Alyssa and I ate a great tasting pizza for supper, and I commented that she had to order my pizzas for the rest of her life. It made her laugh, and I knew it wasn't reserved or fake. We had just finished eating when there was a knock on the door. Alyssa went over and opened it up to see Nurse Deloris there.

“Nurse Deloris' Cleaning and Maintenance Service.” Nurse Deloris said and inhaled a breath through her nose. “Hey, is that pizza?”

“Best pizza I've had in a while.” I said and motioned to the container. “There's a couple of slices left...”

Nurse Deloris was across the apartment and had half of a piece of pizza stuffed into her mouth and started to chew before I could finish making the offer.

“Mith ith melithouth!” She mumbled.

“What was that?” Alyssa asked as she shut the door.

“I'm pretty sure she said 'this is delicious'.” I said.

“How do you know that?” Alyssa asked.

“I can speak fluent Stuffed Mouth.” I said and preened a little, and she laughed again.

Nurse Deloris swallowed what she had bitten off. “Good guess. That is what I said.” She said and held the remains of her piece of pizza up. “Where did you get this?”

“I'd like to say it's a secret, but it's just the local place down the block.” Alyssa said. “It was great even before they started adding in the new brown algenate discs.”

“I assume you haven't eaten much today?” I asked, and Nurse Deloris nodded.

“I was trying to save up some appetite for tonight.” She said. “Damn you and your delicious pizza!”

I chuckled. “Force yourself to only eat one piece, then.”

Nurse Deloris finished the piece she had and tried to look away from the last piece. Her gaze hit me and then Alyssa, then went back to the lone piece.

“I should save that for breakfast.” I said, and I could almost feel her disappointment. “Then again, I think I better just toss it.” I said and picked up the container.

“NO!” Nurse Deloris said and grabbed the last piece from the container and shoved the end of it into her mouth. Alyssa and I burst out laughing and didn't stop until Nurse Deloris had finished eating.

“I guess you can have the last piece if you want it.” I teased.

“It's not nice to make fun of someone who does your maintenance.” Nurse Deloris said and bared her teeth at me.

“Point taken.” I said and raised my hands in surrender, and she nodded. We cleared off the table and Alyssa hit the button to convert it to a bed. Nurse Deloris laid out towels for me to lay on and I stripped off the unitard and laid down. She hooked up the portable maintenance kit and took out the tools she needed to check me over, and the kit beeped right way.

“Good lord, that was fast.” Nurse Deloris said and looked at the results. “What the hell? That can't be right.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“These readings are almost completely different from what they were yesterday!”

“Well, my AI Amanda deemed me worthy to talk to today, so she's been helping me fix a few things.”

“Jack, this... how did you...” Nurse Deloris shook her head. “Tell me exactly what you did.”

“Have you got a few hours to spare?” I asked, and she stared at me. “Even with my cognitive capacity increased, it still took Amanda and I several hours to work out how to best set everything up.”

“You're kidding.”

I shook my head. “It took her almost an hour just to show me the options.”

Nurse Deloris blinked her eyes several times, then sat on the edge of the bed. “I didn't know there could be that many options.”

“Me, either.” I said, and she tilted her head slightly to the side. “But, you're a cyber-monkey.”

I laughed. “I thought I was, until Amanda schooled me on what a real one is.”

“I don't have the time tonight for you to walk me through it all.” Nurse Deloris said. “Is it okay if I pop by tomorrow for the day?”

I looked at Alyssa, since it was her apartment, and she nodded.

“My keeper gives her permission, so sure.” I said and smiled.

“Thanks.” Nurse Deloris said to Alyssa, then pat my synthetic arm. “In the meantime, get ready for the physical inspection.”

“Go for it.” I said.

Nurse Deloris grabbed the tool to open up my elbow joint and checked for any burrs on the gears, then used a small screwdriver to pop up the top gear. She did that to stop my arm from twitching as she opened up the small electrical junction box at the base of my forearm.

“Ha ha! That tickles!” I said, and she stared at me.

“Wh-what? You felt that?”

“Yeah.” I said. “Why? Aren't I supposed to?”

“You're supposed to get a feeling of pressure, but that's all.” Nurse Deloris said and touched the box with the little screwdriver and wiggled it, and I laughed. “Now I really need to know what options you changed.”

“You... find out... tomorrow.” I said and tried to catch my breath.

Nurse Deloris went through the rest of my physical examination, and I felt pain, tickles, gentle touches, and soft caresses at various times. The soft caresses I experienced when she checked the synthetic side of my chest and made sure nothing had entered or was in danger of entering the chest cavity and the mechanisms that ran my heart and lungs.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Nurse Deloris closed me up and secured everything, then applied the lubricating lotion to my synthetic parts to seal them again. She started with my foot and worked her way up my leg, and I quickly put a hand over my private area to cover my body's reaction to being touched like that. She had clearly noticed; however, she didn't say anything as she moved up to my chest and then did my arm last.

“I'll see you in the morning to give you a bath, but if tonight was any indication, I'd say you're going to have the fine motor skills to bathe yourself from now on.” Nurse Deloris said as she packed up the tools and the portable maintenance kit and set it aside.

“I haven't done a full run-through systems check in a maintenance bay yet.” I said. “What makes you think...”

Nurse Deloris looked at where my hand was, and I sighed.

“It's my first time feeling things on that side of my body since before the training accident.” I said, and she understood what I meant. “Not only are they new and exciting, you also have gentle and firm hands.”

Nurse Deloris chuckled. “Okay, I won't abandon you just yet.”

“I'll decrease the sensitivity next time.” I offered, and she shook her head.

“You'll mess up your operating system if you start giving your brain different neural readings for the same areas at different times during the day.” She warned.

“Then I'll try to control myself better.”

Nurse Deloris reached down and pat my shoulder. “As long as you're not thinking anything sexual about me.”

“Of course I'm not!” I said immediately. “I respect you as a professional bather!”

Nurse Deloris snorted a laugh and tossed me a fresh unitard. “Put this on so I don't have to look at Mr. Winky anymore.”

I stood up and faced away from both women and pulled the unitard up to my waist. “For future reference, his name's not Winky. It's Ginormous Fallic Symbol Numero Uno.”

Both Nurse Deloris and Alyssa snorted and started to laugh, while my AI Amanda laughed in my ear. They continued as I finished getting dressed, then I turned around dramatically and crossed my arms.

“Hardy har har.” I said. “He's not happy that you're laughing at him.”

That made them laugh harder, as was my intention, and I pasted a look of being sullen and cross on my face despite not feeling that way, and waited for them to stop.

“All right, I have to go.” Nurse Deloris said when she had calmed down. “I'll see you both first thing in the morning.” She walked over to the door and opened it, then pointed at me. “But not Mr. Winky!”

“It's Ginormous Fallic Symbol Numero Uno!” I said with as much indignation as I could muster, and she burst out laughing and shut the door as she left.

Alyssa waited for a moment, then walked over to me. “You recovered from that incident well.”

“I hoped humor would distract her from it.” I said, then sighed. “I didn't think I'd react in that way to being touched like that, though.”

“I'm sure she was just teasing you.” Alyssa said. “You're paying her a lot for just a little bit of work. She's not going to want to go back to 12 and 16 hour shifts at the hospital.”

I smiled. “What about you?”

“What about me what?”

“Do you want to go back out into a regular deployment schedule, now that you've had a taste of the relaxing life?”

“Relaxing life?” Alyssa asked. “I'm checking the security feeds of this building every 10 seconds for anything suspicious! I'm accessing the security grid for any undesirables that might be in the area every 30 seconds, so I'll have a slight warning if anyone, or anything, is coming for you!” She said. “My only time off is when I sleep, and I make sure Evilin is in the lobby an hour before that.”

I looked at her with wide eyes, and she turned to face the door of her apartment.

“The best thing about this place is that the only way in or out is through that door. The problem I have is that's also the worst thing. If anything happens, that is the only way in or out of this place.”

I reached a hand out and touched her shoulder, and she turned to look at me. “Thank you for taking this situation seriously and taking care of me, rather than just babysitting me.”

“Jack.” Alyssa took a breath and let it out. “Even if we hadn't-”

I put a finger over her mouth to stop her. “We can't talk about that.” I said, then slid that hand to the side of her face. “How do you keep your skin so soft?”

“Formaldehyde.” Alyssa said softly, and I laughed.

“That's funny.” I said.

“Why? It's true.” Alyssa said.

“What?”

Alyssa went to her bathroom and came out with a moisturizing cream, and held it out to me. I took it and turned it to read the ingredients, and saw formaldehyde was one of the last ones included in the list.

“Well I'll be damned.” I said. “I thought you were joking.”

“It's used as a preservative all the time.” Alyssa said. “It's been in cosmetics for as long as cosmetics have been around.”

I handed it back to her. “That's something I never thought I'd learn.”

“What's that?”

“Women embalm themselves to stay pretty.”

Alyssa laughed. “That's not what we're doing.”

“Hey, I'm not complaining.” I said. “You look fantastic.”

Alyssa's face flushed red. “I... I haven't fixed my make-up yet.”

“Really?” I stepped close and briefly touched her bottom lip with a fingertip. “Are your lips always this cherry red?”

Alyssa's face went to an even deeper red.

“They're a little plump and feel very soft, which makes them highly kissable lips.” I said. “Are you sure it's not make-up?”

Alyssa didn't say anything as she looked into my eyes, and I could almost hear her heart beating faster.

“I guess make-up is like magic.” I said and smiled warmly at her. “Who am I to question the wonders I behold? I should just enjoy them.”

“J-Jack...” Alyssa barely breathed.

“Yes?”

“You... you need to...”

I looked into her eyes and waited for her to say what she wanted to say.

“...you have more work to do.” Alyssa said and I saw resolve in her eyes. “You need to get to it.”

“Of course.” I said. “Can I use the table again?”

Alyssa nodded and changed the bed back to a couch and table, and I took out my portable display and set it up on the table. I sat down and looked at her.

“Say, do you want us to go over your settings, too?” I asked.

“Wh-what?”

“I just realized my AI and I can check your interface as well, and see if you are suffering unintentional lag.”

“I don't know...” Alyssa hedged.

“I promise not to pop open your cranial access port and probe you.” I said and grinned, and she chuckled.

“Well... since you asked so nicely.” Alyssa said and sat down next to me and I plugged one of the leads into her implant and one into mine.

“Amanda might talk to you directly, if that's okay.”

“Sure.” Alyssa said. “It's always nice to meet new peop-AH!”

“Hi!” Amanda said and cut her off, and Alyssa looked to where the voice was coming from. She saw her table end at the wall, and yet there was another seat there and Amanda sat on it and waved to her. “It's nice to meet you in person.”

“Oh, my god.” Alyssa said, surprised. “She's manifesting an avatar? In my HUD? Through the wall?!?”

I chuckled. “Welcome to the digital age, Miss Cave Man.”

Alyssa looked from Amanda to me, then back to Amanda. “How does this work?” She asked and reached out with a hand to touch the wall. “She shouldn't be there!”

I laughed. “She's not really there, obviously.” I said. “She's just letting you see her.”

“O-kay.” Alyssa said and pulled her hand back and rested it on the table. “What do we do now?”

“Amanda? Can you give her the same rundown as you gave me?”

“Nope.” Amanda said. “I'm your AI and I've had decades to observe you and your reactions.” She explained. “What I can do is highlight the best options that don't require personal knowledge.”

“Do that, please.” Alyssa said, and Amanda reached a hand out through the wall and laid it on Alyssa's hand.

“Hold on to your panties!” Amanda said, and started to show her the modified options menu. Since I was hooked into the portable display with Alyssa, I saw it all as well. When I thought of tweaks and alternatives to the choices they were discussing and making, I chimed in with my opinion. Thankfully, I was not shouted at or told to shut up. After almost two hours, both I and Alyssa were exhausted.

“I'm calling it a day.” I said and yawned, and I saw Alyssa yawn as well. “I think someone needs to go to sleep.”

“Me, too.” Alyssa said and yawned again. I packed up the display and put it and the maintenance kit back in the closet, and Alyssa converted the table and couch back into a bed. I quickly climbed onto the bed and opened up my unitard to bare my chest, then held the blanket up for her as I put my other arm on the bed for her to lay on.

Alyssa hesitated for a moment as she assessed the situation, then she shrugged slightly and climbed in beside me. I waited for her to snuggle into me before I tucked the blanket up to our shoulders, then I hugged her close.

“Goodnight, Alyssa.” I said, and she rested her head on my bare chest.

“Goodnight, Jack.” Alyssa said, then her hand slid across my abdomen and held me tightly.