Epilogue
"I'm home." The call echoed through the house, and Unit Lena38, through her programming haze, recognized the presence of another unit in the vicinity. E27 had returned from her errand. Lena38 terminated the computer link, experiencing the sense of loss that always came after severing herself from the host system. She remained hopeful that soon that separation would no longer be necessary, that she could remain connected all the time. She brushed the hair away from the back of her neck to unplug the connection cable from the suit's collar, and felt the comforting persona of H38 fade into the background as her Lena personality took hold. She carefully coiled the cord and placed it beside the screen, then looked up as the room lights flickered. One of the bulbs in the ceiling fixture was dying, it would need replacing soon.
As Simi stepped into the room, she smiled at Lena. "There you are." She carefully placed a heavy box on one of the long worktables, positioned a thick white shopping bag beside it, then turned to give Lena a long, lingering kiss.
Lena savored the sensations. "Mmm, thank you, Simi," she said when their embrace finally ended. "So, did you bring dinner?"
"Yep, from that new Thai place, I left it on the kitchen table. Also brought you this," Simi said, flipping open the box flaps. Inside lay an assortment of electronics parts, wrapped in individual plastic bags: microprocessor chips, tiny node buttons, and other paraphernalia. "This was on the porch, the online order came today. I also got you these," she pointed to a few old cell phones with broken screens that she'd nipped from one of the electronics recycling boxes at the grocery store. "And last, but not least," from the white bag she pulled out a folded mass of shiny silver fabric, and another in midnight blue, almost black. "
Two
spandex bodysuits, one like mine, and the darker one with gloves and a hood, in case you decide to make that headphones-and-goggles device you told me about, the
full
body experience." Simi preened at her success in locating everything on Lena's shopping list. "Two-for-one sale. Wasn't sure I'd find a store like that around here, but hey, it's a college town. So, do you think you can harvest what you need out of that?" She leaned against the table, and patted the box beside her.
"I think so," Lena nodded, scanning the components. She examined the bodysuits, inhaling the scent of the fresh materials. She pulled at the fabric, testing the elasticity with a frown; it might need reinforcing, but she was planning some detailed modifications anyway.
Lena looked around the large room, seeking an open space at one of the four tables for a suitable workspace. There were orderly bins and shelves of components everywhere, sitting atop larger cabinets containing tools, in this, her fabrication shop. The tables contained multiple pages of designs, and the scattered experimental fragments of her latest project, but Simi had brought her the final components for Lena's biggest challenge: making a full-body programming suit of her very own.
She was thankful to have so much room to work with in their new house; well, new to them, anyway. After getting the quaint little two-bedroom home, not far from the campus, they'd had to upgrade the electrical system, and replace a lot of the wiring to handle their electrical load. That had cost them a lot of money. The permit applications had set off a few inquiries from local officials and authorities, concerned about an illicit pot-growing operation, but they'd eventually managed to smooth everything over. The fiber-optic internet link they had specially ordered had cost a bundle, and the new computer hardware hadn't been cheap either; a collection of linked, custom-built machines and a set of three monitors dominated one of the big tables. Simi had begun dabbling in cyber-investing, which fortunately had paid off most of the credit card bills.
Lena had two jobs now to help cover the expenses, but with her enhanced capabilities, they weren't interfering with her studies. She actually had increased her credit load with more classes. She
did
fret about cutting into the time she had left to design, build, and test new devices and accessories, especially with her plans for the new suit. Lena had worked through the night once or twice, but Simi had scolded her roundly for it.
Sleep, another human requirement.
Lena shook her head, glancing over at the bed in the corner. She had her own bedroom, but she felt more at home in here, in their "drone space", as Simi called it. So, she and Simi had put another bed in here, for those long nights when the need for sleep began blunting her thinking. Or for sex, another frequent activity.
After a few phone calls and family visits, she and Simi had won a hesitant acceptance from Lena's parents. While they were still reluctant to give approval openly to the romantic relationship between Lena and Simi at first, they never voiced outright
dis
approval, either. As to their
real
relationship, Lena and Simi had left that carefully concealed. Lena's parents had been happy to offer some financial assistance to their daughter for the down payment on the house, though they insisted Lena and Simi make the payments themselves. They occasionally suggested renting out the other bedroom for additional income, since Lena wasn't really using it, except as storage.
The bulb flickered again, drawing her out of her rumination. That light probably wouldn't last the evening. She began spreading out the parts from the box on the table.
"I've finished analyzing the suit's design," she informed Simi. "And I downloaded some better soldering techniques. It might take a bit of trial and error, but I should have the new suit done in two or three weeks."
"That long?" Simi said, astonished.
"Well, there are thousands of nodes to install, and sewing in all these connections is going to take time." It would have been impossible for Lena before, but thanks to the old suit, she had the needed skills now. While Simi had continued becoming an expert programmer, Lena had become a skilled engineer almost overnight, thanks to a marathon downloading session. "And with this," she held up one of the packages from the box, a new Wi-Fi antenna, "it'll be able to connect to the system or the Internet wirelessly. The battery life might be a problem, the one in the suit still doesn't last long; I'll work on that. Of course, for recharging, I'll still need to plug it in."
"Two or three weeks, huh?"
"Yes, but check
this
out." Lena rummaged on another table, then held up a band of shimmering gray cloth, with what appeared to be a blue glass oval embedded in silver wire attached to the middle.
Simi eyed the silvery band with curiosity. "What's that?"
"It's a collar, like the one in the suit," Lena said proudly. "I was able to reproduce it. Turns out, there's a lot you can do with just the collar alone."
"A separate collar?" Simi said incredulously. She took the shiny strip and inspected it. There were several lumps in the fabric, indicating components; she wished they were less obtrusive. The charging port was behind the closure flap. Next to the flap were two flat metal pads, a more complex version of the suit's transceivers. "What can it do?"
"I upgraded the battery, the memory, and the processors, and I finished the initial modifications this morning, so it can handle information downloads, and do maintenance check-ins. It can't do physical modifications, or full-body stimulation," Lena said longingly. "It can't take control of the body the way the suit can, but it can imitate the same neural signals, make you
