Battle Harem

by Isaac Hooke

  “Oh yeah,” Jason said sarcastically. “Until you go bragging to them about it.”

  Lori shrugged. “So what if I brag to them? Maybe I like showing off my new beau.”

  “I’m not your beau…” Jason said.

  “That’s true,” Lori said. “I suppose I’ll have to share you with everyone. It’s not like there are a lot of men to go around!” She giggled again.

  He received a VR invite.

  Lori wants to invite you to skiing at Best Ski Hill In The World! Do you accept? (Y/N)

  Well, he didn’t have much else planned for the night, admittedly. He decided, why not. She’d gone through all the effort of preparing the environment for him, it seemed wrong to turn her down.

  “All right, but no sex, okay?” Jason said.

  “Of course not!” Lori said. “I hate sex!”

  Jason regarded her avatar uncertainly, then he accepted.

  18

  The skiing was fun, and a great distraction. At first, he kept expecting to be drawn out of the VR environment by a motion sensor alert from one of the cameras, if not from the robots, then from roving bioweapons. But none came, and soon he lost himself in the sport and just enjoyed himself.

  Lori had outdone herself. She’d created a full alpine ski environment, complete with chairlifts, runs varying in difficulty from beginner to double black diamond, and a mountain chalet serving perfect hot cocoa at the bottom. They had the whole place to themselves: the chairlifts were manned by simulacrums, as was the chalet, but otherwise the two of them were the only ones on the hill. Lori had definitely spent a lot of time setting up the place.

  The first run Lori beat him to the bottom. He followed in her wake, watching that tail of hers stream out behind her the whole way. During the next chairlift to the top, Jason slid off his gloves slightly to give him enough room to ball his fingers into a fist—that helped to warm them up.

  “You didn’t have to make the cold so real,” Jason complained. His breath misted in front of him.

  “You’re just sore because you lost,” Lori said from beside him. She was wearing her usual winter clothes. Her tail jutted through a small gap between the back and the bottom portion of the seat. “Next time, learn to dress for the winter weather!”

  “I am dressed for it!” Jason said.

  He adjusted his VR settings so that his gloved hands weren’t so painfully cold. That was better. He was about to dismiss his settings, when his eyes lingered on the physics settings. He gave Lori a sly look, and then he played with his physics dynamics: he doubled his weight but kept his mobility and center of mass the same. With that small tweak, he beat her on the next run, and every run subsequent.

  “You know I’m letting you win, right?” Lori said at one point when they dropped by the chalet to pick up some hot cocoa.

  “Of course,” Jason told her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  She was smiling brightly. Her eyes dropped to his lips, and Jason couldn’t help the sudden increase in heart rate. She quickly looked away, and blinked rapidly suddenly. For a moment he thought she was going to cry.

  “What is it?” Jason asked.

  “Nothing,” she said. She seemed to recover her composure, and when she looked at him, she forced a smile again. “I wish I’d met you in real life. The real Lori would have loved you.”

  “You’re just as real as the human Lori,” Jason said.

  “How can I be, when I’m just a copy?” Lori said.

  “No, you’re real,” Jason said. “We all are. Just because our minds are locked inside mechs doesn’t diminish that fact. A rose by any other name is still a rose.”

  Lori brightened. “You think I’m a rose?”

  “Yeah,” Jason said. He peered into her eyes. “You know I’m bad at this relationship stuff, right?”

  “No, I’m the one who’s bad at it,” Lori said. “All I could ever get in my skiing days was one night stands. And there were a lot of those, trust me!”

  Hearing her sexual history was a turn off, but Jason didn’t say anything.

  “Guys only ever wanted me for my looks,” Lori continued quickly, as if sensing his mood. “The next day, they seemed like they were embarrassed to have me around. I was just another ski bunny notch on the belt for them. Are you embarrassed about me?”

  “No, not at all,” Jason said.

  “Good!” Lori said. “Because you’re stuck with me for a long time!”

  “You’re assuming I’m going to stay with you and the others indefinitely…”

  “Well, that would be the smart thing to do, wouldn’t it?” Lori said. “Together we’re stronger than alone.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Jason said.

  “And why would you go through the trouble of building a base otherwise?” Lori said.

  “You’re right,” Jason said. “But I was talking long term. I’m not sure I’ll be here, say, ten years from now.”

  “Oh,” Lori said. She definitely seemed troubled by the thought. But then she brightened. “Maybe you’ll take me with you, wherever you go!”

  He was about to contest her, but didn’t have the heart. “Maybe I will.” He finished his cocoa. “Come on, let’s get in another few runs, and then it’s off to bed.”

  “Ooo, can’t wait!” Lori said.

  “I meant we’ll go to our own beds!” Jason said. But she was already dashing out the door of the chalet.

  The chairlift took them to the top. This time, Jason dialed his weight back to normal. He figured it was time for her to win a little before logging off. Let her leave on a high, and all that.

  They took a moderately difficult black diamond trail. At an intersection, the trial offered a double black diamond branch, and Lori took it. Jason decided to stay on the ordinary route. He didn’t feel like switching to Bullet Time to complete the course again.

  Jason kept an eye out for her on the hill ahead—she should have emerged from the double black diamond trail by then, considering that it was steeper. But there was no sign of her.

  At the point where that particular trail rejoined the main, she suddenly came barreling down the slope.

  Directly toward him.

  “Watch—” He tried to steer out of the way, but she plowed into him.

  Jason was swept off his feet, and he rolled down the hill, his body intertwined with hers in a tangle of limbs and hair.

  He could have materialized himself elsewhere, but decided he may as well see the fall through; he did dial down his pain settings, though.

  The two of them continued tumbling down the hill, and eventually slid to a stop several meters below.

  “Well that was fun!” Lori said from on top of him. She’d obviously dialed down her pain settings, too.

  “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Jason said.

  “Oh no,” she said mischievously. “I wouldn’t do that!”

  “You like to pretend you’re a ditz, when you’re really not,” Jason said.

  “No, I really am a ditz!” Lori said.

  “I don’t know many ditzy girls who can hack complex military grade operating systems…” Jason said.

  “That’s because most ditzs aren’t AI cores,” Lori said.

  “True enough,” Jason said.

  He tried to roll her off him, but she wouldn’t budge. She had him pinned. She leaned forward, and whispered into his ear.

  “What?” Jason said.

  She whispered again. He felt slightly aroused, having her that close to him, and feeling her hot breath on his ear.

  “I still can’t hear you…” Jason said.

  “I said, I hacked your VR again,” Lori told him.

  All of a sudden his pleasure settings were yanked up far higher than anything he would be capable of in real life. The small arousal he felt became a full-blown episode, and it was all he could do to prevent himself from moaning right there.

  All of a sudden she was naked on top of him. His own clothes had faded away, so that he
was bare on the snow. She was already riding him, and there was nothing he could do.

  He didn’t want her to stop. It was like his entire body was on fire with pleasure, and the thrill of lust.

  And then, all too soon, it was over, and she was lying in the snow beside him. It didn’t even feel cold anymore: Jason had melted quite the puddle of snow around him.

  “Did you like that?” Lori said.

  “That was unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my life,” Jason said.

  “One of the benefits of having your mind in a machine,” Lori said.

  “Yes, and here’s another,” Jason said. He had no refractory period whatsoever, and he mounted her immediately.

  They must have spent an hour together like that, laughing and rolling around together in the snow, enjoying each other’s virtual bodies.

  Finally Jason rolled away, and stared at the stars that had filled the sky above. “I could see myself doing this every night.”

  “Me too,” Lori cooed.

  “I told myself that I wasn’t going to sleep with you again,” Jason said. “That I wasn’t going to get attached to you. And here I go and break my rules.”

  “Are you attached to me?” Lori asked.

  “I—” Jason hesitated. “Yes.”

  “But you like the others, too,” Lori said.

  “Of course I do,” Jason said. “I’m a man. Or I used to be.”

  “I don’t want them to feel left out,” Lori said. “I can’t keep you all to myself, I know that. There’d be too much jealousy and tension on the team, otherwise. They’ll all hate me.”

  Jason nodded. “Again you’re proving that you’re not a ditz.”

  “Maybe,” she said, smiling. “Anyway, I’ve had my fill tonight.” She sat up, and her winter clothes reappeared.

  “Really…” Jason said. “Just like that.”

  “Uh huh,” Lori said. “Tara and I had a deal.”

  “A deal?” Jason said.

  “Yup!” Lori said.

  “What kind of deal…” Jason pressed.

  “Can’t tell!” Lori said. And then she vanished.

  Jason shook his head.

  “I don’t know if I’m the luckiest man in the world, or the unluckiest,” Jason said.

  Lori’s disembodied head appeared. “Luckiest!”

  “Quit hacking into my VR!” Jason said.

  “You’re still in my VR, in case you forgot!” Lori said.

  “Oh yeah.” Jason logged out. He considered going to sleep right there in the real world, but decided to make a quick visit to his own VR, to unpack the night’s events.

  He walked around the mountain lake in the dark. It was night, and the moon shone full overhead, reflecting in the water. He went to a picnic table next to the lake, and leaned against it.

  Relationships.

  He hadn’t been kidding when he told Lori he was bad at them. He wanted her, yes, but if he was truthful to himself, he wanted all the girls. Not that they all would have him, but still, it was a nice thought.

  “Aloha,” Tara said.

  Jason glanced at her: she had materialized beside him. She was fully naked in the moonlight, save for a Lei of flowers hanging around her neck. Her dark hair flowed loosely behind her back.

  Jason quickly looked away.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Tara said. She lay down on the picnic table. “Look at me. Look.”

  Jason obeyed.

  Under the moonlight, Tara spread herself before him. When he didn’t react, she glanced up at him: “What are you waiting for? You know you want to.”

  “I don’t think I can handle a relationship with two women at once,” Jason said.

  “Then don’t make it a relationship,” Tara said. “It’ll just be for fun.”

  “I—” he shook his head.

  “Why the hesitation?” Tara gestured to her surroundings. “This isn’t even real.”

  “But it feels real,” Jason said. “And that’s the key part. And our feelings are real, too, no matter how fake the environment might be.”

  Tara shrugged. “Then turn them off.”

  Staring at her naked body spread before him, he couldn’t help the arousal he felt. His lust routines were still operating on full tilt thanks to Lori. He trembled, actually trembled, thinking about how good it would feel to enter her.

  But somehow Jason managed to resist.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, and logged off.

  In the real world of the cistern now, he muted Tara before she could send him the expected ping, and then prepared to enter sleep mode.

  Monogamy was all he had ever known. He was raised in a culture that had programmed him into believing it was the only type of relationship that was truly viable, and respectful. But what if that culture had been wrong? What if everything he had been raised to believe, and told about women was wrong? Besides, he wasn’t human anymore, and neither were these women. There were no cultural rules or norms for this sort of scenario.

  And also, Lori seemed to imply that any sort of exclusive relationship with her would make her unhappy. She was right that the other machine women would probably hate her, because exclusivity left them with nothing but simulacrums for men.

  But I’m not ready for a harem. I have no idea how to manage expectations. I’m driving blind, here. There’s no manual for this.

  But that was true about most things in the real world: life didn’t have a manual.

  He’d just have figure it out as he went along.

  When he was ready.

  He switched to sleep mode. He was relieved when the world faded to darkness around him, and he accepted the sweet oblivion that followed.

  No problems here.

  And most importantly of all, no girls.

  19

  Jason awoke to an alert.

  “Warning, incoming shells detected,” the voice of the monitoring subsystem intoned. “Warning.”

  “Aria, what’s going on?” Jason asked.

  “Looks like we’ve been found out,” Aria said. “Got some bombers passing overhead.”

  The base shook. A portion of the ceiling fell away and dropped onto the cistern floor. Dust also fell from different sections.

  “The reinforcements are holding,” Aria said. “Looks like we lost all the cameras in the city above, though. My guess is, they flattened the street.”

  “How about outside the front door?” Jason asked.

  “Most of the cameras are down, too,” Aria said. “But I still got the feed from my tanks. Their armor was able to withstand the blast.”

  Jason switched to the camera feed of one of the tanks. It and the other tanks were firing out into the small houses next to the ravine, but he couldn’t see anything, because the dust from the bomb impacts hadn’t cleared.

  “What are they shooting at?” Jason asked.

  “I don’t know,” Aria said.

  He checked the time. It was morning. Dusk. He’d slept in a little later than he should have. Not that it mattered. He glanced around, looking for the Rex Wolves, and was relieved to find them inside the base—he was worried Tara might have let them out already. They seemed scared, and whined at the ceiling. Runt was barking wildly at the entrance hatch.

  “Tanks and laser turret platforms are intact,” Aria continued. “We lost most of the railgun defense platforms.”

  “I knew we should have withdrawn those tanks,” Sophie said.

  “Actually it’s probably your fault they found us,” Aria said.

  “Mine?” Sophie said.

  “Yes,” Aria said. “Those micro machines use subspace for power. With the proper detector, the power draw can be tracked.”

  “I’d say it’s more likely they tracked the thermal signature of your tanks,” Sophie said. “Despite all your so-called advanced techniques to hide them. Stupid bitch.”

  “And here I thought you liked me,” Aria said.

  “She does like you,” Jason interjected. The base shook a
gain. “Feelings are just running high at the moment. It doesn’t really matter how they got here, because we have to deal with them either way.”

  “We just lost half the laser platforms,” Aria said.

  Jason waited for the cistern to shake again, but several moments passed. The bombing runs seemed to have ceased.

  “Looks like they ran out of bombs,” Lori said.

  “Or they decided to hold back for now,” Tara said. “Figuring they’ve softened us up enough.”

  Jason switched back to the viewpoint of the tanks. He waited several moments; the dust from the bombing run slowly settled, allowing him to see a short ways.

  And then he saw them. Several humanoid robots, man-sized, these ones colored a dark black, stepped through the smog. Some carried laser rifles and rocket launchers, others had laser turrets built into their arms.

  Jason and the other mechs had all turned off automatic connections to the Milnet, of course, so there was no chance of any Containment Code being remotely applied to their AI cores from these units.

  The tanks opened fire with their railguns, mowing down the incoming robots. Some of the machines managed to get off shots at the tanks, but since the tanks were hull-down, with only their turrets visible beyond the ravine edge, they didn’t cause much damage, at least according to the Damage Report menus.

  Jason accessed a camera that remained intact in the ravine, and was able to get a better view of the battlefield through the clearing smoke. He saw that all of the turrets were glowing a bright red, maybe because of the laser and rocket impacts from the enemy. Or perhaps those turrets were just firing their railguns too fast.

  The laser platforms scattered throughout the ravine were also firing at the incoming robots; the beams themselves were invisible of course, as the lasers operated on the non-visual band.

  He spotted larger armored fighting vehicles moving among the robots. These ones had treads, and they were equipped with wicked looking missile launchers. They also had thickly armored fronts that seemed to be withstanding the railgun and laser impacts.