Page 14 of Entity

Breakfast is simple and unfussy, laid out on the kitchen island along with a pot of coffee, a carton of orange juice, and aglass bottle of pure maple syrup. Ian and I each take a stool. Eros stands on the other side of the island as he watches us, smiling blandly.

I’m about to invite him to join us when I remember he doesn’t eat. I chew uncomfortably, feeling awkward about this mechanical audience that feels so deeply human.

Ian seems completely unconcerned about Eros’s presence or lack thereof, prattling on about his high-rise, how he had it built to his personal specifications. He says something about ley lines, which piques my interest for a few minutes before my attention slides back to Eros. I want to ask him about himself. I want him to askmequestions. As much as I admire Ian, for just two seconds, I want him to shut the fuck up.

“They’re geomagnetic,” Ian says, taking a bite of pancake and washing it down with orange juice. “But stronger, more intense, better vibrations. We’re right on a hot spot. Right on it. Everything I do is for a reason, Kit. Everything has thought behind it. I’m not a fucking idiot; I don’t create just for fun. I don’t do it for money. I don’t do it for ego. I do it tolearn. Todiscover. The prototype, for example—” He cuts himself off, smiling slyly at me. “Now, now, you’ve got me talking again!”

“Why won’t you tell me more about the prototype?” I ask, my curiosity rising. “I’m under NDA. I can’t tell anyone under pain of death, or whatever the contract says.”

Eros’s gaze darts between Ian and me.

Ian smiles slowly, but his eyes are dark. “The prototype isn’t up for discussion. It’s top secret stuff, still in development.”

“But—”

“You wouldn’t like him anyway,” Ian cuts me off. “The prototype is not like Eros. Not easy, not simple, not pliant or sweet. Isn’t that right, Eros?”

Eros nods. “Yes, Ian. You wouldn’t like him, Kit.”

But I think I almost see hesitancy in Eros’s expression, a stiffness in his jaw that wasn’t there before.

“The prototype has his own personality,” Ian continues, chuckling. “A bad one. I don’t know why I keep him around. He’ll never change. He’s unfixable.”

“He sounds like most of my exes,” I quip, unable to help myself.

“There’s one thing the prototypecando,” Ian says, holding my gaze, “that I’m confident none of your exes could.”

The look in his eyes makes my skin heat. “Oh?”

“Just like Eros, the prototype is godlike in the sack,” says Ian. “He’s a Pleasurebot through and through, I made sure of that. It’s the most important aspect to me, you know. The most important. He was supposed to performbetterthan Eros, more attuned to his partner’s wants and needs. Eros can make you cry? The prototype will make you swear off sex with humans altogether. He’ll ruin you.”

I drop my fork. It clatters loudly on the plate. “Sorry.”

Ian smiles slowly. “You have me talking again, Kit.”

“Good,” I say. “That’s what I’m here for. But Ian...” I glance at Eros, whose expression remains utterly impassive but for the odd twitch of the jaw. “Are youfuckingyour Pleasurebots?”

He throws his head back, his Adam’s apple bobbing with laughter. After a few moments, he gathers himself, then shakes his head and peers at me shrewdly. “You’re funny.”

I turn to Eros. “Well? Is he?”

Eros smiles back but says nothing.

“Ian,” I persist. “You just said the Pleasurebots’ sexual performance is important to you, which makes sense. And, forgive me, Eros, but you’re…theyare a product. They’re being tested in some way, right? Sosomeonehas to be fucking them.”

Ian sips his coffee, watching me through long, dark lashes. “Tell me what you’re getting at, Kit.”

I swallow. “I’m not getting at anything. I’m asking questions. For the book.”

“You want to fuck Eros?”

“I—”

“We’ve established that you want to fuck me.”

“Ian, this is—”

“So maybe you want to fuck us both.”

---