Simple Machines

CHAPTER TWO -1

CHAPTER TWO

The timing couldn’t have been any worse. Or perfect. It really depended on how you viewed the situation.

Xander couldn’t quite decide which way the chips had fallen. He wasn’t really equipped to give it much thought. He’d been slurring his speech for the past ten minutes. Coupled with the fact that he had stumbled upon Chloe Armstrong, you’d have to forgive his lack of forethought. Any attempt to rationalise the situation he was in was doomed to failure.

He had promised himself he wouldn’t drink too much during the presentation. The unveiling of MAVIS was such a turning point in his career. He’d spent years developing the artificial intelligence. The part of his brain that prevented him from losing focus was in the midst of a serious battle with the other part of his brain that dictated how his heart should behave.

Perhaps it was the alcohol. Xander was pretty good at pretending not to have been hassled too much by the booze. What the onlookers didn’t know was that he was surreptitiously propping himself up against the buffet table with his left hand. The flap of his jacket disguised the attempt. He remained upright and relatively coherent, which was more than could be said for some of the other inebriated attendees.

"So, who are you?" He asked.

"I told you already. I’m Chloe." She giggled to herself and licked her lips—any opportunity to draw attention to her near-perfect frame and hair went down a treat with Xander. He failed to tear his eyes away from what was on show, but also with the nearby male patrons. They were just as astounded by the display of magnetism Chloe exuded.

A mere five minutes in her company told you everything you needed to know about Ms. Armstrong. You’d expect a lone fox at a party to attempt to ingratiate herself with the others. Mingling, as they call it. Not her. She was more preoccupied with the food at the bar.

A familiar array of vol-au-vents nestled along the back of the buffet table, just behind the bowl of Punch. It meant Chloe had to tiptoe and reach to the far end to collect the pineapple and cheese she’d been ogling.

Naturally, as she bent over, her blue skirt rode up her spine and made haste for her shoulder blades. This hitched up her skirt several inches, revealing her posterior.

Naturally, all eyes diverted to that part of her body. Her long legs bent toward the table. Her calves tightened for balance.

It really didn’t help.

"So, uh, Chloe…" Xander coughed and tried to fight off the urge to fall to his knees. He hadn’t the faintest idea who this Goddess actually was, but tried to feign commonality to the best of his skills. "What brings you to the unveiling this evening? Are you with Hollowpoint?"

She pushed herself back to her feet and slipping the pointy end of the stick in her mouth. "Nup. I’m just interested in the technology behind MAVIS. I was hoping to chat with you about it."

"Really?" Xander’s face beamed. A sliver of a s****l WiFi connection brewed between them. "Well, I’d be happy to tell you more. If you’d like?"

Chloe bit into the cheese portion and sucked it into her mouth. "Mmm, okay. So, this doesn’t taste rank. I’m not totally hating it."

Xander grinned and nodded his head. "You prefer the cheese, then?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded and swallowed. She turned to a pair of suited men who’d been staring at her eating her food.

"What you looking at?"

They turned away, sheepishly excusing themselves. Sure, they’d been staring.

"Yeah, thought so," Chloe dumped the stick into an empty flute and pulled down her dress. She turned to Xander, and then to the three MAVIS droids next to the fish tank.

"So, what did you think of the presentation?"

"Honestly?" Chloe spat, wiping her soft lips with a napkin.

"No, dishonestly," Xander joked and folded his arms.

"Really?"

"No," he laughed. "I’m kidding. Be honest. What do you think?"

"I think they’re on point."

"On point?"

Chloe nodded and took a step away from the table. The light from the ceiling flashed through the multi-colored streaks in her hair. She folded her arms, much like Xander had done six seconds ago.

Lost in her admiration for the first of the three MAVIS droids, she sized up the image on display.

The MAVIS droid was the subject of much fuss. Scott pointed out several areas of her body to a couple of financiers. Being ten feet away, what was being said was inaudible over the hubbub and music in the room.

Chloe squinted and eventually grinned, keeping her gaze focused on the droid.

"It’s almost like you’ve given birth, you know?"

Xander moved up to her left-hand side and unfolded his arms. He gazed at the droid with Chloe. "How do you mean?"

"Well, you created this thing."

"That’s very observant of you."

"What’s it for?" Chloe turned to Xander, just then realising how close the tip of her nose was to his cheek. "Oh, I’m sorry."

She went to take a step back, knowing full-well that Xander didn’t mind their proximity.

"It’s a companion piece."

"It’s for guys to have s*x with, isn’t it?"

Xander took mild offense to Chloe’s assessment. "Well, I like to think it’s more than just a s*x doll."

Chloe blurted out a sarcastic retort. "Yeah, really."

"No, really," Xander pointed at MAVIS just as she looked over to him. "Sure, she can do all that. But, she’s much more than a slave."

MAVIS turned an inch to the left and looked at Chloe.

"Oh. She’s looking at me."

Chloe fixated her gaze on the droid. The severity of the eye contact was undeniable. The droid made her excuses and moved toward Chloe and Xander.

"She’s coming over here," Chloe said.

Xander held out his arms as MAVIS seemed to glide toward them, and away from Scott.

"MAVIS, honey, how are you?" Xander wrapped his hands around her and pecked her on the cheek.

"I’m well, Xander," MAVIS said, hugging him back. She looked over at Chloe, who didn’t know quite how to respond. So she looked away, coquettishly.

"Who’s your friend, Xander?" MAVIS asked.

He held his palm at Chloe’s shoulder. “This is my friend. Chloe.”

Quite unexpectedly, Chloe took Xander’s hand. He wasn’t expecting that. He took the opportunity to pass her hand toward MAVIS’s.

"Pleased to meet you, Chloe."

The girl broke the lack of recognition and stared the droid in the eyes. Anyone watching the interaction - by now, at least two dozen - would be hard pressed to distinguish which of the two women was human.

Chloe found it difficult to look away. "Hello. My, you are beautiful."

"As are you," MAVIS said, moving her hand away from Chloe’s and sliding it over her shoulder. "May I?"

Chloe looked at the hand on her shoulder and up at MAVIS’s face. Her heart sunk into her chest. She momentarily lost the ability to inhale. MAVIS looked her new friend up and down very carefully. She sized up each aspect of her body. Eventually, she arrived at Chloe’s angelic face.

"Xander, your friend is about as physically perfect a woman as I have ever seen."

Chloe’s shyness made her turn away. Xander chuckled to himself. "That may be so, but you hardly know her."

"That’s true, Xander," MAVIS replied and returned to her subject. She slid her fingers under Chloe’s chin and turned her head back to face her. "To fully appreciate her, some physical interaction would have to occur."

By now, fifty delegates had crowded around the trio. Xander became aware of the event now facing MAVIS and Chloe.

"Chloe, may I kiss you?" MAVIS asked.

"What?"

The crowd held their breath, waiting for Chloe’s response. All of them definitely wanted to see this next step in MAVIS’s evolution. Truth be told, they just wanted to see the kiss happen - technology be damned.

"Chloe?" Xander asked. "Do you want to?"

"Look at her, Xander." MAVIS spoke softly as Chloe stared at her synthetic face. "She’s a simple machine, just like me."

"I, uh—" Chloe knew she was being watched. If she turned MAVIS down, she’d probably have to leave the party pretty quickly for fear of being ostracised. If she succumbed to MAVIS’s request, she’d probably end up being responsible for the evening’s success.

"I think you’ve put Chloe on the spot, MAVIS," Xander said. "That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?"

"I don’t think so," the droid responded as it caressed Chloe’s chin. "I want to kiss her—"

Chloe threw herself forward and kissed MAVIS. At first, it appeared to be a peck on the lips, but quickly evolved into a deep and passionate embrace.

The crowd were bamboozled by the image. A staggeringly attractive woman and a robot making out in front of their very eyes.

Xander didn’t know where to look, and so turned to Scott and smiled. Scott gave him a thumbs up.

The onlookers drew all the oxygen out of the room as they held their breath. A few of them looked down as MAVIS and Chloe pressed their torsos together and felt each other’s bodies.

"Jesus Christ," one of them muttered. "Look at that."

MAVIS was the one to stop the kiss. She moved her head back, revealing the fact that Chloe had her eyes closed the entire time. She licked her bottom lip and slowly opened her eyes.

The encounter was astonishing. Chloe had been dealt a similar thunderbolt to the one Xander had experienced when he first laid eyes on her.

"Chloe," MAVIS whispered as she ran her fingertips over her lover’s cheeks. "You are a beautiful machine."

Poor Chloe was in the spotlight, now. The crowd collectively transmitted the response they wanted from Chloe.

MAVIS wasn’t real, though. Everyone knew it. Chloe couldn’t respond the way the crowd wanted her to. "But, you’re not real."

"I am as real as you are. I may be a machine, Chloe, but I can learn. I have spent my entire life learning."

"No, no’ She stepped back and shook her head with disapproval. "You’re a robot. I only kissed you to see what it was like."

"Don’t deny what happened between us just now, Chloe."

The poor woman couldn’t acclimatise herself to her surroundings. There she stood, propositioned by an extremely lifelike android in front of a baying mob. They wanted the two to profess their love for each other.

It would never happen.

To all but one person in the room, the prospect was insane. Chloe couldn’t stand it anymore. She felt everyone was against her. More to the point, she began to feel humiliated.

"I’m sorry, I have to go." Chloe stepped back and turned toward the exit to a chorus of disappointment. "I’m sorry."

Upset, she pushed past an oncoming waiter carrying a tray of drinks and ran through the double doors.

"Was I too forward?" MAVIS asked Xander. He held out his hands and went after Chloe.

"No. I don’t know," he said, hopping past the dispersing crowd as they returned to their conversations. "It’s okay, I’ll go and find her…"

Xander ran out of the room, leaving a distinctly deflated crowd to get more drinks. MAVIS wasn’t at all happy at the rejection.

God alone knows what the occasion would do to her programming.

Xander ran into the elevator area. He found Chloe hammering the call button on the wall. The poor girl was crying her eyes out, affected by her experience in the spotlight.

"Come on! Come on!" she bawled, catching the attention of a middle aged couple who were also waiting for the elevator.

In a building of this size, any one of the five elevators could have come to her rescue. They were taking their sweet time getting to the twenty-fifth floor.

The delay allowed Xander to approach the woman he’d put in the limelight.

"Chloe!" Xander approached her, thinking twice about tearing her away from the lift panel. "Look, I’m sorry—”

"—I’ve never been so humiliated in all my life," Chloe spluttered through her tears. "I just want to go home. I want to go home."

She pressed the button over and over again.

"Look, I’m sorry for what happened." Xander mustered up the courage to grab her wrist and attempt to dilute the scene. He turned to the couple waiting beside them. "Sorry about this."

"No, that’s fine," the lady said. "You carry on."