Aftermarket Lover (SDS Robots) (4 page)

He felt a
funny snorting against his shoulder and realized Lin was laughing. It was the first time he’d heard him laugh. “No,” Lin said. He lifted his face and gazed into Ash’s eyes. “I don’t need it at all.”

His blue eyes shone with emotion
, and Ash looked for signs of the machine, but all he saw were normal human eyes.

He lowered his face and kissed him.

A surprised murmur met his lips, and then Lin was kissing him back.

Tiny
barked at their feet, but they didn’t stop until they had to come up for air.

****

He took Lin back into his bed—their bed—that night.

Ash
wasn’t sure how he’d react to Lin’s naked body again with the absence of his private parts, but all doubts left him when they embraced for the first time front to front. Lin’s body was warm, and though Ash had to suppress a momentary flinch when he felt that smooth empty area again, the reaction was brief.

This was
Lin, someone who felt and acted like a real human being.

“Do my looks please you?”
Lin asked. He touched Ash’s cheek tentatively.

Ash
was puzzled. This wasn’t the first time Lin asked him this. “Yeah, sure, you look great. Why do you think I wouldn’t like the way you look?” Then he thought about it. Lin had been a custom-made robot and his owner probably ordered one that was his own race. Since Ash was Asian, Lin might be thinking he wouldn’t want a Caucasian robot. “You’re fine. I mean, if I custom-ordered a rob—someone like you, he would look just like you.”

He
trailed his hand down Lin’s side and around to his ass. Lin squirmed in pleasure as his hand found Lin’s hole and he stuck a finger inside.

“Lie on your stomach,”
Ash said, and Lin complied. Ash noticed that his finger was moist from Lin’s self-lubrication, but not as much as the first time. The human part of him was starting to take over the machine side.

Ash
reached to the night table and took some lubricating jelly out of the drawer. Coating his fingers with it, he inserted his middle finger more gently this time.

He moved it in and out, then added another finger.
Lin’s breathing hitched. Ash stopped. “Did you feel something? What did you feel?” He was curious whether Lin’s prostate worked like a human’s would. Did he even have a prostate?

“No. I—it just felt good for a
second there.” Lin’s voice was muffled in the pillow.

Ash
’s finger went to the same spot. “There?”

“Yes—no—I don’t know.”
Lin sounded distressed.

Ash
pulled his fingers out gently. He didn’t want to upset Lin. And if Lin wasn’t sure if he felt anything there or not, Ash didn’t want to just take his pleasure alone.

He turned
Lin over and got on top of him. Lin’s eyes were bright and Ash kissed him. “What feels good to you?” he asked.

“Making you feel good.”

“Besides that,” Ash said. He brushed aside the silver hair from Lin’s forehead and bent down to kiss him again.

His tongue found
Lin’s tongue and played with it, and Lin plied his tongue against Ash’s until their kissing grew deeper and more intimate. “You like that?” Ash asked. “Yes,” Lin said softly.

Ash
sat back, using his thumbs to lightly circle Lin’s nipples. Lin’s eyes widened. “I feel that. It’s—it’s—” He stopped, trying to find the words and failing.

“You like it though, right? That’s enough for me,”
Ash said. He bent his head down and licked Lin’s right nipple, causing Lin to draw in his breath sharply.

He worked on that one for a while, then switched to the other nipple.
Lin was beginning to squirm beneath him which Ash took for a good sign. Lin was sensitive to touch and could feel things even without the key.

Lin
placed his hands on Ash’s ass, caressing and kneading the mounds, and Ash grunted his approval. The next thing he knew Lin had pulled his groin down and was grinding his body against Ash’s.

It was the space where
Lin was missing his cock, but Ash wasn’t repulsed this time. “Is this all right?” Lin whispered. “Yes,” Ash said quickly. It was more than all right. It felt wonderful.

Lin
raised his hips, increasing the friction and sweet pressure on Ash’s cock, and it wasn’t long before Ash started to come. Lin quickly wrapped his legs around Ash’s back and Ash gasped, burying his cries in the pillow as Lin turned his face against Ash’s cheek.

A
s the last pulses of pleasure ran through him—he felt Lin smile.

In the middle of the night,
Ash woke to whimpering sounds. Lin was curled up on his side facing away from him, trying to muffle his mouth.

“What’s wrong?”
Ash said. He touched Lin on the shoulder.

“Nothing. I—”
Lin suddenly cried and seized up, his body jerking.

“Where does it hurt?”
Ash gripped Lin’s shoulder, then as gently as he could, turned Lin to face him. “Please tell me.”

Lin
gasped, and clutched Ash’s arm. He breathed deeply in and out, trying to calm himself, then said: “It’s the computer parts. They’re dissolving inside me.”

“Does it hurt?”
Ash asked. He felt helpless and moved a hand through Lin’s hair, caressing and soothing him.

“Yes. No—not pain so much, but—it burns.”

After a long while, Lin began breathing easier and his death grip on Ash’s arm relaxed. Ash gently folded him into an embrace, now that it seemed safe to do so. “Will this keep happening?”

“Until I become completely human
—if I even can—yes.”

“I’m sorry,”
Ash said. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“It’s all right. This is nothing compared to how I lived before.”

“You mean—”

“My former owner,”
Lin said.

The word
owner
now left a bad taste in Ash’s mouth. He may have bought Lin this afternoon but he hadn’t felt like he “owned” Lin for a single moment, and never would. “What was he like?”

Ash
felt Lin tense, and he stroked Lin’s back until he relaxed again. “T.E. Schuman was a sadist.”

“
T.E. Schuman? The famous A.I. engineer?” Ash was surprised.

“Yes. I was the first hybrid he ever owned.
He ordered me made without a penis and testicles because he wanted his own pleasure to be the only focus. He used to say things to me to provoke my human side,” Lin said. “He was fascinated to see a robot showing emotions that hadn’t been programmed into it.”

He took a deep breath, then continued: “He would be nice to me
and then he’d be vicious, just to see how I would react. He’d find out what I hated and then do it to me. He’s brilliant. He reprogrammed the key with his own commands. He would turn my pain receptors up and then beat me. He—”

Ash
pulled Lin tighter, holding Lin’s head close to his chest. He couldn’t stand to hear any more. “I’m sorry. You’ll never have to go through that again. No one deserves treatment like that. Not a human or a robot.”

H
is cheek nestled against Lin’s head. For a moment Ash thought he smelled Lin’s scalp. It was a human smell. Was this part of Lin becoming human?

Lin
’s breathing evened and slowed, and Ash finally relaxed as well.

He held
Lin until Lin fell asleep, but Ash stayed awake long after that, thinking about things.

****

Jake’s face came up on the screen. “What’s up? Hey, no refunds. I told you that, right?”

“I don’t want a refund.
I want you to find out something for me.”

“What?”

“The experimental treatment,” Ash said. “I want Lin to be assessed for it.”

Jake
whistled. “Heh. Sounds like a certain robot turned out to be a keeper. He that good?”

“Just find out for me,”
Ash said, ignoring him.

Ash
also did research on his own and discovered that of the three medical research doctors who founded the experimental treatment, one was a robosurgeon who grew parts using the hybrid’s own cells and who had performed numerous successful transplants.

He called the robosurgeon’s office and
talked to them. As soon as he had the information he needed, it was time to ask Lin what he wanted to do.

Lin
was astonished that Ash had researched all of this for him. “The important thing is—what do you want? Do you want to do this?” Ash asked.

“I would have a normal human penis and testicles grown from my own cells,
and a working digestion and elimination system. So I would be fully human?”

“As soon as your body shed
s the last of the chips inside you and incorporates the aftermarket parts, yes,” Ash said.

“If I don’t do it,”
Lin said slowly, “my body will continue to have human urges but without the parts to do anything about it.” He looked at Ash. “How much will it cost?”

“Don’t worry about
that,” Ash said. “By the way—you’ll only live a typical human lifespan if you do this. You’re not going to last forever like you could as a robot.”

Lin
nodded. “I’m not a full robot though. I’m becoming human and there’s no turning back. I would rather live as a human anyway.” His eyes shone and his face was alive with hope. “Yes. Let’s do it.”

****

After Lin’s cells were sent to the lab, he and Ash spoke to the robosurgeon’s former patients by U-net. All of them looked happy and healthy and were living normal human lives. One, a young woman who had been an SDS hybrid, had even gotten pregnant with her new husband.

“It works,”
Lin said, his voice full of wonder. He and Ash were sitting in their favorite spot on the plateau, watching the suns set over the flatlands. Tiny jumped around, running between them, before finally settling in Lin’s lap.

Lin
snuggled the little dog in his arms, bending down to kiss his head. Tiny’s tail wagged and Ash patted his flank. “I think he can smell your human smell more now,” he commented.

“Think so?”
Lin said. He looked down at Tiny fondly. “Here, Tiny. Do I smell human?” He held out his palm for him to sniff, and the dog licked it happily and barked.

Ash
and Lin laughed, the sound of their laughter echoing along the ridge.

****

Jake brought the robosurgeon and the assistants as soon as Lin’s parts were grown and ready.

Ash
held Lin’s hand as he started to go under from the anesthesia. As his eyelids flickered, Ash squeezed his hand, and smiled at him reassuringly. There was a small chance that the operation would fail; they would know as soon as Lin came out of the surgery.

Ash
waited with Tiny in the living room. The operation was taking place in one of the station’s spare rooms that the robosurgeon’s assistants had sanitized and prepared for the operation.

It took three hours. Finally, the robosurgeon wheeled
itself out, accompanied by its human assistants. In its mechanical voice, the robosurgeon announced, “Congratulations. The operation was a success. The patient will need to rest for several days. Thank you for your business.”

Ash
rushed into the room. Lin was conscious already and he smiled at Ash, who sat down on the side of the bed. “How do you feel?”

“Tired,”
Lin said. He sounded sleepy but in good spirits. “I’m bandaged up down there or else I would show you my new parts.” He grinned at Ash but Ash was still concerned. “Are you in pain?” he asked.

Lin
closed his eyes. “A little,” he said. “The surgeon gave me pills. I’m supposed to take them for the next few days, but the surgeon said my own body will accept and assimilate the new organs on its own. Especially if I want it to,” he added. “And I do. So, soon I’ll be able to—”

“—Do whatever you want with me,”
Ash said with a glint in his eye. He was looking forward to getting drilled.

Lin
’s eyes popped open. “Are you sure?” He looked so shocked that Ash couldn’t help laughing. When he calmed down, he nodded and told Lin, “Reciprocating is half the fun.”

He lowered his face to
Lin’s and kissed him. “You’ll find that out soon enough.”

****

Lin healed, and tested as being fully human in a week, but Ash was cautious. “Let’s wait one more week before we, uh—”

“Before we what?”
Lin asked innocently.

He was washing the dishes after dinner and
Ash was leaning against the counter drinking coffee. “I just want to be sure you’re okay first.”