This work is inspired by "The Reward" by Azil. This story is also posted elsewhere.
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This was too much. In hindsight, I should have realized that making a person out of nothing would obviously mean this was possible, but you'll excuse me for being slow on the uptake. It's not like I had prior experience with this kind of thing.
At this point I was thoroughly burned out, so I decided to do what I normally do when I needed a break, and when the weather was nice: get some ice cream. I left my house (Power simply vanished; when I asked it replied that it believed seeing it following me around would bother me, though its voice now sounded like I had in an earpiece, rather than being nebulous) and headed out to the ice cream shop. It occurred to me I could just have had some ice cream appear, but at this point I wanted something normal, and besides I liked the walk. Also I wanted to test out my 'new' wallet.
After grabbing my favorite flavor and paying (with a twenty that definitely had not been in there when I left home; I had emptied the wallet just to prove to myself what was going on), I sat down at a table and just had a look around at the perfectly normal and mostly empty store.
A teenage couple entered the store. She was a beauty, somewhat similar to the image of perfection I had had on my couch, though taller and a lot bustier (my tastes run to petites), dressed neatly in a t-shirt and ripped jeans. Her boyfriend was rather scroungy looking. She appeared to be about 18, he was probably about 21. I idly asked Power to check that (they were very clearly in earshot but took no notice); she replied that the girl had had her 18th birthday 3 weeks ago.
I walked up behind them, as if standing in line. The boyfriend was asking for a root bear float to share; the girl wanted something fruity, while the clerk waited with a bored look for them to decide. I looked her over, appreciating the way her t-shirt clung to her nicely sized boobs, they way her intentionally ripped jean showed off her legs, and was tight on her ass.
"Can I have her?" I idly thought out loud, then with a start realized I was right behind them and braced for a bad reaction. None came, as they merely kept talking about ice cream.
"How would you like her?" Power answered, appearing next to the girl.
I goggled at the possibilities. "What about him?" I asked, now confident they wouldn't react as I talked to an invisible individual next to them. "Isn't there going to be trouble if she just walks home with me?" I added, feeling my way along.
"You can make him forget her. And her forget him," Power replied. I reflected that the girl's mother would probably thank me if I made her forget him. Then I laughed. If I did what I was thinking of, her mother would definitely not be thanking me. Still, I felt a little weird about this. "Am I really contemplating just making someone be my sex toy for a while?" I asked Power quizzically, amused that the girl in question was more concerned with ice cream then my talking about fucking her. I had to consciously say it like the though: 'Sex toy'.
"I can alter her to be as accommodating or not. She can be responsive or mindless, willing or resistant, as you prefer, Power said. "Alternatively, I can simply create a duplicate of her," Power added. "Unlike earlier, this could be fully fleshed out, independently functioning individual, as I would be copying a real person, with a real personality and memories, rather than trying to synthesize one," Power put in, getting better at sensing my hesitation.
"The real thing is always better," I replied conversationally. "But make it so she actually wants it," I added. At that moment, the argument stopped, as the boy turned to the counter and stepped forward. The girl turned and walked over to my side, with him glancing back appreciatively (much as I had been doing just a moment ago) as he gave the clerk his order. Neither seemed concerned about the other as she joined me.
"Hi," she said, giving me a lovely smile and reaching out to shake hands. "My name's Lisa. I just decided I don't like my boyfriend any more. Can I hang out with you?" she said, like it was the most ordinary sentence she had ever uttered. Said boyfriend didn't bat an eye at this, instead grabbing his root bear float.
"Sure," I replied, shaking her hand. Feeling daring, I reached out with my other hand and briefly cupped her breast, then pulled back and looked around. No one so much as glanced my way, including her boyfriend who was looking right at us as he went past with his food, nor did Lisa seem put out. I reached in for a longer feel, drawing a soft moan from her, before I pulled back. "I was just going home. It's just a short walk from here," I continued, beginning to head that way.
"Great," she answered, grabbing my arm and pressing herself against me affectionately. Her ex-boyfriend was continuing to eat his ice cream, without a glance in our direction. "What's your name?" she asked, just a bit flirtatiously, not minding she was pressing herself against a complete stranger.
"I'm Tom," I replied simply.
On the way to my house, the space of a few blocks, Lisa told me about herself as she walked beside me. After a few moments, I realized that I hadn't asked her to do this. Power was still doing some anticipating, but if it kept it a low-key like this I didn't mind. She was a senior at the public high school nearby (not the one my kids went to). The boyfriend was a guy she had met at a party a couple weeks ago.