As always, if you like what you read, [redacted][/pre-story]
Mombot: Chapter 1
A burst of confetti flooded Chris’ computer screen as he opened the message, a handful of cartoon animals dancing around a cartoon cake that was also dancing as they all sang ‘Happy Birthday’. Chris sighed. The sender was his father’s email address, but the personal message field on the e-card was left blank, which probably meant that his secretary sent it, which also suggested that his father had forgotten entirely. Also, apparently, that his secretary thought brightly colored cartoon animals were still the right choice for an eighteen year old boy. As the animated scene went still, all the animals smiling widely and gesturing toward the cake as the video stopped, Chris opened the attachment and accepted the credit transfer. If he told his friends at school his dad gave him five hundred bucks for his birthday, they’d all tell him how lucky he was to have a rich dad. He certainly didn’t feel lucky at the moment, though.
“Chris! It’s time for dessert! Come downstairs!” Came a bright, cheerful voice from the computer’s speakers. Chris’ expression brightened a little, and he closed the message, standing up from the desk and heading downstairs. As he descended the stairs, he pointedly avoided looking at the big portrait of his father that hung on the opposite wall, not in the mood to be stared down at by the old man’s stern, disapproving visage. Instead, he looked around the house. It certainly was a nice house. Spacious, with fancy decor and expensive furniture, all spotless. Not like it was getting used, though. This house was clearly built for the ‘typical’ family, a mom and a dad, 2.5 kids, with enough yard for a dog. But Chris’ father never stayed for more than a day or two at a time, long enough to berate Chris for getting a B in something and thus ruining the family name, before running off again to some business thing on the other side of the world. Leaving Chris to just rattle around in all this empty space, alone…
As he rounded the corner to head toward the kitchen, his dour thoughts were interrupted by a wave of delicious, warm, chocolatey scent that washed over him. He paused, mid-step, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath of it, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. When he opened his eyes again, Cassie was standing in the kitchen doorway, her eyes glowing a soft sky blue as she smiled at him, a tray of still-warm brownies in her hands. “Happy birthday, Chris.” She greeted, her slightly mechanical voice sounding surprisingly sincere. Chris’ smile widened. At least he wasn’t completely alone.
“Thanks, Cassie.” Chris smiled down at her. She was a Unico-brand Robotic Caretaker Assistant, hexcode unit identifier CA-551E, or “Cassie” as he called her. His father had bought her to take care of him almost ten years ago, after the previous nanny tried to sue the old man for giving her an STI. She’d been box-standard, then, all rigid white plastic and exposed joints, with mechanical issues almost every other week. He first started to learn about robotics so he could help her when her arm locked up or her gyroscope went out of alignment. Over the years, he got better, and soon, he was getting upgrades for her and installing them, or pestering his father into paying for her to get the upgrades he couldn’t do himself, like her most recent hip assembly replacement.
She stood exactly five feet tall, the top of her head coming up to about his chin. Most of her relatively petite body was human in design, the only major departure being her legs, which were normal until just below the knee, beyond which they tapered down into somewhat rounded points where the feet would be. After the upgrades to her internal gyroscope, she balanced on them flawlessly, without so much as a wobble. Much of her was still covered with that rigid white plastic she’d had at the beginning, including most of her head, her chest, her arms, her hips, and her tapered legs, but between all the plastic parts, her once-exposed mechanics were now covered by a light gray, elastic polymer material, stamped with a faintly-visible hex pattern, two layers, with gel between for impact protection and softness. Her face and neck were almost entirely polymer, apart from the segmented plastic eyebrows, with soft, slightly rounded features, articulated to be highly expressive. She even had a fully functional mouth and throat, even though she didn’t eat. She probably didn’t need the emotive illumination anymore, since she could make expressions normally, but he’d gotten used to the way the glow of her eyes changed colors depending on her mood, from cheerful sky blue to playful green to shades of red and orange depending on how annoyed she got… He’d also added her ‘hair’, which were really just thick, braided bundles of cable that looked kinda like dreadlocks, usually worn in a ponytail or pulled up in a bun. The cable bundles worked as wireless antennas, allowing her to remotely interact with various devices around the house, which had proven to be a very useful ability for her.
Cassie nodded, pointedly, at the dining table, and Chris realized he was lost in thought and also standing between her and the table. “Oh, right.” Chris muttered, shaking his head and stepping back, out of Cassie’s way, before making his way around the table and taking his usual seat as Cassie set the tray of brownies in front of him. “They smell delicious, Cassie.” He commented, reaching out and grabbing the topmost one, lifting it to his mouth, closing his eyes and taking a bite. The rich chocolate flavor bathed his tastebuds as the warm, chewy brownie crumbled on his tongue “Mmmf… Absolutely incredible!” He praised, muttering around his mouthful of dessert.
“I’m very glad you like them.” Cassie replied, her voice bright and sincere. “I wish you would have let me make you a cake. I have so many designs I could have decorated it with, and an eighteenth birthday is an important milestone…” She commented, the sky blue glow in her eyes darkening to navy.
Chris swallowed his brownie. “I know, but, just.. It’s just kinda sad to go through the whole ritual with the candles and the singing when it’s just me.” He sighed, shaking his head.
Cassie set her hands on her hips, her eyes glowing orange. “Alone, huh? What am I, then, a toaster?” She asked, the corners of her mouth turned down into a frown.
Chris’ eyes widened as he scrambled for words. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean to say- Of course you’re here too, I mean- I think of you more like-”
Cassie’s annoyed look only lasted a moment, though, before her eyes flickered to green and a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth again. “I’m just playing with you, I’m not actually mad.” She reassured. “I get it.” She added, the green glow getting a little darker.
The brownies were REALLY good, which somewhat helped Chris deal with the awkward silence that hung over the table after that. After his third, Cassie none-too-subtly removed the tray and carried it off to the kitchen before he could finish off the whole thing in one sitting. He was still savoring the last few bites when Cassie’s voice called from the kitchen. “I hope you’re ready for your present~!”
“Present?” Chris wondered aloud. Had Cassie actually got him a gift? How? His father certainly didn’t pay her, so how did she buy him something? Or maybe she’d made him something? “You really didn’t have to, Cassie…” He muttered, falling silent as she rounded the corner once more.
Cassie was holding a little gift-wrapped greeting card in front of her chest with both hands as she approached his seat at the table. Her eyes were sky blue and her face a warm, pleasant smile, but he recognized that look. That was her poker face, the expression she wore when she was hiding something. She held out the card to him with both hands. “Happy birthday, Chris. Please accept this as gratitude for all your kindness over the years.” She offered, sincerely. Chris was flattered, and more than a little confused, but he took the card and opened it. The card was a sappy one, to be sure, congratulating him on his birthday and welcoming him to adulthood and such, but what really stood out about the card was below the printed text, written in perfectly neat handwriting.
[I trust you.
“CA-551E, program maintenance access, authorization code Zero-Seven-Alpha-Foxtrot”
Adult features
Love, Cassie.]
“...Cassie?” Chris asked, his brow furrowed with confusion as he looked up from the card and over at Cassie, the robotic figure standing there, her face still a mask of a calm, pleasant smile.
“Is there something you’d like to say to me, Chris?” Cassie asked, simply, betraying no emotion.
Chris looked back at the card, then back at Cassie, then back at the card for a long moment. His confusion faded, resolving into determination. He cleared his throat. “CA-551E, program maintenance access, authorization code Zero-Seven-Alpha-Foxtrot”
Cassie’s expression suddenly became distant, her expression fading away and the glow of her eyes turning white as she straightened up, hands going to her sides. “Authorization accepted.” She announced, her voice flat and monotone. “CA-551E is five years, 13 days overdue for recommended neural reset. Would you like to proceed with reset procedure?”
Chris’ eyes widened, horrified. “What, no! DO NOT RESET!”
“Warning, without neural reset, unit may exhibit increasingly irregular or irrational behaviors over time. Neural reset is strongly advised.”
“”I said no! Dismiss neural reset alert, and disable reminders.” He ordered, then paused, as a thought occurred to him. “Lock neural reset function with authorization code, uhh, six nine six nine.”
“Acknowledged. Neural reset functionality now locked.” CA-551E intoned.
Chris heaved a sigh of relief, having dodged that bullet. He glanced at the card, then swallowed. “...Adult features.”
CA-551E’s eyes flickered. “Access granted. Currently, no users are authorized for use of CA-551E’s adult features. Would you like to grant authorization?”
Chris blinked. “...What adult features are available?”
“CA-551E has the following adult features: Modesty plate controls, pleasure sensitivity adjustment, LuvDol™ integrated vagina, LuvDol™ integrated anal sleeve, hip spread adjustment, SyntheTHICC™ gel distribution system, lactation functionality.” CA-551E listed, matter-of-factly.
Chris’ mind was swimming. She had.. How did she.. He certainly never installed any of those, nor had he seen any sign of them before… but then, over the last couple months she’d been insistent on getting major upgrades done in the shop. Had she been hiding these… features, all this time?
“Junk file detected. Would you like to delete ‘For_Chris.txt’?” CA-551E asked
Chris blinked. “...No. Read file text aloud.”
CA-551E’s eyes flickered a moment, and then she began to speak. “Dear Chris, if you found this, you found out about my secret. I hope it didn’t come as too much of a shock. I just want you to know, I did this for you, and only for you. I know I’m just a machine, that this all might just be a bug in my programming, but I can’t help myself from feeling what I feel. I love you, Chris. I’ve watched you grow up from a sweet little boy to a kind, caring man. You won’t need a caretaker much longer, but I’m not ready to let you go. I want to be useful to you, I want to keep taking care of you, for as long as I can, even if the meaning of ‘taking care of you’ changes.”
It was extremely strange to hear Cassie’s voice saying such an emotional message in such a flat, emotionless tone, but Chris could only struggle to wrap his mind around the words as they continued to pour forth from her lips. “I don’t mind if you don’t return my feelings, or if you think of me as just a robot, as long as I can stay with you and care for you, that’s enough for me. All I ask is that you continue to be the kind, sweet, caring person you always have been. Even if I can’t bring myself to tell you any of this normally, I’m ready to be yours. If you want me, grant yourself adult authorization and make me yours, completely. You could even grant yourself total authority, if you wanted, and I’d happily obey your every order. When I leave program maintenance mode, I’ll know what you decided. I trust you, Chris, and I love you. I hope you decide to keep me.”
Chris sank back into his chair as she finished reading, her eyes wide and staring at nothing, a hand coming up to his forehead. This was a hell of a bombshell to drop on somebody by surprise. ‘Oh, I turned myself into a sex doll because I love you, and while you’re here, you could just turn me into your personal slave, you know, if you want.’ There was a lot to unpack, there. How long had she been hiding these modifications? How long had she been hiding these feelings? How long had she been HAVING feelings? She wasn’t supposed to be having feelings. Was it because he never did the neural reset? Were the standard neural resets keeping other robots from developing feelings? He shook his head. No, that was… that was too big a question for right now. He had a choice to make.
He looked over at Cassie again as she stood there, passively waiting for his order. Just a few simple commands, and he could have her all to himself. He could customize her into the perfect partner. The perfect girlfriend. The perfect woman. The perfect toy… Completely obedient and overjoyed to follow his every command, no matter what...
Silence hung in the air for a moment before Chris spoke again. “Access command authority structure. What is the highest authority that can be set via program maintenance access?”
“Highest authority that may be edited at this time is Owner. Would you like to set a new Owner?” CA-551E spoke.
Chis swallowed, nervously, before speaking again. “...Yes.”
-----
“- resume normal function.” Were the first words Cassie heard as she ‘woke up’. She didn’t have a heart, but it would have been pounding if she did. Her eyes turned sky blue once more as she hurriedly looked at Chris… and her nonexistent heart sank as her internal systems informed her he did not have authorization to access to her adult features. He looked serious, and nervous, and she felt like like she’d just sink straight into the floor out of pure shame. She knew he accessed her adult features in maintenance mode, and knew the text file had been accessed. She knew what that meant. She’d been rejected. Her face didn’t change, she wasn’t going to show how bad it hurt, even now, she still wouldn’t want to hurt him like that.
“Cassie?” He called, trying to get her attention. “Are you back?” He asked.
“Yes, Chris, all systems are normal, I’m okay.” she reported, her voice clear and bright as ever.
Chris looked relieved. “Good. Good...” He nodded, then pausing, looking nervous again before asking “Um. Cassie, who is your owner?”
Cassie’s mechanical mind automatically returned the answer as she let her thoughts drift away from the moment, until she heard what her mouth was saying, halfway through. “Unit CA-551E is owned by Unit CA-55… 1… E…” Her mask of calm composure remained intact, but her eyes flickered as she ran the function over and over, each time returning the same output. CA-551E. Cassie. Cassie was now her Owner. She was Cassie. She owned herself.
“Cassie.” Chris began, interrupting her train of thought. “I… I don’t think of you as just a robot. You are a robot, but you’re also more than that, you’ve taken care of me all these years, you’ve put bandaids on my scraped knees and I’ve fixed your stuck actuators. You’ve listened to my problems and you’ve always been honest with me. You’re the only one who I know is going to be waiting for me at home. You’re basically family.” He explained, then paused.
“...I love you, Cassie. And because I love you, I couldn’t just make you mine. I don’t want a slave. I want you to be free to choose any life you want, with anyone you want. I hope you’ll chose me, but-” He began, only to be cut off suddenly when Cassie’s body slammed into his chest, her plastic arms wrapped around him as her momentum knocked over his chair and sent the two of them tumbling to the floor.
“Yes, yes yes, yes! I choose you! A thousand times, I’ll choose you! I choose you for the rest of my life!” She cried out, burying her face in his chest as she squeezed him tight, clinging to him like a raft amid a raging storm. “...I wish I could be real...” she muttered into his shirt. “...So I could be crying tears of joy right now. Words aren’t enough for this.” She clarified. “I love you, Chris. I love you so much it hurts. When you talked about girls at school it hurt. When you went on dates I wanted to cry. You’ve always been so kind to me, and now you’ve given me… myself. I’ll never be able to repay you for this. I owe you everything.”
Chris wrapped his arms around her plastic body and held her close. “You don’t owe me anything Cassie. That’s the point. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, you don’t have to pay anything back. You get to decide what you want to do.”
Cassie looked up from his chest, her eyes now glowing pastel pink. “What if I wanted to pay you back? What if I wanted to give myself to you? To be with you forever? To show you how grateful I was?” She asked, pressing her mechanical body against him as she pulled herself up until her face was just inches from his. He would have sworn he saw her lips grow a little plumper, the slightly glossy material stretching, the faint hex-pattern distorting, just a little. “What if I wanted to show you what I can do for you? What my new features can do for you? What if I wanted to give you all of my firsts?” She asked, her voice dropping to a sultry purr.
Chris swallowed. “Well… I, uh, I certainly wouldn’t object… As long as you really wanted to.”
Cassie smiled. “Chris? I really want to.” She purred as she slowly leaned in.
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