CHAPTER 4
Roll and Mega Man stood naked, staring at each other. Neither knew what to say.
...
"Do it again? Don't you need a refractory period?" Roll asked.
"Human men do, but my programming doesn't seem to include that. I think Dr. Light might have missed something. I've had three thousand, six hundred, and thirty-five experiences that I think I can label as orgasms."
Roll drew back. "That's so many... Are you going to tell Dr. Light?"
"No. Why would I? It's a necessary feature in humans to prevent nerves overloading. But there's no point in a constructed being. Besides, robots are meant to do everything faster." Mega Man smiled.
"'It's not a bug, it's a feature'," she said, quoting an old programmer's joke.
"Exactly."
Roll thought this would be a one-time thing. "I'm not so sure we should keep going. The more encounters we have, the more risk we take. We are brother and sister." She raised her hand before Mega Man could protest. "I know it's only taboo to humans. But we live in a world of humans. If anyone found out about this, we could be deactivated."
"No , not after all we've done for the world," Mega Man said. "Besides, for the sake of argument, if we were related on a genetic level, that doesn't make it wrong necessarily. There's no chance of offspring. And if we stop now, we're missing out on so many more aspects of sexuality. It doesn't matter who we are to each other. We're both consenting people, enjoying pleasure."
Roll cocked her head to the side, then finally nodded. "All right, but we can't tell Dr. Light about this. It would devastate him. No matter our beliefs, we can't risk it."
"Agreed. So do you want to do it again?"
Roll smiled. "All right. You can be the dominant one this time."
Mega Man had a few ideas he wanted to try, based on his research and the previous experience. He stepped up behind her.
Roll wasn't sure what he was doing - she already had mixed feelings about this sex in the first place.
"You really are sweet and pretty and sexy," he said. He pulled away her hair and kissed her neck.
Then the fluttery feeling started. Quivers popped in the lower part of her belly. Doubt gave way to desire as she rolled her neck to him.
"Wow, what are you doing to me?" she asked.
He didn't respond, but kept nipping at her skin, then wrapped his arms around her. Roll felt secure in those big arms of her brother's. She swallowed at the thought.
...
Mega Man dropped, exhausted.
"Are you all right?" Roll asked. Depleted power meant potential overload of his solar-pile reactor.
"A little taxed," Mega Man said. "But I'm fine, just alloy tension. I like it." He smiled. "Makes me feel restful."
...
"I'd say we could do it again, but I don't think we have time," Mega Man said.
"No, we don't. At least the encounters take about the human average."
"Yes, that's nice."
Roll examined the scene from an objective view. The two of them, siblings, sitting naked on the floor, staring at each other. Roll thought, What would Dr. Light say if he saw us?
"Are you enjoying this?" Roll asked.
Mega Man nodded. "It makes me feel closer to a human experience. At least in terms of sexuality. And there's still plenty to explore. We've only scratched the surface, so to speak."
"We should get our clothes on," Roll said.
Roll re-draped herself with her red dress, covering up the dry and flaking remnants of her brother's spunk. As Mega Man sleeved his pants and shirt, he asked, "What should we try next?"
"Not sure. There's a variety of acts. But we should try for more common ones."
"Anal sex?"
Roll stood up. "I don't have an anus. That wouldn't work." Roll bit her lip. It was such an unnecessary part for a robot, and yet, that was one of the more fundamental experiences of being human. Used for more than just waste. Yet, she could never imagine asking Dr. Light for one. The same applied for drawing blood or urine play.
"What about role reversal?" Roll asked. "Where I penetrate you somehow?"
"How would that be done?"
"According to research, it can be done using a tool, such as a strapped-on phallus."
"Again, same problem. I have even less apertures than you. Except maybe the mouth. But that seems to be delving into homoeroticism, which is something else entirely. How about amputation? It's one of the rarer fetishes, but still..."
Roll looked down at her arm socket. She unlocked the internal servos then grabbed her right arm. It disconnected at the shoulder, exposing a metal joint connector circled with rectangular lights. She held the arm away from her. "Anything?"
"Mmm, no. I guess that takes on a different meaning as a human."
"Where parts aren't supposed to be detachable?" Roll added as she replaced her arm.
"Exactly."
She realized just because she had sexual organs didn't mean she was completely human. Even if all her hardware were replaced with human equivalents, there would still be certain mindsets she could never emulate.
"We could try a rape fantasy," Mega Man suggested.
Roll smirked. "Good idea. But I don't see how to resolve my psyche for that. I can't consent to decline consent. That's a logical fallacy."
"I see. It's impossible for you to want to be raped. That negates the definition."
Roll could see Mega Man was as frustrated as her. "We don't have to descend into such uncommon fetishes right away. There are still many different positions and techniques we haven't explored."
"Many of them are variations on a theme," Mega Man said.
"True, but those subtleties are part of the pleasure. Besides, would it be so bad to explore them all? We have the time."
Mega Man grinned. "Yes, but not now. I think Dr. Light is expecting you."
A shirt flew out of the closet. The robotic suitcase scuttled over and caught it in his open top. Tiny, spindly arms jutting out of the hinge folded the shirt, then placed it neatly inside. The suitcase closed and sent the shirt through the material transport unit.
A pair of shoes flew out. The suitcase caught them, closed its lid, and did the same thing, compressing the shoes at the molecular level. It was similar to the transport/teleport circuitry Mega Man used, but kept the items in a state of energy flux, allowing nearly unlimited storage. When Light Robotics began to lose business, after the third robot revolution of Dr. Wily, the personal cybernetic suitcase saved it from financial failure.
Dr. Light poked his head out of the closet. "Eddie, what items do I have left?"
Eddie buzzed, "Nightwear. Toothbrush."
"Toothbrush, that's it," Light mused. He scuttled to the bathroom. "Always forgetting the toothbrush."
Roll entered Dr. Light's quarters. "Dr. Light. I have the outfit for the interview."
"Time?" he called back.
"Seven minutes. You should get down to the media center."
"Blast it all." Dr. Light threw the toothbrush at Eddie. His flip-top snapped it up like a trained dog.
Roll stood with a shirt and tie, already noosed. Light approached Roll, shedding his lab coat.
"They're presenting you behind a desk, so you won't need a full suit," Roll said.
Light turned around and allowed Roll to pull the dress clothes over his head. "Some days I have nothing but time. Other days, everything happens at once."
"I know that feeling," Roll said, maintaining a pleasant, calming lilt.
He turned back to her. "How do I look?"
Roll shaped his coiffed, white hair into a more presentable puffy cloud. "Good."
Dr. Light and Roll headed downstairs. The media center was a smaller room where Light could conduct teleconferences and stream holo-projections, both to and from the mansion.
"Where is your brother?" Light asked.
"What? Oh. I'm not sure."
"If you see him, can you tell him to interface with Eddie and finish packing? I'll never be ready for the conference at this rate. I still haven't finished my speech. And now they've put me on a panel about robot defense strategies. I never agreed to that. At least, I don't remember agreeing..."
Light's eyes went glassy as Roll led him to a room where flood lamps and monitors covered the wall, as in a recording studio. Light sat down in a cylindrical booth on an office chair. The scanning colonnades hummed to life as Roll straightened out Light's collar.
"And I'm expected to attend the after party. Full of technicians I won't know," Light said.
"It'll be all right," Roll said as she smoothed out his eyebrows. "Just focus on the interview for now. We'll handle one thing at a time."
"Yes, yes," Light said. He took a deep breath.
"The studio is making a connection now," Roll said, having all incoming communications monitored.
Two screens sat outside the booth, almost invisible through the smoked glass. One displayed a view of the entire studio, so Light could somewhat feel as if he was in the room with them. Another showed his holographic image as seen on TV, outlined with a faint blue aura. With his white lab coat and corpulent body, he resembled a cotton ball, especially with his white beard and bushy hair.
"Thirty seconds," Roll said.
The opening theme began. Lights dimmed in the studio as chatter regarding cues and shots diminished. Then sound returned with a fanfare, full of brass and drums, as the show's title, "Worldline with Lonney Kenyon" whirled around a metallic globe. Profiles of the guests followed. Then the camera zoomed in on the show's host, a grim-looking man with thin hair and horn-rimmed glasses.
"Good evening. Welcome to Worldline. I'm Lonney Kenyon. Tonight we'll be discussing the upcoming conference on Artificial and Synthetic Intelligence put on by RAIDA. This is the big one. The world's top roboticists are going to be voting on various issues, not the least of which is the Asimov Accord, which will make sweeping changes to the laws of robotics. Are these men the harbingers of the future? Or are we setting ourselves up for another revolution? One that we may not be able to win."
The camera shifted as Lonney Kenyon turned around in his chair to face his round table of guests. All were in-studio except for Light.
"With me tonight is Caethma Thames, a proponent of the Accord."
A pleasant, ginger-headed woman with rosy cheeks smiled and nodded. She looked like someone's mom - utterly harmless.
"Mike Carvel from the Human Reclamation League," Kenyon continued.
A man with a smooth, bald head, and thin glasses grinned. Light thought his mouth resembled a viper's - small teeth and thin lips.
"And Dr. Thomas Xavier Light, one of the world's most famous roboticists, joining us via hologram."
Dr. Light nodded. In the studio, his projection gave the same motion an imperceptible second later.
"Dr. Light, we'll start with you," Kenyon said. "You've been one of the most vocal about Asimov's Accord. Why do you think it's a good idea?"
"Well, simply stated, robots are evolving. That's a fact. They continue to evolve closer to humans every day. And we owe it to them to give them the same personal rights that we do-"
"Now, now, hold on thereaminnit," said Carvel, in a nasal, southern drawl. "I'm gonna stop you right there. Now, how you can you be advocating for robot freedom when you yourself are responsible for multiple robot uprisings."
"I am not responsible for any uprisings. I had nothing to do-"
"Partially responsible, then."
"Dr. Wily is the full-"
"Dr. Wily. Your partner."
"Former partner."
"You held him in your employment. Twice. The second time he took over a giant robot you made named Gamma, which you called a 'peace-keeping' robot." Carvel made air-quotes, then continued at a breakneck pace, allowing no one to interrupt him unless he allowed it. "I think it's safe to say you gave him ideas. He used your designs, your plans, to create those robots."
"He stole them, but that doesn't mean I'm responsible."
"Mr. Carvel," said Caethma Thomas, in a motherly, condescending tone. "Trying to paint Dr. Light as a criminal won't work. The government's already absolved him of any wrongdoing-"
"How about robot number DLN-000? How about him, huh?"
"DLN-000?" Kenyon pointedly asked.
"The robot you named 'Blues'. Or more well-known as Protoman."
Dr. Light started, "I've explained the situation with Protoman over and over again. I think, if anything-"
"A robot known to be rogue and you've just let him loose, free to go all over the world-"
"I did not let him loose. It is a programmatic glitch."
"One that you've never been able to correct."
"Because I've never been able to get him back to my lab." Light realized his voice had raised and he was rising out of his seat. "I haven't gotten the chance. If he'd allow me-"
"Oh, so now we've got robots that need to allow us to fix them? Lonney, this is just what I'm talking about." Carvel leaned over the table, as if he were having a private conversation. "This accord passes, you can guarantee robots are going to want more and more rights. It's happened in the past with women, minorities, transgenders."
"Has Protoman ever hurt anyone?" Light asked, jumping on the half-second pause. Carvel opened his mouth. Light pounced on him at the last moment. "I remind you it was the Dark Man robot who posed as Protoman and was responsible for the destruction and my kidnapping. Not Protoman. He's the one who saved me."
Light ran out of breath, trying to say everything in a single gasp. Carvel jumped on the opportunity.
"And where is he now? Why doesn't he show himself?"
"All he wants is his freedom," Light said. "And I'm willing to give it to him. If anything, he's a perfect example of why the laws need revision."
"So, you're defending the actions of a robot that can't be controlled? A robot too human to control. Sounds like we're setting up the human race for second place. You see, Lonney-" Carvel leaned in again.
Dr. Light interrupted. It felt rude, but it was the only way to get a word in. "Robots are automatons. That's what defines them. They use their senses to interact with the world in a way that's not necessarily dependent on automatic task fulfillment. Robots must be able to judge, evaluate, and reason."
The three others stared at him - his hologram - as if he was naked. Then Carvel turned back to Kenyon.
"This is what I'm talking about. What has this issue been all about? More intelligent robots. And more of them. You can't give a child a gun and expect him not to shoot. It's bad enough they take our jobs, replace us as caregivers and companions. This conference is nothing more than a-"
Light drifted off - he'd been in these debate programs long enough to know when the winner was declared. He had no idea he was sweating until a trickle fell onto his nose. He wiped it off, hoping the camera wasn't on him. Did holographic projectors pick up that level of detail? His cheeks felt warm. Too much stress, too much talking.
"Dr. Light?"
He realized Kenyon was asking him a question. "Hm?"
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"About what Dr. Thames suggested... about the robot learning provisions."
"Oh, well. That would be a... AI is notoriously difficult. I've been struggling all my life to get it right, and one of the biggest restrictions has been the Asimovian laws."
"I... don't think that was what Dr. Thames was referring to."
"Oh." Then what was the question? Why wasn't anyone talking to him?
Instead of clarifying, Kenyon swiveled to the camera. "We'll be right back after a brief advertisement."
The music started, the camera pulled back to Carvel and Thames discussing something. Light brushed more sweat off his forehead. It felt like everyone was laughing at a joke he didn't get.