"I just," Cordelia stopped and switched directions. "I just need to figure out why MEL is hung up on form-class words. I haven't had any programming problems with any of the other linguistic areas." She shook her head and tossed the braid of mousy-brown hair over her shoulder. "More coffee, I need more coffee." Coffee had been placed on the "Outlawed Beverages" list of 2099, but that only seemed to make it more popular, not less available. Making sure it would lock behind her, she headed out the lab door. Finally, some peace and quiet, Norma thought. Maybe now I can pull up the latest progress report, and see just what is keeping Cordelia up nights. The heavens knew it sure wasn't a man! Norma tapped in Cordelia's ridiculously complicated password and started scanning the data displayed on the screen. Hmmm . . . "No, no, bad kitty!" Oh oh, Cordelia was back sooner than expected. Norma gave an exaggerated snort, and hopped down from the computer table. She settled in a chair that wasn't piled high with printouts and books, and commenced cleaning her silky white fur. "I swear, Norma, if I wasn't so attached to you, I wouldn't have fought crotchety old Dr. Anderson tooth and nail so that you could stay with me when I'm here in the lab. The one thing guaranteed to get your butt packed back to mom and dad, and Earth, is your cat hair to end up in some of this equipment." She went on and on, rambling about how much the equipment was worth, how hard it was to get the grant from Daystrom University in the first place, etc. After the stuff about the grant, Norma quit listening. She'd heard it all before, plenty of times. Cordelia sat down in front of the computer, being careful to sit her coffee far away from her, and stared at the computer screen. "I could have sworn that I shut down the program earlier," she scratching her head in consternation. She *had* been a little absent minded lately. Deciding that she must have left it on by accident, she started running the trials for what seemed the billionth time. An hour later, Norma decided enough was enough. She wanted to spend some time out of the lab, maybe see the sun again, and not through an extra-reinforced glass window. She stretched lazily, and as if she hadn't a care in the world, jumped up in Cordelia's lap. Just as she'd hoped, her mistress was absorbed in the words and numbers on the screen and pretty much ignored her. Norma bided her time, watched the screen carefully, and then seized the moment. "Norma!" Cordelia screamed as the lanky Persian jumped on the computer keypad. "Off, off, off!" Usually Norma was real good about minding, but this time Cordelia had to physically pick her up and move her. "What has gotten into you lately? Are you in season? Is that your problem?" At least one of us still has a sex drive, Norma wanted to say, but of course she couldn't. Instead, she turned her nose up in the air and quickly moved to a far corner of the lab. Cordelia sat back down at the computer station and prepared to undo any damage inflicted by the erstwhile cat. She stared in consternation at the screen, not sure she was seeing what she was seeing. "Oh my God," she whispered. "I think that's it."
-------------- Cordelia was bustling around the lab unable to keep still. Lance, her boyfriend and sometime-colleague, was ten minutes late, as usual, and she wanted to get things on the road. "Anyone home?" Lance stuck his head inside the lab door and grinned. "It's about time." "What? No, 'Oh God, Lance I've missed you so much these last five months!'?" He stepped into the room and scooped Norma up in his arms. "Hey, gorgeous, keeping Cordelia in line for me?" He scratched her behind the ears for a few seconds and then sat her back down. Norma sighed silently. Norma decided that if Lance was her boyfriend, she wouldn't spend months cooped in some stuffy lab, like Cordelia was always doing. Lance had the blonde good looks and tanned skin that had been associated with "surfer" boys in the past. And in the past was probably where he'd rather be. Lance was a retrophiliac -- if it had to do with the past, he loved it, collected it, lived it. You'd might not ever guess that he had a doctorate in artificial intelligence from MIT -- he liked old 72-mm movies, owned a 1999 RCA television set (that still worked) and dabbled in archaeology and paleontology in his spare time. "I'm sorry, Cory, I just got caught up in a spirited debate with old Ironsides out in the hall," he apologized. His hundred-watt smile appeared. "Forgive me?" Cordelia sighed. She could never stay mad at him for long. "You're forgiven. Now can I start?" He leaned back against a table and crossed his legs at the ankles. "Shoot." Cordelia took a deep breath. "As you know, I've been working on something for the private sector -- a sort of artificial intelligence. But, I'm afraid I haven't told you all of it." She could feel her face starting to turn red already. "With Daystrom's full knowledge of course, I've been working on something for 'Feel Good Vibrations'." That got both Norma and Lance's attention. "The big sex toys conglomerate?" he asked. Cordelia nodded. "Yes. I, well, just come look." She led the way down a short hallway to another door, explaining as they went, "I was stumped on the linguistic simulation for the longest time. I couldn't get the form-class words information to take hold." She punched in a code on the keypad by the door and it slid silently open. Walking in, Lance could see the room was bare, save for four pencil-thin cameras situated in the four corners of the room. The door closed behind them. "MEL, are you online?" Cordelia asked, speaking into thin air. "Yes, I am, Cordelia. Would you like me to activate my optical emitters?" "Yes, please." Lance jumped, because without warning, a woman appeared in the room. Naked. Gorgeous. Perfect. Shimmering blonde hair and lips darker than the darkest rose. Peach-colored skin to make a Georgia girl green with envy. Breasts that looked as if they were made for a man's hands. Lance couldn't have formed a coherent word even if he'd wanted to. Cordelia cleared her throat. "Lance, I'd like you to meet MEL." "As in Mel-short-for-Melanie? Or Melissa?" he managed to get out. "As in short for Morpheme Evaluation Lexicon. But you can call me Melanie, if you'd like," the honey-voiced knockout answered. "I'll just stick with Mel." She shrugged. "Mel is what Feel Good Vibrations and I like to call an ESP -- Enhanced Sex Partner. Whatever you want, she'll do. However you want her to look, she can do that, too." Cordelia's eyes lit up, the pride in her work evident. Norma wondered if Lance noticed it. "What makes her different from any other virtual sex doll?" Lance questioned. "Mel can learn. *Learn*, Lance. She's capable of becoming as close to an artificial sentient being as has ever been created. Think of the possibilities, outside of the sex industry." "So that's why Daystrom Laboratories loaned you out, huh? They get dibs on the scientific uses of this technology." Lance was beginning to understand. "Right. I mean, just think of it -- they could take over the terra-forming on Jupiter, lead strike teams in the next global war, you name it. If we can combine her brain, her intelligence, with robotics . . ." "What about field trials?" Lance was walking around Mel, taking in every detail with his hawk-sharp eyes. "Um," Cordelia hedged. "I've tried her out on, um, myself." Lance stopped and raised his eyebrows. "You, Cordelia? With another woman?" She laughed nervously. "Yes." "I would never have suspected." His gaze turned serious. "Can we try, you know, her out?" It was his turn to laugh nervously. "It feels weird to talk about her as if she's not even here." "I don't mind," Mel said. "I find all this fascinating." Her ruby lips turned up in a brilliant smile. "I've never seen two humans fuck before." Cordelia gasped and turned beet red. "She's been watching a lot of vid-streams and has picked up slang words. Sorry about that." "No need to apologize for her," Lance answered. "Her candor is refreshing." "You can, you know, try her out, as you said. How would you like her to look, dress, act? Tell her what you desire in a partner and she'll be it." Lance shook his head. "I want her to be you." "Excuse me?" Norma thought Cordelia might have an IQ of 184, but she could still be a dumb bitch at times. Lance stepped closer to Cordelia and wrapped his arms around her. "I said, I want you. I don't care if she can be anyone, or anything, I want. I'm sure some guys, and women, would find that allure too much to resist, but I'm not one of them." "But you just asked if we could try her out?" Cordelia was puzzled now. "I do, but I want to be with you, first. Just me and you." "Look, Lance, you know how I feel about you --" "I do?" His surprise was genuine. "How can I when you've never told me. You know I love you, Cory. I've told you numerous times that I loved you, but you treated me like I was spouting platitudes instead of words from the heart." "I thought you were." She was playing with the middle button on his shirt. "You're such a free-spirit at times, I have a hard time knowing when you're joking and when you're serious." "When it comes to loving you, I couldn't be more serious. Why do you think I haven't pressured you for sex? Because I don't want it?" His laugh was short and harsh. "I've wanted to make love to you ever since our second date." "Oh." Cordelia seemed at a loss for words, something Norma had *never* seen before. This was getting interesting, the feline thought. Lance turned to Mel. "How about the room -- care to give us something romantic and intimate?" The blonde smiled. "For my dear Cordelia, anything." She snapped her fingers, purely for effect, and the room was instantly transformed. Where a barren, boring room had been earlier, now stood a room to make the most discriminating sheik proud. Luxurious pillows of all shapes and sizes were piled on the floor atop plush furs. Incense burned in domed pillars and a platter of sumptuous food sat on a low table next to an array of scented oils. Even Norma was impressed. "Wow," was all Cordelia could say. "Norma, you're my second-best-gal, but I'm afraid this is a party for two." Lance picked up the cat and kissed the top of her head. He keyed the door open and deposited her on the other side. He could have sworn if he didn't know better that the cat was actually pouting. He turned back around to find Mel gone, and Cordelia fidgeting. "She said that she would see us later." Lance grinned. "I hope she's not going to wait up, so to speak, because we've got some catching up to do." Some of Cordelia's nervousness was ebbing away. "Oh, we do, do we?" She heard the strains of a stringed instrument float around them, with a steady, lento beat that had her undulating her hips before she knew it. Throwing caution to the wind, she started unbuttoning her blouse as she swayed to the music. Lance stood, mesmerized, as the love of his life stripped in front of him. By the time he'd gotten it through his brain what it was she was doing, she was down to nothing save her long brown hair and a very nervous smile. "Cory, I'm going to be blunt," he said, "are you a virgin?" Her flush spread from her face to her chest. "Not technically. Some friends paid this guy to sleep with me for my 30th birthday. It was pretty cold and clinical, though. We both wore condoms and I had a dental dam, plus we both wore the sterile -- " "I get the picture," he interrupted. He started taking his clothes off slowly, letting her eyes take in every part of him. When he was standing there as naked as she was, he walked toward her and caressed her cheek. "I promise, you won't have to pay anyone ever again, because there won't be anyone but me, Cory." When their lips met it was nirvana, and when he pressed her body flush with his, she swore she'd found Eden. Picking her up in his arms, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist and pressing his hard-on between them, he lowered her gently to the mound of pillows. Her hands traced butterfly-wing caresses up and down his arms and across his chest. "I know I'm not that experienced -- " "Shhh." Lance silenced her with a tender kiss. "I don't care about that," Cory. He took one of her hands and placed it flat on his chest. "Feel that?" When she bit her lip and nodded, he continued. "That's my heart and it's beating. Blood and oxygen and nothing as scientific as all that, keeps it beating -- you do, Cory, you do." She wrapped her other arm around his neck and pulled him down for a long, passionate kiss. She pushed her hips up against his, exulting in the feel of his crisp chest hair tickling her hard nipples, and the evidence of his desire, pulsing against her stomach. ------- Meanwhile, inside a cloaked starship that was presently orbiting Earth's moon, Norma waited impatiently for an audience with the Mission Leader. "You may go in now," a disembodied voice stated. Norma walked into the room, padding sliently across the cool floor. The Mission Leader was behind a screen, his silhouette visible in the stark starship light. Only those of noble or command-level rank were allowed to look upon the Leader directly. Norma was just a lowly Watcher. "You called for me?" she spoke up. One wall of the room shimmered and an image appeared on it. It was the virtual room where Norma had last seen Cordelia and Lance. Norma watched the two on the screen; Lance sucked loudly on one of Cordelia's nipples, while she rode him like she'd been born in the saddle. "Is this real time?" Norma asked. The figure behind the screen sighed. "As usual, you fail to see the gravity of the situation, Watcher Alpha Seven. You interfered with the human's project. You know as well as I do that *you* were the one who solved her linguistics problem, not some strange twist of fate, when you jumped on the keyboard." "I was bored, and she'd been working so hard on it, for so long. I figured a little push in the right direction couldn't hurt." "It's not your job to think." The censure in his voice was quite clear. "You're a Watcher; your job is to observe, not help along. It should have been at least another twenty years before their technology advanced that far." "So you're going to undo it?" Norma was disappointed. She knew how long and hard Cordelia had been working on the ESP project and how much damage it would do to her career were the data to be "corrupted." "Lucky for you, no. The Council and I have discussed it, and things will stand as they are." "You are most kind, oh wise one," Norma said, bowing as much as she could in her feline form. She could have chosen to morph back into her natural state, but she'd gotten used to her long fur and mind-of-its-own tail. "Cut the crap, Alpha Seven, I've heard it all before." Norma shifted her gaze to the couple on the monitor. The entwined lovers were so involved in each other, the world could have stopped spinning and Norma didn't think they'd notice. "You could learn a lot from them, if you'd just pay a bit more attention to your job, instead of having so much fun," the Mission Leader said. "When knowledge becomes as wise as the heart, then these humans will be ready to meet us, and the others beyond the stars." "And until such time?" Norma questioned. "Until then, we keep doing what we have been for centuries -- watching. Watching and waiting."
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