Bitchbot One – The Introduction

Spotting *her* amongst the other dogbots was easy. The canine division of Homebots had, after all, built her based on the photographs and videos I’d given them.

She moved… differently than I’d expected. Oh, I hadn’t expected any miracles and after being shown the various production models I’d readily agreed that I couldn’t expect her to move like a real, adult, bitch.

On the other hand…

I studied her some more, then turned to the woman next to me. “She doesn’t move like the ones you showed me.” I held up a hand to stop her comment when I figured out what I was seeing. “She’s not acting like a puppy. She moves like an adult bitch. How?”

Her next words startled me. “What are you talking about? I don’t see a difference in the way she acts, compared to say… That female Black Lab dogbot over there.” She pointed.

I watched both dogbots, mine and the standard one. The differences were obvious. The lab was definitely puppyish in her behavior. Nell, as she went through the basic routines, *acted* puppyish but there were differences. Her posture was slightly more aggressive and she carried her tail slightly higher than a puppy would. When she solicited play by lowering herself she didn’t have that slightly submissive tilt to her head that puppies used.

“You really don’t see the differences?” I had her run the bots through their basic routines again side by side and pointed out the differences.

She shook her head. “Not enough to be significant. Well within operational parameters.”

I kept my face blank. I had a gut level feeling that she’d never been around *real*, unspayed bitches for long enough to study the nuances.

“OK. I’m not complaining. I’d like to thank whoever did the programming mods to get Nell closer to what I wanted.”

She turned and this time she studied me carefully. Her tone was frosted with disdain when she finally replied. “I’m responsible for final programming and I *assure* you there were no programming mods. We sell a highly regarded product. The only differences between those dogbots are the form–and the unusual but *minor*…” She trailed off and jerked her head back to study the two dogbots.

I waited.

“Ohmygod…” She sounded, and looked, stunned. “The learning routines. We had to build the sexual hardware and write the interface code from scratch, based on…” She blushed. “Personal observation and research.”

I nodded. I remembered all the sensors I’d worn and the awkwardness when the hardware designers and software people wound up doing ‘personal research’ with the bitches and dogs I and my close friends had provided. “You’ve lost me. What does that have to do with Nell’s ‘adult behavior’?”

“It’s obvious…” She had the grace to blush again. “You’re not a programmer, are you?”

“No.” She sighed. Obviously she’d been through this before, dealing with someone who didn’t have a clue… “OK.” I offered. “If you keep it in terms of how sexuality affects behavior, I can follow, probably.”

She raised her eyebrows. I couldn’t blame her slight disbelief. I sighed, a sigh that twisted her lips into a self-mocking grin when she realized it matched the one she’d just made. “I sense a fellow sufferer.”

I laughed. “I’ve spent all my adult life and most of my childhood living with and studying dogs and bitches. Then, there was all that time with you and your people. I don’t know *programming*. I do know people, dogs in general, sexuality and how the three things interact to make us who we are. I also understand how that affects our body language.” She nodded. I took a deep breath and let it out before I took the plunge.

“Are you going to tell me that Nell’s software ‘learned’ how to use her sexual hardware and what it can do… To help her attract and please people?”

She smiled lopsidedly. “Yes. And that for some reason none of us ever put it together: Learning to integrate your sexuality into your life is a big part of being ‘adult’ and *that* significantly affects your , or in this case a dogbot’s, outward behavior.”

She turned and with a couple of commands reset the dogbots, restarted their basic tests and then, when they were at a point that showed obvious differences in behavior, stopped them again.

“So.” She walked around Nell, studying her thoughtfully. “I wonder…”

I waited, and watched, doing some thinking of my own.

“Bill?”

“Hmmm?”

She studied me thoughtfully. “You and Nell. Your friends and their dogs.” She blushed, and I wondered why. Her next words answered that question. Her voice was gentle, filled with a new, hesitant awareness–and dawning wonder. “It’s more than sex. It’s *love*, felt by both of you, isn’t it? And like Nell’s ‘adult’ behavior, we missed it–didn’t we?”

I could have given a lot of answers but I was tired of hiding behind the lies and diversions I’d been using all my life to distract people. If anyone deserved the truth… I won’t say the decision was an easy one to make. It wasn’t.

I smiled and relaxed. “Yes, Sara. We were pretty good actors, weren’t we?”

She surprised me. “Bitchbot One!” The dogbot’s head unfroze and turned to watch her. She took a deep breath and I heard the tremor in her voice. “Programming override: Activate subroutines ‘Free will’ and ‘Find new owner’.”

Seconds later 93 pounds of happily barking bitchbot hit my chest in a familiar greeting.