The Raven

Day 1

“Look Doc, I’m sorry, but in the price range you’re working with this was it. It’s the top of the heap. It’s got the space ya need to install the old brain and hey, it’s nice to look at.” The broker turned to regard the wooden crate resting on the grav-lift.
“But I can’t use such a device. Why it’s…” The Doc could not find the right word. He was looking for a word that wouldn’t make him sound like a prude, or a virgin. He wasn't either of those things, but he was not prepared to deal with the reality of what was in that crate.
The broker turned back to the Doc and smiled knowingly. “Hey, who am I going to tell? Stop worrying will ya?”
“It’s just not right. Does it even meet the dexterity requirements I gave you? What about the visual and auditory acuity levels? Does the thing meet my requirements?” The Doc’s voice was rising in pitch now and sweat had long since broken out on his pale forehead.
Fast running out of patience and falling behind on his delivery schedule, the broker’s voice rose in response to the challenge. “Yes, yes and yes! In fact, look at the print-out I gave ya! It even beats some of your requirements.”
Beaten, the Doc let out a long sigh. “Alright. Leave it here. I’ll do what I can to get it to work. Maybe I can suppress or even remove the primary functions.”
“Great Doc! Look, if ya have any problems with it, and I mean any, then you know how to reach me. You’re one of my best customers here on Europa Station. I’d hate to lose your business over something small like this. Look I got a schedule, deadlines to meet. Be sure to register via the hypernet. The warranty only covers the basics, but it could come in handy. It won’t cover your after-market stuff though, so you’re on your own there.” The broker lowered the grav-lift and gently set down the large wooden crate and then he was gone before the Doc could come up with another reason to refuse delivery.

“I can’t believe I let that scoundrel talk me into this.” The Doc approached the crate cautiously. He picked up the claw hammer and began opening the panel marked ‘OPEN THIS SIDE.’ In just a few minutes he had the panel off and most of the intervening packing material removed.
“Whoa. The picture he sent doesn’t do her justice.” The Doc stood staring into the crate admiring his soon to be lab assistant. Her hair is shoulder length and black and her skin is fair. She has been dressed in a simple frock with a floral print slightly reminiscent of a Hawaiian shirt. The Doc’s cock stirred inside his jumpsuit causing him to blush uncontrollably as he adjusted himself.
He managed to pry his eyes away from her long enough to read some of the directions on the print-out he’d been given. Once he realized that they were no different from the ones he already knew he set about performing the full unpacking and boot sequence.
An hour later his Raven 7800 Series was walking under its own power into his lab. The Doc followed it closely and could not help but watch the finely shaped ass wiggle beneath the thin fabric of its dress as it walked. He couldn’t help but think that for a ten year-old android it was remarkably well kept.

Three hours of delicate work and the Doc was nearly in tears. Everything he had tried had failed. He couldn’t suppress the Raven’s primary functions. She was hard-wired for pleasure. A tiny part of his brain was celebrating, but his main focus was on his former lab assistant.
He and the model 06 had worked so well together in the lab. Its personality was perfectly adjusted. Now he’d be forced to turn the 06’s brain into a secondary drive for the Raven. It’d be able to access all the pertinent information to assist him in his work, but it’d still have all the instincts and personality traits of a… He couldn’t believe this had happened.
This was all his fault. The 06 would be fine if he’d kept a closer eye on the tolerances of the new plasma unit. The Doc let out a heavy sigh and closed up the Raven’s access panel. Reluctantly he powered the systems on and initiated the start up sequence.
“Please stand by while I index the data in the newly installed memory device.” Her voice flowed over him like honey and had just a hint of a Southern accent. The Doc thought for a moment while she performed her indexing task. Then it came to him; the free-state of Georgia in the former United States, North America.
“Indexing complete. Initiating system restart.” Her eyes closed for a few moments and then slowly opened again. The Doc stood waiting for her to begin the primary owner programming sequence.
“Please state your name for ownership and voice recognition.” Again her voice flowed over him. It felt like a giant velvet glove that caressed him and it stirred something deep inside him. He tried very hard to ignore it.
The Doc took a step forward. “doctor Thomas Quinlan, P.H.D.”
“Voice record stored. Please restate name for verification.” Her voice caressed him again. In the lab, that was going to be quite annoying. Perhaps he could alter her voice data to produce a less… sultry voice. Pleasing as her voice was he didn’t need any distractions in the lab. Distraction is what had resulted in the near total destruction of 06 and half of the lab almost six months before.
He repeated his name for the benefit of the machine and then waited for the sequence to continue. He found himself gazing into her eyes. They were a deep green, his favorite color. He began thinking of lush forests with hidden streams where they would swim naked under the tree canopy. She blinked and it snapped him back into reality.
“I’m sorry. What was it you asked again?” The Doc’s voice wavered a little as he spoke.
“Please state your naming preference for this unit.” She regarded him blankly and awaited his response.
“Oh… Well I hadn’t actually thought… Hmmm.” He took a few steps back from her and looked her over again. Her looks reminded him of a girl he’d known in primary school. One he’d had a crush on. What was her…
“Jennifer, uh Jenny.” He nearly yelled when he remembered the girl’s name. He shouldn’t have had that difficult a time recalling it. He was only forty-five after all. It’s not like it was ages ago.
“Please restate your preference. Jennifer or Jenny?” Again she regarded him with that blank look in her eyes.
“Your name is Jennifer, but you will respond to either Jennifer or Jenny. Isn’t your system capable of that?” The Doc crossed his arms and looked at her without looking at her eyes. He knew that if he made eye contact that he’d lose himself again.
“Jennifer saved as primary name. Jenny saved as secondary name. Full primary name is now Jennifer Quinlan.” She turned to him and smiled.
“Oh my. Can we do that?” The Doc blushed brightly. “Instant marriage eh? It’s a bit of an assumption don’t you think?” He looked at her sternly for a moment, but he had to look away. Her smile was so disarming.
“Please use remote unit to adjust interaction levels.”
“What remote unit?” The Doc quickly looked through everything the broker had given him and everything he’d unpacked from the crate. “There isn’t any remote unit Jenny.”
“In the absence of the remote unit I can engage the factory defaults.” She winked at him.
He wondered what the factory defaults might be like. “I suppose that will be fine until I can find that remote.”
“Primary programming sequence complete. Initiating system restart.” Again her eyes closed briefly and opened again. This time she turned to the Doc and reached out to caress his face. Startled, the Doc took a step back.
“Hello Thomas.” Her voice was like the velvet glove again and it seemed to reach inside him and caress his soul.
He reached out and took her hand to shake it. “Hello Jenny. Are you ready to get to work?” With his other hand he gestured towards the other side of the lab where he had begun his work again after the accident.
“Work? But darling Thomas, wouldn’t you rather…” Her hands ran down her body suggestively.
“Oh lord.” The Doc’s voice had almost left him. “Um. Uh. NO! I mean… uh. Oh my I knew this wouldn’t work out.” He turned away from her for the briefest of moments and then turned back.
“You don’t desire…” She looked genuinely hurt. He wondered if she was really hurt. He knew that many of these machines, even some of the older ones, had been programmed with a minute level of awareness and intelligence. They had to have it in order to function fully in the roles many people put them in. Long gone were the days of the rubber or silicone ‘love doll.’
“Oh Jenny I’m so sorry. Uh… maybe later?” He hoped she couldn’t detect his deception.
She smiled broadly. “Alright, later then. What would you like to do now?”
The Doc smiled at this small success. “Well for starters let me show you where we’re at on the project and you can access your secondary information to help get things rolling along at full speed again.”
Her eyes went sort of blank again and then she focused on him. “Ready to proceed Doctor Quinlan.”
This caught him off guard. She called him that without any prompting. My but these machines were smart weren’t they?