House Call - Spaz
Troy sat back in his new office after several hours of settling in with his new staff. He was still getting over the fact that he had miraculously landed the position of Town Doctor over dozens of other qualified applicants, even though he was fairly young and less seasoned.
He was now responsible for the maintenance and repairs of all 5,000+ inhabitants of the small township of Olympia, named after the female android in Hoffman’s Tale of Olympia. Unlike the rest of the inhabitants, however, Troy was human, since the job requirement required one to be human in case of a town wide viral infiltration or something.
“Troy Stevens, R.D.”
That’s what was on the plaque on both his door, and on his desk. The “R.D.” standing for Robotics Doctor. Troy grew up in the Uncanny Valley and had spent his whole life around androids, so, naturally he felt like learning all there was to learn about repairing them. After several years of schooling, it finally paid off.
KNOCK KNOCK
“Who is it?” Troy asked, startled from his reverie.
“It’s Cameron, sir,” the beautiful voice of one of his assistants replied from the other side of the locked door. He was told the previous doctor had an open door policy, but he made it clear he’d like some privacy until he’d gotten to know everyone better.
“Oh, come on Cameron,” Troy said, sitting up and shuffling some things around his desk nervously.
His staff had already worked several years with the town’s previous doctor, who had retired and moved away to be with his grandchildren. Needless to say, Troy wanted to make a good first impression.
Cameron opened the door and looked around shyly. She was a fairly young android woman with blond hair tied into a bun, “I like what you’ve done with the office sir,” she complimented, looking around at all Troy’s decorations and proof of accomplishments, “Your predecessor kept this room fairly Spartan.”
“Thanks Cameron,” he managed to say without a blush, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Yes, I know we were all hoping it might be a slow day for your orientation,” she said, pulling a tablet from her white coat and handing it to him, “But we got an automated alert that one of the citizens, Melanie Evans, has suffered some sort of issue with her systems and shut down,” she reported, “Would you like us to head over and bring her here?” she asked.
Troy stared at her chart for a few moments while he formulated an opinion: he noted that she lived alone and mostly kept to herself; no friends or relatives either. “No,” he decided, “I think I’ll just make a house call.”
“Are you sure? We are qualified to assist too,” Cameron said.
“I’m sure you are,” he said, “I just want to get better acquainted with the community, and have a look around,” he explained.
“Alright sir,” Cameron smiled, “We’ll be standing by in case you require assistance,” she said, heading to the door, “And getting ready for your welcome to the town party tonight,” she added.
“Thanks Cameron,” he called after her, and then the door closed, leaving Troy to silently review Melanie’s full chart and specs.
Troy spent a few minutes going over Melanie’s chart on the tablet. The automated report sent by her body indicated some sort of hardware issue, so Troy put on his jacket, grabbed his tool kit, and headed to the address listed on the tablet.
On the way, he admired the futuristic architecture in all the buildings meddled with a rustic look befitting the small town setting.
After a short walk, he finally arrived at the small apartment complex Melanie was listed at and approached her door. Keying in the code for her door that his tablet provided him with, he quietly entered her apartment and searched for her.
Her apartment was fairly modest, with basic amenities such as furniture and electronics. From what Troy could surmise, she didn’t seem to entertain guests. The only thing that did look well stocked was the kitchen, and she even had a cabinet full of cookbooks with a variety of different recipes, displaying her unique form of exploration of the world through its culinary delights.
He continued searched her apartment for several minutes before finally found her in her bedroom. Aside from the kitchen, her bedroom was the only thing that appeared to be used, as it had an impressive computer station set up, most likely so she could explore the world through her computers, as well as her stomach.
She was slumped forward on her desk with various android parts littering the desktop, as well as the floor by her feet. He could still smell the remnants of electrical smoke, which did not bode well for Melanie. Although she was slumped over on the desk, he could tell she wasn’t wearing a shirt or a bra.
“Well Melanie, let’s see what happened,” he said, setting his bag down and removing his jacket.
Carefully grabbing hold of her shoulders, he pulled her up until she was in a sitting position. He quickly saw why she wasn’t wearing any tops: her entire front panel was removed and there were several key components either missing or slightly singed from what looked like an electrical spike that had emerged from her power core.
“Damn Melanie, what were you doing to yourself?” he asked, staring into the look of surprise frozen on her face.
Melanie was a Caucasian fembot in her mid-twenties. She had very pale skin, leading him to believe she may have been built, or otherwise ordered, in Europe or Australia, though she had long black hair. On closer inspection, he saw her black hair was not a natural color, and she was actually a natural blonde. Topping it all off was pair of crystal clear blue eyes.
From what he could see of her exposed torso, she was of a somewhat medium build, though her chest panel was not in plain sight, so he couldn’t make an accurate assessment. She was very attractive, nevertheless.
Though he was drawn in by her innocent beauty, he forced himself to pull away from her frozen gaze. He looked at the components scattered around, as well as the inside of her panel and quickly saw what was wrong.
She had been attempting to upgrade her digestive systems, as well as her power systems. While removing the digestive system, some fluids leaked out and caused a massive electrical spike, disabling all her systems. Fortunately, her body was still in good enough shape to send out an emergency signal.
“Hmmm, you should have known not to perform such a risky upgrade by yourself,” he said to her whilst getting some tools out of his bag, as well as a portable computer, “I wonder why you didn’t just come to the clinic.”
Troy poked a few of his tools inside her body for several moments, causing a few sparks to erupt from her still damaged power core. As a precautionary measure, he reached behind her head and pressed the cranium release on the back of her neck. This caused a seam to instantly appear around her neck, allowing Troy to remove her head. Taking care not to mess up her hair, he attached her head to a sort of pedestal device that he connected to his portable computer.
As soon as her head was connected, several lights blinked on the base of the pedestal and his computer opened several status windows which began running various diagnostics on Melanie’s A.I.
Once he was sure her head was secure, he put on some protective gloves and then worked on removing the damaged power core. When the core finally came out, he was surprised at the damage, but even more surprised that she would even attempt such a dangerous procedure unsupervised. Just as he was placing the damaged core on the desk, his computer pinged, notifying him Melanie’s A.I. was intact and undamaged. Since his pedestal also provided power to her head, he decided to activate her A.I. so he could talk with her during her repairs.
It took her several moments to come online, since her A.I. had to run its own diagnostic, but several moments later, her face reset into a stoic expression and then blinked its eyes. She looked around in confusion for several seconds before finally saying, “Who are you and what are you doing to my body?” she asked in an innocent and soft sounding foreign accent.
“I’m Troy Stevens, the new town doctor,” he said, showing her his town issued badge, “We received your emergency signal, and I came over to fix you,” he explained.
“Okay,” she said, scanning his badge and confirming the information with her uplink to the town hall severs, “Why aren’t I at the clinic?” she asked suspiciously.
“I saw in your file that you keep mostly to yourself,” he explained, “I thought you might be more comfortable if I repaired you here in the comfort of your own home.”
Melanie stared at him silently for several moments, quietly considering his words, “Thank you,” she finally said, “I’ve never experienced that level of thoughtfulness before,” she continued, “Particularly in a human,” she added.
“You’re welcome,” he told her, “And I’m not like most humans,” he said, “I take it you’ve had some bad experiences,” he fished, pulling a few more damaged components from her body.
“Yeah,” she said with a sad look.
“Well, don’t be shy,” he told her, “If you tell me your story, I’ll tell you mine,” he offered.
“Well, since I can’t exactly go anywhere, I might as well tell you,” she said grudgingly, “I was built to be a member of a family in Australia,” she started, confirming his earlier suspicions, “They always wanted a daughter, but couldn’t have one,” she continued, “For several years, everything was fine and I was happy to be their child, but then my mother died and after a few years’ father remarried.”
Troy was now fixing her damaged digestive bag and prepping it for reattachment, “I take it your new mother did not approve of you?” he asked.
“Not at all,” she said, “She already had several daughters of her own, and she constantly pressured father to get rid of me, even forcing me to perform menial tasks to humiliate me,” she continued, “Finally, father pretended to drive me back to the plant for dismantling, but he instead handed me a plane ticket to Capek City, telling me to start a new life in the Uncanny Valley,” she finished.
“Well, at least he didn’t have you destroyed,” Troy said.
“Yeah, but he told me never to contact or visit him,” she said, “So it was just as bad as if he had.”
“I see,” he said, “So you don’t trust too many humans now, do you?” he asked.
“No,” she replied bluntly, “And I’ve only been here a few years, so I don’t really trust anyone,” she admitted, “I just earn money working online and have everything shipped to me.”
“Is that what you were trying to do earlier?” he asked, showing her the damaged power core, “That was really dangerous, you know.”
“I know,” she said, “My power core had a slight defect and I was trying to replace it,” she said, “I was trying to prove I could take care of myself,” she finished.
“Well, I think we’ve proven you can’t,” he said, “Performing routine repairs or diagnostic is one thing, since in human terms it would be like taking vitamins or putting on a Band-Aid,” he explained, “But what you did was the equivalent of performing open heart surgery on yourself, something not even the most skilled human would do,” he scolded.
“Well, I know now,” she said, her face turning red, “Are you able to connect the new power core I ordered?” she asked.
“Yes,” he told her, eliciting a loud, digital sigh from Melanie, “After I find it, that is,” he added. He bent down and searched for the newer core that she had ordered, surmising it was likely one of the components that had fallen to the floor upon her violent shutdown. He finally located it beneath her left foot.
“Ah, found it,” he called out, though he paused briefly to admire both her bare feet as he retrieved the core. They were both as pale as the rest of her, and very pretty looking. “I hope you don’t mind me saying so,” he started, as he gently grabbed hold of her left foot to lift it up off the core, “But you have nice feet,” he admitted, barely hiding a blush; he wished that her body were online so they’d be warmer.
“Thanks,” she blushed, “Not many people get to see them,” she admitted, “So, why don’t you tell me your story,” she said, “And I’ll let you feel my feet some more when I’m reattached to my body,” she offered, “Even androids enjoy foot massages,” she added.
“I think I’d enjoy that,” he smiled, working on attaching her new power core, “My parents were close friends with a family of androids,” he started, “But, then they were killed in a car accident when I was five, and the other family graciously decided to adopt me,” he said, “I grew up with their four android kids, and every now and then one of them would break down or damage themselves, and I taught myself to fix them so they wouldn’t get in trouble,” he said, giving a playful wink.
“That’s nice,” she smiled, “And you never took advantage of them?” she asked, “I mean by reprogramming them or anything,” she added.
“Occasionally,” he admitted, “Just some practical jokes,” he explained, “But it’s not like they didn’t ever mess with me,” he defended himself.
“Fair enough,” she said, “Do you still get along with all of them?” she asked.
“Of course,” he smiled, quickly bringing up the recent memories of his visits with them, “My parents still live just outside Asimov City,” he said, “And my siblings all have jobs and lives in the big city,” he said.
“What made you come all the way out here?” she asked, now watching him finish up with her power core and test the connections.
“I answered a job ad on the net,” he replied, “They wanted a qualified human to serve as the town doctor, and since I am an R.D, I felt it would be a chance to build my own practice rather than be a cog in some larger facility.”
“That makes sense,” she said, “So, have you ever considered dating an android?” she asked, trying to sound casual, “Or will you prefer to seek out a human.”
“It depends,” he answered truthfully, “I don’t really see that big a difference between dating a human or an android, except an android is easier to fix if something goes wrong,” he said, “But seeing as I’ll probably be living here for the rest of my life, I’ll probably end up dating an android,” he answered.
“That’s good to hear,” she said softly, blushing a little, though fortunately for her, he didn’t notice as he was finishing up with the repairs to her body.
“Well, I think I have your power systems repaired, as well as all the collateral damage,” he said, pulling out of her body and setting his tools down, “I’m going to reactivate your body and have it run a few tests, ok?”
“Sure,” she said, and she watched him as he reached back in and pressed the power button near her core, causing all the systems within her body to light up and come back to life. “Wow, looks like you fixed me,” she said.
“So far, everything looks good,” he agreed with her, “But I need to make sure everything still works,” he said, and he took out a small tablet and plugged it in to her body’s motor system controls. A screen popped up on his tablet, and he tapped around until suddenly Melanie’s arms shot up with a mechanical whir.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked, watching with shock as he manipulated her body like a marionette.
“I’m making sure you’ll still be able to move and function properly,” he explained, making her body stand up and sit back down, “That surge caused damage to your motor systems, so I’m making sure my repairs worked,” he said.
“Oh, okay,” she said, still not comfortable seeing her body move without her will or control.
After several minutes of this, he finally unplugged his tablet from her body and then turned to her, “Melanie, where’s your torso cover at?”
“Umm, I hid it under the bed,” she blushed, “I didn’t want anyone to sneak in and take it in case something happened to me,” she admitted.
“Well, you have nothing to fear from me,” he assured her, and he walked over to the bed and returned with her pale, fleshy panel. Matching it up with her torso, he clicked it back in place and watched as the seams disappeared.
His previous assessment of her body type was correct; medium build. Her pale breasts were a nice average size, and she had a surprisingly well-toned abdomen.
“Well, what do you think?” she asked, watching him eye her naked torso with interest.
“You look beautiful,” he said, trying to keep his professional composure.
“Thanks,” she blushed, “Are you going to reattach me to my body now?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” he said, blushing as well, “Of course.”
He quickly detached her head from the pedestal and brought it over to her neck, all the while Melanie’s eyes were transfixed on his, “Your hands feel nice,” she said.
“Thanks,” he smiled, and he brought her head down and clicked it in place on her neck.
As the seam vanished, he could hear the sound of machinery within her neck reconnecting, and then her whole body shuddered as she regained control of it.
“Whoa, that feels so much better,” she said, gently massaging her neck, “and my systems report the new power core is functioning properly,” she said, “Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it,” Troy said, putting his equipment away, “Just don’t try any more self-upgrades or repairs,” he told her, “Doctor’s orders,” he added with a wink.
“Yes sir,” she mock saluted, causing her breasts to jiggle a bit.
“So, what were you planning on doing with the rest of your day?” he asked, setting his bag down on the bed.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted, “I was just going to chill all day like I normally do, perhaps even play a few games,” she said, though she no longer felt too sure of her plans.
“Well, seeing as I’ve already seen you topless, very nice, by the way,” he smiled, “and that I had to drain your stomach,” he added, “I thought you might like to have lunch with me,” he finished, “I keep hearing that this town has a great café.”
“So have I,” she said, “Though I’ve never been to it,” she admitted.
“Well then, now’s the perfect time,” he smiled, “I can tell you’re at least a little interested in me,” he said, “And I’m at least a little interested in you,” he said, “So why don’t we talk over some lunch and increase our shared interest in each other,” he proposed.
Melanie pondered over his words, getting over some sort of internal struggle before finally smiling and saying, “Sure, why not.”
“Alright, why don’t you get ready and I’ll walk over with you,” he said.
“Ok,” she said, “But first…” and she walked over and planted a gentle kiss on his lips, then she whispered into his ear, “You can feel my feet later.”
Troy smiled as he watched her pull away from him. He put his jacket back on while she picked up her bra and shirt from the top of her bed and put them on.
“Well, shall we go?” she asked, once she had her shoes on.
“Sure,” he smiled, and he picked up his bag and walked with her out of her apartment.
Once they were outside, she tentatively grabbed his free hand, giving him a shy smile as she did. He tightened his grip on her hand and they walked deeper into town, looking to all the world like a couple about to start a wonderful relationship.