Part 1B: Reika and Irene

Weekend classes proceeded pretty much as they had when I helped teach back in Korea. Master Lily, while still maintaining a stern guiding hand when it came to teaching the fresh-faced white belts, especially the children, allowed the other assistant instructors and I free reign when it came to helping them get through the lessons. I had come to notice right away that many of the people there were glad to have a fellow Westerner showing them the ropes. Master Lily's three other assistants were native Koreans, they distant relations to her whom I'd come to know thanks to their relatives in the old country. I personally didn't fault them for anything; they were considerate to the students. But I could tell right away that their Confucian-based ethical system was imposing an emotional and social wall between them and their charges. In my eyes, that's wrong. You can't ask a student of the Art to fully give herself to the Art unless you gladly show your own love and devotion to the Art. To not do so, in my eyes, was to point a dagger at the future of the tojang...

I didn't get back to Russell's Retreat until the following Tuesday; Wednesdays would be the quiet days as far as work in the tojang was concerned, so I could sleep in late. Arriving around nine-thirty, I was quick to spot Reika waiting at the bar. Russ was once again helping the bartender with drinks. That was very good. The bar was busy and Russ was making the rent. A glance to the stage revealed Reghan strutting her stuff to Foreigner's Waiting For A Girl Like You. Tom was nowhere in sight.

Walking over to the bar, I called out, "Hey, Russ! The usual!"

Hearing my voice, a smile that glittered like the Milky Way crossed Reika's face. As I sat beside her, she turned to gaze on me. "You missed my first two shows." She wagged a finger at me in mock-reproof. "You'll need to make them up to me, Ms. Hordye!"

I waved my hands in a show of peace. "Hey, hey, I'll make it up to you, okay!" Damn, how far had her self-development come? "I just can't walk out of the tojang on a lark! If the Master fired me, how'd I pay for your dances, much less your tips?!"

Reika stopped, her eyes going wide for a second, and then she turned away, her cheeks reddening. "That's true," her voice became surprisingly sheepish. She then chanced a coy stare at me. "I would dance free for you."

"Well, if you insist..." I sputtered before sparing Russ a quick look. The smirk on his face told me he wouldn't mind that a bit.

Seeing my reaction, Reika laughed, and then she gave my hand a squeeze. "I still wish you could've come earlier, Deanna," she admitted before glancing away, her cheeks starting to flame. "It means a lot to me when I know you're in the audience."

Sensing the truth in her words, I relaxed. "I'll try to come earlier next time, but I make no guarantees." I held up a finger before nodding thanks as Russ gave me a glass of Sprite. Taking a sip, I stood. "Let's go."

I nodded toward one of the private booths. Reika fell in beside me, roping her arm around mine possessively as we made our way around the tables closest to the stage. Before walking into the empty booth, I heard a crashing noise from off to my left. Turning, I watched as a bouncer stormed into a nearby booth. Shouting echoed from there as he came out a couple seconds later, dragging with him a clearly-drunk patron. Watching this from beside an overturned dance table was a nude Callista, another of the dancers I'd met on Saturday. The hapless patron -- seeing how easily he was being dealt with, I realized the bouncer had to be an M-'bot -- was soon ejected out the back door into the parking lot.

Shaking my head, I glanced at Reika. "First one of the night?" I asked.

"Unfortunately." She beckoned me in, closing the door behind me. "Most of the people who come here are pretty alright even when they've had a few too many. Compared to other clubs I've performed at, the patrons here are quite civilized -- for humans."

"What do you think he did?" I asked, wondering what someone could do wrong here, considering all I've done here with Reika and the others.

"Maybe he tried to force a command on her," Reika said carefully. "Force her to give up what money she had on her. That's happened. Or he might have attacked her. Because of the First Law, she can't protect herself, so she had to call for help."

"What an idiot!" I spat out. "Looser rules shouldn't put too much pressure on folks who come here." I sat down as she mounted the small stage. "With the allowances, people don't feel the urge to try to push matters. Most people, that is!"

I held up a finger. She chuckled. "Yes, most people."

The dance, done to Barbra Streisand's Evergreen, was up to -- as it seemed to me -- Reika's impeccable standards. Like when she danced for me on Saturday -- not to mention the private dances I got from Reghan and the others -- I was allowed to touch her wherever my questing fingers wanted to roam, especially over her rock-hard nipples and between the lips of her damp womanhood. Yes I like enjoying close contact with both women and men. Living my public life as a woman doesn't change what I truly am. Along the way, we shared a half-dozen kisses, not counting the kiss I got after paying for the dance, plus the kiss that came with her tip. I was quick to sense that Reika seemed more at ease about kissing me this time than she did on Saturday.

After the dance ended, Reika moved to slip on her panties and bra, keeping her usual biker pants and halter top off to one side as she relaxed with me, clearly intending to keep me company for a while. "Are you sure you can do this?" I asked.

"You forget, Deanna, I'm freed. I'm able to set my own terms as long as I meet my commitments to be there when I come up in rotation again," she assured me, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. "Besides, Russ has twenty girls working directly for him now. They're his main breadwinners. And I know they love to work for him here at the Retreat. I can't really interfere in that, can I?"

I nodded. "Not really." I gave her a smirk, and then we both laughed before sharing another quick kiss. "So tell me about yourself," I prodded before sipping my Sprite. "Who made Reika Aldred the beautiful person she is?"

As she told me her life story, I was quick to note one particular element that seemed to have set Reika on the road to self-awareness: the command Cranston Aldred gave her and Irene to go ahead and do whatever was necessary to fully develop their personalities. "So if someone became your new owner, would you want that person to override that command?" I asked her at the end, doing my best to indicate that I would respect whatever choice she made when it came time for her to make the choice, regardless if it concerned me or someone else.

Reika paused as she considered the question, and then she shook her head. "No. Irene and I really enjoy being what we are, discovering new ways of bettering ourselves and our overall performance in whatever we choose to do. Neither of us would want it stopped." A pause as she seemed to consider what else to say, and then she blinked. "I have to get ready for my next dance," she then announced.

"Let's clear out of here, then," I replied as we rose...

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. There did come the odd time when another patron came up to Reika to ask for a personal performance in one of the private booths. She was more than happy to comply. I couldn't begrudge her that; she was here to earn money. To make sure the other patrons didn't end up thinking I was trying to hog Reika to myself, I held off of making any open show of closeness. A simple glance when she looked my way, then a subtle nod toward one of the private booths, was enough to make sure she got the message. Russ didn't do anything to butt in on what was happening between us. No doubt, he was pretty dead serious about having me eventually become Reika's and Irene's new owner, so he clearly wanted to give me every decent chance I could use to get to know my future charges.

I wasn't sure what to think about that, to be honest. Being a freed 'bot's "owner of record" wasn't the same as being a plain 'bot owner, at least as much as I understood the concept when I first learned of it. Yes, by the laws of certain parts of the States and elsewhere, you were seen as being no different than a normal 'bot owner. At the same time, according to Canadian law (and the laws of those other places where this sort of situation was respected), you couldn't seize your "property's" personal belongings, to say anything of her earnings, for your own use. Legally, you really had no right to make use of a freed 'bot's remote control to press your own ends...

I shook my head as I considered that, sitting by the bar close to last call. I couldn't see myself doing that to Reika or Irene. Damn it all, they EARNED the right to be seen as freed robots. I respected that. Besides, if I really wanted a 'bot to obey my commands, fulfil my every desire, I could get one fresh out of the factory -- if I could AFFORD such a unit, of course. And getting a second-hand 'bot from a resale outlet meant that you risked inheriting problems, screwball programming or fouled-up commands from said 'bot's previous owners.

I certainly would enjoy having a 'bot as a personal companion. I loved the many times I purchased the services of 'bot hookers working the streets of places I had lived in during my sojourn around the world. Almost all of them had been fembots, who didn't mind the fact that I was a hermaphrodite and could do it with them as a guy as much as I could as a girl. Even the few M-'bots I've slept with were quite nice, especially after I suppressed their assertive attitudes when it came to dealing with human girls. A good screaming session or two guaranteed that, I'll tell you. I might look like a girl on first glance -- unless you catch me in the shower! -- but I can play just as rough as the boys could when pushed to the wall. The assholes who tried to gang up on Drew Keir learned that the hard way fourteen years ago.

"Hi, Russ! How're things here tonight?"

Russ, working on cleaning glasses a metre off to my right, looked up, and then he chuckled. "Pretty good. What brings you around?"

"Oh, just checking my handiwork, that's all!"

I glanced over to see a woman about Reika's height standing by the cash register, two metres away from me. Seeing her brownish skin made me blink as a haunting sense of recognition hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. The shoulder-length blonde hair, which seemed to me so odd to appear on a woman like this, sent my heart into my throat as it dawned on me who this person was. Seeing her eyes, as brown as pure Swiss chocolate, not to mention a finely-sculptured face that hinted at a cultural smorgasbord of ancestors, confirmed it.

She had matured a lot since I last saw her fourteen years ago, but it was her.

Her...

"Marlenn," I whispered...

Marlenn.

God, it was like receiving a back heel kick in the gut.

Save for the fact that she was well over a decade older, she didn't truthfully look any different from when I had last really seen her up close. When I was in the hospital recovering from my aborted suicide attempt, having just learned that the knife had badly cut up both my ovaries, damaging the eggs embedded there so much that the chances of my being a mother were essentially nil. When Marlenn's parents -- distant friends of Mama's -- had brought her to the hospital to make her apologize for the words that had hurt me so badly. When the anger, shame and pain of what those words had done to me, had made ME do to myself, blew like Mount Saint Helens with an attitude.

When I had wished that she would just die so she wouldn't pollute the human race any further with her homophobia.

I wasn't ready to see her. Not so damned soon after coming back after fourteen years spent travelling as far from Welland as I could.

I had to go.

Get away from her.

Go somewhere and think.

Go somewhere and cry...

"Deanna!"

I stopped, realizing that I had stumbled out of the Retreat, now standing on the street corner. Spinning around, I gaped on seeing Reika standing there, worry etched on her face. "Reika..." I gasped before rubbing my eyes. "What are you... ?"

"I came after you." She steadied me with an arm. "Are you alright? What happened?"

What happened?

Why... ?

Why?

"I..." I felt my throat choke up, and then the energy in my body started to flow out of me. "Home..."

"Deanna... ?"

"Yes, we are," Irene answered. I was quick to see the relieved smile cross her face via the rear-view mirror. "How did you guess, Deanna?"

"Your sister." I gave Reika's arm a tender squeeze as I relaxed my head on her shoulder. My heart was still going a million kilometres a minute thanks to seeing Marlenn, but the rest of my body was starting to come down from the adrenaline high. "She telling you to get the car sounded a little too forceful for a normal fembot. I've never met any bi-'bots -- at least I think I haven't -- before, so it was pretty much a wild-ass guess even after that." Taking another deep breath as Irene swung into the turn-off lane for the 406 southbound, I looked up into Reika's face. "Does Russ know? Is that why he came to ask me about me becoming your owner of record?"

"He does." Reika then leaned up to kiss my forehead. "Still, he confessed to us that even if we were normal fembots, he would've still come to ask you about becoming our owner, Deanna. Even if you decided never to come back to Welland again, he would've found some way to contact you and helped arrange a meeting between us. That's how much he likes and trusts you."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "I guess I'm lucky," I said.

Actually, even now as I reflect on this, I'm still amazed at how valuable Russ has treated our friendship. With only the occasional postcard from me, sent from whatever far corner of the world I lived in, he had stayed true to his friendship vow of so many years ago.

Hell, if I hadn't been so emotionally tied up because of Marlenn, well...

Silence fell as Irene drove the car down the 406 to the East Main turnoff, and then headed west for a couple blocks before making a left onto Saint Andrews. Seeing my apartment block, I pointed it out. Irene stopped the car to let Reika and me off. As Irene moved to park the car, I guided Reika across the street to the main doors. We waited for Irene to catch up to us, and then we headed inside.

Soon enough, we were inside my apartment. It's a simple affair: living room with kitchenette, one bedroom and a bathroom. It wasn't furnished very much; I had little in the way of furniture to call my own and what I did have either came with the apartment, was borrowed from Master Lily or one of her friends or had been purchased from a second-hand store. "It's cozy," Reika commented as we slipped off our shoes -- that was a habit I acquired living in Korea; no doubt, the girls felt it only proper to do that when visiting someone else's home -- then headed into the living room, relaxing on the thick wool rug that covered the space save for the area around my kitchenette.

"It serves its purpose," I admitted as a sense of relief, of safety, started to flood me. I was in my home. Two new beautiful friends -- friends I now knew who were more like me that I had first suspected meeting them on Saturday -- were currently visiting me. The cause of so much of my personal pain and self-doubt was about three kilometres west of me, still chatting it up with Russ no doubt.

I wondered what had happened to make Russ warm up again to Marlenn. Fourteen years ago, after what happened to me, he refused to have anything to do with her. Then again, fourteen years HAVE passed. No doubt, since he wasn't directly involved, Russ had decided to let bygones be bygones. I couldn't begrudge him that, could I? He was my friend and would remain so. And clearly, given what he wanted to help arrange between Reika, Irene and I, he saw me as his friend. That mattered just as much.

"Deanna, what did Marlenn do to you?"

I jolted, surprised by Reika's question, then I stared at her. "How do you know her? Did Russ tell you something?"

She shook her head. "I was unaware of what, if any, part Marlenn had concerning whatever happened to you back in high school." As I felt my heart start to race again, Reika reached over to hold my hand in a show of comfort. "Russ hasn't spoken openly about that incident, Deanna. Neither have Tom or Jim. They haven't betrayed your trust in them, Deanna. Still, I am aware that something awful did happen to you at that time in your life. It's what prompted you to leave Welland, go across the country to attend university in Victoria, and then go further still around the world. After what I just saw at the Retreat, it was easy for me to conclude Marlenn had something to do with what happened."

I stared at her, my heart slowly calming. That shouldn't have surprised me, I guess. Robots are remarkably observant when it comes to witnessing human behaviour. Atop that, they are also very discrete. "You didn't answer my first question, Reika."

Reika smiled apologetically at me. "She's a robot technician now. Certainly one of the better ones I've dealt with. In fact, your old public school currently serves as her laboratory, home and workshop. Irene and I've been staying there while we've been working in the peninsula. She offers living space to any travelling free 'bot seeking a place to stay for a short while."

My jaw dropped as images of Marlenn acting as Victor von Frankenstein, hovering menacingly over a strapped-down, nude Reika, flashed through my mind. I had to laugh at that. Reika gave me a curious look, and then I waved her down. "God, I never suspected that she'd end up doing THAT sort of thing!!" I tried to stifle back my snickers. "Does she help out with the 'bots at the Retreat, too?"

Irene nodded. "Yes, she does. Not to mention many other robots in Welland and Pelham."

I stared at her, and then I whistled. "Really? She must be busy."

"She is," Irene confirmed.

Silence fell as that particular item of conversation seemed to loose interest with me. Finally, realizing I hadn't answered Reika's question, I stood. "C'mon."

I waved my guests with me into the bedroom. They wordlessly followed me. I nodded for them to sit on my bed -- fortunately, it's double-sized, so all three of us could fit onto it quite comfortably -- then moved to undress. Reika and Irene remained silent as I slipped off my shirt and sports bra, and then got to work on my slacks. Fortunately for me, I knew of an underwear dealer who could supply me with modified panties that gave me both comfort when it came to my dick, plus a nice fit over my vagina whenever I went through my monthly cycle -- yes, despite the fact that my ovaries are pretty much scar tissue these days, I still go through THAT! As soon as I took those off, I turned to display myself to my guests.

"Beautiful!"

That was both Reika and Irene, by the way.

Hearing that made my member twitch as blood started to flow into it. Seeing that, my guests moved to touch it, their fingers feather-soft on its flanks, that contact making me gasp as a welcome urge started pounding my loins. I felt my heart start to hammer in my ears as jolts of passion rocked my body from head to toe. It had been a long time since I'd allowed myself to react without restraint.

Without warning, their fingers withdrew from my dick as they stood. Staring at them, I moved to ask what was wrong. Their answer was to guide me into sitting on my bed. Once there, Reika turned to the pile of CDs I had beside my player. Scanning the titles, she grinned. "Good." She pulled out one, and then slipped it into the player.

A flute started off the James Last rendition of Nasawa Kiminori's Yosaku as my lovely guests began the most incredible floor show I had ever seen -- and yes, I HAVE seen two 'bot dancers go at it together back in my favourite showclub in Tuscon! As one of my hands began to stroke myself, I watched as Reika slowly pulled Irene's skirt and panties -- no doubt, both girls wore bras and panties in response to the "maintain proper decorum" command their old owner gave them long ago -- down. In the blink of the proverbial eye, Irene's own dick -- damn, hers was as friggin' big as MINE! -- was out, and then it quickly filled Reika's mouth right to the gorging point. Lucky thing for both of them that they were 'bots; I don't know if human strippers or hookers could've done something like THIS for a stage show.

Soon enough, Reika's own cock was in the open as they mashed their bodies against each other, swaying perfectly to the base drum, synthesizer and flute as they trailed kisses all over their faces, ears and neck. As the song worked its way to the climax, both shifted themselves so their legs could brush against mine. Before I knew it, their hands were gently stroking my own dick as they moved to relax to either side of me, gently showering my face with playful kisses. I moaned, then nearly swallowed Irene's -- or was it Reika's? -- mouth wholesale as they forced me to lay back. As I felt their bodies press against mine, I wrapped my arms around them.

I felt myself collapse on the bed as their lips and tongues began to tickle, suck, lick and caress every square centimetre of my skin. From the area around my ears -- I'm very sensitive there -- to my breasts, down my flanks, around my navel, then right to the promised land. A shudder warped through me as I felt someone's lips wrap around my cock, then swallow it wholesale. A gasp escaped me, then I felt one of them -- who was it? -- shift to straddle me at the level of my own breasts. Before I could try to make out who it might be, the blunt end of her dick was pressing against my lips. My mouth automatically opened to allow it in. Thankfully, since both Reika and Irene are 'bots, I didn't have to worry about things like exhaustion making them collapse on my tits. Being someone who shares male and female body parts meant I could experience the utter joys of being kicked in the nuts or punched in my breasts.