Part 1 Sitting in a bookshop is not normally where adventures begin, but Caroline Gray’s did that Saturday morning, Waterstone’s Bookshop has big sofas and a coffee house which does amazing lattes. It is a nice place to spend a wet dreary morning. Her life was going well, she had decided the night before. 39 years old and still single but not chaste, a string of boyfriends, and a nice flat overlooking the river in one of York’s most expensive areas made her feel contented. ...
She should have known better really. Her memories were her own and she had suppressed them for so long now. It all started on a trip the Imperial War Museum in London. Grandchildren are such a blessing and she loved then dearly. The youngest, Julie, was doing a big project about the blitz on London that happened during the Second World War. Her woman through the ages project for her O levels was coming along well and granny was the perfect subject coming from an age where women had moved out of their homes and become factory workers and pilots and all the myriad of men’s jobs they now had to cover to let the men go off to fight the Nazis. ...
Story continued from Part 12 Chapter 13: Easy Answers By AmyAmy, based on an idea by John Hynden Maeve glared at Patty. “What have you done?” she said. “Can’t you see? You’ll destroy yourself with that poison.” “Fuck you. You can’t do a thing. It’s made me stronger than you. Craine… You think that it’s just another ero-drug? You never were that smart for a detective, were you?” “What is it then Patty? Why don’t you tell me?” Maeve glanced behind her. Flora was still there, embedded in the goo. ...
Story continued from Part 3 Chapter 4: Old Bonds By AmyAmy, based on an idea by John Hynden At the division headquarters Patrice parked her car around the back, where it would be a while before people noticed it had been abandoned. She left the keys in the ignition, she wouldn’t be able to use it again. He almost certainly had a tracker on it, and even if he didn’t, he might be able to get data from the cameras, or have his own drones spot it. ...
Story continued from Part 1 Chapter 2: Old Affections By AmyAmy, based on an idea by John Hynden Patrice had just got into her pajamas when the doorbell rang. Just about to get onto her computer. If she’d been able to afford actual pajamas, pretty ones, it wouldn’t be so annoying. As it was, she was wearing a pair of worn-out yoga pants with holes in the knees and a t-shirt that no longer possessed a shape or color. ...
(story continues from Maid to Serve) Part Two It had been exactly a year since I began working for George Fournier and his extremely wealthy family as a live-in Maid-bot. George and his wife Veronica always made me feel welcome and wanted even if it was just through acknowledging my hard work. My days mostly consisted of helping Veronica with her daily chores and being a guinea pig for her latest fashion ideas. It was a fun job and it was made even easier when they began adding more robots to the system. George expanded the house to encompass another full house in size so they thought I could use some help. Now there are two other bots roaming around. One busty blonde named Carrie and a skinny Asian woman named Wu. The three of us shared a living quarters, meaning we each had a separate storage pod in the room designated as our home. It was cozy and I rarely left the estate other than on the odd weekend I feel like relaxing as a human or visiting the few friends I kept in contact with. All-in-all it was a fun and enjoyable job, especially after their son left for college. I was no longer tormented by his stupid attempts to get me in bed. This day started out just like any other simple work day. I woke up around 8 a.m. and exited my pod. The other two bots were hard at work in the kitchen making our lovely owners breakfast. It was my job to go and wake them up. I quietly enter the room and approach the sleeping couple. I gently shake Veronica with my hands. “Mistress Veronica, it is time to wake up. Carrie and Wu have been making breakfast for you two and I will make your bed before starting the laundry you have assigned me to do,” I say as I head back out towards the closet to grab the second set of sheets. “Thanks Mari. You are a life saver.” She says groggily and before too long both she and George are out of their room and enjoying breakfast. I finish making their bed and drag the laundry down to the washer. It takes a while but I finish the three loads and hang all their clothes up by the end of the afternoon. When I am done, I notice that there is a message for me on their nightstand that I must have missed when they left for work. “Hey Mari. We have a worker coming to inspect the other bots today. You can just say you are our daughter and act normal when he is here. After he leaves just make sure the other girls are working and you are free to go ~ Veronica” Right after I finished reading the sheet I heard the front door open and decided to check what was going on. I arrived in the foyer and saw a weird looking robot with a single eye and with a wheel instead of leg. I assumed it was the “worker” and approached the bot. “Hey there. My name is Mari Fournier; my parents aren’t home right now but they told me you were coming. I can show you to the models we have here and you can assess them.” I said while turning to walk towards the robot room. I heard some beeps and a simple “Agreed” from my visitor before he started to trail me and I walked into the room I had learned to call home. The worker bot began to scan the room and inspect all the maintenance machines with his glowing red eye. He makes a few adjustments along the way before reaching the three containers, two of which contained Carrie and Wu, the other being my “bed”. He briefly flashed over them all before turning and scanning me. “This home unit has designated that two Model-87Ks and one older Models-63G in use at all times. There are only the two Model-87Ks present. Where is the other unit?” he asks with a passive voice. “Uh… our other model is not present because she is being used by my younger brother for moving purposes. Is it necessary for her to be here?” I ask hoping he bought my excuse even though he is looking unconvinced, at least from what his one eye tells me. ...
(story continues from Maid to Serve) Part Two It had been exactly a year since I began working for George Fournier and his extremely wealthy family as a live-in Maid-bot. George and his wife Veronica always made me feel welcome and wanted even if it was just through acknowledging my hard work. My days mostly consisted of helping Veronica with her daily chores and being a guinea pig for her latest fashion ideas. It was a fun job and it was made even easier when they began adding more robots to the system. George expanded the house to encompass another full house in size so they thought I could use some help. Now there are two other bots roaming around. One busty blonde named Carrie and a skinny Asian woman named Wu. The three of us shared a living quarters, meaning we each had a separate storage pod in the room designated as our home. It was cozy and I rarely left the estate other than on the odd weekend I feel like relaxing as a human or visiting the few friends I kept in contact with. All-in-all it was a fun and enjoyable job, especially after their son left for college. I was no longer tormented by his stupid attempts to get me in bed. This day started out just like any other simple work day. I woke up around 8 a.m. and exited my pod. The other two bots were hard at work in the kitchen making our lovely owners breakfast. It was my job to go and wake them up. I quietly enter the room and approach the sleeping couple. I gently shake Veronica with my hands. “Mistress Veronica, it is time to wake up. Carrie and Wu have been making breakfast for you two and I will make your bed before starting the laundry you have assigned me to do,” I say as I head back out towards the closet to grab the second set of sheets. “Thanks Mari. You are a life saver.” She says groggily and before too long both she and George are out of their room and enjoying breakfast. I finish making their bed and drag the laundry down to the washer. It takes a while but I finish the three loads and hang all their clothes up by the end of the afternoon. When I am done, I notice that there is a message for me on their nightstand that I must have missed when they left for work. “Hey Mari. We have a worker coming to inspect the other bots today. You can just say you are our daughter and act normal when he is here. After he leaves just make sure the other girls are working and you are free to go ~ Veronica” Right after I finished reading the sheet I heard the front door open and decided to check what was going on. I arrived in the foyer and saw a weird looking robot with a single eye and with a wheel instead of leg. I assumed it was the “worker” and approached the bot. “Hey there. My name is Mari Fournier; my parents aren’t home right now but they told me you were coming. I can show you to the models we have here and you can assess them.” I said while turning to walk towards the robot room. I heard some beeps and a simple “Agreed” from my visitor before he started to trail me and I walked into the room I had learned to call home. The worker bot began to scan the room and inspect all the maintenance machines with his glowing red eye. He makes a few adjustments along the way before reaching the three containers, two of which contained Carrie and Wu, the other being my “bed”. He briefly flashed over them all before turning and scanning me. “This home unit has designated that two Model-87Ks and one older Models-63G in use at all times. There are only the two Model-87Ks present. Where is the other unit?” he asks with a passive voice. “Uh… our other model is not present because she is being used by my younger brother for moving purposes. Is it necessary for her to be here?” I ask hoping he bought my excuse even though he is looking unconvinced, at least from what his one eye tells me. ...