The G. M. Os. - 28. Chapter 28 - Back to Work

Chapter 28
Ship Clock 263199
Thomas 01-997s
Back to Work

 

Six months later, Don and Tom stood facing each other, holding hands. A few meters away Peter, Ben, and their two little twenty-five-year-old boys, Stefan and Steve; Charity and Megan; Abe, Gene, and their two seventy-nine-year-olds, Dorie and Dottie; Bill and Jack; Willy and Genie; and Freddy and Marcy stood watching the men smiling at each other.

Don started, “To Tom I give my heart and spirit forever. You have brought brightness to me, giving me hope and peace that I never thought I would achieve. You are my light and love.”

Tom said, “To Don I give my heart and spirit forever. You have given me life, hope, peace, and strength to live with adversity. You are my guide, my mentor, my light and love.”

They lightly kissed and turned to their friends. Don continued, “Everyone, I thank you for witnessing this giving of life between Tom and me. Tom has always impressed me as a young man who sought to earn his life on Hercules III helping the ship and the people on it by staying here on the farms of his youth. I’m very happy to have been available when he needed to find a place to live and not have to end up in the dorms. And, now, our lives have dramatically changed with his new medical needs. I know he probably feels life is unfair, but I think he also knows that I’m here to help him grow through this new stage in his young life.”

Everyone came up, congratulated, and kissed the newlyweds. Then they broke into clumps and started to converse. Peter and Ben took around trays holding glasses with sparkling wine to their guests and when everyone had one, Peter said, “It is my honor to congratulate Tom and Don for taking this important step in their lives. To Tom and Don, may they have a long and happy life together.”

Everyone took a sip of their wine and went back to talking. The children disappeared and the adults continued talking. Tom made his way over to Ben and asked, “Where’s Tommy, I thought he would be here? I invited him; do you know why he didn’t come?”

“Yes, I do,” Ben said, “but I don’t want to upset you today, not on such a happy occasion.”

“The bots picked him up, didn’t they?”

“Yes, he confessed to being a macho and the bots executed him.”

“I felt he was, the way he talked about us me feel he was. I want to feel sorry, but I don’t. When we found out we weren’t really brothers he changed. And, when he thought I was gay he just stopped being nice. And, then, when I finally got the nerve to tell him, well it just kind of ended our relationship. He was civil, but never more than that.”

“Does this upset you?”

“Not in the way it should, I’m just sorry he was killed. Maybe, they should’ve taken him through the entire interrogation process when we were twelve. The bots might have found out he was a macho back then.”

“How’s my love?” Don asked when he came up to them.

“Ben was telling me the bots executed Tommy for being macho,” Tom said. “When can I go home? I’m getting tired.”

“Come with me, I’ll let you lie down on sofa,” Ben said. “You can have a little nap, okay?”

“Sure, thank you.”

When Ben came back he asked, “Don, does he do that a lot now?”

“Whenever he gets the least bit upset, but at least now he knows when he needs to have a nap. The bots said he’ll be like this for about a year, but if it goes beyond that, I’m to take him back in for an evaluation. He might need another surgery.”

“Dad, Uncle Tom is asleep on the sofa,” Steve said when he came up to the two men. “Stefan is going to put a quilt on him. Is that okay?”

“Yes, son, that’s okay,” Ben said. “He doesn’t feel well right now. He’ll be better later.”

“He’s sick, isn’t he?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, down at the daycare he is always taking naps. What’s wrong with him?”

“Tom has a problem with his brain that makes him tired all the time,” Don said. “He just has to take naps.”

“Oh, okay, I thought there was something serious wrong with him. I’m going to go in and sit with him to make sure nobody bothers him. Okay?”

“Sure, son, you go in and protect your uncle,” Ben said.

“Nice boy,” Don said.

“Yeah, Peter says he’s a lot like Tom was at that age. Can I get you something stronger to drink? Like a martini? I have a bottle of gin in the refrigerator.”

“Why thank you Ben, thank you very much.”

********

Tom opened his eyes not aware of where he was or what was happening. He looked around the room and there was a familiarity about it that made him feel uncomfortable. Then he noticed he was lying on a sofa, a light green sofa of a soft material he’d sat on before. There was a pillow under his head and he was covered by a quilt, a yellow, red, blue, and green quilt. And, down by his feet, he saw Steve lying on his side. He nudged the boy’s left foot and Steve jumped as if poked with a stick.

“Hey! Don’t do that, oh, hi, you’re awake,” the boy said. “Are you going to get up now? It’s almost time for supper.”

“What am I doing here?” Tom asked.

“You were taking a nap. Don’t you remember?”

“No, what are you doing in here?”

“I’m making sure no one bothers you. I thought you’d like that. Don’t you?”

“Oh, sure, where’s Don?”

“Outside, talking.”

“Are we having a barbecue, or something?”

“Don’t you remember? You got married.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you’re scaring me, don’t talk like that.”

“Oh, sorry. Go get Don; I want to talk to him. What time is it?”

“Almost five, that’s the time we have supper. Are you okay?”

“No, I want to talk to Don. Go get him.”

“Be right back.”

Steve went outside, saw Ben, and went over to him, “Dad, Tom wants to talk to Don. Where is he?”

“Over there, talking to Marcy and Megan,” Ben said.

“Okay, thanks, Dad.”

Steve went over to the other adults, who were deep in a conversation. He waited, but they seemed to be ignoring him. So, he said, “Excuse me, Dr. Don, but Tom wants to talk to you. He can’t remember getting married today. Is something wrong with him?”

“Steve, let me go check.”

“I told Tom I’d be back.”

“Okay, come on.”

They went inside, but Tom was asleep, again. Steve went over to him and nudged his shoulder, “Hey wake up, Don’s here.”

“Steve, why don’t go outside.”

“Can I go sit in a chair? Please?”

“Sure, that’s okay. Tom, Tom, wake up.”

“Huh, umm, uh, hi, umm, I’m kind of tired now. Umm, maybe you should send for the ambulance. I don’t feel good.”

Don went into the rez office and sent a message to the commune clinic for the ambulance. He went back to the living room and checked on Tom, but he was asleep, again.

“Steve, why don’t you go out and watch for the ambulance.”

“Okay, I can do that,” the boy said. He got up and went out the front door.

After a few minutes Don heard the ambulance come down outside. The medics came in and came over to the sofa where they began to work on Tom. One of them went back out and came in with the stretcher.

“Dr. Don, it doesn’t look good,” a medic said. “We’ll send for the town ambulance to take him into Central City. I assume you’re going, too.”

“Yes,” he said.

“What has it been, about a year now?”

“No, only six months.”

“Okay, you’ll help, of course?”

“Certainly; Steve, go tell one of your dads I’ll be going with Tom to the med center in Central City. Can you do that?”

“Oh, sure, I can do that.”

Don picked up the med cases and followed the stretcher outside. Peter was there and Steve stood beside him.

“Is he okay?” Peter asked.

“Don’t know, we’re going to the med center,” Don said.

“Okay, we’ll take care of everything here.”

********

“Sir?” A bot asked.

“Yes,” Don said.

“The surgery for Thomas 01-997s will take another five hours. Would you like a sandwich and a soft drink?”

“Yes, but I would prefer ice water with the sandwich,” Don said.

“Yes, sir, it is my pleasure to serve you,” the bot said. It remained where it was and powered down.

Don wondered why it was taking so long this time. Last time it had only taken the surgical bots four hours to repair Tom’s damage and now he’d been in there for nearly five hours. His mini-module hummed in his shirt pocket and when he looked at the screen he saw a message from Ben.

BENEDICT 02-933G

DONALDUS 00-893M

STEVE WNDRS HOW TOM IS?

BEN

Don chuckled and pressed REPLY:

DONALDUS 00-893M

STEVIUS 03-774O2

TOM STILL IN SURGERY. WILL ADVS WHN KNO.

DR. DON

He hit SEND and smiled. He saw the bot power up and it asked, “Is there some problem?”

“No, one of our neighbors is just wondering how Thomas is doing,” Don said. “The boy is only age five. He’s just out of a rearing center. He likes Tom very much.”

“Yes, human children at that age can be very endearing. Do you wish to add Stevius to the surgery report?”

“No, I don’t want to trouble the child if the surgery doesn’t turn as we hope.”

“Yes, that is wise. The child may not be able to handle bad news unless it is filtered through an adult. Yes, your meal is on its way up from dining services. I will leave you in peace.”

The bot trundled back about three meters and powered down. In many ways, Don appreciated that the bot was trying to converse. He knew the new software still had some bugs in it, but it was nice to talk to a bot without it acting superior.

He went back to thinking about Tom and what was happening in surgery. What could the bots be doing in there? Were they actually going deeper into his brain to repair the damage from the previous stroke, plus what occurred this time? But a ten-hour surgery had to involve something more than just repairing what happened this time.

Then there was the future. What was that going to look like for Tom? Would he become someone like Gene who wasn’t able to leave the rez because he was too unstable, couldn’t drive, and didn’t really want to get better? Or, would he turn out to be like Genie who regained all of her abilities after having a total brain erasure? What new restrictions was Tom going to face? Would they be more than what they were now? So many possibilities and so many uncertainties, made thinking about Tom’s future nearly impossible.

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“I have your meal. We prepared you a plate dinner of bacon, fried eggs, hash browns, and two slices of wheat toast with butter and boysenberry jelly. Is this okay? We have it in our record this was a meal you enjoyed in your childhood. Also, there is a glass of apple juice. All of the food was procured from Eden Commune where you live and work. We do not wish to appear presumptuous, but our records show that this is the second time Thomas 01-997s has been here for this problem and thought a meal that reminded you of home might be appreciated.”

“Why thank you very much. Yes, this is fine. I don’t know who to thank, but I do appreciate the new communication programming that is being disseminated to all robotic service units.”

“I will send that up line. We do appreciate hearing from humans who now enjoy conversing with us. Enjoy your meal.”

Don didn’t know what hierarchy decided this was good for human-bot relations, but it was becoming nice to talk with bots. It was almost as if they actually were trying to be nice. He dug into his meal as his mind went into remembrance of things past.

After his meal, Don sat back and suffered the inevitable food coma. He dreamt of Tom lying naked on the bed. It was the way he laid there that troubled him in some way. He tried to reach across and touch the boy because he was only a boy in the dream; a young, skinny boy who was underdeveloped, lacking in muscle and body fat. Then Tom looked over at him and smiled. He went to move his hand across the bed, but there was something blocking him.

“Sir?”

“Yes?” Don asked when he was startled awake by the sensation of a weak electrical pulse coursing through his body. He looked up and saw a bot standing close to him.

“The surgery on Thomas 01-997s has been completed. A unit of the surgical team will be out in a moment to discuss the situation with you.”

“Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure to serve you.” The bot moved away to the other side of the hall and powered down.

Yes, that was new, too. Before they just stopped talking, but now, they were honestly trying to be civil. He saw a bot walking toward him. He stood up and stepped out into the hall area.

“I am surgical unit 45H93J5. We have completed the surgical repairs on the brain of Thomas 01-997s. We fixed the damage from this occurrence and the previous occurrence that was not repaired at that time. Unfortunately, we were not able to repair the mutational error that causes the narcolepsy. He will continue to experience periods of extreme tiredness during daylight hours. Also, his sleep at night will be troubled. We will prescribe medicinal ameliorations for his condition that will lessen the impact on his life going forward. Unfortunately, he will not be permitted to perform any strenuous work or activity. We know he works in a farming situation, but that will not be permitted to continue. He must find other work that can be of service, but is not stressful. It is in our records that he has been working in the daycare facility at Eden Commune. It is our recommendation that that be continued indefinitely. We will forward that recommendation to the commune manager. It is, also, recommended that sexual activity does not include anything involving extreme pain as we know that is your manner of having intercourse with your sexual partners. Have any of those methods of intercourse occurred since his last episode?”

“No, we’re still exploring what he will enjoy rather than experiencing extreme pain.”

“Then he does enjoy intercourse in that manner, yes?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“I see; we would prefer you do not use painful methods in your sexual activity with Thomas. You must not stress his brain in any way. However, we could prescribe a narcotic that would dampen the experience. Do you believe that would be acceptable to him?”

“I could ask and see what he says, but I don’t want to lose him, if such a thing would cause further injury to his brain.”

“Yes, that is understandable. We do not completely understand the human emotion of love, but you seem to be exhibiting it. We appreciate that. We will discuss his situation with him tomorrow when he is fully aware. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, you’re the doctors.”

“You are a doctor, too, but we understand your emotional needs in your relationship with Thomas and his emotional needs in response to your natural dominance.”

“I don’t want this to make me out to be macho.”

“No, you are not being macho. You receive extreme sexual pleasure from dominating your partner and, now, it is apparent that Thomas receives sexual pleasure from being dominated. What we must do is to temper his physical responses to pain while not totally eliminating it. There will be a fine line between his desires and his physical abilities so as not to further damage his brain and, possibly, ruin all meaning to his life.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Good, we will arrange for an escort to take you up to ICU. After he awakens you may converse with him. Then we will return you to your residence at Eden Commune.”

The bot powered down and Don waited for it to return from wherever it went. After a couple of minutes, its eyes brightened and it continued, “We now believe it best if we keep him here with us for at least a month. We need to see if we can determine a safe pain level for him; one that gives him the sexual pleasure he desires, but does not destroy his brain. Thank you for discussing this with us.”

“Thank you,” Don said.

The bot left and Don went back to his chair. How did they know what he liked to do sexually? How did they know Tom was enjoying the pain that he was giving him? And what were they going to do to Tom to determine a safe pain level? Sometimes bots seemed to know too much about the people on the ship. It was as if they had some way of getting into a person’s mind, but how were they doing that?

After about an hour an escort bot came and took Don up to the ICU where he was shown into Tom’s room. Don sat in the chair and held the young man’s hand. He still wondered about how the bots knew that he liked to dominate his sexual partners. It just didn’t make any sense.

Slowly Tom woke up, but he kept dropping off and at last, after about two hours, he was awake enough that Don felt he could talk to him.

“How do feel?” Don asked.

“Drugged,” Tom whispered.

“That’s understandable.”

“It happened again, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but they went in and fixed all the damage from last time and this time. Though, you’ll still have narcolepsy.”

“I’ll be glad when I can get back to work in the orchard.”

“That’s the other thing. You can’t do anything physical anymore. They’re recommending you continue working down at the daycare.”

“Oh, are they afraid I’ll hurt my brain, again.”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll never be able to fuck the way I like you to do it.”

“Well, maybe, we will be able to do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“They said they’re going to keep you here for a while to determine the amount of pain you can safely tolerate.”

“How’re they going to do that?”

“I have no idea, but they said they might be able to give you something that will help you to tolerate the amount of pain you’ve come to expect.”

“So, some way they’re going to figure out how much pain I can take or they’re going to give me a pill to dull the pain.”

“Or, both.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Well, Tom, however it’s going to be, I’m sure they’ll be able to figure it out.”

“Are you staying here?”

“No, they’re sending me home.”

“Why?”

“Tom, we’re dealing with bots. You do what they say.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Oh, well, I’ll miss you. Kiss me before you go.”

Don got up and leaned over Tom. They kissed as lovers. Then Don stood up and Tom began to weep.

“Don’t do that, you’ll be home sooner than you expect. Goodbye, husband.”

“Goodbye, my lover.”

********

For the next two weeks Tom slowly recovered from his brain surgery. It was a slow process, but eventually he was transferred down to a regular room; though, it was still in an area of the med center where there weren’t any humans. Then, as far as he was concerned, he was ready to go home, but the bots had a different idea. One day, an unidentifiable bot entered his room and stared at him with crystal eyes.

“We are ready to determine your safe pain levels,” the bot said. “Do you feel you are ready?”

“Sure, what are you going to do to me?” Tom asked.

“To you, human, it will be as if you are being tortured. The pain you experience will be as close to totally excruciating as you will be able to tolerate. You will, of course, be monitored. You brain activity will be measured as it responds to the increasing levels of pain. Are you ready to go with me?”

“Sure, okay, I guess it’ll have to be this way.”

“There is only one way to do it. The pain will be administered by a robot that has been specially programmed to give pain to humans.”

“A torture bot like they have in prisons. Is that what it is?”

“Yes, a torture robotic service unit from an institution where humans are sent to elicit information. In a way that is what we will seek from you; your body will tell us the amount of pain that can be safely administered without injuring your brain.”

“So, you will go up as high as you feel necessary before damage occurs.”

“Yes, are you ready? If you are, I will send for a wheelchair.”

“Okay, let’s do this. I want to go home.”

“Yes, so your dominant can give you pain.”

“Yes, so I can be dominated.”

A med-tech bot came in with the wheelchair and Tom got out of the bed. He sat down; the bot fixed the foot pads, and wheeled him out into the hall. They went down the hall past the elevators, turned a corner, and followed that hall until they came to another elevator. The bot pushed the chair in and Tom felt them going down. When the door opened he saw that they were in a dimly lit hall, which they followed until they came to a room. The bot pushed the wheelchair inside and Tom saw four bots, new models with legs, but one had arms that ended with appendages that looked absolutely scary.

“Human, stand up and remove your gown,” a bot said.

Tom did as he was told. A bot came over to him and told him to bend down. He did and another bot put a cap-like thing over his head that had wires attached to it. They were attached to a metal box that had other wires coming out of it that were attached to a different bot.

“Human, come over here, stand against the wall, and hold your hands up level with your shoulders,” a bot said. “Yes, like that, hold them there. Now, spread your feet apart. A little more, there that is fine.”

Another bot came over and attached plastic bands to his wrists and ankles that held him to a structure attached to the wall. He couldn’t move. As he had never been in a torture room, he had no idea what was going to happen next.

“Human, you will experience increasing levels of pain,” a bot said. “You may scream at any moment in the process, but it will not stop the process. Your pain will be administered until such time we determine you can go no further. Then we will administer a narcotic that will lessen the pain that you are experiencing at that moment. Then we will increase the pain until we determine you can go no further. 77592 give the human an erection.”

A bot came over to Tom and slipped a soft tube over his penis. Whatever that thing was it gave him a very pleasant feeling that quickly aroused him. The bot removed the tube and the bot with the strange appendages came over. It stood directly in front of him staring with its metallic eyes. Its arms rose and a finger-like thing came out of each arm. They pressed directly into that spot under his arms where Don gave him the excruciating pain.

He gasped as the bot pressed in harder than Don did. Then he felt an unbelievable pain shoot across his chest from his right side to the left. Then the pain lessened. The bot moved back a few centimeters and then pain radiated from his balls, but that was not the end of it. The pain he experienced in his chest was repeated in his balls. He couldn’t believe the pain the bot was giving him, but it hadn’t reached a level that made him scream.

Then the pain stopped. But the end had not arrived. The bot pressed those fingers back under his arms, but this time the pain across his chest moved right to left then left to right in ever increasing painful throbs. Tom felt he was beginning to feel something else happening to him. Yes, he was getting another erection. The pain, more severe than Don ever gave him, was making his cock harden. He couldn’t imagine what the pain was doing to him. It had never been this way with Don. He thought he couldn’t be enjoying this pain, but he was. And the more it hurt the more his mind wanted it to hurt more. Then the unbelievable happened, he was actually having an orgasm as pain ricocheted from his right armpit to his left and back again. Then everything went black.

“Stop the torture, the human has reached his limit.”

“This human is not normal. He is too resilient to the pain he experienced. We should have picked up his brain response to the pain he was having, but it didn’t appear on the system. Whatever pain he will experience with the human he lives with will never be as much as this. It is interesting that he achieved orgasm simply by experiencing this level of pain. That is most interesting. I recommend an internal brain examination to determine if any damage has occurred from this experience.”

“Yes, that is advisable. We will give him a day to recover then perform the operation.”

“21945 remove the human from the cross and place him in the wheelchair.”

“Should we administer the narcotic?”

“No, he has just experienced a narcoleptic event. When we return him to his room we will sedate him via an IV.”

********

Tom woke up knowing something had changed. His head hurt more than it did yesterday. It was almost as if the bots had given him another operation. He thought back to yesterday and remembered the pain, the unbelievable agony that bot put him through. That was nothing compared to what Don did to him, so maybe that was okay. Maybe the bots were going to let him go home and get fucked the way he liked it. It was surprising that, even though the pain was incredibly excruciating, he had an orgasm. He reached over to the IV machine and gave himself a little more pain medication.

“Good, you are awake; we were worried you would not wake without medication,” a bot said as it walked in. “Are you well?”

“My head hurts, but I gave myself some more of that pain reliever,” Tom said. He didn’t recognize this model of bot. It must be something new.

“I was your surgeon on this last operation. We went in to determine if your brain suffered any damage from your torture. Do you remember having an orgasm?”

“Yes, I couldn’t believe that was happening to me just from all that pain.”

“Yes, you are a remarkable human. Six months after you return home, you may resume the sexual activity your dominant partner prefers having with you. You received much more pain than a human is capable of giving. It is unfortunate that the pain your partner administers will not be sufficient to give you an orgasm.”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to live with that. I just can’t believe it was only yesterday that through torture I achieved an orgasm I have to concentrate on giving myself while my lover receives pleasure from giving me pain. Human sex is so strange.”

“Yes it is, but it was four days ago that you experienced that orgasm.”

“Four days, I’ve been asleep for four days?”

“Yes, we can’t be certain, but it seems to be your brain’s response to the pain your received. We went in to see if the torture caused any damage, but your brain was clear. It may have been a mental aberration, but that is outside our realm. You would have to consult a human psychiatrist or psychologist.”

“When will I be able to go back to work on the farms?”

“Unfortunately, your brain is incapable of handling that degree of work-related stress.”

“There’s no stress to picking apples, planting flowers, or weeding shrubs.”

“We are not talking about mental stress. You cannot have physical stress outside of sexual activity, which occurs in a different area of your brain and is, therefore, permissible. We have checked and you will be welcome at the daycare and early childhood education facility at Eden Commune. You have a job with children. What could be so stressful dealing with human children?”

“Obviously, you have no experience with children. They can be very trying at times.”

“Punish them, severely if you have to, or contact Robotic Security Services for assistance. They are programmed to deal with children.”

“We are not permitted to punish them severely. We have limits, but we do have permission from the parents to use corporal punishment if we have to, but it seldom comes to that.”

“You sound like you enjoy doing that work. That is commendable because it does serve the needs of the ship.”

“Do you think I am capable of getting a primary certificate in early childhood education? Would that be too stressful?”

“You may not attend a university. You would not be able to handle that degree of stress. If you desire to pursue that certificate we can amend your record that it is permissible for you to use a module for your education requirements. That is the best we can offer.”

“Then I will have to do it that way, but first I have to get better. I have to stop coming here to get my brain repaired. I’m sure that if I damage it too much, I might not be able to do anything except sit around the rez and feel sorry about myself.”

“All of that is true. You must restrict your mental and brain activity for six months. You may work in the childcare facility, but you must not do anything physical to the degree where you could do yourself harm and that includes strenuous sexual activity. Intercourse is permissible as long as it does not involve pain. We will put that in your discharge instructions. We will take you to your residence in two weeks. Is that sufficient?”

“Yes, I can do that. Thank you for helping me.”

“You are welcome. Have a good life Thomas 01-997s.”

Tom watched the bot leave amazed that he was actually able to carrying on a conversation with that thing. It was as if they actually enjoyed talking to people, which was surprising because they usually considered people to be not much more than cargo on its way to some undetermined location. He wondered if the bots would ever find a planet where people could live.

********

For the first time in weeks, Tom lay naked next to Don on their bed. He turned his head and saw his lover lying on his side and smiling. He smiled and then looked up at the ceiling. His mind returned to that day of torture when he received so much pain he had an orgasm. He hadn’t told Don what happened that day because he did not know how Don would take it. There was no reason to keep it a secret, but, now it seemed to have been between him and that bot that was torturing him. It was as if that bot was actually trying to give him an orgasm, as if it knew that if it gave sufficient pain Tom would experience that ultimate sexual feeling. Could that have been what that bot was doing? Could it have known that with the correct degree of pain it could cause a human to have an orgasm?

“What are you thinking?” Don asked.

“About something that happened when they were determining how much pain I could tolerate,” Tom said. “I should’ve told you when I first came home, but I suppose it shouldn’t be a secret between us. Did a bot discuss with you the way I enjoy being dominated and receiving pain when you fuck me?”

“Yes; did they figure out how much pain you can tolerate?”

“More than you can give,” Tom said. Should he go further? Should he say that the torture bot gave him an orgasm? “Don, I was tortured by a bot specially programmed to give pain to humans. It normally operates in prisons or interrogation centers where the bots use torture to extract information. That’s what they were doing with me, extracting information. They wanted to see how much pain I will be able to tolerate without damaging my brain.”

“And, they did that didn’t they?”

“Don, they gave me so much pain, it was so severe, so unbelievably excruciating that I had an orgasm and then I passed out.”

“You came from the pain?”

“Yeah, but you’ll never be able to give me that much pain. Not unless you stab me or do something like that.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. How do you think that thing caused that much pain?”

“Well, I’ve never experienced anything like it. At first it put these finger-like things in those spots under my arms. You know; where you give me that first pain; the one that gets my attention. Then there was a sharp pain across my chest. It was unbelievable. I never imagined I could tolerate that much pain. Then it grabbed my balls and then I had that sharp pain down there. Then there the pain returned to my underarms, but this time the pain throbbed back and forth from one side to the other and it got more and more intense. Then I had the most incredible orgasm of my entire life.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. It must have used electric shock on you. I think I could rig up something like that, if you want.”

“No, you’ll get in trouble with the bots if you hurt my brain. I passed out and they gave me another operation to see if that pain hurt me. As much as I liked it, I don’t want to end up like Gene, if you know what I mean.”

“Sure thing, kiddo, I understand, but you know, I think I could put some things together that would give you more pain than I’m giving you now. I don’t know if it would make you come, but if you’re willing to try, we could explore how much pain you want.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Sure, you’re the best, Tom. You’re the best kid I’ve ever had the pleasure of fucking and I’m still surprised the way you enjoy the pain I give you. If you know what I mean.”

“You’re just a dirty old man who gets his kicks hurting little boys. That’s what Pablo was like. He liked to hurt me and I let him because I liked it.”

“I’m not a Pablo; I’ll never be like him, never, ever.”

“No, you’re much better than Pablo ever imagined he would be. Sure he liked to rape me and it hurt so much, but, you know, I got a hard-on when he did it.”

“That was your prostrate doing that. It’s not uncommon for little boys who’ve been sexually abused to get an erection when they’re raped. It’s tragic and can cause later psychological issues, which I think might be a factor in your need for pain when I make love to you. You see, Tom, I’ve never run into a man who enjoyed pain the way you do, but I can’t do anything with you until after your six-month recuperation period. In the meantime, I’ll look into what I can come up with to give you more pain. How does that sound.”

“Sounds like you might do something medical to me.”

“Well, there is that, too. Yes, I could do something like that and you probably would experience an increased level of pain, but I’ll check around with some of the men I knew in Central City. Maybe, they’ll have some ideas on what I can do to you.”

“You’re sounding absolutely diabolical.”

“Aren’t I, though? Would you like me to help you have a come tonight? I promise not to hurt you too much.”

“Party pooper!”

********

The following morning Tom followed Don out of their rez and down the steps to their speeder. Stefan and Steve were already in the vehicle. The men climbed in and took their seats. They fastened their seat and shoulder belts and Don started the engines.

“Stefan, Steve, are you two strapped in?” Tom asked.

“Steph, I’m Steph and you’re a faggot and Steve is Stevie and he’s a faggot, too.”

“We do not use that word here at Eden Commune,” Tom said.

“You can’t tell me what to do because you had the bots kill my Uncle Tommy,” Steph said.

“What gave you that idea?” Tom asked.

“I know because you’re a faggot. He told me you were and you had him killed.”

“Okay, that’s it,” Don said. He unstrapped his belts and climbed out of the speeder. He walked over to Ben and Peter’s rez and knocked on the door. It opened and Don went in. In a few seconds, Peter walked out with Don and they came over to the speeder.

“Stefan, get out of the speeder,” Peter said. “You’re staying home today.”

“You can’t tell me what to do because you’re a faggot,” Steph said. “I’m going to daycare and you can’t stop me.”

“Get out of my speeder,” Don said. “I refuse to take you down to Commune Center. Now, get out of my speeder!”

“No!”

“Tom, unhook his belts,” Peter said.

Tom undid his and turned back toward the boy. He pressed the release buttons and pulled the belts away from the boy’s body. Peter reached in, grabbed his son, and pulled him out of the speeder.

“You can’t do this, I’m going to report you to the bots,” Steph yelled. “They’re going to kill you because you’re all faggots.”

“One of you wouldn’t happen to know where he learned this word, would you?” Peter asked. Holding Steph away from his body as the boy tried to hit him with his fists.

“He said Tommy told him I was a faggot,” Tom said.

“I see, well, he’ll be home today and maybe tomorrow, too. Stevie, you be a good boy at daycare.”

“I will Dad.”

Don climbed back into the speeder, hooked his belts, held the OVERRIDE button with one finger and pressed the MANUAL OP button with another, and pulled back on the stick. He pressed the accelerator and the speeder took off. He tried to calm himself, but Stefan made him angry. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do and he worried about the boy. He was now a danger to his family and the commune. He had been stained by the words of Tommy, but probably didn’t know what he was saying. If it got out, Bot Security would be down here in an instant. Ben and Peter would be thoroughly questioned, Stefan would be removed from the family, and Steve could possibly end up without a family, but all that was now nothing more than speculation.

Tom sat quietly ruminating over what happened. To him it was obvious Stefan didn’t know what he was saying. That he was upset over having found out Tommy had been executed by the bots, was a given, but to react in the way he did was not normal. Was it possible the boy had the macho mutation? Did a brief talk with Tommy ruin his morality or was it simply a child’s way of dealing with bad news by overreacting and calling others a derogatory name?

Behind the men, Stevie was worried about his brother. Steph had been acting strange ever since Ben had told them that their Uncle Tommy had been executed by the bots for being a macho. He couldn’t believe that, but Steph ran into his room and slammed the door. And, now, Steph wouldn’t be coming down to daycare today and protect him from the bullies. He didn’t like being smaller than the other boys and he didn’t understand why Stef seemed bigger.

Don was still pissed at Stefan as he brought the speeder down onto the parking lot between the clinic and the daycare which caused the speeder to bounce on its landing gear. He unfastened his belts, turned in his seat, and asked, “Steve, are you okay?”

“I’m Stevie.”

“Okay, Stevie are you okay?”

“Sure Dr. Don, but that was an awfully hard landing. Are you okay?”

“No, your brother made me mad.”

“Yeah, he does that. He has a temper.”

“Okay, guys, I’ll be going home for lunch today; do you two want to go with me?” Don asked.

“Can’t, have to supervise the kids that bring their lunches to daycare; though, Steve might want to go,” Tom said.

“Why can’t you guys call me Stevie? But, Ben said he was going to come down and get me.”

“Well, then, I guess I’ll have lunch alone,” Don said. “Tom, do you want me to fix you a sandwich and bring it down?”

“No, Freddy usually brings me something or I’ll go over to one of the dining halls.”

“Uncle Tom, can we go in now?” Stevie asked.

“Sure, Stevie; kiss goodbye, Don?”

“You got it, kiddo,” Don said. He leaned over and they kissed.

“How come nobody ever kisses me?” Stevie asked.

“You’ll have to ask your dads on that,” Don said, “because neither of us is going to kiss you without their permission.”

“Oh, okay, I will; come on, Uncle Tom, let’s go in,” Stevie said. He unfastened his belts, got up, and jumped out of the speeder. “Come on, Uncle Tom.”

“Duty calls; see you this evening,” Tom said as he unfastened his belts. He climbed out on his side and followed the boy up to the daycare building.

Inside, Tom went over to where Megan was sitting, pulled up a chair, and sat down beside her. She looked at him and then went back to what she was doing, which seemed to Tom to be some sort of craft.

“What are you doing?” Tom asked as he watched her manipulate two short, thin rods and somehow tying knots in a thick cord. It looked difficult, but, since he’d never seen her do that before, he was intrigued by what she was able to do with those two rods.

“Knitting.”

“What are you making?”

“A scarf for Charity.”

“Is that hard to learn?”

“No, lots of women do it.”

“What about men?”

“I don’t know why a man would want to knit, but I suppose if you were willing to learn, I could probably teach you.”

“Ow! Help! Don’t do that! Ow!”

“Oh, oh, better go,” Tom said. He got up and went out into the room and saw an early age seven boy hitting Stevie. He hurried over there and pulled the older boy away from Stevie.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the boy asked.

“Why are you hitting Stevie?” Tom asked.

“Because he’s nothing but a sissy, he’s a faggot. That’s what Stef told me and you are, too.”

“Does your father know how you talk?”

“No; are you going to tell him?”

“Yes; but first come with me,” Tom said as he pulled the boy across the room to a chair that faced a corner of the room. “Sit!”

“I don’t have to, faggot!”

“Sit!”

“Tom, do you have a problem with Antherus?” Megan asked.

“The faggot only thinks he has a problem with me, bitch.”

“I see, okay Tom, I’ll send a message out to his farm. Antherus, sit in the timeout chair.”

“No!”

“Sit in the chair,” Megan said calmly.

“No!”

“Okay, Tom, bring him over here. We tried, but obviously Antherus doesn’t want to cooperate.”

The Megan went over to her desk followed by Tom pulling the boy along with him. She opened a drawer and pulled out a switch about the length of her forearm. Without any announcement, she turned and hit the boy on his bottom, twice.

“Ow! I’m going to tell my father what you did,” the boy wept.

Megan hit him again.

“Ow!” The boy started to cry.

“Tom, put him in the chair and make sure he doesn’t move,” Megan said as she put the switch back in the drawer.

After about five minutes a man of about age twenty-five came into the daycare. He went over to Megan’s desk where they talked for a while. Then he came over to the chair and pulled the boy to his feet.

“Antherus, we’re going home,” the man said.

“I want you to report to the bots that that man is a faggot,” Antherus said.

“Shit! Where did you learn that vile word? Do I have to send a request to Bot Security to have them come down here and take you away?”

The man pulled the boy out of the daycare and Tom went to tend to Stevie who was sitting on the floor softly weeping. Tom knelt down and pulled him up into a tight hug. He wondered how many other boys had been poisoned by Stef and Tommy. There never seemed to be an end to the derogatory speech by machos on the ship. After a while Stevie finally calmed down, but Tom continued to hold him.

“I gotta go potty,” Stevie whispered.

“Okay, Stevie,” Tom said. He let go of the boy, stood up, and followed Stevie to the door to the boy’s room. He waited and when the door opened he gently took Stevie back inside. He took a disposable cloth from the dispenser, soaked it in some warm water, and wiped the tears away from the boy’s face. “There, now you look better. Do you feel okay?”

“My tummy hurts,” Stevie said. “Anthie hit me in my tummy.”

“Okay, maybe we need to take you over to the clinic and have someone look at you,” Tom said. He opened the door and went over to Megan’s desk. “Antherus hit Stevie in the stomach; I’m taking him over to the clinic.”

“It’s probably not anything,” Megan said.

“It’ll make him feel better if we go,” Tom said.

“Sure, okay, Tom. What are we going to do about that boy?”

“Stef is where it started and he got it from Tommy. Come on, Stevie; let’s go see if you’re okay.”

********

“You haven’t said much about your first day back at work,” Don said.

They were lying on their sides close together, but Tom seemed to be off somewhere else. He opened his eyes, but didn’t smile and then turned over onto his back. He reached over with his right hand and lightly touched Don’s hard-on. There was no intent to go further.

“I saw you over at the clinic with Stevie; something wrong?”

“An age seven boy hit him in the stomach,” Tom said. “Dr. Johnus looked him over, but, of course, there was nothing wrong. You know, I’ve never noticed, but Stevie seems much smaller than Stef. Do you think it’s possible they’re not twins, like me and Tommy?”

“I could request a chromosome and genome scan of both boys, but maybe it’s just a mutational error.”

“Could you check, just for me? Maybe, Stef has the macho mutation and is more muscular because of that.”

Don scooted over to Tom and laid his right arm onto his husband’s chest. With thumb and forefinger, his pinched the left nipple softly, and then increased the pressure until Tom swiftly breathed in.

“Don, please not tonight,” Tom whispered.

Unexpectedly, Don raised his body a little, turned slightly at his hips, and lowered his mouth over Tom’s erection. He hadn’t done this in scores of years and, yet, at that moment it seemed most appropriate, something that was needed. Don brought his hand into play and with his mouth working the head he firmly grabbed Tom’s balls and squeezed them. This went on for a long time until the younger man’s breathing quickened. Don brought his mouth off the cock and only with handwork gave Tom his come. When Tom didn’t make any move to reciprocate, Don went to work on his own and quite quickly brought himself to an acceptable orgasm.

“Sorry, just not in the mood tonight,” Tom whispered.