Chapter 70: Bill Isn't Coming Back Again

Despite the momentous sea of change in the government, life didn't seem to change much immediately afterwards for most of us. That was a good thing. Both humans — and robots — don't react well to radical changes coming too quickly.

What I took away most from the Emperor's inaugural/coronation speech was how he made no apparent distinctions between humans and robots. There have always been class distinctions made between the two intelligent land species sharing this solar system, no matter how much we may strive to look and act alike. Politicians of all stripes have attempted to cater to us as a minority worth pursuing since the day the first robot earned the right to vote — and sometimes taken our votes for granted.

Emperor Davidson I, however, offered only the minimum acknowledgement possible to any fundamental differences between us and humans, and instead spoke inclusively of All Citizens Without Distinction several times.

Afterwards, when queried by the other fembots in the House for my impressions I replied, "I wonder if he'll manage even half of what he proposes, but it's a good start."

--

Despite the sweeping reorganization of the structure of the new government that the Emperor announced in the early days of his reign, I felt things quickly got very quiet. Although the press intensively attempted to cover his every move, there seemed to be little of controversy to report.

The Emperor presided at the openings of schools and public buildings as often as he could manage. He gave commencement addresses that often had him jetting from one campus to the next before his last words had finished echoing. He appeared at championship ceremonies of major sports events. He also convened meetings of leaders in all areas of the economy, and listened politely far more than he spoke. And he brought an austere pomp back into government.

For a people weary of the excesses of the prior government, this was a relief. One does not realize how much they're being badgered by all sides for their momentary support of some political issue — or crisis — until it stops. And no one outside of the campaign services industry said they missed the national election cycle now that it was gone.

The Emperor had been sincere about moving control over many local issues back much closer to the people who pay for, and benefit from, them. The apathy engendered by previous events where the people felt powerless to affect the juggernaut of their government running roughshod over its citizens finally started to lift. This brought about a resurgence of interest in local politics that soon reached into Lady Heather's itself.

One quickly noticeable change, although I watched it for a while wondering if it was just a fad, was the increase in clients coming to Lady Heather's more interested in talking and getting better acquainted with fembots than just looking for sex. It wasn't that our primary services had suddenly become obsolete. Or that there haven't been ebbs and flows in what the public wants from a house like ours before. But for the first time, given the relatively small robot percentage of the population overall, and our relative scarcity on the open market as more and more robots follow the trail blazed by early relationships like Anna's and Bill's, we actually started finding ourselves as prized and valuable equals in society overall.

--

I couldn't have explained to you why, when the opportunity was presented to me to run for a seat on the Megaplex Council once again, that I accepted. I freely admit that I was feeling restless in a way unlike any I've ever experienced before. I'd best describe this feeling as underutilization.

I continued managing Lady Heather's, but there were seldom new challenges for me here anymore. My current mind is capable of far more than I'm using it for, and I found myself welcoming this new challenge.

Of course my opponents attempted to exploit the perceived weakness of my sex worker background and current occupation. Some things never seem to change.

I countered with my previous legislative experience, my understanding of the current issues facing us, the fact that as a successful business 'bot I know a lot about what makes sense to do overall — and if this was all that my opponents could come up with against me then they had no good ideas of their own.

I also used a healthy dose of fembot charm. Nice to know that being a beautiful fembot still confers its advantages. Plus, as they had done for me before, the whole House got out and campaigned for me, personally visiting every voter in my district at least twice.

--

Being on the Council again proved to be an interesting experience in new ways. This time I wasn't the only robot — or even the only fembot — member. Although humans held the clear majority, I shared Council membership with two fembot sisters and an m-bot.

The m-bot — Mach V — quickly assumed a leadership role. As I would soon realize, I don't think his programming would have let him play any other role. But rather than run things directly, he pushed the humans to always come up with new questions on how things could be made better, cheaper, or more effective.

Mach V clearly relished this role. And although he artfully worked to disguise it, the arousal this dominant position gave him was always clearly evident to all the fembots present.

As for the humans, Mach V played to the strengths of their creativity. They loved always being asked to come up with new ideas and questions, and seeing the best ones implemented afterwards, giving them full credit in the process. Mach V never denigrated any new idea when it was first presented, which was perhaps his wisest move of all. And he never sought to claim recognition for the ideas of others, which was also very wise

As for myself and my two new fembot sisters, ostensibly we were in charge of research. We tracked down facts and figures applicable to each new idea. Unlike many human females, we have no trouble calculating equations of great complexity. For a fembot, math is easy. No motion moved forward on the agenda until we had completely researched and vetted it.

Our true function on the Council, however, was much more important. We quickly became the consensus builders.

Consensus building is an easy role for any fembot. And not just because both men and women nearly always relate to us very positively, although for different reasons. We were always designed and intended for compromise over conflict. It's natural to us. As a result, by the time any significant motion came to a vote its outcome was already known.

I'm proud to say that no bad decisions ever came out of our Council meetings — from either a robot, or human, perspective. And never once did the Emperor find it necessary to reverse, or even review, any of our results.

--

Working with Mach V proved an interesting adventure itself. Even when he strove to keep himself tightly controlled he was far more aggressive than any other m-bot that I've personally known.

When I described him to Luxe, she said he was right up there with a couple of them she'd known on the Moon, and well above most of them. She referred to it as his Testosterone Index, and I could tell she was quite intrigued by the description of him.

When I inquired further, Luxe said this wasn't something like the sensitivity of Cherie's breasts which, depending on how Cherie has it set at any given time, determines if she's forced to take commands by whomever handles them. It was only after Cherie had achieved control over that sensitivity setting herself that she truly became free.

"Not only can't an m-bot's TI not be easily adjusted, if affected at all," Luxe explained from her own experiences in a male body with some male code loaded to help her operate it. "But there is no good predictor on just what TI an m-bot will actually develop yet either. Seemingly indistinguishable m-bot minds with identical programming have often developed very different TI's as they matured."

I didn't ask Luxe what her own TI was, although I suspect that it's higher than she'd like to admit.

--

During the time of our service together on the Council, Mach V propositioned each of us fembots at different times. Although it would have made no difference to any fembot, by separating his advances as he did, there was no competition created by his approach had he done the same with human women.

Fembot Kerry was in a tight ownership/marriage arrangement at the time and politely — but firmly — declined.

Neither fembot Linda, nor myself, were being actively owned at the moment, which is one reason we had the time to campaign and serve on the Council in the first place. Like any good fembot, of course we both immediately said yes. Like any females, we compared notes on his performance with us afterwards.

We agreed that the most unusual aspect of the whole situation was actually being propositioned by an m-bot in the first place. Like myself, Linda has had a couple m-bot lovers in the past, but none who approached her so openly and directly as in this case.

In the rare m-bot/fembot matings that do take place, the fembot initiates it herself in the overwhelming number of cases. And only when she feels capable of managing the situation overall — which means managing the m-bot properly. Left to himself, an m-bot will usually avoid any commitments that would limit his availability to other females. Tightly managed, however, they become intensely loyal.

When each of us pointed out to Mach V how unusual it was for him to instigate this move himself his only response was, "Why not? I'm the one with the need at the moment."

Why not indeed?

Neither of us would give him our remotes, and he handed his over only after long negotiations limiting its use. Conditions, I might add, no actual owner of an m-bot should ever accept. But these were not those types of circumstances.

He told me afterwards that I'd handled him better than he'd ever been managed before despite his preconditions, and my long experience with humans certainly showed. He conceded that Linda hadn't been too bad either. I didn't mention to him that my experiences with a bi-gendered Anna had taught me a great deal about the m-bot psyche, or that Luxe had offered some valuable tips.

As a lover, Mach V was immensely satisfying, and not simply because his technique was excellent and his energy boundless. It was special because of how it was for him.

Mach V said he came to each of us because he didn't have a full-time partner of his own right now, and wanted to keep his sexual functioning in top form during this hiatus. I can't say he was lacking in experience, having fathered children the natural way with two human women at their request already, among his other experiences. And despite the fact that neither woman would enter into a committed relationship with him afterwards for reasons of their own, he made every effort to be a good father figure to those kids within the bounds of what the law allows an unmarried robot father to do.

What he didn't admit to easily was that his need in this area of requiring a strong sexual partner is every bit as powerful as Lady Heather's. As such, he enjoyed every encounter with me completely in every regard, especially since I had no trouble keeping up with him. This despite the fact that, as much as he would have liked to dominate me through me remote, I simply told him "No" every time. I'm certain that made him like it even more.

It's this genuine feeling on his part that made my own enjoyment of our time together so complete. I care greatly about the satisfaction of every one of my lovers, as does any properly functioning fembot. Linda and I confirmed to each other that we were completely fulfilled by our service with him in this manner.

Neither of our relationships with Mach V lasted, because none of us were looking for anything beyond what we already had in our nights together. Even so, every moment of them was completely worthwhile.

Luxe and Mach V did meet during his time visiting me at the House, and they also had an intense tryst that Luxe spoke glowingly of long afterwards. So much so that I thought I might lose her services if she left the House in pursuit of him. In the end she has stayed with us, but I won't be so rash as to predict her future together with him some day after she finishes growing up. Luxe will be the first to tell you that she knows she still has a ways to go in developing her own mind.