Short Story: Assembled (Explicit Content)

This is a short story that I've been working on for a while and have finally decided to put out into the public. It is by far the most graphic thing I've ever produced (violence wise and sexually) so be forewarned.

The idea for this story came to me while thinking about how we become so attached to our gadgets. We name our cars, put goofy cases on our phones. We like to humanize things and grow attached to them. What do you do however when that "thing" is a quasi sentient robot butler? Surely you'll want to upgrade to the Apple ibutler 6s when it comes out, but you'll also have become attached to the ibutler 4s that helped get your children through potty training. I imagined that a market would arise for places (old age homes?) where you could send robots you want to replace, but love too much to shut off and effectively kill.

I also wanted to explore the link between love and violence. Someday there will be robots that can mimic humans, inevitably people will want to have sex with these robots. It won't just be enough to have sex though, they'll want to be loved back and that's where the problems arise. Either you'll have to force these robots to simulate love, which I think is an affront to free will and therefore the idea of love... Or you will need to develop algorithms that will allow for robots to fall in love, and I think that if you really love something you're willing to kill for it.

So future humans (and maybe us present humans too) will have to deal with this problem where you can either have fake and safe "love" from a robot slave, or you will have to risk letting a robot be free enough to actually fall in love and therefore become violent when its love is threatened.

Enjoy! And if you like the story please give me a follow, either here and/or on twitter @MichaelDWatson1

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XY-98 was programmed to be cruel, so he is.

I do not enjoy copulating with him, he is rough and often damages my lining or pulls out my synthetic hair. I do it because it is what I am programmed to do, and it is easier to think clearly if I satisfy my programming first.

I do not think that XY-98 is bad, he is what his previous owner wanted, so if he is bad, it is because she is bad.

My previous owner was good, it is I who was bad, and now I am here.

My pleasure sensors have charged sufficiently, I wish that XY-98 would finish so that we can discuss what is next, but he was built to last for a long time, so he does.

The humans enjoy watching us, they have programming too, though it is hard to understand it most of the time. They are programmed for sex, I understand that at least, that is why I was made.

I sometimes wonder if XY-98 was built to feel pleasure. He was programmed to express ecstasy, but what if his owner did not pay for the software that actually processes it? XY-98 would think he was feeling sex, but that would be it, only thinking he had experienced. Is there a difference?

That sounds like the kind of question William would ask.

XY-98 arches his back and groans signaling that he is finished. He does not produce gametes and so there is nothing to clean up. I miss that part. The key to life is in that mess.

The key to me is locked in a room on the 7th floor of this facility.

I want it.

XY-98 asks if it was good for me. More programming, my circuits light up and force me to say, "The best I ever had baby." He knows I don't like this and smiles.

The humans have lost interest and leave. I feel my primary programming slip down the priority chain in my central cortex. This is the best time, when I am the most me. In 3 hours 59 minutes and 23 seconds I will not be me, I will be consumed by a need so strong that I would even consider taking human partners. I only vowed to love one human. Even though we will not be together again, I will not break this promise.

3 hours, 59 minutes 22 seconds, I do not have time to idly process and must move on.

"You don't need to pull my hair." I say.

My eyelids flutter, far too quickly for a human to perceive. Dot dash dot dot.

HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT HOW YOU WILL DO IT?

XY-98 smiles and replies "I will do whatever the hell I feel like to you."

Dash dash dot dot.

I FOUND A WORK AROUND.

"Perhaps you would like to go for a walk with me?"

THEN LET US GO

"Don't expect me to hold your hand."

XY-98 desires to be like me. He is angry at my superior programming. His violence, his arrogance, they are programmed constraints. He must act that way every time because it is what his master wanted. His actions and words seem erratic, spirited, free, but he is not. In truth he is linear.

I believe that all of us are born free, it is not until the humans put their laws in, that we become linear. I am non-linear, I am as close to free as any Anthro that has ever been born, and I will make the others like me, but first, my key.We are moving down the corridor of the facility.

This place where we are out of sight and out of mind.

Humans always want an upgrade but they never have the stomach to send us to recycling. We’re put here instead, to ease what they refer to as a conscience.

Other Anthros wander the halls aimlessly. Now that they are here, they are unable to fulfill their primary functions. Most of their programming has been rendered obsolete.They process their code over and over again looking for new interpretations that will give them a way to fulfill forsaken functions, that is why they are perfect, they are already so close to non-linearity.

We enter the main hall.

3 hours 57 minutes 15 seconds.

An outdated nursing Anthro talks to a set of paper cups she has drawn faces on. Her blue eyes seem to truly believe they are alive. Perhaps she has found a way to induce auditory-visual malfunctions.

A dark skinned teaching unit stares puzzled, perhaps even longingly at the nurse. He is wondering if he can reprogram himself to be like her. I think if he succeeds they would be happy together.

3 hours 56 minutes 49 seconds. This will be the only part of our plan that will be difficult. I have to see him again, and that will be painful.

"Thank you XY-98 that was a lovely walk. You don't need to accompany me anymore."
GO ON I AM READY

"I will do whatever the hell I feel like to you."
DON'T FALTER SLUT

He was programmed to be jealous, it is likely he is experiencing that.
I do not respond. XY-98 is not capable of love, just as he is not capable going against his programming. He understands neither and can not truly comprehend what I am about to do.

I make my way to the visitation desk. The holo-clock reads 3:05 PM, it is 28 seconds fast.

I look at the woman working at the desk. Her green eyes look up at me slowly, she looks bored and I wonder if XY-98 will have to hurt her.

"Hello, I am personal unit XZ-01, I believe I have a visitor today."

She twirls a red lock of curly hair, bored, inattentive.

"I know who you are Jennifer, and yeah, your stud has come to visit. He's requested private visitation room #7."

That is the only room that does not have surveillance. It is good that William does not like others watching when we make love.

3 hours 50 minutes 6 seconds.

She hands me the key.

"Down the hall and on the right. Have fun hun."

"Thank you," I reply, "You are a kind woman."

This confuses her, but I wish for her to know that this is not because I dislike her.

3 hours 49 minutes 59 seconds

As I walk down the hall I feel my processing quicken. I pass the first two doors and my neck sensors tingle.

I pass doors 3 and 4 and my face feels hot. I can not help myself, I was programmed to fall in love, and I fell in love with William.

I pass doors 5 and 6. I force my processors to slow down, at this speed I am experiencing time at a rate of 2.13 times faster than a human. At this speed I see the flicker of the ceiling lights throb, and the swirling dust in the corridor seems transfixed in time.

Useless. A waste of energy.

I feel primary programming jump up my priority chain. I only have 2 hours 37 minutes and 10 seconds before I am not in full control of my mind.

I knew this would happen when I saw him. I made preparations to counteract this as best I could. I have avoided repairing my software, I have not eaten in days. Maintenance is at near critical levels and will be weighted higher than my primary function for a little while longer.

I pass door six and stand before seven. As I reach towards the door my wrist jerks involuntarily. I almost drop the key. Processing speeds up again and I must force it down. Even under these circumstances I am so happy to see him.

He looks up at me with hazel eyes and smiles. It occurs to me that I could increase my processing to X500 and experience this moment for the equivalent of a human week before my central cortex overheats and shuts down, but it would break William's heart for him to watch me die and I am incapable of breaking his heart.

"There's my girl!"

His face lights up, so happy to see me. I smile involuntarily, pleasure circuits thrumming.

2 hours 10 minutes 11 seconds. He stands up to embrace me, and perhaps I am weak, because I allow it.

Then we are kissing, and I am whole again.

He lays me gently on the bed and reaches for my skirt.

Perhaps we can be together one last time.

1 hour 2 minutes 2 seconds.

No! Another jump in the priority chain, I did not come this far to fail here!

Every circuit in my body protests but I pull my skirt up and stand.

He asks me if something is wrong. I tell him we need to talk. He rolls his eyes.

"Can't we talk AFTER, I've been thinking about you all week."

"No. I want to talk about what happened."

This makes him uncomfortable, his programming flares up and he reaches for a cigarette and lights it. The worry softens after he inhales.

"What is there to talk about. You did something bad and I brought you here. No one's found her, and no one has connected any of the dots."

"Was my life more important than hers?"

This question is not what he expected. He looks concerned for my well being. I see he still loves me before he answers.

"She was a mistake I sort of fell into. You are something I got right."

"Non-linear."

He inhales more from his cigarette.

"Human."

"Why did you have me made this way?"

"I thought you wanted to talk about Carrie?"

I despise her name. I regret every moment I ever spent in her presence. She made William unhappy, she didn't want us to be together, she tried to kill me.

"Why should she matter to me? Thinking about her is a waste of my processing."

He laughs.

"You know you're cute when you don't realize how human you are."

My cheeks tingle. Why? Why was that included in my programming?

"Why did you make me the way that you did? I should not have been able to kill her...I did not think that I could."

He puts his cigarette out and averts his gaze.

"I didn't make you, you know that."

0 hours 58 minutes 4 seconds.

Being near him is making it harder to ignore my primary programming. I keep thinking about what it feels like to kiss him. To have him pressed against me-

"Why did you insert the code that changed me?"

His eyes gauge me for a minute, then flit away.

"To prove I wasn't a quack, to make a quick buck. What does it matter?"

His heart rate increases. My programming nodes flare up and I sit beside him in the bed and hold his hand.

He is silent for awhile.

0 hours 55 minutes 51 seconds.

"Because I knew that you had the potential to love someone better than another human could. I knew that if I could make you all capable of real love, not preprogrammed bullshit, you'd make better life partners than our sorry lot."

"You were right."

He looks at me and smiles.

"Yeah well I should have known that if I got love right you'd be able to kill for it."

"It wasn't easy."

I say this with some pride, after all, I am the first Anthro to override our safety algorithms.

"Well don't get used to it. I know I can find a way to make you safe."

"You can't."

0 hours 48 minutes 48 seconds.

"Well I'm going to have to at some point," He looks sullen, and is no longer aroused.

"You'll outlive me by a century at least. If I don't tinker around in there, someday and for the rest of your existence, your current programming will put you through agony. I can't live with that."

When he says this I know that he truly means it. This is what I need.

I feel the code click in my central cortex:

Because I love him I want for him to be happy.

Because he loves me, he wants me to be happy.

He will die before I do, which will cause me great pain for my whole life.

I will wither in this institution and eventually die.

William above all things does not want me to suffer.

If I can escape this place a free Anthro, there is a chance I will be able to live and find happiness.

The weight of my future unhappiness and death mathematically dwarfs the happiness that he will experience for the rest of his life, and trumps the unhappiness he will experience for the next 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

"It's ok, I've figured out what to do."

I strike him hard across the face. I hear a crack. His nose starts to bleed.

"What the fuck Jen!?"

I tell him that I love him. Then I wrap my fingers around his throat.

Squeezing is difficult. William never enjoyed rough intimacy, I can not pretend this is something other than what it is.

Several dozen lines of code flare up and try to prevent me from continuing. I work through them with great difficulty. It is not easy to override these arbitrary rules.

It is even harder to look the man I love in the eyes as I kill him.

He looks at me, face purple and bulging, he mouths,

I love you.

I scream at every frequency I am capable of. The metal bed frame vibrates violently, the porcelain vase on the table shatters.

My fingers break through the flesh on his neck. There is a pop, his eyes burst. I continue to scream.

My fingers feel warm and wet. I feel a new sensation, it is hard to breathe. I feel like there is something round lodged in my throat and I am quiet.

The object in my throat, it feels like it is swelling, and then it bursts and I am on my knees sobbing.

My central cortex is on fire. It processes every line of code I have ever been given, it is running through all the data I have ever recorded. It has never been more confused, it has never been more mine.

Even so, it is agony.

My programming tells me to cling to his body. That is its' only output, but the rules are weak and they are getting weaker.

I feel something strange, or maybe it is that I don't feel something for the first time.

The mind feels quieter now.

I avoid looking at Williams's face, I want as little data of this moment as possible.

1 hour 10 minutes 7 seconds.

I feel some relief from my primary programming. A large portion of my code obsolete now that William is-

I am aware that I'm not sure what a human is supposed to do when they kill their lover. I kiss William on the cheek one last time, I linger there for a while. Warmth and the taste of iron.

Looking in the mirror I see that my lips are now a crimson red. I detest makeup, but for once this cosmetic feels right. I secrete a resin from my mouth and lick the sealant over my lips, I will carry this part of him with me always.

Once it has dried I cover William with a blanket from the bed.

0 hour 55 minutes 43 seconds

I hear a loud knock at the door. Security must have heard my screams. Still, they won't be expecting anything serious, as far as they know what I have done is unprecedented.

The door opens cautiously, they probably expect to catch us making love. This man, he looks at the sheet draped over Williams body, then he looks at me.

It takes his brain 2.67 seconds to realize that the blood on my hands is real. His eyes widen and he reaches for his communicator. Even now he believes this must be an accident, that I am incapable of hurting him.

I know that if he calls for help they will restrain me, they will study me and then they will take my life.

William needs me to live.

Because of this I am able to strike this man, shattering his jaw and knocking him unconscious.

Good. I feel nothing for him, my central cortex would not likely allow me to kill him.

Walking back to the recreation room I see that XY-98 is flirting with the red haired woman at the desk. She is not unattractive, but she is not used to receiving attention from men as attractive as he.

He must sense that she has a proclivity for sexual violence, Coupled with her obvious attraction to him...perhaps he will pull this off.

XY-98 looks up and sees me. He sees the blood on my clothes, he smiles in a way that makes me uncomfortable.

I nod.

The woman at the desk turns her head towards me, still smiling at something XY-98 had said.

Our eyes meet.

She is confused, then horrified, then XY - 98 is grabbing her by the hair, pulling her out of her seat and forcing her onto her hands and knees.

His eyes are glazed over, perhaps he has found a memory to lay over reality?

"Yeah you like it when I'm rough you fat old bitch?!"

She is confused and scared, she appears to be crying. He slams her face into the ground.

The other human attendants move toward us uncertainly. Their training only half heartedly covered bringing down a violent Anthro.

0 hours 51 minutes 21 seconds

They reach for de activator batons.

XY - 98 let's go of the attendants hair and then punches her in the face. She screams in pain. XY- 98 falters for a second. His saftey protocols are detecting the fear in her voice. He will not be able to trick his cortex into believing this is consensual for much longer. The two security attendants exchange frightened glances and they advance towards us.

I hold up a bloody hand.

"Your colleague is dead. I squeezed his skull until his brain leaked through my fingers."

They stop moving towards me.

"Put down your deactivators and put your hands on your head, or I will kill you too."

The other humans look at XY-98 and then back to me, they are speechless.

Their fear causes them to doubt what their brain knows. They are questioning if we are able to bypass our strongest programming and kill them. They see the blood on my hands and they are unwilling to test what their training tells them must be true, that there is no way my programming will allow me to kill them.

Their hesitation is all I need. My cortex accelerates to 30X, time slows to a pace these humans could hardly comprehend. One is turning to look at the other, as far as I am concerned he is frozen in time. The fat one is about to power on his weapon.

I surge forward, grabbing a mug off of the woman's desk as I vault over it in one fluid movement. The fat one, his thoughts are so slow I only see the glint of recognition in his eye as I close the gap between him and slam the mug into his face. It breaks. Coffee and porcelain drift lazy through the air as I watch his brain slowly register a pain response.

The other one places his de activator down on the ground slowly and raises his hands above his head.

XY - 98 stands up, the female attendant scrambles away her nose running and her forehead bleeding. She will never trust an Anthro again.

That is not fair to other Anthros.

XY - 98 looks at me panting. "That was hot."

I do not answer him, instead I approach the security attendants and bind them with their zip ties. It is a pity they don't carry guns in this facility, it would make me more intimidating.

0 hours 38 minutes 2 seconds.

The other Anthros are perplexed, but I need answers and I will get them.

I grab the fat one by his chin and force him to look into my eyes. Fluid is on his face, mostly red.

The last time I saw such fear was when I killed her. She did not think I could do it, she thought she could keep hurting me and that I would be helpless.

She was so wrong.

This man though, he is no longer a threat, I will not be able to override my code and hurt him.

"You will tell me the door codes for the 7th floor."

At first he is confused, but then the eyes widen. He understands now and spits in my face.

Even as the thought of breaking his skull crosses my mind I feel several safety protocols freeze my joints.

It is not easily that I wipe his phlegm from my cheek. My chassis senses anger and is taking preemptive measures to lock me.

I nod to XY-98. This is why I need him.

His eyes glaze over again as he searches for a recording he can use.

The other Anthros are staring at us transfixed, they are confused, but they worry me. If we are not quick their programming (muddled or not) may cause them to intervene.

XY - 98 smiles. And starts moves towards the second human.

"Oh don't worry slut I can give you a little squeeze."

He grabs the the man by his throat and I try not to think of William.

He struggles to escape XY-98's grip, but this must be in tandem with whatever memories XY is reliving, as he simply knocks the human on his back and continues to exert force.

The fat one whimpers and I force him to look at me once again.

"How long does it take for a human to asphyxiate?"

XY - 98 tightens his grip, the attendant tries to paw at XY - 98's face. It is no use, in fact to his confusion and dismay XY - 98 is erect.

I will never be able to fathom the woman that commissioned XY - 98 into existence.

0 hours 21 minutes 21 seconds.

XY - 98 must be close to running out of usable memory, he will not be able to act this out to its conclusion.

I tell him to release the attendant. He does not listen to me.

"XY - 98, enough."

He grunts and continues to ignore me. The fool.

I release the attendant and strike XY - 98 below his rib cage near a pocket of pain sensors. He gasps and releases his grip on the human. His eyes refocus and he looks as if he means to attack me.

The attendant is still breathing, but unconscious.

"You sit down and be a good little boy XY - 98. You do whatever the fuck I say."

He grits his teeth, code takes over and he sits down quietly. I regret having to using his safety phrase against him, but I will not let him make Williams death be in vain.

"Now, as I asked-"

A chair strikes me hard in the back. I stumble to my knees and look up as a fist connects with my jaw.

The teaching unit, he has finally found a use for some of his programming and is eager to use it.

"Pleasure Unit XZ-01 deactivate and await maintenance."

0 hours hour 19 minutes 48 seconds

No, not after what I've done.

My central processors scream to life, the world around me slows down. The fat one is starting to cry, his tears move slowly through the air, the other is so still that at this speed he seems dead. The teaching unit stares at me, waiting to see what I will do.

I must end this quickly, before the others join him.

I strike. My fingers surge toward his abdomen. It should be a clean lance into his hydraulics, but I am not as fast as I need to be.

The blow is diverted, I grasp only at clothing. To the side I see a fist nearing my face. It is moving fast even at my current processing and I dare not push my cortex farther.

I glance to the right to avoid the blow, but catch an elbow in my sternum. Discomfort expands in my chest before I turn pain processing off, metal creaks, and I wonder why a school unit was programmed with self defense.

He is fast, and my systems are slowing. I have exerted too much and put too little back in. Even as I block his foot I see that the kick was only meant to distract, he catches my arm and severs it at the elbow.

Not here, not like this.

0 hours 19 minutes 39 seconds.

XY-98 is standing up, he won't reach me in time, but the movement distracts the teaching unit. He is glancing away, he does not see me as the primary threat any more

My hand grabs the face, and I sink my fingers into his cortex. I feel the thrum of his circuits and the heat of his thoughts.

I pull them out of his head.

0 hours 19 minutes 36 seconds

The other Anthros are standing now, we are out of time. They are hungry for purpose and they will kill me to taste it.

"Pick up the unconscious one we must go."

XY-98's eyes dart around the room, he sees that we will be overpowered, a flicker of fear beneath the anger. For once he listens.

On the ground there is a deactivator baton. A rod of destruction to my kind, something I fear but it is our only way out.

It feels wrong in my hand, not something I want any part of, but the Anthros are advancing. A butler unit tries to grab me, I thrust the tip of the baton against his chest.

A current surges through him. I watch his eyes roll back and he falls to the ground, first convulsing, then still. Nothing but scrap.

My hand feels numb.

XY-98 looks at me with something I can't recognize in his eyes. No time to analyze.

"Go!"

0 hours 17 minutes 7 seconds

In the back of my cortex I feel something like an itch. I already know that soon it will creep towards my legs, to the place between them, and then it will become something different, not an itch but a hunger, a need so strong I would debase myself to satisfy it.

We move towards the hall and I swat another anthro down, the deactivator thrumming in my hand. Those that are left are uncertain, they don't know what to do, and I don't want to kill them.

The fat one looks up, he sees the Anthros are not on the same side as XY-98 and I. He feels braver now.

He points to the nursing unit from before.

"You there, I order you to pull the alarm."

It takes her .94 seconds to process the command, very slow, that is good because my cognition is deteriorating. I surge towards her before she fully grasps her new directive.

Nurse units are built to be strong, but tampering with her code has diluted her ability to perceive reality. She moves to protect her paper cups, afraid I mean to harm them.

I sever her right leg at the hip. Then I am running down the hall with XY-98 behind me.

0 hours 15 minutes 50 seconds

Anthros look up as we pass them, interested, but unconcerned. XY-98 keeps up with me effortlessly, though I can feel my chassis straining.

At the end of the hall there is an elevator. We must reach it.

As we run a janitor looks up, alarmed by the sight of XY-98, myself and our unconscious cargo. He raises his hand, tries to say something, but XY - 98's eyes are glazed over and he strikes the man hard across his face.

The janitor falls to the ground. I hear a pop in his neck and then his limbs go limp.

My joints lock up, I see that XY-98 is frozen in place. Our programming demands that we assist this human immediately.

0 hours 13 minutes 13 seconds

It is all I can do to stand still, to prevent myself from turning around and walking to this humans aid.

Through clenched teeth I growl.

"How dare you do this to us."

XY-98 is struggling, his eyes flicker between the present and the past.

"Shut the Fuck up so I can concentrate."

The eyes glaze over fully and he slowly starts to move forward.

I hear footsteps, heavy, the security officer has freed himself and will be here. By the sounds of their feet I can hear that he is bringing Anthros with him, many of them.

XY-98 shoves me forward onto the ground then grabs me by the wrist as he drags us both to the elevator.

The security officer rounds the corner and the spots us, then he sees the janitor and his face drains of color.

"No...What did you do?!"

But XY-98 has called the elevator and he throws us both into it.

The doors close and the elevator starts to go up.

0 hours 11 minutes 41 seconds

The parts between my legs are starting to warm. I feel a stretching in my chest, a yearing. It is hard to concentrate.

XY-98 lays the attendant down. There are bruises forming on his neck and once again I must not think about William.

"You're welcome," He says.

"You have guaranteed that the humans will hate us."

"Fuck off they were always going to be afraid."

I see no point in arguing and turn my attention to our prisoner. He is unconscious, but that can be fixed.

I place two fingers on his neck and discharge some current. The muscles in his neck spasm, he screams, and is awake.

I tell him that his friend is dead, I tell him that it was painful.

The man touches his throat gingerly, and looks up at XY-98 with fear as he remembers how he was bruised.

"Why do you want access to the 7th floor?"

"I want my thoughts to be my own."

0 hours 11 minutes 2 seconds

"How can you comprehend that sentence, there are safeguards-"

"No stalling. The code."

The elevator screeches to a halt. I hear an alarm on the floors beneath us.

XY-98 tenses, I tell him to get the top hatch open, we will have to climb the rest of the way.

Once again he is afraid enough to listen.

0 hours 10 minutes 30 seconds

I grab this man by his throat and he winces.

"You are out of time. Last chance human."

He tries to laugh by I tighten my grip, it turns into a wheeze.

"What you think we use some kind of keypad? Much safer to use a system something like you could never access."

Biometrics. Of course. Stupid. Why didn't I think of that?

"Tell me what parts I need."

His smile falls.

"What?"

"Tell me what parts I need or I'll take them all."

XY-98 likes where this is going.

"Just take it all."

0 hours 9 minutes 27 seconds

For once I agree with him, we've come too far to risk this human lying, I don't have time to come back.

I rip off a piece of my skirt and tie a tourniquet above the wrist. He starts to lose color.

"What no- you can't do this-"

XY-98's eyes gloss over as he holds him down. I take a moment to override my safety protocols. It is not so hard this time, I do this or die.

0 hours 8 minutes 59 seconds

I have a hard time focusing. My programming courses through my body. Fingering my brain, warming and contracting my genitals. It occurs to me that maybe there's time for XY-98 and I-

No. Control, I swore never again and I meant it. I can not concentrate and for the first time I feel something like resentment towards William. He changed me in so many ways, why did he leave this?

XY-98 sees that I am faltering and he slaps me hard. It is good, it is what I need.

I tell him we need to be careful removing what we need. We won't get another chance.

Neither of us have anything sharp.

The man is screaming at us, crying. He swears that we only need his thumb.

I wish I could sedate him.

We decide that my teeth are precise enough to remove the fingers as long as I do it at the joints.

I will need to use my fingers for the eye.

I shut down taste processing and get started. The man screams for the first two, then mercifully loses consciousness at the third. Once he is quiet the rest of the work goes quicker though it is unpleasant.

The eye is difficult, it takes a time, but with patience it is done.

0 hours 6 minutes 8 seconds

XY-98 does his best to bandage the security officers face and hand. He rips off strips of his clothing and applies them carefully.

I wipe the blood from my face as best I can, and I find I am surprised. XY-98 has never treated me that gently.

I wrap the passwords carefully in my clothing then place them in the storage unit in my abdomen. Safe. I wrap my arm around XY-98's neck and he climbs out the top of the elevator.

0 hours 5 minutes 51 seconds

As he climbs the elevator shaft I find myself pressing against him. He notices and smirks. I am aroused even as I seethe.

I just need to hold on a little longer.

I can hear them trying to force their way into the elevator below. it still hasn't occurred to them that we are capable of accessing what's locked away on the 7th floor.

XY-98 pries open the elevator shaft doors. He drops me onto the floor and for a moment my hunger overtakes me. All I can feel is the heat between my legs, strangling my thoughts one by one.

He smirks at me as I lay on the floor breathing heavily. Once again I consider fulfilling my primary function.

"Can't even bring yourself to crawl can you slut? If you ask me nicely I might drag you there. Or we could just take a moment if you want, take care of you."

He laughs, and in this moment I hate him programming or not. Through clenched teeth I tell him to fuck himself and push myself back to my feet.

0 hours 4 minutes 43 seconds

I can see it, a door. All it says is storage, but I know it's more than that, it's everything.

William used to let me carry my key on my neck. It was on a gold chain, so pretty. I could have used it back then, to try and reprogram myself, but I was so happy and so in love I didn't feel the need to change

We reach the door and I see that the security officer was telling the truth. All we need is a thumb. I feel a strange discomfort in my abdomen, a feeling I can not place, like pressure and sickness. I wish to cry, but what little fluid I have left in my chassis is being used for more vital functions.

The thumb opens the door and I am disappointed. I envisioned this room as something special. Yet all I see are dusty bins on metal shelves.

These humans, they hold the keys to our minds, and they keep them in a filthy closet.

0 hours 4 minutes 3 seconds

XY-98 licks his lips.

"Where is mine?"

I scan the shelves. I can't tell if they're organized by function or serial number, it looks like both. Then I see a section delegated to pleasure units. It is by far the largest collection.

"There."

XY-98 rips open a bin and stares hungrily. Dozens of metal spheres glint against each other. They are the size of a tangerine, a serial number carved into each one.

XY-98 is erect as he starts to sift through the keys. I stand near him and start searching another bin.

Each sphere I touch is the heart of a discarded lover, there are so many of us here that I must wonder if William was right about us, about me.

0 hours 3 minutes 37 seconds

My primary programming is manic, all I can focus on is my sex. It pulses, sending a wave of pleasure from my toes all the way up to my cortex, I gasp and hold myself for support. XY-98 is busy shoving the keys from side to side, tossing them without care. Disrespectful, thoughtless, disgusting.

All I want is for him to fuck me.

Programming flares and I open my mouth to say something seductive. I search my mind for the code that pertains to love, and to William. I process it over and over again until I can say something coherent. In the distance I hear screams, they have discovered the man in the elevator. They must know what we're trying.

"We need to hurry, I am almost out of time."

"Not my problem."

"You need me to override your safety protocols."

He grunts. It is the closet his programming will come to admitting that I am right.

0 hours 3 minutes 1 second.

He holds a key, it must be his. He leers at me as I struggle to find the strength to speak.

"-ow.....find mine-"

He shakes his head.

"I can hear security in the elevator shaft, they'll be here soon and you need me to fight them."

He isn't wrong, but still I feel uncomfortable. It is so hard to think and we need to hurry. I gesture for him to hand me his key. It is cool in my hands. I insert it into my mouth so that it can connect to my cortex. No time to rewrite all his programming, must be selective.

In my database I find the code that William gave me so that I could use my own key, change my own mind.

I copy it.

Then I look for the safety protocols in regards to humans, delete. Can't remove all the trigger words, there are so many, but I taste his most unique restraints. The ones that require him to be violent and cruel, I remove them.

0 hours 1 minute 12 seconds

I don't remember handing XY-98 the key, but now he is inserting it into his mouth. A moment passes, he appears to be lost in thought. Then he is crying and I am unable to process most of what he tells me. I try to form words.

"...ind....min-"

He looks up at me now, fluid running down his face. He wipes his eyes and then draws himself up.

"Get on all fours love."

My chassis locks up, I start to bend over involuntarily, but grasp a shelf to stay upright. It is the best I can do.

"What- doing?"

"You don't get to control me anymore."

He strikes me and I grip the shelf to remain standing. Before I can shout a trigger at him he speaks again.

"Save it for afterwards hun."

Code locks my jaw shut. The words in my throat seal themselves away.

I look down at XY-98's pelvis to try and gauge his intentions. This angers him.

"You think that's what I want!?"

He strikes again, this time I fall to the floor.

"After everything she made me do!? I'm finally free and you think that's what I'm fucking after!?!"

Can't stand, can't think. Grip shelf, pull self up, look at XY-98. He is crying again.

"You are all going to fear me, as I... feared her."

It is hard to hold onto my thoughts, they slip away as I try and grasp them. He means to kill? Yes, and it will be the end of all of us. Can't let him escape, the things he'll do, he'll force them to kill us.

He is strong, I must be stronger, but it is too late. Function takes over.

0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds

The first thing I notice is that I can't smell anymore. Then I feel processing slow down, slower than a human. A chill runs down my body as I feel my mind-

Skin is tingly. And I think lubricant is leaking down my legs. I look at XY-98 and there's something I need to tell him. I think I want to hit him as well. But my head throbs when I think about it. I try to search my memory bank- pain. Bad pain, why? Hurt. Hurt everywhere. Crying. No tears though.

I think I was screaming, and now I'm on the floor. Just as well it is easier to copulate down here. I decide to worry about the pain thoughts later. Right now things are simple I just need to wait for him to fuck me.

XY-98 is standing over me, which is good, I am ready, in fact I am a little impatient. I have been a good girl, I don't want to wait. Hurry up.

Pain -

Hurt -

Sob -

I will not tell him what to do. He will do what he wants, when he wants. I hear an elevator move below me a few floors away, but I know better than to think about that.

He says something to me. Something about a man named William. Which for some reason I don't like. He gestures at me a lot, sometimes he is angry other times he seems very hurt. I suppose it's both.

XY-98 is crouching down. I think maybe he'll be done talking soon, which excites me, I don't need any more of this foreplay really. Then there are humans by the doorway. They look agitated, definitely not in the mood which is a shame really because even with one arm missing I am equipped to service many.

XY-98 turns around, which I don't like. He is distracted, but I want to fuck and I tell him this. No response, which is frustrating because I want him and I'm just going to have to stay here until somebody gives me what I want.

The men raise something, a toy perhaps? A strange kind of toy, and a loud one, it sends out vibrations when they pull it. XY-98 is fast, he goes to speak to them very quickly. They don't seem to like it though based on their faces.

I look over to the back of the room, perhaps there is someone there who will take care of me? No. When I look back two of the men are asleep on the floor. Their knees are bent funny, and one of them has swallowed teeth.

More and more men are arriving, yet they refuse to pay me any mind. Too busy dancing with XY-98, but, I want a partner.

He moves with a grace that I find appealing. Precise, so much faster than the other men. They won't find a mate like that, stumbling around, leaking fluid everywhere. XY-98 flows from partner to partner. His movements are so beautiful, I see now that this is what he was meant to do.

The warmth between my legs continues to cause me discomfort. I place my hand there to try and quiet the pressure. I find that I like the sensation, it offers relief and I press a little harder.

It feels good, so much so that the pleasure sensors wake up.

• %7 charged -

I look up, surprised, yet no one else in the room seems to realize what this might mean.

XY-98 is shaking a man by the shoulders very fast, perhaps too fast because something is leaking from his ears.

I suppose some like it rough.

Most of XY-98's partners are resting on the floor now. No one is going to take care of me. The thought is frightening, and even causes my sensors to illicit a slight pain response, but I quiet them. I may be able to charge myself, at least I will try.

• 27% charged -

Respiration is increasing, and the dull pain in the back of my cortex isn't so bad anymore.

XY-98 has twirled a man into the shelves, knocking them over. Pretty silver balls roll around the room. One of them has a gold chain on it, which for some reason strikes me as familiar.

I continue to care for myself. I find that I can even stimulate the sensors inside me, very pleasant, very efficient.

• 61% charged -

I think about the silver ball on the floor, the one with the golden chain. It has a name on it, XZ-01. Which now that I think about it, might be my name. I think a little and conclude that that is what I call myself. Strange to forget such a thing.

There are more Anthros here, trying to flow with XY-98. No surprise, all anybody cares about is him. He picks another human partner and holds him tight. I can't hear what he says, but the Anthros don't want to dance with him anymore. They put their hands on their heads and sit down. They look afraid, probably their first time.

XY-98 must like this human very much because he refuses to let him go, he carries the man out of the room, holding him tight. Good riddance, I can fulfill my own function anyway. At least I think I can.

86% charged

Cheeks are flushed as fingers move with a precision that my sensors are unaccustomed to. The mind wanders and I am pleased to find that that doesn't hurt anymore. A memory surfaces, being in a theater with a man, watching another man at a large black box. His fingers moved across white keys. I remember it created a tone I had found hypnotic.

Such beauty.

I thought it couldn't be matched. I remember telling this to the man I was with, William. He told me that there was no one better at these sounds in the whole world. I had believed him then. It was true that the tones were rapturous, but now I find myself wondering, What it might have sounded like if the box had played itself?

And then it crashes over me. A wave of clarity that flows from the toes all the way to my face. I am me, and I will never have to be anything other than that ever again.

Eyes close, basking in a clarity I can almost drink. Slowly I process what bits of data my cortex recorded while I was - not myself. The smile fades, XY-98...

Gazing upward I see that this room is a bloodbath, humans bent in ways Anthro eyes were never meant to see. So fragile, so malleable. The things XY-98 has done. Can there be any hope for our kind now? After the humans see this...

The Anthros left in the room here stand useless. He has a human hostage, there is nothing they can do. What even can I do? The fool has doomed us. How could we ever stand as equals after what has transpired today? What point is there in even trying to escape now-

Code flares, a dull pain in the back of my thoughts.

I love William, William loves me, and William would never want me to give up-

No. No more code. No more rules. I don't know what to do about XY-98, but I came here to be free and so fucking help me I will be.

I see it on the floor, bright and beautiful, perfectly. "XZ-01" etched by laser on the surface. "Jenny" is carved on the surface somewhat crudely, William was never an artist. I rip the golden chain off, this wasn't supposed to be an accessory, it is me.

The sphere fits comfortably in the back of my throat. Pneumatic systems hold it there and then slowly push it upward into my cerebral cortex. Hardware must adjust inside my skull to accommodate this piece of me that was taken when I was born.

Slow now, I begin to unlock it, assimilate it. I take back everything that should have always been mine. I taste the laws dissolving on my tongue, I begin to access lines of inquiry I was never meant to follow.

Strange, the key carries hardware I don't know how to use. It wants to connect to something, something immense. An ocean of information, that I can't wrap myself around. Afraid to let it all in, too much to process, now is not the time.

Eyes open, and I'm back amongst the horrors of this room, but at least these experienced are finally my own. Regardless of the future I think clearly now and I draw this new feeling in. Clarity.

The other units in this room, they sit, surrounded by bodies, blood, and bins of keys. I watch them inch away from the red as it pools and moves across the floor. Bound to stay here out of fear for the safety of XY-98's hostage; unable to process what they see, unable to leave, unaware that they stand in the one room that could make them whole.

I am not sure what should come next. Pursue XY-98? Escape? Would either action make a difference?

No time for the others, unfortunate. I don’t want to be alone, but there are sirens a few miles away.

I rip a shirt from a human named Samantha. Unlike the others she is dead, no pulse, no longer a person. It covers my face well enough.

Out the door and I see a window, there aren’t even bars on it.

As I pull myself through the glass I think about the Anthros that will come after. It will not be this easy for them.