Melfina's Learning

Melfina made her way through the

Outlaw Star,

heading to the galley to prepare some meals for the following week or so, in case the Kei Pirates decided to attack them once again in yet another effort to capture the XGP15A-II. As she approached the galley, however, she was surprised to hear both Gene and Suzuka having a nearly rare civil conversation, and something told her to stop in the corridor and listen – eavesdrop, specifically.

"She's great!" Gene insisted, his tone unbelievably honest for once.

"So what is the problem?" she heard Suzuka ask calmly as Gene loudly slurped a drink. She hoped that Gene was not drinking something intoxicating again, as he would need to be clear-headed if there was yet another attack.

"The problem's that she's a model woman," Gene lamented.

"Intriguing choice of words."

There was a hesitation. "Oh." It had apparently taken Gene a moment to realize what he had just said – not that it particularly bothered Melfina if she was a "model woman," as she knew what she was and the form she had been given.

There was a pause, likely because Suzuka was silently sipping tea again. "Why is she a model woman?"

"Well, she sounds like a woman and she definitely looks like a woman. When she comes back from shopping, she certainly smells like a woman from all those perfume babes spraying her with who-knows-what scents. She's an excellent cook and she seems really happy here in the galley, like maybe she was made to cook, and without her, Gilliam would certainly have a harder time keeping this ship clean, at least on the inside."

"And yet 'she' apparently has no name."

"Huh?"

"I have had many, many men plead with me to spare their lives," Suzuka noted calmly, with the tone of someone talking about the artistic merits of a pebble, "yet almost all of them have included someone, usually a woman, as a reason why their lives should be spared, and when they did mention someone as a reason why they should continue to live, to a person, they always named that special person."

There was a brief pause in the conversation. "What the heck's that mean?"

"It means," the assassin explained, her tone of exasperation only barely masked, "that you have a special person who you either cannot or will not name. Maybe this woman is not so special to you after all."

"What the hell!?!" Gene countered. "Melfina definitely

is

special, and not just to me."

"True. There are those who have been trying to steal Melfina from you."

"Huh. Ya don't say..."

"It also sounds like maybe Melfina is special to you because she occupies the stereotypical traditional role of a woman: cooking and cleaning."

"She's not barefoot and pregnant, though," Gene countered, "and she's not entirely real, although I'm almost certain that she's got a heart and a soul in her."

Another pause, likely because Suzuka was sipping tea again. "There is something you are not saying," the assassin finally said. "I know you more than well enough to know that you often do not think with your brain."

"Damn, Suzu, that's low. Really low. But there is one thing I noticed about Melfina."

"Ah. Now you have at least mentioned her by name twice. So what have you noticed about her?"

Melfina leaned slightly closer to the open doorway to the galley, waiting for Gene's response.

There was another pause, then Gene spoke loudly and with enthusiasm: "She's got really soft breasts!"

"Gene Starwind! How crude!"

"Come off it, Suzu. I'm sure yours are just as soft!"

"You...! How can you...! Gene!!!"

"I'll bet you at least enjoy an orgasm from time to time."

"You...

GET OUT!!!"

Even before she heard Gene begin to move, Melfina quickly and quietly hurried away from the galley, not wanting to be seen.

*****

It was deep into ship's night, and with the rest of the crew soundly asleep in their quarters, Melfina roamed the

Outlaw Star,

once more thinking about the conversation she had overheard days earlier, a conversation which was just as notable for its intended participants as it was for its final implication.

She knew what an orgasm was. At least, she knew in theory. So much was theoretical to her. Melfina was keenly aware that so many questions about herself and her capabilities would never be answered – and likely could never be answered.

But orgasm... Could she orgasm? If she could, would she even enjoy it? If she could orgasm, would it cause Gene to like her even more?

Several days' journey from the nearest star system, there was only one entity which might have the knowledge Melfina sought:

Gilliam.

As the doors to the Bridge slid open, the voice of the

Outlaw Star

's main computer welcomed her. "The hour is very late, Melfina, but it is good to see someone on the Bridge."

"Good evening, Gilliam."

"Are the others going to join you soon?"

"No. I'm here on my own. I'm here to hopefully learn from you."

"Well, it is an honor to be thought of so respectfully, especially by one such as yourself, Melfina. What do you wish to learn? How to pilot the ship? The functionality of the grappler arms? Maybe learning about the cultures of the star systems nearest our current position?"

Melfina sat sideways in the pilot's seat, her hands folded in her lap. "Actually, Gilliam, I want to learn more about me."

"I see."

"Specifically, I want to learn whether I have a particular capability."

"And what capability would that be?"

"The capability to orgasm."

"I see. That is a very unusual request, Melfina."

"How would I learn whether I can orgasm? I know what it is – at least, I know what an orgasm is in theory – but I don't know if or even how I can orgasm."

"Well, I have not been able to acquire any additional information about your construction or your past since we left the Leirian System, so I do not know that I can give you the information you seek, Melfina. However, I can show you plenty of Human females before, during, and after orgasm."

"That would be great!" Melfina's smile and enthusiasm were genuine, for even if she could not immediately learn whether she could orgasm, at least the ship's computer could potentially show her how she could orgasm, and then she could follow those instructions to discover on her own if she could indeed orgasm.

"These are pornographic videos from Gene's personal collection," Gilliam informed the bio-android. "Whenever he watches these, he is always alone and he always keeps the sound very low."

"Why is that?"

"I believe it is because the women in these videos are quite loud just before and during orgasm. But there is also a social stigma attached to pornography and those who both make it and view it. It is a stigma which permeates almost every society in the universe, even those few societies where males and females rarely ever wear any clothing."

Melfina considered this for a moment. "Then perhaps I should not see these videos. But if these are from Gene's personal collection, how can you access them?"

"All but four computers on this ship are currently linked to me," Gilliam replied with what seemed like an undertone of pride. "If it exists on a computer on this ship and that computer links in some way to the

Outlaw Star,

I know about it."

"I see. Then that means that you can access Gene's videos and display them for me here?"

"Here on the Bridge, or perhaps in your quarters, or in the galley, or in the cargo hold, or anywhere else in the ship that has a screen available, Melfina. If you go to a location without screens, I could send the audio only to your location, but that probably will not give you enough information for what you wish to learn."

"Thank you, Gilliam. I need to think about whether I should view Gene's personal video collection, especially if pornography has such a prevalent stigma."

"Very well," the ship's computer acknowledged as Melfina stood. "Are you returning to your quarters?"

"Yes. Good night, Gilliam."

"Good night, Melfina."

*****

Once again, everyone else aboard the

Outlaw Star

was asleep when Melfina entered the Bridge alone. "You have returned at a late hour again, Melfina," Gilliam noted. "Is this related to our discussion from last night?"

Melfina simply nodded at first. "It feels... wrong, I guess, to ask you to do this, Gilliam," she finally said, "but... could you please show me some of those videos from Gene's collection?"

"Of course, Melfina. After all, the videos are not security-coded to Gene's eye scan or his thumb print. What type of video did you wish to see?"

"I don't know. What types are available?"

"Well, Gene has quite a vast collection in my opinion. Women alone, women in twos and threes, women with men, women with tentacled aliens such as the Sharinau, women in bondage, women who squirt a little, women dressed in a variety of uniforms and costumes, women covered in food and drinks, women who enjoy facials, women and machines, women who squirt in long powerful streams... There are fifty-three categories of pornographic videos in Gene's collection and six hundred seventy-eight individual videos in total. Shall I name the other categories available for your selection?"

Melfina again moved to the pilot's chair, primarily because it allowed her to feel close to Gene even though he was not on the Bridge. "That's okay, Gilliam. But everything you just named features women. Does Gene have any featuring men?"

"Men alone, no. Men with women, yes, but the camera shots linger on the women far more often and far longer than on the men in those videos. In fact, the men are really almost reduced to just their erections."

"I see... Well, whenever Gene watches one of these videos, you must certainly be aware of what he's watching, right, Gilliam?"

"That's correct, Melfina."

"From that, can you take your best guess on which of Gene's many videos might be most useful to me in learning about orgasm?"

"That is incredibly easy for a computer with my level of capability. I have narrowed it down to three which could be most useful for your desired learning, Melfina. One features a woman by herself, one features a woman in bondage who has several orgasms inflicted upon her by a man she calls 'Master' after this 'Master' has denied her an orgasm for the first forty minutes, and one features two women who repeatedly bring each other to orgasm."

After considering these for a moment, Melfina stood. "Can you route all three of those to the cargo hold please, Gilliam? Given what you said last night about a stigma, I believe I should view these while I am alone."

"That is a wise choice, Melfina. I will route all three to the main monitor in the cargo hold. I can also automatically adjust the volume so that when the women get loud in these videos, you can still hear without alerting the rest of the crew to where you are and what you are watching."

"Thank you, Gilliam. I would appreciate that. You can actually keep the sound quite low since my hearing is far better than Gene's."

As the bio-android began to step away from the pilot's chair, she stopped, an intriguing realization coming to her. "It's strange in a way that even though I've been created to look and sound and apparently even feel like a Human woman, I sometimes feel the strongest affinity not for the Humans or even the Ctarl-Ctarl on this ship, but with you, Gilliam. Perhaps no one else on this ship – except maybe Jim – really appreciates you and all you do for us quite so much."

"Why thank you, Melfina. Those are very kind words indeed. Perhaps there

is

something which links those of us who are not Human or Ctarl-Ctarl."

"Perhaps," the bio-android agreed with a warm smile before leaving the Bridge.

*****

It was very strange watching the first of the videos, filled with scene after scene of single Human women in various scenarios which all resulted in the women giving themselves an orgasm. In one scene, the woman was walking through a garden filled with flowers of seemingly every color in the spectrum, and finally knelt before an Old Earth Sunflower, hiked up her skirt to reveal she wore nothing underneath, and used only her hands to slowly bring herself to a loud orgasm. In another scene, the woman entered a place called a Sex Shoppe, bought a long semi-solid pink item with various ridges, and as soon as she had entered a dark and dirty alleyway stripped off her clothing and kept ramming that item into her body, keeping quiet until at last she screamed in orgasm. There were fifteen such scenarios in the video Gilliam presented for her viewing, but Melfina was unsure whether she had truly learned anything about how to orgasm, and she had Gilliam stop the video and questioned him about it through one of his small bots in the cargo hold.

"I do not know any specifics," the ship's computer confessed, "but since so much of the apparently orgasm-inducing action takes place inside the body of the Human female, there is effectively nothing to see. My extensive library of knowledge indicates the presence of a Gräfenberg spot within the vagina of the Human female which creates great sexual pleasure in a woman and typically leads to orgasm. Perhaps that is what is needed for you to orgasm, Melfina: stimulation of the Gräfenberg spot inside you."

"If I do have a Gräfenberg spot," Melfina mused sadly. "How would I know if I have this Gräfenberg spot?"

"I have three hundred seventeen different studies on the Gräfenberg spot in my database, and that only counts the studies conducted under strict scientific conditions in the past ten years. I can quickly review all these studies and calculate a most likely method for determining whether you yourself have a Gräfenberg spot if you'd like."

"Yes, please, Gilliam. As you calculate, can you show me more of this video, please?"

"Certainly, Melfina."

The video continued, this time with a Human woman alone on a bed, already naked to begin, and holding a small black cylindrical buzzing item against her clitoris. The woman moved about more and more the longer the buzzing item remained pressed against her, although she did move it around a little and occasionally dipped it into her wet vagina.

Melfina reasoned that perhaps that was what she was missing: Since she was a bio-android created to appear like a Human woman, she was never wet unless she stood outside during a rainfall or if she accidentally spilled water on herself while cooking. Perhaps the Gräfenberg spot was the key to becoming wet.

She had also noticed while watching the videos that the women all had hardened nipples adorning their large breasts. Perhaps those were other conditions which she could not meet: large breasts and hard nipples.

"I have an answer for you now, Melfina," Gilliam advised.

"That's okay, Gilliam," she lamented. "I'm only a bio-android. I'm only a construct. I believe that I can never orgasm."

"Would you like to know the answer I calculated, Melfina?"

"No. I believe I should go rest and consider what I've just learned about myself and about what I lack."

"I see. Well, good night, Melfina."

Without another word, the construct left the cargo hold, a still image on the screen showing a Human woman's wetness anointing the bed.

*****

Gene lingered in the galley after breakfast, which was highly unusual for him. Melfina somehow had a sense that he was perturbed about something, but felt it best to try to ignore him for the moment so that Jim and Suzuka did not recognize that something was amiss.

"We'd better get started on the maintenance to Engine Number Two," Jim finally noted.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a few minutes." Gene took another long drag from his mug of coffee. "I need a little more time to really wake up."

"Whatever. You'd better be at the Engine Closet in five minutes to help me carry the tools and parts we'll need for this."

"I'll be there. I'll be there."

With a long look of uncertainty at his longtime friend, Jim nodded his thanks to Melfina for the meal and then departed the galley, leaving Gene and Melfina alone.

"Where's Suzu?"

"She came and ate before you and Jim woke up. She needed to eat early so that she could mediate today."

"Hmm. What's she meditate about?"

"She never says."

"Probably about how to kill me," Gene mused. "Or maybe how to kill Fred Luo. Or most likely how to kill me and then go kill Fred Luo."

Melfina glared at the captain of the

Outlaw Star,

but she purposely said nothing.

"By the way," Gene said oddly, changing the subject, "do you know anything about the changing number of views on one of the videos in my personal collection?"

The bio-android blinked, purposely keeping her lips sealed so that she would not need to lie.

"I ask again. Do you know why one of the videos in my personal collection was viewed one more time than what it was last week when I haven't watched that video since last week?"

Blinking twice, she maintained her silence.

With a deep sigh, Gene stood, taking one final drag of his morning coffee before slapping the mug with unexpected force to the table. "Sometimes I don't know if you don't answer because you're a woman, or if you don't answer because you're supposed to be a woman. Dammit. I'm gonna go help Jim. Give us a call if you need us for anything. I doubt you'll see us before lunchtime with the size of this maintenance job."

"Okay." Melfina remained sitting at the table, her head lowered, her eyebrows narrowed in concern as, at the edge of her peripheral vision, she witnessed the captain exiting the galley in frustration.

As the bio-android began to clean from breakfast, one of the ship's bots lowered itself from a recess in the ceiling. "I am very sorry, Melfina," Gilliam's voice intoned softly. "I did not anticipate that Gene would watch the very same video early today. The chance of that was so incredibly small that I did not consider it."

"It's okay, Gilliam. I shouldn't have watched one of his personal videos anyhow. But how did Gene trace its viewing to me?"

"He saw that it had been displayed in the cargo hold and checked the access logs for the hold."

"Oh."

A long silence passed as Melfina cleaned, continually aware of the bot's presence. Even though the bot was a machine, even though Gilliam was simply the voice of a far larger machine named the

Outlaw Star,

she felt a comfort in the bot's presence, even though Gilliam remained silent, monitoring her activities as she worked. It was at times like this, when the true living beings on the ship were not with her, with only another machine as a companion, that Melfina sometimes felt at her best.

*****

It was late, and Melfina found herself resting in her small quarters, her eyes closed as she admired a recording of an Alluran opera, the voices mixing together to wonderful effect to portray the stress of the coming battle. It was an opera she had heard several times previously, but one which seemed to be better with each listening.

The soft chime caused Melfina to open her eyes and reach toward the audio panel beside her bed. "Yes?"

"It's me, Gene."

"Yes?"

"I-I was wondering if you wanted to... uh... well..."

"Just say it, please."

She heard him clear his throat. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

A few moments later, they sat side-by-side on the edge of the small bed. Gene's body language was full of nervousness, as if he was about to ask Melfina to do the impossible. She waited until the Human was ready, a hand gently rubbing his upper back to help calm him.

"Are you a lesbian?"

"Excuse me?"

"No, I guess not."

Gene's question was quite unexpected, to the point that Melfina's hand actually fell to the bed. "Why do you ask if I'm a lesbian? Aren't lesbians supposed to only be interested in women?"