by Elin Peer
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask him.”
“Storm, give me your sunglasses for a second. They have zoom function, right?”
“Of course.”
I pulled them off his face and he protested.
“Hey, be careful, don’t break them.”
“Where do you zoom on these things?” I felt for any buttons on the side.”
“Here, let me do it.” Storm showed me how to zoom in and I looked up at Tristan again, this time seeing him as clearly as if he were sitting right in front of me.
“What the fuck?” I kept staring at the sex-bot sitting next to him.
“What is it?” Hunter asked.
“Tristan is with… ehh… a woman.” I took the glasses off and Storm was quick to snatch them.
Taking a look for himself, Storm whistled. “Damn, she’s a pretty thing. Who is she?”
“Let me see,” Hunter insisted and when he got the glasses on, he kept looking at Natura. “Nah, not my type.”
Storm slapped Hunter’s shoulder. “What do you mean she’s not your type? She’s hot.”
“Nah, she looks a little masculine.”
I gaped at him. “Masculine. Are you high or something?”
“Don’t mind him.” Storm rolled his eyes. “Hunter is screwed up when it comes to women. I hope she’s one of Tristan’s sisters and we can get him to introduce us to her.”
My knees bobbed up and down with restless energy while my head was spinning to find answers. Tristan worked for Advanced Technologies, but not with sex-bots. At least not as far as I knew. Why was he with a prototype? Was this part of her training to interact with real people? Had he taken Natura out on a field trip of sorts? Was Tristan one of the engineers working on her, and if so had he seen me having sex with her?
My jaw tensed from the thought of being watched by someone I knew. That would be weird.
“Storm, remember I told you that I tried out that prototype last week?”
Storm’s head was leaned back, his eyes on the large screen. “The natural sex-bot. Sure, why?”
“It’s her.”
He gave me a sideways glance. “What are you talking about?”
“Tristan is with the sex-bot that I tested out last week.”
“Give me my glasses back.” Storm turned in his seat to zoom in on Natura again. “The virgin bot?”
“Did you say virgin?” Hunter asked and Storm was quick to fill him in.
“Don’t tell anyone. I promised that I wouldn’t talk about it,” I pointed out to both of them.
Storm gave a dismissive hand signal. “Telling your best friends doesn’t count.”
“You two aren’t my best friends, I just tolerate you because you had a free ticket to the drone race.”
Storm grinned. “Don’t be an ass. We all know that you love to hang with us instead of all the oldies you call friends.”
He had a point, since my two closest friends had married years ago and changed because of it.
“Do you think you could contact the test facility and ask if I could test her too?” Storm asked eagerly.
My first instinct was to say no. I didn’t feel like sharing Natura, but that didn’t make any sense, so I muttered, “I guess.”
“What are you doing?” I asked when Hunter started fiddling with his wristband again.
“I’m calling Tristan to ask if he banged her too.”
“Don’t. She’ll know I told about it and then Storm will be blacklisted from the test team.”
“Me?” Storm jerked back. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I took your spot, remember? They think it was you testing her out that day.”
“Riiight.” He nodded. “Shit, I would have never given up my spot if I’d known I could be trying out an advanced sex-bot like her.”
Hunter borrowed Storm’s sunglasses again to get a second glance at her. “She doesn’t look like a sex-bot. She looks like a real woman.”
“That’s the whole point,” I said. “She’s the closest thing to a real woman that has ever been produced.”
“What if she is a real woman?”
Storm slammed the back of Hunter’s neck. “Idiot. In what universe would a real woman walk in to offer herself as compensation for a broken sex-bot? Most women are fucking scared of us Nmen.”
“She was a robot,” I assured Hunter. “Well made, but definitely a robot. Women don’t behave like she did. Not with strangers anyway.”
“Okay, okay, I was just messing with you.” Hunter gave a grin and returned to watch the race.
I kept thinking about what the hell Tristan was doing with the sex-bot and turned around one more time, squinting my eyes to see them.
No way!
What I saw blew my mind. Natura was taking a bite of a breadstick.
Fuck!
Robots didn’t eat.
Either Natura was in fact a hybrid or… my eyes widened as a simpler and much more likely explanation hit me like a hammer.
“What’s wrong?” Hunter elbowed me. “What did that drumstick ever do to you? You don’t have to smash it.”
My hand had squeezed the drumstick so tight that the meat was all mushy.
“I’ll be right back,” I muttered, making my way out to the center aisle. When a service-bot passed me, I threw away my drink and food, drying my hands on a napkin while taking two steps at a time up the stairs.
I was in good shape but was still breathing hard when I made it to the sixtieth row and could see Tristan and the woman only ten more rows up.
“Tristan,” I called out but he didn’t hear me over the noise from the crowd. Natura, however, did see me, and her whole face stiffened.
Maybe it scared her that I was running up, red in the face, and shouting his name.
She got up, saying a few words to Tristan and moving away from me toward the aisle on the other side. Tristan hadn’t seen me yet but called after Natura, shaking his head, and telling her to wait for him. She continued to make her way out of the row, not taking any time to listen to him.
“Tristan,” I called again and forced myself through an entire row of people who pulled their legs to the side to let me pass. I reached the aisle just in time to block Natura, who was coming down. She stopped abruptly when she saw me standing right in front of her.
“Marco.” Tristan lit up behind her, not seeing her reaction. “What a coincidence. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be.” I looked from her to him. “Nero couldn’t make it, so Storm gave me his ticket.”
“Oh, you’re with Storm?”
“And Hunter,” I added.
“Oh, okay. Do you remember Shelly?” Tristan had a wide smile on his face and swung a hand toward Natura.
“Shelly?” I looked back at her and gave a shake of my head in response to his question. I had only ever known one Shelly and this woman wasn’t her.
“She worked at the school for a short while in the beginning,” he elaborated. “I thought you’d remember her.” Tristan came closer, stopping a step above me. “Shelly had a sister named Rochelle at the school.”
I heard what he was saying, but it made no sense. The Shelly I’d know had been petite, flat-chested, and far from pretty. This woman was much taller and drop-dead beautiful. There was no resemblance between them.
“I remember Shelly. I used to call her Brainy,” I muttered in disbelief, studying her closely. Maybe her eyes did look a little familiar.
“That’s right. Shelly and I both work for Advanced Technologies now.”
“I didn’t know that.” My eyes were willing her to look at me, but Shelly’s gaze darted around looking everywhere but at me.
“It’s okay, it’s been ten years since you last met and Shelly has changed a lot. I wouldn’t have recognized her either.”
“Ten years, huh?” I starred at her. “Funny, it feels like I just saw you the other day. Although I wouldn’t have recognized you with the new look. What happened
to you?”
“I grew up,” she said and looked down at her shoes before she gave me a stiff smile. “Look, I’d love to catch up, but I have to go.”
“What’s the rush?” I asked, stepping in her way when she tried to get past me.
“She needs to use the rest room,” Tristan explained behind her, his eyes looking up at the large screen.
“No problem. I can take Shelly. We’re old friends, after all.”
Before she could object, Tristan gave me a grateful smile. “You sure? I’d hate to miss the last rounds, but I promised our boss, Charlie, that I would act as Shelly’s protector for tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep her safe.”
“You don’t mind, do you, Shelly?” Tristan asked her and with her shoulders tensed up, she gave a silent shake of her head.
“Great, let’s meet by the VIP entrance in ten minutes,” Tristan said and hurried back up the stairs while Shelly was running down the stairs. Either she had to pee badly, or she didn’t want to talk to me.
“Shelly.” I grabbed her by the arm and swung her around to face me when we were near the rest rooms. “Stop for a second. There’s something I have to tell you. Something important.”
She seemed nervous and couldn’t look me in the eye.
“Are you aware that Advanced Technologies has created a prototype of a sex-bot that is an exact copy of you?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What did you say?”
“It’s true. I’ve seen it.”
Shelly blinked a few times.
“Did you know?” I repeated.
“No. I mean yes.”
My face hardened. “You let them do it?”
She moved her feet, shifting her balance. “It’s complicated.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Marco, I’m sorry, but it’s none of your business.”
“None of my business.” I jerked back, anger brewing inside me. “The hell it is.”
“It’s just a prototype. The final version won’t be modeled after me.” She turned to leave again, but I was quicker and blocked her.
“I don’t care that I haven’t seen you in ten years, Shelly. No one is going to make a whore out of you. Not even if it’s for research. Does Tristan know?”
“No. You can’t tell anybody.”
I didn’t tell her that Hunter and Storm already knew part of the story.
“Just tell me this. Did you authorize Advanced Technologies to make a sex-bot in your image?”
Shelly drew in a large inhalation of air and bit her lower lip, but she didn’t answer.
“Did you?” I pressured her.
“Can we just drop it? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, we can’t just drop it. I saw it… her… the sex-bot.”
“And?”
“And I didn’t know it was modeled after you. Otherwise I would have never…” I scratched my shoulder, not able to finish the sentence. If Shelly didn’t know I’d tested the bot, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell her.
Her eyebrow rose. “You would have never what?”
“Nothing. Just tell me what you know about the sex-bot.”
Shelly looked down, her lips closed tightly.
“What the fuck, Shelly? You used to be outspoken and honest. What happened to you?”
“I told you, it’s complicated.”
“Did you swap your personality for beauty or something? Looks like you changed both inside and out.” My words were nothing but a low mumble, but when she raised her gaze to meet mine, she looked like I’d shaken her to her core.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she whispered.
“Then explain it to me.”
Shelly closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them there was a pained expression on her face. My lungs felt like someone was squeezing them in a fist. Whatever she was about to tell me, it wasn’t good news.
“Marco, I…”
I stopped breathing, afraid of her next words. Something was not right; I could see it in her eyes.
“The thing is…”
“Shelly… Marco, did you see it? My drone won.” Tristan’s voice sounded from somewhere behind me. More than a little frustrated, I turned around to meet the proud drone engineer. It was tempting to ask him to give us a few minutes, but he came jogging up with such an infectious smile that I couldn’t help but congratulate him. The moment between Shelly and me had passed and she was looking right past me to Tristan now, with a smile on her face that looked a lot like relief.
“Did you find the rest room?” Tristan asked her.
“No, we got caught up in talking about our shared past,” Shelly replied and hid her shaking hands behind her back. “I was just reminding Marco about the time he reminded me to stay out of other people’s private affairs.” She gave a small laugh. “You know how I always asked the most obscene questions back then.”
“You still do.” Tristan grinned.
“Of course, Marco was right. Privacy is important.”
This was just like the old days when Shelly would talk to someone else and make sure I was close enough to get a message that was really for me. I smiled a little, intrigued by her unique way of communicating.
“And I was just reminding Shelly that she forgot an important detail in what I was teaching her back then. There are some situations where the concern of friends takes priority over privacy,” I said in a casual tone, as if this was just a theoretical conversation.
With a happy bounce in his steps Tristan began to leave, waving for us to follow. “Come on, we’re going backstage to celebrate.”
Shelly didn’t look at me when she took a few steps toward him and stopped. “I would love to go and celebrate with you, but I don’t feel well.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. My brain was still trying to understand that this beautiful woman was the adult version of the quirky teenager I had once known. It made no sense that a person could transform this much. She was half a head taller, had filled out in the right places, and there was no trace of her bushy eyebrows or major scars from her acne.
This Shelly looked like she spent a lot of time on her looks, while the Shelly I’d known couldn’t care less about that sort of thing.
Brushing her shiny shoulder-length brown hair back, she addressed Tristan again. “Would you mind walking me to your drone? I promise to send it back to you after I get home.”
Tristan’s face fell. “You’re not staying?”
“Sorry, but I’ve got a major headache.”
“But…” He turned his head toward the VIP area and back to her. “How about we stay for half an hour and then I’ll take you home? I won’t let you go home by yourself.”
“That’s nice of you, but I can manage. I’ll be fine.”
“Please, Shelly, give me ten minutes. Hunter is waiting for me by the VIP entrance. He’s going to be disappointed if I don’t get him in.”
Shelly reached up on her toes and kissed Tristan on the cheek. It attracted attention from men passing by, and envious comments were heard from a few of them.
“You go meet Hunter and Storm. I’ll make sure she gets home safely,” I offered.
Tristan looked torn. “No, Marco, it’s okay, I’ll take Shelly home myself.”
“Hey, I was going home anyway. You might as well stay and have fun.”
Shelly had already begun walking, not waiting for us to decide. I had a strong feeling that she was hoping she could get away alone, so I clapped Tristan on the back. “Go! I’ve got Shelly.” I didn’t wait for him to agree but hurried to catch up to Shelly, who was speed walking away from us. I didn’t care if she started to run, I’d fucking catch her and get my answers.
CHAPTER 7
Answers
Shelly
I was walking as fast as I could without running. Maybe the universe would take pity on me and let me get away before Marco caught up with me.
My pulse was in fight or flight mode and my e
yes darted around looking for something to save me. A drone for hire would do it, but those weren’t allowed this close to the race. My feet moved quicker as I headed for the arrival and departure area, my mind replaying the nightmarish moment when I’d seen Marco come running up the stairs, calling out Tristan’s name.
Except for our encounter a week ago, I hadn’t seen Marco in ten years. What were the odds of running into him at an event with thousands of people?
Wishing that I had wings and didn’t need a drone to get away, I kept my head down, ignoring all the long looks from men that I passed.
“Hey, are you lost? Where’s your protector?” someone called out to me.
“You want me to escort you home?” another offered.
Those were the nice comments. Other men were more aggressive and one spread out his arms as I came storming by. “Hey, beautiful, are you looking for me?”
I’d already passed him when I heard Marco’s voice telling the man to drop dead.
When I looked over my shoulder, Marco was right there, and probably had been for the few minutes I’d been thinking I was getting away.
After our brief eye contact he fell into step beside me but didn’t say a word until we were at the departure area.
“My drone will arrive in a second.” He looked up to the line of drones waiting to pick up their owners.
“Which one is it?” I asked.
“The white one.”
We waited for another five minutes, me feeling small in a crowd of large Nmen. A pregnant woman and her husband were standing not too far away. She was leaning against his chest and his arms were around her with both his hands on her belly. She smiled at me, probably assuming that Marco was my husband. I couldn’t tell her that his hand on my shoulder weighed two tons on my conscience. To her and everyone else, it would seem that Marco was my protector. But as I saw it, it was the crowd keeping me safe from him. As long as they were there, he wouldn’t demand answers.
When his white drone landed, a few made comments about it being a wreck. The small drone looked old and scratched-up, inside and out.
“I know Tristan’s drone is much nicer,” Marco said as we lifted up from the ground. “I wish teaching children paid as well as being an aerodynamic engineer.”
