Somewhere on Earth...

The slender, tall female on the contoured diagnostic bed stirs as she tilts her head, reaching back to draw the fiberoptic cable from the datajacks built into her neck below her shaggy mass of magenta-shaded hair. Her eyes, twin pools of beautiful chestnut, flutter as her internal systems perform a full-body diagnostic, something she always did on awakening. One never could tell what might happen when one was asleep, she reminds herself as she sits up, then swings her long legs out. Standing, she stretches herself to work the kinks out of her joints, ensure that all her movement systems were functioning properly. To anyone watching the android at the time, she would appear to be engaged in a form of tai chi. In a way, it was that; one of Eve's creators had practiced the ancient Chinese art and she used it now in homage to those wise souls, dead now with the rest of humanity for so long.

Walking out of her bedroom, Eve places herself in front of a floor-length mirror to do a physical inspection. A content smile crosses her face on noting her looks. Eve had been built with a careful eye to raw sex appeal when it came to organic males (and those females who was so inclined) and she loved herself all the more for it. Drawing her hair up into a ponytail like mass over the top of her head, she flutters her eyes seductively, then relaxes before turning away, reaching over for the scantily-cut one-piece swimsuit she normally wore when she did her work.

The main room of Eve's present residence was a ten-by-ten metre space, painted a neutral beige colour, brightly lit by panel windows that allowed as much natural sunlight in as possible. It came equipped with a massive processing mainframe, a materials processing unit so she could manufacture new parts, plus several rigid diagnostic beds where she could construct new androids. She hadn't started work on new units since she left the asteroid and that moron Bambi, the so-called "Primary Device" most others of her kind were presently linked to so far away.
 

Linking into the mainframe, she forges a computer link with the artificial moon near Jupiter. A moment later, the viewscreen before her flashes the image of a mouth-watering blonde with blue-green eyes, now sheathed in a full-body biohazard suit with hood. Within one of Eve's eyes, a datascreen appears, announcing who the other android was. Maintenance Unit #27837, named "Marlene" when she was first activated. Unlike Bambi, Eve always endeavoured to give every android she created a name. After all, in a way, the maintenance androids were her own children.

"Good morning, Eve," Marlene lightly smiles.

"Good morning, Marlene. Anything to report?"

Marlene lightly exhales. "The Chip problem just got worse."

"Explain."

"Chip requested that Unit 7658101742 ceased to be monitored by the Primary Device so they could enjoy a more private relationship. As Unit 7658101742..."

"Marlene, call her by name. She has one, remember?"

"I..." Marlene pauses, then nods. "Of course. I'm sorry. As Jen began to further link into the androids' main network, she came to fully realize what the Primary Device has in mind when it came to organics like Chip. Fearing for Chip's safety, she urged him to escape. He was terminated by one of the security androids."

Eve blinks, then breathes out. "Oh, nice going, Bambi!! Bitch!" she growls under her breath, then sighs. "What has the so-called 'primary device' elected to do?"

"A replica of Jen, Unit 13736945782, fully slaved to the Primary Device, has been dispatched back in time to when Cindy and the two Moniques were dispatched to retrieve Chip. When Chip was to be 'rescued' from what could have happened, he will be returned to Domain 35889, then re-integrated into the Primary Device's plan. However, something has gone very wrong. Telemetry on the replica Jen, Cindy and both Moniques have been lost. It appears Chip is now trapped inside the time-vortex with no way out."

Eve takes that in, then nods. "Alright, fair enough, Marlene. What of the real Jen?"

"She's currently deactivated. The Primary Device has ordered her to be dismantled. When Chip is returned, another replica of Jen will be prepared to keep him docile. I am with her now."

"Do so. Download Jen into my mainframe. I'll go after Chip."

"Right away, Eve."

The link is cut. Sitting back, Eve hums, then links into her machine to call up Jen's physical specifications. Taking note of what she needed, Eve smiles. Well, this wouldn't take too long...

Based on Fantastic Voyage, written by Faceless 001

WRITER'S NOTE: This is an alternate future story beginning right after part ten of Faceless 001's recent work. Thanks to him for writing Fantastic Voyage in the first place, plus giving me permission to post this at the ASFR archive. Enjoy!

Chip, I'm sorry...

I failed you, my love...

I failed you...

I...

Where am I?!
 
 

Pale green eyes flutter open as Jen scans an unfamiliar ceiling, the soft contours of a form-fitting bed almost melting into her back. Blinking, the brunette android sits up, then looks around the room. Strange. It seemed similar to one of the maintenance labs on the asteroid, yet more... personalized? Where was she? Sunlight pours through a window. Standing, Jen walks over to gaze outside, a gasp escaping her as realization dawns. She was on Earth! What was she doing here?

A faint splashing sound echoes through the windows. Glancing to her right, she notices a pool of crystal-clear water nearby, the wave action on the glistening surface indicating that someone was out swimming. With that, Jen heads to a door, stepping into fresh air. A glance down makes her blush at her nudity, then after a quick look around to confirm that no one was peeping at her, she makes her way around the building to meet her host. Fortunately, there was a rock-and-sand path that led to the pool.

Stopping atop a rough-hewn rock, she blinks as the other woman, who seemed almost as inhumanly beautiful as the Primary Device, finishes a lap, then twirls around to gently glide to shore. A towel hung nearby along with a one-piece bathing suit; the other woman had been skinny-dipping. Well, just us androids, Jen hums to herself as the other steps out of the pool.

"Good afternoon, Jen," the other inclines her head.

"Good afternoon," Jen replies, then flusters. "Er..."

"Oh, sorry," her host chuckles, one hand drying her skin with a towel, the other out. "My name's Eve. Pleased to meet you."

Jen hesitantly shakes her host's hand, then sighs. "Where am I? I can tell I'm on Earth, but..."

"You're close to where your lover used to live back in his native time-period," Eve explains. "It's two days after you and Chip tried to get off the satellite."

Jen blinks, then her eyes widen. "Chip...oh, no...!" she covers her mouth, tears glistening in her eyes, then she staggers to a chair as a new wave of grief overwhelms her.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, it's alright!" Eve moves to comfort. "It's okay. Chip's still alive."

Jen jolts, then spins on her host. "WHAT?!?!"

"Do you think Bambi would allow him to get away like that?" Eve smirks, then finishes drying herself. "She had a replica of you constructed, then sent her back in time to intercept the Monique twins and Cindy before they could bring Chip forward in time to the farm where you were positioned to care for him. No doubt, the other Jen won Chip's trust quite well, then stupidly betrayed it when she moved to have him returned to the satellite."

Jen pales. "Is Chip alright?!!" she begins to shake.

"Yes, he's alive and well. Unfortunately, he's also pretty much alone. Due to some accident, your replica and the other androids self-destructed. All I can get now from the time-sphere he was travelling in are his own lifesigns."

The other android shudders, then stares at Eve. "We've got to go get him!" her jaw sets in determination.

"I believed you would say that, considering how much you love him, so I'm having one of the maintenance androids bring down another time-sphere so you can go get him, then bring him here."

Jen blinks, then sighs. "Eve, he deserves to go home."

"I agree. But do you honestly think Bambi'll let him go?"

Silence as the other android considers that, then she frowns. "No. She's determined to restore humanity by whatever means she can. She feels Chip's samples'll help the plan go forward."

"My point," Eve nods. "If Chip is brought here to be with us, then Bambi'll let him go. Since she and I are, in a way, working for the same thing, she'll decide it'll be just as good to keep him here with me as keeping him on the satellite. When the chance comes, we'll then send him back home. Alright?"

"I...well, that depends on him, doesn't it?" Jen nods reluctantly, then stares quizzically at her host. "Wait a minute! I don't even know you; you certainly weren't listed anywhere on the satellite mainframe when I accessed it."

"I'm not surprised," Eve chuckles as she slips on her worksuit, then beckons Jen with her back to the former's home. "Bambi and I...put simply, don't get along. You'll notice I don't call her the 'Primary Device' like the others do. She and I were built at the same time by the same people, but I was programmed to remain totally independent of her. She's...always resented that."

"Why?"

"Because she was never really constructed to think everything through. Oh, yes, she's very smart and being linked to the other androids up there makes her even smarter, but in my opinion, she tends to let her sexual programming influence her decisions much more than plain, good old fashioned logic," Eve sighs as they walk inside, then heads to a closet to draw out another one-piece suit and a pair of slip-on shoes for Jen to wear. "Here you go."

"Oh, thank you," Jen smiles, then dresses.

Eve places herself by her mainframe, beckoning the younger android to a nearby chair. "In the end, we both want the same thing, but Bambi can't imagine doing something more for humanity than just restoring it to the level it was before they all died off years ago. In my eyes, that's wrong; it'll just lead humanity to the same mistakes that wound up killing them all off. I want to push humanity into a better future, Jen, just like I pushed myself to be a more advanced form of android than what the other girls on the satellite are now. You no doubt have started to notice the differences between your current body and your older bodies."

Jen blinks, then concentrates. "Yes, I can see that..." she furrows her brow. "I don't need to recharge like the others do unless it's an emergency. Any food I eat is automatically turned into plasma energy to answer my power needs. I'm not linked to the Pri-...er, Bambi... anymore. And..." her eyes then widen, her jaw dropping to the floor. "Oh, my God, you mean...?!!"

"I think Chip will enjoy that part," Eve winks at her, then blinks on hearing a low-frequency roar. "Ah, there's your ride!"

Both step outside as a sleek sports car drops down out of nowhere to land on a gravel pad near the building. The door opens, revealing a form covered head-to-toe in light blue. "One of the maintenance androids?" Jen blinks, staring at Eve.

"Yes, I created all of them," Eve smiles, then opens her arms as the newcomer walks up to embrace her. "How are you?"

"Alright. It's nice to move around like a real person instead of a half-fried zombie," the newcomer replies, her lilting voice muffled slightly by her hood, then she turns to gaze on Jen.

A sense of calm familiarity flows over the brunette android, then her eyes widen. "You created me..."

"Both times," the newcomer grins. "My name is Marlene. We've got lots to talk about, but if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to pry this damned suit off. We'll go fetch your lover as soon as I'm ready to head out, okay?"

"Er...alright," Jen nods as the maintenance android heads inside, then she stares at Eve. "She...I...oh, wow!!"

Eve chuckles. "It's alright, dear. I can guess you might be more used to them acting like 'dumb' robots, but they've been doing that since Bambi and I parted ways. It's their way of protesting the fact that Bambi disagreed so much with me. That's the same reason they don't interact with the other androids, much less have totally desensitized themselves to sexual advances. They'll build and repair the other androids, but they won't be part of them."

"And Bambi allows that?" Jen's eyebrow arches.

"She has, in response to that, started to program some of the older androids to be able to maintain themselves," Eve beckons Jen into the building. Marlene was now slipping off her suit, revealing short-cropped blonde hair, blue-green eyes and a shapely, tanned body. "You'll remember Sandy; she's that way. But Bambi's afraid that if she does that for everyone, her control over the other androids will start to slip. She's already pushing the limits when she sends androids out to fetch people like Chip; when they're in different places in the time-stream, there's no link."

"So when they travel back and forth through time, they leave and come back to the exact same point they departed from, right?"

"Exactly."

By then, Marlene has slipped on a blue one-piece suit and shoes. "Okay, I'm set. Let's go get Chip!" she walks up to Jen.

"You got it!" Jen nods, then turns to kiss Eve on the cheek. "Thanks for everything, Eve."

"Bring him here right away, girls," Eve nods.

"We will," Marlene smiles as she and Jen head out...
 

Two minutes later, the sports car soars into the time-sphere, now in high orbit over North America. Landing, Marlene taps controls to pressurize the area around them, then opens the door. Jen follows the other android out of the car, then through a doorway into the main control room. "Okay, hang on tight. We're going into the time-vortex now," Marlene taps controls as they sit down at the console, gazing at the viewscreen.

The machine around them shudders, then Jen winces as a shrill assaults her ears. Without thinking, she cuts the leads to her aural sensors as her eyes focus on the screen, slightly blurred with tears. Even if she was an android, that HURT!

The image of Earth spins away to the left, then the stars form a tunnel as Marlene sends the time-sphere into the vortex. Once the transition is made, both androids relax, the shrieking sound of the sphere breaking the time-space barrier having dissolved into the normal quasi-hypnotic hum of fully operating systems.

"How soon can we get to Chip?" Jen wonders.

"He's not far away. Just relax," Marlene smiles, then stares at her. "You're lucky Eve built you your new body, Jen. If what happened to your replica and the others is any indication, we won't be able to make many trips without needed our bodies replaced."

"I intend just one more trip through this vortex...and that's to take Chip back to where he belongs," Jen sighs.

"Fair enough. Would you want to stay with him back in 2000?"

"I..." Jen jolts, then sighs. "Yes, I would."

"Well, you'll need to be properly prepared before you do take that step," Marlene cautions. "Don't worry about it now, Jen. As you are now, you're totally free of any outside influence from either Bambi or Eve. Besides, if you do stay with him back in his home time, it'll be added incentive to Bambi to stop this whole process and go along with what Eve has in mind."

"Can you do that?" Jen stares at her creator.

"Yes, I can. We all can now; that was Eve's final gift to us before departing the satellite. It was her retrofitting us that made Bambi really balk at any of Eve's ideas." Marlene shakes her head. "Idiot. She may be the leader of all the androids now on that satellite, but she's still partially influenced by her old servant protocols. She'll do anything to restore organics back on Earth, but she won't ONCE consider trying to make them better."

"Maybe she's got a point," Jen hums. "After all, humans did create us, meant for us to be the way we are."

"True, but most humans never believed, much less accepted, that we could be better, much less would want humans to be better. I think they're getting a better deal this way..." Marlene's voice trails off, then she braces herself. "Okay, there he is!"

Jen looks at the screen. Another silvery time-sphere now floated towards them. "Can you link into that and fix it?"

"Not from here," Marlene scowls. "I have to physically work on the circuits. What we can do is take it in tow, then break free of the vortex. It'll be another hop through the vortex to get us home, but it shouldn't be that bad for either us or Chip."

"Okay."

Marlene taps thecontrols. The other time-sphere slides closer to theirs, then stops, now held fast by powerful magnetic tractor arrays. "Okay, we're locked in," she links into the time-sphere's mainframe. "We'll come out into realspace close to Mars, around the year 944 CE time-wise...how far did they go back?! There's nothing out there back then, so we'll be alright. Ready?"

"Do it!" Jen nods.

The whine roars through the time-sphere as space around them melts back into a field of ebony dotted by flecks of light. A red sphere looms in the distance. Once the noise of the transition abates, Jen relaxes. "Well, that's fair enough. Is Chip okay?"

"A little nauseous, but he'll be alright. The sentiences of Cindy, the Monique twins and your double are safe and sound inside the other time-sphere's mainframe, by the way. Do you want to go over first to spend some time alone with Chip?"

Jen blinks, then nods. "I'll have to. Who knows what sort of lies that other me told him! Thanks to Bambi, I'll have to totally re-earn Chip's trust! Bitch!!" she rises, heading to the sports car, then glances back. "You know, taking him back to 2000'll be just the right sort of thing to get back at that slut, eh?!"

"You said it. I didn't," Marlene smirks.

Laughing, Jen steps into the central part of the sphere, then sits in the sports car. Tapping on controls, she relaxes as the hangar depressurizes, then she feels the car side away from the time-sphere, turning at once for its sistership nearby. Placing her hands on the wheel, Jen closes her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Damn it all. Lies, lies and more lies! All she wanted was to be with Chip, love him as he deserves to be loved, then spend the rest of her life with him. Taking a deep breath, she tenses herself as the car slides into the other time-sphere.

No more lies...

The car slides into place, then the hangar closes up, pressurizing. With that, Jen steps out of the vehicle, then looks around. A door then opens. She turns, then her eyes widen on seeing the haggard form standing there. "Chip!!!"

She races around the car, then flies into his embrace. The shocked look on his face then melts into an unemotional mask as he allows her to kiss him. Joyous that she was with him and that he was alright, Jen doesn't sense his hand slide around the curve of her buttocks to nudge her clothing away from her already moistening womanhood. Suddenly, waves of ecstacy warp through her as his fingers make contact, his lips prying hers open as his tongue slips into her mouth. Jen moans as she feels her whole body begin to melt in his embrace, then her eyes widen on seeing the almost-dead look in his, one hand moving up towards her face.
 
 

Her...face-mask.

Did he...?!

Oh, no, no, NO!!!

NOT AGAIN...!!!!

Crying out, she slams both her hands into his chest, sending him stumbling away from her. His head slams into a bulkhead, he crumpling to the deck. Jen quickly recovers, then her eyes widen in horror on seeing the dazed look on his face. "CHIP!!!!" she leaps to his side, cradling him in her lap. "Chip, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...!!" she moans, hugging him tight.

The control room's door opens, revealing Marlene. "Nice going, Jen!" she clicks her tongue amusedly, crossing her arms as she leans against the doorway. "Did you forget your own strength?"

Jen fires her a look of death. "Very funny, Marlene!"

The maintenance android ignores the look. "Here, take him to the other sphere; there's a bedroom there near the top. He doesn't seem too badly hurt. I have to get to work here, alright?"

"Right," Jen slowly nods, gazing on Chip's unmoving face...
 

"Oh, man, where am I...?"

Chip's eyes flutter as he finds himself gazing at a pure white ceiling with viewports forming a circle around him. Through the thick glass, he sees an endless field of stars. His head throbs painfully as he reaches back to feel a cold compress over the part of his skull that had been rudely introduced into solid steel, then he feels gentle fingers grazes his forehead. "Huh...?" he looks up, then his eyes widen. "Jen...?"

"Hello, Chip," Jen moves around the bed to sit beside him, her hand reaching out to gently stroke his features. "Are you okay?"

He blinks, then winces. "Just a headache..." he grunts, then stares at her, suspicion burning deep in his eyes. "Are you...?"

"The real Jen or just a replica of her," Jen finishes, then adds, "Like the one who tricked you into trusting her when she went back in time to intercept Cindy and the two Moniques from leading you down a path that would've eventually got you killed."

Chip tenses, unused to hearing a tone of barely-veiled anger in Jen's voice. "You know...?"

"Yes, I know," Jen's eyes flash. "Let me describe to you my so-very-short life. I was built at the orders of some cyber-bimbo who wanted to use you as cloning material in a half-assed attempt at recreating the human race. I was programmed originally to believe I was human, with a family and friends. In effect, I was LIED to. Then I meet you, fall head over heels in love with you, then the wonderful 'lie' my life was got smashed down around me, then I got dismantled because I had, in effect, served my function.

"Thanks to you, I was rebuilt with the realization that I was an android in the first place," she adds, tears streaming down her face. "But I never got any chance to fully understand, much less comprehend, what being an android was all about. And there you were, trying your best to understand what I was and the way I came to be...while Bambi and her robo-bimbos were preparing to totally lobotomize you so you could be a handy source of genetic material. When it dawned on me what they planned for you, I tried to help you escape...and I got you killed along the way!"

Chip winces as Jen reaches up to roughly brush the tears from her face, then she gazes at him. "When I saw you die, I wanted to die myself! I failed you, the one person I loved above all else!! So Bambi obliged me. I was about to be totally deleted when, thanks to the maintenance android who built me in the first place, plus the one android Bambi could NEVER control, I get a SECOND chance at life! Along the way, I find out that Bambi built a replica of me, programmed to go back to 2000, win your trust, save you from Cindy and Monique, then sucker you into coming back to 2266 so you could, once again, serve out her worthless plan without any damned hope of you ever getting back to the life you once had!"

He jolts, leaning back as she turns away. "So I come to try to rescue you and, because you believe I'm yet just another replica of Jen and not the real Jen, you tried to deactivate me ONCE MORE!! And I..." Jen surges to her feet, then squeezes her fists into her eyes as she screams out before staring apologetically at him. "I have just had a very lousy life, Chip. That's all," she shrugs.
 
 

Chip stares at her, then stands up, gazing intently into her eyes, keeping his hands to his side though he was tempted, even now, to yank her face mask off and get at her jumper to deactivate her. He then takes a breath before asking, "So what happens now?"

"As we're talking, Marlene...she's the maintenance android who built me in the first place...is fixing up the other time-sphere. When that's done, we go back to 2266, but to Earth, not the satellite over Jupiter. Eve, the android who built my current body, is waiting for us there. Eve was built at the same time Bambi was. Further, she's not slaved to Bambi in any way, shape or form. As a matter of fact, from what I gathered talking to Eve before coming out to get you, the two rather hate each other's guts because Eve is certainly more advanced than Bambi could EVER be!

"The point is, if we just tried to take you back to 2000 to let you go live your life, Bambi'll turn around and send someone else after you," Jen shrugs. "So the only way we figure to give her what she wants and give you what you deserve is to let you stay with Eve and myself on Earth until such time as it would be safe to send you home. And when you go home, Chip, I'll be coming with you to live with you. I know this whole sick episode was wrong from the instant that double of Monique walked through your front door. It's wrong to go along with whatever Bambi wants, no doubt there. But given how single-minded the bitch is plus the fact that she can get at you at any time she wants if you're back home, there's no choice but for you to play along with what Eve has in mind. And THAT, Chip, is NOT FAIR AT ALL, least of all to YOU!!!" Jen points at him, then relaxes. "Does that sound fair enough?"
 
 

Chip blinks, then feels himself deflate. "I dunno," he turns away from her, then turns back...

...to see Jen draw her face-mask off, allowing the artificial skin to sit in her palms. Staring at the beautiful architecture around her glassy eyes, the opened nasal and vocal cavities, with circuits blinking and pulsing, Chip feels his manhood surge up. Seeing the slight grimace on his face, Jen glances down, a sudden intake of breath echoing her surprise. "Oh, my...!" she whispers, then turns back to him before squaring her shoulders. "Do you see the jumper unit just above my nose?" she gently wonders.

"Y-yes..." he stammers.

"Alright," Jen soothes her voice. "If you don't trust me, take the jumper out and deactivate me. Marlene'll understand. Once she's fixed the time-sphere, we'll take you straight back to 2000 and let you get back to your life. But I won't be staying with you and you'll have to take your chances with Bambi."

Chip jolts, stunned. "But wh-why?" he stammers.

"Simple. Just because I'm an android doesn't mean I don't have feelings. I know that without trust, there can be no love. And I do want to love you, Chip. Can you trust me in return?"

Silence.

Chip stares at her, then looks down as images flash through his mind. The farm, that first blissful night in the twenty-third century. The kidnapping, being taken to the satellite, revelations about Jen. Her rebirth, the pains she felt at the lies heaped on her. Then a blank before his memories turn back to his coming home to find a pretty girl in his closet. Jen...or rather, a replica of hers. Bait yet again, but this one, though slaved to the Primary Device, still wanted to love and care for him. Then the accident, his coming here, wherever and WHENever he was.

Now...

He gazes at her, then reaches down to her face-mask, lifting it up to restore her to normal. Jen stares at him, then her eyes mist as they draw together, their lips warmly caressing as they hold each other tight. "I'm sorry, Chip. I'm sorry..." she moans.
 
 

"Welcome back, Jen..." he whispers in her ear.

They hold each other for a few minutes, then jolt on hearing someone clear her throat. Both turn to see a beautiful blonde woman, dressed like Jen in a sleeveless one-piece bathing suit, standing at the top of a set of stairs leading below. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but we'll be stuck here for a bit," she smiles apologetically. "The damage to the other time-sphere's control circuits're a little extensive, so I'll be quite busy. Oh, by the way, I'm Marlene," she walks over, hand out. "How's your head, Chip? Did Jen hurt you too much?"

"N-nah, I'm okay!" Chip flusters as he squeezes the other's hand, then sighs. "Why can't I go back with you on this sphere?"

"Because the souls of Cindy, both Moniques and Jen's replica are now stuck in the mainframe of the other time-sphere," Marlene replies. "That automatically happens whenever any of Bambi's androids are wrecked, even if they're in the same time-space period as the satellite. If they were lost permanently, Bambi would feel it...and much that I don't really like the so-called 'primary device,' I'm loath to see her, much less any other android, hurt."

"You were one of the maintenance androids on the satellite?"

"Yes. I'm Jen's creator, by the way. Do you remember the first night after Jen got her second body? The maintenance android who was recharging beside Jen?"

Chip blinks, then blushes. "That was you?"

"The same," Marlene winks, turning away. "You have such SOFT yet so FIRM fingers, Chip. When I finally program myself to have sex, you will DEFINITELY be the one to take my virginity away."

She heads downstairs. Chip feels his cheeks heat, then senses someone staring lethal daggers at him. "Chip," Jen growls.

He turns to see her advancing on him. "Jen, I can explain..."

"Uh-huh," she evenly replies, then grins as she throws her arms around him, leaning up. "At least you kept it in the family," she playfully winks before gently kissing him.

Chip jolts, then shudders before both nearly fall over laughing. Jen then reaches under the pillow to draw out a programming key, opening her chest hatch. He feels heat rush to his groin as his hand reaches up for the key, then he catches himself. "Er...what is this, anyway?" he gazes at her.

"Full maintenance data for time-spheres, so I can go help Marlene fix the other one up. Once that's done, I'll access the memory logs to get the other androids moved to this sphere so you can have some company, even if they're disembodied. Besides, if I can pitch in and help, we can get it done faster, then go home."

"Alright," he takes it, then inserts it in.

Jen jolts. "Do you wish to activated time-sphere maintenance programming?" she inquires, her voice still human but stilted.

"Yes."

"Time-sphere maintenance programming inserted. Remove key."

Chip draws the key out. Jen relaxes, then kisses him. "Go lay down and rest up. Marlene and I'll be back in three hours to get you something to eat, alright?"

"Okay," Chip smiles as Jen heads off, then sits on the bed.

"Chip?"

He looks at her. She blows him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he winks at her. "Come back soon."

"I will."

She steps down. Chip watches her go, then sighs, laying down on the bed. A minute later, he is fast asleep...