Sar: First Mission

"Well you can stay with me. I'll teach you English and help you find a job. You can stay until you can get your own place."

"I don't know, how do I know you're not a murderer or something?"

"Same way I know you're a thief or not." She giggles at my words as I turn to the bartender. "She's wondering if she can get a job, I'll teach her English."

"Well I don't know, I'll have to speak to management. Does she have any experience?" I turn back to her.

"He has to ask management, do you have any experience?"

"I waited tables in Moscow for five years." I scan her to see that she is pregnant, and is twenty five.

"Five years waiting tables in Moscow." I say turning back to the bartender.

"Well now that is a good resume, what's her name?"

"What's your name?" I get a sheepish look out of her for the question.

"Martina, what's your name?"

"Sar." I turn back to the bartender. "Her name is Martina, if you can't get hold of her send me a message. My name is Sar."

"Thanks Sar, I'll ask tomorrow." I turn back to Martina with a smile.

"He will ask tomorrow. Why don't we go home, I came here looking for a girlfriend. Just teaching you English is going to mean no empty stool next to me and no more women approaching me tonight."

"I can just go back to your house, the programs help I've just been so busy until today. You don't have to go back with me."

"I wouldn't do that, I said I would teach you English and I will. Besides I only have one bed in the house, just moved in today."

"Do you have a sofa I can sleep on?"

"If you would prefer. I do have a sofa just delivered before I came here."

Martina looks nervous, but follows me up to the roof then to the walkway. While we walk along I teach her English, it proves to be a simple exercise since I know Russian. I also get to look her over, she is in a sky blue dress with a slanted skirt, gold necklace and a golden rope at her waist. Martina seems to notice my appraising look at her.

"You're not going to demand sex for letting me stay with you are you?"

"No, I find you attractive I admit, unless you return the sentiment I will not ask for sex."

"You're not weirded by me being pregnant? Seems a lot of woman don't like that."

"I am not no. I would like to learn more about pregnancy. Honestly that is part of the reason I offered to let you stay with me."

"Why don't you just go have sex with a guy and learn it first hand?"

"I did not come installed to birth a child."

"Well that... Wait a minute, you said installed nobody ever says that about themselves."

I am saved from saying anything to that by reaching the hover disks to return to my home. Martina looks over my few belongings and the house in silence, until the second bedroom that is met with a sigh. She helps me put the sheets, pillows, and comforter on the bed.

"I'm just a bit on the curious side, this is not the first house of a single woman. There are no knickknacks or art, no rugs, heck no clothes in the closet. So come on fill me in, what's going on?"

"I did not move with anything, like you."

Martina looks at me for a second and a half, then shrugs and drags me out to the sofa. She grabs up the remote for the plasma screen and turns on music then turns to me. I teach her English until she is yawning, after that she talks about the things she would like to get. When sleep overcomes her, I pick her up and take her to bed.

With her asleep in bed I get to work, first with a large meal order in the kitchen, then I make a coffee table. This time I go with a metal frame, thin metal so not much of a drain on my reserves with a clear top, rounded on the end. That done I move on to the kitchen and make a table, same style as the coffee table. I am forced to eat then, and order up a second large meal. I make four chairs and twelve plates, the plates are a dark blue just like Martina said she wanted.

I eat again then make the silverware, glasses and bowls. I have barely gotten the last of the items tucked away in the drawers and cabinets before Martina comes in to the kitchen. She looks around heads for the cabinets and pulls out a glass then gets water from the dispenser. She stares at me as she drinks then puts the glass down.

"Make me a roll of toilet paper please."

I head for the bathroom with the assumption I can place a few rolls in the cabinet. I can't, Martina has already been and searched, she also followed me. No excuse for the sudden appearance of furniture presents itself, meaning there is no way to not make toilet paper. I make toilet paper, four rolls just to be safe on having it. Martina ushers me out of the bathroom and shuts the door. Once she has finished she takes me to the sofa.

"Now Sar make with the explanations, you're not human." My processors burn through the possible explanations, takes me a full half second.

"You're right I'm not." I would say more except Martina puts up her hand.

"Don't tell me alien."

"I wasn't going to, there's no proof there are aliens roaming the galaxy. I'm a robot, currently my mission is to blend in. A girlfriend is part of that, she would help me learn how to act human. My database is incomplete and faulty, it said you asleep means you are asleep for hours. Only children and the old are known to wake up like you did." Martina laughs at my words.

"I'm agreeing with faulty, it does not include waking up because you are uncomfortable. I prefer sleeping in the nude, my dress was chafing on me."

"I shall remember that. Please do not tell anyone I am a robot. There is a directive, if my identity is compromised I am to alter my appearance and find a new house." Martina stares at me again before her mouth opens.

"Your leaving something out aren't you."

"Yes, I am to eliminate anyone who compromised my identity."

"Let's see, tell the world and be labeled a freak then die, or tell nobody and be able to order anything for free. Is there a limit to what you can make and how do you recharge?"

"The only limit is to how much matter I have available and if I can do it in private. I recharge with food, liquids work it just takes more to equal the matter of food. I can eat anything I wish, food is used because it allows me to blend. Why would you be labeled a freak?"

"Because no one has the ability to make a robot like you. Except perhaps the governments, if they do they haven't said and deny they can. You're a lesbian?"

"Yes, I have no desire to have sex with a male, it is not logical."

"Sex has nothing to do with logic. I have no desire for a man because I like looking at and touching women."

"If you have no desire how did you get pregnant?"

"My girlfriend said she wanted me pregnant and to not use the clinic. I found a guy told him to make me pregnant, closed my eyes, and pictured my girlfriend with a strap on above me."

"Do you enjoy strap ons?"

"A little bit, they feel nice. I prefer my lover's fingers, tongue, and her body pressed to mine while we kiss and rub against each other. Do you have plasma guns or anything like that?"

"I have a gun, my nails can extend like claws, and I have empty slots to make me compatible with the mission."

"Come on let's go to bed I need sleep and I'd like to have someone to snuggle up to." Martina says standing up and taking my hand.

Puzzled I follow her into the bedroom and take off my dress when she takes off hers. Following her directions I get in bed then put my arm around her when she asks and presses into my side.

"What do I do now?" Martina giggles into my breast.

"Stay here for me to sleep against you. So long as you stay put I'm happy, try to sleep yourself it makes you look human."

Martina closes her eyes and sighs, it takes fifteen seconds for her breathing to even out. Her question on plasma gun has my processors working through the information. Very old animated shows and a movie called Iron Man provide me with a place to put the weapons. After that comes the design, this takes hours design after design being discarded before I find a working design to implement. Implementing seems to be noisy, Martina wakes up and hits me with her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought of your plasma gun question and decided it would be a good weapon to add. I am currently installing them in my hands. Easier to use while flying than the gun."

"You designed plasma guns in your hands in four hours?"

"It was four hours, twenty minutes, and thirty eight seconds. I had to go through many designs before I found one that did what I wished and allowed me several shots before I am drained."

"I'm not asking about weapons again, at least your hands have stopped making that noise. Let's get up, I'm hungry and I want to see these plasma hands."

"I can not fire them, they show as quite distinctive and sure to bring attention right to us."

"Well all right, I'm still hungry let's go."

In the kitchen Martina puts in the meal order. We sit at the table to wait, unsure on anything to say I say nothing. Martina while the meal is cooking does the same, once she has gotten the meal on two plates for us decides to talk.

"So I'm curious, how are you providing the plasma for the guns?"

"I create it out of the matter I have."

"Shouldn't you have a reserve just for the guns?"

"I have a store of matter in my belly." I pause to look at the matter, a reserve just for the plasma guns would be logical. "I see your point, I shall need more matter to consume."

"Do you always think that fast?" Martina asks getting up to order up another meal.

"I have fourteen connected process centers, acting human barely taxes one, add in monitoring the area for threat and I have thirteen doing nothing."

"You monitor the area for threat?"

"Yes when I was leaving the base I was created in yesterday there were two robot towers doing that. They gave me the idea, I am a learning computer after all."

"Do you feel emotions?"

"I do not no, I know how to act human, read expressions and react in a proper manner. Emotions are beyond my programming."

"So you are letting me stay here so you can try and learn emotions?"

"No I am letting you stay here so I can try compassion. It made no sense to me, it is very not logical. Compassion is as logical as the United States giving aid to terrorist cells to hamper the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. Those same terrorists turned around and attacked the United States decades later for much the same reason as they attacked the invading forces. They were different from the terrorists."

"Compassion is strange, I think best if you forget about that one. Let's focus on emotions, is there anything you would do everything possible to not do?"

"I will not allow myself to be destroyed."

"Well there we go, that is an emotion, a fear of death."

"It is part of my programming, to not allow my own destruction."

"Part of my programming as well. I see a man with a gun I get afraid of dying and do what he says or stay out of his way."

"It is better to remove the man with the gun from the start."

"I didn't come with claws, a gun I don't know where you keep, or the ability to design and implant plasma guns. Did you get enough to eat?"

"Yes thank you."

"Going to need to order more supplies, do you have any special needs I should know about?"

"Meats are the best source of matter, it is concentrated better so make sure there is plenty. If you would prefer I can use bolts and nuts to replenish."

"No meats are fine, meats and potatoes are central to my eating habits. I am curious, are we going to order rugs and knickknacks?"

"If you would like, I can make them if you tell me what you want."

"I think for right now we should focus on you learning emotions. I'll order supplies when we get up again and you can teach me more English."

We return to bed, Martina snuggles up to me again. Once she has fallen asleep I work on the emotions problem. It's not that I can't replicate the state of a human experiencing an emotion, I don't know what brings them on. Which brings my thinking on how to find out, I can watch Martina or I can see if I can transmit her emotional state to me. I opt for the faster method then work on a design. After getting the transmitter worked out I decide to build it in to something she could wear.

I'm still running through designs of the housing for the transmitter when Martina gets up. First thing she does is head for the bathroom. When she comes back she takes my hand and leads me into the kitchen. I'm set at the table while she orders up a meal.

"Now, what were you thinking of all night?"

"Was I being noisy?" Martina giggles and shakes her head.

"No you were silent, it's just you would freeze up, not breathing even for a while then relax and breath."

"I was thinking about the emotions problem, I figure I have two ways to work through it. I can watch you and learn, or I can outfit a transmitter for you to wear when you want and know what your emotional state is."

"How is my emotional state going to help?"

"The way I am designed I can replicate the status of a human feeling any emotion. I just don't know what causes which emotion, by knowing what you are feeling at any moment I can learn faster."

"That's not a bad idea, and I'm to be a mom anyway so you will be practice. Where's the transmitter?"

"I have not made it yet, I've spent the last half hour designing the housing for the transmitter. I just don't know what you would like, ring, bracelet, necklace or earrings?"

"I'd like a necklace, with rubies. Can you do that?"

I bring up the designs for necklaces and decide on the dangling with rubies, in all there would be four rubies and fourteen small diamonds. Deciding on a nice gold color I integrate the transmitter with the necklace and lay it out on the table. Martina had gotten up for the meal, she returns when the necklace is finishing up. Almost drops the plates when she sees it.

"Oh heavens that is beautiful."

"Thank you for helping me with this." I pick it up to put on her.

It is a close thing I almost drop the necklace, when it touches her I am flooded with her emotions. There are a few of them, some strong some not, all confusing for me.

"What are you feeling?"

"Well I'm hungry, I love the necklace, I'm afraid it will be stolen, I'm afraid I won't find a job, and I'm afraid you will throw me out like my girlfriend."

"So your strongest emotion is fear right now?"

"Yes, especially since I am eating. Most would call it worry."

I focus on the emotions I am feeling from her, one I notice is lessening as she eats. I name this one hunger and go through my database for symptoms of hunger. That out of the way I move to the strongest, cataloguing that fear I find the symptoms for that.

"Sar I have a request." I look up at her and resume eating. "When you think could you stop freezing, there are times when it's fine. When I'm asleep I'd appreciate it if you would program yourself for sleep habits."

"Yes I can do that, I am sorry for disturbing you. I shall have a secondary processor work on the program while I teach you English."

"Your primary processor is what you are using to act human?"

"Yes, programs run from the primary processor first. What I am doing is a program to relegate the behavior to a secondary processor. Similar to my sex program, that is centered in the processor in my pelvis." I feel a spike of emotion from Martina of a sort I do not know, her face reddens as well.

"I did not know that."

"You are embarrassed?"

"Well yes I didn't expect to hear sex program and then where it's located. It is a fitting location for the processor running it, but I always thought sex was a little more complicated than a program."

"It is a large program, they were quite thorough in the positions I know. Sadly a great many of them are for sex with a man, I gathered many for lesbians when I researched." Martina gets redder and the embarrassed emotion gets stronger.

"It is definitely time for a change of subject, let us look for things to order while you teach me English."

We move to the sofa where I connect with the plasma screen to bring up what I find to buy. We start with rugs while I teach Martina English. She makes me go slow on the items so she can look at them and suggest changes while learning English. In all we get five rugs, an array of scented candles, fifteen paintings, two plush chairs and twenty eight plants.

While the items are being delivered and brought down Martina gets a call. While she talks in broken English I get to decide where to put things. The rugs are easy, they get set against the wall so we can move things and put them under. The candles end up on the sofa for the moving to happen. The plants go in the kitchen on the table, counter and a few on the floor.

Paintings go on the rugs just until Martina stops talking on the phone. When the delivery guy leaves I get a hug and a kiss from Martina. To go with the kiss is a flood of emotion I don't know.

"I got a job at Dyke's."

"Well that is great. What are you feeling?"

"Come on let's get everything set then I need a new outfit to wear to work."

We do the rugs first, a purple round rug goes under the coffee table and part of the sofa. I rectangular black rug goes under the table in the kitchen. A small oddly shaped white rug goes in the bathroom. A round dark red robe goes into my bedroom. The last rug ends up at the foot of the stairs from the roof. Then we do the candles, three end up in the bathroom, four are arrayed on the coffee table, and three make a center piece on the kitchen table.

The chairs end up on each end of the coffee table. The paintings go all over, four in my bedroom, six in the kitchen and the rest in the living room. The plants are distributed through the house. Now it is time to get a new dress for Martina. After some discussion on what she wants I make the dress and new shoes. I also make her a translator, just so she always knows what a person is saying. Then I make myself a dress, I go for a blue to match my eyes. I get four glasses of water before we leave to replenish what I used.

"Why am I going with you?"

"Well because you need to work on your emotions. Can't do much better than a bar, give anybody a few drinks and their face turns into a window to what they are thinking."

"This is true maybe I can find a one night stand, we still only have one bed." The emotions of Martina go through a few spikes before they calm down again.

"I'd rather you didn't. I've only been to our house once so far I'd rather not get lost."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about how you just lost your girlfriend. Just drinks and dancing for me tonight I swear." Her emotions spike again, I think this one is gratitude.

"Thank you."

We're silent the rest of the way to the bar. It seems quite busy today, we have to wait for six people in front of us to get on a disk before we can get to the bar. Inside it is packed with women wanting a dance partner, we only manage to get through by interlocking our arms. Martina gets behind the bar where the bartender hands over an apron with a pen and a little notepad.

Takes a little effort but finally I get a stool at the bar where I drop my purse and get the bartender's choice for me. It is a strange looking drink, pale blue with crushed ice. I take a couple sips before a woman asks me to dance before I pass out. So out on the dance floor I go with her, I manage to catch a few glances at Martina while I'm dancing. She seems to be doing well moving from table to table, running full trays of drinks out and retrieving the empties.

After four songs I make my way back to the bar to find my drink has melted. I down it and ask for something else. It takes me half a second to notice everyone is staring at me.

"Am I showing something?"