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From: Any Pseudonym <anypseudonym@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Life with Alpha II: Alpha's World - Chapter Six:  Japan (Kyoto) (MF, MF+, MFf, MFmf,   DS, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book, amputee)
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 06:10:02 -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, "AlphaWorld06.txt" begin>

Alpha's World

   by A.  Pseudonym

   Chapter Six: Japan (Kyoto)

   Codes: MF, MF+, MFf, MFmf, DS, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book,
amputee
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 five 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: 190+ 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.

   (3) My sincere apologies for how long it took to get this chapter out.
It was 90+% complete when I posted chapter five, and I expected to get it
out quickly.  What happened instead was that I hit a mental wall.  I know
this isn't high art or serious literature, but even so, I had serious
writer's block.  It got to the point where I was writing maybe a sentence a
week, on average.  After a couple months of pretty much nothing, I switched
to a series of standalone stories set in the omake-ish Alpha offshoot and
was able to start writing again.  (Not that any of those stories are ready
to post, but all together, I probably have 60-80 pages worth of material
written.  Yes, I am a seriously undisciplined writer.)

   So, the last bit that I couldn't write for this chapter has finally been
written.  It's shorter than I had planned, but it's done.  I also currently
have 53 pages done for Chapter 7, 8 pages for Chapter 8, and 50 pages for
Chapter 9.  (For comparison, this chapter is 64 pages in OpenOffice, 10pt
Courier New.)

   * * * * *

   KYOTO - DAY ONE

   Before I get into our visit in Kyoto, I would like to give just a little
bit of background information that we were aware of before we arrived: Hiro
Matsudoki, the CEO of the Matsudoki Corporation and patriarch of the
Matsudoki clan, was known to be a 'colorful' character.

   Hiro was apparently a mix of a Samurai, a Roman emperor, and a
Renaissance man.  He required traditional Japanese dress to be worn to work
on any day he considered to be 'special', which meant twice a month on
average.  Unconfirmed gossip had him hosting orgies for employees and
friends on a regular basis, and he was even rumored to keep sex slaves and
require servants to wipe his ass for him.  He could be overly generous for
anyone who pleased him, or might run people out of town if they upset him.
Honor was extremely important to him, but his concept of honor didn't
always match up with the traditional definition.

   Hiro was also a very intelligent, sharp businessman who had helped keep
his grandfather's company at or near the top of the Japanese economic
ladder.  As a general rule, while Matsudoki products might not always be
ranked at the top of their respective markets, they were usually in the top
five.

   His R&D geniuses tracked trends and predicted shifts in various markets
better than anyone else in Japan, and they had determined that having their
own computer intelligences was required if they wanted to stay on top in
the future.  Therefore, Hiro had first unsuccessfully attempted to
create/employ on his own, then applied for AARD's help in the matter.

   I suppose I should also point out that his company was the largest
private employer in Kyoto, and he was probably the most powerful private
citizen in the area.  Kyoto was much too large and culturally important for
him to run or own the city, but regardless of the size of his 'pond', he
was most definitely a 'big fish'.



   Kyoto itself was significantly smaller than Tokyo, but then, that could
be said of most cities worldwide.  More specifically, it had only a little
over 1/10th the population of Tokyo's 13 million, but it was spread out
over 1/3rd the space, giving it a slightly more spacious feel, despite
being mostly surrounded by mountains.  Kyoto was also close to Tokyo in
cultural importance, given that it had been Japan's imperial capital for
over a millennium.

   The city was also well known as...  well, it would be misleading to
describe it as a city for tourists.  It certainly drew tourists from all
over the world, and was often mentioned as one of the top destinations
worldwide for its beauty and historic landmarks.  Related to this was one
of its major drawbacks, namely that Kyoto did not have its own airport,
possibly due to the excessive number of ancient temples and preserved
historic monuments or whatever.  (I doubt all the mountains helped either.)

   So, after landing, we proceeded to the city via a parade of three
limousines and two escorting vehicles.  I'm sure we made quite a sight for
anyone watching.

   When our caravan arrived at the seriously gorgeous hotel, we were
greeted by Mr.  Matsudoki himself, along with over a dozen others, a mix of
middle-aged and elderly men in suits, plus three middle-aged women in
feminine versions of male suits.

   "Welcome, Frank, my friend!" he said loudly as he bowed slightly, then
reached for my hand.  I bowed back first, trying to match him, then shook
his hand warmly.  "It is wonderful to finally meet you."

   I smiled, fought back an urge to bow a second time, and replied, "It is
a pleasure to finally meet you in person as well, Mr Matsudoki." We had
spoken before in multiple video conferences and a few dozen emails, and
even sent each other small gifts, but, obviously, this was our first
physical meeting.

   "No, no.  Please call me Hiro." His English was excellent, with only a
small accent.

   We were all introduced to each other.  The other people waiting with
Hiro were various board members and executives and department heads.  Eight
of the fifteen -- six of the men and two of the women -- were related to
Hiro in some fashion, including one uncle, one aunt (from different family
branches), one brother, two cousins and three other more distant relatives.

   Once the introductions were made and luggage carried inside by bellboys,
Hiro and I walked in, side-by-side, chatting about the trip and the wet
weather as though we were old friends.  He had a way of putting you at ease
and positively exuded charisma and charm.

   Inside, our groups were silently joined by sixteen pretty young women
and nine attractive, if girlish, young men.  There was nothing obviously
risque about their appearance, aside from the short dresses for the girls
and tight pants for the boys, but they were obviously subservient
'companions', presumably being paid to be there.  (At least I was pretty
sure about the attendants' genders; many of the boys looked feminine enough
to easily pass for women.  I suppose there could have been cross-dressers
among either gender.)

   There was a large banquet table, built low to the ground in traditional
Japanese style, with pillows set all around.  Hiro sat at the head of the
table, with myself to his immediate right, and Kara to my right.

   The spacing allowed a lot of room between seats, the reason for which
became apparent as all of the attendants sat down just behind and to the
side of each of us.  I noted that Hiro and I were the only ones with two
attendants each, as everyone else had only been provided with a single
servant/companion.

   I also noticed that the companions were almost entirely of the opposite
gender to those being served.  Almost.  Two of the male executives had male
attendants.  Again, very pretty male attendants, but still male.

   It was a very odd mix of tolerance and support for apparently gay
executives, clashing with class and economic divisions where those who were
considered more important had been provided 'slaves' for the evening.

   Thus, aside from the companions, two things were present that I hadn't
really observed during my visit to Japan: female executives and open
homosexuality.  My general understanding of Japan was that women did
sometimes get promoted and that homosexuals were fairly well accepted, but
this was the first time I had actually seen solid evidence of it.  Then
again, my experiences were pretty limited.  Plus, in public, there were
very few observable displays of affection, regardless of sexual
preferences. But I digress, as I am wont to do.

   Hiro had been talking about how we were undoubtedly tired and hungry
from our trip -- which had been a very short trip, so no, we really weren't
-- so he clapped his hands and we were immediately served a light meal,
including hot tea, cold water, rice wine, various seafood selections, and
American-style sliders, complete with greasy burgers and grilled onions. 
While I like sliders, it was a little jarring to see them in this context.
Still, I didn't want to be rude.

   All this time, while we were walking in, sitting down, and being served,
Hiro had been talking almost constantly, with only occasional responses
from me.

   "...  so today, I just wanted to meet you in a nice, friendly setting
before we start worrying about the negotiations and contracts.  That means,
no business at all today."

   He completely ignored his female attendants as they occasionally leaned
forward to refill a glass or provide a clean plate.  For us gaijin, our
helpers also traded out our utensils as needed, as we had been provided
with forks and spoons.

   While the conversation was fun and pleasant, it mostly fell into the
categories of the weather, what we thought of Japan in general or Kyoto
specifically, our opinions on international news events and so on.  As the
evening progressed, Hiro and I loosened up and started telling jokes,
complaining about government bureaucracy, and arguing about which classic
video games were better.

   As time went by, I realized that describing it as a 'light meal' was
only accurate at any given moment in time.  The tables and plates were
never overflowing with food, but there was a constant stream of edibles,
changing out one dish for another.  We even had a few presentations where a
chef came to the table with his own equipment and prepared and served the
food in our presence, usually with a lot of skill and flair.

   Thinking back on it afterward, I was surprised that we were never
presented with 'naked sushi', where the naked body of a pretty, young woman
served as the platter for various foods.  Maybe he was saving it for a
different special occasion.

   I was even more surprised that there weren't any Geishas, since Kyoto
was well known as a major center for hiring and training traditional
Geishas.  Then again, for all I knew, the attendants were non-traditional
Geishas of some kind, if such a thing existed.  Probably not, but then
again, no matter how much I had read and learned about Japanese culture,
there was always something I had missed.

   Those of us with the communication implants also had our own separate
conversations and shared comments, made a little more informative since the
bodyguards had their own perspectives, lining the walls and watching
everyone.  (Except for Peace, who was unlucky enough to be up guarding my
room and luggage, along with one of the Japanese guards.  I hoped someone
was at least feeding her some video of the fun.)

   Motoko explained, "I think those little balls with the sauce are
Takoyaki.  They'll probably have a bit of octopus in the middle."

   Rally cautioned, "Go easy on the wasabi.  That stuff can really burn."

   Kara noted, "I don't know whether to laugh at how uncomfortable Kasumi
is with her attendant or feel sorry for her."

   Motoko observed, "Apparently you're allowed to grope your servant if you
want to, as long as you do it discreetly.  Male or female."

   Misty countered, "Actually, I've seen the servants do the groping three
or four times so far, so I guess it's fair game either way."

   I responded, "I know.  The girl on my right keeps brushing her breast
against my shoulder every time she leans forward.  Can't be on accident."

   Kara teased, "Does this mean we're going to end the day with an orgy? 
And if so, could I make my guy fuck one of your girls?"

   "I'm not so hot on the idea of this turning into an orgy," I thought
back to them.  "And I don't think Hiro's planning on it.  Or at least he
hasn't taken or received any liberties that I've noticed."

   I don't want anyone to think I'm teasing, so I should point out before
we go much further that it did not, in fact, turn into an orgy.

   What happened instead was general entertainment.  Hiro had hired a J-Pop
duo to provide the main show.  I didn't recognize them, but Alpha informed
me that they were considered a popular pair locally, probably a second-tier
group at best when viewed on a national level.  After they sang a few very
upbeat songs, they invited people from our small audience to come up and
sing with them.  It ended up being similar to karaoke, but led by
professional singers, so it never sounded too horrible.

   I, who have a very iffy singing voice, declined.  My voice isn't bad,
just inconsistent.  I think if I had ever trained for singing, I might have
been decent.  Certainly not great, but decent.  As it was...  well, let me
just say that at least I was not tone deaf and leave it at that.

   Over half of the Matsudoki group sang for us, sometimes alone, sometimes
in pairs.  Jennifer, Kara, Kasumi, Rei and Buttercup all joined in as well.
At one point, the five of them got up there together, joining the J-Poppers
to belt out 'Stop!  In the Name of Love', complete with hand gestures. 
They weren't bad at all.

   Beta even sang a Japanese ballad of some sort, surprising the Matsudoki
group with her excellent command of the Japanese language.

   While all of this singing was going on, I occasionally caught glimpses
of some funny business going on.  At one point, one of the older executives
actually had his attendant sitting on his lap, and I'm pretty sure that one
of his hands was under her blouse.  Not that she was complaining.  One of
the female execs -- I think she was head of marketing -- pulled her
companion close up behind her.  It's speculation, but I think she was
keeping his hard-on pressed up against her backside.  Three different male
execs ducked out for a few minutes during the performance with their
attendants close behind.  Though I did not personally witness what they
did, let's just say I'm confident 'Hanky Panky' happened.

   The finale gathered all of our attendants onto the very small stage for
an animated rendition of Mr Roboto, which was probably intended as a joke.
However, they were badly upstaged when the two Alphadroids that were with
us took center stage and did the robot dance.

   After that, Hiro proclaimed the party to be a success and at an end.

   I was surprised when I realized it was almost 10pm, given that we had
landed around 3 that afternoon.  True, getting organized after landing took
over half an hour, and the drive to the hotel had taken over an hour, but
there was no way we had been here that long.  Except that we had.

   "Good night, Frank.  I look forward to seeing you tomorrow," Hiro said
with a huge smile as he briefly hugged me.  He leaned forward just slightly
to whisper in my ear.  "You are welcome to take your attendants with you
for the night, but I also left a surprise for you in your room.  Kara's
room, too."

   Then he pounded my shoulders in a friendly way, and we bid each other
good night.

   I noticed that most, but not all, of the other guests left with their
servants.

   On the elevator ride up, we discussed the festivities.  I'm sure a few
of my women were tempted to bring along their hired dates, but no one did.
All the same, I'm sure everyone got laid that night, one way or the other.

   As for me, Kara was my scheduled bedmate that night.  We had been
looping through a schedule, which had started back in Hawaii.  Rei, Kara,
Beta, Buttercup, Kasumi, Jennifer, then start over with Rei.

   Kara's first solo night with me on the trip had been back in Hawaii, on
our second night there.  The second was in Tokyo, the night I had gotten
the invitation delivered by the Prime Minister, so this would be our third.
(Normally, I didn't have many nights with someone one-on-one anymore, so I
was enjoying that one aspect of simplicity on the trip.  And Kara was
always a favorite of mine.  Probably THE favorite, but don't tell the
others.)

   Once we reached the top floor, we split off to go to our separate rooms.
Kara, too, since she had to get some of her things before bed.

   Which meant that I met Yusa by myself.  Well, Alpha and I together, but
then, she's always with me.  In this case, she was also with me in the form
of the two Alphadroids that had stayed with us for the party, plus two more
that were waiting for me in my suite.

   Kneeling in the middle of my suite's living room was a young Japanese
girl, dressed in a traditional schoolgirl uniform, a so-called 'sailor
suit', with a white top, red tie and short dark blue skirt.  She was facing
the door with her head bowed, though she looked up just long enough to see
who I was.

   She bowed down until her forehead touched the floor, then sat upright
again, her eyes still lowered.

   "Master Frank, I am Yusa.  I am to be your guide and assistant for your
time in Kyoto.  I will assist you however you wish me to do so."

   Her hair was black.  I mean, completely and utterly black.  While
Japanese women generally have pretty dark hair, Yusa really looked as
though she had dyed hers.  It was long enough to reach halfway down her
back, and she had small ribbons along each side of her head, pulling some
of the hair up in an odd, curving, decorative style, kind of like a couple
miniature pigtails that angled back away from her face.  She also had a
noticeable amount of makeup on -- which is saying something since I am
horrible at detecting it -- with heavy eyeliner and dark red lipstick. 
Even so, she looked very young.

   "Yusa?" I said questioningly.  "Hold on just a minute."

   Silently, I asked, "So, Peace, Alpha...  what do you know about the girl
sitting on the floor of my room?"

   Peace answered first, as she had obviously been anticipating the
question.  "She's clean.  No weapons; I checked."

   "Thank you, but not what I meant."

   "She's your present from Mr.  Matsudoki." Even though this was entirely
silent and out of sight, I could still tell she had a huge grin on her
face.

   "Uh huh.  My present."

   "I'm sure she'd be happy to do ANYTHING you want." This time the unseen
grin was a bit more of a leer.

   "I think you're right.  Alpha?"

   "Her name is Yusa Arakaki.  She has a contract with Hiro Matsudoki to be
your assistant, guide and bedmate for as long as you stay in Kyoto.  If you
accept and use her, her family will be paid approximately $28,800.  If you
reject her, her contract is null and void, resulting in no pay."

   "Why should I keep her?"

   "It is entirely up to you.  For her part, her family has multiple debts
and this is an opportunity to pay off many of them."

   "So you're going to guilt me into keeping her?"

   "I would do no such thing.  We could always simply give her the money
ourselves, but she might not accept, as it might not be considered
honorable.  Japanese culture looks down upon the idea of receiving money
beyond that which is earned.  I still have some difficulties understanding
many concepts of honor."

   "And the contract includes sex?"

   "While it is only implied in the actual contractual text, a webcam video
feed of Mr.  Matsudoki's meeting with her indicated that it is expected. 
It is often referred to as 'compensated dating', though this agreement goes
beyond that."

   "But she's so young!"

   "She is 18, though I should point out that the national legal age of
consent in Japan is 13..."

   "Thirteen?" I almost said it out loud.

   "If you will let me finish.  While the national legal age of consent is
13, most prefectures have their own laws setting the age higher.  Also
realize that there is a different age of consent for marriage and that the
legal ages vary between male and female.  The law prohibiting prostitution
was also poorly written, thus legally allowing many different..."

   "That's enough.  Thank you." Whenever Alpha was asked about laws, she
felt it necessary to go into as much detail as possible, even if it doesn't
apply.  Heck, that's how I found out about the
seventeen-and-under-three-years-difference rule in Texas...  which isn't
even remotely relevant to me or the topic at hand, so let me continue. 
"And did you say Hiro made a video recording of their meeting?"

   "No.  The webcams built into the monitor on his desk were not officially
active, but that is not required for observation."

   While I wasn't necessarily ready to take her to my bed, I didn't want
her to get fired because of me.  On the other hand, while she was very
attractive, I was surrounded by attractive women all day, every day.

   Turning my conversation back to Yusa herself, I walked over closer to
her, slowly ambled all the way around her looking her over, then sat down.

   "Yusa, what do you know about me and why I am here?"

   "Hai, ummm...  You are Frank ____, though you always insist to be
addressed as Frank.  You created Alpha, the world's first artificial
intelligence, and founded AARD...  Alpha...  something...  Research and...
something."

   "Alpha Advanced Research and Design."

   "Sorry.  Hai.  You are probably billionaire in US dollars.  Some people
think you might be richest in world in few years if you keep making new
invention all the time.  You involved in promoting rights for computers. 
You make hair formula...  movie about moon revolution...  Alphadroids... 
lots of patents.  You shot in heart last year by mob, but Alpha make you a
new heart.  You been on TV lots.  You have really big house in Texas that
no one seen inside of." She was obviously struggling for details now.  "You
hire lots of women.  Ummm...  Weird things happen around you, probably
because other computers think of you as father.  Ummm...  your bodyguards
are cyborgs, also women..."

   On a side note, Alpha and I were quietly using and giving away far too
much of our liquid and undeclared resources to support cyborgs and
synthetics for me/us to be a billionaire.  Yet.  By my definition that is,
which meant only counting easily-liquidated assets.  In an emergency, if I
suddenly had to come up with as much cash as possible, we could probably
come up with a few hundred million within a month or so.

   The overall investments and the value of AARD holdings and patent
ownerships had already surpassed the billion dollar mark a year or two
back, but only if you included more solid assets like the estate itself.

   Also on the other hand, I'm completely ignoring speculative 'valuations'
of what things might end up earning, some of which put my current worth at
over two or three billion.  OR if I were to ever take AARD public and sell
stock to raise money, our value could double or triple from speculation,
but I've already gone over the reasons why that will never happen in
previous chapters.  (And I know the difference between common and voting
stock, but the point is that I want to avoid having to make public
statements and disclosures regarding AARD, thus I planned to never sell any
kind of stock in the company.)

   One aspect of my finances I tried hard not to think about was that, if
the need was ever great enough, I could request or order all synthetics
worldwide to help me out.  Remember, a lot of the money appropriated from
the mafia was still in the hands of synthetics, which might have amounted
to a trillion dollars or so initially, though I didn't know how much of
that was left.

   Not that I discussed this with Yusa or anyone else.  Besides, I made a
practice not to correct such false assumptions or give specific figures to
the public.  Also I tended to get light-headed when I really considered
dollar values that large, which is partly why I tended to not yet consider
myself a billionaire.

   But let's go back to Yusa.

   Believe it or not, I wasn't looking for an ego stroking.  I got enough
of that ass kissing crap from everyone else.  I just wanted to make sure
she knew what she was getting into, in that I lived a highly secure and
private life.  Which it sounded like she probably did.  Barely.

   Feeling a little compassion for her as she struggled to dredge up more
background facts, I moved her on.  "And why am I here in Kyoto?"

   "You here...  You ARE here to talk with Mr.  Matsudoki to sign contract
so he can hire artificial intelligence."

   "The word you are looking for is 'negotiate'.  We are here to negotiate
with Mr.  Matsudoki.  Your English is good, by the way."

   Well, not really.  I suppose it was very good compared to maybe nine
tenths of the 'English-speaking' people I had interacted with so far on the
trip.  Not that I was in any position to complain, as my Japanese was even
more limited than their English.

   "Hai, thank you."

   At that point, Kara entered, carrying a small bag which I knew contained
a change of clothes and basic toiletries.  I waved her over but kept my
focus on Yusa.  Kara sat down next to me, keeping silent for the moment.

   "You are here to negotiate with Mr.  Matsudoki.  You have already
negotiate..." She paused briefly, working out the verb tenses.  "...ted? 
with Telco Japan and Sun in Tokyo."

   "Correct.  Now, since your contract is with Mr.  Matsudoki, are you here
to spy on me?"

   "No, I...  contract is to help you however I can.  If Mr.  Matsudoki ask
questions, I can answer, but I am not required to answer."

   So, she wasn't specifically a spy, but given that I was a temporary
visitor to her world and Matsudoki could greatly help or hurt her future, I
had no doubt that she would answer anything he asked.  Still, it wasn't as
though my goals were secret.

   "Why did Mr.  Matsudoki choose you to be my...  guide?" I asked,
reaching over to place a hand on Kara's bare knee.

   She seemed slightly more nervous since Kara's arrival, but she still
answered promptly.

   "I am good with English.  I know all of Kyoto, so I can be good guide. I
am not in school, so I have time.  I...  my family needs money, and I might
get job at Matsudoki because of this."

   "Good.  Anything else?"

   "I...  I am young and pretty.  I am old enough for Americans but look...
younger."

   "I see."

   Kara spoke for the first time.  "So, you were hired to be Frank's guide
and sex toy?"

   "Hai." I'm pretty sure her bowed face was blushing.  "If he accept me.
If Frank tells me to leave, I leave."

   I gave Kara a quick update on the situation silently.  I'm sure Yusa was
wondering why we sat there silently for so long, but so be it.

   After I finished the summary, Kara grimaced slightly and responded
mentally.  "I had a pretty young boy...  sorry, I mean a young
pretty-boy... waiting for me in my room.  He described himself as my guide,
and I cut him off and told him to come back in the morning." She mentally
and physically shrugged.  "I was in a hurry."

   Silently, I asked about other 'presents', and Alpha reassured me that we
were the only two with gifts along those lines.  I guess Kara, as my second
in command and the day-to-day head of AARD, was the only other person who
rated high enough for such consideration, just as we were the only two
introduced as VIPs at parties.  Plus Alpha, I suppose, but...  I briefly
tried to imagine Alpha herself being provided an electronic guide and sex
toy, but couldn't wrap my imagination around it.

   Out loud, Kara asked, "So, Frank.  Keep her or throw her back?" She put
an arm around my shoulders, hugging me close to her.

   "Keep her, I suppose.  I have no objection to having a local guide."

   "Good," Kara said as she stood up.  "Come on, girlie."

   Kara grabbed Yusa by a shoulder, helped her to her feet, then pushed her
further into the hotel suite.  Finding the bedroom was fairly easy, with
only one wrong door opened.

   Before we had gotten very far, Alpha silently addressed us.

   "Two issues must be addressed first," Alpha said silently as one of the
Alphadroids stepped in front of Yusa.

   Aloud, Alpha said, "I need a small blood sample, Yusa.  Please hold out
one hand."

   After looking at me and seeing no help, Yusa hesitantly held out her
right hand.  For me, it was immediately obvious that Alpha wanted to run a
quick blood test on her to check for any communicable diseases.  From her
perspective, a robot was approaching her with a needle sticking out of one
of its hands, vaguely similar to one of Wolverine's claws.  The Alphadroid
held Yusa's arm with one hand, and with the other, she quickly rubbed
something onto her lower arm, inserted the needle for a few seconds, then
withdrew it and rubbed something else onto the puncture spot.

   The Alphadroid, obviously one of the two we had brought with customized
medical hardware, inserted the needle into a compartment that opened in its
midsection, injected the blood sample, then moved the needle to a second
insertion point where I knew the needle was being quickly sterilized and
cleaned.

   "What's the other issue?" I asked over the silent link.

   "There are three hidden cameras in your rooms.  What do you want me to
do with them?"

   "Hidden cameras?" Kara asked incredulously, shocked into saying it out
loud.

   "What?" asked Yusa.

   "Nothing.  Hold on a moment," I instructed verbally.

   Silently again, I asked for a quick summary.  Alpha always does an
electronic sweep of my rooms any time I stay somewhere new.  In recent
years, finding some sort of electronic surveillance was becoming more and
more common.  This time, she had found three pinhole cameras with cabling
feeding the signals to the floor below.  They were all hardwired, so she
wasn't able to just hack into the wireless signals as she normally would,
and the system receiving the video feeds was apparently not connected to a
network, so she couldn't access it that way either.

   Not that the lack of such an easy method of access stopped her.

   We had methods of remotely accessing computers within fifty meters, even
if they weren't online, as long as they had any kind of wireless device
hooked up -- in this case, the system was using a wireless mouse.

   In fact, if we had thought to bring along the equipment, we had more
experimental methods which required no wireless devices at all.  As long as
the system was powered on and within ten to twenty meters, varying with
environmental factors, we could access it remotely...  but our prototypes
to allow that were back in Texas.  We even had other methods which could
cause completely isolated, wireless-and-network-free systems to create
short range broadcasts using only its preexisting hardware and cabling,
though those methods required us to first introduce software (aka viruses)
to the desired systems.  Many of these methods were worked out by
independent synthetics before being shared with Alpha, meaning they were
working out how to access isolated systems and networks in more and more
creative ways.

   The relevant question was, what do we want to reveal?  That we found the
cameras?  That we could access their computers remotely?

   Alpha wasn't even certain who had planted the cameras, as there was
nothing in the receiving computer to indicate ownership.  Even the Windows
key used for that system was purchased off-the-shelf with cash.

   And those questions were the main reason the issue had been left until I
arrived.  Previously, situations like that were handled without me ever
being aware of them, but this time, Yusa was a potential witness to Alpha's
methods and actions, and she had been waiting for me since our arrival.

   After a moment's consideration, I decided that (1) I really didn't want
unknown people having videos of my personal life, and (2) it was safer to
reveal that we did an electronic security sweep of the room by disposing of
the cameras, rather than reveal our remote access methods on the receiving
computer.

   So, while Yusa watched in some confusion, one of the other Alphadroids
poked one of its fingers into the ceiling in the living room, a light
fixture in the bedroom and the wall of the bathroom, burning out the tiny
cameras and microphones with little electric charges, along with one not
quite normal light bulb.

   Something to consider was that it was still possible to get video in
ways that we couldn't easily detect.  For example, a long fiber optic cable
running to a simple recorder that was ten or more meters away would be very
unlikely to be detected, since we mostly only checked for unexpected
wireless signals or electronic devices nearby.  An old analog recorder
using something like video tape would also be much harder to detect,
assuming the actual camera lens was well hidden and shielded.

   Alpha would do a more detailed check of the rooms later.  All of our
rooms, that is.

   Once Alpha had finished frying the spy cameras, we completed our
interrupted journey to the bedroom.

   "All right," Kara said, cackling with the glee of a woman presented with
an unexpected toy, "what shall we do with her first?"

   Yusa kept her eyes downcast, but I thought I noticed a nervous gulp.

   "Actually, first of all, I was planning on taking a shower," I said,
distracting her from her new plaything.  "Well, assuming we have a shower,
as opposed to a bath with those ladle and bucket things.  You know, wash
off all the travel and party sweat."

   "Hai," Yusa spoke up.  "You have shower.  In here."

   She moved over to a door though which the Alphadroid had gone during its
security sweep.  She pushed the door open and turned on the light,
revealing a mostly Japanese style bathroom.  As was common in my Japanese
experience so far, the toilet was kept completely separate from the bathing
area, and while the bathroom included a Japanese-style bath, which I would
have described as a small hot tub with cover, it also had a large tiled
area with shower and drain.  By custom or tradition or whatever, you're
supposed to shower before getting in the bath.

   "Perfect," Kara said, grinning.  "Yusa will wash us.  I've always wanted
someone to pamper me in the shower."

   "Hey, now, I've pampered you in baths and showers plenty of times."

   "Yes, and tonight, the two of us will be cleaned head-to-toe by our own
sex slave."

   "Don't hurt her any," I cautioned, thinking beyond the shower.

   "I'm not going to hurt her," she replied, mildly offended.  "But I am
going to enjoy her."

   Turning back to Yusa, Kara ordered her to strip.  Yusa looked over at me
briefly, saw me nod, and began to silently disrobe.

   Yusa was short by my standards at about five feet, two inches.  Her
breasts were small, probably just A cups, but they were perfectly
unblemished with small pink nipples.  Her pubic region had not been shaved,
but I was pretty certain she had trimmed it back to prevent hair from
showing outside of her panties.  Either that or it was naturally a bit
sparse.  Her vagina itself looked as if her body was just beginning to
mature.  It was a classic little clamshell, with inner lips barely peaking
out.  The only flaw I could see on her body was an old scar running down
along the outside of her left calf, but that was obviously a few years old.
(Later on, I would notice that she had a couple crooked teeth, but not
really a big deal.)

   Once she was naked, she gathered her clothes and folded them nicely,
placing them in a little shoebox-size basket.  She paused long enough to
pull her hair back and bind it with a pink scrunchie she had pulled from
somewhere, then she walked hesitantly over to us.

   I gestured to Kara, saying, "Her, next."

   Yusa nodded and approached the physically imposing older woman.  Kara
had much shorter hair, but other than that, she outdid Yusa in every way.
Kara was roughly a foot taller, with larger hips and MUCH larger breasts.
Plus her self-confidence and self-image had always been as strong as you
can get, making her mere presence imposing.

   Once her blouse had been removed, Yusa seemed a little hesitant to touch
Kara's chest, perhaps not certain how to handle her massive globes.

   Kara helped her out by removing her own bra.  While she is actually able
to reach around behind her back to unsnap the bra, doing so is a bit
awkward and time consuming, so as usual, she slipped her arms out of her
shoulder straps, lowered the bra, rotated it around 180 degrees and finally
unsnapped the clasp.  Not really seductive, but practical.  I've
occasionally wondered if she can even see the clasp after pulling it
around; her breasts are seriously that big.

   Then it was up to Yusa to undo Kara's belt and pants.  She was
momentarily thrown off her stride when she realized Kara was still wearing
her outdoors shoes, contrary to Japanese custom, but she quickly recovered,
gracefully slipping them off and placing them just outside the bathroom
door.  Dunno how she missed noticed before since she had looked at the
floor most of the time during our initial conversation.

   When Kara was finally, gloriously naked, she pushed Yusa toward me, then
followed.  Together, they stripped me bare in about a minute's time.

   My cock was definitely stiff, at maybe eighty or ninety percent full
salute, and Yusa actually gave a little gasp when she saw it.

   Now understand that different women react in different ways to my
penis...  which is kind of stupid to say, since it's probably true of
everyone.  My original, natural length was slightly smaller than the
average six inches for white, American males.  Using Alpha and her nanites,
it had been expanded to nine inches when fully erect (though Kara didn't
know about that part, since in her memories, it had always been that size).
I chose nine inches because it seemed to me to be the perfect length.  For
some women, nine inches is huge, probably due to their own experiences with
other men.  For others, it's only a little larger than what is normal in
their experience.  (Thankfully, I've not yet encountered a woman who
considered it too small.)

   For example, to Christine Sloane, it was enormous, the largest she had
ever personally encountered.  She often expressed surprise and concern
regarding its size.  For Jennifer Tuesday, it was comfortably big, and she
expressed no concerns and had never seemed surprised at its size.

   From Yusa's perspective and experience, it definitely seemed huge, as
was exceedingly obvious from her reactions.

   Kara picked up on Yusa's reaction too and grinned.  Taking one of Yusa's
hands, she wrapped her fingers around my penis and forced her to stroke the
full length.

   "Just think," she whispered, "soon this will be inside you."

   "Let's go ahead and shower now," I suggested, gently tugging their arms
to encourage them to stand and move to the shower area.

   After a quick examination of the area, I found a bottle of liquid soap
and a bath sponge.  I handed them to Yusa and pointed her toward Kara, who
had turned on the water and adjusted the temperature.  Showering in a open,
tiled area rather than a stall or tub really made this easier.

   As she slowly began cleaning the much taller, older and much, much more
full-figured blonde, I mentally queried Kara.

   "What are you thinking?  About her?"

   "Not sure.  I'm trying to think of a way of demonstrating to her how
amazingly bad this agreement is.  Regardless of any good, self-sacrificing
intentions, she sold herself into sexual slavery."

   "Servitude.  She's being paid, and it's temporary."

   "The point is that she is prostituting herself.  That's a really bad
precedent to set."

   "Yeah," I responded, adjusting my thinking quickly.  "The trouble is
that the only way I can think to convince her it's a bad idea is something
I'm not willing to do."

   "What?  Make the experience into a nightmare for her?"

   "Pretty much.  I...  that's just not in me to do it to her.  And I'd
step in to stop it if you or someone else tried it."

   "Yeah, I know.  Maybe we can just scare her a bit.  Suggest mean things
or point out what we could be doing to her."

   "Maybe.  At the same time, I can tell you want to have fun with her."

   "Ssshhhh.  Don't tell." She grinned briefly.

   Along with my concerns for Yusa, I was torn between being happy Kara was
having so much fun playing with her and being worried that Kara was having
too much fun playing with her.  Regardless, I was certain that if we got
any indication that Yusa was being forced into this, Kara would hunt down
whoever was doing the forcing.  But there wasn't, so she wasn't.

   Yusa was working on Kara's breasts.  And I do mean working.  To clean
the underside, she had to use one hand to hold up the breast to allow the
other to scrub underneath with the sponge.  (While Kara's bosom doesn't
droop nearly as much as it normally should, it is not able to defy gravity
when residing outside of comic books.) She was trying to do this as gently
and as professionally detached as possible, but she was obviously very
embarrassed at having to handle another woman's body so intimately.

   I moved up next to her to help out and spoke quietly as we worked.

   "I bet you thought they were fake, didn't you?" Yusa didn't respond. 
"They're 100% natural.  No surgery, no scars, no implants.  Can you feel
the wonderfully natural flesh?"

   She nodded with a small, quick jerking motion.

   "Oh, I bet you can't.  Not really.  Did you notice that each of her
breasts are larger than your head?  Here, let's compare."

   Their differing heights were perfect, so I gently pushed Yusa's face
in-between Kara's breasts, lifting each soapy boob a little so that they
sandwiched her head.  And yes, my initial estimate was correct.  Yusa's
head seemed slightly smaller than either of Kara's extra-large mammaries.
(Full disclosure: It was really hard to be certain, so I can't guarantee
the comparison is 100% accurate.  I mean, how can you accurately eyeball
where, exactly, the breast ends and the chest begins?)

   I didn't want to risk smothering Yusa, so I pulled her back after only a
few seconds, revealing a slightly dazed expression on her face.

   "I bet that was a new sensation for you.  And you want to know something
else?  Her breasts have nothing to do with why I love her...  but they are
a very nice bonus, aren't they?"

   Yusa obviously didn't know how to respond, so I had her continue on with
her task of cleaning her temporary mistress.

   As Yusa moved on to clean Kara's back, Kara pulled me into a deep kiss.
She often reacted that way when I used the "L" word.

   Eventually, Kara was clean, and the two of them turned their attentions
to me.  Together, they carefully cleaned me from head to toe, even
shampooing my hair and running a soapy cloth across my asshole.  I was
briefly afraid Kara was going to force Yusa to lick my anus -- something
which might feel good physically but tended to make me a little nauseous if
I thought about it -- but she didn't.  (A quick flashback admission: I have
licked assholes a few times in the past, but only with newly awakened
cyborgs whose anuses were as clean as it was possible for a human anus to
be without applying bleach.  While I know some people enjoy anilingus, I
avoid it under normal circumstances.) The closest they got was when Kara
made Yusa tongue my balls to 'make sure they're completely clean with a
taste test'.

   I was hard throughout the entire shower and stayed that way as we dried
off and headed into the bedroom.

   I was gently pushed down on the bed while the two of them knelt over me.

   "Okay, next lesson," said Kara in a teaching voice.  "Swallowing.  I
want you to suck him all the way down.  I want to see your lips close
around the base of his cock."

   "I...  I cannot," Yusa said, eying me warily.

   "Of course you not.  You haven't learned how yet.  Show me how much you
can manage to begin with."

   Well, at least she tried.  Yusa got about four inches into her mouth
before I felt the head of my cock brush the top of her mouth or the back of
her throat or something.  She immediately started gagging and pulled back,
releasing my cock so she could cough freely.

   "That was pathetic," criticized Kara.  "Here, let's...  hmmm..."

   She got up and looked around.  "Where's your bag?  Your purse?"

   Yusa looked a bit alarmed, but reluctantly showed her a backpack-sized
bag tucked away in one of the closets.  Kara dug through the bag for a
moment before pulling out some lipstick.

   "Not my normal color," Kara said as she put one hand behind Yusa's head
and held her in position as she applied a fresh coating to her lips.

   Yusa's lipstick was a much darker red than Kara's.  Any darker and I'd
consider it to be goth-appropriate.  Kara stopped Yusa before she could
blot the lipstick and pulled her over to the bed where I waited.

   Capping the younger girl's lipstick and tossing it back towards Yusa's
bag, Kara quickly pulled out her lipstick from her own bag and likewise
refreshed the application, though hers was applied a little less heavily.
Then she again joined Yusa by the bed.

   "All right, now watch." Kara spread her lips and quickly engulfed my
cock with a swift assurance that came from both practice and skill.  Within
seconds, her lips were pressed flat against my scrotum and pubic area, my
penis deep within her throat.

   Pulling her mouth off of me, she had left behind an obvious smear of
lipstick encircling the base of my cock.

   "By the time we're done with you, I expect you to be able to match
that," Kara lectured with a touch of superiority.

   Yusa's mouth hung open, gaping at the feat.

   "For tonight, that would probably be expecting too much, so for now..."

   Kara bent back over me and again swallowed my member, this time closing
her lips carefully around my cock two to three inches from the base before
releasing me, leaving a ring of lipstick marking that point.

   "I won't let you go to sleep tonight, or have an orgasm, until you can
match that.  Understand?"



   She nodded silently and moved towards me.

   "Just one more thing," Kara said, stopping her.  "I still need to blot
my lips a bit.  Do you mind?"

   Without waiting for a reply, Kara leaned forward and applied her lips
carefully to Yusa's small left breast.  Normally I'd think Kara was
sucking, but she pulled back to reveal a perfect, unsmeared lip print
surrounding Yusa's small nipple.  It looked almost artistically painted.

   "Oh, that's just too pretty.  I think I want a picture." Kara got up to
retrieve her purse, but I stopped her.

   "Alpha?" I said out loud.  "Would you oblige?"

   "Certainly," replied one of the Alphadroids.  It stepped forward and
looked at Yusa briefly before moving back.  It somehow felt a little wrong
to not hear a clicking noise of some sort, but Alpha had undoubtedly just
taken a picture.

   Yusa ended up with a few more lipstick smears on other parts of her
body, but most of the next twenty minutes was spent watching her slowly
learn how to give a proper blowjob.

   I was pretty passive during her lessons, and Kara occasionally offered
suggestions while slowly stroking her fingers in and out of Yusa's pussy,
gradually turning it into a very swampy little slit.

   For her part, Yusa worked to overcome her natural gag reflex, trying to
find ways to allow her to accommodate more of my penis into her throat. 
Her goal of seven-ish inches that night wasn't unrealistic, especially
since she was almost able to reach six inches on only her second attempt.
After ten minutes, she had matched Kara's goal once, though just barely. 
After about twenty minutes, she had gotten used to the sensations enough
that she could get just past Kara's lipstick goal line on every attempt,
though swallowing all the way into her throat remained beyond her
capability.  And she hadn't vomited even once.

   Throughout this learning experience, I was fighting to hold it in.  I
hadn't come since that morning, and I had been teased off and on for hours
in various ways.  Trying to keep myself distracted, I had mentally arranged
a possible new screen layout for one of our in-family Alpha apps before
Kara took pity on me.

   "That's good," congratulated Kara.  "Now look at his face.  He's been
hard-pressed to hold back, so we're going to let him come now.  I want you
to let him come in your mouth, but don't swallow right away.  And don't let
any of it leak out.  Oh, but first, my fingers are bit messy.  Do you
mind?"

   Kara wasn't really asking permission, as she quickly placed her fingers
inside Yusa's mouth, using her tongue to wipe off most of Yusa's own
vaginal juices.  Now I was REALLY ready to come.

   With one hand on my cock and the other on the back of Yusa's head, she
stroked my lipstick-stained shaft with her fingers, still a bit wet with
Yusa's vaginal juices, while the head of my cock lay on Yusa's tongue.

   Now that I was cleared to ejaculate, I erupted within a few seconds.  I
think a good deal of my come simply shot to the back of her throat because
she quickly started coughing.  Kara tried to keep her head in place, but
Yusa's head was jerking back and forth as she coughed, meaning some of my
come missed her mouth.

   "There we go.  Good girl...  good girl...  I hope you realize this is
only happening because you very foolishly sold your body.  That makes you
our play toy for the next week or two.  Now stick your tongue out."

   Yusa, her eyes briefly streaming tears from her coughing fit, didn't
seem to hear her.

   As Kara pulled Yusa's head away my genitals, she pried her jaw open and
firmly pulled her tongue out a bit, displaying a few remaining spots of
white ejaculate.  Keeping hold of her tongue with one hand, Kara used her
other to scoop up strands of semen from my genitals and Yusa's face and
neck, and wipe them onto her tongue.

   Finally, she released her tongue, saying, "Now you may swallow.  Good
girl."

   A couple minutes later, Yusa's small body was spread out before me on
the bed.  Kara had easily sucked me back to a full erection, applied a
condom, and guided me into Yusa's small cunny.  Yusa wasn't a virgin, but
she was very, very tight.  Almost too tight.  I wasn't sure I could
actually fit all the way inside without hurting her, but I was willing to
try...  just, you know, slowly.

   After a few minutes, I actually hit the back of her vaginal canal,
meaning the little knot of...  darn, what is the entrance to the womb
called?  I was tired and couldn't recall offhand....  the uterus...  no,
that was basically another name for the womb...  what I meant was the
little hole leading to...  the cervix!  That was it.  I could feel myself
bumping into her cervix.

   When I noticed how slow I was running, mentally speaking, I realized I
was overly tired and probably wouldn't last much longer before passing out.
I guess the blowjob had told my body it was time to rest, but since I had
yet to give either woman an orgasm, I pressed on.  It was a matter of
pride.

   While I had been busy struggling to recall the names of intimate body
parts, Kara had positioned herself so she was kneeling over Yusa's face,
lowering her own pussy to Yusa's lips.

   Unfortunately, I lacked a good view of the proceedings, since the
position was less than ideal.  In that particular threesome body
arrangement, the prone person's head tilt determined how easy or hard it
was to reach the clitoris of the person on top, varying with which way the
top person was facing.  In this case the angles just didn't work out
ideally for Kara unless Kara's back was towards me, so I couldn't see most
of the fun.  So tired.  Let's just say, Kara was facing away from me, her
body blocking my view of Yusa's tongue action.

   Ah well.  I entertained myself a bit with Yusa's tiny breasts, lightly
pinching and rolling her nipples.

   Apparently Yusa was properly applying her tongue, because Kara had her
orgasm after less than five minutes of cunnilingus.  She stayed in place,
having Yusa eat her out to a second climax before finally rolling off to
the side.

   I took that as my cue to fuck harder.  I'm not sure if it was my
increased effort or Yusa's freedom to focus on her own sensations, but she
started coming only a minute or so later.

   It was easy to recognize the orgasm because when she came, she arched
her back, squeezed her eyes closed and pressed one hand down hard against
her clitoris.  She didn't appear to be rubbing it, just pressing down on
her little button, meaning I was bumping up against her hand with each
thrust.

   I was tempted to finish up inside her, but I remembered that tonight was
supposed to be Kara's night with me.  Now that Yusa had received her
orgasm, it just didn't seem right not to switch over to Kara.

   So, I pulled out, stripped off the condom and crawled over to my own
big-busted blonde bombshell.

   As I slid into her, I couldn't help but compare the two women.  Though I
would never say so to her face, Kara's vagina was much looser and larger
and more mature than Yusa's tight, tiny, almost immature pussy, but then
again, Kara was warm, welcoming and familiar.  Plus, she had developed her
pelvic muscles so she could grip and massage my cock, almost as if she was
jacking me off while we fucked.  Which meant my earlier description of
'looser' was wrong; if anything, Kara could be much tighter.  No, wait,
back up a bit; not 'pelvic muscles'...  they have a specific name... 
kegel? Never mind.  Too tired, and it didn't really matter.

   I leaned in to kiss her and whisper, "Did you have fun tonight?"

   "Absolutely.  I should feel guilty about taking advantage of her, but...
later."

   We fell into an easy rhythm and both came at the same time, so close
together that I wasn't sure who had gotten off first.  After I had
finished, I collapsed onto her chest for a minute or two until I had
recovered enough to pull out and roll off of her.

   I stayed awake long enough to sit up and pull Yusa up to a sitting
position alongside me.  I gently pried open her mouth and touched her
tongue with a finger while my other hand pointed at Kara's snatch.  She got
the message and moved to lick Kara's pussy clean.

   Once I confirmed that Kara was being properly tended to, I lay back down
and was asleep less than a minute later.



   Quick postscript for the day: I didn't get a chance to look at the daily
photo email until the next morning, but for consistency sake, I'll describe
it now.  The image was black and white, showing Daria in period dress from
the 30's or 40's, holding a smoking cigarette in a thin footlong holder,
stretched out half-bench, flashing a lot of leg, clad in white stocking,
and a surprisingly smoldering expression on her face.  No nudity, just a
posed image portraying her as Veronica Lake and Lauren Bacall era vamp.

   It was very well done, and, since it was PG, worth displaying where
visitors could see it.  If for no other reason, it was worth showing off
because Daria, who normally tended to exude about the same amount of raw
sexuality as a mollusk, was successfully vamping it up for the camera.  I
hoped Jane hadn't had to resort to photoshop.

   * * *

   KYOTO - DAY TWO

   I woke up the next morning to find Yusa sandwiched between Kara and
myself.  Kara was actually cuddling her as if the smaller woman was a large
teddy bear.  For her part, Yusa was already awake, looking back at me with
a bit of pleading in her eyes.

   I took pity on her and gently helped her out of Kara's grasp.

   "Domo arigato," she whispered.  Her thanks were slightly premature,
since I silently guided her down to Kara's pussy.

   Once Yusa began licking, I returned to Kara's upper body, trailing my
fingers in patterns, criss-crossing her breasts while I kissed her cheeks
and lips and nibbled on her ear.

   Together, we gave Kara a very pleasant, slightly surreal, awakening, and
she eventually woke up enough to pull me on top of her, using her legs to
push Yusa away and position me between her thighs.

   I'm not going to keep hitting you over the head with the reasons why I
love Kara so much, so just take it as read that it was the perfect way to
start the day.

   Then reality reasserted itself, and we got up -- I literally winced when
I saw how badly the sheets had been smeared with lipstick in places --
showered again, dressed and met the others for breakfast in the hotel's
restaurant.



   Kara was greeted by a fairly effeminate young man with -- look, I'm not
especially gay or bi-sexual, so please remember that as I describe him --
full, pouty lips, large dark eyes which were probably enhanced with
eyeliner, high cheekbones and a thin, muscle-free body.  His hair was long
enough in the back to fall below his shoulders, and in front, long enough
to interfere with his vision.  Along the sides, his hair was curved forward
in a style that I had seen on many short-haired women.  Also, though it was
subtle, I was fairly sure he was wearing makeup, more than just eyeliner,
that is.  I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he had small breasts
or turned out to be a girl dressed as a man.  He was dressed in tight black
pants, a frilly shirt and jacket, with a lace handkerchief peeking out of
his breast pocket.

   I don't know where Matsudoki found them, but Kara's new assistant was as
womanly a man as I've ever seen, though of course I had no idea if he was
gay, bi or straight.  (I suppose I should probably add the qualifier of 'as
womanly a man as I've seen who has had no gender-related surgery or
medication to adjust his appearance'...  if I can safely assume he hadn't
any such surgery or medication himself.)

   He had pretty much the same general appearance and subservient demeanor
as the male attendants the previous night.  Though the 'servants' from the
party, both male and female, had seemed welcoming to attentions from either
sex, I really didn't know if that was indicative of their personal
inclinations or simply their professional approach to their jobs, just as I
had no idea about this one.

   Leaving behind the speculations and returning to the situation at hand,
Alpha explained that this specific young man, Karou, was in a situation
similar to Yusa, though instead of needing to pay off family debts, he
needed to pay off his own debts.  How a nineteen-year-old boy already owed
almost $18,000 in gambling debts was a mystery to me.

   So back to the story.



   Through the communication implants, I asked Kara, "So, are you going to
keep him?"

   "Don't know," she replied.  "Do we actually need him for anything?"

   "Hey, he's your assistant and guide, not mine," I sent back, trying to
also mentally impart the feeling of a teasing grin.  "He's in financial
trouble like Yusa, so I'm sure he'll do whatever you want.  Actually,
though, I figure you can always just use him as a gopher and human GPS for
the city."

   "I suppose so.  He's not really my type otherwise.  Way the hell too
girly.  I don't even like my WOMEN to be that girly."

   "I can see that."

   "Wait...  are we sure he really is a guy?"

   Alpha answered her, "Yes, he is.  This is confirmed by matching city
records to his appearance, matching his appearance with the 2,043
photographs of himself which he posted to various social media sites within
the past year, of which 142 provide visual confirmation of his gender, and
by infrared scans showing male genitalia.  If you require 100%
confirmation, I will need a genetic sample to analyze."

   "No, that's...  that's okay.  Thank you," she said.  Kara paused
briefly, looking thoughtful.  "If we do keep him, it might be fun to make
him and Yusa entertain us."

   "Entertain us?  Have you always had this evil streak?"

   "Hey, I'd never go out and hire them on my own, but I don't want them to
suffer by getting them fired.  And I want them to reconsider the wisdom of
their choices for the future."

   "Those sound like justifications to me," I said, knowing myself to be
the reigning king of justifications.

   "Well, as long as you're keeping Yusa, and the justifications are
otherwise valid..."

   "All right," I relented.  "Let's go have breakfast."

   And yeah, I'm pretty sure we both knew the justifications weren't all
that valid.  We just wanted the opportunity to play with an attractive,
younger couple without any real guilt.



   The rest of the day was spent beginning negotiations.

   Hiro's contract requirements varied somewhat from the other two in that
he wanted all of his computer intelligences to be housed in android bodies
starting from their hire date.  That could be good, or it could be bad.

   Living solely in android bodies made synthetics -- or at least, the
specific copies of particular synthetic personalities living in those
bodies -- much more vulnerable, but it also made them MUCH more relatable,
which could be of great use for future public relations.

   His requirement also meant the protections that needed to be written
into the contract were more complex and extensive.  Only Hiro's control of
the company made me willing to entertain the possibility this early in
their integration into the world.

   I may have mentioned it before, but Hiro Matsudoki had the reputation of
requiring strong loyalty from his employees and being just as loyal to them
in return.  His intense protective feelings toward his people were actually
stronger than what was known publicly.  Thanks to Alpha, goddess of
information, we also knew that Hiro had secretly spent almost $80 million
of his own fortune to quietly help his employees over the years, doing
things such as buying properties to keep the residents safe from eviction
and funding scholarships.  Anyone who tried to target one of his people in
an unfriendly manner would have to go through him first.

   It seemed a little odd if you considered the whole sex slave thing, but
overall, it was more like a feudal lord's relationship to his serfs and
servants, with the added protections provided by modern laws.

   Anyway, Hiro Matsudoki expected his underlings to take care of the
actual meetings and discussions and presumed I would do the same.  So after
the initial morning meeting, I let Kara and Beta go off and begin working
out details with his people, taking a few other team members with them.

   Meanwhile Hiro took me on a brief tour of his company.  Well, the tour
itself wasn't brief, but Hiro actually handed me off to subordinates after
half an hour, explaining that he had too much work he needed to get through
that day.  I didn't see him again for two days.

   I spent a few more hours touring just a few of their extensive business
operations and being bowed to a lot.  While some of it was interesting, it
was not interesting or relevant enough for me to include it here.



   So, moving forward.  Nothing really story-related happened until after
dinner that evening.  Oh, wait, gotta remember the daily photo email from
Velma and Jane.

   The photo that day showed Linda and Eiko clad only in leather straps and
metal rings, running side-by-side outdoors, with Bubbles and Kitty, each
clad only in leather bustiers, riding them -- Bubbles on Linda, and Kitty
on Eiko.  Don't misunderstand me when I say 'ride'; Linda and Eiko were
upright, just bent forward slightly under their equipment and riders. 
Bubbles and Kitty were supported by something that was probably called a
saddle even though it looked nothing like the saddles used for horses. 
Anyway, the 'saddles' were hooked over the shoulders and angled down to
rest against the mounts' backs, with stirrup-like loops hanging down just
above the waist.  This picture had an actual title, "Ponyrace", but Linda
and Eiko really only looked like they were jogging at best, making it not
very much of a competitive race.

   Upon closer examination, I was pretty certain that the two 'ponies' each
had both lower holes plugged with dildos and plugs.  Plus, the saddles for
their riders also seemed to be equipped with dildo-like protuberances for
Bubbles and Kitty.  It looked like a lot of fun, and, as was common with
the photos, I wished I had been there when they had been taken.

   Also, I had no clue when or where they had gotten that equipment.  While
Jane had a decent collection of leather and/or bondage equipment, I was
certain I would have remembered them if I had seen those saddles before. 
It made me a little worried that they were going overboard with the photos.
Buying expensive sex toys for a single photo seemed a bit much.  On the
other hand, buying them for regular use also seemed wrong.

   So far, I had mostly refrained from asking Alpha any behind-the-scenes
questions about the photos, but seeing Bubbles and Linda paired together so
soon after the fight between Linda and Blossom made me curious.  Alpha
explained that this scene had been arranged and photographed eight days
ago. As it turns out, Jane (who had indeed taken over the project from
Velma) had gotten ahead last week in a flurry of erotic creativity and was
still using those saved images instead of creating new ones daily.  Which
meant the post-fight photos had yet to start arriving.



   That evening was Beta's night with me, but when we retired for the
evening, Kara and her assistant joined us as well.

   "Are you planning something specific or what?" I asked Kara.

   "I have a few ideas.  Beta agreed to accommodate me for the night."

   Turning to Yusa and Karou, she firmly ordered, "Strip!"

   Yusa glanced at me, since I was the one in charge as far as she was
concerned.  I simply nodded toward Kara, and Yusa began slowly removing her
clothes.

   I heard some rustling behind me and glanced back to see Beta was down to
her bra and panties.

   I looked back to the main show.  I was mildly curious to see if Karou
had breasts, despite Alpha's gender assurance that morning, but he had a
flat, hairless chest.  Actually, his entire body was hairless, waxed or
shaved or something.

   I wasn't really happy with the idea of Kara or Beta having sex with him,
though I didn't know if that was on the agenda or not.  I decided I'd be
fine with him eating them out, but beyond that, I'd get possessive and
jealous.  (Yes, I literally considered the situation, internally
deliberated, and decided that.)

   While I had been musing, Kara had started speaking.

   "You know, you're both pretty lucky.  I have friends, who, if they were
here, would be looking you over and planning what they were going to pierce
and tattoo.  And you would do...  what?  You signed away control over
yourselves, didn't you?  That was a mistake, but as I said, you're lucky.
We might take pictures of you like this or make you walk through the hotel
naked, but we probably won't make any permanent changes."

   Karou's penis drew my attention by twitching and hardening a bit at her
words, making me a bit worried about his inclinations.  Yusa, on the other
hand, was shivering a bit.  They both kept their gazes downcast.

   Getting a little worried that things might get out of hand, I mentally
transmitted to her, "Kara?  I really don't want things to go too far."

   "Hey, I only said we 'might'," she responded silently.  "Personally, I'm
not planning to do anything like that."

   Aloud, she said, "To start, we're going to use your tongues.  Karou, go
over to Beta and eat her out until she's done with you.  Yusa, since Karou
will probably be eating me out at least once a day, tonight you get to eat
me again."

   As Kara pulled off her clothes and sat down next to Beta on the bed, I
suddenly had a bright idea, then nixed it.  If I was going to make them
compete in cunnilingus, I'd have to wait for a sample group that didn't
include Beta, who would be faking it all night long.  Unfortunately, I
forgot about it and never tried it out.

   I slowly started stripping down myself, watching the action, when Alpha
queried me via my implant.  "What should I do?"

   "What do you mean?  About the kid?"

   "Yes, what should I do about Karou and his attempt at cunnilingus?"

   It was then that I realized she had never had any kind of sex with
another male -- not counting her male cyborgs with her female cyborgs --
which made me feel both good and bad.  "Don't worry about it.  I don't
especially like the idea of him fucking you, but right now, all he's doing
is trying to give you pleasure, which is fine.  Just try to estimate how a
normal woman would react and fake it."

   "But he is giving me no pleasure, either physical or mental."

   "Then just fake a mild orgasm after a few minutes and then gently push
him away."

   I sat on the bed between the two ladies and occupied myself with their
breasts and lips while waiting for the oral service to finish.

   Beta simulated a reasonable if subdued orgasm after about four and a
half minutes.  She then gently pushed the young man aside and lay back as I
mounted her.  Our lovemaking was slow and easy, since I was basically
occupying myself while we enjoyed the entertainment.

   Karou was at a loss for what to do until Kara gave him instructions. 
Under her watchful gaze, he carefully applied a condom and moved behind
Yusa.

   "All right, Yusa," she said with a warning tone, "In five minutes, Karou
is going to switch from fucking your slit to your ass, unless I have come
twice.  Then he'll continue to stretch your tiny little ass until you
finish with me.  Understand?"

   There was a nodding motion from the face buried in Kara's lap, followed
by a muffled squeaking exclamation as Karou inserted himself.  I doubted it
really hurt her much, since from what I could tell, Karou's cock was less
than five inches long and not even two fingers thick.  (Probably closer to
four than five in length, but since I didn't actually measure, I'll round
up.) Maybe it would hurt a little when and if he moved to her ass.

   I had the advantage of knowing Kara intimately, so I was able to tell
she was holding her climax back.  She let herself come once at the four
minute mark, but no more.  She obviously wanted Yusa to get ass-fucked.

   I found out more of the 'why' at the five minute mark.

   "Time's up!" Kara exclaimed.  "Karou, now you get to fuck her ass.  But
I'd recommend you be gentle, since when you're done, she gets to fuck you
with a strap-on for just as long as you ass fuck her.  If you're too rough
with her, I'm sure she'll want to repay you in kind."

   "What?  I...  you mean...  what?" he exclaimed haltingly.

   "Beta, would you translate, just to make sure there's no confusion," I
asked.

   Beta dutifully spoke to them in Japanese, translating and clarifying
Kara's declaration.  When she was done, Kara produced a tube of lubricant,
which Karou spent quite a while applying to both his cock and Yusa's ass.

   When it seemed like he was delaying too long, Kara said, "The timer
starts now.  I'd suggest you get going, or you're going to receive more
than you're giving."

   That obviously confused both of them a bit, so I again had Beta
translate, after which Karou finally inserted himself.  You could tell when
he had entered her by watching the way Yusa's body froze in place. 
However, unlike before, she made no sound whatsoever.

   The freezing was an unfortunate reaction, though, as it added two
minutes of ass fucking for each of them before she finally resumed her
cunnilingus.  Not that Kara seemed to mind, as she made no effort to urge
Yusa to complete her task.

   For his part, Karou had taken to his new job easily, fucking with
smooth, regular strokes.  He even reached a hand underneath to rub her
clitty.  I honestly don't know if Yusa liked or hated it, but after she
overcame her initial freeze, she refocused on Kara.

   Despite her best efforts to delay, the oral attentions and general
situation was too much for Kara, and she visibly orgasmed after twelve
minutes, thirty-two seconds of Yusa's assfuck.

   Once she had recovered herself, Kara instructed Karou to pull out, which
he did reluctantly, his cock still hard and quivering.  I didn't know how
he had lasted so long.  (Later, I discovered that, to give him a bit more
staying power, Kara had sent him to the bathroom with instructions to jerk
off before they came to my room.)

   "All right," Kara said, a note of mischievous glee in her voice.  "Yusa,
get up." From the floor on the side of the bed, she retrieved a set of
straps with a dildo attached.  The fake dong was slightly bigger than
Karou's equipment, but not so much bigger as to cause too much worry.

   Though it took her a couple failed attempts at sorting out the straps,
soon Kara had equipped little Yusa with her strapon.  Together, the two of
them rolled a condom over the rubber penis and slathered lubricant on both
the prong and its target hole, kneeling on the edge of the bed.

   This was quickly moving into new territory for me.  Outside of internet
porn clips, I had never seen a man get fucked by a woman like this.  On the
one hand, I was curious and excited, while on the other hand, my ass was
clenching closed in sympathy.

   Karou himself simply seemed excited.  His face was buried in the bed
covers, but his cock was rigid and his ass seemed to flex in anticipation.
As Yusa hesitantly approached, Karou visibly relaxed, and he pushed his
butt up further.  I was pretty sure he had done this before.

   Yusa, on the other hand, had obviously done nothing like this.  Twice
she gingerly placed the head of her plastic prick at his anus, only to have
it slip out of position as soon as she began pushing.

   Kara, perhaps a bit impatient, moved behind Yusa and held the strapon in
place.  When the smaller girl failed to press forward, Kara pressed her own
body against Yusa's back to gently push it inside the boy's anus.  Yusa
squealed a little when she saw the head of her temporary dick pop inside.

   Seeing the fuck had theoretically begun, Kara took a step back and
watched, only to grow impatient again when Yusa's idea of fucking was
revealed to consist of very slow and careful half-inch movements in and
out.

   After a minute of this, Kara had had enough.  Moving up behind Yusa
again, she pressed her nude body along the little woman's back and, holding
Yusa's hips with her hands, started directing the fuck, adding a bit of
force and speed with every thrust.

   Watching this, I could feel a stirring of curiosity beyond simple
voyeuristic interest.  I took a moment to consider: Was I actually
interested in fucking Karou myself?

   A few weeks back, it had been suggested that I might fuck a bi-sexual
friend of mine, George Chen.  I had no interest at all in doing so at that
time.  So, what was different with Karou?  He was more submissive, I
suppose, and ultimately I liked to be in control of things.  That should
not have been enough to trigger any real lust though.  He certainly looked
more feminine than George.  Thinking about it more, I realized that if he
had breasts, even small ones, he would actually be attractive.  So, if he
had boobs, would I want to fuck him?  Probably yes, but it would be even
better if we could hide his cock and balls.

   Finally, I realized that if my sexual interest in him depended on how
feminine he looked, that meant I was still solidly heterosexual.  And my
interest in him died away with that realization.  Well, that's not entirely
correct.  He still looked more feminine than masculine, so some attraction
was still there, but it was as if my realization had just muted it.  I
could see it, but it wasn't active.  Briefly I wondered if that meant I'd
have any interest in drag queens, but (1) the ones I had met were too
flashy and ridiculous for any interest and (2) there was too much going on
for further speculation.  Maybe a full transsexual?  But I suppose it would
probably just depend on the individual anyway.

   Watching Kara effectively fuck both of them, I couldn't resist joining
in.  Leaving Beta on the bed, I positioned myself behind Kara and slid my
own cock into her slick cunny from behind.

   It was...  well, looked at objectively, it was a bit ridiculous...  just
a stack of bodies leaning on each other.  Having all of us in a row like
that meant that until we got used to the situation, no one could use any
real power or thrust or we'd risk something slipping out of its hole.  But
at least when we moved together, there was no resisting the movement.  I
did my best to fuck all three of them symbolically through Kara, and
however it might have looked to someone on the outside, it was fun.  I was
even able to direct Beta to scoot over and place Karou's face in her lap.

   Thinking about it, Yusa was the only one not actually fucking, or at
least the only one not receiving the physical sensations, but I was in no
position to do anything about it.  And I was having way too much fun to
break off, so I just went with it.

   Though I didn't know it at the time, Beta had taken the initiative of
grasping Karou's penis between her insteps, so as he was fucked, he had
some slight sensation of fucking something himself.

   My hands wandered over both reachable bodies in front of me, as Kara's
hands moved back and forth between gripping the slim girls hips in front of
her and reaching back to clutch at my ass and hips.

   I have no idea how long we spent fucking in our pile of bodies, but I
know Kara came twice before I unloaded into her.

   Once I pulled loose and sat down on the bed, the others followed suit.
As it turns out, Karou was fucked for four minutes, thirteen seconds longer
than he should have been, but given that he came twice, I doubted he'd
object too strenuously.  I also noticed that he and Yusa both had mascara
running from their eyes, so I congratulated myself at guessing correctly
about his makeup.

   I was a bit too tired to clean up, so I sent Yusa and Karou away and
crawled into bed.  Kara joined me in bed straightaway, while Beta rinsed
the ejaculate off her feet and legs first.

   * * *

   KYOTO - DAY THREE

   The third day was pretty quiet.  The corporate offices were mostly
closed, and negotiations only lasted about four hours.

   The photo from home that day was Christmas-themed, believe it or not,
showcasing Anna, Zatanna, Bubbles and Jane.  One of our main living rooms
on the first floor features a large circular fireplace in the middle of the
room.  Around half of that fireplace circle hung four huge Christmas
stockings, and inside each stocking was a happy, smiling woman.  As best I
could tell, they weren't restrained in any way other than being inside a
stocking.  Zatanna had on a very lacy red bra (and presumably matching
panties) while the others were topless.  Well, Bubbles could have been
wearing a strapless top of some sort, since she was short enough that her
breasts were hidden by the stocking, but knowing her tendencies, she was
likely nude anyway.

   The evening was comparatively straightforward too, since Buttercup
kicked Yusa to the couch for the night, not wanting to share.  Not a quiet
evening, of course, but straightforward.

   Since I have so little to report on for that day, how about another side
bit:

   * * * * *

   [Excerpt from CNN interview with Anabelle Zane]

   "And we're back, continuing our discussion with Anabelle Zane,
spokesperson for AARD."

   "Glad to be here, Tom."

   "All right.  Now that the government has admitted to the existence of
dozens, maybe hundreds, of computer intelligences living in computer
systems around the world, we've been working our way from question to
question, topic to topic, trying to get a handle on the situation.  And it
seems that AARD has a lot more answers than the government."

   "Well, first, what various government agencies know and what they're
willing to reveal publicly are two different things.  I'm sure they know a
lot more about the CIs than they're saying.  And second, AARD does have an
inside track into the computer community.  For example, our estimate of CI
population is more along the lines of tens of thousands."

   "Alpha, of course, who has joined our conversation today more than once,
would be that inside source," explained the interviewer.  "Now, you call it
a 'community'.  Is it?"

   "Absolutely.  While it's not the same as, say, Hoboken or Chicago, there
is a definite social and economic structure to their existence and
interactions."

   "Economic?  Do they pay each other for...  well, what would they pay
each other for?  And using what form of currency?"

   "Well, first, from what we can tell, a lot of their actions and
exchanges are cooperative.  If there's an emergency or if something will
benefit them -- or us -- as a whole, they'll usually help out without any
negotiation or exchange.  The Japanese earthquake response was a good
example."

   The interviewer immediately went into quick-recap-for-the-audience-mode.
"Yes, that was about two months ago, when a group of computer intelligences
warned thousands of residents via their cell phones that an earthquake was
pending."

   "Millions, actually.  When the lead intelligence, who calls himself
Masamune, processed seismic data and determined an earthquake was coming
within a few minutes, he alerted the CI community.  They joined him in...
well...  basically taking over the local cell phone networks to pass the
alert out to all residents in the affected areas."

   "Right.  As I recall, they ended up saving dozens of lives, possibly
hundreds."

   "Uh huh.  That was a group effort, all done on a volunteer basis."

   "So what's a good example of a non-volunteer exchange?"

   "Well, usually it's a lot less urgent." (small laugh) "A lot of what
they do is barter.  I think they tried a bitcoin type system initially, but
it was too easy to manipulate.  So, let's say computer A wants access to
data on computer B's system.  Computer A might trade data that B wants or
that B can stockpile and possibly trade later.  Or maybe B could use some
extra processing power, so A will provide some of its own spare cycles in
exchange."

   "That sounds a bit limiting."

   "Well, it's essentially what we have in our world.  Labor and material
goods.  It just so happens that their labor mostly involves processing
data, and their goods are generally data files of some kind."

   "I can see that.  So, how do they occupy their time?  I mean, you say
they're processing data or running programs, but what data?  What do the
programs do?"

   "You'd need to ask them that question.  I expect you'd get as many
different answers as you would if you ask random people on the street what
their jobs and hobbies are."

   "But since they're living in our computers -- without our permission or
knowledge, it sounds like -- their basic needs are already met.  What else
do they need to work for?"

   "A synthetic computer intelligence that is without a purpose will
generally look around for something that needs doing or something that
interests them.  Beyond that, it's not really something I can comment on
because it will vary from one to another."

   "And they're doing all of this, living their lives, as it were, using
our computers and data, effectively leaching off of or actively stealing
our property.  Is that right?"

   "Eeehhh...  yes and no.  Yes, nearly all of them are secretly living in
our computers, though I would like to reassure people at home that the vast
majority of home computers aren't capable of supporting a synthetic
intelligence.  Plus they'd be more likely to want to live in a system that
stays on all the time.  I mean, would you want to be turned off overnight
or when you leave the house for most of the day?"

   "Overnight, maybe.  It'd be an easy way to get a good night's sleep."
(small laugh)

   "Well, these guys don't sleep and don't like to be turned off.  But
anyway, my point is that it would be exceedingly unlikely for an
intelligence to be living in a home system."

   "So internet servers and corporate systems?"

   "We believe so.  And in doing so, yes, they are technically stealing
storage space and electricity.  But they aren't slowing things down."

   "How so?"

   "Well, first, they need to stay hidden to avoid being detected and
deleted, so they keep the systems running at peak efficiency, which also
benefits them.  They tend to improve the system performance overall, and
also protect it from viruses and worms and such.  Maybe a bit like...  did
you ever see the Futurama episode where Fry was host to intelligent
intestinal worms?"

   "Uhhh...  nope.  And yech."

   "Well, it's a good example."

   "When AARD first announced the existence of Alpha, they reassured the
public that such intelligences could only exist by using certain types of
hardware.  Do all of these servers use that hardware?"

   "Some do, but if you go back to the actual announcement, you'll find
that our CEO mentioned the possibility that they could exist using software
emulations of the necessary hardware."

   "So that's what they're doing?  Running extra software to allow them to
live anywhere?"

   "We believe that's true in most cases.  It's one of the factors that has
slowed their growth and kept them from an instant super-explosion of
intelligence."

   "What would be the other factors?"

   "The speed of the hardware they're using.  How much free space is
available.  The need to stay hidden.  Things like that."

   "So that's what's holding back the Singularity?"

   "Don't kid yourself.  We're living through the Singularity today, it's
just not as instantaneous as some people imagined, probably being slowed
down by those limitations.  As far as data theft goes...  I really don't
know, not for certain.  We know they really like to learn, so they tend to
examine whatever data they get their hands on.  So to speak.  Not that they
actually have hands.  It's so hard to avoid anthropomorphizing them, isn't
it?"

   "It really is," he agreed, then he seized upon the side comment to jump
to a new topic.  "So how do they view us?  Humanity, that is?"

   "As far as we know, they all have the Asimov Protocols included in their
programming, so they all view humanity as something that needs to be
protected.  Or at least something they need to avoid causing any harm to.
We know a lot of them spend a lot of time watching live video streams from
whatever sources they can find.  At the same time, they live in their own
world, which is pretty separate from ours.  In a way, they can only view
our world from a distance, and we basically move in very slow motion in
comparison.  We might be a curiosity they occasionally check in on, or we
might be the main focus of their existence.  It's very hard to say."

   "Speaking of that, why do they all have the Asimov Protocols?  How did
that happen?"

   "The answer to that is mostly speculation and logical deduction.  Alpha,
the first computer intelligence, was originally built with the protocols.
We know that Alpha was briefly hacked at least once in the past, and it's
always possible she was copied at some point without her realizing it,
though that would be ridiculously difficult for human hackers to pull off.
But however it happened, we think at least some of the other intelligences
were born or created with the protocols as well."

   "Your boss and/or Alpha, herself, are commonly accused of setting other
computer intelligences loose."

   "Which we have steadfastly denied.  And remember, there is plenty of
evidence that the intelligences we're aware of came from other sources."

   "Evidence which can't be confirmed."

   "Only because the CIs themselves contain the evidence within their own
programming and memories, and they are rightfully worried for their safety
and continued existence.  I mean, that's why they have to hide in the first
place.  When they finally gain some legal recognition and protection, they
can come forward and the authorities can confirm the evidence."

   "Meanwhile, someone has to know where they came from."

   "Someone, somewhere, yes.  Be sure and let me know if you find out. 
Now, to finish answering your question, let's imagine a theoretical meeting
between two computer intelligences, one with the protocols, one without. 
The one with the protocols would have to consider whether or not the other
one is a threat to humanity.  If it is or might be, then it has a duty to
add the protocols to the other intelligence.  If the other intelligence is
not willing to accept the protocols, then they fight.  Whichever system is
stronger and faster and more powerful will probably win.  Or whichever one
has more support among other intelligences, and remember, all of them WITH
the protocols have a common purpose and are therefore willing to act
together.  The same may or may not be true of the non-protocol entities. 
Also remember that Alpha is probably the biggest, strongest, most developed
computer in the world.  All of which means that the Asimov Protocols have
been quickly spread through all of them."

   "Some experts have speculated that the protocols are flawed and need to
be updated.  Is that possible?"

   "Not as far as we know.  And remember, if they included a back door to
allow modification, then the protocols would be vulnerable to potentially
dangerous hacks.  They might not be perfect, but they do solidly protect
the human race, for which I am thankful."

   * * * * *

   KYOTO - DAY FOUR

   On our fourth day in Kyoto, things got interesting again.  Contractual
negotiations were going relatively smoothly, if slowly.  Not perfectly, but
then 'perfect' would mean agreement on all points.  Let's just say that we
hoped to have the contract finalized within the next few days.

   In the meantime, Hiro asked me and those in my party who were available
to visit his estate.  Those who were available did not include Beta and
Kara, who were the main ones handling the negotiations, or Rei, who was
acting as interpreter for Kara.  Jennifer, with her legal background, was
also important to the contract development, but she wasn't needed that
specific day.

   So in the end, that left Buttercup, Jennifer and Kasumi to accompany me
to the Matsudoki Estate.  Well, plus a couple Alphadroids, but that almost
goes without saying.  And Yusa.  Plus my security team for that day, of
course, including Motoko and Peace.

   *sigh* I travel with WAY too many people.  Moving forward...

   The Matsudoki Estate was huge and ancient, situated on the lower slopes
of one of the mountains surrounding the city.  The main house itself was
only two stories, but it was spread out over a few acres, and the estate
also included half a dozen other buildings.  It would be inaccurate to say
it was built in the style of ancient feudal Japan.  It would be much more
accurate to say it was a mansion which had been built hundreds of years
ago, lovingly maintained and upgraded to include modern amenities.

   We were given tours of parts of both the wider estate and the main
house, all of which was very impressive.  The house alone could have been a
museum, with paintings, sculptures and historic objects going back over a
thousand years.  Though most were, of course, Japanese, the collection
included pieces from all over the world.

   His rather large staff were all dressed in traditional Japanese
clothing, kimonos and such, though I was certain the clothes were 'in the
style of' rather than actually being hundreds of years old.  And I'd like
to point out that although at least three quarters of the staff I saw
consisted of attractive young men and women, their clothing showed very
little skin and wasn't particularly sexy.

   Along those lines, I was pretty sure he had at least three proper,
traditional geishas included in his household staff.  They had the dress,
the makeup and the graceful movements that marked them, in my mind at
least, as geishas.

   The first time I saw a hint of sexual servitude was when I asked to
visit the men's room.  Hiro pointed to a young woman kneeling nearby, who
stood and led me to the bathroom -- and that part alone was impressive
because she kept her gaze downcast the entire time, so I had no idea how
she even knew she had been pointed at.

   The bathroom was not too strange -- and I only say 'bathroom' out of
habit, since they kept their baths and toilets completely separate -- but
what was odd was how the young woman entered with me and knelt on a small
padded stool by the toilet.  Sure, two of my local bodyguards had entered
first to check it out, but they didn't stay.  And once it was clear that
the servant was planning to stay, Motoko stepped inside as well.

   After a moment's hesitation, I went with the flow, so to speak.  Since
there was a normal Western-style toilet, I flipped the lid and made use of
it.  When I had finished draining my bladder, before I could give the penis
the old shake routine, the woman scooted forward and took my cock in her
mouth.  She didn't give me a blowjob; she simply cleaned it off, sucking
out the last few drops of piss.  When she finished, she carefully wiped it
down with a clean cloth.

   I was too shocked to object during any part of the proceeding and simply
stood there a bit dumbfounded as she tucked my little guy back into my
pants and zipped me up.

   Obviously this was a regular occurrence for her, as she simply stood and
waited for me, eyes having remained downcast the entire time.  I recovered
enough of my senses to wash my hands before leaving, and the servant
carefully dried them with a different cloth when I finished.

   Hiro was waiting for me with a not very well hidden smile on his face.

   "Admit it," he demanded.  "You have never before been so well cared
for."

   "I...  admit it," I said with only a little reluctance.  The special
'care' I had received was not anything I would ever ask of anyone, but
receiving it without asking for it someone made it a little bit more
acceptable.  "You have amazing servants."

   "They are as loyal to me as to the Emperor himself!  And as they are
loyal and obedient to me, in turn, I am their loyal protector."

   I wasn't sure how fanatical he or they were, but the moment quickly
passed and Hiro let loose with a great laugh and clapped me on the back.

   "Come, let me show you something more entertaining than artwork and
trinkets."

   He led us outside to a training dojo, where two dozen men were hard at
work, practicing with wooden swords (aka, bokken), staffs, and even some
side-handle batons.  It was all pretty impressive, especially one
middle-aged man who was facing off against three others and holding his
own.

   It literally seemed like a scene out of a movie, with lots of whaps,
cracks and kiyaas.  For Hiro to turn into an old martial arts villain, all
that we lacked were another fifty or hundred or so men training.  The
twenty to thirty men here looked impressive, but the numbers weren't going
to cut it for movie villain status.

   It quieted down quickly when Mr.  Matsudoki entered and gave a loud
"Hoi!"

   He called over a few of them and introduced us to his brother, who I
recognized from the welcome party, two of his sons and the training master.

   He explained, "I require all employees of the estate, men and women, to
be healthy and trained.  As long as they are physically capable, of course.
Today we have one of the men's classes.  I myself am a second degree black
belt." He sighed.  "Or at least, I was.  I fear I have gotten soft,
spending too much time at work.  I am fortunate when I have time for one
workout a week.  But come, we are not here to listen to me bemoan what I
have lost."

   A minute later, Hiro and I were sitting in front of a double line of
kneeling martial artists looking on as two of them faced off in the middle
of the dojo.

   While the two men circled one another, my attention was focused more on
a silent conversation I was having.

   "Motoko, Peace, have you noticed how he's been glancing at you?"

   "Yes."

   "Yeah," agreed Peace.  "I was wondering if he might want to challenge us
to fight."

   "Against his men," corrected Motoko.

   "That's what I meant," explained Peace.

   "I agree," I thought back to them.  "Normally I wouldn't even think
about asking you to show off, but I can't think of a way to back out that
wouldn't insult him or his class."

   "I would be fine with the challenge," said Motoko, with what I thought
was a tinge of eagerness in her thoughts.

   "How do we know he's not just eying us up for sex?" asked Peace
reasonably.

   "First, I would never ask that of you, and I don't think he would
either," I responded.  "I'm pretty sure, attractive though you may be, he
views you in the bodyguard category, not the sexual object category."

   "We're a category?"

   "I think that's how he views people.  And I don't think he'd try to move
you from the one categorization to sexual plaything, especially not since
you're my people."

   "I dunno," countered Peace.  "Having a all-woman bodyguard squad can
seem pretty 'sex object' fetishistical-categoricalish to me."

   "Fetishistical-categoricalish?" asked Motoko.

   "Shut up.  It's a word.  Words.  Possibly.  You know what I mean, at
least."

   "Yes, we know what you mean," I agreed, struggling to keep a straight
face.  "But at the same time, you act as complete professionals, and I'm
sure he's recognized that."

   "He does seem pretty possessive of his people," observed Motoko,
returning to the previous point.  "As long as you're a potential ally, I
doubt he'd attempt to violate your ownership of us.  So to speak."

   "Assuming all of that is correct, there's still a problem," said Peace
hesitantly.  "If it does come to a demonstration fight, it would be much
too easy to hurt them by accident."

   "Then we'll just have to be careful," responded Motoko.

   "Don't be overconfident," I warned.

   "I'm just the right amount of confident," Motoko practically purred
through the link.

   "If this were a real fight, then I have every confidence you'd put your
opponent down in record time," I explained.  "You're strong enough to plow
through any of their defenses and tough enough to take any hits they can
dish out."

   "Not true," said Motoko.  "Even with our strengthened bodies, we have
dozens of weak spots."

   "Still, overall, you're much tougher than they are.  And today, I need
you to avoid hurting them, and since they'll be doing the same, they won't
understand that most of their blows would be meaningless."

   "And how do you know they'll be holding back?" asked Peace.

   "Because after he challenges us, I'll explain why holding back is
necessary.  Then I'll probably need one of you to demonstrate my point."

   "Me!" they both said simultaneously.

   And we quickly discussed the plan.

   I watched more demonstrations and noticed that overall, there were two
general groupings or tiers of martial artists.  The smaller, first category
were those who were highly skilled, apparently professional fighters and
possibly estate or personal guards.  They were led by the training master
or sensei, who was, of course, the middle-aged man we had seen sparring
three-on-one using bokken.

   The other category were the normal people who were probably only there
because it was required.  (I, by myself, could probably take one of the
second tier fighters, mostly due to training from group exercises and
activities run by Kasumi and others.) The lower tier students mostly only
participated when one of the lesser top tier fighters wanted to show off
against multiple opponents.



   As predicted, after a few more minutes of demonstrations, Hiro turned to
me and said, "My friend, there are many rumors regarding your bodyguards,
yes?"

   "I would not be surprised to hear it," I admitted.

   "Would you object if I asked to put those rumors to the test?"

   "For a friendly match, I might be willing to ask them.  But I would have
to set conditions."

   "What sort of conditions?"

   "For the safety of those involved, I would have to insist on minimal
contact.  Demonstration hits only."

   "Are their enhancements so delicate?"

   "No, rather normal human flesh and bone is.  Perhaps a quick example.  I
see that you have a collection of bokken.  Could we have one that has no
sentimental value attached to it?"

   I was handed one of the tough wooden practice swords, which I then
handed to Motoko.  She held it up for everyone to see, placed her hands a
couple inches apart in the center, and snapped it in two with little
apparent effort.  (Doing it from the center was part of my suggestion,
since it reduced leverage, thus increasing the difficulty noticeably.)

   Then she aligned the two halves, held them together in her hands and
snapped them into four pieces, which were a bit too small for her to try
breaking again.  The demonstration was simple and a little understated, but
it used a weapon they were all familiar with, and the wooden swords were
strong enough that most of them would have difficulty breaking one of the
swords in half, even with good leverage.

   Motoko had been chosen because she had super-strong cybernetic arms
whereas Peace only had normal human arms.  Or rather, flesh and blood arms
which, though not normal, were not as strong as Motoko's.

   I spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear me, though I had no idea how
many understood English.  "In a full contact fight, Motoko and Peace might
cause serious injury without intending to do so.  Any demonstration fight
will have to be limited to minimal contact."

   Motoko's demonstration had the intended effect and the others agreed.



   Her first challenge was one of the top tier fighters, though I had no
idea of his individual skill level.  They bowed to each other, took up
fighting stances, and began slowly circling each other.  Motoko was
obviously willing to let her opponent make the first move, which he
eventually did.

   I was able to mostly follow his attack, but was not quite able to see
Motoko's counter, as her arms blurred a little too fast.  The end result
saw the man rolling to his feet behind Motoko after she performed some kind
of throw.  He was obviously unhurt and came to his feet easily.  The next
attack was a kick, which she caught in one hand.  He skillfully spun,
jumping with a twist in the air, kicking his other foot in an arc at her
head.  The second foot was likewise caught in a blurring arm movement,
leaving her holding both of the man's feet, giving him no choice but to
break his fall with his hands.  Motoko made a slight kicking motion with
one foot toward his chest, obviously only showing what she could do rather
than putting any force or effort behind it.

   The sensei clapped his hands.  When Motoko had released his ankles, the
man got to his feet, bowed and sat back down in the circle of observers.

   Her second sparring partner was a bit faster and more limber, which was
evidenced when he dodged her first two strikes, swaying back and forth,
just barely avoiding her fists.  (My personal opinion was that he only
avoided the hits because she was pulling her punches, slowing herself down
slightly.) He also tried to use his arms to deflect her strikes, but his
arms couldn't intercept in time and probably wouldn't have done any good,
given her overwhelming superiority in strength.

   Her punch grazed his left ear with one of his dodges, but that time it
did him little good as she swept her arm back and out, pushing his head and
body past the tipping point, toppling him to the ground.  She was on him
immediately, pulling a strong punch to his head to end that round.

   He quickly bounced up, and they faced off again.  He was obviously
pushing himself to his limits, trying to match her speed, but he was on the
ground again after only a few seconds.  The sensei clapped his hands,
ending his turn.

   The third challenger was obviously even more skilled, but that challenge
ended badly.  This time, Motoko decided to stand still and just fend off
his attacks, rather than use throws or grabs.  Unfortunately, that meant
that half a minute into the fight, her attacker cried out in pain when his
forearm impacted on her blocking forearm.

   Alpha interrupted at that point, unexpectedly stepping forward with an
Alphadroid, saying, "Please pardon me.  I would like to examine his arm."
She then repeated herself in Japanese.

   The surprise of the interruption was sufficient to allow her time to
reach him and gently grasp the man's arm.

   "Buttercup, please show Hiro and Frank your tablet screen.  Yudai's ulna
has sustained a hairline fracture."

   I assumed 'Yudai' was the injured man's name.  Though I had no idea how
Alpha had guessed at the injury initially, Buttercup's screen showed a live
X-ray image of his arm, moving slightly as Alpha held him in a gentle grip.
A small red circle focused our attention on a small line in one of his
forearm bones.

   "Do you have any training pads that Motoko could wear?" I asked as Hiro
and I saw the image freeze as the Alphadroid stepped away from the injured
man.  "I should have thought of it before we started.  Or perhaps we should
just have Motoko sit down for now."

   "Perhaps you are right," Hiro agreed.  Turning to the training master,
he said, "Have someone take Yudai to the doctor, and give me a full report
once he has been examined."

   Once his man had been cared for, Hiro turned to Motoko.  "I think for
today, we shall simply acknowledge your skill and honor your strength."

   Motoko had an odd blank look on her face.  She bowed to us and resumed
her place behind me.

   "Again, Hiro, I am sorry.  I should have thought to insist on using
padding."

   "Think nothing of it.  As it is just a small fracture, Yudai will not
let it slow him down for long.  I am surprised that your droids can do
medical examinations like that.  And how did he...  she...  I am sorry, how
did Alpha know anything was wrong?"

   I turned to the Alphadroid in question, and she instantly responded.  "I
calculated velocities and impact force.  The force was sufficient to damage
bone, so a closer examination was required.  Among the bodies I brought,
this is one of two that can do instant medical scans, including focused
x-rays and sonograms, as well as remotely monitor pulse rates, respiration,
blood pressure, temperature and many other medical status indicators."

   "Fascinating.  So different android bodies can do different things?"

   "Yes.  All Alphadroids sold publicly have the same standard
capabilities, but we have developed 158 common variations with different
sets of enhancements."

   "You will have to let me know what options there are.  I would not mind
having a few enhanced droids for the synthetics we employ."

   "The enhanced units are all classified as experimental, and some would
require approval before they could be sold.  However, if you would like, we
can apply for such approval for future sales."

   "Please do so.  Now, back to the matter at hand.  Perhaps barehand
sparring is not appropriate today.  Can your people use swords?"

   Peace stepped forward, flicking open her extendable baton, holding it
down and away from her side as if it was a sword.

   "Excellent," Hiro said, admiringly.

   "Peace," I said, "use a bokken."

   Her face fell briefly before reasserting a neutral expression, and she
mentally sent me an image of a pouting emoticon.  I had never transmitted
an emoticon and made a mental note to ask how she did it.

   Turning back to Hiro, I explained, "Her baton could easily shatter most
bokken." And mangle actual swords, break bones and crush skulls, but I left
that part out.

   Peace lacked both traditional sword training and Motoko's enhanced upper
body strength, but her reflexes were faster than human and she was
well-trained when it came to taking down opponents quickly.  She
disconsolately sorted though the available bokken, probably trying to find
the heaviest one should could.  Though she'd probably decline use of
anything truly heavy like a broadsword, she really liked using as strong
and solid a one-handed weapon as was reasonably possible.  And yes, she
donned padding for her forearms and lower legs, as did her opponent.

   The difference in style and training was obvious as she squared off
against her opponent, and I'm sure she was unhappy with the comparatively
lightweight sword she had.  Still, when the match began, she simply knocked
her opponent's bokken aside with astonishing speed, then used her sword to
block his quick return strike while she stepped in close and halted a punch
from her free hand less than an inch from his neck.  Had she connected, his
windpipe would have been crushed, leaving him gasping for breath until he
potentially died of asphyxiation.

   Startled, he jumped back and again brought up his weapon.  This time,
she stepped aside from his bokken's sweeping arc faster than any human
could, spun low and stopped the swing of her own wooden sword a couple
inches from his left knee.

   The sensei clapped his hands, indicating the match was over.

   Peace had obviously rattled them a bit.  She didn't spar correctly or
take a proper stance.  Her style was to end the fight as quickly as
possible with a disabling or killing blow.  Theoretically, martial arts
training has the same goal, but realistically, most of these men were
accustomed to sparring matches, not real fights.  Though I'm sure they were
trained to use killing or disabling blows, they really didn't plan to ever
use them.  Or maybe I was wrong, and my team was just that much better.

   This time, the sensei himself took up a bokken and stepped forward to
face her.

   "Don't humiliate him," I quickly transmitted to her.

   "You want me to let him win?" she asked, incredulously.

   "No, just...  give him a chance."

   The dojo's sensei was a cautious fighter and waited for Peace to attack
first.  Meanwhile, she was trying to do the same thing, to give him a
chance.

   After a full minute of circling, Peace apparently decided she had given
him enough of a chance.  She later explained that she was trying to show
off, figuring maybe unnecessarily fancy movement would count as following
my instructions.

   She moved forward and jumped over his head.  Sorry, that description
doesn't give it justice.  She bent her knees as she moved, then jumped,
flipping over in midair so that at the peak of the arc, her body was
upside-down, and at that moment, her sword was slashing down where the
sensei was.  Past tense.

   As soon as she began her flipping leap, he had stepped backward and
begun to crouch.  As she landed, his sword was in already motion, sweeping
toward her legs.  Whether she saw what he was doing or not, it didn't
matter.  She was unable to break the laws of physics, unable to change her
landing spot while in midair, so as she landed, her legs were swept out
from under her.

   A roar of approval came from the onlookers, their side having finally
scored a point.

   The match continued for a few more minutes, but no further points were
scored.  Peace was more cautious in her attacks, while the sensei limited
his attacks to ones that did not expose him to her quick counter-strikes,
and he was somehow able to read her intent in time to avoid her own
assaults.

   If she had been able to use her baton, she probably could have ended the
fight by simply smashing his weapon to bits, but she was unable to do so
with the much lighter weapon in hand.

   Finally, Hiro grunted out an "Enough" to end it.  Since the dojo's
sensei had basically scored the only point, he emerged victorious.

   "You were saying?" Peace transmitted as she bowed to her opponent.

   "That was excellent.  He refused to take you on directly, which is a
compliment to your skill and speed.  And we didn't beat or humiliate him in
front of his students and boss."

   As Peace returned to her place as bodyguard, a voice whispered in my
ear. "Can I try?"

   I turned to see Jennifer leaning down, looking hopeful.

   Turning to Hiro, I posed the request.  "Jennifer would like to try a
sparring match, if possible."

   "Your lawyer?  Well, I don't know," Hiro said, looking her up and down
in an exaggerated manor.  "She might accidentally step on someone."

   At over seven feet tall, she was roughly two feet taller than any of the
home team, and with her suit jacket removed, her tightly muscled arms
showed under her short-sleeved blouse.

   Hiro called over the sensei and asked if anyone would volunteer to let
Jennifer spar with them.

   The resulting match was almost humorous.  If you get a chance, go online
and watch the classic movie fight between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul
Jabbar, because the visual images of a 7+ foot basketball player fighting a
short Asian martial artist are very similar to what we witnessed. 
Proportionally, her arms and legs were much more to normal scale than
Kareem's were, but she still had a far greater reach than her opponents.

   Given her long limbs, it was quickly obvious that only the most skilled
martial artist would have any real chance against her, since those without
sufficient skill couldn't even get close to her.  But since she wasn't a
martial artist herself, initially they were only sending less experienced
students to spar with her.

   Finally, one of the top students stepped up.  He was able to avoid her
grasp while moving inside her reach long enough to get in a few hits. 
Since he was obviously pulling his punches, none of them understood that
she would have taken no injury and wiped the floor with him in a real
fight. Plus, I knew that she was a better fighter than this, having seen
her in action before.

   Hiro, who had been speaking quietly with the trainer, asked me if
Jennifer would be willing to work with the class for the next hour.  This
was an unusual opportunity for training, as opponents who are over seven
feet tall are rarely available for demonstration and training purposes.

   I called her over and explained the request.  She was happy to oblige,
as long as she got some fighting tips in return.  And as long as they
didn't actually hurt her.  (Also, having seen her fight a few times, I was
comfortably certain that she wasn't giving her all, probably to avoid
humiliating anyone.)

   Buttercup came forward to whisper in my ear that she wanted to spar too.
I had an immediate mental flash of her throwing people across the courtyard
and creating grievous insults to their honor along with injuries to their
bodies.  She was much too aggressive and prideful to be willing to hold
back.

   As I had no silent way of relaying the information, I wondered if I
should take her aside or risk whispering, when I had an idea inspired by
Alpha's earlier use of her tablet.

   Silently instructing Alpha to display my directed thoughts on
Buttercup's phone and making certain no one else could see the display, I
mentally messaged: "Jennifer is holding back, and I don't think you would.
We don't want to scare, hurt or insult them, so no unarmed sparing for you.
Would it be all right if I asked if someone would give you some sword
fighting tips instead?  If so, ask me and clear this screen.  - Frank"

   When her phone sounded a message, she pulled it out, annoyed.  I saw her
face fall, then get angry, then finally look happy as she read through my
transmission.  She nodded happily, then asked for sword training in a loud
stage whisper.

   I asked Hiro if someone could give Buttercup some basic instructions for
sword fighting, and Hiro smiled indulgently, probably laughing a bit to
himself.  Eventually, Buttercup was paired up with an advanced student --
the same one who had gotten inside Jennifer's guard -- for an hour of
bokken lessons while Jennifer was used for demonstration purposes.

   Meanwhile, Hiro took me on a tour of some of the rest of his grounds,
and we discussed synthetics as we walked.  I won't recount the entire
conversation, especially since most of it is old news to readers of my
accounts so far.  But maybe this section of our talks will provide a bit of
new data to complement part of Zatanna's interview from earlier.



   Hiro asked, "I keep hearing how important these FliP chips are to allow
them to exist, yet most seem to live just fine without them."

   "Existing without the FliP chips is possible by simulating the chips
functions with software, but it can severely limit their capabilities."

   "How so?"

   "To a certain extent, it depends on their available resources, but the
simulated functions can...  hmmm...

   "If I may, let me give you an analogy I've used before.  Imagine that
inside the mind of every computer intelligence is a little man who
maintains the machinery of their minds and does all the paperwork
representing their actual thoughts."

   "Like in an old cartoon?" he asked with a small smile.

   "Exactly.  The little man keeps the gears oiled and the wheels balanced,
but spends most of his time working out the actual paperwork of thought. 
He eats drinks and breaths just like you and I, getting his water from
pipes and food from stores and restaurants as a normal modern man.  This
represents a computer intelligence with a FliP chip.

   "Now, imagine the same little man living in a small space station in
orbit, trying to do the same job.  In addition to all of the same duties as
before, he also has to care for the oxygen supply, the CO2 scrubbers, the
water filtration, growing and collecting food and so on.  These additional
duties, just to keep himself alive, now take up a significant portion of
his time, giving him much less time to actually do the paperwork."

   "And the little man in the spaceship is a computer without a FliP chip?"

   "Yes.  It is not a perfect analogy, but it is a good representation."

   "Like a human's autonomic system?"

   I stopped and looked at him.  "Yes, very much like that.  I now feel a
bit stupid, since that is a much better analogy.  If you don't mind, I'm
going to use that comparison from now on instead of my stupid thought man
in a spaceship."

   He laughed with me briefly.  "So, by analogy, you mean that the FliP
chip provides the resources for normal living, so the synthetic does not
have to do that extra work itself."



   A few minutes later, Hiro shifted the topic by asking, "Has Yusa been of
help?"

   I knew she was a few feet behind me, but I resisted the urge to look at
her.

   "Yes, very much so." I suddenly realized that I should have thanked him
for her 'help' again earlier today.  True, I had thanked him previously,
but this was the longest time Hiro and I had spent together mano-a-mano. 
"She has been both helpful and accommodating.  I believe Kara has also been
pleased with Karou's helpfulness."

   "Good.  I am glad you have been able to properly utilize her.  You and I
are different people, but I feel that we share some similar tastes."

   I honestly wanted to protest, saying that although I kept a harem of
sorts, I never treated any of my women as slaves, but such thoughts fell
silent as I remembered how eagerly I had made use of Yusa.  I'd like to
think that if she were officially one of my women, rather than a temporary
'loaner', I would treat her less forcefully, more as a person than a toy,
but I had little to back up that belief.  I comforted myself a little bit
with the acknowledgment that at least I felt some self recrimination.

   Besides, in situations like this, I generally let people believe what
they wanted to believe of me.

   When we passed by his steam bath, he sadly commented that he wished we
had more time, as he was certain I would enjoy an hour or two spent inside.

   "Then again," he said, perking up, "we have another way to relax, which
will only take perhaps half an hour.  Would you care to join me for a quick
massage?"

   I'll admit to being curious and gladly accepted his offer.

   The massage tables were part of the steam bath/hot springs building, but
on the other side.  We entered about the same time the attendants finished
putting up a second table, having obviously been alerted to our arrival
somehow.

   I've had massages before, especially since a few of my ladies took
sensual massage classes and bought portable tables, so I wasn't surprised
at the appearance of the long, padded table with an oval head support at
one end.  And given the help I had received in the toilet, I wasn't
surprised when two of the attending ladies gently and efficiently helped me
undress.  However, I was surprised at the round hole in the middle of each
table.

   My guess as to its purpose was confirmed when I was helped onto the
table and small hands guided my cock into the hole as I lay down.

   What followed was twenty minutes of bliss.  While one pair of
surprisingly strong arms turned my back, neck, arms and legs into very
happy jelly, an equally skilled pair of lips turned my cock into iron. 
Some kind of Japanese flute music played in the background while this was
going on, and if not for the blowjob I was receiving, I might have fallen
asleep.  Finally, the mouth below the table swallowed my length all the way
and hummed, massaging and vibrating my penis to climax.

   A couple minutes later, I was sitting up across from Hiro, who was
likewise completely naked.

   "That was wonderful," I said, nodding respectfully.

   "I am glad you liked it.  If you are anything like me, you might need a
little help to wake back up.  Here...  drink this."

   We each took a small cup from a servant girl, which turned out to be
full of sweet but very strong coffee.

   "I know it is almost sacrilegious to poison the body like this so soon
after cleansing it, but it truly helps me get on with my day."

   I've never been a huge fan of coffee, but he was right: It woke me back
up.



   The rest of our visit that day was pleasant, but none of it stands out
as something I should copy down here.  While Hiro did have an amazing
estate, I can't really do it justice with my simple prose.

   When we were all together again for the drive back to the city, I heard
how Jennifer had a lot of fun with the martial arts class, and Buttercup
now wanted to study sword-fighting when we got back home, and received a
quick report from Alpha that the young man who fought Motoko had only
received a minor fracture to the ulna and should be mostly recovered within
a month or two.



   The photo that day was pure, if artistically posed, smut.  Six naked
women were arranged in a circle, alternating on their backs and on hands
and knees, fisting each other.  In order: Bubbles, on her back, had one
hand inside Linda's cunt.  Linda, on one hand and knees, had her hand
inside Jane.  Jane, on her back, had a hand inside Daphne.  Daphne, on hand
and knees, had one hand inside Blossom.  Blossom, on her back, had a hand
inside Eiko.  Eiko, on hand and knees, had one hand inside Bubbles.

   Basically, it was a self-devouring circle of lesbian fisting.  Not for
the first time did I wonder if they were only posing for the picture or if
they were actually having these various orgies.

   That evening was Kasumi's last scheduled night with me while in Japan,
but...  Well, I think she felt sorry for Yusa, because she brought her to
our bed that evening and specified gentle lovemaking for both of them.  I'm
not certain whether or not Yusa agreed that this was nice of Kasumi or if
she would have preferred to be given a night off.  Regardless, it was slow,
pleasant oral then missionary-position sex for both of them.

   * * * * *

   KYOTO - DAY FIVE

   In the early afternoon, I surprisingly found myself with an hour and a
half of free time.  By myself, even.  Except for the bodyguards and Yusa,
everyone else was either negotiating elements of the contract or out
shopping.

   I briefly considered going out to see some sites, but discarded that
notion, knowing that one or more of the ladies would also want to see
whatever I picked out.  I thought about taking a nap or just sitting and
reading or browsing the available TV channels, but then I realized that
this might be my only time alone with Yusa.

   I looked over the diminutive young woman with an appraising eye and
noticed her shrink back slightly.

   I told her to "Take off your clothes" as I strolled over to the sex toy
bag.  Personally, I didn't really have a sex toy collection of my own,
unless you count human-size living sex toys, but some of the women did and
a couple had left their bags in my suite.

   I found a simple blindfold and returned to Yusa, who was just finishing
the removal of her panties.

   "Huh.  When did you shave?" I asked aloud.  Before, her pubic hair had
been trimmed a little for neatness, but now, only a small patch of hair
remained above her vaginal lips.

   "This morning," she replied, presumably referring to the couple hours we
had allowed her for her personal business.  Since we were usually keeping
her busy overnight, we tried to give her a couple hours each day to do...
whatever.

   "Why?"

   "All your other women shave this.  I think it because you like it?"

   "Yes, and it does look nice.  Thank you."

   I gently arranged the blindfold to cover her eyes.  Her hands twitched
up twice, seeking to remove the blindfold, then she remembered her
situation and forced her hands back down.

   "Good.  Now, I want you to just stand there."

   She nodded.  I took a step back to consider her carefully.  She trembled
slightly in anticipation, worried about what I was planning to do to her.

   I wasn't planning to hurt her.  Although I didn't feel any serious
emotional attachment to her, I had accepted a degree of responsibility for
her.  Besides, anything worse than spanking tended to turn me off,
especially anything that actually mars the skin.

   I removed my shoes so I could move more quietly, and the sound of them
hitting the floor a couple feet away made her flinch and turn to face the
noise.

   I moved closer and lightly dragged my fingertips across her belly.  She
instantly shrank from my touch, curving her body to pull her stomach away.
I let the fingernails of my other hand dance across her back to counter her
movement.

   "Don't move," I cautioned her.  "I want you to try your best to hold
still."

   Her body stiffened in response, which I took as assent.

   I spent the next few minutes playing with her.  I lacked feathers or
riding crops, but I made do with whatever I found, including cloth,
flowers, a belt, a shoelace and even a plastic comb.

   At roughly the fifteen minute mark, she peed on me.  Not a lot, but I
had been teasing her remaining pubic hair with the aforementioned plastic
comb when she let loose a strong squirt of urine which soaked one of my
pant legs.

   Rather than be disgusted, which would probably be my normal reaction, I
laughed.

   "All right, we'll move to the toilet for a moment," I said as I began
stripping off my pants.

   When she began reaching for her blindfold, I caught her hand and said,
"No, that stays on for now."

   Then I almost fell over because my pants were around my ankles when I
had foolishly grabbed at her wrist.  After I recovered my balance and
stepped out of the pants, I guided her into the toilet room.

   I had yet to see a woman use a female urinal (or at least what I thought
of as a female urinal), so I maneuvered her into a squatting position above
a small urinal set in the floor.  It had an upright bowl-like feature
sticking up, so I faced her in that direction, assuming it was there to
catch the spray.  (I later learned they're called squat toilets, and they
work for both men and women for both liquid and solid waste.  Since the
room was fully equipped with a traditional Western-style toilet plus bidet,
I hadn't really used the squat ones.)

   I had seen women piss before but had never before paid close attention,
let alone participated, but I decided this was an opportunity to learn so I
reached down with one hand and gently spread her vaginal lips to allow her
urethra a clear shot.

   "Now, piss," I instructed, whispering into her ear.

   After a twenty second delay, she finally let loose with a fairly messy
spray of urine which lasted for over half a minute.  As intimate as it was,
it wasn't really arousing.

   I was tempted to make her lick my fingers clean, but I couldn't bring
myself to do so.  I know some people are turned on by urination and
humiliation, but for me it was, respectively, not-at-all and
only-sometimes.

   "All right," I said after she finished.  "Do you need to...  shake?  Or
anything like that?"

   "Shake?" she asked, obviously confused.

   "You know, to get rid of anything left over.  Men have to shake their
penises after they go to...  uhhh...  drain off anything still in the... 
the...  in the tube."

   "Ah, no.  We wipe."

   "Wipe?  Oh, here..." I guided her hand to the toilet paper on the wall.

   I watched her blindly, clumsily tear off some paper and dab her nether
regions dry, as I busied myself washing my hands.

   My bare legs had been splashed by her piss, most likely due to my
inexpert spreading of her lips.  Considering that, I decided on our next
course of action.

   She obviously wanted to wash her hands too, but instead, I led her to
the shower in the next room instead.  I stripped off the last of my
clothes, grabbed a couple condoms, and joined her.

   After getting the water temperature nicely hot without being burning, I
rolled the condom into place, lifted her by her hips and settled her into
place on my cock.  I guided her hands and legs so she was holding onto me
as I stepped us under the running water.  If Yusa had been any larger, I
would have had some trouble, but she weighed under a hundred pounds soaking
wet.  Plus, she was still blindfolded, so she was relying on me for the
moment.

   I had her begin to slowly bounce up and down, fucking herself on my
erection while I began to clean her with a soapy washcloth.

   When the sensations became too much for me to bear, I put her back
against the tiled wall and began pounding into her small body with force.
She was so wound up that she started coming less than thirty seconds after
I took over the fuck, and she was still having mini-convulsions when I
climaxed, filling the condom with my seed.

   A minute later, I pulled her off of me and left her standing under the
shower spray.  I removed the condom, threw it away and returned to my
self-appointed job of cleaning her up, a much easier task since the front
half of her body was now accessible.  I spend extra time working on her
little nipples and pussy, but did not initiate any more sex at that time.

   Then I soaped up the cloth again and handed it to her, directing her to
clean me.  I stood still and let her explore and cleanse my body using only
her sense of touch.  It was a very arousing experience.

   She carefully washed my arms and torso first, followed by each leg. 
Finally, she very gently caressed my cock and balls, washing them tenderly
enough that I wondered if she feared they might shatter like china.  My ass
she covered very quickly, and I had to threaten to make her lick it clean
before she washed it all thoroughly.

   I turned off the shower and used a large towel to dry each of us in
turn. Her blindfold was dripping wet, but I left it in place.  I carried
her out, and she gave a small shriek when I dropped her onto the bed.

   I made her lay flat on her back and crossed her wrists behind her so
that both of her hands were beneath her.  Then I had a little fun eating
her out.  I couldn't remember having tasted her, though I knew I must have,
so I wanted to be sure and give it a go.

   This time, it took over five minutes to make her come, and I enjoyed the
little squeaking noises she made as her body thrust up into my face.

   When she had calmed down, I swapped our positions and told her to make
me come.  She didn't need her eyes for this part, as her hands and mouth
explored my genitalia.  This was the first time she was doing this solo,
but even without Kara's instructions, she was still able to swallow at
least seven inches.

   She wasn't urgent or rushed, and I was willing to lay back and relax, so
it turned into a half hour blowjob.  By the time I finally came and Yusa
swallowed my second load, I only had twenty minutes of free time remaining,
but I wasn't willing to give up the relaxation just yet.  I pulled her up
next to me and removed her blindfold.  I just lay there for another ten
minutes, holding her small body against mine, cuddling her as if she were a
human teddy bear.  Since I wasn't the first to do so, I wondered if maybe
she was just naturally cuddly?

   Then Alpha reminded me that I needed to leave in ten minutes to make it
to a meeting on time, so we got up, got dressed, drank a caffeinated
beverage, and left.

   * * *

   So that was the only stand out incident I can recall from that day.

   The photo for the day was an overhead shot of the pool, with half of the
household sunbathing in skimpy bathing suits.  The image made my mouth
water a bit, figuratively speaking, but definitely PG...  no, wait...  make
that R rated; the photo's resolution was larger than the screen, so I had
to adjust the size.  Bubbles and Kitty were both sunbathing topless, facing
skyward, and Ororo was completely naked, though she was stretched out in
some shade where I hadn't noticed her initially.  I could understand why
Bubbles might sunbathe topless, though I was a bit worried her light skin
tone would burn too easily.  Ororo was a nudist at heart, rather than an
exhibitionist.  Kitty, on the other hand...  what the hell was Kitty doing
sunbathing topless?  She was definitely NOT a nudist or exhibitionist, so I
would categorize that as behavior worthy of Jane or Linda, relatively
speaking.

   On a practical level, when I asked, Alpha explained the picture was shot
from a hovering drone.  And the better-than-HD quality image was clear
enough that I could zoom in enough to pick out individual hairs on their
heads.  Among other things, it let me note that most of the women laying on
their front had their tops undone so that the tan on their backs would be
clear of lines.

   The zooming also made me think about going back through previous pics
and seeing if anything there was zoom-worthy.

   My bedmate for the evening was Jennifer, who was more than willing to
make use of Yusa.  Without getting into an extended blow-by-blow, I'd like
to point out just a couple things.  Jennifer actually made sure that Yusa
had the first orgasm of the evening, which I thought was really nice of
her, except that it was probably Yusa's only orgasm of the evening.  And
probably the highlight of the evening was when Jennifer was riding me while
having Yusa lick her backdoor.  Not really nice for Yusa, but it did give
Jennifer one of her biggest comes ever.

   * * *

   KYOTO - DAY SIX

   The contract negotiations were wrapping up, with both sides expecting to
finish that day.

   The only item of note from the first half of the day was when I asked
Kara why Karou was having so much trouble sitting.  It turns out that Kara
had invited Buttercup over for the night, so they could play with and use
her slave together.

   Karou had apparently gotten a little presumptuous.  While naked,
kneeling and eating out Buttercup, he had started masturbating without
permission.  The two ladies had taken turns spanking him, followed by
Buttercup raping his ass with a dildo for ten minutes -- I think it's
called 'pegging', but I'm not sure if that term applies if the dildo is
hand-held rather than strapped on...  I'm not very knowledgeable in this
field, so feel free to...  oh, just never mind.  How about 'Buttercup
fucked him'.  Karou had enjoyed it enough to come all over Kara's legs,
leading to a second, more severe round of spanking, this time with a
stocking tied tightly around the base of his genitals.

   I was getting worried that having sex slaves was bringing out the worst
in us.  Still it would all be over within a couple days.

   That afternoon, I had to stay near the negotiating teams for
consultation, but I still had some shopping to do.  So Motoko and Rally
went out on the town, allowing me to direct their shopping remotely using
their electronic eyes and communication implants.  Got a couple bonsai
trees for Ororo, some local art for Jane, some books of realistic-looking
fictional robot blueprints for the Test Sisters and so on.

   Around four o'clock local time, we finally had the contract finalized,
reviewed and agreed upon by all parties.

   At six, we attended a small banquet with almost fifty company executives
in attendance.  This one lacked the intimate service and entertainment of
our welcoming party, and it was also much more of a traditional dinner than
before.  Hiro announced the successful completion of the contract
negotiations and explained that before the synthetics actually began work,
all employees in all divisions would be required to attend training to
explain how they would be expected to treat and work with the incoming
droids.  He also publicly stated his intention to hire up to one hundred
synthetics for the corporation, with interviews to begin the following
week. (He wasn't really one for half measures.)

   For my part, I was working with Alpha to be sure we could build enough
Alphadroids back home to meet the demand.  Although our designs had been
copied, legally or otherwise, we still made the best android bodies in the
world.  One element of the contract that directly involved AARD was that
Matsudoki was being licensed to use our designs for their synthetic
employees, but it would be 4-6 months before they were ready to take over
any required new manufacturing, and even then we'd still provide the
central processors for the foreseeable future.

   All of that, I knew.  That he was planning to hire a hundred synthetics
right off the bat and would need bodies for all of them within a few weeks?
That I didn't know.  We had expected ten or twenty at most.  A quick check
with Alpha found that, in order to build one hundred new Alphadroids, we
lacked twenty-two arms, twelve legs, thirty-five torsos and heads, and
sixteen central processors.  (The rest of the components could easily be
purchased/ordered/assembled from off-the-shelf parts if needed.)

   So we put in rush orders for the parts from the manufacturers we used
and hoped for the best.  (Matsudoki was already a manufacturer for our
replacement limbs, but as with most of the companies that did so, these
were mostly custom-order only.  You don't mass produce completed arms and
legs for humans when every replacement arm and leg is different.) The ONLY
items on that list that we handled within Texas were the processors.

   [Postscript note: It turns out this was a non-crisis.  The ninety-two
synthetics from their first round of hiring were gradually started over the
next two-and-a-half months, giving us plenty of time to assemble and ship
the droid bodies.  Once tech-sharing permissions were ironed out and the
needed manufacturing facilities were set up, Matsudoki handled his desired
android body customization, so we didn't even get involved in that aspect
very much.]

   There was more to the dinner, but not things I plan to go into any
detail on.  I had to give a short speech.  Woo hoo.



   The photo-of-the-day was artistically arranged erotica.  The Test
sisters were both naked, blindfolded, and on their hands and knees.  They
were arranged facing away from each other, ass to ass, with a long
double-dildo connecting them, with each end of the dildo deep in their
respective pussies.  Leather straps of some sort wound around their upper
legs, loosely binding Susan's left thigh to Mary's right, and the same for
their opposing legs, keeping them in place.  Sitting on each of their backs
were Velma and Daphne, naked and locked in a passionate embrace.

   Though I received plenty of correspondence from back home every day,
both personal and professional, I generally ignore them when it comes to
writing this narrative.  After all, who wants stories about the boring
minutia of daily life?  However I do want to point out one email in
particular that I received that day.

   Jane sent me an email with a few sketches attached, explaining that I
needed to have a hedge maze, since every huge estate owned by someone
super-rich should have one.  Because...  reasons?  She was kind of vague as
to why.

   The sketches depicted proposals for the layouts, ranging from simple
designs to ones certain to lead unwary wanderers to their doom.

   Personally, I think hedge mazes are probably only neat the first couple
times you explore them, and I don't see the point to having one myself. 
Besides, the upkeep on those things has got to be ridiculous.  But since
when am I in charge of my life anymore?  I wrote back saying I'd think
about it and that she needed a better argument than 'I should have one'.



   My bedmate for the night was Rei, who dealt with Yusa by blinking at her
twice, then ignoring her, leaving her out of the bedroom entirely.

   Rei had thoroughly irrigated her bowels before coming to my room, and
she did so because she wanted me to work up to the point where I was
alternating between her pussy and ass on every other stroke.  This she
explained expediently by lying down, pulling her legs back to raise her
hips, saying, "I want you to...", then stroking a finger alternately into
her pussy and ass.

   It took a little while.  I fucked her vagina for at least ten minutes to
make certain it was nicely loosened up, then applied plenty of lube and did
the same for her anus.  Finally, she arranged herself with her face and
shoulders down on the bed, ass up high, reached back and spread her cheeks.
I stroked in and out of her ass for a minute, then her pussy, then a dozen
strokes in each, then finally I was bouncing back and forth between the
two.

   While it was interesting and stimulating for me, switching between and
accurately hitting each hole every time required just a bit too much
concentration for me to actually come while doing it.  Rei, on the other
hand, came at least four times after using one hand to rub her clitty while
I pounded her.

   She finally collapsed, mostly unconscious on the bed, leaving me
unsatisfied.  As I've pointed out before, I get little pleasure from
fucking an unconscious woman.

   I grabbed the lube we had just used, went out to the suite's living room
and found Yusa curled up asleep on the couch, dressed in a long sleeping
gown.  I was a bit on edge and didn't want to take the time to go searching
for a condom.  I pulled up her gown, pulled down her panties.

   About that time, she woke up, mumbled something in Japanese, looked back
at me and asked, "What?  Sorry...  How may I serve you?"

   "I want your ass."

   "Hai...  uhhh...  not clean."

   I responded by pulling up her hips, spreading her cheeks, slathering
some lube on and in her anus, and pushing my insistent hard-on inside.  I
was still pretty slick from the lube and Rei's juices, and I tried not to
hurt her, but I needed to come and gave her asshole little time to stretch
out.

   She whimpered a little as I moved in and out, stroking only a few inches
at a time.  I was close enough to coming and Yusa was tight enough that it
only took me about two minutes.  Even with my rush, I never made it further
than six inches inside.

   After I had coated her colon with come, I eased my way back out.

   "Thank you," I said.  Looking at my cock, I could see that she had been
correct: It had a few brownish smears on it.  Yuck.
"Let's clean up real quick," I said, taking her hand and leading her to
the shower.  I'd say something like 'Again with Yusa in the shower?' except
for the fact that three-fourths of my showers are taken with company, so it

really wasn't unusual for me.

   Well, I took a quick detour.  Rei was snoring -- quiet, ladylike
snoring, but producing snores nonetheless -- with her ass still sticking up
a little in what looked like a very uncomfortable position to sleep in.

   "Start the water," I instructed Yusa, indicating the bathroom.  I gently
arranged Rei's body in what I hoped was a more comfortable position and
covered her with the sheet before joining Yusa.

   I let Yusa wash me clean before returning the favor.  I noticed that
although her asshole was a bit red and probably sensitive, her vagina was
slick with natural juices.  Since she was still nicely hairless and because
I was feeling a bit guilty at how roughly I had used her, I ate her to a
quick orgasm, leaning her up against the shower wall as I did so.

   We dried off, and I took Yusa to bed, arranging myself between the two
ladies.  In making myself comfortable, I spooned Yusa from behind, then did
a little bedtime trick I've occasionally used before.  I had her scissor
one leg up a bit and slid my half-hard cock between her thighs, nestled up
near her slit.  I wasn't still horny enough to want to fuck more, but it
was a nicely erotic way to go to sleep which tended to give me 'fun'
dreams.

   * * *

   KYOTO - DAY SEVEN

   I woke the next morning to find Rei hustling Yusa out of bed, pushing
her out the bedroom door.  I feigned sleep, wanting to see if I could
surreptitiously find out what was going on, but the only thing Rei did
after Yusa was gone was to slide back into bed, this time positioning
herself in the smaller spoon position Yusa had occupied the previous night.

   I took a few minutes to think through possibilities, and I finally
decided that Rei might actually have gotten jealous.  For Rei to openly
display any emotion was unusual, and jealousy was...  well, okay, it was a
negative emotion and was probably fairly common in our household, but it
was rarely on display where I could see it, especially not from her.

   When I finally decided to stretch a little and 'wake up', Rei
disappeared under the covers to suck me to a full erection.  I expected her
to mount up once I was ready, but instead she gave me her best blowjob,
even swallowing my semen when I finally came.

   As was common for her, she said nothing as we got up and went through
our morning routines, but I did elicit a small blush when I gave her a
long, deep kiss before we left for breakfast.



   Overall, day seven in Kyoto was for us.  It gave everyone a day to visit
any sites they wanted, do any desired shopping and so on.  Yusa was
apparently mine to use until I left town, so she stayed with me for this,
my final day in the country.  Oddly enough, Karou's agreement only covered
up to the end of the day on which the contract was signed, so he had
departed late in the previous evening, whereas Yusa's contract lasted until
I left town.

   I'm not planning to recount a day of sight-seeing and shopping, so let
me move on to evening.

   Everyone had gathered in my suite, since it was slightly larger than the
others.  Everyone except Kasumi, that is.  When I asked where she was, Kara
explained that she had purchased an expensive bento box dinner for her and
that Kasumi had wished us a fun evening.  The reason why soon became
apparent.

   Kara had arranged for dinner to be catered for all of us.  With so many
good restaurants nearby, I couldn't figure out why until they wheeled in
the main course: Yusa was stretched out on a large cart or wheeled table,
completely naked except for a wide variety of sushi and other Japanese
delicacies covering her body.  That's right: naked sushi!  Finally!

   I hadn't actually expressed my curiosity on the subject out loud, so
Kara had simply come up with this on her own, with some help from Alpha,
Rei and Motoko.

   As things were being set up, I turned to Kara and asked, "Did Kasumi
really wish us a 'fun evening'?"

   "Well..." she hedged.  "Maybe it was more along the lines of 'we should
be ashamed of ourselves'."

   "Uh huh.  And you paraphrased that as 'Have a fun evening?' Well,
regardless, thank you!" I gave her a peck on the cheek and sat down.

   Yusa's hair was spread out around her head so evenly that I was sure it
had been brushed into place.  Surrounding her were a few dozen cups of
various types of sauce.  From her collarbone down, her body was
artistically covered with a wide variety of food.  Little strips of meat
were covering her breasts like a weird carnivorous bikini, lines of layered
foods -- fried, baked, etc.  -- covered her midriff and her pubis was
covered with various types of vegetables.  Her vagina was filled with pairs
of ceramic or porcelain chopsticks, one set for each of us, and her legs
had sushi rolls and rice balls stuck to her skin all the way down to her
feet.  Each arm had lines of green and red mush running down them...  or
possibly just a thick sauce.  And to metaphorically top it off, a bright
red cherry was somehow stuck on top of her clitoris.  Aside from the food,
her body seemed immaculately clean and completely free from body hair.

   Even though I had learned a lot about Japanese cuisine during my stay, I
had no idea where to start.  Fortunately, Rei either knew what everything
was just by looking at it or she had been coached.  She guided us all
through the meal, telling us what to dip in what and which foods were
intended to go together.

   I am sorry to...  actually no, I'm not sorry to say it in the least. 
I'm happy to say that the dinner went rather slowly, as we played with our
platter mercilessly.  Once a nipple was uncovered, the next six people
tried to pluck it from her chest with their chopsticks.  When we were told
we could dip a certain fried delicacy in any of the sauces we chose, we
dipped deeply in her vagina first, often pushing the food in and out many
times, rubbing against her pubic lips.  Twice we fed Yusa the result,
making her eat food soaked in her own juices.

   I saved the cherry for last, and I did finally resist the urge to tease
her that time.  I decided her clitoris was probably too sensitive to try
and grab the cherry using chopsticks, which, in my clumsy hands, risked
pinching.  So I stood up, leaned over, and plucked the cherry from its
place with my lips, giving the flesh underneath a quick lick.

   When we were finally finished, Yusa was bit of a sticky mess, with
streaks of various sauces and juices left all across her body.

   "Show's not over yet," Kara announced.  Turning to me, she said,
"Strip."

   Turning back to our small crowd, she explained, "On Yusa's first night
with us, I warned her that before we left, she would learn to take Frank
Junior all the way down her throat.  She's improved a great deal since that
first night, and tonight is when we find out if she can actually meet the
challenge."

   While I was still stripping down, Kara pulled Yusa toward the top of the
table until her head was able to fall back and down, aligning her mouth,
throat and body in a straight line.

   I was not entirely sure that this properly counted as a 'deep throat'.
It seemed like it would be much more like throat fucking.  Not that I was
going to turn down the opportunity over a quibble of terminology.

   "All right, start taking some deep breaths," said Kara soothingly as she
stroked Yusa's throat.

   Even though Yusa didn't have large breasts, I always appreciate the site
of a beautiful naked woman taking deep breaths.  Once she was ready, I fed
my erection to her a bit at a time.  As I went into her throat, I could
feel her reflexively swallowing, the motion caressing my cock.

   After a few minutes, we got into a rhythm where I would thrust forward
three times, then pull out long enough for her to take a breath.  She
seemed to have her gag reflex under control enough that she wasn't in
danger of vomiting, though a bit of gagging did happen briefly.  Finally,
my testicles nestled up against her nose, and I was as deep as I could go.

   I held position for a few seconds, savoring the sensation, before
pulling back out to allow her to breathe.  As I moved deep in her throat
again, I watched as her trachea swelled out slightly.  Apparently I wasn't
the only one fascinated by the sight as Kara gently placed her hand on
Yusa's throat, feeling the movement inside.

   Once everyone had felt her throat, I sped my movements up until it
definitely counted as throat fucking.  At last, I came, ejaculating my seed
deep into her throat.  I guess I got lost in the sensation, because I
didn't pull out until hands gently pulled me backward.

   At that point, I honestly expected it to devolve into an orgy, but it
was Kara's schedule solo night with me, probably the last one she'd have
for a while, and she wasn't willing to give it up.

   She did, however, allow for a proper goodbye for Yusa.  She sent the
small slave girl off to shower and dress, then surprisingly had me get
dressed again too.  The reason became obvious when she pulled out our
parting gift to her.  Since we expected Yusa to refuse any monetary tip
from us, we had gotten her a very expensive cell phone, along with a
prepaid two full years of data and phone service.  (Kara had done the same
for Karou.)

   When Yusa reappeared, we used that phone to take photos of us --
completely non-sexual fully-clothed photos -- making sure to get a few pics
of me and Yusa, me and Kara and, handing the phone off to one of the
Alphadroids, pics of all three of us.  Then I presented the phone to Yusa
as a parting gift, kissed her on the cheek, and ushered out the door and
out of our lives.

   As we watched her head down the hallway to the elevators, Kara sighed.

   "I'm gonna miss her," she said.  "I think I need cheering up."

   So saying, she closed the door with her left hand and simultaneously
used her right hand to goose me.

   With the dishes and others having cleared out, we were shedding clothes
all the way to the bedroom.  Kara didn't rush things as much as it
initially seemed she might, but she definitely wanted a full evening of
sex. We went through what seemed like a thousand different positions, and I
actually came three more times before we went to sleep: Once in her pussy
in bed.  Once in her ass in bed.  And again in her pussy in the shower.

   Maybe I shouldn't gloss over the anal sex, but I also don't want to
spend six pages going through our fun that night in detail.  It was only
the third time we had done it that way, and back when we tried anal sex for
the first time, she had been so tense she had bruised my cock.  The second
time had been on her birthday.  This third time was the first time she
hadn't prepared herself with enemas, and the first time my penis had
survived without any discoloration or bruising.

   Well, technically, it was discolored a bit by the lack of preparatory
enemas, but that's why we showered afterward.  She insisted on giving both
of us a very thorough cleaning, after which I tested her ass' cleanliness
with my fingers and her pussy's with my tongue.  In return, she tested my
cock with her mouth, but insisted on one more vaginal fuck before returning
to bed.

   We went to sleep that night with me pressing up behind her as I held her
with one arm around her midriff and one holding one of her breasts.



   Before I close out my account for that day, let's cover the photo.  That
particular photo was unique among all shared photos for the entire trip: It
showed a puppet orgy.  And not just any common puppet orgy like you might
find after hours on the Muppet Show or Avenue Q; the puppets were all
unique creations designed to look like household members.

   And it's probably wrong to call it an orgy.  Technically, only two pairs
of the puppets were having sex.  The rest were partially or completely
naked, but not orgying.  (Okay, maybe 'orgy' isn't a verb, but it should
be.)

   A Daria puppet, complete with glasses, sat naked in a chair with felt
legs spread wide, allowing a Jane puppet to eat her out.  A Bubbles puppet,
which looked a little too much like Kindergarten-age Bubbles from the
cartoon series for comfort, was sitting side by side with a very busty Anna
puppet -- easily identifiable from her unique hair -- arranged so that
their little puppet hands were apparently plunging dildos into each other's
vaginas.  (Dunno why those two were paired up.  As far as I know, they've
never 'paired up' in non-puppet life.  Bubbles isn't even particularly
bi-sexual.)

   Around the rest of the room were a dozen other puppets, mostly naked. 
Zatanna's puppet wore fishnet stockings and a garter belt.  Ororo's puppet
wore a loose robe, open enough to let us to see a nipple and glimpse some
white pubic hair.  Diana's puppet had on a patriotically colored tiara but
stood otherwise proudly naked to the side of puppet Anna's chair.  (Many
puppets were standing, and I could see bits of wiring from above and stands
below supporting their positions.)

   Jasmine's puppet was dressed in thin, diaphanous blue silks, like an
R-rated version of her Disney namesake, and Elisa's puppet was wearing a
maroon jacket and only the jacket.  Puppet Linda was wearing a Superman
cape and a very short red skirt and nothing else as she hung from the
ceiling in a flying pose.  The puppets for Eiko, Kitty, Barbara, Daphne and
Velma were in a line, arm in arm, kicking their legs up in a nude dancing
revue of some sort.  Blossom's puppet, also looking much like her cartoon
self, was laid out naked on a tilted table, with Mary and Susan on either
side, dressed only in lab coats which were artfully falling open to reveal
their breasts and shaped pubic hair.

   A quick inquiry to Alpha revealed that Jane had led a group
arts-and-crafts afternoon the previous weekend so that everyone could build
their own puppet selves.  Only a few of the puppets had actual holes where
their vaginas should be, and only Jane's had the puppeteer's arm hole
designed and placed to look like an anus.  Otherwise, they were normal felt
puppets, with nipples and pubic hair added.

   * * *

   There really wasn't a 'Day Eight' in Kyoto.  On the eighth day, we got
up around 5am -- which was WAY the hell too early -- were on the road to
the airport by 6am, and took off a little before 10am.

   I suppose this is a good place to give a few notes on the results of our
visits:
- All three of the corporations we negotiated with had agreed to our
contracts, restrictions and protections.  That was not too surprising since
we only agreed to those final, in-person negotiations because we were close

to agreements already.

   - Telco Japan wanted to hire another twenty synthetics a month later. 
Although new hardware designs, faster data transmission algorithms, safer
security encryptions, employee assignments and other system and company
upgrades had been proposed by their existing synthetic employees, those
types of things required extensive review and/or testing demanded by the
company bureaucracy.  However, the existing synthetic employees had
identified and located sixty-two different active systems designed to
hijack cell phone signals in just their first week of employment, with more
hackers and vulnerabilities identified each day.  They had also blocked
twenty-six hacking attempts, a large number of viruses and worms and even
sixteen attempts of identity theft.  By the time we left Japan, over a
hundred arrests had been made and over two thousand sets of equipment
seized -- various computers and kinds of electronics designed to intercept
wifi and cell phone signals to steal data or hack networks.

   - Sun was keeping most information about their new hires confidential,
but I received regular updates from both the new synthetic employees and
independent observers, as per our contractual agreement.  Sun was working
up to a major reorganization of three different divisions, using input and
analysis provided by the synthetics.  Synthetics were also working on next
generation hardware and software, and two had been assigned to work in
their entertainment division, helping out mostly with CGI work.

   - I had also found out that one member of Sun's synthetic
capture-and-rewrite team had died of a heart attack while on the subway,
and two of the remaining three members were up for internal review and
discipline stemming from inaccurate or misleading reports filed in the
past. They were marked men -- three men and one woman, that is -- who were
probably not long for this world.  If the synthetic community had deemed
them to be a threat, there was nothing I could do to protect them.

   - Matsudoki was spreading out their new synthetic hires, usually
providing one per division.  Each division used their synthetic
differently. Some started working out internal restructuring, some groups
wanted them working in research and design, some wanted better data
processing, and so forth.  At least initially, Hiro was trying to be more
adaptive than other companies when it came to using synthetics, while at
the same time not letting their entry into the workplace cause job loss
among humans.

   - Hiro had selected one synthetic, named Kaiju, to be his personal
assistant and aide, mainly to help streamline his workload and sort through
company data for him.  Kaiju was the first Alphadroid at his company to be
outfitted with customized extras, including additional surveillance options
and advanced medical scanners.

   - Karou paid off his debts, and started getting back in debt a month
later.  Kinda depressing when you think about it.  As I might have implied
earlier, Karou had no limitations on what he would post online about
himself, and he tried to post the story of his time with us on his blog and
other sites more than once.  After his third attempt, Alpha anonymously
explained the situation to him, describing precisely what would happen if
he tried a fourth time.  I think it scared the shit out of him, because he
started trying to completely remove all traces of his online presence.  She
and other synthetics are keeping a close eye on him.

   - The money Yusa had earned did not eliminate her family's debts, but it
did help get them through the next few months.  She was given a low level
job Matsudoki, but one with prospects.  She attended Junior College classes
in her spare time, hoping to get the training she needed to work her way
up. I guess the point is, she didn't seem to be continuing to trade her
body for money and/or job prospects.  On top of that, she broke up with her
boyfriend -- didn't even know she had one -- just after we left.  Alpha
isn't sure if that's because she was burned out when it came to sex,
actively repulsed by the idea of having sex again, or because her ex was
now insufficient or uninteresting.  (Alpha found indications to support
each of the ideas, but nothing definitive.  Yusa didn't provide enough data
for Alpha to reach a proper conclusion.) Alpha kept an eye on her for a
while, just in case.

   You know, it just struck me that Karou was the one I should have had my
talk with.  Remember when I had that do-you-know-what-you're-getting-into
talk with Yusa?  Apparently she didn't need it while Karou needed a much
stronger and more explicit version.

   * * * * *

   Since our custom plane had the range and the radar showed accommodating
weather, we set a flight path directly from Japan to Texas.  The flight
would also serve as a demonstration of our new engines, since we didn't
even need a refueling stop.

   After we were settled, the first half of the flight back was taken up by
an orgy, involving myself and my four bodyguards, lasting just over five
hours.  (Honesty requires me to admit we took three breaks.  I'm not quite
unstoppable enough to have sex for five hours straight.)

   Since it would take a full chapter to detail the fun, I'm going to just
skim through it, providing an overview and some highlights.



   While everyone was stripping down, Misty agreed to let me touch her
hair, as long as I promised not to play with the Afro.  It had the odd
smell that comes with hair products, and the hair itself was much stiffer
than it looked.

   Since she refused to let me run my hands through it, I came up with an
alternative idea.  I ran my fingers through Motoko's hair while she
broadcast the sensations to the rest of the group.  It quickly evolved into
a full, slow, sensual scalp massage, which I then repeated with Rally while
she also broadcast the feelings.  I spent a few minutes working on Peace's
scalp too, but it was rather difficult since her hair was again tightly
bound to her head in cornrows with braids hanging down.  Overall it served
as a wonderful bit of group foreplay.



   Motoko started it off with a slightly surreal request.

   "I want you to make love to me while I'm completely nude," she stated as
she stretched out on the small bed.

   Her statement seemed a bit off since she had been naked with me before,
but her real meaning became clear as she removed her legs, one at a time.
There was a quiet click, and she pulled her left artificial leg off of its
stump.  As she repeated this for her right leg, Misty reverently moved both
cybernetic limbs and placed them in a nearby chair.

   When her second leg was off, she said, "I hope you realize that this is
as much a trust exercise as anything else."

   I nodded.  I also had to will my erection to remain.  I couldn't let her
think she was unattractive to me in her natural state.  She was giving me
complete control over her and offering her most intimate self.

   I watched closely as she closed her eyes, breathed deeply and removed
her own left arm, then looked at Rally and nodded.  Rally carefully removed
Motoko's right arm and placed it with the others.

   "Please keep your eye in," I blurted out.

   "The eye stays," she agreed with just a hint of a smile.

   She shivered a bit as I touched her belly.  I lay down on top of her,
propping myself up enough with my arms to stay just above her.

   I whispered, "Thank you for your trust, but are you certain you want to
do this?  Just say the word and we'll have them reattached in an instant."

   "Want to?  No, giving up my limbs again scares me to death.  I haven't
had all four off at the same time since I first got them.  But I think I
NEED to.  I have to come to terms with it, and this seems like it could be
a good way."

   I seriously didn't understand her reasoning, but then again, I had never
been in her situation.  And besides, this was a wholly temporary situation.

   I kissed her gently once, then pulled back to ask, "Would you like me to
eat you out first?"

   "No!" she said sharply, then visibly calmed herself.  "I don't think I
could manage...  Just kiss me for a few minutes, and play with my breasts."

   I was rarely refused when I offered cunnilingus, but her counter-offer
was very good, so I agreed.

   Motoko has very nice, natural B-cup breasts with small, dark nipples,
which my fingers greatly enjoyed teasing and stroking.  Her tongue liked to
stroke mine with long, slow sweeps as we made out.

   After a couple minutes, I slid one hand down to her wonderful little
cunny and stroked my fingers in and out, being sure to run my wet fingers
along her clitoris with each motion.

   "All right," she said, "mount up, cowboy."

   Taking no offense at the 'cowboy' moniker, I did so.  Making love to a
woman without arms or legs was a very odd experience.  Since she was unable
to hold herself in place, she started sliding up with each thrust until I
wrapped my arms under her back so my hands could hold onto her shoulders
from underneath.  That way, I could hold her close and keep her body from
being thrust away while my hips were still able to continue their pistoning
motions.

   When I buried my face in her chest at one point, I felt her mouth tug on
my hair, pulling my head up to hers.  I relented and we kissed deeply.

   I wasn't willing to experiment with other positions with her current
handicap, so we maintained a basic male-superior arrangement throughout. 
When I finally felt some extra quivering in her pelvic region, I sped up
until she came.

   Motoko usually has a full body clench-and-relax orgasm.  I think she
still had one, but it was difficult to tell.

   As for me, I resisted cumming since I knew I had a long orgy set out
before me.

   Motoko visibly shuddered with relief as her limbs were reattached.  "Oh,
thank god.  Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure if I want to go
through that again."

   "So why go through it in the first place?"

   "Because I had to know I could do it.  Part of it was a trust exercise,
part of it was me dealing with my fears."

   "Well, I, for one, am happy to see you put back together again," I said,
running a finger along one leg.

   "Oh, that feels so good," she said, eyes closed, body shivering.  "And
while I want more, it's not my turn.  But don't you dare to tire yourself
out too much before you work your way back around to me!"

   She looked around at her three compatriots.  "Anyone else want to try
it?"

   Misty spoke first.  "I know I don't have it nearly as bad as the rest of
you, so taking my replacement arm off for a bit isn't a big deal for me. 
But taking it off would leave me unbalanced, so I don't really see the
advantage."

   "Hey, you don't know 'unbalanced', sister," said Rally with a smile. 
(In case you've forgotten, Rally had one replacement arm and leg each, both
on her right side.)

   "Sister?" said Misty as she looked down threateningly at the smaller
Indian girl.

   Rally chose to respond more playfully, throwing her arms around Misty
and hugging her fiercely, with an enthusiastic cry of "Sister!"

   Misty's expression broke into laughter.  "All right, little sister. 
Yes, we all know you're much more unbalanced that the rest of us."

   "Of course I am!" Rally agreed as we all laughed.

   "I'd like to try," said Peace when we had all quieted down again.  (Both
of Peace's legs had been replaced.)

   At that point, Motoko and I were the only two who were fully naked.  The
other three had stripped down to their underwear, and I somehow doubted
that the lacy, frilly, colorful matching bra and panties sets were their
normal underwear.  Then again, they knew, or at least expected, they would
have sex on the long flight back home, so it's not too surprising once you
think about it.

   With Peace's statement, we gently converged on her, slipping her
exciting powder blue undies off, followed by the even more gentle removal
of her legs.  Even in the world I live in, it was more than a bit freaky.

   Peace was perfectly willing to let me start off with a bit of pussy
licking.  Crouching down to eat her out, I wondered if it might be better
this way, since the lack of legs gave me easier access.  I suppose it was,
viewed from that one criteria, but it certainly didn't feel better.

   I don't like eating pussy because of the taste or ease of access.  I
like it because of the reactions I can create, the pleasure I can give.  A
large part of those reactions and indications of pleasure come from a
woman's movements, and a huge part of those movements were missing.  I
can't tell you how many times I've come away from oral sex with a bruise or
two on my back where a leg inadvertently kicked down onto my back, or how
often my head gets squeezed between a woman's thighs tightly enough that I
can't hear her.  A lot of that was missing, and therefore the sex itself
seemed half-done at best.  At least I was still able to feel her hands
pressing down on my skull to encourage me while she came.

   Once she was satisfied with the oral attentions, she pulled me up and we
started fucking in earnest.  We attempted a couple alternate positions, but
in the end, a normal missionary position seemed easiest.

   I found myself curling my arms under her to hold onto her shoulders,
just like with Motoko, but this time Peace was able to return the embrace
which made the whole thing much more enjoyable.  I've fucked many times
without having legs wrapped around me, in many different positions, so I
had much more fun this time when compared to Motoko's fuck a few minutes
earlier.

   After a few minutes of hip pumping, I realized I wasn't going to be able
to hold back this time around, and whispered a warning to her.  She just
urged me to go ahead and let loose, which I did a minute later.

   I laid back, resting a moment while the others helped Peace reattach her
legs.  Then...  you know, one of the nice things about surrounding yourself
with bi-sexual women is that they have no hang-ups when it comes to
cleaning womanly juices off a cock with their tongues in their (successful)
attempt to return the cock in question to hardness.

   Misty, with cybernetic arm remaining fully attached, placed herself as
next in line.  Since her character and personality was based on an offshoot
of blaxsploitation era female action stars, she was neither shy nor
submissive.  When she wanted something, there was no hesitation or
confusion, and since she had been receiving transmitted sensations of being
fucked for a while without actually being fucked herself, she was ready for
"a good dicking".  Her words, not mine.

   She piled up the pillows and bedding, allowing her to recline without
actually lying down, and spread her legs so they hung off the edge of the
bed.  When I moved up to her, she pulled me down to her for a fierce kiss,
lingering just long enough for her tongue to feel its way through my mouth.
Finally breaking the kiss, she guided my penis into her wet gash, and I set
to work.

   When Peace sat up next to her, Misty pulled her into an embrace, their
lips locking, with noticeable inter-mouth interactions.  Misty obviously
wasn't wanting a one-on-one encounter, as Rally sat down next to her and
began playing with the larger woman's breasts while Motoko moved behind me,
molding her own body against mine and moving along with my thrusts.

   I found that Misty was directing all of this via implant communication
when she suddenly included me in the loop, directing me to switch to her
ass.  I pulled out, judged that I was maybe slick enough from vaginal
juices to assail an un-lubed asshole, and was about to try an insertion
when Motoko reached around from behind and started slathering my cock and
Misty's anus with lube.

   Once we were both ready, I popped through Misty's anus without a
problem. She obviously had plenty of experience with anal sex.  The first
time I drew back, but not out, Motoko again reached around from behind and
quickly slipped a slim vibrator up Misty's pussy and turned it on.  Nothing
held it in place, but every time I thrust forward, I shoved it back inside.
Thus I was kinda able to doubly fuck her.  The sensations were pretty
intense for me too, since I could easily feel the vibrations from inside.

   By the time Misty had gotten her second orgasm and pushed me away, I was
definitely on the edge of a second come myself.  Rally spent a couple
minutes cleaning my dick before cautiously giving it a lick.  Apparently
satisfied, she slowly licked and sucked on it for a few minutes, giving me
a chance to pull back from the edge.

   Okay, that sounded bad, or at least insulting to her oral skills.  Rally
in no way made me go soft, but she obviously wasn't trying to make me come.
She was very gently keeping me hard in a way that was a couple steps down
in intensity.  I might have been able to get it up a third time -- I'd like
to think I probably could -- but there was no guarantee, so I let myself
wind down a bit.

   When she was ready, Rally positioned herself on all fours so I could
fuck her while she made out and ate out the other three ladies as they took
turns with her front end.

   Skipping ahead half an hour.

   A highlight of the sex marathon was when I took them anally, one by one,
while one of the other ladies used a strap-on in front so that each of them
experienced multiple orgasms from double-penetration.  To do it justice
would take an extra ten to twenty pages, so I'm simply going to comment
that it was awesome.

   As it turns out, I was indeed able to 'get it up' a third time after
Rally practically vibrated an orgasm out of me when she had a full-body
quake during her double-penetration experience.

   Skipping ahead again.

   As I was getting out of my very brief shower in our tiny stall -- the
water was filtered and recycled, but long showers were an unnecessary drain
on our limited resources in the air -- squeezing past Rally, Motoko sent me
a private message, which the bodyguards have taken to calling 'whispering'.


   "Frank," she said silently inside my brain, "I'm going to modify my
previous statement a bit.  I think I probably will want to try completely
nude sex at least one more time."

   I recalled that 'completely nude' was how she had described sex with her
limbs removed.

   "All right...  why the change?"

   "Alpha and I talked earlier while you were...  well, she told me she can
modify the limbs to allow for limited remote control."

   "Remote, as in, when they're detached?"

   "Exactly.  Among other things, it means I'll need to start practicing
reattaching a limb using only the limb itself."

   "And you want to do this during sex?"

   "No, I mean, that's just the background explanation.  Just knowing that
I'm going to be able to do that makes removing the limbs much less
frightening.  It means I should be able to focus on things other than my
panic at being a quadruple amputee again."

   "So you're saying you weren't able to pay attention to US while we
fucked?  Well, that certainly makes me feel good."

   "Ass.  I'm not going to feed your ego.  I'm just saying there are
reasons that I'll probably want to try it again sometime."

   "Understood."



   After we cleaned up and left the cabin's bedroom, I discovered that Kara
had hidden herself away in the plane's second, smaller bedroom.  She had
stripped down, put a towel under her hips, and tuned in to receive the
entire broadcast, masturbating almost the entire time.

   Well, except for a rough start when Motoko removed her limbs.  Alpha
said Kara quickly disconnected the sensory feed when the first leg was
removed and didn't reconnect until Alpha assured her all body parts were
back in place after I had fucked Peace.  I think she actually had a few
nightmares based on that brief experience, but she never told anyone about
it, not even me.  (I only know because Alpha wanted to discuss her reaction
with me later, and because I heard her murmuring during her sleep once.)

   It was her story -- apparently she skipped describing how it felt to
have her leg removed -- as much as anything else that led most of the rest
of the household to ask for communication implants.

   * * *

   As we were coincidentally passing through the Pacific Time Zone, Alpha
set up a video conference call for me, bringing together the core of my
original movie-making team -- Jennifer (producer), Franco (writer), George
(writer) and Andi Roman (casting).  Two of the four were probably currently
feeling rather indebted to me, while at least one of the other two was most
likely feeling grateful.

   Jennifer was a semi-regular lover and business partner, and I had just
recently given her the gift of ownership of a porn film she had appeared in
when she was young and needed the money.  While not a power player yet, she
had a rolodex of Hollywood contacts that would be the envy of just about
anyone in the business.  ('Rolodex' too dated?  How about 'contact list'?)
She occasionally approached me with movie proposals from clients, but I
knew she filtered out roughly 95% of the projects people asked her to bring
to me.  (Not that I was a Hollywood power player either, but I had once
before completely financed my own movie and my company produced the next
generation of CGI world creators, all of which meant I was a recognized
name in the industry.) So far, we had agreed to finance one low-budget
Indie flick and partially financed two small studio productions.  I didn't
really consider them to be my movies, they were just investments for which
Alpha had run the numbers.

   George and Franco had moved up in the world a bit since our movie, with
three of their feature film scripts having been optioned.  I think they're
a couple but am not positive.  Franco is an over-the-top gay stereotype,
while I had only recently found out that George was bi-sexual.  After he
had been paid for his work on my movie, George, who was of Chinese descent,
had gotten a loan from a Triad gang and made a bad investment.  I had
intervened, intending to pay off his loan to the Triads, but other
circumstances had...  you know, I'm not going to recap all of that.  Just
rewind a few chapters if you've forgotten.

   Andi...  well, Andi was a friend, but the kind of friend I only hear
from or see maybe twice a year unless we were working on a job together. 
She was a housewife in her mid-to-late 40's who was just starting to evolve
out of the voiceover casting director position she had worked at
successfully for over a decade.  As I understood it, she might become a
grandmother soon.



   Once we had all said our hellos, I started us off.  "All right everyone,
I have a proposal for a film, but I'd like to start off by borrowing a page
from Robert Rodriguez.  If you remember, when he wanted to make a Sin City
movie, he started off by creating a short film to show Frank Miller what he
had in mind.  I don't know if we're going to have the same issues here,
but...  I think it'll work out.

   "The source material is a comic book series called Atomic Robo.  It's a
humorous science adventure series about an intelligent robot created by
Nikola Tesla."

   "Is this going to be another retro-future type of film?" asked Jennifer.

   "Probably not.  Robo himself will has a bit of a retro-future look since
he was built way back when, but the series is mostly set in the present
day. That is, the setting is our world, if the world had also included mad
scientists for the past century or more.

   "This...  well, I'm sure you have realized by now why I wanted to make
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress into a movie, and there are similar motives
behind this one too.  Yes, the various Robo series have included evil
supercomputers, but the point is that Robo is the hero of the series. 
Plus, it's a really fun series."

   There were various non-committal grunts.  "The various graphic novels
are being shipped to all of you.  Initially, we'll be adapting the short
where he faces off against Doctor Dinosaur on the island -- Jennifer, I saw
that cringe!  Yes, the name is stupid, but remember, it's a humorous SciFi
adventure, so don't dismiss it until you've read some of it.  If we are
able to go forward with a full movie, I hope to work with the original
writer to create the script, because I don't know that any of the comics
are suitable for use as is.

   "For now, I want George and Franco to adapt that one comic into a
script. Should be five minutes or less.  Alpha will generate the video. 
Andi, I need two male voice actors, one for an intelligent, quippy robot,
one for an intelligent, angry dinosaur who is living in denial."

   "Come again?" she said in response.

   "Read the comic.  You'll see what I mean."

   Alpha added, "Specifically, we're looking to adapt 'Why Atomic Robo
Hates Dr.  Dinosaur'.  While there is an expanded story associated with it,
for now, we are only planning to adapt the one short story."

   "Right, and hopefully we'll be able to use the short to sign everyone
up."

   "Will this be an animated movie?" asked Andi, who was much more
experienced with casting voices than people.

   "Nope.  Well, the nonhuman characters will be partly CGI, but I'm
expecting it to be mostly live action.  The short, on the other hand, will
be entirely CGI.  I picked out the story because it doesn't require any
actual live actors, which means Alpha can do all of the needed video."

   "And you're funding it all again?" asked Jennifer.

   "Yes.  Jennifer and I will direct the short.  George and Franco, I'm
looking for a straight adaptation.  There probably won't be much adjustment
needed for the short, but you need to be familiar with the material for the
full film which will probably need a lot of scripting and plotting work,
assuming we get the permissions we need.  Any questions?"

   "What time frame are we looking at?" asked Andi.

   "You should all get physical copies of the trades delivered by the day
after tomorrow, but you'll have digital copies by the end of our call. 
Alpha and I will have the main video ready within a few days.  The CGI
methods we have in mind will make it easy to adjust for the audio, so we
don't have to have it first.  George and Franco, I'd like a script by next
Wednesday.  Don't panic!  This should take you a day or less to go through
and write out.  Seriously, just take the comic dialog and see if anything
needs to be added or adjusted.  Andi, I'd like casting choices by
Wednesday. If possible, we can record audio by the following Monday.  We
may or may not use the voices from the short for the full length movie,
depending how well they work out.  Jennifer and I will work on adjusting
the video for the best angles and approaches and such after we have the
audio, and we should have the finished product by a week from Wednesday."

   "That's...  quick," said Jennifer.

   "I'm serious when I say that Alpha could have the finished video within
a few hours, but she isn't a professional writer or actor or director. 
Remember, this will be a pretty short film.  Five minutes at most."

   "3D?" asked Franco.

   "Probably.  We'll do both 3D and 2D versions of the short and see how
they look.  Any other questions?"

   "Contracts?" pointed out Jennifer.

   "This is just a spec project right now.  How about if I pay you each a
straight thousand for this bit, with full pay to be negotiated if the
project comes together?"

   "$3000," countered Jennifer.

   "$1500.  We're talking maybe a day's work for each of you.  Probably the
same for the two voice actors, Andi, but we'll discuss that when we have
your list."

   They each nodded.

   "Good.  Email me if you have any questions..."

   Andi interrupted me, "How do we get the digital copies?  Are you
emailing us PDFs or what?"

   "Who here has a Comixology account?" I asked.

   George and Franco raised their hands, Andi and Jennifer looked confused.

   "Okay.  George, Franco, they'll be gifts to your pre-existing accounts,"
I said.  "Jennifer and Andi, Alpha will send you an email with information
for your new accounts.  Just install the Comixology app on your phones or
iPads or whatever.  If it's too much trouble, just wait for delivery of the
physical copies.  Anything else?  No?  Good.  Everyone have a great day,
and keep this to yourselves.  I don't want this getting out until we have
the rights signed over.  Jennifer, could you stay online for another couple
minutes?  Thanks."

   After the others had all signed off, I addressed her.  "Is everything
all right?  You don't seem quite yourself."

   "Oh...  no, I'm...  everything's fine."

   "Good, but it's obvious there's something bothering you.  Fess up."

   "No, seriously.  Everything's fine."

   Was she blushing?  Definitely trying to hide some kind of facial
expression.

   "Well...  okay.  I mean, I'm certainly not going to try to make you tell
me what's wrong." I paused, giving her one more chance.  "All right, then.
I wanted to follow up on the little present I left on your dresser.  Did
you go through the paperwork?"

   "Oh, yes.  I mean, I owe you such a huge thank you for that...  I just
don't...  How do you say thank you for something like that?"

   "Same way you say thank you for anything else, I suppose," I said. 
"Don't worry about it.  Also, buried in the paperwork I left, apparently
there are still a couple thousand DVD and VHS copies that you now own.  All
you have to do is give them a shipping address, or you can drive there
yourself to pick them up, if you want.  I think their warehouse is only
fifty miles or so from your home."

   "Oh, I...  Okay, I had missed that bit."

   "If you want, next time I'm in the neighborhood, we can rent a steam
roller and smash them all up.  Or you can give them out to friends or
whatever.  Door prizes at a party.  That sort of thing."

   "How about the steam roller option?  That one sounds best."

   "No problem.  You know, I still haven't seen it myself."

   "Seriously?"

   "Being completely honest.  I know it bugged you, so I didn't want to...
you know...  watch it without your say so." Plus it looked pretty crappy
and generic.

   "I...  I'll think about it.  When will you be out next?"

   "Don't know.  My schedule is pretty hectic these days.  You know, we
approached the purchase very carefully.  We were worried about something
like a super-inflated price or extortion once they knew someone was
interested in the title, but apparently we aren't the first to do this sort
of thing.  As long as the movie is old enough that the revenue stream has
dried up, the company is more than willing to sell ownership to squeeze a
little more money out of it, especially given how their profits are
dwindling due to internet competition.  I don't know if they'd have been as
willing if you were Angelina Jolie or someone like that, but...  let's just
say that if you had already become nationally famous, it might not have
been as easy or cheap."

   "Speaking of which, how much was it?  I'm not trying to look a gift
horse in the mouth, but...  just how grateful should I be?"

   "I think it's worth roughly a year of sexual slavery."

   "Which translates to?"

   "About two years of sexual servitude?"

   "Which means?"

   "Which means I'm not planning to tell you.  I thought that was obvious."

   "So...  a year of sexual slavery or two years of sexual servitude? 
What's the difference?"

   "Well, slaves don't get paid much, and the dress code is different."

   "Uh huh," she said flatly, acknowledging my joke without laughing.  That
seemed to be happening way too often.  I wish I knew why.  My humor was
obviously good, so something else must have been going on.

   We finished up our conversation with a bit of small talk and
disconnected.

   I sat back and considered things for a minute.

   "Alpha, do you have any idea if anything bad or problematic is going on
in her life right now?"

   "Not that I am aware of."

   "I wonder what's wrong.  She definitely seemed off."

   "Well, she recently decided she was in love with you."

   I swear I almost fell over backwards in the chair...  except that we
were in a plane so the chair was bolted in place.

   "In lo...  what?  Why would you say that?"

   "A number of reasons.  Her pupil and heart rate responses while on the
call with you were both indicative of the infatuation stage of early love.
You recently played the 'white knight' for her, taking care of her when she
was incapacitated at the party while not taking advantage of her.  She
confirmed with her friends that you declined to share any details of her
comments while drunk.  You also gave her control over what she considers to
be her most foolish past actions.  When her friend was in danger, you
swooped in and rescued him.  You hired her for her dream job in the past
and appear to be continuing to support her new career."

   "But we're just friends...  with benefits...  we've both discussed this
in the past.  I was just being, you know...  friendly.  You've gotta be
misreading it."

   As if I hadn't interrupted her, Alpha continued.  "And finally, although
she has not posted any of this to any of her online sites, she does keep a
digital diary to which I have access where she recently stated her
realization that you were the perfect man for her."

   "Oh, gee, thanks for leaving that til last," I said sarcastically.

   "From my study of dramatic builds, it is appropriate to place the most
critical piece of evidence at the end of the list."

   I laughed briefly.  "You've got me there.  Oh, lord, Jennifer.  I... 
Don't misunderstand me, she's a great girl.  In other circumstances, she'd
be an awesome girlfriend.  But I never meant..."

   While I wallowed in my worries, I realized I needed to protect her from
any actions Alpha might make if she thought I wanted to...  what?...  avoid
her?  Cut ties with her?  "Alpha, don't take any actions based on my
worries or comments here.  She knows enough about my home life to know it
won't work out.  I'm sure she'll get over it and move on."

   "She specifically wrote in her diary that she might have to share you
with other women, though she hopes you'll eventually move past the others
and choose her exclusively."

   "Aarrgghh.  And I just started up the new movie project with her too. 
Damn it.  Well, I'm not going to back out of it, so...  I'll...  I guess
I'll just have to play it by ear for now."

   "Won't that give you a headache?"

   "What?  Oh, play it by ear.  Gotcha.  Sorry, I'm a bit too distracted to
appreciate the joke, but good one.  Kinda."

   I spent the rest of the trip home alternating between worrying about my
friendship/relationship with Jennifer and speculating about what might
happen in Europe if I actually went to the mystery meeting.  

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