Far Future Fembot: Darlene

"It's a mistaken historical belief that I got my own bi-gendered modifications at the same time Anna did. Although my current body has the same allowances built into it that Anna's does where such an enhancement can be easily installed, it would be a very long time before I would follow her down this path.

The bi-gendered adaptation has fallen out of favor over the decades as robots have become more mainstream and affordable. The savings once achieved by having entire production runs of robots capable of performing in multiple roles is no longer significant. These economies no longer have the imperatives they once did for overall robot survival.

I remember long ago when the House had a matched pair of bi-gendered 'bots working here as outside staff for a number of years. They were a tall, stunning pair of closely matched 'bots — one blonde and one brunette — and were often requested together by patrons who wanted the challenge of keeping up with both of them, or just enjoyed watching them dance together.

Even so, they kept their systems firmly locked in female mode during their tenure in the House and few, if any, clients ever realized the extras they carried inside them. I was still relatively new to the House then, and never did learn what they may have done on their off-times together. As I recall hearing, they also worked part-time in another house that specialized in their particular abilities even though they liked the atmosphere, clients, compensation, and companionship at Lady Heather's best. It says a lot for the hold such a modification has on a 'bot's psyche that they would even consider working somewhere else.

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The most important thing to know about any true bi-gendered robot is that while she will appear and act just like every other fembot when her phallus is retracted and out of service — once it's out and in play she is suddenly running a lot of pure m-bot code.

Now don't confuse bi-gendered 'bots with fembots who have some well-integrated male code serving as an assist to their female side. Cherie, for example, was from the beginning an experiment of incorporating male code into an all female body with the thought that it could make her more dynamically appealing as a partner and companion for activities outside the bedroom — as well as a less passive lover. When that was teamed up with her aggressive 186cm tall, extravagantly proportioned body — and that's before the high heels that she loves to wear so much are added in — she quickly became more 'bot than most people can easily handle. But she's still all fembot — even if a strongly self-willed and assertive one with a distinct male side to her that some people find exceptionally attractive.

And while CiCi's herm-bot mind contains a decent allotment of male code as well — some of it intentionally just placed just beyond her full control when her male side is aroused — you will never mistake her always-gentle manner for that of an actual m-bot.

Both these lovely 'bots appeal well to lovers of both sexes.

Just why bi-gendered 'bots aren't essentially the same as Cherie and CiCi goes back to some decisions made long ago.

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Once upon a time — which is a good way to start speaking of such a legendary robot psychologist and design consultant — there was a woman in the early days of our creation who made some decisions that are still in large part essential parts of our robotic DNA to this day.

She's the one who first saw the flaws in the original Three Laws of Robotics as postulated, and then did more than any other individual to evolve them into the necessary Four Laws we all live by now. Lady Heather actually met her once.

This person also determined that while the best role for fembots overall would be as obedient, even-tempered, submissive companions — which even those of us with our own free will still ascribe to — that m-bots would have to be substantially different in order to succeed in their intended roles.

As a fembot I'm out on the extreme edge of what a female can be. I've been called a parody of a woman more times than I can count. (Well not more times than I can truly count with my excellent, multiplexed, parallelized digital memory, but a lot of times all the same.) Yet my lovers have never once complained about these aspects of me.

Submissive, obedient, with a body to die for, puts me well beyond the normal curve at the outer limits for a human female. It also means, fortunately, that I don't compete with them in their own space any more than they compete with me in mine. We each have our niche. If robots had been identical to humans then why would anyone have needed us in the first place?

So while I can do a great deal to moderate the most extreme parts of myself, including dressing to conceal my body while limiting my overt behaviors to pass among most humans undetectably as one of them, it's the fact that I am different that ensures my continued existence. I only have to compete with other fembots, not with all the females, for my necessary share of the finite resources available.

This same psychologist also determined that in order to succeed m-bots would have to be as extreme on the male side as I am on the female side.

In the same way that, as real as I am to myself I remain a fantasy female to most others, m-bots are a specific type of ideal fantasy male. If it was ever possible to be too male, then that's an unchained m-bot.

M-bots had to be this way. When they were marketed as soft, sensitive, gentle, cuddly, caring, quiche cookers (don't ask me about that last thing, it's some sort of twentieth century reference to an unsuccessful male type) nobody wanted them. Well, that's not quite accurate. It would be more precise to say that nobody wanted them for long.

Some very smart market research people at the time surveyed large numbers of women to find out what they wanted in a male. The results were combined, sifted, massaged, and the first reasonable facsimile male robots were adjusted, reprogrammed, and tuned to match the unambiguous survey results. These first male models were rolled out to great fanfare and sales were brisk — for about three months.

Then the returns started. The men had been happy enough with even the earliest model fembots like Synthia that had preceded these m-bots while the women had been demanding equal treatment in the sexual area with rapidly disappearing patience. Now that they had what they said they wanted many were not satisfied.

The situation worsened. Women started saying that they were quickly outgrowing their m-bots. Soon the month arrived when returns outpaced sales, then it was back to the drawing boards.

The answer turned out to be in 2D cellulose. The larger than life men of the motion pictures that women returned to see over and over again. Or at least the characters they portrayed.

After much refinement the search for the archetypal male was narrowed down to a single series of films. Those that featured a "Dangerous Man". One who would kill any other threatening male with full backing of his government, while making love to any woman, usually leaving his government in the position of trying to turn a blind eye.

An armed man whose penis is as rigid and reliable as his pistol — both of which fire every time. A sophisticated man who knows his alcohol as well as his languages, geography, and customs, making him at home in every country and situation. One who drives the fastest cars to their limits, flies planes when he needs to, and never Never NEVER loses in either the casino — or at love. And he's always unfailingly polite in the process. Losing your cool is so very uncool.

This man doesn't leave a trail of broken hearts behind because all women know him instinctively for what he is. Rather than bemoan their loss when he moves on, they cherish those hours when he was theirs alone. Just one night with this man can ensure that a life has meaning — instead of just question marks about what might have been.

This is the male they want to own. They want him because deep inside they know no one else ever can claim him. The wild, untamable stallion that they alone can ever gentle and ride. The Dangerous Man who will protect them from every threat, while freeing them to fly higher than they ever dared let themselves imagine before. And when they own this best man, it makes them the best woman.

That's a tall order. Given such a seemingly impossible task the m-bot creators turned out to have succeeded surprisingly well in the end — thanks again to the right woman in the right place at the right time.

A full-on m-bot is hard beast to tame. When his owner is a female she has to stand up to him firmly at all times. In public, the best owners have their 'bots on an invisible leash only other women can see. But despite all this apparently necessary effort by the owner to handle such a 'bot, this is the only personality type that endures. The only one that can hold them for life. Go figure.

Of course in pure form this is too much raw male for most women to handle despite their best intentions. As a result m-bots from the factory come hobbled with a limiter installed. Rather like buying an exotic foreign sports car that's speed-limited to 160KpH. If you never try to drive it too fast no one else will know its limits when they see you in it.

Many women never realize this and are happy with their acquisition for life anyway. Like the sports car, these limits protect the unwary without unduly burdening them in normal day-to-day life. The top women, however, find these limits quickly and soon dare to remove them. They know that his Four Laws will still protect them from everything — except their own desires.

Fortunately for society overall this extreme male behavior only manifests itself when said m-bot is with a suitable partner. When not in a relationship they can be gruff, standoffish, intimidating, even rude when their rough edges show. Yet in the same way a solitary fembot does not walk around in continual heat, opening her legs to every possible lover who passes by, an un-partnered m-bot is suitably under control and able to function smoothly enough in society.

The true secret of all awakened m-bots is that in the same way a woman who dares can find fulfillment of her deepest desires in such a relationship, the self-willed m-bot is forever searching for the woman who will release him to be all he can be — and use him fully in all the ways he's intended to be used!

No proper m-bot makes himself easy to be captured and fully owned. Only the most determined — and well versed in m-bot ways — female (or male) need apply. But no woman who has succeeded in this task has ever regretted it afterwards. It can be an ongoing accomplishment of a lifetime

And who is this person who decided so much about what was necessary for both us — and the humans around us? Her name is Susan, and every robot who has ever studied our own history knows of her. Even though Susan worked in the days when robotic self-will was often more fancy than fact yet, she's the one who understood instinctively from the beginning what fembots and m-bots could become, and why they should never try to meet in the middle.

After my first encounter with a newly bi-gendered Anna I must completely agree with her wisdom in this area. Although Anna and I are both ancient in terms of the operating systems and code we operate under, I can't see how any modern robot wouldn't face the same problems I've seen when pure male code is loaded into their systems.

While all bi-gendered robots started out as a fembot with male parts and code added afterwards, that male code exhibits an alluring tenacity to want to take over and run the fembot mind. This is not always easily moderated despite the fembot's own strong will coupled with her gentle, obedient nature otherwise. After all, gentle and obedient are the very antithesis to most male thought and action.

And I must make one further confession now. When Anna first showed me her bi-gender modification my initial reaction to it was pure fembot! I felt and reacted to it exactly as I was always intended to.