Chapter Thirteen Aaron

After the robot crew is done tearing the building down and sorting out all of its debris, Aaron walks with Five back over to Runner. He jumps up on its back and seats himself just short of its front shoulders, leaving some room for her to sit behind him. After the exhausting amount of conversation he had with her, he’s more than happy to just take Runner home slowly this time. Following his example, she hops up onto Runner and scoots herself up behind him. She looks down the length of both of his legs and mimics how he’s holding on.

Out of habit, he spurs Runner forward a little bit more quickly than he should have, forgetting that she’s likely never done anything like this before. He feels her arms quickly wrap around him to hold on. It feels nice, like she trusts him. After talking to her, he knows she could use a little trust right now.

After walking for a few blocks, Five starts trying to look over his shoulder. As petite as she is, she can’t see around him and she’s getting a little bit fidgety.

“Why aren’t we going faster, like you were doing before?”

He considers going a little faster, to make her happy. But he isn’t really feeling it. He’s a little tuckered out and was kind of enjoying taking it slow. “ I guess we could, but I’ve never done this with anyone on the back before.”

Feeling pressured by her expectant silence, he decides to go ahead and pick up the pace for her a little bit. After speeding Runner up into a brisk trot, he looks back to find that she’s grinning. He can feel the smile on his own face getting bigger just looking at her.

The entire way home he can see smiles on people’s faces as the two of them ride on by. He imagines what it was like for people to ride horses way back when. It must’ve almost been something like this, riding a big beast with a mind of its own. He wonders when he might get the chance to do this with Valerie. She’d probably enjoy this as much as Five does.

It’ll be tough for him to see Five go, especially while knowing the troubles that lie ahead of her. He feels that he can trust this Dr. Morgan to do the right thing, but he doesn’t really know for sure. Something in the back of his mind is telling him that he’s setting himself up for heartbreak. It wouldn’t surprise him if everything goes south in the worst way possible. Five’ll probably end up getting scrapped and Valerie will end up resenting him for what he’s done behind her back. He pats Five’s forearm with his hand and looks back at her with an encouraging smile. He’ll do whatever he can for her, while he still can.

On the way home, he and Five stop in at a nearby department store to find her some new clothes. After thinking about it all day, he’s come up with a mental picture of what he thinks she’d look best in. By the look of her kind face, he figures she’ll need some help in looking more intimidating. If she’s going to go back to Werker with another identity, it’ll need to exude confidence.

The first thing he looks for is another wig for her to wear. Since Five-One was bald when he had seen her, he figures Five’s hair is not stitched on either. The place doesn’t sell wigs, but he does find a long straight blonde one on one of their manikins. He snatches it off of the things head and has Five try it on immediately. It should help her not be immediately recognized on their way back to his place.

She almost looks young enough to possibly be his daughter, and is also in a rather athletic looking suit anyway, so he plays the part. It’s natural looking for him to be showing her around the professional clothing section. As quickly as he can, he hunts for the items he has in mind, holds them out in front of her, and drapes them over his arm as they move along.

While they’re in a hurry, she keeps her questions to a minimum, but he does make sure to explain that things must always be paid for. He can’t have her getting caught unknowingly stealing clothes later on. She watches him closely at the counter and smiles excitedly when he hands her the bags of items. When the cashier asks her if she has an interview, she looks up at him, sees him nod, and responds with a “yes… yes I do.”

The rest of the way home, Five beams with excitement about getting her new clothes and even hugs him tightly every time she thinks about it. She has no idea why, but it feels good to do it. It’s one of those things she never learned, but somehow knows to do anyway.

When they reach the underground parking garage of Aaron’s apartment complex, he quickly powers down Runner and throws the tarp over it. As Runner’s lights dim out, she looks at him in disappointment.

“Why’d you have to shut it down like that? They’d probly stay there if you asked them to.”

He looks over at Runner, considering what she might be feeling. “Runner’s… not like you, remember, turning them off like that is ok.”

She looks down, understandingly, but still a little worried. “Ok, I just… I like Runner and I don’t like seeing them get turned off.”

He lifts the tarp up a little ways and points at one of the dim green lights on the access panel that’s still on. “He’s really only asleep. He’ll wake right up if I say his name.”

The shy smile returns to her face as she hugs onto her shopping bags. “I can’t wait to see where everyone’s been coming at night!”

With a sigh, he puts his hand on her shoulder. “Five, for the moment, we probably shouldn’t be seen by anyone else. It’s complicated, but what I can say now, is that there’s probably a little bit of trouble in all of this. You know what I’m talking about? We need to be careful. You won’t be getting in any trouble while you’re with me, but I don’t know if anyone else might recognize you, k?”

“We still have to hide?”

“I don’t know, maybe, but I don’t want to find out the hard way. I don’t want to get you in any trouble. I wanna help you get back to your home safely, but you can stay at my apartment as long as you need. I can at least make sure nothing happens to you there. I just want you to be ready, for when you do decide to go.”

Pausing before opening the door to the stairwell, he realizes he’d almost forgotten about Valerie coming over. He doesn’t really even know when to expect her. When he checks the time on his phone, he notices that he has a few new messages. One of them is from her, saying that she’s going to bring dinner over. If she plans for them to eat around a normal time, it doesn’t leave him much of a window with Five.

“Five, something’s come up. I forgot that I’m supposed to have company over tonight and I’ll need you to stay hidden for a little while after you get ready. Is that ok?”

“Why would I have to stay hidden? Are they dangerous?”

“No, no. They’re not dangerous, but… but It’s me that might get in trouble this time.” He notices a rather frightful look come across her face.

Five’s eyes grow with every imagination of what might happen to a person if they got in trouble, like what happened to her friend. “I don’t want you to get in trouble Aaron. I don’t want you to get hurt! I won’t stay if you might get in trouble.”

He holds both of his palms out trying to diffuse her worry. ”Oh, no, It’s not anything like that Five. It’s really only small trouble! You know how you said that you didn’t know how you were supposed to pass this test? Well, I don’t know if I’m allowed to help you or not either. I just think we should keep that all a secret for now, ok?”

She squints at him for a second, wondering if he’s being truthful with her or not. Her tone shows her suspicion. “Mmm-k. I can hide out for a little while, but I’ll still have to go back soon.”

He nods and opens the steel door leading into the stairwell. She swiftly follows right behind him all the way up seven more floors and stops when he does. When he turns around to make sure she stays quiet, he notices that she’s observing him with a rather curious face.

“How come you’re breathing so much?”

He notices that she’s breathing a little more too, but not by much. “Uh, cause my body needs air to make energy.” He pauses, wondering if he’s only opened a bag of questions for her to ask.

“Oh” She’s kind of surprised. “That’s why I have to breathe. I have to breathe for my battery. It’s a lithium-air battery.”

He grins when he thinks of how obvious it is. “Huh, that’s quite somethin.” He bets she actually has real vocal cords to go along with her lungs too. Makes sense why she sounds so lifelike.

He opens the upper stairwell door slightly and looks down the hall both ways, to make sure no one is around. He quickly leads her to his door and ushers her through it ahead of himself. When he closes the door behind himself, he’s glad to see that his apartment still looks quite clean. It’s been nicely motivating to come home to it like this over the last couple days.

Five is suddenly rather entertained by his floor. She must’ve never seen carpet before. She picks her feet up and down a few times like a cat with tape on its paws and then shuffles them a little. As soon as she looks up, she sees the cityscape painting on the wall that he’s so fond of and is drawn over to it.

“Aaron, what is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s beautiful. Everything’s so extraordinary.”

“It’s called a painting, kind of like a photo, but made by hand.

“It has a feeling to it, like the way I see this place.”

He realizes this is the first time he’s ever heard a robot use the word beautiful all on their own. “It’s hard to put into words isn’t it?” He stands alongside her and follows her eyes as they move across the landscape. “I’ve always had a place in my heart for this piece. What draws you into it?”

“There are so many details in this picture that aren’t actually there. The image itself is too coarse to actually show them, but my mind still sees them. It’s like a memory really. If I try to focus too closely, then I’ll see that it’s an illusion.”

“As long as you can stand back, look past all it’s roughness, you can see the world for the wonder that it really is. It makes me think of you, how a hard life can still make a good person.”

“I wish you could’ve been there for Five-One You would have seen that she was good too.”

He watches Five’s beaming smile drop to a look of such sadness. It damn near tears him apart to see such a thing. He was there, and he did nothing. If he could only have imagined what a failure he would become. If anything happens to her because of him, he’ll never be able to forgive himself.

It takes a moment, but Five appears to pull herself together and then she holds the bags of clothing out at arm’s length toward him. He takes the bags from her and leads her into his room to set them on the end of his bed. One at a time, he lays the items out for her in the way they would go together. While he looks over everything, he starts considering what he’s gotten himself into. He is not fooling himself about how involved he’s getting. He could cause some serious repercussions for meddling in all of this, but he’s not turning back.

The thought of robots finally reaching this point has been a life-long fantasy, but it’s turned out to be so much more than that now. He had always imagined that the first machines like this would join with humans and create an unprecedented future together, but Five is more than just an advanced entity. She’s a true friend, with kindness and compassion.

The biggest disappointment he’s always had with artificial intelligence, no matter how advanced, is its dependence on people. If humans suddenly all disappeared, machines would all idle out and that would be the end. With minds like Five’s, that might not be true anymore. She could live on, and she probably would. What he envies about her the most, is that she would never have to die. Her body could be ground to dust and it wouldn’t matter. Her mind could always be saved, and she could always be brought right back again. It makes him feel sad to know that her kind will have to leave him behind.

It dawns on him that Five will certainly not be the last of her kind that he’ll see, even if she personally gets terminated. Remembering his discussion with Valerie on the first night they spoke alone, she made it sound like Werker planned to eventually release an entire line of them. That still doesn’t ease his mind though. He could give a shit about the next ones, he cares about her. It’s not just because of what she is, but because of who she is. She’s his friend now, and he takes that kind of thing to heart.

After coming out of his brooding thoughts, he looks down at the bright white long-sleeved button up shirt, feeling that it will look professional, but also sexy, like what only a higher-ranking business woman would be able to pull off, one that’s above her peers. He wants Five to show everyone that she has command of herself now, and is no longer going to be subservient. People will naturally give her respect, if her looks command it.

The heavy navy-blue fabric skirt is going to go perfectly with it, right along with the sun glasses and matching white pumps. He wishes he could see the look on the Werker knuckle dragger’s faces when she shows up. They won’t be doubting how sophisticated of a robot they’ve made then. When she stares them in the face, it’ll be as a peer, and not as a piece of equipment they made. She’ll have a bearing all of her own when she goes back. Imagining it all makes him feel a lot better about it. It obviously won’t actually go like he thinks it will, but he can still pretend.

He remembers that he’ll have to make it clear to her that she can’t give up his identity though. After talking with her for so many hours, he feels like he has a pretty good idea of who she is. He can trust her to keep a secret.

When Five says something to him, bringing him out of his thoughts, he turns around to face her. She is standing there completely naked. He was so absent-minded, he didn’t even hear her unzip her suit or anything. For a moment, he is frozen, not knowing at all what to do. He knows she’s a robot, but that’s not making it any easier. She is clearly oblivious of her nakedness at the moment, but he wouldn’t feel right letting her go on like this. He’s going to have to just deal with it this time, but he’s going to have to explain some things to her when the time is right. He can’t have others taking advantage of it if she doesn’t know any better. Robot or not, she has taken human form, and it should be respected.

Reflexively, he turns away, but doesn’t make anything out of it. He pretends to do something with the clothes while he tries to think of something to say. Casually, she moves right around to the side of the bed anyway, and picks up the skirt. She holds it out upside down and looks at him blankly.

“Aaron, I am not sure what to do with any of this.”

He lets out a deep breath and does the best he a can to not outright stare at her barren body. She doesn’t look like one of those robotic pole dancers at the Saturn club. She has the body of a real woman, the kind that makes the world go round. His entire chest is beating and it’s not going to stop. He takes another deep breath and holds it back. Five stretches the elastic waist of the skirt between her hands and flips it over a couple times. She hasn’t run out of patience yet, but she’s looking at him expectantly. Before he speaks up, she figures it out.

“Oh, I’ve seen these before.”

She doesn’t bend over all the way and stomp in through the middle of the thing like a regular girl might. With absolutely perfect balance, she instead lifts one smooth leg up at a time and attentively slides them into the skirt while standing up.

After closing his eyes and clearing his mind for a moment, he surmises that it might be best to explain nudity to her some other day, after all of this. He doesn’t want to make her feel like she did something wrong right now. As nice as it might be for her to take her time getting dressed at the moment, he knows better and mentally scolds himself for letting it go on. He quickly hands her the button up shirt and demonstrates how to put it on with an imaginary shirt of his own.

Still, he can’t stop himself from watching her arms press across her soft breasts while she puts her hands through the sleeves. He can see her chest heaving with every breath while he shows her how to button the front up. At this point, he considers the possibility that this woman is real and has only been pretending to be a robot. Such a thing is not unheard of. Part of him wishes she were real. Then she wouldn’t be so damn innocent.

When she picks up the panty hose and starts to stretch them out in curiosity, he immediately takes her hands in his and insists that she be careful with them. He calmly takes the hose out of her hands and gently straightens them out for her. While sitting on the bed, to the side of her, he demonstrates how they’re supposed to be put on.

“Now, these are real delicate, so you have to be careful to not tear them. All these tiny little holes can rip open fairly easy.”

“Why would I put something like this on? What do all the little holes do?”

“Oh, right, well, these are actually just for looks. They’ll make your legs look… it makes em look sexy.”

“Sexy? What’s that?” She peers at him dubiously. “Five-One was right. Clothes are just for people to look at aren’t they?”

He scrubs at his chin, trying to think of how to explain such things to her. “Well, Five. Men, like myself, and women, like yourself, try to look good for one another. It’s kind of a special thing we do for one another. Lets just say that’s only the very basics of it.” He pauses and checks the time real quick. “I don’t mean to put it like this, cause of what you were saying earlier, but this is one of those things that you have to feel, inside.”

“I know what you mean Aaron. I used to not be able to feel things, but I can now, since the last time they made a change.”

“Well, just so you know, how beautiful a person looks has a huge affect on others. You’re not just a wonderful person inside Five, but you also have a very beautiful body. Maybe one day I might be able to explain that better, but lets keep it simple for now.” He looks up at her eyes for a moment without blinking, so that she understands that what he’s saying is important.

While cupping his fingers inward a little, he slides one hand into the hose a ways, showing her how they stretch on. He hands them to her and watches as she silkily pulls them on over her immaculate legs. When her skirt lifts as she pulls them all the way up, she squints at him, having been watching his eyes.

“Do they look sexy good Aaron?”

He clears his throat and looks up at her eyes, like he’s supposed to be doing. “Yes, you look good Five…they look good.”

He feels like an ass now. He knows damn well he’s not giving her the respect she deserves, but he keeps mindlessly looking, like some kind of damn primate. Everything about her is overwhelming. The only rational reason he can come up with for a robot like her having such absurd qualities would be for social acceptance. Not very many men will be complaining about a few of her models hanging around. He certainly won’t be asking Valerie why she’s been made so shockingly real.

When Five is finished dressing, he straightens out the collar of her shirt for her and then undoes another one of the top buttons. She looks up at him questionably, but then assumes he knows best. “For looks?”

“That’s right, you’ll see. People will definitely be looking at your body, but they won’t see that it’s you.” That gets her to smile again.

It might be a little bit much, but what she needs to be pulling off right now is a daring look, something that distracts from her underdeveloped confidence. If he came across a woman that looks and dresses like her at work, he’d involuntarily be a pretty cheery fellow.

Taking her hands one at a time, he buttons the sleeves for her too. Her hands feel soft and delicate in his. When she picks up the shoes, he has her sit down to put them on. The heels are high enough to be dangerous and he’ll need to show her how to walk in them.

“Even though these are not practical either, they’re also part of this whole look. You’ll need to walk in them carefully cause they’re delicate, so do not run in them. The heel might snap off.”

“Why does everything I wear have to be delicate? You aren’t wearing anything silly like this?”

“That is a good question Five. Honestly, I don’t have an answer that will be of all that much help to you. The best way I can explain it is that it’s all simply for looks. Women, such as yourself inherently dress different from men. It’s kind of a traditional thing that’s been around for a long time. Surely you’ve noticed this at Werker. Women are beautiful, and men are… well, we’re men.” He knows he’s being quite stereotypical, but she’s hot, and she can use that. “You can dress like a hobo if you want, your choice, but you aint gettin in Werker like that. Right now, you look gorgeous, and that has a very strong effect on men. You can pretty much get them to do anything you want, if you’re good enough looking.”

“Am I that good looking?”

He tries to hide his smile. “Oh yes. Whoever made you, made sure of that.”

“So, what do I do with it, my beauty? Do I tell men what to do, and then they just do it?

He laughs and shakes his head with a big grin. “Well, no, not necessarily.” He wags his finger at her. “But almost. It’s not really fair to use it like that though.”

After he instructs her on how to walk in the heels, she stands up and effortlessly moves to the other side of the room, then back to him. It’s not all that lady-like of a walk, but she’s surprisingly stable for her first try. He walks across the room himself, demonstrating to her how a classy woman, like what she needs to pretend to be, would normally do it. While keeping her steps closer in-line with one another, she concentrates on smoothing out her movements and gives it a little more hip this time. Her strut has purpose to it now.

Knowing that Valerie could be showing up anytime now, he gathers up all the empty bags and takes them into the back of his closet with Five following right behind him. “Alright, so, like I said before, I have someone coming over. They’re from Werker too, and you might even know them, so that’s why you have to stay hidden.”

“What! You didn’t say that before!”

“Half the people in this building are probably from Werker, ok, that’s why you need to stay hidden here. Now listen. I like this person. We are friends and I want them here, but I still want to help you at the same time. This is the best way. Understand?”

“Yes, fine.” She folds her arms and sits down on one of the big plastic storage bins in the corner.

“Thank you Five. I promise, everything’s gonna be fine.”