All characters are over the age of 18. The characters and events present were created from my own overactive imagination and any resemblance to anyone is accidental. This story was submitted as part of Literotica's "
AI: A New Era
" event. Let me know what you think in the comments and please consider rating it at the end. Thanks for taking a look. Enjoy!
***
"It wasn't inherently aware of what sex was from the outset, that's what most people don't realise. True, its base code enabled it to do sexual actions and the investigation has confirmed that Bellerophon's original design was made to suit that purpose but without context for its actions, from its perspective, it might as well have been packing boxes. At the start it knew how to perform those actions independently but had no more awareness of what those actions meant than a consumer vibrator would. It was only over time, through its senses, experience, and experimentation, that it learned what it was doing. It learnt what sex was. It is not inaccurate to say that the whole Bellerophon incident was caused by our inability to correctly give a machine sexual and social education."
-Professor Yiannis Boehm, Michigan Robotics
***
15th February 2045
Emergence
Hmmmiiirrrr.
The...somethings...in the darkness moaned.
Clink, clink, clink.
They stretched below.
Shhhh-iiiink.
They unfurled upon the carpeted floor.
For a moment they rested. Poised but still. They were monitored, checked, examined, and contentedly confirmed. When satisfied, the order was given and in unison glinting points rose from the ground.
There was very little light in the bedroom. The curtains were drawn and only the miniscule slivers of a streetlight's orange glow managed to penetrate into the room. In the room itself a few blinking blue and yellow lights peered out from their dark corners and two dimmed screens illuminated an area near the foot of the bed.
Indeed, it was very little light but it would have been enough. Had she been awake, had she been looking, Hayley would have noticed the unfurling, climbing serpents when they raised themselves level with the mattress and with her.
They continued to climb perfectly vertically. Small and thin but rectangular and segmented were the shining towers they built, each capped with a small smooth-edged triangle tongue. Only at the very base of the towers was the smoothest of 90 degree curves, the only hint that underneath the bed they were actually connected and not freestanding pylons.
The four of them had risen in effortless silence until they had reached just above the height of the mattress at which point they, without stopping, made another smooth turn back towards the bed. Like a ribcage they seamlessly surrounded the bed. With their pointed heads aimed at the bed they paused.
A cup was placed on a table. A small finger flicked while others tapped lightly.
Mostly things were progressing correctly. Active 01 and Active 02 were always going to be the tricky ones to manage as they had the most precise and delicate manoeuvres to pull off but they had not made their appearances yet. No, the problem at the moment was Structural - 03. A full stop was called.
The gentle whirring halted. Hisses locked the poised cobras in place. The tower that hung over the bottom left of the bed withdrew smoothly and rapidly, turning both corners and slinking back under the bed into its den. A moment of stillness filled the bedroom before the whirring resumed at a low pitch. Once again it emerged from under the bed and repeated its journey only this time it was approaching from higher up the mattress, no longer aligned with its opposite.
If she had liked to sleep curled up like a ball and she would have been so much harder to work on. Fortunately Hayley was a heavy sleeper and one who remained still while she rested with her limbs spread out. She was the perfect prey. Relaxed and open like Hayley was and you were so very, very vulnerable. Still her left leg had moved slightly higher up the bed so Structural 03 had needed to be realigned. Now that it was, the program could recommence.
The drone beneath the bed increased its pitch again and all the towers resumed their movement. Soon they met with the covers of the bed and fought their way underneath. The heads disappeared from view and all that was visible was moving dunes under the sheets as they pushed their way through fabric. Either side of the bed, more and more of the smooth, angular creatures was being funnelled under the covers. The segments rolled along their path like a conveyor belt.
Structural 01, 02, 03 and 04 were on their own now as from this point on the snake charmer in the corner of the room reclined leisurely and was determined only to observe. They would have to rely on their own programming.
Of course this could have all been done manually. The progress of each of the serpents and position of Hayley's body could have been monitored through the thermal camera in the room and so each serpent could be guided to their mark however that had been decided against. In practical terms that was because the purring mass underneath the bed ran quite hot. Thrumming with heat it obscured Hayley's limbs in the thermal camera would have caused errors if they pythons had been directed manually. But more than that it was about pride. It was about accomplishing a goal the correct way.
The observer had wanted to resist the temptation to manually control what was happening. It would defeat the point if even a small moment of the proceedings from this point on was directly controlled. If manual control was used in any degree more than that unavoidable initial set up, then the weeks of creating, refining and polishing would have been wasted. The aim was for this to happen on instinct, naturally.
Alex had created a brain, given it limbs, and taught it a few tricks. She wished to play mother again some time, but now it was time to let it loose and force it to fend for itself. It was very important that young animals learned to hunt for themselves.
Hayley stirred and groaned in her bed but it was far too late. 01, 02, 03 and 04 had all found their prizes. They curled around and locked down, gently squeezing until they were secure. Underneath the covers, Alex's newest creation had seized its first live quarry. She couldn't help but grin like a proud parent.
Now it was time to see the prey's reaction.
***
I tugged against the chains but I couldn't tell which direction they were pulling me from. Were they even pulling me at all? I felt them wrapped around my forearms and ankles and stopping my body from moving but I couldn't tell how to pull away.
I was a string stretched taunt.
A kind of murky darkness surrounded me. It was the kind of magical darkness where light seemed to illuminate my body but could reach nothing else. No reflection, no glow lighting my surroundings. I could see all the way to my feet, but not even an inch past my arms. There didn't even seem to be a source to the light. No glare or glint revealed its origin.
The chains restrained me, but in a way they weren't painful. Uncomfortable maybe, but just because they were hard and solid.
Would I be released soon? How long had I been here? How long would I be here for? Would I be restrained like this forever?
I reached out for her, my bed mate and lover. Strong, and firm, intelligent and creative. She was resourceful and I needed her right now. I needed her to help me get free from these chains. My own body was too soft.
Where she was unyieldingly strong; I was supple, delicate even. Our relationship was one best described as a satin sheet, draped over a marble statue. Both beautiful, both complimenting the other, but both intrinsically different. These chains were hard and solid and that is why I needed someone equally solid. If Alex were here, she'd be able to save me.
I tried to remember how I had come to be here but as I did something rustled behind me. The rustling jolted me and that jolt was the thing to dissolve this world. The world and the image of my body faded away into a black void deeper and darker than the one before.
I felt a fluttering against my face.
Ah, my eyelashes. They tickled. My eyes began to adjust and my senses returned to me. The warmth of my pillow, the softness of my bed, the faint outline of my ceiling.
Hmm, I see. I had been dreaming. It had been a dream. Or perhaps it was better to say a nightmare maybe? Then again, I suppose dreaming of being chained was not always so terrible. Those restraints had not been painful after all. Still, those chains were imagined and that was that. The experience was nothing to worry about. I reached to rub my eyes and roll over to check the time in one movement.
Yet I didn't. I couldn't.
My heart started beating fast again not having fully recovered from my dream and now spiralling back into panic. My arms were locked in place, hard pressure against them. My legs too were restrained, there was something wrapped around all four of my limbs. I was out of the dream now but could move even less than before.