Chapter 4 – Private Activities

Gakupo headed into his bedroom to charge. "Bedroom" wasn't a particularly fitting name for it, given that he didn't own a bed in the first place, but it was the name his Master used. It housed his charging alcove, a wardrobe with all the outfits his Master had bought for him, and a desk with some self-maintenance materials.

Once inside, Gakupo surveyed the items over the desk as he undressed. There were serum bottles, fluid capsules (a message flashed on his visual display informing him that his fluid reserves were low), nano-probes, skin-repair foam and the box of his standard diagnostics kit. His Master preferred her own equipment over the kit provided by the factory, so he seldom used the little machine inside. Besides, all it could do in the event of a breakdown was inform him to go to the nearest officially authorized repair shop.

The t-shirt he had been wearing was absolutely useless, unless he wanted a cleaning rag. He threw it aside for the moment. The pants were in a slightly better condition, but they still went to the floor in a heap. His Master wanted him well-dressed at all times in any case, so clothing articles in much better conditions were discarded all the time.

He placed his headpiece on the desk and climbed into the charging alcove naked. The device greeted him with a bleep and its mechanical arms restrained his arms, legs and neck. Several needles attached to the ends of fine cables jammed themselves into his spine and side. Brushing his hair aside with precision, it connected to the ports in the back of his head, and Gakupo felt the invigorating flow of energy rush into him. He closed his eyes with a relaxed smile.

It was time to sort through that lump of files in the back of his mind. He poked at the outer layers with caution. About 12% of it seemed to just garbage data, long strings of numbers and letters without any relationship to anything. They surrounded several files of different sizes, memories that somehow had been sorted without the proper time stamps. Some of these new entries had overwritten sectors previously occupied with his more recent memories, he noted with dismay.

He could remember parts of their shopping trip quite clearly. Even the weight of the plastic bags with Luka's new clothing was precisely recorded in his mind. But his mind skipped right from the store and the pretty sea dress to the Golden Skies, and the virtual treat tube in his hands, with nothing in between. On the other hand, his memories of the simulation seemed mostly intact. He paused for a moment reliving them, once more seated in the small spaceship, savoring Luka's face as she stared in awe at the asteroids spread out below them in the elliptical plane.

Reluctantly, he turned away and decided to analyze the new data. He probably just needed to sample a few and his automatic functions would determine the error in the algorithm and re-sort them properly. He set his last memory of laying on the lab stretcher as start point for the recovery process, and approached the first clump of data-

"…Are you thirsty? I could go for a coffee before the shift starts," Smith said.

"I'd like that…but I don't think it's open yet," His Master said, referring to the coffee store across the esplanade. It was pretty early in the morning, after all.

"There's some vending machines that way. Go get us some drinks, ok?" Smith took out a card from his front pocket and handed it to Luka.

"Ah, wait a minute. Mine's somewhere around here…" his Master riffled absently in her bag.

"No-no, my treat!" Smith rushed to say, making a gesture with his hand at Gakupo and Luka. Luka nodded and took Gakupo's hand, forcing him to fall into step beside her as she marched towards the other side of the esplanade.

"What was that?" Gakupo asked after a moment, mimicking the gesture with his free hand.

"It means 'go away'. Or, 'I want to be alone with her', if you want to be more specific." Luka replied quietly. "Now stop doing it or I'll think you want me gone," she added with a trace of impishness in her voice.

"No, I'm glad to be with you!" Gakupo let his hand drop to his side.

"Likewise," she answered sweetly.

Gakupo studied her in silence for a few seconds. Then he turned to look at the humans sitting at the bench. Smith appeared to be closer to his Master than before.

"You say he wants to be alone with her…"

"Yes." The tone of her voice seemed to indicate it was an obvious thing to say.

"Why?"

Luka laughed huskily. "He finds her attractive, of course."

Gakupo tilted his head, confused.

Luka laughed again, seeing his expression. It was definitely weird to hear the clear amusement in her voice, and see nothing but a vague reflection of it in her face.

"I don't understand… just what does he want to do now that requires him to be alone with her?"

Luka stopped and stared at him. "…you aren't joking," she said finally.

"No, I'm not."

"I believe you need to research on human courtships, then." Luka inclined her head, appraising him with half-lidded eyes. "Maybe I can teach you a thing or two," she tapped the tip of his nose softly and resumed walking. Gakupo touched his nose, wondering silently what that meant, and followed her.

"I'll look forward to it, Luka."

"I've been looking forward to you, Gakupo."

Gakupo pulled back, surprised. That was a memory from much earlier, and duplicated to boot. He double-checked, and yes, there was a summary of the important events of that day archived in his memory banks. He erased the dup info and moved on to the next file.

…Luka crouched, looking at the cans with the barest traces of curiosity in her face. "Why are there so many different brands?"

Gakupo crouched by her side. "Not only that, but they have different prices for the same vegetable…"

They stared at the perplexing foodstuff for a while. Neither had ever shopped at a supermarket on their own before, but Smith had insisted they were more than capable. Gakupo didn't want to disprove the notion, but the process seemed more difficult than expected.

"If we had net access, we could check reviews and determine the finest article," lamented Luka.

Gakupo nodded wistfully. But third-wave synthetics were prohibited from using the net at all. "Maybe we can ask a human customer for advice?" He suggested. Several had passed, staring at them inquisitively.

"I wanted us to do this on our own," Luka said sullenly. Then she-

Another duplicated memory, and incomplete to boot. Gakupo deleted it and opened the next one.

…It was painful, to watch her each day. Not only her body, but her very mind was fraying before her eyes, slowly, ever so slowly. But at the same time, Luka felt a growing desperation to record every second of it, to save as much of her Master as she could in her data banks. So she stood at the foot of the bed, taking in the silvery hair, the obstinate wrinkles, the unfocused but bright smile. 'Store it all in', she thought, 'she can't disappear'.

"Good morning, Mother," she greeted her Master.

"Good morning, dear," the woman's voice was withered and dusty.

"It's a clear day outside. Would you like to go see the roses? They are very handsome," Luka said with forced cheerfulness.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm sorry, but I'm so tired…" her Master replied. "Come here."

Luka dutifully knelt by her side, letting her Master caress her cheek. Her Master's eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"I wish I could live long enough to see you married. To form a family of your own."

Luka inclined her head, resting her forehead on her Master's lap without a word. Again, she was confusing Luka with a human. At other times, she wondered aloud what her grandchildren would look like, as if Luka had anything else but mechanical entrails.

But she knew better. She had no family, besides her Mother. And would never have one.

Once her Master was gone, Luka would be in the bottom of the sea, lost in the lonesome darkness.

His eyes snapped open. One of Luka's memories, in his head? How? He quickly skimmed through several memories. Most were more dups, but in the way, he found two more that weren't his. He set those aside for later examination, and erased the rest. Then his automatic sorting process kicked in, presenting with a new memory.

…his hands ripped the blue silk of her dress, mindlessly. His consciousness was spread all over, gasping for breath, diffused and aching. And like waves against the beach, Luka came to him again and again, leaving her mark. Her fingers traced feverish lines on his chest, and her presence sifted through his mind greedily. In return, he pursued her and pinned her and entered her, unrelenting…

The recovery utility had finally recognized the pattern. Like a rushing stream, all the pieces fell in place. Gakupo fixed his eyes on the tattered clothing on the floor, and remembered. His arms jerked fruitlessly against the alcove's restrains, vainly trying to catch the girl that wasn't there.

Deep inside him, the sea stirred.

His Master was puttering about the kitchen, when he was finally done charging (and reliving his merge with Luka hungrily). She looked immensely relieved when Gakupo, clad in a fresh set of clothes, entered the room and greeted her. She sat on a stool, and observed him in silence as he inspected the ingredients she had placed on the counter.

"Mister Smith is due to return tomorrow, right?" Gakupo asked, examining the expiration date of one of the cans his Master had selected. He casually threw it in the trash without comment.

"Ah, yes," his Master followed his movements with a sheepish smile. "I was thinking of making an orange cake too, to have more variety. I can't believe I've never asked him what his favorite dessert is…"she trailed off.

Gakupo doubted sugary food was high on the list of priorities for Smith, but just shrugged.

"Can't you ask him? Borealis has access to civilian communications, right?"

"It's meant to be a surprise party!" His Master pouted a bit.

"We should ask Luka, then. She must have some idea," Gakupo pointed out.

"Ah, she's still in the guest room. I- I couldn't get her changed… She's really heavy." his Master tapped her index fingers together a few times. "I left her charging so she could do it herself."

"It would be faster with the alcove. Maybe I should carry her-"

"Actually, I wanted to speak with you before she wakes up," his Master cut him off, speaking quickly. She seemed uncomfortable again. "Sit down."

Gakupo sat on the other stool by the counter and waited. His Master studied her hands, perhaps thinking of a way to phrase her thoughts. The cutesy clock on the wall counted the seconds loudly. Finally, Gakupo decided to take the initiative.

"Master, have you ever heard of two synthetics merging like that?" She twitched, surprised.

"Merging…?"

"It seems appropriate. Not only did we share physical intimacy, but mental as well, so our consciousness mingled freely with one another. I think Luka intended for me to feel her emotions directly, since she was trouble expressing them by other means."

His Master nodded, pensive. The look on her face was a familiar one, the one she adopted whenever she studied a new engineering issue.

"As for your question, no, I haven't heard of anything like it. For starters, all the research papers I've read regarding third-wave synthetic relationships focused on human-synthetic dynamics, and even then, they were mostly interested in the interplay between construct complexity and subservience. You know, constraining unwanted behavior," she explained, twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger. "Not that the company would be interested in divulging that you are capable of forming emotional attachments among yourselves. Given how rare and expensive models like you are, I doubt most people would have a chance to see any extended interaction between two units, in any case. The boys at the factory might even consider it an unimportant side-effect of the way you are built."

"It doesn't seem unimportant to me," Gakupo replied good-humoredly.

His Master grinned. "It didn't mean to downplay your feelings, obviously. What I mean is, VE units are supposed to devote themselves wholly to their Masters. Perhaps you are only restricted on forming more attachments to other humans, but not to other synthetics," she rubbed her chin. "Ah yes, I meant to ask you- What do you plan on doing from now on?"

"Eh?"

"You and Luka. You intend to stay together, I assume," she clarified.

"That's…not up to us to decide," Gakupo said slowly. He wasn't sure why his Master needed to be reminded of their powerlessness. "But if it were up to me, I'd spend the rest of my existence with her."

His Master stroked his cheek, kindly. "Then it's my job to find a way to achieve that. To tell you the truth," she turned her gaze downwards, "I don't know if Ish and I are going to work out, on the long run. We are so different… And the committee is going to announce the final crew roster for the Leviathan soon."

"The long-range exploration ship?"

"Yes. If only one of us is selected, then you and Luka-"

"-we could end up never seeing each other again," Gakupo finished, with a strained tone.

"I'll talk to Ish. Even if he doesn't to simply give her to me, I'll find the money to buy her off, ok? It'll be okay." His Master placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to smile encouragingly. "I'll do some private work, or take a loan, anything!"

Gakupo nodded, though he remained tense. The only reason his Master had managed to buy him in the first place was the money she received from the Ada Lovelace Award, an academic prize of some importance, so she needed to gather a big sum for Luka. Besides, what if Smith didn't want to sell her?

The fear of separation, which had begun to hound Gakupo from the very start of his interactions with Luka, remained lurking about, gnawing away at his thoughts.

Later that day, the counter boasted an impressive variety of tarts, cupcakes, cakes and pastries arranged on its surface, and yet Gakupo was still not done with the cooking. Before retreating to the lab, his Master had written down an impressively long list of things she wanted done for Smith's welcome party. It seemed excessive for the number of people invited, but orders were orders.

Gakupo glanced at the kitchen clock. Luka should've been up and about for a couple of hours by now. Where was she?

As if on cue, he heard fast footsteps approaching. He smiled in anticipation, and calmly washed his hands in the sink. He had just began drying them with a towel when the door opened.

"Good afternoon, Lu…" his voice faltered when he turned to look at her. The towel dropped to the floor.

She was wearing the aquamarine dress he singled out at the store. It fit her beautifully, as Gakupo expected. But that wasn't what made him gape at her.

She was smiling. It was a dazzling smile so full of intensity of feeling that Gakupo felt as if he were standing right next to a roaring fire. Every drop of emotion he had absorbed from her during their merge, was now condensed in an absolute promise of affection. No matter what the future might bring to him, at the moment he was glad to be Gakupo, the synthetic. That smile was his, freely given, to preserve in perfect detail for years to come.

Luka threw herself into Gakupo's arms with a melodious laugh. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her forehead against his, still smiling. He felt the need to ask so many questions, he couldn't decide where to start. Instead, he touched the curve of her mouth with a tremulous hand, and ran a finger along her lower lip. Luka responded by pressing her body even tighter against him. She filled all of his senses, then, and Gakupo yearned to be linked to her once more, and taste her completely.

A small cough came from the doorway. Gakupo pulled back just enough to see his Master standing there with a shoebox in her hands. He noted with some surprise that his lower functions had labelled the sounds of her approach as irrelevant, and didn't pass the information to his upper consciousness.

She wore an uneasy smile. "Um, I'm going out for a bit. You guys finish cooking and decorating the house, ok?"

That was odd. She never went anywhere without him. Perhaps she was worried that the house wouldn't be ready for tomorrow's party, but Gakupo was sure there was plenty of time left.

"If you are going to do… stuff after you are done, use the guest room," she shifted the box's weight and rubbed the back of her neck, blushing a bit.

"Stuff?" Gakupo asked.

"I understand, Miss Torii," Luka replied quietly.

"That's good. See you later, then," His Master shuffled away.

There was something off about the scientist. Gakupo tilted his head, and considered following her. But Luka cupped his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Let's finish this party business quickly, and I'll show you what she means," she smiled again, but it wasn't the smile of pure joy of before. If Gakupo's analysis was correct, it seemed to be better classified as sultry.

"Private activities?" Gakupo deduced.

Luka nodded, and turned her head slightly to a side, coyly.

What happened to her? Luka's face seemed so expressive now that Gakupo felt mesmerized. Again he touched her mouth, fascinated. Luka caught his hand and studied it as she talked. "It seems Miss Torii worked on me while I was in sleep mode. She didn't say anything about it when I woke up, but there was a table with tools and discarded parts next to the bed. She just smiled and told me to get dressed and come meet you."

She paused for a moment, and when she continued, her voice dropped to a whisper. "And to think I was afraid for so long that she would ask questions I'm not supposed to answer…"

"I don't understand," Gakupo said. Did that meant that Smith ordered her not to answer questions about her own maintenance and status, then? And if so, why?

"It doesn't matter anymore, that's what I'm trying to tell you!" She smiled brightly once more, and Gakupo decided to put the questions aside for the time being.

There was so much else before him to engage his curiosity right now.

His Master didn't return until late in the evening. The house's sensors reacted to the presence of its owner, sending Gakupo an insistent message to fulfill his duties and come greet her. But it was a lighthouse in the middle of a storm, its beacon almost lost in the flurry of thoughts and physical sensations that was the merge. The house persisted for several minutes, with the unrelenting patience of barely sentient tech.

Finally, Gakupo propped himself on an elbow, looking at his surroundings with some confusion. They were in the drab guest room, laying naked on the bed. Their clothes were neatly folded and placed on the sole chair of the room. Luka was under him, her pink hair draped all around her face like a halo. She looked at him with some impatience.

"My Master's home," Gakupo explained. He tried to disentangle himself from Luka, but her legs and arms kept him firmly in place. He looked at her with some surprise.

"No. If she needs something from you, she'll call. But you are with me right now," Luka said fiercely. "You are mine right now."

He paused. Her words made strange sensations surge inside of him, feelings he couldn't yet identify, but were extremely agreeable. He dismissed the house's message.

"I'm yours right now," he repeated, testing the words. They felt correct. Satisfied, Gakupo placed a kiss of surrender between her breasts, and dove into her once more.

The next morning, the trio rode an automated car to the spaceport. Right on schedule, the spaceship carrying Smith touched ground. From the observation seats, they saw him descend and wave at them sleepy-eyed but cheery, before heading to the changing room. They followed him and waited outside. In record time, Smith came out with wet hair and casual clothes on, and without breaking his stride, threw Gakupo his duffel bag and casually picked his Master up. Despite her blushing and protestations, he carried her in his arms all the way to the officer's parking sector, where his truck was. Luka and Gakupo trailed behind, she with a mild look of disinterest, he analyzing the situation with curiosity. He couldn't tell if his Master was enjoying herself or not.

Upon reaching the car, Smith lowered his Master down and made her sit on the hood.

"I've missed you, girl," he said and bent down to kiss her. After a moment, his Master circled him with her arms, shyly.

"…Me too," his Master replied after the kiss. "Can you spend the rest of the day at my house?"

"Sure." Smith helped her get down and into the truck, then walked briskly towards the driver's side, grinning all the while. As he opened the door, he turned to Gakupo and Luka, still standing on the sidewalk.

"Get in the truck, third wheel squad." They did.

When they reached the house, his Master avoided the front door, leading them instead through the garden and into the small laundry room. Gakupo noted that Smith was smiling knowingly, probably suspecting something was afoot.

"Gakupo, Luka, can you knock on my door around five?" She asked looking down at the floor tiles. Blushing intensely, she took Smith's hand and led him down the corridor towards the main bedroom. Smith flashed them a victorious smile before disappearing after her.

Gakupo and Luka looked at each other. The duffel bag in his arms fell to the floor with a small thud.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Smith guffawed, leaning on the doorframe. Behind him, Gakupo could see his Master sitting in front of the mirror, trying out different hair pins.

"I believe this is called a long tailed tuxedo," Gakupo replied helpfully. "And that's a French maid uniform," he added looking at Luka, who stood by his side impassively.

After knocking the door at five, Gakupo and Luka went to the guest room and changed into the costumes his Master brought back with her the night before. After double-checking that everything in the kitchen and living room was ready, they returned to the corridor outside of the main bedroom and waited for their Masters to come out. Half an hour later, Smith opened the door, and barely took a look at them before he started laughing.

"Come on Ish, they look good!" His Master chastised the navigator mildly. With a final turn of her head, she settled on a pin with bright purple flowers and stood up.

"If you guys are throwing me a surprise party, maid costumes are not the subtlest way to go about things."

His Master pouted, dropping her shoulders. "I thought it would be cute…"

"Oh, it's very cute. Show me what else you've got," he placed his arm around her shoulders and guided down the corridor.

Gakupo turned to gaze at Luka, just in time to see her staring with contempt at Smith's back. The expression vanished a moment later when she looked back at him. Gakupo blinked.

"I do look cute, right?" she asked playfully. Either she didn't realize or didn't care that Gakupo had seen her being disloyal to her Master.

"You'd make my breath stop if I had that function," he replied. Since Luka deemed that look to be unimportant, Gakupo decided to do so as well. She had taught him so many things thus far, that he felt safe in yielding to her judgment.

She smiled proudly and squeezed his hand. Gakupo looked down at their interlocked fingers.

"I don't think I like gloves," he noted. "I like to feel your skin against mine."

Before she could reply, the feed from the front entrance popped open in Gakupo's field of view, announcing the arrival of some colleagues of his Master.

"Ah, the guests are here. Let's go."

They were, as his Master predicted, rather impressed when Gakupo and Luka greeted them and took their coats. As they led them inside, he saw one of them wrung his hands excitedly, looking at Luka. Another, a small redheaded woman, actually untied his ponytail and ran her hands through his hair.

"I should ask Mitsuki if I can borrow you for a weekend," she giggled while tracing his jaw with her fingers.

"Borrow me?"

"Excuse us, we need to bring the drinks out." Luka interrupted, and dragged Gakupo into the kitchen none too gently. Behind them, the scientists laughed.

"Oh, look at that, she's jealous! VE's are the best!" The woman exclaimed, and her colleagues all agreed with big grins, before heading into the living room.

In the kitchen, Luka let go of him and crossed her arms, sullenly staring at a tray of pastries.

"Are you jealous?" Gakupo asked with interest. He wasn't aware they were capable of that emotion in the first place.

Luka's eyes met his for a second and returned to the pastries. Her expression slowly turned angry.

"You would lay with that woman, wouldn't you?" She ripped the headdress off her head and threw it to the ground, exposing her ports. "Like an obedient slave!" she spat.

Gakupo pondered this. "She can order me to pleasure her, but I won't obey her if I don't want to. And I don't. I would have to obey if my Master told me to do it, but I don't think she would ever issue such an order, since she knows I love you. So the answer is no."

Luka looked at him with widened eyes, silent.

Gakupo picked the elaborate hairband up, dusted it off and placed it back on Luka's head. "It looks good on you," he said, caressing her hair. "I'd say we rank lower than human slaves, actually, since they don't consider us to be living beings. But what little I have to give is yours, Luka. Remember that."

Luka lowered her face without answering. Gakupo turned his head to a side. "There's another guest at the door, one of the pilots on Mister Smith's squad. I'll go open the door for him, you bring out the wine."

"…Don't let him get fresh with you," Luka smiled at him, somewhat sadly.

"I won't."