Bitchbot One – The Introduction
Spotting *her* amongst the other dogbots was easy. The canine
division of Homebots had, after all, built her based on the
photographs and videos I’d given them.
She moved… differently than I’d expected. Oh, I hadn’t expected
any miracles and after being shown the various production models I’d
readily agreed that I couldn’t expect her to move like a real, adult,
bitch.
On the other hand…
I studied her some more, then turned to the woman next to me. “She
doesn’t move like the ones you showed me.” I held up a hand to stop
her comment when I figured out what I was seeing. “She’s not acting
like a puppy. She moves like an adult bitch. How?”
Her next words startled me. “What are you talking about? I don’t see
a difference in the way she acts, compared to say… That female
Black Lab dogbot over there.” She pointed.
I watched both dogbots, mine and the standard one. The differences
were obvious. The lab was definitely puppyish in her behavior. Nell,
as she went through the basic routines, *acted* puppyish but there
were differences. Her posture was slightly more aggressive and she
carried her tail slightly higher than a puppy would. When she
solicited play by lowering herself she didn’t have that slightly
submissive tilt to her head that puppies used.
“You really don’t see the differences?” I had her run the bots
through their basic routines again side by side and pointed out the
differences.
She shook her head. “Not enough to be significant. Well within
operational parameters.”
I kept my face blank. I had a gut level feeling that she’d never been
around *real*, unspayed bitches for long enough to study the nuances.
“OK. I’m not complaining. I’d like to thank whoever did the
programming mods to get Nell closer to what I wanted.”
She turned and this time she studied me carefully. Her tone was
frosted with disdain when she finally replied. “I’m responsible for
final programming and I *assure* you there were no programming mods.
We sell a highly regarded product. The only differences between those
dogbots are the form–and the unusual but *minor*…” She trailed off
and jerked her head back to study the two dogbots.
I waited.
“Ohmygod…” She sounded, and looked, stunned. “The learning
routines. We had to build the sexual hardware and write the interface
code from scratch, based on…” She blushed. “Personal observation
and research.”
I nodded. I remembered all the sensors I’d worn and the awkwardness
when the hardware designers and software people wound up doing
‘personal research’ with the bitches and dogs I and my close friends
had provided. “You’ve lost me. What does that have to do with
Nell’s ‘adult behavior’?”
“It’s obvious…” She had the grace to blush again. “You’re not a
programmer, are you?”
“No.” She sighed. Obviously she’d been through this before, dealing
with someone who didn’t have a clue… “OK.” I offered. “If you
keep it in terms of how sexuality affects behavior, I can follow,
probably.”
She raised her eyebrows. I couldn’t blame her slight disbelief. I
sighed, a sigh that twisted her lips into a self-mocking grin when she
realized it matched the one she’d just made. “I sense a fellow
sufferer.”
I laughed. “I’ve spent all my adult life and most of my childhood
living with and studying dogs and bitches. Then, there was all that
time with you and your people. I don’t know *programming*. I do know
people, dogs in general, sexuality and how the three things interact
to make us who we are. I also understand how that affects our body
language.” She nodded. I took a deep breath and let it out before I
took the plunge.
“Are you going to tell me that Nell’s software ‘learned’ how to use
her sexual hardware and what it can do… To help her attract and
please people?”
She smiled lopsidedly. “Yes. And that for some reason none of us
ever put it together: Learning to integrate your sexuality into your
life is a big part of being ‘adult’ and *that* significantly affects
your , or in this case a dogbot’s, outward behavior.”
She turned and with a couple of commands reset the dogbots, restarted
their basic tests and then, when they were at a point that showed
obvious differences in behavior, stopped them again.
“So.” She walked around Nell, studying her thoughtfully. “I
wonder…”
I waited, and watched, doing some thinking of my own.
“Bill?”
“Hmmm?”
She studied me thoughtfully. “You and Nell. Your friends and their
dogs.” She blushed, and I wondered why. Her next words answered that
question. Her voice was gentle, filled with a new, hesitant
awareness–and dawning wonder. “It’s more than sex. It’s *love*,
felt by both of you, isn’t it? And like Nell’s ‘adult’ behavior, we
missed it–didn’t we?”
I could have given a lot of answers but I was tired of hiding behind
the lies and diversions I’d been using all my life to distract people.
If anyone deserved the truth… I won’t say the decision was an easy
one to make. It wasn’t.
I smiled and relaxed. “Yes, Sara. We were pretty good actors,
weren’t we?”
She surprised me. “Bitchbot One!” The dogbot’s head unfroze and
turned to watch her. She took a deep breath and I heard the tremor in
her voice. “Programming override: Activate subroutines ‘Free will’
and ‘Find new owner’.”
Seconds later 93 pounds of happily barking bitchbot hit my chest in a
familiar greeting.