Author's note: This work is respectfully dedicated to the ASFR members, and a few inside tidbits were placed in the story to add a touch of thanks. Some of the portrayals of characters within are in the utmost respect and not meant to cast aspersions, opinions or inferments upon ANY member of the group. In other words, if you think you are mentioned in this story, you're probably right, but it's all in fun and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

NVA-7 sat on the edge of the lab table waiting patiently for Doctor Lafeyson to arrive. Her beautiful, tanned body was completely naked and her hip-length, firey red-blonde hair fell in cascades around her body like sparks from an arc-welder. Her slightly glowing, light blue eyes scanned the rest of the lab complex as she waited. She saw other NVA units being repaired or tested. All told there were thirteen NVA units, and the irony of her designation was not lost on her. Seven of Thirteen. A lucky number in an unlucky series.

She watched the technicians go about opening NVA-3's chest. The techs were laughing and making crude comments as they handled 3's large breasts and layed them on a workbench beside her. NVA-7 didn't care for the technicians. They treated her and the others like dolls or toys. None of them had the kind and gentle manner that Doctor Lafeyson had. He truly seemed to love his android creations and NVA-7 liked the way he worked on her.

It helped that NVA-7 had tactile response sensors inside of her body as well as under the surface of her smooth, flawless skin. She sometimes likened Doctor Lafeyson's forays into her various body cavities as a sexual stimulus, since he was so delicate and gentle with his work. The thought made her nipples erect and she sighed softly as her response level increased slightly. She hoped he would arrive soon.

NVA-7 continued to watch as the technicians removed NVA-3's faceplate, exposing her sensory nexus and optics. NVA-7 frowned. She didn't like having her faceplate removed. To her, a faceplate gave a sense of identity and a means to convey emotions. Without a face, the NVA units had no individuality since all of the parts under the plate looked identical, and no means to form frowns or smiles or even kisses. Not having a face meant becoming a robot, and NVA-7 was far from a simple robot.

Her sensitive audio system cued in on approaching footsteps and she smiled as the door opened and the somewhat rumpled, and tired-looking form of Doctor Lafeyson stepped through the door.

"Hello Doctor Lafeyson," she said in her sweet, slightly English tone. "I have waited here precisely as you asked me to. What will you be doing with me today?"

Doctor Lafeyson removed his tools from a nearby bench.

"Well Seven, the company needs you to perform a special service for them, and I need to make some modifications to your chassis before you can perform. Please open your abdominal panel."

NVA-7 blinked as she always did when she accessed her onboard functions, and a thin seam appeared around the perimeter of her abdominal muscles. She reached down and pressed it slightly and it came loose in her hand as a solid square of syntheskin, metal and complex circuitry. She laid the panel aside and put her hands down to her sides.

Doctor Lafeyson began to loosen a circuitboard around her Moleculartronic processor. She sighed as his hands touched inside her body. He looked up.

"Did that hurt? Are you alright Seven?"

She smiled at him.

"Yes Doctor, I'm fine. please continue."

She had to remember that her sensitivity was part of her sexual programming, and try to keep her audible responses to a minimum in order not to disturb the doctor.

Doctor Lafeyson continued to remove boards until he could see the access on her Moleculartronic processor. He then inserted a long interface tape/cable into the access and ran it to a computer terminal where he began typing in new codes and inserting special subroutines into her processing matrix.

NVA-7 felt the input flow into her systems and began to assimilate the new data and adding it to her archived files. She didn't mind being programmed and actually felt some stability in knowing that someone was there keeping her best interests in mind.

After a few hours of reprogramming and placing new parts in various parts of NVA-7's body, Doctor Lafeyson brought out a metal container about the size of a hat-box. NVA-7 's personality matrix sent a wave of fear through her as she recognized what the container held. It was a case for storing heads. Doctor Lafeyson opened the container and a light mist of cold steam billowed out and rose into the air. Inside the case sat a head for an NVA unit. It looked approximately 20 years old (almost the same age as NVA-7's own features made her look), and had beautifully smooth and shiny porcelin white skin. The hair on the head was a deep, midnight black and it hung about the face in long staight strands.

Doctor Lafeyson removed the head from the conainer and turned it over to clean and check the various connections at the base of the neck. He then set it on a special holder and turned to NVA-7.

"Ok Seven. I know you don't much care for this, but it's got to be done. Please prepare your head unit for seperation."

"Yes Doctor", she replied in a disheartened tone.

A seam formed around her neck, exactly on her second "Ring of Venus". The Doctor then smiled at her lovingly.

"Trust me. I'll put it right back on when you've finished the mission."

He placed his hands on either side of her head and with a slight twist pulled it up and over. NVA-7's eyes still glowed as they watched the doctor begin disconnecting her head from her body, until finally he reached the power cable and unlocked it. NVA-7's eyes stopped glowing as all power to her head ceased. Doctor Lafeyson placed her head inside the metal container and kissed it's lips, gently.

"Don't worry sweetie, I like this head better."

He then closed the box and set it inside a modular storage compartment in the room's back wall. Having finished he picked up the new head and began attatching the wires and cables to it before mounting it to her neck with an audible click. He then reached inside her abdomen and depressed the reset switch inside NVA-7, and the flashing, flickering lights and whirring servos stopped suddenly at the same instant. A few moments later they began again as NVA-7's systems rebooted themselves and her sensors came back on-line. Her eyes opened, revealing icy-blue eyes that were made even lighter by the glow backlighting them.

"New programming initiating" she announced in her same voice.

Her skin color and texture shifted to match that of the new head, and soon she looked like a beautiful China doll with glowing blue-eyes and a body to die for. She looked at the doctor, her black hair falling somewhat in front of one eye (a characteristic shared by her normal head as well).

"Programming complete. Resuming autonomus functions". She blinked and said,"Doctor I understand my mission directives. I will do my best to fulfill them as quickly as possible. How do you plan on inserting me into the target location?"

Doctor Lafeyson chuckled, "Well I thought we'd sell you into it......."

Two weeks later NVA-7's internal clock awakened her to the dressing room where a woman was dressing what appeared to be a gorgeous blonde woman in some of the latest clothing. The gorgeous woman was a type-34 robo-mannequin. She was designed to be totally realistic looking and yet pose or change poses depending on pre-programmed instructions. She could even speak a few short phrases if her owner programmed the samples into her limited speech matrix. A young man in his twenties with short, curly red-brown hair and glasses walked up to NVA-7. Since NVA-7 was programmed to imitate one of these mannequins she remained totally motionless as he looked her over and ran his hand against her smooth belly.

"This girl is beautiful! Where did they get her?", asked the enthusiastic young visual merchandiser, whose nametag read: James.

"She's a new model sent to us from the Daikoku Corporation's Showa branch. She has some added features and a wider range of speech than these Kitaro models", said the attractive brunette whose nametag read: Sylvie.

James felt around NVA-7's neck until he located a set of buttons, hidden by her hair, near the base of her skull. He pressed one and NVA-7's eyes lit up and she began to pose for him in an alternating variety of movements. James was shocked at how smoothly she moved and the sexy way she smiled and pouted alternately as her poses changed.

"My god, they're making these girls too real!" he exclaimed.

Sylvie smiled and after rummaging through the box that NVA-7 had arrived in came back with a set of instructions and a remote control which she tapped a button on. Instantly NVA-7 froze while she was in a sultry pose. Her blue eyes and white skin combined with her black hair made her look like a Patrick Nagel painting come to life.

"Well it says here that she can be programmed with any pose possible by a real human, and she doesn't require any kind of base for support", said Sylvie as she read through the thin instruction manual.

"No base? Then how does she stand?" asked James.

"Well according to this, she has an internal gyroscope that keeps her balanced, and since she doesn't get sore and tired like us poor humans she can hold an awkward or uncomfortable pose for any length of time", replied Sylvie.

"WOW!" said James, "Well what are we going to dress her in?"

Sylvie smiled," Well, I think she'd be great in one of those new bodysuits. She's so pale looking that she'd look almost vampiric in a tight number like that."

James hurried to the clothes rack and pulled the shiny, black bodystocking off and began putting NVA-7 into it. He marveled at how each of her toes was a seperate piece and not all fused together like so many other mannequins he'd worked with, as he slipped the suit over her right foot. He then noticed that her skin was somewhat cold and soft, but had a nice shine to it. It sent a chill through him as he imagined her springing to life and kissing him. As he placed the stocking over her other foot and brought the crotch up to meet her mound, he was startled as he came eye to eye with her sex.

"Whoa! She even has a snatch!" he exclaimed.

Sylvie laughed and said,"Yep. This model is supposedly as realistic as they make em. Has a snatch an anus and even teeth and tongue! It's to help them look more realistic around the customers. Imagine, a different set of programs and some more hardware and this lady could walk and talk and have sex with you James!"

James blushed,"I wouldn't want to have sex with her. She's so beautiful, I could sit and watch her all day"

Sylvie smirked and walked over to NVA-7 and stroked the delicate folds of her sex. "Well I would. She's gorgeous and never gives you any backtalk or whines about her problems. Sounds like a perfect lover to me", she said.

NVA-7 began internally to feel stimulated. Unknown to the two visual merchandisers, she was aware of their conversation and their touches and caresses. Her sex transmitted the stimulation to her Moleculartronic matrix and she felt aroused by their desires and words. However, her body had been programmed not to react to such stimulus and to the two visual merchandisers she seemed as cold and distant as she had when they had first removed her from her shipping box.

After James had finished dressing her they rolled her on a special cart to a display area at the front of the store. NVA-7 could see that this was an expensive women's boutique, and the store was filled with many mannequins. Some were plain, unmoving plastic icons of beauty, whilst others were mechanically programmed to animate and perform a repeating motion. NVA-7 looked in wonder at the beautiful displays and momentarily felt a surge of joy as she was placed on a pedestal and programmed to change poses every ten minutes.

Days passed. NVA-7 stuck in her routine of posing and looking beautiful enjoyed the attention she recieved from the people who came to look at her in wonder, and the visual merchandisers who cleaned and clothed her every night when the store was closed. She wondered if robomannequins felt the same way. As she posed herself in a haughty fashion model's pose her eyes caught sight of an elegantly dressed woman with two burly men accompanying her into the store. Her programming kicked in and made a positive visual ID.

The woman was Sharon Hammer, one of the world's ninth richest people. To the outside world she had made her fortunes by shrewd decision making and smart investments. The Daikoku knew better. She was an arms merchant and white slaver, with a penchant for violence. Her beautiful figure was accentuated by her long blonde hair and cold blue eyes. "The Ice Queen", was her name in market circles and she wore it well, ruthlessly destroying her competition and bullying the rest. Then she had decided to try to take on Daikoku. She had bought out a few small subsidiary firms and was working her way up the ladder. If left unchecked she might get as far as the steps of the Daikoku building proper. The Daikoku could not allow that and had sent NVA-7 to kill the Ice Queen.

The Daikoku knew that this expensive boutique was one of Hammer's favorite places to shop and pick up new girls. NVA-7 watched as Hammer tried on various outfits while her guards waited. Hammer then moved to her display and watched as NVA-7 changed poses. Hammer called a saleswoman over.

"Where did you get this one? She seems so real", she said in her even tone.

"She's a new model from the Daikoku corporation's Sorayama branch", replied the saleswoman proudly "She poses and moves and even talks".

Hammer raised an eyebrow, "Talks? What does she say? Let me hear her", she commanded.

The saleswoman nodded and climbed up on to the pedestal and reached behind NVA-7's neck and pressed one of the switches. NVA-7 sat still and the saleswoman opened a small hatch on NVA-7's chest. Beneath the panel lay a dummy terminal which Doctor Lafeyson installled for just this purpose. The saleswoman hurridly typed in a few short phrases and set their tone, then closed NVA-7's chest and reactivated her. NVA-7 smiled internally. Miss Hammer was in for a surprise.

"Hello Miss Hammer. Welcome to the Darcy Penny fashion store", smiled NVA-7 at Miss Hammer.

Hammer smiled. "She's wonderful. I think I'll take over the Soryama branch right away.', she said.

The saleswoman beamed at the customer's reactions, and was about to begin programming the mannequin again when a phone call pulled her attention. "I'll be right back Miss Hammer".

NVA-7 smiled internally. She had used one of her telecommunications features to make the phone ring and thereby get the saleswoman away from her targets. Her orders were very specific that no unneeded deaths were to occur. She turned towards Miss Hammer and began to speak again.

"Miss Hammer have you enjoyed your demonstration of my abilities?", She asked.

Miss Hammer moved closer to NVA-7, "Oh yes. What else can you do?"

"Oh, much, much more Miss Hammer"

NVA-7 sprang at Hammer and clubbed her with a crushing backhand to her collarbone and proceeded on past kicking a guard in the skull and feeling his neck crack. She landed and caught the second guard's hand as he whipped out his gun. She brought his arm back in on himself and positioned the gun under his neck, then tapped a nerve cluster that caused him to pulll the trigger reflexively. The guard was stunned as he blew his own head off. NVA-7 turned to the now rising Miss Hammer.

"Well Miss Hammer. Are you satisfied with the demonstration of my abilities so far?", she asked mockingly as she advanced on her.

To her credit Hammer pulled a gun from her own purse and fired at NVA-7. The bullets struck NVA-7's torso and seemed to imbed themselves, but her internal Reflex armor had totally dispersed the force of the bullet as they had hit. She reached out and grabbed Hammer's arm and twisted it back and around in almost a circle behind Hammer. Hammer screeched in pain as her elbow was broken behind her.

NVA-7 then reached around her neck with her free hand and whispered in her ear,"This is for the slaves you make. For I myself am a slave."

NVA-7 twisted Hammer's head around to face her. The neck broke and shredded, spraying blood across the room. All three killings had taken place in less than 8 seconds. NVA-7 dropped the lifeless Hammer and ran from the building as fast her servos could take her.

Two days later, Doctor Lafeyson finished mounting NVA-7's original head and resetting her. Her skin reverted to its normal tan and she looked down at the doctor.

"What will happen to the mannequin head?", she asked.

"It's got to be dismantled and lost.", said Doctor Lafeyson.

"Can I look at it one last time?", she asked.

"Sure. Just set it back in the case when you're finished Seven." he replied as he left the room.

NVA-7 picked up the beautiful head with it's porcelin white skin and long black hair and looked at it.

"You're lucky", she spoke to the inactive head,"You were beautiful and everyone loved you. Now you're free."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she set the head inside the case and closed it. She then sat on the table, waiting patiently for Doctor Lafeyson to arrive.