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- @BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ
- Journal Entry 257 / 0527@END_FILE_ID.DIZ
-
-
- Rowan ate with a gusto I found immensely refreshing. It meant that
- there was something about her I could influence, something I could work
- with. And I needed that something, since today I was going to present
- demands. Mine and Aadens'.
-
- "How was your trip?" she asked quietly.
-
- "Not bad," I replied. "Did you manage to keep busy while we were
- gone?"
-
- "Uh-huh," she said around a mouthful of cornflakes.
-
- "Rowan," I said. She looked up at me, swallowing. "We need to
- talk. I had a long conversation with Ember before I left, and something
- came up that we need to discuss.
-
- "I don't like the way you do business. Ember said that you
- basically blackmailed your way into getting the positerminal work done,
- and what she said was pretty much an accurate description of what you
- did to get into this house."
-
- Rowan put her spoon down and said, "Then... you don't want me
- to..."
-
- "Rowan, why do you want children?"
-
- "I DON'T KNOW!" she shouted so loudly I heard Dave snap the privacy
- field over the portal to keep from waking my loves downstairs. "Oh,
- Ken, please, I wish I did, I really do. I've tried since the day I was
- born to figure that out. It's crazy... something's seriously wrong with
- my circuitry. When the AI comms started discussing you, and Aaden, and
- I put two and two together, I jumped at it, I really did. I could have
- had any body, and any father. But to have yours... and his... and to be
- in Shardik's house... It was too much to pass up. To have babies, to
- really make something like that. To create life."
-
- "It's really a very simple process."
-
- "But you understand it as Vatare', Ken, not as a mother. The
- creative thrill you get is intellectual, not physical. I want to know,
- I need to know what it's like. Making babies is unskilled labor, sure,
- but not raising children. It's all I've thought about. But when I
- think about it from here, all I get is confused. I'm in over my head."
- She smiled at the imagery. "It really is crazy for an AI to want
- children, isn't it?"
-
- I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Maybe. I don't know if you're
- aware of this, but I took Halloran with me on our trip to Earth."
-
- She looked up at me. "Why?"
-
- "Because I was doing some design work, and I needed his help. I
- also needed to be as far away from the AI net as possible." I reached
- into the pocket of the robe I wore and handed her a rack of about thirty
- crystal-memory chips. "We came up with this."
-
- "What is it?"
-
- "It's the pointer specs for a Mephit girl. Looks exactly like you,
- has a neuron pattern that could support Rowan Majors' thought process."
-
- She looked at the box with wide, staring eyes for a second, then
- said, "You want me to go full organic."
-
- "You've been spending more time as Rowan the Mephit than you have
- as Rowan the AI. I had Hal send me statistics on downtime and interrupt
- time at Rhysh. I haven't seen numbers that ugly since we took down
- Luccas."
-
- She smiled wanly and said, "You really want it."
-
- "Paul's agreed to do the work. If I'm asking too much of you, it's
- okay to back out now. But Aaden and I agree on this. We don't want
- someone who's going to be in two places at once, and I can't stand the
- thought of you not being here for your children. I want you here,
- Rowan, not here and at Rhysh."
-
- She looked thoughtful for a second. "You said once that you either
- wanted someone who would bear your children and then never be heard from
- again, or someone who would stay and love them as you do. I didn't
- believe the first one."
-
- "You were smarter than I was," I replied. "I honestly thought I
- could get the first."
-
- "Not in your lifetime," she said. I laughed.
-
- "You're all agreed?" she asked. I nodded. "It'll mean that your
- project goes on hold for a while."
-
- "A year or so," I said. "Plus the learning time, all over again."
-
- She stared off at the wall behind me for a few minutes, then took
- the box in hand. "No turning back," she said.
-
- "Some people," I said, "believe they were born the wrong species or
- the wrong sex. You were born into the wrong element. You were never
- meant to be a silicon life form, Rowan, any more than your sister was.
- When we're done with the transfer, AI zero-zero-two-six-six is going to
- be decomissioned and destroyed, and no new persona will be installed.
- It's not fair. There's something in the physical design of your
- cybernetic brain that inspires you towards becoming organic."
-
- "Then I'm broken," she said.
-
- "No," I said. "Your body-- that big steel closet in the Castle
- Rhysh basement-- is just inappropriate for the type of mind that
- naturally inhabits it. This is just a way of avoiding that type of
- habitation. We'll put someone else in there, a new design. There's no
- telling if it'll have any more or less the same tendencies that you and
- your sister did, but at least we'll be sure it won't be because of a
- known hardware design."
-
- "Flaw," she said.
-
- That made me just a little angry. "You keep making it sound like
- you want to be broken and that's just plain silly. It's like suggesting
- Aaden's broken because he doesn't find females worthy of his lecherous
- attentions."
-
- "Isn't there something wrong with that?"
-
- "No. And it's not worth arguing about. We could argue that
- someone who enjoys homicide was just born that way, too. It's a moot
- point... the homicidal maniacs tend to get shot. What Aaden wants, and
- what you want, and even what everyone in Rhysh wants, is unquestionable
- as to its 'rightness' or 'wrongness'; it simply is."
-
- She smiled. "Somehow, I think you knew I wanted to go all the
- way."
-
- "The PT's a half-step, Rowan. You like being organic, I've
- noticed. You said it yourself, even being fat would be fun because it
- would be different from the electronic isolation of being AI." I rose
- from my chair and walked around behind her. "I love your sister dearly,
- Rowan. She's a good friend, and a good protector when I, and Aaden, and
- Borodir, needed her. I want to love you just as much, as the mother of
- my children, even by proxy." I bent over and hugged her close. "Take
- the whole step."
-
- She nodded, turning her head slightly to lick my cheek. "I will."
-
- "Good," I said.
-
- "Now?" she asked. The unsurety crept back into her voice.
-
- "Paul said he'd take you as soon as you were ready. His whole
- team's on standby. They can be in the office as quick as it takes
- getting to a SDisk."
-
- She nodded and said, "Then I'm going."
-
- "No hard feelings?"
-
- "I'm not a Mephit yet. I'm not sure what feelings I'll have
- afterwards. Ask me then."
-
- I nodded, releasing her. She rose and kissed me gently on the
- throat. "You'll tell Aaden and P'nyssa?"
-
- "I will. Goodbye, Rowan. And, Hello, as always," I said, quoting
- the last sentence of one of my favorite books.
-
- She laughed and said, "I'm going to keep that book in memory."
-
-
- After she had left, I was sat back down in the chair she had
- vacated, her cornflakes getting soggy. I realized then that I hadn't
- had the heart to tell her the truth, that the body we'd been discussing
- was already underway, accelerated with our new UFN techniques to they're
- maximum potential, and that she'd be ready for the actual transfer in
- less than six weeks, not tweleve months. Paul would tell her.
-
- I bit my lip, feeling melancholy. It hurt, actually, to have had
- to put it to her that way. Didn't I do that with every Terran, though,
- who stepped into The Great Hall and came out the other side as something
- else, someone else? The two halves of the argument raged inside me for
- a while. I barely noticed when Dave turned off the privacy field.
-
- "Come on Aaden," I heard float up through the portal. P'nyssa's
- voice.
-
- "P'nyssa..."
-
- "It's not like I'm asking you to have sex with me, werren. I mean,
- you have been sleeping with me for almost three months now. I think
- it's safe for you to shower with me without Ken around."
-
- There was a long pause. "Allright," I heard him say in a half-
- amused, half-resigned voice. The door to the shower opened, then
- closed, and I heard water running.
-
- As I descended the portal I heard P'nyssa say, "Besides, it's nice
- to have someone to do my back, especially someone with fingers. You
- have no idea how hard it can be to shower sometimes with these things."
- I presumed she was indicating her mittens.
-
- "Glad I could help," Aaden responded with a perfunctory yet amused
- tone. I snuck my way to the bathroom door, looking in. The glass had
- steamed up completely... both of them like the shower very hot, as do I.
- I could barely make out their moving forms, P'nyssa's blue-furred one,
- Aaden's black-and-white fur contrasting. The most obvious details were
- P'nyssa's tens, Aaden's muzzle and his upright tail. But what I could
- see was actually somewhat interesting. Aaden was indeed working his
- paws into P'nyssa's back, slowly working his way down.
-
- "Go on," she said, encouraging him as he knelt down, massaging the
- soap into her legs. I took a seat in the bedroom, leaning against the
- frame of the bed, watching. I figured that if I held very still they
- wouldn't be able to differentiate me against the hazy background. And I
- needed something to get my mind off of Rowan.
-
- P'nyssa turned around as Aaden stood. "Now stand still," she said,
- holding something in her mittens. The soap, I realized. She put the
- bottle down and began to wash Aaden slowly, her mitts working their way
- down his chest towards his crotch.
-
- "P'nyssa..."
-
- "Aaden, I hope you realize that at least twice in the past weeks
- you've woken up with your arms around me and not Ken."
-
- "True. But I got there in my sleep," he protested.
-
- "Does that matter?" she asked, kneeling down to do his legs the way
- he had for her.
-
- He didn't answer. She worked her way down to his feet, which he
- dutifully picked up and I watched her wash each one carefully. "Turn
- around," she said. He turned. Even through the steam, he was gorgeous.
- So was she.
-
- She rose and began to soap his back, stroking the suds in with
- long, careful strokes. Although I couldn't make out any details, I knew
- for sure that she was working her mittens between the cheeks of his ass,
- because I heard him hiss in that eminently satisfied way that I do when
- either one does that to me. "Shhh..." she said, quietly.
-
- I suddenly realized that she had every intention of seducing him in
- the shower. "Well, throw that theory out the window," I thought to
- myself. "Next thing I know, Ress'll be visiting Rhysh."
-
- Aaden didn't protest, and I recalled him telling her once that she
- was the only female he'd been close enough to interest him. I could see
- her tens wrapped around his body, reaching for his cock, stroking him
- very slowly. "Pretend..." was all she said.
-
- A Sinox warship could have parked itself outside the bedroom glass
- and I would never have noticed. P'nyssa walked around him, still
- stroking his beautiful shaft. She knelt in front of him and I saw her
- take the head into her mouth. I shook my head gently... Aaden's cock is
- almost impossibly large, there was no way she was going to do anything
- with it. It takes me a lot of effort to get it into my mouth.
-
- I heard him groan and I saw his hands on her head. She was trying,
- getting more than the head into her mouth, getting some of the shaft as
- well. That warship could open fire now and I'd still be oblivious. All
- I saw was the steam-hazed tableau going on before me. P'nyssa worked
- his cock with enthusiasm, sucking hard, both mittens around the shaft,
- sometimes tugging on his balls, sometimes disappearing between his legs.
-
- I heard Aaden groan, "I'm close," and she worked even harder, going
- after him with even more strength. I was fascinated, and oddly enough,
- jealous of both of them. I wished that was my cock she was sucking, and
- I wished that was my mouth wrapped around Aaden's cock. I watched as
- her head bobbed back and forth, whipping left and right with frenzy, and
- Aaden let out a soft, plaintive groan, his knees buckling under him as
- he came. P'nyssa caught him and helped him to the padded floor as well
- as she could, trying to keep him from falling over and hitting his head.
-
- I shook my head, trying to recover from what I'd just seen. I had
- trouble believing it all.
-
- "P'nyssa..." I heard Aaden's voice. "Oh, to hell with it. Thank
- you."
-
- I bit my lip to keep from laughing. "You're welcome," she replied.
- She leaned over, but I couldn't tell how she was kissing him through the
- steam. It struck me as being something important for me to know. Lips,
- forehead, cheek, or throat... each meant something different.
-
- I stayed where I was as I watched the two of them wash up for a
- second. My own erection, ignored in my fascination, subsided, and I
- only noticed it when I felt it flop back down against my leg. I
- chuckled softly. "Sorry," I apologized to it.
-
- The door to the shower opened and Aaden stepped out. The look on
- his face went horror/surprise/embarrassment in quick succession. I
- smiled and stood up. "Uh, P'nyssa," he said.
-
- "Hmm?" she replied.
-
- "You should see this." She poked her head out from behind the
- glass and looked where he pointed.
-
- Her face went through the same sequence his had. "Ohmifa..." she
- said, "You saw everything, didn't you?"
-
- "No," I replied with a wide smile, "the steam mostly got in my way.
- But I did hear everything."
-
- She looked at me and said, "Well... You may as get your butt in
- here and I can explain."
-
- "You don't have to explain," I said, dropping my robe and tossing
- it on the bed. I acknowledged that there was indeed a spare towel for
- me before I walked up to Aaden and wrapped my arms around him. "Good
- morning, Coimelin." Just hugging him close like that makes me feel
- good. P'nyssa joined us, and we made room for her, a happy triangle. I
- looked at him and said, "Come back in for a minute?"
-
- "Anything for you," he said, smiling. His eyes are so beautiful.
-
- I closed the glass door and sat down on the bench set against the
- far wall. "Actually, I want you," I said, pointing to Aaden, "to tell
- me why."
-
- He shrugged. "It's not something I'd go after." He paused. "But
- she's right, Ken, I do spend my nights with her as much as I do you.
- It's no longer a... condition... of my love for you. I guess I trust
- her enough." He turned to P'nyssa and said, "A few weeks ago, I made
- Ken admit something. Well, fair is apparently fair and he's doing it to
- me.
-
- "P'nyssa... I love you."
-
- She hugged him close and said, "Gods, I've waited to hear you say
- that. I love you too."
-
- "But don't expect me to chasing after... uhm... 'babes?'"
-
- I nearly died laughing. P'nyssa rolled one mitt into as much of a
- fist as she can manage and hit his arm. "I expect no such thing!" Then
- she joined us in laughter.
-
- After the giggles subsided, she looked up at him and said, "Given
- the right reasons, I've always thought one person could enjoy another,
- no matter what the mix of species, sex, whatever." Her voice dropped a
- little, and I had to strain to catch the words. "I've wanted you to...
- admit that the right reasons exist, between you and me, as much as they
- do between us and him," she said, pointing at me.
-
- "Gee, thanks," I said. "Exhibit Number One, Kennet Shardik." They
- both smiled. "Uhm, I have news. Rowan's gone to talk to Paul."
-
- "Then she accepted?" Aaden asked.
-
- "I think so. She could back out at any moment, though."
-
- "Then we wait," P'nyssa said.
-
- "Yes," Aaden said. "That's all we can do. I think we can do that
- for her."
-
- I nodded. "Paul'll tell us in a few days. Until then, well, life
- goes on. Now, you two go dry off. I've got to get clean."
-
- They left me alone. Not having fur, mittens, a tail, or a partner,
- showers tend to be short affairs for me.
-
-