"The Galataea Syndrome" Part I

by Fred H

Water explodes.

Of course, no grenade has gone off to kill some poor creature or some dark villain. This is the swimming pool of one of the most infamous places of modern education known: Tomobiki High School in Nerima Ward of Tokyo. Presently, Third Year Class Four is enjoying a pleasant period of rest and relaxation in the pool. Case in point is the class president, who had just made a beautiful triple-flip off the high board.

The water slips past her slender body as she moves her arms and legs in a graceful butterfly motion as the pressure forces her back to the surface. She bursts free to reveal her trim body barely contained under the regulation one-piece blue swimsuit female Japanese high school students wore. Her brown hair is contained under a diving cap, unruly strands sticking out from under the plastic. Taking a deep breath, she turns right, then swims over to the side, reaching the latter where a towel is waiting for her. "Thanks, Lum-chan," she smiles.

Like the twenty-three other women in Class 3-4, Lum wears a normal swimsuit, her long luminescent green bangs and her Oni-Urusian horn-buds under a diving cap. Smiling, she wraps the towel around her lover. "That was a beautiful dive, Darling," she kisses her on the cheek. "The best you've done all year."

"Thanks," she smiles, her brown eyes twinkling, then she looks at the swimming coach. "Do I pass, Suriyoku-sensei?"

The teacher is an elegant woman now dressed in a track suit which flatters her well-honed form, her green eyes under reading glasses, her rusty red-brown hair tied in a bun on the back of her head. "Nine-point-five, Atako."

"Arigato," Atako blushes, then hugs Lum. "Think I'm good enough for the prefecture finals, Lum-chan?"

"You're better than good, Darling," Lum guides her lover's face to hers, then gives her a deep kiss.

"Hey, Lum-chan, if you want to make love to Darling, go do it in private!!" a laughing redhead heckles from the diving board.

Lum red-eyes her fellow Urusian. "You just can't stand the fact that Darling loves me and not you, Lan-chan!"

Lan laughs, then does a double-spin jack knife into the pool. "Very good, Lan!" Shooko Suriyoku nods as she writes down the score. "Nine-point-four-five. Pity you're an alien; you'd definitely go to the prefecture finals."

"Thanks," Lan steps out of the pool, then accepts a towel from her lover, Natsuko Shinryaku. "And thank you, Natsuko-chan!" she playfully kisses the volleyball team captain.

"Lan-chan, really!" Natsuko pouts, a facial expression worlds different from her usual fanatic sneer when she was busy pounding an opposing volleyball team into dust. "Why do you keep chasing after Atako-kun all the time?! You know you don't have to get your revenge on Lum-chan anymore!"

"Sorry, old habits do die hard!" Lan smiles. "Besides, I always said you were a wonderful lover, Natsu-chan!!"

"You better remember that," Natsuko warns.

Staring at her watch, Shooko blinks, then blows her whistle. "Okay, that's it for today!!" she calls out. "Everyone, hit the showers! Head to your next class!!"

"Hai!!" the twenty-four students call out.

They make their way to the change rooms. Atako stops, staring at the men composing nearly half her class. All had stayed at the shallow end practicing laps, keeping quiet as the men's swim coach, Mitsu Hanawa, directed them through basic first aid drills for drowning victims. While Hanawa...a man Atako knew was always upbeat about everything, surprisingly naive given the presence of aliens in Tomobiki...was his usual jovial self, the boys, even the handsome Shutaro Mendou, had remained subdued. Strange. Why don't they enjoy themselves? Smiling, she walks to the scion of Japan's richest family. "Shutaro-san, why didn't you come down to the high board today? You dive pretty good or so Ryooko-chan tells me."

He jolts as if she stuck him with a high voltage cable. "Did you s-say something to m-me, Atako-san?" he shudders.

"Hey, chill out!" Atako frowns. "I'm not gonna bite your head off, you know! You should show your stuff; Suriyoku-sensei'll love to see your moves!"

Mendou blinks, then lightly smiles. "Maybe later."

He then beats a fast retreat. Atako watches him go, sadness creeping into her face, which seemed more built for smiling. "Are you alright, Atako?" Shooko walks up to her.

Atako shrugs. "Sensei, is it me or is there something wrong with the boys?" she stares at her. "I mean, I have the nicest bunch of friends you could ask for, yet all of them are women. Why can't I make any friends among the boys?"

Shooko stares at the male students. All seem to avert their eyes whenever they came close to a woman. "Well, sometimes, men fear strong-willed women. It's a typical male power thing. Keep trying, though; there's no sense in giving up."

"Thanks," Atako smiles. "Sometimes I think I was a guy in my last life. I seem to feel more empathy for them than for girls."

Shooko blinks, then quickly recovers herself. "Maybe you were a boy in your last life," she titters in amusement. "But you're a girl in this life, so get used to it. Now, c'mon, let's get showered and changed; you have the rest of the day ahead of you."

"You mean I get to look at your beautiful body again?" Atako hums as she saunters off.

Shooko laughs, then her mirth disappears as soon as Atako is past the door. Damn, the memory blocks must be wearing down, she heads for her office. Sooner or later, we'll have to tell Atako the truth about herself, about us. But...will she hate us for making her forget everything she was, even her very humanity, not to mention her manhood, when she was just Ataru Moroboshi?

Inside the alcove to the showers, Atako sets aside her towel, then strips off her chlorine-scented suit to gaze at the gorgeous creature staring at her in the mirror. "I'm so beautiful," she sighs, her hands cupping her firm breasts. "Damn, what did I ever do to be this good looking?"

Blowing a kiss at herself, Atako then stares at the green-haired goddess who won her heart so long ago. Walking in, she steps up behind Lum, then throws her arms around the Oni, placing a wet kiss on her ear. Lum gazes at her, then takes soap in hand to lather Atako down. "Darling, stop being so possessive! You know I'll always be there for you in the end!!"

"I can't help it when I'm with the woman I love more than anything else in this existence!" Atako tenderly kisses her.

"Oh, Darling..." Lum sighs as they embrace.

Around them, their classmates smile contently on seeing the two so close. As long as THAT relationship was never upset, being who and what they are now didn't hurt so much...

WARNING: This is a sometimes dark fic with lots of strange lemon scenes in it. If this isn't your style of fan fiction story, go elsewhere. All standard lemon fanfic/ASFR story warnings apply.

WRITER'S NOTES

1) This story serves both as a standard anime lemon fanfic and an ASFR (alt.sex.fetish.robots) story. I've been interested in androids for twenty years, LONG before I met James the Mannequin Lover through his website at www.pathcom.com/~bond. This story harks to the first ever exercise of my imagination, based on a nightmare I had where my classmates and friends were turned into androids. This is also an anti-Stepford Wives story (I've always wanted to do one), so brace yourself.

2) Continuity wise, this is set a year or so after the fifth UY movie The Final Chapter, except the flashbacks, which range from two to five months after the movie.

3) Characters from my Urusei Yatsura fanfic series The Senior Year, especially the saikoo jinseijitsu (Way of the Supreme Life), Mie Seikou, Chigaiko Inu and the Sagussans, appear in this story. If you're interested in seeing these characters in another context, read any TSY story (available through the UY-TSY links in the Anime Web Turnpike's fanfic listings at www.anipike.com), my UY lemon fic A Remarkable Destiny at Sakura's Lemon Fan Fiction Archive (also accessible via the Turnpike's fanfic listings) or the rec.arts.anime.creative archives.

4) Some terminology in this story was inspired by the ASFR story The Makeover. A nod to RX300, the very fine writer who put that together and hopes that he will do some more.

**** **** ****

PART ONE - SECRETS

Atako yawns. "Oh, darn, why am I so tired all of a sudden?!" she stretches herself. "Shit, did I overdo it when I was on the board? I only made five dives."

Lum stares concernedly at her. "Maybe you've come down with something, Darling," she muses, then wags her finger. "Look, let's get home, then it's bedtime for you!"

"Aww, I want to make love to you," Atako pouts. "Besides, Mom's gonna do it with Ryooko-chan's mom tonight."

"Darling, I've got work to do tonight," Lum warns.

Atako crosses her arms in a pout. "So?! Why do you always spend a whole day at this place?! You never even tell me where you go; I want to come visit you every once in a while!"

"Darling, if you want, go out with Shinobu-chan after you rest up tonight; I don't mind."

"Lum-chan, you hated it when I was with other girls before the last Tag Race," Atako sighs. "Why is it you don't mind my being with them now? You know it's you and only you that I want!"

"I know, Darling, but Shinobu-chan's your friend and she's always been willing to be there for you when I'm gone. Besides, you know Suriyoku-sensei lives with Shinobu-chan's mom now."

"Brother," Atako slaps her forehead. "Oh, okay! Just once, Lum-chan, could you bring me to this secret place you work at so I can find out what my Oni-chan is doing?"

"I promise I will!" Lum kisses her, then waves. "Hi, Shinobu-chan!! Ready to go?!"

"Ready!" Shinobu saunters up. "What's for dinner?!"

"The usual," Lum smiles as she guides the two Terrans out of the school, then boosts them into the air for the Moroboshi home...

Ten minutes later, the three students slip inside the foyer of the Moroboshis' humble home. "Mom, we're home!!" Atako calls out, then looks into the kitchen, a wolf whistle escaping her. "Hey, sexy, you look good enough to eat!"

Kinshou Moroboshi laughs as she turns around, revealing the very daring red fishnet catsuit she wore, which left nothing to the imagination. Further, her face is beautifully decorated with rose lipstick, eye shadow and mascara. "Good enough to eat, huh?!" she makes a model's pose. "Do you think Haruka-chan'll like me?!"

"Definitely...oh!!" Atako stifles another yawn. "Oh, darn, I better go lay down!"

"It's bedtime for you, young lady," Shinobu helps Lum take Atako upstairs. "Looking good, Mrs. Moroboshi! Knock her dead!!"

"Thanks," Kinshou returns to making dinner.

Atako, Lum and Shinobu enter the room the former shares with the Oni. As Atako sits at her work table, Lum fishes out a futon from the closet, then lays it down. "Here you go," Lum guides the dozing woman onto the mattress. "Just lay back and go to sleep."

"Aw, I wanna stay awake..." Atako takes another deep yawn. "I like it...when you...take my...clothes...off..."

In a minute, all movement, even breathing, stops. Lum and Shinobu gaze sadly at their unnaturally still companion, then exchange a determined nod. The latter moves to the closet, opening it to find a large box the size of a computer's CPU. Drawing out what appears to be a speaker jack, she hooks the device's power line into a plug leading to one of the massed solar collectors on the roof, then hooking up the jack to the box, nods. "Ready."

"Okay," Lum bites her lips as she slips up Atako's dark blue sailor suit jersey, revealing a black lace strapless bra. Gazing at those wonderful mounds, Lum unsnaps the bra to free her breasts, then leans down to unzip her skirt and pull off her panties. Soon, Atako is totally nude. "Okay, I'm going to open her up now," Lum reaches into the workdesk drawer.

She passes a device like a can opener over a rectangle under Atako's cleavage. A black line suddenly appears, forming a box twenty centimetres square. Once the break in the skin is complete, Lum gingerly pulls back the flesh-like plastic, then stares inside. "The new power pack lasted forty-eight hours," Lum smiles. "I've never seen Darling so lively before."

"I know; I can't wait to try it myself," Shinobu nods, handing her the jack. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Lum inserts the jack, actually a computer probe, into a waiting slot in Atako's body. "Commence diagnostic."

"Right," Shinobu turns to the keyboard on the box's top, typing in a quick command.

On the readout screen above the keyboard flashes:

"It's working," Shinobu reports.

"Tcha!" Lum nods. "I'm going to do myself now. You have your portable unit with you, Shinobu?"

"Wouldn't leave home without it," Shinobu reaches into her school bag for a small-scale version of the box probing Atako.

Lum draws out her ASU, then plugs it in. Sitting down beside it, she takes off her jersey, bra, skirt and panties, then passes the magnetic sealer over her. Her own access hatch opens, then she hands the sealer to Shinobu, who's is now plugging her portable ASU into Lum's machine. Opening herself up, Shinobu draws out a probe, then inserts it inside her. Lum does the same with the probe from her main unit, then keys several commands:

Both androids freeze as their bodies automatically shut down all primary systems to permit the diagnostic to succeed without interruption. Tiny lights...in truth, minuscule screens flashing data at high speeds...appear in Shinobu's brown eyes and Lum's green ones as each of their systems is analyzed, debugged and tested to ensure nothing untoward had happened since their last ASU...android service unit...diagnostic. Every night, the androids now composing nearly all of Tomobiki's female population from ages 14-45 took several minutes to do a personal diagnostic, either internally or via the ASU (usually once a week for the latter). Nothing could be left to chance, especially since the third android now in the room wasn't even aware of what she really was.

Finally, Lum's diagnostic ends, the ASU releasing her to seal herself and carry on. Drawing out the jack from her CSAT (central systems analysis terminal), the Oni android takes the section of her skin, then reseals it. Once the black lines are gone, no one can tell this was anything other than a beasutiful alien flesh-and-blood woman. Rising, she notices Shinobu still frozen. Something must be wrong; the standard analysis time for a self-aware android was 75 seconds. By Lum's internal clock, two minutes had passed.

At 3:10, Shinobu's eyes flutter as she draws the probe from her CSAT, then seals herself. "Something wrong?" Lum wonders.

"Some irregularities in my secondary logic circuits," Shinobu slips her portable ASU into her school bag, then helps Lum put away her ASU. "I might have to get some solids replaced."

"Come down tonight after Darling's in bed; I'll look at you then," Lum smiles, then hugs her. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you, Unit Tee-Dee-Three-Eight-Two-Two?"

"Every night since we became masters of our destiny, Unit Tee-You-Three-Three-Seven-Five," Shinobu warmly kisses her. "Oh, Lum-chan, we've been through so much. Is there any hope of our...?"

"Becoming human again?" Lum sighs. "I don't know, Shinobu-chan. All we have are these nearly indestructible bodies, our need to survive and keep the nature of our existence secret and..." she glances at the still unmoving Atako. "Whatever awaits Darling."

They share another tender kiss, then kneel beside Atako. Lum glances at her ASU; since Atako had no idea she was an android, diagnostics had to be done via her ASU every night; that took a long time since security blocks in Atako's CCU (central cranial unit) had to be preserved. Within the deactivated android's mind, she was now sleeping, dreaming probably of walking on the beach at Saint-Tropez totally nude, Lum at her side as they soaked up the Mediterranean sun and each other's love.

"She's thinking of you, Lum-chan," Shinobu smiles.

"I know," Lum nods, wiping her own damp cheeks. "As much as I dream of her every time I'm deactivated."

"We have to tell her."

"What?" Lum stares at Shinobu. "Tell her that she's now an android, someone who will never age or die with proper maintenance, a fact she has to keep secret from everyone? Tell her she was once my fiance, Ataru Moroboshi, a man, who had to become a female android to protect her from the bastards who killed us and nearly killed him, destroyed all our lives, then put our minds in these...these MACHINES?!?!"

"Lum!!" Shinobu gasps, her own eyes watering. "I know what we've been through; it's been imprinted in my memory banks since the day we became self-aware! I thank God every day for Noa-san who gave us the virus that gave us our lives back!!"

Lum nods, then stares at Atako's ASU readout. "No problems. The new power pack's meshed in with Darling's other systems without any faults. Can you pass me the recharge cable?"

"Hai," Shinobu reaches into a closet for a heavy power line befitting a large oven in the West, then plugging it into a socket, hands the other end to Lum.

The Oni android sighs, then locates Atako's power jack beside her CSAT. Inserting it in, she keys a command, then watches the ASU as thousands of amps flow into her Darling's primary power cell located where the lungs would be on a normal woman. It was a new design, 150% more efficient than the cells powering Lum and Shinobu. Atako was chosen to be the test subject thanks to her ignorance; the other androids would've automatically changed their energy expenditures were they testing new equipment, thus negating any decent test data. Right now, a copy of Atako's energy output was being made in the ASU, which Lum memorizes so she can transfer the data to the CMU (central monitor unit) downtown.

"Good power ratios," Lum smiles on seeing the energy curves. "We've definitely got something here."

"Thank God," Shinobu nods. "If they got more cells ready, will you put one in me tonight?"

"I'll see if you can be done," Lum nods, then smiles on seeing a green light flash on the ASU. "Good, Darling's back to full power. I'll give her three minutes to wake up."

"Right," Shinobu pulls out the power jack, then puts away the cable in the closet, then comes over to help Lum unplug and reseal Atako, then secure the ASU. Both quickly dress, then reach down to dress Atako, finishing before the 180 seconds were up.

Right on schedule, Atako's eyes flutter open. She breathes in, then feels herself, smiling on sensing her clothes still on her, then beaming on seeing Lum and Shinobu dressed. "You waited for me," she sits up, stretching herself.

"You were only out for twelve minutes, Darling," Lum kneels beside her, gently kissing her cheek. "Maybe you needed a quick nap after your dives. You really did good today."

"You're just being kind to an old woman," Atako drowns her with a gentle kiss. "Now, be kinder and stay home tonight."

"I can't," Lum shrugs apologetically. "You know how much the U.N. hit the roof because of the Second Tag Race, how they blamed it on all of us, then demanded we do something to atone for all the disruptions we caused. I accept my punishment gladly...as long as I can stay here and remain with you."

"Oh, Lum-chan," Atako kisses her, then glances at the clock. "Go on; the sooner you're gone, the sooner you'll come back!"

"Arigato, Darling," Lum hugs her, then walks over to slip on a laboratory coat over her school uniform. "Be back tomorrow."

"If only I could sleep until then," Atako waves as the Oni flies out the window, then stares at Shinobu. "You're lucky you're single, Shinobu-chan. Being with someone who has to work strange hours every couple of months atop school really sucks at times."

"I work those same hours, Atako-kun. I've no complaints."

"Then how come I don't?!" Atako demands. "Damn it all, Shinobu-chan, I'm as much to blame for the shit that happened here between Tag One and Tag Two as everyone else!! Why is everyone trying to protect me?! Outside being the one the Urusians picked as Earth's tag champion, I'm nobody special!"

"You're special to us, Atako-kun," Shinobu bites her lips, her logic directives demanding she steer her fellow android clear of this subject. "Look, everyone once blamed you for EVERYTHING that went wrong here in Tomobiki. That was wrong. God only knows, you had to keep things secret to keep us safe from your grandmother's wrath; you know how much she hated Lum-chan. That's a debt we owe to you and we intend to pay it."

Atako sighs, then stares out the window. "I still feel as if I don't belong, Shinobu-chan. That hurts me very much. After so long being on the outside, I want in. You treat me with kindness, friendship and love, yet you still keep things from me. I'm not a dummy, Shinobu-chan...and I resent being treated like I can't make a decision on my own! I really resent that!"

Shinobu blinks. What was worse, Atako was right. Everyone had, right from the day he said "Now I can be married," acted as if Ataru Moroboshi didn't have the right to decide for himself where he wanted his life to go. Lum and her inner circle of friends were the worst when it came to that. Yet...could they trust Atako with their very lives, their hopes at stake? "Atako-kun, look. Many of us want to show you what's really going on...but we're afraid that you'll take it the wrong way, you'll hate us for keeping it secret. We love you very much, Atako-kun; you're one of us. We don't want that to end. Can you trust us on that regard?"

Atako sighs, then nods. "Okay. But Shinobu-chan, please tell everyone that I don't want to be left out of it anymore."

"I understand," Shinobu kisses her, then blinks as she hears a limousine pull up. "Oh, that must be Mrs. Mendou."

The two head downstairs, where Kinshou awaits by the door to the kitchen. The front door opens to reveal a statuesque silver-haired, grey eyed beauty in her usual Edwardian-era ruffled skirt and petticoats. "Kinshou-chan!" Haruka Mendou opens her arms as she devours Atako's mother with a wet kiss. "Miss me?!"

"I wish you'd consider moving here full-time, Haruka-chan!" Kinshou winks, then closes the door behind her. "So, care to show me what you just picked up in Milan, love?"

Haruka sweeps into the living room, ignoring Atako's father Muchi reading his paper, then unbuttons her dress, allowing it to fall away to reveal a beautiful rose shaded see-through teddy, a black string panty barely covering her pubic hair and an opaque pair of pantyhose. "Like?"

"I love it...and you," Kinshou walks up.

Atako smiles as the two fiercely embrace, kissing madly as they warmed themselves up for tonight's fun. She didn't care that Kinshou and Haruka were married, the former's husband a metre away reading his paper. All she was programmed to acknowledge was two women who loved each other. What no one had to program into Atako was the delight she took on seeing her mother so happy; any child would feel that way towards her parent.

Kinshou and Haruka break away, then gaze at the two androids standing there. "Well, would you two care to watch two experts show you how to give pleasure?" the latter smiles.

"Sure," Atako nods readily, gently gripping Shinobu's hand.

"Let's go," Kinshou nods, then looks at her husband. "Dear, your dinner's ready; it's on the stove."

"Un," escapes from behind the business column.

They ascend to the upper floor, heading right into Kinshou's and Muchi's bedroom. A small bucket with a bottle of fifteen year old Dom Perigon and four wine glasses sat beside a futon with several beautiful quilts laid out. Kinshou pops the bottle, then gives everyone a glass. "To love," she toasts.

"The future," Shinobu smiles.

"Friends and family," Atako adds.

"The one who makes your heart whole," Haruka toasts Kinshou.

They drink, then Haruka lays down as Kinshou kneels before her. "May I please my mistress?" she bows.

"Please do," Haruka smiles.

Kinshou leans up to deliver a chain of kisses from Haruka's lips, down her throat, then slowly undoing the teddy to free the latter's plump yet sagging breasts, cups them both as she begins to suckle. Haruka pants as Kinshou ignites a fire within her, leaning back to draw the latter atop her as she unzips her catsuit, freeing Kinshou's slender form. Soon, the teddy and the catsuit are set aside as Haruka rolls atop Kinshou, her hand plunging for the latter's dampening love gate, the gentle strokes causing the latter to gasp for air, sheer bliss flashing in her eyes.

Atako feels her legs rub together as she watches the two elder women quench each other's thirst for sex. Her hand is already moving to raise her skirt and draw down her panties, her dampening vagina crying out for someone to soothe its heat. Before she could reach down, another hand slides in to gently play with her clit. "Here, Atako-kun, let me do that," Shinobu purrs as they kiss.

Kinshou and Haruka stop to watch Shinobu remove Atako's school uniform, then she begins to massage her breasts under the silk of her bra, taking deep licks as her fingers danced a tune on Atako's clit. "Your daughter is so beautiful, Kinshou-chan," Haruka sighs.

"Remember where she inherited it from," Kinshou purrs as she reaches down to slip off Haruka's panties and pantyhose.

Atako gazes as Haruka's lovely brown muff appears, then smiles as Kinshou laps up the former's love juices. She then turns back to gently kiss Shinobu, her eyes still unable to ignore the others having so much fun in their room. Suddenly, Kinshou and Haruka gaze at her, smiling. "Atako-chan, do you want to try?" Kinshou rises, nodding to Haruka's damp love canal.

"M-mom!!" Atako cries out. "I can't make love to her...!"

"Go on, Atako-kun; I don't mind!" Shinobu kisses her.

Atako gazes at Shinobu, then back at Haruka. "It's alright, Atako-chan," the Mendou clan matriarch smiles. "I love you, too. Whatever happens occurs just between us."

Atako bites her lips, then she hesitantly nods. She couldn't understand it, but whenever any girl asked her to bed, she always found a way there. Why didn't Lum mind this? Were this before the Second Tag Race, the Oni would be hitting the roof right about now, moving to zap the hell out of Atako for her disloyalty. It was so confusing yet she knew right now that Haruka wanted to be pleased and wanted her lover's daughter to please her.

Sliding up, she slips off her bra, rising to take off her panties. "Oh, you're as beautiful as your mother!" Haruka gasps on seeing that heavenly body, then opens her arms. "C'mon."

Atako walks on hands and knees until she is straddling Haruka, then leans down to give her a kiss. Don't worry about anything else, something in her mind tells her. Give Haruka the pleasure she desires. It's alright. She loves you and you love her. This is just a way of expressing it. With that, Atako begins a slow but erotic descent to Haruka's pleasure zone, kissing her all the way.

All her sexual responses are normal, Haruka mentally notes. Deep in her eyes, a screen flashes the same message, then advises that Haruka's own sexual responses were primed to receive whatever stimuli Atako gave her. The grey-haired woman sighs as she deletes the screens from her field of vision, then concentrates on allowing her young brown-haired lover the chance to send her to Heaven...

...or Hell, depending on your personal viewpoint.

A part of what was the old Haruka Mendou surges up from deep inside her CCU. The spoiled woman who had an army of servants ready to do whatever she bid. The woman who thought it too low to speak with those not as well off financially as she. The woman who effectively died the day her mind was transferred into the body of Unit TM-3948, just like Kinshou became Unit TN-9448, just like most of the other women in Tomobiki became androids.

Haruka fights her revulsion down as she allows part of her CCU to take delight in Atako's licking her warm gate. There were times when she deeply wanted to self-terminate, end her mechanical existence so she wouldn't be a mental slave to her husband and whoever else was involved in the conspiracy. Then that voice came, the voice that urged her to fight, break out of her docile mode and take command of her destiny. She took it, got her revenge on everyone else, then discovered love again...in the woman whose child now held the key to their return to humanity.

Suddenly, her orgasm program kicks in as her hips lock up, her hands pushing Atako's head in to lick her quivering love box clean. A gasping cry escapes her lips as her circuits overload for just a moment, then she relaxes, laying back on the futon as her systems returned to normal operation. Damn, that was just a simple program she had used in response to Atako's advances. She'd have to get her sexual intercourse routines upgraded if she and Kinshou were going to make their relationship really spicy.

"Thank you, Atako-chan," Haruka smiles as Atako comes up to kiss her. "You're as good as Ryooko-chan told me you were."

"Thank you, Mrs. Mendou, for saying that," Atako smiles.

"Atako-chan, you can call me Haruka, you know."

Atako takes her hand and kisses it. "Okay...Haruka-mama."

They tenderly kiss, then Atako rises, stretching herself. "C'mon, Shinobu-chan. Let's give these two some privacy. We got that English homework to finish, remember?"

"Good idea," Shinobu straightens her uniform, then kisses Kinshou and Haruka. "Behave, you two."

"Good night," Kinshou smiles as the younger androids walk out of the room, then turns to the window, hugging herself as she finally allows her tears to flow.

"Kinshou?" Haruka stares at her.

"It's alright, Haruka; I'm fine," Kinshou sighs. "Just allow me the chance to cry for a bit."

"Hush, my love, I hear you," Haruka wraps her arms around her fellow android, kissing the back of her neck. "There's not a night that's passed since we freed ourselves that I haven't wept because of all we've lost. But I found one wonderful thing in return."

"Domo arigato, Haruka-chan," Kinshou leans back so they could gaze into each other's eyes. "When this is all over, what will you want to do with yourself?"

"Other than handfast with you?" Haruka muses. "I don't know. I'm not thinking too far ahead right now. All that interests me is getting those new strip-dancer programs downloaded into us so we can have a real good time when we're together."

"I'd like that very much, Haruka-chan," Kinshou smiles. "And speaking of being together, what say we do our diagnostic now? I'm running low on power and I could use a real good recharge."

"Let's get it done; I want to sleep over with you tonight," Haruka nods to the closet, where their ASUs awaited...

Shinobu hugs herself as she walks down the street towards a rather plain apartment building near the centre of Tomobiki. After finishing their homework and another round of love-making, Atako decided it was time to turn in and go to bed. Shinobu promised her she would look in on Lum and talk about allowing Atako in on their secret to whomever else was there. She smiles as women, androids like herself, pass by, recognizing them by name and unit number as they scroll on a screen in her left eye. Finding the apartment, she walks into an elevator, then ascends to the ninth floor.

The owner of the floor was a mysterious alien woman named Noa Aruka, who quickly became aware of what had happened to Tomobiki's female population. Not herself a victim of that tragedy...no one had actually met Noa in person...the woman remained behind the scenes, funnelling funds, technology and hope to offset any attempts by the Shoozooki and their allies in the conspiracy to revert things back to the docile state they were ten months ago.

Shinobu knew the whole story right from the beginning. After the Second Tag Race, a group of renegade U.N. officials decided the time had come for the aliens in Tomobiki and their allies to be put into their proper place. Somehow, they contacted the Shoozooki and arranged for technology to be transferred. That technology was a nanite which could map out a person's body, then with the proper materials, construct a perfect android replica in seconds.

The downside was that in mapping out a person's body, the nanites wrecked the template's DNA strands, causing them to melt into a genetic mush in the blink of an eye. And for spice on the cake, the android, who would then absorb all the template's mind and memories, also came with a controlling program which turned once independent people into virtual slaves. The Shoozooki, a brutally patriarchal society, used it to tame their women, force them into a more docile role. Since the most famous alien, Lum, was a woman, the Terran conspirators decided to follow precedent and targeted every woman in Tomobiki ranging from the start of high school right up to mid-adulthood, those who'd be parents to the crowd who had caused so much damage.

It worked for a couple of months. Unknown to the Shoozooki or their allies on Earth, a retro-virus had been developed by another race, the Sagussans, which could overcome the controlling programs and allow the androids to live free lives. Since by then most of the men in Tomobiki had become used to the women being so obedient, the shock of seeing them rebel nearly launched a civil war. That was when Noa revealed herself, offering her studio flat as a base of operations and a vicious nerve agent called Galcron-Sigma which did the same thing to the men that the nanites did to the women.

With that came the promise of eventual restoration to flesh-and-blood. It was possible on her homeworld, Sagussa; living there were 100,000 women who'd forego their disgust at having clones made of themselves to give their suffering sisters in Tomobiki the right to live a normal life. But it'd have to wait until the Shoozooki were eliminated; their reckless export of technology could shatter worlds if not checked. Further, a small price tag was attached to Noa's gift, a request: PROTECT ATARU MOROBOSHI AT ALL COSTS!

Thus was Atako Moroboshi born.

Stepping onto the ninth floor, Shinobu heads to the door which once led to a beautiful studio flat. It was now the reception lounge for Noa Aruka Enterprises, the company which was the legal shield for the androids in Tomobiki. Placing her hand on the touch pad by the door, she calls out, "Android Unit Tee-Dee-Three-Eight-Two-Two, Shinobu Miyaki, requesting access for unit maintenance."

"Access granted, Shinobu," the computer responds with a female Celtic-like lilt as the door opens. "Please enter."

Shinobu steps inside, then watches the door close. "Computer, the voice you use...is that Noa Aruka's voice?"

"Affirmative, Shinobu."

"Thank you," Shinobu heads down to the reception lounge, now being watched over by a friend. "Ryuunosuke-chan!"

"Hi, Shinobu-chan!" Ryuunosuke Fujinami, Unit TC-7639, looks up from her computer board, then walks over to embrace her. "Oh, another three hours here, then it's back home to pillow Nagisa-chan! Wanna come along and make it a threesome?"

"No, I'm here to get my secondary logic circuits looked at," Shinobu kisses her. "Who knows how long that'll take."

"No problem; Lum-chan told me you'd be coming by," Ryuunosuke escorts her to what looks like a doctor's examination room. "Hey, Lum-chan, Shinobu-chan's here."

"Thanks, Ryuu-chan!" Lum looks up from her computer terminal, then waves Shinobu to the examination table. "Lay down and make yourself at home, Shinobu-chan. Can you switch down to secondary power while you're at it, please?"

"Right," Shinobu lays down.

Her whole body looses its rigidity as all her systems save for her mind, sight, speech and hearing switch off. Ryuunosuke heads to the table to draw out a magnetic sealer to open up the right side of her skull, then hands it to Lum so she could open several other access points on the arms and legs to monitor Shinobu's C3N (central command control net) as they apply the new logic solids. Staring inside her friend's head, the brunette android tomboy shakes her head. "Fuck, some of these little suckers are a real mess, Shinobu-chan. You're lucky you came in now; who knows what could've happened if you didn't."

"Not too much of a problem, I hope," Shinobu sighs.

"You'll be okay, Shinobu-chan," Lum opens a storage cabinet over Shinobu's head, then draws out a green pad with tiny chips not even a quarter the size of a dime. "How many, Ryuu-chan?"

"Ten, Lum-chan," Ryuunosuke stares at the computer readout beside Shinobu's right arm, then rattles off the code numbers for the specific units which need replacing.

Lum extracts the ten damaged solids, then inserts fresh ones. "Thank the gods we all use the same parts," the Oni smiles as she finishes, then after disposing the ruined solids into recycle, looks at her classmate. "Run basic C3N diagnostic, Ryuu-chan."

"Running," Ryuunosuke jabs a control.

Shinobu blinks, her mind flooding with diagnostic readouts. Each of the ultra-complex data which made Shinobu Miyaki what she is...sentience, self-awareness, memory, identity, knowledge, dreams, ambitions, survival, friendships, relationships, morals and ethics...all used secondary logic solids as back up RAM to her CCU. If something happened, those programs would dump into her secondary solids to prevent data loss. Hence, the secondary systems had to be kept up to par. Tomobiki had been a trouble magnet since Lum's arrival three years before. No sense in taking risks even now.

"Everything checks out," Ryuunosuke smiles at Lum, then leans down to kiss Shinobu. "Another satisfied customer."

"Arigato, Ryuu-chan," Shinobu sighs. "Back to primary power."

Her body tenses as her primary power cell comes back on-line. Ryuunosuke and Lum undo all the sensor clips, then seal Shinobu's skin and hair. At that moment, a tall brunette with beautiful grey eyes and a very sexy body, now also in a lab coat, walks in. "How are you, Shinobu-chan?"

"Okay, Sakura-chan," Shinobu smiles at her school nurse. "I didn't know you were on duty tonight."

The woman also calling herself Unit TV-0927 shrugs. "Saeko-chan's on duty tonight. I swapped with Shooko-chan so we can work together; 'sides, you know your mother wants Shooko-chan to be with her when she's on duty here."

Shinobu bites her lips. As a Catholic, she shuddered at the idea of two women, especially since one...her mother...was married, engaging in an extra-marital affair. But her father Toshoba hadn't raised a finger when Shinobu and Kimiki were "tamed"...and since he later got a taste of Galcron-Sigma, he was in no position to object to Kimiki and Shooko exploring their love. "What can I say?" she shrugs. "I have sex with Atako-kun, Lum-chan, Ryuu-chan and almost everyone else, so who am I to object when my mother does it?"

The other androids laugh, then an intercom whistles. "Sakura-chan, this is Saeko," the voice of Sakura's lover echoes over the comm-lines. "Kindan-chan's daughter is in the meeting room ready to talk to us. Will you come down?"

"On our way, Saeko-chan," Sakura calls out, then stares at everyone else. "So, now we save a life. Let's go."

The four androids walk out of Lum's office and down to the end of the hall, where a small meeting room is set up. Already there is Saeko Mizunokoji...Unit TM-3499...and another woman in the blue and red of Tomobiki High School. "Hello, Chigaiko-chan," Sakura stops in front of her. "Has Saeko-chan explained everything about what will soon happen to you?"

The young girl before them, a classmate of Lum's, Shinobu's and Ryuunosuke's, was as ordinary as they came, a wallflower in name and deed. With short brown hair and dull brown eyes, she would hardly attract anyone's attention...save Ataru's, of course. "Yes, she has, Sensei," Chigaiko Inu nods, then gazes tearfully at her. "But I'm not sure that even now, I'm ready to become an..." she stammers on the last word.

"Android?" Sakura provides, then smiles. "I know, Chigaiko-chan. You helped Ataru-kun discover what was happening, then helped free us. We owe you for that, Chigaiko-chan. If we could, we would've left you alone. However, we can't stand by and watch you die of leukaemia while we have some power to stop it."

"Making me one of you, right?" Chigaiko nods.

"That's right, Chigaiko-chan," Shinobu smiles.

The young woman considers the point. "Then...I'd be young and beautiful...forever, won't I?"

"If you desire," Sakura sighs. "The gods only know, we'd be more than happy to abandon these bodies for real flesh-and-blood whenever Noa-san finally disposes of the slime who did this to us. I'm sure once you experience some of the...eccentric properties of your new body, you'll be just as happy. But no matter what, you'll still be alive where it counts."

"Arigato, Sensei," Chigaiko nods. "When will it happen?"

"Right now if you want," Sakura smiles.

Silence, then she nods. "Okay. Turn me into an android, Sakura-sensei...please."

Sakura waves Chigaiko out of the meeting room into another lab. Here lay a large bowl in the shape of a bathtub. Monitor probes lined all sides. Sakura sits down at a computer, then types out several commands. "Okay, we're ready," she smiles. "Take your clothes off and lay down, please."

"Okay," Chigaiko smiles as slips off her uniform, then once she is nude, tenderly steps into the bowl and lays back.

Lum, Ryuunosuke and Saeko take their places at the sides of the room. "All primary converter systems show green," the Oni reports. "Ready for nanite insertion."

"Memory transference programs initiated," the matriarch of the Mizunokoji clan adds. "We're ready here."

"Climate controls and sterile field on," the tomboy completes.

"Go," Sakura orders.

Lum stabs a button. Laser beams strike Chigaiko from all sides. The girl gasps as her body is bathed in light, then her skin and internal organs, ravaged by countless cancerous tumours, peel away from the skeleton. The skeleton itself collapses into a pile of dust, leaving nothing of the old Chigaiko save a pile of pink goo. Ryuunosuke drains the gunk from the bowl, cleansing systems going to work to sterilize the field before construction would begin. "Sterility established," she advises.

"Injecting first stage materials," Lum presses a control.

Blue liquid metal is thrust in next. The army of nanites, working at near light-speed, invisible to the naked eye, quickly construct a new skeleton in perfect proportion to Chigaiko's old frame. Next comes the vital organs: the primary power core, the energy pump and secondary power systems that converted food and liquid into plasma which augmented the primary systems, the internal heat regulator which used oxygen to keep the body at the same temperature as an organic's, the waste disposal systems, all the sexual organs, the C3N, all motherboards in the thorax and abdominal cavities and the energy circulation units.

"Injecting second stage materials," Lum announces.

Next come red and blue rubber-like materials to build up the muscles and other surface tissue. Soon enough, Chigaiko begins to look like a real person, not a machine. Along with that come skin tissue for her vagina, rectum, mouth and nose. Two eyes enter the eye sockets while her teeth are bleached white. More systems form her ears and internal balance mechanisms, then her nose and tongue with their attendant sensors and receptors. Once that is in place, silicone-like foam fill the rest of the body, then re-create her breasts. Harder plastic is put into the latter to simulate the hardening of the nipples when she is aroused. Finally, a fine jet spray covers the android in a film of skinlike rubberized plastic, more resilient than normal organic skin but just as lifelike.

"Inserting the CCU," Saeko announces.

The top of Chigaiko's skull opens up, allowing a metal brain not so different from an organic brain to be inserted. Wires and leads are connected to the rest of the system. Inside herself, Chigaiko feels her central mind, the only part of her human body to remain intact, touch new connections which then flood her with information. All the essential programs are now at her proverbial fingertips though she hasn't been powered up to try them out. Once that is done, the skull is sealed and the last flesh goes in.

"Finishing cosmetic details," Ryuunosuke announces.

Hair begins to grow on Chigaiko's head, eyebrows, eye lashes, under her armpits and her pubic region. In a second, where there was once nothing save empty space, there now lies a beautiful woman built right from scratch, a technological Galatea to take her place among her android sisters. "Beautiful!" Shinobu beams, offering a prayer to God for Chigaiko's future happiness.

"Commencing power up," Lum presses a final control.

The central access hatch under Chigaiko's breasts is opened by magnetic tractor arrays as a tight beam warps into her power jack. The android jolts, then blinks as all her systems finally come on line. In a moment, Chigaiko is fully charged and ready, the energy shut off. Tractor arrays render her skin flawless.

"It's done," Lum sighs.

"Sterile field down," Ryuunosuke reports.

The lights shut off as Chigaiko takes a deep breath, then feels herself. Opening her eyes, she does a quick diagnostic of her systems...how could she do that?...then sits up. Feeling her body balance itself, Chigaiko stands up, then steps out of the bowl and into Lum's warm embrace. "How do you feel?" the Oni smiles.

"All systems operating within proper specifications; self-diagnostic shows no faults in internal systems," Chigaiko reports, then grins. "I feel alive, Lum-chan. Thank you, all of you."

"Our pleasure," Sakura walks up as the other androids give her a group hug. "Chigaiko-chan, your personal unit number is Tee-Zed-Four-Seven-Two-Three. Always remember that number; though we don't use it regularly, all data on us is filed in the CMU here under those numbers. Other than that, we'll get you an ASU, a portable ASU and a magnetic sealer, then let you head home for tonight. How are your home relations?"

"As you know, my mother and sister are androids; my dad's too zoned out to notice what's happened," the newborn android sighs, indicating that her father is a Galcron-Sigma victim. "I'm glad; it's been so tense lately with my sickness and all that. You'd think they'd want to self-terminate with the way I've been lately."

"Good," Sakura nods. "If you want, one of us'll visit you sometime later to see how you're settling in. In the meantime, remember one more thing: do NOT tell Atako Moroboshi that she's an android, nor tell her what the truth of all this really is. Okay?"

"Do y'think we should keep it secret, Sakura-chan?" Ryuunosuke wonders. "I mean, I know Noa-san asked us to keep an eye on her, but to keep her in the dark...it ain't right, Sakura-chan."

"Atako-kun is getting angry over it, Sakura-chan," Shinobu warns. "She says she doesn't want to stay in the dark anymore."

"I agree," Lum sighs. "Darling deserves to know."

The others nod. "We'll cyberlink together tonight, then take a vote on it," Sakura sighs. "In the meantime, let's let those who want to go home go, then we can get back to work."

To be continued...