“Lights”
The lights dimmed and Jarod sat alone in the dark. He tapped a
five digit access code onto the keypad under his hand.
“File: Sylvia – Sequence: One. Scenario: Alpha”
There was an electronic hum as the holo-projectors
engaged and the memory drives spun up.
“What level, please?” The digitized voice was female. Soft, but
cold at the same time. Reassuring and almost sexy,
but clearly inhuman.
Jarod closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In a moment the
world would be at his disposal. With a word, he could have almost
anything. Almost. his realization of the harsh reality of
technological limitations quashed his passing fancy of something
more. “Aries” he whispered. When his eyes opened, he was engulfed
in the familiar blue glow. How many times had he run this
sequence? Dozens? Hundred? It didn’t matter. Each time was as
anticipated as the first.
His study dissolved away. Projector casings and computer consoles
were replaced with bookshelves and desks. Prof. Richards stood in
the front of the room. His classmates surrounding him. Jason,
Thomas, Erica, Charlie. Others. Some names long since forgotten.
But not one. There she sat. Directly in front of him. Sylvia
Austin. The most beautiful of all God’s creatures. He sat behind
her. Awestruck. Unable to tear his gaze away from the tiny fingers
twirling that long golden hair.
* * *
“Access: Charlie Page”
The door slid open and Charlie entered the loft that she and
Jarod shared. It had been a long day and she wanted nothing more
than to slip out of her office clothes and into a nice hot bath.
Unfortunately, that was not to be. The Ultrachem report was still
incomplete and she was forced to bring it home with her. She would
probably be up all night working on it. Relaxation would have to
wait until the weekend. Hopefully, at least Jarod would keep the
trideo turned down low so she could work in peace. She kicked off
her boots and threw her card key on the coffee table.
“Jarod? I’m home.” There was no answer. It was already past
19:30. He couldn’t still be at work. He must have gone out.
Wonderful. She might have the place quiet and to herself after
all. She reached in her purse and pulled out the memdisk with the
Ultrachem files on it. She looked at it for a moment and discarded
it on the table next to her card key. She might not have enough
time to soak in the tub, but Ultrachem would at least have to wait
until she had taken a steam shower.
* * *
“21-115: Introduction to the Fundamental Structures of Non-
Euclidean Geometry.”
Mr. Richard’s recitation was the first place that
Jarod had ever met Sylvia. Well, not met her really. He still
vividly remembered seeing her that first time. He was talking to
Charlie and Jason. They had gotten to class early and were
discussing the classes they had earlier in the day.
It was second semester, sophomore year. He and Jason were both in
“Advanced Graphic Interface Design” and Charlie was just coming
out of “Twentieth Century Law” Charlie was going over the lecture
she had just heard on the Menendez defense when she walked through
the door.
Her hair was like sunshine. Her eyes were large and inviting. A
deep ocean of blue that even the most accomplished navigator would
get lost in. Her smile was wide and inviting. That was just her
face. His eyes followed her long neck down to her chest. She wore
a tight, light blue shirt. Black suspenders beautifully framed and
accented what were already perfect breasts, the suspenders were
attached to a short pleated skirt that only barely covered the
longest, most wonderfully toned legs that one could ever imagine.
She entered the room. And she sat in front of him.
That’s how it was. Three times a week. The sweetest torture one
could ask for. And it was torture. Radiant beauty. Luminescence.
An arms reach away and it might as well be a galaxy. A full
semester. She was right there in front of him. That long straight
hair. That creamy neck. Those perfect shoulders. But he couldn’t
touch her. Four months of 21-115. Two more years of similar
experiences and now. 5 years later. He was still running
simulations of the same thing.
* * *
“Oh God, yes!”
This was exactly what Charlie needed. Every muscle in her body
tensed as the hot jets hit her back, her hands tightly gripping
the towel rack. Slowly she relaxed as she became accustomed to the
steamy hot water. She loosened her hold on the bar. A slow deep
sigh gently rolled off her tongue and escaped her lips. Ultrachem
was but a distant memory now, the problem of another woman; a
woman in some other place. Nothing mattered at that moment save
the tingly sensation running down her spine. She shifted her face
and eased around so that the jets could hit her chest, moving
slowly to enjoy the pressure as it rolled across her side.
She reached for the shelf and picked up to the small green
bottle. She squeezed a generous helping of the juniper scented gel
into her palm and began applying it to her shoulders and neck then
working the lather down across her small breasts. “Heaven” she
thought to herself, forgetting, for the moment, the disappointment
of not being able to soak in a bubble bath. After the strenuous
day she had had, this felt like the most sensuous experience of
her lifetime. She reached again for the green bottle and applied
more of the shower gel to her pale skin.
Charlie’s mind began to wander as she titled her head back and
let the mist drench her face and soak her short auburn hair. Her
skin tingled from the soothing gel and the hot water and her
nipples began to harden from the gentle rubbing motion of her
fingers. How long had it been since anyone had touched her like
this. She couldn’t remember the last time she had even masturbated
and actual sex seemed more like a adolescent dream than an adult
experience. “To hell with Ultrachem, this is something I need,”
she thought to herself as her hand reached for the warm spot
between her legs.
* * *
“Pause Program.”
Just like that, Sylvia’s fingers ceased twirling her hair. She
was frozen in time like a Greek statue. Jarod looked around the
room. Professor Richards was at the HUD Board, laser pointer
gripped in his hand. Petrified in the middle of his explanation of
a hyperdimensional cube.
Students around the room – Erica, Jason, Charlie, the others
– all similarly paralyzed as they punched notes into their keypads
or scribbled onto their tablets. He stood from his chair and
walked right through the wraith that was Sylvia to face her from
the other side. He savored the pose he had caught her in. She was
between notes. Still twirling her hair with her left hand while
she held her stylus to her ruby red lips with her right, sucking
gently on the head of the small pen. As unattainable now as a
ghost as she was an actual being.
There had to be something more.
He walked around her. Not through her this time, but around her,
careful not to disrupt the projection of her beauty. He took his
seat and began punching an access code on his keypad.
“What program?” The computers voice again echoed through the
room. Just as impersonal as always.
“File: Sylvia – Sequence: One. Scenario: Gamma”
“What level, please?”
“Capricorn,” he shouted in return.
And with that Prof. Richards and all of the students faded from
the room. All save Sylvia, of course. She was alive again. She put
down her stylus and ran both of her hands through the sunshine
yellow locks on her head. Jarod sighed audibly. She heard and
turned to face him. Both smiled. He half out of pride for what he
had created and half out of the realization of a long time dream.
He was acknowledged by this… goddess. She because she was
programmed to.
He waved his hand upward, motioning for her to stand. She
obediently rose from her chair like a puppet when her strings had
been tugged. After all, that’s all she really was. It didn’t
matter at this point though. Jarod twirled his finger in a circle
and like a puppy who had just learned a new trick, Sylvia
responded. The pleats of her skirt rose into the air as she spun.
She lifted her arms so that he could get a glimpse of the perfect
curvature of her tits. After the second twirl she stopped so that
she was again facing him and her hair swung to the side. She
giggled as she brushed it from in front of her face.
Jarod rubbed his chin with his fingers. He smirked as he gazed at
her. Her smiled broaden. She had been programmed to live for his
approval. She dropped her arms to her side and repositioned her
skirt then slid her hands up and down her torso gently caressing
her breasts and stomach. Jarod crossed his legs as he felt his
pants tighten.
Sylvia tugged on her suspenders and pulled them off of shoulders
letting them fall down around her waist. Again she rubbed her firm
stomach. Jarod focused on her bare midriff and the ring through
her navel. Focused for a moment until he noticed the ruby red
fingernails tugging at the hem of the half shirt and pulling it
up. Her breast were perfectly round and firm. Her nipples large
and erect. The orbs bounced gently as they were freed from the
baby blue spandex. She pulled the shirt over her head and her hair
flowed out from under the fabric like a silken ocean wave and
landed gingerly over her shoulders and neck. She slowly began to
approach him.
As she neared him he uncrossed his legs and unzipped his pants.
He breathed heavily in anticipation as she bent down before his
erection. He gripped the sides of his chair waiting for the sweet
warmth of her mouth. She bent ever closer. A shiver went through
his body. “God, please,” he whispered under his breath. Sylvia
closed her painted lips over the head of his cock and he watched
as her immaterial face passed right through him.
“Dammit.”
Sylvia didn’t notice, she continued mock sucking at
him, just as she was programmed to do. But he felt nothing.
“Pause program. ”
And she froze there. Just as before. But this time half
naked. On her knees. He stood up and walked away from her. Her
pose was suddenly so unnatural. Hungrily, ravenously gobbling at
some unseen phallus. It was simply. . . ridiculous.
He couldn’t be a part of this. He wasn’t a part of this. He could
watch but not touch. Imagine, but not feel. This was just. . . a
fantasy.
“End Program.”
The classroom faded and the study returned. He zipped
up his pants and walked back over to his console and began
feverishly tapping at the keys.
* * *
“Unnnnnggghhhhh!!”
Charlie bit into her bottom lip trying to suppress the urge to
scream. Any harder and she might have drawn blood. Not that she
realized that. Her stomach, her back, her entire body tightened as
she ground three fingers into her crotch. Each touch from her
fingers to her clit shot fire through her veins and each blast of
hot steam to her skin sent electricity across her entire body. By
this time she had fallen back and was only standing by propping
her shoulders against the tiled wall. Her back was arched and the
rear jets shot steamy water directly at her ass. The forceful mist
rode up inside of her with her fingers and provided yet more
stimulation. She was moaning audibly; gritting her teeth.
Her other hand was on her chest; tugging and tweaking her own
small nipple. In her minds eye, she imagined a lover biting at it.
Pulling with his teeth as he pushed himself deep inside of her. A
perfect lover. Rubbing just the right spots. Pushing all the right
buttons. Holding her. Loving her. Pleasing her. Knowing her like
he was inside of her head. A part of her life. The best part. She
felt the urge to scream and bit her lip. The anticipation. The
moment. She wanted it to last longer. Forever. It was too late.
She couldn’t control herself any longer. Couldn’t hold back her
body. Couldn’t slow the motions of her fingers. The jets kept
pulsing. A million tiny fingers hitting her from every direction.
Massaging her neck. Caressing her breasts. Rubbing her stomach.
Seeking out and filling every curve, every orifice, every crease,
every inch of her body. There was no holding back.
She came.
“Jarod!”
And she screamed.
* * *
“What Program?”
It felt wrong. It really did. Jarod had run simulations of his
fantasies more times than he could count. He had stolen the
likenesses of hundreds of people and programmed them to do his
bidding. But never before had it bothered him. Not before now.
Why?
Programming a holo-suite for sexual scenarios certainly wasn’t a
crime. It was one of the systems major selling points. Live out
your every fantasy. Your every fantasy.
Every one did it. It was expected. Why shouldn’t he? Why should he
feel guilty? Why should he feel anything but pleasure? A pleasure
long since denied. He’d run countless simulations with Sylvia. Why
should this one be any different? Why should it feel like such a
violation? It shouldn’t. It couldn’t.
“File: Sylvia – Sequence: One. Scenario: Epsilon.” There was an
electronic hum as the holo-projectors re-engaged.
“What level, please?”
Jarod closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing was left
but to say the word and the world would be at his disposal. His
creations actualized. His fantasies realized. He opened his eyes
and spoke the word. “Zulu.”
The room was filled with the blue glow and his surroundings
dissolved. He again found himself in Professor Richards’ class
room, but things were different this time. The lights were dim and
there were only two other figures seated with him. Sylvia was in
front of him just as always and to his right was Charlie. Charlie,
his best friend throughout college. His roommate for the last two
years since.
She was as real as he could make her. From the short bobbed hair
cut to the wire rim glasses. From the white tank top and suede
leather jacket to tight knee length blue skirt and go-go boots. He
sighed as he realized what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop
himself. All he could do was sit back and watch.
Sylvia put down her stylus and ran both of her hands through the
sunshine yellow locks on her head. A smirk started to form across
Jarod’s face. She turned to face him. Smiling as though she were
pleased with his approval.
He waved his hand upward, motioning for her to stand. She
obediently rose from her chair like a puppet when her strings had
been tugged. He twirled his finger in a circle and like a puppy
who had just learned a new trick, Sylvia responded. The pleats of
her skirt rose into the air as she spun. She lifted her arms so
that he could get a glimpse of the perfect curvature of her tits.
After the second twirl she stopped so that she was again facing
him and her hair swung to the side. She giggled as she brushed it
from in front of her face.
Jarod nodded his head in approval. This was what he had wanted.
This was the scenario that he had written. So far, everything had
gone as it always had, but it was soon to diverge. He found
himself becoming aroused, but not at the vision of the goddess but
in anticipation of what he knew was to come. She dropped her arms
to her side and repositioned her skirt then slid her hands up and
down her torso gently caressing her breasts and tummy.
She took two steps away from her seat and stood facing the
simulacrum of Charlie. Charlie looked up at her. Not speaking,
somewhat in shock, her slow steady breathing the only sound in the
room.
Sylvia tugged on her suspenders and pulled them off of shoulders
letting them fall down around her waist. Again she rubbed her firm
tummy. Charlie focused on Sylvia’s bare midriff and the ring
through her navel. Focused for a moment until she noticed the ruby
red fingernails tugging at the hem of the half shirt and pulling
it up. Her breast were perfectly round and firm like two ripe
melons. Her nipples large and erect. The orbs bounced gently as
they were freed from the baby blue spandex. She pulled the shirt
over her head and her hair flowed out from under the fabric like a
silken ocean wave and landed gingerly over her shoulders and neck.
She took another step towards Charlie and leaned over her desk.
Jarod unzipped his pants. He held his breath in anticipation as
Sylvia bent ever closer to Charlie.
Charlie’s breathing quickened and deepened. She sank back into her
chair shying away from Sylvia’s approach. Sylvia reached out.
Jarod’s eyes focused on the long red-painted fingernails and the
delicate tips beneath them as they stroked the rims of Charlie’s
glasses. His erection hardened. Charlie closed her eyes as Sylvia
slowly pulled the glasses from her face. Charlie’s deep breaths
became rapid pants. She knew what was coming. She made no move to
stop it. Sylvia face came ever closer. Slowly. Fluidly.
Deliberately. Closer and closer until their lips touched. Gently
at first. Light kisses. Lips teasing like playful children, but it
soon deepened beyond that. Charlie couldn’t resist. Slowly her
lips parted and allowed Sylvia’s tongue to probe inside.
Jarod’s lips parted slightly forming his mouth into a small “O”
as he began to gently stroke himself.
* * *
“Jarod?”
Why had she said that? They were friends. Just friends and
nothing more. That’s what Charlie wanted to believe. How could she
ever allow herself to think of him in that way. She couldn’t. That
was the answer. She simply couldn’t.
She was sitting on the bench in the steam shower. The water was
still showering down on her, rolling down her face like tears. The
steam was still running and forming beads of sweat down her back.
But the sensations. The wonderful tingles brought on by
hydrofingers caressing her every spot. That was gone now. What was
left was confusion.
All this time, Jarod had never shown any interest in her. She had
none in him. How many nights had they sat up in college talking
about their relationships? How many times had she cried on his
shoulder about her problems with Jason? How many times had he
lamented to her over his unrequited love for Sylvia
Whateverhernamewas? They never wanted each other. They were just
friends.
Charlie stood and turned off the steam shower, resting her head
against the tiled wall for a moment. “Why? Why would I say that?”
She whispered the words to herself, but had no answer. “Why?” She
spoke more forcefully now, as though being curt wither herself my
force an answer, but again there was none.
She was just lonely. That was it. It was a fleeting fantasy
brought on by a moment of loneliness. Weakness. Jarod was her
roommate. Her best friend since college. More like a brother than
a lover. He was just someone that she could talk to. Someone she
could trust.
She climbed out of the shower. She hadn’t washed her hair yet,
but she just couldn’t be in there any longer.
There was just something – not right about it. Something she
wanted to get away from. She pulled her long white towel off of
the rack and quickly began to dry herself, trying to rub the
memory away with the water.
The memories. There were so many. Senior year. After fighting for
months she had finally broken up with Jason. For good this time.
She knew that. She couldn’t take being with him anymore. The lies.
The cheating. All it had taken was one phone call, and Jarod was
right there in her dorm room. He was comforting. He said he
understood. He gave her exactly what she needed. He held her and
that made it a little better.
She cried herself to sleep in his arms that night. He spent the
night in her bed. Nothing more happened. She was heart broken.
Hurt. Vulnerable. And he was so compassionate. She would have
easily surrender her body to him that night if he had simply
tried. But he didn’t. Because he cared for her. Because he loved
her.
“Because I love him,” she said to herself, slightly out loud.
It startled her. The shock of calling out his name in
an orgasmic fury was nothing compared to this. She loved him. In
all the time that they had known one another, that had never
occurred to her before. She loved him. She stood there in the
bathroom, naked and dripping, staring at her reflection in the
slowly defogging mirror.
* * *
“Pause program!”
The world froze. Or, at the very least, every thing in the room
did. Sylvia. Charlie. Even Jarod. For a moment. What was he doing?
What the hell was he doing. He looked at himself. Sitting there in
his chair, his pants and his boxers pulled down around his ankles.
His hand covered in cum, holding his own cock. The electronic
ghosts of two women he claimed to care about petrified in the
throes of passion on the other side of the room. What was he
doing.
Jarod released his grip on his softening dick and wiped his hand
on his T-shirt. He pulled it off and used it to wipe up the rest
of the mess he had made on his stomach and the arms of the chair.
He looked at it for a moment and threw it aside by the desk, again
turning his attention to the frozen holograms. He pulled up his
pants and walked over to the other side of the room, where the
girls had been paused in their lovemaking.
Sylvia was on her knees. She had earlier discarded her halter top
and suspenders. Her hand was awkwardly rubbing her crotch through
her pleated skirt while her tongue hungrily explored the folds
between Charlie’s legs. Charlie.
“My God,” Jarod thought. “What have I done to her?” Physically, it
looked like Charlie, of course. The hair, the eyes, the skin. Even
the small mole under her right eye. But It just wasn’t her. It
didn’t feel like her.
She was propped up on a table near the corner. She had pulled her
tank top up and was pinching her nipple. her long skirt was hiked
up around her waist as Sylvia buried her face into Charlie’s
pussy. Her head was tilted back, her eyes closed as she stood on
the brink of orgasm. Frozen.
“Close Replicant: Sylvia.”
There was a blink of light and Sylvia vanished. Erased
as though she had never been. No evidence save for the fevered
state she had brought Charlie to. He looked at Charlie. She was
amazing. He had never noticed before. The long legs. The flat
stomach. The small pert breasts. Her smile was wide and her lips
full. Her beautiful round face perfectly framed by the short black
hair. Her eyes. Her eyes were closed.
“Replicant: Charlie. Eye lids .795”
Sylvia’s eyes blinked open. It was eerie. She was still standing
perfectly motionless, exactly as she was when he froze the
program. Except for the eyes. Those beautiful, green eyes. He had
never seen them this closely before. She always wore her glasses.
But her eyes were so warm. So innocent. How could he have violated
her like this? How could he have perverted her? He felt ashamed.
Guilty. How could he use her like this? Charlie was the one who
brought him dinner at two in the morning when he was working on
his integrated systems final project. Charlie was the one who was
there for him when he needed to obsess over Sylvia. She was the
one who tried to convince him to move on. She was his best friend.
He slowly reached out to the hologram. He touched her cheek.
Gently, slowly, being very careful not to pass through the image.
She didn’t flinch.
“Play Program.”
She came back to life exactly where she left off. Still moaning
and squirming from the unseen tongue manipulations of Sylvia’s
tongue. Her breathing was sharp and shallow. She closed her eyes
again. She arched her back and threw her head even further back.
Her tiny voice chirping as she quickly gasped for air.
“Reset emotion track. Replicant: Charlie.”
She stopped, opened her eyes and stared quietly at him.
He could see something in those eyes. There was love there. Not
the love that Sylvia had. The love that he had programmed in.
There was something different. Something that seemed so real. He
leaned in close to her, and wished that he could smell her hair.
* * *
“Jarod!”
Charlie stood there in the door way in utter shock. She had spent
some time in the bathroom composing herself trying to decide what
to do about the feelings that she couldn’t stop herself from
having. She resolved to tell him, then to keep it from him and
then to tell him again. When she left the bathroom her head was
racing in chaos with the possibilities. With the reactions she
thought he might have – some good, some bad – to what she would
say to him. She imagined the proper moment. Should she tell him as
soon as she saw him? Should she do it over a romantic dinner?
When she finally left the bathroom, she saw the blue light leaking
out from under the door to the study. She leaned against the door
and listened. She could hear Jarod occasionally speaking commands
to the computer. She could hear the computer responding. She could
hear movement and mumbles. She knew that he must be working on yet
another simulation, but she couldn’t make anything out. Her heart
was racing. She couldn’t keep this to herself any longer. She had
to tell him. She opened the door slowly, both anticipating and
fearing his possible reaction, but she never expected this.
She stood there in the doorway, wrapped in her towel, still
somewhat damp, though she had ended her steam shower quite some
time ago. Jarod spun around when he heard her call his name. Their
eyes met. Jarod’s heart dropped. Charlie stood there. Trembling.
Shivering, not from cold, but from something else. He looked
behind him, and she was there as well. Only not in a towel.
Instead she was dressed in a blue skirt pulled up around her waist
and still clutching her white tank top near her neck, exposing her
breasts. The real Charlie’s eyes began to well up with tears.
“Charlie!” Jarod called out to her while struggling to zip up his
pants; not knowing what he would say next; not knowing how to
explain, but knowing that he must.
It was too late. Tears were pouring down her face. She covered
her mouth and ran from the room.
Jarod turned again to face the hologram. This Charlie stared at
him. Confused. Her artificial intelligence not knowing how to deal
with the situation but realizing something was wrong. Her mouth
opened, but like Jarod a moment before, she found no words to
speak. He found two.
“End Program.”