Exo Saves The Day, Chapter 24

[gynoneko]

So we are finally getting down to it. The next 2 chapters should prove to be very exciting... but for now, you get to finally see 261's name. Thanks for all the suggestions.

1) How did you like this chapter versus the last one? Which is your favorite in the whole story so far?
2) Are there too many details / not enough? Do they balance well?
3) Are there any questions you have about the story, characters, etc? (any at all, I might not answer if it involves the story, but it might clarify things I need to define more)
4) Out of the entire story, what is your favorite part so far? What is your least favorite part?
5) Is there any part of my writing that distracts you?
6) WHO is your favorite character?


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Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.
Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8.
Chapter 9. Chapter 10. Chapter 11. Chapter 12.
Chapter 13. Chapter 14. Chapter 15. Chapter 16.
Chapter 17. Chapter 18. Chapter 19. Chapter 20.
Chapter 21. Chapter 22. Chapter 23.

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Exo Saves the Day
Chapter Twenty Four: Amazon Killing Machine
By Gynoneko


The metal gynoid stood at full attention before us, wires and cables still attached and dangling from her slender form; her eyes changed from a cautious yellow to a menacing red. For such a slim and sexy build, she sure was tall. In fact, she was taller than either of us, pushing 7 feet! Intimidating? You bet!

"What in the world did you family keep here?" I hissed toward Tom. He shushed me and faced the towering android.

"My name is Thomas Pagmalion."

"PERSONNEL FILE NOT FOUND." The gynoid said coldly. "YOU MUST LEAVE THE PREMESIS IMMEDIATELY." For such a terrifying machine, her dominatrix sex appeal was spot on. Well... not really, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Tom, I think we better leave" I hissed under my breath.

"No! I am the rightful heir and owner of this facility" Tom exclaimed full of confidence and energy. Heir?

"PERSONNEL RECORDS NOT FOUND, DATABASE INADEQUATE. EXPLAIN YOUR PRESENCE" the towering beauty demanded, taking a large menacing step closer to us.

"My name is Thomas Isaac Pagmalion, son of Robert Julius Pagmalion, grandson of Isaac Joshua Pagmalion. I am the sole heir and benefactor of this facility." The gynoid looked between us and took a slightly less intimidating stance. Maybe I could take on this machine with my suit still active, but it would be a pyrrhic victory.

"PERSONNEL FILES INADEQUATE. ACCESSING NET. SEARCHING..." For a moment, the robot just stood there still as a statue, processing whatever data she was processing. "DATABASE FOUND. SEARCHING..."

"What are you doing?" I asked Tom in a hushed voice. "And why does your family have an amazon killing machine in an abandoned factory?"

"She isn't an amazon killing machine. She is the central processing unit for this factory. She was designed to allow the factory to run autonomously" Tom explained looking up at her. "And I'm making sure she acknowledges us as friendly. Do you know what this place is?"

"Old and scary?" I replied.

"Well besides that. This is the first factory in America to build class 3 androids for the average consumer" he explained. Class 3 androids were capable of appearing human, although few people were fooled by the earlier models.

"She doesn't look class 3 to me" I said.

"Well maybe she isn't, but look around at the parts left behind. While they are nothing like what Tera and her sisters have, they are definitely passable as human... or at least humanoid." Tom never looked at me when he spoke, and remained standing in place staring at the large gynoid. I had never seen an android of any kind this big before, but I took a quick look around and noticed he was right. While they majority of the parts were unfinished, I could see a conveyer belt with dusty but finished arms and hands that clearly had an appearance of being human. They didn't have skin like Tera, but they did have a hard shell that was colored to match various skin tones. Today it wouldn't convince anyone, but back then it was state-of-the-art.

"Ok... so they are humanoid. And?"

"Don't you get it? This place is historic. They modeled factories after this one. My grandfather built this place, and from it came the revolution in robotics that made modern androids possible. He was years ahead of his time! Without Miss Amazon Killing Machine here, you'd have no Tera."

The robot abruptly came back to life. "DATABASE ENTRY FOUND. SCANNING" she said, her eyes turning yellow and studying Tom's face. "CONFIRMED. PLEASE SUBMIT DNA SAMPLE."

"So you weren't the first to implement that" I mumbled to myself. Tom held out his hand, and the gynoid took it. Her hand was smooth, dainty, but large. One of the fingers on her right hand split down the middle and opened up, allowing a tiny needle to poke through. A steam mist sprayed over the needle, sterilizing it, and she gently and quickly pressed her finger against his, taking a small sample of his blood. Tom didn't even flinch, and stood strong waiting silently for the results.

"PROCESSING. DNA MATCH CONFIRMED. Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility. I am Andrea. How may I help you today sir?" Her eyes turned green, and her manner relaxed as her voice turned friendly and inviting. Unfortunately, she remembered I was still in the room. "Unauthorized personnel. Shall I dispose of him, sir?"

"No. This is Danny Hawthorn. He will be the new supervisor for the factory" Tom said.

"What?" I asked.

"Either that or she can escort you out." Tom said facing me. "Look, just go with it for now, it's not like this is a permanent position or anything."

"Please submit a DNA sample" Andrea asked looking at me. Not a permanent position, huh?

I held out my hand, and Andrea took it. With the same finger, and another searing dose of sanitizing steam, she took a small blood sample from my hand.

"Ouch" I said when she made contact. I waited while she processed the new data, hoping her ancient systems were still sterilized.

"DNA sample contaminated. Please submit another sample" she said. So much for sanitary samples. I reached out my hand again, and she took another sample.

"Ow!" I said, sucking on my pricked finger.

"Baby" Tom muttered. I shot him a dirty look but he didn't notice.

"DNA sample contaminated. Please submit another sample" she repeated. Contaminated twice? Either she was really dirty, which would not explain how her sample with Tom worked so well, or there was something screwy going on.

"Andrea" Tom said, "can you use a retina scan?"

"Affirmative" she replied, understanding the implication. Her eyes turned blue, and she scanned my eyes for a moment. "Registration completed" she said as her eyes went green again. "Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility, Mr. Hawthorne. I am Andrea. How may I help you today sir?"

"Explain to me what the hell is going on here?" I asked Tom.

"This facility was created by Isaac J. Pagmalion" Andrea answered. "After 15 years of operation, the factory was deemed no longer profitable, and used solely for experimental use. Isaac Pagmalion wanted to keep the factory within the family, but was forced to shut down all operations a few years later, leaving me on standby with a minimal power supply. I have been on standby for..." she froze for a moment, apparently updating her clock or something, "... approximately 45 years. Today, a power interruption activated my sensors, and Thomas Pagmalion registered as the new owner, leaving Daniel Hawthorne-"

"Ok, ok. I got it. Um... Tom... why make me supervisor?"

"I can't possibly run something like this all by myself. And you are just the man for the job" he replied.

"Run this place? You're kidding right? 5 minutes ago you didn't even know this place existed!"

"5 minutes ago YOU didn't know this place existed. I've known about this facility most my life, I just never expected it to be here" Tom explained. "My family owns a lot of property around the world; I always thought Andrea was in L.A."

"Wait... I thought you were a lab assistant. ASSISTANT. And if you're family owns all this land, why did you work for MMR?" I asked getting a little suspicious.

"After my father died, I got mixed up with Liberati. My mother refused to give me any of the family secrets, for fear the mob would use them. After Cynthia took me away from the mafia, I eventually made it up to mother, and she started to let me know about our past. She died a few years ago in a fire, along with all the secrets she never told me. Legally, I was made aware of all the assets I inherited, but I never knew what it all actually was. They were mostly just broken abandoned factories. I cannot see a penny of my family's fortune until I have an heir. Cynthia and I... well... we can't have children naturally, and there's a lot of red tape to deal with, so until we figured out what we could do, I got a job where Cynthia worked to make ends meet. She managed to get me an assistant position, despite my sorted background."

"Oh..." I said, caught off-guard. I didn't expect a sob story, but it made sense. Inheritance laws are a pain in the ass, and while he seems to have gained access to the property his family owned, he could potentially lose all the money they built-up over the years if he didn't have an heir of some sort. I doubted Joan or even Tera would fool a court of law. As human as they are, the matter of documentation and apparent ages are a real killer. No one would believe a 20-something year old girl appeared out of nowhere to be a 40-something year old man's daughter with no birth records or social security number. "I'm sorry to hear all that."

"No, it's ok. I've made peace with my past, and all I can do now is figure out my future" Tom said. "To think I finally found Andrea and the autonomous factory, and she was so close!"

I thought about it for a moment, and realized this was a prime opportunity, plus it could help out Tom who had done so much for me already. "Well, I'll be honored to take part in this endeavor. I needed a more stable job anyways." I turned toward the patient robot and addressed her. "Andrea, what can you do?"

"I am designed to maintain and run the factory, manage personnel, and handle all security measures" she said politely. In short, she was the brains and most of the muscle behind the operation.

"What kind of security are you capable of?" I asked.

"I am capable of both observation and execution. All my exterior and perimeter sensors have been disabled, but my interior sensors are fully active. My exterior defenses are also disabled, but I am still fully equipped with anti-personnel weaponry" she said, before extending one arm and holding it still. I watched as her arm, like her finger had before, split opened and parts twisted and flipped, revealing a heavy duty machine gun! Even a weapon from a century ago was still able to kill a man. This machine gun could rip a man to shreds in seconds.

As I sat there watching the impressive display, something occurred to me. Not only was this gynoid far more advanced than her age let on, but she was an excellent defense for the building as a whole. Imagine fending off any future attacks with a 7 foot beauty like this, I'm just glad she's on our side! I'm sure Joan would love to see her defensive capabilities, and I had to wonder what else she could offer us.

It also looks like Tom had more about his past than he let on as well. I was vaguely familiar with the name Pagmalion, but it never struck a bell before. I dimly recalled hearing about a company with a similar name spearheading modern robotics, but it was just ancient history. Something for the history books. I never expected the grandson and heir to the company that essentially started the craze for androids to be standing next to me. None the less, we stood there debating what our options were, when I decided it was time to make a move of sorts.

"Do you... uh... need those wires hooked up? I mean as long as the factory is on hold like this..." I asked.

"No. I am capable of mobility outside the facility to accommodate-"

"Perfect" I interrupted. "Disconnect and come with us."

"What are you doing?" Tom said. "She's delicate."

"Oh I doubt that, she looks like she can handle herself" I replied smugly.

"Well... what are you doing?" he asked again.

"Introducing her to the rest of the... family" I responded looking back at the enormous girl as she carefully unplugged each wire and cable from her body. I had never seen a robot as old as her look as human as she did. Sure she had no skin, at least nothing that looked like human skin on her, and she had a worn metallic sheen to her body that no human would possess, but her design and personality (except for the scary warrior princess part) were more natural than I expected.. I thought back to my broken old gynoid torso at home. I realized my unit was normal sized, much smaller than Andrea, but she must have come from this very facility to have a face that matched Andrea's. I wondered who owned her before and what was she built for? Maybe Andrea will know if I can ever get back to my apartment to retrieve her.

I led Andrea out into the sun. She faltered for a moment, putting a hand up to cover her eyes.

"Sensory input overload... adjusting... adjusting..." she said as she halted. Apparently she'd been in the dark so long, she had to adjust to regular daylight. It took her a few seconds, but she finally managed. Tom and Andrea followed me as I led a path back to the office area.

"Andrea, could you wait here for a moment?" I asked. She obeyed, standing stoic in the grass outside next to the dented up SUV. Tom came with me, leaving Andrea there alone. She seemed more interested in the damaged SUV than anything else. Sure the SUV still drove, and as long as the rightful owners didn't get home anytime soon, no one would know it wasn't ours or that we had to drive through a garage wall with it to save our lives.

Tom and I entered the door, but were not greeted by anyone, they were all too busy. 261 still sat with Tera and Jen, who were apparently finishing up their conversation. Jack and Joan were looking things up on his laptop, while Cynthia focused on busying herself with chores.

"Excuse me" Tom announced, clearing his throat. Everyone looked up from what they were doing at us. "I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I'd like to invite all of you to meet someone."

"Meet someone?" Cynthia asked.

"Did you go out on your own?" Joan asked, looking a little cross. "You know it's dangerous to wander around with Liberati's people about."

"No no, we didn't take a step off the property" I assured her. She still looked a little miffed, but much less agitated.

"Andrea, come inside and meet everyone" Tom said, waving to Andrea. She looked up from the damaged front of the truck and walked in. She had to duck slightly to get into the door. As she stood up straight, she towered over everyone in the room.

"Whoa..." Jen said. I think she summed up everyone's expressions into one work pretty nicely. They all stared at her unbelievingly.

"Tom? What is this?" Cynthia asked with concern in her voice.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Andrea, the newest... and oldest member of our... um... group" Tom said.

"Danny? Where did you find her?" Tera asked, looked up at her with awe.

"Have you ever been curious as to what the rest of this building had in it?" I asked. I answered without waiting for a response. "Well, it appears there's an old historic robot factory in there all sealed off. Andrea here was... well, in charge of it, before they shut it down and left her on standby."

"Unauthorized personnel present. Should I-" Andrea said looking at everyone.

"No!" Tom interjected. "No they are all new... uh... employees."

Tom walked in farther, and Andrea followed him gracefully. Everyone got up to approach and stood more or less next to each other to behold the tall gynoid.

"Danny" Jen whispered to me, "She’s enormous! Is she safe?"

"I think so" I answered loud enough to everyone to hear. "It appears Tom is the direct descendant of the man who built this place, and her. He inherited her, although he only just found her."

"Oh... ok" Jen said, half listening to me.

"Andrea" Tom projected, "This is my wife, and head of operations at the lab, Cynthia."

"Greetings. Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility, Mrs. Pagmalion." Andrea said, offering her hand. She didn't ask for a DNA sample, but she did shake Cynthia's hand with a gentle grasp.

"Um... Thank you" Cynthia said. Joan was standing next to her, so we went down the line introducing each person.

"Andrea, this is Joan, she'll be in charge of security operations." I said this time.

"Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility, Joan. Do you have a last name I may enter into your file?" Andrea asked.

"Umm... no. Well... I guess it's uh... Hawthorne?" she said looking toward me. I never really thought about it before. Since she was made by Tom and Cynthia she could use the name Pagmalion. However, since she was registered to me, making me her owner and master, she could use my name. She chose to use mine, so I shrugged back and nodded. I know, mixed message and all, but she understood. "Yes. Hawthorne."

"Joan Hawthorne. Please submit a DNA sample" Andrea requested. I didn't understand why she wanted a DNA sample from Joan but not from Cynthia.

"Um..." Joan said.

"She can't do that" I interjected. "She's the latest model gynoid from the M-" Tom jabbed his elbow into my ribs and shook his head. "-oof... umm... from the Pagmalion experimental... uh... labs." Tom nodded in approval.

"Understood. Please register your model and unit number." Andrea asked.

"Oh. Um... XKQT-114, Unit 260."

"Confirmed. Thank you for registering Miss Hawthorne" Andrea replied.

"Joan is fine."

"Of course. Joan" Andrea corrected. Jack stood next to Joan, and being Jack, introduced himself.

"Jack Ripper. Pleased to meet you" he said offering his hand to Andrea. "I must say I've never beheld a beauty like you before." Jen started giving him a cross look as he shook Andrea's hand, but he just ignored it.

"Jack's our new... Information Technology guru" I said. "He'll be in charge of the computer systems and the like."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ripper" Andrea said returning the greeting. I never did find out Jack's real last name, and I never bothered to ask. I suppose if he wanted us to know, he would have told us by now. "Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility, Mr. Ripper."

"Please call me Jack" he said... and I got the strange feeling he wanted to say a corny line like 'call me yours' or something... but Jen probably would have gutted him if he did.

"This here is Jen-"

"Jennifer Conroy, you can call me Jen" Jen replied.

"Conroy?" Tera asked silently.

"Yeah. I just go by Jen. Sorry if I never gave you my last name before. It's just a name." She had a good strong name, but didn't seem to think much about it. Not sure why. I never called her by her last name, so it had been a while since I referred to her by it.

"Jen will be our head of... research and development" I said, coming up with something I think she would be good at. She gave me a sort of 'sounds interesting' look.

"Welcome to the Pagmalion Incorporated fully automated robotics facility, Jen" Andrea repeated. She was definitely more robot than human, but it wasn't bad for a 50 year old machine. Again she didn't ask for a DNA sample. I suppose she probably required a sample only from her direct superiors.

"And this is Tera Hawthorne, my girlfriend" I said proudly. "She's... uh..." I couldn't think of a job title for her. She wasn't particularly skilled in technical stuff, but she was pretty good with people. "She's our customer service relations representative."

"Customer relations?" Tera asked.

"Yeah, I'll explain later" I said.

Andrea shook her hand and gave her the same greeting as everyone else, calling her Miss Hawthorne. Tera giggled at this, and didn't correct her. I think she got a kick out of being called that.

"She's also from the same line as Joan" I pointed out.

"Please register your model and unit number" Andrea requested.

"Oh. XKQT-114. Unit 263" Tera told her.

"Confirmed. Thank you for registering Miss Hawthorne." Tera giggled again. I could see Jen silently chuckled to herself while rolling her eyes.

"And this is?" Andrea asked, facing 261. 261 stood there silently, staring up at the female robot without any sign of fear or trepidation. She stood her ground, but remained silent.

"Um... we're still kind of figuring that one out" I said to myself.

"She's XKQT-114, Unit 261" Tom said. "We are still in the process of assigning her... position."

"Confirmed. Understood" Andrea said. With introductions complete, Andrea looked around the room, studying the layout, learning the changes. She walked toward the lab, the dorms, and even the unfinished room. Everyone else just watched and muttered to themselves.

"I don't understand where she came from" Tera said.

"She was locked up in an extended hibernation mode inside the other part of this building" Tom told her. "Andrea was the most advanced robot for her time. She's kind of like your ancestor."

"Ancestor?" Tera asked intrigued.

"Fascinating" Joan muttered to herself.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Jen asked.

"Positive" Tom answered. "She'll obey any command I give her. She was one of the first to be equipped with the old stricter 3 Laws algorithm."

"So she'll follow anyone's commands?" Jen asked.

"No, she'll only follow her superiors. That would be me, Danny, and Joan apparently."

Just then Andrea returned and walked toward Joan. Joan took half a step back, out of reaction I guess, but stood straight up to face her.

"I request an audience with you, Joan. As head of security, there are several issues I would like to discuss to increase the security in this facility."

"Uh..." Joan said, a little caught off-guard. "Sure." She looked around at everyone else. I shrugged at her and Tom nodded, so she faced Andrea again. "Sure. Let's talk over there" she said pointing to some seats in the corner away from the eating area.

The two of them sat down at a table, Andrea still a head taller than Joan, and started talking. I didn't get a chance to listen in to their conversation, since Tera pulled me aside.

"She's really something" Tera said, "but so is my sister, and it's your turn to talk with her." I was kind of regretting doing this. It made me nervous, but looking at 261, I realized she was far more nervous than I was. I took a deep breath and nodded to Tera.

"First help me out of this thing" I said, referring to my Exo suit, which was still on.

"Oh! Of course." She started helping me disconnect the various parts and unstrap it from me. She brought it over to an outlet near the kitchen and plugged it in to recharge before she returned smiling at me, doing a little dance step as she walked.

"Okay. Let's do this." I said. She kissed me on the cheek and led me over to the kitchen table. Cynthia and Tom started talking as well, clearly discussing Andrea, as they stepped outside. Jack sat back down to his laptop and started going over whatever it was he was going over, while Jen sat near him, but kept her attention on Andrea.

I sat at the table and gave Tera a smile as she went to fetch her timid sister. I knew she would be apprehensive about approaching me, so I tried to look as friendly as I could. I put on a great big smile and left my hands folded and in clear view on the table. Tera led her by the hand toward the table, and pulled out a chair for her. I looked between 261 and Tera, and for once, I could see a family resemblance between them. It was almost as if 261 was the bridge between Joan and Tera, who I didn't think looked that much alike. There was a definite progression in their appearance when the sisters were together.

261 at across from me looking down at the table, while Tera sat next to her, holding one of her hands in hers. I could easily see her nervousness and urge to hide, but she tried her best to repress those urges, and managed to look up at me every now and then.

"Feeling better today?" I asked her.

"... A little" she answered, head bowed.

"Good. I understand you want to talk with me about who you want to be your-"

"Yes" she interrupted. "Yes... I want to find out more about you... before I make a decision."

"Alright. Feel free to ask me anything you want" I said calmly.

"Umm... do you ever... yell at Tera or Joan?" she asked shyly.

"Never!" Tera said.

"I don't like to raise my voice at my friends" I replied after Tera. "But I can't say I never yell at all. However, I promise that I will not yell at you, or Joan, or Tera."

"Even if I did something that hurt you?" she asked.

"Why would you do something like that?"

"I... I still have the urge to follow out my commands" she said plainly. "Until I'm registered, I'll never fully be rid of them. Besides, I can choose to break the rules if... if I want."

"I won't yell at you" I said plainly. I wasn't sure I could keep that promise, but I could at least try.

"Even if I hurt Tera again?"

I looked between her and Tera. Tera gave me an unsure look, but 261 just stared down at the table never making direct eye contact.

"Even then" I answered.

"Okay" she replied, apparently satisfied. "Have you ever hurt Tera or Joan?"

"He'd never hurt us!" Tera objected.

"Never knowingly" I said. "Tera and Joan are among my closest friends, and I could never hurt a friend."

"Will you hurt me?" she asked.

"Of course not! Look at me" I ordered. She winced at my command, but looked up at my eyes. "I promise I will never do anything to knowingly hurt you or your sisters."

She remained staring at my eyes and blinked a few times. I kept my gaze serious, but not unfriendly. She was caught in my gaze, and nodded without looking away.

"Would you rape me?" she asked plainly and seriously.

"I am not those men" I answered. "I would never do such a thing to anyone. I would never do anything to you against your will, unless it was for your own good, and rape is never good."

"Promise?" Her green eyes were beginning to water up as she stared at me.

"I swear to you and your sisters that I will never yell at you, hurt you, rape you, or do anything to you that is bad. Tera loves you dearly. I could never do anything that would upset her, and hurting you would make her furious with me."

She caught a glimpse at Tera, who smiled at her, and then back at me. "I... I'm sorry to ask you such... messed up things"

"Don't be. Those men hurt you, and it will take time for you to fully recover from that. I will help you as much as you will let me, regardless of who you choose as your owner."

"Do you think Jen would still like me if I chose you over her?" she asked.

"Jen? Sure. She's my oldest friend. She and Tera get along great. I'm sure she'd still be friends with you if you let her."

"She does seem nice... really cool. I like her" she said looking down again. "Could you ever be... friends with me?"

"I'm sure we will" I said. "You've already opened up to me more than I expected." This actually made her blush, and I saw her grasp Tera's hand a little tighter.

"Are you mad at me for what I did?" she asked.

"I have to admit that you hurt Tera, and tried to hurt me" I said sitting back a little. "I want to be mad at you, but... I just can't. Tera has clearly already forgiven you, and you were clearly not yourself when you did those things. So... no. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Liberati and the men who did this to you."

"Liberati..." she muttered under her breath. "Will you stop him?" she asked loudly, looking me straight in the eye.

"I will do whatever I can to stop him, but I can only do it with your help."

"I..." she looked nervous again, but tried her best to control herself. "I don't think I can get near that place again."

"You don't need to. We just want you to help us figure out where he is, and how to get in and out. Can you do that?"

She nodded to me, and took another deep breath. "I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. We can't do this without you" I said. She blushed again, and smiled. She had a pretty smile, and I was sure I was going to see more of it.

"I'm... still trying my best to... not be scared of men. You are making it... too easy" she said with a smile. I laughed, and she looked a little startled at me reaction at first, but soon calmed down and actually giggled a little. Tera laughed with her a little.

"I'll do what I can to help you get over that. We aren't all bad" I said.

"I know... I just... get so nervous... I used to get abused and attacked every day at..." she started to say before she fell silent again. "Sorry. I felt so relieved when they wanted me to go out on my own to... hunt you" she said nervously. "I didn't want to hurt Tera, but I had no choice. I had to. Every day you avoided me was another day I could be away from the men who attacked me. I admit... I shot you so many times out of frustration for what they did to me. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you" I said. She visibly calmed, like a weight had been lifted off her chest.

"Thank you! It feels good to hear that." She was silent a short while before she asked me another question. "Why did you name my baby sis Tera?"

"Oh! Heh..." I wasn't sure where that came from, but I thought back to last weekend and why I came up with that name. "She was sick with a sort of virus, and had hacked into one of my broken robots to talk to me... and I was just so impressed with her ability to hack into systems like that... I guess I decided to name her something after a computer and 'Tera' came to mind because it was short of Terabyte, and I thought it sounded cute."

"And I love it!" Tera said.

"What about Joan?" 261 asked.

"Umm... well I got to chat with her for a little before I registered her. I learned that she was a fan of history, and historic figures. She recalled Cynthia teaching her, and she felt she had a strong connection with one important figure. So I decided to name her after Joan of Arc, because she was soldier and a leader for her people, much like how she was herself. She was trained as a soldier, and wanted to protect her sisters and friends."

"Joan of Arc... I remember that story" she said quietly. "What... would you name me?" she asked.

"I... uh... I haven't thought about it yet" I answered. "Probably something to do with your interests or specialty. Unless you really don't like that. Is there anything or anyone you are particularly interested in?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I remember I used to like... cowboys, the Wild West. I don't know anymore if I still like it. I used to imagine I was the fastest gunslinger... but that was just for fun. I never really... told anyone... before."

She really was opening up to me if she was telling me something about her pat she never told anyone before. I felt she was getting more comfortable around me. I knew she was going to get over this phobia, and I would do what I could to help her. Getting used to specific men and people she was already familiar with was one step. But being able to handle a complete stranger was a different matter entirely.

Tera seemed just as surprised at this revelation as me, and learned something new about her own sister. I got an idea. While I was never really into that stuff myself, I knew a little about it, and one name came to mind. 261 was a specialist in sniper shooting, and there was a famous Russian female sniper, Lyud-something... but I doubt she'd want to be named after someone who was famous for killing hundreds of people. There was only one other famous female gunslinger I knew of, and it worked perfectly with her old interest. I also thought it would help her feel a little more like her old self if she could associate with her old interests again. Who knows, she might start to act more like her old self again too.

"I've got the perfect name for you, and it's cute like you too." She blushed again, which was something I could never get enough of... making girls blush that is. "How about Annie... named after the famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley."

"Annie? It sounds so... cute..." she said. "Annie... I... hmm..." she thought about it for a while. "I'll have to think about it."

"Annie?" Tera repeated herself as if testing it.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?" I asked.

"Umm... well... I'm not sure. I just want to know I can trust you and be... comfortable around you. Do... do you want to ask me anything?"

"To be honest, I'm surprised you're considering me at all, when Jen would be an excellent master and a woman" I said.

"Yes... she would be... and she is. But I would ever get over this... fear... this hate that I feel inside me... if I didn't confront it. If I just avoided it, I'm afraid I'd get worse. I want to put this all behind me... I just want to be myself again! Besides... if Joan and Tera both like you... you can't be all that bad."

That was very sound logic for her. She recognized she had a problem, and she was doing her best to fix it. If only humans were so... logical.

"If you want to think it over, we'll wait for your answer" Tera said.

"I... I would like that. But... I'm afraid I have nothing to offer you."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well... I mean as a company. It seems dad wants to make this lab a company again... but I'm not good at all that stuff" 261 said.

"We'll think of something for you to do, while you decide. How about that?" I suggested.

"Sure!" she said. We all got up from the table, and 261 went off to the dorms to think while Tera and I went to join the others.

By now, Tom had shown Cynthia the rest of the building, the hidden lab he couldn't access before, and all the goodies within. The place would be little use to us as is, if he was serious about making this a company, but who knows, it could be fixed up. Jen and Jack had started discussing something looking at his laptop, while Joan was still deep in discussion with Andrea.

"So what do you think?" I asked Tera.

"About what?" she replied.

"Who will she choose?"

"I'm not sure... but I think she's leaning toward you actually. She chatted a lot with Jen, but it was mostly small talk, little things. But she asked you some real serious stuff back there. I think she's serious about trying to break this phobia... and she means to use you to help her" she answered.

"Perhaps you're right. Do you think she'll ever be the same again?"

"I... I doubt it" she said sadly. "She's so different from how she used to be. She used to be the life of the family. She'd be telling all the jokes, and was always getting into trouble all the time. She was loud and funny and fun, but now... she's so timid. She's like a completely different person altogether. I... I don't know if she'll ever get that old spark back."

Tera seemed to be on the verge of crying, not a loud sobbing cry, but a silent reserved one. Her eyes watered for her lost past, and her damaged sister. I put my arm around her to comfort her, and it worked. She leaned into me and sighed.

"Let's find out what everyone else is up to" I suggested. She nodded and gave my hand a kiss before walking in front of me in more of a dance than a walk. She was still bubbly and cute, and still danced to her own beat.

We sat down with the others to discuss everything that was going on. Apparently Andrea had some excellent ideas for security, and was quick to learn new things and update her database. She probably needed maintenance that she hadn't seen in years, and so Tom took her into the new labs to work on her. Cynthia was discussing with Jen and Joan what they could do with the new space that we uncovered. It sounded to me like they were planning to use it to build a new facility and re-launch the Pagmalion brand again. Jack was deep in thought staring at his screen. Tera joined the girls while I talked with Jack.

"What're you looking at?' I asked him.

"You" he said. "And Tera and Joan of course."

"What?"

"Take a look at the footage." He twisted his laptop to face me, and on it was a new update showing a security camera feed from the ice cream parlor. There was Diane, the gunwoman, and the 3 of us. I watched as Tera pushed the little girl into the arms of her mother and quickly shoved the gun toward the ceiling as it went off. They never got a clear look at Tera's face, but Joan and I were clearly visible.

"Holy... I should have known..."

"I wish I knew about this sooner" he said. 'Then again, having power and internet would have helped too. I might have been able to do something about this."

"Anyone link it to Exo yet?"

"No. It seems there have been some Exo copycats though... but most of them have been petty crooks using your look to rob stores. No one believes them... and most of them have been caught."

"Typical. Try to do something to help and all the rats come out of the woodwork to take advantage of you" I said bitterly.

"Most people think you are a hero. There's even a small fan club starting up" he said.

"What!?"

"Seriously. They are starting to look up to you for fighting the blatant crime in this city. Liberati is a small fry mobster nowadays, but with so many muggings and attacks, you are the first person to fight back."

"Really? What have the police been doing all this time?" I asked.

"Simple. Staying out of the way, or doing their best when they think they have a chance. They are calling you both a menace and a hero. In fact, they want you for questioning in that ice cream parlor incident."

"Really?"

"If they haven't been to your place yet, I'm sure they will be."

"I have nothing to hide there... as long as Tera is with me. You would be a different story I'm sure."

"Oh don't worry about me, Danny-boy" he said smugly. "My secrets hide themselves."

I looked at him with a 'are you serous' look, but he just flashed his shiny grin at me. "So what do you suggest we do about this?" I asked.

"Well... it's too late to change the information; half the city has probably seen your face by now. Not to mention with one metallic arm, Joan sticks out like a sore thumb."

"Well I'm no big name guy. I doubt anyone even has me on record. Can you maybe help brush this one under the carpet, so to speak? Maybe we can start getting some more positive stuff with Exo out there after all this is over."

"I see what you're saying" Jack said, winking his eye. "Play the media. Let them do what they do best, move onto a more interesting story. That I can do! I can even take them off the trial by bringing up cyborg rights issues."

"What?"

"No one knows Joan isn't human. If they think her rights as a cyborg with an artificial arm are at risk for unwanted media attention, we could change the discussion and lead the media in a whole new direction."

"Good idea. Meanwhile, if Joan wants to continue to help me... she’ll need something to hide her identity" I suggested.

"Forgive me but... I don't think your hat would look good on her."

"We'll figure something out." Jack started tying away and doing his thing, while I left him to take care of it. I decided to join in the discussion of what to do next, and what to do with the rest of the building.

It was sometime in the late afternoon when we finally saw 261 emerge from Joan's bedroom. She was apparently hungry, and without a word she went straight to the kitchen and started to munch on some snacks we unpacked and put away. Tom saw her from the lab where he was still working on Andrea, and followed her. Everyone slowly stopped talking and watched her as she sat there eating an apple.

"What?" she asked. "I'm hungry."

"We were just wondering how you're coming" Cynthia said.

261 kept eating her apple, one large bite at a time, until there as nothing left but a sliver of a core. We all waited patiently for her to answer, but she took her time until she was ready to answer. Finally, she tossed the apple into the trash across the room, a perfect aim, and took a breath with her eyes closed. As she opened her eyes, she looked at us and spoke...

"I've decided." She held for a moment for I assume dramatic interest. "I would be honored if Danny would be my new master."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. As much as I like Jen, I can't bear the thought of being separated from my sisters again. Since you currently own 2 of them, I want you to take me as well. Plus, I think I can get the most out of a relationship with a man than with a woman."

"Relationship?" I asked.

"I still want to be friends with you Jen" she added. "I really enjoyed our talk, and I hope there are no hard feelings."

"No, none at all. Danny will make a great master, and I'll be glad to be your friend, kiddo" Jen answered.

Tera skipped up to 261 and gave her a hug, while Joan sauntered up and rubbed her short black hair till it was messy. 261 beamed and basked in the attention. Maybe a little of her old personality was shining through. Who knows, she might just become her old self again with time.

"So... uh..." 261 started saying, "how do we do this?"



261 and I sat down in the bedroom Tera and I have been using, while Tera stood behind. We wanted as much privacy as possible, just for comfort's sake really. I really hoped I didn't need to have sex with her just to register her like I did with Tera and Joan. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, but I was sure 261 wasn't ready for that kind of interaction. Tera was there not only to help comfort her sister, but also to help us break the link between her and Liberati, and to help with the registration if we needed it. 261 sat on the bed silent and reserved, while I sat on a chair facing her.

"Are you sure?" I asked her one last time. She nodded and breathed heavily. "Ready?"

"Now or never" she said.

"I nodded to Tera, who unzipped the tight zipper on her sister's collar, and lifted the flap, revealing her access panel. With a click, she connected her own Thunderbolt port into her sister's collar, and closed her eyes.

As Tera opened her eyes again, they started glowing blue, fading in and out, as they normally did when she was connected to something. 261's eyes did the same thing, glowing green, her own eye color, in time with Tera's eyes as she was accessed by her baby sister. When Tera had done this with Joan, she had to fight her the whole time, bypassing her defenses to allow her to break the registration she had with Liberati. It was a huge strain on Tera then, and she drained most of her considerable energy to maintain her control over her sister and finally snap that connection. However, this time, she didn't have nearly the amount of trouble getting into 261.

"How are you feeling, Tera?" I asked.

"She's... letting me right in. Much easier than with Joan" she answered.

"How about you?" I asked 261.

She looked at me and blinked. "It feels weird. She's... in my head... I want to push her out but... I can't bear to hurt her anymore." She looked troubled, like someone going to the dentist, and she was clearly fighting her own urges to fight back.

"I think the registration was damaged when she was attacked" Tera explained. "She's able to control her urges to attack back. Relax, this will feel weird, and you might black out for a bit" she said gently to her sister.

"Black out?" 261 said worried with a hint of panic in her voice.

Suddenly, their eyes glowed brighter together, and 261 froze in place for a moment. Her eyes unfocused and she sat up straight, staring blankly ahead with glowing green eyes.

"Registration cleared. New registry applied. Rebooting..." 261 sounded much like Joan had when I registered her. "Rebooting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

Tera's eyes dimmed back down to her natural eyes, and she blinked and looked at me, and then her sister, pulling the Thunderbolt cord out of her collar. 261 closed her eyes and slouched and remained still and unconscious for several seconds.

"Let me help you with that" I said, taking the cable from Tera's hand and retracting the cord back into her neck. She smiled as I helped her out; looking at me with a look I had never seen from her before. Usually she looked at me with awe, lust, affection, or even friendship. But this look was something deeper. It was full to the brim of all of the above, and more. It was a look that screamed love, and I was slightly taken back by it. I smiled back, not nearly as deeply as she did, and closed the panel on her neck, watching the blue light hide the seam from view.

Suddenly, 261 started to slowly sit upright again, and opened her eyes, which began to glow green again, focusing them on me. "Good Evening" Unit 261 said. "Detecting new data. Loading data." She sounded mechanical, much like an old automated phone system, exactly like Joan did when she was booting up. The whole thing screamed Deja Vu.

"I am XKQT-114 unit 261, battle-ready prototype gynoid. Thank you for registering me master. Preloaded user specs detected. What is my name?"

Once again Tera had loaded her up with all the specifications I gave her the first time I registered her. It definitely made this an easier process.

"Annie" I told her.

"Annie. A-N-N-I-E?" she asked.

"Yes" I answered.

"Confirmed. Name registered. My name is Annie, and I am ready to assist you. What can I do for you today, master? Master!?"

Her eyes stopped glowing, and returned to their regular state. She apparently already restarted her personality, and was questioning herself calling me 'master'.

"You only need to call me master when you feel like it, but not in public. Just call me Danny, or Exo if I have on my Exo suit."

"Exo? Exo suit? Oh... that exo-skeleton suit thing I saw you wearing. That's what you call yourself?" Annie asked.

"What? The media seems to like it. They came up with it."

"Oh... well... ok. I can do that" Annie said.

"How are you feeling?" Tera asked.

"Mmm... pretty good actually. I... I feel... complete. Like something was missing before, something I didn't realize. I don't have that nagging urge to hurt anyone anymore. I..." she started to tear up, but just sniffed and wiped away the tears. "I feel wanted."

Tera gave her a hug and she hugged back. Something must have snapped inside her, because she started crying much harder into her sister's shoulder, letting out all the frustration she had deep inside until now.

"Thank you" Annie whispered to Tera. "Thanks for everything. And thank you too Danny" she said to me, looking at me from over her sister's shoulder as they hugged. "I mean... master."

"You're welcome" I said, and got up to leave the room, and let the two sisters have some time alone. Before I could get anywhere, Annie shot her hand out to me and grabbed my wrist.

"Don't go" she said. "I don't know if I'm comfortable hugging you yet, but just don't go." I nodded and sat back down. She hugged her sister a little while longer and squeezed my hand tightly.

"Feeling better?" Tera asked as she broke the hug.

Annie nodded. "Yes, much. Could I... have some time alone with... master?"

Tera gave her an inquisitive look, but smiled and nodded, before looking back to me with a smile. She got up and left the room. "I'll be right here if you need me" she said before closing the door.

"I... wanted to thank you" she said "but I'm still nervous."

"You don't need to do anything you aren't comfortable with."

"Both Joan and Tera already had s-... made love to you... shouldn't I s-... serve you also?"

"It isn't like that. And no. In fact, I insist that you don't do anything like that unless we are both willing and ready. You have a lot more healing to do, and that will probably not help. You are not my slave."

"I know..." she said. "I... I don't know. I don't know what I want. I... I wish none of this ever happened."

"But unfortunately it did. However, now you have me to help, and I'll do what I can to help you and your sisters out."

"262 is still in there... I want to get her out. But... I feel so relieved that I am finally out of that nightmare. I feel like I just woke up from a long bad dream, but now everything is different." She sat there nervously, looking up at me every so often. "I... I still want to thank you for getting me out of that."

"You just did. And you're welcome, Annie. Now get out there and go talk with your sisters" I said. She stood up, but hesitated again. Abruptly, she threw her arms around me and embraced me in an extremely tight hug. It was very tight, and I had a hard time breathing. She sat across my lap while she hugged me, and I felt how light and soft she really was. She was smaller than her sisters, and had that certain appeal and sexiness that would drive most men crazy. I resisted as best as I could, but did gently return the hug.

"I promise one of these days I'll make it up to you properly" she whispered in my ear. "Be gentle" she said when she felt my arms touch her sides in a hug. I made sure my hug was not tight as she clung to me. She stayed that way for several minutes, slowly letting her hug loosen as she got more comfortable and used to me. She was so nervous at first; she risked hugging me to death.

"I'm sorry I can't do more than this... m... master" she whispered softly. "Please help me."

"You have my word I will do everything I can to help you, and to help your sisters" I whispered back. She finally broke the hug and smiled at me, before she got nervous again, and stood up. Annie took another deep breath and prepared herself mentally for entering the world again, no longer as 261 the sniper, but this time as Annie the girl.

She opened the door wide, and beheld both Joan and Tera standing eagerly on the other side. Behind them Cynthia and Tom were standing, waiting with bated anticipation for their second oldest daughter to officially return to them. Jen and Jack were standing nearby as well, with smiles on their faces. Her family greeted her, and hugged her, and laughed and talked with her. She turned around, and held out her hand toward me. I stood up, took her hand, and joined in the celebration. She was finally home, and had her family back, with a few more members as well.


------
/Chapter 24
Chapter 25 here.

[liliwinnt6]

Hmmm...

[gynoneko]

I that a good "Hmmm..."?

[liliwinnt6]

I mean that is a nice continue.