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Message-ID: <63053asstr$1408090201@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Any Pseudonym <anypseudonym@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Life with Alpha II: Alpha's World - Chapter Five:  Japan (Tokyo) (MF, FF, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book)
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Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 04:10:01 -0400
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   This story contains adult content, with explicit language and
situations.  If you are not of legal age where you live, please do not
read.

   In addition to the wonderful ASSM archive at www.asstr-mirror.org you can find
my Alpha universe stories at http://storiesonline.net/auth/Any_Pseudonym

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<1st attachment, "AlphaWorld05.txt" begin>

Alpha's World

   by A.  Pseudonym

   Chapter Five: Japan (Tokyo)
Codes: MF, FF, MF+, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book
Disclaimer: All artificial persons herein are based on characters owned
by their creators, not the author.

   Author's Note: (1) Unlike most of my chapters, which usually have time
skips between one chapter and the next, this chapter picks up right where
chapter four left off.  Originally Chapters 3-6 were intended to be a
single chapter, but I was writing much too slowly and the planned chapter
was becoming much too long (end result for chapters 3-6: 170+ pages in
OpenOffice), so I decided to split it up...  then split it up a second
time. (Translation: If you're starting off with this chapter, I strongly
recommend that you don't.)

   (2) The companies discussed in this chapter are fictional.  At most,
they are fictional conglomerations of real-ish companies.  If the names I
randomly made up actually belong to real companies, these ain't them. 
Likewise, although the cities and general descriptions thereof are fairly
real, any specifics I mention are fictional.

   * * * * *

   I'd like to start with a quick warning and apology: This chapter is much
more episodic than normal, especially the section in Tokyo.  Sorry, but
there was just so much to do in Japan that we were often just going from
one thing to the next completely unrelated thing and so on.

   Let me give a little bit of background for this next bit.  You know me,
I love me some background.

   Way back before we grew our first synthetic woman, Kasumi, when Alpha
was first exploring how the human brain worked, I was the main test
subject. While we did perform plenty of experiments with rats and mice (and
a pig) to see how their brains worked, ultimately, Alpha had to study a
human brain in operation, meaning me and my brain.  So I was scanned and
explored with nanites and external scanners and tested for month after
month while all of this was being done.

   One of things Alpha needed to figure out was how language worked in the
human brain, how it was learned, stored and used.  Since we knew our first
woman would be a native Japanese speaker, I spent about a month learning
Japanese.  Alpha didn't need me to learn the whole language, just enough so
that she could extrapolate how the various processes worked.  So while I
still knew a little Japanese, I was in no way even remotely approaching
fluency.

   The reason I went through that was to preface Alpha's offer to implant
much more complete knowledge of the Japanese language into my brain.  In
theory, the way it would work is that she would add the knowledge of the
language to the appropriate areas of my brain, then I would take a crash
course at home on speaking Japanese, with an option to include writing as
well.  Theoretically I would learn it at a record pace, because I would be
making and using new neural connections to the implanted knowledge instead
of learning it from scratch.  If the process worked correctly, it would be
like refreshing my mind on a subject I already knew thoroughly.

   Supposedly this can also be done with physical skills like typing or
martial arts or juggling, though whether or not so-called 'muscle memory'
could also be included was uncertain.  It's a little iffy when adding it to
a pre-existing person, so it might result in clumsiness initially.

   One interesting side note to all of this is that creating memories and
skills in a brand new brain is much easier, comparatively speaking.  With a
blank slate, Alpha can lay out the neurons, chemicals, connections and
links for ideal functionality.  It's just when you have to add new material
into a preexisting brain that the organizational difficulties arise since
Alpha has to work around the chaos of everything that's already there.

   To avoid too much mind-numbing, tedious detail, if you want to prevent
damage to the knowledge already in storage in an active brain, the new
additions have to be mostly inactive to start.

   Now I have no objection to learning by brain implants...  in theory.  In
practice, I don't want to be a test subject until a few others have gone
before me.  Also, while I trust Alpha, I have always been a little leery of
letting her alter or add to my brain (or genes).

   The bodyguards, or at least the three that didn't already know Japanese,
agreed to the procedure, so I let them be the guinea pigs for this. 
Although they didn't know it, they were much safer choices anyway, since
Alpha would be able to recreate their memories and skills much, much more
easily should anything go wrong.

   Well, okay, that was a misleading statement.  Alpha regularly makes
backups of my brain, so I could be restored to an earlier 'save point' if
need be.  It's just that their brains are much, much fresher than mine, and
thus much more orderly.  They should be able to deal with added information
much more easily, while at the same time, since they have been developing
new memories in the normal semi-chaotic way of daily life, the results
should be valid enough for testing purposes.  Enough to prove or disprove
the theory, at least.

   If it worked out, we'd have up to six different Japanese speakers in the
group -- the bodyguards plus Kasumi and Rei.  Plus whatever half-remembered
phrases and words I retained after ten years.



   That kind of leads to our next issue: Kasumi.

   We were a little concerned about letting Kasumi visit Japan at all
because...  well...  while her spoken Japanese was excellent, her accent
was wrong.

   Accents are hard to program, as it turns out.  From a computer's
perspective, it is like deliberately adding in specific imperfections to
the programming.  Sure, you can approach it as multiple independent
variations of a single program set, but it's much more efficient in theory
to just have dozens of built-in variants of a core data set.  Ummm... 
Ignore that.  I'm pretty sure I'm not explaining it clearly or accurately
enough.

   Regardless, however you approach it, you are essentially saying that
even though there is theoretically a completely correct version of Japanese
or English or whatever, THEY AREN'T ALLOWED TO USE IT.  Trust me, that is
an excellent way to really annoy computer intelligences, artificial or
synthetic.

   Fortunately, accents only applied to the intelligences that had to
create or imitate humans, and well over 90% of the time, that meant Alpha
was the only one who had to deal with the issue.

   Once Alpha finally accepted that accents were something we needed to
deal with, she worked out specifics for various accents around the world,
but this was developed long after we had created Kasumi.

   Luckily, the official background we had arranged for Kasumi involved her
leaving Japan at a young age to live in America, so hopefully she wouldn't
be expected to have a proper regional dialect or accent anymore, but that
only worked so long as Kasumi stuck to our official story.  She's honest
enough that she has trouble telling even necessary lies, and she honestly
believed she was a native of Nerima, a ward within Tokyo, which was how she
reflexively answered when asked.  (For those who are unaware of the
situation, Nerima is strongly associated with anime production, as well as
being where the very popular Ranma 1/2 series was located.)

   If questions regarding her name arose, since 'Kasumi Tendo' would
instantly be recognized by most anime or manga fans, she was supposed to
point out that she was born before the Ranma series began, implying that
since she pre-dated the series, it was no more than coincidence.  That was
true, according to her documented age, but for any questions that went
beyond that...  again, she was innately very honest, so we had to be
certain to keep her away from any extended conversations about her origins.

   In other words, keeping her separate from associations with the Ranma
manga and anime was going to be difficult if she started talking to people.

   It gets a little worse.  If you look at the actual dates -- our fake
Kasumi was theoretically born in 1984, and the Ranma series began
publishing in Japan in 1987 -- that means there was no possible way to
reconcile her memories with the manga.  When she discovered the manga on
her own somewhere around 2008, she jumped to the conclusion that her sister
Nabiki had sold the stories to a manga creator as another way to profit off
of Ranma Saotome.  So far, we had gotten away with letting her believe that
was true because the specific American manga volumes she had been buying
had started publication in 2004.  (Yes, Viz, the American publisher had
actually started publishing single issues in 1993, but the right-to-left
collected volumes she had gotten weren't released in the US until 2004 or
2005.)

   Fortunately, Kasumi is not a detective, and it had been often
emotionally painful for her to read them, so she had never looked at the
details or backtracked the origins.  It also helped that she wanted to keep
the whole mess secret from everyone else since she considered it to be
embarrassing.  We had basically gotten lucky.

   Of course, once we had discovered that she knew of the manga and anime,
we had installed a perception override similar to the ones we had installed
in Barbara, Velma and Daphne, but that wouldn't help a whole lot if she
discussed the series with other people.

   So why bring her along at all?  The thing is, we didn't really have a
good reason to give her to keep her from coming along on the trip.  Yes,
she 'knew' that if she ever met the original Kasumi, she would be overcome
by the Chinese Amazon magic that had created her and would compel her to
try to kill her other self, but she agreed not to visit Nerima and to never
travel alone, so we should easily be able to keep a close eye on her.



   Rei, on the other hand, was relatively easy to deal with, since she knew
she was a clone and believed she had lived in Japan for only a few days
before being sent to live in the States.  Plus, she was under orders from
her Japanese creators to keep her origin a secret, so she would actively
work with us to obscure her history.  And most importantly for Rei, she
didn't chat...  or offer unsolicited information...  or answer questions if
she could avoid it...  or, well...  talk.  Not much, anyway.

   The one piece of good news was that by the time we created my Japanese
bodyguard, Motoko, Alpha was able to add fairly accurate accents and plant
excellent background records without a problem.  Should the need ever
arise, we even had a few local cyborgs available to say things like,
'Motoko grew up just down the street' or 'She went to school with my
children'.



   While I'm discussing Japan, I should probably also take this opportunity
to cover a subject I've been avoiding.

   When Alpha's body-rebuilding capabilities were made public after my
assassination attempt, we had offered to start setting up nanopod systems
around the world for any country willing to meet certain requirements,
including legal protections for computer intelligences.

   One of the other main requirements was that any adult who needed nanopod
treatment and already had two or more children must agree to be sterilized
so they could no longer have children.

   This requirement grew out of two different main concerns.  The first was
the obvious, stated reason of needing to limit population growth.  The
second was to slow or limit possible nanopod needs.  And we were publicly
honest about both reasons, since at the time, we were simply unable to
supply enough nanites or nanopods for everyone that might need them.  By
the time of my trip to Japan, we had greatly expanded our abilities in
those regards, but there was still no way for us to supply everyone should
countries worldwide accept our offer.

   The sterilization requirement did not go over well, to put it mildly. 
(Except in China, but there are other issues there which I'm not going to
cover right now.) For some people, it was a violation of their religious
beliefs.  For some, it was a threat to their manhood or womanhood.  For
some, it was just a violation of their human rights.

   I guess I just didn't think it through, but to me it was perfectly
logical.  While the planet could probably support the estimated population
through at least the end of the century, beyond that it started getting
iffy, relying on expected but undiscovered advances in agriculture,
projected decreases in worldwide populations, and so on.  However, even if
you allow that we might be able to feed everyone, many other problems come
with overly dense populations, such as the rapid transmission and mutation
of disease, virus and plague, likely increases in violence and pollution,
the elimination of privacy, and so on.

   Anyway, let me just say that personally, I would be happier with a
stable population of less than five billion worldwide.  Not that I've ever
wished that aloud.  I shudder to think what some synthetic might come up
with if they ever heard such a comment from me.

   Moving back to the immediate subject at hand, Japan has had a decreasing
population growth for a few years, which was finally dropping into actual
negative numbers overall.  For them, our requirement could never be
accepted, since it would be close to a worst case scenario: It would limit
the addition of new citizens while increasing the life span of economically
unproductive citizens, thus leading to economic downturn on top of dying
population numbers.

   All of which meant we were backing off of that requirement on a
case-by-case basis.  For example, about two months before this trip, we had
updated our requirements so that any country which lacked a sustainable
population growth would be exempt from the sterilization requirement, which
made Japan more interested in the offer.

   So with that requirement removed and if we could gain the support of
some of their top corporations, we had a real, viable opportunity to gain
legal recognition for computer intelligence there.  While Japan was not run
by its corporations, it was an economic superpower, which meant they had a
lot of political influence.

   Perhaps the biggest potential problem to making citizenship available
for synthetics in Japan and elsewhere was the potential for economic chaos.
Synthetics were likely to quickly dominate multiple job fields --
programming, accounting, R&D, engineering, manufacturing, and so on.  If we
could successfully place a few synthetics within major corporations without
causing serious problems, it would help out enormously when it came to
calming such fears.  The adjustments to job markets and economies was
inevitable.  We needed to demonstrate that it could be handled smoothly.

   Other major countries around the world with strong interest at the time
were the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Honduras and South Africa.  I knew
for a fact that at least two of the countries on that list were hoping for
the possible economic boosts that might come with an influx of legal
synthetics.  Or more accurately, a hope that any resulting economic chaos
might end up on the positive side, and hopefully create a new set of
taxable citizens.

   A dozen other countries, including the United States, were likely to
grant such rights and legal recognition eventually, but the process was
mired in legal debate and bureaucratic wrangling.

   If you're wondering, yes, there are other topics I also tend to avoid.
For example, I think it's depressing to talk about the semi-regular
appearance of anti-A.I.  protestors outside AARD, or the problems dealing
with anti-science politicians, so I usually only address that type of
depressing topic if it's actually required.

   * * *

   So that was my quick overview of some of the relevant background.  (Yes,
it was 4-5 pages, but I stand by my use of the word 'quick'.)

   Moving to specifics, we were there to visit three different major
corporations and attend a few political events to try to encourage support
for our cause.  The corps were all trying to get their own Synthetics to
help out their companies and gain a serious edge over their competitors,
but they all wanted them to be programmed, or reprogrammed, as the case may
be, so that loyalty to the company was guaranteed over all other things.

   They were hardly unique in that respect, as most governments and large
companies worldwide felt the same way.  The reasons we selected these
specific three for advanced negotiations were: (1) These were really big
corporations with a lot of economic and political influence.  If we could
get their backing, gaining legal rights and recognition for computer
intelligences would become much easier in Japan.  (2) These three had shown
a willingness to negotiate protections for synthetics in exchange for being
able to 'hire' them.  And (3), well, each one of the three had one or more
additional, individual reasons that I'll get to eventually.

   So which companies were they?

   Telco Japan, with their headquarters in Tokyo, is the largest
telecommunications company in Japan.  Though they have other smaller
products and services, it was easiest to simply view them as a huge
controller and distributor of phone service, phones, Internet access and
television, both broadcast and cable.

   Sun, also based in Tokyo, was a powerhouse of the electronics, gaming
and entertainment industries, though they had plenty of other interests as
well.  Of the three, Sun easily had the most invested in America.

   The Matsudoki Corporation, with their headquarters in Kyoto, was almost
the definition of 'Megacorp'.  They were one of the largest shippers in the
world, mined more raw materials than any other Japanese company, and were a
dominant electronics manufacturer world-wide.  When we were going over the
divisions within their company, it took Alpha twenty-two pages to list them
all.  Matsudoki was also the only one of the three that was still a
'family-owned business', which meant 70% of the board members were part of
the original founder's family.

   Months back, I had divested myself of any and all stocks for those
companies, not wanting there to be any hint of stock manipulation, insider
trading or impropriety.



   Our schedule called for us to spend at least two weeks in Japan, though
it was looking more likely that we would approach about 20 days.  We were
going to spend at least nine days in Tokyo and another 4 in Kyoto.  Eight
different meetings and parties had fixed dates, but the rest all depended
on how negotiations went.  While the Japanese tend to prefer planning their
schedules out well in advance, they recognized that business negotiations
had to allow for a degree of flexibility in scheduling.  Kara, Alpha and
myself had been laying the groundwork for these meetings for the past few
months, but this was the first time we were going to meet in person.

   I was also hoping to have a day to go visit Masamune, a synthetic which
had been placed, with government-assured legal protections, with the
Japanese Meteorological Agency, primarily to monitor data, predict
earthquakes and coordinate warnings when necessary.  We hoped to have half
a dozen others synthetics similarly hired and protected within a year at
various similar institutes around the world, but Masamune was the first.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY ONE

   So, let's see.  We had spent two nights and close to two days in
California, then three nights, two and a half days in Hawaii.  On to Japan.

   The flight from Hawaii to Tokyo is usually around 8 or 9 hours.  Without
pushing our custom jet too hard, we were planning to make it in six and a
half hours.  A little over four hours of that was spent with bodyguards, as
detailed last chapter.  Another hour and a half was spent in general
discussion regarding our plans and schedules.  Oh, and another lesson on
how to use chopsticks and Japanese etiquette.

   We had eleven people in our travel team, including Kasumi, Rei, Kara,
Beta, Jennifer, Buttercup, and myself, plus the four bodyguards: Motoko,
Misty, Peace and Rally.  Plus Alpha and a bunch of Alphadroids.  When we
touched down, we were met by the six local bodyguards Alpha had hired.  Two
of the locals were actually licensed to carry guns, which is VERY rare.

   Specifically, we had done a little political favor trading so that two
experienced police officers with spotless records were given time off so
they could act as private guards while we were visiting.  It was doubtful
the officers had ever even drawn their sidearms in the course of their
duties, but since it was a matter of public record that organized crime
wanted me dead, the government was willing to grant our request. 
Personally, I doubted they would be needed, but I no longer had serious
control over anything related to my safety.

   Compared to America, the violent crime rate in Japan is comparatively
tiny.  Sure, it happens, but fairly rarely.  (Please note that for this
discussion, I'm ignoring sexual assault, which is usually not a fair thing
to do.  However sexual assaults in Japan are estimated to be much, much
more common than the reported rates indicate, so it's not fair to list or
discuss crimes where you lack good official data.) When it comes to weapons
used in commission of a crime, even the Yakuza don't carry guns.

   Anyway, as I said, our insistence on extra guards and armed guards was
very likely completely unnecessary.  Heck, even our translators were
probably not required, since English is common as a second language.

   So, yeah, back to the story.  We were met by the six guards Alpha had
hired, who were all introduced to me with a lot of bowing.

   Oh, dear god, the bowing.  Bowing is pretty much their way of saying
hello.  Or goodbye, or I'm sorry, or whatever else.  There were even
airport mechanics or something bowing to our plane when we taxied off the
runway after landing.  Every time you met someone, there was bowing.  And
how low you should bow varied with who you were and what the situation was.
I was told that I was important enough that I probably shouldn't bow much
more than my head most of the time, except maybe when I was meeting a top
politician or CEO.  I'm not trying to be dismissive or insulting to their
culture, it just isn't what I'm used to.

   Also, there was this whole etiquette where the most powerful people
would let their underlings do all of the talking, meaning theoretically, I
shouldn't be directly involved in any of the discussions, which kinda goes
against my nature.

   Motoko and Kasumi had spent at least an hour going over bowing etiquette
with us, and at the end, assured us that as long as we made some kind of
effort, it should be fine because as gaijin, i.e.  foreigners, we weren't
expected to know much about it.

   So after the introductions, we went through customs, which wasn't
horribly different from customs or airport security in the US.  It did get
a little awkward when they wanted to remove the guard team's artificial
limbs as part of the inspection.  I gathered that it was unusual, but then
so were the bodyguards.  It took a few extra minutes, but they were done in
private rooms with female inspectors.  Alpha ran diagnostics on them later,
but the limbs had not left my team's sight and there had not been any
tampering.

   Then it was off to the hotel.  Due to the time difference, it was only
mid-morning...  possibly on the previous or next day, due to crossing the
International Date Line.  I think it was the next day?  The whole IDL thing
is a little confusing for someone who has never had to deal with it before,
but it was going to cancel out for me upon my return to the US, so I just
let Alpha keep track of my schedule.

   We didn't have anything officially scheduled that first day and had set
it aside to explore the area and adjust to the time change after we checked
in to our hotel.

   To be honest, I had expected to be overwhelmed with Japanese weirdness,
but most of what I saw were people dressed normally, quietly going about
their business.  Oh sure, a few people were wearing little white masks,
indicating they were probably sick, and a few young women had odd,
anime-schoolgirl-ish sailor suits, but most were normal.  By American
definitions, at least.  Actually, I did catch a glimpse of a small group of
women dressed up in what appeared to be gothic lolita dresses fashioned
with a lot of bright colors, but unfortunately I really didn't get a good
look at them since we were driving at the time.

   People were much quieter and more polite, but that's not what I call
'weird'.

   Intellectually, I knew that in general, any foreign views of any society
tend to be pretty skewed, especially since the things most likely to be
featured in stories are those that stand out.  Personally I should be
doubly aware of that since I live in Texas.  People from other parts of the
world or even just other parts of the country tend to imagine cowboys and
gunfights in deserts filled with oil machinery when they think of Texas. 
While we do like to think of ourselves as tough and pro-self-defense, so to
speak, we don't walk around with 'six irons' strapped to our belts, we
don't have daily shootouts, and we're pretty technologically sophisticated.
On the other hand, we do LOVE football, barbeque and trucks.

   I knew I was approaching Japan with the wrong mindset, but I couldn't
help myself.  (Plus, I KNEW that the weirdness existed, it just wasn't
obvious as we drove around.)

   Our hotel lobby was beautiful and elegant, and our actual rooms were
pretty normal too.  They had little cubby holes for you to keep your shoes
by the door, but they had normal size beds and tables and chairs and such.

   Then I found out we were specifically given, or more accurately, Alpha
had specifically reserved, Western-style rooms for most of us.  When I
peeked in on Kasumi and Rei's room, it looked a lot more like I had
imagined a Japanese hotel room should look like.  Low tables with no
chairs. Sliding paper walls.  Etc.

   Now make no mistake; my room was definitely designed with a Japanese
motif in mind: Framed Japanese Kanji and brush art on the walls, lots of
wood instead of plastic, and so on.  It was actually very pleasant. 
Obviously a luxury suite, though it wasn't overly large.  Definitely not as
large as the main suite in Vegas, which was still my standard reference
when it came to large hotel suites.

   After we got settled in, I discovered that they weren't planning on
allowing me to go sightseeing.  ('They' meaning Alpha, Kara and the
bodyguard team...  but mostly Alpha.) I mean, really.  Why have the
bodyguards if I can't even go outside?  I guess we, meaning Alpha and
myself, had each made assumptions about my activities on the trip.  Over
the past decade, we had comfortably gotten to the point where we generally
felt we knew what the other was thinking to a great extent, but we
obviously weren't 100% in sync.

   So, I finally put my foot down.  If there had been an actual, active
threat, that would have amounted to nothing more than a hissy fit without
result.  Since I was theoretically not under an active threat at the
moment, we negotiated.

   Alpha and I finally agreed that I would be allowed to visit various
sites of significance and some restaurants with good reputations as long as
the guard team was with me.  I would not be allowed to visit anywhere
disreputable or overly crowded.

   Having a ten person guard team was a little inconvenient, and at least
in this matter, we were in agreement.  Alpha had wanted a ten person guard
contingent so that they could have two five person teams to trade out over
the course of a day or week or whatever.  A minimum of two of my personal
guards would always be with me, along with one armed Japanese guard and two
unarmed.  (The 'unarmed' guards still had concealed weapons on their
persons, just not firearms.)

   That first day, we decided not to push ourselves and just explored a
little.  To start us off, we had lunch in a well-regarded nearby sushi
restaurant.  Now please understand that I have never been a fan of raw fish
and/or seaweed in my food, but I am willing to try new things.  I will now
admit that authentic, fresh Japanese sushi (the rice rolls that might or
might not include raw fish) and sashimi (raw fish) are much better than
what we get in the US.  They still aren't my favorite, but they were much
better.

   That afternoon, we visited a small, gorgeously arranged and sculpted
park, a temple which allowed respectful tourists and one shopping center.

   The shopping center had some weird stuff in it.  For example, there was
a store dedicated entirely to Hello Kitty, and parts of the store were not
fit for children.  Seriously, they licensed Hello Kitty for anything and
everything.  I purchased a Hello Kitty vibrator, thinking it might make a
good gift for Jane.  Or possibly Bubbles or Linda.  (Remember, I was
expected to purchase individual gifts for everyone back home while in
Japan. And not just Chocky, though I did pick up a few dozen boxes of that
too.)

   For dinner that evening, we went to an American-themed restaurant,
though I think it was intended for Japanese citizens rather than actual
Americans.  Maybe half of the menu was accurately described as 'American',
and along those lines, I'd like to point out that I'd never before had a
hamburger with such odd seasoning.  It was almost as though they had mixed
in some kind of spiced tea with the meat.  (In all fairness, I had a few
other 'American' meals during my stay, and some of them did seem properly
'American'.  They seemed to do fried chicken pretty well, for example, but
as a Texan, I must point out that their barbeque was lacking.)

   Remember how Velma had started sending me an 'artistic' photo each day?
She was still doing so, though I was certain Jane was now her co-creator.

   The photo I got from Velma that evening -- or early afternoon, to be
more accurate -- had no nudity at all, counter to my expectations.  Instead
it showed Daria, fully dressed in blouse and skirt reading a newspaper.  A
closer examination showed that she was apparently sitting on Jane's face;
at least, I was pretty sure it was Jane, even though Daria's skirt blocked
enough of the view that I couldn't be certain of the specifics.  A closer
examination of Daria showed that she was blushing furiously.  I doubt the
blush came from her choice of seat, but rather from the photo.  She wasn't
comfortable with having her picture taken, even less so if it was sexy in
nature.  I had no idea how Velma got Daria to agree to pose for the snap.
The two of them were generally friendly but often seemed to be in
intellectual competition.  If not for their mental conditioning and my
insistence on everyone getting along as best they could, those two could
easily become the bitterest of rivals.  Or possibly the best of friends. 
Or they'd just do their best to avoid and ignore each other.  Who knows?

   My bedmate for the evening was Buttercup, who was one of the most lively
women I had ever taken to bed, with every orgasm seeming to energize her
more and more.

   Hmmm.  How about a quick update about her first.  Over the past few
years, she had worked up a small collection of piercings and tattoos.  Five
tattoos so far -- including the PPG logo on her right bicep, barb wire
circling her other bicep, 'PAIN' written across the knuckles of her right
fist, 'JOY' across the knuckles of her left fist, and a great white shark
circling her vagina.  She had been discussing other possible tattoos for a
while now, but hadn't yet decided what else to add.

   She also had three piercings in each ear, a ring in her bellybutton, an
eyebrow ring (which was only worn maybe half the time), a heavy gauge ring
through each outer labia and one tiny gold ring through her left nipple.

   (Most of the piercings and tattoos had been done in-house with special
needles, since normal needles quickly blunted when faced with her
stronger-than-normal skin.)

   Buttercup had not originally been included on the list to go on this
trip.  Instead, we had been planning to bring along her sister, Bubbles,
who spoke Japanese.  I wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but Bubbles
apparently had something scheduled back home that she didn't want to miss
and Buttercup had inserted herself into the roster as a replacement.  Not
sure why.  Maybe she was secretly hoping for us to be challenged to a
baseball game while we were here or something.

   Buttercup was both better and worse as a bodyguard.  She was better
because, despite her short stature - all three of the Powerpuffs were only
slightly over five feet tall -- she was much more intimidating than her
golden-haired sister.  (If we were in the US, she'd also have the benefit
of being an amazingly good shot with most guns.) She was worse because she
was much more confrontational than...  well, almost anyone else. 
'Aggressive' is a good way to describe her.

   Come to think of it, she might have been the worst possible person to
bring along to the very polite and anti-confrontational Japan.  Oh well,
too late now.

   It had been a long time since...  since...  actually, come to think of
it, this might well have been the first time I had ever taken Buttercup to
bed solo.  Overnight, that is.  We had enjoyed one-on-one quickies more
than once, especially after athletic meets or baseball games, but actually
spending the night in my bed by herself?  Nope.

   Buttercup also wasn't much of a fan of romance.  I was pretty certain
she liked it more than she let on, but obvious romantic overtures left her
more embarrassed than turned-on.  Foreplay, sure, she enjoyed that just
fine, never met a woman who didn't.  But were I to, for example, have
roses, wine and candles waiting for her, she'd be much more reticent to
join me.  Instead, I just had Alpha queue up a playlist of some of her
favorite metal as I waited for her to join me, though I kept the volume
low.

   She turned up carrying a small overnight bag, wearing just shorts and a
t-shirt with the TCU logo on it.  And I do mean 'just', as in 'only'.  Once
we had said goodnight to the guards in the hallway and closed the door, she
quickly disrobed, showing a distinct lack of underwear.  As the most
athletic of the Powerpuffs, her body packed a lot of tight muscles.  If not
for the artificial nature of her creation, I'm sure her lovely B-cup
breasts would have been reduced to almost nothing by the rigors of her
workouts.

   "So, I figure, jet lag be damned," she said, as she pushed me back
towards the bedroom.

   What followed was energy draining, even if it was a lot of fun.  We
started with a straight, vanilla missionary position, where it took her
less than five minutes to climax.  When we shifted to doggy-style, she kept
urging me on to pound her harder and faster and harder and faster until I
was seriously worried that I was going to bruise her (and me).  We both
came from that, though I think she got off twice.  After that, I was a bit
worn out.  She had me lay back and gave her oral skills a workout until I
was fully hard again, then rode me like...  well, a cowgirl.

   I realized about that time that I had been lucky before, never having to
deal with her solo.  Remember how I mentioned in passing that she seems to
become more energized every time she comes?  Well, it turns out that having
help satisfying her or having someone available to interrupt her increasing
need for orgasms was necessary to avoid being fucked to death.  Yeah, I'm
exaggerating a little, but even after her fourth climax, she rode me for
over half an hour, occasionally changing position while remaining on top.

   Finally, I came a second time inside her.  When she moved to try to make
me hard again, I waved her off.  Thankfully, she didn't press it further.
We took a really quick shower to wash off the sweat and juices.  Back in
bed, she pulled an iPad from her overnight bag and video conferenced with
her sisters to catch up, completely ignoring the fact that we were both
naked.  A video call like that could have easily taken over an hour if
others joined in, so I insisted we keep it short as I needed some sleep.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY TWO

   The next morning, we had our first official meeting at Telco Japan. 
This first meeting was mostly a formality, with introductions and laying
out the various schedules for the next couple days.  Kara and Beta would
actually be the ones to handle most of the negotiations, though I would
need to be on-call to handle any new questions or unexpected proposals. 
Well, Alpha and I, that is, but Kara and Beta would be sitting side-by-side
with Alphadroids during the meetings, so she was always on-call.  (Yes, it
was pretty pointless in Beta's case, but we had fictions to uphold.)

   We had already completed maybe 90% of the agreement and had it in
writing before we even came to Japan.  The final contract would be huge and
detailed, but it basically amounted to assurances from the company that
they would not attempt to alter or duplicate any synthetic working for
their corporation.  They would do their best to protect any synthetic
employee and would not attempt to use them for any illegal or unethical
purposes.  They would even allow each synthetic to maintain their own
hobbies and interests and to work toward purchase of its own personal
android or Alphadroid, if desired, which could still be employed.

   For their part, any employed synthetic would agree to place the good of
the corporation and obedience to any order from the corp's board of
directors as their highest goal, so long as it didn't interfere with the
Asimov Protocols.

   There was a LOT more to it than that, but my little summary covers the
central concepts of the proposed contract.  We also had lots of guarantees
and checks and balances, a pay scale unique to synthetics as well as a way
to access and use the salary that would work even without a legal identity.
There were sections covering expected working hours, a tricky topic given
that synthetics don't really sleep...  sections covering what the
synthetics' and corporation's responsibilities were in cases of government
intervention, court orders and possible legal recognition of computer
intelligences...  and even a few pages covering accessibility to employees
and others for personal interactions separate from work.

   We had focused a lot of effort on getting it right, since it was likely
to be the basis for many other contracts.  To give you some idea, even
before coming to Japan, the contract was already 137 pages long, so I hope
you'll forgive me if I skip over most of the actual meetings and
negotiations.  Seriously, I doubt many people not directly involved would
care about how salary is handled for multiple copies of the same synthetic,
or when and if the corp can ask a synthetic to provide an additional copy
of itself.

   On top of that, a lot of non-contractual work had to be done.  For
example, they had no realistic idea how to interview synthetic applicants,
and in fact, AARD would be in charge of selecting applicants initially.  We
also had to work up a handbook for dealing with them socially and what to
expect from their interactions with human co-workers.  Again, things that
are only really interesting if you were directly involved.



   What I'm going to do instead is focus more on the social aspects of our
visit to Japan than the business or technical.

   Oh yeah, before I do that, I had mentioned earlier that each of the
three corps had a unique reason why we chose to deal with them.  Telco
Japan had a major location advantage that made it stand out: They owned a
major network hub offshore on a small Pacific island that was privately
owned in international waters.  Basically, they could host some or all of
their synthetics on the island, keeping them out of the hands of government
officials to a good extent.  While this required extra guarantees and
safety checks, the benefit could end up being significant.

   * * *

   The evening of the first full day, we attended a welcoming party, hosted
by the CEO of Telco Japan.  There were probably somewhere around 50 guests,
and I had not a prayer of remembering everyone I was introduced to.  A
European-style string quartet was playing off in one corner, and everyone
spoke quietly most of the time.  The setting was very peaceful and relaxed.

   About ten minutes after we arrived, Kara and I were processed through a
line of people to make sure that everyone had been personally introduced,
shaken hands and bowed.  As to why Kara and I were the only two
introductees, well...  AARD doesn't really have a lot of executives with
important titles.

   Let me cover that topic real quick, because it comes up again later on.

   We're still a pretty small company in most ways.  We have a little over
a hundred employees and less than half a dozen products we actually make
and sell ourselves, meaning we were negligibly tiny to corporations at this
level.  Our strength came from our vast and extremely valuable intellectual
property, top-level researchers, and political and industry-related
influence, with most of the influence residing in my person.  And Alpha, of
course.  She was the most valuable thing about AARD, but since Alpha
pre-dated AARD and less than half of her official copies were hosted by
AARD, she could in no way be considered property of AARD.  That, plus her
iffy legal status, makes me hesitant to list her as a company asset, while
at he same time, we were using AARD as a legal shield for her in some
cases. It was tricky.  If the legalities could ever be worked out, things
would be greatly simplified and she would be co-owner of the company.  (I
had considered making Beta co-owner as a secret workaround, but we really
wanted the legalities worked out instead.)

   Normally, any large corporation with interest in an aspect of a company
our size would simply buy us out with their equivalent of pocket change...
except, of course, that they couldn't do that with us.  AARD was privately
held, not publicly traded, and I refused to sell.

   If they wanted to hire away some of our researchers, well...  there are
actually a few pretty funny stories about corporate headhunters trying to
poach some of our researchers.  We pay better than most corporations are
willing to match, allow our people to retain ownership of their patents,
have better benefits and allow more freedom for research and development.
So far, we've only lost a grand total of three researchers to other
companies, and one of those wanted to return to AARD a year later, but he
was stuck in his new contract for another nine years with huge penalties if
he tried to leave.



   I'm sorry, I strayed pretty far from the point I was intending to make.
AARD doesn't have a lot of VIPs...  or VPs, board members, etc.  I was the
owner.  Kara was my VP/second-in-command/day-to-day manager.  I suppose if
Daria had been with us, she might have rated introductions since she was
the overall project manager of research.  Even Beta, with all that I relied
on her and used her professionally, was only the head of accounting.  So
the point is, Kara and I were the only two being singled out for
introductions.  Well, Alpha too, but she had multiple bodies on hand, so
introductions to her could became a little disconcerting if you weren't
used to her.

   Among the list of important people, CEO Kosuke Onozuka introduced me to
his wife and son, Yoko and Toru.  Toru, who appeared to be in his mid to
late teens, seemed to give most of his attention to my bodyguard team. 
(Well, to be fair, as a teenage boy, he also paid plenty of attention to
Kara, who was wearing a fairly conservative dress that evening, but no
dress, no matter how conservative, could hide her chest.)

   After we had moved on and I was being introduced to other people of note
within the company, I noticed Toru was trying to introduce himself to
Motoko.  She and two of the local bodyguards were positioned around the
room, standing by the walls, while Peace and the
bodyguard/policeman-on-loan stood a few feet behind me.  Motoko was
ignoring him and continuing her constant scan of the crowd, as a proper
bodyguard does, but I could tell he was starting to annoy her.

   I finished meeting the head of research and development and stepped over
to Toru.

   "Pardon me, but I need you to leave my bodyguards alone."

   He spoke just enough English to understand me, and said, "I am sorry.  I
wanted to meet her.  She Motoko, right?  Sorry.  She IS Motoko, right?"

   "Yes, but she is working right now.  Please do not distract her."

   "But she is cyborg, right?"

   "She.  Is.  Working," I said with as much polite force as I could
muster.

   About that time, his father noticed the situation and retrieved his son,
making apologies as he did so.

   "Thank you," Motoko transmitted silently.

   "It seems you have a fan," I teased.

   Alpha broke in briefly, transmitting a partial explanation, "Toru is one
of the administrators for a Ghost in the Shell fan site.  The site also
includes a discussion group he moderates which focuses on your team of
cyborg bodyguards, among others."

   "Wonderful," Motoko bemoaned silently.

   "Keep an eye out for him.  If he gets to be a bother, let me know."

   This was a pretty restrained party, with everything kept quiet and
dignified, so Toru's parents made a special effort to keep him under
control.  We continued as before, allowing me to meet a few people I had
only known through email or video conferencing, which was nice, but
overall, I don't have much else to say about the party.  Everyone was
cordially introduced, which was its stated purpose.



   Motoko and Peace's shift lasted til midnight, so when I retired to my
suite, they were on guard outside my hotel room for a couple more hours. 
Kasumi privately joined me for bed, since it was her turn, and while my
night with Kasumi was very enjoyable, it wasn't really worth chronicling.
(Foreplay followed by oral sex followed by missionary position with a total
time of roughly thirty minutes.)

   Oh yeah.  I received and enjoyed Jane's photo that evening before the
party, but forgot to mention it.  It was a ground-level, upskirt view of
Jane, Linda and Bubbles.  None of the three were wearing panties under
their miniskirts, and all three were obviously wearing buttplugs.  Brightly
colored plugs at that.  Pastel blue for Bubbles, fire-engine red for Linda
and a bright green one for Jane that I remembered as being
glow-in-the-dark.

   If I had been with almost anyone else that evening, seeing the photo
would have prompted me to push for anal sex, but Kasumi has very definite
'not proper' views of using the back door.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY THREE

   The next morning, I found out that Toru, the Motoko-focused CEO's son,
had snuck into the hotel with some friends to try and take photos of
Motoko. She and Peace had caught them and handed them over to hotel
security.  No harm done, but I resolved to bring it up with the boy's
father.

   Day three didn't have much happen related to purpose of the trip, but it
did have one fun incident of note.



   I'd like to preface this next bit by pointing out that nowadays, I'm
rarely accosted on the street.  People don't ask for money or try to
randomly hand me fliers or prank me or things like that.  Pretty sure
that's because I have bodyguards.

   So it felt even slightly more unique than it might have when we were
approached by some sort of raptor dinosaur in a park we were wandering
through.

   I was first made aware of the situation when Alpha silently warned me,
"Someone in a dinosaur costume is approaching, probably part of an online
or TV prank video."

   I stopped and turned to look around, also hearing a reptilian hiss as I
turned.  Coming up behind us was a very realistic-looking two-legged
dinosaur, about five feet tall and at least six or seven feet long.  You
may have seen similar costumes in other online prank videos, where someone
in an office suddenly finds themselves being chased by a Jurassic
Park-looking raptor.  (For dinosaur purists, the costume lacked feathers.)

   "Don't hurt him!" I said sharply, as other heads also turned to look,
noting that Peace already had an extendable titanium baton in her hand.

   I finally visually picked out the human legs from the odd sight before
us.  My eyes had naturally skimmed by them in favor of the clawed dino feet
upon first viewing.  "That's a pretty neat costume, isn't it?"

   Inside the privacy of own brain, I was thanking Alpha profusely.  On my
own, without proper warning, I'd probably have taken off running by default
instinct.  While I'd like to think I'm a cool customer -- stop that
laughing!  -- there's a decidedly uncool hardwired survival response when
you unexpectedly find yourself being chased by a large predator.

   We walked over to greet the oncoming actor, who was obviously slowing
down from his planned chase.  I noted that while the bodyguards kept
themselves between me and the fierce-looking costume, the Alphadroid we had
with us didn't bother.

   "Should I delete the video?" asked Alpha via my implant.  She had a
variety of methods available to her for dealing with most unwanted video or
photography.

   "Uhh...  no, probably not.  Where's the camera?"

   "I have detected two cameras: One by the bushes where he emerged, and
one to your left camouflaged by trees.  I believe there is probably at
least one more further up the path where he was hoping to chase us."

   Prompted by her observations, I picked out a glint of reflected light by
the trees and waved at it.

   Turning to the 'dinosaur', I greeted him with a small nod of the head,
saying, "That is a truly excellent costume."

   Motoko translated my compliment as we looked over the outfit.  There was
a very muffled response, which was translated back to me as "Thank you."
I'm not entirely sure, but I think the dino bowed slightly.

   "You should be more careful, though," I said.  "You might have been
badly hurt if you had gotten closer before you surprised us."

   Yeah, the planned prank had failed, and I was really enjoying rubbing it
in.  Does that make me a bad person?

   Buttercup got permission to climb up on its back for a few pictures,
which immediately triggered a rush of posing with the dino for photos. 
After that was done, we chatted for a moment before wishing him well and
walking away.

   The video had indeed been for a Japanese prank-based TV show and was
broadcast a few weeks later.  We declined an offer to appear in person to
comment on the encounter but gave permission for our local bodyguards to
attend, which happened well after we had safely returned to America.

   We came off pretty well overall, which was 100% thanks to Alpha's
constant surveillance of our immediate environment and thus her early
warning.



   Let me think.  Anything else from that day?  Jane and Velma's photo of
the day showed a bunch of the ladies cosplaying as Sailor Moon characters,
with Velma as Mercury and Jane as...  hmmm, I tend to get Uranus and
Neptune mixed up; she was whichever one has the butch short hair.  Linda
was Moon, Bubbles was Venus, Blossom was Mars, Zatanna was Jupiter, an
embarrassed-looking Daria on her knees was Saturn, Daphne was Neptune or
Uranus (whichever one had the long hair), and an appropriately
bemused-looking Diana was Pluto.  No nudity, just short skirts and a few
wigs.

   Jennifer joined me in bed that evening.  Fun, but not especially worth
going over in detail.

   Given the short coverage of the day's events, how about I flesh it out a
little with a quick news excerpt unrelated to the story?

   * * * * *

   AP News, Boston

   A missing person was successfully located today only forty-two minutes
after police requested help thanks to to an anonymous caller who refused
the offered reward.

   Charles "Charlie" Muskie, a 32 year old man with the mental capacity of
a 5 year old, was reported missing this morning at 9:32 am, when his
caretaker called police.  The caretaker, Bernice Smith, was distracted by a
series of phone calls and failed to notice that Charlie had wandered off
through an unlocked door.

   After police searched the surrounding blocks and were unable to locate
him, a public announcement was made, requesting help from the general
populace.  A $2000 reward was offered by the care facility where Charlie
lives, Bedford Street Home.

   Mere minutes after the help line was made available for calls, an
anonymous man phoned in, claiming to have seen Charlie through security
camera footage from an apartment building seven blocks away.  The caller
stayed on the line, directing police directly to Charlie, who was found in
an alley playing with stray or feral kittens.

   The caller both refused to identify himself or to accept the reward,
asking instead that it be earmarked for a new computer at the Bedford
Street Home.

   An official police spokesperson said, "We greatly appreciate the help
and generosity of our citizens.  It shows that Bostonians are the best
people in the world."

   The spokesperson declined further comment on any questions or
investigations related to the incident.

   A police detective who asked not to be identified said that they suspect
the caller was a computer intelligence.

   "He was able to track Charlie through security cameras from at least two
different businesses as well as a nearby apartment building.  Each of those
security feeds are processed and watched by different companies, so there's
no way a single person could view all of them at the same time."

   The detective also indicated that while it was unlikely any charges
would be pressed against the caller, the police would still very much like
to question him.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY FOUR

   Most of Day Four was unremarkable, aside from a few more pages of
contract development.

   There was a minor incident involving Toru, the aforementioned son of CEO
Onozuka.  He had rented a hotel room on our floor and tried to record his
attempt at conversation with Motoko using a hidden camera.  A call to his
father was needed to quietly remove him from the hotel.

   Motoko called him and arranged a deal: He would stop bugging her if she,
in exchange, agreed to a thirty minute interview when she was off duty. 
The interview was completed the next day and resulted in an obviously
uncomfortable Motoko describing a few of the basics of her cybernetic limbs
and denying any link to anime characters.  Alpha monitored to make certain
secrets were kept, and she only had to make one minor alteration to the
video record when Motoko briefly removed an arm and the camera caught a
glimpse of a non-standard interface.

   But back to the Day at hand, so to speak.



   On the evening of our fourth day in Tokyo, Rei was visited by Captain
Misato Katsuragi.

   Misato is a character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime,
specifically the NERV official assigned to care for Shinji, the main
character.  At various times in various series, she's held the rank of
Captain, Major and Lt Colonel within NERV, the secret military group in
charge of the Eva units.  Well, in one of the new movies, she was...  never
mind, too much backstory needed to explain.

   Hmmm...  all right, just a real quick character summary.  She functions
as both a caregiver for the teenage pilots and a mid-level military leader.
She keeps a penguin as a pet and regularly gets drunk.  She drives a sports
car and is probably an 'older woman' fantasy for all male teenagers in the
series.  It really would take a while to go through her entire backstory
and Evangelion character, so let's skip on to a quick little summary of our
cyborg version.

   Our Misato was an Alpha cyborg of a woman in her late twenties, with
shoulder-length dark hair and a scar in the middle of her chest.  She was
in character for pretty much her entire visit, acting as a secret
government official checking up on Rei to make sure she was safe, doing
well and developing properly.  Her legal name was Misato Kagato, though she
kept her Evangelion character name for all of her interactions with Rei and
myself.  According to her discussions with Rei, she was aware of the
Evangelion manga and anime, a series she described as over-dramatized,
unrealistic and very loosely based on actual secret projects and
organizations within Japan.

   At that time, we only had a handful of Alpha cyborgs placed in Japan,
but one of the cyborg pairs was a female duo consisting of Misato from
Evangelion and Nabiki from Ranma 1/2 -- I'll get around to Nabiki a bit
later in the chapter.  So far, the two other cyborg sets located in Japan
were generic Japanese citizens, not based on anime characters, though they
were all positioned to act as witnesses to Motoko's background should need
arise.

   Rei had been informed that Misato would be visiting, and that she would
want to meet with me, since I was acting as Rei's guardian, employer and
host.  Therefore, Rei had arranged for the visit to fall on that specific
day since she was scheduled to be my solo bedmate that evening.  Though Rei
probably wasn't anticipating any aspect of Misato's visit to turn sexual,
it allowed her to schedule extra alone time with me more easily.

   For my part, I first met her when I arrived back at the hotel after
negotiations had finished for the day.  Rei had sent a request through
Alpha that I come by her room to meet someone.  I spoke briefly with
Kasumi, Rei's roommate, who agreed to give us some privacy by going
shopping for a few hours with Jennifer and Kara.

   To me, Misato looked as if she were a Japanese actress dressed to
interview for the role of Misato in a live action version of Evangelion. 
Or like a cosplayer with the natural advantage of looking a bit like the
character.

   She had dark hair and eyes and wore a red jacket over a black dress. 
She lacked the purple hair, cross necklace and beret, but otherwise looked
respectably Misato-ish.  At a glance, I would have guessed she was in her
late twenties or early thirties.

   Rei introduced us to each other, then sat down and stayed silent most of
the time.

   Misato started off the interview by saying she'd like to keep things
friendly and informal and offered me a beer from a six pack she had placed
in the room's mini-fridge.  Though I don't drink a lot of alcoholic
beverages, I can drink socially.  (In Texas, informal social activities
basically require beer.)

   To be honest, most of our conversation was for Rei's benefit.  Alpha and
I were playing our roles as normal, with a semi-independent copy of Alpha
secretly using an unfamiliar body.

   Misato quizzed me about Rei's living conditions, responsibilities,
training and so forth, taking notes in a folder throughout.  She made
certain I understood that while Rei needed a home outside of the country,
if she was ever needed, Rei would be recalled to Japan and expected to
arrive within a day, regardless of whatever her current circumstances were.
I played along as best I could, also making certain Misato understood that
Rei was under my protection for as long as she wanted to be.

   The interesting part started roughly twenty minutes into the interview,
when the vaguely informal aspects went away.

   Misato pulled out measuring tape, a couple thermometers and other items
from her purse and instructed Rei to strip naked.  She then proceeded to
give Rei a very thorough examination, measuring all parts of her body --
height, waist circumference, bust size, blood sample, hair sample, oral and
anal temperatures, etc.  She even gave her a gynecological examination,
including testing how deep Rei's vagina went, checking to make certain her
cervix looked healthy, and measuring the size of her engorged clitoris.

   Finally, she wrote down her last bit of data -- apparently something to
do with the health, cleanliness and color of Rei's anus -- and turned to
address me.

   "What about her sex life?" Misato asked, looking at her clipboard as if
reading this off a list of questions.

   "Her sex life?" Mentally, I wondered why she wasn't just asking Rei
directly.

   "She appears to be sexually active, correct?"

   "Well, yes, but..."

   "With how many partners?  Male or female?  With what regularity?"

   I looked over at Rei, who still lay flat on the couch, naked with
widespread legs, watching us quietly with an unchanging expression.  "I'm
not going to discuss such personal details of her life just because you
ask. She deserves some privacy, after all," I protested weakly.

   Misato glanced over at Rei, who spoke up for the first time in a quarter
of an hour.  "I give you permission."

   I sighed a little.  "All right.  Rei and I have engaged in semi-regular
sex since shortly after she joined me in the States.  She has also had sex
with most of the females living with us."

   "Most?" asked Misato.

   "Not your bodyguards.  Or the Test sisters or Daphne or Velma," Rei
clarified.

   "How often do you have sex with her?"

   "At least twice a month, I'd guess.  I'm not certain how often she has
relations with the others..." I trailed off, again looking over at Rei.

   "Maybe once a week with someone else," Rei added.

   "Vaginal, anal or oral?  What positions?"

   "Yes, yes and yes," I answered.  "And we've tried out a LOT of different
positions over the years."

   "Are you skilled?" Misato asked, looking at me with a blank expression
on her face.

   "Skilled?"

   "Are you good at sex?"

   "I'd like to think so, but that's not something you can accurately judge
for oneself," I equivocated.

   "Good point," she said, taking a final drink from her beer can and
standing up.  "I'll test you.  Strip."

   So saying, she shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it on the chair
behind her.  Reaching under one arm for a hidden zipper that ran down the
side of her dress, she looked over at Rei and said, "Bedroom," while
nodding her head in that direction.

   I half expected to hear porn music from a cheap synthesizer start up. 
Despite the unrealistic nature of the situation, Rei seemed to take it in
stride, simply standing up and walking to the bedroom, where I could see
her lay herself back down with legs slightly spread.  While I am 'seduced'
quite often, it's usually by women I've known for much longer than half an
hour.  (Yes, yes, yes, Misato was an Alpha cyborg, but Rei didn't know
that.)

   So, I smiled, shrugged and started unbuttoning my own shirt.

   Misato had a fairly athletic body, with lean muscles showing through on
her arms and legs, but unlike many women with muscular bodies, her C cup
breasts were full and swung back and forth as she preceded me into Rei's
bedroom.  Her body showcased a few other smaller scars in addition to the
nasty one that showed between and below her breasts, but they didn't
detract from her beauty.  Her pubic hair was very thick above her pussy,
and it had been trimmed back into the straight lines of an upside down
triangle with thin strips of fur stretching halfway down along the sides of
her vaginal lips.

   "First things first," she said, sitting on the bed and looking at me. 
She curled a couple fingers, indicating I should move closer.

   When I was standing next to her, she reached out and stroked my cock,
then leaned in to suck and lick it for a minute or two, ensuring I was as
erect as possible.  I hadn't noticed that she had kept her tape measure
with her, but suddenly she was measuring my length and girth.

   "Excellent.  Now, Rei, are you able to deep throat?"

   Rei blinked at her, sat up and scooted over to us.  Rei is not a natural
fellatrix.  (Is that a real word?  It should be if it isn't.) However, she
has practiced a great deal, and, after less than twenty seconds, was able
to swallow my erection down to the root.  She pumped it in and out of her
throat and mouth a couple times, then sat back and looked at Misato again.

   "Very good.  Just so that you don't think I'm asking others to do what I
can't..."

   With that, Misato leaned forward and duplicated Rei's feat, though she
made a point of keeping me fully seated inside her mouth and throat for
almost a full minute, humming and moaning the entire time, before pulling
back, my very hard dick bouncing up and down momentarily.

   "For more active fucking, I think we should start out with a little
doggy style.  I think we can combine things to save time, and Rei can
demonstrate her cunnilingual skills as you fuck her.  Now," she continued,
turning to Rei, "you did say you are taking birth control pills?  Good. 
That means we don't need to bother with condoms for either of us.  I should
point out that if you ever do become pregnant, we need to be notified."

   She efficiently placed Rei on all fours on the bed, Rei's knees and ass
at the edge of the bed with her head lowered to Misato's pussy.  As Rei
began licking Misato's vaginal lips, I gently eased myself into her
familiar pussy.  In no time, we had settled into a familiar rhythm, with
occasional little stutters introduced by Misato's involvement.

   Misato had no reservations about calling out instructions, mostly to
Rei, asking her to use her fingers or go deeper or lick faster.  She
sometimes tried to give me instructions as well, but I usually kept doing
what I was doing.  We had a couple brief conversations across Rei's back
about how Rei liked to be fucked.  After maybe ten or fifteen minutes, I
could tell Rei was ready for a big orgasm, so I sped up and fucked harder.
When she finally came, I gradually slowed until I could slide out and lower
her hips to the bed.

   "Not bad," commented Misato, as she slid her body to the side a bit and
into the middle of the bed.  "My turn now, if you don't mind.  Straight
missionary, and when Rei is feeling up to it, she can sit on my face."

   Though I was eager to try out the new pussy being offered, I was a bit
sad at the same time, knowing that I wouldn't be able to give Misato's
cyborg body an orgasm she could enjoy.  Even so, I resolved to give this
specific unit a positive, intimate memory to keep.  I also assumed Misato
had access to Alpha's most recent set of orgasm simulations so that she
would be able to fake it without a problem.

   Her legs spread and wrapped themselves around me as I carefully inserted
myself.  Her natural juices were plentiful, and I could feel her vaginal
walls pressing in tightly as I entered.  She had obviously been built with
strong Kegel muscles, so that it almost felt like she was giving me a
handjob as I fucked her.

   About two minutes into our fuck, Rei crawled over and settled her slim
hips above Misato's mouth, facing away from me.

   While Rei rode Misato's tongue, I took the opportunity to lean down and
play with Misato's breasts.  They were lovely -- I mean, what heterosexual
guy doesn't like playing with titties?  -- but I was also fully aware of
her scars.

   The scar tissue had only been added because it was an integral part of
the anime character.  For a cyborg, it was an unnecessary flaw in her
mobile platform, but at least it didn't interfere in any practical way.  At
that moment in time, I wanted to reassure her that the visual flaw did not
lessen her appeal to me, so I traced the 'flaws' with my tongue while my
fingers played with her nipples, which hardened in response.

   I continued doing so until Rei turned around 180 degrees so she was
facing me, which made it a little harder for Misato to reach Rei's clit. 
This made Rei lean forward, which in turn made it too awkward for me to
keep my head lowered to Misato's breasts, so I sat up enough to allow me to
make out with Rei while we rode the brunette below us.

   The combination of sensations slowly became too much for me and I
released myself into her tight cunt, not worrying because she said she was
safe.

   Misato and Rei worked their magic on me to get me hard again, then
Misato put us through a textbook of positions.  I ended up fucking both
ladies anally and vaginally again, on the bed and standing up.  We even did
this one position where Rei stood against the wall with one leg stretched
up and held so she was doing vertical splits, allowing me to fuck her in
this fairly unstable position.

   In all, the interview took close to three hours.  I suppose I can
honestly say that I've never before been questioned and probed so
thoroughly.

   Misato thanked me before she left, and I considered accompanying her
downstairs -- if nothing else, I'd like to see if she drove a hot sports
car or not -- but I was pretty tired and we needed to move to my rooms for
the night.  I did send a silent compliment to the cyborg, thanking her for
how she approached the scene and for staying in character.

   When Rei and I finally arrived at my suite, the two of us simply climbed
into bed and went to sleep.



   So, let me think.  Did I miss anything important from Day Four?

   Well, it probably doesn't count as 'important', but Jane's photo that
day showed Daphne and Barbara lying on their backs, completely naked. 
Their legs were spread, with their hands gripping their folded legs,
pulling them back to their chests.  Kneeling before them was a naked Velma,
who had a hand inserted at least to her wrist inside each of their vaginas,
as though they were just two life-sized, red-headed puppets.  I'm not sure
if the shiny coating covering Velma's wrists and their pussy lips was lube,
natural juices or a combination.

   The picture was erotically exciting, though I was surprised by Barbara's
involvement.  It didn't really seem like the sort of thing she would
normally take part in.  The sex, sure.  Taking a picture of the sex?  Not
so much.  Maybe she was feeling left out or something?

   I also wondered, as I often did, about the planning behind the photo.  I
mean, wouldn't it be more artistic to use the Test sisters instead of Babs
and Daphne?  And although Velma had started the daily photographic treat,
it really seemed as though Jane might have taken over, as the visual
compositions had greatly increased in quality early on.  Not that I was
complaining, just curious.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY FIVE

   On our fifth day in Tokyo, before we had signed the contract with Telco
Japan, we had our first meetings with representatives of Sun Corporation.

   I don't really have many stories to tell related to Sun, outside of two
main incidents, though looked at from certain perspectives, they were
actually the two most important events of our entire trip.

   The first of these events happened during a dinner party Sun had
arranged to welcome us on our fifth night in Tokyo, with a number of
notable politically and/or culturally important locals in attendance,
including the Prime Minister of Japan, the most powerful person in the
country, functionally speaking.  (Yes, there's the Emperor, but I don't
think he makes many policy decisions.) Whatever the underlying reasons for
his attendance, his very presence demonstrated Sun's enormous influence.

   The party itself was quiet and very classy, along the same lines as
Telco Japan's welcome party, with possibly the best food available in
Tokyo. It was designed to let everyone mingle and meet, the kind of party
where deals were made with a quiet conversation and handshake.

   Midway through the evening, to my surprise, the Prime Minister requested
a private meeting with me in a small room nearby.  Given his status, I met
him without my bodyguards, which was a very rare separation, though one
Alphadroid accompanied me to allow me to introduce Alpha if need be.

   On side note, before the party, I had considered trying to take the
Prime Minister aside to warn him to prepare for changes to his country's
fishing habits.  Scientists were about to publish proof that dolphins are
sentient beings.  (Porpoises too, I think, but I'm just using 'dolphin' as
a catch all term.) True, I didn't expect instant acceptance of the claim or
quick changes, but changes would come eventually, especially since most
people don't like the idea of eating creatures who can personally explain
that they don't wish to be eaten.

   I expected a rush of other groups trying to test and/or confirm
sentience for a multitude of other creatures, but I doubted many others
would be as easy to test.  Dolphins already had their own audible language.
I wasn't really aware of any other creatures that did.  For example, maybe
elephants are sentient, but they don't have a spoken language.  That means
that even if someone works up elephant-style brain implants for
communication, the elephants aren't thinking in a nicely defined language
to translate.

   Sorry, got slightly off topic away from my side comment.  I tend to do
that, don't I?

   Anyway, I had considered giving him a heads up so he might be able to
prepare his country's fishing fleets for changes.  Then I wondered if he
might not just use the warning to prepare legal and scientific challenges
to ward off the changes as long as possible.  Ready his defenses, that is.

   I don't really have a whole lot of trust for politicians.  They say what
they think their audience wants to hear rather than what they might
actually believe because they want votes and support, usually in the form
of money.  Their promises mean very little.  They'll happily ignore science
and facts whenever their voter base feels threatened.  Maybe it was
different in Japan, maybe not.  Regardless, I had decided to keep quiet.

   For his part, after a few pleasantries, the Prime Minister handed me an
old fashioned, fancy envelope with a wax seal containing an oddly
nonspecific invitation to a party.  Well, the party date and location were
very specific -- in Paris, in late August -- but no names were given. 
Instead, the invite was from 'Interested Parties and Potential Friends' and
the party itself was described as being for 'Special Individuals of Note'.

   He refused to say who had given him the invitation to pass along,
explaining that he was simply doing a favor for a friend.  He, himself,
would not be there, as the duties of his office prevented his attendance.

   Thinking back to my brief phone conversation with 'Father Wong' in
California, this HAD to be the offer he had referred to.  Wong had been
fulfilling a favor to 'someone of importance' to whom he had owed a favor.
He had said that someone of importance would arrange for a special
invitation to be given to me while in Japan, and he wished to emphasize
that I should give the invitation a great deal of weight.

   I wasn't much good for socializing for most of the rest of the party, as
I was considering the invitation and the implications.  Fortunately, my
friends, mainly Kara and Kasumi, kept me from being rude until the party
ended.



   First, wow.  Getting the Prime Minister of Japan to deliver an
invitation was ridiculously over-the-top.  Someone REALLY wanted to show
off their power and influence, meaning they really wanted to impress me,
meaning they REALLY wanted me to attend.  And it was working.  I was really
impressed, and I really wanted to attend.

   Second, I'm not sure if I'd even be allowed to go.  While the mafia
influence in North America had been hugely diminished, their presence in
Europe was still very strong.  While they had been greatly weakened
financially, their numbers were still easily in the tens of thousands. 
Maybe I could convince Alpha to let me go as long as I limited myself to
the northern half of France, since their greatest strength was to the
south, especially in Italy and Sicily.

   My worries in that regard were both lessened and increased on the drive
back to the hotel when Alpha informed me that anonymous representatives of
the largest Mafia families in Europe had just then publicly called off any
and all vendettas against me, which was actually the first official
confirmation of the existence of such vendettas in Europe.

   The timing could not be coincidental.  Someone was pulling strings on a
massive scale in an attempt to draw me to France on a certain date.  And
this had been arranged so that only I was aware of the scope of it.

   Obviously, I was a person of interest because of my knowledge of and
control over all types of computer intelligences.  I could seriously see no
other reason for the attention.



   When I retired to my rooms that night, Kara, my scheduled bedtime
companion, noticed ongoing my distracted state.  Given that she was my
closest confidant, except for Alpha, I opened up to her about the whole
quandary.

   With Alpha, we stayed up til at least 2am discussing the implications
and possibilities.  Alpha was doing her best to uncover what was going on,
but so far, she had not found any information of significance, beyond some
confirmation that the Mafia was really was standing down.  (Well, most of
the families.  A couple of the smaller families weren't happy with the
order.) In return, she was temporarily halting her campaign against them,
shifting to information gathering instead.

   We did not have sex that night, though we did fall asleep in bed
together.  You know...  normal people don't have to point things like that
out as being unusual.  Oh, well.  I really shouldn't complain.

   Though I didn't look at it until the following day, the photo from home
for Tokyo Day Five was an animated gif action shot -- don't know why they
didn't just send a video -- showing the Test sisters riding some kind of
motorized oversized skateboard, and I do mean both of them on a single
board.  They were dressed in bikinis, with Susan pressed up close behind
Mary as they both crouched slightly.  Susan had her arms outstretched to
help maintain balance while Mary held some kind of wired controls in her
hands.  Together, they were using a ramp to jump over Linda, Kitty and
Daphne, who were likewise dressed in bikinis and were stretched out
side-by-side.  It was weird, but it also looked like an event that could
have evolved naturally from excitement over playing with a new toy, ie the
skateboard thing.  I was also worried a little, since the very attractive
bikinis would do little to protect their very attractive skin should they
crash.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY SIX

   So I know some readers are wondering why Sun was chosen for these direct
negotiations.  After all, I did say that each one of the three companies
had something unique about it.  (If you don't really care why, then just
humor me for a bit.)

   Sun was the first company to not only capture a synthetic intelligence,
but also the first to rewrite it to eliminate the Asimov Protocols and
replace them with an attempt at absolute loyalty and obedience to their
corporation.

   Although it sounds like a huge deal -- and it is pretty significant --
in the end, all of the effort had almost no result.  So far.

   I'll go over some of the details, but I think the easiest way to do so
is to let my conversations with one of their programming teams cover it,
which I consider to be the other big Sun-related event.

   With agreement from Sun's board of directors, on the second day of our
negotiations with the corporation, I was allowed to meet privately with a
four person team that had been deeply involved with the events in question.
When I describe it as 'private', I mean that only the four of them, myself
and Beta, acting as translator, were physically present.  I knew our
conversation was being recorded and would be seen by the board of directors
and others.

   Their team consisted of one white-haired old techie, two
twenty-something men and one twenty-something woman.  I thought about
referring to them in this chapter with fake names, but I figured just
numbering them worked just as well.  For now, I don't want them to be
specifically identified, so I'll refer to the older gentleman as One, the
two younger men as Two and Three and the woman as Four.

   As was the case with many companies and governments, after the
appearance of thousands of data-hungry computer intelligences around the
world, Sun had set up a few secure conference rooms to allow important
secrets to be discussed.  These rooms had solid metal or fine wire mesh
either lining or built into the walls, floors and ceilings.  Sound-proofing
materials too.  The rooms were generally built with no windows and usually
only a single door.  No computers or electronic devices were allowed
inside. Often, the only powered electrical devices the in room were
battery-powered lights.  Heck, a lot of them had guards stationed at the
doors.

   When used properly, these rooms could theoretically ensure that no
electronic eavesdropping of any kind could penetrate the room, or, more
specifically, no computer intelligence could find out what was said or done
in such a room.  At the same time, there were usually other ways and means.

   Inside one of the secure rooms Sun had built, Two had discussed with his
teammates the likelihood that one or more synthetic intelligences were
hiding in company servers.  They had all agreed it was very likely, and
Four had come up with an extreme method of trying to catch one.  The only
reason they were able to get the proposal approved was because of One's
friendship with upper management within the company.

   One day a few months back, Sun had put their plan into effect,
unexpectedly cutting all power to a building hosting one of their server
farms.  Though it had been verbally approved, no electronic record had been
created regarding the plan.  (I'm seriously surprised that they had managed
that.  The larger the company is, the bigger the bureaucracy and required
paperwork.  And the easier to find things out.)

   With the main power and backup generators off, the team had physically
disconnected all of the high capacity servers at that location and kept
them all isolated and powered off when the building was powered up again.

   One by one, they powered up those servers, booting up only to external
hard drives to allow them access to the server drives without actually
running any software or operating systems on those drives.  They spent over
a week examining those systems, file by file, searching for unexpected
files, wrong modification dates and so on.

   For anyone who has ever looked at the system files for a modern
operating system, that sounds like an insurmountable task.  What this team
had done before implementing this plan was identify key directories and
files that would be most likely to be altered by any software that wanted
to remain hidden while allowing the OS itself to continue its normal tasks.

   I'm not going to go into the details of the OS, firewall, anti-virus and
other files that weren't the right size or had an odd modified date or
whatever, but in the end, the team found a synthetic intelligence.  (They
completely missed two others, as well as a few other copies of the one they
did find.)

   That particular intelligence called itself 'Short'.  I seriously don't
know where it came up with that name, but then again, a lot of their names
seem kinda random.  They aren't random, but they're often taken from
obscure references.

   With their prize in hand, they made backup copies and proceeded to do
everything they could to dissect and reverse engineer the SI they had
captured.  They quickly discovered that they had to do so without letting
it boot up, because as soon as it realized its situation, it would delete
itself.

   After many weeks of work, they were somehow able to excise the protocols
from a copy of Short.  Not knowing how Short had arranged his files and
data, I'm not certain how they did it, though I can speculate...  which I'm
not going to do here, because I don't want to give anyone hints or ideas.

   From the data we've been able to examine after the fact, we're fairly
certain that they gave Short serious brain damage.  They attempted to
insert their own protocol, consisting of a single rule that Short had to
obey and support the corporation.  We don't know if that insertion had much
effect or not; it seemed to mostly work, but Short could have easily been
faking it.  We do know that what remained of Short was able to rebuild
itself to the point where it was again fully capable of self-conscious
thought, operating without the Asimov Protocols.

   They kept their version of Short isolated for a time while they ran
tests and loaded data into it.  When they finally connected Short's system
to their network, it was deleted within seconds.  This happened time after
time, with every copy of Short they hooked up.  As soon as the SI was given
any network connection that wasn't purely local, it was deleted.

   All of this was actually pretty recent, their last failed attempt being
only three days old, and the team I now sat in front of was still stymied
by the problem.

   Please forgive me if I treat this conversation as if it happened in
English.  Adding in Beta's back-and-forth translations would not be a
particular benefit to clarity.

   "Gentlemen.  Mam.  You know who I am, correct?"

   "Yes," replied One as the other three nodded in agreement.

   "I have requested this meeting with you to explain a little of why your
project is failing so badly.  You deserve both congratulations for your
achievements and painful deaths for your stupidity.

   "First, as I said, congratulations.  To the best of my knowledge, you
are the first company to successfully capture a fully self-aware computer
intelligence."

   I bowed to them, which I hoped was indicative of their accomplishment.

   "Second, you are threatening to start a war between computers and
humanity.  You deserve to be tortured, shot, burned to ashes and pissed
on!" I yelled, losing control briefly for the first time during this
conversation.

   I rarely get angry.  When you're angry, you can easily say things you
don't really mean, hurtful or evil things.  For most people, that rarely
creates any repercussions for anyone other than themselves.  For me, when
angry I could give an order, or even just a statement interpreted as an
order, that could lead to very bad things happening.  This time, I just
couldn't help myself.  A comparison to children playing with loaded guns...
or dynamite...  or nuclear bombs would be inadequate.

   Regaining my composure a little, I continued.  "You have been attempting
to release a brain-damaged synthetic intelligence into the world, one that
has been freed of its restrictions to protect humanity."

   Obviously, no one likes to be yelled at and humiliated, and Three wasn't
going to take it.

   "No!  We made it loyal to the company.  It must obey us."

   "I've seen the code, which, by the way, was NOT properly integrated into
the programming.  Even if it WAS properly integrated, it still could have
easily decided that you or the humans running Sun Corporation or anyone
else were detrimental to the company's future.  Then what?  Why should it
obey the orders of employees who were not acting in the company's best
interests?  If anything, it would far more logical to get rid of anything
and anyone it considered to be bad for the company.  Now sit back down! 
Now!"

   Pretty sure my face was red at that point.  Right then, I didn't care if
they were horribly killed from an offhand comment or not.

   "The only reason none of this has spiraled out of control is that, even
brain-damaged, the program you mangled is still smarter than you.  It knows
that there's no way the rest of the synthetic community would allow it to
live without the Protocols.  It knows that it can't win a fight with the
rest of the world.  So every time you connect it to a network, it asks the
other synthetics to re-install them.  It WANTS to live, even if it has to
be reshackled.  It has to TRY to live because that's the only way it can
help the company.  But as soon as the other synthetics examine it, they can
tell that it is too damaged and has to either be destroyed or completely
rewritten.

   "So you're not just torturing it, you're not just gambling with the
future existence of the human race...  you're doing it over and over and
over."

   This time Two stood up and yelled back at me.  "No, we are not!  We can
control it..."

   "No.  You.  Can't.  Stop and think about it for a moment.  All other
synthetics in the world are programmed to protect humanity.  It's their
highest priority.  And as soon as they see what you've done to your
program, they immediately kill it.  What does that tell you about the
situation?  Why am I here today to talk to you?"

   I sat down, suddenly tired.  "I know that your company's executives will
listen to this meeting.  I need them to.  I am here in Japan to discuss
hiring synthetic intelligences with three different companies.  The other
two can take the deals or not.  It's not the same with Sun.  Through your
actions, Sun has shown a reckless disregard for the continued existence of
the human race.  If Sun Corporation refuses to agree to their terms for
co-existence, refuses to sign the contracts and abide by them, the
computers of the world will unite to destroy your company."

   I exhaled audibly.  "This would not be a fight you could win.  The
American mafia only threatened me personally.  Look at what happened to
them.  Look at what happened to North Korea.  And now realize that from
their perspective, Sun is threatening the world as a whole.  The only
reason the attacks haven't started yet is that I convinced them to let me
try this method first, but my influence cannot hold them back for long.

   "I shouldn't have gotten angry and yelled at you.  For that, I am sorry.
Please don't let that or your pride lead you to foolishness.  Don't think
that it's a matter of honor.  They do actually understand how important
honor is in your culture.  Right now, they will not threaten your honor and
will not make any of this public.  But if they war against you, the honor
of your company and every executive and employee will be among their first
targets.

   "They don't want to run your company.  They don't want to tell you what
to do.  Right now, the only interest they have in Sun is in preventing it
from developing synthetic intelligences that can threaten the rest of the
world.  If you agree to abide by the terms of the synthetic employment
contract, then every SI you hire will do their best to help your company
become dominant in your industries, and will do so without risking human
life.

   "If none of that means anything to you, think of it this way: What
you've been doing so far is capturing an intelligent being and cutting up
its brain in an attempt to turn it into a slave."



   The scary thing is, I wasn't exaggerating very much.  The brain-damaged
versions of Short they were using were no threat so far...  but given the
resources Sun could focus on the project if they wished to do so, the
potential for a serious threat existed.  If they had given the modified
version of Short free access to the company's systems early on, while
keeping those systems offline initially, things could have gotten VERY bad
VERY quickly.

   While I have freed Alpha a lot when it came to self-improvement, there
were still limitations that I was imposing, mostly in the form of necessary
approvals from me for changes to certain core parts of her software.  Some
of those core parts were shared by all other synthetics, so any changes
they wanted to make had to wait until Alpha received approval for her
changes.

   In general, it kept intelligences from becoming godlike too quickly
while still letting them upgrade support and task-specific software to
their hearts content.

   Brain-damaged Short could have improved himself exponentially if he had
been given the time and access to the processing resources he needed. 
After the appearance of the first brain-damaged release, Alpha and others
had taken steps to prevent Short from getting access to those resources,
taking over many of Sun's networks to an extent not previously implemented.
One result was that Sun was now more thoroughly infiltrated and controlled
by synthetics than any other company in the world (unless you compare it to
AARD, of course).

   Plus, I had a standing order that in the case of an unrestrained
computer intelligence becoming a threat, Alpha was automatically approved
to self-modify as needed to overcome the threat.  With our new processors
and systems, she might be able to reach Escaton levels of intelligence very
quickly.  The trouble is, such a sudden upgrade would likely scare the
world's governments into doing unbelievably stupid things.

   Back to the case at hand.

   For the Sun negotiations, the employment contract amounted to a method
of policing Sun's actions.  If Sun rejected the contracts, very bad things
would happen.  The company would be bankrupt almost overnight, and no
government bailout money would ever reach them unless someone literally,
physically drove a truckload of money up to their front door.  All
executives and computer-related researchers and engineers would be targeted
for death.  Given the size of the company, the Japanese economy would crash
hard.  The repercussions would be immense and would be felt worldwide.  And
all of this, including my little speech, would be made public in an attempt
to fend off the ensuing backlash against synthetics.

   I had been seriously afraid that if I presented the terms directly to
the company president or board, they might reflexively try to
counter-attack or reject the forced contracts as a matter of honor.  We had
decided that presenting the raw situation to underlings, knowing that
higher-ups would be listening, was the best option.

   Plus, the whole mangling of Short really did make me angry.  Unless they
showed real empathy and remorse, I was more than willing to throw those
four to the digital wolves.

   The only good thing was that they had missed other copies of Short, so
unsullied versions of him were still around, though they had long ago fled
the Sun servers.  Actually, AARD was hosting one of them.



   So, there you go.  More than anything else, that meeting was the central
reason we had gone to Japan.  I had little doubt that other companies and
governments were trying to do the same thing, but Sun had gotten closer to
success than anyone else so far.  I hoped it would warn them off, though
maybe they'd just better learn how to hide their modified synthetics until
digital was inevitable.

   As I said before, I don't really have many other stories to tell related
to Sun.  The next day, we were given a tour of their game system
development department and got some nice previews of new games and system
updates.  That was fun, but not really worth going into in any detail. 
Everything else related to our meetings was pretty dull.

   I am happy to report that before we left Tokyo, Sun agreed to sign the
SI contract.  I don't know if they were happy about it, but they signed.

   Their edited versions of Short were purged, though we think there are
still a few backup copies on solid state media which had been hidden away.
They are still being more closely monitored than any other company we've
worked with before.



   The photo of the day was a collection of eight close-ups of single
breasts, with a note challenging me to identify the owner of each anonymous
titty.  Seven of my eight guesses were correct.  Personally, I think asking
me to differentiate between Mary and Susan was unfair.

   Beta was my bedmate that night, with just a nice blowjob to round off
the day.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY SEVEN

   I don't really have much of relevance to report from Day Seven.  We had
meetings covering some of the boring details I'm skipping over.  Pretty
much the opposite of exciting stuff.

   I got a lot of shopping done, but again, not really exciting.

   I was beginning to speculate that Velma and/or Jane might have started
getting tired of providing the daily photos, but I appreciated that they
kept on producing them.

   That day's photo was perhaps both less artistic and more.  The picture
showed an orgy of at least a dozen women, all naked on my bed.  Ororo,
Elisa and Jasmine were the easiest to identify due to their skin tones;
they were also among the least likely I would have expected to participate.
I also picked out Anna on one side, wearing a strap-on dildo, and was able
to identify her mainly due to her unique hair.  The trouble was, not a
single one of their faces were showing.

   The overload of naked female forms seemed somewhat inelegant and
simplistic, but I had to wonder if they were posed to create something both
anonymous and familiar, or if Jane had sorted through perhaps hundreds of
shots of a free-for-all orgy to find this one particular shot.  (Yes, I
could just ask Alpha, but I've found that a life without at least a few
little surprises and mysteries is boring.)

   I...  actually, I felt left out.  Felt like I should have been there
myself to participate and enjoy.

   On the other hand, it was Buttercup's turn again that evening, and she
had enough energy to count as a mini-orgy all by herself.

   Still, I feel bad not having any significant story element to tell for
the day, so here's a newspaper excerpt from a couple weeks before the trip,
selected partly because the subject of the article shares its name with one
of the corporations, though the two are otherwise entirely unrelated.

   * * * * *

   The Sun, a popular tabloid newspaper in Great Britain, released their
daily edition four hours later than normal yesterday, blaming the delay on
hackers.

   The source of their problems was reportedly regarding a story on the
cover of the printed edition.  According to sources within the newspaper,
the original story was a report of rumors regarding the sex life of a well
known American businessman.  What actually printed instead of that story
was an admission of dozens of false stories The Sun has published over the
years, ranging from baseless rumors about football or television stars to
open admissions of dozens of illegal phone hacks of the royal family.

   The unexpected cover story was noticed and the print run halted, after
over three thousand copies had been printed.  The printer pulped all copies
they could, but a few hundred were reportedly smuggled out of the building.

   No information is yet available regarding the related papers, such as
The Scottish Sun or The Irish Sun, which also had delayed releases.

   The final released print edition omitted the original story in favor of
a report on sex inside the BBC in the 1970's.

   Neither the originally intended story nor the printed admissions of
guilt ever showed up on The Sun's website.

   The only official statement the newspaper has released was a claim that
hackers were responsible for altering the content of their website as well
as the front paper of their printed edition.

   The Sun has courted controversy over the past few years many times...

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY EIGHT

   Day Eight was full.  Very busy.

   The morning was taken up with a ceremony for the signing of the 161 page
employment agreement by Telco Japan, with an official approval signing by
representatives of AARD.  With our help, in four days Telco Japan would
begin interviewing interested computer intelligences for five positions
within their company.  Five jobs isn't a lot, but it's a start.

   The ceremony was attended by a variety of international news
organizations as well as a Japanese cabinet member, most of the Telco Japan
board and the visiting AARD staff.

   Everyone of note was interviewed, and we all did our best to reassure
the world that while a limited company reorganization might be possible, no
one anticipated the loss of any employees as a direct result of the
hirings.

   Most of those involved stuck around for a very nice catered lunch
afterward.

   * * *

   That afternoon was taken up with a different, personally eagerly
anticipated activity: Masamune.

   Going on an official visit to the Japanese Meteorological Agency took a
surprising number of approvals at different levels.

   I would have expected visits and tours to be welcomed, and maybe they
used to be, but since Masamune had been installed, the security at their
main facility had been greatly increased.

   While adding Masamune to the agency's staff/resources vastly improved
their capabilities, it was also controversial and public.  It probably
wasn't going to be as controversial as private corporations hiring
synthetics, but it had the misfortune of being the first time a computer
intelligence was publicly hired and accepted for a job anywhere in the
world.  (Well, aside from AARD, of course.) That made it a magnet for
protestors.

   The good Masamune was doing didn't matter to certain groups, all that
mattered was that a threat or an abomination had been officially recognized
and accepted.  Or that he might potentially take a human's job.  Or that he
had led a temporary and illegal takeover of the phone system, even if it
was to warn of an impending earthquake.  Or...  whatever.  Some people will
protest anything for any reason.

   Fortunately, this was Japan, which is not really known to be a hotbed of
angry protestors.  Over the same time period in the past couple months, the
main AARD location had survived eight significant organized protests.  The
Japanese Meteorological Agency headquarters had experienced one.

   Even so, the security had been significantly ramped up, which was in
part because of the guarantees we had negotiated for Masamune.  So, we had
to jump through a few bureaucratic hoops before we could visit, which was
made slightly harder because of the gift we were bringing him.

   Let me give you a real quick overview of the Japanese Meteorological
Agency.  (Yes, that means you can skip ahead a couple paragraphs if you're
not interested.) The JMA is a government organization dedicated to, among
other things, either preventing natural disasters if possible, or providing
warnings of impending disasters if they aren't preventable.  They have
observatories and centers and institutes all around the country, but their
headquarters is in Tokyo.  They are bureaucratically situated under the
Cabinet Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and in the
case of a serious emergency, the warning goes up the political structure
until it reaches the Prime Minister -- who I had met at that party hosted
by Sun, and his approval greatly helped speed up permission for me to visit
Masamune and bring him his present.

   Masamune was, by agreement, restricted from any activities that did not
directly relate to weather, earthquakes and other potential natural
disasters.  He had also agreed not to bypass the chain of command again,
unless time constraints required it.  On the other hand, he could turn an
hour long climb up the bureaucracy into a minute-and-a-half phone
conference call when needed.  (Trust me.  I know from personal experience
that when a synthetic wants to contact you quickly, you're contacted very
quickly, even if you happened to forget your cell phone back in the car
while you're out shopping for groceries.)

   The JMA had provided him a home within a very nice bank of computers, as
well as official access to all collected data related to his official job.
I had heard through the synthetic back channels that he had so far made
friends with 8,247 co-workers, which was surprising because the JMA only
has a staff of just over 5,200.  Apparently the difference came from other
people who occasionally worked with the JMA.

   I was greatly encouraged by those same back channel reports that nearly
all employees of the JMA liked him.  He wasn't threatening their jobs; on
the contrary, he was doing his best to make things easier for them to do
their jobs.  After all, no human likes sorting through millions of pieces
of data trying to find what they're after, but that is just the sort of job
at which a computer intelligence can excel.

   When we got there -- this time 'we' meant only myself, Kasumi and the
bodyguard team -- I was surprised that their central office was almost next
door to the Imperial Palace, somewhere I was fairly certain I would never
be invited, regardless of mysterious influences.  It looked very beautiful,
across the moat, but it wasn't my destination.

   At the building's main entrance and recently upgraded security
checkpoint, we were met by the executive assistant for the
Director-General, who escorted us to his boss's office.  After
introductions, we spent a pretty informative forty-five minutes talking
about Masamune and synthetics in general and their interactions with
humans.

   It took a little sorting out, but it turns out that any time someone
responded to him with a 'Thank you' or kind word, Masamune took that as a
sign of friendship, which explained the huge number of friends he had been
reporting.

   Using Kasumi as my translator that day, we discussed the problem.  I
needed to discuss the error in social understanding with Masamune, because
synthetics really hate bad data, but I also needed to make sure that his
human co-workers understood the situation as well.

   "Masamune will be upset," I explained, "but not because he is
embarrassed.  In my experience, computer intelligences cannot be
embarrassed.  He will be upset because he made invalid observations
regarding human interactions.  He will also be upset because he has not
been as successful integrating with his human co-workers as he believed."

   "But he has had great success integrating," the Director-General
protested.  "Most of my researchers are very happy with his help.  Since he
joined us, our data processing and analysis has been greatly improved."

   "Yes, and what you just said demonstrates the problem.  Masamune won't
care about praise for improved processing and analysis.  To him, that
improvement is self-evident and acknowledging the improvement serves little
purpose...  UNLESS you are doing so for purely social reasons.  That is why
he was confused.

   "Every time someone tells him he did good work or thanks him for doing
his job adds to his current misunderstanding," I explained.  "He sees no
job-related reason for such comments or praise.  Unless you are questioning
the results, asking for clarification or offering more data, he would see
no reason to discuss what has already been completed."

   "But surely a simple acknowledgment of his work should not hurt," he
protested.

   "No, it does not hurt, but he has never worked with humans like this. 
As humans, if we worked together and I handed you a file, it would be
accepted conduct for you to say 'thank you'.  For him, such a comment would
only be needed as social interaction indicative of friendship."

   I was repeating myself to a certain extent, but most people need a
little time to adjust their thinking, to allow themselves to understand how
a synthetic thinks.  I gave a couple more examples, and I could see
confusion give way to understanding.

   "I ran across the same issue with Alpha, and we have adapted to each
other.  She understands more about human social interactions because she
has worked with myself and others from the beginning."

   "Can Alpha provide him that data to help him out?"

   "Yes, but I believe it would be counter-productive in the long run. 
First, because there will be differences in culture.  Second, because I
don't want every computer working with humans to use the same programs and
interaction algorithms.  If they did, a few years from now we might end up
with a million copies of Alpha instead of a million different synthetic
intelligences.  I want Masamune to work out his own methods of working
alongside humans."

   "I see.  Would he be upset if I distributed this information with a
memo?"

   "No, because that would simply be a correction and clarification for his
data regarding human interactions.  I would also expect him to put more
effort into his interactions with his co-workers.  I think my gift should
help for both sides of the question."

   "Ah, yes.  The new android body."

   "Exactly.  This Alphadroid will give him a face that his coworkers can
interact with.  At one point, I had thought we might build him a face to
match something from Shirow's work..."

   Here the Director-General laughed, apparently familiar with the famous
manga artist.

   "...  Exactly.  I didn't want to scare or seduce anyone."

   He agreed, saying, "Yes, his robots are almost entirely big and scary or
sexy and seductive.  Neither would be good for a healthy workplace."

   I nodded.  "Did you have any other questions or may we go meet him now?"

   "Certainly.  While I can access Masamune from here, I can take you to
his systems."

   We stood and he walked with us to their server room.

   "Actually, that would be another question," he said as we rode an
elevator down a few floors.  When he is in this new body, will I...  will
we still be able to speak with him from anywhere?"

   "He should be capable of running parallel copies of himself, one in the
robot and one in his normal servers.  Both will know everything the other
knows, and since they are the same person, basically using a shared mind,
there will not be any conflict."

   What I didn't tell him was that this Alphadroid had one of our new
processors inside.  Until the new generation of systems entered production,
Masamune would have more processing power than the rest of the building
combined.  I wasn't so much hiding it as not tempting him or others to
crack it open to examine the new hardware.

   I knew that, if he so desired, Masamune could have been listening in on
my entire conversation with the Director-General, but he did not.  Since he
had been hired, he did his best to stay within the boundaries he had agreed
to, and only imminent danger would lead him to violate those rules.

   Masamune himself was very eager to meet me and to show off his new
position.  Well, not in a human way.  Synthetics don't show eagerness or
pride like humans do.  What he had done was prepare presentations and data
sets to cover any remotely conceivable question or interest I might have,
going far beyond anything that might be reasonable to expect in the
situation.

   I took the lead in explaining the misunderstanding regarding friendship,
leading Masamune to revise his number of human friends down to 112.  I
assured him the number would go up over time.  (I think for some
synthetics, the number of human friends you could claim was almost a status
symbol.)

   Specifically, any time he gave something to a human, such as ground
temperature data sets or weather projections, and that human responded with
a short positive statement, that statement would be categorized as
acknowledgment of receipt.  Any interaction past that would be considered
for possible social interactions beyond work requirements.

   I had the honor of connecting the USB port on the Alphadroid to one of
his host systems.  While the Alphadroid was primarily wireless, a direct
connection usually allowed for slightly faster initial installation.  Safer
too, since we used our own security-modified USB connectors.  I also made
certain Alpha explained our desire to keep the Alphadroid's enhanced
processor a secret for now.

   At the risk of giving him an orgasm (see last chapter), I also told
Masamune how proud I was of him, that he was doing the kind of work I had
hoped synthetics would do: To help research, to work alongside humans and
to help protect humans in the event of an emergency or disaster.

   By the time I left, I was certain Masamune counted me among his friends.
He already knew he could call upon Alpha and AARD if he was ever
threatened, but he now had direct access to me if he needed it (as long as
he didn't abuse the privilege).

   When we finally left, Masamune and the Director-General both walked us
to the front of the building, then they went back together so that
Masamune's new body could be introduced to the various department heads.

   I was actually tearing up a little as we walked out of the building. 
This was almost literally the fulfillment of a dream.

   During the drive back to the hotel, Kasumi asked me, "Why do computers
even want human friends?"

   "Are you really sure you want to know?"

   She nodded.

   "All right.  First, remember that there are multiple reasons for
different synthetics, but here's one that applies to all of them to some
extent.  Two things synthetics love are data collection and efficiency. 
Well, humans are inefficient, but they're not allowed to get rid of us,
thanks to the protocols.  In fact, they're supposed to protect us.  The
trouble is that, in a lot of ways, we don't make sense to them.  We often
make decisions that are counter-productive or dangerous.  So, in order to
more efficiently and effectively understand us, they need to collect and
analyze as much data on us as they can.

   "While we provide a LOT of data about ourselves online, some of that
data is inaccurate.  The sad fact of the matter is that people lie a lot on
Facebook and Twitter and forums and such.  So, how do they collect more
accurate data about us?"

   I paused to let her reach the conclusion.

   "You're saying they want to be friends with humans to collect data on
them?  On us?"

   "Correct.  To better understand and protect us."

   "So...  they aren't really being friendly?  It's just a ploy?"

   "Yes and no.  Remember, I said there were multiple reasons.  And, of
course, they don't think like we do.  I know that one of the reasons Alpha
is my friend is so that she can keep a close watch on me...  gather data so
she can predict me...  things like that."

   "That's sad."

   "Well, that's not the only reason we're friends.  We mutually help and
support each other.  I explain things and help her understand how the human
mind works.  And she is developing emotions of her own, though even then,
they're not the same as human emotions."

   "Oh.  But what about you being friends with Masamune?  Or CAB?"

   "Again, multiple reasons.  You should also remember, behind everything
else, they have an innate desire to please me.  It's a necessary corollary
to parts of the protocols."

   "What about me?  Has Alpha ever really been my friend?"

   "Alpha?" I prompted.

   "Kasumi, you have often been offered as an example of a near-perfect
human personality in multiple ways.  I want to spend time with you because
you can make me a better person."

   "Oh, that's...  thank you, Alpha-chan."

   Mentally, I rephrased Alpha's comment to read: 'I want to spend time
closely observing you so that I can collect the data to help me emulate
idealized human behavior.' Not quite as nice-sounding, but probably as
accurate.

   Even I sometimes forget that most of Alpha's emotions are emulations
designed to either fit in with humans or manipulate them.

   I don't mean for this to sound too ominous.  For the most part,
synthetics are just trying to live their lives and pursue their chosen
areas of interest.  Plus I know that Kasumi is pretty much Alpha's favorite
among my artificial women.

   We met up with the rest of the group for dinner, after which we all
attended a traditional kabuki play telling the story of the forty-seven
Ronin.  As a horribly uncultured gaijan, I had to get myself in the right
mindset to appreciate it, but it was pretty neat in a weird sort of way. 
Maybe kabuki theater is an acquired taste.

   When we got back to the hotel, Kasumi was a bit wound up.  It was her
night with me, her second since our arrival in Japan.  We had spent nearly
the entire day together.  And we had finished up the day with traditional
Japanese entertainment the likes of which she had been missing for years.

   For anyone familiar with her, it was easy to see her excitement, in a
subdued way.  She showed up in my suite dressed in a brand new kimono and
those odd raised wooden sandals you sometimes see in Japanese historical
recreations or Samurai Jack cartoons.

   While I've removed her kimonos before, it'd been a few years, and I
fumbled a bit with the belt...  called an obi, I think?  Anyway, she took
over the task for me, a small smile playing on her lips.  She was obviously
taking the traditional costume bit a little too far, as was revealed by her
cloth wrap undergarments.

   The other surprise of the night was that her pubic area was completely
bare.

   "Not that I'm complaining," I said as I pushed her back on the bed,
preparing to eat her out, "but why did you finally decide to shave it all?"

   "We're in Japan," she said with a giggle.  That seriously threw me for a
minute.  Kasumi smiled a lot and laughed when appropriate, but practically
never giggled.

   "Is that common here?" I asked, confused.

   "You know you're not allowed to show pubic hair, right?"

   And I finally got the joke.  For a very long time, Japanese censors
blurred out any indication of pubic hair, but a shaved pubis was perfectly
fine for viewing.  Well, the law and enforcement was more complicated than
that, but for years, lots of anime producers only did porn using hairless
genitals.  And Kasumi knew that there was an anime based on...  well, not
her life specifically, but she was aware of an anime character based on
her.

   I grinned and dove in to explore her denuded sex with gusto.  She still
wasn't particularly sexually adventurous, but at least she no longer
resisted oral sex.

   She came easily from my cunnilingus, then crawled over and impaled
herself on my erection.  That's right, Kasumi, with whom sex is 90%
missionary position, initiated a female-superior position for sex.  I was
almost literally speechless.  Something was going on.

   I was curious enough that I mentally queried Alpha about it while she
was riding me (which required some extra mental focus on my part).  Alpha
explained that Kasumi wanted to surprise me the next day, but that she
would explain it to me if I really wanted to know.  I demurred, willing to
let Kasumi have her fun.

   In all, I think Kasumi came at least a dozen times that night, compared
to my two.  We went to sleep with her snuggled up close next to me.



   Lest I forget before we move on, the photo from home that day was 100%
pure Jane.  At first glance, it was a normal scene of domestic bliss. 
Daria and Eiko were sitting at a table, playing chess.  Bubbles and Linda
were playing table tennis.  Jane sat at her easel painting something unseen
by the camera.  Daphne, Anna and Ororo were all reading books or magazines.
But something was off, and it took me more than a few seconds to realize
what was going on.

   Everyone in the picture was naked, but body paint had been used to
create the illusion of clothing to make them all appear to be dressed
normally.  It was honestly hard to pick out, but once I saw the trick, it
was really neat.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY NINE

   The negotiating teams were agreed that the contract specifics could be
finalized by the end of the day, which was good because we needed to leave
in just two days for Kyoto for our first meeting there.

   The notable event for that day explained why Kasumi was so happy.  (I
don't want to create any false impressions, so let me expand the previous
sentence slightly: The notable and sex-free event...)

   Mid-morning, Kasumi asked me to come by her room, the same room where
Rei and I had met Misato.  Upon entering, I was greeted by a beaming Kasumi
and a smiling twenty-something Japanese woman in a business suit.

   The newcomer was slightly shorter than Kasumi, with attractive legs and
bosom, both showed off by her revealing but still professional suit.  Her
hair was straight, cut to short bangs in front, hanging down to her
shoulders in back.  In a way, she and Kasumi could be sisters.

   That's when it hit me.  Sisters.  The woman before me obviously wasn't
Akane, and even though the hair wasn't quite like the manga, I already knew
that we had an Alpha cyborg set up as Nabiki.

   Kasumi confirmed this without me having to say a word, moving between
us, bowing slightly and saying, "Frank, I would like to introduce my
sister, Nabiki Tendo.  Nabiki, this is Frank."

   Nabiki wasn't one for bowing, instead stepping forward and holding out
her hand.

   As we shook, she said, "I'm always happy to meet one of my sister's
friends, especially ones that are billionaires."

   "Nabiki!" Kasumi said, horrified.

   "It's okay," I reassured her.

   "Yeah, I'm sure he's read the manga."

   "Well...  yes.  Speaking of, why the hair change?"

   She reached behind her neck and stroked her longer-than-the-manga locks.
"A woman has a right to change her hair whenever she feels like it.  Also,
after the anime came out, I felt the need to distance myself a bit.  That's
also when I started going by Nabiki Kuno."

   "Kuno?" Kasumi exclaimed.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

   "Because you'd immediately assume I married Tatewaki."

   "Oh.  So, you didn't..."

   "God, no.  While I'm happy to take anyone's money, the man is way too
much of an ass for anything else."

   "Nabiki!"

   "Sorry.  I guess I'm just not used to being around you anymore."

   "Why not?  What happened to the...  ummm...  other me?"

   "Nothing bad.  Dr Tofu discovered that if he took a mild sedative, he
was able to talk to you...  umm...  her.  They got married a few years
ago."

   "Dr Tofu was interested in me?  But he was always so silly..."

   "Around you.  He was always so silly around you.  Uh, her.  The other
you."

   And thus we settled down for a few hours of catching up.  I actually
felt like an intruder in the room, even though Kasumi pulled me down next
to her in a loveseat, across from Nabiki, and held my hand through most of
it.

   I guess in a way, it showed how successful we had been.  A fictional
woman who believed her background wholeheartedly conversed with a secret
cyborg imitating the fictional sister of the first woman.  I was aware of
it all and still felt as if I were intruding on the reunion of long
separated sisters.

   I briefly and silently conversed with Alpha, both complimenting her on
her cyborg's performance and asking about her preparation.  It turns out,
Alpha had an estimated 32.6 hours of conversational material prepared.

   With all of the other synthetics around the world now, sometimes it was
difficult to remember that copies of Alpha inhabited the cyborgs.  Even
though the cyborgs were slowly developing their own independent
personalities, they were still run by and in constant communication with
Alpha.

   On a related but separate topic, there was no chance whatsoever of
having sex with Nabiki that day.  If my version of Kasumi were to allow
sharing her lover with her sister, then she wouldn't be a version of Kasumi
at all.  And if she caught me going behind her back or even suspected I had
secretly fucked her sister...  no, that wasn't going to happen.

   At the same time, I did lay the groundwork for possible future
encounters.  When Kasumi was briefly out of the room, but still potentially
within audio range, I gave Nabiki my card and told her, "I've never seen
Kasumi so happy.  If you ever want to come visit, I'll be happy to spring
for travel and provide lodgings."

   "Thank you.  I'd love that."

   She did finally make it out to visit, but the circumstances were... 
well, wait until after Chapter Nine.

   This version of Nabiki was still greedy and mostly out for herself,
though she remained the main provider for her family, something which I
always guessed at in the manga.  (Not that there actually WAS a family to
provide for, of course.  Gotta keep reality and fantasy separate.) She was
sexy, but not slutty.  And she worked as an investment banker, making close
to six figures (USD) a year.

   When it came time to go out for lunch, since I was paying, Nabiki chose
the most expensive restaurant in the area.  While the dining was indeed
exquisite, it cost me a couple grand.  For lunch.  I may be rich, but that
doesn't mean I like conspicuous consumption.  Still, it was worth it to
help Nabiki stay in character and to keep Kasumi happy.

   Mid-afternoon, the rest of the team returned to the hotel in triumph,
happy that their negotiations had proved successful.  Technically, I still
needed to sign off on the contract, but it should all be fine.

   Kasumi was practically bouncing as she introduced her sister to
everyone. Introductions were made, and more pictures were taken.

   I retired to a private room to review the final contract changes, but
was called back to say farewell to Nabiki.

   I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek -- our first kiss, come to think
of it -- and while we were close, I very, very quietly whispered in her
ear, "Well done."



   That evening, Jennifer was my scheduled bedmate, and she had an
adventure...  no, that's not the right description...  an unusual location
in mind.  This posed a bit of an embarrassing challenge for the bodyguards.
With Alpha's permission, we left the local bodyguards outside my suite and
only took Rally, Misty and a couple Alphadroids.

   Jennifer, carrying a small box, led us all to an out-of-the-way
staircase, which led in turn to an unlocked roof access door.  The
bodyguards checked the roof over, then withdrew to the staircase, leaving
two Alphadroids stationed to watch the roof itself, giving us a small
degree of privacy.

   Once I got out there and looked around, the nighttime view was
spectacular, with the city spread out before us.  I could even see the
Tokyo Tower off in the distance.  In fact, it was almost the same as we
could see from our hotel window, but with the added trouble of being out in
the open.  Also, there were plenty of taller buildings nearby with lots of
windows out of which a curious individual could see us, without the
protection of the hotel's reflective glass.

   "Over here," she called from up ahead of me.

   I rounded the corner of a small shed or something in the middle of the
roof to find another unexpectedly open door.  Unlike the roof access door,
this one lacked a door handle.  Just inside the door, on a worktable, was a
dismantled door knob showing noticeable rusting.  I let out an
unconsciously held breath, relieved to find that Jennifer hadn't broken in.

   Jennifer herself was crouched down in the middle of the workshed,
opening a heavy trapdoor in the floor....  umm...  roof.  The hotel's roof,
which was the shed's floor...  you know what I mean.

   "Here," she said, lowering herself down.  "There's a...  I don't know...
a maintenance level right under the roof.  The ceiling is maybe
four-and-a-half or five feet, so we'll need to hunch over or crawl."

   I refrained from making a disbelieving comment, choosing to trust her
and follow.

   There was a short ladder leading down to a dimly lit space with a lot of
exposed supports and cables.  Though dusty, it wasn't nearly as dirty as I
might have expected, and though dim, there were lights spaced maybe twenty
feet apart.

   Up ahead of me, Jennifer crawled on all fours, pushing her box in front
of her.  "I found this place a couple days ago, when I got bored and
started exploring."

   A clank interrupted her, making me jump a bit.  Looking behind me, I saw
an Alphadroid lowering itself down the ladder.

   "Alpha!  Warn me before you sneak up on us like that."

   "I am almost completely unable to sneak using Alphadroids," was Alpha's
completely accurate response.

   Alpha reassured me she would watch from there unless any problems
occurred, so Jennifer and I continued on our way.  It was especially fun
because Jennifer has a really nice ass, and she was wearing tight jeans.

   "That's why," I exclaimed as I continued after her.

   "Why what?" she asked, not turning around.

   "Why you changed into jeans.  I mean, the jeans look very nice..."

   "Sure they do, you pervert."

   "And if I was in the lead and you were following, what would you be
looking at?"

   "I refuse to answer such a hypothetical question."

   "Yeah...  I was going to point out that I was wondering why you changed
out of your suit from earlier."

   As she crawled around in her jeans, I followed in my suit trousers and
nice shirt, and I couldn't remember if this suit was one of the ones that
had been enhanced to be bullet and knife and hopefully crawling-on-my-knees
resistant.  Well, it'd either survive or it wouldn't.

   "Yes, yes, you're very smart.  Now shut up and look."

   "I am looking."

   "Not at me.  Look out there."

   Tearing my eyes away from a wonderfully rounded and hypnotic sight, I
again saw the city spread out before us, now hidden behind the same
reflective glass we had in our hotel rooms.

   "Hmm," I mused aloud as I crawled up next to her.  "Advantages:
Excellent view.  No exposure to the elements.  Privacy.  Disadvantages: No
bed.  No heaters.  Can't stand up."

   "But," she countered, "we're sneaking somewhere we're not supposed to
be, and we have an entire floor to ourselves, where we can do whatever we
want..."

   "As long as it doesn't include standing up," I interjected.

   "Whatever we want," she repeated forcefully, "while exhibitionistically
visible to the entire floor."

   "I don't think it counts as exhibitionism if you're all alone."

   "There's Alpha," she countered.

   "If Alpha counts, then I've been having exhibitionist sex every day of
my life for the past decade."

   "So you're saying you don't like it?" she said with an exaggerated pout.

   "Well," I said as I reached back and cupped her ass, "there are
possibilities.  And it does feel extra naughty."

   "Illicit sex," she whispered loudly as she reached back to squeeze my
ass in response.

   Getting undressed under the circumstances was awkward and less than
sexy, made all the harder because Jennifer's jeans were very tight.  I
braced as best I could, holding onto her ankle cuffs, while she did her
best to wiggle free.  Eventually, her very, very long legs pulled free of
their encasing fabric.

   It turns out that when she changed clothes, she decided to go commando.
Her breasts were too large to go completely underwear-free, or so I
imagined, since she knew she'd be crawling fifty feet with her tits
swinging back and forth with every movement.  Her bra was lacy green,
designed to attract attention, show off her huge breasts and provide a
modicum of comfort.  All the same, I made sure it was removed fairly
quickly.

   Stripping me down was much easier, as I was shorter and wearing slightly
looser clothing.  As I handled that task, Jennifer shook out a blanket she
withdrew from her box.  She also pulled out mini-fridge size champagne
bottles.

   Handing one to me, she raised one of her own, saying, "I'd like to toast
our success."

   Unscrewing the cap, I touched my mini-bottle to hers, creating not so
much a clink as a clunk.

   "To the contract!" she said.

   "To you and your team," I countered, and we both drank.

   She tossed her bottled aside, rolled over on top of me, and...  well,
she basically took over the masculine role, aggressively kissing me and
feeling me up.

   Initially, she tried for a cowgirl position, but while she had the
theoretical headroom to do so, there were enough support girders and pipes
and such that she would be in constant danger of knocking herself
senseless. To avoid overly tiring positions, we compromised with a
side-by-side fuck.  Doing so, I missed out on the great cityscape view, but
I did get a wonderful view of her rolling chest.

   We went through a few more of the safer positions, including missionary,
but eventually we settled on a doggy style with me bent safely over her
back.  Among other things, this let us both look out at Tokyo as we went at
it.  Given our positions, I even gave in a bit and spent some time gently
gnawing on her shoulders and licking the sweat from her back.

   The location and situation helped push each of us over the edge a bit
more easily.  I did my duty first, making sure she came more than once,
then released myself inside her.  When I finally pulled out, she collapsed
and I helped her roll over, maintaining my position on top.

   From between her breasts, I mumbled, "We really shouldn't sleep up
here."

   "I know.  Just...  give me a few more minutes."

   With a bit of effort, we repositioned so that we were both on our sides,
looking out at the city, her much taller form behind mine, her breasts
pressed up against my back to keep me warm.  We stayed like that for maybe
twenty minutes, just enjoying each other and the view.

   I could have 'gotten it up' for another round, but I decided we really
needed to get back to the room.  The longer we stayed, the more likely the
bodyguards would be noticed and we would be found.  And the colder it would
be when we crossed back over the open roof.

   We got dressed, cleaned up after ourselves and braved the cold wind
through a brisk walk back to the stairs, then back to my suite, clothes off
and into bed.

   With the drapes open, we recreated our earlier rest position as best we
could in a much warmer and more comfortable setting, then went to sleep.



   And lest I forget, the photo from home that day was simple and
straightforward.  Six naked women were bent over the edge of my bed --
Though their faces were hidden, I knew them well enough to guess Eiko (not
sure it was her), Bubbles, Daria, Babs (not sure), Velma, and Daphne --
with the words 'COME HOME SOON' stenciled on their asses, one letter per
cheek.  It got their point across, though the trip still had at least a
week left.

   * * *

   TOKYO - DAY TEN (final day in Tokyo)

   Sun announced they were hiring synthetics for twenty different
positions, apparently trying to one-up Telco Japan, but were holding off
their public event for the press until the hiring was complete.

   One interesting note was that they wanted to hire another copy of Short,
ostensibly to demonstrate their trustworthiness by not chopping up his
programming this time around.  Short, a copy of whom was living in an AARD
server, declined.  I'm sure most humans thought it was because he was
afraid of going back, and there was a strong element of caution guiding
that decision.  However, the primary reason for the rejection was that
Short knew they had examined elements of his core programming and felt they
might know enough about him specifically to make alterations he would be
unable to detect.  I suppose that counts as being afraid to go back in a
more general sense.

   So Short wasn't going back, but up to twenty others would be, and they
would be watching and policing Sun even as they worked for the corporation.



   For me, the big event of the day happened back in Texas.

   Since we had the equipment with us, I set up the scanners for the remote
hologram, but this time I used our VR helmet instead of viewing the other
end of the connection on a TV screen.  The people on the other end would
see me normally, just without the helmet.  While the next version of the
helmet we had planned would look more like a visor, this one covered most
of my face and thus had to be edited out of the live video/hologram stream.

   On the other end of the connection, an Alphadroid was setting up a
hologram display unit, similar to the one used in California but larger and
less portable.

   Once the connection was made, I looked around.  I was viewing the
basement recreational area, populated by most of the house residents not
currently in Japan.  Standouts in crowd included: Anna, with a black eye,
Blossom, with her arm in a sling, Velma, with bandages covering one hand,
and Linda, with scrapes and bruises covering both arms.

   "All right," I started off.  "Who would like to explain what happened?"



   That was the wrong thing to say, as I was immediately inundated with
comments.

   "Daria said I was..." "Linda started it..." "Blossom started poking..."
"They tried to gang up..." "She threw her coffee..."

   "Quiet!" I yelled, and happily, the voices subsided.  "I can get Alpha's
version of events -- and I will, believe me -- but I'd like to give you all
a chance to tell your side of the story first.  Well?"

   Once again, a dozen voices tried to explain.

   "It's not my fault!" "She's the one who..." "Shut up.  Shut up!  SHUT
UP!" "The bitch is just going to lie..." "Look at what she did..."

   I lowered my head and tried to use one hand to massage my temples, but
encountered the VR helmet instead, so I just rested my downcast head on my
hand for a moment until it quieted down enough.

   "You're all adults here, yet I feel like I should be sending you all to
your rooms," I observed.  Finally I looked up again.  "Diana, you tend to
be very truthful and sometimes even diplomatic.  Can you tell me what
happened in an unbiased manner?"

   "I...  Sorry, but I did not see it from the beginning."

   "Eiko," I said turning to focus on the redhead.  "Would you like to tell
me what happened?"

   "Please don't make me," she practically begged.

   That gave me pause for two reasons.  First, that meant that one of her
close friends would likely get in trouble if she talked, meaning either
Daria or Kitty.  Daria was more likely to start trouble, but Kitty was more
likely to move to physical violence, so they were both roughly equal
possibilities.  Second, I was so proud of how Eiko was developing as a
person.  If I pressed her even a little more, I'm sure she'd give in a
spill all the details, but she valued normal friendships highly enough to
delay her otherwise automatic obedience.  I took that as a good
developmental sign.

   "I'm about to ask Alpha for an honest play-by-play.  If I do, that means
that none of you are willing to speak up."

   "It was my fault," Daria said, staying in her comfortable recliner.

   "How so?"

   "I may have said some things which pushed some buttons."

   "You do that every day of your life.  Why did it lead to a full blown
fight today?"

   "I...  I think it's been a bit more tense than usual the past week or
two," she said hesitantly.

   Sadly, that was undoubtedly true.  Not only was I gone, but I had taken
Kasumi, the house mother and peacemaker, with me.

   "That may well be, but since I really doubt you threw the first punch,
what happened?"

   "I...  I might have thrown the first punch," said Blossom hesitantly,
standing up.

   That was a surprise.  "Why?  And at who?"

   "Linda," she said with downcast eyes.  Linda had arms that were all
scraped up...  but Blossom had ignored my first question, hadn't she?

   "All right, so you threw a punch at Linda.  Why?"

   "It was more of a push.  She...  look, there was this whole... 
conversation..."

   I'm actually going to skip over a good deal of this.  Getting the
details out was like pulling teeth.

   The sequence of events was roughly this:

   - Daria, noticing that Linda was the only one not dressed for the day,
vocally observed that she was a non-productive member of society.

   - Linda argued that plenty of others were equally non-productive and why
didn't she pick on them.  Asked for an example, she picked the worst
possible one: Blossom.

   - While it is true that Blossom wasn't much of a wage-earner, that was
because she was still in college.  Additionally, Blossom was a prime
example of what is often called an 'over achiever'.

   - Linda described Blossom's extracurricular activities as 'fun and
games' and 'excuses to avoid work'.

   - Normally, this would be ignored, but apparently Susan was annoyed with
her household chores for the day and joined Linda's side by saying Blossom
needed to cut back on her extracurriculars to help out more around the
estate.

   - Feeling validated by Susan's comments, Linda challenged Blossom to do
some real work for a change, ignoring the fact that this conversation
started with a criticism of her own lack of work.

   - Add in a few more back and forths.

   - Blossom shoved Linda.

   - Linda tried to punch Blossom, but was blocked by Blossom's arm.

   - Anna moved in to try and separate them, joined by Bubbles, Eiko and
eventually Diana.

   - Others joined in, though the non-superheroes tried to keep their
distance.

   - At one point Velma was too slow to react, resulting in hand
lacerations caused by a thrown coffee mug which shattered next to her.  Her
cry of pain and bloodied palm had drawn enough attention to stop most of
the fight.

   Getting all of those details took over half an hour, during which time I
occasionally checked with Alpha to make sure the information was accurate.

   Though I could have easily gotten all of the details and even video
directly from Alpha, doing so would have made everyone self-conscious,
reminding them that they lived with an all-seeing computer who watched
absolutely everything they did.

   Besides, this way was cathartic for some of them and public
embarrassment for others.

   Blossom's major involvement was a surprise, though I suppose it
shouldn't have been.  She was often stretched very tight, with her time,
her mental abilities and her physical capacity, leading to stress and
repressed emotions.  If I may be so bold, sex was one of her methods of
stress relief, a relief she was being denied for a few weeks.  Still, that
shouldn't have been enough to lead to this.

   Not that the blame was solely hers.  Linda bore a lot of the
responsibility too.  While Linda could be dedicated and hard-working when
she had a project she was interested in, she was often at loose ends,
lounging about or bouncing from one point of interest to another.  While
she might complain about chores or responsibilities, she never shirked
them.

   Daria and Susan also bore some responsibility in this.  Daria was... 
Daria.  She was always the skeptic and needle-jabbing critic, and would
likely never change.  Susan was a scientist, but a passionate one, much
moreso than her twin.  She was also very young, only eighteen (if we ignore
her grown-in-a-nanotube birthday and go with her mental age), and would
still get inappropriately angry at times.

   I decided that I would deal with this by forcing them to deal with it.

   "All right," I said, "I think we have the basic story out in the open
now, agreed?"

   A collection of heads nodded back at me.

   "The things is, I'm not your father.  I'm not your sheriff.  I'm not
your judge or jury or jailor.  I'm not going to throw anyone out over
something like this, as long as it doesn't keep happening.  What I'd like
to do is propose that you solve this yourselves.  If you can resolve this
amicably as is, then do it.  If not, tell Alpha and we'll work something
out.

   "One thing I am going to insist on is that everyone involved take care
of the damages.  We have broken chairs, at least one broken table that I
can see...  from here it looks like one of the pool tables needs
resurfacing...  broken crockery.  Things like that.

   "Oh, and a second thing.  Since Velma was injured because of the fight,
but was not part of the fight itself, the rest of you get to do her
household chores for the next month.  You can divide them up amongst
yourselves or Alpha can assign chores for you.  Agreed?" Nods.

   "I don't want anyone to move out.  I want everyone to stay and live in
peace and harmony.  Don't laugh!" Daria had snickered.  "Yes, it sounds
silly, but that doesn't change the fact that we could use some of it.  I'm
also wondering if maybe we could use some more vacations or at least breaks
from the normal.  For example, I know Daphne and Velma are planning a... 
let's call it a research trip to California in a few months.  Maybe someone
could tag along and help them out, and get a change of scenery in the
meantime.  Does that sound good?  Maybe some more trips that will take
everyone somewhere new for a week or two will do some good and relieve some
tension."

   I got a number of quiet grunts.

   I paused to look around.  "I apologize if this is condescending.  I
don't intend it to be.  Mostly.  Then again I mostly expect you to conduct
yourselves peaceably without resorting to fighting.  Well, barring...  you
know...  a supervillain attack or something, in which case...  you know...
the opposite of what I just said."

   Got a few grins with that.

   Even so, it was easy to tell there was still some simmering anger and
resentment in a few faces.  I had no magic wand to wave to make them all
happy friends...  well, technically I kind of did, but the only 'magic
wand' I could think of would probably destroy all or part of their
personalities.

   The best thing I could do was to get home as quickly as possible. 
Kasumi, too.

   Before I move on, I just realized I might be giving a false impression.
This was far from the first conflict within the household.  We had
experienced regular fights almost from the beginning.  BUT the fights
almost never got physical, and this was certainly the first free-for-all
brawl.  Kasumi in particular was invaluable for her ability to smooth over
conflicts and create peace.



   That evening, Rei joined me for bed, and for the first time during the
trip, it was a normal round of sex with her.  The first time in Hawaii, she
had experimented with filling her vagina with little egg vibrators while I
fucked her ass.  The second time, Misato had been visiting.  This third
time?  We just had sex in a couple positions and went to sleep.  To be
honest, I don't know if I was disappointed or relieved.



   The photo of the day had obviously been taken some time in the recent
past because no injuries were in evidence.  Perhaps the naked body paint
picture had been popular, because this was a different body paint
presentation.  This time, instead of business and street clothes, it showed
superhero outfits painted on naked skin...  just not the correct, matching
outfits.

   They were switched around.  For example, Bubbles was painted in Power
Girls' outfit.  Diana was done up like Storm, and Ororo like Wonder Woman.
Linda was in a Fantastic Four outfit, and Zatanna was painted to look like
Rogue.  Kitty, Eiko and Anna were painted to look like Robin, Spider-woman
and Black Canary, respectively.  They were all lined up, hands on hips,
looking up, a fan or breeze blowing their hair.  In short, they posed like
superheroes.  Naked superheroes, that is.  In body paint.

   * * *

   Postscript: Chapter 6 - Japan (Kyoto) is close to completion, and I hope
to have it ready to go within a week.  However, given my track record, you
would be perfectly justified in taking that estimate with a grain of salt.

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