Melfina's Learning

"True. Well, are you?"

"A lesbian? I don't think so."

"Yeah. Me neither."

"You don't think I'm a lesbian or you're not a lesbian?"

"Yes."

Once again, the limitations of Human communication confounded the bio-android, but she knew that it was best to let the confusion remain, as her understanding of Human sexuality was that sexual orientation is not an easy subject for many Humans.

"You bi?"

Melfina looked at him curiously. "What do I buy?"

It was Gene's turn to regard her strangely for a moment. "Are you bisexual?"

"Oh. I don't think so. Maybe. I don't know what I was in my past. I don't even know if I had a past."

Gene turned away from her, sighing deeply. The Alluran opera continued, the scene having changed to the deaths of the battlefield.

"I'm just..." He hesitated for a moment. "I'm just trying to figure out what you of all people would find interesting enough in an all-female porn video to watch it without permission."

That explained the questions about sexual orientation, which relieved Melfina somewhat. "I was trying to learn more about myself," she admitted.

Melfina had never seen any Human's head snap around quite so quickly, and the disbelief in his wide eyes was almost comical. "What'd you just say?"

"I said," she repeated quietly, "'I was trying to learn more about myself.'"

"By watching porn? By watching various women finger and dildo themselves?"

"Yes."

His laughter was loud and infuriating. "I don't get it! You're watching porn to learn about yourself! Not even a well-known comedian like Jules Grey could come up with that!"

"You're the one who wondered if I could orgasm! I was just trying to learn how to do it to see if I can!"

The anger in Melfina's voice was definitely unusual, and the instant silence from Gene was uncanny and eerie. "You heard that?"

"As you said to Suzuka, 'I'll bet you at least enjoy an orgasm from time to time.' I may not be a true expert on spoken languages, but I'm certain that your point to Suzuka was really a question about me, about my ability to orgasm, and that was what made me go to Gilliam for more information."

"And he directed you to my porn videos?"

"Gilliam said he could access them. He named some of the fifty-three categories of pornographic videos in your collection, and we figured that the one I saw would be the best one to watch first so that I could learn how to make myself orgasm... if I even can orgasm."

"Damn," Gene muttered. "You're trying to learn more about yourself and you... Wow. Honestly, I would've never thought to learn that way, certainly not about anything sexual."

Melfina stood, and Gene stood with her, instantly taking her into his arms. She melted against him, finding a strange comfort in having discussed this, but positive that this discussion had not truly ended yet. Feeling the strong arms around her, protecting her and consoling her, helped to lift the distress, at least for the moment.

"I don't care if you can orgasm or not," he finally said softly, his words almost lost in the Alluran opera. "Yes, sex is important to me. Jim can certainly attest to that given how often I'd come home early in the morning, if even then, before we ran into Hilda. But my friends are even more important to me than sex. I'll admit that I've wondered if you can have sex. It'd be interesting to know if you truly look like a Human woman 'down there.' I definitely wouldn't mind feeling around 'down there' to see if I actually could fuck you. But you know what? It honestly doesn't matter. You're special, Melfina. You're special to me. You're–"

A short alarm buzz filled Melfina's quarters. "Gene!" Gilliam's voice rose above the sweet music of the opera. "An unidentified ship transmitting on a communication frequency typically used by the Kei Pirates has just appeared on long-range sensors. That ship is on a direct course with our trajectory with rendezvous estimated in forty-two minutes."

Releasing the bio-android, Gene sighed loudly. "It's been too quiet for too long. I guess it's time for the Kei Pirates to shake up our lives a bit. Alert the others and have everyone meet on the Bridge."

"Yes, Gene. Melfina, please–"

"Not her! She's right here and she knows what's going on! Alert Jim and Suzuka!"

"Yes, Gene."

Turning his attention to Melfina, Gene gave her a final squeeze. "Now is when you're really special, to all of us. Are you ready?"

Looking up into his eyes, Melfina smiled. "I'm ready!"