What Once was Lost, Chapter 1

[gynoneko]

What Once was Lost
Chapter One: An Unexpected Package
By Gynoneko


It was turning out to be a very long night. Once again I was stuck repairing some of the worst cases of computer abuse I’d ever seen. One computer had been smothered to death by a blanket, while another had been abused by a horny teenager who somehow riddled it with so much porn and viruses I shouldn’t be near it without a hazmat suit. But computers weren’t they my worse cases that night. I had seen 10 different Personal Androids (or Personal Robotic Assistants, PRA for short) brought in, each with various problems, and they suffered not only from the same viruses and computer malfunctions, but also a slew of mechanical ones as well. I’d seen it all, or at least I thought I had. That night, I had someone bring in a PRA that fell in a pool, another which got food all down into its servos, and yet another that wouldn’t stop talking in foreign tongues; and that was all from the same person! One teeny-bopper brought in her PRA which had ambulatory problems; I imagined what she was doing to it to make it unable to walk properly, without thrusting its hips every which way. The cheaper PRAs were always being recalled, and I had seen a ton of them go in and out for constant repair and maintenance. The companies that designed these cheap ones really didn’t give a rat’s ass about making them functional, they just wanted to get them sold. Sure they looked nice on the outside, but after working with them so much, I knew just how cheap most of these walking piles of plastic were.

Despite that, I couldn’t help wanting one for myself. I never had a PRA for myself, and I always wanted one that could help with chores, and so many other useful features. However, I could never find the right one, which was not unusual, since most of the ones I saw were in the shop for repair. I remember the last costumer that night. A pretty young girl, with a cute face and a sexy body, brought in her PRA which suffered from god-knows-what. My pushy coworker Kevin kept trying to help her out, but he didn’t do PRA’s, he was strictly a computer guy, so she got directed to me. She was a young thing, probably not even 18 yet, with blond hair done up in pigtails, denim shorts short enough to be called a belt, sandals, and a flannel shirt tight around her torso so her stomach was exposed. She wasn’t busty, but she sure did like to show off what she had, and I sure liked looking at it. I couldn’t help but notice that her shirt was so tight, I could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Ah. I see, well, Rob should be able to help you out. Just wait right over there and we’ll be right with you.” That was all I could hear from Kevin, and I knew the girl I spotted before would be waiting in line for me. I came out from the back room, and prepared to help, and possibly ogle, the customer. She came up to the counter, after being directed toward me, with her busted TPA-3050, some low end cheap model from Tochiba, and I turned on the charm.

“How are you doing today miss?” I asked in my sexiest voice. She didn’t answer, too distracted with her PRA, so I tried again. “May I help you?”

“Gawd I hope so” she said, drawing out the word ‘god’ until she sounded more like a teenybopper valley girl than anyone should be allowed to. As the words left her mouth, all my arousal toward her left as well. She was a ditz. I was suddenly facing the bane of my existence, clueless teenage girls who think they are better than you. “My PRA like stopped working last night?” she said as if it was a question. “Like, it doesn’t seem to walk right anymore and stuff.” I cringed at every sound she made. I was amazed she got her busted PRA up to the front of the line. She had some guy, probably her boyfriend, carry it one step at a time. It was a short piece of shit, (the robot, not the boy), and I could see that the hip was twisted. She probably told it to jump off a cliff ‘or some junk’ and it did. God I hated my life. It was going to be an easy fix, but a costly one, and I reveled in the fact that I got to tell her this.

“Let me take a look at it” I faked as I took a closer look at the android. “Yeah, I’ve seen this before” I lied. “There is probably something wrong with the programming. I will have to give it a firmware upgrade before I can see if there is anything else wrong.” I know I was being an ass, but she waited till the last 10 minutes before closing to dump this bomb on me, and I deserved to get a little something out of her for it. “And look, the gyroscope is out of alignment. I will probably have to keep it for a week and assess the damage before I can give you an estimate.” I knew that we could charge them for the assessment, and then tell them anything I wanted, and spend 10 minutes fixing it up and charge them for a week or 2.

“That sounds expensive?” she said, putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable. “I was like hoping you could just fix it and junk. It isn’t like it’s big or anything.” God I wanted to strangle her.

“Well, I’ll see what I can do, but I will have to do a thorough examination first, and make sure the firmware is up-to-date. I can call you with an estimate once it is ready.

“Really? Like, Okay! Like, it isn’t going to cost me anything is it?” She asked as elegantly as a seagull.

“The standard charge for an examination of this type is $100” I explained. “I should have it done by next Thursday.”

“A HUNDRED DOLLARS?” she yelled, as though it was all the money she had in the world. “You’re just going to look at it right? Why is it so expensive?” she complained. “And why does it have to take so long?”
My head was beginning to ache from his conversation. “PRAs are very complex machines that require precision work. We have a queue of orders ahead of yours so it will take some time before we can address your unit.” I didn’t even try to smile anymore, and I just let it all out monotone. “We have to study the problem to determine what exactly is wrong with it before we can make any repairs.”

She sighed with that little annoying ‘I’m better than you’ expression and rolled her eyes. “Fine! Do you take Visa?” I took her card, or rather, her father’s card since I assumed her name wasn’t George, and the rest of the incident was a blur. Another teenage valley girl with nothing better to do than spend her dad’s money. My arousal was so low at this point it would need a defibrillator to come back to life. Besides, I didn’t really like young girls. Sure she was pretty (and pretty dumb), but I preferred a girl more my own age, someone with a little more experience, in her 20’s, and with a body that had actual curves on it.

It had been way too long since I was last on a date, and I couldn’t help but think about it every 10 minutes or so. The closest thing to sex that I had was repairing one of the high end fembot models that came in every now and then, but there hadn’t been one of those in a good 3 months. I really needed to get a girlfriend, but somehow, I was always too busy on some nerdy project or something. My hobbies were usually the kind of thing reserved for scientists working on PhDs. I couldn’t get enough of highly advanced A.I. systems, and their physical interaction with the world. It was just fun to me, and I enjoyed spending more time working on an android brain than I did sitting in a movie watching a chick-flick. It’s not that I was against dating, or going out with girls and doing things girls like, I just never had the time to meet a girl with my interests, especially when I spent all my time working on my latest and greatest creation. With a little more work, and a little luck, I would save up enough to buy one of the really high end female PRAs that were coming out, customized with my own personal A.I. The articulation of these new models was fantastic, and I longed to see if I could get one to cook for me. Besides, all my internet buddies would be jealous.

Despite the shoddy and poorly-built models I had been working on, the new models were top of the line. It would cost me several months’ pay, but it was worth it. Or at least I hoped it was. My ideal model had never been built, and it was probably still decades away before one of the quality and functions I hoped for would come out. For now it was just a dream. But owning my first PRA now could be a step in the right direction for that dream. If only I dedicated the time and effort I put into this fantasy into finding a girlfriend, maybe I wouldn’t have to dream about it.

The only girl in my life then was April, my cat. I named her April cause… well… that was the month when I found her. I heard mewing behind some bushes near my apartment, and low and behold, there was a kitten. No one claimed her, so I took her in as my own. She got all the shots and procedures she needed, and quickly became a part of my family. It was hard to believe 6 months had passed. She grew up so fast, and yet it seemed like I only found her yesterday. She was so tiny, I was always afraid I’d step on her, but she was fast and always evaded getting stepped on whenever she brushed against my legs.

The night was just about over, and I was looking forward to petting April and doing some more tweaks into my A.I. I had been at work all day, having pulled a double shift so I could afford that PRA sooner. I was sure April was eagerly awaiting me to come home and feed her. She probably left a present somewhere for me to clean up too. Whenever I worked too long, April would let me know her opinion about being left home alone, and usually I had to sniff it out before I could clean it up. You’d be surprised how many places a cat can hide something in a 2 bedroom apartment. I was careful to make sure she didn’t go into the computer room when I wasn’t there, I could not afford to replace a soiled computer.

As the clerks closed up the registers and counted up their money, I grabbed my coat and headed for the door. A bright light and a clap of thunder sounded, just before I could get anywhere, and with that rain started pouring down like cats and dogs. More distant rumbling signaled that this storm was only going to get worse, and I better get home fast. I left Kevin to finish up the paperwork, since I pulled the double shift that day, and ran out to my car, getting drenched in the process.

The rain came down hard and loud, like a million tap shoes on my car. It looked more like water grenades than rain as it hit my windshield. My jacket was mainly for show at this point, since it was soaked through, only making me more cold and miserable in the car. If I only paid that $100 the car company wanted to fix my key fob, I could have gotten in half drenched, instead of soaked, but I was just too cheap to do that. I was looking forward to getting home and relaxing for a short while, at least before getting up in the morning and doing it all over again. It was already 10:00 at night, I didn’t exactly get that much time to rest, and I was sure I’d have to hunt around for April’s gift. I turned the ignition switch, put the car into drive, and headed home for another uneventful evening, or so I thought.



To say my car roared to life as I prepared to depart would be an exaggeration. It more or less sputtered to life yearning for the sweet release of death. The key fob wasn’t the only thing I needed to spend money on in my car, but I was too cheap to do anything about it, and just let it get worse. If only I cared half as much about my car as I did about my computer, this car would turn heads, instead of turning stomachs.

No matter how high I turned up the wipers, they were never fast enough to give me a clear view of the road. As soon as one sheet of rain was washed away, another had already replaced it. Occasionally, the night sky would light up with another flash of lightning, followed by a thunderous clap. I knew the lightning was getting closer, and louder, but the events of the night ran through my head. It was such a long day, I couldn’t concentrate on the road like I should have been, despite the bad weather, and instead I reviewed everything the valley girl said and wore. I thought back to the other customers from earlier in the day as well. I recalled the several business men who needed commercial PRAs fixed, the young couple who bought their first PRA together and wanted to install an upgrade, even the know-it-all teenager who tried to fix his own and ended up frying the motherboard. Sure there were a few lookers in the crowd, but none of them really stood out to me. That last girl was the closest thing to sex appeal I had seen all day. The way she wore her flannel shirt showing off her stomach, and her tight short shorts that made her legs longer than a girl her ago should have. Her tanned skin that showed she spent too much time in the sun, her cute ass; her small but perky breasts. I wondered what they looked like naked.

Another bright flash of lightning and an instant loud clap of thunder, almost deafening me, forced my attention back on the road and where I was supposed to be concentrating. I tried to focus as I turned onto a back road that saved a lot of time getting home. There was a small bridge ahead, which could easily flood, and I had to wonder how full it was getting with all this rain. I had to be careful my tires didn’t slip on the wet road. Wet road. If that shirt was only wet, I could have seen her nipples. I could see her dancing naked in front of me now, older, fuller, and more idealized; her curvy hips, her full breasts, her pouty lips. I longed to touch her, to smell her, to kiss her, to-

A truck ahead of me swerved violently in the road, sliding right toward me! I slammed on my brakes, but skid on the wet surface, unable to stop. I sounded my horn, but the driver kept swerving dangerously out of control. He had just passed the bridge, but at this rate, I would slide right off the edge if he didn’t hit me first! This road was too small for a truck, even a small one like that, and the driver should have known that! But it was too late now, I pumped on my breaks some more, hoping the pumping action would be a suitable replacement for the non-existent anti-lock brakes. The usually calm stream was bubbling over with water like a 5 star rapid, and the truck was nearly on me. I turned my wheel and covered my face, fearing that this would be the end, putting my car into a full-on tail spin!

Somehow, this actually helped. The truck driver managed to regain control of his small truck, and narrowly avoided me, while my spinning car lost all momentum toward the water, and halted on the side of the road. It took a moment for me to realize what happened, and to recompose myself. My life almost ended that night, and the truck didn’t even stop to see if I was alright. No, that driver sped off like a bat out of hell, leaving a mess strewn across the road behind him. I looked again. There was a mess in the middle of the road; in fact, there was a large box in the middle of the road. It was directly in front of my car, and my headlights dimply lit it up in the stormy night.

I sat there a moment longer and regained my composure. Whoever that guy was, there was no way he’d be coming back to check on me, but perhaps he hadn’t noticed he lost part of his cargo. I had to wonder what the hell it was. The box was big, probably about 3 feet cubed, and appeared to be made of metal. With my luck it was probably a busted speaker, or maybe just an empty box. As I sat in my car staring at this box, the rain slowly started to lighten up. Almost as fast as it came, it had gone, or at least lessened. There were only occasional droplets of water now, but with such unpredictable weather, it was bound to pick up again soon. I flicked off my squeaking windshield wipers, and made a decision. I was the only one there, and I wanted to see what that reckless driver left behind. Maybe I’d be lucky and get something useful, or at least something I could sell on eBay for all my trouble. I got out of my car, realized I should probably check my car first for damage. There was a small dent in the front of my car on the bumper, probably where the box hit it. I didn’t even realize in all the commotion that I hit anything at all. Luckily the truck did not hit my car or there would have been serious damage, however my rear left tire was stuck in some mud, and I hoped it would not be a problem getting it out. Surely the insurance would fix the dent, although I might just take the money and pocket it. It was just a dent after all, and as long as the car was still running I could care less.

Flipping my brights on, I decided to check the box. As I got closer, I noticed a number of things. First, there were words on the side that said “This Way Up” pointing sideways. Clearly, it was no longer right side up. The second thing I saw was that the lid of the box was busted open. It appeared that it normally had a complex lock to keep it from opening, but with the trauma of the accident, it was dented out of shape and the locking mechanism did nothing. No point collecting a broken box. The last thing I noticed terrified me. In the dim headlights, I could see an object sticking out of the box where it was broken open. It wasn't just any ordinary object, it was a human arm! Luckily, it wasn’t a big bloody grotesque mess, or I might have fainted right then and there, and it still seemed attached to its owner who was inside the box. I was frozen with fear.

“Holy shit! It’s a serial killer. Either that or some bizarre human trafficking. Oh my God what do I do what do I do?" I prepared to call the police, but had to signal in this back road, and I dared not leave the scene of a crime. I would just have to wait for the next person to drive by and tell them to call the police. Curiosity drew me closer to the box, and I peeked inside. I didn’t want to get all upset over a mannequin arm or something, so I had to be sure it was human. As I got closer, a smell rushed into my senses, a smell I wasn’t expecting. While I was expecting the smell of death, a rotting corpse, or just severe human odor, instead I smelled something sweet and fragrant, almost like a new car smell. It wasn’t quite the same, but it was similar. There was something strangely familiar about it. And then it hit me.

That wasn’t the smell of a human, it was the smell of an android! I took another look at the box, and read aloud “ARAD-XS90f”. There was a holographic logo printed beneath it of gears and circles, with the letters ARAD in the middle. ARAD? I wracked my tired stressed brain to remember what these familiar letters were. It finally came to me. ARAD stood for “Advanced Robotics and Android Development”. It was the same logo and name as the company who made the highest quality PRAs in the world, the same PRAs I was hoping to buy! Maybe luck had come my way, except this arm was way too human to be like any android I had ever seen before. For one, it had skin.

I took a closer look at the arm, it was not moving, but something in me feared it would suddenly spring to life and attack. Things that happen in horror movies tend to stay in horror movies. The arm remained lifeless, but in the dim light, I could make out more detail. Not only did this arm appear to have skin, but it also had hair, and fingernails. It was as human as any I’d ever seen, and it was feminine. The arm was dainty, well-shaped, and even sensual. I couldn’t resist, my curiosity was too great. I pried the dented lid back, and peeked inside. The light of the car was not shining directly inside, but there was enough dim reflected light inside to see who owned that arm.

Inside was a collection of plastic bags, wires, and what appeared to be a suitcase. In the middle of it all was a big bundle of plastic, from which the mysterious arm protruded. I rummaged carefully inside. It was a padded box, with a strong metal frame, but I wasn’t sure if the accident damaged anything inside. As I rummaged around, I unveiled a very human looking head, with dark short hair. It was a girl, a pretty girl at that. Her eyes were closed, and she was as still and cold as death. I wasn’t fully convinced she was a robot yet. There was no blood, and no smell besides the sweet scent of a new android. Her skin was icy cold, and there was no pulse. Perhaps she was a human girl, a victim, but how was I to know?!

Just as I was about to freak out again, thinking this was an innocent girl cut down in the prime of her life, I noticed something else inside the box. Pulling at some plastic bags around her back, I noticed wires and various connections protruding from her back and into a metal case with the letters “ARAD-SX90f” written on it, and a line drawing of a naked girl behind it, like what you might see in a medical text book. The other bags in the case were filled with a variety of standard and non-standard android accessories. Remotes, batteries, and an assortment of other items surrounded the girl, along with a single thin pamphlet that read “SX90f Quick Start Guide”. Grabbing the thin pamphlet, I thumbed through it, trying to use the light of my car to read it. It listed the basic functions, abilities, and commands for the android. The beginning of it started with “Congratulations on purchasing the new prototype gynoid SX90f…”. I glanced through the features. Active circulatory system. Adaptive Learning. Micro-tech fabricated skin. The list when on and on.

There was no way this could be real, but here it was in front of me! I never heard of such advanced robotics being around, not even in the top secret military files that got leaked online. I paced around the box trying to decide what to do. The road was slippery and wet, and no one came this way at night, so I debated to myself what I should do.

“I should leave her — I mean ‘it’ — here. There is no way this is real! She, I mean ‘It’, isn’t mine, and it’s not a living thing anyways. I don’t need a PRA, I am saving up for a custom one anyways. I mean I don’t steal. What if no one comes by, or maybe they’ll find your fingerprints on the box. That’s crazy talk Rob! Everything will be fine. Just leave her here alone in the cold like little April. She was all alone and injured, she could have died without my help. Maybe I can get a reward for saving her. I’ve always wanted one for myself, and this would surely make the guys jealous. I’ve never seen one this advanced before. I may never have this chance again. That reckless driver is long gone, but someone else could come by any moment. He’s the one that lost the box, I just found it. I… I…” I stopped pacing and thought to myself. I needed someone in my life beside April, and she could bridge the gap. I’ve been alone for far too long, I deserve this. Besides, she wouldn’t survive this weather in the middle of a street. “Fine!” I yelled out. “I’ll do it!”

Having finally made up my mind, I quickly looked around for any more cars. It was really a seldom used road, and I couldn’t see anyone in the bright light of a lightning strike. Unfortunately, the rain had started to pick up again. It was still fairly light, but getting heavier fast. I decided to grab all the different objects in the plastic bags and stuff them in my car first. I was willing to bet that the girl would be water-proof, but the plastic and metal doodads probably weren’t. Quickly, I reached into the box, and grabbed all I could before running them back to my car and tossing them in the back. I had to make 2 or 3 trips to finish before I could find nothing else except the girl. I practically crawled inside in order to get a hold of her and lift her out. Most of the plastic wrapping covering her and come off, and I held her up in my arms. She was naked, limp, but beautiful. She couldn’t have weight much more than 100 lbs or so, and she was about average size for a human girl. The rain beat down harder now as I lifted her out of the box, carrying her metal case and wires behind her.

As I held the lifeless cold body, I saw her entire form for the first time. She was breathtaking, like a sleeping beauty. Her still form didn’t look anything like a dead body when I saw it now, she just looked asleep. She appeared to be in her early-to-mid 20s. Her light brown hair was cut short, in a fun almost punk style, although the rain was beating it down onto her face. She had a cute, small nose with a slight upturn to it, and full pouty lips. Water dripped down her pale skin, dripping off her chin and following the curve of her shapely breasts. They were not large breasts, but they were not small either. They were full and perky, and just the right size. Little puddles of water formed in various places on her body as I held her, as though she wore a dress of flowing water and light. Her sweet scent filled my nostrils, and I knew in that moment that she was something special, something more than just a robot.

I stared down at her beautiful face, watching her once light brown hair turn almost black in the rain. I could have gazed at her all day, except the sound of distant traffic jerked me from the gaze and back to reality. I looked around but could see no cars. I decided it would be best to hurry nonetheless. I carried her over to my car, and using one free finger, opened the passenger side door. Carefully I placed her inside, putting the metal case and wires by her feet, and making sure she had a seatbelt securely fastened. I took of my soaking wet jacket, and covered her. The inside of it was relatively dry, considering the alternative, and very warm from my body heat. I doubt she would appreciate it, since she had no pulse or body heat of her own, but I couldn’t just let her stay like that. Besides, it would be too much of a distraction driving home with a completely naked girl next to me. I used an old blanket I took April to the vet in (it was clean!) to dry off her hair and face, and made sure the metal case and wires weren’t wet either.

I ran back to the box, and made sure there was nothing else in it. Satisfied, I debated what I should do with the box next. I couldn’t leave it there, or people would ask questions, like where did the robot that belongs in it go? I couldn’t carry it with me, it was just too big to fit in my dinky little car. It was damaged, and had all sort of information all over it. It would seem odd if the driver did come back to find the android missing. I decided it had to go. I hated to pollute the environment, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Besides, I wasn’t the one who dropped it, I’m just moving it. I lifted the box which was no easy task as it was heavier than the girl. I carried it to the middle of the small bridge ahead, and balanced it on the edge of the rail. The usually calm stream was surprisingly wild tonight; amazing what a little water could do. I pushed the box over the edge, and watched it disappear into the darkness. I didn’t even hear a splash as the water was too loud. I did see it briefly reemerge farther downstream as it was washed way into the night.

I stumbled back toward my car. Without my jacket, the rain shot right through me. I was freezing cold, but I managed to get back into my car, and start the engine. I was glad it started this time. I guess after being warmed up it decided to behave. I turned the heat up to the max, and made sure my new passenger was secure. Putting the car into drive, I revved the engine, but the wheels spun in back. The mud was going to be a problem. I shifted to reverse, and give it another try. I rocked the car back and forth with this method for a few more minutes, slowly gaining ground out of the muddy ditch. Just as I managed to get the car out of the mud and back onto the road, a car sped past driving way too fast. Crazy drivers were going to get me killed, but I was just glad they hadn’t come by a few minutes earlier. Finally, I could head home again, wet and exhausted, but also excited.

------
/Chapter 1
Chapter 2 is here.

[TW]

I don't know what it is about this story, but it gets me in all the right ways.

Please, more soon!

[NukuNookee]

Very good start, lots of potential for another great yarn.

[gynoneko]

Thanks! Glad you like it so far.

[DollSpace]

Great start; please write some more?

[A.N.N.]

Yeah, this really has my interest. I'd like to see this story develop. Any idea how many episodes or parts you'll have for this?

[gynoneko]

I'm really glad everyone is liking this one so much, I don't know if what I've been writing for chapter two will live up to the expectations. I hope it does.
Tell you all what though, I am planning to make this a shorter story, maybe 5 or 6 chapters, and see how it goes from there.
If there is anything in particular you all would like to see, or expect to see, or theorize, feel free to post here and I will take all suggestions and speculations into account.

Thanks again for all the positive feedback, I hope to hear from some of you.