The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Offer, Part 2

Inspired by “The Offer” by Android

Chapter 7: The Reunion

When Sam woke up the next morning, she was still lying on her back in bed. As far as she could tell, she hadn’t moved in her sleep the entire night. All of her muscles were stiff—much more so than after her first experience with the silver suit. It took quite an effort to get to her feet. Only after twenty minutes of stretching did she feel like she had most of the kinks out. Once she felt like herself again, Sam walked over to the computer. She switched it on, then stepped back toward the mirror.

As the computer booted up, Sam struck a series of robotic poses in the mirror, watching her silver body intently. She had to admit, she looked perfect—and she was getting quite good at acting like a machine, too. Like an expert choreographer, she was able to capture the personality of her robotic persona flawlessly. Each movement was fluid yet precise, graceful yet halting.

Sam concentrated on each movement in sequence, making sure to complete each one before moving on to the next. Bend elbows. Stop. Extend forefingers and thumbs slightly in robotic pointing gesture. Stop. Raise right arm to bring hand to eye level. Stop. Rotate upper torso to right. Stop. Bend forward at waist. Stop. Straighten to previous position. Stop. Tilt head sideways. Stop. Extend fingers of right hand, bring hand to mouth, raise eyebrows, shape mouth like an O. Stop. A few times, just for effect, Sam forced herself to reverse and redo the last part of a move, creating a stutter effect that made her look even more like a mechanical robot. She loved it!

The computer had finished starting up by now, and Sam once again logged onto her ISP and headed for the Precision Passion web site. As the familiar screen loaded, Sam felt the gentle buzzing at the back of her neck again. By now she was fairly certain that the Precision Passion web server was somehow communicating with her suit. Amazing. No wonder the site seemed to know exactly what she was doing!

Sam decided not to sit down in front of her computer this time. It felt more appropriate to stand at attention.

Welcome back, Samantha!

Have you reconsidered your decision to choose your own Precision Passion companion? Or is there something else we can help you with?

The Choose For Me button was there again. Next to it was another button, titled simply Help. Hoping to find out if the silver spandex she’d ordered was available in other styles, so she could recommend it to her students, Sam decided to click on Help. But before she could move to touch her mouse, her suit buzzed briefly, transmitting her thoughts directly to the computer. The web site displayed its response instantly.

Thanks for contacting us, Samantha.

In order to provide you with the best assistance, one of our customer service representatives will be in touch with you within the next twenty-four hours.

Until then, here’s a tip: you can change the appearance of your suit without having to remove any of it! Simply concentrate on the desired coverage and the suit will respond to your mental commands.

With practice, you should be able to achieve whatever look you want!

Well, since being able to modify the suit’s appearance after purchase didn’t change the way the site was advertising it, this wasn’t exactly the information Sam was looking for. But it was surprisingly close. If nothing else, the suggestion was worth trying out.

Lifting her spandex-covered hand in front of her eyes, Sam concentrated on making the suit’s shiny metallic glove disappear. Nothing. Then, as she watched, the chrome of her fingertips suddenly began to give way to flesh. The spandex seemed to be contracting, the sleeve gradually pulling the fabric on her hand into the rest of the suit. With just a little more mental effort, Sam quickly got her other sleeve to do likewise.

Sam’s silver sleeves, now cut off neatly at the wrist, seemed a tiny bit thicker and heavier than they had been, as though they had taken on the mass and volume of the now-missing gloves. Then, a mild electric tingle coursed through Sam’s body as the suit distributed the additional material along its entire surface. The suit felt no different than before, other than the fact that Sam’s hands were no longer covered. Incredible!

Now that she could make the suit do anything she wanted, Sam was pretty sure that she would never take it off again. She found that thought very reassuring.

Turning away from her computer, Sam glanced at the clock for the first time. It was almost noon! Today was a day off from the gym, so Sam decided to run a few errands before Kim’s arrival. Pausing briefly to adjust her suit some more—she shortened the sleeves to three-quarter length and lowered the neckline to her collarbone—Sam pulled on her favorite pair of denim overalls. Time to get out and enjoy the sunshine!

As soon as Sam stepped outside, she could tell that people were taking notice of her. Thanks to her overalls, the only silver that was visible was at the top of her chest and along the length of each arm, but that was more than enough to attract attention. Everywhere she went, she saw people slow down to get a good look at her. She wondered what they were all thinking. There was disapproval, perhaps even a kind of judgment, in some of their stares. But behind that, if any of them dared to admit it, there was fascination, and curiosity—even envy.

Sam was sure that some of them were wondering where she’d bought the silver spandex, the men wishing they could buy it for their wives and girlfriends, the women imagining it on themselves. But of course, none of them got up the courage to ask her. Sam, for her part, imagined what it would be like if they did ask—if they all put on silver suits, if the streets were filled with people walking purposefully to and fro in gleaming chrome. The thought was pleasing.

Though she found she wasn’t really feeling very hungry today, Sam stopped briefly at the grocery store to pick up a few things. Waiting at the checkout counter, she stood transfixed by the red beams of the bar code scanner as the girl passed each item over it. Boop! came the scanner’s report, followed by the grinding response of the cash register printing the next line of her receipt. As she listened more closely, Sam could hear a dozen other scanners beeping merrily along the length of the store, other cash registers grinding and dinging. She could hear conveyor belts rolling, automatic doors swishing open and closed, security cameras swiveling back and forth. And behind all of that, the electric hum that powered the overhead lights, the refrigerators and freezers, the computers in the glass-walled office above the customer service desk.

Sam found herself wishing she could be part of the wordless conversation taking place between the machines that ran the store. She imagined how focused and directed her thoughts would be. Accessing. Processing. Scanning. Receiving. Computing. Updating. Transmitting. So simple. So wonderfully simple.

“Excuse me,” she heard the checkout girl say impatiently. “How are you paying for this?”

Input received, Sam thought to herself. A part of her wanted to respond with a loud boop—after all, that was what the human girl expected to hear from the other devices she worked with. But Sam just laughed to herself as she looked down to her purse. Silently, she pulled out a credit card and swiped it along the side of the little keypad before her. The friendly device asked her if the amount was OK, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she pressed Yes. Soon the transaction was complete, and she was on her way out of the store without speaking a word.

Sam ducked into a couple of other stores, just long enough to grab something quickly or to browse for a while. It wasn’t long before she realized she wasn’t all that interested in shopping. It was good to be out, if only for the fun of turning people’s heads—but as long as Ben was still out of town, Sam realized she’d much rather be alone with the suit.

Sam headed back toward home, walking as quickly as she could. Immediately upon entering her apartment, she shed her overalls and restored the suit’s full sleeves and gloves. She couldn’t wait to have a little more fun—but first she had to put away her perishable groceries. Sam brought her bags into the kitchen and started filling the refrigerator.

She was only half-way through when the doorbell rang.

Kim! Was it 3:00 already? Her friend was at the door, and here she was in a full-body silver catsuit!

Sam ran to the intercom to buzz Kim in, then raced to her bedroom. By the time the knock came on her apartment door, Sam had shortened the suit’s sleeves again and covered herself with a bathrobe. Clutching the robe closed at her chest, Sam opened the door. There was Kim, dressed in a tiny white blouse and tight blue jeans, greeting her with outstretched arms. “Hey there, stranger!” Kim said, beaming. Then her face took on a puzzled expression as she noticed how out of breath Sam was. “Sam, are you OK?” Kim asked. “You look like you’re surprised to see me.”

“No, no, I was expecting you,” Sam replied hastily. “I just got out of the shower, that’s all. Guess I lost track of the time.” Suddenly, the back of Sam’s neck began to tingle—like it did whenever she was logged on to the web site. But her computer was switched off. It didn’t make any sense! A particularly strong current suddenly surged through the suit, and Sam’s head cocked involuntarily to the side for an instant. Oh no, Sam thought to herself. Did she see that?

Kim bent down to pick up her suitcase, trying hard not to let her best friend see her smile. Sam was coming along nicely—that much was obvious. Even if Kim hadn’t just received a full status report from Sam’s catsuit, she would have known Sam was wearing it beneath the robe. Kim didn’t have the heart to tell Sam that she’d forgotten to remove the shiny spandex from her feet.

Kim froze for a fraction of a second—far too short a time for Sam to notice—and relayed Sam’s status to the central recruiting database. Processing of Candidate Unit N979 proceeding within expected parameters. “Well,” she asked, “are you going to let me in?”

“Of course!” Sam said, stepping back to let Kim enter the apartment. “Just let me get dressed, OK?” Sam turned and practically sprinted into her bedroom. By the time she emerged, she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. The silver suit, in the form of a tank-top swimsuit, was hidden beneath her clothing. “I’m so happy to see you!” Sam cried as she crossed the room to give Kim a proper welcome. As she hugged Kim, Sam couldn’t help but notice how tight and solid her friend’s body was. Wow, Sam thought. Kim must be working out—a lot.

“It’s great to see you, too,” Kim replied, pulling away to look Sam in the eye. “How’ve you been?”

“To be honest,” Sam said with a smile, “I’ve never been better.” Sam told Kim how well her job at the gym was going, then gave her all the details about her deepening relationship with Ben. She even filled her in on the latest gossip about some of their old college friends. But what Sam really wished she could talk about was the way she’d been feeling these last two days. As the conversation went on, Sam couldn’t stop thinking about how great the suit felt on her body. In fact, the desire to let the suit take over again was starting to become a distraction. Quit it! she thought, scolding herself inwardly.

“I’m tired of talking about me,” Sam said at last. “What have you been up to? You’ve got to tell me more about the trip you mentioned in your email.”

“Well,” Kim began, “I met this really great guy a few months ago, and we went away for the weekend. We hit it off even before we knew each others’ names, and we’ve been practically inseparable ever since.” Well, Kim thought, there sure was a lot missing from that version of the story! But at least it was all true. She’d fill Sam in on the rest soon enough.

“That’s great!” Sam said. She was curious to hear more, but her mind was wandering. She found herself wondering what Kim would think of the Precision Passion web site. Kim had always been pretty open-minded about things, so maybe she’d like it. Maybe she’d even want a catsuit for herself—and of course, one for this new boyfriend of hers.

Sam knew that eventually she would have to introduce Kim to the web site. The urge to get Kim to try on the spandex was irresistible. It was like . . . well, it was like programming. But it had been a while since they’d had a good talk about anything, and Sam felt too awkward to bring up such an intimate topic. Soon, she thought to herself. But not yet.

Instead, Sam stuck to small talk. Kim could see that Sam wanted to tell her about the silver spandex she was wearing, but she said nothing about it. She knew that the right moment would come eventually, when Sam was ready. So the two friends passed the next several hours talking about everything except the one thing on both of their minds.

Eventually, Sam noticed that it was dark outside. “Hey,” she said, “you must be starving. What do you want to do for dinner?”

Kim stood up and stretched her arms over her head. “I’m all set, actually,” she said. “Unless you want something, I could easily skip it.” Kim’s android body was fully equipped to simulate eating and drinking, but of course it wasn’t necessary and she didn’t want to do it unless she had to. Besides, she expected Sam’s appetite to be completely suppressed by this stage of the process.

“OK,” Sam said, somewhat relieved. She couldn’t explain it, but she wasn’t hungry despite not having eaten a thing all day. “Then what do you say we go out dancing or something?”

Kim smiled. She hadn’t been dancing since her conversion. “Sounds great! But I don’t really have anything to wear. Maybe I could borrow something from you?”

Sam’s eyes went wide. This was her chance to get Kim into the silver suit! The opportunity was too good to pass up. “As a matter of fact, I think I’ve got just the thing. You wouldn’t mind wearing something . . . shiny, would you?”

“Are you kidding?” Kim replied, almost indignantly. “Remember you you’re talking to, Samantha dear. Let’s see it!”

Sam ducked into her bedroom and re-emerged with the second catsuit—the one intended for Ben—in her hands. She held it up by its shoulders. Her hands were shaking slightly. “Isn’t it incredible?”

Kim walked over to Sam and took the suit from her. “Wow, Sam,” she said, eyeing the silver fabric up and down. “You’ve got great taste. Gloves and everything—I can’t wait to try it on!” Kim reached down to pull off her black ankle-length boots, then headed for the bathroom. “Be right back.”

Sam’s heart was pounding now. In a few minutes, Kim would have the catsuit on, and she’d finally have someone to share this wonderful feeling with. Just the thought of Kim in the silver spandex was getting Sam really excited. As her anticipation grew, dozens of tiny electrical surges began to course through her body.

Suddenly, Sam had an idea. Ducking back into the bedroom, she reached under her bed and grabbed the remote control so that she would be ready for Kim when she got out of the bathroom.

Kim, meanwhile, hid the catsuit Sam had given her in the bathroom cabinet. The suit wasn’t designed for her, and besides she didn’t need it. As she took off her blouse and jeans—underwear was completely unnecessary for her now—she modified her outer shell to mimic the appearance of the silver fabric. She was done in just a few seconds, so she stalled a bit to make sure the right amount of time had gone by before coming out again.

When Kim stepped out of the bathroom, Sam was sitting on the couch, the remote hidden within reach between the cushions. Sam looked up to see Kim walking slowly across the room—a perfect vision in silver. Kim stopped and turned to face her friend. “I can’t believe this thing!” she exclaimed. “It’s even better than the costumes we used to wear on the dance team!”

“How do you feel?” Sam asked without making eye contact. She was staring at Kim’s breasts and abdomen. Kim looked unbelievable, and Sam was starting to feel a little strange. Like she wanted to . . . .

“Fantastic,” Kim said, holding her arm away from her so she could get a good look at her silver hand. “This outfit is a total showstopper!” Kim twisted her body to look down the back of her leg. “This is better than anything you usually see people wearing to clubs. Most of that stuff has become so boring, don’t you think?” she asked without looking up.

Sam nodded slowly, barely listening as Kim went on. “I mean, take bikinis for example. They get smaller and smaller, to the point where a girl can practically walk around naked, and nobody seems to notice anymore, because they’re ordinary. But this—even though this covers every inch of my body, I feel more exposed than I would in any bikini. Nothing beats a catsuit.”

Sam, still staring blankly at Kim, didn’t say anything. Kim smiled knowingly, then asked a question that she knew Sam was programmed to answer. “Where did you get this thing, anyway?”

Sam paused a moment. Her heart raced as she thought of the right words to say. Where was the voice when she needed it?

“I bought it off a web site,” she stammered at last. “In fact . . . I bought two. I’m wearing the same suit right now.” Sam was practically shaking as she pulled her T-shirt off to reveal her silver torso.

“What do you mean, ‘the same’?” Kim asked as Sam removed her shorts. “Yours is just a bathing suit.”

Sam knew exactly what to do now, even without the voice to tell her. Initiate self demo, she heard her own voice say in her mind.

“Just watch,” Sam said. Slowly, the silver fabric on her shoulders and hips began to stretch outward, covering her neck, upper arms, and thighs. A moment later, the silver had spread to her forearms and calves. As it enveloped Sam’s feet and extended to her fingertips, Sam looked up. She and Kim now looked identical from the neck down.

“Whoa, Sam, that’s completely weird,” Kim said, doing her best to appear amazed. “How did you do that?”

Initiate companion demo, she commanded herself. Again, the words were similar to what the voice might say, but they were coming from her own mind. She felt a sense of purpose now. She was one with the suit—she wanted only what it wanted for her. The realization was soothing—and yet the increasing energy in her body disrupted the calm, threatened to tear her apart from the inside.

Sam reached down to pick up the remote, then stepped forward until she was standing right in front of her friend. The temptation to touch Kim’s body was overwhelming. What am I thinking? Her breathing was heavier now, her voice deeper as she struggled to speak. “That’s not . . . the on.ly thing these suits . . . can do, Kim,” she said, her thumb poised on the remote. “I’ve been wearing this suit for al.most . . . two days now, and I—I—”

Sam had involuntarily slipped into monotone for an instant—not once, but twice! Part of her realized that this was bad—revealing her changing nature at this stage, before her subject had been properly . . . processed, lowered her probability of success.

But she didn’t care anymore. She wanted Kim to know everything.

“Kim, you’re my best friend . . . and all I want is for you to feel . . . what I’ve been feeling e.ver since I put on my suit.” Sam lifted the remote slowly, gradually giving up on trying to control her voice as she continued to speak. “See this remote con.trol? All.you have to do . . . is push.this little but.ton . . . and . . . you.will.un.der.stand.”

A part of Sam wanted to press the button herself, to force the transformation on her friend. But on some level, she knew that only Kim could make that decision. Sam held the remote out in front of her, waiting patiently for Kim to take it.

Kim reached out and took the remote control, then turned to place it on a nearby table. “What.are.you.do.ing?” Sam asked, her breath just short of panting.

“I don’t need this device,” Kim said calmly. Smiling, she reached out to take Sam’s hand in hers. “Sam, there’s something I need to tell you now. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to understand, but all the same I’m asking you to keep an open mind.” Kim paused, and waited for Sam to nod her agreement before continuing. “Do you remember how the web site said you’d be contacted by a ‘customer support representative’? Well . . . .”

Kim cocked her head and went blank for dramatic effect. “How.may.I.help.you?” she asked. Then she broke into a broad grin.

Sam’s mouth fell open in shock. “Oh.my.g—Does.this.mean . . . you—”

“Yes,” Kim said, nodding affectionately. “It means I’ve already undergone the process that you’re going through now. I know exactly what you’re feeling, and what you’re going to feel, because it’s already happened to me.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

Sam found herself relaxing, the need to speak in monotone fading now. But her mind was filled with questions. Any thoughts of going out dancing were completely forgotten as she tried to figure out what to ask first. “You mean you’ve been transformed into a . . . robot?” Sam’s eyes ran up and down Kim’s body. What was she like underneath the suit?

Android is a more accurate term,” Kim was saying, “but frankly I’ve always liked robot better. So yes, Sam, to put it bluntly, I’m a robot. I’ve been a robot for a little over four months now. And, in case you haven’t guessed, I’m here to offer you a chance to become a robot too.”

Kim closed her eyes for a moment, and Sam watched in disbelief as the shiny silver spandex on her friend’s body changed. The chrome began to sparkle even brighter. Faint seams appeared at her waist, at the top of each thigh, at the knees, at the ankles. Sam’s eyes followed the curves of Kim’s metal body upward. Her breasts were now two perfectly sculpted, rigid silver orbs, and her cleavage was no longer obscured by fabric. Tiny circles, like the seams at her joints, were her only nipples.

Kim’s shoulders, arms, and hands were every bit as metallic as her legs. And her face—Sam was awestruck at the sight of it. Kim’s features were the same as before, only now her face was entirely made of chrome. Her silver lips gleamed even more brilliantly than the rest of her skin, and her hair was a perfectly-styled, semi-rigid cascade of pure gold. Kim’s eyes were also gold, two sparkling pools that pulsated faintly as Sam stared into them. Sam found herself getting lost in those eyes. She couldn’t look away.

“So?” Kim asked, shifting her weight back and forth as though she were modeling an outfit she’d just bought at the Gap. “What do you think?”

Sam could barely keep up with the thoughts swirling around in her head. This wasn’t pretend anymore. Her friend had been turned into a robot, and she was well on her way to joining her. Stranger still, Sam wasn’t bothered by it at all. A little scared, sure, since she didn’t quite know how her body was going to be made like Kim’s, or how it was going to feel. But she felt strangely comfortable with the reality of the situation. Sam already knew that she wanted to go through with the process, no matter what it entailed. She was incredibly excited, even aroused, by the thought of becoming a real robot like Kim.

“Kim, you look perfect,” was all she could say.

“Well, this is what you have to look forward to—that is, if you want to go through with the process.”

Sam couldn’t believe her ears. “Sounds . . . great,” she said, her head spinning. “But I have so many questions first.” Sam stepped forward tentatively. “I know this must sound funny, Kim, but . . . can I touch you? I just want to see how—”

“No need to explain,” Kim said. “Here.”

Kim clasped her hands behind her back, and stood perfectly still as Sam reached out to her. Mentally pulling the spandex off her fingers, Sam placed her right hand on Kim’s left shoulder. Kim’s silver skin was hard—far more rigid even than it had felt when they’d hugged earlier—but it wasn’t nearly as cold as Sam thought it would be. Sam’s heart started beating faster again. Kim was so beautiful, so absolutely perfect . . . .

Before she realized what she was doing, Sam let her hand fall until her fingertips came to rest upon Kim’s breast. Kim didn’t move. “Are you OK, Sam?” she asked politely.

Sam looked down at her friend’s chest, noticing how the overhead light danced along her curves. Then she lifted her head until her eyes met Kim’s. Sam’s lips were quivering, her shoulders rising and falling with each heavy breath. She couldn’t stop herself any longer.

Leaning forward, Sam brought her lips to Kim’s.

For a fraction of a second, Kim froze, a bit taken aback. But then she opened her mouth and thrust her silver tongue into Sam’s mouth. As she kissed her best friend, Sam pressed herself against Kim, and her entire body was filled with electricity with each movement of her spandex suit against the chrome of Kim’s chest and legs. Sam’s arousal was escalating out of control. She was so excited that she feared she might faint.

Then, without warning, Kim pulled away.

“Wow, Sam,” Kim said as she reached for the remote control. “I had no idea you had that in you!” Kim pointed the remote at Sam and pressed the first button. Sam’s body froze. BEGIN PROGRAMMING.

“And to be honest,” she heard Kim say, far away, “kissing a girl was new for me, too.” PROGRAM LOADING. “I guess that’s why I let myself get carried away like that. But the truth is, at this stage of your programming, you’re completely unprepared for sexual contact with a fully functional android like me. Your mind and body wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

PROGRAM LOADING COMPLETE. Sam was still frozen like a statue.

Kim pressed another of the remote control’s buttons. PAUSE. Sam’s program was loaded and ready to go, but she was unable to execute it. The anticipation was as excruciating as it was pleasurable. What was Kim doing?

“Sam,” Kim said, “I’m pretty sure the reason you’re acting this way is because you’re overdue for an orgasm. Your suit tells me you haven’t had one since last night. So I’m going to have you release your circuits right now. Hang on.”

Kim pressed a third button. PROGRAM INTERRUPTED. STANDBY.

“Ready, hon?” Kim asked. “Orgasm in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . now.”

Kim pressed the first button again. INITIATE RELEASE SEQUENCE.

The sudden rush of pleasure was so intense that Sam’s arms thrust out thirty degrees from her sides, her fingers splayed as far as they could stretch. Her eyes rolled back as the orgasm rocked her entire body.

Kim put the remote control back on the table and waited patiently for her friend to complete her release cycle. After a moment, Sam’s arms returned to her sides, and she stood rigidly at attention with her eyes fixed upon Kim. Sam’s head tilted sharply to the side as her mouth opened.

“This.u.nit.has.a.chieved.sat.is.fac.to.ry.re.lease.”

As soon as she had said this, Sam felt a peaceful calm wash over her. For the first time since Kim’s arrival, she felt like she could think clearly. “Great,” she could hear Kim saying. “You’re doing just great.”

After a moment, Sam could move and speak on her own again. “Kim, I’m . . . so embarrassed,” she said, turning away to sit down. She put her head in her hands, not sure how to explain what had just happened.

“Don’t be,” Kim said, placing her hand on Sam’s knee. Sam noticed that Kim had altered her appearance again. She now looked just like Sam—a human girl in silver spandex. “Sam, it’s just like I said before. The process is very powerful, and you’re going through it under some very strange circumstances. Ideally, you’d have a companion with you—the proper outlet for the impulses you’re feeling, and the right person for the process to bond you with. Since your boyfriend isn’t here, it only makes sense that you’d look for release wherever you could find it. I’m flattered—and someday, I promise we’ll pick up where we left off, OK?”

Sam didn’t say anything. She was still too confused. “When’s he getting back, anyway?” Kim asked. “Your boyfriend, I mean.”

“Late tonight,” Sam replied, still staring at the floor. “Probably around one or two o’clock.”

Kim lifted Sam’s head. “Sam, you and I never would have kissed like that if I hadn’t lost my objectivity. But then, now that it’s behind us, it wasn’t really so bad, was it? I know I don’t have any regrets.”

Sam smiled. “Me neither.”

“Good,” Kim said. “Soon, Sam, you’ll learn that an android never has regrets about anything. In the meantime, though, I want to commend you on a great job so far. I’m really proud to see the progress you’ve made!

“Plus, thanks to you, we’ve already learned a lot about how this variation on the process works, and I’m sure we’ll learn even more as we go. You see, when I was transformed, it was done differently—especially the parts of the process you haven’t gone through yet—and this whole web site idea is pretty experimental. Part of my job is to record what happens, so we can use the data to help us with future recruitment efforts.”

All of this talk about “future recruitment efforts” was way over Sam’s head. All she could think about right now was her own situation. “Kim,” she asked, “can you tell me something? Not that I’m complaining or anything, but if it’s really true that I’m being turned into a robot, why is the whole process so . . . you know . . .”

“Erotic?”

Sam nodded.

“I think I know the answer to that one, but I’d better look it up to be sure. Hold on a second.” Sam was certain she heard a faint whirring sound coming from Kim’s stomach as she paused to consider her question.

“There,” Kim said at last. “Pretty much what I thought. You see, Sam, it all has to do with simple human instinct. Think about it: sexual impulses are among the most fundamental mechanisms by which people interact with the world. Sexual release is really the only way a human being can respond to an experience as pleasurable as this.

“I suppose if the transformation were forced rather than voluntary, a different instinctive response would color the whole experience—fight or flight, that sort of thing. But deep down, this is something you find exciting, something you want—you know that—and your mind is processing the change the only way it can.”

“OK,” Sam said. That explanation sounded convincing enough. It didn’t really matter why the whole experience was so sexually charged. All that mattered was that it felt great—and moreover it felt right. Kim had already said it, but the words had more power when Sam thought them herself: this was exactly what she wanted.

She wanted to be a robot.