Authors: Sally Painter
“Welcome to Sexed Up.” The announcement
seemed to come from the statue at the entrance of the office building.
Randi paused in front of the automated
doors, staring at the couple carved in granite. The artist had captured the
smooth curves of the entwined bodies lost in a moment of passion. There were
similar antiquated statues of men and women throughout the city, but none
depicted the man in full arousal. Until this morning she had no idea how
wonderful such an embrace felt or how incredible a man’s cock between her lips
tasted. She touched her tongue to her bottom lip, recalling every second she’d
spent with him.
Excitement coursed through her and she had
to bite her lower lip to keep from blurting out to everyone that she’d spent
the morning in the arms of a man! She closed her eyes.
Even though her surprising morning had been
the most amazing moment in her life, Randi couldn’t reveal the truth to the
world just yet. She had tests to run and data to compare. A smile parted her
lips, but the satisfied feeling gave over to worry. She opened her eyes once,
more mesmerized by the statue. She had to build a safeguard for the control to
prevent another accidental activation.
Somehow when she’d awakened and tried to
swipe the clock hologram with her hand to silence the alarm, she’d knocked the
remote control onto the floor and triggered the “on” switch. The gorgeous male
she’d been secretly creating had booted up, ready to demonstrate his skills.
Hell, he’d been turned on to full demo. If
it weren’t for this new job, she’d still be at home conducting a more thorough
test drive of her latest invention. He was her best sex-replacement prototype
yet. She squeezed her thighs together and shifted where she stood, but despite
the attempt to control the building arousal, wet heat rushed from her,
drenching her panties. She had to stop thinking about him and focus on her new
job.
It was her first day. It was dangerous to
be distracted. Today was too important to be fantasizing about him.
Still…leaving him with an erection was a visual she couldn’t shake from her
mind. Her pulse sharpened. Had she really done it? She mentally shook her head.
She still had no real data to support her suspicions that she’d met the
impossible challenge of recreating a real man, well, the best facsimile of one.
The possibility sent her into a new panic.
It had always been an unattainable goal. Once she measured and quantified how
much was machine and how much was man, then she’d know if she’d been
successful. She tightened her grip on the briefcase. The deep satisfaction of
his lovemaking filled her with renewed confidence. He was the summation of her
ten-year career, but her reputation as the best sex-replacement designer was a
two-edged sword. The expectation bar was constantly being raised and this time
she’d worried it had been placed too high for anyone on the planet to meet. She
stared inside the building and took a deep breath.
As long as this model didn’t deteriorate
like her previous attempts, then—she couldn’t allow herself to believe it was a
success. Not until she was certain there were no cursor markers indicative of
delayed degradation. If there were no markers… Her mind raced with the
implications.
“Are you going in or what?” came a crisp
feminine voice behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder at the perky
brunette, dressed in a flared business suit. Behind the woman was a growing
line of women, all dressed in the latest fashion attire of flared skirts and
tunic hemlines, waiting to enter the building. Her new co-workers. Her cheeks
flushed warm.
“Sorry,” she murmured and entered the
lobby. She stepped to the side and allowed the women behind her to pass while
she tried to calm her first-day-on-the-job jitters. The briefcase handle
slipped against her sweaty palm and she tightened her fingers around it. The
difficult part was about to begin.
“Randi!”
She looked up to see Ellen Forte, a tall
willowy blonde, step from the marble console. Ellen nodded to the female
security guards who sat behind the large desk, watching the monitors as the
employees swiped the chip imbedded in their wrists that activated the double
doors leading to the employee section.
“Good morning, Ellen.” Randi cleared her
throat and outstretched a trembling hand to receive the company president’s
handshake.
“Don’t let it all overwhelm you,” Ellen
smiled. “Come on, I want to introduce you to the staff before I show you to
your new office. I had it redecorated just for you. I hope you like blue.”
“I love it,” Randi said, taking in the blue
marble floor and various hues of blue splashed along walls, paintings and
fabrics.
“When Sexed Up was just an idea, we
discussed which color to use for the company trademark. At first we thought of
red, but decided it was just too cliché. Everyone relates sex with red, and
marketing decided sky blue conveyed a breath of fresh air. Separates us from
the mass of imitations out there. It’s rather symbolic of the twenty-fourth
century and today’s announcement.”
“Excuse me?”
“The World Congress’ announcement this
morning?”
“I didn’t listen to the news.” Heat flashed
over Randi’s cheeks.
“Recovery is officially over! There’s going
to be a world holiday marking the end to Reconstruction. Marketing is
frantically working on a campaign so Sexed Up can capitalize on it.” Ellen’s
eyes widened with excitement.
“That’s incredible news.”
“The Great Cataclysm destroyed more than
half the world and even though it took two hundred and fifty years to fully
recover our technology, we’re making new advances every day. Our industry’s
future looks bright. Women in 2383 are invigorated about exploring their
sexuality. Regardless of the past twenty years of a right-wing controlled World
Congress, there’s still a large population of women who want our products. Our
male models still far outsell our female ones.”
“As long as Congress doesn’t outlaw
manufacturing male sexbots, women will still know the joy of male sex.” After
this morning, Randi now understood the sexual joy her ancestors knew. It far
exceeded a genetic mandate to sire children.
“Oh, and speaking of that, did you hear the
President’s Inaugural Address last month?”
“I did. She’s very brave.” She glanced
around the busy lobby filled with women dressed in suits, most carrying
briefcases similar to hers. She tapped the holograph button to “off” and the
case collapsed, leaving behind a thin metal square securely clutched in her
fist. She shoved it inside the suit coat pocket and looked away from the sea of
female faces. It was the same everywhere she went.
No men.
“The president’s view on our need to stay
healthy as sexual beings was like an endorsement for us. She’s always been a
strong supporter of women embracing sexuality and after that speech I expect
next quarter sales for
both
gender bots to skyrocket.”
“Sexed Up products have the best reputation
in the market,” Randi agreed. “That’s one of the reasons I accepted your job
offer.”
“And we’re very excited about you being VP
of our Design Department. I’ll take you to the Human Initiative Department
later today for processing and your employee chip.” Ellen linked her arm
through Randi’s and leaned in to whisper. “How goes the work on this new
prototype you hinted about?” Ellen directed her toward the elevators. “It’s all
the buzz in the company that we’ve hired the best designer in the industry. I
just can’t wait to see this new model you teased me about during your
interview.”
“I can’t wait to get started on the
project,” Randi said, not adding the project was progressing faster than
anticipated. She didn’t want anyone to know the prototype was completed and in
the final stages. Even though Ellen was one of the leaders in the secret
faction dedicated to re-creating the male gender, she knew it unwise to discuss
in a public setting.
Only Ellen and the financial backers knew
the truth about Randi’s project. If word leaked out Sexed Up was attempting to
create the impossible, then the corporation would be shut down and those
involved imprisoned without a trial, thanks to the law passed in Congress
twenty years ago, banning all human male DNA research.
If their secret research was successful
then her creation wouldn’t just revolutionize Sexed Up, he would turn the world
on its axis! That is, if she could keep the second-generation cloning from
degrading during mass production. Cloning him would be her next challenge.
They stopped in front of an elevator and
Ellen waved her hand over the wall panel. The elevator doors swooshed open and
they stepped inside. A few employees started to enter, but upon seeing their
president inside politely waved and took a step back to await the next
elevator.
As the doors closed, Ellen put her finger
to her lips and then pressed the ruby on the bracelet she wore. An electronic
click sounded and she released her breath.
“Now, we can talk without fear of anyone
listening in,” Ellen said and leaned against the elevator wall, folding her
arms over her chest. “So how is it really going? The Board is pressing for an
update. How did the package I sent you last week test out?” Ellen asked with an
excited glint in her eyes.
“It was the best sample I’ve had so far,”
Randi said, feeling awkward and reluctant to speak openly about the project.
“I assure you I’m the only one who can hear
you.”
Randi nodded, knowing Ellen wanted
reassurance the black-market DNA had been worth the exorbitant price.
“It didn’t have the flaws of the previous
material you purchased?” Ellen asked, referring to the other samples Randi had
bought on her own before accepting employment with Sexed Up. That DNA had been
fourth and fifth generation instead of second generation as claimed.
“The sample was exactly as advertised,” she
nodded. “No flaws. Definitely original material.”
“Excellent,” Ellen sighed and unfolded her
arms. Her blue eyes danced with energy. “It’s just impossible to believe we’re
so close.”
“I’m honored to be on the project.” Randi
had agreed to take on the mission not for the fame, but because she believed it
was her sacred purpose in life. The current government had placed humankind on
a suicide course with its legal bans on male DNA research.
“As long as he’s disguised as a sex toy at
first, once the truth is revealed, it’ll be too late for the government to stop
us. The women of the world will already be enjoying the presence of males in
our society. Our main challenge will be initial market saturation before the
right-wing faction learns the truth. If we can do that, it’ll be impossible to
stop the restoration of proper gender balance to our world.”
Randi knew the frenzy it would create.
Ellen had assured her during the job negotiation that Sexed Up was prepared to
absorb all legal defense expenses. Since the prototype, unlike the rest of
Sexed Up’s products, would be a living being, the legal ramifications would be
unprecedented. They were defying the world government. Her heart pounded
harder.
“Don’t worry. All laws were made to be
tested.” Ellen smiled as though reading her thoughts. “At worst, he’ll be
classified as a hybrid machine. At best, he’ll be proclaimed a humanoid and
granted all appropriate rights.”
Randi licked her lips. Just thinking about
the turmoil her creation would stir made her lightheaded. Each subsequent
generation they produced would grow more human, augmented by the precious DNA
used to create the model waiting for her at home. Eventually, Randi hoped to
achieve procreation models and one day, a human male would be born. She knew
she might not live to see that day, but at least she was here in the beginning.
There was still hope for the world.
“We have to be certain all glitches and
bugs are worked out before production begins, to assure maximum use of time.
Once we become tied up in court, they’ll suspend production.”
“I understand.” This was the best venue for
her research. Modern politics had forced her to become a dissident. Those in
control were happy with a non-male world and felt it was divine intervention
that caused men to become extinct. They touted the absence of men as God’s
will, declaring it had brought a peaceful existence to the world. In Randi’s
opinion and those like her who followed the same moral and political lines, it
was an imbalanced world and humans were doomed to extinction. Men had provided
not just the catalyst for the creation of life, but their alpha energy had
charged and challenged women.
“We can’t afford any bugs when we start
production,” Ellen repeated.
“I’ll do my best to make sure it runs
smoothly.” She hesitated, then blurted out, “I have hopes this particular
prototype will be more than a cyborg.”
Ellen breathed in sharply. “What do you
mean?”
Randi mentally reprimanded herself. She
wasn’t ready to spring this on Ellen. “Just that I hope with pure DNA, it’ll
eventually develop beyond our expectations. It’s difficult to know if it’ll be
more genetic or nanite driven.”
“We’ll settle for nanite right now. While
our eventual goal is sperm-producing males, we do need to take the steps in
between. Believe me, no one is going to care what percentage is machine and
what percentage is human,” Ellen laughed.
“I understand, but my focus is more human.
I have to say Sexed Up’s nanites are superior to any I’ve ever used. So far in
preliminary tests they are reacting beyond normal ranges.”
“Excellent!” Ellen tensed and for a moment
Randi thought she was going to squeal like a young girl. Instead, she clasped
her hands in front of her and looked up at the hologram announcing they were
almost at the top floor.
“So when do I see the new product?” Ellen
asked.