LoveMachine by Electra Shepherd Read Free Book Online Page A

bit of expenditure on electronics and synthetic polymers,”
said Jonathan. “All taken from the household budget. Are you building
something, Ilsa?”
    “No.”
    “Are you building something, Cally? You and Blue?”
    Cally didn’t answer, because she knew Jonathan would have
deduced it already. Or if he hadn’t, he’d have shown the invoices to Ilsa and
she’d have figured it out in seconds. She took a bite of her corn bread. Red
was an amazing cook but tonight it tasted dry as dust.
    “You’re spending a lot of money on this…what should we call
it?” asked Jonathan. “An extra appendage?”
    “So? We’ve got a lot of money.”
    “It seems that if you wanted sex on demand, it would be more
cost-effective for you to pay a gigolo. Not spend a bunch of cash making Blue
into some kind of a sex machine. Unless you’re thinking of putting him on the
market?”
    “Shut up, Jonathan,” said Ilsa. “We’ve already been through
this.”
    “If money is a problem, I’ll pay for it myself,” said Cally.
“Though it’s not a problem so I don’t see why you’re making a big deal out of
it.”
    “If it’s what Blue wants,” said Ilsa, “he should have it. We
have a budget for research and development anyway. And you can use the workshop
if you need to. But did you put the idea into his head, Cally?”
    Cally put down her spoon hard enough to make a bang. “Blue
is capable of thinking for himself.”
    “Yeah. He is. But Dad didn’t make these robots so you could
have a toy, Cally. He made them to take care of us. Blue is intellige—”
    “Are you saying Blue’s too bright to bother with me? Because
you might want to ask him. Ask him what he wants. Just because you created his
chatbot program, Ilsa, it doesn’t mean you created him.”
    “He’s different lately,” said Ilsa. “His speech, for
example. It’s becoming more colloquial. You say I didn’t create him, Cally…but
I wonder if you’re trying to make him into something that you want yourself?”
    Cally pushed her chair back and stood up. “Thanks for the
fun family dinner, guys,” she said on her way out of the room. “And thanks for
your support.”
    “Cally,” Ilsa called after her but she’d already closed the
door.

Chapter Seven
     
    “Only two more left,” said Blue, carefully placing an
electrode on the side of Cally’s forehead.
    “I feel like a computer chip or something.” Cally looked
down at her naked body. Electrodes ran from several places on her skin,
including her fingertips, her nipples, the backs of her knees and her inner
thighs. There was a tiny silklike wire attached to her clitoris and several had
been placed by Blue, with infinite gentleness, into her vagina.
    “Welcome to my world,” said Blue. He applied the last
electrode to the other side of Cally’s forehead to complement the many attached
beneath her hair. Then he paused. “If you are uncomfortable, we can stop.”
    “No way. This is important. If we’re going to have sex, you
have to be able to come. If it takes me being wired up like something out of a
sci-fi movie, that’s what it takes.”
    “It does not have to be you,” Blue said. “I could ask
another volunteer. A male response might be more authentic. Perhaps your
brother—”
    “Jonathan isn’t interested.” She smiled up at Blue. “I can’t
imagine how male orgasms could possibly be any better than mine anyway. If you
don’t mind.”
    “I don’t mind.”
    The wires protruding from her body were all bundled
together, ending in a simple USB connection. Blue lifted his hand to his neck
at the base of the back of his head and pulled a small section of his skin
aside to reveal a slot.
    “That’s where you plug in? How you connect things with your
brain?”
    “Does the sight disturb you?”
    “Nothing about you disturbs me, Blue. How are you doing with
the construction?”
    “It is coming along fine. It should be ready for
installation in a day or two and then I’ll need