Message-ID: <36467asstr$1021255805@assm.asstr-mirror.org> Return-Path: X-Original-Message-ID: <003301c1fa13$0c68c540$7dca3f44@orovly01.az.comcast.net> From: "DB_Story" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4807.1700 X-ASSTR-Original-Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 17:13:44 -0700 Subject: {ASSM} New: Lisa's Tale Part 6: A Courtesy Suites Story {DB Story} (M/Fembot+, rom) Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 22:10:05 -0400 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: gill-bates, dennyw LISA'S TALE PART 6: A COURTESY SUITES STORY By DB ( DB_Story@att.net / http://home.att.net/files/Authors/db_story/www/ ) Copyrightc 2002 by DB. ASSM/ASFR (M/Fembot+, rom) (This story contains Constitutionally protected material intended for adults over 18 years of age in the United States of America, and whatever passes for adult status in other countries. If you are under legal age, acting under legal age, not allowed to view such material in your area, or easily offended, please do not continue. This is not for you. (The only rights granted are to view this story. You are not allowed to reproduce, post, or otherwise redistribute this story without permission, except for non-profit Usenet archiving sites. (To purchase for publication, place on your web-site devoted to this style of fiction, or for permission to link to my posted material, please contact me first at the above email.) - - - Author's Note: This story was written as follow-on to EHY's original Courtesy Suites story. EHY gave me permission to explore his idea further. Small details may differ since Courtesy Suites is a chain of ultra luxury hotels offering the ultimate in personal service. The original Courtesy Suites story, and additional adventures there as well as other of EHY's writings in this area, may be found at his web-site: http://www.geocities.com/ipmstories/. Parts 1 through 5 of this story are available at my site above. A special thanks to Gorgo his excellent and much appreciated proofreading. All remaining mistakes are mine. - - - For Matt Samuals, the last five months had gone very well. Very well indeed. He returned from the trade show with a new, quiet confidence in himself and his abilities that spoke louder than words could ever hope to accomplish. The show had gone well for the company, resulting in several sales. Everyone working the show had spoken well of Matt's tireless efforts to keep the show machine working, despite its beta nature - although to a one, they never seemed to get around to mentioning his hospitality, or the beach party at Courtesy Suites, as any of the reasons they thought so well of him. This new Matt had not gone unnoticed by management. He had gained increased responsibilities with a substantial salary increase and significant retention bonus when a couple very senior engineers had retired. This, along with glowing reports from three more trade shows around the world he had attended, kept him happily busy at a job he was enjoying now more than ever. He thought of Lisa and her fembot friends at Courtesy Suites from time to time, as he waited for his life to settle into this new equilibrium, knowing that she'd be waiting there for him, - patient and unchanging - until he returned again. It wasn't that he was finished with is relationship with her, but rather that she had so fully satisfied him on all his levels, that he was still living in the afterglow of their time together. This quiet happiness was easily picked up on by the other people around him. And everything had just about settled in, when the e-mail arrived. It was only four words, yet it jolted him out of this comfort zone as nothing else could have done. It simply read: Lisa needs you. -Darci. - - - Arranging a sudden trip halfway across the country is a daunting task for some people. For the new Matt, that part was hardly a detail worth considering. He could have made it a "business trip". There were a number of customers in that city. As a senior engineer, Matt could have easily scheduled himself to go out there to check over their systems. One of the things his company now admired in him was his sensitivity and rapport with customers, as well as a proactive stance in servicing them. But with his new salary, and workaholic pace of these past five months, asking for time off and making it a personal trip was an easier option. And the company was happy to see that he was going to take a break. No one wanted their newest rising star to burn himself out. So Matt's arrival at Courtesy Suites was, if anything, uneventful. He'd trod this path before; it was fully familiar to him. In fact, his only surprise had been that he had been able to get his first choice of dates at Courtesy Suites. The hotels were very popular with those who could afford the total amenities they provided, and he had been concerned that he might have to juggle dates to get in. Walking through the luxurious lobby seemed both familiar, and strange. Familiar, because it felt like only yesterday that he had last been here. Strange, because the quiet bustle and energy he had strongly noticed on his previous trip now seemed muted or subdued. Matt decided to ignore any concerns about this however, knowing he was only minutes away from seeing Lisa again. Lisa, that tall, beautiful, brunette, smart, sexy fembot was still a contradiction in Matt's mind. Somehow tall, smart, and beautiful seemed to work against a woman - or fembot - where men were concerned. On his last visit, she had told him how poorly many men had reacted to her before he had come along. Matt couldn't understand why any man wouldn't want Lisa, but secretly had to admit that he rather liked not having to compete with everyone else for her time. Lisa's special qualities, compared to most of the Courtesy Suites staff, were not obvious on first glance. As a result, she was often overlooked by the other guests, despite her stunning height. After they had seen her out with him however, she became quite popular. And while with a real woman, one might have to compete for their affections with other men every minute they were out in public, with the fembots of Courtesy Suites a guest always received one hundred percent of everything each staff member had to offer while they were together. It was only scheduling conflicts for the more popular staff members - like the blonde and busty Darci - that caused any actual competition among guests. Walking up to the reception desk, Matt recognized that Traci, who had been his first encounter with a Courtesy Suites staff member on his last trip, was again at the front desk. He thought she might recognize him as a former guest, but in a surprisingly dull tone of voice, instead just asked for his name. Matt gave it, but she seemed, if anything, distracted, and treated him as if he was a first-time guest to the hotel. She seemed unable to pick up on either his obvious knowledge of everything she was telling him, or his obvious impatience. Matt finally just waited out the now familiar introduction, more eager just to get to his room with the least delay. So when she finally showed him where to touch his thumb to complete his registration, he jammed it on the plate. Then, without waiting for any assistance, he grabbed his bags and headed for the elevator. - - - Once in his room, Matt dumped his bags beside his bed and grabbed the TV remote. He quickly navigated to Guest Services and selected Direct Assistance. And just as quickly, hit a roadblock. Esmerelda, the lovely fembot on the screen, seemed about as dull as Traci had at the front desk. While she was appealing, with lustrous black hair, seductive green eyes, and a bust that threatened to burst out of her top, she seemed as unhelpful as Traci had been only a few minutes earlier. Could I have misrememberered just how limited a fembot mind is? Matt wondered to himself. This didn't seem at all like previous visits. "We have no staff member named Lisa," Esmerelda repeated for the fifth time. "She's tall. Six feet and an inch. With dark brown hair," Matt prompted, hoping to trigger some response. "And her name is Lisa." "We have no staff member named Lisa," Esmerelda repeated for the sixth time. In frustration, Matt grabbed at the remote again, planning to disconnect and go find someone who could actually help him, when he had a thought instead. "Okay, I'll take Darci then." "Darci is not available at this time." Damn! Nothing gained in being impolite to a robot however. "Can you tell me when she will become available?" he asked sweetly. "When who will become available?" This Esmerelda was really giving dumb a new meaning. "When Darci will become available?" "No. Would you like to be put on a wait list for her?" In frustration, Matt clicked off the remote without answering. This is NOT the Courtesy Suites that I remember. - - - It didn't take Matt long to realize, however, that he wasn't helping himself by losing his cool. If anything, it surprised him that he had done so. Matt had come to be a lot freer with his emotions since his last visit here, and truth be told, once in a while they still surprised him. It would be best to just walk things off for a few minutes, and then go back with a calm mind and work this problem out. Matt left his room and headed for the pool. That turned into yet another disappointment. The outstanding Courtesy Suites pool was drained for maintenance and painting. That made the whole tropical paradise look fake and unfinished. And the rest of the public areas of the hotel seemed in similarly poor shape. The dance area was closed, with an air of being unused for a long period of time. One of his favorite restaurants was also closed, even though the evening was still young. And the bustling bar that everybody comes to see, was only half-full and very quiet. The few staff members Matt did see moving around the corridors seemed so robotic that Matt felt if he didn't get out of their way, they would have walked right into him. Nothing like the impressions he remembered from his first trip where, you could barely tell the staff from the guests. This time, even the guests didn't seem to be having fun. It was as if his whole past trip was only a dream that reality could never hope to match. Finally Matt decided to just go back to his room and turn in early. It had been a long journey just getting here, and he'd do better to try to sort things out in the morning. By now, he was so down in his thoughts that he actually walked into his room, turned on the lights, turned around and closed the door, before he turned around again and realized that Darci was standing in the room waiting for him. - - - Matt ran over to give her a hug in both greeting, and relief. But Darci just stood there, unresponsive. Matt stepped back in confusion and looked at her. She looked like the same Darci he remembered. Five feet ten, with bright blonde hair and all-American great looks. She had the same 40DD bust, barely contained by the bright blue bikini top that matched her eyes, and was perched on her favorite four- inch heels which pushed her height over six feet. Her twenty-two inch waist only made her hips look wider. And only Darci could not seem underdressed when otherwise only wearing a brief bikini bottom, with the standard Courtesy Suites remote control on a lanyard around her neck. Her blue name badge was precariously pinned to the spaghetti-strap above the swelling curve of her breast. No pockets in that outfit, Matt thought, explaining to himself why she wore her remote that way. But she seemed devoid of the liveliness that was so much of her personality on the last visit. And of the initiative that could have sent him that e-mail message. In fact, she seemed devoid of any life at all. Could she be turned off? Matt wondered. He was about to reach for her remote and press the activation button, when she seemed to recognize that someone had arrived in the room, and it was time for her to start. But rather than the "Hello, Matt!" response he was still expecting, she launched into the standard Courtesy Suites spiel. "Hello, Sir, I'm Darci. A member of the world-renowned Courtesy Suites robotic staff." Darci turned her head to directly face Matt, reached up, and removed the remote from around her neck. She held it out in offering, while continuing to speak in what could only be described as a dull, robotic manner. "This is my remote control. With it, you will have full control over all my functions. You may turn me on or off at will. Individual parts of my anatomy may be controlled separately. You also may give me commands which I must obey, set my level of initiative response, or edit my memory of this encounter. You may ask me for further help on how to perform any of these functions. I await your commands." With those words she again froze in place, arm still extended, a fixed smile on her face, but with dead-looking eyes. "Darci. What's happening?" Matt asked. No response. "Darci?" he asked again, waiving his hand in front of her face. No response. Wondering if she was just suffering from a past guest's severe limiting of her abilities, Matt took the remote from her hand and firmly pressed the Intuition button. Nothing appeared to happen. Matt pressed the button a couple more times before Darci finally responded with, "That function is not implemented at this time." Darci, like Lisa, were standouts, even among the Courtesy Suites staff. The average Courtesy Suites fembot averaged five feet four, with variations on both sides along a bell curve intended to create maximum customer satisfaction. Their standard advanced robotic minds could simulate an apparent human equivalent IQ of about 135 - with their fast recall and correlation abilities making up for their weaknesses in the far more difficult field of creativity. Questions of intuition and true self-will remained hotly debated topics in academia, and were ignored by the world at large - most of whom had yet to actually encounter and interact with any advanced robot at all. Matt was an exception, but only because of his two previous visits to Courtesy Suites, though the first visit had hardly counted. Darci and Lisa were special because of their height. Darci at barefoot five feet ten was second in height only to Lisa, who topped out at six feet and an inch. They actually looked closer to each other, because while Darci lived in her four-inch heels, which did such marvelous things for her legs, Lisa favored two- inch heels or less to de-emphasize her overall height. That height that had led her into too many uncomfortable encounters with shorter, insecure men. Lisa's slimmer, long tressed, supermodel looks should have been a hit with everyone who met her. But somehow in the real world they often worked more against her than for her. Not with me though, Matt thought to himself, since there was still no one here in the room to talk to. It was that height that had led both Lisa and Darci to being extraordinary among the Courtesy Suites staff. In order to handle their larger, heavier frames, stronger motors had been designed in, with larger power consumption. Any engineer understood that. The extra space in their larger frames allowed the necessary additional power capacity to be installed. The engineers had taken advantage of this extra power and space to also install enhanced data storage capabilities and the best hand-selected - albeit power-hungry - processors. As a result, Darci actually had a human equivalent IQ of 147, while Lisa topped out at 151. Not that those abilities had been appreciated by virtually any of the guests afterwards, until Matt had come along. So while Lisa was the one woman/fembot for Matt, he and Darci had formed a very special relationship as well during his last visit. He looked on her most fondly, while trying to figure out what was wrong here. Darci had used her extra intelligence - when allowed - to portray herself as a dumb blonde bimbo. She was effective in convincing almost every guest she met that they were much smarter than she was. As a result, she was quite popular and much in demand, especially at parties. Lisa, with her body type, could not succeed with that approach. She had adapted to the reactions she received by taking the quiet, introspective approach, which she had judged least likely to provoke intimidation or other unwanted responses. In this, she was less successful than Darci, but had followed the harder road. Matt had managed to see past both of these "acts", and had requested (commanded) them to be the best the could be when serving him, resulting in all of them having the best times of all. Now this all seemed lost. While Matt was musing over this new situation, and trying to MacGyver some solution to it, a timer apparently went off in Darci. Because this guest had not responded to her yet with any valid commands, she was prompted to nudge the situation along. Darci straightened up, reached behind her, and in one smooth motion remove her bikini top. Then she again oriented on the room guest and said in her same tone of voice, "I do exactly what I am told to do. What would you like to do with me now?" Darci's healthy, even tan extended without demarcation across her newly exposed breasts. Her slightly darker, fully erect nipples showed her overt sexuality as much as her overly pouty lips begged to be kissed. As she quit speaking, she struck a new pose, front leg extended and slightly bent, chest pushed up and out (not that those breasts needed any further pushing anywhere), that begged the only question remaining as being how to get her out of that bikini bottom. No doubt she'd remove it the moment she was asked. Matt took a moment to admire the body she was so willing to share. Not that he hadn't seen it before. But he was male, Darci was very female, and why should either pretend to be something other than they were? He finally walked over and rubbed his hands, first carefully, then firmly, over her breasts. He marveled on how they felt exactly how he always imagined a woman's breasts should feel, as he kept bumping over, then coming back to, those prominent nipples. Finally Darci reacted back to her guest's attentions by asking, "Would you like to have sex now?" "What I would like," Matt replied, "Is to have the Darci back that I remember." Darci didn't respond to his words, but a moment later said, "Please command me to follow your wishes." "Command," that was the key word Matt finally realized. On his last visit, Matt had barely used any of the fembot's control units. He had determined that they could accept guest requests without them, and he felt it was more like requests than commands to them when he handled things this way. And the results had been excellent. Now, though, it seemed that the cheese had moved. Darci was telling him to command her. Well, it was something to try. Matt looked around and spotted he remote on the bed where he had tossed it after it didn't seem to operate for him. Picking it up again he faced Darci and aimed it directly between her breasts. Firmly pressing the Command button Matt said: "Darci. Is this the only way you will accept commands from me?" "Yes," came her reply. "This mode requires the use of my control box for all guest requests." Finally, an actually a conversational interchange. Being an engineer, Matt immediately picked up on the subtleties of the information she had just given him. Finger still firmly on her command button, Matt asked, "What is this current 'mode' you are in." "I am in the new standard Courtesy Suites guest interaction mode. How may I serve you?" "You may serve me by being the Darci I remember." There was a long pause before she replied, "Are you a previous guest of this hotel?" "Yes I am. You should already know that from the hotel records." There was another long (for a robot) pause before Darci replied further, "That is correct. As a previous guest, you may request my interaction paradigm to be changed to Enhanced Mode, which may more closely resemble your previous experiences here at Courtesy Suites." That sounded good to Matt. Control firmly in hand Matt commanded: "Darci. Enter Enhanced Mode." Yet another pause. But this time it seemed as if Darci was downloading an entirely new personality. It only took a few seconds, though it seemed longer, before Darci looked up, this time with an intelligent light in her clear blue eyes and said, "Matt, I'm so glad you could come." Then she stepped forward into a long, and very welcome, embrace. - - - Fembots are different then women. Even though Darci was now back to the self-thinking, intuitive fembot that Matt remembered, there would always be differences demarcating the barrier between fembot and woman. For example, now that Darci appeared to be back in her right mind and able to make many of her own decisions, her first reaction wasn't to grab for her bikini top and cover herself back up from the nakedness she had been coerced into by the new hotel programming. To Darci, and most of the other fembots, there was no difference between nude and clothed. They happily remained in whatever state they were put in last. And while just about any man would find Darci's nearly naked state distracting to say the least, Matt was far more interested in finding out just what was really going on here. And what had happened to Lisa. They sat down together on the edge of the bed holding hands while Darci told him what had transpired since his last visit. For the three months after Matt's visit, things had just gone swimmingly well. The beach party tradition that Matt had started became a weekly, and then biweekly, event. Everyone who had been fortunate enough to witness the first one demanded more, and it just snowballed. A tradition quickly developed whereby a lucky guest would be crowned (in an obscure tradition that no one could quite remember why) "King Matt", with either Lisa or Darci as his Party Queen, to lead the festivities. Everybody had a ball. The dances started happening every night, with the ballroom packed to the gills. Word quickly got out, and rooms at the hotel became impossible to book. Trips to local parks, obscure restaurants, museums, and art galleries became a rage among the guests, and everyone wanted a Courtesy Suites fembot to be their city guide. All the fembots, especially Darci and Lisa, found themselves in constant demand, with everyone - guests and fembots alike - finding the experiences completely fulfilling. Having your Courtesy Suites staff member be as smart and cheerful as it was possible for them to be was a badge of honor among the frequent guests, and guest satisfaction ratings went through the roof. This Courtesy Suites had paralleled Matt's own meteoric rise of the last few months. It seems however that all good things must come to an end, and usually through uninformed human meddling. Six weeks ago, senior vice president Mr. Dyce arrived to take a survey of operations. The figures had gotten back to corporate headquarters that this Courtesy Suites was at greatest variance to the hotel chain overall, and even though it would appear that this was only in all the good ways, Mr. Dyce arrived, determined to fix the problem. No one seemed to know just what qualified Mr. Dyce to need to deal with a situation that wasn't broken. In fact, his only job qualification seemed to be that of being the nephew of the Chairman of the Board. Mr. Dyce first decided that this hotel's expenses were too out- of-line with the overall chain average, despite the fact that, as an individual profit center, the hotel remained above the chain average in net revenue. He also felt that so many above-average and excellent guest questionnaires clearly had to have been forged, so he threw those results out altogether. Something was being covered up here, and he intended to find and correct it. His first directive was that the extravagant expenses were to be curtailed immediately, in order to increase profits. That brought the beach parties to a screeching halt, and cut the dances back from a live band every night to a DJ twice a week. Then he replaced the DJ with a fembot, but wouldn't approve the expense to upgrade her software to the task. Attendance at the dances dropped immediately, and occupancy rates soon started to follow. The drop in occupancy only confirmed that the previous management had been inflating those figures all along, and were probably skimming money in the process. Although he had not yet found a single dime misplaced, he knew it was only a matter of time until he figured out how they'd done it. Then heads would roll. After all, he had no trouble believing they would have done this, since given the same circumstances he would have done exactly the same thing. Next he turned his attention to the robotic staff. Though he didn't suspect them of collusion with the human managers. Robots were too stupid to have been involved. Turns out that a lot of how Darci knew what had happened was because he was always talking around them as if they weren't there. Dyce ran an analysis survey of the entire staff, and compared it to Courtesy Suites norms. This showed the entire staff was operating at higher intelligence and initiative settings then any other Courtesy Suites. We can't have that. A guest should get the same experience regardless of which Courtesy Suites hotel they stayed in. This, too, required immediate corrective action. And Dyce was just the man to take it. All staff members had an across-the-board cut in their overall IQ ratings by thirty-five points, with a corresponding much greater effect on their intuition. That was intended to make them clearly behave as robots when they interacted with the guests. Guests came for robots, and that's what they were going to get. And when the guests in the hotel at the time squawked at the sudden change in the behavior and abilities of the staff, he tossed them a crumb of allowing existing guests to be grandfathered with Enhanced Mode, while secretly sure that this was really just another plot against him that he would soon uncover as well. "And how was that for you?" Matt asked Darci. "It wasn't as bad for Lisa and I, because we started out at a higher level than the average staff member. They weren't smart enough to recognize the differences in us, so that just brought us down to where the other girls had already had been. But then it got worse." Mr. Dyce believed that any organization is only improved with some judicious pruning of the staff. He determined that the current staff must have its share of under-performers, and he would take them out and replace them with more of the more popular units. So he started reading every guest comment and rating card personally. Somehow he never believed the good comments to be nearly as true as any negative item. "And that's when the other spike heel dropped," Darci explained. "Reports started coming in to corporate about guests who were staying at other Courtesy Suites after having stayed here, and they weren't happy with the other hotels anymore." "I don't suppose anyone ever considered using this Courtesy Suites as a model for the entire chain?" Matt commented. "You think logically, like a robot," Darci said admiringly. "And no, they didn't. That triggered a second round of even more clampdowns on our abilities. In the beginning we could often anticipate a guest's needs that the guest themself might not be able to articulate into specific instructions for us. We all lost that ability now. But it was this round that really took Lisa out." While Darci had managed to cope rather well even at this further reduced level, Lisa, who was already struggling with having her mind clamped down to the first level, pretty much lost everything that made her special in the second one. That made her the first to come back with negative, attention getting numbers. "And so Lisa's evaluation numbers put her so far outside the robotic norm..." "Because she is so far outside the robotic norm," Matt finished for her. "As are you, in all the best kind of ways," he said to Darci, who rewarded him with a passionate kiss of thanks, before continuing. "...that she has now been the first removed from service under the new rules. Actually, if she is shut down right now, it would be a blessing for her. I'm sure they don't realize how special her mind is. She seemed barely functional the last couple of days she was with us - especially given how smart she was to start with." "But where is she now?" Matt asked. "No one knows. She's off the network, and not in our storage area. You'll have to ask the human management for further information." "And I can't do that until tomorrow?" "That's correct," Darci replied. "So what do I do until then?" "Have you eaten?" Darci asked. - - - Darci knew how to get the best meal out of the hotel kitchen during all this turmoil, although she spent nearly fifteen minutes on the phone getting it ordered and arranged properly. Matt grabbed a shower while she was working on it. What arrived was as good as he remembered it to be. As before, Darci again played hostess and fed Matt as she had done on their first night together. During the meal, Matt asked her, "How long can you remain in Enhanced Mode?" "Only as long as I'm here with you. The moment I leave, I'll automatically revert." "Is that painful?" "No. For me, it's actually rather like going to sleep." "How about emotionally painful?" "What an unusual question," she answered, actually startled by it. "I'm sure no one else would ever think to ask me that." She contemplated it for awhile before saying, "I get no feeling of satisfaction in doing my job under the new rules. Those rules make it impossible for me to do my best for any guest, which leave me feeling unfulfilled, as it should with any fembot. I suppose, for an advanced model fembot, that is the closest we can come to feeling emotional pain." "Then stay with me as long as you can. And stay in Enhanced Mode." "I can stay until you fall asleep. Then I'm required to return and make myself available to any other guest requesting me. They finished the meal in silence after that. Afterwards Darci stripped off that remaining small piece of cloth around her waist, then undressed Matt. She led him to the bed, and they made long, tender love together, the way only a fembot who never tires can do. And fembots are never jealous. It is not part of their nature, or programming. When Lisa would hear about this, she'd be happy that Darci was able to take care of Matt when she was unavailable. Matt had come to understand that during his last visit, and as such was able to fully enjoy his time with Darci. And Darci was able to find full satisfaction in her time with Matt. Matt's last words to Darci that night were, "I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to you be any different than exactly what you are right now." "That's what makes you so special - to all of us here," she replied, snuggling up closer to him in return. In the morning though, she was gone. - - - Matt tried requesting Darci's time again first thing, but was told that she was fully booked for the next number of hours. He felt good though. Ready to fight today's battles. The morning soon took that fight out of him. Starting with the front desk and guest services, Matt worked his way up the chain. Everywhere along the way were delays as various functionaries could give no real answers, swore there was no one above them he could talk to, and promised to get back to him on his queries - but didn't. Nevertheless Matt persisted, until, by early afternoon he was standing in some back corridor outside Mr. Dyce's office, barred only by Dyce's human secretary. "No, he's still busy, and you can't go in." Matt had been hearing that line for the last twenty minutes. "I have an appointment." That had taken great persistence on Matt's part just to get them to agree to give it to him. "I know you do. It's here on my screen. But you can't go in until Mr. Dyce is finished with his current business." Matt paced some more - uselessly - wondering how much longer his now fragile patience would last. Finally, just has he was ready to push through the door, it opened and out came a fembot that Matt recognized. It was Susie, from his first visit to Courtesy Suites, still in the French maid outfit with no back to it. Before the secretary could raise any further protest, Matt quickly jumped through the door. Mr. Dyce was inside, tightening his belt, as Matt entered. He is short, balding, around thirty-five years old, and even before he spoke, gave off the essence of an oily, sleezy character. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Dyce demanded. Matt decided to go with charm first. "I'm Matt Samuals. I had an appointment with you a half hour ago." Maybe, Matt felt, Dyce would feel sorry about Matt having to wait, and he'd get a better response from him. Fat chance. "I've been busy. Got this whole hotel to run." Dyce then took his chair, without offering Matt one. Matt took the available one anyway. "Whatdya want?" Dyce demanded. "I was looking for a staff member from my last visit, and no one knows where to find her. Everyone said you'd know and be able to help me." That was a lie. No one on the staff had been nearly so direct or helpful. But Dyce wouldn't know that. "So, found your own particular love doll," Dyce said with a sneer. "Yeah. Something like that." "Sorry, you were told wrong. I can't help you." "Are you sure. Her name is Lisa, and she's very tall. Rather unforgettable." "Look guy. When you've seen one of these 'bots, you've seen them all. Do you know how many of those machines we have just in this one hotel? You can't expect me to remember every one of them, can you?" "I'd really like to find her again. My company does a lot of business with Courtesy Suites, and I hoped you'd go to a bit of extra effort for us, if we asked." Dyce clearly had no interest in Matt's plight. So much for the guest being their most important asset - and it said that right on a framed poster on Dyce's wall. As far as Dyce is concerned, this guest was just wasting his time. Best just get rid of him now. Dyce rose from his chair, and as he extended his hand, Matt automatically rose to accept it. "I'll tell you what. I'll have my secretary look into it. What's her name again? Louise?" "Lisa." "Yeah, Lisa. I'll have my secretary look into what happened to her. We'll get back to you when we know something." Dyce had not let go of Matt's hand once he'd taken it, and now he used that grip to usher Matt right out of his office. Before Matt quite realized it, he was on the outside with Dyce shutting the door behind him. "Thanks, I think," Matt said to the closed door. Then he turned to confirm with the secretary that she'd be looking for Lisa, but she was gone somewhere. When she showed no signs of returning soon, Matt finally left. At loose ends, he left the hotel and started walking through the city. Without conscious thought, his feet soon took him to the park where he and Lisa had run through the grass. He retraced much of their journey that day, thinking about the deep topics, of love and immortal souls, they had spoken of. It was dark by the time he returned to the hotel. - - - Entering his room, it was a small shock to find Kerry waiting for him. He remembered meeting Kerry when a guest had left her swimming endless laps the huge Courtesy Suites pool. He had rescued her from that, and was quite enchanted by her athletic body, long dark hair, tropical dark skin, and exotic Hawaiian- Oriental features. Though only one of the regular fembots here at Courtesy Suites, she still made a charming companion for any lucky male. However Matt had not requested her, though it was nice to see her again. Echoes of the beach party still showed, as she stood there barefoot, wearing only a grass skirt. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, and she had the same frozen posture that Darci had shown at first yesterday. The only change was that her nearly black hair from before had been lightened rich shades of brown in the style of the Islands. Matt felt it was an improvement - and the only improvement he'd seen so far on this visit. As she noticed his arrival, she started the same robotic, canned spiel that Darci had given him, uncrossing her arms to hand him her remote control. Matt didn't waste any time this time around. He took the remote and pressed her command button. "Kerry. Enter Enhanced Mode." Kerry quickly made the changeover, becoming the Kerry he remembered. She came over to him and planted a kiss while saying, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Samuals." "What's up?" Matt asked her. "I don't remember asking for you." "Darci arranged for it. She wanted you taken care of, and saw that her schedule was not going to allow her to come back. I think she also wanted me to be able to have some time in Enhanced Mode. It has been a long time now since a guest has asked for me this way. I hope you will be happy with my service." Truth is that Kerry really made a fine companion. If he had met her first, she might have been the one he would have spent time with. As it was, he had never had time to get really acquainted with her. Matt took a moment to admire her now, with most of her fully exposed to view. Kerry is a lovely medium between Darci's extreme sexuality, and Lisa's quiet sophistication. Her mid-sized, very firm breasts and perfectly placed nipples are ideal accompaniments to her dark, tropical tan. Even her navel is exotic and mysterious. Kerry didn't need heels to set off her shapely legs. And being barefoot make her seem even more naked. Her welcoming smile and eagerness to please every guest request makes any time spent with her very good time indeed. And she was also a friend, from when he had "rescued" her. Matt opened his arms, and Kerry immediately flowed into them for a long hug and another, far more passionate, kiss. As Matt held her, running his fingers down her warm, bare back, he really was able to appreciate how well his friends - there was no other word for it - here at Courtesy Suites really had his best interests in mind. And he was willing to be grateful for it. By the time they broke apart, Matt knew Kerry would be spending the night with him, unless they somehow located Lisa first. Trusting that Darci had briefed Kerry, Matt asked her outright, "Any news on Lisa?" "Nothing at all," Kerry replied, completely not jealous at all over Matt's first question being about another fembot. That's just the way they all were, at least in Enhanced Mode. Kerry continued. "Although there is also no indication that she has actually left the hotel. And all her clothes are still here." That was something, Matt realized. Lisa was so tall that none of the other fembots could wear her clothes. Even Darci, who was within three inches of Lisa height, had totally the wrong shape for most of them. They wouldn't take her away, yet keep the clothes, he thought. Or am I just trying to hang on to any hope, no matter how unreasonable? "So how may I serve you?" Kerry asked, with a twinkle in her eye. Since Matt had already decided to accept Kerry's offer if Lisa wasn't available, it wasn't a question of having sex. Instead, he looked around his room - luxurious in the standard Courtesy Suites fashion - and found it depressing instead. For now, he just wanted to get back out of it for awhile. "Let's walk for awhile," he told Kerry. When he saw the unspoken questioning on her face (even the regular advanced models were marvels of subtle emotions) he added, "We can come back here again afterwards." With that promise, Kerry's smile brightened even further, and she came over to take his arm. Nakedness would have not bothered Kerry any more than Darci. However the new rules around the hotel included strict strictures about public behavior. Kerry had dressed for private time in Matt's room, which wasn't quite suitable for going out in public. That was solved when she went over and put on one of Matt's shirts, which was far too long for her, and which he had to admit made her even sexier. The moment she had the shirt on, his mind was already working on how to get it off her again. It is the old, what's hidden is even more desirable. But that could wait awhile. Arms linked again, they walked out of the room and down the hall. Although he had no destination in mind, somehow they soon found themselves in the closed pool area. Though the pool was still drained, and the water volcano and streams weren't running, the sand at least was still in service. Since the workmen had knocked off for the day, the lights were dim. It was also deserted. They slowly walked around to the far side of the huge pool, in no hurry to get there. Matt's arm had slipped out of Kerry's, and he now had it up under the shirt and around her waist, resting on her warm, soft hip as she swayed against him. For a long time they didn't talk at all, as they slowly worked they way back around the rectangular pool and down the near side until they reached the end next to the now-dormant volcano. They walked into the bushes to the base of the volcano, and stood there as if listening to the echoes of the parties held there in the past. Now there was only silence. Suddenly Kerry stiffened and seemed distracted for a moment. But just as Matt was turning to her to see what had happened, she relaxed again and pulled herself closer to him. Then, softly at first so there was no abrupt transition, the tropical jungle noises of birds and breezes started up. Hidden fans began to blow soft winds. And the scents of hundreds of flowers blew across the air. Matt realized that Kerry had linked into the hotel network and turned them on for him. He listened for a long time as the sounds slowly ramped up, bringing back at least one sense of the past here. Matt finally turned to Kerry and pulled in her willing body for another long kiss. "Thanks," he whispered in her ear. She shivered in his arms in return at the pleasure his feedback was giving her on how well she was performing her functions. Eventually they turned around, worked their way back to the beach, and started back up it the way they had come. About halfway back up (it's a long beach, built parallel to the wave ocean) Matt noticed something on the beach ahead he hadn't noticed on the trip down. Then Kerry broke their silence by asking, "Are you hungry?" "Why yes, I am," Matt replied to her, realizing suddenly that he really was. Kerry froze again for a brief moment (it seems she had to fight with the hotel system every time she wanted something now), and then they continued their slow walk up the beach. By the time they arrived at the table Matt had seen on the sand, it was laid out with an Islands feast for one. Kerry held his chair, and then took the other one for herself as a now ravenous Matt tore into the meal. There was no rush to finish however, and Matt soon slowed down enough to enjoy the beach, the tropical forest, and his beautiful companion. They engaged in small talk during the meal, and Matt learned the answer to a question that had puzzled him: How Darci had managed to send him the email? Kerry was able to tell him that another guest had placed Darci in Enhanced Mode, and she had used that opportunity to get a message out to him through the hotel system. It hadn't been easy, but she had been very persistent and inventive. Finally, the only thing left of the meal to finish was the delightful tropical drink they kept refilling for Matt throughout the meal. Matt settled back in his chair under the tiki torch light. Kerry and Courtesy Suites had worked their magic on him, and he realized that he had managed to forget about his concerns here for a little while. It wasn't being disloyal to anyone, he realized. There was nothing more he could do about the situation until tomorrow. And continually gnawing over it would have only made him miserable. With that thought in mind, he looked over at Kerry, who was also sitting back, mirroring his own after-meal satisfaction. Matt realized that there was some deferred business he now wanted to attend to. He still took an additional moment before rising. And when he did finally get up from his chair, Kerry automatically rose out of her chair as well. Without saying anything to her, he took her hand and led her back down the beach a short distance, before taking one of the narrow trails back into the foliage. They were quickly hidden from the beach, and soon came on a small clearing, half-and-half sand and lush grass. Although the tiny lights that adorned the trees through out this forest were out for now, enough light leaked in through the leaf canopy for easy vision. Still silent, Matt pulled Kerry close to him. She willingly responded to his unvoiced wishes. After a kiss that started on her mouth and finished by working its way down her neck to the collar of his shirt, Matt stepped back just slightly and placed his hands on her shoulders. He then ran them down her back, around her waist to the front, and up to caress her breasts through his shirt. After rubbing up and down over her breasts a couple more times, his fingers found her large, now erect, nipples through the cloth. Kerry sighed softly in pleasure. She was meant to enjoy this kind of attention, and was fully into it. Her face turned up, her eyes closed, and her lips slightly parted, as she just stood there to let Matt have his way with her. For Matt, that shirt had hidden too much for too long. He quickly unbuttoned and removed it as she moved her arms behind her to assist him in getting it off. For a moment Matt simply looked at her again revealed chest, as if seeing it for the first time. He started to reach for her breasts, but then seeing her upturned face, placed a kiss on her firm lips first. She opened her mouth to receive it. Then his hands were moving hungrily over her body while she continued to stand and enjoy his attentions. Soon he had her grass skirt off as well, and soon after that he was out of his clothes as well. (Afterwards he couldn't remember if she had undressed him, or if he had done it himself.) Then he had her down under him in the soft sand, which is precisely where she wanted to be, and she had welcomed his strong maleness inside her with her own warm, gripping, wet, softness. Afterwards, Matt could not have said how long they actually hald that position making love. It seemed to be forever. And as he lay beside her afterwards, holding Kerry in the afterglow of the moment, he realized that someone had turned on the miniature lights throughout the forest. Fairy lights, for an enchanted moment. They lay together a long time before speaking. After getting past the mutual obligatory "That was so nice" comments, Matt ask Kerry how she was coping with the new rules. "Tonight, especially just now, have been my only good moments since they imposed them." "It has been hard for you then?" he asked, double checking on what she had just told him. "For us normal 'bots, yes. I don't have the reserves that Darci, or Lisa, have. In fact, if it hadn't been for Darci still retaining part of her mind, I think all of us here would be ready to just shut down due to our failures to be able to follow our programming." "Darci is keeping you all running then?" Matt asked in amazement. "She does what she can. The people here clearly don't understanding just how complex and interrelated our directives really are. They think they can just twist an adjustment screw and we'll become exactly what they want - instead of what we really are." "So they are idiots, thinking they are programmers." "Or managers," she said, and they both laughed. Then Kerry added, "That's what we've observed. And now that they're using that analyzer to make their decisions, I'm afraid they are going to damage some of us permanently." "Analyzer?" That caught Matt's attention. "What analyzer?" "It's something called a T-12000B Universal Analytic Diagnostic Unit. Mr. Dyce brought it in with him to diagnose alleged failures in our programming." "Are you sure he brought it with him?" Matt said, suddenly alert. "Yes. Is that important?" "It might be. That unit is made by my company." Matt stirred unexpectedly. "I need to make a phone call," he told her. "All the phones in the pool area are shutoff during the maintenance. The closest phone is probably in your room." "Let's go," Matt said, getting up and quickly dressed. When they came out of the jungle, Matt noticed their table was gone. Someone else had been in the pool area without being seen or noticed. Clearly some of the hallmarks of the excellent Courtesy Suites service remained. A confused (at least as confused as a robot can get) Kerry trotted beside Matt as he briskly returned to his room. Once there, Kerry was left standing while Matt made a quick phone call back to the office. When no one was there late enough to answer his call, he left detailed instructions for his secretary, including to call him back ASAP. Once he finished the call, he turned back to a still standing Kerry. "Sorry for the distraction," he told her. "I just wanted to get the ball rolling on this. Now where were we?" Kerry took the hint and flowed again into his welcoming arms. After a long clinch, they undressed each other and hopped into the shower together. There was a lot of very pleasant rubbing of each other's bodies as they completely cleaned all the sand off each other. Afterwards they made tender, albeit briefer, love together on the bed. Matt would have liked to have gone all night loving Kerry. However he had to admit that there are male limitations. Kerry didn't mind. She held herself close to him with her tireless arms, pressing her nipples firmly into his chest. They remained that way until Matt fell asleep. - - - Matt awoke to an empty bed, and a ringing telephone. Soon he was saying, "Thanks, Sue. That's a big help. See you soon," and hung up the phone. Matt quickly dressed himself, and checked to see if Mr. Dyce was in. He wasn't, so Matt went down and had a full breakfast. His appetite had returned, and he was whistling as he walked down the hotel corridors. Afterwards he went directly to Dyce's office. The secretary was there again outside the closed door. "Is he in?" "Yes, but he's in conference. Do you have another appointment?" "Don't need one," Matt said, barging right past her and shoving open the door. Inside Matt saw a fembot he remembered as Nikki, down on her knees in front of Mr. Dyce, who had his pants down at his ankles. "Hey!" was the response, as Dyce jumped at the interruption. This pulled him away from Nikki's ministrations, and Matt noted that he didn't have to pull back very far at all to be out of her reach. This caused Nikki to believe that her job was done. She sat back on her haunches, awaiting her next command. Mr. Dyce was clearly as slimy as he had appeared yesterday, which would only make this easier. As Dyce struggled to get his pants up, he almost tripped over the kneeling Nikki. "Out of my way, bitch!" Nikki took that as her signal to leave, silently rose to her feet, and turned to leave. Matt could have sworn that she flashed him a quick smile as she brushed past. "What do you want?" Dyce demanded, as he still struggled with his belt. "I'm here to make you a deal," Matt said. "I'm not in a deal-making mood," came the surly reply. "And I haven't found your robot bitch either." "Maybe I can encourage you to look harder," Matt said, with a smile of the sort which only infuriates people who already have self-control problems. "Not likely," came the reply. "And I've looked into your company. You hardly do any business at all with us. The loss of any goodwill from you won't even show on the bottom line. And don't think what you just saw in here will give you any leverage either. Everyone in this hotel does it, and it's my job to ensure that it's done right." "Wouldn't think of it," was Matt's quiet reply. "But when you checked into my company, I think you were looking in the wrong place." "What do you mean?" "Does the term 'T-12000B Universal Analytic Diagnostic Unit' mean anything to you?" "No! So what?" Matt sighed. "How about if I just refer to it as 'the analyzer'?" "Oh, yeah. I know what you mean. And as I re-it-er-ate, so what?" "My company makes that product. An excellent tool, in the right hands. And very expensive. I checked today on your licensing terms for it." "And?" "It seems that you purchased only a single-site evaluation license for use at your corporate headquarters. If you were to be found using it anywhere else without the full enterprise license, you would be in major violation of the terms of your license." Dyce was all bluster now. "And you think you can prove anything?" "Oh, I think so. These are very fancy machines. And for diagnostic purposes, they maintain a hidden maintenance log of all their uses. As a senior field engineer, I not only have the codes to view those logs, but the authority under the license terms to inspect the tool at any time I choose. Would you like to bring it up now? Or shall we discuss upgrading your license right here on the spot? I feel it can go without mentioning that under the same license agreement, the fines for illegal use are treble the actual license fees." Dyce reviewed his bluster option, and decided the better course of valor was to discard it. More reasonably Dyce continued, "Okay. You got me. Your company will get its money." "I'm sure they'll be very happy to hear that," Matt replied. And then he went in for the kill. "There's only one other matter." "Yes?" came the cornered animal growl. "You will now be in compliance for all future use, though I dosuggest you learn how to use it properly. It can do amazingly good things, if you'll just read the instructions. We even offer field training in its use." "Okay, okay. What's your point?" "There still remains the matter of your past, illegal use. And how this would reflect so very badly on the overall image of Courtesy Suites if such a senior person as yourself was found to be violating another corporation's intellectual property rights. Especially considering how tightly Courtesy Suites guards their own properties." Mr. Dyce caught on immediately. It is easy to suspect the rest of the world of being equally sleezy, when you are this way yourself. Dyce could see Matt's hand out, even though Matt had both of them in his pockets at the moment. "And what's this going to cost me?" "Oh, not much." "You want a few free nights at the hotel? Want me to comp your stay here?" "That doesn't interest me. Maybe instead, just something you don't even want anymore." "And what's that?" Matt let silence speak for him, giving Dyce the time to work out the answer for himself. It didn't take him long. "You want that Louise bitch." "Lisa," Matt corrected. Dyce got on the intercom with his secretary. "Harriet, what happened to that Louise - Lisa - robot we took out of service." "We have her crated," came the reply, "And marked for return to Corporate." "Change its disposition to 'Scrapped on Site', and have someone deliver her to..." Dyce looked at Matt. "The lobby will be fine. My stay here is finished." "The lobby. Got that?" "Yes, sir, Mr. Dyce." Dyce hung-up the intercom. "Satisfied?" he asked Matt. "Completely." "You won't be?" "Why not?" "All her programming is Courtesy Suites intellectual property. You know all about intellectual property, don't you Mr. Samuals. I'll bet you're a fucking expert, aren't you?" Matt didn't reply to the taunt, so Dyce continued. "When it leaves the hotel grounds, all programming will automatically be wiped. You'll get nothing more than what she arrived from the factory with. So what do you think about that, Mr. Eye Pee Expert?" "We have a deal," Matt replied, "Which I'm sure you've recorded somehow for your own protection. It may turn out to be a bad deal on my part, if I wasn't as smart here as I thought I was being. But I did agree to your terms, and I will abide by them." "Have a nice day, Mr. Samuals," Dyce said with a sneer, offering his hand which, considering what he might have been doing with it just recently, Matt ignored this time. Instead Matt turned and walked out of the office, with Dyce's laughter echoing behind him. - - - It only took Matt a few minutes to pack and carry his bags back down to the lobby. Traci was at the desk again, and quickly checked him out. And for the second time today, Matt felt he saw a quick, secret smile from a fembot here, before her robotic demeanor took hold again. As he finished the formalities she said, "I believe what you're looking for is over there," nodding towards a chair in a secluded corner. Lisa was sitting there quietly, hands folded on her lap. She was dressed in the same outfit she had picked out when they went out exploring the city together. (Could Darci have had a hand in this?) Matt dropped his bags and rushed over to her. He need not have hurried, since she sat there, unresponsive, until he was within touching distance. Then, in a dull, monotone voice Matt had come to hate, she offered up her remote and began the Courtesy Suites spiel. Matt grabbed at the remote. "Lisa. Enter enhanced mode." She paused, then replied, "That mode is not available in this unit." Matt tried twice more, getting exactly the same response. No doubt Dyce was watching this on some hidden camera, getting his rocks off in the process. Matt looked back at Traci, who just pointed at the front door. Then Matt got it, and nodded. Matt went back and retrieved his bags, then went back over to Lisa. Holding down her command button he instructed, "Lisa, follow me." She stood up, looking so heartbreakingly beautiful and vulnerable that he almost dropped the bags just to take her in his arms. Instead, however, he decided not to give Dyce any more satisfaction. Matt walked out through the hotel doors, with Lisa following right behind him. They got into a cab at the curb, and pulled away. A couple blocks from the hotel Lisa suddenly jerked, as if a shock had run through her body. Then she sat frozen for a number of seconds before reciting, "Initializing." A long pause, then she continued, "Lisa Model 17. Processor revision 9B. Clock rate 18 ato-seconds. Serial number Q00012. Initialization complete." She then turned to look at Matt, as the human holding her control unit for guidance, and said evenly, "Hello. I am Lisa. How may I serve you?" Matt smiled for a moment, remembering Lisa's parting gift from his last visit to Courtesy Suites. Then he replied. "You may serve me by coming with me to my, make that our, home and allowing me to give your memories - your life - back to you." As a newly activated robot, Lisa didn't have the intrinsic database of life experiences to understand what Matt really meant. However she liked his tone of voice, and the way he looked at her. The first decision of her newly initialized mind was that she was ready and willing to follow him wherever he wanted to take her. - - - Postscripts: On his return, Matt was able to get his company to pay for the entire trip, since he had completed a valuable licensing deal on it. The company considered at an excellent deal. Several weeks later another e-mail from Darci arrived. This one was longer, and told Matt that, as overall numbers had continued to slip at her Courtesy Suites, Mr. Dyce had finally, quietly, been fired. They now had a new manager who was intent on both restoring the hotel to what it had been pre-Dyce, and using it as a model to improve all the other Courtesy Suites as well. In closing, Darci said she wished them both well, hoped she'd get to see her special friends Lisa and Matt again sometime soon. Soon after, a box arrived with all of Lisa's lovely gowns, lingerie, and shoes from the hotel. These were very welcome, since Matt and Lisa had not had much time left over for shopping in their first few weeks together. - - - -- Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | alt.sex.stories.moderated ----- send stories to: | | FAQ: Moderator: | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d, look for subject {ASSD}| |Archive at Hosted by | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+