Unnatural Instinct: Android

13.

You can't believe this is happening. It feels like a dream, a wild dream. It feels like an eternity since a man has looked at you the way Hiro is looking at you now.

But he's not really a man and what you're doing is wrong. Wrong. You're soliciting a prostitute!

No. It's not the same. It can't be the same. Particularly if this is what he wants. Particularly if he feels the way you feel.

But he can't, you fool! He's a robot. A slave to his programming.

That's not certain yet. It could be real. He might be feeling something. He might actually like you.

Rubbish. And you know it's rubbish. He's a robot.

Taking your hand, he intertwines his fingers with yours. 'Do you want me to continue?'

You look into his eyes and try to ascertain what might be going on inside him. His eyes are different. They actually look at you now, not just scan you computer-like like they did earlier in the day when you first encountered him.

Earlier in the day. Has it only been a day? How can so much have happened only in one day?

He speaks your name, and it rouses you from your internal conflict. 'Do you want me to continue?' he asks again.

You swallow. 'Hiro ... what do you feel?'

'I feel like I want to please you.'

'No. Do you ... do you like me or are you just doing this because you're programmed to?'

He squeezes your hand. 'I like you.'

You frown. 'No. Have a think about it, Hiro. Do you really like me? Do you really like me? I don't want you to say it just because you're supposed to.'

He stares at you, blinking slowly. 'I am commissioned to give you sexual pleasure.'

Your heart sinks. Twisting your mouth, you pull your hand out of his grasp. 'Go back to your room, Hiro.'

He frowns. 'You do not find me satisfactory.'

'No. It's not that.'

'I must update my programming.'

He attempts to climb off you but you grab his arm. 'No, Goddamn it! It's not because of that. Why can't you understand this when you understand so many other things?'

He cocks his head. His eyes crinkle up as he struggles to comprehend what you mean. It's such a human-like expression that it makes your heart lurch.

You really do like him. You like him too much.

'Do not update your programming. I am satisfied,' you say. 'But I don't need you now. Go back to your room, Hiro.'

You release his arm and he pulls away from you. Tugging down your shirt, you roll away from him. Your heart is pounding hard and you're blinking rapidly as you struggle against your tears. Maybe you should tell your mum to sell him. This is all too complicated and too hard.

And too wrong.

The bed creaks; the mattress lifts as he stands. You don't move, staring out the window as he waits by the bed. What is he waiting for? Tears cling to your eyelashes. When is he going to go? You don't want him to see how he's affecting you.

Even if he is just a robot.

Finally, you can't take anymore. 'Hiro ...'

'I do not know.'

'What?'

'I do not know if I like you.'

Despite your tears, you roll back to face him. 'What do you mean?'

His forehead furrows and he tightens his mouth as he looks towards the window. He looks so alive and thoughtful and beautiful against the moonlight it makes your throat swell. 'I do not know if it is my programming commanding me to say these things or if it is what I truly mean.'

You raise your eyebrows as your heart leaps.

'I feel strange.' He turns back to look at you. 'I think I like you. Do you like me?'

'Very-very much.'

This time he doesn't ask for permission, sliding back into bed with you. You're about to protest but the surprisingly intense look on his face silences you.

Maybe he does feel something, maybe he doesn't—but you can't resist. Not when he kisses you the way he does. Not when he touches you the way he did. You recall how he put his fingers inside you and the thought that he might do so again tonight almost makes you weep.

He gently takes your face. Using his thumbs, he wipes away your tears. 'You are sad.'

'No.'

He squints as he tries to figure you out. It makes him look so cute, so child-like. 'You are happy.'

'Closer.' You laugh. 'I don't even know what I feel, Hiro. So don't bother trying to figure me out. You might fry a chip or something.'

He smiles, and it's a smile you haven't seen before. It looks deeper somehow, as though his whole face is smiling. 'Humour.'

You take his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. 'Humour.'

Then suddenly he's kissing you and there's no hesitation this time as you kiss him furiously back. He rolls back into position, straddling your hips. Like before, he pulls up your top, then pulls it completely off, again being very gentle around your crippled arm. Then he's kissing you down your neck, your sternum, between your breasts and into your belly button.

'Hiro,' you gasp, clawing your fingers through his silken hair.

He looks up.

You lick your lips. 'Before you go on, let me see you. Let me see all of you.'

He gets off you. With his warm body gone a cool breeze drifts against your skin, making you goose pimple, and that's when you realise that your skin is dry despite all his kissing. Though he seems human, he has no saliva.

Such a peculiar thing.

You gaze up at him, at his broad chest and the big powerful muscles in his arms. His stomach is like a ripple of waves. There's not a scar. There's not a pimple or mole to blemish his perfect flesh. And his face—somehow he looks more beautiful than ever. Is it just your heart talking or is it because he's becoming more expressive?

More human.

The thought makes your heart race. It makes you shiver at the possibilities.

Looking down, he unbuttons his pants. You suck in a breath as he drops them. He's naked underneath. You stare as he waits wordlessly, his hands by his sides.

He's definitely a man. He's got the full package. More than the full package. Like the rest of him, he's completely hairless and you can see everything: the standard pair of testicles, though they don't look as wrinkled or sagging as the real thing, sitting tight beneath his penis which hangs long and thick and as pale as the rest of him. Surprisingly, he's circumsized, or at least he is built that way. You wonder why that is.

Everything is perfect except for one thing: despite everything he's done to you, despite all his kissing and touching, he's not erect. Not even a little bit.

He's completely flaccid.