Disclaimer: This episode is a bit more explicit in content than the previous episodes. Nothing that's completely spelled out, but certainly very strongly implied. If that sort of content bothers you, I'd advise skipping over this chapter. Terry Ramos' image came up on the screen, and Jen had to smile almost as soon as she saw her. The dark haired Latino woman was as attractive as ever, sitting at her desk in police headquarters. Her uniform blues looked really good on the shapely young woman, but then again almost anything looked good on her to Jen. 'Yes, Dr. Freud, I did indeed have a crush on her,' Jen thought to herself whimsically, 'it's too bad she only likes guys.' "Jen, where've you been?" Terry asked indignantly. "I've been really busy," Jen quickly protested, only to get a loud snort of amusement from Terry. 'I've missed that,' Jen smiled. "You're always busy," Terry rolled her eyes. She leaned forward, "So are there any cute girls in the Chasers?" "Terry," Jen scolded, a blush on her cheeks. "Hey, I know which way you swing," Terry grinned, Kate looked distinctly uncomfortable sitting there in what they all called the 'command chair' behind Gwen's back. The contrast was pretty extreme between the usually business suited Gwen and Kate, sitting there dressed in T-shirt and dress pants. Julie smiled, "You look good in charge." Kate chuckled, "Yeah, right." She leaned forward, her sandy colored hair falling into her eyes, "Any request calls?" "Not since the last time you asked, about five minutes ago," Julie shrugged with a smile. "I hate quiet nights," Kate grumbled softly. She looked down at Julie curiously, "Other than your night shift here, what do you do?" "I do part time with the regular police force, too," Julie shrugged. She pushed her black hair back, running a series of checks on her control board as they talked. "Do you have a sideline?" she asked Kate curiously. Many officers also took security jobs on the side, though she wouldn't have thought Kate was the type. "Nah, just a hobby," Kate said absentmindedly. She studied the screen, noting with a small wince that Gwen still had the 'poochie' report on her desk. 'Why do I get the feeling that report's going to be passed around a bit?' she thought. "What's that?" Julie asked curiously. "I write historicals," Kate blushed faintly. Julie looked at Kate in surprise. 'She's cute when she blushes,' she thought, hiding her smile. "What kind of historicals?" she asked. "The crazy years, late twentieth, early twenty-first century," Kate shrugged. "People seem to like 'em, and I like writing them," she smiled. "That was before the big AI boom," Julie noted, an odd look on her face. "Those were the days," Kate smirked, even as Julie sweatdropped. Alexis raised her eyebrows at Gwen. "You're telling me," Alexis smirked, "that you've actually changed your mind about something? I'd better make a note on my calendar." Gwen made a face, "I wouldn't go that far." "But you're starting to consider the possibility of android sentience," Alexis noted. "Considering," Gwen emphasized the word, "yes." Alexis had to fight the urge to stand up and cheer. She had spent months while they were together trying to talk her around! "So what's changed your mind?" she asked. "A lot of things," Gwen sighed. She smiled across the dining table at Alexis, "I was listening to your arguments, even if I didn't always agree with them. That, and a few cases the past few months have got me wondering." "I noticed that overall, the amount of logic-breakdowns are increasing," Alexis ventured. Gwen's head whipped up from looking at her plate, even as she demanded, "How did you hear about that?" 'Bingo,' Alexis thought. "Checking public records, actually," she admitted. She tilted her head to the side, "Is it supposed to be confidential?" Gwen made a face, "Theoretically." Alexis looked at her expectantly so she added, "We're keeping it quiet, trying to make sure there isn't a panic." "But why are they breaking down so often?" Alexis worried. "We built them too well," Gwen sighed. "New models keep on coming out, and the old androids are either sold off or just disposed of. They should at least get a memory dump before sale, but that costs money, and most of them are passing from owner to owner with all their memories intact," Gwen explained. Alexis caught on almost immediately, "All that built up experience causes them to breakdown much faster than normal." "And then there's the self-induced breakdowns," Gwen sighed. "Self-induced," Alexis echoed softly. Gwen gave her a grim smile, "The androids are smart enough to know they're going to be discarded for a new model. And some aren't going to take that." "Goddess," Alexis murmured. She realized something, and shot Gwen a suspicious look, "Are you supposed to be telling me this?" Gwen smiled sadly, "Officially, no." She took a drink and her expression became much more grim, "But I expect the brown stuff to hit the fan pretty damn soon, and I want somebody to have the information who's completely outside of my chain of command." "Sometimes I think you are just too devious for your own good," Alexis noted, and Gwen only shrugged in reply. Beth smiled, flashing her ID to the bouncer at the door. It irritated her, sometimes, that she kept getting her age checked, but most of the time the petite red-head took it as a compliment. Besides, she knew she was going for the jail-bait look tonight, dressed in the too short school skirt and overly tight uniform top. The bar was thumping, filled with dancing figures moving wildly to the beat. She slid through the crowd, occasionally feeling a gentle hand touching her body. Eventually, Beth reached the bar, sighing softly as she leaned up against the rail. "Hey, Beth," the slim young man behind the bar smiled at her, "nice to see you. You want your regular?" "Thanks, Jack," she smiled, and he went to work. The beer foamed nicely, and she slurped at it with gusto. Jack laughed, "Keep that up and you're definitely going to get tossed for being underage." Beth stuck her tongue out at him, "Bleh!" Jack laughed softly. "Something special in the back," he said enigmatically before leaving to serve another customer. 'Considering how jaded most club goers are,' Beth mused, 'I wonder what he thinks is something special?' She finished her drink and left yen on the counter for him, before disappearing into the bustling crowd. She allowed the music to move her, enjoying the feel of hot flesh on flesh as she slid between male and female partners. At one point, a couple sandwiched her between them at they danced. The older redhead smiled, kissing her throat gently, while behind Beth the blue haired girl ground her hips into Beth's bottom. 'She's packing,' a delighted Beth though, trying not to laugh aloud. A short interlude in the ladies room later, and a very content, not to mention quite relaxed, Beth was sitting at one of the dining tables alone, eating a snack. She studied the figures walking by her, playing a private game of 'Who's the android?' It got harder and harder to tell, as each year's new models came out. She finished her meal and decided to head to the back. Beth wanted to see what Jack thought was so special. There was a group of mostly men standing in one corner, and as she got nearer her eyes widened as she saw a sexaroid, one of the newer models. It was on her knees taking on all comers to the cheers of the drunken crowd. Beth made a face, "I wonder what sexist pig brought her in?" A snort of laughter, and she turned to see a very amused young woman standing beside her. "No pig," she smiled, "that one belongs to Christa." "Christa?" Beth echoed faintly. The woman pointed out a lady clad in black leather, watching the goings on coolly. She looked up, sensing Beth's eyes on her, and smiled invitingly. Hesitantly, Beth walked over to the almost white haired young women. She smiled up at Beth from her seat and gestured to her android, "Have you even seen one of them in action?" "No," Beth admitted, blushing. "I'm Beth," she smiled, offering her hand. "Christa," she took Beth's hand in hers, her voice flowing like melted chocolate. She nodded to the sexaroid, "She's just as good servicing me." Conversationally, "Have you tried one?" Beth went red, "No, not yet." A short pause and she said softly, "I don't think I'd want to try, unless it was in private." Christa looked her up and down, taking in Beth's naughty schoolgirl outfit, then she smiled. She got up and walked over to clip on a leash to her sexaroid, drawing it away from the disapointed young men, then she cat- walked back to where Beth was standing. "Let's go find someplace private," her voice a husky purr. Jen shook her head, laughing. "You have got to get better taste in men," she chuckled at her friend's tales of her love life. "So you like Kate, but she's a grouch," a grinning Terry noted, "and your boss is gorgeous, but an Ice Queen. And you complain about my taste?" "OK, point," Jen admitted. She leaned forward, "Speaking of my boss, you said that the brass is talking about my unit. What's up with that?" "What I've heard," Terry leaned forward, "is that the Chasers boss shot down a proposal to go after the free-wills. Good reasons, but the bosses aren't happy." "What are they planning to do?" Jern asked with a frown. "Not much directly," Terry sighed, "but I hear that the cops are to keep cooperation to a minimum. And we're to pass on any scut work we can." "That would explain the 'Poochie' incident," Jen said thoughtfully. "Poochie?" Terry asked, her eyebrows up. Jen grinned, "You gotta hear this..."
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