Chapter 1

Let me begin by telling you about myself. My name is Art Glasser. That's what most people call me - Art, or Artie as my mom calls me. Actually, my real name is Arthur, that's why I named this story Arthur's Reward. I thought about naming it Art's Reward but thought someone might think it was about art, like in painting or something like that. So I used my real name instead of my nickname.

Anyway, I'm in my twenties and live in the Phoenix area. I went to community college where I studied to be a computer technician. By the time I graduated, I couldn't find a job in the computer field, so I did the next best thing, working as an independent contractor installing satellite tv systems. It wasn't hard work and I was good at it because of my technical background.

I don't know what it's like where you live, but in this area it seems like everyone's getting satellite tv. Business was good, and after a couple of years I was able to buy a small house that I could run my business from. It only had two bedrooms and one bathroom, but the previous owner had built a large garage where I could store my equipment.

Well, that's some of my background. This story really started when I was up on the roof of a double-wide in the east valley adjusting the satellite dish I was in the process of installing. Out of nowhere, I heard a voice say "Aim for the Superstitions." Well, that didn't make any sense at all. If you know anything about satellite tv, you know the dish needs to be pointed south so it can pick up the signal from the satellite. The Superstition Mountains were east of where I was installing the dish.

I looked around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from, but couldn't see anyone. Ignoring the voice, I went back to installing the dish when I heard the same voice say, "Do as I say. Aim for the Superstitions." Now, hearing it again, I understood that I wasn't hearing the voice with my ears, it was in my head. I didn't know what to do about it, when the voice repeated, "Aim for the Superstitions. You will be rewarded."

I didn't see any harm in temporarily following the voice, so I loosened a couple of bolts and turned the dish in the general direction of the Superstitions. The voice gave more specific directions for adjusting the dish until he (I thought of it as male) seemed satisfied and told me to tighten the bolts.

Well, that wasn't all he wanted. While I was waiting to find out what would happen next, the voice gave me detailed directions for feeding electrical power into the dish's receiver. I couldn't see what that would do except burn out the receiver. "No," I mentally told the voice. "That doesn't make any sense." But as it turned out, there wasn't anything I could do about it. Somehow, the voice forced me to follow all his orders.

It took a couple of hours to do everything the voice wanted, longer than a full satellite dish installation usually takes. Finally, everything was ready and I threw the switch that sent power into the dish receiver. There was a bright flash as the receiver burned out, then nothing as the circuit blew.

The rest of my day was spent fixing all the damage caused by following the voice. Luckily, the double-wide's owners didn't get too mad when the receiver burned out and the circuit blew. I had another receiver in the truck and was able to finish the job by four o'clock. After I showed them how to operate the system, and it was working like it was supposed to (I do good work), they seemed satisfied, especially when I gave them a discount on my fee. I had another installation scheduled for that afternoon, but had to postpone it to tomorrow because of the delay from following the voice. Chalking up the experience as some more of the weirdness associated with the Superstition Mountains, all I wanted then was to get home, put my feet up and open a beer.

You can guess my surprise when I opened my front door to find Michael Rennie waiting for me. If you don't know who Michael Rennie is, he's the actor who played Klaatu, the alien, in the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still." (I'm a big sci-fi fan.) I recognized him right away as the guy from the movie, but didn't remember the actor's name - he told me later.

Surprised, "Uhh, what are you doing here?" I asked.

Michael Rennie looked at me with that kind of high-brow smile he has. "I'm here to give you your reward, Art."

"Whadda you mean?" was all I could say. I still hadn't associated the strange appearance of Michael Rennie in my living room with what happened with that dish pointed at the Superstitions.

"Art, you must be tired," he said. "Sit down, have a beer (getting a beer from the fridge for me) and I'll explain it to you."

"I represent an extremely powerful being who was trapped in a kind of interdimensional rift. What you did today freed that being, and as you were told you would be, you are being rewarded for that service. I have been created to help you use that reward."

"Whadda you mean, created?" I asked.

"Exactly that. The being created me to help you understand and use the reward he is granting to you. I will help you attain anything you desire, anticipating your needs and wishes as much as possible. This form, Michael Rennie's, was chosen after a review of your consciousness revealed that you would trust me and have confidence in what was communicated to you by someone who looked like me."

"So, what's the reward? Where is it?" I asked.

"It's here. It's anywhere you want, and anything you want."

"Are you telling me I can have anything I want?"

"Nearly anything you want. There are a few limits on the power of the reward. For example, your actions are limited to this solar system. You won't be able to destroy the universe, or the earth, or humankind. You can't travel through time or change the past. And you can't change yourself, that is, you can change your body, but you can't directly change through the power of the reward the essential being that is Art Glasser. Within those limits you can have or do anything you want.

"Even with those limits, there are ways I can help you satisfy your desires as though the limits weren't there. For example, if you want to travel to other solar systems, you can just have me create another universe containing the kind of worlds you want. You can't travel through time, but I can create other dimensions where you can experience ancient Egypt or what earth's future might be like, or where you can hunt dinosaurs. Just let me know what you want, and I'll do my best to make it happen."

"So what can you do for me now? What should I do first?" I asked. I had no doubt that everything he told me was true. After what happened on the job today, and then finding Michael Rennie in my living room, it was impossible to doubt him. I just needed an idea of where I was going from here.

"How about a little female companionship?" he said. "I know you haven't been with anyone in a while."

That was sure true. My last girlfriend, Amie, broke up with me almost a year ago. In fact, I'd never been very successful with girls. Amie had a pretty face, but she weighed more than me. And before her, there had only been a couple of other girls.

Thinking about who might be good possibilities as female companions, "Uhh, who can you get for me?"

Giving me that same smile, "You have quite a large collection of photos of naked women on your pc, but it looks like your favorites are Carrie and Veronica. They would seem to be good candidates for you."

That surprised me. "Really, you can really get them for me?"

"I can bring them here for you, but you might like it more if I created women for you with the characteristics you find attractive in them. For example, you might not know it, but both those women have had breast implants. I can create women exactly like them, with the same large breasts, but natural, not implants. And if you were with the real women, you might find their personalities aren't as pleasant as you think. I could give them the kind of personalities that would make them a lot better companions for you."

"So they'd be perfect?"

Smiling again, "No, that wouldn't be interesting would it, just better suited to you. To start, why don't you just leave it in my hands, I think you'll be satisfied. And if you're not, then there's no problem changing things. I'll always follow your directions and do what you want, within the constraints imposed on me."

"Okay," I said. "So who do you think I should start with, Carrie or Veronica?"

"Why not both? There's no need to choose. You can have them both if you want."

Now having two beautiful girls at the same time had always been one of my fantasies, but "Uhh, I don't know if I'm up to that," I said. I wasn't a big guy, in fact I was pretty slight, and my equipment, my sexual equipment, was pretty slight too.

"I can fix that, too, if you want," Michael said.

Looking down at my crotch, "I guess I might as well go all the way," I said. "Alright, do whatever you think is needed." Then, something occurred to me. "Uhh, will you be here all the time? I mean, I think I'd like a little privacy."