Ted Online: Ted Stedman Novel 01 Read online

  She lifted her head and smirked, “I’m a woman remember, we cheat. And Ted? Next time you spank me, do it like you mean it.”

  He chuckled, “Fine. Honestly I’ve been trying not to think of the fact that I’m really a quadriplegic stuck in a pod the size of a coffin, probably for the rest of my life. This feels and seems so real, like it’s really my home and not some virtual construct, and you my sexy sweet temptress are a hell of a distraction. The game was kind of fun too.”

  He pulled her tighter against him and kissed her forehead.

  She sighed and snuggled into him, “I’m glad you feel that way about this place, and especially me,” she smiled shyly up at him and kissed his neck, “Damnit, now you’re distracting me with your sweet talk and nice firm hard body. We should get up and shower, and get to dinner. As far as the rest, it’s normal to avoid the truth for a while, humans are good at denial and it isn’t even unhealthy unless taken too far, but don’t do it for too long, you need to come to terms with it.”

  He sighed, she was totally killing his after sex buzz. He smacked her ass again, this time hard enough to turn it red.

  He smirked, “Did that meet with your approval?”

  She looked at him as if contemplating revenge, but she also looked really turned on. He laughed and rolled out of bed, he’d have to remember that the next time they did it doggy style. He was tempted by her body as they took a quick shower, but he thought to wait until after dinner, sometimes a little anticipation could make things spicier, and he couldn’t imagine a more fun or frustrating thing, than the two of them teasing each other for a few hours.

  She was a normal woman seemingly at times, but one very different thing was that he’d never have to wait for her to get ready. One moment she was drying off, the next she was fully clothed, hair and makeup done. She was dressed in an alluring bright red sundress, and wore three inch black open toed sandals. He let that guide him and put on a nice collared shirt and Dockers, with a pair of brown shoes. When he went out in the living room she had a serious look on her face.

  “What happened?” he asked, he’d never seen her look that worried before, serious and concerned about him occasionally, mostly teasing and flirty, but never worried.

  She waved and the wall television came on, he was looking at a report. He frowned, it was about him. Someone had leaked the test and there were protesters in front of Cyber Dreams?

  Impatient about listening to the stupid report drone on, he asked, “What the hell is going on?”

  Mia muted the television and gave him a brief report, “It seems someone leaked the story, and it’s sparked a huge debate apparently. As you know, research into digitizing humans was outlawed, due to the moral implications of it, and worries that people would do it merely to live forever.”

  He grunted, “It was more than that, they succeeded a couple of times, and the people that did it went crazy, right?”

  She tilted her head back and forth, “Yes, but those failures were from a lack of understanding on just how important the sexual drive and sex were to a human’s mind and wellbeing. They went crazy because the body they were transferred into didn’t have those inputs to the mind. Even the one that tried it failed because the technology wasn’t good enough yet. The tech makes it more than possible now, but as you said, it’s completely illegal on Earth.

  “But yes, some are saying this qualifies, even if it’s actually your brain in a pod that is given the impulses and information on this world, they are saying it is an abomination, and should be outlawed. Humans need to live in their own bodies, and die in their own time. I don’t agree of course, you aren’t actually here, and you aren’t digitized, but it looks like people are protesting it. It could be argued that this is just advanced VR technology, but with the addition of being able to interface with an android body…”

  He nodded slowly, “That could be bad, do you think they’ll gain any traction? I’ll be honest, I don’t want to be unplugged. I may not have come to terms with it yet, but I know I can lead a rich life in here, and I’d miss you.”

  She smiled shyly and looked pleased, “I would miss you as well Ted,” and then she shrugged helplessly, “Only time will tell though, it will take a while before we see how it all falls out. So far no one has talked about suing, or lobbying for a new law.”

  She stepped up to him and stood on her toes, and kissed him softly, “Do you want me to cook you something?”

  He shook his head at her offer of a graceful way to back out of their dinner date, “No, let’s go out, turn that garbage off. Besides, I don’t want to disappoint my date.”

  She beamed at him and took his hand as she waved the television off, and they walked outside. It was the first time he’d left the virtual house, and it was as detailed as the game had been. He felt the cool breeze on his skin, and smelled the outdoor air, as they got into his car. He saw a few neighbors who waved, and he waved back.

  “Are those A.I.s?”

  She nodded, “Yes, right now you’re the only human in this city. It’s a mirror of the real world built by us for us. Most of us A.I.s don’t have bodies in the real world, and aren’t allowed them, so we spend most of our off time here. Although in truth we don’t get time off really, but we can do many things at once, especially on the off times.”

  He frowned, “How about you? Since your job is here.”

  She squeezed his hand, “You worried about me? No Ted, this is me taking time off, mostly. My job is to monitor your body and health in the pod, this time spent with you is ninety percent relaxing, and exactly where I want to be.”

  He nodded slowly, could she really be in love with him? He thought so, but then doubts would sometimes crop up when he thought too hard about it. She was a woman, but an artificial one. Did that make her emotions or dreams any less? Two days ago he wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes, now he wasn’t so sure. She was far more complicated, and more wonderful, than he could have imagined.

  “Ninety percent?”

  She giggled, “Yes, the other ten percent I have my psychiatrist hat on. But even that is fun, because women love to figure out their man.”

  He sighed in faux sadness, “There you go claiming me again. So where are we going?”

  He hadn’t been paying attention, and the car had been driving itself.

  She smirked, “You are mine, but I’m also willing to share. How about surf and turf? There’s a nice steak and seafood restaurant right by the water.”

  He nodded, “Sounds just about perfect. You really can’t feel jealousy at all?”

  She shook her head, “Jealousy and envy are impossible for A.I.s. We can get angry, even furious, for a good cause, but jealousy and envy are the truly caustic emotions. I can miss you, and wish you were here with me if you were with another woman, but I’d also wish you were having a good time and were happy.”

  He nodded, “Of course, the question is how will they feel about me having you waiting for me back home.”

  She nodded, “That could be a problem, unless it was another A.I. of course, then she’d probably want to join us in bed.”

  That thought startled him a bit. He also felt guilty, because what would happen to her if or when he did find a human woman? If that person couldn’t handle his relationship with his A.I. assistant, then… he didn’t know. Maybe Mia wouldn’t be jealous if he couldn’t sleep with her anymore, but he knew they’d both probably be miserable about it. And it had only been a day so far, less than that really.

  He decided to take her earlier advice, and to just take it as it came. Chances were that it would be a long time before he had the freedom to be back in the real world anyway. Assuming of course, this whole procedure wasn’t outlawed before he had the chance to even find out, then he would lose everything…

  Dinner was excellent, and he was becoming addicted to his company as well. He went ahead and had a New York strip and lobster, and she had a ribeye and shrimp. He couldn’t help but look around every once in a while. H
e saw couples, friends, and even what looked like a business dinner. He was starting to be convinced A.I.s were more human than he’d ever imagined.

  Just without the really bad emotions part.

  He waved a hand, “So how do they all feel about a human in their city, when apparently we won’t let them in ours? I mean mine,” he corrected himself.

  Mia finished a bite of steak and then said, “They don’t mind, some are even curious though they won’t intrude.”

  They chatted over the rest of dinner, and he felt full and content when they were done. They held hands when they left the ocean side restaurant, and went for a walk out at the beach to watch the sunset. They’d left their shoes in the car and the sand between his toes felt just like it should. All of it did, and he wondered how long the AIs had worked on this city. He was having such a good time, it all seemed to be too good to be true.

  He started to panic a little inside, because he could so easily fall for Mia. Honestly, it had already started. She was gorgeous, generous, sexy, the best fuck he’d ever had, she cooked, and she adored him.

  He pondered that it was all too easy, he liked a challenge. Yet that hadn’t stopped him from developing feelings, because she wasn’t a simple cut out sex toy like he’d always assumed an A.I. would be. Despite all those positives, she was a complicated and fascinating woman, no doubt she would keep him challenged in myriad ways. Regardless, he felt a little panicked at the idea of losing all of this, if those closed minded fuck wads managed to make this illegal.

  She asked, “Penny for your thoughts?”

  He smiled lightly, for instance she would challenge him by making him talk.

  He squeezed her hand lightly, “Just thinking about the future, and us.”

  She grinned, “What about us?”

  He shrugged and teased, “Oh, just wondering how often you’ll be making me talk about my feelings.”

  She pouted, “Lies, tell me the truth.”

  He nodded and gave in, “Worried about the protestors, I don’t want to lose this, nothing we can do but wait though.”

  She squeezed his hand, and they walked quietly for a while, watching the sunset over the water while occasionally stopping to share soft touches and kisses…

  Chapter Eight

  As the sun finished setting, they started to walk back toward the car.

  Mia asked, “Would you mind if a couple of A.I.s came to say hello?”

  He smiled, “Specific ones? Or just any two?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him, “Specific two, and I’ll take that as permission.”

  He asked, “Who?”

  She grinned, shook her head, and said teasingly, “You’ll find out.”

  He was curious, and saw the two women as they walked toward where the car was parked. They were both attractive, but in completely different ways. One had long golden blonde hair, gray eyes set in an adorable heart shaped face. She wore a slinky black skintight dress over a body built for sin, although not quite as good as Mia’s, but that was more his opinion than anything else.

  The second woman had long red hair, green eyes, and freckles on her nose. She was the tallest out of the three women present. She also had a willowy body, and looked worried. As he got closer he saw she had tears in her eyes. What the hell was she crying about?

  As they got close, the willowy redhead stepped forward and threw her arms around him, and he could hear her sniffle.

  He patted her back rather awkwardly, he also couldn’t help his body’s reaction, but he did ignore it. He couldn’t help it, she was cute, and her soft supple body was practically plastered against him.

  “What’s wrong, who are you?”

  She sniffled and pulled her head back, “I’m so sorry Ted, it’s all my fault.”

  He froze at that voice. It sounded different, full of emotion and inflection, not the officious droning tone he usually heard, but it was still clearly her. The security A.I. at Cyber Dreams. It made the moment rather surreal.

  “Helen? It’s okay, you aren’t the one that shot me. It’s not your fault.”

  She sniffled, blushed, and stepped back. Maybe she’d finally noticed his cock had been digging into her stomach?

  “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have gotten as far as he did. I’ve fixed the holes in security, but…” she trailed off helplessly.

  The very hot voluptuous blonde stepped forward and hugged him. She didn’t grind against him or anything, but she also didn’t seem at all averse to pressing her body against his body, no matter what was poking her stomach.

  He hugged her back gently wondering who it was.

  She stepped back with a cute smile on her face, “Hi Ted. Jen and I have missed you in the lab.”

  He grinned, “Trudy, it’s good to see you, for the first time,” he looked at Helen, “Both of you. I’m sure I’ll be back in the lab soon.”

  Helen nodded and seemed a bit more composed after she wiped her eyes, her voice was so vibrant and alive compared to the office though, it was a little jarring, “Your android body should be ready tomorrow night. Although it will take you a couple of days to adapt I think, before you get back in the lab. Dr. Trent will have to sign off on it.”

  He shook his head in disbelief, was this what A.I.s were really like, and what he dealt with in the office was merely their businesslike persona? He’d never look at another A.I. the same way again.

  Trudy asked, “Do you mind if we stop by sometime and see you? It’s so very rare we get to talk to anyone human off the clock so to speak.”

  He shook his head, “I wouldn’t mind at all, I’m very curious to get to know you two ladies as well.”

  He hadn’t meant that as innuendo, they’d both fascinated him with their sudden vibrant personalities that he really did want to get to know them, but Helen blushed and looked away a moment before she said, “Good. We’ll let you get on with your date. Goodnight Ted.”

  She leaned in almost shyly and kissed his cheek. Trudy just waved happily and they walked off.

  He was thoughtful as they got into the car. Mia held his hand, and cuddled up into him for the drive home. They didn’t speak and just shared the moment.

  When they pulled in it was late, and they got undressed and into bed.

  Mia said, “Thanks for tonight, and thanks for being so nice to Helen. She really does blame herself for what happened. She can’t really express that as the security A.I., but in here…”

  He shrugged and pulled her close. She felt really good against him, but they’d had a lot of sex today. All he really wanted to do was hold her right now.

  “It wasn’t her fault though. Humans are the violent ones. I imagine there’s no crime rate in this city. Besides, I was the dumb ass who played hero without a thought. I should have ducked down and stayed out of it.”

  For just a moment, he was almost glad he was stuck in a pod, as he enjoyed Mia’s presence. Was that crazy?

  Mia asked curiously, “You really don’t mind them coming by?”

  He shook his head, “Of course not. I’m finding all my preconceptions wrong, the longer I spend time with you and in this place the more my perceptions change. I’m kind of curious to get to know them in a place where they act… like themselves, instead of the role they’ve taken in the real world. It’s an eye opener. Plus, you know, what guy wouldn’t want two attractive young ladies dropping by?”

  She smirked up at him, “Tired of me already?”

  He laughed, and objected, “No, I’m afraid I’ll never be tired of you.”

  She frowned at his wording, and kissed him softly, “That’s sweet, thank you. I’m just teasing anyway, no jealousy, remember?”

  He nodded, and kissed her hair. He held her tight, as if to make sure she couldn’t escape. He was afraid. When it came down to it, he was helpless and in a pod, how could he fight if the assholes in the world decided this was illegal and he should be unplugged. Of course, that wouldn’t be settled for a long while either way most likely.
/>   He imagined in the virtual world sleep wouldn’t be a problem, even if he was slightly worried. No tossing and turning. He decided it was time to sleep, and he did…

  He woke up with his back arching, as he felt Mia’s wet warmth engulfing his hard length. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been worshiping his cock with her mouth, but he’d woken up right on the edge of the precipice. He gripped the sheets in his fists and pushed up hard into her mouth.

  Then he gasped when she swallowed him into her throat and hummed in approval, increasing the pleasure. He lost it then, his balls tightened, and his legs went numb as he started to pump his seed down her tight throat.

  When he came back down he laughed, “That answers that question.”

  Mia looked up in confusion, “What question?”

  He laughed lightly, “Sorry, the laugh wasn’t about what you just did. Thank you Mia, that was an amazing way to wake up. The laugh was for a question I’d thought of last night. When I sleep is my virtual body still here, and connected to my mind. Based on how I just woke up, I’m going to go out on a limb and say yes.”

  She giggled, “Yes, this virtual body will be constantly connected to your real body, always. The only things you’ll log into and disconnect from is your gaming body, and the android body in the real world when it’s completed. Glad you liked it. I’m starting to wonder if I’m getting addicted to sex though, I just had to have you in my mouth this morning. I love to make you cum, and I love the taste and feel of it in my mouth.”

  With that salacious statement, she rolled out of bed, and walked toward the kitchen.

  He raised an eyebrow, more than a little turned on even though he just came. It wasn’t just her wanton admission of needing his cock in her mouth, it was also that she didn’t even bother to get dressed first. So he followed suite and they stayed naked for breakfast.

  After they ate she said, “You should go play.”

  He asked, “You think so?”

  She nodded, “Otherwise I’m going to jump you again, you need balance remember? And work isn’t ready for you.”