Chapter 8

It didn’t take long for Riley to come back out of his inner self to give us the news – the audio was as good as it was going to get. He told us that the radiation the transmission fought through destroyed those parts of the audio and actually seemed impressed with what we did get. So we’d never fully get the story from that clip. I mentally shrugged. Until I see proof of their dead bodies, I have to keep on hoping that they’re still alive out there, struggling to get back to us somehow. I refused to think of this message as their final farewell. I just couldn’t. I think Jesse felt the same way as when I looked at him after Riley’s report I saw fire in his eyes. Probably the same fire that filled my belly.

I sent Jesse down towards F level to go see Julian with encouragement for him to maybe see if Julian might be interested in him. I gave him a pep talk about how to go about it if he really wanted to try it but also said I would be okay either way in how he proceeded. He smiled at me and gave me his thanks before disappearing. Now that we were alone, I wanted to get Riley’s opinion on the data. He hooked himself up to Julian’s external program and then started analyzing the data.

After what seemed like forever, his eyes opened again. I tried to read him but he drew a veil over his emotions for some reason. He also looked a bit confused as he scanned it. I questioned why the data didn’t appear to be hampered in any way. Riley pointed out that several dozen copies were sent as a precaution, saved in such a way that he could piece it together if the need arose. “So… what is it for?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“To be honest… I’m not one hundred percent sure as to its function. But I can definitely tell that it was made for me. These algorithms and subroutines are far too advanced for, say, the station’s computer to use. It’s even a bit more advanced than that of what other bots might be accustomed to. But…” Riley actually scratched his head as his brows furrowed in concentration. “I just can’t seem to understand… what… oh. Oh…” His eyes seemed to glaze over a bit as a lazy smile crossed onto his face.

“Riley? What is it?” His silence continued. “R-Riley? You’re scaring me over here… “

“Oh sorry Travis!” He looked sheepish as he took my hands into his. He brought one up to his lips and kissed my palm tenderly. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I figured out what it’s for.” Now he seemed to frown somewhat. “I have explicit instructions from your parents not to divulge its purpose to you. And, sadly, I’m programmed to heed their wishes over yours in most cases, even if they are dead. Or absent. This is one of those times. The coding is keyed in such a way that only they or Julian’s father know so I can be assured it’s from them and not someone pretending to be them.” Riley had the decency to look pained and torn. He had to obey his programming but he still wanted to not cause me undue stress.

“So no matter how much I threaten or beg or pout, you won’t tell me?” I wanted to be mad at him for not telling me, but I really couldn’t. If anyone I should get mad towards, it’d have to be my parents. With a pouty face, he nodded that he couldn’t tell me.

“I really… really want to tell you, but I have to wait a bit to tell you what it is. Until the coding indicates the ‘right time’ or other extraneous events that might supersede the timeline in certain conditions, I can’t tell you. Even with the program in its isolation inside me, my base programming forbids me to tell you more than that. I’m really sorry Travis.”

It was my turn to pout. “I understand. I hate it and don’t like being left out of things like this, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” I sighed. “Will the program damage you in any way if you were to install it?”

“I don’t believe so,” Riley said. “Both my internal analysis and that of Julian’s external program concur that there’s only a point zero zero zero zero one percent chance of some anomalous event occurring that would corrupt my systems. It’s well within established safety guidelines for modular programs such as this.”

“No other hidden dangers?”

“Julian’s external device indicates there aren’t any hidden viruses or the like. It’s safe from what all relevant data is telling me.”

I thought it over. With a big sigh, I nodded. “Go ahead then if you want.” I glanced up at him and saw a strange look in his eyes. It wasn’t a bad look, but it was completely different than what I’ve ever seen him articulate with facial expressions. My stare intensified trying to place whatever look it was as his eyes darted back and forth so fast I almost didn’t see it. He had what I guessed to be a relaxed, happy smile coupled with a distant faraway look that I actually have seen on other people, just rarely. But there was also something else hiding in his eyes, and that something was what I couldn’t figure out.

“What’s with the look, Riley?” I asked as he still seemed to integrate the program into himself. For a little bit, he seemed troubled to answer. But his eyes seemed to slow back down to more normal human eye speeds before stopping altogether. His stare bore into me, nearly sending me into an alarmed state before his suddenly fierce look melted into a warm smile.

“It relates to the program I just integrated. So… I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway.” He blushed again. “Sorry.” Slowly the blush faded away as he did his best to appear seductive. He walked a few fingertips across my chest. “But… we are alone right now, since you sent your brother down to see Julian.”

“Wh-What are you getting at?” I asked both excitedly and nervously. I could think of a few things we could be doing, but I wasn’t sure if either of us were ready for what Riley might be suggesting.

“Well…” he said slowly and coyly. A flirtatious smirk flashed in my direction. He leaned his body into mine and slowly made me lay down on the couch again. “We could… just sit here and talk for a while if you want. But I can think of other things that might be more… fun.”

“L-Like?” Damn him and his charm making me feel useless. I felt so tingly wherever our bodies touched or where his breath struck my face. I wondered for a brief moment if he was releasing any of those pheromones but figured that he wasn’t – at least not yet.

Slowly, he slid off my body and stood. Riley offered a hand down to me, a really sexy smile crossing his lips. “Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you?”

I stood up with his help. “R-Riley… I-I’m not sure if–”

He pulled me to my feet and shut me up with a searing kiss.

For a second, I tried to resist him but I failed utterly. The longer the two of us mashed our lips together and heated each other up, the less my rational mind held onto the silly notion of… waiting. A rather big part of me felt like I wasn’t ready for any kind of sex but a baser part was primed and raring to get started. It seemed like an eternal struggle between the two; do I stand firm and try to slow things down between us or do I give into my instincts to attempt to reproduce, albeit unsuccessfully?

I found myself breathing heavily as I lay on my bed, staring up at Riley.

I was naked.

“Wha…?” I asked as I tried to sit up. I froze though as I saw Riley staring at me. The absolute hunger I saw in his eyes as they ravished my body before they settled in on my rising member both flattered me and startled me.

“M-My control… is almost gone, Travis. I-I… I can… b-barely wait another second. B-But… you have to d-decide… very quickly if… if we are t-to proceed.” He swallowed nosily. His tongue darted across his lips, so fast I almost missed it. I even saw his body… quaking with something. Anticipation, perhaps? But just then… the battle in my mind finally ended. How… how could I resist someone who, even with all of his super-human enhancements, allowed my baser human abilities to dictate how to proceed? If he wanted to, he could pump the air full of those pheromones and just… ply me as he saw fit!

With some trepidation, I nodded slowly. “D…Do what you want.” I started to second-guess my words the second they slipped from me. “B-But I don’t think it’d hurt efforts if you… eased my mind somewhat?”

I saw him relax slightly. A slight hissing sound filled the otherwise quiet room. “Thank you for that. You don’t know how…” He swallowed again. “How hard it was to prevent my pheromone ducts to saturate the air around you. Soon… you’ll begin to feel their effects again.”

Soon was right. Only a couple of seconds after I heard the sound my brain started to disassociate my surroundings to my room. My vision fogged everything else out. Leaving only Riley standing there as he started to finally undress. My pulse raced. My breathing became shallow, quick. Thinking started to become troublesome. The only thoughts I had swirled around the boy bot standing in front of me.

I swallowed this time.

“R-Riley…” I breathed as finally shed his last bit of clothing. He said nothing as he climbed onto my bed and straddled me. I tried to turn away from his penetrating, lustful stare but I couldn’t break away. His blue eyes seized mine and even the notion of looking away hurt. Staring into him like this made me dizzy. I could almost see the intricate parts of their innards before he closed the distance between us and I felt his soft lips touch to mine.

A blinding flash of intense pleasure coursed through my body at the contact! I couldn’t help but to reach out and pull him to me, to press his weight on top of me. A field of electricity seemed to crackle across the surface of my skin at every point we came together. And most of that feeling centered on my crotch. And his pressing into mine.

“Riley…” I moaned as he thrust into me once. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, unable to focus on anything any longer. I closed my eyes, the input too much as I just felt everything he did. His hands roamed across my arms, my head, my chest. I jolted when his fingers brushed across my nipples and squealed some. Riley giggled quietly as his hands moved on. Down, down towards the center of my current universe. I gasped when I felt the searing heat of his hand on my penis. He started to stroke me slowly and I moaned again. Loudly this time. I was beyond caring about even if Jesse might walk back into our quarters.

The moment I felt his lips wrap around me almost caused me to scream in sheer shock. The tightness of them! The warm, soft heat! It nearly made me lose everything at just those sensations. His tongue flicked across my glans and I did scream. It nearly was too much all at once. But now that I was there, I’d kill anyone who dared to interfere with this. Slowly his head bobbed up and down before he picked up the pace. I clenched my bed sheets in my fist, unsure with what to do with my hands. I looked down to see his shining orbs staring back at me, my dick in his mouth. I lay back down and groaned, the sexy sight burned into my memory forever.

“R-Riley… I-I… I’m so… so close…” It took a lot of effort to speak, but my words slowed his actions down as my breathing continued to speed up. It was too much to even think about raising my head off the bed again. But I really wanted to look into his eyes again, they were so pretty. So sexy.

His body slowly covered mine, his head resting against my shoulder. “Tr-Travis…” Riley breathed into my ear sexily. “I… I need you. I love you.”

“I-I love you too.” The words slid out so effortlessly.

“Make love to me then, Travis,” he said still whispering into my ear. He giggled softly. “Being a bot has some perks.” I just nodded as he slid up my body, even as a very faint part wondered if I could actually do it. Fuck another boy. My hormones coupled with the pheromones Riley released quickly silenced that part – I am ready for this. Puberty made me ready for this.

I felt myself sliding into him as he stared pointedly into my eyes, a warm sexy smile on his lips. There was hardly any effort to it, like his hole was made just for me. That’s not saying there wasn’t any tightness, for there was. Really tight. Tighter than his lips. And so warm… It didn’t take long for me to feel his synthetic ass resting on the tops of my thighs.

“Ugh!” Riley suddenly shouted, nearly high pitched. If I didn’t hear the delight in his voice I might have worried I damaged him in some way. But as his head rolled back around so I could see his face, he smiled lazily. I felt him twitch around my penis, causing me to moan. And it triggered something else inside me. I suddenly flipped us around and pushed Riley to the bed as I straddled his ass, his ankles resting on my shoulders. Riley looked shocked for only a second before his eyes glazed over. “Do it! Fuck me Travis! Fuck me!”

I came to after what seemed like hours, maybe even days later. I asked the computer for the time with a slightly scratchy voice. It told me only about a couple of hours had gone by after… after what? Before I freaked out, it all came back to me. And I smiled. Really smiled. Every single moment had felt like heaven. I never knew actual sex was… was so fantastic. I mean, sure, solo play of course is great but… apparently co-op mode is so much better.

By like infinity.

I only then felt him lying next to me, my arm draped lovingly across his exposed torso. My fingers glided across his skin and for the first time, I didn’t think of him as a bot at all. No comparisons of real versus fake. To me now, Riley would always be a boy. A human boy. Not a robot. Sure there were things he could do that I wasn’t able, but those I would rationalize off as strange gifts or quirks, not some benefit of science and technology.

I leant in and kissed along his neckline, unable to resist his delectable flesh a second longer. I felt him stir a bit under my ministrations and my thoughts drifted to our sex. Would he still taste the same? I somehow managed, in a feat that even impressed Riley, to fold us in a way so that he was in my mouth while I was still inside him. Just at the end and only for about a minute, but it was enough to actually finish him off. I don’t know why it surprised me to find out he actually had something to shoot, but it did. And the most shocking thing was… he tasted so good. The stories I heard about it being all slimy or even it taking some getting used to for me were baseless.

It almost makes me want to go again.

I felt Riley shift under me. My head slid off his shoulder and down to his chest. I could actually feel and hear his heart along with seeing my head rise and fall with his breathing. For a moment I wondered if that was all part of the illusion or if it really served a purpose for him. His one hand came up and rested on top of my head. He played with my hair as he stroked me like a cat. I nearly purred with contentment.

“How are you doing?” he asked me. I felt him kiss the top of my head. “You're not freaking out or anything… are you?”

I sighed dreamily. “No. No, everything is… fine. Great.”

I could tell he relaxed some. “I’m glad.” Another kiss to my head. “I had figured out several possible outcomes on how you’d act afterwards and this was right in the middle of them. I’m pleasantly shocked to find out I was wrong.”

“What’s that mean?” I asked as I spun around so I could look up at him from his chest.

“Nothing really,” he laughed lightly. Feeling his laughter through his torso made me smile some. “It’s just… I honestly thought you might have had a typical human response to your ‘first time’. From what research I’ve done, a surprising amount of people were never truly ready for intercourse the first time and… well, freaked out. Badly.” He shrugged a bit. “I just… wanted to be prepared is all. In case you did.”

“Well… I’m not freaking out.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he giggled. “See? I guess I can still surprise you some after all.” My smile softened. “I’m glad for that.”

“Me too.” I turned back around and let him continue to pet my head as it relaxed me against him. I wondered if I really should be freaking out over it. But I just decided that if I did, it’d happen whether I wanted it to or not. So I just brushed those thoughts to the side and just relished his touch. His smell. His taste, as I playfully licked his right nipple. He drew in a breath. “Hey! Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“You felt that? I didn’t think they’d actually be of use to you, like in that way.” I grimaced at how that all sounded. “Wait, that didn’t come out right. What I–”

Riley’s hand snaked down to my mouth and cut me off. “Shh… it’s okay Travis. I think I understand what you meant. But yes, if you were to tease my nipples I can feel pleasure, just as you can.” He chuckled some. “Everything on me is supposed to function as if I were really human. For instance, if I would have been female my breasts would actually be able to produce milk if the need arose.” He paused cryptically for some reason. “In fact, even as a boy I could, though you wouldn’t think so if you looked at me – there’d be no physical change to my body.”

Slowly, I sat up, leaving his warmth. I almost decided to lay back across him again but I stood firm. I needed to look at him clearly for some reason. “What… what are you saying? That you have some parts in you that were designed and put in you in case you were gonna be a girl?”

He nodded a bit hesitantly. “Yes, actually.” I tried to say something else but he kept going. “When I was in construction, they at the time didn’t know what gender I was to be, so as they built me they added in both gender’s specific parts as most of the parts that denote a female are internal. It was only when I was for all intents and purposes finished being built that that test result on you came back. And they made sure they could turn off what my gender didn’t need at that point. Then they uploaded a male-like personality that happened to also like other boys and tweaked it to match your needs.”

I wanted to continue this conversation but the comm panel in the room chirped, telling me I had a call. Warily I glanced at Riley who actually seemed a bit perplexed himself – probably at my apparent confusion. It’s not that it really made a difference to me – it didn’t. I just didn’t understand his design process at all. I mean, wouldn’t a normal person wait to install gender-specific parts inside a bot until after the designers know what gender the intended partner of the bot really prefer?

I stepped over and pressed the button on the panel and a picture of Julian appeared. “Hey Travis. How are things going up there?”

“Oh things are fine right now. Just me and Riley talking.”

I saw Julian squint at me a little before his eyes lit up. His laughter surrounded him. He even got to the point where he slapped a knee. “Travis! Did you… and Riley…?” He waggled his eyebrows up and down a few times. I didn’t want to tell him about it, but the heat on my face probably gave me away. “You dog!” Slowly his laughs died down. “Look, I’d really love to ask you for details but I also don’t like to pry too much. So, I’ll just say this: if you feel like sharing, now or even later, I’ll listen.”

“Th-Thanks Jules,” I said shyly, not really wanting to talk about this. At least not to someone else that wasn’t in the room at the time. I was appreciative of the offer at least. “M-Maybe later, okay?”

Julian’s eyes shot up a bit. “You didn’t… do anything with your brother around did you?” He grimaced. “I’d hate if my brother would walk in on me in the middle of that. Well…” His face saddened. “Never mind.” I was about to ask him what he meant about a brother, but then I went over what he said again.

Concern filled me suddenly. “He’s… he’s not with you? Jesse, I mean?”

He looked confused. “No, I haven’t seen Jess for a while now. Probably since when Zane accused him of stealing clothes.”

I paled. “I-I sent… sent him down to see you at least an hour a-ago.” I wanted to panic but before I could I felt arms wrap around me. They held onto me tightly and comfortingly.

“We’ll find him Travis. He’s fine… you’ll see.”

“Riley’s right. M-Maybe he’s talking to one of his old friends… or decided to window shop for a while. Don’t just jump to worst-case so fast, man.” I could tell Julian was trying to keep me calm but I could also tell he looked pretty worried. “Just in case, though, I’ll go meet with Kevin right now and see if he can help us out in looking for him.”

“O-Okay… I’ll head down but I’m gonna swing by some of his friends’ places and double check that he just didn’t forget to call me. Meet you and Kev in… an hour?” Julian nodded and his image faded when the channel went dead. “I-I think I’m gonna be sick…”

I swear I had run all over the entire station – twice! Not even Riley’s words of calm reassurance did anything for me. I was beyond panic. What would Mom and Dad say whenever they get back that I couldn’t keep a good enough eye on my little brother? Even as part of my brain rationally told me that they probably weren’t coming back, in my panic I just assumed they really would. That whatever happened to the transmission affected them, most likely fatally, didn’t happen. But all of that was meaningless to me as I pulled at my hair with worry. What would I do if something bad happened to Jesse?

“You need to breathe Travis…” Riley whispered into my ear as he held me tightly, trying to smother my self-doubts and fears with his strength of will. “Panicking won’t help Jesse. You need to have a clear head. Before you had to live on your own, what would he have done during down time? Is there something you might have forgotten?”

“No… no, not that I can think of right now,” I said hoarsely. I had been screaming his name on every level of the station and had shouted my voice nearly gone, earning some strange looks from civilians, station crew, and workers alike. I didn’t care. The longer I went without knowing the fate of my brother the more I felt sick. I rubbed my throat a bit, hoping to loosen the muscles and vocal chords and stop them from hurting.

The lift opened back onto F level, our hour of searching up. I told Julian I’d meet up with him and Kevin at the older boy’s office/quarters at that time, regardless of my results. Riley made me stop for a time, hoping to calm me down enough to allow thinking to return to me. Otherwise I was a ball of nerves and that wasn’t helping either me or Jesse. We ran into Julian and he looked about as crestfallen as I felt miserable. He just shook his head slowly, telling me he had no luck either.

The three of us walked into Kevin’s office area and saw him talking with Zane. The boy paid none of us any mind before walking back towards Kevin’s sleeping area. I noticed Riley tense up a bit but looked confused towards Zane as he disappeared behind the wall. Kevin sat down at his desk and regarded us. “None of the Krew has had any luck in searching for Jesse, I’m afraid. But Scooter is currently out on A level, seeing if Jess found his way up there.”

“I hope Scooter will be okay,” Julian said. “We all know that A level is restricted access only. I’d be afraid of what Dawson might do to him if he’s caught up there.”

“Scooter will be fine, Jules,” Kevin said. “He can scoot his way out of most anything.” Both of the teens laughed a bit before it fell flat. “Any luck with you guys?”

“No,” Julian said sadly. “Unless he’s hiding out in the vents like they used to, I haven’t seen him walking about.”

“Trav?”

I just shook my head, opting to rest my voice a bit. Riley spoke up on my behalf after a bit of thinking on his part. “I mean no disrespect when I say this, but… is it possible that someone on your team isn’t being fully honest with you? That they’ve really seen Jesse but for reasons unknown are opting to remain silent or, worse, are lying?”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you say something like that?” His anger ratcheted up another notch. “I trust all of these boys with my life! Unless you have proof that one of–”

“Like I said,” Riley interrupted. “I meant no disrespect. I was just thinking of possible reasons why no one is having any luck finding Jesse. The odds of him just vanishing without anyone not having seen him are remote.”

“Riley,” I said quietly. “What are you getting at? Why accuse of there being a traitor amongst his group?”

He hesitated. “This is total conjecture on my part, but some of my memory that isn’t fully restored is telling me that someone down here is the reason I was… injured, for lack of a better word.” He looked first to me then to Kevin. “Like I said, I currently don’t have any proof or any solid memories to base my claim on, so for now I suggest we get back to the matter at hand.”

Kevin calmed down as he returned to his seat. “I think you’re right.” The older boy sighed as he rubbed his head. “Look, I don’t think we’re getting anywhere today. Maybe… we should take a break for a bit and come back this fresh tomorrow.”

“But… what if something happened to him?!” I shouted, not caring that the action seared my throat once more. “Wh-What if he’s hurt or… or…” I felt absolutely useless and nauseous. The thought that flicked across my brain was trashed just as quickly. There’s no way… no way my brother could… be dead, right? I started picturing unsavory characters ambushing my baby brother and catching him off-guard with a knife or a laser pistol. I stumbled in shock at just thinking like that. Luckily Riley caught me.

“Travis, are… are you okay?” He looked down at my face worryingly. He placed a hand to my head. “You feel like you’re getting sick. All this stress isn’t healthy for you.” I just buried my face into his chest, silently weeping. “I’m going to take him back to his quarters and get him to rest. Can you call up if, in the meantime, anyone finds anything on his brother?”

There was silence for a few moments. “Yeah, I’ll have Julian contact you if we hear anything.”

We didn’t speak as Riley escorted me out of the office as I heard Julian and Kevin’s raised voices come through the door. I didn’t care any longer. All I cared about was getting my brother back. Alive and well. Nothing, other than Riley, mattered more than that. He was the only remaining piece of family I had left. I couldn’t lose that piece. I just couldn’t.

It was then that I think I realized I cared far more about Jesse than I ever realized. Of course I told him I loved him a few days back, but did I really mean it then? Did I just say the words to help to ease his mind after we had our frank talk? Or… did I say it to placate my own mind? I thought it was a macabre form of justice or something for me to really realize what I might lose if he was really hurt or… dead.

The two of us got off at B level, me feeling really depressed and horrible. I felt most of my weight was supported by my boyfriend, me mostly just moving my feet in time to constitute walking. I just felt numb, not even really hearing the words Riley spoke in his attempt to comfort me once more. And hearing him at least try made me feel a little better. I wasn’t totally alone in all of this. I had him to help me find Jesse. I felt a sense of renewed optimism flood through me.

Until we rounded the corner.

For there we saw Jesse.