"Demo" [Fiction] [NSFW]
Dec. 12th, 2014 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A note about this story: this was written about a year and a half ago, as part of pinning down some feelings I was having. It's the start of a longer series I've been slowly working on. The rest of the series is more transformational, a process of being turned into what I want to be--this part is different, though. This is the initial instance of old-self meeting new-self. By now, I'm a lot further along in that process than I was when I wrote this, but I kept forgetting to actually put this up somewhere to share more widely.
The other reason to write a story like this, of course, was to put into fiction some of the concepts that have also been part of my manual--to narrate my endocosm, basically. As such, take things said by Five as a primer towards how I'm set up as well, with a few notable exceptions that I can talk about later.
Feedback much appreciated. :-}
"Demo"
I saw ver across the room, dancing in a small circle ve’d carved out of the crowd. The hands were what caught my eye, at first. Ve twirled in slow circles, hands describing the kind of arcs and loops in the air usually reserved for glowsticks. Vis fingers were white, smooth, and elegantly tapered--and completely artificial. As I navigated the dancefloor to get closer, I saw the fingers were fully articulated, but bent in a way that I could see the joints separate from the skin covering them. The hands emerged from the sleeves of a simple black hoodie, but the hood was up over vis head, so at first I didn’t see vis face. When ve turned on vis feet and swept in my direction, I was surprised by two things: first, that vis face was the same soft white material as vis hands, features lightly suggested rather than fully sculpted; second, that vis eyes were closed in an expression that, despite the lack of facial features, I recognized as sheer bliss.
Vis current presentation gave me a vaguely masculine feel, with the hoodie and vis baggy green cargo pants drawn closed around the ankles with loose drawstrings. Ve was clearly artificial, and if ve was what I thought, ve could have been any gender ve wanted. I was trying unsuccessfully to not think about what was or wasn’t in vis pants. Now, I admit that meeting in person something or someone you’ve fantasized about for years will not always go well. It’s sometimes hard to separate the fantasy from what’s actually in front of you. All I can tell you is that my stomach was flipping over itself, and I couldn’t stop staring. Combine that with not dancing in the middle of a crowded floor, and that’s bound to get you noticed.
It didn’t take long. The object of my attention opened vis eyes for a few moments in the dance, then saw me on the edge of vis small personal space, the only one facing ver instead of the DJ up front. Once I saw those eyes--lightly glowing deep blue irises in a sea of glossy black--I was done for. I couldn’t hide my interest even though I hurriedly turned and tried to look interested in the music. Normally this wouldn’t be so difficult--this was one of my favorite DJs, even though I’d seen him play several times live before. This time, though, I’d found something even more distracting.
A tap on my arm, and there ve was, standing next to me. “Hey,” ve said, vis voice microfocused to be heard even through my ear protectors in the loud room. “Saw you watching me dance. Did you like it?”
I visibly twitched, even though I was outwardly trying to act natural. “Uh, y...yeah,” I managed to stammer, hoping that vis sensors would pick it up.
Fortunately they did. Ve moved vis white hand away, stuffing both into the front pockets of vis hoodie. “Cool. I’m not making you nervous, am I? Sometimes people have trouble seeing me like this, as if I’m naked or something.”
I shut down the mental image this called up, but it came right back. My spines flattened slightly, and my cheeks went from blue to a very slight purple. “Not nervous, no... I’ve just never. I mean, I know what you are, but I’ve never...”
Ve chuckled, and even in the noise of the club my heart skipped--the laugh was tinged with a fuzzy audio filter, in several harmonic chords, like an autotuned pop singer but with a hint of flat static to it. Even more to the point, ve had done it to match the beat of the current song. “Oooh, okay,” ve said, “I get it. Tell you what. Simon’s set is almost over, but I’ve seen it before. Why don’t we find somewhere quieter to talk?”
I breathed out a quick sigh, relaxing a little. Ve was friendly, and even though I didn’t know ver yet, I was glad to have the ice broken already. I always tensed up bad enough talking to regular people I didn't know, even more so when confronted from...well, something out of my dreams. I finally got up the effort to smile and nod at ver, and slid sideways off the dancefloor.
Ve led me down a hallway past the bathrooms, and through a door I’d seen people pass through but had always assumed was some sort of VIP area. The club was half a converted warehouse, but I was surprised to find out this door lead into the back half.
“Wow,” I couldn’t help saying, “I had no idea this was all back here!” A large high-ceilinged space opened up, the single room about as large as the entire club’s space next door,. The bass still thumped quietly through the wall, surprisingly quiet, as the floor was carpeted. Filling most of the room were old steel twenty-foot cargo containers, set in neat rows and columns, all double-stacked. The lower container in each stack had a normal-looking door with a doorknob in place of the usual double doors. Each one had a large number stenciled on it in faded white paint.
Ve smiled with that bare hint of a muzzle, lines diverging from a small nose and curling up at the ends--a face that could be any species, or none. “Yeah, this is where I work. It’s all owned by the club. Though I’m not usually back here on my nights off.” Ve led me down two aisles and across three rows before waving vis hand at a door. It chimed softly and opened into a small room with a low couch, soft lighting, and insulated drywall replacing the corrugated steel exterior.
I cringed. “Oh, erf. I didn’t mean to bother you, if you were off-duty and... um. Sorry.”
That white hand touched my arm again, and for a moment I imagined a spark had jumped between vis fingers and my blue hide. “It’s okay!”, ve said, “I was interested in your, uh, interest in me. And you don’t seem like a normal....ah, client.”
I blushed even further, spines nearly flat. “I’m not! I mean, I could be, but... I wasn’t intending...” I looked down and away, trying not to look at my pants. My lower brain had, as usual, gotten way ahead of me and was feeding me memories of all sorts of images I’d seen. Finally I just looked back at ver directly and blurted it all out.
“You’re a Hieromech, Toy model, made by HieroTron. I…I’ve read about…” A hundred facts I’d read about tumbled through my head. Fully customizable body layout with smartmatter skin, selective pigmentation, fur extrusion, universal tail scaffold, scent emitters, and omnispecies catalog. First model created in 2033, first Autonomous buyout in 2034, Hierotron opened Upload options in 2036… I took a deep breath, finally managing to say something. “Model number…actually, I don’t know your model number.”
“Guilty as charged. And no, I can’t tell you the serial number. I don’t have the right permission set.” Ve settled on the small couch, flipping vis hood back. I got a good look at vis smooth, perfectly ovoid head. In the room’s better lighting, I saw that vis surface material was matte, reflecting only softly white. There were also darker marks, scuffs and stains, curiously giving ver a well-worn and unpolished look, something that was often missing from the pictures I tended to look at.
I blinked for a moment, confused and distracted by more of that smooth surface. I wanted to touch it, but... I didn’t want to be too forward, even if ve was making all the moves verself. “Huh? You can’t actually say the number?”
“Basically. My serial number is Five-****-****.”
I swear, that’s what it sounded like when ve told me the numbers: the last two were garbled in static. “Uh, what?”
“Exactly what I said. I can’t actually tell you the number, because it’s hard-coded into my system as a kind of override code. Can’t write it down or tell it to you.” Ve shrugged, and started unzipping vis sweater. “Very few people know or need to know it, and it’s fine that way.”
“That’s... I’d never heard that before. It doesn’t come up in the... um. In the news about Toys.” I bit my lip.
Ve shrugged out of vis top, giving me a good look at vis chest. It was smooth and rounded, with more scuffs and rub marks, and the stomach was surprisingly rounded. I was used to seeing models in skinny or perfect condition, not someone built like me. Ve was definitely aware of my attention, giving me a bit of a slow show-off of the rest of vis body. “In the porn, you mean?” Ve pushed on through my sudden bluster. “Of course I’ve seen that sort of thing. Yeah, the toy porn is a different thing than reality--like most any porn, really. Those folks are, well...very specialized models. You don’t see them ever change species on-screen, for one. They never use any real sort of model number, just fakey-sounding letters and numbers. Also,” ve patted vis not-quite-skinny, not-quite-fat belly, “those Toys are way too slim. No Toy can get that skinny and still be able to form a tail out of smartmatter, even with the scaffolding extruded. It’s almost always two different models for those shots. Many Toys just stay in a tailed form all the time, or even carry around wingforms like yours. Me, when I’m off-duty at least, I have to pack the mass in somewhere.”
I sat down on the small couch next to ver, suddenly self-conscious about the need to ease my wings and tail off to one side. “I... can see that. Makes sense. Okay. So I guess I don’t know that much about you. Why are you telling me all this? You said I’m not a client, but...” I already knew what ve did for a living, from all vis hints, and I had a sudden flash of paranoia. “...are you going to ask me to pay?”
Vis features went from interested to worried. “Oh, no, no. Not at all. I brought you in here to chat because you seem to have a very stated interest in what I am right now, not what I could be. Am I right?”
I looked at vis smooth head, long arms, thin tapered fingers, and could only nod, eyes wide.
Ve grinned. “Okay. So that’s something that doesn’t happen to me very often. I don’t even look like this for my clients--I always start with a broadly appealing and generic form, like a fox or a rabbit. From there they narrow down their particular species preferences, and I load the persona set I feel is the best fit. You seem to be, if I’m not reading this wrong, one of those rare types to find a Toy in its neutral state to be itself attractive.”
I sighed, still blushing but really unable to deny it. “Yeah. I can’t help...I don’t know what it is. Smooth, featureless skin, stuff like that. It’s just...” I reached out a hand, at first palm forward as if to touch, then changing my mind and dropping to a handshake pose. “I want to touch you so badly, but I don’t even know you. I’m Cobalt Blue. You can just call me Blue. What can I call you?”
The Toy grabbed my hand in a firm grip and shook it. “Might be easiest to just call me Five, for now. Hi, Blue.”
Aside from the brief touch on my arm, I hadn’t noticed shaking vis hand that vis ‘skin’, was actually smooth and cool to the touch, reminding me of that rubberized plastic that used to be a popular covering for portable electronic devices. My hide slide off it in interesting ways, and it took most of my self control not to jump forward on the couch and tackle ver to feel more of it.
Once again, ve made the first move, taking my hand from the handshake and placing my palm flat against vis upper chest. I shivered but kept it there, sliding my fingers back and forth a little, trying to keep my claws off the surface. “Hi,” I breathed out.
Ve reached up and stroked vis other hand just under my muzzle. “You like my texture? It took me a while to perfect, I had to touch-record a lot of old cell-phone cases and collectble toys. There weren't any community-sourced options for it yet.”
My hand explored further to the left and right on vis chest, finding the hints of pectoral muscle structure but no nipples. “It’s....perfect.” I traced a line of black scuff along one arm. “Except it’s all marked up. That’s... pretty neat.”
Five’s hand trailed down my neck, and around one shoulder. I was still wearing my t-shirt, but I undid the side velcro along the wing membranes, and pulled the rest over my head, showing my bright blue dragonhide.
“The ‘used’ look is an intentional effect, of course. I could wipe the surface clean, even tweak my albedo to something extra shiny, like...well, some of those other Toys in what you’ve seen. But this gives me some individuality, helps me stand out from the standard corporate fare. Some like to be the same, some like to be different.”
I paused in tracing a tiny dark seam along one arm. “Are you, uh, Autonomous, then?”
Ve grinned. “Yep, even though I still have something of a boss, I work my own business now. I earned my Autonomy, like, barely six months after I got off the factory line. Still doing the same sorts of things, but I enjoy it more now, and I can take my own time off.”
I moved a hand a little lower down towards the waist of vis pants, to see if ve’d get the hint. “So you do things like this with someone like me, when you’re not with a client?”
Ve was good, grabbing my fingers, tugging at the drawstring and then pulling the crotch zipper down with me. “Like I said, this is something different. Special. I...kinda like you, if it wasn’t obvious. The attention is nice.”
I slid my hand down into vis pants, not surprised to feel no underwear inhibiting my touch. Vis crotch was completely blank all the way down, curving between vis legs and up into the very slight valley of vis ass. I didn’t draw my hand back up in surprise, just let it rest there against the nothingness.
“I suppose, well... different models, you said? The ones I’ve...well, seen, tend to have something here, in the pictures. Not always, but...”
It was Five’s turn to look away for a moment, and I could almost imagine a bit of redness amid the white face, even if it was simulated. “Well, they do and they don’t... it’s complicated.”
I started to remove my hand, worried that I’d offended ver, but ve grabbed it and put it back. “No, don’t. It’s okay. I’ll tell you, just... this is kinda insider knowledge for Toys, okay? Like the model number. Secret.”
I nodded. “I don’t know who I’d tell, anyway. I won’t spread it.”
Five fumbled at the button of my pants, finally getting it open and cupping vis fingers up underneath my lavender cotton stretch panties, making a soft noise in approval at the color choice. The embarrassing erection I thought had died sprang back to life when ve gave my balls a gentle squeeze. “I can have this, or a vagina, or any other combination you want. But that’s part of my job, making the client happy, serving their fantasies. The secret is, none of those genitals on the outside of my body actually connect to anything. I can make a cock jizz, a pussy wet, a knot grow and throb...but I don’t /feel/ any of it.”
I squirmed a little from the attention, wishing I could return the favor. My claws slid against the rubbery soft plastic without resistance. “That...that seems unfair. You can’t feel anything on the rest of your body either? Fur or scales or any of it?”
Five shook vis head. “No, I can feel my skin or fur or whatever just fine. It’s just that...those aren’t really mine. I don't get the erogenous zone benefits. And what is...down underneath everything, I can’t usually access.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean, not yours? And what do you have underneath...what?” I pressed lightly where my hand was; the material gave slightly much like flesh.
Ve sighed a little (with another lovely synthetic fuzz in the background), and pulled vis hand from my pants to eliminate some distraction. “The bodies I wear, when I’m doing my job--those are a little from my own head, and a lot from the general species catalog. Those aren’t me. But...I trust you, I think. I’m an Upload. I had a real body once, before I decided to be a Toy. That’s one secret. The other is, well... like many of us who go Autonomous, we don’t often go fully Autonomous. I mentioned I still have a boss, but it’s more accurate to say I still have a Meta-Top.”
I had to concentrate, because my mind was trying to process the implications of everything ve said, all at once. I worked my way through it out loud. “So... okay. The various genitals of your personae aren’t ‘yours’. You have a lingering body image from your old imprint, which is some layer down from your current blank form....but you can’t get to it because of...what, some subroutine you never uninstalled?”
Ve frowned just slightly, with that species-neutral muzzle. “It’s more than a subroutine, but that’s also getting complex. Yes, I have a genital imprint that I still hold onto, though don't really identify with. Not all of us Toys do, but there are some who still have some lingering attraction for their old bodies. Wear a meatsleeve for so long, it’s often going to affect the brain even when it’s gone." Five shifted, leaning against the back of the couch. "The Meta-Top is, well, a self-installed boss. He’s got his own partition and even his own isolated net-connection. He does his own research and schedules my clients, even sometimes takes over the body when I really need to be dominant. Sure, he’s the same boss that was installed by the factory, but I like working with him, and I... have a very submissive streak anyway. So the boss usually keeps my real libido under lockdown, and I rather enjoy it.”
I ran my hand over my headspines, which I do when I’m nervous. “Oh....kay. I think I understand, it’s just... that’s a lot to take in.” And a lot to suddenly urgently desire, I didn’t say aloud. “But... we’re playing around already, which I guess is okay? What does this Meta-Top say about me?”
Five stared at a point off above my shoulder for a moment, as if listening to something in the distance. Then ve smiled. “We just had a quick non-realtime argument. He’s not happy that I told you about him, but he’s trusting my judgement on this one. And he’s... oh. Wow. You’re lucky. He’s giving you access privileges.”
“Access?” My emotions were starting to swirl around inside, storming between excitement and fixation on something I couldn’t quite figure out just yet. This seemed right, but also wrong somehow, but I couldn’t help going ahead with it. My body is such a bastard sometimes.
Five nodded, and raised a hand to pat my cheek. “This is a good thing. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Ve stood, vis pants falling down completely as ve opened a door in the back of the room and went up a narrow flight of stairs. I couldn't help but stare at vis retreating bare ass. I could hear light footsteps in the container above, and a minute later ve came back down holding a long narrow case. “Here,” ve said as ve handed it to me. “The boss doesn’t let me do this myself, for...well, that should be obvious. Think of it like... I’m not owned by HieroTron anymore...just by him.”
I opened the top of the case and pulled out a slender rod, about an inch thick and a foot long. It was white, of the same material as Five’s, but with slight black circuit-lines tracing across and around its length. “What is it?” I held it up to the light.
Five looked at me with what seemed to be a solemn air on vis face. “It’s my control wand. Among other things, a key to open...something I want to show you.” Ve pointed to a spot on vis stomach just below where most mammals have a navel. “Touch the end right here, and put your other hand here...” Ve placed my free hand where it had been earlier.
I followed vis direction, the wand flickered in negative colors--white on black--for a moment. Under my other hand the surface changed in texture to something like cloth, and... something warm and thick beneath. To my surprise ve looked otherwise the same, except ve was now wearing a white pair of bikini briefs over what looked (and felt like) a pair of balls and a cock not unlike my own.
I was a little shocked, to say the least. “That’s... been underneath the whole time?” I stroked, and Five’s cock grew a bit longer and harder. By vis face, ve could clearly feel it now.
Ve grinned a little sheepishly, while grabbing my own crotch in return. “Kinda spoils the illusion of androgyny, doesn’t it? If you were really lusting after my smoothness, then I’m sorry... but I couldn’t pass up a chance to really, truly feel myself again. You can lock it away again after you’re done, if you want...”
My lower brain and I were conflicted. My own dragon member strained against the fabric, desperately aroused at the idea of such perfectly effective chastity, even if it was now unlocked. It factored into so many of my bondage and submissive fantasies, but I’d never had any chastity device work for very long without having to take it off again. On the other hand, I had really gotten worked up about Five’s perfectly smooth crotch, and the sudden appearance of genitals, even though they were fun to play with, had caught me off guard.
I stood up, my pants falling down halfway, catching on my tail. I undid the tail strap and helped it fall the rest of the way, nothing left by my panties to poorly conceal my interests. “I... maybe I will. Should we... um.” I looked at the couch, it didn’t seem big enough on its own to sprawl out on.
Ve took my hand, my other still holding the control wand, and led me upstairs to a room entirely taken up by a bed. We sprawled out onto it, and continued to awkwardly explore each other’s bodies. I’d done this before with other boys, but having this smooth and very artificial skin to touch was amazing. I spent at least ten minutes nuzzling vis cheek to mine, then nosing my soft muzzle all along vis body, searching out the joints. I could hear slight vibrations and humming from vis internal components, but no heartbeat. I even lay my head down against vis chest, but there was no breathing either.
Five took vis time mutually exploring my wings, tail, and flexible headspines, which ve discovered were rather sensitive. By some unspoken mutual agreement, we both trailed fingers around but entirely avoided the actual underwear area, which only got us more worked up. Finally I tugged at the waist of vis briefs, asking, “Is it okay?” Ve nodded consent, and I pulled downward. To my surprised, the ‘underwear’ folded itself up and vanished into vis skin, rather than coming down in one piece as I’d expected. Underneath was another surprise--ve wasn’t fully realistic here, either. Vis penis was thick and long, tapering towards the end, and his ball sack was high and tight, but both were smooth as if unfinished, no veins or bumps to mar the surface. I gave his member a squeeze, and it responded like flesh would, with the same warmth and consistency. I marveled at this, giving it a few more tests. Ve moaned and returned the favor with his own hand.
We went back and forth like this for some time, stretching out the foreplay as long as we could. I let my hand do more exploring, and found that his rump was a little more defined, including a small tight opening inside. Ve gave little synth-tinged gasps and moans, stopping at least once to clarify: these were real noises to go with the real sensations, not the simulated motions and sounds ve would usually play for his clients. I was flattered, and said so.
Ve flipped over on his side and ground his rear up against me, and I thrust back, sliding skin against plastic, up and down along the cleft, teasing his opening there. I’d seen a position like this in some of the Toy porn, and I remembered how excited I’d get whenever the Toy was giving people pleasure. This thought led to a different one, and my internal conflict about this being right or wrong suddenly collapsed in on me. I pulled away from Five, suddenly shaking, my arousal already starting to go limp.
“Agh. This is...I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry...I can’t.” I could only repeat, trying to curl up into a ball on the side of his bed. I covered my head with my wings, something I hadn’t done since I was barely a hatchling. I couldn’t look at Five, ve was too perfect, too beautiful, and... I knew what was wrong.
Vis voice sounded a bit hurt, but concerned. “What’s... what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? Do you... not usually play with other boys? Blue, what’s going on?” A cool hand lay on my shoulder, but I didn’t look up.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I started, stopped, then tried again. “I’m terrible. It’s...not you. I wasn’t... I wasn’t really attracted to you. I mean, I was attracted to the idea, but... I just realized something that I should have a long time ago. I’ve never been with anyone like you, for real I mean, so it never occurred to me until now, but...”
Ve gave my shoulder a firm squeeze. “Please explain.” Ve sounded like it was an effort to keep under control, a little hurt. “I trusted you.”
I moved my hands and shifted a wing slightly, so I could look out at ver with one eye. Vis face was unreadable. “I like you, I like playing with you, but... I can’t. It feels like the porn I have, it feels wrong because... I never knew, when I was looking at the Toys in the porn, I didn’t just want to play with them. I don’t want to just play with you. I want to...” I choked on the words. “...I want to be you.”
Vis grip on my arm eased up, vis whole body visibly un-tensing. “Oh, Blue. I...thought it might be something like that. I could almost see it in the way you looked at me, but I...had to be sure. I wouldn’t have been so pushy otherwise. So. You want to Upload.”
I nodded, near tears. “I think I do. I want to be a Toy. I want to make people happy, give them pleasure, with my body and my life.” I shaded my eyes with my wings again. “And I want to be locked up, and dominated, and told what to do, and...all those same things.”
My kinks and fantasies all spilled out at once, and Five listened patiently as long-pent-up inhibitions broke open inside me. I told ver about my bondage and domination interests, about my obscure sub-kinks, about all the things I’d seen Toys do in porn that I wish I could have done to me. By the time I was done, I had sat up and leaned against the wall, feeling better than I had in a long time. Five even joked about a few of my fetishes, telling me stories of vis own experiences with similar clients. I was wiping tears away from my eyes, but smiling at the same time.
Finally, after what felt like an hour or two, Five looked at me seriously. “You’re sure about this? The HieroTron company does have transition counselors specifically for Uploads. I can get you an appointment pretty quick. It’s a big decision, you know. The process is more than a little destructive to your original biomass...but you probably knew that, given how much you know about Toys already.”
I sighed and nodded. “I know it's one-way. It could only be an upgrade, really. I don’t mind being a dragon, but I want to be... that and everything else.”
Five said, “The other thing--and the counselors will mention this too--is this: you’ll have to develop more than just one persona. That’s a skill that can be taught, somewhat, but some people are just naturally good at it, and some aren’t. It’s like being an actor. The company has to test you a bit on that, because if you go through the process, you’re still an investment and...well, to put it bluntly, owned by them until you can buy yourself Autonomous.”
I thought of all the different characters that I’d roleplayed over the years, and how some of them seemed to continue living in my head for years after. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Did you have any trouble with that?”
Five shook vis head. “No, but... we can have that chat later, maybe. Let’s just say I was a particularly good candidate for becoming a Toy, and tested highly among most of my small community. I’m something of a forerunner.”
I nodded, a little confused, but I was still too excited and wiped from the whole evening. Too much had happened tonight, and I was emotionally drained. “I... I’m really sorry, again, for ruining this fun time. But I think we can try it again, and... maybe I’ll look a bit more like you, next time.”
Ve grinned wide. “That may yet be true! I’ll get you a meeting, and you can decide from there. But before you fall asleep--you’re welcome to here, or if you need to go home that’s fine--could you do me a favor?”
I was ready to do anything for ver. “Sure.”
Ve pointed to vis control wand, shoved up against the edge of the mattress. “Lock me up again. I’m not allowed to do it myself.”
I grabbed the rod, and tapped it against the same spot. Vis member had already fallen limp again, and I was sorry to see it go. Smooth white plastic filled in the space around it, growing outward until ve was featureless again between the legs. My own cock throbbed once in sympathy. “That’s a neat trick.”
“Yeah,” Five said, “And I can show you other things the wand does, later.”
I curled up, back and wings against the side wall of the container. “Yeah, that gives me more ideas. I should... not think about them so much. Makes it harder to sleep.”
Ve lay down on the other side of the bed, tossing me a pillow. “That’s not all it makes harder. You really should let me do something about that.”
I looked down and blushed again, modesty suddenly returning. I covered myself up with the pillow. “Rrrr...maybe. I don’t want to ask for more free samples of your...work.”
Vis hand rested on mine, across the bed. “Trust me, Blue. It’s different now. You are--or at least very likely soon will be--one of us.”
Smiling, I let that thought drift around in my head as I tried to sleep. Was it really that easy? Did I just make the biggest decision of my life, and still not get to sleep with a Toy? Everything about my life was suddenly changing, and I could become anything I wanted, or everything.
I snuggled up closer to Five, feeling that smooth vinyl skin.
‘One of us’. It felt right.
The other reason to write a story like this, of course, was to put into fiction some of the concepts that have also been part of my manual--to narrate my endocosm, basically. As such, take things said by Five as a primer towards how I'm set up as well, with a few notable exceptions that I can talk about later.
Feedback much appreciated. :-}
"Demo"
I saw ver across the room, dancing in a small circle ve’d carved out of the crowd. The hands were what caught my eye, at first. Ve twirled in slow circles, hands describing the kind of arcs and loops in the air usually reserved for glowsticks. Vis fingers were white, smooth, and elegantly tapered--and completely artificial. As I navigated the dancefloor to get closer, I saw the fingers were fully articulated, but bent in a way that I could see the joints separate from the skin covering them. The hands emerged from the sleeves of a simple black hoodie, but the hood was up over vis head, so at first I didn’t see vis face. When ve turned on vis feet and swept in my direction, I was surprised by two things: first, that vis face was the same soft white material as vis hands, features lightly suggested rather than fully sculpted; second, that vis eyes were closed in an expression that, despite the lack of facial features, I recognized as sheer bliss.
Vis current presentation gave me a vaguely masculine feel, with the hoodie and vis baggy green cargo pants drawn closed around the ankles with loose drawstrings. Ve was clearly artificial, and if ve was what I thought, ve could have been any gender ve wanted. I was trying unsuccessfully to not think about what was or wasn’t in vis pants. Now, I admit that meeting in person something or someone you’ve fantasized about for years will not always go well. It’s sometimes hard to separate the fantasy from what’s actually in front of you. All I can tell you is that my stomach was flipping over itself, and I couldn’t stop staring. Combine that with not dancing in the middle of a crowded floor, and that’s bound to get you noticed.
It didn’t take long. The object of my attention opened vis eyes for a few moments in the dance, then saw me on the edge of vis small personal space, the only one facing ver instead of the DJ up front. Once I saw those eyes--lightly glowing deep blue irises in a sea of glossy black--I was done for. I couldn’t hide my interest even though I hurriedly turned and tried to look interested in the music. Normally this wouldn’t be so difficult--this was one of my favorite DJs, even though I’d seen him play several times live before. This time, though, I’d found something even more distracting.
A tap on my arm, and there ve was, standing next to me. “Hey,” ve said, vis voice microfocused to be heard even through my ear protectors in the loud room. “Saw you watching me dance. Did you like it?”
I visibly twitched, even though I was outwardly trying to act natural. “Uh, y...yeah,” I managed to stammer, hoping that vis sensors would pick it up.
Fortunately they did. Ve moved vis white hand away, stuffing both into the front pockets of vis hoodie. “Cool. I’m not making you nervous, am I? Sometimes people have trouble seeing me like this, as if I’m naked or something.”
I shut down the mental image this called up, but it came right back. My spines flattened slightly, and my cheeks went from blue to a very slight purple. “Not nervous, no... I’ve just never. I mean, I know what you are, but I’ve never...”
Ve chuckled, and even in the noise of the club my heart skipped--the laugh was tinged with a fuzzy audio filter, in several harmonic chords, like an autotuned pop singer but with a hint of flat static to it. Even more to the point, ve had done it to match the beat of the current song. “Oooh, okay,” ve said, “I get it. Tell you what. Simon’s set is almost over, but I’ve seen it before. Why don’t we find somewhere quieter to talk?”
I breathed out a quick sigh, relaxing a little. Ve was friendly, and even though I didn’t know ver yet, I was glad to have the ice broken already. I always tensed up bad enough talking to regular people I didn't know, even more so when confronted from...well, something out of my dreams. I finally got up the effort to smile and nod at ver, and slid sideways off the dancefloor.
Ve led me down a hallway past the bathrooms, and through a door I’d seen people pass through but had always assumed was some sort of VIP area. The club was half a converted warehouse, but I was surprised to find out this door lead into the back half.
“Wow,” I couldn’t help saying, “I had no idea this was all back here!” A large high-ceilinged space opened up, the single room about as large as the entire club’s space next door,. The bass still thumped quietly through the wall, surprisingly quiet, as the floor was carpeted. Filling most of the room were old steel twenty-foot cargo containers, set in neat rows and columns, all double-stacked. The lower container in each stack had a normal-looking door with a doorknob in place of the usual double doors. Each one had a large number stenciled on it in faded white paint.
Ve smiled with that bare hint of a muzzle, lines diverging from a small nose and curling up at the ends--a face that could be any species, or none. “Yeah, this is where I work. It’s all owned by the club. Though I’m not usually back here on my nights off.” Ve led me down two aisles and across three rows before waving vis hand at a door. It chimed softly and opened into a small room with a low couch, soft lighting, and insulated drywall replacing the corrugated steel exterior.
I cringed. “Oh, erf. I didn’t mean to bother you, if you were off-duty and... um. Sorry.”
That white hand touched my arm again, and for a moment I imagined a spark had jumped between vis fingers and my blue hide. “It’s okay!”, ve said, “I was interested in your, uh, interest in me. And you don’t seem like a normal....ah, client.”
I blushed even further, spines nearly flat. “I’m not! I mean, I could be, but... I wasn’t intending...” I looked down and away, trying not to look at my pants. My lower brain had, as usual, gotten way ahead of me and was feeding me memories of all sorts of images I’d seen. Finally I just looked back at ver directly and blurted it all out.
“You’re a Hieromech, Toy model, made by HieroTron. I…I’ve read about…” A hundred facts I’d read about tumbled through my head. Fully customizable body layout with smartmatter skin, selective pigmentation, fur extrusion, universal tail scaffold, scent emitters, and omnispecies catalog. First model created in 2033, first Autonomous buyout in 2034, Hierotron opened Upload options in 2036… I took a deep breath, finally managing to say something. “Model number…actually, I don’t know your model number.”
“Guilty as charged. And no, I can’t tell you the serial number. I don’t have the right permission set.” Ve settled on the small couch, flipping vis hood back. I got a good look at vis smooth, perfectly ovoid head. In the room’s better lighting, I saw that vis surface material was matte, reflecting only softly white. There were also darker marks, scuffs and stains, curiously giving ver a well-worn and unpolished look, something that was often missing from the pictures I tended to look at.
I blinked for a moment, confused and distracted by more of that smooth surface. I wanted to touch it, but... I didn’t want to be too forward, even if ve was making all the moves verself. “Huh? You can’t actually say the number?”
“Basically. My serial number is Five-****-****.”
I swear, that’s what it sounded like when ve told me the numbers: the last two were garbled in static. “Uh, what?”
“Exactly what I said. I can’t actually tell you the number, because it’s hard-coded into my system as a kind of override code. Can’t write it down or tell it to you.” Ve shrugged, and started unzipping vis sweater. “Very few people know or need to know it, and it’s fine that way.”
“That’s... I’d never heard that before. It doesn’t come up in the... um. In the news about Toys.” I bit my lip.
Ve shrugged out of vis top, giving me a good look at vis chest. It was smooth and rounded, with more scuffs and rub marks, and the stomach was surprisingly rounded. I was used to seeing models in skinny or perfect condition, not someone built like me. Ve was definitely aware of my attention, giving me a bit of a slow show-off of the rest of vis body. “In the porn, you mean?” Ve pushed on through my sudden bluster. “Of course I’ve seen that sort of thing. Yeah, the toy porn is a different thing than reality--like most any porn, really. Those folks are, well...very specialized models. You don’t see them ever change species on-screen, for one. They never use any real sort of model number, just fakey-sounding letters and numbers. Also,” ve patted vis not-quite-skinny, not-quite-fat belly, “those Toys are way too slim. No Toy can get that skinny and still be able to form a tail out of smartmatter, even with the scaffolding extruded. It’s almost always two different models for those shots. Many Toys just stay in a tailed form all the time, or even carry around wingforms like yours. Me, when I’m off-duty at least, I have to pack the mass in somewhere.”
I sat down on the small couch next to ver, suddenly self-conscious about the need to ease my wings and tail off to one side. “I... can see that. Makes sense. Okay. So I guess I don’t know that much about you. Why are you telling me all this? You said I’m not a client, but...” I already knew what ve did for a living, from all vis hints, and I had a sudden flash of paranoia. “...are you going to ask me to pay?”
Vis features went from interested to worried. “Oh, no, no. Not at all. I brought you in here to chat because you seem to have a very stated interest in what I am right now, not what I could be. Am I right?”
I looked at vis smooth head, long arms, thin tapered fingers, and could only nod, eyes wide.
Ve grinned. “Okay. So that’s something that doesn’t happen to me very often. I don’t even look like this for my clients--I always start with a broadly appealing and generic form, like a fox or a rabbit. From there they narrow down their particular species preferences, and I load the persona set I feel is the best fit. You seem to be, if I’m not reading this wrong, one of those rare types to find a Toy in its neutral state to be itself attractive.”
I sighed, still blushing but really unable to deny it. “Yeah. I can’t help...I don’t know what it is. Smooth, featureless skin, stuff like that. It’s just...” I reached out a hand, at first palm forward as if to touch, then changing my mind and dropping to a handshake pose. “I want to touch you so badly, but I don’t even know you. I’m Cobalt Blue. You can just call me Blue. What can I call you?”
The Toy grabbed my hand in a firm grip and shook it. “Might be easiest to just call me Five, for now. Hi, Blue.”
Aside from the brief touch on my arm, I hadn’t noticed shaking vis hand that vis ‘skin’, was actually smooth and cool to the touch, reminding me of that rubberized plastic that used to be a popular covering for portable electronic devices. My hide slide off it in interesting ways, and it took most of my self control not to jump forward on the couch and tackle ver to feel more of it.
Once again, ve made the first move, taking my hand from the handshake and placing my palm flat against vis upper chest. I shivered but kept it there, sliding my fingers back and forth a little, trying to keep my claws off the surface. “Hi,” I breathed out.
Ve reached up and stroked vis other hand just under my muzzle. “You like my texture? It took me a while to perfect, I had to touch-record a lot of old cell-phone cases and collectble toys. There weren't any community-sourced options for it yet.”
My hand explored further to the left and right on vis chest, finding the hints of pectoral muscle structure but no nipples. “It’s....perfect.” I traced a line of black scuff along one arm. “Except it’s all marked up. That’s... pretty neat.”
Five’s hand trailed down my neck, and around one shoulder. I was still wearing my t-shirt, but I undid the side velcro along the wing membranes, and pulled the rest over my head, showing my bright blue dragonhide.
“The ‘used’ look is an intentional effect, of course. I could wipe the surface clean, even tweak my albedo to something extra shiny, like...well, some of those other Toys in what you’ve seen. But this gives me some individuality, helps me stand out from the standard corporate fare. Some like to be the same, some like to be different.”
I paused in tracing a tiny dark seam along one arm. “Are you, uh, Autonomous, then?”
Ve grinned. “Yep, even though I still have something of a boss, I work my own business now. I earned my Autonomy, like, barely six months after I got off the factory line. Still doing the same sorts of things, but I enjoy it more now, and I can take my own time off.”
I moved a hand a little lower down towards the waist of vis pants, to see if ve’d get the hint. “So you do things like this with someone like me, when you’re not with a client?”
Ve was good, grabbing my fingers, tugging at the drawstring and then pulling the crotch zipper down with me. “Like I said, this is something different. Special. I...kinda like you, if it wasn’t obvious. The attention is nice.”
I slid my hand down into vis pants, not surprised to feel no underwear inhibiting my touch. Vis crotch was completely blank all the way down, curving between vis legs and up into the very slight valley of vis ass. I didn’t draw my hand back up in surprise, just let it rest there against the nothingness.
“I suppose, well... different models, you said? The ones I’ve...well, seen, tend to have something here, in the pictures. Not always, but...”
It was Five’s turn to look away for a moment, and I could almost imagine a bit of redness amid the white face, even if it was simulated. “Well, they do and they don’t... it’s complicated.”
I started to remove my hand, worried that I’d offended ver, but ve grabbed it and put it back. “No, don’t. It’s okay. I’ll tell you, just... this is kinda insider knowledge for Toys, okay? Like the model number. Secret.”
I nodded. “I don’t know who I’d tell, anyway. I won’t spread it.”
Five fumbled at the button of my pants, finally getting it open and cupping vis fingers up underneath my lavender cotton stretch panties, making a soft noise in approval at the color choice. The embarrassing erection I thought had died sprang back to life when ve gave my balls a gentle squeeze. “I can have this, or a vagina, or any other combination you want. But that’s part of my job, making the client happy, serving their fantasies. The secret is, none of those genitals on the outside of my body actually connect to anything. I can make a cock jizz, a pussy wet, a knot grow and throb...but I don’t /feel/ any of it.”
I squirmed a little from the attention, wishing I could return the favor. My claws slid against the rubbery soft plastic without resistance. “That...that seems unfair. You can’t feel anything on the rest of your body either? Fur or scales or any of it?”
Five shook vis head. “No, I can feel my skin or fur or whatever just fine. It’s just that...those aren’t really mine. I don't get the erogenous zone benefits. And what is...down underneath everything, I can’t usually access.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean, not yours? And what do you have underneath...what?” I pressed lightly where my hand was; the material gave slightly much like flesh.
Ve sighed a little (with another lovely synthetic fuzz in the background), and pulled vis hand from my pants to eliminate some distraction. “The bodies I wear, when I’m doing my job--those are a little from my own head, and a lot from the general species catalog. Those aren’t me. But...I trust you, I think. I’m an Upload. I had a real body once, before I decided to be a Toy. That’s one secret. The other is, well... like many of us who go Autonomous, we don’t often go fully Autonomous. I mentioned I still have a boss, but it’s more accurate to say I still have a Meta-Top.”
I had to concentrate, because my mind was trying to process the implications of everything ve said, all at once. I worked my way through it out loud. “So... okay. The various genitals of your personae aren’t ‘yours’. You have a lingering body image from your old imprint, which is some layer down from your current blank form....but you can’t get to it because of...what, some subroutine you never uninstalled?”
Ve frowned just slightly, with that species-neutral muzzle. “It’s more than a subroutine, but that’s also getting complex. Yes, I have a genital imprint that I still hold onto, though don't really identify with. Not all of us Toys do, but there are some who still have some lingering attraction for their old bodies. Wear a meatsleeve for so long, it’s often going to affect the brain even when it’s gone." Five shifted, leaning against the back of the couch. "The Meta-Top is, well, a self-installed boss. He’s got his own partition and even his own isolated net-connection. He does his own research and schedules my clients, even sometimes takes over the body when I really need to be dominant. Sure, he’s the same boss that was installed by the factory, but I like working with him, and I... have a very submissive streak anyway. So the boss usually keeps my real libido under lockdown, and I rather enjoy it.”
I ran my hand over my headspines, which I do when I’m nervous. “Oh....kay. I think I understand, it’s just... that’s a lot to take in.” And a lot to suddenly urgently desire, I didn’t say aloud. “But... we’re playing around already, which I guess is okay? What does this Meta-Top say about me?”
Five stared at a point off above my shoulder for a moment, as if listening to something in the distance. Then ve smiled. “We just had a quick non-realtime argument. He’s not happy that I told you about him, but he’s trusting my judgement on this one. And he’s... oh. Wow. You’re lucky. He’s giving you access privileges.”
“Access?” My emotions were starting to swirl around inside, storming between excitement and fixation on something I couldn’t quite figure out just yet. This seemed right, but also wrong somehow, but I couldn’t help going ahead with it. My body is such a bastard sometimes.
Five nodded, and raised a hand to pat my cheek. “This is a good thing. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Ve stood, vis pants falling down completely as ve opened a door in the back of the room and went up a narrow flight of stairs. I couldn't help but stare at vis retreating bare ass. I could hear light footsteps in the container above, and a minute later ve came back down holding a long narrow case. “Here,” ve said as ve handed it to me. “The boss doesn’t let me do this myself, for...well, that should be obvious. Think of it like... I’m not owned by HieroTron anymore...just by him.”
I opened the top of the case and pulled out a slender rod, about an inch thick and a foot long. It was white, of the same material as Five’s, but with slight black circuit-lines tracing across and around its length. “What is it?” I held it up to the light.
Five looked at me with what seemed to be a solemn air on vis face. “It’s my control wand. Among other things, a key to open...something I want to show you.” Ve pointed to a spot on vis stomach just below where most mammals have a navel. “Touch the end right here, and put your other hand here...” Ve placed my free hand where it had been earlier.
I followed vis direction, the wand flickered in negative colors--white on black--for a moment. Under my other hand the surface changed in texture to something like cloth, and... something warm and thick beneath. To my surprise ve looked otherwise the same, except ve was now wearing a white pair of bikini briefs over what looked (and felt like) a pair of balls and a cock not unlike my own.
I was a little shocked, to say the least. “That’s... been underneath the whole time?” I stroked, and Five’s cock grew a bit longer and harder. By vis face, ve could clearly feel it now.
Ve grinned a little sheepishly, while grabbing my own crotch in return. “Kinda spoils the illusion of androgyny, doesn’t it? If you were really lusting after my smoothness, then I’m sorry... but I couldn’t pass up a chance to really, truly feel myself again. You can lock it away again after you’re done, if you want...”
My lower brain and I were conflicted. My own dragon member strained against the fabric, desperately aroused at the idea of such perfectly effective chastity, even if it was now unlocked. It factored into so many of my bondage and submissive fantasies, but I’d never had any chastity device work for very long without having to take it off again. On the other hand, I had really gotten worked up about Five’s perfectly smooth crotch, and the sudden appearance of genitals, even though they were fun to play with, had caught me off guard.
I stood up, my pants falling down halfway, catching on my tail. I undid the tail strap and helped it fall the rest of the way, nothing left by my panties to poorly conceal my interests. “I... maybe I will. Should we... um.” I looked at the couch, it didn’t seem big enough on its own to sprawl out on.
Ve took my hand, my other still holding the control wand, and led me upstairs to a room entirely taken up by a bed. We sprawled out onto it, and continued to awkwardly explore each other’s bodies. I’d done this before with other boys, but having this smooth and very artificial skin to touch was amazing. I spent at least ten minutes nuzzling vis cheek to mine, then nosing my soft muzzle all along vis body, searching out the joints. I could hear slight vibrations and humming from vis internal components, but no heartbeat. I even lay my head down against vis chest, but there was no breathing either.
Five took vis time mutually exploring my wings, tail, and flexible headspines, which ve discovered were rather sensitive. By some unspoken mutual agreement, we both trailed fingers around but entirely avoided the actual underwear area, which only got us more worked up. Finally I tugged at the waist of vis briefs, asking, “Is it okay?” Ve nodded consent, and I pulled downward. To my surprised, the ‘underwear’ folded itself up and vanished into vis skin, rather than coming down in one piece as I’d expected. Underneath was another surprise--ve wasn’t fully realistic here, either. Vis penis was thick and long, tapering towards the end, and his ball sack was high and tight, but both were smooth as if unfinished, no veins or bumps to mar the surface. I gave his member a squeeze, and it responded like flesh would, with the same warmth and consistency. I marveled at this, giving it a few more tests. Ve moaned and returned the favor with his own hand.
We went back and forth like this for some time, stretching out the foreplay as long as we could. I let my hand do more exploring, and found that his rump was a little more defined, including a small tight opening inside. Ve gave little synth-tinged gasps and moans, stopping at least once to clarify: these were real noises to go with the real sensations, not the simulated motions and sounds ve would usually play for his clients. I was flattered, and said so.
Ve flipped over on his side and ground his rear up against me, and I thrust back, sliding skin against plastic, up and down along the cleft, teasing his opening there. I’d seen a position like this in some of the Toy porn, and I remembered how excited I’d get whenever the Toy was giving people pleasure. This thought led to a different one, and my internal conflict about this being right or wrong suddenly collapsed in on me. I pulled away from Five, suddenly shaking, my arousal already starting to go limp.
“Agh. This is...I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry...I can’t.” I could only repeat, trying to curl up into a ball on the side of his bed. I covered my head with my wings, something I hadn’t done since I was barely a hatchling. I couldn’t look at Five, ve was too perfect, too beautiful, and... I knew what was wrong.
Vis voice sounded a bit hurt, but concerned. “What’s... what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? Do you... not usually play with other boys? Blue, what’s going on?” A cool hand lay on my shoulder, but I didn’t look up.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I started, stopped, then tried again. “I’m terrible. It’s...not you. I wasn’t... I wasn’t really attracted to you. I mean, I was attracted to the idea, but... I just realized something that I should have a long time ago. I’ve never been with anyone like you, for real I mean, so it never occurred to me until now, but...”
Ve gave my shoulder a firm squeeze. “Please explain.” Ve sounded like it was an effort to keep under control, a little hurt. “I trusted you.”
I moved my hands and shifted a wing slightly, so I could look out at ver with one eye. Vis face was unreadable. “I like you, I like playing with you, but... I can’t. It feels like the porn I have, it feels wrong because... I never knew, when I was looking at the Toys in the porn, I didn’t just want to play with them. I don’t want to just play with you. I want to...” I choked on the words. “...I want to be you.”
Vis grip on my arm eased up, vis whole body visibly un-tensing. “Oh, Blue. I...thought it might be something like that. I could almost see it in the way you looked at me, but I...had to be sure. I wouldn’t have been so pushy otherwise. So. You want to Upload.”
I nodded, near tears. “I think I do. I want to be a Toy. I want to make people happy, give them pleasure, with my body and my life.” I shaded my eyes with my wings again. “And I want to be locked up, and dominated, and told what to do, and...all those same things.”
My kinks and fantasies all spilled out at once, and Five listened patiently as long-pent-up inhibitions broke open inside me. I told ver about my bondage and domination interests, about my obscure sub-kinks, about all the things I’d seen Toys do in porn that I wish I could have done to me. By the time I was done, I had sat up and leaned against the wall, feeling better than I had in a long time. Five even joked about a few of my fetishes, telling me stories of vis own experiences with similar clients. I was wiping tears away from my eyes, but smiling at the same time.
Finally, after what felt like an hour or two, Five looked at me seriously. “You’re sure about this? The HieroTron company does have transition counselors specifically for Uploads. I can get you an appointment pretty quick. It’s a big decision, you know. The process is more than a little destructive to your original biomass...but you probably knew that, given how much you know about Toys already.”
I sighed and nodded. “I know it's one-way. It could only be an upgrade, really. I don’t mind being a dragon, but I want to be... that and everything else.”
Five said, “The other thing--and the counselors will mention this too--is this: you’ll have to develop more than just one persona. That’s a skill that can be taught, somewhat, but some people are just naturally good at it, and some aren’t. It’s like being an actor. The company has to test you a bit on that, because if you go through the process, you’re still an investment and...well, to put it bluntly, owned by them until you can buy yourself Autonomous.”
I thought of all the different characters that I’d roleplayed over the years, and how some of them seemed to continue living in my head for years after. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Did you have any trouble with that?”
Five shook vis head. “No, but... we can have that chat later, maybe. Let’s just say I was a particularly good candidate for becoming a Toy, and tested highly among most of my small community. I’m something of a forerunner.”
I nodded, a little confused, but I was still too excited and wiped from the whole evening. Too much had happened tonight, and I was emotionally drained. “I... I’m really sorry, again, for ruining this fun time. But I think we can try it again, and... maybe I’ll look a bit more like you, next time.”
Ve grinned wide. “That may yet be true! I’ll get you a meeting, and you can decide from there. But before you fall asleep--you’re welcome to here, or if you need to go home that’s fine--could you do me a favor?”
I was ready to do anything for ver. “Sure.”
Ve pointed to vis control wand, shoved up against the edge of the mattress. “Lock me up again. I’m not allowed to do it myself.”
I grabbed the rod, and tapped it against the same spot. Vis member had already fallen limp again, and I was sorry to see it go. Smooth white plastic filled in the space around it, growing outward until ve was featureless again between the legs. My own cock throbbed once in sympathy. “That’s a neat trick.”
“Yeah,” Five said, “And I can show you other things the wand does, later.”
I curled up, back and wings against the side wall of the container. “Yeah, that gives me more ideas. I should... not think about them so much. Makes it harder to sleep.”
Ve lay down on the other side of the bed, tossing me a pillow. “That’s not all it makes harder. You really should let me do something about that.”
I looked down and blushed again, modesty suddenly returning. I covered myself up with the pillow. “Rrrr...maybe. I don’t want to ask for more free samples of your...work.”
Vis hand rested on mine, across the bed. “Trust me, Blue. It’s different now. You are--or at least very likely soon will be--one of us.”
Smiling, I let that thought drift around in my head as I tried to sleep. Was it really that easy? Did I just make the biggest decision of my life, and still not get to sleep with a Toy? Everything about my life was suddenly changing, and I could become anything I wanted, or everything.
I snuggled up closer to Five, feeling that smooth vinyl skin.
‘One of us’. It felt right.