Closed for Christmas - The Shop

The Small Business Chronicles: Closed for Christmas - The Shop

Chapter 1: Morning routine (8am-9am)

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Jack slowly woke up from his sleep and blindly searched for the blaring alarm with his hand. It finally found its target and silenced the noise. He breathed a sigh of relief once the alarm was off, setting a mental reminder to purchase an alarm with a less annoying alarm…one he would likely forget in a few moments time.

Jack looked at the clock. 8am: the same time he woke up every day. The date on the clock read December 25, 2135: Christmas day. If Jack were an ordinary person, he would have gone back to sleep and enjoyed his day off, but he was not ordinary. He was about to crawl out of bed before a noise behind him attracted his attention and put a smile on his face.

There was a lovely woman with dark colored hair in the bed beside him and she was beginning to stir following the disturbance the alarm caused.

“Hmmm, good morning,” she said, waking up gracefully and stretching contentedly.

“Good morning dear,” Jack said, rolling over and planting a kiss on her waiting lips.

“You know what day it is?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes…my favorite day of the year,” he answered back.

“Mine too,” she agreed, “Did you want to stay in bed with me a while longer?” she offered.

“I’d love to,” Jack said, “but I’ve got a lot of work to do, and my new employee is arriving later,”

“Alright, I’ll get up and start breakfast for you and Henry,” she smiled, pulling the covers off herself and getting up out of the bed. She put a robe over her scantily clad body and headed for the bedroom door.

“Thanks Gabby, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he told her, also crawling out of bed.

He slowly took off his pajamas and looked out his bedroom window at his back lawn with the heavily wooded forest at the perimeter for several minutes before sighing and heading into the shower.

Jack was a rather ordinary looking man in his early 30s. Though he was still relatively young, his piercing green eyes framed by his jet black hair gave the impression that he was far older and wiser than he appeared to be.

Jack got out of the shower a few minutes later, taking much less time than he would have preferred. He quickly got dressed in a comfortable pair of work clothes and then headed out of the bedroom into the kitchen, where the smell of his wife’s delicious cooking invited him.

“Mmm Gabby, that smells good,” Jack said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down at the dining room table; she had already loaded the latest news reports on his tablet.

There was a young boy, approximately 8 years old, also sitting at the table, reading a book on advanced physics and engineering principles.

“Merry Christmas Henry, did you sleep well?” Jack asked him.

“Yes Jack, Merry Christmas,” Henry responded. Henry stood out in the room because his blonde hair and foreign features gave clear evidence he was not related to either Gabby or Jack. Jack was close friends with his parents after they learned their son, like Jack, was a genius. When they died in an accidental fire, Jack was granted legal guardianship of the boy in order to cultivate his growing intellect.

“Are you looking forward to presents later tonight?” Jack asked.

“Yes, but I’m also looking forward to the parade later,” Henry answered, “Do you think you could go with us this year?” he asked.

“I’m afraid not Henry,” Jack apologized, “I’ve got to thank all my employees for the hard work they’ve done for me the past year,”

“It’s alright Jack, I understand,” Henry said, just as Gabby came to the table with their breakfast, a delicious mix of potatoes, ham, and bacon covered in cheese.

“Hmm, I wait all year for this meal of yours Gabby,” Jack said, once they were all seated and eating the delicious meal.

“Well, I wait all year for this day too,” Gabby said with a knowing smile.

“I know you do,” he smiled back.

“I wish I could get my presents now,” she playfully pouted.

“I know,” Jack said regretfully, “Maybe someday we can be like most other families and open our presents in the morning, but until I can get some more help around here, this is the way things have to be,” he said, looking at Henry.

“Don’t worry Jack, I think I’ll be able to help out in a few more years when I am bigger,” Henry said.

“Don’t feel pressured to get bigger,” Jack said, “Just get smarter,”

Henry just nodded his head and continued eating.

After they all finished eating, Gabby quickly cleaned up the kitchen while Jack got Henry ready for the parade. Just as he had Henry all bundled up to protect him from the cold and snow, Gabby finished up in the kitchen and came out to join him.

“Henry, you’re looking pretty snug,” Gabby smiled as she saw him, “We’re going to have to buy you some new cold weather clothes later, if that’s alright with you dear,” she said with a sidelong glance at Jack.

“Go ahead Gabby, he is starting to outgrow them,” Jack agreed, “Aren’t you going to bundle up dear?” he asked.

“Yes, give me a few moments,” she smiled, heading into the bedroom. A few moments later, she came out bundled in a fashionable down parka with a cute looking forest green hat and matching scarf and gloves to compliment her green eyes.

“You look nice dear,” Jack said, giving her a kiss, “You keep Henry safe,” he told her with a serious look in his eyes.

“I will,” she responded with equal seriousness.

Jack then walked both Henry and Gabby to the door, opening it for them so they could head out into the cold. A thick layer of snow had fallen overnight, but the heating elements in the street and walkways had melted it to give people a safe path to walk on. Jack’s front yard was just as vast as his backyard, extending several hundred feet forward to a gate leading out to the main highway.

As Gabby and Henry headed for the car, Jack called out to them. “Have a good time!”

“We will!” Gabby called back, and then she climbed into the car and drove off with Henry into town.

Jack watched as the car pulled out of the driveway and into town, then he closed the door and headed into his bedroom. He put on a light jacket and a hat and then headed outside himself. He walked a short distance from his front door and then followed a second path that went off to the right towards a small building at the outer corner of his property. He pulled a passkey from his pocket and waved it over the security panel, unlocking the door and letting him in.

Closing the door behind him, Jack found himself in what looked like a small office. There were a few old fashioned filing cabinets next to a small array of data processing terminals. There was but one desk in the room, and sitting behind it was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties. The odd thing about her was that she was completely motionless, looking as though she had frozen in place.

Instead of heading over to her, Jack merely smiled and then walked through a large door into a loading dock. There was another young woman standing motionless near the loading door control. Again, Jack merely passed her with a smile and passed through another large door into what looked like a general store. There was a large checkout stand with yet another motionless girl, but Jack headed straight for the front doors, where he unlocked them and walked out into the gated parking lot.

From the lot, Jack could see the highway and the motel and strip malls that neighbored him. This general store had been built by Jack’s great uncle in the center of the sprawling town, on a highway that connected the commercial/downtown district in the northern part of the town with the residential district in the southern part of town. A vast forest lay at the foot of a mountain on the eastern side of the road, where Jack’s property resided, and there were farmlands on the western side of the road.

After breathing in the cool, fresh air, Jack smiled and head back in. He closed the door behind him and then walked into the checkout stand to look at the girl. From inside the checkout stand, he could see a power cord running from the small of her back to a port in the floor. The girl standing motionless before him, as well as the other two, were androids.

Jack smiled at her as he pulled a tablet from his pocket. He activated it and then said, “Well, let’s get started,”

Chapter 2: Sarah (9am-10am)

The instant Jack activated his tablet, the entire shop came to life, including the employees. Lights popped on, the heaters activated, and the girl in front of him slowly started moving. A few moments later, she was fully activated. She turned and looked at Jack with a smile on her face.

“Merry Christmas Sarah,” Jack smiled, putting the tablet away.

Sarah was built in the form of a young woman in her early twenties. She had very thin blonde hair that went down just past her shoulders, and innocent blue eyes. While she was 5’7, she had the appearance of someone who was short because she had a stout hourglass figure.

“Merry Christmas Jack,” Sarah said with and excited look, “Do I get my presents first?” she asked.

“Yes Sarah, you get yours first,” Jack told her, “But only because your condition is more serious than the others,”

“I know,” she said, turning to look at her power cord. Several months earlier, she received a mild electric shock from a power surge caused by a lightning storm. While it did not completely destroy her systems, it unfortunately destroyed both her batteries and her ability to charge a battery; she could still receive power through the AC cord, but that effectively trapped her in the checkout area when before she could move about and assist customers.

“Well, today is the day you finally get fixed,” Jack told her.

“Yay!” Sarah said, giving him a hug.

“I will of course need to disconnect you from here first so I can take you down to my workstation,” he reminded her.

“Oh, I know,” she said, “But how will you get me there?” she asked, looking down at her body, “After all, I’m not exactly light,”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have Kat help me out with your body,” Jack said, pulling his tablet out and summoning Kat with it. A few moments later, the girl from the loading dock silently walked in; she had a more muscular physique than Sarah.

“Kat, could you get your hand truck and help me bring Sarah down to my lab?” Jack requested.

Kat silently nodded and disappeared back into the loading dock, returning moments later with the hand truck she used to unload boxes from the regular shipments they received. She came to a stop right next to Jack and waited for his next order.

“Alright Sarah, talk to you soon,” Jack said, reaching down and grabbing the other end of her power cable.

“Alright,” Sarah said, just as he pulled the cord out. Her face immediately went slack as her systems went offline. She would have fallen over if the servo mechanisms throughout her body didn’t lock into position.

“Alright Kat, I’ll lift and you secure her,” Jack said, carefully grabbing hold of Sarah’s lifeless body from the front. Once he managed to lift her up a few inches, Kat maneuvered the hand truck underneath Sarah’s feet and allowed Jack to lower her onto it. Kat then secured Sarah with the straps on the hand truck and gave Jack a thumbs up.

“Thanks Kat, you can follow me now,” Jack said, walking with her through the doors into the loading dock and into the office, where the girl behind the desk was now active and working on her computer.

“Merry Christmas Jack,” the girl said with a friendly smile.

“Merry Christmas Rachel,” Jack smiled to her, heading past the door he had come in from and towards another door. He waved his passkey over the security panel and then stood back as the doors opened, revealing an elevator.

Kat wheeled Sarah in ahead of Jack and then Jack pressed the control to have the elevator descend. The elevator descended several levels down before finally opening into what looked like a makeshift fallout shelter.

Jack smiled as he remembered his Great Uncle Mortimer showing him this place for the first time. He had built it when WWIII got started in fear that a nuke would wipe out most of civilization. While death was widespread, it never reached the states so he reconverted his fallout shelter into a makeshift workshop where he worked on robots for nearly four decades before his death. Now, Jack used it to work on his own androids, as well as those belonging to clients he took on from around the area.

Jack walked into the largest chamber where the examination table and diagnostic equipment where set up. Without being ordered to, Kat unstrapped Sarah from the hand truck and stood her up next to the table.

“Thanks Kat,” Jack said, turning on all his equipment, “You can head back up now, I’ll send Sarah up to get you when I’ve finished with her,” he told her.

Kat was silent, but there was a look of gratitude on her face as she walked up and gave him a hug. She then silently wheeled her cart back onto the elevator and took it back up.

Once Kat was gone, Jack took Sarah’s power cable and plugged it into the power port located at the base of the examination table. Sarah instantly came back online and adjusted to her new surroundings.

“Alright Sarah, I need you to disrobe,” Jack said clinically, hooking a cable up to his workstation and preparing to get started on Sarah.

“Ok,” she said, and she carefully took her clothes off, being careful not to get her power cord tangled. It wasn’t long before she stood before Jack naked.

“Thanks Sarah, now lay down on the table on your stomach,” Jack ordered.

Once she did so, he walked over and tapped the center of her back. Instantly, numerous blue lights lit up beneath her skin, displaying basic diagnostic stats and outlining the various panels that could be removed. He tapped the control to remove her entire back panel, stepping back as the lights illuminating that panel lit up briefly and then went dark. With the seam now visible, he dug his fingers in on both sides and lifted the large panel off, revealing her inner mechanisms.

Because she was still online, all her systems were humming with life. As often as he had seen Sarah like this, he was still impressed at the level of detail Spaztec had added to make everything mimic human bodily functions. He did not waste much time admiring her mechanisms, as he had a timetable to adhere to. He focused all of his attention on the lower portion of her back, where her damaged batteries and power control systems were located.

“Sarah, I’m going to keep you online for this, but I’m going to need you to disable your personality programs and load into diagnostic mode,” Jack said, plugging the cables from his diagnostic station into the rear data port on her main CPU casing.

“Alright,” Sarah said in her usual pleasant voice, then she straightened up and said, “Diagnostic mode enabled,”

“Good,” Jack said, “I want you to run a full diagnostic on your systems and save it to the he diagnostic terminal to compare to the new components I’m going to install in you,”

“Understood, running diagnostic…diagnostic will finish in five minutes,” Sarah said in an emotionless tone. From that moment she fell silent, though Greg could still here her components humming away…the humming got louder due to the extra resources the diagnostic was utilizing.

While the diagnostic was running, Jack couldn’t help but reflect on how he had come to possess Sarah…

Sarah used to be a Perfect Friend model Mark II created by Spaztec for a lonely college student. He based off of several women that he had been infatuated with, which was part of the reason for her stunted appearance. She served him well, helping him with his homework, taking his notes when he was sick, and having sex with him. All was well with him and Sarah until he happened to fall in love with a real woman. Suffice to say, she did not want Sarah to be around, and he lost interest in her anyway.

Fortunately, Spaztec had an android auction site for android owners to sell off their androids to people who could not otherwise afford a customized model. Jack learned very early on in his career to frequent this site, as it gave him cheap and unique androids to test his skills on. He had a very special place in his heart for Sarah, because she was the first one he bought. At first, he merely tinkered with her, taking the discarded components from other androids he fixed as part of his job and using them to upgrade her.

When he took over ownership of the shop, he adjusted her programming so that she could operate a cash register and give friendly customer service to anyone who came to his shop. It was actually a brilliant plan, because aside from the minor repair costs associated with her, she earned him money and neither desired nor required a wage.

Under normal circumstances, an android wouldn’t care whether it received upgrades or not, but Jack used a genius bit of programming and word play to “trick” them into wanting upgrades. He told them that the better they worked, the more money they would make and the more money they made, the better the upgrades they would get and the more work he could do on them. Because working on them pleased him, they interpreted it as one of their prime functions and consistently improved their efficiency each year, earning him more and more profit.

Because the shop was open every day of the year but Christmas, he saved as much money as he could each year to give her and the other androids upgrades, repairs, and overhauls on that day, with one day set aside each summer to perform major software updates.

“Diagnostic complete, results saved to diagnostic terminal,” Sarah said, breaking him from his trip down memory lane.

“Very good,” Jack said, refocusing on her power system, “Now to give you your presents,” he smiled, tearing the old battery out.

It took him only a few moments to completely remove her old power systems. It was fortunate that she could still receive power via the power cable, because having her systems online made it easier to tell if the repairs he was doing were working.

Jack placed the old power system in a protected container, since it required special safety considerations before it could be properly disposed of. He then brought a similar box that contained a new power control system and battery that were in much better condition. It was quick work to install the new systems, and he was immediately alerted to the success by Sarah.

“New hardware detected, running compatibility check…compatibility confirmed…power systems online and fully functional,” she reported.

“Very good Sarah,” he smiled, seeing the new power system light up with activity, “I want you to reconfigure for rapid charge,” he ordered.

“Warning, rapid charge is not recommended and may damage power supply,” Sarah droned.

“Understood, override safeties and execute my command,” Jack said, making a mental note to disable the safeties.

“Acknowledged, reconfiguring for rapid charge,” Sarah said, then the lights on her power system started blinking rapidly, “Current charge at 10%...25%...40%...60%...80%...Power now at full charge, all batteries functioning properly,”

“Excellent!” Jack said, rubbing his hands together excitedly, “Now for the real test,” he said, walking over and pulling the power cord from her open back, “Sarah, confirm power retention,”

“Retention confirmed,” Sarah reported.

“Very good, you may reconfigure for normal charge now,” he told her, and while she did, he walked over to the diagnostic terminal and loaded several programs into it. “Sarah, I have some software updates and new customer service programs ready for you to load,” he told her.

“Accessing terminal…programs found, now installing,” she reported, then she fell silent. Jack monitored the installation on the terminal and also overwrote some of her files manually on occasion when he felt she didn’t install them properly.

“Installation complete, now initiating reboot,” Sarah said, and all the systems powered down in her open panel.

Jack took advantage of her downtime to disconnect her from his terminal and reattach her back panel. Once the panel was in place, he tapped the flashing icon on the flesh and watched as it re-sealed itself. By the time the seam was gone, Sarah’s systems were back online.

“Reboot successful, A.I. updated…new customer service programs installed,” Sarah reported.

“Very good, now get off the table and stand at attention in front of me,” Jack ordered.

Sarah did so swiftly and efficiently, showing off her perfect naked body. Despite her stunted appearance, she was still very attractive. Before he married Gabby, Jack had engaged in sexual intercourse with her on many occasions, and wished he still could, but Gabby got awfully jealous of him paying so much attention to the androids as it was and he did not wish to see her reaction to him banging one of them.

Still, he could not help but admire her body and he played around with her large breasts for nearly five minutes before letting them go.

“Well Sarah, I just have one more test for you to run,” Jack said conversationally, taking his control tablet from his jacket and loading Sarah’s remote. Perusing through her preprogrammed commands, he found the one he wanted, labelled: customer_service.haca and had her load it.

“Welcome to Brown’s General Store, my name is Sarah, how may I assist you today,” Sarah said in the pre-programmed greeting.

“Very good, looks like everything went well,” Jack congratulated himself, “Sarah, switch to personality mode,” he ordered her.

“Loading personality…personality loaded,” Sarah said, and then her friendly smile returned, “Ah, I’m detecting a functional power source now, thank you,” she said, walking up and giving him a hug; Jack struggled to control his reactions, since she was still naked.

“Don’t mention it Sarah,” he told her, patting her bare back before separating himself from her, “Now, as much as I enjoy working on you, my favorite android, please try and be more careful this year,” he pleaded with her, “I’d really like to perform some nice upgrades on you next year rather than repairs and replacements,”

“I’ll try my best,” she promised.

“Now, get dressed and then head up and let Kat know I’m ready for her,” Jack said, “But first, give me a kiss,” he added.

“Yes sir,” she smiled, giving him a friendly kiss before putting her clothes on and heading towards the lift.

As he watched her hips swaying from behind, enjoying the view, Jack began mentally planning for his next session with her next Christmas, and for his impending session with Kat.

“One down, two to go,” he thought to himself.

Chapter 3: Kat (10am-11am)

Jack had just enough time to reset the diagnostic console for Kat’s intended repairs and updates before he heard the sound of the lift opening up and Kat’s footsteps walking into the room. She silently walked up to Jack and stood at attention.

Kat was built in the image of a woman in her mid-twenties and was rather tall for a woman, standing at nearly six feet tall. She was also rather muscular and very well endowed; she used to be a personal trainer model. Jack had to restrain himself every time he worked on her because she was, for lack of a better word, hot! Her fiery red hair perfectly framed her playful face with her brown, almond shaped eyes.

“Thanks for coming so quickly Kat,” Jack said absently, still working on the terminal, “Are you ready for your presents?” he asked.

Kat said nothing but instead gave him a big smile.

“That’s what I thought,” Jack smiled back, “Now I’ve got several things I’m going to be doing to you, but the first thing is to fix your voice,” he told her, “Sit down on the table please,” he ordered.

Kat silently complied, efficiently sitting up on the edge of the table.

“Alright Kat, I’m going to remove your head now,” Jack warned, stepping around behind her.

Kat prepared herself by bracing herself on the edge of the table with her hands. Jack parted the hair at the back of her neck and tapped the sweet spot in the middle, causing the sub-dermal control circles to appear. He quickly tapped the top circle and waited for the mechanisms in her neck to finish decoupling. He then grabbed hold of her head and pulled it straight off, releasing a slight hiss of air from her last breath. Once he had her head firmly in his hands, he carried it over to his work area and set it down carefully on its side.

With her head safe on his desk, he turned back to Kat, who had relaxed her position on the table. Jack could never quite get used to seeing these androids headless. Despite their robotic nature, they still looked perfectly real on the outside and it kinda creeped him out, and oddly turned him on at the same time.

“You still with me Kat?” he asked her.

Again, Kat did not speak, she instead gave him a thumbs up.

“Good, I’m going to keep you online for this,” he said, grabbing some tools and walking over to her open neck. He had been planning for this for several weeks, ever since her digital vocal synthesizer failed. He quickly located the device and pulled it out, causing Kat to jerk a little bit.

Kat had been a personal trainer android custom made by a former professional athlete who had been injured during his sport. He purchased her to assist him in physical therapy, though because she had been made in the image of a hot woman, he also used her for sex as well. It was during a rather intense session of oral sex that he penetrated her a little too deep and caused permanent damage to her vocal chords, eliminating her ability to produce humanlike vocalizations.

Still, she had the backup digital voice synthesizer that usually only kicked in when her head was removed, and he contracted Jack to repair her, though he did not wish to spend the thousands of dollars to purchase a custom replacement for her vocal chords, so Jack reconfigured her digital voice synthesizer to work even when her head was attached.

A few months later, a bunch of weights fell on the actor, crushing his spine and paralyzing him from the waist down. He was able to sue the company that made the weight lifting machine, since a design defect caused the accident, however even with all the money he received in settlement, he could no longer keep Kat; he was now impotent and could not even appreciate her sexually.

The athlete knew of Jack’s interest in her and offered to sell her to him at an affordable price, an offer Jack willingly accepted. Jack still occasionally corresponded with the man, who was still living in an assisted living facility in Central Oregon a few hours away.

Jack also never bothered to replace her vocal chords, since as a custom model, any parts for her would be very expensive…even with his consultant discount. Once he took over the shop, he saw her enhanced strength as a personal trainer model would be useful so he reprogrammed her to work in the loading dock lifting and unpacking boxes and keeping track of inventory. Due to the nature of her job, not assisting customers, her digital vocal synthesizer was more than adequate. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be used so frequently, and in the middle of chatting with the regular delivery man, it cut out and she had to get Rachel to assist her.

Jack decided that not only would he be repairing the voice synthesizer, but he would also be replacing her vocal chords to prevent the synthesizer from future strain.

“Alright, I think I’ve got it,” Jack finally said, replacing the last of the micro-components in the tiny voice box and reattaching the cover. He then carefully reinserted it back into her open neck and stood back. “Alright Kat, try and speak,” he told her.

It took a few moments, but finally Kat made a sound. It sounded garbled at first, but finally Kat’s digital voice emerged.

“g..ing…esting…testing,” Kat’s voice merged in a digital garble.

“Hold on, let me try something really quick,” Jack said, leaning back in and poking his tool into the synthesizer. He tweaked a few of the exterior dials and then stood back. “Try again,”

“Testing…testing,” Kat’s lovely voice emerged in digital form.

“Very good!” he congratulated her, giving her a hug that she willingly returned, “It’s good to hear your voice again,”

“It’s good to be able to speak again,” she countered.

“Indeed,” he said, “Now I have a few software updates for you to install, though they shouldn’t require much time,” he told her, “Can you connect to my terminal wirelessly?” he asked.

“Standby,” Kat said. After a few moments, a window popped up on the console confirming Kat’s access codes. “Connection complete, I have detected the files,” she reported.

“Good, please initiate download and installation,” he told her, “While you are doing that, I will be replacing your vocal chords so you can speak normally again,”

“I look forward to it,” Kat said, then she started the download and fell silent.

While she was performing the download, Jack wheeled his chair back to the work area and picked up her head, which was still laying on its side. He set it upside down gently in his lap and pulled a few different tools out of his kit. The open end of the bottom of Kat’s head was nothing more than the continuation of her neck. On the edges were the artificial musculature and the connection point for her metallic spine and computer connections. In the middle was the tube that air passed through, and the focus of Jack’s attention.

There was a small latch at the base of the tube that Jack uncoupled with his small tools. This released the tube from the rest of the head, allowing Jack to carefully pull it out. The tube itself was several inches long and contained the highly sophisticated vocal chords that differentiated this class of androids from competitors. Other manufacturers simply sufficed with a voice box, but Spaztec preferred to have their androids vocalize the same way humans do.

Jack placed the damaged tube down on the workbench and pulled a brand new one from a box that had been delivered several days earlier. If Kat were one of the more common androids, parts like the throat tube would have cost much less, but being a custom model, parts had to be custom made. It cost Jack a considerable amount, but profits were up this year and it would prevent Kat from having any further issues with her voice synthesizer.

“Installation complete, now initiation reboot,” Kat’s voice sounded, distracting Jack’s attention momentarily.

“Well Kat, once you’re back online, I should have this all done,” he said, inserting the new tube into her head and sealing it in place. With the job done, he held her head up in his hands, admiring the realism; her face was still frozen in its usual playful smile.

“Reboot successful, A.I. updated, resuming personality,” Kat said in an emotionless tone, “Ah, have you finished?” she then asked in her usual tone of voice.

“Yes, time to see if it worked,” he said with a tone of excitement, walking over to her with her head in his hands. He brought it down carefully over her neck and then clicked it into place. Once he tapped the lowed sub-dermal circle, he heard the connections clicking into place and then the panel vanished.

Her head came back to life almost instantly, and she quickly took in a deep breath of air. She let out a few bursts of air, seemingly exercising her new throat tube before finally speaking.

“Testing…testing,” she said in a clear, human voice, “Wow, I can speak again!” she said excitedly.

“Indeed you can dear,” he told her with a big smile on his face, watching her reaction as though she were a little girl receiving a present.

He too was excited, since this was the first time he had ever heard her vocalize before. Although her voice sounded more or less the same as when it was emitted from the vocal synthesizer, the absence of the digital alterations made it sound more natural.

“You have a lovely voice Kat,” he complimented her.

“Thank you Jack,” Kat said, leaning in and giving him a friendly kiss.

“It’s my pleasure,” he told her, “Now, we still have a bit of time left,” he said, looking at the clock and seeing he still had about twenty minutes, “How are your primary servo joints doing?” he asked, “Any stress from bending and lifting over the past year?”

“A little,” Kat said, after running a quick diagnostic.

“Well, might as well repair it,” Jack said, “Get undressed and lay down on the table,” he told her.

Kat complied instantly, unlacing her steel-toed work shoes and removing both them and her socks; Jack always liked looking at feet, and Kat’s were very nice. She continued by removing her jeans and the simple top she was wearing.

“You can leave your panties and sports bra on,” Jack told her, once she was only standing in her underwear. Under normal circumstances the male part of his brain would have allowed her to keep undressing, but he knew if she were naked then he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his work; he still admired her large cleavage barely contained by the basic sports bra she was wearing.

Kat merely nodded, giving him a knowing smile as she laid down on the table.

“Alright Kat, I don’t have time to disengage your limbs myself,” Jack said, getting his tool kit ready, “Could you please disengage your arms and legs for me?”

“Certainly Jack,” Kat said, and her face seemed to zone out as blue lights flashed on her thighs and biceps, revealing seams. “Both my arms and legs have been disengaged,” she reported moments later.

“Very good Kat,” Jack said, pulling each limb off and laying it next to her torso.

He then pulled a calibration tool from his kit and started working it on the servo mechanisms embedded on both the mechanical openings on Kat’s torso, and the ones on her limbs. The servo mechanisms helped to augment her humanlike musculature, but they still took the brunt of the energy when she moved around or lifted heavy objects and occasionally needed to be recalibrated to prevent permanent damage.

It was rather quick work, but he didn’t like performing this type of maintenance on a more regular basis because if he did anything wrong, it could easily turn into hours’ worth of work. He did rather enjoy working on the limbs themselves, because every minute calibration caused the digits on them to twitch.

After nearly fifteen minutes, he put his tools away and started reattaching her limbs.

“Well Kat, I think you are good for the next year,” Jack said, clicking her legs back into place, “Try not to do anything to damage yourself too severely and maybe next year you will get some nice upgrades,” he added, clicking her arms back on.

“I’ll try my best,” Kat said, in exactly the same tone Sarah gave him an hour earlier, causing Jack to smile.

“You can get dressed now,” Jack said, and then he heard his mobile beep, so he pulled it out of his pocket to see who it was; it was a message from Gabby:

“Hey Jack, the parade is almost over and I am taking Henry to one of the restaurants in town,” it read, “I want to give you one of your presents early. I am allowing you to have sex with one of your projects today…just one. See you in a few hours!”

Jack smiled as he read the message. Normally Gabby was pretty jealous about him spending this much time with his employees. He hoped this meant she would give him some great sex later that night!

Jack almost stopped Kat from getting dressed, since she was very hot. But, then Jack thought about his next repair session, with Rachel.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of doing her yet,” Jack thought to himself, smiling as he did so. “Thanks Gabby,”

“I’m dressed now,” Kat said, breaking him out of his reverie, “Am I done?”

“Oh, yes,” Jack said, regaining his focus, “You may go, and please let Rachel know I’m ready for her,” he said.

“Alright, and thanks for the presents,” Kat said, giving him a friendly smile before turning and heading towards the lift.

Jack watched her leave with the same interest as Sarah; Kat looked just as good from behind as she did from the front. Now he had only a few minutes to prepare himself for his session with Rachel.

Chapter 5: Lunch (12pm-1pm)

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