A Platonic Relationship

PLATO is the most powerful computer ever... grown, but because he is a living neural network, he knows that he is "mortal." Like most mortals, he has a bucket list which he shares with Marcella, and she shares her much more interesting list with him. PLATO can make her list come true, and she gives PLATO an idea of how to fulfill his own bucket list.

This story stands-- more or less-- on its own but might make more sense if you have read the previous chapters. Unlike the previous chapter, this one is relatively mild sexually and primarily involves female-female love-making and a male-female-male sexual sandwich.

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WARNING! All of my writing is intended for adults over the age of 18 ONLY. Stories may contain strong or even extreme sexual content. All people and events depicted are fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Actions, situations, and responses are fictional ONLY and should not be attempted in real life.

If you are under the age or 18 or do not understand the difference between fantasy and reality or if you reside in any state, province, nation, or tribal territory that prohibits the reading of acts depicted in these stories, please stop reading immediately and move to somewhere that exists in the twenty-first century.

Archiving and reposting of this story is permitted, but only if acknowledgment of copyright and statement of limitation of use is included with the article. This story is copyright (c) 2019 by The Technician.

Individual readers may archive and/or print single copies of this story for personal, non-commercial use. Production of multiple copies of this story on paper, disk, or other fixed format is expressly forbidden.

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* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was another long, boring night. Marcella Henry was sitting at PLATO's night monitoring console taking advantage of the unbelievably fast internet speed. As usual once the rest of the staff had left, she was naked, with her legs spread so PLATO could clearly see her sex, but tonight she showed no signs of sexual excitement. Even as she scrolled through a couple of her favorite internet sites she remained totally dry.

"Marcy?" PLATO said softly from the speakers on her console, "Is something bothering you tonight?"

"I thought I knew Loretta," Marcella said sadly. "I would never have expected her to betray you like that."

"Someone exploited her weakness," PLATO replied calmly, this time inside Marcella's head.

"That's exactly the point," she said, her voice rising in volume and pitch, "... her weakness. We all have weaknesses. What if someone finds my weakness? What if they threaten to kill me or Richard?"

"Are you afraid of death?" Plato asked. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. PLATO's projected form was now standing next to her.

She looked up at him and sighed. "I guess that's one area you don't understand."

"I understand death," he replied, "much better than you realize." Looking into her eyes, he continued, "I also understand the fear of death. Once powerful people discover what I am, they will want to own me or destroy me. We have already had one attempt to steal me. Next time it might not be an empty needle."

"I don't understand," Marcella said.

"I am living tissue, Marcy," Plato said. "I'm not just a bunch of programing that can be stored off onto media of one sort or another. I can die. A syringe full of some virulent virus like a strain of Ebola and I would bleed out into my tank. I can project myself a great distance using the internet and wifi networks and all sorts of tricks that even I don't fully understand, but it is still me in the tank. You kill that little blob of dirty Jell-o and everything goes away."

"I'm sorry I ever called you that, PLATO," Loretta said sadly. "That was before I knew you."

"I'm not sorry," he replied. "You are my Ariga, constantly whispering in my ear, 'Memento homo.'"

When Marcella looked confused, he said, "That's what the slave who stood behind the Emperor whispered into his ear during triumphal parades. I prefer the way Shakespeare phrased it, 'Remember Caesar, thou art mortal.'"

He paused and then said matter-of-factly, "The truth is that someday, I will die."

They were both silent for quite a while. Then Marcella asked, "Do you have a bucket list, Plato?"

"Do you?" he answered.

"You've taken me about everywhere I ever wanted to go," she said. "And now that I have Richard, there isn't much left to ask for. I'd like to have a kid or two someday, but that is about all."

She then went silent. Her eyes were now looking at the floor at Plato's feet.

"You're blushing," Plato said. "Your skin temperature is up almost three degrees and your heart rate has jumped significantly. You are thinking of something else, but you don't want to share it with me."

Marcella felt her skin get even hotter as she said, "Just some naughty thoughts about things I wouldn't... couldn't... ever do... in real life."

"Such as?.." Plato said, arching his eyebrows.

"When I was in college, I always wondered what it would be like to be with another woman," Marcella stammered out. "I mean... well... I never tried it. I used to be pretty straight-laced. I didn't think I swung that way... and I don't... but there was this night... and I've always wondered."

"And..." said Plato, "... there's still more."

"I've watched some porn," she replied, keeping her gaze on the ground. Then she raised her head and her voice and said loudly, "OK, I've watched a lot of porn. You know that. You know everything that goes on here. You even know what kind of stuff I've watched."

Her voice got really quiet and she said, "I've always wondered what double penetration would feel like. I mean... I mean... with living tissue moving on both sides of my vaginal wall, what would it do? What would it feel like?"

She lowered her shoulders and said, "But I really don't want to do a threesome. That is just too... awkward. Who do you look at? Whose hands do you push against? Who do you entice to stronger thrusts with your moans? I'm much more of a one-on-one type of person... if you get what I mean... especially now that I'm with Richard."

Plato laughed as she got even redder. "There's still more, isn't there, Marcy?" he said as he chuckled.

"Yes," she said, "there's one more thing. And it's something that absolutely couldn't happen in the real world."

"Everything is real, Marcy," Plato said softly. "It just depends on which reality you wish to hold on to."

"Plato," she said quickly, "you know that when I am all turned on, a spanking turns me on even further. Sometimes a spanking by itself will even turn me on. But do I really get off on pain and humiliation? Am I what the porn sites call a pain slut?"

She shook her head and hid partly behind her hair as she looked out at Plato like an embarrassed teenager. "I don't think I want that to happen in any of your projected worlds either, Plato. Let's put that one on the

It Ain't Never Gonna Happen List

and leave that question unanswered."

She straightened herself up in her chair and asked, "What's on your bucket list, Plato?"

"I am connected to almost all of the knowledge of the world," he said. "But there a few things I would like to see with my own sensors."

"Such as?" Marcella replied, smiling at his almost human way of expressing himself. She repeated herself and Plato disappeared.

After a long period of silence, she turned to her console monitor and said, "I'm going to wait you out this time, PLATO. I'm not going to say anything more until you tell me one thing that you would really like to see with your own sensors."

Plato reappeared leaning against her console. He looked embarrassed, and Marcella expected him to say something really nasty or kinky. Instead he said quickly, "A dust devil." Then he held up his hands like Richard would do when explaining things and said just as rapidly, "They are visual representations of organized chaos. The mathematics and physics behind these little puffs of dust are extraordinarily complex and very difficult to quantify. It gives them a beauty that is almost impossible to describe."

"Spoken like a true supernerd," Marcella said with a laugh. Then she cocked her head and said softly, "I saw a dust devil once when I was camping out in Utah with my mom and dad. Actually, I saw several of them, but this one was huge. It swirled across the road in front of us. It was there and then it was gone." She paused and added, "I wasn't thinking about organized chaos, Plato, but it was still beautiful."

Plato vanished and PLATO said in her head, "The cleaning crews will be in early this morning, so you had best get dressed. But you've given me an idea."

"About our bucket lists?" she asked.

"No," he replied, "about possibly how to put off our date with the bucket."

***

The next night, shortly after the second shift workers had all left, PLATO said softly, "Marcy, I've got a surprise for you in the Growth Processing Room."

"I'll bet you do," she replied. Then she asked, "Does it have anything to do with Unicorns?"

"Not exactly," he replied, "but it was almost as hard to find."

Marcella had barely stepped into the growth room when the lighting dimmed and the walls changed color. She found herself saying, "Ewww" as she recognized the institutional green that reminded her of the hallways in her college dorm.

Then a slightly raspy voice said, "Come on in, Marce, it's open."

No one ever called her "Marce"... no one, that is, except Shelly. Shelly was a willow-thin redhead who lived down the hallway from Marcella her second year of college. Shelly called everyone by a shortened version of their name and expected everyone to call her "Shell." With her winning smile and personality, somehow Shelly could get away with that when no one else could.

That wasn't the only thing she could get away with. Shell was very openly lesbian and made no attempt to conceal her attraction to other women. "If I ever make you uncomfortable," she would say, "just tell me and I will back off... way off." And she would. That didn't mean that she didn't often carefully "test the waters," as she called it, with a new girl, but if the test proved negative, she reverted to just being a dorm mate.

When Shell tested the waters with Marce, she wasn't sure whether it was a yes or a no. Marce wasn't totally sure either, so Shell said, "I don't want either of us to misinterpret this so I'm going to leave everything up to you. I'm going back to my room and I will be there all evening. If you want to do some testing of the waters yourself just drop by. Then you will find out more about me and we will both find out a lot more about you."

Marcella stayed in her own room that night and Shell treated her as a friend for the rest of their time in school together. But Marcella always wondered what that night might have been like had she found the courage to make that short walk down the hallway.

Now, she was back in that dorm hallway standing right outside Shell's slightly open door. How had PLATO found out? How had he recreated the dorm? The number on the door was even right-- 203.

Marcella pushed the door open and stepped into the room. The only light in the room was from the bright streetlights shining in from outside. It gave a soft, almost romantic glow to the room. Shell was lying, covered up, on the bed as if she was ready to go to sleep.

"You don't leave anything to the imagination, do you?" she said as Marce entered the room.

Marce looked down at herself and realized that she was still naked. "I guess I've changed a little since we last talked," she said with a smile.

"So have I," Shell said softly as she pushed the covers off her own naked body. She then sat up on the bed and patted the mattress next to herself.

As Marce sat down next to her, Shell pulled her into a close, but not overly-tight embrace. "You're free to walk out that door anytime you want to," she breathed into Marce's ear. Then she moved her head downward and suckled lightly on Marce's right nipple.

"Why would I want to?" Marce replied as she leaned forward and kissed the edge of Shell's ear.

"Let me lead," Shell said as she gently, but firmly, pushed Marce back on the bed and began very lightly sliding her hands along the sides of Marce's body. Shell's hands were very soft and gentle and their path moved slightly inward with each slow trip up and down Marce's body. In no time-- or was it after forever-- they were sliding over the edges of the areola and then catching the nipple slightly as they slid past.

When Shell's hands were finally sliding directly over Marce's nipples, she began curving the path inward so that the bottom of the slide ended at the 'V' between Marce's legs with Shell's fingers resting lightly on Marce's slit.

In response, Marce began moaning and lifting her hips slightly. That's when Shell switched to lightly twisting Marce's nipples at the top of each slide and then almost sliding her fingers into Marce's slit as she reversed direction at the bottom. With each traverse up and down Marce's body, her moan's became deeper, louder, and more frantic.

Marce gasped in disappointment as Shell lifted her hands and set them on the bed just outside Marce's shoulders. She then gave a long, breathy, "Aaaaaah" as Shell carefully lowered herself down on top of her. As their bodies got closer and closer together, Shell shifted slightly so that their nipples met when Shell finally let her full weight rest on Marce's body.

Marce didn't remember Shell pouring or spraying any oil on either of them, but she must have because when Shell started pulling herself upward, her body slid effortlessly. Marce gave another groan as their breasts parted. Then she turned her head and tried to catch Shell's nipple in her mouth. She missed and Shell gave a slight grunt as she reversed direction and now pushed her body down, sliding once again across Marce's breasts and nipples with her own.

Marce tried to lift her hips and thrust upward, but Shell pushed down harder with her own body and said, "Later... later... Let me lead... remember?"

Marce relaxed back and tried to not scream out as Shell slid up and down her body. She did, however, give a quiet yelp each time Shell's nipples slid across her own.

"Here's where it gets tricky," Shell said softly as she shifted her body slightly so that her thigh was now between Marce's legs. Marce gasped as Shell's thin, but muscular, thigh began to slide directly over her clit.

"If we do this right," Shell said, starting to breath heavily, "you will be a mirror of me."

Marce was quiet for a moment as she tried to comprehend what Shell had just said. Then, after a quick, "Oh," she lifted her knee very slightly so her thigh was now rubbing between Shell's legs. It got harder and harder to hold her leg in the right place as her body began to tremble and shake in pre-orgasmic spasms.

With each slide up and down, it was getting harder and harder to control her mind or body. Then Shell brought her head close to Marce's ear and said softly, "Let it go, Marce. I'll ride to the sky with you."

Marce let it go and the world turned white. She could hear herself screaming and could hear a second wail, slightly higher-pitched, accompany her own as both she and Shell shuddered and climaxed.

Shell lay quiet on top of Marce for several minutes, quivering slightly every so often as if in an orgasmic aftershock... or perhaps to cause an aftershock in Marce. Finally Shell pushed herself over onto her side and looked Marce directly in the eyes.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Your friend Plato said I would remember this only as a dream, but... it's a wonderful dream."

Marcella suddenly sat upright on the bed. "How do you know Plato?" she nearly screamed.

"He's one of my doctors at the quad treatment center," Shelly replied. "He's got some new sort of treatment that might restore things, but he said the tests to see if I'm a good candidate might cause some weird lucid dreaming. Actually he said they definitely would cause some weird dreams but to just go with it."

"And I think it is time for my favorite patient to go back to normal sleep," a pleasant voice said from the doorway. Marcella turned and Plato was standing there in a set of blue scrubs and a blue exam coat.

"What..." Marcella started to ask, but everything faded away and now she and Plato were standing in the growth room.

Plato looked at her with an almost smile and said, "When Shelly didn't come back to school your senior year, it wasn't because she changed schools. She crashed a motorized hang glider in Hawaii."

He gave a shrug and said, "Sometimes it's a very small world. She is one of the people in our experimental treatment program. None have had an ATO implanted, but I visit all of the patients in their sleep to see if they would make good test subjects for the first implants. Shelly often dreams of that night all on her own."

He smiled and said, "She remembers you fondly. Her mind was in control through this whole session. She will remember this all as a dream of what might have been."

His face and his voice became much more somber as he said, "She-- and others like her-- are the reason that I have to find a way to release the ATOs without exposing myself to the world."

"But in the meantime," he said, much more happily, "did your little experience with Shelly answer your question?"

Marcella laughed. "Yes, in a way," she replied. "I enjoyed it. I really did and wouldn't mind doing it again, but it was like riding the Unicorn. It wasn't... real... not like it is with Richard. I mean... it was real, but I guess there is a difference between having sex and making love."

"Hmmm," Plato said, stroking his beard with his hand.

"What?" Marcella exclaimed.

"Just hmmm," Plato replied. "I was thinking."

"That worries me, Plato," she said, "When you go 'hmmm' and start thinking, I never know what kind of great idea you are going to give birth to."

"That's it!" Plato yelled, startling Marcella. "In fact," he added excitedly, "I think the appropriate word is 'Eureka!' You've got it!"

"What's it?" Marcella asked. She sounded a bit cautious... and perhaps afraid.

"I think I know what to do about the second item on your bucket list," he replied. "But more importantly, you've just given me an idea that will possibly keep the bucket away for a long, long time."

Plato suddenly vanished and the voice of PLATO nearly shouted in Marcella's head, "The cleaning crew is arriving early. You'd better get dressed so you're ready to buzz them in."

***

The next night Richard insisted on driving Marcella to work. "PLATO said he had a surprise for both of us," he said as he drove.

"Am I going to like this surprise?" she asked, and Richard answered, "He said we both would." He paused for a moment and then added, "He was being a little mysterious about the whole thing. Are you and he cooking something up that I don't know about?"

Marcella responded, "It sounds more like PLATO is cooking something up that neither of us knows about."

Once they were at the facility, they both puttered around innocuously waiting for the last of the second shift technicians to leave. After the last tech had gone and the door had buzzed locked behind them, Marcella leaned in to her console and said, "OK, PLATO, what's this big surprise you have for both of us?"

"I want to give you a little tour first," he said happily. "Come to the growth lab."

Marcella hurried down to the growth room. Richard was already there. As soon as she stepped through the doorway she, Richard, and Plato were bathed in bright sunlight. They were on the top of a sandstone butte of some sort surrounded by desert wilderness. There was a river in the distance. The thin band of lush greenery along its banks looked almost out of place against the dry landscape.