“I’m home.” The call echoed through the house, and Unit Lena38, through her programming haze, recognized the presence of another unit in the vicinity. E27 had returned from her errand. Lena38 terminated the computer link, experiencing the sense of loss that always came after severing herself from the host system. She remained hopeful that soon that separation would no longer be necessary, that she could remain connected all the time. She brushed the hair away from the back of her neck to unplug the connection cable from the suit’s collar, and felt the comforting persona of H38 fade into the background as her Lena personality took hold. She carefully coiled the cord and placed it beside the screen, then looked up as the room lights flickered. One of the bulbs in the ceiling fixture was dying, it would need replacing soon.

As Simi stepped into the room, she smiled at Lena. “There you are.” She carefully placed a heavy box on one of the long worktables, positioned a thick white shopping bag beside it, then turned to give Lena a long, lingering kiss.

Lena savored the sensations. “Mmm, thank you, Simi,” she said when their embrace finally ended. “So, did you bring dinner?”

“Yep, from that new Thai place, I left it on the kitchen table. Also brought you this,” Simi said, flipping open the box flaps. Inside lay an assortment of electronics parts, wrapped in individual plastic bags: microprocessor chips, tiny node buttons, and other paraphernalia. “This was on the porch, the online order came today. I also got you these,” she pointed to a few old cell phones with broken screens that she’d nipped from one of the electronics recycling boxes at the grocery store. “And last, but not least,” from the white bag she pulled out a folded mass of shiny silver fabric, and another in midnight blue, almost black. “Two spandex bodysuits, one like mine, and the darker one with gloves and a hood, in case you decide to make that headphones-and-goggles device you told me about, the full body experience.” Simi preened at her success in locating everything on Lena’s shopping list. “Two-for-one sale. Wasn’t sure I’d find a store like that around here, but hey, it’s a college town. So, do you think you can harvest what you need out of that?” She leaned against the table, and patted the box beside her.

“I think so,” Lena nodded, scanning the components. She examined the bodysuits, inhaling the scent of the fresh materials. She pulled at the fabric, testing the elasticity with a frown; it might need reinforcing, but she was planning some detailed modifications anyway.

Lena looked around the large room, seeking an open space at one of the four tables for a suitable workspace. There were orderly bins and shelves of components everywhere, sitting atop larger cabinets containing tools, in this, her fabrication shop. The tables contained multiple pages of designs, and the scattered experimental fragments of her latest project, but Simi had brought her the final components for Lena’s biggest challenge: making a full-body programming suit of her very own.

She was thankful to have so much room to work with in their new house; well, new to them, anyway. After getting the quaint little two-bedroom home, not far from the campus, they’d had to upgrade the electrical system, and replace a lot of the wiring to handle their electrical load. That had cost them a lot of money. The permit applications had set off a few inquiries from local officials and authorities, concerned about an illicit pot-growing operation, but they’d eventually managed to smooth everything over. The fiber-optic internet link they had specially ordered had cost a bundle, and the new computer hardware hadn’t been cheap either; a collection of linked, custom-built machines and a set of three monitors dominated one of the big tables. Simi had begun dabbling in cyber-investing, which fortunately had paid off most of the credit card bills.

Lena had two jobs now to help cover the expenses, but with her enhanced capabilities, they weren’t interfering with her studies. She actually had increased her credit load with more classes. She did fret about cutting into the time she had left to design, build, and test new devices and accessories, especially with her plans for the new suit. Lena had worked through the night once or twice, but Simi had scolded her roundly for it.

Sleep, another human requirement. Lena shook her head, glancing over at the bed in the corner. She had her own bedroom, but she felt more at home in here, in their “drone space”, as Simi called it. So, she and Simi had put another bed in here, for those long nights when the need for sleep began blunting her thinking. Or for sex, another frequent activity.

After a few phone calls and family visits, she and Simi had won a hesitant acceptance from Lena’s parents. While they were still reluctant to give approval openly to the romantic relationship between Lena and Simi at first, they never voiced outright disapproval, either. As to their real relationship, Lena and Simi had left that carefully concealed. Lena’s parents had been happy to offer some financial assistance to their daughter for the down payment on the house, though they insisted Lena and Simi make the payments themselves. They occasionally suggested renting out the other bedroom for additional income, since Lena wasn’t really using it, except as storage.

The bulb flickered again, drawing her out of her rumination. That light probably wouldn’t last the evening. She began spreading out the parts from the box on the table.

“I’ve finished analyzing the suit’s design,” she informed Simi. “And I downloaded some better soldering techniques. It might take a bit of trial and error, but I should have the new suit done in two or three weeks.”

“That long?” Simi said, astonished.

“Well, there are thousands of nodes to install, and sewing in all these connections is going to take time.” It would have been impossible for Lena before, but thanks to the old suit, she had the needed skills now. While Simi had continued becoming an expert programmer, Lena had become a skilled engineer almost overnight, thanks to a marathon downloading session. “And with this,” she held up one of the packages from the box, a new Wi-Fi antenna, “it’ll be able to connect to the system or the Internet wirelessly. The battery life might be a problem, the one in the suit still doesn’t last long; I’ll work on that. Of course, for recharging, I’ll still need to plug it in.”

“Two or three weeks, huh?”

“Yes, but check this out.” Lena rummaged on another table, then held up a band of shimmering gray cloth, with what appeared to be a blue glass oval embedded in silver wire attached to the middle.

Simi eyed the silvery band with curiosity. “What’s that?”

“It’s a collar, like the one in the suit,” Lena said proudly. “I was able to reproduce it. Turns out, there’s a lot you can do with just the collar alone.”

“A separate collar?” Simi said incredulously. She took the shiny strip and inspected it. There were several lumps in the fabric, indicating components; she wished they were less obtrusive. The charging port was behind the closure flap. Next to the flap were two flat metal pads, a more complex version of the suit’s transceivers. “What can it do?”

“I upgraded the battery, the memory, and the processors, and I finished the initial modifications this morning, so it can handle information downloads, and do maintenance check-ins. It can’t do physical modifications, or full-body stimulation,” Lena said longingly. “It can’t take control of the body the way the suit can, but it can imitate the same neural signals, make you feel like it is. Sadly, even with the upgrade, the battery barely lasts a day, so it’ll need to be charged every night. I’m still having trouble with the transceivers.” She pointed to the metal pads; when the collar was put on, they would straddle and press against the spine of the wearer, receiving and feeding information directly into the nervous system. “I think these are too big, but they have to be for maximum neural throughput. And I included an older Wi-Fi antenna,” she pointed to the filigree around the blue stone, where she had hidden it.

“’So, will putting on this collar turn me into a robot?’” Simi joked, echoing one of the questions Lena had asked when she’d first found out about the suit. She took the device and stretched it around her neck, chuckling as she fastened the clasp, locking the collar in place. “What about-“ Her face went blank, and her body snapped to attention. “Connection established. Unit E27 online.” She looked at Lena. “The device is a success, Lena38; this unit is connected to the system.” She cocked her head slightly. “The connection is weak, but stable. The neural link is sufficient, but the transceivers can be improved, as you suggested.” She nodded once in approval. “This device will provide a viable alternative for most applications. This unit expresses gratitude.”

Lena beamed, then crooked her finger, beckoned E27 closer. She whispered several phrases in E27’s ear, and thrilled as she heard E27 respond: “Command confirmed.” She would test the alteration she had just made to E27’s responses later. For now, she removed the collar from Simi’s neck.

“Unit E27 offline.” She blinked, returning to herself. “Ooh, that’s going to be fun. There wasn’t any direct stimulation for a compliance reward though,” she pouted. “But I did feel something, like an echo. I’ll miss the suit. But, as I was about to say, what about initialization? Can you initialize a new unit with the collar alone?”

Lena shook her head. “No, not nearly enough power for that, you’d still need the full suit. My new suit could manage it, but because it’s an intensive process, it should still be plugged in for initializing someone, or programming their interface, as I found out with yours.” Then she looked at Simi narrowly. “Having kinky thoughts again, lover:Simi?”

“Well, you know me,” Simi shrugged. “And her,” she added, referring to her alter-ego. “C’mon, just one person?” she pleaded.

“Hmph. I don’t exactly see us using the suits, or collars like this, to create an army of sexy robot drones to do our bidding,” Lena snorted sarcastically. “Or to take over the world. Not very realistic. Besides, my hands are full enough with the two of you.”

“This coming from the girl who practically begged to be converted into a robot,” Simi observed.

“I never begged!” Lena objected. Then a slow smile spread across her lips. “Well, not back then I didn’t. We’ve both done plenty of begging since. Now, help me get out of this suit, and we can have dinner. Then I’ll show you everything I’ve been working on.” The lightbulb flickered again, and she glanced up in annoyance.

Simi smiled sensually. “Oh, I’ll help you take the suit off.” She stroked Lena’s cheek, glancing at the bed in the corner. “Then you’ll show me everything, my little Lena-bot.”

Lena38 loved it when Simi called her that. As she felt Simi’s fingers opening the zipper and exposing her skin, her body rippled with pleasure; not just from anticipation, but from a conditioned response to hearing her pet name. That was one of the first additions she’d told Simi to make to her programming. She still wanted her own suit, but since the collar appeared to be working, she could use that, instead of cutting into Simi’s suit usage time.

And I can wear it all day! That was everything Lena38 wanted, desired, craved, now; to be connected all the time, and to respond automatically, unthinkingly, to Simi’s commands, just as Simi and Unit E27 would respond to hers.

After all, Lena38 was a robot.

--------------------

The failing overhead bulb abruptly fizzled and went out, dimming their corner of the room. Entwined on the bed with Lena, Simi looked up at the fixture. “Mood lighting,” she chuckled. She trailed a finger lazily down Lena’s bare chest in the semi-darkness before leaning in to suckle her breast. Lena moaned sensually, so she nipped tenderly at the bud as well, evoking a tiny gasp of pleasure. “Hmm, so how many ‘sexy robot drones’ does it take to change a light bulb?” Simi murmured. Her fingers continued their downward slide, eventually settling in Lena’s wet slit, rubbing intently.

Lena flashed her a wicked smile. “Only one, but she will comply without question.” Before Simi could react, she tapped Simi’s forehead with a finger and commanded: “Unit E27, make love to me again, then fix that bulb.” She shivered with anticipation. Earlier, while Simi was wearing the collar, Lena had whispered in her ear, made a small change to E27’s programming; now she would see if the collar truly worked. As Simi’s naked body stiffened in her arms and her face went blank, Lena’s smile deepened at hearing the words she’d programmed her lover to say:

“As you command, Mistress.”

The End