Sapphire beckoned the horse to come to her by holding out a carrot.

The beautiful stallion approached her and sniffed out the carrot before taking a nibble.

"That’s for you Stormwind." She said and carefully patted the horse on the head.

She turned around and looked at the Ranch. It was a large western-styled ranch built from imitated rough sandstone blocks covered with adobe mud and dark timber.

She continued to rub and pat the animal that seemed to take a liking to her and neighed gently.

"Sapphire ?" A voice called out.

Sapphire looked up and saw Atana come towards her. Her face was still bandaged from the blow she had received when the commando had tried to kill her.

"Damien has called. He’s coming over tonight."

"How is the investigation going ?" Sapphire asked.

"The police is trying to find who those mercenaries were." Atana said.

"Do they suspect something ?"

"He’s been flashing his corporate immunity around … They won’t bother him much." Atana said and looked at Stormwind. "I’d better stay away from him." She said.

"Why ?"

"He was born during the biggest storm they every saw in this region in a century, girl. He’s as wild as the wind." Atana said.

"He looks so peaceful."

"It’s the eye of the storm. Just wait a moment and he’ll be off like a tornado."

***

Damien thoughtfully rubbed the arms of his chair and waited in front of an empty desk.

"The director sent me to tell you he was going to be late." Said a delicate voice.

Damien turned to see and saw a transparent woman, seemingly kept together by a frame of golden ornament like articulations.

He could see her optical chips and processors inside her transparent body. "How late will he be ?" Damien asked.

"More than an hour." She answered.

You had to have a lot of influence to be able to keep a personal secretary robot in this day and age, with all the rabid luddites going round, preaching a return to "a simpler time".

Their simpler time meant a more than puritanical obsession for prehistoric living conditions. Modern science would have to be destroyed before it would destroy man. And to the Luddites, this was gospel. They loved to smash robots and machines. Their children were also dying of diseases like polio and tuberculosis, refusing modern medicine.

Director Young was right on time as Damien finished a cup of coffee.

"Mr. Araujo ! I’m so sorry I was delayed !" He said and wasted no time with making pleasant conversation.

"You were attacked by a well equipped commando." He said browsing over the file, taking time to remember the details.

"Have you any idea who might be behind this ?"

"If I had, I wouldn’t be here." Damien said.

"I’ll be frank with you, Mr. Araujo … There is considerable pressure on me to stay out of this case. And I’m certain you know who that is."

"I have important assets in electronics and robotics … I know they don’t like me."

"That’s an understatement." Young said. "Some are openly angry the commando failed."

"Will you help me ?"

"I’ll see what I can do."

***

"Atana ? Damien here. Yes, this is a secure line. I’m sending a chopper to pick up Sapphire. Please tell her to be ready in two hours time…

Thanks Atana, see you in a few days. Bye."

***

"I really liked Feldman, he was a crazy old man, but he was an artist …" Joshua said, his fingers running over the keyboard.

"You know what troubles me most about her ?" Joshua said, peeking at the naked woman on the table. ‘There’s nothing wrong with her !"

Damien looked at the black man lifting the scanning arm up.

"I think we’ll need something a little more effective than a regular med-scan."

Sapphire sat upright and took Joshua’s arm, helping her on her feet. "If milady would like to step this way …"

Damien followed them into another room where a much larger scanner dominated the room.

The machine closed around Sapphire’s luscious form and Joshua began to scan her again.

"Aha !" He said, looking at the first results. "Exactly the opposite of what I thought …"

Damien, who had been standing besides Sapphire, was about to walk up to him, when Joshua frowned and got an amazed look on his face. "This is Weird ! With a capital W !"

"What’s wrong ?" Damien asked.

"My hunch was that she was a milspec cyborg, disguised as a sexaroid, some kind of assassin model …"

"Yes ?" Damien asked.

"But look at this !" Joshua said. "She’s a regular Sexaroid ! Nothing unusual about her ! Except …"

"Except what ?"

"A substantial number of parts have been replaced at one time by very high quality systems, but from a completely different model."

"Another sexaroid ?"

"Yeah, and the way it’s put together … It’s a decent job, but it’s just not kosher."

"Are you going to cut her open ?" Damien asked.

"No, no need. Scanner tells us more than we can find out by opening her." Joshua concluded.

"So there’s nothing wrong with her ? Couldn’t the parts influence her ?"

"No way, these are structural parts, plain and inert metal !"

***

Back at the ranch, Sapphire was alone in her bed.

Under the mattress was a large induction plate that recharged her internal battery. Designers avoided putting too many external systems into a sexaroid. Also they usually came as sealed systems, requiring an operation to get inside, much like a regular human being, rather than have access panels and zippers. Most models only came with a computer interface plug.

She heard the horses in the stables neigh, got out of bed, and looked out of the window.

The silent stars and moon watched over the valley, bathing everything in a faint luminescence.

She draped a nightgown round her body and walked out into the cool summer’s night.

A breeze ran over her sensitive skin and she felt a bout of delight come over her.

For a moment, she thought about who she had been and what she used to look like, but the only emotions she remembered were desire, pain and unhappiness.

She went into the stables and watched the horses, seemingly restless.

Stormwind neighed hard as she passed his box.

"Hey … Remember me ?" She asked softly, but the horse was still restless, digging with its hooves.

"Sapphire ?" Said a voice.

She turned around and looked at Damien who held onto the cord of his robe.

"I heard the horses … They seem nervous."

"There’s a storm brewing." He said, "They can sense it."

"The moon and the stars are out." She said.

"It’s already clouding over." He said.

Sapphire and Damien remained silent for a while.

"You don’t remember why you attacked the men ?"

"I don’t know … I just felt I had to act." She said.

"And with that, I still don’t know who attacked us."

"What if they come back ?"

"I’ve increased security, we’re safe."

He walked up to her and held her to comfort her.

She put her chin into his neck and held onto him.

"I always asked Feldman to deliver me a fine girl, but you’re his masterpiece."

"I saw it in his eyes." She said.

"What ?"

"He was so proud of me. The way he looked at me."

"He liked you all, and I like you all." Damien said.

"Won’t the others be jealous ?"

"No, I usually spend some time to learn to know the new girl, but then I try to give everybody equal attention."

"Isn’t that hard ?"

"Let’s say Feldman made sure you girls never are very jealous … Only enough to make sure I don’t slip up."

Sapphire just moaned and slipped her hands into his robe.

He had just taken a bath and his skin was soft and fragrant.

"Come over here." Damien said and walked up to a ladder.

Sapphire smiled as he held her hand while she went into the attic.

"Wow !" She went as she saw the large stacks of hay.

"This is a very romantic spot." Damien said.

A suddenly flash illuminated the attic and Sapphire braced for the thunder, while at the same time a head popped out of the hay.

Sapphire saw Jet with straw sticking out of her hair look in surprise at her and Damien.

Thunder woke up Diamond, who cast a sleepy eye at the other couple.

"Sometimes I wonder if Feldman just didn’t overdo something with the two of you."

The two girls conspiratorially giggled and shrugged. "Who knows ?"

***

It was a wet but radiant morning.

Sapphire pulled hard at her boots and opened her front door.

She wore a perfect outfit for a horseride, tight but elastic riding breeches, boots, and a sporty ivory white blouse.

Ruby was already up and circling the enclosure on a long-maned palomino.

She waved at Sapphire, causing Diamond and Onyx to spot her.

With her dark complexion and almost noble features, Onyx was a stunning woman. She was also very friendly and Sapphire considered her her closest friend.

"Ready for your first lesson ?" Onyx asked.

"Pretty much." Sapphire answered and saw Diamond was smiling too brightly and returned it.

"Something I missed ?" Onyx asked.

"Nothing much." Diamond said.

"You two didn’t …" Onyx asked.

"Naah." Diamond replied with a little smile.

Sapphire sat on the enclosure and looked at Ruby. "She’s good."

"She’s had the most experience of the good life. She was the first girl on the team." Onyx said. "And I was next."

"Then came Emerald." Diamond said. "And then the two of us."

"You came in at the same time ?" Sapphire asked.

"They thought we were twins." Diamond said.

Sapphire looked at the pretty white Arabian mare and wanted to climb into the saddle when Stormwind neighed.

The large black stallion jumped up and made a little commotion.

"It’s almost as if he wants me to ride him." Sapphire said, getting into the saddle.

"Trust me, he’s wilder than a bad-tempered rabid wolverine with an itch it can’t reach." The stableman said. "He’s still nervous from the storm."

Sapphire let herself and the horse be guided and smiled brightly as she was brought outside.

"Just give her a little nudge with the spurs." Jeff said.

Sapphire did so and the horse began to calmly walk forward.

She smiled as the horse picked up a little speed and began to steadily pace the enclosure, and for the first time in days, she managed to keep her thoughts clear of all those troubles.

***

Weeks passed and life seemed to return to normal. Customers were now taken by helicopter to the guest quarters of the ranch where Sapphire and the others entertained them.

Early one morning, before anybody was up, Sapphire thought she was cheating as she felt the program kick in. It was and advanced knowledge/reflex chip that provided her with a lot of knowledge of horse-riding.

She carefully strapped the saddle to Stormwind’s back and kissed him just before climbing onto him.

"Okay, let’s show them what we can, okay ?" She said to him and gave him the spurs.

She trotted outside and knew she had gotten through to him. She was about to call the others when suddenly Stormwind neighed and bucked. Sapphire struggled to remain in the saddle and hung onto the animal as it charged forward like its namesake.

Struggling with the reins, Sapphire could only hold tight and sit out the wild ride.

Stormwind galloped through fields and brushes, going for the hills as if trying to slow himself down by confronting the steep slopes.

But the horse didn’t seem to slow down as it went up the hills like a black bolt of lightning.

Sapphire pulled the reins and almost miraculously, Stormwind stopped on top of the crest.

She jumped off, still holding the reins and grabbed the sweat-soaked horse by the nose. "Don’t ever do that again !"

A sudden flash and a loud bang made her look back.

She just caught sight of a large cargo plane falling straight towards the ranch.

"NOOOOOO !" She cried out as she saw the large plane crash directly into the main building and exploding in a huge ball of fire.

Stormwind neighed and paced nervously.

"DAMIEN !" She cried out as loud as she could.

Without a second thought, she jumped onto Stormwind and gave him the spurs.

Even if the horse was tired, it galloped swiftly, perhaps even faster than the first time, back towards the ranch.

By the time she arrived at the house, it was a huge burning inferno.

"Damien !" She cried out. "Ruby ! Diamond !"

And then out of the smoke and the fire came a staggering figure.

Sapphire could barely grasp Onyx who had lost an arm in the explosion, leaving shredded Simskin and a metallic bone poking out.

"I was in the kitchen, got blown away by the explosion." She said collapsing in Sapphire’s arms.

"Where’s Damien ?" She asked.

"They’re all dead." Onyx said calmly. "They were all in the living room, except me."

"No ! We’ve got to help them." Sapphire said and ran towards the house.

Onyx managed to grab her before she had made a step.

"They’re dead !" Onyx said it in such a way Sapphire instantly knew she was right.

***

"How is she ?" Sapphire asked.

Joshua looked up and smiled. "She’ll be fine, none of her vital systems were damaged."

They both watched the sleeping Onyx.

"What’s going to happen to us ?" Sapphire asked.

"Well, it depends on what Jonathan wants to do with you." Joshua said.

"Who’s Jonathan ?" Sapphire asked.

"Damien’s younger brother, he’s studying in Europe, if only to be rid of the luddites.

"It’s them, don’t you think ?" Sapphire asked. "They knew about him."

"Perhaps, but I still believe they were after you." Joshua said.

"Why, there’s nothing wrong about me, you said so yourself !"

"I did, but I still have a hunch there’s something special about you."

"You tested me …" Sapphire said.

"I’ll just have to do a full battery of tests." Joshua said. "But you’d better take a few day’s rest, by that time, Jonathan will be here."

***

Onyx was back on her feet and Joshua only had to patch her up with new simskin.

Sapphire looked out of the window and waited for the car to come over the driveway.

And then the limo came in.

"He’s here !" She shouted at Joshua and had a final lookover in the mirror.

Just as she came down the stairs, Jonathan walked in.

He was a few years younger than Damien and had a distinct boyish charm, unlike his brother’s more mature charisma.

"You’re Sapphire ?" He asked having the same faint Brazilian Portuguese accent inherited from their father.

"Yes I am, and I’m sorry about Damien."

Jonathan paused and looked at Sapphire. "I’ll miss him. First our parents and now him."

"They said it was an accident, they have the tapes that say the pilot had a heart-attack. But …"

"But ?" Jonathan asked eagerly.

"I heard an explosion … The plane exploded before impact."

"It was too much of a coincidence that a cargo plane filled with highly volatile chemicals would crash right there." He said.

Sapphire just looked sadly away.

"How’s Onyx ?"

"She’s fine, just a little shaken up, that’s all."

"Let’s go see her." Jonathan said.

Onyx smiled and reached out for Jonathan’s hands. "I’m sorry about your brother." She said.

"How are you ?" He asked.

"We sexaroids can take a beating." She said, but Sapphire heard her voice break.

"You’ll be fine." He said and gently patted her.

Sapphire also put a hand on each of their shoulders and felt a glycerin tear coming up.

***

Although he was younger, Jonathan showed the same determination his brother had. But he was unwilling to confront the Luddites and decided that it would be better for Sapphire and Onyx to move back to Europe with him.

The return trip would be by zeppelin, a modern design with high-tech refinements and completely uninflammable, providing a thoroughly luxurious ride across the Atlantic. But for security purposes, two mercenary F-15’s would ride shotgun.

Sapphire sat by the window and looked at huge whales swimming through the waves. She had never seen the sea and was awed by its immensity.

Once in a while she turned around and saw that Onyx and Jonathan were struggling with each other in a VR-game. Sapphire wasn’t very good at it and just felt happy to look at the quiet ocean and watch the course of the sun over the sky.

Late afternoon cast long shadows into the nacelle and Sapphire almost felt happy again. She thought about Damien, about her becoming so beautiful …

"Atana will get us at the blimport." He said.

Sapphire was thankful Atana had been away at the time of the accident.

The two fighters ran long circles around the zeppelin, guarding it carefully.

***

Lissabon, their first stopover was a bright city, filled with old buildings, retaining the charm of centuries past.

As the city rose up into the hills, Sapphire could see the blue sea as she turned around.

"Phew !" Jonathan said and stopped.

"What’s wrong ?" Sapphire asked him.

"I don’t have cybernetic legs that don’t get tired climbing slopes." He said while Atana agreed.

"I’m going to try out my new chip." Onyx said and walked over to little doorway shop selling jewelry and trinkets. She spoke in fluent Portuguese, haggling with the owner over a little silver bracelet.

"Is all of Europe so beautiful ?" Sapphire asked Jonathan.

"In what way ?"

"All those old buildings and pretty decorations ?"

"Some parts are prettier than others. They have places certainly as bad as certain parts of Detroit and LA, but the Europeans would like to keep that secret …" He said.

Later that evening Sapphire knocked on Jonathan’s door.

The young man opened and smiled.

"It’s about Damien. I miss him …"

"I know, Atana told me so." He said. "I miss him too." And with a motion invited her into his room.

They both sat down on the bed and Sapphire looked at Jonathan with her large sparkling blue eyes.

"You’re pretty." He said after an uncomfortable silence.

"Thanks." She said. "Like all the other girls I guess…"

"Damien told me he liked you very much. He said you had this innocent quality …"

"Innocent enough to be hunted down by the Luddites ?" She said.

"Damn the Luddites ! If it weren’t for them, we’d still have a space station, scientific research and the US would not be working hard on becoming a Third World nation …"

"You told me that there were people here that might help me find out what was wrong with me ?"

"I wouldn’t say there is something wrong with you !" Jonathan went and comforted her.

"Would you like to … ?" She asked.

"To be honest, Sapphire, I’m not much into Sexaroids … I have nothing against them, but I tend to prefer flesh girls …" He said as gently as he could.

"I understand." She shrugged. "I sometimes scare myself …"

"In a few days, we’ll move on to Madrid and London. I’ll show you the Tate Gallery, hope you like old paintings."

"I’ve begun to stuff my databases with all sorts of information about art and culture." She said. "And I’d like the see the originals …"

***

"And over there, you can see the "MB & PR Robot Company" European headquarters. Believe it or not, but they started off with robot performers in the last century." Jonathan said. "And they’re the company we contracted for your cybernetic bodies. We’ll visit their factory in Berlin when we visit Dr. Gerlich."

Sapphire looked at the huge statue, carved out of the side of the building, of a tall robotic woman almost as big as the ancient Egyptian statues of Abu Simbel.

"You mean they had robots that performed ?"

"No, people performing as robots ! They made their money selling robotic costumes round the turn of the Millenium, when roboting was the big craze …" Jonathan explained. "Eventually they went into robot manufacturing …"

Sapphire closed her eyes. She felt a little tired and engaged a mild stimulant to keep her active.

"I’d love to show you girls the Brussels atomic crater, but it’s a fairly depressing place … Well, most of Belgium is depressing nowadays ! Just a radioactive wasteland mostly."

"I heard about the nuking of the capital of Europe, but why did it happen ?" Onyx asked.

"The Luddites, the foaming mad variety that is, wanted to show the ills of technology and nuked Brussels in a symbolic gesture. It totally discredited them in Europe."

"Why not in the US ?"

"They had a big hold on congress since the death of President Schwarzenegger, killed by a rogue robot, as most of them were already elected on Democratic and Republican tickets. THEN they formed a new party."

***

Dr. Gerlich went over the report item by item.

"Doc, could you help me ?" Onyx went.

"What’s wrong ?" He asked.

"Well, I have a scientific database to help me understand the report and there must be something wrong with this item here in the genetics section." She pointed it out.

Sapphire listened with great interest.

"Oh." Gerlich went. "How did you interpret that data ?"

"It’s the Ethnic origin, right ?"

"Yes, and I suppose you know what it means ?" He said with an unsure smile.

"I’m actually of Asian origin … ?" Onyx went.

"Well, yes …" I made the mistake of not informing the secretary system to delete all non-essential information.

Sapphire looked at Onyx. She was a regal woman of striking Ethiopian looks with long limbs and a well-defined face. And her personality matched her appearance.

"Does it make you feel uncomfortable ?"

"In a way, yes." She said. "But I’m so used to my new identity, I couldn’t imagine being someone else."

"I know you girls have no memories of your former lives. But don’t try to look for these memories, they can’t be retrieved …" His voice became gravely the more he spoke. "If it bothers you, I could make an appointment with Dr. Lieberman, he’s an excellent cyber-psychiatrist."

"Couldn’t you retrieve anything ?" Sapphire suddenly asked.

Gerlich looked at Sapphire and softly cleared his throat. "No. But I found nothing wrong with you …" He said and looked annoyed by it.

"There must be something !" Jonathan said. "She felt the urge to fight and took out several highly trained men."

"Like Dr. Williams, I could find nothing wrong with her, except the new parts, but that may be a factory upgrade. You know how bad supply for robotic parts is in the USA. Besides all we can …"

The glass shattered and Gerlich was suddenly silent.

He coughed and some blood poured out of his mouth.

"Sniper ! Down !" Jonathan screamed.

But Sapphire just exploded with anger and looked at the other side of the street. She could see the gun sticking out of a window.

Before anyone could react, she jumped out of the room and down the stairs to the street.

A sudden ricochet in the pavement besides her made her even more angry.

She entered the apartment block and charged up the stairs.

Using her GPS navigation link, she could track her position to within an inch and found the door of the apartment.

The door exploded into a shower of splinters. "You !" She screamed and pointed at the man carefully arranging the parts of his rifle into a briefcase. "Tell me what’s going on !"

"Welcome Sandra." Said a voice.

She turned her had and looked at the man. He felt almost familiar.

"Long time no see." He said and sat down. "I see you changed. It’s an improvement !"

"Who are you ?" She said and wanted to walk over to him.

"Uh-uh !" He waved his finger and Sapphire felt as if her body exploded.

"EMP mine !" I guess you didn’t get used to fighting as a cyborg …" He said steepling his fingers.

The other man, having tucked away the rifle went over to the prone Sapphire and put a collar around her neck.

"This’ll make sure you won’t be up to any tricks." The man said but Sapphire couldn’t hear him, every sense in her body was shut down.

"Get her to the chopper." The man ordered.

Jonathan watched from the street the large, armed helicopter hover over building.

Police cars were arriving, but the chin turret of the helicopter moved in their direction.

"Get away !" Jonathan screamed, but the first police car went up in flames.

Sapphire was scared. Her body was completely shut off and she was apparently running on minimal life support. If things went wrong, she would be placed into an artificial coma, to help her survive.

She couldn’t hear or feel anything at all.

Feel me

Sapphire heard the "voice" in her mind.

You’re not alone

It wasn’t a voice, more a collection of images and impressions, as if she could feel share else’s thoughts.

She felt her sense of touch return and felt how two men carried her.

Her hand shivered and although she was blind, lashed out and knocked one of the men aside.

She tore at the collar and felt the rush of computer systems going back on line.

Her vision flickered on and she punched the other man.

"Hold her !" The man screamed too late.

Sapphire turned round and stared at the man. "Who are you ?!" She wanted to grab him, but a sudden blinding flash made her stop.

By the time her optics had recovered, she heard a door slam shut…

"They got away !" The policeman said relaying the information he got on the radio.

Jonathan rubbed his face, while Onyx comforted Sapphire.

"Do you remember anything ?" She asked.

"He said my name was Sandra …" Sapphire said. "But nothing else."

But she did not mention how she had managed to free herself …

***

That night, Sapphire could not sleep. She didn’t want to take a sedative, because she was scared to be asleep if they came again.

She then heard a soft knock on the door.

"Yes ?"

Jonathan opened the door and in the twilight, she swore he was Damien.

"How are you ?" He asked, sitting by her side.

She sighed and smiled wearily. "I’ll be okay. Just a headache from the pulse, that’s all." And shifted her position.

Jonathan noticed she was totally naked.

"I can see why Damien liked you so much." You have a beautiful body with that innocent aura.

"I’m not much of an innocent …" She said and sat upright, not bothered to reveal her beautiful breasts.

"You’ve got a past catching up with you." He said and held her hand.

"Oh, Jonathan ! I was so happy with Damien and Emerald and Ruby and the others … Why are they dead ?"

Jonathan had no answer save holding her tight.

"I promise nobody will die anymore !" He said and felt a deep attraction to her.

She leaned back and looked into his eyes, as tears slowly came out of her eyes.

"As long as we can cry we’re all human." He said.

And then she kissed him.

Sapphire’s skin felt reassuringly soft and warm as he kissed every square inch of her body. He was aware that she was emitting pheromones and stimulating sex-drugs, but he didn’t care, because she needed love …

Sexaroids were capable of adapting to their companions, bringing out the best in them by using every known form of stimulation, like her gentle hands, that ran over his body, touching acupuncture points, arousing him to new limits. Since Sexaroids had vastly improved senses, even "mediocre" sex would arouse them more than a normal woman, but great sex …Well, that was quite amazing …

By morning, Jonathan finally understood why his brother liked Sexaroids so much …

***

To Atana it was as if a beautiful day had entered the elevator. Sapphire was positively glowing !

"Oh Dear ! What happened to you girl ?" She asked and could not resist touching her.

Sapphire had the brightest smile Atana had ever seen and she felt happy for her, gently rubbing her shoulder as they waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor.

Jonathan was waiting for them with a smile as blinding as Sapphire’s.

"Brothers !" She said and winked at both of them.

Even the rainy Berlin could not mar their day.

"We’ll take a tour of the city." Jonathan said to Sapphire.

Atana sat opposite them and shook her head as she saw them holding hands.

She leaned over to Onyx. "I don’t think even Damien was so enraptured by her."

"This is William, the grandson of one of the founders of the MB&PR Company." Jonathan said.

"So you made us …" Onyx asked.

William smiled. "Indeed. We’ve dedicated ourselves to making the most beautiful sexaroids on the market today. Although production is strictly regulated, they don’t want to encourage prostitution."

"And this is what it all began with …" He said. "Just a few pieces of fiberglass, but before long everybody fought for one of the many derivatives."

Sapphire looked at the silvered shell and smiled. What was the fascination people had for robots, cyborgs and androids ?

Suddenly Sapphire let go of a shriek. She turned around and saw the man reflected in the display case. It was the man who had tried to abduct her …