10-10-2019, 10:57 PM
October 10th, 826 A.S. - Cortez
The Apahanta was watching over the reconstruction efforts on and over Curacao. The mooring fixture was covered with ships of the four sirian houses, coming for trade, supply and vacation. OSC always had good ideas for making the best in bad situations. Luckily, the planet was left mostly unharmed and while most attention was drawn to the Betheny and the Yukon drifting infront of the planet, guarded by Liberty and Bretonia, normalcy returned planetside, where people continued to thrive and enjoy a few days in an ocean of grey areas and sins.
Leon not so much, though. His work on another brilliant upgrade of the Apahanta's jump drive was hitting the final stage. While the progress he made over the past two years were significant and pretty impressive, at this evening he was too tired to divert any additional thought to his work. His Apahanta suit was smelling slightly like the industrial materials in the workshop. A bit of metal, a bit of grease and oil, a bit of phosphor, possibly a notion of his sweat, especially from his blond hair. Generally a not too attractive mix of scents. As Leon entered his quarters on the Apahanta, his first glance was caught by his bed. It was too tempting to just fall in there. Drop down, let everything be as it was. Closing the eyes, sleeping. But then the bed would smell and he didn't really want to wake up like that and still wearing the dirty suit.
He moved into the bathroom and pulled the zipper at his neck down, freeing his chest, then the belly, right down to his best parts. He freed his arms, then wiggled slightly to get the skin-tight material off his body, sat down on the seat of the toilet to get his legs out of the onesie. When Ezrael gifted him his first Apahanta suit, Leon wore it with pride. It was sort of a dream to work on a space ship, an even better dream as it was captained by his best friend and mentor. Now he gazed down at the suit, seeing all the dirt on it, smelling the scent that covered it. Wearing this suit ment a lot of responsibility. A lot of work. A lot of risks and dangers. But a good life?
His muscles managed to lift his lean body up again. The tiredness was less physical and more mental, although the fact that it was pretty late in the evening added a bit to the current status. The blond Curacaoan moved into the shower cell and since the ship knew what he was going to expect in there, it automatically let warm water rain down on the sunnyboy. His body felt heavy, the fatigue rushing to the spotlight. Leon needed to stabilized himself, leaning his back against the wall. He closed his eyes, the warm water washing sweat, dirt and grease off his hair, letting it run down his naked body.
Was life here good? He didn't know. He did know, however, that life was definitely not bad on the Apahanta. Good food everyday. Nice people around. He sort of had full control over his working shedule as Chief Engineer. Ezrael never asked for too much. He knew Leon was one of the most valuable members of the crew. He was skilled, well-trained and had the most experience with the equipment of APM and IRG and their own items here on the ship. And while the Apahanta was cloaked or in secured areas most of the time, Sirius was breaking apart all around them. Bretonia lost a majority of its population, Curacao suffered from debris bombardements, Kusari and Rheinland had a quick bloody war over Sigma-21, and who knew what threats were rising up in the Omicrons? Ezrael had kept them away from all these conflicts, and even managed to maintain the NAP between the Apahanta and the Nomads. Sure, there was this battle over Gran Canaria that almost killed them all, and all the little hell-ish adventures Ezrael had to endure with Maren and other women, but Leon thought he had a good life here on the Apahanta. Things were better for him.
And then he had to think about Nancy.
The rain stopped. The wet Leon stepped out of the shower cell and grabbed the first-best towel. One of them fell to the floor, but he didn't care. With the towel in his hand, rubbing it against his face, then the hair, he stepped back into his room, aiming for the bed. A minute later most of the moisture on his skin was now part of the towel, and despite it being rather wet, Leon placed it on his pillow and dropped his body on the bed. His hair was still soaked, so the towel was absolutely justified. Presenting his bum to, well, nobody, Leon closed his eyes once more, shifted his head slightly to be able to breathe and tried to sleep.
Nancy had forgotten about him, entirely. Not in the melodramatical sense. In the literal sense. She didn't remember him at all anymore. Why did he have to think about it right now?
Oh.
He opened his eyes again, and the line of sight lead directly to the robot. It looked like her, almost identically. Kishiro was extremely good at creating replica of real humans for... services. This robot was exactly one of such. Sombra once gifted him this one, thinking it would be a good replacement. Leon tried to think about how long the robots was here in his room already. Probably more than half a year? He hadn't used it once. There was only one situation where it was tempting. That was when he had changed the clothes of the robot, only to realize how well the synthetic skin felt. Human-like. The hair was realistic as well. All in all, it looked like Nancy. Did it sound like her, too? He didn't know. It was always deactivated. When he gave it Nancy's Apahanta Suit to wear, it didn't talk. He left it offline.
Sighing, Leon turned around, looking at the wall to the right of the bed. Nancy. So many nice memories. So many dark memories. What a bombshell. Once more he turned to his left and looked at the robot. She was just standing there, her eyes closed. Leon moaned, turning away from the sight. The thoughts had made him horny. There was this memory of their first time. It was back on the Hoffnungsschimmer, down in the engineering. Nancy had watched him replacing an energy relay pipe. He had to climb into a shaft for that. When he returned and everything worked again, she offered him to inspect his shaft as well. So she did.
Leon stood infront of the robot, feeling awkward. This was no real person. It was just a human-sized toy. A doll, just very realistic. And programmed for certain things. Gulping, the 28 years old Curacaoan leaned forward, his hand sliding behind the ear of the synthetic woman. It made click! She opened her eyes and he quickly retracted his hand and made a step back. She smiled, inspecting him.
"Uh, he-hello?" he stuttered, not knowing what to say now.
She just smiled at him and made a step towards him. "What do you want me to do?" she asked him, and a chill ran down his spines. It was her voice. Her actual voice. In the end, that made sense. Leon knew Sombra had taken 3D-scans of Nancy from the Apahanta's personal files. So that was why she looked identical. She probably did the same with the voice, and there were enough voice files of Nancy out there, even on the neural net. After all, she was a terrorist.
"I, eh... I don't know, I didn't think this far, to be honest." He made a few more steps back, another step when she followed him.
"Do you want me to remain passive?" she asked him, and he blushed as she looked at his lower body.
"Uh, I, eh, yes? I mean, uh... you know, just turn around and return to where you were and deactivate yourself." He swallowed.
"I can do that. Are you sure you want me to do that, though? You look like you had other plans with me. I would happily do whatever you want me to. Anything."
"I know. You're a robot, after all. That's your program," he explained, as if it was necessary. As it turned out, it was not. "Please return to your loading station and deactivate yourself."
She made a move to comply, but halfway she turned around, then proceeding to make her steps backwards towards the loading station. "Am I not attractive to you?" she asked him, smiling.
"You're very attractive. It's just that you are like her. You sound like her and look like her. It feels weird to see you like that. And I'm not sure whether it should be like that."
She was at the loading station, still smiling at him. "I can alter my appearance for you, if you wish. I can also alter my voice, if you prefer that as well. My sole purpose is to make you happy, after all. And I would really love to make you happy."
Leon took a deep breath through his nose, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's tempting, but maybe somewhen else, under different conditions. Thank you, though. I think I am a bit happier now," he said, faking a smile. Then she shut herself off. Exhaling, Leon looked down between his feet. "Everything would be easier if I could forget about her, you know. Just like she did, forgetting about me. Just like that. I never existed in her life. She wanted children from me, and then she forgot about me. Not that I want children. It's just so... cruel. I loved her. I probably still do. And looking at you reminds me of this love."
The robot didn't respond, It was shut off. Sighing once more, he fell back into the bed. "Now I'm talking to myself. How embarrassing..."
Leon not so much, though. His work on another brilliant upgrade of the Apahanta's jump drive was hitting the final stage. While the progress he made over the past two years were significant and pretty impressive, at this evening he was too tired to divert any additional thought to his work. His Apahanta suit was smelling slightly like the industrial materials in the workshop. A bit of metal, a bit of grease and oil, a bit of phosphor, possibly a notion of his sweat, especially from his blond hair. Generally a not too attractive mix of scents. As Leon entered his quarters on the Apahanta, his first glance was caught by his bed. It was too tempting to just fall in there. Drop down, let everything be as it was. Closing the eyes, sleeping. But then the bed would smell and he didn't really want to wake up like that and still wearing the dirty suit.
He moved into the bathroom and pulled the zipper at his neck down, freeing his chest, then the belly, right down to his best parts. He freed his arms, then wiggled slightly to get the skin-tight material off his body, sat down on the seat of the toilet to get his legs out of the onesie. When Ezrael gifted him his first Apahanta suit, Leon wore it with pride. It was sort of a dream to work on a space ship, an even better dream as it was captained by his best friend and mentor. Now he gazed down at the suit, seeing all the dirt on it, smelling the scent that covered it. Wearing this suit ment a lot of responsibility. A lot of work. A lot of risks and dangers. But a good life?
His muscles managed to lift his lean body up again. The tiredness was less physical and more mental, although the fact that it was pretty late in the evening added a bit to the current status. The blond Curacaoan moved into the shower cell and since the ship knew what he was going to expect in there, it automatically let warm water rain down on the sunnyboy. His body felt heavy, the fatigue rushing to the spotlight. Leon needed to stabilized himself, leaning his back against the wall. He closed his eyes, the warm water washing sweat, dirt and grease off his hair, letting it run down his naked body.
Was life here good? He didn't know. He did know, however, that life was definitely not bad on the Apahanta. Good food everyday. Nice people around. He sort of had full control over his working shedule as Chief Engineer. Ezrael never asked for too much. He knew Leon was one of the most valuable members of the crew. He was skilled, well-trained and had the most experience with the equipment of APM and IRG and their own items here on the ship. And while the Apahanta was cloaked or in secured areas most of the time, Sirius was breaking apart all around them. Bretonia lost a majority of its population, Curacao suffered from debris bombardements, Kusari and Rheinland had a quick bloody war over Sigma-21, and who knew what threats were rising up in the Omicrons? Ezrael had kept them away from all these conflicts, and even managed to maintain the NAP between the Apahanta and the Nomads. Sure, there was this battle over Gran Canaria that almost killed them all, and all the little hell-ish adventures Ezrael had to endure with Maren and other women, but Leon thought he had a good life here on the Apahanta. Things were better for him.
And then he had to think about Nancy.
The rain stopped. The wet Leon stepped out of the shower cell and grabbed the first-best towel. One of them fell to the floor, but he didn't care. With the towel in his hand, rubbing it against his face, then the hair, he stepped back into his room, aiming for the bed. A minute later most of the moisture on his skin was now part of the towel, and despite it being rather wet, Leon placed it on his pillow and dropped his body on the bed. His hair was still soaked, so the towel was absolutely justified. Presenting his bum to, well, nobody, Leon closed his eyes once more, shifted his head slightly to be able to breathe and tried to sleep.
Nancy had forgotten about him, entirely. Not in the melodramatical sense. In the literal sense. She didn't remember him at all anymore. Why did he have to think about it right now?
Oh.
He opened his eyes again, and the line of sight lead directly to the robot. It looked like her, almost identically. Kishiro was extremely good at creating replica of real humans for... services. This robot was exactly one of such. Sombra once gifted him this one, thinking it would be a good replacement. Leon tried to think about how long the robots was here in his room already. Probably more than half a year? He hadn't used it once. There was only one situation where it was tempting. That was when he had changed the clothes of the robot, only to realize how well the synthetic skin felt. Human-like. The hair was realistic as well. All in all, it looked like Nancy. Did it sound like her, too? He didn't know. It was always deactivated. When he gave it Nancy's Apahanta Suit to wear, it didn't talk. He left it offline.
Sighing, Leon turned around, looking at the wall to the right of the bed. Nancy. So many nice memories. So many dark memories. What a bombshell. Once more he turned to his left and looked at the robot. She was just standing there, her eyes closed. Leon moaned, turning away from the sight. The thoughts had made him horny. There was this memory of their first time. It was back on the Hoffnungsschimmer, down in the engineering. Nancy had watched him replacing an energy relay pipe. He had to climb into a shaft for that. When he returned and everything worked again, she offered him to inspect his shaft as well. So she did.
Leon stood infront of the robot, feeling awkward. This was no real person. It was just a human-sized toy. A doll, just very realistic. And programmed for certain things. Gulping, the 28 years old Curacaoan leaned forward, his hand sliding behind the ear of the synthetic woman. It made click! She opened her eyes and he quickly retracted his hand and made a step back. She smiled, inspecting him.
"Uh, he-hello?" he stuttered, not knowing what to say now.
She just smiled at him and made a step towards him. "What do you want me to do?" she asked him, and a chill ran down his spines. It was her voice. Her actual voice. In the end, that made sense. Leon knew Sombra had taken 3D-scans of Nancy from the Apahanta's personal files. So that was why she looked identical. She probably did the same with the voice, and there were enough voice files of Nancy out there, even on the neural net. After all, she was a terrorist.
"I, eh... I don't know, I didn't think this far, to be honest." He made a few more steps back, another step when she followed him.
"Do you want me to remain passive?" she asked him, and he blushed as she looked at his lower body.
"Uh, I, eh, yes? I mean, uh... you know, just turn around and return to where you were and deactivate yourself." He swallowed.
"I can do that. Are you sure you want me to do that, though? You look like you had other plans with me. I would happily do whatever you want me to. Anything."
"I know. You're a robot, after all. That's your program," he explained, as if it was necessary. As it turned out, it was not. "Please return to your loading station and deactivate yourself."
She made a move to comply, but halfway she turned around, then proceeding to make her steps backwards towards the loading station. "Am I not attractive to you?" she asked him, smiling.
"You're very attractive. It's just that you are like her. You sound like her and look like her. It feels weird to see you like that. And I'm not sure whether it should be like that."
She was at the loading station, still smiling at him. "I can alter my appearance for you, if you wish. I can also alter my voice, if you prefer that as well. My sole purpose is to make you happy, after all. And I would really love to make you happy."
Leon took a deep breath through his nose, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's tempting, but maybe somewhen else, under different conditions. Thank you, though. I think I am a bit happier now," he said, faking a smile. Then she shut herself off. Exhaling, Leon looked down between his feet. "Everything would be easier if I could forget about her, you know. Just like she did, forgetting about me. Just like that. I never existed in her life. She wanted children from me, and then she forgot about me. Not that I want children. It's just so... cruel. I loved her. I probably still do. And looking at you reminds me of this love."
The robot didn't respond, It was shut off. Sighing once more, he fell back into the bed. "Now I'm talking to myself. How embarrassing..."