More than A.I.

Chapter 1

Warnings: Profanity, sexual themes, robot AU. MalexMale relationship.


Technology is both a gift and a bane to humanity. Every invention increases productivity in one area or eradicates old processes entirely, but at the cost of introducing its own slew of problems, like the new ransomware, WannaCry that has been plaguing the world by storm. Many established and powerful corporations were brought to their knees by just a single line of code. Rocket Town was hit by such attack. Launch codes were hacked causing the thrusters of the Shinra No. 26 to ignite prematurely, severely damaging the surrounding structures and equipment. Luckily the support beams were sturdy enough so the rocket ended up leaning slightly on the beams instead of crushing the town below. The government of Rocket Town scrambled to secure their defence systems while Shinra sent a clean-up crew to try and safely dismantle the rocket. However, as the breaking news flashed across television sets in the evening time slot, the citizens of Midgar barely spared it a second thought, for something else held their undivided attention. Pedestrians were riveted to the spot as they looked up at the flat screens mounted on the sides of buildings in the city centre of the Midgar upper plates.

Flashing across the high-definition screens was an advert announcing the launch of a new line of state of the art, artificial intelligence (A.I.) machines for the relations industry, otherwise crudely referred to as sex robots. Shinra Inc patented the technology and was the sole manufacturer and distributor of these androids. The production process was highly classified information. Any unauthorised leaks would be dealt with by the Department of Administrative Research, otherwise known as the Turks. Nobody knew what went on in the labs except that mako was involved. It was rumoured that a Shinra employee who tried to sell the blueprints to the black market, was found dead in an alley the next day. No one knew how much that rumour was true, but Shinra staff were tight-lipped about their projects to avoid meeting the same fate.

The first line of sex robots ever created by Shinra was the SOLDIER series, which ran on the Third Class operating system (OS). These models were passable as humans from afar, but once you got closer, you could see subtle differences such as the not so detailed irises, synthetic skin, stiff movements and stilted speech. Also, their conversations were limited to likes and dislikes, which made conversation a short affair. Another downside was that the SOLDIER models were only available in one colour, brown hair with glowing blue eyes and fair complexion.

For the second line, Shinra released an upgrade to the SOLDIER series, the Second Class OS. This batch came in three sets of styles, blond, raven and brunette. They were a slight improvement in that their movements were smoother, although you could still hear the whir of motors under their skin, and they could hold decent conversations until you asked them something difficult like the meaning of life. The Second Class SOLDIERs did not answer with 42 and instead would announce an error had occurred and promptly rebooted itself. This wiped out all preinstalled settings and internal memory. Customers who encountered this problem with their machines were required to bring in their SOLDIERs to be reprogrammed at Shinra's customer service centre. Shinra issued a public statement to address this issue, saying that clients should not ask the SOLDIERs intellectually challenging questions and instead use them for their intended purpose. Basically Shinra was telling them to just shut up and fuck the sex dolls.

Shortly after the Second Class line came out, a small start-up company launched an exact replica of the OS at a fragment of the price Shinra was selling theirs. They aimed to disrupt the sex robot industry and wrestle market monopoly from Shinra. The company was called Avalanche and they named their line of sex robots, the Raven models. People flocked by the thousands to buy a Raven and many claimed that this would be the end of Shinra. At first glance, they appeared the same as their Second Class counterparts. However, once the Ravens were activated, a vast number of differences became apparent. The Raven's movements were erratic while their speech came out in a disjointed, garbled mess. Some of the Ravens reportedly exploded due to overheated batteries. Many people were rushed to Shinra hospital emergency room for severe burns and in some cases, loss of limbs. Some were unlucky and died from flying shrapnel when the machines exploded. In light of these string of incidents, a massive crowd stormed Avalanche offices to demand a refund and compensation. However, the offices had already been vacated, the CEO of Avalanche having fled long ago. It was later discovered that the Ravens were actually defective SOLDIERs which were scheduled to be disposed of by Shinra manufacturing. Avalanche somehow got their hands on these and tried to fix some of the defects by rewiring them, to pass them off as genuine merchandise. Shinra sent its Turks to apprehend the man and so that they could sue his pants off. Unfortunately, Shinra failed to capture the CEO and the last anyone heard was that the man disappeared into the forests of Wutai.

Shinra was furious, but called off the manhunt due to the mounting costs of deploying its resources. Shinra wrote-off its losses and went on to release its next batch of pleasure dolls, the SOLDIER First Class OS. These were pretty decent. The science department managed to correct the flaws found in the Second Class OS and even threw in some upgrades. Movement was now more fluid and speech became more animated and life-like. If you weren't paying attention, you would forget that a robot was walking beside you instead of another human being. The changes were mostly upgrades to hardware and software so the First Class OS were still only available in the previously launched styles.

The latest batch being advertised now was the Tsviet series. They were the most human-like by far and had the widest variation of styles including bluenettes, scarlet and snowy. Their design was flawless and there was no way one could tell it was a robot from its physical appearance. From their smooth, unblemished skin to soft hair particles and moist, detailed irises and pupils – Everything was flawless. Another plus side was that the Tsviets could accommodate a vast range of human emotions to the extent that even their actions and speeches were uncanny. When they felt embarrassed, they would scratch the back of their neck while explaining to you with a sheepish smile or congratulate you with a hug and be genuinely happy for you when you earned an achievement. However, you could still hear the slightly muted hum of machinery in the background. There would also be infrequent lulls in conversations and glazed eyes as the machine processed the relevant response. These were small, negligible blips that revealed the true nature of these otherwise perfect human replicas.

Cloud Strife knew the history and specifications by heart as he worked part-time for Shinra Inc's sales department. He needed the income to finance his post-graduate degree in materia studies at Shinra Technological Institute. Other part-timers and himself had to undergo a short course to learn how to handle these machines and earn a certificate before they were qualified to handle a sex robot. The pay was good, considering that he only had to sort of babysit the robot during exhibitions and explain its functions and features to interested clients, most of whom were the extremely wealthy and influential citizens of Midgar's upper plates. There was no way someone from the slums could afford such expensive piece of technology, considering that the sex dolls went for 1,000,000 Gil each, and that was just the starting price. If you wanted the version with high retina vision, realistic self-lubricating tongue, wifi and other add-ons, they would cost you more. A Tsviet model with the full range of features could easily come up to half a billion Gil. In Cloud's opinion, that was a lot of Gil to spend just to have sex. However, normal people like him who didn't have an insane amount of Gil still had a chance of obtaining these highly prized machines. They'd just need to sell a couple of mastered All materias, although it was a painstaking process and All materias were hard to come by as well.

The exorbitant price of these machines was partly due to the unique material used in their creation. All sex robots had an inner frame made of the nickel-titanium alloy, nitinol which was lightweight enough for sex robots to engage in intercourse without the risk of crushing its human clients. Nothing like a huge turn-off to be completely flattened by a force equivalent to a freight train when you were about to orgasm. Also, the metal could be reformed after sustaining damage, thus making maintenance much easier.

The existence of sex robots were received with mixed reactions. Of course, the majority of the public saw it as the holy grail of a perfect relationship. No more nagging lovers or forgotten anniversaries. You could change their mood with just a tap via Shinra's mobile app. The sex robots were programmed to please and cater to every need of its user without complaint. Plus, all sex robots were created sterile in that they did not produce sperm or ovums and had autoimmunity to STDs. They were the ideal partner for casual sex with literally no strings attached. Others were outraged by such monstrosity, saying that it would further deprave society and signalled the beginning of the end of humanity.

Honestly, Cloud was more disturbed by the fact that they already had fully functional intelligent machines in freaking 2017! The first ones should only exist in some far, dystopian future such as Portal or like Ghost in the Shell. Cloud just hoped that these sex robots didn't suddenly take over the world and enslave humanity like their Terminator counterparts. The advancement in this industry has definitely grown by leaps and bounds and represented a major paradigm shift from those blow-up rubber dolls of the past.

Having given it a lot of thought, Cloud decided that he wouldn't ever own a sex robot and not just because they were expensive. Even if he did have the Gil, he wouldn't purchase one because he was a traditional romantic at heart. If he fell in love with someone, he would accept that person with all their quirks and flaws. He wanted someone to be his other half, to counter-balance his own traits such as his headstrong, introvert personality which led to people interpreting his words as blunt and sometimes rude. He wanted someone who would point out his mistakes and get angry with him if he was being particularly stubborn. Tifa was one of his few friends who would never hesitate whoop his ass if he behaved like an obstinate mule. Cloud knew that he could select the setting from the app to make the doll incensed and quarrel with him, but it wouldn't be the same. The machine wouldn't be acting that way out of choice, but because Cloud had chosen that outcome for it. Of course, this sort of total control appealed to people with OCD tendencies. However, the very idea repelled him. It would be no different from rape, since the sex robot couldn't voice or act out its own desires and didn't even have free reign over their own feelings. Call him old-fashioned, but Cloud wanted someone who would love him of their own free will, to have the challenge of trying to earn someone's affections and to have that person return his feelings voluntarily made that accomplishment even sweeter. It was kind of like video games. There was no fun in playing, no sense of fulfilment if you heavily relied on walkthroughs and rigged the game to have a full health gauge and immunity to attacks from computer NPCs. Any victory would be empty and meaningless.

It was a little past midnight and Cloud was on his way home to his meagre apartment in the slums after a full day's work of demonstrations and exhaustive explanations at the launch of Shinra's prized Tsviets. Shinra wanted the launch of their new product to go off without a hitch and hence, required all personnel, both full- and part-time employees to man the exhibition booths. At least his pay was tripled for his troubles. As he made his way to the Midgar train station, he frowned at the digital adverts touting the Tsviets as the ideal companion with promises of love and devotion. Cloud scoffed at that. Sure you could "buy" love, but you could never own the spirit and fire of a person's soul. Cloud wasn't sure if the robots had a soul, but felt that the same concept applied. He didn't necessarily hate the robots. He just detested how they were objectified like things instead of like the humans they were trying to imitate. There was no limit to what a person could do to a sex robot, because it didn't possess any rights. It was truly the highest form of paid sex, to be able to use and abuse sex robots at will without any repercussions. That sort of crass behaviour repulsed him.

When Cloud reached the train station, he tapped his MR (Midgar Rails) card on the validator to pass through the turnstiles. As he neared the platform, he caught his reflection on the platform screen doors that prevented passengers from falling onto the tracks. His lips were twisted into a disgusted sneer, a deep frown furrowing his brows. His expression had been distorted by his wondering thoughts. He always did have a terrible poker face. He ran a hand over his face to wipe off the look. As he glanced around, he noticed that he was the only one waiting at the station. It was pretty late and most of the slum dwellers would have gotten home by now as it was not safe to travel at night. This was why he always took the morning shifts at his part-time job. The train arrived and Cloud hopped on board. As the train made its descent to the lower plate, Could looked out the window as the bright lights of the city disappeared from view.


When Cloud first arrived in Midgar, having freshly graduated from Nibelheim's high school he was instantly floored by the magnificence and scale of the city. He was giddy with excitement when he first boarded the train which would take him Midgar University College where he would further his studies in materiaology. Having grown up in a small town, there weren't a lot of occupations to consider. One either became a bartender at the local inn or worked as a tour guide. Nibelheim was a reactor town which meant that there was nothing much out there. Except, there were mako caves high up in the mountains, but most of the villagers avoided straying from the main path which connected to the reactor and Rocket Town. Actually, they avoided going near the reactor completely as that was off-limits to non-Shinra personnel.

Cloud had wandered off from the beaten path during one of his outings and after losing himself in the winding caves a couple times, he happened upon the most beautiful scene he had ever laid eyes on. It was a wide cave with a high ceiling and mako springs littered the chamber, sending multi-coloured lights bouncing off the cave walls. It was as if he had walked into another dimension. Cloud spent most of his childhood at the springs after that. Sometimes he found some materia which he would take with him to practice out in the mountains. He loved to discover what type of magic each glowing orb held, like a sort of Easter egg surprise. He got a lot of Fire materia, which was weird considering that Nibelheim had a frigid climate. Later on he picked up two Blizzards, a Thunder and one time he even got a Summon materia. That was the best day of his life. As he descended the mountains with his precious find, a gigantic black dragon swooped down from the sky and blocked his path. Cloud had heard of this type of dragon from travellers' tales at the local tavern. It was a Dark Dragon and it was definitely not native to these lands. They were more commonly found in the Northern Crater. Cloud didn't know what this dragon was doing here, but he didn't stick around to find out. He dashed down the path and took cover behind a boulder.

Once he got there, he dug through his knapsack for the Summon materia and activated it. A loud roar sounded from the skies and the clouds parted as an enormous dragon descended from the skies. He recognised this Summon from the book on materia he had read in the library. This was Bahamut, the king of dragons. The Dark Dragon swivelled its head towards Bahamut with an answering roar. It took to the skies and the two dragons battled it out, setting the skies ablaze with vermillion and aquamarine flames. Soon, it became clear that the Dark Dragon was no match for Bahamut and was quickly defeated by the dragon king. Its body evaporated in green tendrils of light, while Bahamut gave a victorious roar before returning to the heavens. Cloud was stunned. He had never seen a Summon in real life and only read about them in books. Cloud thought that the drawings didn't do them justice. When Cloud got home that night, he told Mother Strife all about the magnificent Summon. He received a sound scolding at first for wandering in the perilous mountainside. However, when she calmed down and got over her panic, she praised Cloud for his swift actions and for being able to use a Summon. Apparently, one needed a high amount of mana to activate one and it looked like Cloud was a child prodigy. Recognising his abilities, Mother Strife encouraged him to pursue an occupation related to materia and the rest was history.


That was young Cloud. The Cloud now was already jaded towards the glamour and allure of Midgar's upper plate. As he stared at an endless sea of black with the green glow of mako reactors dotting the horizon, Cloud couldn't help but compare the train's spiral descent to the hopes and dreams of millions who had come to this city hoping for greatness, only to be flushed down into the swirling pits of the dark abyss. No matter how hard they tried, the upper plates would be forever unreachable to the lower plate inhabitants as they were worlds apart.

Cloud got off at his stop and departed the train station with haste. This was the graveyard shift and it wouldn't do to be caught coming down from the upper plates. Muggers and rapists were active at this time of night, hiding in the shadows, waiting for easy unsuspecting prey to come along. Cloud wasn't that worried because if it came down to it, he could hold his own in a fight. However, he preferred to avoid a scuffle altogether if possible, because these guys fought dirty. You never knew what kind of drugs or poison they'd stick you with, probably the lethal kind, and Cloud didn't want to chance finding out. He brisk walked past shops and alleyways without stopping to look at anything, eager to get back to his apartment building in Sector 7. At least he would be slightly safer there. One of the perks of taking a Masters degree at the Institute was that the institute provided housing for its post-graduates at a discounted rate. As an added bonus, even their utility bills were subsidized. There were also security guards patrolling the blocks, although Cloud wasn't sure how much protection they could offer if one of the slum gangs decided to raid the establishment, but hey, at least it was something.

While Cloud mulled over his current living situation, the crunch of gravel told him that someone was walking behind him. He didn't immediately look back, not wanting to alert the stranger that he had noticed. There could also be a chance that this person was returning from a late night shift. Out of the corner of his eyes, Cloud could slightly make out the figure from the reflection on the display window of a gift shop. The guy was slim, wearing a hoodie and jeans. Normally, Cloud didn't like to stereotype, but iffy things happened during this time at night and that kid definitely looked like a druggie or a pilferer or both. Cloud decided to test his theory. He made several detours through the winding streets and checked for signs of his follower. Cloud caught his stalker's reflection in another shop window. Shit! Cloud mentally cursed his luck. He increased his pace to a fast walk and when he turned another corner, he dashed into the nearest building. Cloud cracked open the door a little so that he could see when his stalker walked by. A few seconds ticked by and the man walked down the road, past Cloud's hiding place and walked up the steps to a flat. Cloud heard the jingle of keys and the man promptly opened and shut the door as he entered his building. Oh, so he wasn't following me, Cloud thought, embarrassed that he had let fear feed his paranoia. As he calmed down from his adrenaline, he moved to open the door only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Relinquish you clothes. I have need of them," said a deep monotonous voice behind him. Cloud jumped a little and then slowly realised what was being asked of him. He was baffled. If this was a stick-up, then that sure was a weird-ass demand. Cloud wasn't sure if the guy behind him was armed, so he continued facing forward as he said, "Look, if you want Gil, my wallet's in my left back pocket of my jeans. You can take everything in there and I won't report you to the authorities." Seriously, it would be much easier for this guy to just buy clothing with stolen money instead of trying to pinch them off passers-by, who might not even be the right size. Cloud promptly told the stranger his line of reasoning, hoping that he would just take the Gil and leave.

"I cannot. I am without attire and from my short, but informative experiences, humans don't take lightly to people walking around in public in a state of undress." The stranger replied.

"You're naked?!" Cloud shouted as he whipped around, momentarily forgetting about the possibility of a weapon. Cloud's eyes bugged out upon landing on smooth chest, with tendrils of silver hair falling over the man's shoulder in rivulets. His eyes automatically flicked in a swift once-over and he quickly averted his gaze and blushed madly as he saw how generously endowed this stranger was.

"Yes, in all aspects of the word I am as you say, naked. Hence, my need for clothing. Now hand over your garment so that we can go our separate ways." The silverette said in a non-threatening manner.

"What the fuck? I'm not giving you my clothes just because you're demanding it." Cloud voiced in agitation, brows furrowed.

"Hand over your clothes, please." Green cat-slit eyes implored.

"That doesn't make any difference!" Cloud pointed out in a yell. "Also, if you've noticed, my size won't even fit you. You're just going to have to find some other way to cover yourself up." Cloud told the silverette, trying his best to avoid looking anywhere else except his emerald eyes.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. There are no articles of clothing lying anywhere in this building and so far you're the only person to have entered this dilapidated structure." The stranger said mournfully.

"Well there must be something around here that we could use. Maybe you didn't look hard enough." Cloud said as he scanned his surroundings for the first time. It appeared to be an old abandoned church. Street lights filtered down from holes in the roof, illuminating columns of dust particles and casting a soft yellow glow in the hall. Aged wooden pews sat in disarray and at the end where the altar should be, were a small patch of brightly coloured flowers. Cloud moved further down the hall, searching for anything that could be used as wrapping material. Floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows lined the walls on either side, the ones at the back being the largest and with the most detailed designs. As Cloud made his way to the back, he pushed aside the curtain that divided the main hall from the rest of the church. There was nothing much back there except some barrels and it looked like one of the church towers had collapsed into the building, leaving a big gaping hole in the roof. With a sigh, Cloud turned around and decided to try his luck with the main hall, when suddenly he stilled and did a double-take, eyes falling to the article in his grasp. He was holding the long red curtain divider and a thought occurred to him.

"Hey you can use this as a temporary wrap-around so that you can get back to wherever you live and change into your normal clothes." Cloud announced happily.

"Absolutely not." The silver-haired man flatly declined.

"Why the hell not?" Cloud almost whined. It was late, he was tired and he just wanted to collapse in his bed right about now.

"That rag has been hanging there for Gaia knows how long and it's old, dusty and probably infested with millions of pathogens." The stranger sniffed, his nose in the air.

"What happened to desperate times?" Cloud quirked an eyebrow.

"Please, I'm not that desperate that I would resort to using material of unknown origin and questionable hygiene." The silverette crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well then, suit yourself. You can wait here and try your luck with the next poor sod who stumbles in. See-ya. Wait, scratch that. It would probably be best if we never ran into each other again." Cloud waved a hand as he made his way to the front doors.

"Wait! You're just going to leave me here defenceless and exposed to the elements? What kind of Samaritan are you?" The stranger called out in disbelief.

Cloud halted his steps and scoffed. "I already did my part by suggesting a viable solution. You're the one who shot it down. Look, you either don the cloth and leave or don't and stay behind. Either way, make up your mind and do it quickly," he snapped out crankily.

The silverette's eyes flitted from Cloud to the long curtain, back and forth before he acquiesced with a sigh. The stranger hesitantly unhooked the curtain from the rod and stared at it in distaste before he gingerly pulled the cloth over himself. The cloth covered him like a cloak with the hood pulled up. Under the dim lighting with strands silver trailing over his front and glowing green eyes peeking out from the hood, he looked like a red death spawned from the pits of Hel.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Cloud said.

"It was excruciating. It still is. I think I feel millions of bacteria crawling all over me." The stranger said with a creeped out look.

"Ugh, you'll be fine. At least you can go home now." Cloud pointed out.

"I can't, I don't have a home," The silverette said with a lost look.

"Really? Then where do you plan to go?" Cloud asked. The stranger mustered up the most pitiful face and gave Cloud a meaningful look.

"Oh no. Nonononononono! You are not coming back to my place. Surely there must be some other place you can think of? Don't you have any friends or relatives whom you can contact?" Cloud pleaded, hoping that this stranger would think of someone and get out of his hair.

"There is no one and I have nowhere else to go." The silver-haired man said in a whisper.

Cloud hung his head in defeat. "Fine! You can stay with me just until you sort everything out, but after that you're gone, got it?" Cloud fixed him with a stare.

"Yes, I understand. I assure you my stay won't be long. Your kind assistance is highly appreciated." The silverette nodded in agreement.

"Alright let's go. I've spent enough time out here as it is. Follow closely and try to keep up. The streets are dangerous at night and I don't intend to get mugged because of your lagging ass." Cloud snapped and turned without waiting for a reply. The silver-haired stranger quietly followed suit.


A/N: By now, you should realise that this isn't another Valkyrie AU. It's a robot AU featuring a particular type of robot. This fic was inspired by a BBC article where they interviewed a sex robot. Her name is Harmony and she's ready to serve you. Who says news can't be entertaining and educational at the same time? Welcome to the future. The portal will open in 3...2...1