2 comments/ 3152 views/ 7 favorites Sexual Angst(rom) By: komrad1156 *Note to readers: If you prefer easy, breezy love stories, may I recommend Creative Writing (a true story about an affair with my high school English teacher) or 911, What is Your Emergency? (a fictional May-December romance) or Bagging Lauren (another real-life adventure involving a yours truly and a married Mormon woman.) This one has a fair amount of scientific information in it and a lot of folks would rather stick a sharp object in their eye than read anything technical. But if you enjoy science and technology and don't mind reading details, you may just possibly enjoy this one. If not, there are plenty of other options! ***** ____________________________________________________________________________ "Mr. Grantham? I'd like you to listen to something. Would you mind?" Blake Grantham was the Albert Einstein of his generation. Born in 2225, he graduated from MIT at the age of 15. He completed his PhD in pico-technology two years later and with the help of Eric Carson's start-up money, became the CEO of Angstrom-Dynamics headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Just ten years later, his company was on the verge of breaking the Angstrom barrier as he was about to turn 25. Melissa Stewart was perhaps about the nicest woman Blake had ever met. And for what it was worth, she was still a very attractive woman—even at 35. She was also incredibly intelligent and very good at what she did. That's why he'd hired her a year ago to be his primary executive assistant. Unfortunately, she was also a true believer and although she didn't push her outdated views of human-to-human love on others, she wanted no part in the work she helping become reality beyond a paycheck and the opportunity to be around real men, one of whom might one day take an interest in her. Being a hopeless romantic, she couldn't help but hope she might possibly meet a real, live human being who would fall in love with her and if she were really lucky, even propose marriage. Her biological clock wasn't just ticking, it was hammering at her. At 35, she had precious little time to make her deepest dream come true. She wanted nothing more than to have a baby the way women had done in the distant past. It was a dream to be sure, but true believers were dreamers and for them, hope sprang eternal. "You're not going to try and persuade me that android love is evil again, are you, Melissa?" Blake teased. Melissa gave him that raised eyebrow look. Blake Grantham was her boss and without doubt the most brilliant man she'd ever known, but she still held out hope she might be able to persuade him to at least be a little more open to the possibility of dating a real live girl. She knew he'd been on a few actual dates in the past so, maybe—just maybe.... Melissa smiled. "I can't say that I don't have an agenda, Mr. Grantham. But I just thought this was a very interesting take on a topic that was once part of parcel of life in America. What I find most fascinating is how right he was only for the wrong reasons. And I think today's woman needs to understand the truth. So may I play it for you?" she asked. "Truth. You know I don't like that word, Melissa. It implies a kind of divinity. Truth is relative and not absolute," he told her. He had to admit, were he ever to date another human female, he would look for someone like her with all of her beauty, grace, and charm. He also had to admit, she practiced what she preached and she was as desirable as any human female could be. But he was too busy developing the most advanced androids ever known and if he got it right, human love and marriage would go from rare to virtually non-existent. It would become the buggy whip of the 23rd century and Grantham would spend his life with a loving female android of his own personal design. "Is that a 'yes', Mr. Grantham?" she said pushing his patience to the limit. "Okay, sure. Go ahead. But I need to keep working over here while I listen, if that's okay with my executive assistant." Melissa smiled warmly at him again as she up cued the holographic audio-visual display and mentally hit play. "There you go. Enjoy!" A loud male voice boomed out, "The feminazis would have you believe that men are irrelevant. That they are nothing but sperm donors which implies that no woman needs a man these days. In fact, if she's dependent on a man, then she's not even a real woman! This is the kind of plastic banana, good-time rock-and-roll nonsense that's taught to young skulls full of mush in our universities today. Folks, it's the 21st century and everyone but these kooks, okay—these kookettes—are wrong! Both men and women are essential parts of the equation and neither will ever become obsolete!" "What was his name?" Blake asked. "Rush Limbaugh. He was this mega-rightwing talk show host back in the days of radio. He was a hero to conservatives and loudmouth fool to liberals in the days before we were able to move beyond politics and religion. Love him or hate him, he was quite a phenomenon in his time." "Yeah, okay. I get it. I have no idea why you played that, but I have to admit that was an interesting take. Women had been treated like second-class citizens for thousands of years. With the advent of the birth control pill and a real opportunity to earn their own money, women could finally be independent from men for the first time in human history. But the flip side of that coin was that what it meant to be a woman fundamentally changed, as well. They no longer needed to be the adoring, stay-at-home wives they'd been for decades baking bread and preparing dinner waiting for their husbands to come home from work. So along with their independence came a new attitude many men had trouble dealing with. Feminists—or feminazis—as your radio guy called them—viciously attacked and mocked men who didn't like the changes they were championing for being wimps or even misogynists. Yet many men still craved the attention of a woman who would be loving, nurturing, and supportive AND hot in bed. Finding one was becoming increasingly difficult from the 1970s until just a couple of decades ago. Well, if you consider a female android a woman they way I do, that is. Of course, the feminists would say a guy like that just wanted a second mommy to hold him and burp him, but they couldn't have been more wrong. What's most fascinating is that this Limbo guy was bitching about feminists claiming there was no longer any real need for men when it's actually women who have largely become irrelevant. It's women who are now little more than egg donors. It's rather ironic in light of what some folks thought a couple hundred years ago, don't you think? So I guess that was at least worth listening to in light of the way society and love have evolved over the last 250-300 years." Melissa sighed. He just didn't get it. While he was brilliant, he could be so...clueless...and that frustrated her to no end. The point she was trying to make was that as much as she didn't care one way or the other about some long-dead talk show blabbermouth, SHE understood Limbaugh was right. Women blew it. They got so full of themselves when they got their independence that they turned most men off. Men didn't want a mommy, but they did want a loving, caring, sexually active woman to be with. Feminists, because of their in-your-face rhetoric, threw the baby out with the bathwater and set up the future exactly as it had unfolded. For true believers like Melissa, it meant that ever finding a human male to fall in love with was a virtual impossibility. And her boss was the one doing the most damage, and that hurt her deeply because she would do anything to get him to understand she could be and wanted to be the kind of woman traditional men used to date and marry before the days of sexy female androids who were all those things 24/7. She worked up the nerve to say (without the exasperation she was feeling), "Mr. Grantham? My only point was that some of us women have learned from the mistakes of the past. We're ready, willing, and able to be everything a caring, loving man would want. We won't be treated like doormats of course, but we'd trade this so-called independence of ours for real love with a real man any day." "Okay, Melissa. Point taken. But here's the counterpoint. Now that a man—any man—no matter how unattractive he may be—can choose a sexy, gorgeous, android woman who never has a bad day, who never has a headache, who never argues, who always wears exactly what a man likes all day, every day, and who lives only to please him, why would any sane man choose a real woman anymore?" Melissa's heart sank. Deep down, she knew he was right, but even deeper down, she couldn't let go of her romantic dreams...her...fantasy...that one day a real man, not an assemblage of pico-circuitry, would love her. He would want her. He would...choose her. Ken Carson was listening to the brief exchange between Melissa and Blake. He too, knew Grantham was right. The popularity of android women who could be programmed to be anything and everything a man wanted had made it virtually impossible for any woman who touted her independence to find a man. Of course, she could always purchase a male android, but as with prostitution and pornography, most women didn't care for robotic companions. Although a well-programmed android could carry on an intelligent conversation, the fact that their emotions weren't real was very troubling for most females. Men, on the other hand, had no such issues. And most were willing to do whatever it took to include working two or even three jobs to save up to buy a female android rather than bother dating and marrying an a real, live female. And why wouldn't he? History had shown over and over again that all but a tiny minority of women who got married had children, cut their hair, and soon stopped being very interested in sex. That either caused the marriage to end in divorce or for the man to go looking for sex outside of marriage. Plus, staying together meant putting up with all of the bullshit demands and the other baggage real women brought to a relationship. Once androids that looked like real women and that could function like them were readily available, the need for women dropped off dramatically. Bitchy women were relegated to celibacy or lesbianism but no man on earth would touch them. Dating and marriage were largely a thing of the past and women were the real losers. But hey, they had the freedom to be loud and proud, right? Yeah, right. Just try holding loud and proud at night and see how that works for you. Carson was so confident in Grantham's views and his abilities, he'd invested over five billion dollars in Angstrom-Dynamics. Grantham's Pico-technology patent had already returned every dollar he'd invested and a whole lot more and money was flowing in faster than he could keep up with. Carson wasn't a scientist and if...no, when...Angstrom Technology or AT came on line, he might well end up the richest man on earth. He was an investor and already one of the top ten wealthiest men, but if Angstrom-Dynamics hit pay dirt.... He didn't need to understand the technical details of the development of Technology-Based Sexual Satisfaction or TBSF, as this rapidly-growing area of science was called. He just needed to see its full potential and Carson had a gift for doing just that. He thought back to Blake's initial pitch for investment capital in Angstrom. He'd already made billions as a result of his patent on Pico-Technology while AT was the wave of the future. They didn't need a lot of convincing, but Grantham took the time to briefly walk them through the history of sex leading up to the bottom line of how and why a female Angstrom-Android or AA would be a quantum leap over the immensely popular Pico models and even more preferable to men than human women. He began his presentation by stating the obvious; that sexually speaking, things had essentially remained the same from the rise of mankind until the invention of the printing press which allowed those willing to risk the wrath of Holy Mother Church to put pornographic thoughts on paper for the first time. The later invention of the camera made it possible to take photographs of nude men and women and show them or even sell them to others. For decades, the combination of nude photographs and the written word were extremely popular with men around the world. Neither were invented with sexual satisfaction in mind, but as with all new developments in technology, there were always people (and there always would be people) ready to exploit new technologies to that end. Grantham then showed a slide depicting every human sexual interest and activity on a Bell Curve beginning with the most basic: fantasy and masturbation. Both were age-old practices enjoyed by billions of people over the past millennia and occupied the spot on the far left tail of the Curve. Just to their right were dating and traditional marriage (whether it be straight or gay although female androids obviously held no interest for gay men. Homosexuality had always been a part of life, but it was kept very secretive until around the end of the 20th century when religious prohibitions gave way to the realities of science.) The real issue at stake here wasn't gay vs straight. It was the male-female relationship and the often frustrating dynamic involved with it. Beyond that, there was prostitution which was portrayed in a separate box sort of below the Curve itself. It was a practice as old as masturbation. It still existed in some tiny pockets around the world, but it was becoming a thing of the past. Men with even a modest income could afford at least a basic android model thus eliminating the need for an actual female and still be able to have high-quality sex. The one thing prostitution offered that technically made it a step "above" masturbation was human contact. It might not be warm and loving contact, but it could be better than an evening spent with Rosy Palm. For thousands of years, the downside was being infected with some form of sexually transmitted disease, another ill of the past which no longer existed. As an aside, Grantham pointed out that unlike plain old sex, reproduction was, of course, an entirely different matter. Androids would likely never be able to actually replace women from that standpoint. Pro-creation still required a human egg and human sperm, but women were no longer needed even for childbirth as the human embryo could be nurtured in a synthetic womb thus allowing for the safe delivery of a child nine months later with no risk to anyone. Additionally, most child rearing was now done communally so the role of traditional mothers was in very low demand. It was this combination of factors that had truly made women nearly irrelevant in the 23rd century. Moving along the sexual developmental curve was the first really big technological breakthrough. Film and video gave rise to pornography on video tapes, then on DVDs, and later, to internet pornography. Men could sit at home, turn on a computer and talk directly with a live human being about sexual topics or just watch sexual acts which someone else had been filmed at either little or no cost. Just as internet porn was a huge advancement over printed material and photographs, the development of the first brainwave sensors was a quantum leap above live video. It made it possible for a human being to project his or her own thoughts onto a kind of 3D-visor worn with a specially-fitted helmet which attached to several ultra-thin probes which could be safely inserted directly into the thought-generating areas of the brain. It was a tremendous leap in technology which led to many new innovations in space travel, communications, and of course, someone found a way to use it to create a new type of pornography. Well, if one wanted to use that term. Like politics and religion, the word 'pornography' had been relegated to the dustbin of failed ideas over 100 years ago. Everyone now understood that human beings have sexual needs and that traditional (or gay) marriage wasn't the only option available to people or desired by them. Society now readily accepted any and all forms of sexual gratification involving consenting adults. There were no more sexual taboos of any kind. Even so, there was still a small number of purists who, like Melissa, refused to embrace the new technology. They were the true romantics who believed in the old ways. They still held to the notion that two loving people could be happier together than any one person could be with an android. They were a rapidly-shrinking minority throughout the world, but their rights were respected and protected by the majority. Pf course, that didn't mean they weren't the butt of a lot of jokes and ridicule from the majority who believed in the superiority of android companionship. In 2240, when Grantham was finishing his PhD in pico-technology at the age of 15, his research had led to breaking what was know as 'the pico barrier.' It was this huge leap in technology that led to one of the most significant developments in SF as well as nearly every other area of life. This new and exciting field now made it possible to think about breaking the angstrom barrier which was the new holy grail of science. To provide some perspective, Grantham explained how nanotechnology had been the impossible dream for much of the second half of the 21st century. The development of nano carbon tubes and other similar technological breakthroughs had been enormous. Working at such a small scale had seemed impossible just a few years before the nano barrier was broken, but once it had been broken, research was fruitful and kept providing new applications for all kinds of new things at this extremely small level. With a warning to the men in the room that he was going to delve into the mathematics of measurements for a minute or two, Grantham posed the question of, "Just how small are we talking when we talk about nano and pico and angstrom?" He explained as follows: "Let's start with a millimeter. The tip of a pencil is about 1mm wide and that's pretty small, right? Well, a micron is 1,000 times small than a millimeter! In other words, you could fit 1,000 microns inside just one millimeter. Here's a good example. A human hair is maybe 50-100 microns thick so as you can imagine that one micron is really, really small! If that's not small enough to make your head hurt, a nanometer is a 1,000 times smaller than a micron! You guessed it! You can fit 1,000 nanometers into just one micron and that one little micron is very, very tiny! If you're still with me, a picometer is 1,000 times smaller than a nanometer! To again provide some perspective, a cell membrane is about 5-10 nanometers thick and a carbon nanotube is just one nanometer. So, you guessed it. A thousand picometers could fit inside just ONE nanometer!" He looked at them to see if anyone had fallen asleep yet then continued. "It is truly difficult for the human mind to imagine working at a scale of nanometers and impossible to imagine something 1,000 smaller than that, but that's what we did when we broke the pico barrier. It was seen as the greatest barrier in science before we developed the process which is now used to assemble and use particles 1 picometer in size." He took a deep breath and said, "We're almost done guys. Hold on, okay? Without going into any more detail, an angstrom is much smaller than a even a picometer and breaking the angstrom barrier will be the sole purpose of Angstrom-Dynamics." After watching to make sure none of the men's eyes were rolling back in their heads as he explained the relative size differences from a millimeter to an angstrom, Grantham reminded them this was all part of understanding the history of sexual satisfaction and why Angstrom Technology was so critically important as the next step. He wanted his investors to have basic, minimal background information so that all of this could eventually be tied together allowing them to make an informed decision as to whether or not they wanted to invest billions more in his new company. Sexual Angst(rom) "Currently, we have Pico-Androids which cost about as much as luxury automobile and economy models starting at about 1/3 that price. The early models were very primitive but still looked very much like human females with very lifelike sounding voices. Breaking the pico barrier allowed for the development of an entirely new level of artificial intelligence or AI which gave the android the ability to think and learn within parameters set by the human-owner or HO. The downside was that in spite of the many new developments in artificial skin, flesh, eyes, and other human-looking organs and body parts, the Pico-Androids or PAs had a lot of difficultly with smooth, graceful movements. They struggled with things like walking up and down stairs, navigating around furniture, or using their fingers or tongues to pleasure their partners. Still, they were light years beyond their predecessors. PAs made it possible for anyone, no matter what they looked like physically, to have a partner who was as attractive as they wanted. One need only input the desired facial and body characteristics, and an android-making company could produce the desired "person" in a about a week's time. As with any new technology from the television to computers to PAs, the first models were ungodly expensive. Over time however, the price came down and anyone willing to put some money aside could eventually afford one." Carson realized this is the point at which women began becoming irrelevant because men no longer had to pretend to be interested in what women liked in order to get what they wanted—a woman who was madly in love with them, a woman programmed to please him in every way, and one who wanted sex as often as he did. Sure, it wasn't possible to take "her" everywhere because of the limitations involved with fine motor skills, but one could have a modestly rich and full life within the confines of one's home and if one were willing, they could be taken out in public but it was well—clunky, to say the least. That didn't stop everyone, though. It was hilarious to watch a PA out with "her" human on a date. Tables would get knocked over, glasses of wine would be spilled, and there was just something about the "eyes" that was a dead giveaway that it was an android. Even so, it was a quantum leap over nano-model androids in terms of SF. Angstrom-technology had the promise of changing all that. Angstrom-androids or AAs, would be lifelike in every detail. They would have the fine motor coordination skills necessary to look, act, walk, and talk, exactly like human beings. With AAs, the human-owner or HO, could tell the programmer he wanted a girl who would be able to do x, y, or z for him either on delivery or program her to learn to do it over a certain period of time. She would then inexorably progress toward the goal in a completely natural way until she was willingly and skillfully doing whatever it was the HO wanted her to do from cleaning the house to driving a car to being a voracious sexual partner. Oh, and there was never any arguing, there were no headaches, no menstrual periods, and no excuses to his demands for sex—any kind of sex. There was only genuine willingness unless, of course, one wanted some resistance programmed into the unit just to make it seem more like living with a real woman. Believe or not, that was a feature many men wanted in an android partner. That had been almost 10 years ago. Blake Grantham was now 25 and very close to breaking the Angstrom barrier. For all those reasons, Carson knew he'd made a brilliant decision to fund Angstrom-Dynamics and its brilliant, energetic CEO. ______________________________________________________________________ Grantham drove his engineers hard but there was no one he pushed harder than himself. He typically spent days at a time at work and would often go 48 or more hours without sleep. Melissa was only required to be with him 12 hours a day, five days a week, but she had no one to go home to. Truth be told, there was no one she wanted to be around more than Blake Grantham anyway, so she often fell asleep in a room next to wherever he was working. More than once, she had drifted off to sleep dreaming of a large, traditional wedding in which she would marry her handsome prince. When the tension got too high, she would even slide her hand under her skirt and pretend it was a man using his real, live, human...cock...to pleasure her and to give her the baby she so desperately wanted. But every time, she would wake up alone on a plush leather couch then spend the day attending to every need of her boss while hers went unmet. After a brutal four-day period of nearly non-stop work, Grantham sat bolt upright. "That's it!" He'd been spearheading the development of a process he called quark chaining. Everyone knew that atoms weren't even close to being the most fundamental particles in the universe because they were made up of smaller particles called protons and neutrons which formed the nucleus of the atom. Around the nucleus were electrons which endlessly orbited it. But even these tiny particles were made up of even smaller constituent pieces known as quarks. Quarks, in turn, were composed of infinitely small bits of matter called 'strings.' Grantham knew quarks could be strung but individual strings couldn't be 'chained' or bound and wrapped around one another—at least not yet. If he could crack the Angstrom barrier, then String chaining would be the next frontier. For the last three years, Grantham had fervently believed quarks could be chained, and while his team worked on supporting theories, he himself spent all of his waking moments searching for the key to make quarks link together. Doing so would allow bio- and android-engineers to integrate circuitry at a level that would allow the android to function as well or better than a human being in terms of fine motor skills, cognitive abilities, and therefore, being able to socially fit in under any circumstances. Within a month, his team of engineers had developed the initial processes to turn quark chaining into practical applications vis a vis android development. Within six months, the first prototypes were ready for testing. ______________________________________________________________________ Melissa was utterly exhausted. She'd been by Grantham's side throughout the entire process and she could count on one hand the number of nights she'd been able to sleep in her own bed. She'd been updating files for her boss on his holographic computational device when she mentally "saw" a file he'd called Characteristics for Android Input. Grantham trusted her with all of his information and she therefore had access to any and all files. She knew this one was personal, but it so intrigued her, she couldn't stop herself from opening it. As she read through the list, her heart began to race. She'd discovered the very things Grantham most wanted in a companion. These were the qualities he was going to input into his new prototype "wife." What she saw rocked her to the core. Under the heading of Physical Characteristics, she saw: Hair: Thick and full. Shoulder length. Dark brown. One soft wave. Eyes: Blue. Lashes: Thick and long. Nose: Straight with slight upturn and "button" tip. NOT bulbous. Lips: Full and soft. Cheekbones: High. Symmetry: 96% of Golden Ratio Height: 5' 7". Weight: 115lbs. Cup size: Full C. Measurements: 36-24-36. Shoe size: 7. Apparent age: 34-36 "Oh, my God!" Melissa thought to herself. She began mentally ticking off her own characteristics. She was 5' 7" and weighed 113 pounds. She was a brunette with shoulder-length dark brown hair. Her eyes were blue and she had breasts that were a full C. She switched programs and opened a facial pattern app and mentally told it to analyze hers. The results made her gasp: 95.85% of Golden Ratio. "Oh, my God," she said again only quietly and out loud. Her hands were trembling as she willed the device to return to the characteristics file. Under the heading of Mental Characteristics she read: Education: Master's Degree in Administrative Management IQ: 127 Personality: Friendly, helpful, willing to please, devoted, caring. Preferred style of dress: Strong preference for wearing dressy-looking sweaters, short skirts, 3-4" high heels, prefers expensive jewelry. Preference for beautiful dresses, cardigan sweaters, 3-5" high heels, expensive jewelry. Preference for form-fitting jeans with dressy sweaters, some jewelry, flat shoes. Make up: Always wears sheer foundation, some mascara and eyeliner, light eyeshadow, and small amount of blush. Prefers shiny gloss to dark colors except for formal occasions. Nails: French or painted to match lip gloss/lipstick. Sexual preference: Overwhelming preference for vaginal sex in all known positions two times per day after long sessions of giving and receiving oral pleasure. Must have strong need to wear requested items during all sexual activities. Dominance/Submission: Must be strongly submissive to all needs of Human Operator. Must be programmed to equate compliance to happiness. The list went on and on going into great detail, but Melissa had seen enough. She was looking at a perfect image of herself and noticed she was, as usual, wearing a very dressy sweater with a short skirt and heels. She had on very nice looking silver jewelry and virtually the same amount of makeup set forth in Grantham's list. She rarely wore lipstick and her nails were indeed French down to the white tips. She mentally clicked "off" and the device disappeared from her retinal screen. Melissa sat there trying to make sense of what she'd just learned. She looked for alternative explanations, but none of them made any sense. There was only one logical reason why Blake Grantham had selected virtually every characteristic she possessed or exhibited. She also immediately understood that even if she were correct, that didn't necessarily mean anything in terms of her own personal life and yet...what if? Melissa had to think and in order to think she had to go home and sleep even if it meant a forced, chemically-induced sleep. If used only rarely, it was a very effective way to trick ones body into believing it had gotten a full eight hours of sleep in just one or two. Used too often, and it was very dangerous with the potential to cause hallucinations and even a psychotic break. She was confident she could risk another use and let Grantham know she needed to go home for a short while. "Of course, Melissa. You're here way too often. Take the night off and we'll see you in the morning," he told her. She couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. He was also very subtle about it, but whenever she dressed this way, he would manage to look her all the way up and down while paying the slightest bit of extra attention to the way her form-fitting sweater gently hugged her round, full breasts. It was that look that always made her feel wet between her legs. That is, until she'd read the characteristics file. Melissa needed to sleep in the worst of ways but there was something else she needed even more. As she dried herself off, Melissa pulled out an old-fashioned vibrator that fit on her index finger. She'd found it in a museum a couple of years ago and later bought it at an auction. It was the most wonderful tool for providing a sensational orgasm! Yes, it ran on electricity and yes it was an analog device, but it was truly amazing and its connection with the past and the traditions she loved made it invaluable to her. Melissa injected herself with the sleeping compound using an air-vaporizer and set the delayed effects for 15 minutes. Just enough time to let her luxuriate in the warmth of her favorite fantasy while letting the tiny little vibrator work its magic. She heard the familiar whir and felt her finger moving rapidly in response to the motion of the toy and brought it to rest on the hood of her clitoris. As she slowly touched the soft mound of flesh, she let herself imagine being dressed in white as her handsome groom—her lover, her best friend, her...boss—stood at the alter waiting for her. His tux made him look dashing. His genuine smile melted her heart. This is what she'd waited her whole life for. In moments, she would say the vows she'd prepared for the man she so deeply loved. He would do the same and then...she pressed harder on her clit as she inserted two fingers inside her soaking wet pussy...she would be Mrs. Blake Grantham. Melissa's body shook so hard she thought she might come apart at the cellular level. "Oh, my fucking God!" she screamed as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her body. Her nipples were rock hard and she imagined Blake's soft lips and tongue on them. That thought alone sent another shock wave cascading throughout her upper torso. Spent, she turned off the instrument of pleasure sadly all too aware that it was no substitute for the real tool she so desperately wanted to fill her pussy. Melissa was nearly 36 now and still had never been with a man and yet that was all she could think about when she had time to think. That and of course, the new life that would be born nine months later. New life carried inside of her! A baby that would take her husband's name. A baby that she would raise as a stay-at-home mom. Feelings of joy flooded over her as the compound took effect sending her into a sleep so deep in replicated being in a coma. In 90 minutes, she would awake as refreshed as she would had she slept soundly all night. And then she would have to watch as the man she loved brought a lifeless lump of materials chained at the angstrom level to life so he could love...it. Grantham had gotten a power nap of his own. Thirty minutes of sleep on the couch in his office was all he needed. The Angstrom Prototype was now fully programmable and had been brought to the transformation table. All that remained was to input all of his desired characteristics into each of the data fields and Grantham wanted to do this himself. Melissa chose her favorite sweater, a scoop-neck that was soft, pretty, and very form fitting. Along with it she wore a skirt that fell to about four inches above her knee. The top was a true black with the kind of ribbed look she knew Mr. Grantham preferred after months of paying very careful attention to the way he looked at her depending on what she wore. She would wear a strapless, black, pushup bra underneath it. The skirt was tan while her stockings were a shimmery suntan color. She chose a pair of 4" heels which went perfectly with her skirt. This outfit cried out for heavy, gold jewelry and Melissa had the perfect set of earrings, necklace, and bracelet. They were all gold with inlaid black onyx giving her a very sophisticated look. She carefully styled her hair with one soft wave and sprayed on her (and his) favorite perfume. Satisfied with the way she looked, she headed outside and back to Angstrom-Dynamics. Melissa approached him from behind as he sat at the input console. Along with Ken Carson, she was allowed to see the images his console was holographically projecting. She could also see the faceless, almost shapeless for in front of her. She seen the process many times at the pico level and every time it was an amazing event as the thing in front of her changed into human form in a matter of minutes. She could see that Grantham was beginning to input the characteristics she'd seen just hours ago. "May I?" she asked pointing to the empty chair beside him. "Oh, Melissa. You're back. Hope you slept well," he said as he nodded in agreement to her request. He turned to look at her then turned back toward his console but just as Melissa had predicted, he did one of those double takes she lived for. "You look very nice," he said. "Oh, thank you," she replied politely. But that was as far as it ever went. And with...that...available to him, why would it go any further? She knew how he felt about women and the superiority of androids. Melissa sighed deeply as she tried to focus on her work. She needed to not only watch but to carefully observe for any kind of problem in the transformation process. Troubles were rare but if not caught early on, they could cost an enormous amount of money. She knew the form behind the clear glass in front of her was a prototype and had cost the company close to a billion dollars. Still, she couldn't help but root for something to go terribly wrong like maybe a bolt of lightning or that it might be spontaneously combust. Still, she knew that would only delay the final result which was going to be a stunningly beautiful female-looking android. As he began tapping in data to the empty fields, Melissa watched as she mentally ticked them off having already taken a look at what her boss most desired in a potential mate. She couldn't bring herself to say "wife" even though android marriage was legal everywhere. After all, who was she to tell anyone whom another person could love, right? As Grantham entered height and weight, he saw the malleable, faceless android form in front of them slowly and gradually assume both characteristics. Moments later, Melissa watched in sheer amazement as a pair of beautiful blue eyes appeared out of the flesh-colored goo. The eyebrows were perfectly shaped and trimmed while the eyelashes were long and curled. Slowly, dark hair began emerging from the scalp area until it reached shoulder length. It was particularly painful to see the slow, steady growth of a pair of perfectly symmetrical, soft, full, C-cup breasts complete with large, brown areolae, each topped with a perfect, full-sized nipple. Melissa heaved another sigh. The details of her—no—its—face were beginning to take shape. While she had a good idea of what this model would like it, it still took her aback to actually see it. From its forehead to its chin, Melissa was struck by how much it resembled her. Even worse was how Mr. Grantham either didn't notice or did but didn't care. As the minutes ticked by, the face took its final, beautiful shape. The upper torso was now nearly complete. Melissa didn't care to watch the next step, but was unable to look away as the hourglass figure finished taking shape. Gradually, a bellybutton appeared, then a the she saw the first hints of what would soon be a perfectly formed vagina complete with soft, pliable labia. Ten minutes later, it had a beautiful, fully-formed, completely shaved pussy and legs every bit as shapely as Melissa's. A soft female voice announced, "Upper and lower torso complete. Enter changes or terminate physical transformation process." Grantham asked Melissa and Ken if they saw any flaws. Both shook their heads indicating they knew the prototype was perfect. Grantham entered "terminate program" the opened a new application to begin programming the unit's central processor. When it was complete, Grantham would send an activation signal which would bring the prototype to life. It would sit up as though it had been sleeping, "realize" it was nude, attempt to cover it's breasts and vagina then begin looking for a room where it would dress itself according to its programming. Once dressed, it would begin looking for the man it was programmed to love and please as though it was just routinely stopping by the office for a visit. Melissa asked to be excused as she was no longer needed. She'd seen enough and she had no desire to see "herself" enter this room wearing something close to what she was wearing and kiss the man she loved and take her place in his life. Melissa had had that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach many times since she came to work here but this time there was a feeling of finality. Blake Grantham would choose it over her. He would tweak it, improve it, and eventually patent it. More than likely, he would also marry it leaving Melissa alone with her dreams and her fantasies. Sexual Angst(rom) She tried not to laugh (or cry) when she wondered whether or not her ticking biological clock might actually be a time time that would explode. The good news was that it would at least put her out of her misery. That evening, there was a post-prototype celebration dinner and Melissa was expected to attend. If that wasn't bad enough, she was slated to sit immediately to Grantham's right while his new...thing...sat on his left. As she entered the extravagantly decorated room, Melissa's eyes were immediately drawn to the "woman" standing next to Blake Grantham. They were holding hands as they both smiled and talked with various guests and members of the design team. As expected, she could have been Melissa's sister. She caught a glimpse of her face in profile as she passed by and couldn't help believe she was looking at the side of her own face in a mirror. "Bitch!" Melissa hissed under her breath. As she walked by, she bristled with anger as she noticed a large diamond ring on the unit's left hand. "Fuck you!" she said slightly louder. "Oh, Melissa! Come say hello!" she heard Grantham call out cheerfully. She stopped, stood rigidly still, took a very deep breath, then turned and forced herself to smile. "Mr. Grantham! Don't you look handsome tonight!" she said honestly. She refused to even look at that...thing...standing next to him. "Melissa, this Unit One. We still haven't named her. I was hoping you might be able to come up with something befitting such a beautiful woman." Melissa felt the bile rising up to her mouth. She wanted to scream out, "That's NOT a fucking woman! I am! THAT is a THING. A machine. An android." But like the good assistant she was she simply said, "I'll give that some thought, sir." Unit One extended her hand and said, "Hi! I'm Unit One. It's a pleasure to meet you. Blake's told me so much about you." Melissa glared at her/it and said, "Oh, really. So I've been the topic of conversation in the four hours you've been, what, conscious? Activated? How nice." Unit One looked perplexed but handled the brush off gracefully. Grantham took her arm and pulled her close. "What the hell was that all about? What's gotten into you all of a sudden, Melissa? We're a team here and Unit One is OUR accomplishment. Our crowing achievement if I may say. Because of her, there's going to be an unprecedented bonus for you at the end of the year." "Oh, goody," Melissa said bitterly. "Looks like I'll be able to live alone in high style." Grantham let her go without saying another word but the cold shoulder continued through dinner and Melissa had barely even smiled when he publicly praised her for her efforts and for being an indispensable part of the team. He found her just after midnight sitting in her office all alone watching an old-time romance movie about a couple falling in love. "May I come in?" he asked after standing there for a few moments without speaking. "You own this place so I can't really stop you, can I?" she said without looking. He walked toward her and pointed to the empty seat on the couch next to her. "Do you mind?" She didn't reply as he sat down. "Why are you so angry at me? What have I done to make you feel this way?" Melissa sat staring at the holographic screen. "Now you won't even talk to me?" he asked. "I'm leaving Angstrom," she said matter of factly. "What? Leaving? Why on earth would you do that? We're on the verge of revolutionizing SF and the implications for nearly every area of science are enormous. Help me understand where this is coming from," he pleaded. She turned halfway to toward and said, "People say you're the smartest man on earth. I say you're the most ignorant." Grantham was stunned. Melissa had never spoken to him like this before. She'd been his assistant, his friend, his associate, but she'd never been rude let alone mean to him. "Feminists told us men were irrelevant and that they were clueless. I know men aren't irrelevant, but you're living prove they are clueless!" "Okay, listen. I apologize for whatever I've done. I have no idea what it is, but I'm sorry for having done it. Melissa, please just...." Melissa's anger boiled over. "Stop it! Just—stop it! Don't you DARE patronize me! You cannot be this intelligent and this stupid at the same time!" Grantham recoiled from the anger and the verbal attack. Melissa was screaming at him after apologizing him. "Okay. I'm clueless. I admit it. But if you don't tell me what's wrong, I can never make this right. So please, Melissa, tell me why you're so angry at me." Melissa stood and faced him. Her face began to screw up as she raised her hand and pointed her finger at him. "I'll TELL you what's the matter. I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you and you don't even know or care that I'm alive." Grantham stood and opened his mouth to speak when Melissa said, "No. You've had your turn to speak. You've had your chance to figure it out. So now it's my turn to talk and your turn to listen!" Grantham sat back down as Melissa unloaded on him. "Look at me!" she hollered. "I dress the way you like almost every day! I wear the things you love. I wear my hair the way you like. I do EVERYTHING for YOU because I love you and yet you chose a machine instead! Well let me explain something to you, Mr. Grantham. A machine can be programmed to give but it cannot love. You see, people—and androids—can give without loving but no human can love without giving. I'm willing to give you EVERYTHING. Everything! There is nothing that IT can give you that I can't or won't. You want sex twice a day? I'll give it to you. Willingly. Happily. You want a wife who dresses like this? I already do it but I'll do it for you because I can't not give you what you want. And for the record, that thing...Unit One...is ME! That's what you're not seeing. You programmed an android to look exactly like me because deep down you know you love me, too. You're just too caught up in this SF movement to stop and realize that you can have ALL of that in a real, live human being who will love you unconditionally all of her life. And before I leave, there's one thing I can give that that...THING...will never be able to give you. A child. A son. An heir. Someone to follow after you. Someone to be your true legacy. I can do that. It can't. So if you want it over me, then I can't be around you or it another day." She was shaking and trembling as she added, "And if you're too fucking blind to see how what you're missing, then you don't deserve to have me here one more day." She reached down and grabbed her purse and prepared to storm out when Grantham suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. "Melissa. No. Wait. Please." She pulled away from him but he ran and stood in front of her. "I'm begging you. Please don't go. I am ignorant, but I'm not stupid." Melissa stopped trying to go around him and said, "What's the difference?" He put his hands on her arms and said, "Ignorance is not knowing. Stupid is being unable to learn once you know." He pulled her close and said, "Now I know." He reached out and stroked her face and brushed back her hair as he said, "I'm just so afraid. I'm afraid of all the things I've internalized about women and the way they are. I'm afraid you might not be what you say you are but...but...I've been in love with you for a very long time and if you can forgive my ignorance, I'm willing to try. Will you? Can you?" Her face was blank. Her eyes were the only things moving. They moved quickly back and forth between his own. She was searching. She was looking for signs of truth or deceit. She saw none of the latter and she felt something she'd never felt before. She could actually FEEL his love for her. She felt tears welling up as the realization swept over her from head to toe. Grantham pulled her close and said, "Did you hear me? I love you." Slowly, his words sank in. She'd wanted to hear them for so long it took time to make sure she'd heard him correctly. Once she was sure of herself, she put her arms around his neck as he pulled her close. He kissed her softly and then more passionately. Unable to stop herself, Melissa took his hand and placed it on her breast. "You see? This is real." She pressed his hand on it and said, "It's real and it's yours as often as you like." Grantham was stunned but he didn't pull back. She reached back and unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor. As they kissed, she led his hand down between her legs until his index finger was touching her warm, wet slit. "This is also real, my love. And it is also yours as often as you want it. I don't need to be programmed to want you or to want you inside me. I've lived only for the day when you will be." She pushed against him and to her delight, he allowed one finger to slide inside her. Melissa gasped. "I've made no secret of how I feel about you. I want a husband and a family. You know I'm everything it is only I can love you back. It can't. No matter how well you program it the responses you get won't be real. They will be zeroes and ones—not real love." She rocked back and forth as Grantham turned his hand to allow a second finger to slide inside. Melissa moaned. "I love you, Blake Grantham. I know I'm a lot older than you but I know you want a woman my age. Everything you've programmed into that...thing...is right here. I will be all of those things you want; willingly, freely, and out of genuine love. All I ask is your love in return. If you want all of those things all day, every day, I promise to give them to you starting right now. If you want me...for life...you can have me right here, right now. I want you in me—taking me. Fucking me. Cumming inside of me." She felt him massage her clit with her thumb and cried out, "Please. I'm begging you. Fuck me and make me your wife." Grantham stood up, leaned down and kissed her. "Help me get undressed," he groaned. Melissa reached out and unbuckled his pants, then unzipped him and watched them fall to the floor. Grantham kicked off his shoes and pants as Melissa's trembling hands reached out and for the first time in her life, pulled down a man's underwear to reveal the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She'd never even touched one of them before but she instinctively knew exactly what to do. She pushed him back into a chair as she knelt before him. "It's so beautiful!" she told him. She reached out and took his growing cock in her hand and watched in amazement as it grew larger and harder. "Oh, my God! I love it so much," she told him. The smile on her face and the warmth of her hands on his member sent a feeling through him liked he'd never experienced. Grantham had never had sex with a female, let alone the one that he'd so deeply desired for so long. He realized that his quest for the holy grail had prevented him from admitting what it was he really wanted—Melissa Stewart. For the briefest of moments, he thought about the android in a room nearby and realized that it was essentially a clone of the woman who was now lowering her pretty mouth onto his throbbing cock. She was doing so because she wanted to, not because she'd been programmed to. He knew that she meant every word she'd told him and for the first time in his life he felt free to say what he'd feeling inside but couldn't admit. "I love you too, Melissa," he told her as she lowered her head as far down his shaft as he could. Grantham inhaled sharply as Melissa stayed there holding him deep insider her mouth. He felt her lips and tongue moving and...sucking as she used her jaw muscles to please him. "Twice a day?" he managed to say. Melissa was unable to hold him any longer. She raised up gasping for air and blurted out, "Yes. Twice a day. Every day. I want you so bad I can't stand it. I've waited all my life for this and I will never stop wanting you. Now please, please, let me stop being a virgin. Please?" Grantham stood her up and unzipped her skirt and let it fall. She was wearing no panties and she'd shaved her pussy bald. "My God! You are SO beautiful," he told her as he kissed her hard. He ran his hand back down to her slit and quickly slid two fingers inside her. Melissa gasped. "Oh, God! Please fuck me, Blake! Please, God. Please fuck me!" Grantham gently lowered her to the ground and lay on top of her. He slid down between her legs and flicked his tongue onto her swollen clit. Melissa cried out in pure pleasure as he continued to swirl his tongue around and around while gently probing her pussy for a hymen. When he found it, he began to push ever so gently. He heard her whimper softly but kept pushing. As he felt the soft flesh of the membrane begin to tear her heard her stifle a soft scream. "It's over, my love," he told her as he continued to pleasure her orally. He could now freely use his fingers which he did with two and then three, slowly and carefully expanding her warm, wet pussy to ready it for his cock. He did so until he felt Melissa shudder and cum in waves. "Oh, Jesus! Oh, my fucking...Gawwwd!" she cried out. "Give me your...cock! I want your cock in me, sweetheart. Please, please fuck me!" Grantham raised up and prepared to mount her. "You ready for this, sweetheart?" he asked. Her eyes darted back and forth at his as she nodded furiously. "Yes! Yes. I'm am SO ready, Blake. Please give me your beautiful cock in my pussy!" Grantham lined up the head of his cock with the soft entry hole and slowly glided in. Melissa screamed but not out of pain. It was a scream of joy. After nearly 36 years, she had finally known a man in every sense of the word. Her breathing was so deep and fast it both scared and excited Grantham. He was in all the way and Melissa was begging him for more. Once he was sure he wasn't hurting her, he began pounding away at her warm, wet pussy. Hammering her. Thundering blows one after the other. Melissa's nails were digging into his back. The pain was exquisite! It felt amazingly pleasurable and Grantham imagined having scars for life from this and the many times after he would fuck his beautiful lover. His future...wife. He felt himself ready to cum just as Melissa tensed again letting him know she was also ready to climax once more. "Oh, fuck!" she screamed out. "Fuck me! Cum inside me, please! Oh, my fucking God!!!" Grantham had never cum so hard in his entire life. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had sex with an android and he realized now there was no comparison. This was real. This was...amazing! For now, he was content to lay there in her another's arms just kissing and listening to her purr but he already wanted her again. He looked at Melissa and stroked her long, dark hair as he said, "I was such a fool. I nearly lost true love by not opening my eyes or my heart. I came so close to missing...this. Love, willingly given by a live human being. A gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful woman who is made of flesh and blood like me." As he kissed her again he said, "Can you ever forgive me? Melissa was crying tears of joy. She chose not to speak but to simply nod her head. "I'm so happy," he told her. "I really do love you Melissa." He raised his head up and stared into her beautiful blue eyes and said, "Melissa Stewart, will you marry me?" "Yes. Yes, of course I will," she said through her tears. "Blake Grantham?" she said. "Yes, my love?" "Will you please fuck me again? I want it at least twice a day, too," she said with a wicked smile. Blake was already hard again and gave her exactly what she wanted while she gave him the son he didn't know he wanted but would love more than life itself nine months later. He'd broken the Angstrom Barrier but her love had made him whole.