Tam Lin

Kimberly waited all day for her Owner to come home. When she heard the keys jingle in the lock downstairs she wanted to jump up, race down, and meet him at the door, but she knew he wouldn’t like that, so instead she stayed on the bed, in the dark, waiting. She heard him moving around downstairs. She heard the groan of the pipes as he turned on the water. She heard his voice, muted through the walls, as he made a phone call. Her pulse raced and she trembled all over. When was he going to come upstairs? She hoped it would be soon. ...

It was the music that woke Erica up. The tune was halting and disjointed, like a music box winding down, but it was there, a pretty jingling melody that roused her from her slumber and let her know that everything was not all right. When she opened her eyes she stared up into darkness, and she felt hard ground under her, and her bare arms and legs were freezing cold. ...

(story continues from Automata 2: The Escape) Part 3: The Natural “Hello,” said Tiffany, “I was hoping you could Automate me?” The clerk looked up. Tiffany smiled and leaned over his desk to give him a view of her bursting cleavage. She twirled a lock of blond hair around her finger. “This is the place, right?” she said. “Where you make girls into Sex Dolls?” The clerk looked confused and shuffled the papers on his desk. “Were you drafted? If you were drafted they should have collected you at home.” ...

Amber knew it was going to be a bad day the moment she left the house. It was raining and she stepped into a puddle, soaking her new shoes and turning her feet icy cold. Great, she thought. Well, it can only get better from here. She had no umbrella, so she ran to the curb, trying to hail a taxi. If the first cab had stopped, nothing else that went wrong that day would have happened. But it passed her by and she was stuck waiting for five more minutes in the rain. ...

Angela was stripped naked and put on the conveyor belt. She tried to cover up with her hands, but she was restrained. Her advocate put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” said Janine. Angela squeezed back tears. “It will?” “Your case is pretty strong,” said Janine. “Especially your test scores. It’s not as hard to get a waiver as people say, not if you know what you’re doing.” ...

(story continues from Automata) Part 2: The Escape Suki waited in alley as instructed. She checked the time over and over, eager for it to be five thirty, when the pickup was supposed to happen. She couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder. She wore her old schoolgirl’s uniform from sophomore year and put her hair in pigtails to look younger. She was a petite thing, and the illusion was convincing; no one would suspect that such a young-looking girl could be a draft dodger. ...