There'd been so much advance hype and so many press releases about SUS's new Model K Female Sexual Companion that most of the press covering Slixpo 27 practically had their reviews written before the show even opened. So when SUS failed to deliver due to "last minute glitches", the reporters and e-media people milling around the empty SUS stage were not a happy bunch. Deadlines would be missed, stories would have to be rewritten, and video clips reshot to fill in the empty space that had been set aside for the breathless reviews of the no-show SUS "Karen".
As the reigning Godzilla of the entire consumer robotics market, SUS was already a tempting target for anyone with a grudge against the simulant industry, and that included just about everybody. There was certainly no love lost between SUS and Bram North. He didn't like their arrogance, he didn't like their huge market share, and he especially didn't like the way they jerked around the press, favoring sympathetic reporters with hot scoops while freezing out those who had given them bad reviews. Despite his personal feelings, he'd always been reasonably soft on SUS since that's where the news was, but this time he found himself wondering whether it might not be time to give the anti-robotics/anti-SUS crowd a little more media attention.
So this fiasco didn't do much to improve SUS's already fragile relationship with the e-consumer press, who now had to spend their nights actually writing stories instead of being entertained and fed by the various big money vendors who sought their favor. And Bram, one of the most influential members of the press, was very much peeved by the time he finally got back home, beat and worn out, and just waiting to get to his word processor.
He keyed his lock, walked into his unit and stopped.
There was an angel lying on his sofa. Possibly the sexiest, most beautiful angel he had ever seen in his life. She literally took his breath away.
He knew immediately she could only be a Model K.
She wore a black pleather mini-skirt, and an iridescent liquid silver top that did wonderful things for her breasts. Her hair was reddish blonde and there was a lot of it, tumbling and rolling around an angelic face. No one wore their hair that long any more. He knew immediately that she could only be a Model K.
"Oh Mr. North," she breathed when he walked in. She jumped to her feet and stood primly by the sofa. As primly as a woman built like her could stand. "I'm so glad to see you! I've been so lonely waiting for you! May I take your bags?"
Her eyes were large and shockingly blue, and it was only the slightly saucy puffiness of her red lips that kept her from being cloyingly pretty. As it was her face made him want to push something between those lips. Which, after all, was the whole idea with a gynoid robot.
"How'd you get in here?" he asked her.
Her face melted, her shoulders sagged. "I hope you won't be too angry, but I was afraid to wait for you down in the lobby. I managed to convince the super to let me in."
She noticed the suspicion in his eyes and added, "I couldn't just wait in the lobby, Mr. North. Everyone was looking at me!"
He looked her quickly up and down. The curves of her legs, as long and sinuous as the lines of a Sahara sand dune, the oasis of her hips, the succulent promise of her ripe breasts, all topped by that angelic and yet knowing face. She had some of the leggy exuberance of a young philly, and some of the confidant sexiness of the seasoned courtesan.
"Yeah." he said. "I bet they did."
"Oh, I am sorry. How rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself." she blushed slightly, a charming touch, then her eyes took on a glassy appearance. She stood up straight, in an attitude that reminded him of the earlier E models, and with a perfect public-relations smile said:
"I'm FCSKI2712GG000882AD model K, popularly known as a 'Karen', the latest Female Companion, sexual: model K gynoid from Simulations Unlimited Systems International. I'm programmed with the latest SUS updated proprietary Sexware version 16.6 and BrainStem Incorporated's state-of-the-art Analog Human Autonomy Simulation package developed under exclusive contract to SUS, and I'm the first commercially available sexual companion to use SUS's revolutionary new fully-integrated Cloned-Interface Wetware that makes me all but indistinguishable from a real human female. I'm just so real, you won't believe it!
"SUS' revolutionary technology" she went on, "has at last produced a sexual companion so real, so lifelike, that you can be proud to take her anywhere and who can still fulfill any and all of your sexual desires no matter how extreme. SUS's Cloned-Interface Wetware technology and Biomimetic Servomechanics—both are registered trademarks of SUS incorporated--assure that I'll give decades of dependable service with a minimum of maintenance or product downtime.
"My simulated skin is a product of SUS' advanced bionic research with incorporates…"
"Okay. Save it sweetheart." Bram said throwing his keys on his desk. "I've been listening to this crap all week."
"Oh." she said dropping her eyes in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Mr. North. I know it must have been a great disappointment when I was unable to make my debut as planned, and SUS and I both would like to offer our most sincere apologies for any trouble or distress this might have caused you."
She brightened and said "And as a token of our concern, SUS—and I myself-- would like you to have full use of me for a week, so that you may take full of advantage of me and my many features in any way you wish before writing your product review."
She spread her arms, showing herself off, and then said in a confidential whisper. "SUS would also like to offer you special terms on a longer term lease following the initial break-in period, in return for special promotional considerations, of course."
"Of course." he said.
Well, that was nice. This was the only way he'd ever get his hands on a Karen, given the astonishing market price. But he was still not totally appeased. He knew he was basically being bribed, bought off. Just like SUS.
At the same time he had to admit she was just stunning. And she simply could not be more lifelike. As one of the top industry reviewers, he certainly owed it to his subscribers to check this model out most thoroughly. It was his job.
He popped a Calmdown and a Mello into his mouth to rid himself of the travel jitters and washed them down with a gulp of water from a bottle that had been on his desk since he left for the show. Water doesn't spoil, he thought.
"Looks like your boss is pulling out all the stops for this one, huh?" he said. "She seems to be running a little scared after that little Slixpo screw-up."
"We do apologize for our inability to be at the show, very deeply. But I don't understand." she said, furrowing her pretty brow. "You're my boss, Mr. North, as I explained."
"Right." he said. "No, I mean your hotshot wonder-kid VP of marketing, Ms Shay Gowandus. This doesn't look good for her. Her first project and she fucks it up royally."
"Mr. North," she said, "you know how the industry is. Sometimes these things are unavoidable. The important thing is that we are here together, now, and I'm willing to do anything I can to make it up to you. Anything."
She sat down, clasped her hands together and leaned towards him.
"Let's be frank, Mr. North. We know that you are not SUS's biggest supporter. If anything, you seem to be in our critic's camps. We know that you tend to favor our competitor, the people at Genista, for whom we have only the profoundest respect. We only ask that you give us a chance to show you what we can do—what I can do—before you evaluate the latest line of sexual surrogate gynoids. Just give us—me—a chance."
She fixed her blue eyes on him, deep with sincerity and vulnerability.
"That's all we ask, Mr. North. That's all."
Well that was pretty impressive, he thought. And well done. Had her eyes teared up? Or was it does with variable refractors in her lenses? SUS had the know-how to use either. Maybe both.
It was true that Bram had an irrational fondness for Genista. In technology they were probably the equal if not the better of SUS. But they were a small outfit, run by academics, and they just didn't have the organizational muscle SUS had and actually hadn't released a new product in years and years. Still, for some reason her couldn't put his finger on he always rooted for them, and always took their side against their mighty competitor.
She suddenly brightened and sat up. "I almost forgot," she said, "Ms. Gowandus asked me to personally give you this hand-written note."
That was good; simulating a lapse of memory in a robot. Very cute. Very SUS.