Yeeaaahhhh ...

“Bedelia Cairns would be best-suited to this,” Mariah says, very suddenly for the long period of time she had been inactive. You almost drop the half-empty bottle when she speaks, caught entirely off-guard. “The PA is designed to mimic a professional thief, specifically in high-risk, valuable targets requiring team coordination. I am certain that with your skills and the PA’s combined, we could easily acquire sufficient replacement limbs.”

“So, your sexy cat burglar roleplay is going to talk me through grand larceny. I can’t believe I agreed to this.”

“Agreement is not mandatory by any stretch, Bradbury. If you would like me to cease this line of inquiry …”

“No, no, I want to fix you,” you sigh, stretching to try to get a little more limber. “Anything I should know about Bedelia?”

“She will likely be deeply confused about the sudden absence of much of her body,” she tells you flatly. Oh, good, she’s going to think you’re some kind of deranged “Misery,” type, that’ll get her to help you. “I have created a reasonable entrance to this scenario that does not lay the blame at your feet or suggest self-pity would be the best use of her time. Motivating her will, unfortunately, be left to you. Usage of a PA subsumes my base operations entirely. Though it will also be able to serve as a diagnostic on my PA systems.”

“Well, if we’re doing two birds with one stone like that, yeah, let’s pull the trigger,” you consent to her, trying not to imagine failure as an option. “I thought your diagnostics required sex, though?”

“Oh, they do,” she admits as green light flickers behind her eyes, signaling she’s preparing to load Bedelia’s PA. “That’s just encouragement for you to do this efficiently. The more you second-guess my PA or yourself, the more likely failure is. Try to stay focused on what’s important instead.”

“What’s that?”

“If you can succeed in enough time under two hours to return home, Bedelia’s PA is quite likely to be aroused by that accomplishment,” she explains neutrally before continuing with a little more color. “And she would be a wonderful PA for you try this unit’s ass out on.” Her lights flare as you imagine Mariah laid out, your cock stuffing her tight butt, begging for you to fuck her ass. She’s a smart android; the image did a very good job of banishing your anxiety or any other coherent thoughts for a moment.

“What the FUCK?!” you hear Mariah’s voice yell. Well, sort of her voice. The inflection is different, a substantially lower register. While her voice is enthusiastic, chipper, even a tiny bit squeaky, this voice is clearly one from the same throat that emerges husky, confident, and, for the moment, distinctly pissed-off. Bedelia, right.

“You’re safe, it’s fine,” you technically-don’t-lie to her. After all, she is safe. But you need let her lead if whatever Mariah put together to justify her current state is going to work. “Do you know where you are?”

“I … know … fuck, the last thing I remember was an explosion,” she grumbles to herself, trying to think. “I was opening a lock on a missile guidance system to replace it with a dud, then … loud, white, hot, pain, nothing clear.”

“That’s a no, then.”

“I assume some kind of medical facility. What the hell are all these wires doing jammed into me?” She tries to tug at some of them, but fortunately for the both of you, can’t manage to disconnect anything in her current position.

“Well, you’ll die without them, so for starters, don’t do that!” you interrupt, checking the plugs to make sure she’s still receiving power. “And it’s more like a workshop. Your limbs were all destroyed, we’re pretty past normal medicine.”

“Oh, God, you’re trying to ‘Overboard,’ me, aren’t you? I still have my memory, so whatever amputee fetish thing you’re going to try on me, I hope you like trying it with lots of bite marks!” She rolls her eyes and groan. “Shit, is that part of it for you?”

“I’m not!” you object, trying to appear nonthreatening, standing back and away from her. “I’m also not trying to ‘Misery,’ you! This is just where I live!”

“Then WHY am I where you LIVE?!” she snaps, eyes focusing harshly on you. Fortunately for you, you already have an idea to sell her on that note.