Exo Saves The Day, Chapter 15

[gynoneko]

The next chapter is ready! I honestly thought it would cover more of the events to follow, but there was too much back story to get in, so I'll make sure to put a lot more action in the next installment.
Enjoy!

Comments PLEASE!

------------

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.
Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8.
Chapter 9. Chapter 10. Chapter 11. Chapter 12.
Chapter 13. Chapter 14
----
Exo Saves the Day
Chapter Fifteen: Electric Sheep
By Gynoneko

I didn’t know what to call her, I had no name for her. She sat there naked staring at me with glowing eyes, waiting for my input.

“I don’t have a name for you right now” I said.

“Invalid response. Please assign me a name” she replied.

“Override command” I said, hoping she didn’t decide to be called Override.

"Invalid response. Please assign me a name" she repeated.

I thought for a moment longer. It appeared as though she had been operating without a name already, so it must be possible to assign one later or not at all. I had an idea, and decided to try something a little weird. I leaned forward and pushed in 260's belly button, which depressed more than Tera's had, and held it for several seconds before saying "Unit 260, halt registration and Activate A.I."

"Registration halted. Accessing A.I.". Looks like that did the trick. Her eyes closed and she started to slouch a little before her eyes opened again, no longer glowing as they had been.

"Wha... Where?..." She looked around the room getting to recognize the location. Her gaze focused on me and her face turned bright red, she suddenly seemed to remember what was going on.

"Oh god..." she sighed, closing her eyes and thinking back at everything that happened. "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked to no one in particular.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. She opened her eyes and looked up at me as a tear rolled down her face.

"Surprisingly better than I have been in a long time. Where's Two Six... I mean... Where's Tera? Where's my sister?"

"Resting. She drained almost all her battery just to keep you under control. I hope I can get an adapter here soon or she might lose all her power." I sat down across from the limbless android and tried to view her in a new light.

"I'm so sorry! I hurt my baby sister and now I've doomed my other sisters as well!" She sobbed openly, with no way of hiding her tears. I saw a nearby tissue box on a shelf and wiped away her tears for her. Her gaze at me was purely emotional as more tears ran down her cheeks. "Why are you being so nice to me? I was trying to kill you back there" she asked.

"Well for one, you are Tera's sister, and she went through a lot of trouble to save you. She'd kill me if I let anything happen to you. Another is that it appears you have been dealing with conflicting programming and were only trying to do your best to save your sisters. It is all a bit confusing, but I can't blame you for doing your best to try to save your family." With her tears dried, I sat back down across from her and continued the conversation. "Not to mention I have a soft spot for a damsel in distress, and as of about 5 minutes ago, you are the newest addition to my... collection? You are registered to me at least."

She blinked and looked pensive for a moment her eyes darting back and forth as if reading text floating in mid-air before her. "Owner: Daniel 'Danny' Hawthorn, a.k.a. Exo. It appears the registration isn't complete yet. Is this true!?"

"Well I didn't know what to call you so I didn't fini-"

"Not that!" Her eyes darted back and forth again as she internally checked her registry and system data. "It's gone! It's all gone! I... I don't know what to say! I've never been this relieved in all my life!". She was beaming from ear to ear while more tears ran down her cheeks. "Please, you must make it official. You must finish the registration!"

"Well, I'm just not sure what to call you. I'm not very good at names..." I said.

"Call me anything you want! I don't mind!" She was very enthusiastic about this. I got the feeling this was a very big deal for her, but I didn't want to give her a name I didn't think she'd like.

"Give me a second, I want to do this right." I thought some more about it while she waited impatiently for me to respond. "Is there anyone or anything you like that might give me an idea?" I asked. I hoped she could help me figure out a name that suited her since I knew so little about her so far.

She looked a little confused that I didn't just give her a name then and there, but took in a deep breath and thought. "Well my mother- Cynthia- she used to home school us. I don't think Tera got any schooling since she was still in the lab... But as the oldest, my mother wanted to make sure I got a good education, especially after she reassigned our roles." I didn't know what she was talking about, or where she was going with this.

"Well, I'm not naming you Cynthia..." I said. One Cynthia was enough for me.

"Oh no! That's not what I meant. You see, she would often teach me about human history among other topics. She taught me about some of the great leaders of the past, such as Ghandi, Ceasar, Napoleon. I especially found the women leaders fascinating, such as Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Esther, even Mulan. One of the people she taught me about really inspired me. I wanted to know more about her, but I never got the chance." She looked a little sad at this, thinking about the horrors of her past.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"She was called Joan of Arc. Have you heard of her?" she asked almost giddy.

"Crazy girl who heard voices and defeated the English before being burned as a witch..."

She glared at me. "You make her sound so messed up. It wasn't the voices or her death that interested me. It was her conquests. Her role as a leader, a soldier, and a protector of her people. She was a very important figure."

"Sorry, didn't mean to downplay her like that, or to upset you." We were silent for an awkward moment. "I've decided then. 260, please open your registration file, I'm ready to give you a name."

She blinked a slow blink and her eyes started to dimly glow blue again. "Ready," she replied.

"Your name shall be Joan." I thought it fit her. She was trying to be a protector of her family, and was a soldier as well. I couldn't think of a better name, and she apparently agreed as a big smile swept across her face again.

"Joan. J - O - A - N?" She asked.

"Yes"

"Confirmed. Name registrered. My name is Joan, and I am ready to assist you. What can I do for you today, master?"

"Well you can start by not calling me master. On second thought... Only call me master in private. Otherwise just call me Exo, Danny, or Sir."

"Understood master" she said with a wink. She seemed a lot more friendly to me now that she was registered to me, smiling a genuine smile and using a happy tone in her voice. I liked hearing her talk like that, it was a big improvement from the cold soldier-girl voice she had been using until now. Her eyes stopped glowing and she sat there smiling. For a girl who only a few short hours ago scared the crap out of me with her physical strength and intent to kill, she looked awfully gentle and sweet.

"So... Now what?" I said to break the awkward silence that followed her activation and registry.

"Well, I would get up and give you a hand around here, except I'm a little..." she looked at her missing arms and legs, or rather the stumps where they use to be which were only metallic connectors and rods in place of them now, "... shall we say short handed?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I suppose I can trust you now. Be right back." I got up and went into the small guest bedroom. I was silent as to not disturb Tera, who was still sleeping on the bed there. She probably wouldn't have been disturbed at all if I had made a loud noise, as she hadn't moved expect to breathe since I last left her. Her battery was running dangerously low, and I was worried for her. I gathered together the disembodied arms and legs, and brought them into the other room again closing the door quietly behind me.

"Here we go, just sit back while I... try to..." I looked at the connections of her arms, and realized I had no tools, and no idea how to put this together. "I'm going to need some tools I think. It was really all Tera who removed your limbs in the first place, but I'm afraid she's too tired right now. Let me see what I can do."

"No problem. I don't exactly know how I go together either. Take your time." She was very patient with me, and just sat there silently watching me as I looked around for any tools.

I found some in the garage, however, without an android in the home there were no android-specific tools, and a generic toolkit would have to do. I ran back downstairs to the waiting android girl and plopped the toolkit to the floor with a clang. I pulled out a variety of screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, and a wrench. Having never worked on this model of gynoid before without specialized tools, especially a model with removable arms and legs which I hadn't seen before, I had no idea what to expect.

I studied the joints of her arms first to see if I could figure out what I needed to do. Carefully, I observed the socket on her body where the arm fit, and started making mental notes as to how the parts would go together. It was clear to me that Tera had unlocked something internally to allow her arms to come off like that, and I would have to figure out how to reattach them without the benefit of hacking.

"Could you please open up any arm or shoulder panels?" I asked. She nodded, blushing a little, and panels started lifting away. There were no blue lights like Tera had. In fact, as I watched closely, I noticed the subtle and faded seams that formed various geometric patterns on her body formed the panels that separated and lifted away. If I hadn't just cum, I'd probably be sporting another boner.

"Awesome" I whispered as I admired her craftsmanship. She blushed some more and turned her head away as I continued my work. I saw various moving parts that controlled the ejection of her arms, and started to put together the puzzle piece by piece.

"So, you seemed awfully happy to be rid of your old master" I said, making small talk as I worked. It was going to take a while, and discussing something was immensely better than working in awkward silence.

"I am" she said in a sigh of releif. "He was a horrible man! No... he doesn't deserve to be called a man. He's a monster!" This guy sounded pretty bad.

"What did he do?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't upset her too much, but I figured if I knew the enemy better, I would have a better understanding of what I was up against.

"Well, for starters, he forced us to kill people."

"Forced you?! Woah woah woah... kill people?" I stopped my work and looked at her face. She was holding back the tears, but I could sill hear the pain in her voice.

"He made us torment and kill his targets, training us like assassins. I didn't want to. I fought him every day, but he knew my weakness."

"I thought you had free will. I though you could deicide when to follow an order and when to ignore it." Clearly, something more was going on here.

"We do. However, along with free will comes the ability to be coerced. It is all to easy to force someone to do something they don't want to do." She was talking quietly now, almost whispering, but her voice still cracked with pain.

"How did he coerce you?"

"He tortured us daily." Her voice had grown dark as she talked about him. I knew it was uncomfortable, but I needed to hear more about him.

"Torture? I never heard of torturing an android before."

"He knew what we were. He knew we could feel real pain and joy, physically and emotionally as well. Our minds might only synthesize the effects of a biochemical system like yours, but the results are the same. Real physical pain." She was silent for a while before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I resisted it. I knew I could take the pain, and he saw that in me. However he knew where I was weakest, and he threatened to kill and torture my sisters if I didn't do what he said. He threatened all of us. 261 could take the pain too, but he played mind games with her as well, and broke her spirit and body. 262 just couldn't take it. After he tortured her to the brink of insanity, he took her away and brain-washed her. I never saw her again."

"Brain washing!? This is some serious shit!" I was not sure what I was getting into, but I was already too involved to back out now.

"You don't know the half of it. He held her life over my head, threatening to outright kill her if I didn't do what he said. That's how he turned me against Tera and you. For the sake of my other 2 sisters, I would have to kidnap or kill my youngest sister! At first I was going to just take her, even if I had to kill you to do it, but you were stronger than I thought. Instead, I tried to hold back as much as I could when I fought you. I wanted to lose, so you could end my pain. I just never imagined you could free me from it like this!"

I continued to prod and pry at the stub of her right arm, but my attention was too much in this story to really be getting enough done on her arm.

"Ouch!" She said as I pressed on something. It must have been a nerve, or the equivalent to it.

"Oh! Sorry. I'll be more careful." I focused back on my work as she continued to talk.

"He also has a mysterious benefactor. I never saw him, but I got the feeling he was the one that really ran the show. He somehow had leverage over Liberati. Oh god, what will he do to my sisters now?"

"I'm sure they'll be alright... or at least, he won't kill them. Why would he go through all this trouble of obtaining you and your sisters, and going after Tera, if he was just going to destroy them as punishment? No, he was just playing mind games with you. I'm sure they'll be fine." I knew they weren't going to be fine, but I was confident he wouldn't kill them. No, he'd probably send them after us like he did with Joan.

"You think so?" Hope filled her voice. It was easy to forget that she was not as old as she looked. She looked to be about my age, if not a little older, but she probably was full of insecurities and uncertainties, and was probably not as knowledgable about the world as she seemed.

"Yeah. You'll see them soon enough. But at least you have Tera now, and me." I smiled at her, and she started to tear up again, before nodding in agreement.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving me" she said quietly.

"You really should thank your sister. It was Tera that overpowered you in the parking lot."

"I will thank her as soon as I can. She could have killed me back then. One simple command and I would be sporting a fried brain." Was she really that powerful? Could Tera have just snapped her sister's brain in two like that if she wanted to? Granted she wouldn't have had the chance to get that close to her without my help, she needed a physical connection for that kind of control and power, but it was still damned impressive.

I worked in silence a bit longer, contemplating what she had said. Something about what she said before this whole conversation started was beginning to bug me.

"Joan, when I first reactivated you, you mentioned that you were a combat-ready unit?"

"Battle-ready" she corrected.

"Sorry. A battle-ready unit. What do you mean by that?"

"What do you know about our past, master?" she asked.

"Well, I know Cynthia, Tom, and other scientists built you for MMR, and they got wind of your ability to think freely. Cynthia told me they were trying to make the most human-like androids around, and the only way to do that was to give you free will. Once they heard that, they pulled the plug and Liberati came in and provided funding under a guise." That was the best I could remember of what Cythia had told me. Even though it was only a day ago, it already felt like an eternity.

"There was more to it than just that" Joan replied. "Mother and father... Cynthia and Tom were heading a division that had just won a contract with the military. They were designing the perfect soldiers. Mother thought we should be as human as possible to integrate with the troops and allow for things like espionage. Father wanted us to think freely. If we were to be useful in combat, we'd need to be able to think for ourselves. There are times when a soldier should disobey an order, or go above and beyond their call of duty. In short, they were making replacement soldiers that were meant to be as much like the soldiers they were replacing as possible."

This was completely new to me. I never heard of anything like this before. Clearly Cynthia was hiding something from me, and Tom seemed to be silent and withdrawn a lot. Perhaps they were trying to keep this from me. Had I known Tera and her sisters were suppose to be killing machines, would I have been as open to them as I have been? I probably stood there with my mouth agape in shock for a minute or two before I caught myself.

"We were meant to be prototypes, each one of us. I was designed to be the prototype for the army. 261 was meant to be a prototype for the marines. 262 for the special forces, you know, rangers and stuff like that." She said this all matter-of-factly, but it was game changing for me.

"What about Tera. When I activated her, she never said anything about being battle-ready."

"That's cause she's not" Joan clarified. "At least, she never got assigned. She was originally designed for the homeland security cyber division. Information warfare. It is the new frontier in war. Why send soldiers into harm's way when you can have the enemy too confused to know who is friendly and who isn't? She was meant to be the most powerful one of us. Able to take out an entire army by herself, without getting close to a battlefield. She was designed to infiltrate as a spy as well, perfectly programmed to blend in with her surroundings undetectable to any conventional android detection methods. But when the military found out about our abilities to disobey orders, they terminated the contract, and abandoned us.

"Tera was still unfinished, and they quickly changed her programming. My other sisters and I had to be reprogrammed as well, but nobody wanted a robot that could murder people, at least not in civilian life. No one would accept an android that could kill and think for itself. Mother and father tried to program us to live normal lives. They taught us history, math, science, even spelling and grammar. We were suddenly more like children to them, and they were like parents to us.

"They decided to make a new start with Tera. They kept her advanced cyber abilities, but they made her body more gentle and human. They gave her a more advanced A.I. They even gave her a more complex personality, in place of the programming the mitary would have used. So while she is still capable of hacking and cracking, she's more a normal girl than the rest of us. She's our precious youngest sister. I vow from now on to do what I can to protect her!"

I worked slowly as she rambled on about her past, but it was fascinating and I learned more in the last 5 minutes talking with Joan than I had in the last few days with Tera and Cynthia.

"So why did they make you all... girls?" I asked. It seemed clear to me that a male soldier would be a more logical choice.

"I don't really know. I heard father had a lot of say in that. I think it had something to do with telling us apart from the other soldiers, although women now serve openly in all military forces... Perhaps it was because we would be easier on the eyes for our fellow soldiers. But if you ask me, I think it was because we could use sex to our advantage. Not only is sex a great stress reliever, especially in battle, but it is also a useful tool in extracting information from a target. It could be used as a distraction as well. Besides, binding would be a lot harder to do if we were all male." She seemed to really enjoy talking and speculating. While a regular person would probably shy away from the topic of sex, she had no problem talking about it openly.

"Why the binding? That is just such a weird idea" I said. I think I finally figured out how I could get her arm to reattach, but it was going to be a little tricky.

"It was father's idea. He felt that a soldier on the battlefield would feel more at ease if he had a partner that would be closer to him than any other soldier. We would be more like an extension of their bodies in tight situations, but also a great stress reliever. We were to be assigned a partner with which we were to be bound, and thus form a close bond and a strong team. I don't think sex was a part of the original design, but father has this thing about monogamy, and I think he secretly wanted us to get married off. Ouch!" She pulled her shoulder away as I worked. I must have hit that spot again.

"Sorry. This might hurt a little." She gritted her teeth as I held open several moveable parts in her shoulder, and aligned her arm to fit. It wasn't going to be the easiest thing to fit together, in fact it was freaking hard, but I was sure I could get it.

"So... what's it like?" she asked.

"What? Your arm?"

"No. Binding" she clarified, speaking through her clenched teeth.

"Oh. Well... weird, at first. The process of doing it is awkward for sure, but also kind of trusting and exciting. Very intimate. But the sensation of having her presence in my head is actually rather calming." I thought about the stream of data she sent me, it had gone all but silent. "She must have used a lot of juice though, she's not transmitting anything right now."

"Did you plug her in?" Joan asked.

"I can't. I don't have her adapter with me. It's back at the apartment." I cursed myself for not buying the thunderbolt adapter when I had the chance.

"We need to get her charged up. You could always have sex with her" Joan said. At first I thought she was joking, but I soon realized she was being serious.

"What?"

"Sex. You know. Didn't mother tell you?" Joan asked.

"Tell me what?" I asked, getting more and more annoyed at the amount of secrets Cynthia and Tom kept from me after promising not keep any.

"In the event of an emergency and one of us were to lose our charge, if we have sex, the kinetic energy from the sex is stored and used to keep our vital systems going longer."

"So you're telling me you have magic vaginas?" I joked. I was relieved when she laughed.

"No silly. Well... kind of. We can store the energy from the friction involved to help keep our systems going." She smiled at me while I tried to wrap my head around such a weird concept.

"So... I need to have sex with a sleeping girl so she can keep her charge going longer?"

"It sounds weird when you put it that way" she replied.

"Maybe later. I think she'll hold out until Jen gets back with the adapter. I wasn't sure if she said she was going to buy one or get the old one at my apartment."

"Who's Jen?" she asked.

"The other girl you saw when you were confronting us. Oh, sorry, you didn't see her in the car. Jen, was going to my apartment to get some equipment, but we think the mob is already there."

"They are" she said. "I knew they had located your place already. I found you thanks to your car. Someone spotted seeing a car that matched yours, and I just happen to see it on the way to your apartment. They decided to have me wait there for you while the rest of them went on to the apartment." So it was my car!

"What about Cynthia and Tom?" I asked.

"I... don't know. They didn't keep in informed with anything outside my current mission." She looked apprehensive about that. It was clear to me she worried about them.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they won't get caught." I slide her arm in her socket farther, and twisted it. With a click, it seemed to hold into place, however it wasn't perfect. There were still some connections I needed to manually make, mostly for strength, but that seemed to do the trick. "There we are! How does that feel?"

Before I could wait for an answer, she grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me toward her. I was caught off guard, and half expected her to try to choke me to death. Instead, she kissed me. The kiss was long and intense, and it felt like an eternity before she finally released me.

"Good. Sorry. I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done. I've been wanting to do that since you had your way with me. No one has ever been so gentle with me before." She loosened her grip, and looked down as though she were ashamed of what she did.

Putting my hand on her chin, I lifted her face toward mine, and kissed her again. This time, it was a more romantic kiss, and it left her breathless.

"Don't apologize for that" I said. "But you could at least give me a warning next time." She laughed and gave me a one-arm hug. I didn't notice her crying at first, until my shirt was wet. She sniffed a few times, and after a minute or two, finally composed herself again.

"Thank you" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"So how does it feel?" I asked, nodding at her arm.

She flexed her arm and opened and closed her fingers. "Well, it feels a little numb, but it moves!"

I knew I had to have messed something up. "Hold still a moment. Let me take a closer look at that. I must have missed a connection in there." I started to poke around inside her arm some more though all the open panels.

"Will you... make love to me again? Like you did before?" she blurted out.

"What!?"

"Not right now or anything. I just... really enjoyed it. It never hurt with you, and you made it feel so intense! I've never had it like that before, and I just wanted to know if... if you'd do it again with me sometime." Her face turned bright red. This seemed to be a family trait.

I kissed her again, which she didn't expect. "Of course I will" I said.

"Is Tera alright with it?" Joan asked.

"Yeah, she said that registering you to me was a... gift. It would be a pity not to use my present." She blushed and stammered as if to say something but no words came out. Instead, I kissed her again, and she melted into my arms.

Her breasts are larger than her sister's. Tera has nice large B cup breasts, which she was told could be a small C, but Joan clearly had at least D cup breasts. I enjoyed exploring them as we kissed deeply. She closed her eyes, and let me take over. As I broke the kiss, she remained there in position with her tongue sticking out lightly, a string of wet hot saliva running between our mouths.

Moans escaped her lips as my hand found its way down to her private spot. I continued to massage her breast with my other hand as she held onto me with her one arm. Sounds of ecstasy filled the air as I massaged her aroused clitoris. Apparently she was still turned on from the sex before, and had been wanting more ever since. Perhaps her mind had reset to a new user, but her body still remembered the excitement I gave her. It was easy to make her orgasm again. As I rubbed her and dipped my fingers inside her warm wet inviting hole, she started to climax. A wave of small convulsions swept over her body as she reached her limit.

Of course, this made me excited, but perhaps not excited enough to penetrate her yet. I pulled down my pants and stood before her, presenting her with my manhood. She eagerly took it in her hand, and started to stroke and lick it. It felt good as she dipped it in her mouth and ran her tongue over it. She had more experience at this than Tera, but that was kind of what I liked about Tera. She was eager and willing, and learning as we went. Joan was experienced, which is nice, but Tera would probably remain my real girlfriend.

My real girlfriend. Such an odd thought. After only a weekend, I felt as though she were my grilfriend, despite the fact she wasn't human. Thoughts of Tera left my mind as Joan managed to change positions and started rubbing my member between her tits. She dd her best to hold together her tits, but I decided to help her out. She was just as soft as her sister, and it felt amazing.

Before I got too far, I broke away and lifted Joan off the couch. As I had done before, I penetrated her while standing, and proceeded to make love to her this way. It was very fun to change positions, since I could do it with ease, and she could hold on better now with one hand. I found several positions that penetrated deeply, and sent out loud squeals and moans into the air.

Despite her relatively small weight, my arms did get tired, and I decided to end in a good old fashioned missionary position. She seemed to really enjoy this position, especially when I lifted her ass off the couch and thrusted into her that way.

"Oh fuck!" She yelled between her moans and squeals. "Oh GOD! It's so good!" She moaned and squealed with every thrust, and her breathing was deep and heavy. Her voice was lower than Tera's, but that gave it a sensual quality Tera lacked, not that I didn't enjoy Tera's voice when in the throws of passion. "Oooohh GOD! Fuck me harder master!" I gave it my all, and she climaxed again, but this time, the waves of her orgasm seemed to continue for over a minute. "System error! Input overload! Overload... overload... ooooohhhhh FUCK!!!!" She seemed to have multiple orgasms at once, with waves and waves of pleasure clashing into each other, and her cybernetic brain was having a hard time keeping up with the data. Her pussy tightened around me and I came inside her again, my own orgasm sending shivers of pleasure up and down my spine. She continued to convulse for while. "... system error... error... error... eh..." Finally, she stopped convulsing, an lay there on the couch out of breathe and covered in sweat.

"Oh my GOD that was good" she said. We lay there for a little while, enjoying the afterglow, and she beamed at me with a radiant smile.

"Thank you so much, Danny! I've never felt so good!" She brushed her hair out of her face and sat up again. We cleaned ourselves up with Kleenex tissues, and I got myself dressed again.

"Tera's really lucky to have you" she said as she wiped away the cum from her boy. "I suppose I am too now. But please, don't worry about me. Spend more time with Tera, she's your bound partner now. She'll make you happy."

I nodded and smiled. "She does. But that doesn't mean I will ignore you Joan." She blushed, and smiled. "Next time, we can do it with all your limbs attached." We laughed, and after composing ourselves, I decided to pick up where I left off working on her arm. She reopened her panels, and I prodded away in silence for a few more minutes. I managed to get all the connections established except for one pesky one.

A short time later, I heard a noise coming from upstairs. A garage door had opened, a car drove in, and the garage closed again as the car engine died. "Sounds like she's back" I said while I concentrated on the one particular connection. It appeared part of the metal framework got slightly twisted out of place, and ended up severing a connection to her arm. I twisted her arm back and forth, and moved this out of the way before re-establishing the connection. Finally I got it in!

"Ah!" Joan said. "That did it. I can feel my arm again. Much better, thank you!" Just then, Jen and Jack walked in the door upstairs arguing loudly about something. They were within clear view of me, and I must have looked awkward to them as I fiddled with a screwdriver inside the shoulder of an otherwise limbless girl who was also completely naked.

"Hey guys! Did you get the charger?" I asked as I finished up with her arm. "You can cose up your panels now." I told Joan.

"Yes sir" she said coldly, and user her arm to cover herself up as best as she could while eyeing the couple upstairs.

"I got the charger, Danny, and your computer, but it wasn't easy!" Jen exclaimed. "I had to deal with this guy" she said pointing one thumb at Jack, "as well as some goons from the mafia... I had to pretend to be this jerk's girlfriend just to get away with it!"

"What the bloody hell are you doing Danny-boy?" Jack asked me, staring at me intently. I noticed Joan's face grow colder and her gaze turn into a glare. Her shoulder panels closed up as she held her naked breasts in her arm, still unable to cover her womanhood except by closing together the what little she had left of her thighs as best she could. She remained silent and just gave them a cold stare.

"What IS going on in here Dan?" Jen asked coming down the stairs. "Disarming the enemy?" She chuckled at her own joke, although I could feel the unease in it. Last time Jen had seen 261 awake was when she was trying to kill us. "You hold her down and I'll pull."

"Relax. The problem is actually taken care of. Jen, Jack, this is Joan." I noticed how silly that sounded, with 3 'Js' in the room. Jen stopped in her tracks. "Oh... so... she's on our side now?"

"Yes. She's on our side now, thanks to Tera" I confirmed.

"Sorry about the pulling comment" Jen said to Joan, and waved to her uneasily, and Joan nodded back as cold as ever. Jack on the other hand stuck out his hand to shake hers.

"How are you doing missy? Jack's the name!" Jack said, as he waited for her to grasp his hands in eager anticipation.

Joan glared harder at Jack. She knew he was just trying to get a look at her breasts; the whole room knew. And yet he stood there as eager as ever waiting for her to shake his hand and release her bosoms. Several awkward moments went by, then a minute, and still he waited with hand extended. I coughed to break the silence.

"I think her hand is full Jack" I said. He sighed and retracted his hand, giving her a nod and a wave instead. She nodded back coldly, but that didn't seem to freeze his enthusiasm.

I noticed that Jen was holding the metal case and a small package that I had been waiting for. I would have loved to stay and chat, but I was increasingly growing worried about Tera.

"Um... Is that...?" I nodded to the package in Jen's hand.

"Oh, yeah, I picked up that charger you were looking at on the way back. I figured Tera would be able to get more use out of this than the one you were using." She handed me both the new adapter and the large metal computer case Tom left me to run maintenance on Tera. I assumed it would also work on her sisters.

"If you don't mind, I'll be right back." I said, and went into the bedroom on that floor, closing the door silently behind me. The room was rather small, with a double size bed, a small dresser, and a night stand. Tera lay on the bed as still and unmoving as a life-size doll. I wasn't sure if Tera would have any side-effects, besides loss of time, with a complete power failure. It was not a common thing in androids, but she was not your average android either. Better safe than sorry. She had been turned off before, and been in standby as well, but she was never fully without power before.

Kneeling beside the bed, I placed the metal case on the small dresser, and pulled the adapter out of the packaging.

"Tera? Tera? Can you hear me?" I didn't speak loudly, but there was no sign of Tera stirring. I noticed now, since I was kneelng so close to her, that Tera was still breathing, which was essential to keeping her internal systems cooled. Besides that, however, she did not react to my voice. "I'm going to plug you in now so just relax." I knew she couldn't hear me, but somehow it made me feel better saying this out loud to her.

I carefully rolled her to her side, exposing her back to me. Pulling a little of her shirt up, I exposed the small of her back, where her access port she used to charge herself with was already exposed. She had been using it in the car, and must have forgotten to close up afterwards, again. I took advantage of the situation, and pulled out a long flat cable, which Jen had told me was actually a thunderbolt cable used for high speed data transfers. Connecting the adapter to the end of the cord, I plugged it into a nearby outlet, and lowered her shirt, allowing her to sleep on her back again.

To my releif, after a few seconds of anxiety, she finally started to breathe deeper and stirred slightly in her sleep. Not wanting to wake her, I pulled the available blanket over her, and quietly left the room.

I returned to the den to see Jack still trying to hit on both girls.

"You know there is enough Jack to go around. I'm just saying, if you haven't walked on the wild-side yet..." Jack continued. I rolled my eyes while Jen stared dumbfounded at him and Joan put on a surprisingly amused but somehow still cold expression. I think she was enjoying watching him squirm. Of course, Joan was still mostly naked, and while Jen was clearly trying to get Jack to leave the room and give her some kind of privacy, Jack was too... Jack to let anything get between him and a female. Even another female.

"Ahem" I faked a cough. "Could you help me upstairs Jack?"

Jack sighed and shuffled toward the stairs but didn't actually go up them.

"Thank you, Danny" Jen said. "Let me see if I can get you something to wear" she said to Joan, going through her clothes on the floor.

"Not that stuff, please" she spat. "It was not my choice to wear that... I don't want to look at it ever again." She was clearly upset about how her former master had been abusing her, and he probably forced her to wear whatever he wanted her to wear, despite her feelings.

"Alright..." I said, helping Jen toss the discarded clothes into a corner. "We''ll find something upstairs. I'm sure there must be something Tera bought that will fit you. You aren't that much big- um... taller than her." I had to remember not to call girls 'big'. Especially when that girl was inches away from bashing in your head earlier that day.

She nodded to me, and I ran upstairs with Jen to look through the car for the clothes we bought earlier. I didn't feel safe leaving Jack alone with a naked Joan, so I forced him to finish putting away the few supplies he and Jen bought together. It was mostly food Jen got earlier, but should keep Jack busy long enough for us to get something that would fit Joan.

"Thanks so much for bringing that case. Tera was almost completely drained! So what happened out there?" I asked Jen as we rummaged through the bags in the garage.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. I mean... what the fuck? You took off her arms and legs?! I didn't know you could do that! Not to mention her clothes!?"

"Well I had to. Tera had the idea to literally disarm her so in case she couldn't keep control while hacking her, she wouldn't kill us. It worked, and we even managed to clear her registration and get her set up to help us."

"Ok... so you had to take off her shirt to get to her arms... and her skirt to get to her legs... which is a bit of a stretch... but her panties?" Jen eyed me suspiciously.

"It's a long story full of happy endings and I think we best leave it that way." She laughed at me again. "Regardless, she shouldn't be a problem anymore... at least as long as Jack doesn't hit on her and end up with her fist in his face." This made Jen smile.

"Ha! I was going to ask you where you met Jack... but I realize he's your neighbor. What a jerk. First thing he does is starts hitting on me. As soon as I get to your apartment, he latches onto me and starts making moves on me like we've been dating for a month! Do you think this will fit her?" She held a pretty shirt up to her own chest for comparison.

"Might be too small around the chest" I said. I hoped she didn't ask me how I knew that. "So what DID happen over there?"

"Well, there were 2 men there and a girl, all dressed in black, like something from a movie. They were casing the place, looking for you. They broke into your apartment, but didn't seem interested in taking any of your stuff. It appeared they just wanted you or Tera. However, they were messing up your place and looking through your things all the same. When I got there, Jack was already there trying to distract them by giving them all sorts of false leads and just being a pest. He's good at that. He even tried feeling me up, the turd! What nerve!"

She vented about Jack for a few more minutes, or maybe it was only a few seconds... its hard to tell since it felt like an eternity. Sure the guy was a pig... a pig with a Brittish accent, but he was a damn useful pig.

After she vented out her frustrations, she managed to find her way back to the topic at hand. "Well the two men kept asking me questions like if I knew you, and where they could find you. They even flashed FBI badges at me, but I knew they were fake. My old man used to work for the FBI, and he showed me how to spot a fake badge from a mile away. They were good forgeries though. Almost fooled me. I'm surprised it didn't fool Jack. The girl, on the other hand... she seemed to be looking for something. The other two hardly touched anything, but she... She never stopped looking through your apartment as if she knew what she was looking for. I don't think she found it though."

"Found what?" I asked. I probably shouldn't have asked, since Jen was not psychic.

"The case actually... at least I got the impression that's what she was looking for." Jen emptied one of the bags of clothes and starting putting some of our selections in it.

"How did you manage to get it here?"

"I hate to admit it," she sighed, "but it was all thanks to Jack. He distracted them really well before I ever showed up, and somehow managed to sneak the case out of the apartment and into his. By the time I got there, he was just leading them in about 10 different wrong directions at once. It seemed like I was his excuse to get away from them for a little."

"Did you just leave them there in my apartment?"

"Well... no. After what seemed like a year, one of the men got a phone call. The only thing he said was 'Understood', and they just left! No more questions, no more rummaging, nothing. They just left. I got worried they found you here already, I'm relieved to see you safe!"

"Could they have followed you?"

"I doubt it" she smirked. "I ran about a dozen errands, and drove in circles for almost an hour before finally coming here. Neither of us saw any sign of them. Jack kept checking his laptop and said he saw no sign they were following or tracing us. If he can really do all that, he must be a good hacker."

"The best" I said proudly.

"Well... maybe he knows everything about computers... but subtly he's not so strong on."

"Yeah... but he has always been popular with the girls. I guess it's just his accent." He has always known his accent got girls, and he used it to his advantage.

"Really? How popular?" She eyed me suspiciously.

"Um... well... it's not my place to say" I fumbled. She continued to give me the evil eye, and I succumbed. "Lets just say he's very popular. I'm just glad he doesn't live directly over me or I'd never get any sleep."

Her eyes grew large at the sound of this, and she seemed to be in denial that a guy that seemed so sleazy to her could be so popular with other girls.

"Putting Jack aside," I said, trying to change the subject, "how long do you think we can stake out here?"

"A few days maybe. I will probably have to call another friend to watch the cats though if we need to bail. I don't want to cause any trouble for Dave and Kristy."

"Who?"

"They're the owners of the house. Those are their cats" she clarified.

"Oh... We'll have to thank them when they get back, or apologize... whichever seems more appropriate at the time."

We went back into the house carrying two bags of clothes we thought would fit Joan, while Jack finished putting the last of the groceries in the fridge. He left all the dry food out, organized in bags, so we didn't get them confused with the owners's.

"Here you go Joan, these are all the clothes we could find that we hope will fit you" Jen said. "Hey Danny..." she said eyeing me. "Girls only now."

"It's ok" Joan said shyly. "He can stay."

"You sure?" Jen asked. Joan nodded while looking away to try to hide her embarrassment, but it only made it more obvious. She had been playing the soldier when the others were around so far, but this one hint of femininity which she showed me in private seeped through. "Alright. Now don't you get any ideas Danny. But Jack is not coming down here."

We all agreed to that. After helping Joan and Jen get set up to go through clothes so she could pick out the ones she wanted to wear, I decided to go up to keep Jack company, or distract him. Depends on who you talk to really.

We didn't do too much but we did joke around for a bit. We got some food and chilled out together. They had a nice big television and we watched some news and some sitcoms while commenting on everything. Nothing noteworthy in the news, until we were about to shut it off.

"... And in other news, a battle of superhuman strength may have occurred today in front of a local Best Bargain. The popular retail franchise known for their innovative commercials and high tech merchandise became the battleground for what many of the witnesses call a battle between as many as three beings of super human abilities."

The face of the pretty anchorwoman was replaced by interviews from people in the parking lot outside where we fought Joan. The short interviews consisted mostly of customers and talked mainly about how impressive the fight was, and how much damage we incurred. It was not as bad as they made it sound, but it still must have been an impressive amount. Areas of the parking lot were torn up, several cars were damaged, and one was being towed away. The last interview was of a black man about 30 years old. "I swear to you, I saw the whole thing. Some crazy girl started attacking one of the employees, and before you know it, they was all like running and and dodging around faster that you could see, when out of nowhere Exo showed up! Exo's my man! He ended the fight, but it was Epic man... EPIC!" I almost laughed when he said this. I suppose it was bound to happen, I just hope no one decides to front me a bill on the damages.

"While police refuse to comment, an investigation is still on-going. The series of reports involving the mysterious vigilantee known as 'Exo' has been on the rise. Footage of this latest incident was caught on the store security cameras, but none of the suspects were captured clearly." The screen showed a very jumpy and out-of-focus video of the store front, where only the edge of our confrontation was caught. It was too jerky to see anything, and only my coat was ever caught in one or two frames. "Many experts have questioned the validity of these claims, but this latest case has intruiged the local community. If you have any information that may help in this case, please call the police department at the number provided on your screen.

"The zoo today announced the birth of a baby koala..." Jack turned off the TV.

"Woah. Crazy!" I commented.

"I know. Baby koalas, what will they think of next?"

We had a good laugh, but we were both kind of nervous that there was an investigation. Surely someone would have seen a better view of the car by now, and I'm sure they must have figured out that Jen was somehow involved as well. It was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down... but right now, I just wanted to keep Tera safe, and maybe help out her sisters if it didn't kill me.

I went back downstairs with some food for the girls, Jack following behind, and to see how things were going between Joan and Jen. Joan was still being cold and strict, but she had opened up to Jen somewhat and was wearing a bra and panties and a sexy low cut shirt that I thought was a little too tight on her, but that only made her look even more sexy. She was still missing her legs and an arm though.

"Woah" Jack and I said simultaneously. Joan blushed and turned away.

"I thought it looked nice" she said.

"It does" Jen said. "It looks really sexy on you. As soon as we get that skirt on you, you will be turning heads."

"Thanks" Joan said shyly. I handed the food to the girls, who decided it was a good idea to take a break and eat.

"Wait, androids eat?" Jack asked. Jen and I looked at each other and laughed. Tera already shared one meal with the two of us, and 2 with me. For once Jack was late to the game.

We told them about the news report we saw upstairs, and Jen started to look sick. "I knew I was going to get in trouble for this! I left my phone off but I bet it's full of voice messages about either how I'm fired, or how the police want to arrest me, or both! I actually had Jack go in and buy the adapter, I didn't want to face my boss after bailing on him like that." She groaned but didn't lose her appetite.

"I'm sorry I caused all this trouble" Joan said. "If money is an issue, I will gladly offer my services for menial labor."

"Don't worry about it Joan. I've been meaning to quit that job anyways. They have horrible HR" Jen complained.

The rest of the meal was finished while we talked about the technology behind androids. Specifically, Jack wanted to know more about Joan and Tera, although Joan wasn't volunteering many answers to him.

"It is getting late" Joan announced as they finished eating. "I suggest we all retreat to bed" she said in a strong cool voice. She felt like she wanted to be in control, or taking orders. Either way, she needed to play the role of a soldier, although I had brought out her soft side earlier and it kept peering out at us through her tough exterior.

"Good idea! I'll take the sofa and you can take the sofa!" Jack said looking at Jen. Jen grabbed him by the ear.

"You are sleeping upstairs on the couch in the living room mister." Jen directed Jack toward stairs as he yelped in pain. Her ear-grab looked painful, and it was. I had the privilege of being her guenea pig to perfect her ear-to-pain ratio. "I'll take the bed upstairs, and..."

"I'll stay with Tera" I said. "I'm still a little concerned about her."

Jen blushed a little when she thought about Tera and I together, but she seemed to be more than alright with it. "Good idea. You can keep her company and I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight" she said as she steered Jack up the stairs and out of sight.

"How are you doing Joan?" I asked. She seemed amused by Jack's reaction, and I got the impression some of his charm somehow did rub off on her.

"Better, thank you" she said smilling. "I like your friends. They're nice. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine here. I'll keep a watch out overnight and let you know if anything happens while you sleep."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked.

"I'll be fine. Just... um... help me get plugged in first, if you could be so kind..." Her voice trailed off, getting quiet and cute again, as she struggeled in vain to reach the port on her back.

"Sure. Let me get that for you." I leaned her forward, and she pressed herself into me with a hug as I tried to open the port on the small of her back, where I assumed her charging cable was like on her sister. It was there, but again, the port just popped open with no blue lights or magic. She did not relinquish her hold on me though.

"I've never told this to anyone" she whispered, "but I'm scared. I'm scared they'll find me, or you, or Tera. I... I don't know what to do!" It was clear she was so used to the role of the bigger sister who had all the answers that now, without any answers, she felt out-of-place.

"I am too. But whatever happens, we'll face it together." I gave her a smile, and she returned one to me. "Tomorrow, I'll have Tera help us put your other limbs back on. She could probably make it a much easier process."

I kissed her on the forehead, and made she sure was confortable for the night. We said goodnight, and I retreated to the bedroom, where Tera was still fast asleep. I pulled off my shirt and pants and slide into the bed next to her. My mind was filled with thoughts about Tera, Joan, and what our next move would be. I managed to get her under the sheets with me, and held her close while the sandman took me away to the realm of dreams. I had to wonder what Tera was dreaming about, or if she really dream at all. That night I felt the warmth of her body against mine, and allowed my worries to vanish for a few hours. It felt right, and I had good dreams that night.

------
/End Chapter 15
Chapter 16.

[Asato]

Excellent developments, I really like this story so far

[gynoneko]

Thanks, glad you like it so far! I'm working on the next chapter already, and this one will involve yet another member of the family. I really hope you like it. I hope everyone else is enjoying this series, I am learning a lot about writing and getting a lot of ideas from it, and I love to hear both positive replies and criticism (constructive).

[TW]

I really like this series! You've got great character development, an intriguing plot, and a very smooth style of flow. My only advice would be to try and avoid the "harem" scenario that tends to evolve from these stories (which I sense you're trying to do by establishing Exo's opinion of having Tera as his girlfriend). Not to say those stories are bad, far from it! They're just difficult to pull off well while still having the reader care about individual characters and without the story getting stale. A good example of that kind of scenario done well, IMO, is General's "Blue Chips", so definitely check that out if that's the direction you want to go.

Keep it up! I'm looking forward to seeing more soon!

T dubs

[gynoneko]

Thanks for the feedback. I am actually planning to keep the harem aspect down on this one. I have to admit that originally it was going to be that way, but I didn't like the direction it was going, so I did some plot adjusting, and have come up with something I think will works well. While sex will continue to be an active part of this story, I will not make it a "harem" story. I am also thinking about rewriting it to appeal to a non-explicit audience. I will probably post them here but I won't work on that until the entire story is finished.
I think this is getting close to a half way point, not sure exactly how long it will take to finish, but I hope to finish it before too much longer.
Thanks again for your support and help. I'll be sure to check out the General's story to get ideas for other stories.

[TW]

Sounds like the perfect balance! Can't wait to read more!

[gynoneko]

I've made a few updates, to make sure the names/events/storyline don't clash. I''m working on the next chapter now. Look forward to it!