“Good morning, Lena.”

“Morning, Simi.” It was late in the morning when Lena stumbled into the front room and collapsed sluggishly on the couch. Her head was fuzzy, and her body barely a step above a liquid state. “So tired,” she moaned. Her last final had concluded the day before, and she’d stayed out celebrating with friends late into the evening for the first time in months.

“The consequences of a well-earned night of excess.” Simi walked over and offered Lena a mug of coffee, which she took gratefully. “I know finals can be nerve wracking,” Seeing Lena’s glare, she added an apology: “Sorry.” With Simi’s abilities, finals weren’t a challenge.

“Not helping.” Now was not the time to give voice to her resentment, so Lena buried it by sipping the dark brown stimulant to clear her head.

Simi knelt behind the couch, and put her hands on Lena’s shoulders, massaging them gently. Lena didn’t object. The number of casual touches between them had increased in the past few days; Simi was demonstrating her approval of Lena as an intimate friend and confidant, and Lena reciprocated to demonstrate her acceptance.

She’s so good for me, Lena thought to herself. “Two weeks of freedom,” she said aloud, relaxing beneath Simi’s kneading fingers. “Any plans?”

“What, you didn’t learn your lesson after last night’s revels? Take a day off!”

“Hmph.” Simi continued Lena’s neck massage. Lena rolled her head around, trying to guide Simi’s hands to the muscles with the most tension.

“Want to try a relaxation program?” Simi suggested.

“Sure,” Lena answered, still groggy. “What do I have to do?”

“Sit up straight first,” Simi grasped her shoulders, pulling Lena upwards. Lena complied, pushing herself up as best she could on the cushions. “Focus on your breathing. In, hold, and out.” She demonstrated, taking a deep, slow breath in, holding it for five seconds, expelling it just as slowly. “Again.” Breathe in, hold, release. “Keep going. Try to relax, maintain your posture, but let your muscles loosen.”

Lena allowed her head, shoulders, and arms to droop, while keeping her back straight. Simi continued massaging her shoulders and neck; Lena could feel the tensions melting away, as Simi instructed: “Feet flat on the floor. Don’t think about anything else, just focus on breathing and looseness.”

The relaxation session continued for nearly ten minutes, until Lena slumped into a puddle on the couch. “Oh, that’s woooonderful,” she cooed. “Thank you, Simi.”

“You’re welcome.” Simi’s hands stopped, then she trailed a fingertip down Lena’s neck. “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me today,” she said.

“Like what?” Lena tipped her head back to look at her languidly.

“I mean, pick a program. Your choice.”

Lena blinked in surprise. “You want me to, what, give you a command?”

Simi nodded. “Um-hm. Anything you want.”

Lena twisted around to gawk at her. “Simi, I… I wouldn’t even know where to start.” What is she up to? It would have to be something innocent, for Simi’s sake; she didn’t dare give voice to any of the other ideas she’d fantasized about. “Besides, isn’t that verboten? You made me promise, after all.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I suppose I am okay with… a limited number of commands.” She held up a finger. “Maybe one,” she thought for a moment, then held up another finger, “or two. Just don’t abuse the privilege.”

“I’ll try,” Lena said. Inwardly, she smiled to herself. I still have unlimited voice access to E27. No restrictions there.

Simi stood, then walked around the couch to stand in the middle of the room. “So? What do you want me to do? Keep in mind, if it’s not in my database, we’ll have to put the suit on and use the computer to program me. Not that I’d mind.”

Lena collected her thoughts, still groggy from the lack of sleep and the massage. “Hmm…make breakfast?”

Simi put her fists on her hips and faced Lena down. “You’ll have to be more specific. Any requests? Recipes were some of the first things I downloaded.”

Lena tried to remember some of her childhood favorites, and found an obscure one that might provide a challenge. “Eggs a la Goldenrod?”

Simi gave her a confused look, then closed her eyes as she accessed her internal files. “Oh, I do know it; that’s an oldie. Eggs, milk, butter, flour, and toast; we have those. I’ll have to get out the egg cooker.” She turned to the kitchen, then stopped, and turned back with a sly smile. “Now, is that how you give your robot slave an order? Make it sound like one,” she said playfully. “Command me, Mistress!”

Lena coughed, hard, doubling over to hide her face and her shock. Robot slave? Mistress? She’d never thought to hear Simi say something like that! Her innocent-sounding tease was triggering all of Lena’s corrupt desires. Clearing her throat, she tried to summon up an authoritative voice and adopt a serious expression before saying: “Unit E27, make us Eggs a la Goldenrod for breakfast.”

A rapturous look crossed Simi’s face, then drained away as E27 assumed control. “Command confirmed.” With measured steps, she went to the kitchen. The egg cooker was in a lower cabinet, and she knelt to retrieve it.

Lena watched from the couch as E27 worked away systematically. Once the eggs were set to hard boil, she got out the double boiler and began preparing the white sauce. As the butter began melting, E27 looked over her shoulder at Lena, and called to her. “Housemate:Lena, please assist this unit by making four pieces of toast.”

Who’s giving the orders here? Lena wondered as she pushed herself up from the cushions. She sidled up to the counter and reached for the bread, dropping two slices into the toaster. While she waited, she spared a look at E27’s blank face, then began watching her friend openly. E27’s gaze was focused on the pan, with a lock of her dark blonde hair obscuring one blue eye from Lena’s regard. Her breasts lifted slowly and fell as she breathed, her hand stirring the sauce in a precise circle. Lena felt herself drifting as she watched the spoon spiral around in the thickening glaze…

The toast popped up, and shook her out of her trance. She nipped the toast from the device, and plated it, smearing it with a little butter, before adding two more slices to the toaster, then went back to gazing indolently as E27 stirred.

When the egg cooker beeped, E27 removed the lid, and put the eggs one by one into a bowl of cold water. They would be ready to de-shell in a minute. By then, Lena had a pile of toast ready, and began breaking each slice into bite-sized pieces. As she worked, she kept stealing glances at E27. Am I falling for her?

“E27, enable privacy mode,” Lena said, finishing with the toast fragments.

“Privacy enabled,” E27 replied, continuing to stir. The sauce was nearly ready.

“What’s going on with Simi this morning?”

“Please specify.” E27 removed the saucepan from the stovetop, and began removing the shells from the eggs.

“Are you… doing something to Simi right now? Influencing her?”

“Negative, this unit is following housemate:Lena’s command to make breakfast.”

Lena frowned. “That’s not what I meant. She’s being really… friendly. More than usual. What’s she after?”

“Program:Simi wishes to cultivate a physical relationship with housemate:Lena.” E27 carefully cut an egg in half, scooping out the yolk into a separate bowl, then repeated the process with the next one.

“A physical relationship?”

E27 cut and separated the last egg. “Program:Simi wishes to have sex with housemate:Lena.”

Lena sighed and nodded. “That’s what I was worried about.”

“You do not share this desire? Your previous interactions and analysis of your current hormonal levels indicates otherwise.”

Curse your ability to read me! “I do, I’m just… not sure, I guess.” Lena took the bowl of egg yolks, and began mashing them into yellow crumbles with a fork.

E27 started chopping the egg whites into large chunks, adding them to the sauce. “Though this body is female, sexual dimorphism is irrelevant to this unit’s programming,” she explained. Her voice modulated to a softer tone. “While your physical form is not conducive to intercourse, and reproduction is not possible, stimulation can still be applied, and copulation can be achieved.”

“I’m not worried about that, E.” Lena laughed weakly. “I don’t know if that’s what I want right now, with her.” Look at us, casually discussing the possibility of having sex while making breakfast!

E27 dusted the sauce with salt and pepper. “Program:Simi follows a daily fitness routine in order to maintain a constant weight, metabolic rate, and attractive figure. In anticipation of housemate:Lena’s consent, program:Simi also downloaded a database of techniques for encouraging sexual arousal and expressing physical pleasure.”

Mmm, that might come in handy, Lena thought. Then she hesitated; why was E27 telling her this? Was she trying to interest her? Tempt her? Seduce her? Not that I’d mind, of course…

“If housemate:Lena were to give this unit a command to engage in sexual activity with her, this unit would comply.” E27 turned her empty stare on Lena. “Program:Simi would raise no objections.”

Lena shivered with delight at the fantasy; commanding Simi to make love to her, watching as Simi’s helpless body submitted to its programming… She pinched her arm to drive the vision out of her head. “I don’t think I could give a command like that. Not to her. Ordering her to have sex with me? It doesn’t feel right.” She shook her head. “Though I admit, if our positions were reversed, I don’t think I’d protest either.”

E27 cocked her head, staring at her. “Understood.” She scooped a heap of toast bits onto two plates, then poured a measure of the egg sauce over each. Finally, she topped it off with a forkful of the yolk sprinkles. She lifted each plate in one hand, and took them over to the table. Lena followed after gathering silverware from the drawer.

E27 set the plates on the table, then stood at attention. “Housemate:Lena, breakfast is prepared. Do you wish to end privacy mode?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. E27, end privacy mode.”

“Command confirmed.” And instantly E27 was gone, replaced by Simi.

“Oh, wow, this looks great!” Simi said, admiring her culinary handiwork. Then she trembled, convulsing at the waist. “Oh, crap!” she gasped, her hands clutched at her rapidly dampening crotch. “I’ll… be back in a bit.” Trying to spare an accusing glare for Lena, she ran inelegantly towards the bathroom.

“Whoops!” Lena exclaimed; she’d forgotten about Simi’s pre-programmed ‘reward’ too. Breakfast would have to wait. Lena moved the plates to the microwave for reheating. When Simi returned wearing fresh clothing, Lena bowed her head in apology. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Simi shrugged. “Hey, this was my fault. I agreed to it this time, remember? I should’ve thought of the consequences.”

“I will admit, it’s amusing to be able to make you cum on command,” Lena smirked.

“Do not get used to it!” Simi hissed. “I’m modifying our agreement today because I wanted to have some fun. Besides, E27 keeps turning your voice access on for some reason, and I’m curious to know why.”

“She hasn’t told you?”

“It’s not like we speak directly to each other; most of the time I can just tell what she’s thinking, and vice versa. But I know she doesn’t show me everything, Lena. And I can keep secrets from her when I want to, as well.”

So, the privacy function works both ways, does it? Even though E27 said Simi doesn’t know about it; maybe Simi has her own version.

“Well, why not remove the ‘reward’ function, then?” Lena suggested.

“Not on your life!” Simi growled emphatically. “Though I might need to buy some extra pads if this keeps up. Or some of those adult diapers.”

“Or go without underwear?” Lena joked, retrieving the food from the microwave.

“Hmph! Anyway, let’s eat. I haven’t actually tried this recipe before. It looks yummy.”

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

“Wow, that was better than I remember,” Lena said, patting her stomach. “It’s been a long time.”

Simi agreed, pushing back her plate. “Not very flavorful, but filling. A good breakfast food. I’m going to have to run an extra kilometer to burn those calories off.” She stood, gathering the dishes from the table, and taking them to the sink. “So, what’s next?”

“What, ready for round two?” Lena joked, then sighed, reality catching back up with her. “I dunno. I think I really should start prepping for next semester. Those finals were murder, and I just know the new classes are going to be worse.” She tried to put her secret conversation with E27 out of her mind.

“You’re no fun.” Simi stuck her tongue out at her in mock disgust.

“Easy for you to say,” Lena yapped. “I do envy you; I wish I could download all the info, like you do. It’d be so much easier.”

Simi sat down across from her at the table. “Sounds like you’re asking me to let you put the suit on. That’s not a good idea, not while the suit’s calibrated to me.” She frowned, trying to remember. “Didn’t I tell you that already?” She shrugged. “But there might be another way.”

“Really?” Lena said, interested.

“I know a few mental exercises to help increase focus, some of my pre-suit experiments. I can even teach you to act like a robot if you want.”

“By all means, continue.”

“Well, you run that relaxation program first.” Simi tried to demonstrate, sitting up straight in her chair, then letting her head and body droop. “When you’re ready, you concentrate on obedience; telling yourself that you’ll comply with the next order you’re given.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “When you receive a command, you let it fill your whole mind, and let everything else disappear.” She opened an eye to peek over at Lena. “Now, of course, that’s when E27 jumps in and shoves me aside.”

Lena closed her eyes, trying to imagine the sensations. “What’s it like when she takes over? Can you describe it?”

Simi shrugged. “It’s like when you’re driving for a long time. You know you’re driving, adjusting the steering wheel, using the pedals, keeping in lane, but you’re not really thinking about it. And then you suddenly realize you don’t remember the last twenty miles; you did it automatically.”

Lena nodded, remembering some long-distance drives in her past. “I’ve done that. Highway hypnosis, I think they call it.”

“It’s something like that, a form of self-hypnosis.” Simi nodded. “But I’ll try to explain it. What E27 does is break the command down into individual steps, like a list in my head of everything I need to do. Then she codes that list into a program, a set of orders that my body can follow, and executes it. And then I just… do it; my body runs the program. I don’t think about it, I don’t question, I just obey. Once she’s done, she steps aside, and I wake back up. I know what I did, but I don’t quite remember doing it.” She grinned. “Then, of course, I get my reward. That lets me know I did it right, and makes me want to do it again.”

Lena breathed deep, absorbing the instructions. “I wish I knew what it feels like.”

“All right then, quid pro quo.” Simi nodded, taking Lena’s hands, and lifting her from the chair. “You gave me a command, so it’s my turn. Just remember, you have to obey it, immediately and without question.” She pointed an admonishing finger. “That’s part of the training. Relax first, then do what I just described: make a list of the steps in your mind, and then finish them, one by one. Think you can do that?”

Lena cocked her head slyly. “That depends on what you ask me to do.”

Simi smiled wickedly. “Uh-uh, no questions. I’m trusting you with my mind and body, so you have to do the same.”

“I… okay.” Her breath caught in anticipation. What’s she going to make me do?

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle. Let’s see…” Simi glanced around her, then settled on the dishes in the sink. “Ahh, that’ll do.”

Lena chuckled with relief. “Hey, you planning to use me to get out of doing chores?”

Simi held up a hand to quiet Lena’s objection. “No questions. Trust me. And remember to say: ‘command confirmed’ before you start. Adds to the realism.” She stood behind Lena, put her hands on her shoulders, and whispered in Lena’s ear: “Now, my Lena-bot, wash the dishes.”

“Command confirmed,” Lena repeated dutifully. She used the focus method Simi had taught her: she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, relaxed, and let her shoulders hang loose. She allowed the command, “wash the dishes”, to sink into her mind and fill her consciousness, driving out other thoughts. She started listing the tasks she would need to do in order to complete the command: walk over to the sink, turn on the water, take brush and soap bottle in hand… She opened her eyes.

The command was everything. No other concerns existed; she would complete the command without distraction, without hesitation. Lena turned, walked over to the sink, and began fulfilling her task, one step at a time, following her mental list: Pick up, rinse, soap, scrub, rinse, dry, stack, next. She found herself acting mechanically, not even thinking, sometimes not even seeing what her hands were doing; the steps began blurring together…

Lena’s hands stopped moving, and she blinked in surprise; she was finished. The dishes and silverware on the counter were stacked and waiting to be put back in their respective cupboards and drawers. The dishwasher would go unused tonight; she was the dishwasher. “Um…” she looked down at her wrinkled hands, and tried to remember the right words to indicate her success. “Command… completed?”

Leaning on the counter beside her, Simi nodded with satisfaction. “See? You’re a natural; practically a robot already. Good job.”

Lena turned to smile at her, shivering at the praise, but Simi moved closer and put a hand on either side of her, pinning Lena between herself and the sink. She looked right into Lena’s face, and said huskily: “Time for your reward.” Their lips met, and Lena melted into the kiss. Obedience earns pleasure, Lena reminded herself. Oh, god… I told E27 I couldn’t give that command, but I wouldn’t protest if Simi did! What if she orders me to-

“Make love to me, my little Lena-bot.”

The command filled her mind, driving out all other thoughts. “Command confirmed.” Lena replied automatically, her face going blank as she surrendered to her desires and the training Simi had given her.  She didn't resist; she didn't want to resist.

Oh, fuck me… I am a robot!

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

Obedient.

Unit H38 stood ready, prepared to obey any order given to her. The only thoughts required were the ones she was given. There was already a list of programs stored in her processor, ready to be executed at a moment’s notice. The computer could add more, any program or app she or her programmer desired. The cable running between the suit and the desktop could bring her information, a copper wire feeding electrons into her body, bytes of data, instructions. And her body would carry them out, the muscles responding to the imperatives in her mind. A single command, spoken, whispered, breathed, would result in instant, unquestioning compliance. Her old personality stirred restlessly, deep in her brain; oh, how she yearned to be given a command!

Unit H38 was obedient.