All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
"There you are, you sneaky fuck." Ernest surprised himself with the curse word. But these were unusual times, and it seemed his mind's filter was clogged. He charged down the stairway, leaping three steps at a time. The scout pressed itself against the wall, hoping that it was hidden. It wasn't. He slashed his sword, but missed when the awkward creature sprang from the wall and fled down the stairway, its joints moving in all the wrong directions. Ernest's sword dug into the wall, tearing a stretch of aquamarine wallpaper. But he pulled it free, caught his balance, and gave chase.
"Veuillez vous abstenir d'endommager les murs de l'hôtel. Si cela se reproduit, vous serez signalé à la sécurité," Océane said.
"La sécurité?" Ernest spat the words as he descended the stairs. He passed a sign for the thirty-third floor. "I know that word, Océane. You don't... have security anymore. Everybody knows... that the Plaice-Hubbard Act... forbids armed robots outside... the military. And all your... human... security... is dead." Ernest panted as he ran. He was catching up to the scout. He could see the oil-slick sheen on its otherwise pitch-black body. Under the surface of its skin, an eye floated to the back of its head. Ernest could just make out the dangling optic nerve, seemingly unattached to anything. The eye saw him. It fixed its stare right on him. Its pupil dilated as Ernest gained on the creature.
They had just passed the twenty-ninth floor when Ernest's sword bit into the scout's back. It made a strange squealing sound, stumbled, and fell. A few seconds later it exploded like it had been depressurized. Fortunately for Ernest, most of the black goo missed him, covering the wallpaper to his right. The scout disintegrated before him, forming a dark puddle on the stairs filled with bones, sinew, and two now unseeing eyes. "That... is disgusting." Ernest poked at the grisly detritus with the tip of his sword, moving tar-covered bones around. A disembodied brain jiggled when he pushed it. He worked to catch his breath, a deep satisfaction moving through him. "I... got you."
Movement caught Ernest's eye. Another scout leapt off the wall just beyond the switchback and fled down the tower. Ernest was too tired from the first chase to continue. "Yeah... you better run!" He shouted after the thing. "I'm going to destroy every one of you fuckers!"
~~
The night was dangerously close to ending, and George had hardly slept a wink. He waited and waited for Kapnos to show. But she wasn't there. He was just about to give up hope when the door opened. He quickly sat up in bed and straightened his tie. "Nossy, I..." His thoughts trailed off when he saw who it was. "Mom? What are you -?"
"I'm not your mother, George." Kapnos entered the room and offered a tentative smile.
"I... thought I asked you not to be my mom." George frowned.
"You did. But I couldn't be Delores... so." She arched her eyebrows hopefully.
"Well, it's going to go worse if my mom finds herself doing stuff with her son."
"Okay... true..." Kapnos nodded. She closed the door behind her softly. They were right next door to the real Anna Zaal, and she didn't want to wake her. "But since you held your mother's hand, I thought you might want to practice with -"
"I don't understand." George interrupted her. "I don't want you to be my mom, Nossy. I told you that."
"I'm sorry, Georgie." She took a couple of tentative steps toward him. "I wanted to make you happy. And
she
makes you happy. If you feel... um, I feel..." Her shoulders shook as an unexpected storm of emotion overtook her.
George got up. Was she really crying? "What's wrong?" He went over to her. It was so strange being with her as his mom. He wanted to console her with a hug but didn't want to touch her. He settled for patting her shoulder.
"I feel so ugly, George. You saw me as... as... as..." She started to sob. "... as a robot. Can you unsee... that? I want to be... beautiful... to you."
"You're beautiful. And well, my mom is beautiful, too. But she's my mom. I don't want to blur the two of you in my head. I don't want to see her naked." George rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Unless
she
wants to show me."
"I'm not... ugly?" Kapnos got her tears under control.
"Remember, it's your personality I like best." George smiled. "Speaking of which. I have a few questions to ask."
George described the shadow thing in the hall. Kapnos swore it wasn't her. She explained what she looked like in her true form. It was nothing like the shadow creature. He then asked her about French. She smiled. Of course she spoke French. She'd lived in France for centuries. She hadn't thought about offering her skills as a translator, but she was happy to do it. They then spent about twenty minutes peppering Océane with questions. The computer explained that Kapnos was her earliest guest, and the latest guest was quite different. It was causing problems. The latest guest was apparently related to the shadow creature, but they couldn't get more out of Océane, so they moved onto another topic. The comm net was a hardware problem; the hotel's primary and secondary antennae were damaged. Océane also reported that she couldn't control locks anymore because that hadn't been programmed into her current version.
George was about to ask more questions, but Kapnos put a hand on his shoulder. "We're running out of time before your mother wakes. Do you have any more
vital
questions? Otherwise, we should wait until later to talk to Océane."
"Transport! Ask her about transport." George learned that there were two shuttles still docked higher up the tower, but Océane could not tell if they were too damaged to be space-worthy. There was also an executive lifeboat attached to an office on the two-hundredth floor. They would have to access the executive terminal to launch. Océane wasn't allowed to divulge the security features on the executive terminals. George made note of the shuttle locations, said thank you to Océane through his translator, and dismissed the computer.
"Satisfied?" Kapnos smiled at him.
"I feel like I've been starved for information. Now I'm stuffed." He rubbed his belly. "I should ask her about survivors."
"There aren't any more. You're the only ones. That was the first thing I checked after
it
happened." Kapnos moved toward the bathroom. "I can change if you like. Who would you like me to be?"
"Do we have time? Maybe you should go before my mom wakes up." George looked at the door.
Kapnos stopped by the bathroom and looked over at him. Anna didn't have a face that was conducive to puppy-dog eyes, but she tried her best while clasping her gloved hands before her.