Lina, Part 4

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Lina, Part 4

Post by DukeNukem 2417 » Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:23 pm

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Had to do a few last minute edits to this one before posting....but here it is!
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Of all the things I'd thought I'd be doing over the course of the day, the prospect of driving to my uncle Frank's shop with my gynoid girlfriend (who was the one doing the actual driving) and her former owner—who just so happened to be a gynoid herself—in the backseat of said former owner's car wasn't high on the list.

And yet....

“We should be there in a few minutes,” Lina stated, more to calm Lucy down than anything else. “You holding up okay back there?”

“....well, I can't get too pissed off about this fucking tablet,” Lucy—or rather, her voice—replied, from the tablet resting atop the motionless figure of her soon-to-be new body. “Kind of miss having actual limbs, at the moment, but other than that, no problems.”

“Glad to hear it. Matt?”

“....I'm good.”

Given the fact that I was leaning back in the front passenger's seat, trying not to reflect too deeply on the various forms of high strangeness I'd been seeing all day—or, for that matter, all week—it didn't take Lina too long to figure out that I was sugarcoating things. “....you don't sound good.”

“Yeah, well....” I tried to chuckle, but it sounded more like a cough. “....given the circumstances....”

I already fucking said I was fucking sorry for fucking trying to fucking fuck you, okay?

Now, I did chuckle. “You sure you're not still infected, Lucy?”

“She always swears that much,” Lina admitted, giggling.

Nobody's had a problem with it before today....I mean, I'm pretty sure Audrey swore that much, when she was alive, since she was in near fucking constant pain, in those days....” Lucy (or her self-projection on the tablet, at least) rolled her eyes. “Guess she put more of herself into my coding than she thought.”

“I guess that makes sense....though I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing of the Institute considering transferring her consciousness into a gynoid body. You're telling me that's actually possible?”

It's been in the works since the 80s....pretty sure a few people tried back then, but it never really got off the ground.”

“Transferrence-types have been a really big deal over the last few years, too,” Lina added. “A lot of people kicked up a fuss over it, said it was 'blasphemy', or something like that, but for people with incurable conditions, it may be the last hope for them to ever have a normal life.”

“....'transferrence-types'?” The echo effect, again.

Lina pressed a button by the steering wheel, and the car turned the corner by itself while she turned to face me. “Well, there are plenty of types of androids and gynoids out there,” she explained, counting them off on her fingers. “You've got domestic, companion, public service, law enforcement, educational, military, entertainment, pleasure, industrial, maintenance...”

You forgot sexbot,” Lucy muttered

“That overlaps with the pleasure category,” Lina stated—casually, like she was talking about a brand of shoes.

“....and which of those would you qualify as?”

“Like I told you at the party, I'm not really made to fulfill a specific function. I've got programming suites for domestic tasks, and being with you pretty much fits the bill for 'companion'...and before someone decides to bring it up, you've already...experienced...my sexual programming—”

I still think it's weird you went anal for the first one.”

LUCY!

“....anyway.” I checked the rear-view mirror, more out of habit than anything else. “So you're....what, multi-type, or an all-purpose type?”

“You can use either term,” Lina replied, grinning. “Also, I'm surprised Lucy wasn't set up as a sleeper—”

“What, like in the Bourne movies?”

Lina frowned. “....not quite. A sleeper android or gynoid is one that doesn't know they're an android or gynoid.”

“....why wouldn't they know?”

Plenty of reasons, dipshit. They could've been transferred after a traumatic accident, they might be living somewhere run by assholes who don't consider androids as people, they might be part of some really complicated experiment or some shit like that....”

“I get the picture.” I glanced out the window, watching the scenery go by as the car made another turn.

Speaking of getting, or not getting....you're sure your uncle won't have a problem with just letting us set up and do the transfer at his place?

“If we explain the situation, I'm pretty sure he won't have a problem with it—and if he figures out the whole thing with Lina and the phone, we'll explain that, too.” I shrugged. “He won't fly off the handle and throw us out, or anything like that....at least, I don't think he will. I mean, he didn't have a problem with me going on the forum for so long.”

Yeah, but all that's just imagination and Photoshop. Lina and I....”

Whatever Lucy said next, I didn't really pay attention to; I'd checked the rear-view mirror, just to save Lina the trouble of having to look away from the road...and that stupid black Suburban was behind us. On the plus side, it wasn't riding the bumper; on the downside, it was, in fact, following us.

“....Matt?”

“Yeah?”

Even with her eyes on the road, I could tell Lina was concerned. “You look...worried.”

“....just thought I saw something weird on the side of the road, is all.” I have no idea why I didn't just fess up, then and there, about having seen the black Suburban already. “Maybe it was nothing.”

In the fucking rear-view mirror?

“Lucy...” Lina shook her head. “Whatever it was, it probably won't be a problem.”

As much as I appreciated Lina's positive thinking, the black Suburban was “a problem” all through the drive. Every time I thought it'd turned off on a side road or something, or that we'd managed to lose it, we'd turn a corner and bam. It'd be right on our asses again. I couldn't tell how many people were in the thing, thanks to the stupid tinted windows, and I wasn't about to tell Lina that I thought someone was following us.

After about five minutes of driving, though, I'd had enough.

“Can we stop at a gas station?”

What for?” Apparently, Lucy was getting more and more bored of the trip with every passing minute.

“Snack break, piss break....maybe fill the car....”

This car runs on hydrogen, not shitty fucking gasoline.” I could hear the snark in Lucy's tone. “Don't you watch the fucking news?

“Not since 2015....” I'd heard of hydrogen as fuel becoming a big deal, at some point in...2017, maybe, but I hadn't really put any stock into it—at the time, I'd thought of it as a niche market, like electric cars. “Also, my brother's car still runs on gasoline, so—”

Then your brother is driving a shitbox. Hydrogen fuel systems became mandatory across the board earlier this year.

“...really....” I was starting to regret my decision to ignore the news. “Guess he'll need to either convert or trade it in...”

“We'll stop for a few snacks and a bathroom break,” Lina stated, ending the argument between Lucy and I before it could begin. “If they have a hydrogen filling station, we can use that.” She grinned.

“....can't really argue with that plan...” I checked the rear-view again—yep. Still there. “I haven't had dinner yet...”

And that's our problem....why?

“Well, you called Lina and me out to your place way before I had a chance to figure out what I'd want for dinner.....”

A few minutes later, Lina guided the car to a stop at a fuel station. Lo and behold, the three gasoline pumps I'd expected were gone, with new units in their place that had some kind of locking mechanism on the end of the dispensers. Lina didn't bother trying not to grin as she pulled up alongside one of the pumps. “I'll set it to fill,” she stated—more for Lucy's benefit than mine. “And then we'll get something for Matt to eat.”

“...fine.

Lina and I got out of the car, with Lina moving to the dispenser and locking it in place where it connected to the car's tank. “Safety reasons,” she explained. “I'm surprised you hadn't heard about hydrogen fuel before...”

“I saw maybe one thing on Top Gear about it....the rest of the time, I was busy with work or family issues.” A vague memory of Fenton yelling about fuel shortages and some international conspiracy over the cost of oil during Easter the previous year came to mind, but quickly faded.

“Well, now you know.” Lina shrugged. “You go find something to eat...I'll watch the pump.”

“Right, right...” I headed into the actual store part of the gas station to find something that might approximate a meal.

The thought that I'd have to call the place a “filling station” briefly surfaced....

...only to be replaced by the revelation that the place was a lot....brighter, than I expected.

The girl behind the counter didn't seem to notice me before the door opened, but sat up and turned to regard me as soon as the bell chimed. “Hi! Need any help finding anything?”

“....no, I'm good, I'm...good.” I gave a quick, polite wave as I made my way down the aisles; once my phone was out of my pocket, I scrolled to FCon, opened it...three gynoids in the immediate area. I glanced over at the checkout girl; her hair was a sort of pinkish red, and her skin had a faint sheen going. I wondered, for a second or so, if her greeting to me was nothing but a pre-programmed phrase, a sound-byte queued up to play for any customer who walked in...

After a few seconds of this, I realized I was overthinking it. I was here to buy food and go take a piss, not to wander the floor and wax philosophical. With my aimless mental wandering done, I headed for the bathroom.

Once that issue was handled, it was back to the task of finding a quick dinner. A bag of chips, a shrink-wrapped sandwich from the cold food section and a bottle of lemonade made up the “menu” for my impromptu meal; the girl behind the counter once again looked somewhat bored until I approached, perking up to accept my card and cheerfully bid that I “have a nice day”.

“That didn't take long,” Lina mused, once I got back in the car. “Everything okay?”

I nodded. “....the girl behind the counter....ah...”

Lina arched an eyebrow. “A gynoid?”

“FCon confirmed it. That, and she had kind of pink hair...and her skin was kind of shiny...”

Mass-market, probably. Retail jobs tend to use a lot more of them...even places as simple as a filling station.

“Right....you, ah, don't have a problem if I eat in the car, do you?”

Just try not to make a mess or anything...it's a fucking pain in the ass to clean this car.” I could tell Lucy was already bored with our stopover; I glanced at Lina, but she just shrugged. At the very least, when we left the station, there was no sign of the stupid black Suburban that had been following us—one less problem to worry about, on the way to Uncle Frank's. The conversation was light, and apart from Lucy being perpetually pissed off, the overall mood in the car was copacetic, as well.

Around twenty minutes later, the car lurched to a stop. “....we're here,” Lina declared, turning to glance at Lucy's inert body in the backseat. “I think Matt and I should go up, first, to explain the situation...then we can come back and get you out of the car to bring you in.”

Fine....Just don't leave me sitting here too long.

Lina turned and gave me a thumbs-up, with that winning smile of hers added for good measure. I just chuckled, clicking open the seatbelt fastener and following her to the front door of the shop.

“....Uncle Frank?” I knocked on the door a few times, hoping he wasn't taking a nap. “....uncle Frank, it's me, Matt!”

I heard someone stirring inside; past the various neon signs, movie posters and arcade flyers tacked up in the windows, I could barely see someone moving. Lina and I exchanged looks—both of us were, admittedly, a bit nervous (after all, how often does one have to explain the mechanics of gynoid A.I. trasnference to a relative?), but still calm.

The door opened, revealing Uncle Frank in his usual work attire. “...oh, hey, Matt! And the lovely Lina...”

I nodded. “We, ah, have a bit of a job for you...not so much a job, but a request..”

Lina gestured to the car behind us. “We have something that needs to be setup in your shop,” she explained. “Can we, ah, borrow the facilities for a while?”

“....well, now, that all depends on what kind of something you're talking about...” Uncle Frank shuffled past, making his way over to the car. Lina's eyes widened, but I just shrugged; neither of us could think of anything to say to get him to not examine the backseat.

“....you two sure you didn't take a wrong turn somewhere? This girl looks like she needs to go to the hospital!”

I glanced at Lina. “You want to tell him, or should I?”

“One of us has to,” she replied, sighing. “I'll—”

At that moment, Lucy spoke up—from the tablet—and made the decision for us. “This 'girl' needs a secure WiFi setup for an hour or so, pal, and if you don't let us use your fucking shop, we'll just go down the the fucking library!

Uncle Frank seemed surprised. “...you, ah, wanna run that by me again?”

“It's, ah....complicated...” I jogged over to meet Uncle Frank at the rear passenger door of the car. “....this—the girl on the tablet and the, ah, girl in the backseat—is Lucy...one's her A.I., the other is...”

“My soon-to-be new body, if we can get this shit over with.”

After glancing at me, Lucy and Lina (who'd walked up to stand next to me), Uncle Frank nodded. “....right, right, I, ah, think I get the picture now.” He stepped aside for Lina to open the door and heft Lucy out. “....just bring her on inside and set her down on the work table—the one without anything on it.” He nodded again as Lina carried Lucy's new body into the shop, muttering all the while. “...all these years, never thought I'd....” He seemed to catch himself, noticing that I was still standing by the car. “....ah, you might want to close the door and lock the car up...don't want anyone to walk on by and, ah...” He made an exaggerated steering motion with both hands.

“Yeah, sure, ah, no problem...” I climbed into the backseat, leaning over the back of the front passenger seat to relock the doors from the front before backing out and closing the rear passenger door. “Shall we?”

I followed Uncle Frank into the shop, taking a minute to glance at the various posters, knick-knacks and collectibles that decorated the shelves and such. Uncle Frank, for his part, was a lot more...reserved, I guess the term would be, than usual. Once he saw Lina setting Lucy up on the table, it seemed like he couldn't (or wouldn't) stop muttering under his breath, nodding and circling the table, only occasionally seeming to notice Lina as he passed.

After a good two minutes of this, he stopped on the opposite side of the table from Lina, clapping his hands together and cracking his knuckles. “....so. What, exactly, are we about to do here?”

“Lucy needs a secure network to transfer her A.I. from the tablet to her new body,” Lina explained. “There was...an incident, at her house, and the network there isn't secure enough for the transfer process, so Matt suggested we bring her out here to use your network.”

“She's not still affected by what happened at her place,” I added.

“Right, right....” Uncle Frank took a few steps towards the far end of the table, absentmindedly stroking Lucy's hair.

“......so this is what you meant, Audrey,” he muttered. “They pulled it off after all...”

Lina gave him a bit of the side-eye, at that remark, but said nothing.

“Assuming nobody has any further questions....” I glanced at Uncle Frank, who merely shrugged. “As of right now we need to transfer Lucy from that tablet she's in...or her A.I. is in, or whatever, to her new body, otherwise....” I paused. “....actually, do we have to transfer you?”

Oh, no, I'll be able to do all my Institute work just fine from a fucking tablet—YES, YOU FUCKING HAVE TO FUCKING TRANSFER ME, YOU FUCKING ASSWIPE!

“All right, all right!” Uncle Frank glared at the tablet. “No more talk like that in here, otherwise nobody is getting any kind of transfer!” He took a deep breath, nodding. “Exactly how long is this gonna take?”

“An hour,” Lina replied, “maybe longer...if we don't have any interruptions, it might be done in fifty minutes.”

“And you can, ah, set this up without any help from me?”

“We'll need your WiFi password, but other than that....”

Uncle Frank gave the tablet one last look, before nodding. “....all right. It's, ah....” He leaned in and whispered to Lina, who nodded. “...and you forget I ever told you that, got it?”

“Got it.”

With that, Lina went to work setting up the tablet on the shop's WiFi network. I would've asked if I could do anything to help, but Uncle Frank took me aside. “....so, you knew Lucy was a, ah....”

“Gynoid. Lifelike humanoid female robot—believe me, it was as big a surprise to me as it is to you!”

“I'll bet...” Uncle Frank chuckled. “So she's just like all those robot girls you're always lookin' at on the forum.”

“Yes, Uncle Frank.”

“....and Lina?”

Before I could answer, a chime went off. “Security sensor...someone just drove into the parking lot....” He glanced around the shop, his attention settling on a security monitor that was placed, seemingly at random, on a nearby shelf at eye-level. “....well so much for it being a slow work day today...first you and the girls, now this. My money's on them needing to have a console fixed, or something with a remote controlled car...”

I turned to glance at the monitor—and felt a very familiar shiver of paranoia run up my spine. Lo and behold, it was the damn stupid black Suburban. The same one that had driven laps around my block and gone up and down my street, in the two days before Lina had moved in with me.

“...I think you might want to cancel that bet, Uncle Frank. Whoever's in that car...I don't think they're here for business.”

“You want me to send 'em on their way?” Uncle Frank offered. “I can give 'em the old Win A Freebie routine, tell 'em they've shown up just in time to walk outta here with a free pinball table...” He jerked a thumb at the far end of the shop, where about fifteen pinball tables were lined up, waiting to be worked on. “And all they'd have to do is spend about fifty minutes filling out a nice, long questionnaire!”

“Well, nobody's gonna have to worry about anything,” Uncle Frank assured me. “I'll head 'em off at the front door, you and Lina can keep watch over Audrey—”

“Her name's Lucy, Uncle Frank....are you sure you can take care of this on your own? What if they're—”

I stopped myself, doing a double-take at the monitor. Three women had just exited the Suburban, and each of them bore a remarkable resemblance to an actress I'd seen in the videos promoted, funded and (in some cases) created by members of the forum...but there was a distinct coldness to these three.

Two of them—a blonde and a redhead—were about the same height, and of the same build, with very little to tell them apart; one of them may have had slightly bigger boobs than the other, but it was impossible to tell from a distance, since they were both wearing weird jumpsuits that looked like they were made out of....vinyl, probably, or maybe pleather or just plain latex. The third woman—a redhead, like the second one out of the van—was shorter than the first two, but with a far curvier figure—and much bigger boobs. All three had an eerie, detached calm to them as they approached the front door....

….and sure enough, the phone in my pocket went off just as one of them started knocking. I pulled it out, tapped the screen, and proceeded to feel the rather bizarre simultaneous sensation of my blood going cold and my, ah, appreciation for the artificial female form growing as I beheld the FCon notice: Five gynoids in the immediate vicinity.

“Five?” Uncle Frank frowned, leaning in. “Lucy I get, and then there are those three at the door....but that's just four—”

“Everything okay?” Lina had walked over to where Uncle Frank and I were talking, noticing him looking tense and me looking...bored, more than anything else.

“....I, ah, just told Uncle Frank about Lucy....and he has a question he wants to ask you.” I nudged him lightly in the side, and he stepped up, giving a slight cough. “I was, ah.....well, I was wondering...seeing as how, well, Lucy is a....” He glanced over his shoulder at me, and I mouthed the word “gynoid”. “...ah, gynoid.....I was just wondering...well.

“If I'm one?” Lina finished, nodding.. “I am.”

“Right, right....” Uncle Frank nodded. “I dunno if it's rude to ask that kind of thing, or anything, but...well, I've seen some of those pictures he looks at—” I groaned, but he continued. “...women with their faces off, all that stuff....”

“And you never expected to see it in-person,” Lina finished.

“....well, yeah.”

“...just don't tell anyone you've seen me do this, okay?” Lina pulled her shirt up, stopping short of taking it all the way off, and traced a line from her navel to just below her breasts. As Uncle Frank and I watched, a seam appeared below her finger, forming a distinct line that actually seemed to deepen after a few seconds of her not touching it. With a wink, she reached at the edges of the line, gently tugging in either direction...

...and, as Uncle Frank and I watched—both fascinated (and, in my case, turned on beyond all belief), she pulled the synthetic skin of her abdomen away, revealing wires, servomotors, gel packs (including a pair attached to the insides of the artificial flesh she'd just peeled away), some kind of compact microcomputer assembly housed deep in her torso and a sort of polymer bag with tubes going up (towards her head) and down (towards...well, the other end, obviously). She shifted her weight from side to side, allowing us to see the movement of her internal servos.

After a few seconds of silently displaying her internals, she gently maneuvered the “skin” back into place, running her finger over the join where they connected. The line reappeared, this time fading after a few seconds.

“Well?”

“Impressive,” Uncle Frank muttered. “Very nice....and you're....”

“A home-build,” Lina replied. “Lucy wrote my A.I. and built my body.” Something about the casual way she'd said this, as if she were describing where she'd bought her clothes, was simultaneously hilarious and weirdly calming.

“.....right...”

“And you don't have a problem with the fact that Matt and I are...together?”

“...well, ah, that thing about 'realistic expectations'....” Uncle Frank couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to cup his chin in one hand or rub the back of his head, so he ended up doing both, which looked about as awkward as one would expect. “....didn't really think this would happen, back when I first told you that whole spiel...” He glanced at me, looking more than a bit sheepish. “No hard feelings there, eh, Matt?”

I chuckled. “None taken, Uncle Frank.”

“And I, ah....I don't have a problem with you two...being with each other, either,” he added. “You, ahh...planning to tie the knot, any time soon?”

“I was thinking....three or four months.” Lina shrugged. “If Matt doesn't have a problem with it—”

“I don't,” I blurted out, more than a bit surprised that she was so open to the idea, especially so soon. “I really, really don't.”

“...so you two are really in it,” Uncle Frank mused. “Full-blown L-O-V-E, then....” He regarded Lina with a particularly furitive glance. “...I apologize in advance if I sound like a skeptic, but...you're completely positive that it's not just the programming talking?”

“Matt made it clear that he's with me because he wants to be with me,” Lina replied; I could feel her hand brush against mine. “And, obviously, I've made it abundantly clear that I'm with him because I want to be with him. Lucy would never have signed off on us being together if it wasn't for that...it's definitely a mutual thing, between us.”

I nodded my agreement, taking hold of her hand and grinning. “It's not about ownership or anything like that.”

“Matt definitely made that point clear.” Lina smiled and gently squeezed my hand. “Which I'm perfectly okay with.”

Uncle Frank regarded the pair of us, nodding his approval. “Well, I, ah...didn't really have a contingency plan for my own godson agreeing to spend his life with a robot girl...” He stopped himself. “....do you, ah, prefer the term 'gynoid', or is it okay if I say 'robot girl' instead?”

Any prick can put tits on a tin can and call it a 'robot',” Lucy called out from the table. “I personally prefer 'gynoid'.”

Lina rolled her eyes. “'Robot girl' is fine, and 'android' can be used to refer to both male and female humanoid robots, but the general consensus is that 'gynoid' works better for just the females.” She shrugged, letting go of my hand in the process. “As long as I'm being referred to as 'she' and 'her', and not 'it', I'm fine.”

“Oh, you are far more than just an 'it',” Uncle Frank assured her. “I could never imagine you as an 'it'...you're just too beautiful to be an 'it'!”

“...pretty sure that's a compliment,” I added.

Lina hugged us both in quick succession. “Thanks again for letting us use your shop, sir....”

“Oh, no need to be so formal, Lina. You can call me Frank...and, ah, despite the insistence of certain family members, I don't care for the title of 'Mr. Holmwood'...way too hoity-toity for me—”

The knocking at the door cut off any further discussion of my plans for a future with Lina. “....more customers?” Lina asked, arching an eyebrow.

I nodded at the monitor. “Those three at the door. Like I said, I get the feeling that they're not here for small talk.”

“How can you be sure—”

“There was a black Suburban driving around the block, the day after you and I met...it never stopped at my place, but whoever was inside, they were getting out at every other house on the street and asking questions. The day after they did that, they drove up and down the street, just...looking at houses, and people.” I took a deep breath. “I didn't really think they might've been after you and Lina until...well, now...”

“You could've mentioned them before Lucy and I showed up at your place with the paperwork,” Lina murmured, sounding equally concerned and annoyed. “Why didn't you say anything?”

“I didn't want you to worry...” I scowled at the idling Suburban outside. “I just get a feeling those three are bad news.”

“..atatatata, you don't know that,” Uncle Frank countered, doing that waving thing he tended to do when debating with someone. “Some people have to wear strange things when they go door-to-door...I remember once, years ago, your aunt Ruth had to dress up like Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz to help promote a 'Save the Strand' fundraiser for the community theater!”

I frowned. “There's a pretty big difference between gingham and latex, Uncle F rank.”

“....eh, well....”

“Just keep them busy,” Lina advised. “I'll see if there's anything I can do to speed up the transfer process and get Lucy from that tablet into her new body before those three outside decide to barge in...” She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Wish me luck.”

I returned the favor, brushing a hand across her cheek. “Let's hope we don't need it.”

Lina nodded, grinning as she turned to head for the work table.

“Well...” I shrugged. “I guess it's on you to keep those three distracted, Uncle Frank.”

“Eh, just give me a few minutes and they'll be wishing they were gone.” With a smile and a rapid-fire nod, Uncle Frank headed for the front door, opening it to reveal the three women from the Suburban. “Hel-lo, ladies!” He tried to lean to the left, only to forget there was nothing to lean on, and nearly fell over; he quickly scrambled to catch himself and leaned back to the right instead, still smiling as if he'd intended to almost fall on his ass. “It delights me to inform you that you three are the first customers of the day, and as such are elligible to win a pinball machine! All you have to do is take a few minutes to fill out a—”

“We are here for Lucy Sievers.” The taller redhead spoke, her voice radiating that same eerie calm as her expression.

“....fill out a free questionnaire,” Uncle Frank continued, as if she hadn't spoken. “At the end of the month, if your names are chosen, the pinball machine of your choosing will be delivered to...by the way, I just have to ask, are you three sisters, or just business associates—”

“You will take us to Lucy Sievers,” the blonde cut in, the calmness of her voice clashing with her demand.

“....business associates, then.” Uncle Frank nodded. “So, ah, I happen to have the questionnaire with me—”

The shorter redhead stepped up, effectively pushing Uncle Frank back into the shop with her boobs. “You will take us to Lucy Sievers now. We cannot afford further delays.”

“Now wait a minute, wait just a minute!” Uncle Frank actually pushed the shorter redhead back outside. “You can't just barge in here and start throwing your weight around like you own the joint! Shoving everybody around, pushin' 'em to and fro with all that, ah, buoyancy ya got there up front! It's inconsiderate!”

The redhead didn't seem too miffed at his rebuke, though her taller “sister” stepped up to take her place. “Do not delay us any further. We must speak to Lucy Sievers at once.”

“Now look here, missy,” Uncle Frank retorted. “There's no Lucy Sievers in here! I think you've got the wrong place!”

The blonde cocked her head to the side for a moment. “Processing.....processing....”

Uncle Frank, to his credit, feigned ignorance. “...look, you want to find this Lucy Sievers, I'll tell you what I'll do. I've got the Yellow Pages in here, I can just go look up her number and you can call her—you've got phones, right? I'll go get her number...” He turned to go “find the Yellow Pages”. “...and you three can just stay out here and—”

The taller redhead grabbed him by the shoulder. “You will take us to Lucy Sievers, without any further delays.”

“..I told you,” Uncle Frank insisted, “I don't know who you're talking about!” He brushed the redhead's hand off of his shoulder. “And it's really rude to just invade someone's personal space like that, y'know!”

His words did little to dissuade the redhead. “We must speak to Lucy Sievers—”

“At once, without further delay, yadda yadda yadda.” Uncle Frank did a sort of spiral wave, as if to dismiss the redhead's claims. “You're starting to sound like a broken record, lady!”

“This unit is not broken. This unit is functioning perfectly.”

“....unit? What, are you from some kinda cult, or something?!” Again, given the fact that he'd seen Lina show off her inner workings, and knew about Lucy needing the transfer, Uncle Frank was doing a damn good job of acting like he had no clue what the redhead was going on about. “Well, I'm sorry, but the sign above the door clearly states that this shop doesn't do business with solicitors, especially from some wacky cuckoo bunch of crazies that calls their own people 'units' and has them go around dressed in latex! I mean, what if I was allergic, d'you ever think about that?! I'd be on the ground right now, my throat closing up from anaphylactic shock!”

The redhead nearly said something, only for the blonde to stiffen. “Signal detected. Lucy Sievers is inside.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Uncle Frank held up both hands. “I don't know what kind of con you ladies are trying to run on me, here, but I'm telling you the straight truth, there's no Lucy Sievers in—”

The taller redhead shoved him aside, sending him crashing into a shelf. “Unit One, find and retrieve Lucy Sievers.”

“As you command me.” The blonde headed off to the left, ignoring Uncle Frank scrambling to get to his feet.

“Unit Two, neutralize resistance.”

“As you command me.” The shorter redhead turned to regard Uncle Frank, who was already pulling himself up via the shelf he'd been thrown into. “...now, just wait a minute,” he protested. “You can't just kick open the door and—”

The redhead's hand closed around his throat. “Neutralizing resistance....”

“Oh, to HELL with this....” I grabbed the nearest thing that looked remotely like a weapon—a pipe wrench, fittingly enough—and stepped out from where I'd been hiding. “YO, SHE-BITCH!

The two redheads turned, in unison, to stare at me—the shorter one was still trying to choke out Uncle Frank.

I held out my left hand, palm up, and dared them to attack. “Come get some.”

The shorter of the two redheads flat-out dropped Uncle Frank, turning to stalk towards me. Under any circumstances that might be considered “normal”, there was no way I'd go so far as to bash a woman's face in with a pipe wrench...but these were most definitely not normal circumstances. These three had referred to themselves (and each other) as “units”, the one making her way towards me had just tried to strangle my uncle, and they were all here to take Lucy for whatever reason....

Thus, as the redhead with the biggest tits of the three walked towards me, only one thought entered my mind.

It. Was. On.

As soon as the shorter redhead was in range, I swung the wrench—aiming for the midsection, first, since I had a feeling aiming for her boobs was going to be like bashing a pillow with a bat. She staggered, but only for a few seconds—it was like some weird remake of that Boston Dynamics video where the four-legged robot got kicked repeatedly, but didn't fall over and just kept going. Well, it was as much like that video as you can get if you'd replace the quadruped robot with a 5'3” gynoid with big tits and a very probable motivation to kill me...anyway, I swung again, this time aiming for her head, and giving a quick “YES!” when the wrench connected.

Apparently, going for the head had more of an impact than swinging for her abs—she tried to glare at me, but her head (or rather, her neck) kept making these clicking, rizzing noises, and her head stayed turned to the right. “Unit Two has been com-com-com-com-com-”

I wasn't able to savor my victory for long, since the taller redhead was making her way towards me. I reared back with the wrench and swung—but she caught it, mid-swing. The triumphant smile on my face pretty much melted away (I'll admit, though, something further down was actually growing), and I actually muttered “oh, fuck” when she tore the wrench out of my hand. I staggered a few steps back, hoping to not get clocked across the head with the thing...but for whatever reason, the redhead decided to go help “Unit Two” instead, taking her head in both hands, lifting it up and just yanking it back to where it was supposed to go.

“Error corrected.” Unit Two turned to regard....Unit Three, I guess. “Continuing objective.”

Unit Three nodded. “Requesting additional support from Units Four and Five. Acknowledge.”

I expected two more women to march in through the still-open front door of the shop....and was instead greeted by the sight of two rather tall, rather jacked men striding in and surveying the scene. Neither of them went to help Unit Three or Unit Two, instead going off in the same direction as Unit One had...

...which, of course, left me to fend off Units Three and Two all by my lonesome.

Or so I thought.

“Lucy Sievers will be removed from the premises,” Unit Three stated, striding towards me. “Further interference in our objectives will...will....willl...willllllllllll—” Smoke started wafting from her mouth, and it didn't take too long to see why: Uncle Frank had apparently recovered enough to jab her in the back with a cattle prod!

“I've got this!” he assured me. “Just make sure these clowns don't get to—”

Unit Two knocked the cattle prod out of his hands, sending him scrambling backwards. “Interference in our mission will not be tolerated,” she stated, methodically making her way towards Uncle Frank. Unit Three, meanwhile, hadn't yet recovered from the cattle prod, and was still seizing up; just to be on the safe side, I carefully edged past her and grabbed the prod. “If gynoids can get sinus pain...” I let my lame joke die out before I jammed the prod up Unit Three's nose causing her eyes to go wide and even more smoke to flow from her mouth (and, of course, her nostrils). Her hands opened and closed of their own volition; her nipples immediately hardened under her suit (like I wasn't going to notice that), and her jaw went slack. In mere seconds, she collapsed to the floor in a heap, like a marionette with cut strings.

“One down, four to—”

As if on cue, Unit Two clotheslined me across the back of the head, sending me to the floor in a heap; off in the distance, I could hear Lina throwing hands with the blonde. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell who was winning—especially when Unit Two grabbed the cattle prod off the floor and broke the damned thing—so much for my big advantage....

“Continued interference in our mission will be met with lethal force.” She stared me down, her expression utterly blank as I scrambled to put some distance between her and myself. “You will be neutralized.”

“You, ah, don't have to neutralize me....I'll, ah....I'll quit on my own!”

Unit Two continued stalking towards me. “You will be neutralized.”

“You really don't have to do this....I'll leave quietly, won't tell a soul...” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Uncle Frank scrambling away behind Unit Two—and I could still hear Lina fighting off Unit One..

“Continued interference in our mission will be met—”

“Okay, do you have to keep saying that?! It's getting on my damn nerves!” I cracked my knuckles, trying to look a lot more like a badass than I felt. “If you're gonna do something, just do it and get it over with!”

Unit Two stopped in her tracks, and for a moment, I thought she was actually considering what I'd said....except I noticed rather quickly that her eyes had crossed, her lips were contorting into a grimace and she was actually trying to walk forward, but couldn't, for some reason. “File...file...file allocat....locat....locat....lolololololo—“ Something in her torso went off like a bandsaw, and she pivoted at the waist, her arms locked into Ls. “Corrupt....corrupt...corrrrruuppppppt...”

Uncle Frank leaned out from behind her, grinning. “Neodymium magnet,” he explained, holding up a rectangle the size of a deck of cards. “Just slapped it on her back for a few seconds, and her hard drive went VRRRRT!”

“...you got any more of those around here?”

“In safe storage, on the other side of the shop...I figured this one'd be enough to, ah 'neutralize' her.” Uncle Frank rose to a standing position, returning the magnet to the stricken Unit Two's back and quickly moving away from her before she could clock him upside the head. “So that's, what, two of them down, so far?”

“Yeah, but that still leaves—”

A scream rang out, draining any hint of victory from my face. “LINA!”

Uncle Frank and I raced around the shelves, hoping to reach the work table where Lucy's transfer was going on, only for one of the androids from the Suburban—Unit Four or Five, I didn't give a shit which—to step into our path. His face looked sort of like one of those linebacker types, or maybe a pro wrestler—in any case, with the cattle prod broken and the magnet still on Unit Two, our options to get past him were very limited. Making things even worse, he didn't even give us that much time to decide—before either of us could say a word, he strode towards Uncle Frank.

I glanced around at the shelves, hoping for something I could use against this Goliath...and spotted the jar with the bolt dissolving inside of it. Without hesitating, I grabbed it and yelled “HEY, STUPID!”

The android turned to glare at me—and in that instant, I threw the contents of the jar at him, dissolving bolt included.

For a brief instant, I thought I'd made a hideous mistake—the guy screamed in pain when the acid hit his face, and I nearly thought I'd just disfigured a human being....but that fear was replaced with abject horror when, after clawing at his acid-soaked face, the guy ripped it off in pieces, revealing a chromed skull, red eyes and perfect teeth under it.

I stammered a few expletives and backed away, fully expecting to crap my pants any second.

The android turned to glare at me, ignoring Uncle Frank for the time being. Without a word, he advanced, one arm held out in front of him—probably to grab me by the throat and choke the life out of me...thankfully, Uncle Frank struck again, literally in this case. I was too busy trying not to get killed to notice him grab a thing off of one of the shelves, and had backed myself up against a rack of tools, waiting for my inevitable end—which never came, thanks to a resounding clong on the back of the android's head.

“YOU WANNA FIGHT SOMEONE, BIG MAN?!” Uncle Frank shouted, wielding a fire extinguisher. “FIGHT ME!”

The android turned, advancing on him, only to get a spray of foam right to the face—or rather, a semi-liquidy stream of half-foam, half-chemical spray, given the fact that the extinguisher was probably from the late 80s or early 90s. This actually worked out to Uncle Frank's advantage—the liquidy bits actually went into the android's occular sensors (no sense in calling them “eyes” when they didn't even look like those anymore), causing something to short out and sending the already-damaged android into yet another face-clawing frenzy.

“C'mon, the work table's this way!” Uncle Frank gestured for me to follow him, edging past the frantic android.

We made it to the work table, and my heart nearly stopped. Somehow, Lucy had remained undisturbed, and the other male android had taken a power drill to the ear, which slowed him down significantly—he was still trying to pull the thing out as Uncle Frank and I reached the table...but to my horror, Lina was still locked in a one-on-one slugfest with Unit One. Worse than that, I could tell that however her earlier fight with the blonde had gone, this time, she was losing.

“LINA!” I charged forward, grabbing something long and rod-like from a nearby rack.

My battle-cry alerted Unit One to my presence—she sent Lina to the floor with a savage backhand, then turned to regard me with the coldest stare I'd ever had fixed on me before. “New directive confirmed: Secure Lina Sievers. Neutralize all resistance.” She sprinted in my direction, actually jumping onto the work table and leaping off of it towards me....

...so, instinctively, I thrusted the rod-like tool I'd taken off the rack upwards, thinking I'd impale her.

As it turns out, I did.....just....not in the way I'd expected.

The gasp of surprise was my first clue that Unit One had landed in a very different way than I'd expected on my hastily-grabbed weapon. Instead of going through her chest or her head, it had gone right between her legs—through her latex pants and all. Her face had lost that eerie calm, stoic look; her eyes were wide with shock, and her lips were locked in an “O” of astonishment.

I barely had time to comprehend what I'd just done before Uncle Frank yelled “TURN IT ON!”

Sure enough, there was a switch and a dial at the base of the thing; I quickly flipped the switch on and turned the dial all the way right. I wasn't even paying attention to the android with the drill in his ear anymore; all I could hope for was that whatever I'd just done would be enough to take down Unit One.

As it turned out, it was....in a very, shall we say, specific way.

Immediately, the blonde's eyes closed, her lips now forming a satisfied smile as moans of pleasure began to emanate from...whatever she had that passed for vocal chords. Instead of trying to pull herself off the tool, she was now vigorously humping the thing, going up and down it's considerable length.

“It's a lubricant blockage stimulator,” Uncle Frank declared, giving me a double thumbs-up. “You run it along the outside of a fuel line, and it sends out powerful vibrations to clear blockages in the line, so the fuel can go through!” He grinned and nodded. “Works great on jet liner fuel lines!”

I nodded, half in a daze—apparently, it was working just fine on Unit One, as well...in an entirely unintended capacity.

Unfortunately, yet again, any semblance of victory I may have felt was far too short lived—the android with the drill in its head had finally yanked the thing out and gone straight for Lina. Her scream of “MATT!” quickly cleared any fog in my brain—I looked away from the still-writhing Unit One to see the android roughly turn Lina's head to the side and press something behind one of her ears. Her eyes locked onto mine, and she looked scared out of her wits...seconds before her eyes closed and she slumped over, to be hoisted over the android's shoulder like a laundry bag.

“LINA!” I tried to rush the android, to kick the shit out of him, only get tripped up—Unit One was now thrashing around in the throes of some insanely powerful orgasm brought on by the lubricant blockage stimulator. “DAMN IT...”

The android was already out the door by the time I'd recovered—the one with the melted-off face followed suit, feeling his way around since his ocular sensors had been ruined. By the time I made it to the door, the pair—and Lina—were at the black Suburban—the one with Lina practically dumped her into the backseat, like she was nothing. The one with the ruined face made his way over to the front passenger seat.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!” I charged out of the shop, nearly tripping again—which was actually a good thing, since one of the androids pulled a wicked-looking machine pistol from somewhere in the Suburban and fired off a quick spray at me. “SHIT...FUCKING...” This time, I did trip—a byproduct of simultaneously trying not to get shot and trying to still chase the fuckers who'd just taken Lina.

The android that had taken a drill to the ear was now behind the wheel, slamming the driver's side door and flooring the gas pedal. The one with the ruined face aimed the machine pistol without looking, letting off a blind spray of fire at me.

I couldn't give less of a damn. These android pricks had taken Lina, just thrown her in the back like she was nothing.....

My legs were on fire. My eyes stung. I was out of breath....but still, I tried to chase down that stupid black Suburban as far as I could run up the street. The only word that left my mouth was Lina's name—I screamed it, as if saying it enough times would magically teleport her to my side. “LINA! LINA!

The Suburban sped off. The only way I'd be able to catch it now was if I were either Magneto or Superman.

I tried to keep running....but it was no use. The Suburban was gone, and Lina was gone with it.

Rage, fear, sadness, humiliation....all of those emotions and plenty of others besides flooded through my mind. I ran for a few more steps, refusing to give up, even when I knew I couldn't catch up. Finally, in the grips of defeat, I stood there in the middle of the road, my chest heaving. The stupid android pricks in the black Suburban—whoever they were—had won, at least for now.

I screamed her name, one last time: “LINA.....”

...followed swiftly by my rage finally exploding in a single word: “...FUCK!

I collapsed into a kneel in the middle of the street, my fists still clenched. I barely even heard Uncle Frank approach me, barely felt his arm around my shoulder. It took me a few seconds to register the sound of his voice: “...c'mon. It's over, for now....Matt, c'mon....”

All I could do was close my eyes, hoping this was just a horrific nightmare.

“....let's go back inside...” I felt myself being gently shaken. “Matt....”

I opened my eyes. Uncle Frank was staring at me, without a single trace of his usual goofy-ass demeanor. “....we'll get her back, Matt. We're gonna get her back....”

For a second, I wanted to swear at him, to demand to know just how the fucking Hell we'd get her back from those fucks in that fucking piece of shit black Suburban....but the only sound that came out of my mouth was an unintelligible sob. I practically fell onto him, clinging to him like a drowning man to a life vest. We just stood there—him consoling me, and me sobbing into his shoulder—for...I don't even know how long.

Eventually, Uncle Frank pulled back, sighing. “C'mon....let's get back to the shop.” He jerked his thumb vaguely in the direction he'd come from; I nodded, letting him lead me back.

The place was an absolute mess, thanks to Units One through Five having rushed through it. Shelves had been knocked over, tools thrown around, oil and other fluids spilled. Unit Two was still glitching out, thanks to the neodymium magnet stuck to her back; over by the work table, Unit One was still riding the lubricant blockage stimulator—a sight which I barely registered as I shuffled in after Uncle Frank.

“....sit down, sit down,” he prompted, gesturing to an old, imitation-leather chair. “Deep breaths....just take a few deep breaths, Matt....” He nodded. “.....you need something to drink? Water, Sprite, Pepsi....might have a few beers in the fridge, all the way in the back....”

I managed to croak the word “Sprite”.

With another nod, Uncle Frank ambled over to a vending machine, going for his keyring instead of his wallet. He quickly unlocked the front of the machine, finding and removing a can of Sprite from the interior before closing it back up and locking it again. “On the house....don't tell anyone, okay?”

I accepted the can with a nod, cracking it open and taking a long pull from it.

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. I took sips from the can of Sprite; Uncle Frank just stood there, watching me.

Eventually, I finished the can and threw it to the floor without bothering to crush it. I'd stopped crying—I couldn't tell when—but I was still devastated, pissed off and feeling like complete shit. I looked up at Uncle Frank; for some reason, I thought he'd be back to his usual, eccentric self....

...instead, he had a look of what I could best describe as iron resolve.

“....out there...” I nodded in the general direction of the door. “....you said....you said we were gonna get her back.”

Uncle Frank nodded. “I did. And I meant it...still do.”

I took a deep breath. “....how?” I looked around the shop; Unit Two was now emitting smoke from several orifices, while Unit One was locked in some kind of endless orgasmic loop on the lubricant blockage stimulator.

“...I've got ways, Matt. Believe me, I've got ways—”

HOW THE FUCKING HELL ARE WE FUCKING GOING TO FUCKING GET LINA BACK?!” My fists were clenching again; I wanted, needed, to punch something, break something....

Despite my rage, Uncle Frank was unphased. “....I'll let that one slide, given what....” He sighed. “For starters, we still have Audrey—”

“Lucy.” I was staring at the floor again. “Her name is Lucy.”

“.....yeah, well....” Uncle Frank chuckled. “I knew the first one, the human one.” He paced back and forth as he spoke, looking at me to gauge my responses. “....she ever tell you how long she's been online?”

I did my best to recall the conversation before we'd driven out to the shop. “....five or six years....maybe seven or more.”

“....well, she's definitely been around longer than seven years.” Uncle Frank glanced at me. “I knew Audrey Seward way back at the tail end of the 90s....she died in 2002.”

“.....and?!”

“Did...Lucy...ever mention who backed her creation? Who paid for it, who funded it?”

“.....no.”

“Well, there's our first clue. And before you ask how I know all this....” He nodded to a framed certificate on the wall behind me.

“....what the Hell does the AirLine Pilots Association have to do with any of this?!”

“....no, no, no...go look behind it.” He gestured towards the certificate. “Go on, look.”

Slowly, still feeling insanely numb, I got out of the chair and went over to the certificate. I lifted it away from the wall, and found another one behind it—this one with a massive, holographic foil stamp. “ALPA..” I held a hand over this new certificate, squinting as I read the stamp. “....Artificial....Lifeform....Protection...Agency....” I turned to glance at Uncle Frank, more confused now than anything.

“After what happened with Audrey, I started doing some digging,” he explained. “Kept my ear to the ground...earned myself a visit from the ALPA—the second one, not the, ah, pilot one.” He chuckled at the memory. “I'll admit, I thought I was in deep doo-doo, at first...but they had a talk with me, and pretty soon, it was all copacetic. They told me how they'd been keeping tabs on the ones who backed the whole thing with...Lucy...” He grinned. “You remember how I always used to mention I have a plane? And a hangar?”

“....you never got a pilot's license, did you?”

“Oh, I did...their recommendation! I have the plane, too!” Uncle Frank chuckled again. “....anyway, we have plenty here to get started on where we need to go to find Lina....but, ah, that one—” He gestured off towards where Unit Two was having some kind of catastrophic system failure. “....I, ah, may have gone a bit overboard with the magnet, so she's no good—” He flinched as Unit Two tried to walk, and again as something sheared off behind her generous buttcheeks.

I started to pick up on where he was going. “....the other two?”

“The cattle prod didn't fry the redhead,” Uncle Frank reasoned. “Probably just knocked her battery cycles out of whack for a while...as for the blonde—” An ear-splitting, orgasmic cry cut him off, causing him to flinch. “....well, ah, I think you can figure that one out yourself.”

A faint ting from the tablet broke into the conversation. “....transfer...interrupted....what the fuck?!

Uncle Frank nearly fell over, getting up from his chair to go over to the work table. I followed him, at a pace that would've made the Frankenstein monster look like a Riverdancer. I was still pretty much drained from having seen Lina get shut off and carried out like yesterday's trash, so it took me a bit to make it to the work area without tripping over anything; by the time I got there, Uncle Frank was leaning over the table, stroking Lucy's hair again. “....Lucy?”

No, it's the Tooth Fairy....” Her voice sounded a bit less caustic than before. “....yeah, it's me. Maybe...45% of the files transferred over to the tablet....what even happened?

Anything Uncle Frank could've said was cut off by me, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “Tell her.”

“....Matt—”

TELL HER.

I could tell Uncle Frank was staring at me, but when he spoke, he sounded a lot calmer than I'd expected. “....some, ah, people....robot girls, actually, and two guys—showed up here, in a black Suburban....they were, ah, lookin' for you.”

“....black Suburban?

Uncle Frank nodded. “The girls at the door, first, then the two guys...I tried to distract 'em...Lina stayed with you, to—”

Where is Lina right now, anyway? Last thing I remember, she hooked the tablet up to my body....”

I was too busy staring at the floor, trying not to think about what had happened, to notice if Uncle Frank was staring at me or not. “...uh, Matt, you wanna tell her, or....”

“They took her.”

“....wait, what—”

“The fucking bastards that came here looking for you took Lina, okay?! They fucking shut her off and fucking carried her out!” I turned to glare at Lucy on the table, and at Uncle Frank—it wasn't even remotely their fault, but I wanted, needed to be pissed off at someone. “Kept asking for 'Lucy Sievers', nearly choked out Uncle Frank, and then.....” I turned away again. The words “they took Lina” tried to form in my throat, but came out as choked, wheezing sobs.

“...shit....” For the first time since I'd met her, I heard something like genuine regret in Lucy's voice. “Matt, I....”

“We're gonna get her back,” Uncle Frank assured her—and, more than likely, reminded me. “I was just about to—”

“How are you even on right now?!” I glared at the table again, my anger barely kept in check.

Whoever busted in here disrupted the network. The transfer process cut off as a safety measure, to make sure I didn't get borked—that, and I just got a notification from the network back at my house....” The view on the tablet switched to a security camera feed of Lucy's place—true to her word, someone had gone room-to-room and utterly trashed it. “Tore up the bedroom, the garage, the shed out back...even broke down the door to my office. Can't tell if they found anything...though judging from how they decided to break everything they looked at, I'd have to guess they didn't.

“....Lina put the notes in the car, with your backups...Uncle Frank—”

“I'm on it!” Uncle Frank nearly fell over trying to turn on his heel, but he managed to get to the door without tripping.

With him out of the room, I turned my attention to Lucy. “Those androids, in the black Suburban....”

Pretty sure they're not from the Institute. The brain trust that built me lets me do my own thing, they repair me if I get fucked up too badly, and they help me pay the bills. I don't think I pissed any of 'em off over the past few months....”

“You're sure?”

If they wanted me back on campus badly enough, all they'd have to do is call me. They'd never just show up, wreck shop and demand I go back, especially if I'm in the middle of something.

“You said back at your place that if they found out about....what you'd done...”

I said they'd cancel my security clearance. Even something like this wouldn't be enough for them to pay me a visit, or send some heavies after me, or threaten to send me over to Reclamation or anything like that....” A sigh issued from the tablet's speaker. “And they sure as shit wouldn't take Lina, either.

“....so they're not the ones behind this.”

Unless someone on the Board's got a real hate-boner for me....”

I almost said something, but Uncle Frank nearly falling on his ass from sliding back into the work area cut me off. “It's all still in the car,” he declared. “Notebooks, binders, a laptop....they didn't take anything!”

“....and how did you get in the trunk of the car—”

Remote unlock, courtesy of me...they didn't take anything out of the car?

“Not a thing.” Uncle Frank glanced at me. “....you said you'd seen that Suburban before, Matt?”

“Around the block at my house, two days after the party when I'd met Lina. It stopped on the street right in front of my house, the night after....and they might've been following us part of the way here.”

And you decided not to say anything before then?!

“I didn't want Lina to freak out! I didn't even know if they were really following us or not...” I swallowed. “...you don't think they backtraced our steps to your place, do you?”

Fuck if I know. The Institute's probably going to be pissed, since they helped pay for the house.”

“Well, we'll worry about that later on down the line,” Uncle Frank stated. “You, ah, want me to move your notes and such in here? I've got plenty of hiding places they'll never think to look...”

Call the Institute later, tell 'em to check the trunk. Better yet, just bring the car to the Institute..or let it bring itself.

“...right, right...” Uncle Frank nodded, turning to glance at me. “SO, ah, you holdin' up okay, Matt?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “...I'm....better.”

“Well, it's like I told you,” Uncle Frank replied, “we're gonna get Lina back from those weirdos...and that's a promise to you, too, Lucy.”

“.....thanks.”

“....so, what about the transfer process? Do we just....start again here, or....”

My systems aren't picking up the network here, anymore. We'll have to move to somewhere else.” Lucy sounded only slightly pissed off—a bit odd, given the circumstances.

Uncle Frank, on the other hand, wasn't bothered at all. “We can start over again at the hangar!”

“....the hangar?

“He has a hangar. And a plane, apparently.” I was too numb to even think about chuckling.

“...and you're sure we can get there fast?

“....well, it's, ah, a bit of a drive,” Uncle Frank admitted. “Maybe half an hour away from here, if traffic isn't that bad...it'll probably be dark by the time we get there, depending on if we hit a jam or not.”

The tablet's speaker issued another sigh. “I'll have to put the tablet in standby for the drive...actually, I'll just kick it into standby now. Preserves power, keeps me from getting bored, all that shit...” Uncle Frank and I exchanged a glance, both of us thinking that Lucy had already put the tablet into standby—until she spoke again: “Matt?

“.....yeah?”

....when you find the bastards who took Lina....fuck 'em up.”

“D'you have to talk like that?” Uncle Frank shook his head. “Polite talk never hurt anyone...”

“What can I say, it's a part of who I am...anyway. Matt....”

I nodded. “I'll do my best.”

“Couldn't ask for anything less.” With that, the tablet's screen dimmed, and the work area fell silent again.

Uncle Frank sighed, running a hand through Lucy's hair again. “.....you're sure you're okay, Matt?”

“Yes, Uncle Frank. I'm.....pissed off as all Hell, I'll admit.....” I sighed. “I just....I thought that bringing Lucy here to finish the transfer was going to be simple. Just in and out, y'know? And now, Lina's gone, Lucy still hasn't transferred, and I find out that you've known about androids and stuff for years....”

“...well, ah....” Uncle Frank shrugged. “...now you know about what I know....”

“Yeah, but it doesn't get us any closer to getting Lina back.” I stared at the work table—actually, I was looking off to the side of the work table, noticing that while Unit One was still writhing away on the lubricant blockage stimulation tool, her“vocalizations” had stopped. “.....did you shut her up, while I wasn't looking?”

“....what, her?” Uncle Frank regarded the silently-gyrating Unit One. “.....maybe she just went on Mute or something.”

“....right...” I sighed. “Y'know, right before Lucy decided to chime in, from the tablet....we were talking about Unit One and Unit Three. You said that the cattle prod up the nose didn't really do that much damage to...Unit Three, I guess, and then you mentioned...” I gestured to Unit One. “....so, what exactly was it you were going to suggest we do with them, before Lucy re-entered the conversation?”

“Well, what I was thinking was, we find out what they know!” Uncle Frank replied. “They might know who has Lina!”

I tried not to focus on Unit One still grinding away on the tool. “....so....we get them to tell us?”

“We bring 'em out to the hangar,” Uncle Frank explained. “Lucy, too—the only reason those punks in the Suburban didn't get her was because Lina—oh, she was strong, Matt. She fought 'em!” He nodded, grinning. “I saw a few bits of it, when I went to grab the magnet...she never let that blonde one get anywhere near Lucy. Did a damn good job of it, too...at least, until the big guy decided to butt in—oh, but she made him pay for that one!” He made a pointing gesture with his arm, making a noise like the power drill that Lina had jammed into the android's ear.

I almost smiled. “...and you think we can get anything out of Units One and Three?”

“We'll at least know who sent them,” Uncle Frank reasoned. “After that...well, we look for where they were sent from, and once we get that....”

“But how do we get Lina back?!”

“.....we'll get to that at the hanger,” Uncle Frank promised. “For now....help me load Lucy in the back of the van—the, ah, the redhead and the blonde, too.” He sauntered off towards where Unit Two was still glitching out; a few seconds later, something (I could only assume it was Unit Two) made a loud screech, then hit the ground with a thud, before Uncle Frank walked back into view. “Well, she's toast,” he stated, as if discussing a washing machine going on the blink. “Couldn't even get the magnet off of her...had to jam a screwdriver in her ear, to hit the emergency power-off switch.”

I stared at him, still feeling a bit numb.

“....the ALPA told me plenty about androids and gynoids,” he explained. “How to fix 'em...how to break 'em, only in the most dire emergencies of course....” He chuckled. “And as for the, ah, 'exotic machine repair' business...”

“.....you've fixed androids and gynoids before?”

“Off-hours only. Nobody else in the shop knows...the ALPA sends a few of their people along to help, sometimes.”

“So why the Hell can't we just call them to sort this shit out?!”

“....they've got a lot on their plate, right now. A lot happened last year....” Uncle Frank sighed. “It's a long story. Too long to sit through here.” He walked over to the chair I was sitting in, and rested a hand on my shoulder. “....well, it's, ah, a bit of a drive,” Uncle Frank admitted, “to get Lucy and the other two out to the hangar. Maybe an hour away from here, if traffic isn't that bad...it'll probably be dark by the time we get there, depending on if we hit a jam or not.”

“And you're sure that what you've got there can help us get Lina back?”

“Matt...I know it'll help us get her back.” Uncle Frank clapped me on the shoulder. “C'mon...let's get our, ah, passengers into the van, and get out to the hangar. We're gonna be burning the midnight oil...” As if he remembered something, he snapped his fingers. “Might as well handle that, too...” He fished his phone out of his pocket and keyed in a number. “Yeah....it's Frank. My nephew's gonna be out all night, doing a bit of work with me—he's got a cat, at home, needs someone to take care of it...no, no special dietary habits, just make sure she's fed, not too bored. Don't let her out of the house, okay? Thanks.” He hung up the phone, nodding. “My old pal Ron Caravallo. He's great with cats.”

“....how come I've never met any of these 'old pals' of yours?”

“Eh, one day, you might...c'mon.” Uncle Frank grinned. “Let's go load 'em up into the van, and get out to that hangar!”

I nodded, following Uncle Frank to the workbench. It was going to be a long, long night...

Stay tuned....
Last edited by DukeNukem 2417 on Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Lina, Part 4

Post by liliwinnt6 » Sat Oct 12, 2019 6:30 pm

however i like the part about the "lubricant blockage stimulator", surprise sexual assault on these robots are enjoyable to me
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Re: Lina, Part 4

Post by DukeNukem 2417 » Sat Oct 12, 2019 7:18 pm

liliwinnt6 wrote: Sat Oct 12, 2019 6:30 pm however i like the part about the "lubricant blockage stimulator", surprise sexual assault on these robots are enjoyable to me
"Surprise sexual assault" wasn't the intention of that bit. Unit One was attacking Matt, and he defended himself with what was at hand. The...side effects were purely a coincidence of that particular circumstance.

On a lighter note, anyone who wants to guess the inspirations for Units One, Two and Three (hint: they're all based on "performers" from videos popular with all you wonderful people), feel free! :D
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Re: Lina, Part 4

Post by DollSpace » Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:38 am

Another solid entry in the series! Now to get started on Part 5! Things are happening so quickly! :)

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