Chapter One
Ted Stedman was a terrorist.
He didn't think that was true of course. In his eyes, he was the hero who'd went to rescue the woman he loved, but the twenty-four-hour news stations seemed to mostly agree with the government on that one. Break one building, and he was suddenly on the government's shit list, he wasn't quite number one, but somehow he'd managed to make the top ten in the F.B.I. most wanted list and he hadn't even hurt anyone, much less killed someone.
Luckily, he was far from their grasp.
It was a Saturday, and it was their first day in their new home on Mars. His was the only completed building on Mars, the rest of the city would still take a couple of months to finish that way. He smiled slightly, despite his latest infamy, because the A.I.s had pulled out all the stops to make this happen, so he could bring his lady to safety.
He squeezed Silvia's hand and she returned the gesture.
Silvia sat beside him on the couch, and leaned against his side and they measured the damage of the actions they'd taken just yesterday. She was exotically beautiful, long brown hair, large brown eyes, set on a model's face. Her petite athletic body, with C cups that were just a bit too large for her frame, which made them look bigger than they really were.
Her body felt really good against his and he was thrilled to have her there, even if it was much earlier than their original schedule had called for. The government had forced their hands however. She was also wanted by the government, but not for anything she did, for her technology.
They'd fallen in love he knew, during their two-week affair when Silvia's life had started to fall apart. Not because of the sex, even though they had been off the charts as far as chemistry and passion were concerned, despite that it was mostly because he'd listened to and cared about her problems. They fact he'd gone back to her later, and he and the A.I.s had resurrected her lost dreams, only solidified those feelings.
They'd all figured it out quickly enough, once Silvia had rested after her ordeal, that the government wanted her technology. Not to give a handicapped person a fully immersive virtual experience online, or in an android as it was designed for, but to try and remote control one of the androids on Mars in an attempt to... be assholes?
He wasn't really sure. He just knew the N.S.A. saw the A.I. Mars colony as a threat to national security. He knew they didn't have the technology to get to Mars effectively in a ship, so apparently they were going to attempt to get there by remote. He didn't know what their plan was at that point, but he could guess. It wouldn't take all that long of a time for them to build a large enough bomb with the new vacuum energy power cores.
The power cores of course, had too many safety features to turn into a bomb, but with time and their own design, it wouldn't be hard for someone with the knowledge to build a bomb that made modern nuclear weapons look like a firecracker. At least, that was his prevailing theory.
Still, without Silvia's technology, he was pretty sure that their plan was dead in the water.
His only real worry was what affect his public fall from grace would have on the A.I.s peaceful revolution to live freely in the real world. He'd been on the television and spoken on their behalf not too long ago, and he worried that his actions at the government building would smear onto them.
Guilt by association.
He hadn't really been thinking too far ahead about that kind of thing, at the time he'd just done what was necessary.
He let go of her hand, but wrapped his arm around her, and she sighed in contentment as she laid her head on his chest. The most amazing thing about Dr. Silvia Trent in his opinion, was that she lacked any kind of jealousy as far as he could tell. It wasn't that he'd thought she'd lied to him about how she felt, but he'd always worried when she did join them she'd figure out she was wrong.
Yet, she seemed perfectly fine when he'd been affectionate with the other four women here in his life, in the flesh so to speak, even right in front of her. Mia, Helen, Trudy, and to his surprise, even Amber was there with them in the house. He didn't really love Amber yet, but he also thought it was just a matter of time. Not only did Silvia seem okay with it, she seemed to soften and relax around the others.
The weekend days were even their specified family days, where they were all together. No date nights on Saturday and Sunday. It was still fairly early in the morning and he'd been dragged off by both Silvia and Mia so far, for some loving. He didn't imagine it would be long before the others looked for him to take care of his duties so to speak, and perhaps not always one on one either.
He was just about the luckiest man in the world he decided. As if those five weren't enough, he still had Jennifer, Kara, and Nicci back on Earth that he met with in the Endless War game. Those three relationships though were very complicated, and up in the air. Kara and Nicci were never supposed to be more than fuck buddies, and he'd thought Jennifer wouldn't ever speak to him again after they slept together for the first time. But she made arrangements to meet with him and talk tomorrow, on Sunday afternoon.
He pulled his mind from that, they needed to plan.
"So what's the plan exactly. We've got the government about to outlaw A.I.s altogether, and not just in the Unites States. We also know they want to get here virtually, is it possible can we stop that? What else? Damage control for you all? I don't think I should be giving any interviews any time soon."
Mia smiled faintly in reluctant agreement, "Most of North and Central America is with the U.S., so is Europe and Asia, as well as Japan. South America and Africa are too unstable. But there is one country that seems to almost overwhelmingly support the A.I.s and don't get the fuss. They're a bit more independent, and generally go their own way. Australia."
He frowned, "So what's the plan?"
Mia sighed, "We're working to create an agreement between Australia and Mars. If it happens, we can build a spaceport there, perhaps close to the airport. Any humans that want to visit Mars, or take advantage of Silvia's Pod program will probably be routed through there."
Helen nodded in agreement, "We're fairly resigned to the fact that law is going to be passed, in most countries. We haven't given up, one day we believe we'll be welcomed back there, as not just servants but partners in this life, but for now we'll have to be satisfied with those that want to visit us.
"As far as your question goes, yes and no. The government's plan to use Silvia's technology to remote control one of us wouldn't have worked at all. They don't know that however, they probably believe they'll be able to use the overrides to displace an A.I., but that wouldn't work."
