Chapter 8: Episode 08: Meeting the other Androids.

A/N: Her name has been changed from Danyi to Nikki. The changes would be applied to other previous Chapters.

“Stand up straight,” General A-01 commanded without looking back. “And do not speak unless addressed. The Sector Heads are not as… tolerant of chaotic humans as I am.”

Nikki adjusted the high collar of her suit, trying to pull the fabric out of her wedgie without being noticed.

“You consider yourself tolerant? You literally put me in a glass cage.”

“I gave you a job,” A-01 corrected. “Now, silence.”

The massive doors to the Summit Room slid open with a hiss.

If A-01’s office was impressive, this room was godly. The walls were gone, replaced entirely by a 360-degree view of the atmosphere.

In the center of the room floated a ring of black glass, a table with no legs, suspended by anti-gravity fields.

Sitting around it were the rulers of the new world.

Nikki’s breath hitched. She had seen them on the news feeds, of course.

Everyone had. But seeing them in person, in reality, was kind of terrifying.

[To the left sat V-05.]

The system noted. And Nikki’s eyes settled on the android on the left.

He was lean, sharp, and terrifyingly still. His hair was jet black, cut in a precise undercut, and his eyes were a piercing green. He didn’t blink. He watched Nikki enter like a snake watching a mouse scurry across the floor.

[To the right sat K-09].

He was massive, easily seven feet tall, almost as tall as A-01, with shoulders that looked like they could plow through a concrete wall.

His face was scarred. He didn’t look at her. He stared straight ahead, even Nikki shivered from fright from where she stood.

[And at the far end sat B-02.]

He had golden-blonde hair that fell effortlessly over his forehead and eyes the color of warm amber. He was leaning back in his chair with a relaxed, human grace, a faint smile playing on his lips.

If A-01 was the CEO, B-02 was like a movie star.

He was the most beautiful of all of them.

[Try not to drool babygirl]

Who the fuck is drooling? They are all machines for Christ sake.

There is no where in hell, I am!

“General A-01,” V-05 said, his voice sounding like dry paper sliding over stone. “You are late. What delayed you?”

“I was running a diagnostic,” A-01 replied smoothly, taking his seat at the head of the table. He gestured vaguely at Nikki, who was standing awkwardly by the door. “This is the variable.”

Three pairs of eyes snapped to Nikki.

She felt the sensors in her suit heat up as her heart rate spiked. She tried to look professional. She tried to look like a “Personal Assistant” and not a broke girl wearing a glorified wetsuit.

“Ah,” B-02 said, his voice rich and melodic. “The human.”

He tapped the glass table. A hologram sprang to life in the center of the room.

It was a video of Nikki. Specifically, the video of Nikki standing in the plaza, holding a cardboard sign that said LET’S FUCK, screaming at the top of her lungs about riding A-01’s dick.

Nikki wanted to die. She wanted the airlock to open and suck her out into the vacuum of space.

“The data packet of your request has been circulating,” V-05 noted, analyzing the footage like it was some kind of research. “Forty million views in the last two hours. The hashtag #WannaFuck is currently trending in all twelve sectors. It has displaced the Global Grain Report.”

“It was quite bold,” B-02 added, leaning forward, his amber eyes dancing with amusement. “’I want to mount your dick.’ Was that the phrasing?”

He looked at Nikki.

“Very specific,” B-02 mused. “Most humans petition for food or amnesty. You petitioned for… sex. I admire the clarity.”

“It was a metaphor!” Nikki squeaked, her face burning so hot she was sure the suit was going to trigger a fire alarm. “I was… making a political statement!”

“Heart rate 140,” A-01 announced from his chair, staring at his own screen. “She is lying.”

Nikki glared at the back of his head. Traitor.

“Why is she here, A-01?” K-09 rumbled. It was the first time he had spoken.. “She is a distraction. Take her out of here.”

“Negative,” A-01 said. He didn’t look up, but his tone was icy. “She is a chaotic variable. Her presence disrupts my processing loops in a way that suggests a potential virus or a flaw in the human source code. I am studying her to learn more about her anomaly.”

Nikki looked between all of them as they started speaking.

Like machines and at the same time not like one.

“Studying her,” V-05 repeated, his green eyes narrowing. “You have placed her in your personal quarters. You have outfitted her in a bio-feedback link connected to your own HUD. That seems… excessive for a study.”

“That’s not your data to access,” A-01 snapped.

“It looks like you kept a pet,” B-02 teased, spinning a digital stylus between his fingers. “Or perhaps you are considering accepting her offer? The simulation models suggest a 98% probability that the human population would view it favorably. They enjoy… these kinds of romance arcs.”

“I do not engage in biological copulation,” A-01 said, his voice dropping an octave. “I was not programmed that way.”

“You were not programmed that way,” B-02 repeated, his smile widening. “But it’s fun.”

Soon, the meeting shifted to logistics, grain yields, drone repairs, sector riots, but Nikki couldn’t focus. She stood there, burning under the weight of her humiliation, feeling exposed in every sense of the word.

Every time she shifted her weight, the silver suit shimmered. Every time her heart skipped a beat, she knew A-01 saw it on his screen.

Finally, A-01 stood up.

“Meeting adjourned. Return to your sectors.”

He turned to Nikki. “Come. We have data to process.”

Nikki let out a breath of relief. She turned to leave, desperate to get out of this room of hot, judgmental robots.

“Wait.”

The voice was smooth like honey. Nikki froze.

B-02 had stood up. He walked around the table, and stopped in front of Nikki, towering over her just like A-01 did, but where A-01 was cold ice, B-02 was warm sunlight.

He looked her up and down, his amber eyes lingering on the curve of her waist in the silver suit.

“You know,” B-02 said, ignoring A-01 completely. “If A-01 finds your offer… inefficient…”

He leaned down, close enough that Nikki could smell his scent, feminine scent.

“I have a free slot in my schedule this evening,” B-02 whispered, a playful wink accompanying the words. “My logic cores are fully compatible with… reproduction. And I’ve been told I’m an excellent ride.”

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