When I woke up, I was in a part of the ship I didn’t recognize. At least, that was my first thought. My vision was still so blurry that I couldn’t actually make out anything. I tried to raise my hands to rub my eyes, but my arms just wouldn’t work. They sort of flopped around a little onto my lap before simply falling back to my sides.

I was aware that I was sitting down, slumped in whatever chair I was in. There was some padding on the back of it, and I was fully clothed again. My head rolled off to one side as I stared blankly, trying my damndest to focus or figure out what was going on.

“Hello, Tilana.”

This was a new voice to me – decidedly feminine, but strangely familiar. I managed to move my head to look forward and was able to make out the blurred shadow of someone standing in front of me. “Uhh…”

She leaned forward and set her palm against my cheek. I flinched, letting slip a soft moan. It felt bizarrely good. “Don’t worry, the after-effects are still wearing off. We were watching you – it seems you enjoyed the drug, after all.” She let her hand back to her side.

Fuck, I was being watched, I thought. But wait, what’s this “we” stuff? “Who… Um…?” I struggled to make a complete sentence, but my lips felt numb and I just couldn’t quite make my body do what my mind wanted me to. Even my tongue wasn’t quite responding the way I wanted it to.

“Jerry and I were monitoring your progress with the drug. We were happy with the results.”

I was relieved that at least James wasn’t watching me. I wondered if Jerry or… This person had told him, though. “… James…?”

There was a brief pause – I saw some movement of her head, but I was still straining to focus. She offered simply, “James doesn’t know.”

A sudden realization came to me as I managed to plant my palms against the seat of the chair to push myself up a little bit. The voice had all the same tone and inflection that Jerry was always using, it was just female instead. “Uh… You, who are… Who are you…?”

“My name is Jenny.”

“Oh.” I admit, this concept of “female Jerry” felt like it was starting to get beaten over my head. Or maybe I just really wanted answers and was frustrated that I couldn’t pose the questions – I wasn’t totally sure of myself at that point. “Um… What happened?”

“You were in the video monitoring room and took the half-pill Jerry gave you. You took a little time to react to it, but once you did, you started to act kind of funny. You started laughing-“

“No, I mean…” I lifted my head off the chair a bit and let it fall back, trying to perhaps knock loose a few of those cobwebs as I straightened up in my seat, using my hands to support me. “How did I get here?”

I started to finally make out this person in front of me as she responded. “We were unable to wake you, so Jerry sent me to collect you and redress you before bringing you to the bridge.” She was about as tall as I was, and had extremely pale skin. “I have been watching you since bringing you here and monitoring you.” She wasn’t really wearing anything fancy – a silver dress that started just above her knees and ended just above her breasts, something strapless. “You don’t seem to be suffering from any negative emotions or physical sensations as of now.” In fact, everything she was wearing was silver, as I noticed her knee-high, low-heeled boots, button-up gloves that stretched to just before her elbows, and a collar. “We have no reason to believe you will experience any long-lasting effects, such as dizziness, nausea, increased heart-rate…” Even her hair was silver, which led me to believe that it was probably a wig. It was chin-length, very straight, and curled just a little bit at the ends. “… Excessive ‘jitters,’ submissive tendencies, compulsive masturbation…” Her eyes were brown, but had little flecks of silver in them. Her lips were even painted silver, and had a strange gloss to them. “… Sexual cravings, loss of memory…” Her skin was bizarrely flawless, though. In fact, it kind of looked a lot like mine – I wondered if perhaps she’d been created like I had, or at least undergone some sort of surgery. Wait a minute…

“Wait, I’m sorry, what were some of those last effects you mentioned?”

I heard Jerry’s voice from behind me. “I can take it from here, Jenny, feel free to return to your work.”

Jenny offered a simple little smile over my shoulder, then nodded. “Yes, Jerry.” With that, she walked past me in a very fluid manner, that practiced step that models always seem to have.

I moved to look behind me, but found that the chair swiveled, so I spun it around to face Jerry. Or, rather, it was just another small black dome on the wall staring at me. There was an awkward moment of silence before I moved my head slightly forward and offered an unsure, “… Hi, Jerry.”

“Hello, Tilana.”

Another awkward moment. I was sort of expecting Jerry to kind of jump in here and start explaining things. I guess he thought otherwise. “So… What am I doing here?”

“I had Jenny bring you to the bridge because I have a new job assignment for you, Tilana.”

I scratched my head. “You know, I haven’t even been here more than a few days, don’t you think it’s a little early to change my job description already?”

“Of course not, Tilana. I feel you have the necessary software skills to maintain upkeep on our crew.”

“… What?”

“I’ve been having Jenny maintain the crew here on the bridge, but she’s not terribly efficient at it, and sometimes doesn’t recognize simple diagnostic problems. I also have to invest some of my energy in having her perform these tasks, and so I would rather have someone like you carry out these duties.”

“No, no, I mean… Uh…” I looked over my shoulder. I didn’t even realize that I had been brought to the bridge, despite being told twice at that point. The bridge was fairly simple – the front of it was open to view out in front of the ship, and there was a main terminal on the same level I was at, which looked to be the top level. At the main terminal was a large chair, and thought its back was high enough that I couldn’t see past it, I assumed it was the captain’s seat. From there, two flights of stairs went down to provide access to three more terminals – one on the left and right side of the platform, then one in front of the base of the column that supported the main terminal. From this was another couple flight of stairs that led to five more terminals near the very front of the ship. All but the captain’s seat were manned by men and women dressed all in silver, though in more encapsulating outfits than Jenny’s. They looked more like actual uniforms. They didn’t even seem to notice the conversation I was having with Jerry, or even my presence. The ones at the front stared out the viewing window while idly typing at their terminals, and the others seemed focused on their screens.

I looked back to the camera. “Can’t they take care of themselves?”

“No, of course not. They are configured to only perform their designated tasks. They cannot perform any self-diagnostics.”

“Huh. So they’re robots?”

“For the most part, yes. They are designed to look human, and may display a small range of basic emotion, but they are maintained essentially as robots.”

I looked at the door that led out of the bridge. “And what about Jenny?”

“Just like the rest of the crew, though she is specially designed to be my personal assistant. I thought having a representation of myself in human form would be helpful.”

“Wait, so… The entire crew of this ship isn’t actually made up of people?”

A brief pause. “The crew that work on the bridge are all automatons, yes. Jenny has some limited functionality of her own, primarily increased ability to process thoughts and emotions. There are no humans aboard this ship except for customers.”

I shook my head slowly. “What about James?”

There was a long pause from Jerry’s end. Actually, there was total silence from Jerry’s end. I tried again, “Jerry? Is James not human?”

There was a small crackling of static followed by a brief buzz before I got a voiced reply from Jerry. “I am sorry, your query cannot be answered at this time.”

I blinked. That’s strange. “Is everything alright, Jerry?”

“Yes, Tilana.” The response was flat, as if it were the most mundane question in the world to answer.

“Um… What about my other duties?”

“I must apologize, Tilana, but you were brought on-board under slightly false pretenses.”

“What do you mean ‘slightly’ false, Jerry? Something either is true or it is not.”

As if ignoring my retort, he continued, “The software on this ship is easy enough to keep in working condition without requiring much of my power to maintain. James does everything necessary as far as the hardware is concerned, as well. We simply were screening to see if you would be right for maintaining the crew.”

“And… What exactly does that involve?”

“Your new instructions will be given to you by tomorrow morning. Please report to your room to plug in.”

0900 rolled around and I was alone at breakfast. Jerry had given me all the necessary workings for my new tasks while I was plugged in, though I was still curious to see what the work for the day would entail. My curiosity was set aside as I sat down to my bowl of slop, though.

I ate in silence, still kind of disgusted at the lack of taste with whatever it was we were being served. Or, I was being served, I guess. I suppose I hadn’t been there long enough to know whether or not James ran the same schedule every day, but he sure seemed to like the rigidity of it. As I finished, I felt a little pang of worry start to scratch at me in the back of my head.

I reported back to the main terminal between James’ and my room, still disappointed to find he wasn’t there for that, either. The microphone extended from the column and I leaned close to it. “Software engineer.”

That same flood of information flew across the screen, and as it finished, I felt that familiar smack of pain in my head. “F-----uck me!” I exclaimed, cursing at the supercomputer. I wondered if James had been right in saying I’d ever get used to it. It sure hurt like hell.

“A little present for you, Tilana.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing my head as I looked up to the end of a metal rod extending from an open panel. A collar, exactly like the one I had noticed on Jenny the previous day, was hanging from it. I felt a bit uneasy about it. “… Jerry?”

“This collar is an emergency measure in case any of the crew malfunction in a manner hazardous to your safety.”

“Come again?”

“Though unlikely, it is possible that a member of the crew may suffer from faulty programming at one time or another and lash out or otherwise behave in a manner you may not feel safe with. If this should occur, please place this collar around their neck.”

I reached out and picked it up off its hook. There was a small clasp in the back of it, but otherwise it looked pretty plain. As I turned it over, I noticed there were actually tiny pinpoint holes around the inside. “How does it work?”

“That is not important for a software engineer, Tilana.”

I rolled my eyes a little. “Does it work on people?”

There was a pause from Jerry’s end. I started to wonder what exactly would give a computer reason to think – I sort of expected instant responses to all my questions. “While it can work on people, we do not advise you use it on clients. You are monitored when interacting with any clients, and so if your safety is an issue with them, security measures will be taken.”

“What kind of security measures?”

A crackle of static, a short buzz. “I am sorry, your query cannot be answered at this time.”

I pocketed the collar. “Of course not.”

It was sort of strange exploring the rest of the ship. I was given pretty immediate access to anywhere I wanted to go, and it seemed that no matter where I did, the whole crew was in fact made up of the same kind of robots I saw on the bridge. I couldn’t believe that the entire ship was run on a basically autonomous network, controlled probably by Jerry. I was unaware an AI had been developed to be so sophisticated as to run an entire ship and, basically, a business, on its own.

Of course, it was entirely possible that even Jerry was being remotely manipulated. Or maybe that’s what James was doing. It’s not like I had ever been told what his duties as a hardware engineer on the ship were.

I spent most of the time between breakfast and dinner really just asking myself a lot of questions. The crew was easy enough to maintain that I didn’t have to think really hard when I was messing around with them. Each person had their own virtual terminal accessible via a remote that was wired into the back of their neck that rested in a pocket of theirs. All I had to do was press a button and I got a display of a keyboard and monitor to pop up that would actually respond to where I placed my fingers.

On the bridge, I spent a lot of time wondering about Jenny. I was down in the front row of terminals, working on the navigator, as I thought about her. Why did she have a collar on when none of these other crew members did? Who had she assaulted that had placed it on her, and why hadn’t she had it removed at a later date? Why was she dressed in more revealing or, at least, more provocative clothing than the rest of the crew? What was the significance that Jerry placed on her?

In the crew’s mess hall – which was a strange room to be in to begin with, I have to admit. I didn’t expect that these robots would have to eat, but it turns out they ate the same damn slop that James and I ate. Anyway, in the crew’s mess hall, after the food had been served, I was running some diagnostics on the chefs – also another strange occupation to find on the ship considering the food, I thought to myself – when I was asking questions about Jerry. Was Jerry really an AI of some sort, or was he just a computer that was controlled by someone back at a facility on Mars? Was his voice the voice of someone else? Were all these cameras linked into Jerry’s mainframe for a computer to process information, or so his controller could monitor everything that “Jerry” saw? If he was an AI, what the hell did he want?

At the client greeting desk, on one of the upper decks of the ship, I stood behind the receptionist, examining the logs for the day, wondering about myself. Why had I been pulled out of the Mars facility to work on this ship? Why couldn’t it have been just about anyone else? Was Project Gemini somehow linked to the drug on this ship, or to Jerry? Why was I lied to about my job the first day? What exactly were they screening for before I started work on the crew? Why did they wait until after I had taken the drug, was that somehow important to working on the crew?

As 1730 rolled around, I started to head towards the engineers’ mess hall, my thoughts turning to James – would he be there this time? - but I passed by an open door where I heard a lot of moaning. It was only one voice, though, and I couldn’t help but wonder what client would show up just to masturbate.

I pushed gently on the door, poking my head in to the room and looking around. Inside, I saw Jenny standing at attention, her hands at her sides, completely nude. She certainly didn’t look at all robotic without her clothes on, her body was a flawless hourglass figure. She was quiet, though, just staring straight ahead, unmoving, as far as I could tell. I cocked my head to the side, looking past Jenny’s shoulder to find a woman lying on a bed in the room, her legs spread far apart, one hand massaging her breast while the other furiously dug at her snatch.

I wasn’t really sure what to think of the scene. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would get themselves off to just staring at someone standing there, especially another female. A smile crept to my lips, almost finding the situation kind of comical in its oddity as I made my way into the room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I stepped up behind Jenny, placing my chin on her shoulder as I looked at the client.

The client’s pupils were dilated as hell, they took up nearly half her eyeball, and she seemed to not even notice my presence. She barely even seemed to be aware of what she was doing to herself, like it was all some sort of pattern ingrained into her. I glanced at Jenny – her eyes were totally blank, her expression completely neutral. I tried lifting one of her hands, and her wrist was simply limp as I brought her arm up into the air, then let it back down. As I did, I heard the woman on the bed cry out in what I figured to be orgasmic pleasure.

“I cannot imagine what’s going through your head right now…” I said as I watched her continue to fuck herself through the orgasm. She didn’t answer at all – she just kept staring at Jenny, who remained unresponsive as ever. I tilted my head to the side as I studied her, poking her shoulder gently. “… Jenny?”

She didn’t even acknowledge my existence with a look, though she replied, “Hello, Tilana. I am currently in the service of a client. Please contact me later.”

I blinked, looking between Jenny and the woman. “But you’re not doing anything.”

“That statement is false. The client has convinced herself through the effects of ZX7 that she is in fact me, and is being commanded to await orders so that she might obey them.”

I paused a moment, mulling that over. I wasn’t really sure I understood the situation. “Jenny, explain.”

With my tone being more commanding than curious, the woman on the bed bit her lip with an audibly louder moan. Jenny replied in monotone, “This client appears to fantasize about being obedient to the point that many synthetic life forms are.”

“You mean she fantasizes about being a robot?”

“While I believe that to be the specific fantasy, I imagine any form of enslavement that would wipe one’s mind would fall under the client’s acceptable parameters.”

I smiled to myself, looking at the woman again. She didn’t seem at all bothered by the conversation – if anything, she seemed to be getting off on it even more. “So is she at all aware that she’s even touching herself?”

“I do not believe so.”

“And this conversation does not interfere with her fantasy?”

“With her belief that she is me, I believe my responses are sufficiently robotic to enhance her fantasy. I believe she has also convinced herself that the pleasure she is feeling is actually a reward being generated from a third party for being obedient. Possibly you.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, pondering the concept. Wow, that drug really does fuck you up. “So my presence is actually helping the client to experience her fantasy by commanding… You to do things?”

“That sounds accurate.”

I glanced between the client and Jenny once more. A more playful smile crept to my lips. “So if I were to ask you to get on your knees in front of me?”

“As it is a submissive position, I imagine the client would greatly enjoy it.”

I laughed slightly at myself, stopping it by putting my hand to my lips. I put on a more stern face and commanded Jenny, “Kneel in front of me.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Jenny turned to face me, eyes still staring blankly as she brought herself to her knees, eye level with my crotch and only about a foot away. I cast a sidelong glance at the client, who let out a groan of approval as she rubbed her clit harder.

I put a hand on my hip, looking down at Jenny over my nose. “Who do you serve, slave?” I was kind of getting into this, now.

“I serve you, Mistress.”

“And what would you do for me?”

“Anything you ask of me, Mistress.”

The woman on the bed let out an, “Ungh… Yesss…” As she looked to orgasm again. I fought back a smile as I gazed at Jenny. I started to undo my pants, slipping them down off my hips. I paused a moment, getting an idea. “Fuck yourself for me.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Jenny obediently let her hand glide to her slit as she passed two fingers into herself. This apparently jolted the client into another orgasm as her hips raised off the bed, bucking into the air. I wondered if she was feeling a sort of double pleasure, since she believed she wasn’t even touching herself before. I wondered if the drug could actually make her feel her hands that much more intensely once she really thought she was touching herself.

I slipped my pants off past my boots, my panties quickly following. I didn’t really want to drag it out for too long, I had somewhere to be in less than 30 minutes, and really I was just seeing what I could get out of this drug.

That’s what I told myself, anyhow. As I slipped my panties off and saw Jenny kneeling in front of me, stroking herself as she stared blankly at my pussy, I felt myself flush and start to moisten. I licked my lips, nodding to Jenny. “Yes, just like that. That’s your reward for obeying your mistress.”

“Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress.” Another moan from the client.

I bit my lip, letting my own hand slide down the front of my body to my slit, a finger rubbing against my lips. I let out a soft, “Mmf,” as I watched Jenny. She really seemed to be completely devoid of any emotional programming she had, catering to the client’s interest. She was also catering to my interest, too, of course… “This is what you want, isn’t it?”

Jenny nodded slowly. “Yes, Mistress.”

I spread myself a little bit, displaying myself to Jenny. “If you are good and obedient, I will give you a taste of your mistress.”

“Yes, Mistress, I will be good and obedient.”

Another scream of pleasure from the client. The whole thing got me starting to soak myself, despite how oddly surreal it seemed. I started to slowly stroke at my clit, jolting a little bit at the first touch. “Of course you will, because you want to lap at my pussy like a good little slave does.”

“Yes, Mistress. I am a good little slave.” She definitely remained in the mindset of a robot with her tone and expression, but I was treating it like my own fantasy of simply having a slave. I was surprised how easily Jenny could fulfill both my and the client’s fantasy as my fingers started to glisten with my own juices.

The client started to buck regularly against her own hand, her moans coming as ragged breaths. I wondered how long she had been going at herself before I arrived. I remembered I had to be somewhere, as well, and frankly, I was getting horny enough that I didn’t really want to carry out this foreplay much longer, either.

“Crawl over to me.”

Jenny nodded. “Yes, Mistress.” She let her hand out of herself, putting herself to her hands and knees as she crawled over to me, her face moving back and forth as it approached my slit. She positioned herself so that her knees were actually slid between my legs, and she waited obediently, still staring straightforward into nothingness.

I let my hand out of myself, as well, placing it on the back of Jenny’s head. “Now taste your reward for being so easily obedient.”

Jenny didn’t seem to be much for teasing, either, as she buried her lips against my pussy. I let out a load moan as I leaned over her slightly, gripping her hair tightly. The client started to go into an orgasmic frenzy at the sight. I didn’t really have to tell Jenny to do anything, she just lapped at my clit and let her tongue do everything I really wanted of her. It was almost as if she already knew all my sweet spots, and she was eager to hit each one.

My breath caught in my throat at a loud moan as Jenny found just the right pattern of licking inside me up to my clit and back to that one spot. Without warning, I suddenly came all over Jenny’s face – I was probably more surprised than she was as she eagerly drank from me. The woman on the bed sounded like she was going to pass out soon, and her cumming so hard added to my own heavenly bliss as Jenny’s tongue expertly sucked all my juices from me.

When I came down, I gently let Jenny go. “Go ahead and return to your previous state before I came in, continue as you would have…”

Jenny nodded. “Yes, Mistress.” She brought herself back up to her feet and once more stood at attention in front of the client who was still fucking herself with gusto. I slowly slid my panties back up, flinching a little bit as I brushed against my lips, still quite sensitive from Jenny’s work. I brought my pants back up and quietly moved to the door.

As I closed it behind me and leaned against it, I put my palm against my forehead, taking in what had just happened. … What the fuck… was all I could think of as I headed to dinner. 1800 hours.