B785 Read Free Page A

plumbing in one of the rooms. Damned rich frat boys, always playing pranks. My name is Bob, by the way. If you need anything while you’re here, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”
    “I am called Einstein.”
    “Because you’re so smart?”
    Borrowing a line from Seth, Einstein pasted what he hoped was a friendly smile on his face. “Because of my hair.” Which often stood on end when he worked on a project. For some reason, tugging on the strands until they stood in a wild mane helped him puzzle things out.
    Bob chuckled. “Somehow, I have a hard time picturing that. You look like the uptight sort. But then again, so do most of the suits we get here. A few minutes with one of my gals, though…”
    “I won’t be partaking of those services.”
    “So you say now. If you change your mind, let me know. I’ve got a geeky bot, glasses and all, that might be right up your alley.”
    Doubtful. Einstein arched a brow. “Shall we attend to the units requiring repair?”
    “Eager to get to work? I like that in a man, er, cyborg. If you’ll follow me, the bots you’re supposed to fix are on the lower levels.”
    Einstein didn’t reply, just nodded before he followed the overweight male through a door into a service elevator. It dropped a few levels before opening onto a grey corridor without any of the frills or opulence of the upper levels. His footsteps echoed loudly in the barren space, almost muffling the huffing and puffing of the scurrying human to a room obviously never seen by clients. Einstein shook his head at the chaos. He wondered how many males would return to the establishment if they could see their “beauties” in various states of disrepair.
    As he wandered around getting a snapshot of the situation, Einstein couldn’t help but make a sound of disgust as he saw the mess some of the female robots were in. “What are they doing to them?” he muttered.
    “Anything and everything,” Bob replied, running his hands almost lovingly down the intact arm of one bot whose head hung askew. “It’s why we don’t use human girls anymore. It’s easier to reattach a robot arm than a flesh one. Less messy and noisy too.”
    Einstein didn’t ask why someone would want to remove a limb during sex in the first place. Some things, a cyborg really didn’t need to know.
    Taking count of the still bodies, he frowned. “There’s more bots than I expected.” He fixed the human with a gaze.
    Bob fidgeted. “Like I said, damned frat boys. I’ll adjust the final bill for your crew accordingly.”
    Aramus would appreciate the added discount. “That is acceptable. I’ll get started then.”
    Einstein wasted no time. Unpacking his equipment, he spent the next few days fusing broken contacts, reattaching loose limbs, repairing robotics, and correcting the speakers that allowed the sex droids to simulate speech. He didn’t notice the nudity of the bots. The breasts he needed to manipulate, the sexual organs he needed to inspect for function, and the lips he tested for suctioning did nothing for him. They were all just objects to him. He found them about as appealing as his toaster back home. Just another mechanical item in need of repair.
    At the end of several days, once he was done, he stretched and looked around the cleared room. Everything that could be fixed had cleared out and was put back into service rotation. Other than a few models who’d finally broken down beyond his ability, the room gaped, which made the large crate, almost coffinlike in shape, standing alone in the corner stick out. He approached it, wondering what it held. Parts perhaps that he could use to repair some of the models he’d given up on?
    “What’s in this box?” he asked Bob when the human arrived for a final report, rapping on the lid.
    Bob grunted. “Bah. That there is a dud sexdroid. I got it from a pirate in exchange for a freebie. I thought she just needed a new battery or something. But not only can I not