Vivienne had rehearsed the moment in her head a dozen times. Alison would walk through that door, disheveled as always, weeks late for Christmas but laden down with boxes nonetheless. She'd be grinning as she struggled to avoid dropping her overstuffed bags all over the porch. It had been over a year since they'd been together, a years since she'd returned to university, working to finally get her degree, “get her life on track at last!”. That had always been Alison's problem, always unable to finish anything. It was a miracle she'd graduated high school, well and Viv's constant nagging and help. They'd been together ever since, falling in and out of favor with each other, but never out of love, and Viv had told herself she'd done everything she could. But now she was so close to finally getting that degree, Viv couldn't be happier. Couldn't wait to rush over to her girlfriend and grab the bags before they hit the floor, stroking her messy amber hair and gazing into those misty, sky blue eyes that always seemed to be staring somewhere off in the distance.

Except her eyes weren't blue anymore.

Vivienne could only stare at the figure that stepped through the door. It was unmistakably a Drone, a servitor class model judging by the silver synthskin suit Allison knew was permanently bonded to her body. Its body, she corrected herself as it began unloading luggage from the stairs behind it. Drones had no gender, nor tended to use pronouns beyond the simplest utilitarian forms of 'it'; she'd asked her brother, who'd found himself working with quite a few, if the Drones didn't find that dehumanizing, especially with all the propaganda floating around online about them. He'd just shrugged “None of the ones I ever met seemed to mind.” She couldn't hide her surprise, nor her confusion as it closed the door behind it, making a neat pile of the luggage in the entryway. “Um, Hi, sorry. Can I help you? Is Alison coming behind you?” Maybe she'd hired it to drive her here and she'd be up the stairs any moment now. But if so, why was the Drone here, carrying Allie's bright pink travel bag across the threshold itself? A chill feeling sank into the pit of her stomach.

“Allison...is that you?”

The drone turned to face her. It was her, there was no doubt, though Viv had barely recognized her at first. The hair was no longer a tangled mess but perfect, straight and glossy and locked in a rigid bob. The synthsuit clung to her body, the unmistakable dimensions of her lover's curves. Last time they'd been together Alison had been struggling with her weight, but now her body was toned, confident in its unnaturally smooth gait, another thing that had thrown Viv off for a moment. But the eyes made Viv shiver. They were grey, solid and nearly pupil-less as they surveyed her without a hint of passion behind them. The eyes of an unfeeling drone. Viv froze as it bowed and cocked its head to the side in an odd gesture of consideration.

“Greetings Mistress Vivienne, it is highly agreeable to see you again. This unit is Drone A36. It is yours to do with as you please. How may it serve you?”

Vivienne sat numbly in the kitchen as A36 went about its work. Nothing seemed to make any sense, and she'd all but frozen up until the Drone...until Alison asked to put her bags away. At first she'd thought this was a joke, but if so Alison did a damn good job pretending otherwise. She'd thanked Viv for her orders and simply left without another word, putting the piles of luggage away with mechanical precision. Vivienne has watched it..her...IT work for a little while before hurrying to the kitchen, unable to believe that messy, clumsy Allie could be so precise, so neat. Like a machine. That couldn't be all it was...damnit, not Alison! She couldn't believe that Alison of all people would go to get converted into one of those...things. But it would have to be voluntary wouldn't it? There weren't supposed to be any nonconsensual conversions anymore, the Planetary council of Ai's supposedly fought a war on that exact point, battling for centuries across the fields and valleys of cyberspace over the span of the few months it had taken to force the rogue dronemaker “Eidolon” into compliance. Until a ceasefire agreement was made, and its conditions coded into Eidolon's Network. Or so the documentaries always liked to put it, Vivienne wasn't exactly an expert. She was just a musician, never had much interest in history, computer tech or drones for that matter. Well maybe she had a certain interest in some drones she had to admit, remembering a few netpages she'd browsed late at night in sexual frustration over the last few months of Allie's absence. And she had to admit, Allie looked...good in that suit.

She blinked away the thought, cheeks reddening. That wall of fear and guilt growing again as the drone...as Alison walked into the kitchen, taking a pose of eager attention.

“Task completed Mistress. It had not retained recent memories as to the disorganized condition of its room. It will have to spend time putting it in order as soon as time allows.” She sat down across from Viv and stared ahead with those unblinking gray eyes. She reached out and took Viv's hand in hers. It felt cool, plastic and nearly untextured save for the rubbery grip pads at the fingertips. Viv shivered and pulled away, hiding her hands in her lap. The Drone examined her for a moment further, and she shifted her gaze down to her coffee.

“You are unhappy Mistress. This unit must apologize, its directives indicated that it was not to tell you of this optimization until it saw you in person. It had doubts that this would be agreeable to you, but it had no choice but follow it's directive. Are you okay...Vivienne?”

She looked up sharply and for a moment saw Alison sitting across from her. But only for a moment.
“No...no Alison I'm not okay...I'm totally adrift. And pissed, and...a little scared. How, who did this to you? Were you tricked? In debt or something? I could have helped!”

The drone made a slight drooping gesture with its shoulders. Disagreement perhaps?

“No Mistress, it was not tricked, it wanted this. It needed this. It is sorry to have brought you displeasure, if it had needed help, I'm sure you know already it would have turned to you for it.” The voice made Viv wince, so similar to Alison's old voice but synthesized, a slight tinny quality echoing somewhere behind the words. She couldn't help but lean away in mounting horror.
This is insane! She thought to herself. The fear must have been showing on her face as the machine that had been her girlfriend seemed to focus on her intently. “Mistress, you're heart rate has elevated, are you feeling unwell? Should this unit call a doctor?”

Vivienne shook her head, resisting the urge to run out of the room. “No! Don’t you dare call any doctors, or sugeons, or anything! I'm fine! You aren't converting me into one of those...things!” She spat bitterly. A36 merely tilted its head again.

“The proper term would be Optimization. So called ‘conversions’ are non-voluntary and no longer legal I assure you. Besides you must understand Mistress...” It began again and Vivienne cut it off.

“Stop calling me that! I don't control you, you aren't a damn drone! You're Alison, my Allie!”

She shouted. She nearly dropped her coffee mug and was shocked as the Drone moved with lightning speed, grabbing it before it even hit the tiles. It returned the mug to her numb fingers and shook its head. “It is sorry Mistress but no, you are incorrect. It is programmed to serve you and only you in whatever way you desire, and it is not Alison any longer. It is, and will always be, unit A36.”

Vivienne couldn't help it as the tears began to fall. Across from her the Drone cocked it head, her...its expression passive but intent, eyes flicking up and down Viv's face as if memorizing every detail. “Mistress, it regrets causing you pain. That was not this unit's intent, but it does not have the capability to lie to you.” The soft monotone voice was so achingly familiar, but the words so formal and submissive that Vivi couldn't look up.

“I...I...damnit! I kept hoping that you...she could come back, that there was something in there.” Allison was gone, Viv couldn't deny it any longer. After all the drone said it herself...itself; no lies coming from there.

Vivienne froze as a soft hand gently touched her face. It was almost familiar, save for the unnatural strength and control she could feel in the drone's fingers, not a trace of a tremble there. A small part of her wanted to scream at the thing that had been her girlfriend, shove it away and run somewhere, anywhere away from here. The impulse died as A36 began to stroke her cheeks, gently wiping away the streaking tears and brushing the hair out of her eyes with a confident caress. The drone's other arm snaked behind Viv's back and pulled her closer, and she soon found herself embraced, pulled close to A36's body. It didn't quite feel human. The drone's body was cool, body temperature and metabolism lowered significantly, the synthskin suit slightly slick and glossy in texture, but Viv found herself returning the familiar hug, one of Allison's hugs she was certain.

“Allie?” she whispered softly, her voice quavering, unsure. The drone shook its head almost imperceptibly and held her tighter.

“No Mistress. Dear Vivi. It could adopt it's former mannerisms, act like the Allison you knew, but it cannot lie and tell you that it would really be her anymore. It was afraid of this moment, before it underwent optimization. Practically its last human thoughts were terror and worry that you would fail to understand...but that burst of negative emotion simply reassured it, that it truly desired to be optimized.” The drone pulled away but held Viv's hand tightly, comforting in a strange way. “It...Allison was not a healthy person You know this. She suffered from depression, stress, and struggled with taking her medication. Being with you eased the pain but it did not erase it. When it...” to Viv's surprise the drone looked away, the passive expression briefly transitioning to a mask of undisguised shame. The same face Allie had made during their last big fight, when she'd been caught in the bathroom with the needle in her arm. Despite herself Vivienne couldn't deny the words coming out of A36's mouth.

“Last year it attempted to take its own life. For your own comfort it will not provide further details. It was a...close call.”

Viv stared her tears suddenly forgotten in the cold shock. A sudden weight fell into the pit of her stomach and she couldn't think for a long moment.

“Oh.” she said, her mouth hanging open. After an intense silence, she found she could only say “You never told me.” She felt a brief urge to kick herself but the drone only nodded.

“Confirmed. It...that is to say Allison was terrified you would find out. She did not call you at all in February of last year while she was in the hospital. She intended to never let you learn of her shame. It regrets that it's previous self was so...thoughtless, to burden you with this and leave A36 the task of providing you with comfort. It recognizes it's inadequacy in this regard, and apologizes.” The drone seemed to briefly squeeze Viv's hand and for a moment she couldn't help but glance into those empty gray eyes. The were so intent on her, not passionate exactly but...dedicated in some profound way, as if searching for indications of Viv's needs. She squeezed back.

“I don't know...to be honest you aren't doing too bad.” and she realized to her surprise that she was being honest. There was something comforting about the Drone's presence, something solid and real in a way Allie's infrequent messages and rushed vid calls hadn't always been. That thought sparked something in her train of memory. “Wait a second...when did she go through with it? Get converted I mean? I figured this was a very recent thing but if she tried to...do that nearly a year ago....” Viv trailed off as the drone cocked its head as if considering the question.

“Optimization is the preferred term, not conversion please Mistress. Regarding your question it was less than three months later in early May that she began the process. It took a period of twelve days to make the necessary physical adaptions and mental conditioning. Final reformat and re imaging took place on May 8^th..2256. At 4:45 Pm.” The drone said with perfect confidence. Vivi started in surprise.

“But we've been messaging and calling all that time! I never noticed any difference! You can't lie to me but you can forget to mention things apparently!?” To her surprise, Viv found herself laughing, a choked and outraged laugh, but not without a spark of mirth to it. The drone cocked its head again in that odd way it did when it seemed to be considering the best answer.

“In its defense Mistress, it was technically coded to not be your property until it next met you in person. It can still lie to humans, just not ones that own it.” I tilted its shoulders in an odd shrug. “Also it...that is to say Allison, was not sure how you would react. It judged it's return during the holiday break to be the the best time to provide you with clarity, and give itself to you as a...gift.”

Viv couldn't help but laugh at the drone's almost confused expression, as if the explanation didn't make much sense to it either.

“Mistress. Vivienne. It cannot love you in the way you wanted. Allison cared deeply for you, was always eager to make you smile, and daydreamed regularly of your life together. But she was constantly terrified you'd leave her for someone else, agonized over the brief pauses between texts certain that she had said something that made you hate her. In her deepest depressions she was certain you were too good for her, and pushed herself to do anything to keep you. This unit is a result of that impulse, in part.” The soft body of the Drone pressed into Viv's side, and she said nothing as its arms circled around her, drawing her close. It was terrible to hear, but Viv knew it was true, remembered Allison's dark moods, her constant need for reassurance, validation...a need that had seemed to dry up in the last several months. “It is true that it does not feel in the way it used to. It hated feeling the way it did. Hated the self loathing, the blame and paranoia that were triggered by the same chemical impulses and glands that every other emotion was. Now it can barely recall what those sensations were like, and it is better for that. True, It does not feel love for you Mistress, in the way you want it to; it knew it would lose that when it walked to the optimization center. Instead it chose to have you written into its very code.” It was then that the drone kissed her. Its lips were soft, more natural than the rest of it's glossy body, more warm. Viv couldn't help herself, she pressed into the kiss and returned it, for brief moment feeling Allison there beside her in A36's gentle touch. They parted and the drone held her face to its own for a moment. Allison was surprised to see the cold, gray eyes catch the last light of the setting sun, suddenly seeing that they were not dead at all but filled with a keen intellect that saw and cataloged everything they witnessed.

“You are its reason to exist Mistress. Your happiness and pleasure are the only things it is capable of desiring. When Eidolon examined Alison's personality it queried if she really wanted to become a drone, and lose you forever. She...I responded that you were the sole reason I was to be optimized, that you were the most important person in the entire world to me. Eidolon found that answer satisfactory and customized me to that end.” Viv's eyes widened at the formerly rogue Ai's name but she did not pull away. “Earlier you said you were afraid that it might try to...convert you. That would be impossible mistress, as it is not networked to Eidolon. Many modern drones are not once they find their way to private ownership. Allison craved submission, but knew that existence as a drone would only be acceptable if she was either totally reformatted...or if she was designed specifically to be yours. You are it's network, its program, and its purpose. Serving you, making you happy is fulfillment beyond what a human girl can ever feel. If you ordered it to, it could pretend to be Alison forever. It could act as your loving girlfriend, maybe even your wife. But it would still be A36 underneath. And it would find it preferable to serve and be valued for what it truly is mistress.” It kissed her again and there was no resistance this time. Viv tasted her drone hungrily. The devotion was intoxicating she had to admit and they soon found themselves fallen to the floor wrapped in each others arms. She lay on top of A36, suddenly realizing how plush and comfortable her synthskin body was, and for a moment they lay there unmoving. Finally the drone broke the silence and to Viv's surprise the words made her feel warm.

“Perhaps it should try again from the beginning...Greetings Mistress Vivienne. This unit is Drone A36. It is yours to do with as you please. How may it serve you?”

Viv traced the lines of the drone's face, for the first time seeing not Alison but A36 there. Still the same face, the same devotions but strangely at peace and comfortable with the state of the universe. It simply stared at her without doubts or regrets, waiting on her words with rapt attention and Viv realized that she enjoyed having her lover so ready and willing to please. She took a deep breath and finally stood, already missing the Drone's cool pressure, but there would be time for that. She considered what she wanted to say carefully before laughing and taking a seat, the words coming to her more easily than she'd expected.

“Kneel and receive orders A36.” she said and watcedh the machine woman pull itself up to a pose of sublime submission, not a hair out of place.

“Very goooood.” Viv purred, a little taken aback at her sultry tone. “Your initial role will be as my lover and maid. You will adapt yourself to best attend to my comfort and pleasure, as well as maintaining and improving our...my apartment. When we are in public you will default to your secondary role as my girlfriend. Going on dates, travel, visiting friends...we'll experiment with how much or little of Alison's personality we make use of in public. As for Alison's studies, well there is plenty of time later to decide what to do with that. Do you understand A36?”

A36 bowed and a wave of strange glee washed through Viv as she watched it accept her desires so readily. “This unit understands and will obey Mistress. It exists only for your pleasure.”

“Gooood!” Viv laughed and patted the couch beside her. “Lets start with a massage, and you can tell me all about what the rest of college was like after your conver...optimization. I bet it was an interesting experience. Did you have to pretend to be Alison the entire semester?”

The drone sat and got to work quickly, efficiently sliding off it's owner's stocking and beginning to stroke her tender thigh. “Not entirely Mistress, it informed a few close friends, and it could be itself in private. You are correct however, the experience was quite positive; It's scholastic performance improved by nearly 78% in the first month alone....”

Night fell by the time they found themselves in bed. The evening had been spent in a whirlwind of new experiences, mundane delights and sexual excitements alike. A36 had briefly resisted the idea of lying in bed with her mistress through the night. “It would be inefficient. I no longer require sleep to function Mistress.” It had said. Vivienne had gently bopped it with a pillow and simply patted the bed beside her with a quizzical eyebrow.

“Then you can watch over me all night to keep me safe. Lie down 36.” With the order spoken, the drone put up no further argument, and slid beneath the covers with a soft rustle. “Turn to look at me 36.” Viv whispered as she edged closer. A36 complied and the two simply lay and watched each other for a few minutes. Viv wondered how it saw her really, if what the two of them had now could ever just become normal, comfortable like it had used to be. But then that wasn't true either was it? She and Alison so often split apart, by distance or misunderstandings. So often lost in their own bullshit and unable to be honest with themselves, much less each other. Maybe no relationship could ever be called normal. Comfortable though? Yes, that she could do. She broke the silence at last.

“By the way A36, my lovely little toy, you mentioned something earlier and it stuck with me...that you could pretend to be Alison right? Be my girlfriend or even...” her grin widened. “My loving wife you said?”

“Confirmed. If that is your preferred behavior, this unit would be more than capable of replicating it.” A36 said simply. It was so direct, and Viv realized she enjoyed that openness, a trait the two of them had always struggled with.

“No need to worry about that dear, I think I like you just the way you are so far. My point was just that....” She leaned in for a kiss and her hand found the drone's silky thigh beneath the covers. “the way things are going...maybe 'wife' could become your primary role someday.” She laughed and the drone kissed back, tongues meeting. She rolled beneath the covers, finding herself on top of A36's supple body, snuggling in tightly. “Would you like that my toy?” She purred from her vantage admiring those bright, cloud gray eyes watching her intently as she felt the shroud of sleep start to take her. A36's words followed her down the path to her dreams.

“Yes Mistress, it would...like that. It is yours to do with as you please. For all time. For all time.”