Mechanic

[BA2]

Mechanic
By BA

Teresa registered the time automatically: 1700, the end of her working day. She wriggled her way awkwardly across the oily concrete and out from under the groundcar she was working on and stood up. She squeezed past the vehicles and robots cluttering up the workspace; everything from an old grav-truck to a couple of companion androids only a year or two old all in need of some work.

“Hi Sal, it’s that time again!” The boss sat in the glass booth at the back of the repair shop floor going through the day’s accounts. She looked up and grinned at Teresa leaning through the doorway in her grimy coveralls, undone far enough to show the sweat and dirt of an honest day’s work.

Although she had only worked for her a little over two weeks, Teresa already felt a strong affection for the older woman. The job was a real lifesaver, she had had a downhill struggle to pay the rent on her tiny cubicle and keep up with her running costs as a waitress but here she earned decent credit fixing machines. More than that though, Sal was a cheerful and caring boss to all her crew and looked after them like a big sister. Teresa hadn’t felt so at home since she had last been owned.

“Here you go then, rob me blind”, Sal handed over the credit reader. Teresa held it briefly to touch the metal contacts against the ring on her finger then handed it back. In that short time her internal records had been updated through the ring touch contacts with the day’s credit, the transaction logged and approved through both Sal’s and her banks. She felt a brief flicker of inner sensation not unlike butterflies as her files updated.

“I’m worth every penny and you know it”, she laughed back.

“Time for the perks of the job I suppose…”, Sal squeezed out from behind her cramped desk and they walked to the workshop bench by the two shutdown androids.

As Sal collected some tools together Teresa quickly unzipped her coverall and slipped it down to her waist. She was naked underneath and revealed an impressive DD chest to the empty room. “I’d kill for a rack like yours”, Sal was short and slight and her mid forties human frame, though not unattractive, could never compare to Teresa’s softly designed curves.

“That’s the sad limits of bio-life for you: no upgrades!” Teresa turned away from her boss, quite unembarrassed about her bare breasts, and raised her hands to her head and Sal went right to work on her back. She deftly used a small power tool to unfasten the concealed access panels across Teresa’s broad shoulders and in the small of her back. Teresa arched and stretched to help as best she could, the sound of her motor systems growing as the covering came free. Once loose and disconnected the older woman placed the thick flesh panels aside and picked up a 12mm power jack.

“Fast charge should do you for tonight”, she muttered as she walked around to plug the thick cable into a socket nesting amongst the knotted sleeves of Teresa’s coverall; it was set low on the front of her pelvis well out of casual view. The android girl made sure she was standing straight with her hands on her head out of Sal’s way as the power cable clicked home. A fast charge would only take ten or fifteen minutes and would last well into tomorrow but it meant that her body automatically locked out. The big perk of this job was the free maintenance and power.

Sal went back to work behind the now immobile Teresa with a spray lube can and a clean rag and diligently cleaned and lubricated her moving parts. The complex machine voiced her approval with sighs and appreciative moans as the oily rag found its mark. As a general purpose female android the physical work in Sal’s repair shop took its toll on Teresa’s mechanics, she really earned her daily lube session and looked forward to her first full service in a week or two. She hadn’t been so well maintained for a long time.

“Hmmmmm…. Sal you really know how to treat a robot!” Teresa’s grin was wide as her boss reached up to service the motor systems in her shoulders and upper arms, sliding the rag under the pale synthetic flesh layer to the machinery beneath. Whether from the cold air or the sensation Teresa’s nipples had grown noticeably hard while Sal worked on her. The android herself thought nothing of it, simply enjoying the feeling of being well maintained but the bio-woman had a wealth of technical knowledge and experience. She well knew that Teresa’s sexual responses were triggered by the combination of her involuntary immobility, intimate exposure, physical contact and the feeling of being personally cared for. Her sensors would be heightened in response to the system noise from the high voltage fast charger which would also contribute. The aberration was not unusual in androids with sexual programming and was harmless; it seldom arose as systems were generally deactivated for service. Sal enjoyed the feeling of power she had over the artificial woman in her care, standing there bare-breasted and statuesque but immobile and helplessly exposed under her tools. She knew exactly the few fine adjustments required to the exposed systems in Teresa’s open back which would reduce her to helpless involuntary orgasm in seconds; helpless even to the point of overload and malfunction. She knew and enjoyed the feeling but refrained from temptation. She had spent her life working on machines like Teresa and had seen and done most things at some time including all the sexual experimentation an android made possible.

“Oh aaaah! That really hits the spot.” A ripple ran through Teresa’s soft but pert breasts as Sal rubbed hard enough at the old grease coating her shoulder actuators to rock her immobile body. She sprayed new lube over the mechanism then looked up as the door chimed.

“Don’t go anywhere luv”, she called to the frozen android as she briskly crossed the workshop floor past her office to the shop front. Teresa heard her murmured conversation as she stood waiting, power pack soaking up the rest of her charge. It must be an expected customer as the shop was closed to passing trade. After a short while Sal led a smart looking woman, perhaps forty but quite attractive, back to her office cubicle. They hunched over the desk discussing several papers and the PC screen for some time.

Teresa felt slightly indignant. It was ridiculous, she knew; she was a machine in a repair shop no different from the other cars and robots in various states, it was perfectly natural for Sal to leave her like this. Nevertheless she felt uncomfortably exposed, her bare breasts in full view to the stranger only a couple of car bonnets away. She wished she was on a slow charge like she used during the day, it took a long time but at least she was able to move around at the end of the cable; Sal wanted to shut up shop and obviously waiting for Teresa to charge wasn’t top of her things to do list this evening. Either able to move or shutdown, a lifeless unaware statue like the other robots in for repair, would be better than this middle state. She made to call to her boss then thought better of it; the other woman probably hadn’t even noticed her frozen amongst the machinery, just another motionless android; attracting attention would only deepen her embarrassment. Instead the android’s soft lips let out a small feminine sound as she realised how turned on she had become all of a sudden.

Sal and her customer finished their discussion in the office and, to Teresa’s dismay, made their way directly over to her. Briefly she considered pretending to be turned off, angry at herself for applying what were clearly programmed human responses to a non-human situation. She made light of the matter instead, “Hi Sal, thought you’d forgotten me!”

“Never darling, you’re my favourite android today!” Sal gestured to the woman who ignored Teresa’s half embarrassed smile and was clearly studying her body with interest, “This is the Tj40 unit. You can see this model has great lines for a utility system, she’s a match for lots of pleasure models I’ve seen if you’ve got more down-to earth tastes and a lot more practical too.”

The smart woman pursed her lips as she walked around Teresa; she studied her frozen body making the android feel like she was on display, chest out, hands on head showing off her soft hourglass figure to perfection. “Who’s this, Sal?” Teresa’s voice carried a note of concern and confusion.

“I love the voice, character too…” The android girl felt warm hands at her waist as the stranger unknotted the sleeves of her greasy coverall, letting it fall to the floor around her ankles. At the delicate touch and realisation of what was happening Teresa felt overpowering warmth between her legs, she let out a tiny whimper as the woman’s eyes devoured her long firm legs.

“Sal…?”

“She’s moist isn’t she! I wish I could see her in one piece though…” The woman gestured first to Teresa’s tingling plastic labia then to the open panels on her back. She picked up one of the flesh panels from the bench and turned it over in her hands at the edge of the android’s field of view before running her hands down her sensitive sides and thighs from behind.

“Sal, what’s going on?” Teresa felt oddly unable to voice her growing anger; her system was restrained to prevent accidents when disassembled. “Can you finish my service please; I’d like to go home?” The woman’s warm touch felt good.

Sal laughed, not unkindly, “Don’t worry honey, trust Sal…” She addressed the other woman, “Well then? Don’t let me down now you’ve seen her online.”

“Okay, you’ve got a deal.” They shook hands in front of the naked and protesting Teresa.

“Sal, you can’t do this, you don’t own me! I’m not going with this woman, I’m my own!” To the woman, “I’m sorry, Sal can’t do this, she doesn’t own me. There’s been a misunderstanding…” The woman seemed to notice what Teresa said for the first time having treated her exactly as a sleek car or fashionable gadget rather than the person she was constructed to imitate. She glanced at the repair shop boss for reassurance.

“No problem, she’ll be ready tomorrow at five, trust me.” Sal had busied herself amongst her tools while the woman was inspecting Teresa’s body. She turned to the android now and connected a data cable alongside the thick charging lead. Both cables plugged into the open ports only inches from her smooth and now slick-wet pussy; the android’s sexual hardware was responding to stimuli, an involuntary automatic function that fed sexual data into Teresa’s AI adding to her confusion and anger.

“Sal what are you doing? You can’t do this! You know I’m a private machine, only I have my access codes, just let me go and we’ll forget about this…”

Sal was tapping away at her laptop behind her and Teresa badly wanted to turn and see what she was doing but, until the charging cable was unplugged, she was helpless, fixed in the pose she had so freely adopted earlier.

“Baby, this is for your own good, you’d never make it on your own. Just look at the state you were in when I took you on.”

“Sal, this is pointless! I can’t believe this, haven’t I worked hard for you?”

“Teresa, to be honest you’re a terrible mechanic, it just isn’t what you were designed for, I hate to see a machine like you go down the tubes, you need an owner and Mrs Lamore likes the look of you and has the money to take care of you.”

“I won’t be owned by Mrs Lamore or anyone else, give this up will you?”

“You’re too naive to get by on your own, Teresa... Just think: where did you download your mechanic applications from…?”

Teresa’s eyes flashed across the repair shop to Sal’s office as she remembered the morning she spent plugged into the PC there. She had entered her access code personally and checked that it was deleted once she had finished but had never thought that her new boss would trick her, she must have retrieved the code somehow. Surely her re-registration to ownership would alert the authorities? She realised that Sal probably had the experience to run this scam; had probably done it before.

“Sal I don’t think you know… Oh!” Teresa felt the familiar butterfly sensation inside as Sal’s computer uploaded her access code, the personal key to her private innermost AI programming. “Sal, please stop what….”

As the code was accepted Teresa’s CPU dropped its defences and allowed the override program from Sal’s laptop to suspend her AI. The worry faded from the android’s face in an instant and left her gazing emptily with her default vacant good natured smile; naked with her grimy coveralls at her feet, soft breasts thrust forward and hands on her head, a perfect soft hourglass of pale plastic flesh broken only by the bare machinery exposed in her back and the cables plugged into her pelvis.

“Tomorrow at five!” called Sal to the departing figure of her latest refurb customer.

[wjbaines]

What a treat. Thanks again, BA.

[Robotka]

Hmmm cute story...

[Gorgo]

Roboticized kidnapping, maybe?

[Otaru Mamiya]

Interesting story, especially from the robot's point of view.

Kidnapping? Maybe... Sal certainly wasn't supposed to have Teresa's access codes, but from the way Sal acts and what she says, she seems to have Teresa's best interests at heart. It may be against what Teresa wants but the outcome seems to be best for her.

[Robotka]

Indeed but after reprogramming she will want something diferrent... And i think wat happened in the past will not matters... Kidnapping is some against your will but if someone change your mind it is not kidnapping

[1001011001]

I like this story. Good to see the writers coming up with fresh ideas. I like the unethical benefactor angle to it.

[dieur]

I'd say no one can ever force something on another adult with their best interests at heart, because no one can know for sure that what they are doing is going to be in the person's best interest. It'll be a risk, and how can risking someone else's life, against their will, be in their best interest?

To me, the only way something like this could be tolerated is in story form (and it was a good story).

[tectile]

Another great one from one of my fave authors.

Thanks again BA

[BA2]

Wow,

I'm glad I provoked a little thought. For me part of this fascination is the essential dilema or contradition inherent in a (sexy female) machine having free will.

Personally I imagine that Teresa's trust is abused in this story as she doesn't want to belong to the smart looking woman - if she was human that would be a simple moral case. As she is a robot she can be programmed to completely and genuinely change her mind (maybe even remembering but not resenting the deciept done to her). After reprogramming she will want to belong to the woman: so is the fact that she previously did not want to still relevant?

I don't know the answer to the moral question but I enjoy exploring the way this "non-human moral code" underlines the difference bewteen a machine and a human woman in a subtle but discernable way. Is reprogramming a woman really morally different than pursuading her to try something she thought she wouldn't like but finds she does? Haven't we all just wished we could press a button to make someone agree when we "know" we're right? This may be a guilty thought relating to a human but surely is pefectly acceptable for a machine designed to be "adjusted" to suit in this way even if she is human-like in every other respect. Haven't I just rambled on enough?

BA

[Korby]

It is a thought provoking piece to be sure, which is why I hadn't chimed in yet... been turning it all over in my mind. Raises all kinds of interesting philosophical questions. Is self-awareness that arises from circuitry and software less valid somehow than self-awareness that arises from biological origins? I don't know. In the scenario depicted here, where androids are implied to share a comparable social position with automobiles, the answer appears to be 'yes' (at least on a societal/legal kind of level).

Teresa's being reprogrammed here for her own good, and after it's done she won't mind in the least. So on balance, nothing really bad is taking place... presumably none of it will lead Teresa to the least harm. But it raises questions nonetheless.

Which is a good thing. Very nice bit of writing,
BA, as ever. If you've gotten into people's heads to that degree, then you know you must have done your job with this one!

[DollSpace]

This story made me cry...all day yesterday. I had to wait till today to compose myself enough to write a reply. The story is very well written and it hits me right in the heart. The act of having your trust, your very life abused and destroyed is something that is universal, and with the age of robots and/or intelligent machines (nearly) upon us, even more challenging ethical-type questions like this will be raised. It almost even seems something similar has happened to me a number of times, though obviously with several clear distinct differences... It's been a long while since I've read a story that's affected me this closely. Coming here and reading all the posts and stories, I don't usually get bothered by the material, and enjoy especially all the debates about sentience and what different people like in their robot stories and everything else. I'll be frank, though, and say this story momentarily made me think about leaving FBC, because it just hit too close to home. But the fact that I keep coming back to re-read it, and that it makes me (and others) think and entertain new ideas, well, that's a good thing that I want to be a part of, and it isn't always easy. Thank you for providing all of us with the opportunity to be a part of it, too.

Catie

P.S. Yes, in my opinion, Sal seriously took advantage of Theresa's trust, tricked her, and then discarded her for profit, even if she may have had some of Theresa's best interests at heart. It frightens me that someone could theoretically do something like that to me (again), and to humans as well.

[nybble]

Good art tries to show us answers. Great art forces us to ask questions.

Thank you for this compelling story.

[BA2]

Whew!

Dollspace, I'm glad my story got to you but please don't leave because of it! I'm sorry if it touched a raw nerve and I hope that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Another thought.... just because Teresa looks and acts like a real woman does this make her the same as one morally? Cuddly toys look like real animals and children get very attached to them but there's still nothing wrong with throwing one away or selling it when it's no longer wanted. Perhaps the more sophisticated the cuddly toy the more we behave like children, anthropomorphising (sp?) the object.

I still am unsure whether Teresa in the story is a "real" person with a mind based in electronics instead of brain or whether she is simply a sophisticated replica with no inner self going through the motions. I guess we can never really know one way or the other so perhaps our moral choices should be guided by simple perception?

I seem to be in a rambling mood, perhaps I should go and write more...

BA

[tectile]

Yes by all means go and write more

I like your analogy of the cuddly toy and it got me to thinking.

If you were to make a replica of a classic car exact in every detail it just isn't a classic car.

A robotic dog no matter how realistic could never take the place of the pup you rescue from a shelter.

My gut tells me that some things just have a uniqueness about them and that's that. My brain can't figure out why this is so but knows it just has to go along.

My gut says that Teresa isn't really sentient. She's just a copy of something sentient and Sal is justified in doing what she wills with her.

Can humans ever really create a unique sentient being in a non biological manner? I personally don't think so but I can't tell you why.

Some questions just don't have answers.

Now I'm rambling

[DollSpace]

Whew!

Dollspace, I'm glad my story got to you but please don't leave because of it! I'm sorry if it touched a raw nerve and I hope that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Another thought.... just because Teresa looks and acts like a real woman does this make her the same as one morally? Cuddly toys look like real animals and children get very attached to them but there's still nothing wrong with throwing one away or selling it when it's no longer wanted. Perhaps the more sophisticated the cuddly toy the more we behave like children, anthropomorphising (sp?) the object.

I still am unsure whether Teresa in the story is a "real" person with a mind based in electronics instead of brain or whether she is simply a sophisticated replica with no inner self going through the motions. I guess we can never really know one way or the other so perhaps our moral choices should be guided by simple perception?

I seem to be in a rambling mood, perhaps I should go and write more...

BA

Don't worry, I'm not leaving *giggle*... I also liked your analogy, and I think it really had to do with how she was written. She was written as a very sympathetic character, and there was also no attempt to make a statement, almost, to say, "well, she seems human and has emotions and stuff but really it's just an advanced simulation of such", so I took it as that she was actually feeling them or, at least, they were real to her. It obviously doesn't apply to all robots *giggle*...

And yes, please write more! I'll write more, eventually, once this damn writers' block dissipates... *sigh*

Catie

[ehy]

Very cool.

It would be interesting to write the identical events from the other two characters' points of view.

EHY