Nikki opened her mouth, and a thousand reckless yeses sat on her tongue.
It's all she had been fighting for.
But then all of a sudden, his phone started beeping. A-01 froze. He straightened up, stepping back from Nikki as if he hadn't just been kneeling between her legs.
Once he had read the message on the phone, he turned to her.
"Sector 7 breach," he announced, his voice quiet. "Unrest regarding the grain distribution protocols. I have to go."
He turned and walked out of the office towards the elevator, his strides long and purposeful, leaving Nikki there biting down on her lips in regret.
She stayed there on the floor, her heart finally calming down. "Do you have to leave right now?"
A-01 paused at the elevator doors and then looked back at her. His gaze swept over her disheveled hair, her flushed cheeks, and the way his T-shirt was riding up her thighs.
His gaze had no hit, but it had a purpose.
For some reason, his hardware was calling to her. Was this a bug he needed to fix?
"I will return at 19:00 hours," he stated. "We will run down a schedule of the lessons we are meant to have."
The doors hissed shut, and there he went. Gone.
The house fell silent.
Nikki sat there for a full ten seconds, staring at the space where he had been standing. Then, the reality of what had just happened crashed down on her.
Fuck…
"Ah fuck!" she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I can't believe I did that. I literally.. In front of him… and he watched everything like I was a freaking porno!"
Mama would never be proud of me.
[But… he liked it? Men are confusing. Even the battery-operated ones.]
Nikki groaned, falling back onto the floor. She rolled around for a moment, letting the embarrassment wash over her, but quickly, another realization hit her.
"Wait." She sat up. "He just left. Am I... stuck here?"
She looked around the massive, empty house, and there was not a single communication device to reach out to him.
So how was she going to call him when something happened?
"I need to get out," she muttered, standing up and smoothing down her shirt. "I need fresh air. I need to not be in the room where I just masturbated."
She walked to the door.
"Hello?" Nikki yelled at the ceiling. "House? Robot butler? Anyone?"
A soft chime echoed in the room. A sleek, white drone dropped from a recessed panel in the ceiling, hovering at eye level.
"Greetings, Nikki," the drone chirped in a polite, androgynous voice. "How may I assist you?"
"I need to talk to A-01," Nikki said, crossing her arms. "He forgot to leave me a key card or whatever you guys use."
"Connecting to General A-01. Priority Level: Personal."
A massive screen slid down from the ceiling, covering the panoramic window. Static fizzed for a second, and then A-01's face appeared.
He was in the back of a vehicle. He looked bored. He was reading a datapad, barely glancing at the camera.
"State your query," A-01 said.
"Hi," Nikki said, trying to look casual and not like a girl who had been caught flicking the bean twenty minutes ago. "So, you left. And I'm bored. And I want to go out."
A-01 finally looked up. "Go out? Where?"
"The mall," Nikki said. "Or whatever shopping district you have in Sector 1. I need clothes."
A-01 frowned. "You have the bio-suit. It is resistant to tears, stains, and temperature fluctuations."
"It's a condom suit, A-01!" Nikki argued, throwing her hands up. "I look like a baked potato! I can't walk around a mall in that. People will stare. I need... human clothes."
A-01 tapped his finger against his chin. "The bio-suit provides me with your vitals. If you remove it, I lose my data stream."
"I'm not a Tamagotchi!" Nikki snapped. "I promise I won't die if I wear a cotton shirt for three hours. Please? I'll go crazy in here."
A-01 stared at her through the screen. He seemed to be running a risk assessment.
"Fine," he said eventually. "However, the condition stands: when you are in this penthouse, and when you are with me, you wear the bio-suit. Or nothing at all."
Nikki's face heated up, but she ignored the "nothing at all" comment. "Deal. But... I have no money. You know, since I'm a broke stray you picked up."
That sounds so bad. But… technically, the truth.
A-01 sighed. He pressed a button on his end.
"Extend your hand," he commanded.
Nikki held her left hand out toward the hovering drone.
A small laser arm extended from the drone. It scanned her index finger. A sharp, stinging sensation zipped across her skin, like a tiny tattoo needle. It lasted for a microsecond.
When she looked, there was a faint, glowing blue barcode etched into the pad of her finger.
"That is a direct link to my auxiliary expense account," A-01 explained, looking back at his datapad. "Scan it at any terminal. It will authorize the purchase."
Nikki stared at her finger. "Wait. Is there a limit?"
"I own the global bank, Nikki," A-01 said dryly. "You can splurge as much as you want."
Nikki squealed. A genuine, high-pitched sound of pure delight. She had gone from eating nutrient paste in the slums to having a sugar daddy with an unlimited black card in less than a week.
Yeah, that's what I am talking about!
"Oh my god," she beamed at the screen, waving her marked finger. "You are the best! Thank you, baby~!"
The screen went black.
Nikki froze. Her hand hovered in the air. One second, she was thinking, and the next she shrugged.
Well, whatever, he saw me finger myself, and I want to fuck him, so… he's my baby!
Miles away, in the back of the sleek vehicle, the screen faded to black.
General A-01 sat in silence.
Outside, the chaotic sounds of Sector 7 could be heard: shouting, sirens, the hum of crowd-control drones. But inside the soundproof cabin, it was dead quiet.
A-01 lowered the datapad. He looked at the blank screen where Nikki's beaming face had been just a moment ago.
Baby.
He ran the word through his linguistic database. Definition: An infant. A very young child.Colloquial usage: A term of endearment used between romantic partners to signify intimacy, care, and possession.
He looked at his own reflection in the darkened glass of the car window. He was not a "baby."
And yet, his auditory processors replayed the sound of her voice saying it. The pitch was elevated. The tone was... affectionate.
A-01 leaned back against the leather seat, closing his eyes for a brief second. A small, almost imperceptible smirk touched the corner of his lips.
He shook his head slowly.
"She is definitely an odd one."
A/N: There will be an update of 5 chapters tomorrow or later, depending on your timezone!!