My New Pet Robot 03

Three

Time dragged by while the normal events happened around me, coffee drunk, breakfast eaten. Then the family was gone and I sat to wait, one eye on a seemingly unmoving clock till ten after the hour when the annunciator chimed and her visage lit up the screen.

I bounded to the door. This morning she was dressed in casual clothes, her skirt shorter than yesterday, the blouse thinner and tighter. I felt like a cartoon wolf, eyes out on stalks and tongue drooling to the floor.

I stood back and waved her in, the scent of roses following on behind and taking me with it. She led us to the lounge.

"Coffee to start with?" I asked as she dropped her bag on the table.

"No, let's digitize a couple of questions first. Can I get one of the stools from the breakfast bar to sit on?"

"Yes, of course. You set up and I'll get it for you."

"Thanks," she answered, bending to rummage in her bag.

I tore my eyes from her backside and the legs descending from it.

"On the way," I said un-necessarily.

I hastily retrieved the stool, taking it behind the tripod as she fiddled with the camera on top.

I got close enough to smell her perfume and delight in the aroma.

"Well, sit down, then," she requested.

I scooted around the table as she drew out today's envelope.

"Here," she said, leaning over to hand it to me.

I looked past the letter to the neckline of her blouse, sagging down and giving me a glimpse of her bra enclosed breasts. My cock twitched involuntarily as I took it, hastily turning my attention back to the paper as she caught my eye.

I sat back, glancing down to the new list till she said ready. I read the first question then looked up at the camera and her face behind it to give Vincent's answer. We went through three questions, over an hour of talking on my part.

"I'm stopping for a coffee now," I said. "My vocal cords need a rest."

"Okay," she said, sliding forward from the stool.

"Sit on the settee, those stools are hard," I said as I started for the kitchen. "How's your back today?"

"Oh, it's fine, I did some stretches," she said as I paused at the door to listen.

"Good, today it'll be a sore bottom." She laughed as I disappeared off.

She was lying back, feet crossed. Her skirt had ridden up a couple of centimetres, showing more of her long, lean thighs.

"I was talking to Daddy last night. Everyone is excited. He says it will be years till we can develop the technology from the equations and thingies you're telling them but we'll have true independence for our children. With antimatter and anti grav we may be on our way to the stars. They're planning to divert some of the metals into building a star ship."

I stepped over her legs and put the cups on the table.

"It would be easier to convert this asteroid, we could build a fleet of them, voyage out as a cluster," I remarked, sitting down.

"Star travel, how long has mankind dreamed of that?"

"Well, it looks like a reality now. We could even meet my robot's makers out there," I said.

I sat back and took a sip, thinking of the aggressor race and hoping they had passed beyond range now. With luck we'd meet friendly races. Rose half turned to me, drawing her legs up and tucking them under her, my eyes slyly following her move.

"So, what's your job when you're not babysitting a camera?"

"I work in supplies, managing our commercial ties; it's a nice job for the most part. What are you going to do?"

"What was I going to do, you mean. I was going off to Luna University but I don't think they'll let me off station with my robot guard dog in tow."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've never been off station yet. I might get to go on a trade mission with a few promotions."

"What, to Earth itself?"

"No, we usually only visit the orbitals, but it would be nice to look down on Earth, the blue marble in our telescopes."

"It's weird being out in space. You're moving but everything seems to be standing still around you."

"I couldn't take the loneliness, I don't think, weeks at a time cooped up in a scout, hours on the radio waiting for replies."

"Oh, that part isn't so bad. I had plenty of time to catch up on my reading. You can find things to fill your time. There's even games if you're that way inclined."

"Yes, but you're still on your own out there, if something goes wrong...."

"Then you stand a good chance of rescue. There are plenty of other ships around," I reassured her.

"No, it's not for me. I prefer company."

"So, how do you spend your free time?"

"I go to the gym. I'm like you. I read a lot, too."

We talked about books we'd read and then with a glance at the time she suggested we get back to work. As she shifted around to stand I got a quick up-skirt look, seeing to the top of her thighs. My cock reacted with a little surge as I guiltily looked away.

We got another two questions answered, one a rather lengthy explanation on why the premise of the question was wrong. She sat on the other side of the lens, giving me a smile sometimes when she looked directly at me while I admired her looks.

After I had finished the second question she suggested we break for lunch. I immediately invited her to share my meal here with me.

"I'd love to, but I've got to get back and upload this session. Why don't you come with me and we can find somewhere quiet and picnic? I've got some fresh pressed apple juice I could bring if you don't mind stopping off at my house first."

My heart leapt at the invite then I remembered Vincent.

"I can't, I'm not allowed out," I said sadly. "He has to stay under wraps for the time being."

"He?"

"Sorry, I mean the robot. I call it he because it seems to have a personality and I've given it a name. I call it Vincent."

"Vincent? Where did you get that name from?"

"Oh, it's from an old movie. It looks a lot like the robot from 'The Black Hole'."

"I don't think I've seen that film. I'm not much into old films. Give me the book any day."

"I had a thing about them, old sci fi films, when I was younger. I really loved the Star Wars ones, full of all sorts of weird aliens. I used to dream of us meeting them one day."

"Well, you've kind of made that dream come true; Daddy says they look like small dinosaurs."

"Yes, my father didn't use those words but I got the image of a small raptor."

"I wonder if they have music and books like us."

"Wait," I said.

I thought the question to Vincent.

"Yes, but I'm not capable of replaying any of it. I can read you a story if you want."

"Vinnie says yes, he's got literature in his memory banks but he can't play any music."

"Alien stories. You ought to write them down and get them published."

I laughed. "I've got enough on my plate with all these science questions, thanks."

She chuckled at my reply. "Yes, I suppose you have. You'd better not tell the scientists or they'll have the psychologists down here picking them apart, too."

"Oh," I groaned. "I think I'll pass on that."

"Well, I'd better be off. I'll drop this off and upload it then I'll be back with the apple juice."

"That'll be nice. I'll see what we have. We can have a picnic out in the garden."

I said it calmly but inside my heart was pounding with excitement. My time with her was golden. I was trying to be as normal as I could be, let her see me in a plain light. I knew I wanted to see more of her, having her babysit my Q&A sessions was nice but it would be nicer to socialise with her.

I watched her pack her things up and walked her to the door, waving goodbye as she walked off and watching as she took the path to the lifts. I was still in an excited state as I walked back to the kitchen to see what I could rustle up.

As I sat waiting for her return, thinking of Vincent and the revelation of his literary contents, the stories could explain a lot about their culture to us. Thinking on that, another thought hit me. He'd downloaded stuff from our intranet, could he interface to create content as well?

'Vincent?'

"Yes, master."

'Can you use our computers?'

"I can interface with them, yes."

'And you understand our language?'

"Yes, your knowledge is my knowledge."

'So, could you use a word processor to write the stories down?'

"Yes, if you want, but they are meant to be told mind to mind. Translating them into your language would lose some of the meaning and nuances."

'I don't think that would matter too much. The stories would tell us much about how your people lived, what their lives were like, what was important to them. It's a pity you can't play the music as well.'

"Shall I reconnect and start now?"

'Can't you connect wirelessly?'

"I don't have that function."

"You don't use wireless?" I blurted out-loud.

"My makers are telepathic. It wasn't considered useful enough."

I wondered how far their reach was, selectively tuning in on one person or like some kind of hive mind. They would have to be individuals to my mind, how would a genius develop otherwise? Against that there was the power of numbers, the more processors, the more thinking power?

I thought about that fact. A telepathic race was a sci fi favourite as well. I couldn't imagine the openness that would mean. Rose would know my feelings for her.... I would know hers as well. People would know who disliked them as well so how would that work?

I gave up. There would have to be a way to shield your thoughts as well. Evolution wouldn't allow chaos like that. Still, when we found its makers we would find out. Vincent's ability to read my thoughts meant we would have mind to mind communications with them.

As I thought that I had the realisation that if we could replicate the part of Vincent that did it we could have a kind of it here, too. I remembered Vincent telling me that emotions were accessible. I wondered if it could detect lies.

'Can you discern truth and lies?' I though at him.

"No, I'm not capable of judging your race with one hundred percent accuracy. My mistress didn't have the concept of deliberate untruths."

Our society had to have lies, little white ones that greased the friction between people, the false smile and thanks for another pair of birthday socks, the garish scarf and gloves at Christmas. Mind you, if it could shine a light on those governing the Earth that would start a revolution of some kind.

Fortunately, both politics and capitalism were both dead once Vincent's data was cracked, every man could be independent with power and a replicator. I wondered how big they would go, car size? Where would be the need to steal if you could make one for free yourself?

It was a pity my life wouldn't be long enough. I remembered the alien's life expectance and had a thought.

'Was your mistress's life normal or extended artificially, drugs, gene therapy?'

I realised as I asked that what worked for them wouldn't suit our biology.

"She was genetically screened and given replacement genes for any faulty ones in the egg. We have cultured replacement surgery and suspended animation. Her lifetime was twice normal."

Suspended animation leapt out at me. Albeit it was non-functional we had the pod but I wondered if enough resources were applied?

"Shall I plug in and start?"

"What? Oh, yes."

I watched it float over, thinking how useful domestic robots could be, not like the dumb ones we had now. Better AI's had always been around the corner for as long as I lived. Having a robot maid would be a godsend.

The annunciator chimed and Rose appeared on the screen. I rushed to the door, Vincent trailing me, tucking the wire away. I opened the door to a smiling Rose holding up a bottle of juice.

"Come in," I welcomed her. "Go through to the kitchen."

There was the aroma of roses to captivate me again. She'd changed again, now wearing knee length shorts and a cropped t-shirt top.

Our garden was enclosed by dwarf plum trees; it was forty metres square and had our fish pool in one corner. The grassy part was a three by three metre plot at the side of the path; on the one side were raspberry canes with loganberry on the other.

She dropped her bag down and sat cross-legged next to it. I bent and put the glasses and the tray down. I'd scrounged up some spare food from the surplus created by my four days absence. I sat opposite her, opening the bottle and pouring each of us a glass.

We started talking about how my sister knew her and then onto thoughts about school leading to swapping little bits of personal details, likes and dislikes and life in general. We ate my savouries and drank only half the bottle, savouring it in sips.

"Do you want to do it here?" she asked as she rose to her knees.

My head had been pointing to the tray, my eyes on the camel-toe that was just about defined as she drew her knees up. "Huh?"

"Record the session out here," she said innocently.

"You'd have to stand again," I advised her as I stood.

"That's good for me, help me acclimatise. Point one G might not seem much but I had to hot tub to relax properly after my workout," she said, still rummaging in her bag.

"No, we still better do it inside; it's private and more comfortable."

Even if the stool was only a bit softer, the settee was a lot softer.

"Okay, then." She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and stood. I bent and put the bottle and glasses on the tray and followed her as she strolled off.

Even though the cluster of L2's amenities and offices including my father's office were only a short walk away, I went to the gym there to work out on occasions but I would have remembered seeing her. She must use the one on her level.

As she walked in front of me I was starting to plot out a strategy to get her in my arms, perhaps back here for a late night supper, maybe some wine.

"I'll set up, then," she said over her shoulder as she walked through the kitchen.

We recorded five shorter questions, though two of the answers were long enough, one had me wondering if there was an end. Behind the lens was her reassuring, smiling face. My eyes were more on her than the lens, smiling back behind the words I was spouting.

As she packed her things I girded up my loins. "Can I see you? Would you like to come and have another picnic with me tonight, share my supper with a bottle of wine? It's a good three year old plum from our trees."

"If I can get a goodbye kiss till then," she said turning to me with a smile.

"Do you like me, then?" I asked, blurting it out as I thought it.

"Yes. Yes, I think I like you enough to want to get to know you better. I don't know many boys with aliens in their heads," she answered, walking over to me, a half smile on her face.

She reached out her hand. "There's one thing you should know. I'm a virgin and I will be on my wedding night. I want to tell my man that I'm committed to him if he's committed to me. We can relieve each other but that's all."

Her upfront declaration had me stunned. My thoughts churned to find traction. "I hope I'm the one, then. I think I love you."

"Tell me in three months and I'll think about believing you," she said, taking my hand.

"I will. That's a promise from my heart."

"Am I your first love?"

"My first real love," I said softly looking her in the eye. "I've never felt this way about anybody this quickly before."

"We'll see," she said, broadening her smile. "Now let's get this back to the office."

We held hands to the door, Vincent gliding almost between us. Her kiss was a brief meeting of lips and then I was sighing as I watched her walk away. It was only after she disappeared from sight that I realised I hadn't arranged a time.

I rushed back to the settee and my pad, messaging her, 'Twenty two hundred. Okay?'

Within a minute she messaged back, 'Yes, I'll bring the snacks if you've got the wine."

I went straight away and selected a bottle and put it aside, cleaning up the picnic things while I was there. As I settled back in the lounge I felt happy, my thoughts full of Rose and the faint whiff of her perfume she'd left behind. I couldn't wait to get her in my arms tonight, taste a proper kiss from her.

While I sat on cloud nine Vincent plugged himself back in. I didn't really care; he could be giving us the equivalent of Tolstoy or James Joyce or Beckett's Godot gibberish and it wouldn't have been as important as Rose was. She filled my thoughts.

Sis arrived home first as usual.

"Jeff, what's it doing over there? Have you banished it to the corner for being naughty? Did your pet pee on the floor?"

"Oh," I said, levering myself upright. "He's downloading novels, alien ones. I thought they might be interesting, tell us more about their culture, help us understand how they thought. Vinnie's adapted to my thought patterns so he doesn't count."

"Alien books, wow, work for the soft sciences, too. Give me a copy when he's finished."

"If you want, it'll be on the network."

"Is the coffee hot?"

"No. If you make a fresh pot I'll have one."

She wandered off to the kitchen while I got up and walked over to see what Vinnie was doing.

"Can you put it on screen?" I asked

Document icons popped up on the screen, I selected one and opened it. As I read the first words I saw that the odd word here and there was a row of question marks.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Some concepts can't be translated,"

he informed me.

I read a bit further. It was about a male and female meeting somewhere on a path in some mountains. Some of the missing words could be derived from context, a tree of bush was one, another was probably stones or something on the path.

"Here's your coffee," Sis said, walking back in.

I waved the document closed and turned to her.

"Good luck reading that," I said. "It doesn't translate well."

"We can let the linguists sort that out. Um, you know Rose?"

"Yes," I said, giving her my full attention.

"Well, I asked around a bit. She's dated quite a few boys, you know."

"No, what's that got to do with me?"

"The way you were mooning after her last night, you were lost in your own world. I'm just saying. None of them lasted more than three months. Oh, except Brinny, her first; he lasted six."

"She's coming around later. We've a midnight picnic planned." I was feeling slightly resentful at Maggie's interference. I'd never messed in her affairs, not that she'd had any for a while. Her last boyfriend was at least eighteen months back.

"Well, little brother, be careful is what I'm saying. She's dumped a few before you. Take that as a warning sign."

It was too late for that kind of advice. She'd already captured my heart. No, not captured, I'd given it willingly. My date with her tonight was all I could think of. The thought of us being together, holding her, kissing her, brought a shiver down my back and gave me a quick thrill in my groin.

"I don't care how many boyfriends she's had. I love her and I'll make her mine," I said sharply.

"Alright, just giving you the big picture." Her tone of voice was conciliatory.

"Thanks but no thanks. Let me run my affairs," I said bluntly.

"Okay," she said.

She turned and left, leaving me with my thoughts. The three months she'd mentioned when I first professed my love was some sort of deadline. I wondered if she had given her virginity proclamation to the others, too.

"I have finished,"

Vincent announced.

I turned around to find him back by my side.

"Thanks."

I walked over to the screen and put all the documents into a folder and found a thumb drive to download it, too. I could give it to Rose when she came. I wandered back to the settee and flopped back down.

Mother would be home soon then father if he made it, then dinner and the long wait for Rose to come. I groaned as I turned over. Time seemed to be dragging.