Robert arrives fully programmed. His eyes are eerily human as
he smiles at her. Ariadne’s facial pattern has been impressed on
his visual receptors. She is the only human he will perform
sexually for. He dips his head gracefully as he walks through the
door.
“Can I make you a drink, Ariadne?” Her name has been
programmed into his memory as well. He will say it huskily, with
tenderness. She nods. His head tilts to one side as he accesses
Ariadne. “You like white wine, Chardonnay specifically.
Occasionally you drink beer, but you do not like the taste. Can I
pour some Chardonnay?”
“Yes.” Her floor plan and house organization have been pre-programmed. There is no need to direct him to the proper cabinets;
the android knows where everything is. He brings her the wine and
sits at her feet. He takes the shoe from her foot, traces the arch
with his fingers.
AN ORGASM IS AN ORGASM IS AN ORGASM, Ariadne writes on the net. OR IS IT? The android slumps silent on the couch. After an
hour of unbearable solicitude she set him to sleep.
On the bulletin board, Ariadne posts: SEX WITH AN ANDROID IS SIMILAR TO MASTURBATION. THERE IS NO SPONTANEITY.
Almost immediately, a satisfied customer replies.
***
“So, how do you like your surrogate?” Ariadne’s sister asks
the next evening on the monitor. She dusts silver glitter on her
shoulders, turns sideways to examine the effect. “What do you
think?”
“That’ll look great with your metallic screen.” Ariadne
refers to the latest style of dress, a thin sheet of synthetics that barely camouflages areolae and nipples. A thong of the
same material blurs the genitalia.
Her sister’s large, dark eyes, so like her own, return to the
monitor. “I meant what do you think about your surrogate?”
“I like sex, Sol. I don’t like a talking sex toy.”
“Ahhh. Sounds like technoshock to me. Catch up, sis.”
Sol spreads iridescent gloss on her eyelids. The monitor frames
the clean line of jaw, the forward thrust of chin as she studies
the reflector. “You were born too early. Surrogates are better
than men. They never come too soon and they won’t make you sick.”
“That’s the key, they don’t come at all. There’s no one there.” Sol looks at her as if she’s speaking a language she doesn’t know.
Ariadne tries again. “Maybe if I hadn’t married Tom, or if I hadn’t had lovers before him, I could appreciate this gorgeous hunk of silicone. But I can’t.”
“Five years is a long time. You can’t have a human
relationship until then: it’s not safe.”
“Who says I’m going to have a relationship with anyone before
I’m off quarantine?”
“I’m reminding you that you are human; that you will have
needs,” her sister says before she fades out.
Ariadne continues her debate on the monitor:
IMAGINE, FOR A MOMENT, WHAT IS EROTIC. THE TASTE OF WILD STRAWBERRIES, BITTERSWEET ON THE TONGUE. FLOWERS ARE MOUTHS OPEN FOR THE KISS OF BEES, THE WEIGHT OF THE SUN. CHAMPAGNE MAKES LOVE TO YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU DRINK IT. THE SEA TOUCHES YOU EVERYWHERE, WAVES THAT LIFT US UP.
DO YOU ASK AN ANDROID TO WALK THROUGH THE FIELDS? TO TASTE WILD STRAWBERRIES? TO SWIM NAKED?
THESE THINGS CANNOT BE PROGRAMMED.
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Susan Daniels Poetry 
The limits of science and technology – androids will need to be better programmed…..good to know how far studies in artifical intelligence has progressed in this area? a new field called techno-erotica?
yes, I like the new name of the proposed specialty!
I like the way you have portrayed this topic so sensitively … its more about love now …
exactly!
No, they cannot. What a circumstance to face, a wait of five years for an intimate human touch. Not by choice, but by ruling. Great story.
Thank you Nelle. Yes, all the stimulation you might want, but no real intimacy.
Good stuff I have read a few science fiction books that contain this subject, The birth of true A.I. is still twenty five years away. But all it takes is one person ahead of their time and it will live sooner
Yes, indeed…exciting thought.
i really enjoyed this and hope you decide to run with the idea. I have to say there were shadow of The Handmaiden’s Tale there for me aswell which I really enjoyed with the idea that ‘big brother’ has the right to step in to the most personal aspect of individuals lives for the greater good
Wow–thanks so much–I adore Margaret Atwood…
if the time ever comes when such a thing as this is possible…let’s hope there are more Ariadne’s than not. Without the intimacy what the hell is the point! It’d be like dancing with my broom…it’s there leaning against the wall, ready if the music’s right…but when that dance is over I’m still alone and untouched, holding a broom.
Yes, exactly. Do not think appliances or tools can replace human relationships…ever.
Perhaps I should ask this when I’m finished with the entire story but. . . do you think there is a novel here? I get a hint of one.
LOL, maybe–it is at least a novella…
If you decided to do that -that is, if you wanted to do that- I would look at what is happening more cinematically. Especially since the sex-techness of it demands, I think, more context.
Very good point! My goodness, are you reading the whole thing now? It is a bit of a whammy to do all at once…
I am.
I read part of it before but am going at all of it right now.
Wow–thank you! Then I will be “quiet” over here and answer your comments when you are done 🙂
🙂