Page 124 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Fire

It was a nice juxtaposition to the droids I often encountered down at the dock on my walks home. They were assholes, designed that way for "ambiance". They'd even catcall, for planet’s sake.

"Let's take a look at your upgrades, shall we?" I made a point to open the paper-thin metal of the file so that the projected files were visible to both of us. Even if AL.X wasn’t sapient, it felt rude not to include him as I read the details.

"I'm sure I can keep up."

Humor. Huh. That was a nice touch. Peter said that they didn’t upgrade the chat program, but they must have. I smirked. Self-important Pete wasn’t even told about that.

"Fuck— I mean, wow." My eyes were like saucers as I took in the expansive list. Screen after screen of upgrades, all top dollar. It was…a lot.

Not that it wasn't possible—I was damned good at what I did—but it was just... too much.

Whoever planned this model had money and imagination, but they didn't have style. Less was more sometimes, and this was one gaudy pecker.

I tried to keep the customer service smile on my face, but it was a failed effort, resulting in a grimace.

"Yes. Extensive is a… diplomatic way to put it. It appears they took an all-in-one approach."

I turned to AL.X in shock. “You can read the documents? Without an information port sync?”

He froze, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

“AL.X?”

“Yes.”

“You… You shouldn’t be able to do that.” My brow furrowed as I scrolled through the schematics. Page after page detailed the cock I was supposed to mold for his body, but there was nothing on the other upgrades that had been applied to AL.X.

I peered up to find him watching me with a guilty expression that had rocks sinking into my gut.

Guilt was anemotion, a complex one. Build Your Own Boyfriend Pleasurebots didn’t have emotions. If AL.X was reading, let alonefeeling, he was officially outside the purview of the program.

Sapient droids could choose to work in the trade, but they weren't Pleasurebots. They chose their own parts. They didn't have preset phrases for what they would say or how they'd interact. Most importantly, they chose their partners.

They were our peers, not products.

“AL.X, do they know you’re fully sapient?”

“Error, code five: There is no applicable response to the query. Please rephrase and try again.”

His voice had taken on a more stilted, artificial tone, but I wasn’t buying it. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the work table, pinning him with a pointed stare.

“Why are you hiding your capabilities?”

“Error, code five?—”

I put a finger right in the center of his chest. The metal was warm to the touch, silky soft on my skin. He was taller than me, but I looked right up into his violet gaze.

There was fear there, but something else. Resolve.

“I know you're lying to me, AL.X. What’s wrong?”

His eyes darted around the edges of the ceiling.

“There aren’t any cameras in here.”

The circles of his eyes dilated and contracted as he turned back to me, brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I disabled them the second I moved in.”

---