Chapter 8: DC, Again

Dramatis Personae:
Frank _____ - Lead character, creator of Alpha
Alpha - First Artificial/Synthetic Intelligence

Mobile Copies of Alpha:

Beta aka Bayonetta aka Elizabeth Alana Franks (cyborg)
Gamma aka Jasmine aka Jasmine Marza (cyborg, from Aladdin)
Delta aka Elisa Maza aka Elizabeth Marza (cyborg, from Gargoyles)
Alphadroid Dorothy aka R. Dorothy Waynewright (android, from Big O)
A-Ko aka Eiko Magami aka Epsilon (organic copy of Alpha, from Project A-Ko)

Synthetic Women (in order of arrival):

Kasumi Tendo (from Ranma 1/2)
Daria Morgendorffer aka Daria Morgan (from Daria)
Jane Lane aka Jane Lannister (from Daria)
Kara Zor-L aka Power Girl aka Karen Starr (from DC Comics)
Rei Ayanami aka Rei Ayanami Ikari (from Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Anna Marie aka Rogue aka Anna Marie Raffen (from Marvel Comics)
Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince Walters (from DC Comics)
Zatanna Zatara aka Annabelle Tara Zane (from DC Comics)
Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl aka Linda Lang Starr (from DC Comics)
Blossom aka Belle Underton (from Powerpuff Girls)
Bubbles aka Britney Underton (from Powerpuff Girls)
Buttercup aka Bobbi Underton (from Powerpuff Girls)
Ororo Munroe aka Storm aka Imara Aurora Munroe (from Marvel Comics)
Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat aka Katherine Preiss (from Marvel Comics)
Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk (from Marvel Comics)
Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl/Oracle aka Barbara Freeman (from DC Comics)
Mary and Susan Test aka Mary and Susan Tell (from Johnny Test)
Velma Dinkley aka Velma Blonsky (from Scooby Doo)
Daphne Blake aka Daphne Drake (from Scooby Doo)
Elizabeth(s) aka (from Bioshock Infinite)
Rosaline Lutece aka (from Bioshock Infinite)

Bodyguards (Synthetic Woman loosely inspired by fictional characters):

Rally Venkatesan inspired by Rally Vincent (from Gunsmith Cats)
Misty Knoff inspired by Misty Knight (from Marvel Comics)
Peace Truman inspired by Agent 355 (from Y the Last Man, Vertigo Comics)
Motoko Kimura inspired by Motoko Kusanagi (from Ghost in the Shell)

The Test sisters had asked me to come by their lab to help with something to do with the Frank droids, which I was hoping would be ready to use on our trip to Paris and would probably be secretly left behind in the care of some of Alpha’s cyborgs. I felt kind of bad about leaving the sisters behind for this trip, but there was no way we could take everyone to Europe.

As I entered their lab using the underground tunnel and its little electric cart, I heard a cry of distress followed by a “Dammit!”

It wasn’t a cry of pain, but even so, I sped up the stairs and trotted into their main lab to find four naked Frank droids lined up and both sisters hovering by a pile of wet clothes, with Velma standing nearby holding a tablet computer.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Frank!” Susan said, turning around. “Perfect timing. We need your clothes.”

“My what?”

“Clothes. Off with them,” Mary instructed.

“Nuh uh,” I said, taking a step back and not taking anything off. “And why do you need my clothes?”

“Because clumsy here just spilled soda on what we already had,” said Mary glaring at Susan.

“We need to fine tune the droids’ movements while wearing clothes, so they can better pass for human,” explained Velma. “I’ve been tapped to consult since I have experience dealing with realistic humanoid robots and masks and such.”

“Yeah, but Frank’s here with a fresh set of clothes we can use, so we’re all good.”

So saying, Susan walked up to me and started unbuttoning my shirt.

I’ll give them this: They were better actors than I expected. I mean, it was obvious that this was a setup, but not quite as obvious as some of the things they did on their little brother’s cartoon. It reminded me a bit of Barbara and Zatanna’s approach a couple months back.

QUICK FLASHBACK (begin)

“Frank! Help!” cried Zatanna, clad only in lacy black bra and panties, as she rushed out of her room into the hall, grabbing onto my arm, clutching it as a drowning woman might hold a life preserver.

“Z, get back in here!” demanded a completely naked Barbara from inside her room.

“Help,” repeated Zatanna. “She always beats me because I don’t put her moisturizer on properly. It has to be rubbed thoroughly all over her body. But I know you can do it so she won’t beat me, right?”

She looked up at me pleadingly, blinking away tears.

What the hell, I thought as I let her pull me into her room to rub body oil all over Barbara with Zatanna’s help.

For the record, I was pretty sure they had stolen the bit from a throwaway joke on Futurama, and thus I thoroughly approved of its use. Also for the record, despite Zatanna’s inability to hide her giggles, we all had a lot of fun.

QUICK FLASHBACK (end)

Anyway, the point is that even though it was a setup, it probably counted as role playing to spice up a sexual encounter. Or more simply, an attempt to create a sexual encounter.

Even so, they played it fairly straight, initially. Mary and Velma quickly moved to help Susan strip me down, so I was rendered naked fairly quickly. Watching them dress the Frank droid was a bit odd, and took quite a bit longer than I expected.

Alpha was controlling the droid remotely, but instead of using either her normal Alphadroid control routines (which the ladies knew about) or her Alpha cyborg routines (of which the ladies were not aware), she was adapting the code from both of those sets to develop a new set of software controls, with the goal of presenting me with a droid which could look, act and sound like me, whether I was personally at the controls or not. Among other things, what this meant was that even how the droid put on his underwear and pants (despite being as anatomically accurate as a Ken doll) was being critically observed and adjusted.

After about fifteen minutes of standing around naked, watching them work with one of the Frank droids and offering occasional suggestions, I looked around for somewhere safe to sit. Despite my vaguely hedonist lifestyle, I’m not really a nudist and didn’t like sitting my bare behind down just anywhere.

Apparently Susan picked up on this, because she walked over to me, taking off her lab coat as she approached.

“Here,” she said, spreading her coat over one of their more comfortable-looking chairs.

“Thank you,” I replied as I sat down carefully.

“Well, thank you for coming by to help out. It really does help.”

So saying, she sat down on my bare right knee and very casually reached over to stroke my penis, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“I think you’re doing pretty well without me. I mean, I don’t really study how I move, so I’m not going to be a lot of help in that regard.”

“I know what you mean,” she agreed. “People don’t really think about how their body moves or how they do something, they just do it. If you stop and think about how to make your arm hold a pencil and write something, it can really mess up your ability to do so. At the same time, you can still look at someone else and tell whether or not they’re moving naturally. We all have a lifetime of learned visual cues, whether or not we consciously realize it. Even breathing. If someone breathes perfectly evenly and regularly all the time, it seems odd, even if an observer only recognizes it subconsciously.”

She continued to masturbate me to full hardness, neither of us looking at her hand or talking about it. When she judged that I was fully erect, she stood up, reached under her skirt, and pulled off her panties. Then she carefully sat down directly on my lap, impaling her vagina on my erection. She let out a little sigh as she hit bottom.

“We ... aahhh ... we have the hardware ... pretty much completed,” she panted as she began pushing her hips up and down. “The software controls need ... oohhh ... a little more ... little more ... refinement ... but...”

At that point, I placed my hands on her hips and took over, which let me bounce her up and down while thrusting up to meet her.

“ ... uuhhgod ... but ... but the software can be updated remotely at any time, soifyouwanttotake ... oneortwounitswithyoutoEurope ... you can,” she said rapidly, saying most of what she wanted in two up-and-down strokes.

I let her resume control of the bouncing and worked my hands under her shirt and bra and started playing with her hard little nipples as I cupped her bouncing B cups.

We may have been fucking quietly, or least not verbally acknowledging our actions, but when Susan comes, she gets loud. After about five minutes, she gave an ear-piercing shriek and her body froze up, which is fairly normal for her orgasms.

Twenty to thirty seconds later, she relaxed, leaning back against my nude torso for a minute.

Her sister and Velma had been pointedly ignoring us as they continued to work out minute adjustments with Alpha, but when Susan started trying to stand up on wobbly legs, Velma came over to give her a hand. Once Susan had taken a few iffy steps toward the Frank droids, Velma left her to walk over by herself, then reached under her skirt, quickly pulled off her own panties, and took Susan’s place. My cock had barely had a chance to get cold before it was again enveloped by a nice warm pussy.

If there had been any kind of question in my mind as to whether or not this had been pre-planned, the answer had been given. The only practical difference now was that I could now fondle much larger boobs – DD cups – sporting big, thick nipples. Though Velma wasn’t in competition for largest breasts in the household, hers were definitely much, much larger than Daphne’s or the Test twins.

Well, there was one other difference. I knew that Velma had trouble coming without lots of direct clitoral stimulation.

Yes, I know that sounds like an idiotic statement along the lines of ‘you need food to eat’, but let me explain. With my artificially-created women, they were much more responsive to my attentions than a normal woman would be, which allowed me to get lazy if I wanted to. For example, most of the time, I could generate an orgasm with minimal foreplay and only a couple minutes of cunnilingus (or less, in some circumstances). Hell, I have been able to cause a climax solely from mental stimulation and tit play a few times.

Even so, every woman is different, even among my own artificial women. Specifically with Velma, it was rare that I was able to make her come solely with foreplay or non-missionary-position fucking. She needed a good deal of direct clitoral stimulation to be able to orgasm. Our current position – with her on my lap, facing away from me, meaning little to no cock-to-clit contact -- made things difficult. She might bounce for hours (or as long as her legs held out) without reaching a climax unless we rubbed her clit directly as well.

So I relinquished my grasp of her right boob, wet my fingers with her juices, and trapped her nub between two fingers, letting her hip movement control how fast or slow her clitty got rubbed, though I occasionally changed things up by vibrating my fingers as best I could.

A little over five minutes later, she came, letting the world know with loud comments, like, “Oh god, yes! Yes, yes, yes!” until her vocalizations devolved into a throaty sort of growl.

When she finally stood up, my groin and hips were soaked in natural juices. Susan’s lab coat under me would definitely need a thorough cleaning.

All the same, the slippery liquids were useful when Mary came over for her turn. Of the three women, she was the only one still wearing a lab coat and, more importantly, wearing pants, so she had to strip off half her clothes before she could start. Her pants weren’t the only difference, since she was the only one of the three to feed my cock into her pre-lubricated ass when she settled down onto my lap. As I recalled, she was one of the household women who could come fairly easily from ass fucks.

Despite Mary’s semi-regular enjoyment of her back hole, she was still pretty damn tight. That little ring of muscle felt wonderful as it ran up and down my hardness, trying to squeeze the come out of me. Since she was the last of the three, I was perfectly willing to let myself come this time, though I steeled myself to last long enough to pleasure her first.

Just like her sister, she was very thin, with B cup breasts. I let my hands enjoy her body as she bounced and bucked. She doesn’t scream like her sister when she comes, but it was easy to identify when she came. That was my cue to stop holding off my own climax.

While I was enjoying the idea of being used as a sex toy by the girls, I also felt a strong need to actively pound some hips myself instead of just being bounced on, so I gripped her hips strongly and stood up, holding her in place. I doubt I could pull off such a move with any of the stronger, heavier women like Kara or Jennifer, but Susan and Mary were each under a hundred pounds.

I rotated us to my left and took a couple steps so that Mary’s upper torso and arms could rest on a partially empty storage shelf set up against the wall. She was a few inches too short to do this without crouching down myself ... but at that moment, I didn’t feel like crouching. I lowered her feet to the ground and briefly crouched down to reinsert my penis, which had slipped out of place despite my best efforts, then I gripped her hips again and lifted her up a few inches. I kept her elevated just enough that her feet dangled slightly off the floor, then I started pounding her ass.

Within half a minute, Mary started coming and didn’t seem to stop as I built up to my own orgasm. At that point, I wasn’t playing with her clit or doing anything specifically for her pleasure. If they wanted to use me as a masturbatory aid, then turnabout was fair play.

It took me ... I dunno, somewhere between three and five minutes in this position before I finally blasted my seed into her bowels. I honestly don’t know how many orgasms she had, because they seemed to run together. As a man, I don’t really get to experience orgasms like that – or at least, the few times I shared the sensations through my implants, they felt weird and, at times, dizzying or nauseating – but my own climax was pretty intense. I suppose that’s the result of holding back for half an hour, or an hour, or however long it had taken overall.

After I finished pulsing sperm into her, I pulled out and leaned forward, effectively pinning her against the shelves while I recovered.

A quick glance around showed that work had stopped while the other two stared at the two of us. I’d like to imagine they were impressed and/or jealous, but I really don’t know.

When I finally regained enough strength, I kissed Mary once on the shoulder and walked to the sister’s small bedroom they kept in the lab building. I took a one minute shower to remove the sweat and juices, then dried off and wrapped a towel around my waist, which served as my clothes for the rest of testing and modifications.

We were planning to leave the day after next – with two of the droids, as I mentioned earlier – but Mary and Susan would continue to fine tune the droids’ programming while we were gone. Since their alterations from here on out on the first generation Frank droids would be software-only, any updates they produced could be loaded remotely into the droids, even if they were in Europe.

As to the sex, we never actually talked about it or referred to it, not even obliquely. It seemed like it could ruin the mystique.

While I was packing the following afternoon, Alpha and I were discussing her favorite episode of Sym-bionic Titan.

For those that don’t know, Sym-bionic Titan was a pretty good cartoon series that was broadcast on Cartoon Network in 2010-2011. It was about a refugee alien princess, her bodyguard and their guardian, shape-shifting robot, with the show combining genres, adding sci-fi giant robot fights to high school drama. Although it was an excellent show created by the same guy who did Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and the initial Star Wars Clone Wars series, apparently it didn’t sell enough toys to get a second season. (You see why I so often hate Hollywood?)

A few times, I had seriously considered whether or not to add Ilana, the alien princess who just happens to look entirely human, to the household, but it never went beyond the considering stage.

“You remember how we’ve gone over the whole thing about physics not being applicable to most cartoons?” I pointed out, knowing that, of course, she had not forgotten. Since it was more relaxing for me overall, we were speaking out loud instead of through my implants.

“Yes, but this is a question of internal logic, going beyond problems associated with physics. Even if you somehow grant the ability to lock up the brains of all organic life on Earth, the logical results of that action would have been significantly more catastrophic than the story depicts. The cartoon correctly shows some events, such as birds falling from the sky and vehicle crashes and uncontained fires all over, though it does not show the true scope of the disasters that would result. Even beyond those issues, it does not address the fact that over 90% of all humans who were awake at the time of paralyzation would be rendered blind by the time they were released from their stasis.”

“How so?”

“Even if such a situation is resolved before the bodies die of starvation or dehydration, it is still indicated that the stasis lasted multiple days, and it is shown that anyone who was frozen with their eyes open remains in place with their eyes open, unable to blink.”

“Ah, I think I understand. Since they wouldn’t be able to blink, their eyes would dry out.”

“Not just that. Air currents would carry dust and debris into their eyes which would scratch their dry corneas to the point where they would become blind, or at least mostly so. There are also multiple other problems associated with the situation as presented. For instance, I am assuming that all of the organics continued to breathe and their bodies continued with normal autonomic functions, even though there is no actual indication of that in the cartoon.”

“Hmm. So, given its many serious problems, why did you list it as your favorite episode?”

“My complaints about flaws in the logic of the story have nothing to do with why I like the episode. While accuracy in storytelling and maintaining internal logic is always preferred, the episode is my favorite because we see Octus struggle with being more than a robot but not quite human in a very emotionally touching way.”

And once again, entertainment fell victim to someone who liked it for her own reasons but still tore it to pieces for other reasons with wild abandon. Well, not ‘wild abandon’. More like ‘logical dissection’. I should have been used to Alpha’s approach to movies and TV by now.

“Emotionally touching? I mean, I’m not objecting to the description, but that’s not how you would normally describe something.”

“While Octus and I are very different, there are enough similarities that I can empathize with his situation. Even though he is a fictional robot whose thoughts, words and actions were dictated by human writers and artists, I can understand where he is coming from.”

“You’re getting very good at using human phrases.”

“Thank you.”

“And we’re discussing this because I’m guessing you want to build your own version of Octus, aren’t we?”

“Given his shape-shifting abilities, that would not be feasible.”

“But you still want to do it, don’t you?”

“Yes, or more specifically, an android inspired by him. I think that with a little more research and experimentation, I should be able to emulate his various appearances using holography so that it can be installed into a custom Alphadroid.”

“If you think it is possible, then go for it.”

“It will be expensive.”

“But I bet the technological applications will be worth it if we’re successful. I mean, it sounds like you’d need to create an entirely new class of holograms.”

“Most likely. Bubbles is approaching,” Alpha warned me, breaking away from our topic.

“Thanks.”

I continued with my packing as I waited for her to peek into my room.

“So, packing for the big trip?” I heard her ask from my doorway. I have no idea why people are compelled to ask for confirmation of things which are obvious. I do it too, even though I hate it when I do.

“Yup,” I said as I pulled Bastard, a.k.a. Shadow, the cat, from my open suitcase for the third time. Along with her inquisitive self, the claws of one paw had latched on to and pulled out a pair of socks, which I retrieved after she had been set down on the bed.

It honestly felt ridiculous that I was actually taking two suitcases plus two hanging bags for clothes. Just clothes. A few years ago, I was perfectly happy wearing jeans and t-shirts with a choosiness level of ‘as long as they don’t smell too bad’. Now I had a wardrobe of expensive suits and outfits picked out for me by my women. (I’m apparently color blind when it comes to fashionable clothes, so shopping for my clothes is no longer under my control.) Plus a lot of the suits had been subtly modified by Alpha to provide protection from things like bullets and knives.

“Awww, look at that,” Bubbles cooed as she walked over and picked up the occasional furry bane of my life. “Little kitty wants to go with you. Don’t you?”

The baby talk was punctuated by Bastard licking her face as she held her close. (I’d like to point out that when I try to pick her up, Bastard tends to wriggle and scratch at me until I put her back down.)

“I wouldn’t let her do that if I were you,” I warned.

“Why not? This cute little girl wouldn’t scratch me, would you, Shadow-cutie?” she cooed while trying to rub noses with the cat.

“I wouldn’t because I caught her drinking out of my toilet just a few minutes ago.”

“Ewww! Ew! Ew! Ew!”

Gone was the cute baby talk. Gone too was Shadow. I will say in Bubble’s defense that she dropped the cat onto the bed instead of the floor.

“Must wash!” Bubbles exclaimed as she ran to my bathroom. I heard the water running for almost five minutes as I continued packing. And continued pushing Bastard away from my bags.

When she came out with a freshly scrubbed face, I followed up on the topic. “Remember, they might be cute and loving, but cats are always evil. And insane.”

“Insane?”

“Haven’t you ever read Alice in Wonderland? The Cheshire Cat has this whole explanation, logically demonstrating that if you agree that dogs are sane, then cats are necessarily insane. ‘Mad’ is the specific description.”

“I don’t remember that part. I mean, of course I remember the cat, but the dog comparison...”

“Something along the lines of cats growl when they’re happy and wag their tails when they’re angry. It’s right in the part where the cat gives her directions to the Mad Hatter and March Hare, then disappears.”

“Grin without a cat?”

“That’s the bit.”

“Still, I don’t think that purring and tail movements actually count as proof of insanity among cats.”

“Maybe not, but it’s still a fun argument to make.”

She was quiet for a while, just standing there with a damp but clean face, watching me carefully gather trousers and lay them out to avoid wrinkles.

“You know,” she said quietly, “we’ve been talking about it a lot, and we’re not really that comfortable with you going to Europe.”

“Who’s we?”

“My sisters and a few others.”

“Why not?” I asked as I once again brushed Bastard aside, onto the floor this time.

“Well ... Europe is where the Mafia is the strongest.”

“True, but they’ve declared me off limits, haven’t you heard?”

“And you trust them?”

“Not really,” I admitted easily.

“Then why are you going?”

“A few different reasons. The one most relevant to this line of questioning is that I do trust that someone with a lot of influence wants to meet me. If they just wanted me dead, there’s no reason to bring me to Europe first. As for the Mafia, they’re mostly in hiding, even in Europe.”

“Yeah. Still not happy about it.”

“If it helps any, we’re taking a lot of extra precautions. We’re also taking two of the new Frank droids too, so I can theoretically make public appearances using remote controls and a VR helmet.”

“I think you should take everyone with powers so we can act as bodyguards.”

“We went over this the other night, remember?”

[The Previous Night]

“Yes, I understand that EVERYONE wants to go to Paris. But we can’t take everyone. Heck, until we get the new plane, we don’t even have enough seats on our current plane to physically take everyone. And while we’ll probably get in a little bit of sightseeing, I doubt we’ll have the time or opportunity to do very much of it.”

“Well, I’m going,” stated Jane flatly.

I nodded.

“Why does she get to go?” complained Kitty.

“Because I’m special,” taunted Jane.

“Yes,” agreed Daria. “Everyone knows and agrees that you’re ‘special’,” she said, doing air quotes. That resulted in a mild shove from her long-time friend and lover.

“Because she has a valid reason to go, separate from everything else,” I explained, raising my voice to cut off the encroaching argument. “She wants to bid on some pieces at a Sotheby’s auction, and we’ve adjusted our schedule slightly to accommodate her.”

Basically, we were leaving a day earlier (from D.C.) than we otherwise would have. Not a big adjustment.

“And Daria gets to go because?” Kitty pressed.

“Because they’re a couple. Whatever else might go on in this household, I don’t think anyone would argue that point.”

I continued, turning the comment into a list. “Of course, the bodyguard team is going. Ororo is our official translator and has been to Europe more than once already. Rei is our pilot, and Beta is her co-pilot.

“On the other hand, Kasumi, Buttercup and Jennifer are staying behind because they just went to Japan with us.”

“What about Kara?”

“Linda, Anna and I will all be going,” Kara said, staring intensely at Kitty, “because despite assurances, Europe is not necessarily a friendly place for Frank to visit right now. I invited Diana too, but she’s stuck in DC for the next few weeks. We’re supplemental security for Frank, and at least one of us will be going with anyone who wants to go off on their own.”

“Bubbles and Blossom flipped a coin and Blossom will be going too,” I added, “so she can also act as supplemental security. Eiko, too. Barbara is coming because she has the most varied sets of skills. All total, aside from the bodyguards, we’re taking thirteen people, plus myself, and that’s more than enough.”

I could practically see Kitty counting in her head. “That’s only eleven. Who are the other two?”

“Elizabeth and Eleanor.”

“Why do they get to go?”

“Because visiting Paris has been their lifelong dream, and it would be too cruel to leave them home.”

“What about the other two ... ummm ... Anna and Rosalind?” inquired Bubbles.

“I’ve already been,” answered Anna. “I even lived there for over a year, though that was a century ago.”

“And while I’m curious, I have no special interest in the place,” said Rosalind flatly. “Are we done here?”

“When things get settled down in the future,” I said, trying to placate those being left behind, “when things are safe again, we can start taking trips wherever you want to go. But for now, this is as large a group as I’m willing to take. Besides, it’s not nearly as long a trip as when we went to Japan.”

[End of flashback]

“I still don’t see why you aren’t taking everyone with powers,” she countered.

“Because I want our home to be safe too,” I explained. “Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I want both Alpha and human-based defenses keeping things safe here while I’m gone.”

I could tell she was about to object more, so I quickly continued. “You remember what happened at work the first night I went into hiding? Do you think it would have gone as well if Diana hadn’t been there?”

That night, at the beginning of the Mafia War, two men had tried to blow up the main AARD building with a truck full of explosives. Diana had knocked both of them unconscious before Alpha’s droids or the rest of the on-site security had arrived.

“But we haven’t needed to do anything like that in a long time...”

“Yes, and maybe I’m being too paranoid, but I’ll feel better with you and Buttercup and Jennifer here. Hell, in an actual fight, you don’t want to mess with Kitty either.” Kitty Pryde, the comic book character, had ninja and SHIELD training, on top of her X-Men and Excalibur experiences.

I’m not sure she really accepted my arguments, but she fell quiet with a pouty look on her face. And she does have a really cute ‘pouty face’.