PLANET AIPOTU, CONTINENT NEW LIBERIA - CAPITAL OF CITY EOS
Unbelievable. As a Manufactured Being I can fully calculate and assess the tens of thousands who have made their interest in me abundantly clear. Yet, that which makes me aware of my individuality cannot believe what I have seen so far. From the time I stepped off the Matter Receiving Pad at AIPOTU Planetary Station until now six Local Hours later, my new multitude of ‘fans’ have hounded me everywhere!
Incessant as the throngs of gestated and manufactured beings were, for me it has been educational and dare I say... flattering. Despite her numerous complaints, Cargo Shift Supervisor Florez seemed to enjoy acting as my ‘bodyguard’ as she called it. All fifteen of my fellow DROMEDARY shore party members seemed to feel the same as they blocked the way of the throngs trying to get near me. Once we managed to find a somewhat calm place to sit and have liquid intake, hundreds were lined up outside of the establishment waiting to get a look at me. On all the displays viz feeds and images of me played being interviewed or from my arrival at the Planetary Station.
I noticed only the members of the shore party sat around me with Supervisor Florez and Cargo Officer Vivy Ersuna on either side. The two gestated females kept wary eyes out for there had been several dozen persons who threw themselves at me to fondle my body. “Shit Cargo, when is the food going to get here? I thought you said this place was good to go?” Florez impatient questions were met with the Cargo Officer’s usual blank stare. Her purple skin absorbed the many colors of flashing light within the establishment making the MHG-1.3 female look ever more enigmatic.
“De-energize your generators Florez. You’re making Pandora nervous. The food will get here soon enough. Be glad our ‘Rook’ Pandora is a walking, talking ‘get shit free’ authorization! We all get to eat and drink gratis just because we brought her here.” Cargo Officer Ersuna gave me a swat on the back and said, “That’s affirmative isn’t it Pandora?” I nodded in agreement as the sting from the swat started to fade.
Supervisor Florez stared at me with those near black eyes and asked, “How you running Pandora?” I found her question odd as it should be obvious I had not been damaged during the last six hours. I did understand the meaning as it was a query concerning my emotional functionality. There were moments when it was necessary to desensitize my emotional response software. Particularly when I stepped off the Receiver Pad and there were hundreds of correspondents waiting with imagers sending my every move live to the Galaxy! They even knew the new designation my companion gave me and wanted to know every intimate detail about my activities. One correspondent was so bold as to ask, ‘did I enjoy sexually stimulating my companion?’ That was the moment my ‘escort’ surrounded me and pushed their way through the crowds. “I am functioning well in all aspects Supervisor. Thank you for asking.”
Four Mech Manu’s brought trays of food and drink then placed them on tables the shore party occupied. It was an ancient ‘Seafood’ themed restaurant and the Mechs wore cloth coverings resembling the garments of ‘Waiters’ in images Gital showed me. If he were here, my companion would notate everything about the establishment to recreate the setting on the Galley Deck. It became uncomfortably apparent all ocular organs and arrays within the establishment except for my escorts were locked onto me as the Mech Waiter placed a plate of food before me.
It became necessary to filter out the background audio of persons asking the same questions of each other in hushed tones. ‘Is that Manu really going to ingest biological matter?’ ‘Can a Manu eat?’ Fortunately, I endured such scrutiny on DROMEDARY. This time, the questions were not unsettling as before. Instead, I took in the savory odors of the local dishes which included a crustacean soup, salad from marine vegetation, fried starchy land-based plant roots and the flesh of an amphibian fried in crispy batter.
Before I could run a taxonomy search query to identify what I was about to ingest, Supervisor Florez stood and held up a full clear plastiform mug. “Cargo, Shift 2 and of course our Rook Pandora, I just want to say it’s great to spend some real time planetside with the best crew in the Fleet!” I watched as all the shore party including the manufactured members pounded the tables with their mugs. After an elbow tap from the Cargo Officer, I emulated the others by pounding my mug as well. The Supervisor waved her free hand and the pounding died down.
“Now, we’ve got twenty-four ESH to enjoy ourselves before we have to get back to work....” One of the male gestated Cargo Techs yelled out, “There you go Super! You know you can’t use the ‘W-word’ planetside!” All the shore party made a loud groaning sound and Supervisor Florez dropped her head. Abruptly Cargo Officer Esurna barked, “You know what that means!” Once more mugs pounded the tables and the shore party chanted, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”
I watched the Supervisor roll her eyes in disgust and say, “Fuck me!” It was a gestated female who said, “I’ll take that action Super!” “Unless you’re Hermacian and can sprout a fine, meaty ‘semen rocket’... shut the fuck up!” The shore party erupted in laughter and then the Cargo Officer barked again, “Drink up and finish your damned toast so we can dig in!” Supervisor Florez turned up the large mug and downed the strong stimulant barely spilling a drop. When finished, she took a deep breath and my PHUD’s readings of her vitals projected she would pass out. Instead she shook her body violently and said, “That’ll put hair on a Coranagh!”
The Supervisor waved down the laughter only to speak more carefully. “You all performed well on this run. We kept the cargo tight and made sure the Passenger Assistance Department had what they needed, when they needed it and kept our passengers happy during Bubble Time. This next run’s a long one ‘cause we’ll be down for a full month so everybody be prepared to haul away ‘til we reach the end of the line. Lastly, I want to give a toast for our Skipper who made it possible for a bunch of low-life Gestated and Manu bastards to put to space on the best Transport in the Fleet! To Captain Gital!”
At the mention of the Captain, all mugs went up including my own and then everyone including the Mechs partook. The Cargo Officer slammed down her mug and said in a much diminished voice, “Now sit down and let’s eat!” I dug into what turned out to be a delicious meal, yet I could still see restaurant patrons and persons outside the restaurant still watching my every move intently. I did my best to ignore them and concentrate on the activities of my fellow shore party members.
For hours during what Cargo Officer Ensurna called ‘Trawling’ we visited fifteen establishments. Some were places of amusements. Others offered dancing. Three places offered various sexual demonstrations or activities whereby to everyone’s disappointment, I merely watched instead of participating. Strangely enough, the Mech Android ZZ was a constant attendant while my gestated escort succumbed one by one to excesses of overindulgence. After fifty entreaties, I managed to get ZZ and the Bio-Mech Android called ‘Sundy’ to dance with me at what was called a ‘Nightclub’.
Sundy actually worked First Shift on the Galley Deck. She was given a slot to transmit down early after trading with a gestated cargo team member. Sundy was the closest being in type to me aboard DROMEDARY. Being a Bio-Mech, Sundy was comprised of flesh supported by a mechanical infrastructure. In many respects, she was the same as ZZ only with a flesh exterior. That was the only similarity Sundy had with my Mech escort.
Once more all eyes in an establishment were upon us as we danced around ZZ. Among Sundy’s many duties aboard DROMEDARY were Galley Server, ‘Dancer’ and what Gital called a ‘Bouncer’ for when passengers got too enthusiastic during the in-transit parties. Sundy was an attractive model configured in a manner both male and female gestated humans found pleasing. Long silver hair and flawless cream-colored skin was visible through the many strategic openings in her tightly fitted black garment. Her pale green eyes stood out prominently against her hair and skin. The contrast between us as we danced and draped ourselves about ZZ seemed to enthrall onlookers.
Unfortunately, ZZ did not possess the behavioral processing modules to comprehend what was happening. “Pandora 001, Sundy 662, I am familiar with the activity of dancing though I am uncertain as to how I should respond to your physical gestures.” Sundy laughed at ZZ’s statement and for an instant I was surprised. I then realized as an Entertainment Android, Sundy would have humor and other social protocol emulations installed. “Just follow the rhythm of the music with your movements ZZ and sync them with ours.” It was at that point, the music changed to a type of heavy mechanical pattern which seemed to be designed for ZZ’s motor skillset. Upon starting in with his machine-like movements, the crowds of onlookers in the large venue roared their approval.
I could see Supervisor Florez and the Cargo Officer finally caught up with us and had two unknown male companions in their grasp. Florez’s companion lifted her above the crowd at the edge of the dance floor and she screamed, “Sundy! Do routine number six!” I then saw more of the shore party had arrived and were echoing the Supervisor’s request. Sundy turned to me and queried, “You have seen me perform ‘Number Six’ Pandora. Can you do it?” In an instant, a search query pulled up several vis feeds from my visual logs. I downloaded the movements into my motor skills processor and replied, “Yes Sundy I can. I will mirror your movements.”
While ZZ continued his mechanical motions, we began the most popular dance routine among the passengers and crew aboard our Transport. Round and round Sundy and I danced to the pounding mechanical beat. Little by little, we allowed portions of our garments reveal areas of skin. We weaved and gyrated about ZZ who seemed to get into the spirit of things and complimented many of our movements. When Sundy and I moved about each other as if we were trying to seduce each other, the crowds were screaming for more. Just as it looked like we would allow ZZ to have his way with us, the music ended. The nightclub patrons roared with both enthusiasm and disappointment.
Before I could react, a mass of club patrons descended upon us while screaming my name! Sundy and ZZ stepped forward to block the crush and then those of the shore party rushed in to stem the press of eager bodies. Someone grabbed my arm from behind and I turned prepared to fight if need be. To my utter surprise, it was Gital! “Pandora let’s go!
© 2013 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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