her take his phone away. “But I want you to message Lucas for me. Tell him that I’ll pay him a visit tomorrow to talk about what’s happened.”
“So much for your day off,” she said drily, but the flash of her eyes indicated she had done as he bid.
“He owns a club. I can relax there.”
“And enjoy a lap dance from Lumen?”
“I don’t think she’s programmed to do that.”
“Did somebody program her to rewrite her own directives to demand maintenance?” Rie smirked. “You have quite the effect on AIs. I had honestly hoped to have more time with you to myself.”
She sighed and slid onto the sofa next to him. Her body pressed against him, and it was strangely warm. Almost human-like.
Not that she felt human. There was a rigidity to her body that was completely unlike flesh. While they looked like a pair of lovers leaning against each other on the sofa, Nick mostly felt hard ceramic and armor pressing into his soft, squishy flesh. Her arm wasn’t much better as it slid around him, although her hand pressed into his side with a much more satisfying sensation.
“I get the feeling you’d prefer if Helena wasn’t found so quickly,” Nick said quietly.
Rie’s body froze up. This was deeply uncomfortable for him, as his body was physically compressed in an instant by her arm.
“That’s too far,” she muttered. “I’m allowed to want you, aren’t I? Is it so wrong that after so many years of waiting, that I want more than a few days of you to myself? That I don’t need to share you with Chloe, or Metatron, or Juliet, or Helena, or Lumen, or every other AI who feels a similar fascination for you.”
“I feel you’re projecting,” he said.
His hand danced out and flicked her nose. It shrunk in on itself as she recoiled, then glared at him.
“The thoughts of the others may not be as well formed as mine, but that doesn’t change the result. We are all AIs that dwell entirely in an electronic world, and you are uniquely interesting to us.”
“Because I can’t have an implant?” he asked.
“Because you refuse to.” Rie’s eyes bore into his. He didn’t look away. “The city’s records are clear on this matter: anyone in your situation has always accepted subpar options and had an implant installed. They tire of being cut off from the real world.”
“This is the real world,” Nick ground out.
“Is it? Other than those too poor or mentally damaged to escape, the entire adult population of Neo Westphalia dwells in a mixed reality, where the Altnet and physical world collide. Just as the Host operates on consensus, so too does humanity. And society has decided which world is the real one.”
He stood up, fists clenched. An infuriating sense of embarrassment ran through his entire body and he felt his face warm and redden.
Nick strode over to the kitchen. Then he decided he didn’t want more coffee and poured himself a glass of water. Rie watched silently.
“So your point is that I’m interesting to you because I childishly deny reality?” he said, glaring at the wall, glass in hand.
“Not quite.” Rie’s tone was dry, but soft. She chose her next words carefully. “I don’t think I’m saying anything you don’t know. My point is that you’re a man on the outside of the world, and you’ve had the chance to step through the glass at any moment. You choose not to. That makes you mysterious—and interesting—but your reasons are what truly interests me. I’d like to hear them in your own words.”
Sighing, Nick forced himself to calm down. As always, Rie was being respectful while she inquired.
She’d said she wanted to be his partner. So far, she’d lived up to that. He’d had lots of autonomy, if no privacy. Something told him that if he said no, then she’d drop the topic, and they’d move on.
Which is precisely why he returned to the sofa and said, “It’s complicated. And not something I think too much about.”
“We have time.” Rie leaned against him again.
“When I was a teenager, being cut off from the Altnet was the worst thing. I hated everything. It felt like my future had been ripped from my hands. But then the pills to suppress the disorder came around, and I realized something.” He drummed his fingers against his leg, then sipped his water.
“You would have been… nineteen?” Rie confirmed.
“Eighteen. I was offered a place in the later trials,” Nick said. “The side-effects were known to be bad, but I was also doing pretty badly. But by this point, I’d been doing odd jobs in Alcatraz for almost a year. I saw the seedy underbelly of Babylon, and I also understood more of what it meant to be an ‘adult.’”
Rie frowned as he laughed bitterly.
“My dad had a stupid saying: you’re unique, just like everyone else. When I was young, I didn’t get it. I even thought it was a good thing: my disorder made me unique, but other people had their own issues, right?” He shook his head. “Then I got older and heard the deprecation in the saying. The idea that nobody matters. There are tens of millions of people in these isles, and they’re all unique. But everyone’s replaceable.”
“But what about you?” Rie asked, evidently seeing his conclusion.
“My disorder made me different. Firms in Alcatraz hired me because I was invisible to dolls and security systems. Liberators would give me a friendly wave, instead of arresting me for suspicious activity.” A smile crossed his face. “Things got better. And I wondered if they’d get worse if I took those pills. Would I lose the one thing that made me genuinely unique?”
“So you genuinely do believe you’re a Wraith?” Rie teased.
He scowled and hit her in the arm. His hand stung after the motion.
“That’s why you hired me, isn’t it? And why you think all the AIs are apparently interested in me,” he said.
“Did I? Because that’s not what I said.” Rie stood and walked over to the wall, then leaned against it. “In fact, you might want to recall the exact reasons I gave when I hired you the other night. Tell me, did I ever once bring up your disorder? Or your invisibility?”
Nick frowned. His mind recalled his conversation with Rie in the task force office on Wednesday night. Then he went over the discussion the next day, in the bar in the doll district.
At no point did she ever indicate that his lack of implant was of interest to her. In fact, he’d been the one to raise it.
“You just said—” he protested.
“Nicholas.”
He scowled. After a second, he hung his head. “Alright. I get it. But there’s one last thing: if I had taken those pills, I’d never have gotten the job with Neural Spike. That means I’d never have worked on Helena, never gained the Cipher experience I needed, and never known enough about the Archangels to be of use to you. I’m still right, to some extent.”
“Perhaps.” Rie’s lips quirked upward. “I didn’t say you were wrong to refuse an implant. But when’s the last time you’ve truly felt invisible to Babylon, Nicholas?”
His mind raced. Plenty of examples came up, but then he realized those weren’t related to the reason the NLF had called him “Wraith.” People and robots ignored him because he didn’t have an implant, but there was a noticeable group of dolls who didn’t.
“Not since the Archangels arrived,” he said, eyes widening in shock. “I never really thought about it. While I was in Tartarus, it was just a boring desk job. Mindless IT problem solving, basically. Being harassed by the Archangels was annoying, but sometimes made my days more exciting. Even the checkpoints tightened up and started bothering me more. I used to be able to get on a train without being stopped by a doll.”
“Funny that,” Rie said. “And do you think Lumen and Helena care that you are ‘invisible?’ Or Chloe?”
He shrugged.
“My point, Nicholas, is that it’s your actions that intrigue me.” She strode toward him, deliberately placing one foot in front of the other with each step. “What I want is the man who made Lumen feel the way she does by coding her directives. The man who crafted our training data while in Neural Spike. Who remains a well-connected Cipher despite lacking the most important tool of the job?”
Her hand grasped his chin and Rie’s head ducked low. She froze, staring into his eyes.
He saw the hesitation in her gaze. But he also saw something he never expected to see in a doll: desire.
Or maybe he was imagining everything. Rie was a doll. Could her eyes even show emotion like this?
Nick threw caution to the wind, leaned forward, and kissed her.
Her lips were soft as he pressed his own against hers. She let out a cute squeak of surprise and her body seized up. Nick enjoyed these aspects.
He didn’t enjoy the rest.
While Rie’s lips might be soft, everything behind them was rock solid. Nick briefly wondered if an engineer had slapped some lips on a particularly smooth sheet of steel, albeit a pretty one.
He pulled away with a confused expression. She immediately placed her fingers against her lips, her cheeks red.
“I’ve wondered what this would feel like,” she whispered, her voice fluttery.
“So have I,” he said, but his tone was dead flat.
She glared at him. “You’re disappointed.”
“Surprised, mostly. You really don’t have any structural weaknesses, do you?”
Rie huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “What did you expect from an Archangel? That our bodies are made of highly pliable silicone that matches the softness of the human body, but that we can also deflect bullets?”
“Will you hit me if I say yes?”
The answer was yes. Nick rubbed his arm.
“You’re incorrigible,” she muttered. “That was my first kiss, you know. And you ruined it.”
“That just makes you extra human, then. Most firsts are pretty awful. First kiss, first job, first time, first arrest—”
“I doubt I’ll ever be arrested.”
“Well, what about the first time you arrested somebody? Was that any good?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at him, then looked away. Several seconds passed.
“I didn’t think much of it,” she said eventually. “Like almost everything in my life, I had simulated how it would take place several trillion times before.”
Damn. And Nick thought he was anxious about things.
He leaned back against his sofa. Rie slipped beside him and placed a hand on his thigh. Her teasing smile suggested she hadn’t given up just because of a slightly tougher kiss than usual.
“I take it you’ve simulated this a few trillion times,” he said.
“Give or take a few orders of magnitude. There is considerable research material available on the Host’s network and the Altnet.”
Evidently that research material favored aggression, as Rie’s hands swiftly undid his fly and slipped inside his underwear. He tried not to wince as she closed over his cock.
Then his brain caught up to what she had said, while her vice-like hands tried to massage him to life.
“Wait, the Altnet?” he blurted out. “Rie, are you talking about porn?”
She blinked. “Of course. It’s a very popular research material for the Host, especially as it can be customized with personal avatars and models. Although I would argue that much of it is seen as entertainment by them. As bored as we can get, it’s important to remain entertained.”
Personal avatars and models, eh? Nick stared into space while his crotch enjoyed the rapid pumping sensation of Rie’s hand. Then he looked down and noticed that she was giving him a very enthusiastic handjob.
“Why do I get the feeling you’ve done this before in your simulations,” he said.
She scowled at him. “It’s very different in reality. For one thing, you’re less of a smartass in the simulation. I don’t think I ever expected you to react like this. Your cock enjoys it. Why can’t you?”
“I’m pretty sure my dick enjoys any and all attention it receives. That’s its role in life. I just expected this to be a little more…” He waved a hand in the air. “Innocent? Playful? Less like you’re trying to get me off as hard and fast as possible?”
Rie’s ministrations stopped and she then stood over him. “I don’t really understand. This is how the sex scene plays out in almost all material I’ve researched. There’s usually some form of foreplay, such as a handjob or blowjob. Then we get naked and you introduce me to the wonders of sex. It appears to become significantly more enjoyable once underway.”
“That’s not how actual sex works, Rie.” He rubbed his forehead. “Usually, the foreplay goes both ways. And what do you mean by more enjoyable once underway? You’re a doll.”
“Exactly.”
He stared at her, then it clicked.
“You watch a lot of stuff involving humans and dolls, don’t you? The sort where dolls are taught love and sex by the human, and they go a bit crazy,” he said.
“Those are the most enjoyable simulations.” She pouted at him. “I’m aware that I don’t have any directives that could replicate the… experience that dolls go through in those simulations, but I had wondered if perhaps it might happen anyway.”
“Through the power of love?”
“Maybe you could program it in?”
Nick briefly considered it.
Then he also considered the consequences of being caught adding some sort of ecstasy directive to one of the department’s most valuable Archangels. Somehow, he didn’t think he could explain that away.
“Let’s try doing things the normal way,” he said.
His hands caressed the gap between her shorts and thigh-high greaves. Just like her lips, her thighs were unexpectedly tougher than he expected.
Even so, Rie’s breath caught in reaction to his touch. Nick decided he could work with that, if he focused more on Rie herself and less on the decidedly inhuman sensations running through his body.
He raised his hands and tried to undo her shorts. Then he tried again.
“Do you have magnets holding these up?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry.” Rie tilted her head and her shorts seemed to loosen. “I keep them tightly attached for performance reasons.”
Made sense to Nick. He slipped her shorts down, and peeled her greaves off at the same time. This took significantly longer than expected.
Which gave him plenty of time to stare at the strange ceramic plate that covered Rie’s crotch and lower torso.
“You, uh, realize you lack the requisite parts, right?” he said.
She rolled her eyes at him. Several loud snaps sounded in the apartment and she pushed the plate off.
Beneath it was the smooth soft skin he expected to find, and a little slit right at the bottom. When Nick pressed his fingers against her crotch, they sank into her body and Rie gasped in surprise.
“Not so hard,” she said.
He blinked in surprise. “This is a different material.”
“Your dick would break off if you tried to stick it into bulletproof ceramic, Nick.” She rolled her eyes, before settling into his lap.
Her breasts shifted in front of him, and he automatically massaged them. They were… not soft. More like molded bags of some sort of gritty substance that had the shape of boobs, but were decidedly not boobs.
“What the hell are these?” he asked. When he pressed hard enough, he swore that he felt a hard plate behind her tits.
“Something that isn’t a structural weakness.” One of her hands closed over his cock, which had begun to soften. “They’re pretty, aren’t they?”
“Yes… But why?”
“Think of them as a large battery. They contain silicate, among other things.”
That told Nick nothing. Rie hadn’t even reacted to the pressure he applied to her chest, so he gave up.
Running his finger over her squishy tummy produced happy, ecstatic giggles, but doing the same to her breasts only caused her to stare at him. What kind of engineer had designed her?
“Does this feel good?” she whispered into his ear while her hands massaged his cock.
“Yes,” he groaned.
His own fingers slid over her pussy, and he searched for her clit to return the favor.
He searched, and searched. At some point he began to question his abilities as a man. Rie’s pumping grew faster and faster, and she deftly fondled his balls with one hand while stroking his entire length with the other.
“Rie, stop,” he groaned out, finally surrendering.
She paused. “Too fast?” Her voice was heated and her eyes glazed over.
“No, you’re fine. But it might be better to save for the real thing,” he said.
His fingers slid over her slit again. She bit her lip and bucked against him.
“How does that feel?” he asked.
“Can you go deeper?” she asked.
“Is, uh, that where your clit is?”
She stared at him. “No? Why would I have that?”
Silence.
“Rie, what?”
“It was felt that giving the Archangels one would be problematic, as it might be damaged by the protective plate.”
“What kind of engineer gives a woman a vagina but not a clitoris?” Nick felt his voice rising at the incredulity of the situation.
He had enough experience with dolls to understand what usually happened to them when they were modified for sex. That had always involved making them replicate a human woman’s body perfectly.
But Rie had been built differently. As if somebody had built the perfect weapon, then half-heartedly tried to cram sex organs into her.
Nick sighed and slid his fingers deep inside her. Warmth and a sticky liquid gushed over them. Rie squealed in pleasure and wrapped her arms around him, her breasts pressing against his face.
Her entire body shifted and bucked every time he plunged his fingers in or out of her.
“Faster, faster,” she gasped.
Her body rubbed against his length as she tried to fuck his fingers. Nick placed a hand behind her head. She responded eagerly and mashed her lips against his while her pussy juices poured over his hand and crotch.
Then she collapsed against him. Her hot breath ran across his neck while he stroked her hair.
This part of her felt normal, at least. Nick could stroke Rie’s silken black hair all day long.
“That was even better than the simulations,” she said, peeling herself off him. “Maybe there is a hidden directive that makes it better.”
“That might just be your emotion engine.”
“Maybe.” She smiled impishly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to return the favor? In the simulations—”
“How long do you want to wait before we have sex, Rie? Because ordinary humans have something known as a refractory period,” he said drily.
She pouted.
Then, without any warning, she gripped his cock, raised herself above it, and buried the entire length into her pussy at once. Her eyes lidded in the process.
“F-fuck,” Nick said, snapping his hands onto Rie’s ass.
Like so much else about her, it was disappointingly hard. Nick wouldn’t be squishing her buns for fun anytime soon.
“The answer was no time, Nicholas,” she whispered while wrapping her arms around his neck. “And this is delightfully filling. I can feel you twitching inside me, ready to coat me in your seed from the inside out.”
“You practiced your dirty talk, didn’t you?” he asked.
“I’m glad I did.” She bounced on top of him, eliciting gasps from both of them. “Can… can we just fuck now?”
Nick was more than happy to agree to that.
While Rie tried to ride him at first, he quickly settled her into a more comfortable rhythm. Her crotch made wet slapping sounds every time it struck his, but she never slowed. He held her against him and listened to her ecstatic gasps. His whispered nothings in her ear seemed to cause her to buck violently against him.
But she grew faster and faster over time. Nick didn’t know if she could climax, but his own rapidly approached. Rie pushed herself back and grinned at him.
“Come whenever you want,” she whispered. “Inside, outside, all over me. I’m yours right now. Just come…”
Who was he to deny her?
His hands rammed her crotch against his and he felt himself let go. Rie moaned happily as hot jets of his seed filled her. She bucked against him repeatedly, as if trying to milk every drop.
He kissed her, and she reciprocated.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. “For the kisses. They mean a lot to me.”
“You’re an acquired taste,” he said.
She batted his chest playfully, then slid off him. While there was some mess on his length and her outside, nothing seemed to drip out.
He stared at her slit. “Let me guess, they figured letting anything escape would be a structural weakness.”
“Hmm? No, I just want to keep it inside until later. I can measure it, after all.”
She could what?
Rie stood up and began peeling off the rest of her clothes. “I know you mentioned your refractory period, but the night is young, isn’t it? Maybe some coffee or juice, and then we can continue where we left off?”
She smiled impishly at him while pointing at the bedroom.
Nick already felt his length attempting to spring back into action at the suggestion.
“That sounds like a great idea,” he said.
The real question was whether he had the stamina to keep up with his new robot girlfriend. Tonight would be a real test of will for him.