The Problems with Prototypes (part 2 of 2)

a Crossovers fanfiction by Fred Herriot

NOTE I:  Copies of Jim's story can be located at 
http://jimbader.web1000.com/jimbader.html OR 
http://home.hostultra.com/~AngCobraFics/jimbader.html

NOTE II:  In respect to Jim's writing style, all Oriental (Japanese, 
Korean, Chinese, etc) names are written in "family name-first" order 
in the narrative.  Western names are written in "family name-last" 
order.  Mixed names will be written dependant on the family name.

NOTE III:  Writer's commentary will appear at the end of the story 
text.

**** **** ****

	Shinjuku, the Genome Corporation Tower, after lunch...

	A knock.  "Shinji-chan?"

	The door to the apartment opens, revealling a tall woman dressed 
in a scientist's smock over a purple turtleneck sweater and grey 
skirt, her dark hair combed in bangs to cover her forehead and cheeks.  
Her grey-black eyes dance over her daughter's nude form, now reclined 
on the bed as if she is asleep, arms crossed over her navel.  To Ikari 
Yui's amusement, Shinji's cock is rigidly at attention, the soft skin 
around its head splattered with dried synthetic semen.  "Oooh, looks 
like someone got a ride from my darling little girl," Yui whispers as 
she walks over to sit beside her daughter, then reaches over to push 
open one of Shinji's eyelids, revealling a pitch-dark eye.  "Oh, 
someone deactivated you, did they?!" Yui chuckles amusedly, then moves 
to pull Shinji's hands away from her navel.  Looking down, she notices 
that there is no black skeletal key pressed into the android's body.  
"Okay, where is it...?" she notices her daughter's clothing piled on a 
nearby chair, then she walks over to search the pockets for Shinji's 
activation key.  "Come out, come out, wherever..."

	The phone rings.  "...you are," Yui walks over to pick it up.  
"Moshi-moshi, Genome Tower, Ikari Shinji's residence."

	"Ah!" a young -- *As if there's any other type these days!* Yui 
muses -- woman's voice calls back.  "Is Shinji-chan there?"

	"Um, she's asleep right now," Yui cautiously answers, wondering 
if the caller knew of her daughter's true nature.  "Who's this?"

	"Oh, gomen nasai.  This is Moroboshi Tariko calling."

	Yui's eyes go very wide on hearing the name.  
"Moroboshi-san...?!"

	"Moshi-moshi?!" Tariko calls back.  "Who's this?!"

	"Ah...!  Ah!!" the scientist catches herself.  "Gomen ne, 
Moroboshi-san!  This is Ikari Yui.  I'm Shinji-chan's mother."

	A pause, then, "Hajimimashite, Ikari-hakase.  Believe me, it was 
a pleasure to meet Shin-chan and some of her sisters this morning when 
I visited Misato-san and Ritsuko-san.  You've got quite the daughter, 
ma'am," a delighted titter echoes over the phone.

	*'Shin-chan?!'* Yui's smile broadens, instantly realizing what 
the implications of THAT woman giving her daughter such a cute "pet" 
name meant.  "I'm pleased to hear you say that, Moroboshi-san.  So 
what made you call?  Where are you, anyway?"

	"Ah, I'm on the Shinkansen heading to Kitakyuushuu right now.  
The reason I called is that...!  Um, well..."

	Yui tenses.  "Is there something wrong?"

	"Ah, hai!" Tariko seems to deflate on the other end of the line.  
"Well, I'm not the least bit sure as to HOW this happened, but 
Shin-chan's personal key wound up in MY back pocket before I left the 
Tower this morning!  I didn't notice it until I was on the train!!"

	Yui's eyes widen surprisedly, then she takes a deep breath.  
"Oh, I see..."

	"Gomen nasai, Ikari-hakase..."

	"It's alright!  It's alright!" the scientist shakes her head.  
"It was an accident, Moroboshi-san!  Things like that happen!"

	"Is Shin-chan alright?"

	Yui gazes on her deactivated daughter.  "Hai, Moroboshi-san, 
she's fine.  The thing is, all the girls are programmed to 
automatically deactivate themselves if they're separated from their 
activation key by more than a thousand metres unless their owner 
programs them to accept a greater distance.  It's one of the safety 
features we built into them to ensure they remain close to their 
owners."

	"Ah, soo ka," Tariko replies.  "Well, I wish I could find some 
way to fire this back to you right now, but this train won't hit the 
first stop until it gets past Hiroshima.  And I won't get off until it 
gets to Kokura.  I hope that..."

	"It's alright, dear," Yui assures her.  "I have a master key in 
my possession that I can link Shinji-chan to for the time being."

	"Oh, that's good!"

	Yui then blinks as something comes to her.  "Moroboshi-san, I'll 
tell you what.  What hotel are you going to in Kitakyuushuu?"

	"The Regis Royal Hotel.  It's just north of Kokura Station, 
right by the ferry terminal for Ulsan and Pusan."

	"Alright, then.  Shinji-chan and I'll get the next train down 
and we'll see you as soon as we can."

	Tariko gasps.  "Ikari-hakase, you don't have to...!!"

	"Please, Moroboshi-san, it's quite alright!" Yui chuckles.  "I'm 
sure Misato-san and Ritsuko-san've told you how much I dote over 
Shinji-chan.  But even I realize that she needs a chance to get out 
and mingle with the public.  Besides, I've always wanted to meet you.  
And like it or not, she really needs to have her key back as soon as 
possible.  We'll come see you, alright?"

	"I..." a pause, then, "Well, if it's okay with you, 
Ikari-hakase, I've no problem with that.  I can arrange for a room for 
you two to stay here overnight while you're down here instead of 
forcing you to rush back to Tokyo on a late-night train."

	"Well..."

	"Please!  I insist."

	Yui blinks, then smiles.  "I look forward to seeing you tonight, 
Moroboshi-san."

	"Hai!"

	The link is cut, then after hanging up, Yui reaches into her 
smock to draw out a skeletal key.  Slipping that into her android 
child's navel, she gives it a quarter-turn to the right.  Instantly, 
Shinji's half-open eye glows with new life as a surprised burst of air 
escapes her synthetic lungs.  "Wha...?!  Mom!" she gasps, sensing her 
internal programs link in with the master activation key.  "What 
happened...?"

	"It's alright, Shinji-chan," Yui pulls the key out, freeing 
Shinji's joints, then she draws her nude daughter into an embrace.  
"You just dropped your key into the wrong person's pocket when you 
invited her here for some fun.  It was an accident."

	"Accident?" Shinji blinks, then her cheeks instantly redden.  
"Ta-chan..."

	Yui's eyes widen.  *'Ta-chan?!'  Oh, THIS, I just HAVE to 
hear...!*

*    *    *

	Elsewhere in the Tower...

	"Everything going to plan?" Kate Madigan wonders.

	"Yep," Katsuragi Misato nods as she gazes on the hidden camera 
image of the Ikaris in Shinji's bedroom...

*    *    *

	Nerima, Otimtim's Coffee House, mid-afternoon...

	"Thank you for coming to Otimtim's.  Please have a nice day."

	"Arigatou, Rui-chan.  Have a good day, Master!" the young couple 
returns as they exit.

	Tsutsumi Rui takes a deep breath to calm herself, then gazes 
hopefully on the woman beside the cash register.  "Satomi-sama?"

	"Perfect, Rui-chan," Kurokawa Satomi nods approvingly.  "That's 
the way I want it done all the time, EVERY time, from now on.  Okay?"

	"Hai, but it's hard, Satomi-sama," the younger girl admits as 
she walks up to the counter, placing her tray down as she relaxes on a 
stool.  "I mean, just looking at those two girls while they were 
kissing was starting to make me wet.  Do you know them?"

	"Tsuzuki Kozue and Nagashima Kumiko," Satomi reports.  
"Kozue-chan's a first year student at Hachijuuhachi High School, one 
of the rich kids who goes to that place.  She's pretty likable, I do 
admit.  Kumiko-chan's the daughter of the owner of one of the love 
hotel/spas up the road aways.  They've been dating for about a year 
and I think they're going to go all the way.  They actually met here 
in Otimtim's.  You know how it is:  girl minding her own business, 
sees a pretty girl cross her path, then *click!*" she snaps her 
fingers.  "Lust at first sight.  I actually had to toss them out of 
the place because they were getting a little TOO hot and heavy while 
they were drinking their cocovi," she then giggles.  "Guess I must've 
done them a bigger favour than I initially thought.  It seems to me 
that all the steady couples in this part of town got their big boost 
after I smacked them over the head with a serving tray, then tossed 
them out the door!"

	Rui laughs, then sighs.  "Satomi-sama?"

	"What is it?"

	"Why do you do that?"

	"What?"

	"Stop people from having sex in your shop?  I mean, people 
practically do it everywhere these days!"

	"Hai, hai, I know," Satomi heads over to the milkshake machine.  
"And yes, until things between Tari and I really took off three years 
ago, I was pretty much no different than most people.  It's nothing to 
be ashamed about, by the way.  Everyone knows that a hyped-up sex 
drive is one of the Virus' by-products.  I have to confess, it amazes 
me that our society's been able to adjust so easily to it."

	"But still..."

	The owner of Otimtim's considers that, then sighs.  "Well, first 
of all, I'm running a coffee shop, not a love hotel.  The love hotels 
are all thataway," she points to the east.  "I'm not going to take any 
business away from them since they've been so supportive of me since I 
started operating this place full-time.  Secondly, this was my uncle's 
place before he died," her eyes fall on the black-ribboned picture 
hanging on the wall behind the cash register.  "Given that he was gay 
and lived in times when he had to hide his sexual preference from the 
public at large, I only felt it right to honour his memory by ensuring 
things like that never happen in his coffee house."

	Rui perks.  "He was gay?!" she gapes, then lowers her eyes.  
"Gomen nasai, Satomi-sama."

	"Arigatou, Rui-chan," Satomi closes her eyes.  "Well, I guess 
that disproves that old tale, ne?"

	"What?"

	"About all the gay men of the world becoming herms thanks to the 
Virus?"

	Rui shudders for a moment, then closes her eyes.  "Yeah, I guess 
you can't accept all the things they've said about men, ne?"  She 
leans her elbows on the counter, her chin in her palms.  "Satomi-sama, 
what do you think about men, anyway?"

	"Personally?" Satomi blinks, then sighs.  "Well, I really don't 
remember any men since the last of them died out ten years ago and I 
was still in the orphanage at the time.  I think it was really sad 
that they all died like they did, but I don't believe all that crap 
some women've said about men 'deserving' their fates.  According to 
some of the businesswomen who were around when he was still alive, 
Oji-chan was one of the sweetest, nicest, kindest people you'd ever 
meet.  He would never have dreamt of doing some of the things men've 
been accused of, Rui-chan.  So..." she shrugs.  "Well, there are women 
on this planet who want to have men back.  I'd say let them have them 
back as soon as the Virus disappears once and for all and it'd be safe 
to bring them back.  But there're women who don't want anything to do 
with men.  Their attitudes and opinions matter just as much.  And 
fortunately for them, there's Tari to help them when they want to have 
children!"

	"And she makes a lot of money out it, too," Rui smirks.

	"Hai, that, too!" Satomi points dramatically to the ceiling.  
"My girlfriend, the world's last true prostitute!"

	"Kampai!!" Rui cheers, then blinks on hearing a car drive to a 
stop outside the front doors.  "Ara...?" she turns.

 	Satomi looks to see a stretch limousine come to a halt in front 
of her main doors.  The engine is shut off, then the driver, a lovely 
girl Satomi's age with long, wavy green hair and deep blue eyes, gets 
out.  She is dressed in a formal type of uniform worn by chauffers the 
world over, slacks covering very shapely legs.  She stops by the back 
door, opening it.  Seeing the lovely Caucasian woman with the 
well-styled crimson hair and dark eyes emerge, Satomi blinks, then 
bows as the newcomer steps in, her driver right behind her.  
"Irasshaimasen!"

	"Konnichi wa," the newcomer replies, her Japanese flecked with a 
strong Irish burr.  "You are Kurokawa Satomi?"

	"Hai," Satomi straightens herself.  "And you are...?"

	A business card is immediately handed over.  Satomi scans it, 
she quick to recognize the corporate logo on the left side of the 
cardboard, then she reads the name.  "Katharine Madigan, operations 
chief of the Genome Corporation?  What can I do for you today, 
Madigan-san?" she gazes curiously at the Belfast native, automatically 
slipping the card into her shirt pocket.

	"It's rather what we can do for you, Kurokawa-san," Kate 
chuckles.  "Is it possible that we may talk upstairs in your 
girlfriend's offices?  I have something for you that I personally 
think you'd like to keep secret from the general public."

	Satomi blinks confusedly...

*    *    *

	Minutes later, upstairs...

	"Androids?!  You wanted Tariko and I to be beta testers for your 
androids?!"

	"For the next six months of course," Kate nods.  She and Satomi 
relax in the main offices of Love Destiny Enterprises.  Rui currently 
watches over the counter in Otimtim's below.  Kate's driver, who 
introduced herself as Senrei Anri, now stands behind her boss.  
"You've probably heard of the hype we've been getting over the last 
while about our new 34-S male-form Sexaroid android companion unit.  
We're also building a female and female-herm version of that, which we 
call the Thirty-three-Es.  Over the last few years, we've been doing 
some one-on-one beta testing with our 33-S prototype units.  Now we 
want to switch to group testing for the next while, then when that's 
done, we'll start making production Sexaroids for private sale.  And 
we'd really like it if you and Moroboshi-san would help us in that 
end."

	"Does Tariko know about this?  Is this why she was invited to 
the Tower this morning?"

	"Hai," Kate nods.  "Moroboshi-san's already given her approval 
to the idea, but she prevailed on us to ask you ahead of time before 
bringing the units in.  Four girls have been selected for this 
particular test.  Please feel free to use them in whatever way you 
desire.  I'm sure that even with your hiring Tsutsumi-san downstairs, 
you'd like to have some extra help keeping Otimtim's running 
smoothly."

	Satomi's eyebrow arches.  "You seem to think of everything, 
Madigan-san."

	"I do try, Kurokawa-san.  Even if some people might think that 
finding out things about other people is intrusive, in the end, it 
allows for the better conduct of our business, which serves the 
customer well.  Further, I'd think you'd like the idea of having 
androids, sentient beings with much greater control over their sexual 
impulses than normal women, to help out here."  A knowing smile 
crosses the Belfast native's face.  "We also know of the times you've 
tossed people out of your shop for...!  Shall we say, 'improper' 
behaviour?"

	Satomi smirks.  "Well, as I was just explaining to Rui-chan 
before you arrived, there are more convenient places for people to do 
that than my shop."  She takes a deep breath, then sighs.  "Well, if 
Tariko's got no problems with this, I certainly don't.  Tell me, 
Madigan-san, are there any sort of special needs these girls might 
have?  Some sort of special preparations we need to make for them?"

	"Oh, no, not really," Kate shakes her head.  "Believe it or not, 
Kurokawa-san, they were all constructed from a synthesized version of 
stem cells cloned from your girlfriend's bone marrow by Masudamasu 
Yoshiko-hakase; some of those samples were turned over to us for our 
own use.  Their needs are pretty much the same as a human woman's.  If 
something goes wrong with their programming, we can dispatch one of 
our people down here right away to see what's the matter.  Other than 
that, you should know that..." she stops, then smiles knowingly.  
"Anri?"

	"Hai, Kate?" the driver perks.

	"Take your pants and panties off, please."

	"Hai!"

	Satomi watches as Anri walks around the couch Kate now sits in, 
then quickly drops her pants to allow the owner of Otimtim's to see 
her.  One look is enough, though to the green-haired Sexaroid's 
surprise, Satomi doesn't seem to react with the visceral, panting leer 
most normal girls often demonstrated when they see her equipment.  "A 
herm?!  You built them all as herms?!" Satomi turns back to Kate.

	"Save for ten special models we built for one of your 
girlfriend's former customers in the government, Kusanagi 
Motoko-taisa.  Thank you, Anri," Kate glances at her driver, who 
immediately moves to make herself presentable.  "So, Kurokawa-san, are 
you interested?"

	Satomi gazes on Anri, who gives her a cute smile in return.  
"Hell, why not?!" she shrugs...

*    *    *

	Otimtim's, twenty minutes later...

	"Sugoi!  They're all so beautiful!!"

	The four teenage Sexaroids dispatched from the Tower to start up 
new lives with Satomi and Tariko stand in line of review between the 
counter and the main doors, patiently awaiting the first orders from 
their new co-owner.  They are dressed in slacks and button shirts, all 
specially tailored to hide their true body shape -- especially their 
crotch -- from outside attention.  They also have name tags buttoned 
on their shirts, they bearing both their given name and a fake family 
name to help with their disguise whenever they needed to travel around 
incognito.  Satomi stands in front of them, giving them a careful look 
over to see if anything might be wrong with these four synthetic 
teenagers before she put them to work.  Behind the counter, Rui gazes 
admiringly at the newcomers, her mind already producing tons of images 
as her libido and her imagination start to run wild concerning what 
might be lurking under the Sexaroids' clothing.

	Rei -- known in the general public as Ayanami Rei -- stands at 
Satomi's eye level.  Quite slender, she is blessed with shaggy electic 
blue hair cut off at the base of her chin, bangs covering her 
forehead, ears and parts of her cheeks.  Her eyes are a burning shade 
of chestnut which would appear to be crimson from a distance.  She had 
a cool, calm, quiet demeanour, her voice soft and seductive.  No 
doubt, she was meant to serve as an emotional rock for her organic 
lover to cling on to when trouble loomed on the horizon.

	Asuka -- also known as Asuka Langley -- is the total opposite of 
her beloved sister.  The same height as Rei, she is blessed with mixed 
Caucasian-Oriental features, bright blue eyes and flaming red-gold 
hair styled in twin high ponytails that stretched to the base of her 
shoulder blades.  Her voice is flecked with a faint German accent; she 
was no doubt designed with a buyer who'd prefer a more racially 
"exotic" lover.  Her attitude immediately reminded Satomi of her 
friend, Tendou Akane; Asuka was the best and she damned hell KNEW it!

	Maya -- Ibuki Maya to those who don't know the truth about her 
-- is an older-looking woman, appearing to be Satomi's age.  She had 
been purpose-built by Akagi Ritsuko as a part-time personal laboratory 
assistant.  She is well-versed in computers and all the equipment that 
was used to create her kind of android.  Part of her task here would 
be to serve as a front-line "medic" in case her sisters required help.  
She is a tomboyish woman with brown eyes and dark brown hair 
centre-parted and cut square at the neck.  Of all four, Satomi 
realizes that Maya would most likely be recognized or at least 
suspected to be a hermaphroite by her customers.  *Best keep this one 
close at hand.*

	Hikari -- in public, she went by Horaki Hikari -- is a 
traditional Japanese housewife in the making.  The same physical age 
as Rei and Asuka, Hikari is a girl with freckles dotting her face 
under her wide brown eyes.  Her hair, also brown, is centre-parted 
like Maya's, yet grown out to be tied in flowing side pigtails that 
reached past the tops of her shoulder blades.  She had already been 
well programmed in various cooking and housekeeping chores before 
being sent to Otimtim's, requiring little in the way of upgrades 
before leaving the Tower.

	"That they are, Rui-chan," Satomi nods pleasantly.  "Okay, we'll 
do it this way.  Maya-chan, you'll be at the cashier and help me 
behind the counter.  Hikari-chan, I'll want you in the kitchen as 
often as possible, but if you're needed out here on the floor, you'll 
be brought out to serve as a waitress.  Rei-chan, Asuka-chan, you'll 
both work as floor staff with Rui-chan.  Okay?"

	"Hai!!" the four Sexaroids chant as one.

	"Alright, then," Satomi sighs.  "There's one basic house-rule 
here if Tariko didn't tell you this already:  there is NO SEX allowed 
in this restaurant.  I don't mind kissing and a little fondling, but 
if you see clothes starting to come off or people reaching into skirts 
and pants to get at their lover's pussies, tell me right away and I'll 
come deal with it.  Any problems with that, girls?"

	The newcomers exchange looks, then one holds up a hand.  
"Well..."

	"What is it, Maya-chan?"

	"Well, instead of being so firm about it, Satomi-sama, why can't 
we just escort them to another part of this building to allow them to 
express themselves in a more private setting?" Maya muses.  "I don't 
like the idea of treating people roughly just because they get horny."

	"Maya, Satomi-sama is our owner now," Rei closes her eyes.  "We 
must obey her instructions."

	"But still..."

	Satomi chuckles.  "Relax, Maya-chan.  I know you girls don't 
want to hurt anyone.  That says a lot about you all.  At the same 
time, there are a few love hotels within five minutes' walk of here.  
The owners of those places have helped me a lot while I've been 
running this place.  My 'no sex' rule is meant as a way of paying them 
back for their kindness.  Like I said, let me handle situations like 
that.  Okay?"

	"Hai!" the four android teens chime as one.

	"Um..."

	"Hikari-chan?"

	The freckled girl takes a deep breath.  "When can we have sex 
with each other, Satomi-sama?"

	Satomi blinks.  "Eh?!"

	"Gomen nasai," Maya flusters.  "It should've been explained more 
fully to you, Satomi-sama.  You see, we need to engage in sexual 
intercourse at least once a day.  It's meant to help us keep our 
emotional needs fulfilled.  If we don't..."

	"We start to get really depressed or cranky," Asuka finishes.

	The owner of Otimtim's takes that in, then chuckles.  "Damn!  
It's no wonder they call you girls 'Sexaroids!'" she covers her mouth 
politely, then she takes a breath before nodding.  "Alright, here's 
what we'll do.  I want you girls to make love to each other two times 
a day.  Once in the morning after you wake up, then once in the 
evening after we close for the night and before you go to bed.  Okay?"

	"Hai!!" the four android teens nod.

	"Alright, then!" Satomi nods, pointing to the door leading to 
the upper floors.  "Get upstairs and get your things moved into the 
rooms I set aside for you, then I want you back down here by four 
o'clock sharp so we can open up for the afternoon and evening crowd.  
If you girls do feel the need to answer the call of Sappho before 
coming down here to work, handle it as quick as you can, okay?!"

	"Hai!!" they chant again.

	Rui watches them race off, a delighted leer crossing her face, 
then she jolts on seeing Satomi gaze knowingly at her.  "A-ah!!" the 
younger woman straightens herself, flustering embarrassingly, then she 
jolts on hearing a chuckle escape her employer.  "Eh?"

	"Which one?"

	"Eh?!"

	"Which one?" Satomi nods to the doorway.

	Rui blinks, then flusters.  "Maya..."

	"Go to it, then."

	The younger woman's jaw hits the counter top.  "Huh?!!"

	"Go upstairs and have fun!  You've got needs, Rui-chan!!" Satomi 
waves upstairs.  "Go on!"

	Stunned that Satomi was willing to let her do THAT with one of 
the new android helpers, Rui stutters for a moment, then braces 
herself.  "H-h-HAI!!!" she snaps, then makes a beeline for the upper 
floors, the door clattering shut behind her.

	Satomi watches her go, then chuckles.  "Some people..."

*    *    *

	Osaka, Shinoosaka JR station, later...

	"We can take this train, Mom.  There are no stops between here 
and Kokura."

	Yui scans the schedule mounted on the wall to see what Shinji 
has in mind, then nods.  "Alright.  Let's go get the tickets."

	The Ikaris quickly get in the queue.  Having missed the last 
Shinkansen that could've connected them directly to stops in Kyuushuu, 
Yui and Shinji had been forced to take one of the direct 
Tokyo-Shinoosaka trains, then switch over to another train for the 
Shinoosaka-Kokura part of their journey.  Gazing at the crowd around 
them, Yui smiles on seeing younger girls giving Shinji very appraising 
looks.  The younger Ikari now wears a stylish button blouse and 
designer slacks, a pullover sweater slung cape-like over her 
shoulders.  Even more, Shinji had tied her hair in a ponytail with a 
black silk ribbon.  Result:  one very devastatingly sexy android 
teenager.  *Maybe I should've insisted on making Shinji-chan a 
fully-female android, especially with the way some of these girls are 
looking at her,* the scientist muses to herself.  Even with her more 
"mannish" clothing, Shinji could be easily mistaken for a full-form 
female.  If people found out the truth, however...

	"Oba-chan?!  Shinji-chan?!  Is that you?!"

	Yui and Shinji spin around to see a beauiful, waifish girl the 
latter's physical "age" in a billowing white sleeveless dress gazing 
wide-eyed at them from nearby.  "Mana-chan?!!" Shinji exclaims, then 
seeing the other girl grin, throws open her arms as Kirijima Mana 
gives her a warm glomp, the impact nearly knocking off Mana's 
wide-brimmed white hat from her forehead.  "What are you doing here?!"

	"To see you, silly!!" Mana chuckles, giving her old lover a 
playful bat on the nose with her finger, then she leans up to whisper 
in Shinji's ear, "Mou!  What are you doing letting strange girls make 
off with your activation key, Shinji-chan?!"

	Shinji jolts, then stares wide-eyed at her former beta tester.  
"How'd you know?!"

	Mana shrugs, wrapping one of her arms around Shinji's.  "Mom 
called Misato-san.  She told her what happened.  Lucky for me, you had 
to change trains here in Osaka, so I could come see you and make sure 
you don't get into even more trouble!"

	"Ah, r-right!" Shinji chuckles.

	"Do you want to come with us, Mana-chan?" Yui wonders.  "We're 
going to Kokura for the night, then we'll be heading back to Tokyo."

	"Sure!" Mana, who lived in nearby Kyoto, perks, then nods.

	Taking a quick chance to glance around them, Yui is quick to 
notice the many knowing smiles crossing the faces of those who had 
seen Mana and Shinji reunite.  Such a change from the days before the 
Virus, when even a simple hug and kiss was seen as too expressive for 
the citizens of a nation where the preservation of *wa* -- social 
harmony -- was an overwhelming concern regardless of personal social 
status.  And it was a welcome change in Yui's eyes.  Trying to 
maintain the social "status quo" at all costs, regardless of the 
emotional hell some had been put through because of that, was one 
sure-fire recipe to lead a nation into endemic stagnation.  Regardless 
of the total dearth of men, regardless of people now having sex drives 
that just didn't know the word "quit," the Virus' coming had done 
Japan a lot of good.

	As the queue advances to the ticket counters, a young woman on 
rollerblades skates up, a collection box in hand.  "Sumimasen," she 
stops beside Yui.  "Would you please contribute to the Kansai Special 
District Relief Fund?" she holds up her box.

	Yui slips in a 10,000 yen note, Shinji and Mana giving her 5,000 
yen each.  "Arigatou gozaimasu," the girl bows, then skates off.

	Yui watches her.  "Women of a Special District" was the term 
used in lieu of a word many were still loathe to mention in public:  
burakumin.  They, descendants of those who performed the "dirty" 
trades in Tokugawa days, were only now starting to merge with their 
mother society.  Spearheaded by a drive to "share the wealth" which 
came as an outgrowth of the Virus' enhancement of a woman's motherly 
qualities, the Special District Relief Funds helped finance an effort 
to ensure the living standards of burakumin would be on par with the 
national average.  It was a plan rocked with controversy.  The eldest 
of Japan's women, who had been restored to the full vitality of health 
by the Virus just like everyone else, still held onto their prejudices 
despite the fact that they could as easily be attracted to a pretty 
woman with burakumin ancestry as they could to anyone else.  And 
burakumin weren't the only "special" beneficiaries the Virus' coming 
had aided.  There was now a concerted drive to do everything possible 
to preserve the culture and language of Japan's "first people," the 
Ainu.

	Most of all, a heady spirit of reconcilliation and respect had 
descent on relations between the Land of the Rising Sun and the United 
Democratic Republic of Korea.  Koreans born in Japan, descendants of 
slave laborers brought over during the 1910-45 occupation, had been 
granted their full civil rights ten years ago.  The Korean language 
was mandatory study in junior high and high school.  Japanese students 
happily took the hydrofoils from Shimonoseki, Kitakyuushuu and Fukuoka 
to Pusan, Ulsan and Kwang'yang on "truth-finding tours," trips that -- 
though filled with lots of orgies; girls being girls, of course! -- 
also helped the visitors learn about their own history from an 
outsider's perspective, not to mention practice their language skills 
when they were in fragrante delicto with a lovely Korean lass.

	Cheju-do, the tropical island off Korea's southwest coast, was 
as much a popular destination for Japanese tourists as for Koreans; 
natives of the Land of the Morning Calm reciprocated by travelling to 
Okinawa and its neighbouring islands.  Even more, Cheju-do's famed 
"sea women," experienced divers who scraped the seafloor close to 
their island for shellfish and the like, were teaching a new 
generation their timeless trade who hailed from both Korea AND Japan.  
The body of water separating Korea from Japan now had the name "East 
Sea" (Tonghae in Korean, Tookai in Japanese) in lieu of "Sea of 
Japan."  The Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do in Korean, Take-shima in 
Japanese) were now affirmed as belonging to Korea, though the 
lighthouse there was jointly manned by the U.D.K. Coast Guard and the 
Maritime Safety Agency to ensure fishing fleets from both nations 
didn't suffer a bad accident.  Korea's many "comfort women," sexual 
slaves to the Imperial Army before 1945 -- they having more than 
enough reasons to hate anything Japanese! -- had been properly and 
fully compensated by the government for the hideous abuses heaped on 
them in the past.  Even the Empress herself these days revelled in 
having ancestors from Korea's ancient Paekje Kingdom.

	"Shinji-chan?"

	"Hai, Mom, what is it?" Shinji gazes on Yui.

	"Did Moroboshi-san tell you where else she was going on her 
business trip?"

	"Eh?!" Mana's eyes go wide, then she looks nowhere in 
particular.  "Moroboshi...?" she whispers as the name comes to her, 
then she spins on Yui.  "You mean...?" her voice floods with 
excitement, she gripping Shinji's arm tightly.  "Moroboshi Tariko?!  
THAT Moroboshi?!"

	"Hai, the very same!" Yui chuckles.

	Shinji laughs embarrassingly.  "Well, Ta-chan said she'd be 
going to Fukuoka, then across to Pusan."

	Mana perks.  "'Ta-chan?!'" her voice rises ominously, making 
Shinji balk as panic surging through her, then the android teen finds 
her head shifted so she could then gaze into Mana's eyes.  "Was it 
good?" the latter leers knowingly.

	"Ah...!  Ha...!  H-hai, it was..." Shinji stutters before she is 
swamped by a kiss from her old tester.

	"Good!  I want to meet her," Mana declares as her free hand 
slips into her pocket to gently wrap around a black key...

*    *    *

	Nerima...

	"You girls fully moved in?"

	Rei and Asuka look up from their beds, surprising Satomi with 
misty eyes.  "Eh?!" the owner of Otimtim's walks in to kneel between 
the two android teens, automatically squeezing their hands in comfort.  
"What's wrong?!  You girls alright?!"

	Asuka sniffs, then wipes her eyes.  "Gomen nasai, Satomi-sama," 
she sniffs again.  "We didn't mean to distress you, but..."

	"It just dawned on us that this is the first time we've engaged 
in an exercise without our other lover," Rei finishes.

	"'Other lover'...?" Satomi blinks, then stares at the picture on 
the nightstand dividing the two Sexaroids' beds.  Rei and Asuka with a 
tomboyish girl their age, possessing dark brown hair wrapped in a 
thick French braid and eyes the same shade as Asuka's.  Taking the 
picture in hand to examine it more closely, the silver-haired woman 
then asks, "Another Sexaroid?"

	"The prototype of our particular model," Rei sighs.  "Her name 
is Shinji; Ikari Shinji as she'd be called in public.  Her 'mother,' 
so to speak, is Ikari Yui, one of the chief scientists in the project 
that created us all.  She..." she pauses, squeezing her eyes shut.

	"Everything we've done in pairs or group work, we've always done 
it with Shinji-chan," Asuka explains.  "Even when we went out into the 
public with a beta tester in a one-on-one situation, we'd always go 
back to the lab and there she'd be."

	"Every time she deactivated me, she always said, 'I love you, 
Rei-chan.'"

	"Me, too..."

	Sensing them both about to break down and cry, Satomi gazes at 
them, then sighs.  "C'mon," she rises.

	"Eh?!" the Sexaroids gazes curiously at her.

	"Come with me."

	A pause, then both chime, "Hai!"

	They follow their new co-owner into Satomi's and Tariko's own 
bedroom, which came equipped with a small recreation space.  A side 
door led into a bathroom with all the amenities one could ask for, 
including a jacuzzi unit that was just as good as a traditional furo.  
Satomi beckons Rei and Asuka to sit on a couch, then once the 
Sexaroids appear comfortable, reaches for her shirt.  The two android 
teens watch wide-eyed as their owner strips down for them, revealling 
a very perky body with C-cup breasts and a trimmed patch of dark 
silver-grey hair over her womanhood.  Satomi then gives them a 
suggestive look, one Rei and Asuka had seen too many times with their 
previous beta testers, not to mention their own sisters.  With the 
carefully coriographed moves one might expect of a professional 
stripper, both Sexaroids slip off their clothes, then move to recline 
themselves against their owner, their now-erect cocks lying on 
Satomi's thighs.  Quickly realizing what sort of fun Rui must now be 
having with Maya -- and most likely Hikari as well -- the owner of 
Otimtim's gently draws her arms around her android charges.  "You both 
want to make love to me, don't you?" she gently shifts their heads to 
lean against her shoulders.

	"Of course we do, Satomi-sama," Rei reaches up to gently run a 
hand over Satomi's breast.  "It is what we are built for and you are 
our owner now.  Please don't think of having sex with us as a 
'betrayal' of your relationship with Tariko-sama."

 	"Tariko-sama told us that we were to give you all the comfort 
and companionship we could, Satomi-sama," Asuka adds, she gently 
rubbing the coffee shop owner's well-toned stomach, her index finger 
tracing Satomi's navel.  "And that's what we'll do, Satomi-sama."

	"Are you displeased by our being here, Satomi-sama?" Rei asks.

	Satomi takes a deep breath.  "Okay, first of all, girls, let's 
drop the whole 'Satomi-sama' bit, PLEASE!  Every time I hear someone 
call me that, it makes my damn skin crawl.  Could you girls PLEASE be 
more informal?!"

	Asuka and Rei blink, then grin.  "Gomen, Sa-chan," the former 
leans up to kiss her owner's cheek.

	"We didn't realize it bothered you this much, Satomi," the 
latter replicates her sister's action on Satomi's other cheek.

	"That's better," Satomi chuckles.  "And no, girls, I'm not the 
least bit displeased by your being here.  It sure as heck took me by 
surprise that a company like Genome would trust someone like ME with 
androids like yourself, regardless of how Tariko factored into your 
creation.  But I'm not bothered by it at all.  As a matter of fact, 
I'm very happy that you're here.  Business at Otimtim's has been 
picking up a lot since I took over running this place from Oji-chan's 
friends, so I can use the help.  And..." she pauses, then gives her 
android companions a warm squeeze with her arms, "...yes, I will want 
to have a few good romps in the hay with you girls in due time, 
okay?!"

	"Okay!" Asuka grins.

	"Still..."

	"What is it, Rei-chan?" Satomi gazes on the blue-haired teen.

	"I can sense that your level of arousal at our presence is a lot 
less than what a normal girl's would be," Rei gazes on Satomi's pubic 
hair, quick to detect the dryness in those dark strands.  "Is this 
because of your friendship with Morisato Ryuunosuke, Satomi?"

	"You mean, am I used to having naked herms press their love 
sticks against my body because I've have loads of fun with 
Ryuunosuke-chan beforehand?" Satomi chuckles, then nods.  "Yes, 
Rei-chan, I've made love to Ryuunosuke-chan a few times in the past.  
Mostly, those times've happened whenever Tariko's been off on her 
longer trips overseas and Ryuunosuke-chan was particularly pissed off 
at her old fiancee for screwing around with other girls behind her 
back.  But..." an amused smile then crosses her face, "...I think that 
now that Ryuunosuke-chan's together with Lum-chan and Miyaki Shinobu 
is now well into my friend's past, things'll go very well for her from 
now on."

	"I'd love to meet Lum-sama," Rei muses, then blinks.  "Do you 
think she'll like those like Asuka and I, Satomi?"

	"Probably," Satomi shrugs.  "They've probably got androids on 
her home planet since they are advanced enough to send warp-capable 
starships all the way here to Earth."  She pauses as something comes 
to her, then holds up a finger in emphasis.  "Also, whenever 
Ryuunosuke-chan and Lum-chan come to visit, not to mention their 
friends, Ran-chan and Benten-chan, you're to treat them ESPECIALLY 
nice, girls.  They sacrificed a lot when they came here, allowing 
themselves to be infected by the Virus and all that.  Chances are, 
they'll be here for quite some time to come.  So I want them all to 
feel as comfortable as possible whenever they come to visit the shop, 
alright?"

	"Hai!" both Sexaroids readily nod.

	Silence falls as they remain where they are, enjoying the warmth 
of each person's body pressed against another's, then Satomi turns to 
gently kiss Rei's forehead.  "You girls really miss Shinji-chan, don't 
you?" she whispers.

	Hearing their beloved sister's name, both Sexaroids tense, then 
nod.  "Hai," Asuka closes her eyes, slowly breathing out.

	"I feel as if elements of my basic programming have been torn 
out of my mind, leaving nothing behind to replace them," Rei admits.

	"Just because Shinji-chan isn't here with you girls now doesn't 
mean that she loves you any less, you know."

	Both younger women gaze on their owner.  "You sure?" Asuka 
sniffs.

	"Hai, I'm more than sure," Satomi nods, then takes a deep 
breath.  "Let me tell you a little story, okay...

	"I was pretty much orphaned before the Virus hit," the owner of 
Otimtim's gazes on the ceiling.  "I wasn't even a year old when my dad 
was killed and my mother disappeared.  My uncle, Kurokawa Juuichirou, 
adopted me at the time.  Then the Virus hit.  Oji-chan died soon 
enough and I was sent off to an orphanage.  There, I met two other 
Virus orphans, Fujinami Ryuunosuke and Moroboshi Tariko.  We became 
inseparable for the next two years.  We played together, slept 
together, ate together, went to nursery school together...!  We did 
EVERYTHING together, girls.  The people running the orphanage at the 
time claimed that one would need a bomb to try to separate us.  
Then..."

	"Ryuunosuke-san and Tariko-chan were adopted and you were forced 
to stay behind," Asuka notes.

	"Hai," Satomi nods.  "Because my mother had disappeared and 
there was no death certificate issued for her -- it was still way too 
soon for the laws at the time to officially acknowledge her as 
'deceased' -- no one could adopt me like Ryuunosuke-chan's mother did, 
much less make me her ward like Haruka-obachan did with Tariko.  And 
it hurt me when they were taken away, girls.  It hurt me a lot.  There 
were times that I locked myself in my room, hugging my teddy bear 
while I cried.  I missed them THAT much.  I felt at the time that my 
whole life had come to an end.  What was the fun of doing anything 
then when I couldn't do it with Tariko and Ryuunosuke-chan?  Then..."

	"What?" Rei prompts.

	"Then Tariko started to visit me as much as she could, even when 
she started to go to private school with Ryooko-chan.  Being 
Haruka-obachan's ward gave her the ability to visit me as often as she 
could.  I later found out that Tariko had asked Oba-chan to get her 
people to try to learn what happened to my mother.  If Mom was 
confirmed as dead, then Haruka-obachan could've adopted me as her ward 
as well and Tariko and I would be together again.  But until Mom's 
fate could be confirmed either which way, I had to stay at the 
orphanage."

	"What did happen to your mom, Sa-chan?" Asuka asks.

	"She suffered near-total amnesia because of the car wreck that 
killed my dad," Satomi closes her eyes.  "Oba-chan's people finally 
traced her down to a Yakuza group operating in Sendai.  She'd pretty 
much become the family slut when all the wiseguys started to die out 
and the dragon women took over running their group.  Mom's..." a faint 
shudder races through her, one the Sexaroids are quick to detect.  
"She's being cared for now in a mental health home.  Oba-chan made all 
the arrangements.  But the doctors've all said that it might be 
impossible for Mom to ever recover her memories from before the 
accident.  I..." she lowers her head.  "I don't visit her now.  It's 
not because I hate her in any way, of course.  But it's pretty hard 
for me to go visit someone who's completely forgotten that she gave 
birth to me."

	"I guess it would be," Rei sympathetically nods, wrapping her 
arms around Satomi's waist.

	"Yeah," Satomi breathes out.  "Well, when I turned fourteen, 
Oba-chan arranged for me to take over control of Otimtim's.  Oji-chan 
willed it to me before he died.  That's when Tariko was starting up 
with Love Destiny Enterprises.  We came back together again and we've 
pretty much stayed together since.  So..." she gazes on Rei, then 
Asuka.  "I want you girls to remember this.  Just because you're now 
separated from Shinji-chan doesn't mean you'll never see her again.  
She's still at the Tower.  And I bet that deep down, she's happy that 
both of you, not to mention Maya-chan and Hikari-chan, are going to be 
spending time doing what you were built to do among the general 
public.  I'm sure Tariko's probably thought about this, too.  When she 
comes back, I'll talk to her, then we'll go to your creators at Genome 
and see if we can arrange for Shinji-chan to come here to be with you.  
Sounds okay?" she gazes on her charges.

	"Hai!!" both Sexaroids chime, impish smiles crossing her face.

	The three then perk on hearing a door chime echo from below.  
"Oh, damn, that must be Miho!" Satomi slides out from between Asuka 
and Rei, then moves to slip on an opaque housecoat that just goes to 
mid-thigh.  "Get yourselves dressed before you come down, okay, 
girls?"

	"Who's Miho, Sa-chan?!" Asuka asks.

	"Daughter of the owner of a flower shop a block from here.  She 
brings in the flowers to decorate my place."

	Both Sexaroids nod understandingly as Satomi ties her housecoat 
down, then slips on a pair of sandals before heading back into 
Otimtim's.  Waiting by the counter now is a girl the coffee shop 
owner's age, though shorter and somewhat less developed in the 
bustline than Satomi.  With brown eyes that matched the shade in 
Tariko's own orbs, Suzuki Miho has long, curly pink-platinum hair she 
ties in two buns over her ears.  She also often wears a decorative 
ribbon around her head with a bow right over her forehead.  At 
present, she is in her usual work clothes:  a white-trimmed red button 
blouse, orange thigh-length skirt with an apron draped over her.  
Beside her is a small push-cart now laiden with a rainbow of beautiful 
flowers.  "Konnichi wa, Satomi-chan!" Miho grins.  "How's the new girl 
turning out?"

	"How'd you know that, Miho-chan?" Satomi wonders as she and Miho 
start unloading the flowers.

	"Kumiko-san and Kozue-san told me about her when they came by 
after they had coffee here.  Is it true that girl comes from Animal 
Mansion over in the east side of the city?" Miho asks as she places a 
pot of tulips by one window booth.

	"Hai, it is," Satomi puts some marigolds beside another booth.  
"Rui-chan's got loads of potential, but she still has to get used to 
not being the block slut anymore.  You can probably hear her right 
now," she nods upstairs.

	Miho stops, canting her ears to pick up the faint sounds of 
lovemaking drifting from the second floor.  "Who's she with?"

	"Oh, a couple new girls I hired on to help out here."

	"It's about time," Miho smirks.

	Soon enough, the new flowers are all in place.  With that, 
Satomi moves to sit on a stool by the cashier as Miho wheels the push 
cart outside, then comes back in.  "So I take it that you'd like your 
usual form of payment, Miho-chan?" she grins knowingly.

	Miho's cheeks colour.  The young floral shop worker often 
accepted an hour of very intensive sex with the owner of Otimtim's as 
payment for delivering the flowers and helping set them up.  The 
flowers themselves were paid for when they were ordered through 
Satomi's corporate bank account.  "Gomen ne, Satomi-chan.  I'd love to 
do it right now, but I've got to get back to the shop right away."

	"Oh?  Why?"

	"Ijuuin-san's coming by soon to pick up twenty-four long-stemmed 
pink roses."

	Satomi perks.  Ijuuin Rei was the elder daughter of the 
matriarch of one of Japan's richest families.  Currently, she was a 
third year high school student at Kirameki High School, a private 
institution located in Nerima's east end.  In many ways, the Ijuuins 
were the equals of the Mendous when it came to political and economic 
influence.  Both Rei and her younger sister Mei were frequent 
customers at Otimtim's.  Satomi knew that Rei was currently dating 
Kirameki's most beautiful student, Kagami Mira.  Mei, who went to 
Hibiniko High, a private school in the west end of Toshima Ward close 
to the border with Nerima, was going steady with schoolmate Minaduki 
Kotoko.  "Oh, my!  I guess things between Rei-san and Mira-san are 
picking up!" Satomi chuckles, then blinks on seeing the surprised look 
cross Miho's face.  "What?!"

	"Didn't you hear?!"

	"Hear what?!"

	"Ijuuin-san and Kagami-san broke up!"

	Satomi blinks, then sighs.  "Well, that's not so surprising, you 
know..."

	"I know, I know.  But wait until you hear who it is that 
Ijuuin-san's after now!"

	"Who?!"

	"Fujisaki Shiori."

	Silence.

	"SHIORI?!!" Satomi exclaims, her jaw hitting the floor in 
disbelief.  "Miho, everyone in all of Tokyo knows that woman's no 
girl's land!!  Yeah, she'll get laid by any girl who wants to do it 
with her, but she's still in mourning over her..."

	"...childhood friend Takami Naoto, one of the last boys to die 
because of the Virus," Miho finishes.  "Hai, hai, I know!  I even 
warned Ijuuin-san that she doesn't stand a virgin's chance in 
Kabuki-chou to get anywhere near to forming a relationship with 
Shiori-chan!"  The florist then takes a deep breath.  "But she's 
determined to make it more than a one night stand, Satomi-chan.  I 
wish her luck!"

	"So do I!" Satomi chuckles, covering her face as the idea of the 
tall, tomboyish, blonde, brown-eyed Ijuuin Rei actually becoming a 
girlfriend to the very beautiful, chestnut-eyed, crimson-haired 
Fujisaki Shiori.  "Geez, next thing you'll know is that Kamagishi 
Akari over at Akimena High School's willing to let go of the memory of 
HER childhood friend Fujita Hiroyuki and go steady with someone!"

	"Actually..."

	Satomi stops, she giving Miho a wary look.  "Who...?"

	"Kurusugawa Serika."

	More silence.

	"No -- fucking -- WAY!!" Satomi declares.

	"Does FOUR dozen amethyst roses say anything to you about 
Kurusugawa-san's desire, Satomi-chan?" Miho's eyebrow arches.

	The owner of Otimtim's shakes her head.  "Impossible!  Serika 
coming together with Akari-chan has even LESS chance of happening than 
Ijuuin Rei coming together with Fujisaki Shiori!  There's not a time 
that Akari-chan doesn't come in here after getting laid by someone and 
she's on the verge of TEARS because she feels she just betrayed her 
love to a boy who died when they were only SIX!  Even the two times 
I'VE done it with Akari-chan's resulted in her bawling her eyes out 
because she promised Hiroyuki-kun she'd stay loyal to him!!"

	Miho nods.  "Yeah, Shiori-chan was the same way the one time I 
ate her out.  But still..."

	"What?"

	"Well, after it happened and we were laying together, 
Shiori-chan told me that she was haunted by visions of Naoto-kun 
having become a girl and growing up somewhere where people wouldn't 
have known 'she' had been born a boy!  Weird, huh?!"

	Satomi blinks, then looks nowhere in particular.  "Odd..."

	"What?" Miho wonders.

	"The first time I did Akari-chan, she told me the same sort of 
thing about Hiroyuki-kun."

	The florist perks.  "That IS peculiar!" she notes, then notices 
the time.  "Oh, damn!  I gotta go!!  Gomen, Satomi-chan!"

	"Come back after work tonight, Miho-chan!" Satomi calls out as 
Miho races off.  "I've got a special treat for you tonight!!"

	"Hai!!" the other woman waves...

*    *    *

	Kitakyuushuu, the Regis Royal Hotel...

	"We can't begin to express our gratitude to you for wanting to 
help us do this, Miss Moroboshi."

	"Please, call me Tariko.  And it's my pleasure," Tariko grips 
the hands of the latest couple to seek out "consultations" with her.  
"It's rather surprised me that you'd be willing to come down to Japan 
to see me instead of my flying to Vladivostok to see you."

	"You've already done enough travelling around the world for 
those such as we, Tariko...?  Um, your mother's name?" the willowy 
Russian with the brown eyes and wavy brown hair asks, she slipping the 
gabardine off her shoulders to reveal a stylish skirt and blouse.

	"Kinshou.  I'm Tariko Kinshovna, Tania Ivanova," Tariko smiles, 
addressing Tania Ivanova Bisyarina by the "given name and patronymic" 
format used by Russian women who had reached sexual maturity before 
the Virus' coming, then she quickly senses a burst of subtle arousal 
from the third woman in their group.  "What?" she gazes on Tania's 
wife, a curvy, blonde American with brown-grey eyes.

	"Oh, it's nothing!" the former Beatrice Allanna Taussig shakes 
her head, waving the younger woman down.

	"Bea!" Tania gives Beatrice a scolding look, then indicates her 
clothes.  "Back when I was a young and foolish Foreign Directorate 
agent supervisor working in America, I always had to visit this 
clothing store whenever I picked up my agent's dead-drops," her eyes 
briefly glance on her companion.  That look told Tariko quite a bit 
about how this couple originally came together.  "I always had to 
shell out over two hundred dollars worth of clothes EVERY DAMN TIME 
just to pick up whatever microfilm my agent stashed in the change 
room."

	"You were KGB?" Tariko gapes, taking her guests' gabardines and 
hanging them up as they sit down at the round dinner table.  She had 
been given Tania's rank when her Moscow agent, Elena Semyonovna 
Filitova, passed on the request for consulation, but not her exact 
service.

	"Still am.  Though these days, my service is called a different 
name," Tania looks around the room.  "This is very nice."

	"That it is," Tariko moves to join them.  The room they stand in 
is one of the Regis Royal's penthouse suites, a room with two queen 
sized beds, a dinner table, a work desk, full entertainment suite, 
bathroom with jacuzzi, bar and a small, glassed-in padio overlooking 
the busy streets of Kitakyuushuu and the Kanmon Strait dividing 
Kyuushuu from Honshuu.  "Every time business makes me come to this 
city, I always use this room.  I've got a special arrangement with the 
management, which cuts down on costs for both myself and my 
customers."

	"You do that everywhere?" Beatrice wonders.

	"In Japan, Korea and some of my more frequent overseas 
destinations," Tariko opens her laptop computer, then flicks it on.  
"Okay..." she calls up the special accounting/records program for Love 
Destiny Enterprises, which helped her keep track of all her previous 
customers.  Drawing up a blank couple's data page, she then loads in 
scanned picture files of Tania and Beatrice sent to her by Elena some 
weeks ago, then she starts loading in the necessary information.  
"Alright, then.  Bisyarina, Tania Ivanova and Bisyarina (nee Taussig), 
Beatrice Allanna.  Both currently resident in Metro Moscow, Russia.  
Tania, what exact work do you do now for the RVS, anyway?"

	"I'm a staff officer at RVS headquarters.  I'm part of the group 
that administers Directorate 'S,'" Tania replies.

	"That's their scientific research and investigations team," 
Beatrice adds.  "I'm a special science advisor to that group."

	"Alright, then," Tariko makes her notes.  "How long have you 
been married?"

	"Six years, seven months," Tania answers.  "We've been together 
since about a year before the Virus' first arrival, though."

	"Okay, then.  And how long, if you can remember this, has it 
been since you first talked about having children?"

	"Since shortly after we left the States," Beatrice replies, 
taking a deep breath as her hand squeeze's her wife's.  Tariko quickly 
senses a swell of intense pain bubbling up from the depths of the 
expat American's soul.  "Though we didn't really take any sort of 
discussion about children seriously until shortly after our marriage, 
when the first conception clinics were organized in Russia."

	"It's a promise Bea made to herself because of a friend she lost 
as a result of the Virus' coming," Tania explains.

	"A man?" Tariko asks.

	Beatrice's eyes flash briefly.  "No, not a man!" she evenly 
intones, then quickly catches herself before relaxing.  "I'm sorry, 
Tariko.  I came to accept my sexual preference long before the Virus 
forced my type of lifestyle on every woman on the planet.  Believe me, 
I have never ONCE been attracted to a man in THAT fashion.  Yes, I do 
accept that there are those on this planet who would rejoice if men 
did come back.  I'm not one of those nuts in the Hydra who's 
determined to make all women see their point of view, though."

	Tariko nods.  "Alright, then.  Please, Bea, I really don't 
desire to offend either you or your wife here, but I have to know this 
before I can help you.  So..." she takes a deep breath.  "I assume 
that this friend of yours Tania just mentioned was a woman who did 
take what was happening back then very badly."  Gazing on the 
American, who stiffly nods, tears brimming in her eyes, the young 
woman senses the ache deep in Beatrice's soul increasing 
exponentially.  "May I ask her name, Bea?  Do you intend to name your 
daughter after her?"

	Beatrice nods.  "Candi.  Her name was Candice Long.  We..." she 
bites her lip.  "We were university classmates, then ended up working 
for the government on some adjunct to the whole 'Star Wars' thing 
Reagan was promoting back then.  I..." she sighs.  "I disagreed with 
the whole concept on moral grounds.  Weapons of THAT nature, despite 
the hype at the time that the whole SDI thing was 'defensive,' would 
have just escalated the Cold War a few more notches, perhaps even lead 
us all into World War Three hadn't the Virus come along.  I didn't 
speak out loudly against it at the time.  If I did, it would've cost 
me my career.  But when Tania here came along looking for 
information..."

	"You agreed to become her agent-in-place," Tariko finishes.

	"Yes."

	"Was that the only reason you decided to do that?"

	Beatrice closes her eyes.  "No," she breathes out.  "Part of it 
was personal, too."

	"You were attracted to Candi?" Tariko lowers her voice.

	"Very," the American slowly nods.  "I...!  Well, at the time, 
there was this guy.  Major named..." she pauses, then sighs.  "Oh, 
hell, I forgot his name!  Anyhow, he and Candi met about two years 
before the Virus came.  I'd known her for quite some time before it 
happened.  But..." she grimances.  "Damn!  I was suck a fucking coward 
back then!!  I just...!  I just COULDN'T bring myself to try to 
express how I felt about Candi!  And...!  This little prick comes 
along -- and he just sweeps her off her feet!!  And...!" she stops, 
takes a deep breath, then she relaxes as Tania's hand squeezes her 
shoulder in support.  "And the crazy thing about the whole damned mess 
was that he was one real sharp cookie when it came to Star Wars.  
Because of that, he was the one I had to keep an eye on when Tania 
recruited me.  Everything he did was of big -- I mean REAL big! -- 
interest to Tania's bosses in Moscow.  So I had to keep close to him 
AND Candi to do my job and..."

	"It tore you apart every time they expressed any sort of 
intimacy in front of you, right?" Tariko slowly nods.

	Beatrice blinks, then sighs.  "Yeah.  And when the Virus came, 
he...!  Well, he died almost right away.  And it tore Candi to pieces!  
I..." she lowers her head.  "I wanted to comfort her!  To help her get 
over it.  To show her how much I cared for her.  But if I moved too 
fast right after he just upped and DIED, it...!  It would've been 
wrong!  Hell, even if I was stealing his secrets to give to Tania, 
even if I resented how much he'd twisted Candi around his finger, 
it...!" her voice fades, then she buries her face in her hands and 
begins to cry.

	Tariko gazes on Tania.  The Russian is already moving to comfort 
her wife, allowing Beatrice to bury her face in the curve of Tania's 
neck as she weeps for her lost friend.  Watching this scene, Tariko 
slowly nods.  No doubt after watching her boyfriend wither and die 
before her eyes, Candi Long decided she herself had nothing left to 
live for.  Using the case of Tariko's own mother as an example, Candi 
probably killed herself before the Virus' positive effects would've 
made such an attempt almost impossible.  It was just too easy for the 
president of Love Destiny Enterprises to draw up the right 
conclusions.  Since that horrible day -- using just her empathic 
abilities, Tariko can guess what it must have been like when Beatrice 
discovered Candi's body -- the expat American scientist constantly 
blamed herself for not reacting fast enough, for not overcoming her 
shyness when it came to the woman she had borne such a long crush on, 
before it was too late.

	Finally, Beatrice takes several deep breaths to compose herself, 
then she wipes her eyes.  Tania keeps an arm wrapped around her wife's 
shoulder.  "You vowed that if the chance came and you could have a 
daughter, you'd name her after Candi," Tariko concludes, then seeing 
the American nods, turns to the Russian.  "How do you feel about all 
this, Tania?  About your wife and what she went through?"

	"Well..." Tania sighs.  "My primary mission at the time was to 
gather enough information on the American SDI program so that we could 
advance our own anti-missile defence program forward.  We were making 
pretty good progress at the time the Virus came, when it all..." she 
rolls her eyes.  "Well, all my work was flushed down the toilet when 
everyone back home came to understand how deadly the Virus was and 
what sort of real impact it would've had on the Motherland, not to 
mention everywhere else on the planet.  So those people like myself 
who did have agents in the American scientific community that could 
help us were told to bring them to the Rodina.  Bea..." she gazes 
fondly on the American, who gives her wife an arm-squeeze in return, 
"...was more than happy to come.  After Candi died, she felt she had 
nothing left in America to sustain her, so we fled south to Mexico, 
then across to Cuba, then back to Moscow.  We've been there ever 
since.  As things started to settle down finally and the Virus'..." 
Tania then flushes as memories of all the wild sex she experienced in 
those heady years comes back to her, "...well, shall we say, more 
*insane* side-effects got to us all, it...!" she starts to giggle.

	"Mass orgies in the banyas..." -- the expat American refers to 
the many Russian public steam bath houses -- "...especially when you 
had these old babushkas being virtually reborn as twentysomething 
nymphomaniacs ready to fuck everything in sight!  No matter how young 
or well-hung, if you catch my drift!" Beatrice snickers, gazing at the 
ceiling as her own memories start flodding back.  "Then, some of the 
workers at the female Gulag camps start dreaming up all these NEW ways 
of 'questioning' their prisoners..."

	"There was that one camp where the prisoners and the guards 
actually SWITCHED PLACES for a week!" Tania holds up a finger.

	"Oh, damn!  I remember that one!" Beatrice groans.  "And before 
you know it, everyone at the womens' camps, guards and prisoners 
alike, decided they were going to raid all the men's camps just to get 
their rocks off!  Gaia, what a crazy time it was!!"

	"Back before the Virus, any sort of gay or lesbian behaviour 
detected by State Security was automatically declared 'anti-social,'" 
Tania explains to Tariko.  "For a first-time offence, you got five 
years in what was then called a 'camp of mild regime.'"

	"Which would've been pretty damn rough by Western standards," 
the younger woman notes.

	"Da," the Russian nods.  "Of course, it all changed when the men 
died out and we had no choice but to resort to each other to see our 
needs and desires tended to.  And..." she gazes fondly on her wife, 
"...no matter what happened, Trisha, you always were there for me."

	"You were there for me, Nisha, even when you found it hard to 
accept that I was a lesbian," Beatrice reminds her.

	"How do you feel about Candi, Tania?" Tariko asks.

	The Russian takes a deep breath.  "These days, I grieve at what 
the Virus did to her, Tariko.  Her death was a terrible loss.  She was 
such an intelligent woman.  If..." she bites her lip.  "Well, if we 
had saved her, I would've done my best to persuade her to come with 
Bea and myself back to Moscow.  We needed many smart women in those 
days to help us get through those times.  And..." she blinks before 
staring at her wife.  "Candi's death hurt my wife so much.  Even when 
it seemed that any sort of lasting relationship would NEVER develop 
between Bea and I, there were nights when I'd look in on her when she 
was asleep and hear her cry over what happened to Candi.  I guess that 
eventually helped solidify things between us as..." she shrugs, 
"...well, the *novelty* of having sex with every woman who crossed my 
path started to wear off.  I guess because Bea is a lesbian by birth, 
her sense of emotional stability helped me develop my own sense of 
stability."

	"I've heard that many times about other lesbian-normal couples," 
Tariko nods.  "What name would you give your own child, Tania?"

	"Livia."

	"'Livia?'"

	"My KGB code-name," Beatrice smirks.

	"Ah!  Alright, then," Tariko takes a deep breath, then turns to 
her laptop to add more information to the Bisyarinas' personal file.  
Finally, she gazes at them.  "Okay.  From what you two just told me, 
you are the right sort of couple my particularly *unique*..." she 
grins, making her customers giggle, "...form of reproduction can 
benefit.  I don't know exactly what Elena Semyonovna told you when she 
first mentioned my services to you, so for your benefit, I'll run 
through it all.  What I give to those who seek out my services is 
LIFE-ALTERING.  When you step down the path I provide to you, there's 
no going back.  I want you both to understand that before you say 
'yea' or 'nay.'"

	"Elena told us that by getting your help, we'd never have to 
worry about visiting a conception clinic for the rest of our lives," 
Beatrice notes.  "As far as I'm concerned, that type of free choice is 
wonderful."

	"Yes, it is," Tariko nods.  "On average, worldwide, a single 
visit to a conception clinic often costs a couple five hundred 
American dollars for the procedure itself.  Then you have to add 
'incidental' costs such as consultation fees, medication and the like.  
Give it another four hundred to add onto the original five hundred you 
pay to have the babies.  Given that we are all expected to live for 
quite a long time, the idea of forking over nine hundred bucks EACH 
time you get the urge to have a baby seems a little unfair in the long 
term.

	"Now, I charge a flat one-time rate of five thousand dollars and 
I only ask for extra costs when it comes to hotel rooms and travel 
expenses.  Compare gaining that sort of ability, which gives you a 
practically ENDLESS amount of chances to have children, to paying 
roughly one-fifth that for just ONE pair of babies.  Does it strike 
you as a better deal in the long run?" she asks, then on seeing the 
Bisyarinas nod, sighs.  "Okay.  There's one disadvantage to my form of 
reproduction, though," Tariko raises a finger, then indicates Tania.  
"And since Tania here could be seen as a 'normal' girl, I have to 
mention this.  When you two gain my form of reproduction, you can 
NEVER, EVER have children using male sperm, even with artificial 
insemination.  Now, Bea, I'm sure you'd never want to do something 
like that..."

	"Hell, no!  Of course not!!" Beatrice shakes her head.

	"Okay, then.  Tania, how do you feel about this?"

	Tania blinks, then stares at her wife.  "I made a committment to 
this woman, Tariko.  I won't go back on it."  She turns back to their 
host.  "And is it really such a sacrifice in the long term?  I want to 
be a mother, Tariko.  I want it NOW!  So I say 'yes.'"

	Tariko gazes at them, her internal senses confirming that Tania 
and Beatrice are both for this, then she breathes out.  "Okay, then.  
Let's take care of the payment, then we'll get started.  In just a 
little over twenty-four hours from now, you'll be on your way."

	Tania nods, reaching for her purse...

*    *    *

	With the payment immediately secured through Tania's MasterCard, 
drawn from an account administered by the Bank of Zurich, the three 
women quickly undress, then head into the bathroom.  The jacuzzi is 
already running.  Tariko guides her customers into the warm water, 
then kneeling behind Tania, starts to give her a backrub.  "You know 
how to do this, don't you, Tariko?" Beatrice chuckles.

	"I've helped over twenty thousand couples worldwide do this, 
Bea," Tariko smiles.  "To make this work as painlessly as possible, we 
need you two to be as relaxed as we can get you to be, with just a 
touch of arousal to make it more enjoyable."

	"In your file with the RVS, it's said that just before you 
founded your company, you spent some time at the Jade Dragon Lodge in 
Hong Kong learning how to do things like this from Madame Lao Shin-mai 
and her girls," Tania notes.

	"The Jade Dragon?!!" Beatrice exclaims.

	"The best whorehouse in the Orient when it was still catering to 
men," Tariko chuckles, step-dancing her fingers along the sides of 
Tania's spine ridge.  "Nowadays, the world's best intimacy school.  Of 
course, being the ward of one of Japan's richest people made it much 
easier for me to get in there for some lessons before I started going 
professional."  She pauses for a second.  "I even got my money back."

	"Oh?" Tania gazes at her.  "How so?"

	"Two years ago, Lao-sensei hired me for consultations for 
herself and a good number of her girls."

	Laughter fills the bathroom.  "I think you probably even couped 
a profit out of that trip!" Beatrice snickers.

	"That I did, but don't mention it to anyone else, PLEASE!" 
Tariko makes a shushing motion with her finger.

	"Mum's the word," the American vows.

	More laughter.  "So what does happen when we drink your breast 
milk, Tarisha?" Tania asks.

	The Japanese teen blushes on hearing the Russian give her a 
"pet" nickname in her own native language.  "Well, Nisha, the stem 
cells that get absorbed by my breast glands from my bones are, once 
you drink it, absorbed through the liver right into your blood stream.  
From there, they're spread out throughout your body through your heart 
and start shifting certain elements of your DNA right on the spot.  
You need to drink at least two hundred millilitres of the stuff to 
make the transformation work as quickly as possible.  It'll take about 
twenty-four hours even at that.  And I'll keep you both as comfortable 
as I can while this is happening to you.  To better help it along, 
I'll give you both a sleeping pill so you can rest through most of it.  
It goes a lot faster for you both and it allows me to get some sleep, 
too."

	"Restless nights when you first started out, Tariko?" Beatrice 
wonders.

	"Oh, you wouldn't believe it at times!" Tariko shakes her head 
ruefully, then starts to gently massage the area between Tania's short 
ribs and the upper arch of her pelvic bones.  "Okay, Nisha, sit on the 
edge of the tub, please?"

	"Da!" the Russian shifts herself.

	"Trisha, give her a blow job, please.  Nice and gentle, just 
your tongue.  No fingers.  I want a soft orgasm from Nisha, alright?"

	"Okay!" the American slides over, then allowing her wife's legs 
to rest on her shoulders, leans in.

	A moan escapes Tania as Beatrice's tongue begins to fleck and 
lap away at her wife's clit.  Like most long-term couples -- in this 
day and age, that normally people who had lived together, remaining 
effectively monogamous sexually, for more than two years -- it is 
quite easy for the American scientist to use just her tongue to bring 
her beloved wife to an orgasmic peak.  Tariko continues to work on 
kneading and rubbing Tania's muscles, using her empathic powers along 
the way to radiate as much positive feelings about this as she could.

	This procedure served two basic, interconnected purposes.

	First, it would allow Tania and Beatrice to look upon this time 
in their lives with as much fondness as possible.  They would gain 
emotional strength from this experience, allowing them to withstand 
any possible verbal assault from those who would look upon this 
"diploid monogender" form of reproduction as perverted -- or worse, 
evil.  Those type of people were out there, Tariko knew.  Not anywhere 
close to the size of any of the main elements of the Hydra, of course 
-- but they were out there and it was best to guard against them now.  
After all, if men are brought back into mainstream society sometime 
over the next few centuries, those radical androphiles could easily 
find themselves in a position where they could dictate things to those 
like Tania and Beatrice, much less their children.

	The second reason is much more practical.  Tania and Beatrice 
would, after this session was done, think positively of Tariko and her 
giving them the chance to have children outside a conception clinic.  
Thus, they would be in a position to pass on a positive review of 
Tariko to other prospective mothers.  "Happy customers, in the end, 
means MORE customers," Madame Lao once taught the young Tariko in Hong 
Kong years before.  As a businesswoman determined to succeed, Tariko 
went all out to make her customers as happy as possible.

	Tania cries out as Beatrice pushes her over the edge, her back 
arching as waves of sheer delight rock her from head to toe.  Tariko 
warmly embraces the Russian from behind, becoming a rock by which 
Tania could cling to as she moves to recover.  Within a moment, the 
intelligence officer is relaxing in the jacuzzi, allowing the warm 
water to relax her even more as Tariko gets to work on Beatrice...

*    *    *

	A half-hour later, Tariko guides the Bisyarinas to one of the 
beds.  Quickly drying off what little water might still be clinging to 
their skin, the president of Love Destiny Enterprises then guides them 
into laying down, keeping a big enough space for herself between Tania 
and Beatrice.  Tariko then reaches into her purse to draw out a small 
jar of pills, then draws out two bottles of spring water from the 
mini-bar.  Sliding in between her customers, Tariko hands a pill to 
Tania, then one to Beatrice.  "Sleeping pill?" the American asks.

	"Hai," Tariko seals the pill bottle, then gives them the spring 
water.  "Take it down now.  Drink all the water."

	The Bisyarinas quickly reply.  Once that is done, Tariko dumps 
the empty spring water bottles in a nearby recycle bin, then slips the 
pill bottle back in her purse.  "Okay, we're ready," she slides back 
onto the bed, then reclines herself.  "Last chance, ladies."

	"Don't bother...!  Huh?!" Beatrice stops, blinking confusedly, 
then she stares at Tariko.  "Hey, is it me or are your...?"

 	"Breasts swelling?" Tariko finishes, then chuckles.  "Yeah, you 
could say that.  Before I allow people to drink my milk, I take a drug 
that stimulates the production of stem cells.  It helps things go a 
lot easier for everyone involved."

	"Doesn't this bother you?" Tania wonders, reaching over to cup 
one of Tariko's plump mounds.

	"What?"

	"Well..." the Russian pauses as she tries to figure out the 
right way to say this, then she breathes out, giving Tariko an 
apologetic stare.  "You let yourself be a living GENE FACTORY just so 
that people like Trisha and I can have children, Tarisha!  I mean..."

	"Hey, that's enough!" Tariko reaches over to slip an arm around 
Tania's neck, her other arm doing the same with Beatrice.  "Don't let 
it bother you, okay?  If this is the only way I can share my gift, 
that's the way it has to be.  Will you please relax and enjoy 
yourself, Nisha?  Don't think about me, okay?  Just think about the 
future you and Trisha are going to make for yourselves and your 
children."

	Gently, the Japanese girl shifts her customers' heads onto her 
breasts, allowing their lips to gently slide over her hardening 
nipples.  Automatically, the older women's mouths open, taking in 
those stiff buds as their lips press down on the surrounding flesh.  
Almost instantly, the tiny canals feeding through the nipples open, 
allowing Tariko's breast milk to flood their mouths.  Tania and 
Beatrice gasp in surprise, they pulling themselves away from Tariko's 
breasts, allowing their fluid to splatter over the younger woman's 
skin.  Both cough as they move to wipe their mouths clean, then jolt 
on hearing their host laugh.  "It's alright," Tariko assures them as 
her fingers thread through their hair.  "You both haven't done this 
since your mothers breast-fed you when you were babies.  Take your 
time."

	Beatrice reaches over to draw out some Kleenex, then she wipes 
down Tariko's breasts.  "Surprised us," she admits.

	"I know, Trisha.  It surprises everyone."

	Once the younger woman's breasts are relatively clean, the 
Bisyarinas take in a deep breath, then lean down.  Once again, their 
lips wrap around Tariko's nipples.  A push in with their heads fills 
their mouths again with fluid.  This time, they gulp it down, 
remembering to take a breath of air afterwards so they don't end up 
gasping.  Another drink, then another breath.  Again and again.  Soon 
enough, Beatrice shifts herself so she could use a hand to squeeze the 
breast she now feeds from.  Tania is quick to copy her wife's actions, 
then both fall soon into a gentle rhythm.  All along, Tariko's fingers 
slide through their hair, she keeping silent as her customers continue 
to drink.

	Time seems to become meaninless as this continues, then Tariko 
blinks as a faint shudder trembles through Beatrice's body.  Quickly 
sensing a like motion in Tania, the younger woman breathes out.  
"Okay, that's enough," she gives the Bisyarinas a warm squeeze.

	The older women seem frozen in place for a moment, then slowly, 
they pull themselves away from Tariko.  "Sure...?" Beatrice wonders, 
her voice a surprised rasp, then she cries out suddenly as a faint 
flash of pain rips through her.  "H-hey...!"

	"Wh-what's happening...?" Tania grits her teeth as something 
rumbles deep in her stomach.

	"It's okay," Tariko shifts into a sitting position, then she 
helps Tania lay down.  "The stem cells are starting to interact with 
your bodies' immune systems right now.  That's why I gave you the 
sleeping pills.  It's not a fun experience, even for the best of us."  
Standing up, she then shifts Beatrice closer to her wife.  A quick 
positioning of the arms later finds the couple holding each other,` 
Beatrice's head resting on Tania's left arm.  With a shift of some 
blankets, the couple find themselves tucked in.  "Now get some sleep, 
you two."

	Gentle moans respond; already, the sleeping pills are taking 
effect.  Gazing at them, Tariko smiles as her memory replays the 
nearly countless number of times she had done this over the last four 
years.  From close friends and acquaintances of the Mendou and 
Mizunokoji Clans, to Madame Lao and her co-workers at the Jade Dragon, 
to hundreds of Aboriginal and Amerindian tribeswomen living across 
Australia and Canada, to mothers who had lost sons to the Virus and 
desperately wanted the chance to have another child, to the various 
supporters of the Hydra, to friends like Morisato Ryuunosuke and her 
alien-born fiancee Lum, not to mention Tanaka Misa and her fiancee 
Sakuragi Mai, to...

	A buzz escapes Tariko's purse.  Chuckling knowingly, she walks 
over to draw out her cell-phone.  "Hey, gorgeous," she calls into it.

	"Asleep?" Satomi wonders.

	"Just dozed off.  You called it right on the line," Tariko 
chuckles, then perks.  "Oh, did...?"

	"Our 'presents' from Genome arrive?  Hai," the owner of 
Otimtim's replies.  "Arigatou, Tari.  They're really working out 
well."

	"Yokatta," Tariko nods.  "Oh, do Misa and Mai know about this?"

	"No, they haven't been around yet, but it'll be soon," Satomi 
replies.  "Ne, Tari?"

	"Hai, love, what is it?"

	"Two of the girls mentioned a sister of theirs..."

	"Shinji?"

	"Hai."

	"Gotcha," Tariko nods, then perks on hearing the doorbell.  
Glancing at the door, she concentrates as her empathic senses reach 
out to probe who is there, then she relaxes.  "And speaking of which, 
she just came by to visit."

	"Eh?!  She's in Kitakyuushuu?!" Satomi gasps.  "What happened?!"

	"Long story, 'Tomi.  I'll tell you later, okay?"

	"Hai!"  A pause, then, "Love you."

	"Always, my love," Tariko blows her a kiss over the phone, then 
cuts the link.  Grabbing her housecoat, she slips it on, then walks 
over to the door, pulling it open before the person standing outside 
could ring the bell again.  Tariko shushes Shinji as she waves in the 
young Sexaroid and her companions.  "They're asleep right now," she 
whispers as they walk into the main room.

	"We didn't mean to interrupt, Moroboshi-san," Yui gazes briefly 
on the Bisyarinas, quickly noting the content smiles on the visitors' 
faces, then she turns back to their host.  "Did you manage to get a 
room for us...?"

	"Hai, you got the suite next door.  I'll call down to get the 
key sent up," Tariko walks over to the work desk to make a call.  Once 
that is done, she then heads over to her clothes, reaching into her 
pants pocket to draw out a black skeletal key.  "I believe this 
belongs to you, Shin-chan," she places the key in Shinji's hand before 
gazing on the young woman who had accompanied the Ikaris to Kyuushuu.

	"It's a pleasure to meet you, Moroboshi-san," Mana keeps her 
voice low, she giving their host a bow.  "If it wasn't for you..." she 
straightens herself, her eyes misting over, then she gazes warmly at 
Shinji.  "Well..."

	Tariko chuckles.  "Well, I haven't kept track of all the things 
Yoshi-chan's done with the samples of my DNA I let her keep, Mana-san, 
but if what Ikari-hakase and Akagi-hakase have created to date is any 
indication..." she stares warmly at Shinji.

	Before the young android herm could respond, a faint knock is 
heard at the door.  "Ah, great!" Tariko walks over to open it, then 
nods thanks as one of the hotel porters hands her a key.  She closes 
the door, then walks over to Yui.  "Here, why don't you make 
yourselves a little more comfortable?" she hands the room key to the 
scientist.  "I need to stay here and watch over them," she nods to the 
Bisyarinas.

	"I can help you watch over them, Ta-chan," Shinji automatically 
volunteers.

	"Well..." Tariko gazes questioningly at her new friend's mother.

	"It's alright, Moroboshi-san," Yui chuckles, holding up the room 
key.  "It seems my daughter was quite taken away by you when you came 
by the Tower this morning.  Anyhow, Mana-chan and I'll go relax for a 
bit.  If we need any supplies, we can visit the station mall."

	"Are you sure, Mom?" Shinji stares concernedly at her mother.

	"We'll be fine," Yui nods, she and Mana turning to leave.  "You 
two have fun."

	Shinji blinks, then beams.  "Hai!"

	With that, the other women depart.  Tariko and Shinji watch them 
go, then exchange a look before they slide into a warm embrace.  "Are 
you sure they won't mind my being here, Ta-chan?" the android gazes 
concernedly at the sleeping organics nearby.  "If they're a couple..."

	"It's alright, Shin-chan.  If you're still around when they wake 
up, I'll explain everything to them," Tariko guides Shinji to the 
other bed.  "But they won't be up for a while.  The sleeping pill I 
give my customers after they feed off my breasts puts them out for 
quite some time.  Heck, there was one time in San Francisco when I was 
helping a couple and this earthquake hit.  They..."

	"Slept through it all, right?"

	"Hai!"

	Both giggle, then gaze on each other before Shinji leans up.  
After a long, wet, tongue-filled kiss, the android herm them stands 
up, positioning herself right before Tariko.  "Ta-chan..." Shinji 
whispers.  "My sexual programs are all keyed and ready."

	Tariko gazes up at the younger woman, then sighs.  "Gomen ne, 
Shin-chan.  Much that I wouldn't mind doing it now, I do have them to 
worry about," she nods towards the sleeping Bisyarinas.  "I haven't 
lost anyone yet because I didn't pay attention to them and..."

	"You don't want to start now," the android finishes.

	"Hai."

	"That's okay," Shinji chuckles.  "Here, Ta-chan, lay down.  Let 
me get undressed, then I'll lay in bed beside you.  You can get some 
sleep and I'll stay awake to ensure your friends there don't get 
hurt," she gently shoves Tariko onto the bed.

	"Oh, okay...!" Tariko smirks as the younger woman moves to 
undress herself.  Watching her synthetic lover strip down, a content 
sigh escapes the older woman's lips.  Damn, to be so close to such a 
loyal and compliant lover like Ikari Shinji, ready and willing to do 
it at the drop of the hat -- and even better for the more "in control" 
types of women like Moroboshi Tariko, they were ready and willing to 
NOT do it on request!  When Genome finally got down to producing 
Shinji's model of Sexaroid for general sales, they'd make a killing...

	"Shin-chan!"

	"What is it, Ta-chan?" the nude android gazes concernedly at her 
friend.

	"Mou!  You did it again!" Tariko slips off the bed, then walks 
over to her trousers, reaching into the back pocket to draw out a 
familiar black skeleton key.  "You put your activation key into my 
pocket, you silly girl!  You..."

	She stops on sensing a burst of surprise emit from the younger 
woman, then she gazes anew at Shinji.  A bewildered, confused look is 
etched into the android's tomboyish features, as if she just suddenly 
woke up from a long bout of sleepwalking, wondering how the heck she 
got to this particular place and time in her life.  Tariko stares 
intently at her for a moment, then she stands up, placing the key back 
in Shinji's hand.  The android blinks as her epidermal sensory net 
picks up the key's presence, then she kneels down.  Tariko watches her 
slip the key once more into the back pocket of Tariko's trousers 
before standing.  Gazing nowhere in particular for a moment, Shinji 
then blinks.  "Ta-chan..." she stares wide-eyed at the older woman, a 
faint shudder rocking her body from head to toe.  "Why did I just do 
that?"

	"Right," Tariko kneels once more to draw the key out, then faces 
Shinji.  "Let's try this."

	She places her free hand on Shinji's shoulder as the other hand 
slides the key into the android's navel.  Shinji's body automatically 
locks up as the key clicks into place, her eyes fixed on Tariko's.  
Sensing the growing trepidation in the Sexaroid's heart because of 
this, Tariko takes a deep breath, then twists the key to the right 
one-half turn.  Shinji freezes in place for a second, then her pupils 
and irises glow a faint golden shade.  "This unit has been released by 
this unit's prior owner, Katsuragi Misato," she announces in a flat, 
though still human-sounding, tone.  "New organic DNA pattern has been 
recorded into this unit's activation key.  Please state your name."

	Tariko jolts, quickly clamming up before she would blurt out 
some nonsense that would only serve to confuse Shinji.  Taking a deep 
breath, she rests her other hand on the android's shoulder.  
*Misato-chan, what the HELL are you doing?!* she mentally rails.

	"Please state your name," Shinji repeats.

	Tariko blinks several times, then straightens herself.  
"Moroboshi Tariko."

	"Identification acknowledged.  This unit has been programmed to 
acknowledge Moroboshi Tariko as this unit's new owner by command of 
this unit's prior owner, Katsuragi Misato.  Does Moroboshi Tariko 
desire to become this unit's new owner?"

	Tariko's jaw hits the floor as Shinji's words -- those words 
being the very same ones used by Ayanami Rei, Asuka Langley, Ibuki 
Maya and Horaki Hikari when Tariko took official ownership of them 
that morning -- echo in her mind, then she nods.  "Yes, I do."

	"Acknowledged," Shinji faintly nods.  "Unit 
Three-three-Es-Oh-oh-One, Shinji, is now under the ownership of 
Moroboshi Tariko."  Another pause, then she asks, "Does this unit's 
owner wish to make any programming alterations?"

	Silence falls as Tariko considers that, then she breathes out.  
"Yes.  You are to keep your key on your person at all times, Shinji.  
I also release you from any special program commands Misato or anyone 
else might've given you prior to my becoming your new owner."

	A pause, then, "Acknowledged.  Remove key to restore this unit 
to nominal function."

	Tariko reaches down, twisting the key back to the "upright" 
position before drawing it out.  Shinji jolts again as her eyes revert 
to their normal blue shade, then they widen suddenly as a small tidal 
wave of information pours into her mind from once-sealed memory banks.  
Her hands reach up to grip the sides of her head as the android's 
internal processors go to work, filing that new information away where 
she could better access it, then she squeezes her eyes shut as tears 
stream down her cheeks.  "Mom...!  Mana...!  No..." she mutters under 
her breath before leaning into Tariko's warm embrace, Shinji buring 
her face into the older woman's bust as she starts to cry.

	Tariko shushes the weeping android as Shinji nearly squeezes her 
to death with a hug, then she falls silent as the Sexaroid's sobs soon 
fade into hoarse moans before she sniffles several times.  Tariko 
pulls Shinji away from her, her hands already moving to wipe the 
younger woman's cheeks clean, then she gives Shinji a tender kiss to 
the forehead.  "What is it, Shin-chan?  Tell me."

	Shinji sniffs as she blinks several times, her mind working hard 
to find the right words to explain what she just experienced to her 
new owner, then she takes a deep breath.  "This was deliberate," she 
whispers.  "Misato-san programmed me to act in such a way that I would 
eventually persuade you to become my new owner, Ta-chan.  I guess..." 
she grimances.  "She and Ritsuko-san wanted me..."

	"To get the same chance Rei-chan, Asuka-chan and the others're 
getting now," Tariko finishes.

	"Hai," Shinji nods, then she wipes her eyes once more of fresh 
tears.  "Even worse..."

	"What?"

	Silence falls for a moment, then Shinji stares at Tariko.  "Mom 
and Mana-chan..." she gulps.  "They're both like me, Ta-chan!  They're 
androids, too!  I was programmed to never acknowledge either of them 
as Sexaroids, Ta-chan!  Even in private!  Never!!"

	Tariko's jaw drops...

*    *    *

	Back at a certain coffee shop in Nerima...

	"Satomi-san, you're just not being fair!!"

	"I'M not being fair?!" Satomi glares down the woman with the 
long, wavy brown hair and the bright amethyst eyes from behind the 
counter.  Around her, small crowds of students from a half-dozen local 
high schools are busy gabbing away, though the owner of Otimtim's is 
quick to notice that their attention is often locked on the three 
lovely young girls in slacks and shirts currently waiting tables, to 
say anything of the two other young women now working for Satomi.  
"Karen-san, I think I'm being more than fair about this!" she leans 
closer to Maijima Karen, causing the idol star to balk.  "The answer 
is 'no!'  What part of that, pray tell, don't you understand?!"

	A moment's confusion crosses Karen's face.  Watching the other 
woman wrestle with the words she just said, Satomi shakes her head.  
In a world where intimacy is virtually one's for the asking, where a 
show of hestiation can be worn down into a firm "Yes!" with just a coy 
look and some soft words, where it is said that "No!" always means 
"Persuade me!", to run into a steadfast refusal with the equivalent 
strength of a brick wall is downright disorientating for those like 
Maijima Karen.  Of course, it isn't that Satomi didn't like Karen at 
all; that was far from the truth.  There had been a time early in her 
ownership of Otimtim's when Kurokawa Satomi had spent some quality 
time with Maijima Karen.  But given the unique natures of the 
Sexaroids working for her, Satomi has no desire whatsoever to start an 
all-out riot in her late uncle's establishment.  The problem, as 
Satomi sees it, with people like Karen is that the unending sexual 
desire "normal" girls experience -- something that has, admittedly, 
contributed to a more peaceful society -- also made keeping secrets 
impossible.  If the word got out in Nerima that Kurokawa Satomi had 
four android hermaphrodites, synthetic women purpose-built to give 
pleasure on request, working for her...!

	"Satomi-san, it's not that we want to start an orgy in your 
shop," Karen's date-for-a-night, Mizuno Tomomi, reaches over to give 
her lover's shoulder a squeeze.  "We're all quite aware of your 
feelings on that matter.  It's just that we've very curious about 
these girls," she waves to Rei, who is now taking an order from some 
Furinkan High girls.  "For a long time, you've worked almost totally 
alone here at Otimtim's, living almost like a nun whenever business 
takes Tariko-san who-knows-where.  Then you suddenly get five very 
beautiful young ladies to work for you in the last forty-eight hours.  
You have to admit, that's more than enough reason for any of us to be 
curious."

	"Curiosity is one thing, Tomomi-san.  Wanting to crawl into 
these girls' pants without them having a say in the matter is 
another!"

	Both Hachijuuhachi High students jolt, then Karen shudders, her 
eyes flashing with deep hurt.  "How can you SAY that, Satomi...?" she 
hisses, her eyes tearing.  "How can you just stand there and accuse me 
of wanting to RAPE someone?!  You know me better than that!!"

	"Hey!" Satomi snaps, causing Karen to tense.  "Yes, I do know 
you better than that, Karen!  And don't you DARE pull those tears on 
me!  I know you VERY well!!  How many of Tomomi-san's secrets have you 
willingly blabbed to all your other lovers across Tokyo?!  What about 
the time you went 'steady' with Sugimoto Sakurako?!  Or the times you 
dated Minamikawa Yohko?!  What about Katou Minori?!  Should I mention 
the time you tried to break up Nagashima Kumiko and Tsuzuki Kozue?!  
Do I need to list them all, for Heaven's sake?!"

	Karen stiffens as Satomi's words send painful stabs deep into 
her heart, then with as much dignity as she can still muster, she 
spins around and marches out of Otimtim's.  "Karen-chan, wait!" Tomomi 
calls out as she races off to follow.

	"Sa-chan, was that really necessary?"

	Satomi breathes out, then gazes on Asuka, she having come up 
from clearing a table after it had been used by a small group from 
several local high schools.  "Hai, it was," the owner of Otimtim's 
nods.  "Don't get me wrong, though, Asuka-chan.  Karen's a good person 
deep down.  But she, not to mention a lot of girls my age, tend not to 
think about the consequences of their actions.  Look there."

	She nods to another table to the right of the main doors, where 
a sultry green-eyed brunette in slacks and a button shirt is now 
chatting with a pair of girls from Hachijuuhachi High School.  "She's 
very beautiful," Asuka notes.

	"She's also got a very jealous girlfriend who'd freak out in an 
instant if she saw her flirting with anyone else other than those she 
happens to like herself," Satomi reports, glancing right to see Rei 
and Maya work together to get orders filled.  "The lady there's 
Ayakawa Madoka.  She, her childhood friend, Hiyama Hikaru and her 
girlfriend, Kasuga Akane, all now attend the Kimagure Academy in 
Itabashi."

	"The special private school that caters to paranormals?" Asuka 
blinks.

	"Whoa!!  They sure load a lot of stuff into your heads at the 
Tower, don't they?!" Satomi chuckles, then nods.  "Hai, that's the 
place.  In fact, Akane-san, so I've heard, is rated as one of the top 
esper talents in all of Japan..."

	"She's nowhere close to Ta-chan!" the crimson-haired Sexaroid 
reports.

	"Hai!" Satomi grins with pride at her girlfriend's abilities, 
then she takes a sobering breath.  "So you can see why I get concerned 
whenever people like Madoka-san are on the prowl.  The girl with the 
ponytail there is Mai-chan's kid siser, Sakuragi Kyooko.  The girl 
beside her is Kyooko-chan's steady, Takano Midori.  Mai-chan would 
freak right out if Akane-san ever came along, then used her 
telekinetic powers to 'punish' Kyooko-chan and Midori-chan for 
'flirting' with Madoka-san, even IF Madoka-san was the one who started 
it!"

	"Soo na..." Asuka shudders.  While she was programmed and built 
to deal with a lot of potential situations, dealing with a person 
welding telekinetic powers isn't a situation the young woman was 
clearly keen to experience.  "What should we do, Sa-chan?"

	"Is there something wrong, Satomi?"

	Both turn as Rei walks up to join them.  Asuka quickly gives her 
blue-haired sister a quick rundown of the situation at hand.  Rei 
glances briefly at Madoka's table, then hums as her mind runs through 
possible responses to this particular matter.  A slight smile then 
crosses her face, a grin that, for all its subtlely, loudly screamed 
out Rei's intentions.  "Allow me to handle this."

	She heads off.  Satomi and Asuka watch her go, blinking...

*    *    *

	Ten minutes later...

	"Your sister's engaged?!"

	"Yeah!" Kyooko nods, rolling her golden-brown eyes before taking 
a sip of her expresso.  "Like, she's what?!  Seventeen?!  Here she is, 
at the very PRIME of her life, with tons of girls just WAITING for her 
to go screw to her heart's content -- and what does she do?!  She 
get's ENGAGED to get MARRIED!!  Especially when said fiancee is none 
other than Tanaka Misa, the supreme jock tomboy of Hachijuuhachi 
High!"  Another sip of her coffee.  "And you want to hear the real 
wild part about this whole thing, Madoka-sempai?!  She's PREGNANT!!"

	Madoka nearly chokes on her green tea.  "'PREGNANT?!?!'" she 
cries out, though the volume of her voice does nothing to disturb the 
people at neighbouring tables.  "You're kidding me!!  Your sister's 
actually pregnant?!  That's impossible!!"

	"It's true!" Kyooko asserts.

	"But how?!  Most girls don't visit conception clinics until they 
reach age thirty at the LEAST!!" Madoka exclaims.

	"It's easy, believe it or not," Mai's younger sister rolls her 
eyes, then nods towards the counter, where Satomi is now busy 
preparing some tea for a couple of older women.  "You know Moroboshi 
Tariko, Satomi-sempai's girlfriend?"

	A nod.  "I've heard of her.  Never met her, though.  Most people 
in town say she's no girl's land."

	"Oh, tell me about it!" Kyooko groans.  "Anyhow, supposedly, 
Tariko-sempai's got this special ability she can pass on to other 
girls!  I swear, I don't know anything about exactly HOW it works, but 
it does!  Onee-chan and Tanaka go see her, then *WHAMMO!!*  They both 
got buns in the oven!  Oh, BOY!!  You should've seen Mom when she 
found out she's on her way to becoming a grandmother!!" she rolls her 
eyes.

	"Yes, Mother was VERY happy when we delivered the good news," a 
stern voice tickles Kyooko's ears from behind her, making the younger 
Sakuragi tense.  "But she'll be very sad to hear that all the trouble 
I had to endure on your behalf was wasted, little sister!"

	Kyooko gulps, slowly turning right to see Sakuragi Mai gazing at 
her with a stare that could melt steel.  "O-onee-ch-chan...!"

	Mai sighs.  "Honestly, Kyooko, why on Earth do you DO these 
things?!" she leans over, making Kyooko instantly wilt.  "It's bad 
enough that you allow yourself to be taken in by every pretty face 
that crosses your path!  It's a wonder to me that you haven't been 
dragged off to some disgusting dive and made the local block slut!  
But to drag in Midori atop that?!  What's WRONG with you?!"

	"Hey, hey, HEY!!  Take it easy, Sakuragi-san!" Madoka moves to 
Kyooko's defence.  "We're just...!"

	"What?!" a voice growls from behind her, making Madoka spin 
around to gaze into the sneering face of one Takana Misa.  "Having an 
'innocent chat,' perchance?!  Please, Ayakawa, Mai and I are BOTH well 
aware of your reputation!  Not to mention your girlfriend's!!"

	"Though I do confess that Kasuga-san certainly doesn't deserve 
some of the things I've heard said about her, given how much trouble 
YOU seem to love starting when you stray off the range, Ayakawa-san," 
Mai adds, her words making Madoka wince even more, then she focuses 
her attention on Kyooko and Midori.  "Come along, you two.  It's time 
for you to come home!"

	"Aw, ONEE-CHAN!!!" Kyooko wails as Mai hooks her arm under her 
sister's, then yanks her out of the booth.

	"Hey!!" Madoka moves to yank the Sakuragi sisters apart.  
"That's no way to treat your sister!"

	Mai spins on the other woman.  "Oh, really?!  And what happens 
when Kasuga-san learns about your latest little escapade?!  Does my 
sister end up hospitalized because the woman you call a 'girlfriend' 
lost control of her temper in response to something YOU did?!"

	Madoka balks.  "Onee-chan!!" Kyooko gasps.

	"Never mind, Kyooko!  Let's go!"

	Kyooko yelps as Mai drags her through the front doors, a 
meek-faced Midori following the Sakuragi sisters out of Otimtim's.  
Madoka remains rooted in place, stunned by the harshness of Mai's 
words, then she jolts on sensing Misa gazing at her.  "You know, I 
really don't understand what the HELL does a beautiful, decent, LOYAL 
girl like Kasuga Akane sees in someone like you!" the track runner 
growls.

	Madoka watches Misa storm out of Otimtim's, then looks nowhere 
in particular before feeling a hand fall on her shoulder.  She turns 
to see Satomi gaze knowingly at her.  Taking a deep breath, the 
raven-haired teen turns to get her purse.  "I know," she breathes out.

	Leaving some money behind to pay for the drinks, she walks out 
of Otimtim's.  Satomi watches her go, then shakes her head...

*    *    *

	"Having an internalized cell-phone does come in handy, doesn't 
it?" Rei muses.

	"Got that right," Asuka nods as they and Hikari watch events in 
the main part of the shop from the entrance to the kitchen...

*    *    *

	Kitakyuushuu...

	"Fates...!"

	"It's all true."

	The Bisyarinas are still asleep in the main suite; Shinji 
currently monitors them.  Tariko now sits with Yui and Mana at the 
dining room table in the neighbouring suite.  Room service has been 
delivered for them.  After hearing what happened to the two women 
before her which saw their living spirits preserved by their transfer 
into specially-constructed 33-S bodies, Tariko takes a deep breath.  
"I knew my stem cells can do quite a bit, but to actually help do 
something like THAT...!" she shakes her head.  "Why didn't Yoshi-chan 
tell me?!"

	"I'm not sure if Masudamasu-hakase's been told about what 
happened to either Mana-chan or myself, Tariko-san," Yui confesses, 
reaching over to give Tariko's hand a firm squeeze.  "If she hasn't, I 
can understand that.  What happened to me was so insane...!"

	"Both of us," Mana confesses.

	Tariko takes that in, then sighs.  "And your original bodies 
were so badly damaged that a full recovery...?"

	"Was impossible," Yui pulls her hand back.  "Death is rare in 
our society these days, ne?  But it happens and it would've happened 
to me hadn't that untemplated 33-S body we were using as a trial unit 
for Kusanagi-taisa's androids been in close range of me..."

	"Thus allowing this 'mind-transference' to happen when you 
touched its skin," Tariko slowly nods.

	"Hai," the cyborg Sexaroid scientist nods, then gazes on her 
daughter's former beta tester.  "And before you ask, no, nothing was 
'arranged' concerning Mana-chan's own accident.  At least nothing I'd 
attribute to either Misato or Ritsuko.  As for the others..."

	"No, not them," Tariko shakes her head.  "I've empathically 
scanned both the Chairwoman and Miss Madigan.  They've done odd things 
in their past; I guess it goes with the territory of being either a 
SEAL or a member of the Special Boat Squadron.  But to actually kill 
someone to analyze something like THAT?!  No!  I wouldn't tolerate it 
and I know that Yoshi-chan would put a stop to it right away!"

	"I've never hated anyone at Genome for what happened to me, 
Moroboshi-san," Mana admits, then shrugs.  "Believe me, even with the 
several disadvantages this body forces on me, it's really no different 
than my old self.  I..." she pauses, then sighs.  "Well, maybe, 
sometime in the future, I might have something to complain about, but 
if your stem cells could create something like this..." she points to 
her heart, "...much less something like Shinji-chan, then maybe it can 
go even further than that."

	"A fully-organic Sexaroid, you mean?" Tariko's eyebrows arch.

	"We've looked at that," Yui explains.  "It's a little too soon 
to introduce something as radical as THAT, especially given the gender 
limitations your DNA forces on us.  If we could make male organic 
Sexaroids using stem cell DNA similar to your own, the whole question 
of bringing men back becomes mute.  But it's theoretically possible 
and I think it should be explored.  Under controlled circumstances."

	"I'd rather let Yoshi-chan worry about things like that," Tariko 
holds up a hand, then she gazes on the ceiling.  "Still..."

	"What?" Yui prods.

	"Well..." Tariko pauses, then sighs.  "I was just wondering 
about the possibility of others like me being out there somewhere..."

	"It would be wonderful if we could find others like you," Yui 
notes.  "Maybe, by looking at more of you, comparing your experiences 
and all that, it would finally give us some clues as to what sort of 
power transformed you in the first place."

	A slow nod.  "Your company would be very interested in that, 
wouldn't it?"

	"Yes, it would," Yui bows her eyes, then perks.  "Wait..."

	"What?" Tariko gazes at her.

	The scientist reaches into her pocket, then draws out a black 
key.  Standing, she hands it to Tariko.  "This is the master key for 
all the 33-S's we've created.  It's also my personal activation key," 
Yui explains.  "Tariko-san, would you mind...?"

	Tariko blinks, then rises.  Taking the key in hand, she waits 
for Yui to pull her sweater out of her skirt, revealling her navel.  
Poising the key over that recess in the cyborg/android scientist's 
skin, Tariko pushes in.  Automatically, Yui's body locks up, then her 
eyes start to glow as Tariko turns the key halfway around to the 
right.  "This unit has been released by this unit's prior owner, 
Brienna Mason," she flatly announces.  "New organic DNA pattern has 
been recorded into this unit's activation key.  Please state your 
name."

	Tariko's and Mana's eyes go wide.  "Ara...?!" both exclaim...

*    *    *

EPILOGUE

	Kitakyuushuu, Kokura JR Station, two days later, early 
morning...

	"I have to admit, Shinsha, you are very well constructed.  You 
serve Tarisha well now, hear me?"

	"Hai, Bisyarina-taisa!" Shinji, dressed in a lovely pink kimono 
decorated with stylish hearts and rings, bows, then gazes warmly at 
Beatrice.  "I hope you both have a safe trip back to Vladivostok, 
Bisyarina-sensei."

	"You bet your damned life we will, Shinji!" the expat American 
leans over to kiss the Sexaroid's cheek, then hums.  "You know, Nisha 
and I happen to know a couple herms in the Service who'd love to have 
a cute android lover like you in their homes.  If we passed on their 
names to you through Tariko here, would you be willing to send a 
couple of your sisters their way to get beta tested?"

	"W-well, I'll pass it on to Misato-san as soon as I can!" the 
prototype Sexaroid vows.  "But Russia is a long way from here..."

	"Never mind that, Shin-chan," Tariko places a hand on her new 
assistant's shoulder, then stares at Tania.  "You better get down to 
the ferry dock as soon as you can, Nisha.  The next run to Ulsan 
leaves at a little after nine and you don't want to be late!"

	"Da, that is true," the Russian smirks, then leans up to give 
Tariko a thank you kiss to both cheeks.  "Spasiba, Tariko Kinshovna.  
We won't forget what you've done for us."  She then turns to give 
Shinji a pair of kisses.  "Remember what I said, Shinji Yuinva."

	"I will, Bisyarina-taisa," Shinji bows.

	With that, the Bisyarinas head off for the north concourse, 
which has a bridge that would connect the station with the ferry 
terminal for Korea not a block away.  Tariko and Shinji wave as they 
go, then turn towards the stairs that would lead them to the ticket 
booths for the trains heading to Hakata station and other places in 
Kyuushuu.  "We can get the next Shinkansen for Hakata and be there as 
quick as we can," Shinji notes, then blinks as Tariko reaches down to 
give her hand a firm squeeze.  "Eh?" she gazes on the older woman.

	"We're taking the Ren'ai instead," Tariko winks at her.

	The android blinks, then blushes, sensing what her mistress now 
has in mind.  The Ren'ai -- "True Love" -- Special Service Express 
were local service trains reconstructed in the years right after the 
Virus' first arrival to serve those who'd want to have a chance for 
some intimate time with a loved one while slowly travelling to their 
destination.  Each train car came with sound-proofed cabins fitted 
with double-sized beds, more than enough for a couple.  Though it was 
common for people to have sex on any other train service, even the 
ultra-fast Shinkansen, the Ren'ai serves as Japan Rain's specific 
answer to those needs.  "My sexual programs are always at the ready to 
serve you in any way you would desire, my beloved Mistress," Shinji 
slips an arm around Tariko's, gazing fondly on the older woman.  "May 
I recommend the Hoohi Circuit Line?  It will still get us to Hakata in 
time for dinner, plus give you enough time to sample ALL my 
programming."

	"Let's go..." Tariko then jolts on hearing her cell-phone ring.  
"Now, who the heck...?" she reaches into her purse, then after drawing 
it out, blinks on recognizing the number on the readout.  "'Tomi?!" 
she wonders, then taps the answer button.  "Moshi-moshi!"

	"Sorry to bother you, Tari, but we've got a problem," Satomi 
instantly announces.

	"What sort of problem, love?" Tariko wonders.  "Nothing wrong 
with the girls, is there?"

	"Iie, they're all okay."

	"Mana-chan settling in alright?  How are things with Yui-chan 
and Rui-chan?"

	"All's well there, too, but..."

	"What?!"

	Satomi sighs.  "Genome sent us ANOTHER Sexaroid to test out!"

	Silence.

	"***WHAT?!?!?!***" Tariko and Shinji exclaim together...

**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

	Well, that's THIS story done and ready for everyone's purview.  
Unfortunately, I happen to often indulge in a bad habit Jim and 
several other writers also have, one I'm TRYING to break for this 
series:  bringing in too many characters into one story.  It is a very 
hard habit to break, I admit.  But by keeping things short and to the 
point, it shouldn't be too much of a problem in the long term.

	Of course, there's always forshadowing...!

	Anyhow, for those of you who might be concerned about such 
things, the "Bubblegum Crisis" and "Evangelion" characters appearing 
here are modern-day analogues of the real characters from 2033 and 
2015 respectively.  As to how the main "BGC" characters fit into the 
"RPW" universe, it was hinted in Part One of this story and will be 
looked into more thoroughly in a future story.

	This story also gives me a chance to further explore the 
mechanics of what Jim first postulated in "RanPorn World."  How 
EXACTLY would a world without men, where women's personal and sexual 
inhibitions have been (for the most part) tossed out the nearest 
window, work?  What would change?  What would stay the same?  Jim's 
already looked at how this sort of thing would impact the Islamic 
world in Part 7 of "RPW" (and don't we all wish that something like 
that could happen to the Saudi Arabia of the real world, ne?).  Since 
I currently live and work in Korea, I've decided to take a look at how 
the Cold War's last "hot" front would change in the wake of the 
collapse of the long-entrenched Confucian culture there, not to 
mention a brief glance at how Russian culture -- especially the use of 
"patronymic" middle names like "Tania Ivanova" (Tania, daughter of 
Ivan) -- would have to change in light of the coming of fusion 
pregnancy/parthenogenetic reproduction.

	Of course, more is coming.

Cheers!

Fred Herriot
10 April 2003

Back to The Problems with Prototypes Index - Back to Crossovers Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction