Page 6 of Fembot
Broad shoulders, a smooth, nearly hairless chest, the illusion of abdominal muscles and the sexy Adonis belt some muscley dudes had going on. Winston wasn’t one of those muscley dudes, and he definitely wasn’t built like Calvin. Who, Winston had to remind himself, had actually been built in an elaborate factory somewhere.
Calvin slipped the shirt on and Winston immediately hated it with the navy suit pants he had on. He cleared his throat and turned to grab a pair of comfortable black sleep pants out of a drawer.
“Here, these will be more comfortable than those pants.”
Calvin flicked the button of his pants open, then dragged the zipper down. Winston watched, partially horrified that he was standing there gawking at Calvin as he undressed.
To Winston’s disappointment, and relief, Calvin had come wearing a pair of black boxer briefs. They did nothing to hide the fact that he was well endowed, but at least they protected Winston’s sanity. The small shred he had left. Logically, he knew he could order Calvin to strip his clothes off and breakdance naked if he desired, but Winston balked at the idea. It felt like a violation of trust. Calvin had to trust Winston. He wasn’t like a real person, who could use their emotions to inform whether or not they wanted to trust someone. Calvin had been programmed to trust.
Once Calvin was dressed, Winston gave him a slow onceover. The burgundy looked good against his complexion. It brought some color to his cheeks, and it looked nice with his soft brown hair. Calvin had the classic, boy-next-door good looks. The strong jawline, the windswept hair. Pouty lips.
“What do you think? Are you comfortable in those clothes?”
To his surprise, Calvin smiled. “The clothes are great. Thank you, Winston.”
If he hadn’t known better, Winston would’ve thought he was talking to a real live person. It was almost uncanny, the way Winston could have had Calvin do anything, say anything, be anything, and Calvin would do it. The power was heady and terrifying, and Winston wasn’t sure he liked the idea that he had complete control over someone.
But Calvin wasn’t really a someone. He was an elaborate something. He talked like a normal person would talk because that’s what he’d been programmed to do. He’d been polite about the clothing because that’s what he’d been programmed to do.
“Calvin, what are the limits to what I can ask you to do? Like, are there rules?”
“If commanded, I will carry out any request that doesn’t cause harm. I will perform any number of tasks for you, including sexual gratification, but I won’t do something that will cause harm to myself or others.”
“Good. Good.” Winston cleared his throat and tried not to drown in his own awkwardness. An uncomfortable silence fell between them, one that stretched on far too long. Winston didn’t know what to do or say, and he stood there, paralyzed by his indecision. He wasn’t generally like this, but Calvin’s arrival had thrown him.
Winston’s stomach growled, and Calvin looked down at it. “You’re hungry.”
“Yeah. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“I can cook something for you.”
He seemed almost happy when he offered, and Winston didn’t know what to make of that. It unsettled him to know that there was no way Cal was actually happy, but instead the emotion was a carefully programmed series of commands to make it seem to humans that he was happy.
The crinkling of his eyes when he smiled, the way one side of his mouth turned up slightly higher than the other. Calvin’s face wasn’t perfectly symmetrical, which made him seem more real.
“I—thank you. I’d like that.”
“What kind of food do you like?” Cal asked, following Winston down to the kitchen.
“I… uh… I’ll eat almost anything. What can you make?” Winston glanced at Cal in time to see him arch an eyebrow and smirk.
“I can make everything.”
Was Cal… smug?Winston thought.
“I’m not sure what we have.” He stopped in the middle of the kitchen. Takeout containers littered the counter and shame welled up in Winston for the sad state of cleanliness. They tried to keep on top of things. They had a cleaning schedule on the fridge and everything, but everyone had class and a million other things going on and, honestly, cleaning wasn’t high on the list of priorities.
Winston watched Cal as he opened and closed each cupboard and drawer. Then the pantry, and finally the fridge and freezer.
“I’ve made a list of things you need. Would you like me to order them?”
Stunned, Winston stared at Cal so long that it forced Cal to repeat his question.
“Would you like me to order the items?”
“Yeah. Yes. Please. Put it on my card.” Winston took his wallet out of his back pocket and handed the credit card toCalvin. Cal glanced at it, front and back, then handed it back to Winston.
“The delivery is scheduled for tomorrow morning at eight.”
