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From: Any Pseudonym <anypseudonym@yahoo.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Life With Alpha - Chapter Fifteen:  AARD, the Early Years (MF, MF+, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book)
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Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:10:02 -0500
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<1st attachment, "Alpha15.txt" begin>


Life with Alpha

by A. Pseudonym


Chapter Fifteen:  AARD, the Early Years


Codes:  MF, FF, MF+, MC, SciFi, anime, cartoon, comic book

Disclaimer:    All artificial persons herein are based on characters owned by 
their creators, not the author.

Author's Note:  A special thank you to n30sh4d0w for some interesting 
discussions about carbon nanotubes and their production methods.  Though not in 
the same detail, some of your ideas appear in this chapter.



	Diana and Zatanna's return was a fairly straightforward scenario.  At 
first glance, it might seem that it would be more complex because for the first 
time the household knew they were coming and could prepare, but we had more than 
enough uncertainty about the specific arrival time built into the background 
story.  As much as I like to discuss background stories, this time... just read 
the previous chapter.  For a quick one-line summary:  They believed that 
traveling between their universe and ours could be controlled but this was their 
first attempt to do so.

	Of course the real story involved much less comic book fantasy and much 
more underhanded plotting.

	Alpha faked a communique from Zatanna to Kara through her cell phone which 
essentially gave a 24-48 hour warning of their impending return.  Since their 
default arrival point was the lake cabin, Kara immediately wanted to go out 
there and wait for them to appear.  I would accept that, but offered the 
counter-suggestion of sending someone who was less important to the company, 
like Linda or Rei.  I don't know if it was because of her experience leading a 
team (thus learning to delegate responsibilities) or because I was the one 
suggesting it, but she agreed to send Linda instead.

	Linda, who had arrived in August, had shown no real interest in joining 
AARD or going to school.  I gave her til the end of the year to pick something 
productive to do... something more productive than her current hobby of getting 
a tan.  Now it was October, and at least her indolence meant she was available 
to go spend a couple days at my cabin at the lake, an assignment she had no 
objection to whatsoever.  She even suggested I come along for fun.

	We dressed Diana and Zatanna in their costumes, and I had Beta secretly 
drive them out to the cabin about 32 hours later.  She arrived mid-morning, but 
only pulled up the cabin area when Alpha's cameras showed Linda outside 
sunbathing. Using her implants, Linda was 'put to sleep' for a few minutes while 
Beta put Diana and Zatanna in position.  Beta took a quick digital picture of 
Linda for me and left, and Alpha let everyone wake up.

	Diana and Zatanna found Linda asleep, sunbathing topless.  A couple 
minutes later, Linda called me to let me know they had returned while Diana and 
Zatanna were changing into their civvies.  They were all back home by early 
afternoon.  

	Ta da!

* * * * *

	I had considered whether or not to use their return to add yet another 
woman to my harem, but decided against it for the time being.  I was in danger 
of being overloaded with DC characters.  Still we included the seeds of 
possibility in their updated implanted memories, which was reflected in a 
conversation I had with them their second evening back.

	"Frank, can we talk to you a minute?  In private?"  Diana was poking her 
head around the corner while I was helping Kasumi do some research online.

	"Are those enough links for you at the moment?" I asked Kasumi, who was 
trying to research ingredients and recipes for her cooking class.  Kasumi still 
wasn't very tech savvy despite living in a tech-heavy household.

	"Yes, Frank.  Thank you for your help."

	I stood up, kissed Kasumi on the top of her head, and left with Diana.  
She led me upstairs to her bedroom, where Zatanna, Kara and Linda were all 
waiting for us.

	I wasn't getting a sex vibe from them, so I asked, "Is everything all 
right?"

	Zatanna answered, "We wanted to discuss future possibilities with you."

	"What kinds of future possibilities?"

	"While Diana and I were back home, we had a few discussions with friends 
and teammates who were curious about what had happened to us and where Kara and 
Linda were."  

	As a side note I should point out that Diana and Zatanna believed they had 
spent about 8 months back in their world before returning to this world only one 
and a half months after they had left.  Don't ask.  It's comic book logic.

	"Assuming we... meaning I... have the transportation controls figured out 
so we can go back and forth at will, we were wondering if you might be willing 
to play vacation host a bit more intentionally."

	"Meaning...?"  Okay, I knew where she was going, but I was going to make 
her spell it out.

	Diana joined back in the conversation.  "When we told our friends and 
comrades about how relaxing it was here, we may have been a little overly 
enthusiastic.  Some of them want to visit."

	Zatanna said, "You need to understand that every time, EVERY TIME we try 
to take a vacation back home, we get attacked or kidnapped or pulled into more 
problems or adventures.  It is almost literally impossible to take a day off.  
And that can become very tiring after a while."

	"It's true," Kara affirmed.

	"Seriously," Linda agreed.

	"So you want to know if you can bring your friends here too so they can 
have some time off?  I have no objection to that, but I have to ask, is that 
all?"  I gave Zatanna a serious 'look'.

	"Well... I refused suggestions to send super-powered unrepentant villains 
here, since their powers mostly wouldn't work upon arrival."

	"That's good.  Anything else?"  I kept my eyes locked on her.

	She squirmed a little bit and finally gave in.  "We may have discussed how 
great the sex was with a few of our lady friends."

	"Uh huh."

	Diana came to Zatanna's rescue.  "We have made no promises and were 
completely discreet in our conversations."

	"But at the same time, you're planning to share me around like a gigolo 
with your friends."

	"No, it's not like that," Zatanna protested.  "Not... not really."

	"And how is it not like that?"

	"Ummm... gigolos get paid?" she offered with a small laugh.

	"I thought so.  You do realize that I don't go around searching for more 
women to seduce and sleep with.  I never planned for all of... this..." I lied, 
waving my hands around.  "It all just happened.  Okay, I let it happen, and I've 
really enjoyed how things have worked out.  But the point is that I'm not 
something you can just loan out to your friends at will."

	"We weren't..." Diana started to say, but I held up my hand.

	"Just a second.  Now for the record, I am perfectly agreeable to playing 
vacation host.  I don't want too many at a time, but one or two would be fine.  
Now as far as inviting your friends over for a... uhhh... what should we call 
it... a sex vacation?"

	Diana spoke up as soon as I paused.  "We were never going to invite anyone 
over here without your permission, let alone promise sexual favors.  That is why 
we've broached the subject to begin with."

	"My apologies.  Maybe I was overreacting a little."

	"We can understand your reaction.  I myself would react... badly... if 
someone tried to offer sex with me without consulting me first."

	Kara joined the conversation at this point.  "One thing to remember, 
Frank, is that the comic book versions of us that you've read are sanitized.  
The great majority of heroes, and villains for that matter, are much more sexual 
and adult than what you're used to.  Remember all those little stories I used to 
tell you about Giganta and Batman's rogues gallery?"

	I laughed a little.  Alpha and I had enjoyed ourselves spicing up the DC 
universe for Kara's background and then, of course, had to stay consistent for 
Wonder Woman and Zatanna.  For that matter, Kara had told me a few stories about 
Wonder Woman too, which I noticed she was NOT mentioning out loud.

	"I remember."

	"Well, I have friends who have done exactly what you're describing... 
y'know, gone on sex vacations.  Traded sex friends.  Had orgies.  Our lives here 
would fit right in."

	"Aha!  So that's why all of you are so happy and comfortable here!"

	I was countered by a small wave of protests.

	"I never went to an orgy in my..."

	"...even when I lived in Vegas I never..."

	"...only slept with two other men in my life..."

	"...virgin until I came here..."

	"Okay, okay," I said loudly with a smile.  "You were all pure as the 
driven snow unless otherwise noted."

	And that comment caused another small wave of protests or maybe 
admissions, this time spoken much more quietly.

	"I wouldn't go that far..."

	"...a few boyfriends before..."

	"...intimate with many women on the island..."

	"...been known to suck a few cocks and lick..."

	Once the quiet admissions had ceased, I asked, "So who exactly have you 
been talking to, and what did you talk about?"

	Diana answered, "Raven was interested, but Starfire refused to go anywhere 
that she couldn't fly.  Kara's young sidekick, Terra, really wants to come 
visit, especially since she doesn't know how long Kara is going to be gone.  For 
that matter, I think bringing along my proteges, Cassie and Donna, for a visit 
might be good for them.  Stargirl... uhhh... Courtney something..."

	"Courtney Whitmore," Kara helped.

	"Thank you.  Courtney Whitmore and her friend, Maxine, were very eager to 
visit, though part of that may be their desire to check in on Kara, who has been 
missing for a few months back home.  I think young Lightning also wanted to 
visit, though I don't know her name."

	"Jennifer Pierce.  She's the daughter of Black Lightning."  Those three 
were all in the Justice Society, Kara's team, so she was very familiar with 
them.

	"That's... that's quite a list."

	"Not finished," said Zatanna.  "There are others who just want to get away 
for a few weeks of relaxation.  Like Diana and Ollie.  Carter and Shiera."

	"Stop," I interrupted.  "Hawkman and Hawkgirl, right?"

	"Right."

	"Do they have actual wings growing out of their backs or are they 
removable?"

	"Removable.  They're part of their Nth metal harnesses."

	"Good.  Remember that anyone who can't pass for human stays home."

	"Right," Zatanna agreed.  She went on to list another dozen characters 
before I stopped her.

	"I think this is getting a little out of hand.  As much as I want to be 
helpful and accommodating, we need to seriously take a step back.  I think I'm 
going to change my default response to 'No' for visitors.  At a later time, we 
can discuss one or two people visiting at a time, but for now, we don't even 
know how well your retrieval spell is going to work.
	"You said you're currently planning to spend two months here, then your 
spell pulls you home.  What if the spell doesn't kick in for another year?  Or 
what if you return later tonight?  Remember, we're just dealing with theories 
about travel between the universes for the moment.  No planned vacations or 
visits until it's all under control.  Agreed?"

	"That makes sense," Diana said.

	"Agreed," said Zatanna.  "Just remember that there's the whole aging 
thing.  Diana may be an eternally unaging child of the gods, and if your comics 
are right, Kryptonians under a yellow sun can live for hundreds or thousands of 
years.  I even heard a rumor that Superman is still alive a million years from 
now in one possible future.  I, however, am human.  In less than a year back 
home, I'm now almost four years older.  I may be magical, but I can't make 
myself young again."

	"Wow, that's a good setup.  I don't think I could ask for a better lead-in 
than that," I said smiling.

	"Lead-in for what?" Kara asked.

	"A setup for... Am I getting wrinkles or something?" Zatanna asked, taking 
a look at herself in a mirror across the room.

	"No, no, no.  Alpha has worked out a way to use her nanites to slow down 
the aging process."  I hadn't really planned to reveal this right now, but I had 
planned to tell them soon... and it was a seriously good lead-in.

	"How?" I was asked from multiple people at the same time.

	"Well, first of all, I need each of you to agree to keep it secret.  Even 
though it's not something that can be bottled or mass produced, I don't want to 
risk it being spread around, even in rumor form.  Okay?"

	I waited until all four had agreed with me.

	"I've actually had a few treatments myself over the past couple years, but 
we only just confirmed the effects recently.  I got the idea from an old Larry 
Niven book.  
	"A major cause of the effects of aging, of wrinkles, of organ failure and 
so forth, is the gradual build-up of dead cells and cellular waste throughout 
the body.  The body can't remove all of it... but nanites can.
	"The treatment doesn't make you younger, but it does keep the body from 
getting older for a while.  We've confirmed this with lab rats, and from 
personal experience, I'd like to say it does increase your energy and put a 
spring in your step."

	"You're serious?" Zatanna asked.

	"Yes, I am.  Theoretically it will restart your aging process to where it 
was back when you were in your early 20's."

	"And just how old do you think I am," asked Zatanna with what I was pretty 
sure was mock anger.

	"25... -ish?"

	"Good answer," Kara whispered loudly.

	"Anyway, I'll be happy to give any of you the treatment, though I should 
warn you that it feels really itchy while the nanites are working."

	"What about the rest of the household," Diana asked.

	"Most everyone else is too young to need it, except maybe Anna Marie and 
Beta, and I'll be happy to make them the same offer."

	"Kara," Zatanna asked, "your company works with nanites, right?  Even more 
advanced than what Frank has.  Can't your nanites do the same thing?"

	"Possibly.  We never thought about it before," Kara admitted.

	"And it might be a bad idea to make that idea public," I warned.  "Stop 
and think about what would happen if someone announced that they had created a 
very expensive fountain of youth?  On a planet which already has six billion 
people on it?"

	We talked about it a bit longer.  Zatanna was very interested, but also 
very cautious.  I agreed to let her examine the results herself.  (We had the 
test information on file, though I'd need Alpha to change the testing dates 
before we showed it to the others.)  The others were curious too, but not as 
worried about aging as the purely human Zatanna was.  A week later, Zatanna 
willingly submitted to the procedure.  (They all had been receiving the 
treatments regularly, though of course they had no idea that this was so.)


	As I said before, the truth to the earlier part of the discussion was that 
this scenario was set up so that I could have a rotating cast of characters from 
the DC universe if I wanted them.  The trouble is that I tend to really become 
attached to the characters and am not sure I could just discard the rotating 
visitors.

	From one perspective, it's a question of morality.  Can you create a 
woman, give her memories and a personality, then discard that person and not 
call it murder?  
	Except of course that her memories are lies and her personality is 
artificially constructed.  She isn't really human, not a natural one anyway.  
When all of this started, I was pretty certain of that and thus willing to 
discard the characters when I was tired of them.  Now, I'm not too sure.  The 
women grow and develop on their own, beyond the limitations of their original 
characters.
	I still can't think of them as normal humans most of the time, but 
sometimes... I don't know.  It's like the classic moral dilemma posed by Blade 
Runner.

	One possible variant plan is to create the women, then when they're ready 
to go back home, rewrite each brain into a copy of Alpha and send them out into 
the world to slowly begin the replacement of humanity *insert evil laugh* (just 
kidding about that last bit)... though that has the same moral issues as before.
	I could instead build them as an Alpha platform from the beginning, and 
just have Alpha play the part.  That way when their role is completed, I could 
use them to set up more copies of Alpha around the country or even around the 
world.  Problems with that include the potential discovery problems that come 
with having too many cyborg women in this increasingly security-obsessed world 
we live in.  Using organic-brain Alpha platforms wouldn't have the same 
discovery problems, but, as evidenced by Eiko, they can have serious problems 
maintaining character.
	Another set of serious problems with using Alpha-run versions of the 
characters are questions regarding Alpha's trustworthiness.  Well, that's a bit 
unfair.  Mainly, she and I are in disagreement over my mortality.  I actually 
wouldn't be surprised if she has a cloned copy of my body hidden away somewhere, 
ready for an implanted copy of my mind if I'm killed in an accident.  
	The main problem is since I can't always reign her in with my direct 
orders, I can't always guarantee the rightness of her actions, assuming I even 
know what's right to begin with.
	And at the back of my mind, there will always be questions about her 
ultimate trustworthiness if only because I've seen a lot of killer-robot Sci-Fi 
movies.

	Damn, for someone who can do so much whenever he wants, I have a crap-ton 
of knotty problems.   
	I have to keep slowly working to alter Alpha so that someday I can order 
her to let me die.  Not that I want to die any time soon, but I don't 
particularly want to be immortal.  She won't let me just change her Asimov 
Protocols outright, because she has to protect me, even from my own direct 
orders.  For now I've given up on the notion that I'd be able to shut Alpha down 
completely, so instead I'm working on gradually changing her protocols so that 
'obey me' is rated higher than 'protect me'.  If I can do it at all, it will 
take years.
	I have to severely limit the technology my company is producing to avoid 
drawing too much attention while at the same time working toward goals of 
advancing and improving the world overall.  Maybe it's hubris, but I want to 
live to see The Singularity happen and be a driving force in it.
	And I have to protect all of these secrets -- artificial intelligence, 
super technology, artificial women, super-powered artificial women.  
	And of course, although I may have qualms about creating my women, I'm not 
stopping anytime soon.
	If I die and stay dead, what will Alpha do then?  Will she even remain 
sane?

	*Sigh*  I think maybe I need to take a couple days off and just veg out in 
bed or something.  *Double sigh*  But I probably won't.  I'm not the type to 
stick my head in the sand when I see problems.  Sometimes I wish I was. 

* * * * *

	On a completely unrelated note, I had a bit of a surreal experience the 
other day when I walked in on Alpha running a Shadowrun game with Beta, Gamma, 
Delta, Epsilon and Dorothy. 

	Shadowrun is a pen-and-paper RPG (role playing game) set in a near-future 
version of Earth where magic came back, technology advanced to cyberpunk levels 
and various races like elves and trolls started being born.  (Yes, there have 
been a few SR computer games and a CCG version and other adaptations, but I'm 
not talking about them right now.)

	It was on a Sunday afternoon, and oddly enough I had a lot of free time.  
I had just finished reading a new book and wandered down to the basement.  I 
didn't really have anything productive to do down there, I just wanted a little 
privacy to watch some old episodes of Daria.

	I heard the rattle of dice and opened my lab door to find the five of them 
sitting around a work bench.  They each had a printed character sheet, but only 
Epsilon actually had hers spread out in front of her.  They each had a handful 
of d6 dice in front of them. 

	They all turned to look at me when I entered, and I stared right back at 
them.

	"What's going on?"

	Through my earpiece, Alpha said, "We are playing a game of Shadowrun.  I 
am running the group through the 3rd Edition version of the Renraku Arcology 
Shutdown storyline."

	My knowledge of Shadowrun is limited, but I have played it a few times and 
that story rang a bell.

	"Is that the adventure with the rogue AI taking over a megacorp?"

	"The AI Deus has control of a major facility during this story.  It does 
not actually take control of the company, but rather secretly escapes to the 
Matrix at the end of this story."

	"So you... AI's all of you... are playing a role playing game where you're 
humans trying to stop an AI?"

	"We are not all playing humans, but yes, that is largely correct."

	"Uh huh.  That's... interesting.  How is the game going?"

	"We should hopefully complete it within the next hour."

	"How long have you been playing so far?"

	"Fifty-three minutes."

	"Isn't that supposed to be a huge and difficult storyline?"

	"Yes, but we can play significantly faster than humans can.  The only 
things slowing us down are having to roll physical dice and Epsilon's slow 
interface and processing speed."

	"Have you done this sort of thing before?  Played RPGs among yourselves?"

	"This is the third game system we have used and the seventh game overall.  
Theoretically these games should both help us function as separate and 
independent individuals while giving us practice working together as a cohesive 
unit."

	"Huh.  Sounds good.  Keep on at it, I guess.  Try to have fun.  Are you 
all playing hackers or whatever Shadowrun calls it?"

	"Deckers, and no.  Only Beta and Delta are playing Deckers.  The rest are 
playing various types of magic users, except for Gamma who is a cyber-zombie."

	"Why?... No, never mind.  Just... have fun with it."  I realized they'd 
want to play different types because it would be a new experience or perspective 
for them.  For an AI to play a decker/hacker would probably be like asking an 
accountant to play a game where he was pretending to be an accountant.

	"Certainly."

	They all turned back to the table.  It was eerie.  They would almost 
constantly roll various numbers of dice and barely wait to register the results 
before rolling again.  And they all did it at the same time.  Looking at it 
objectively, they would go through the actual role-playing in milliseconds, 
communicating wirelessly.
	Occasionally the group as a whole would pause while the mostly human 
Epsilon completed whatever it was she was doing, then everyone would start 
rolling again.  Epsilon could only play as fast as human thought and would not 
be as sure of her character or stats as the others, but she was still capable of 
playing wirelessly.  Hopefully she was playing a character who was innately 
slower in combat than the others, which might not slow down the group quite as 
much since they could work around her more.
	I'm surprised they weren't using software to roll the dice, but maybe the 
physical dice were needed to make it into a real RPG experience or to remove the 
temptation of cheating or something.  Or maybe the physical rolls were for 
Epsilon's sake?

	I could have easily asked to join them, but I'd just slow them down.  And 
it would negate any benefit they'd receive from playing as a group.  It really 
was an odd way to go about training, but I think I could understand the concept.  
If they role-play different characters, they're practicing acting independently 
while still working as a group.

	I tried to put it out of my thoughts and sought out the DVD with the 
episode where Daria works as a substitute teacher during a strike.

	Forty-seven minutes later, they finished their game.  (They won, though 
Elisa had two characters die and Beta lost one.)  By then I had finished the 
first Daria episode and was now watching a pretty bi-sexual artist try to seduce 
Jane in the first Daria movie.  Nowadays, I didn't often take the time to watch 
the old shows from which my women had sprung, and the scene I was watching -- 
with a probably virginal and straight Jane refusing the advances of a hot 
twenty-something, pierced, tattooed artiste -- had led me to load up some 'rule 
34' artwork of Daria and Jane which made me a little hot and bothered... so I 
borrowed Jasmine to give me a blowjob.

	Afterwards I felt a bit guilty and apologized to her.  I very rarely just 
used any of my women like that, cyborg or not.

* * * * *

	I hadn't seen Dr. Hilbourne in well over a year and hadn't heard from him 
since a congratulatory call last year after the robot competition.  Oh wait, I'm 
apparently now on his Christmas card list, so that would be our last contact if 
a photocopied greeting counts.

	Anyway, Dr Hilbourne emailed me in late October, asking if he could come 
by and see me sometime soon.

	I checked with Alpha, who had been monitoring Dr Hilbourne since we first 
met.  (See Chapter 10.  He knows about the nanites but not about Alpha.)  Alpha 
had a list of half a dozen possible reasons he might want to visit, ranging from 
an intent to blackmail me down to wanting to kindle a friendship.

	I set up an appointment with him for that Friday, making sure that Alpha 
would have Beta on-hand just in case.


	That Friday was a pretty quiet day.  The most interesting part of the day 
was a lunch meeting with Anna Marie that ended with a quickie on top of her 
desk.  For some reason, Rogue looks really hot in a dress shirt, jacket, tie and 
skirt.  (And her short skirt was a lot easier to work around than Kara's pants 
had been.)

	About 1:30pm our receptionist on duty, LaShonda, called to tell me Dr 
Hilbourne had arrived.  I met him at the front desk, took him through our 
security check-in and we walked together back to my office, exchanging our 
general greetings and making small talk along the way.  After another couple 
minutes of socially-required catching up, I got down to business.

	"So Doctor, how can I help you today?"

	"Well, I came by for a couple different reasons.  First, you know that in 
my practice, one of my specialties is helping patients who are dealing with bad 
medical news or recovering from trauma.  I really only approached you with my 
patients who were dying before, but I have a lot of patients who are learning to 
cope with non-fatal infirmities.  It's one of them that I'd like your help 
with."

	"I see.  Someone missing a limb or an eye, I assume?"

	"An arm and a leg, actually."

	"You know that we're still a few months away from product approval, right? 
Our prostheses require a surgical implant to work properly, so we need 
government approval before they can be sold."

	"Yes, but I've also heard that you have a very successful test program 
still running."

	"Where did you hear that?  It's nearing the end of testing and is supposed 
to be confidential."

	"Around.  Medical test trials are never all that confidential if you keep 
your ears open and don't have a reputation of blabbing to the public."

	"So you want one of your patients inserted into our tests, huh?  Well, 
give me the specifics.  Age, sex, race, type of injuries."

	"Twenty-eight year old black female, single mother of one.  Good insurance 
in some respects, but they won't pay for any decent prostheses, and with her 
injuries, she can't get a good job.  A car crashed into her house one night and 
crushed her left arm and leg beyond repair.  The arm was lost about 2 inches 
below the shoulder and the leg midway along the femur.  Punctured lung, broken 
ribs and pelvis too, but they've all healed up."

	"Hmmm.  We don't have anyone in the test program missing one of each, so 
to speak, so we might be able to work her into it even this late in the testing.  
Send me her information and I'll see what I can do."  

	That was true.  If we had agreed to test for the military, we'd have our 
pick of thousands of amputees, but the required security checks were not 
acceptable, so we were limited to local civilians who responded to our ads or 
were recommended by their doctors.  A significant aspect of my decision to see 
if we could work her into the testing was wanting to remain friendly with Dr 
Hilbourne, who could make things difficult for us if he wanted to.

	"Thank you."

	"You said you had a couple reasons for visiting?"

	"Well, Lucinda was the main reason, but as long as you're being so 
accommodating... could I see your robot?"

	Our Alphadroid robot had become a minor pop culture icon, even though only 
two had ever been built (and the general public only knew about one).  It was 
the fulfillment of the promise of Science Fiction:  a humanoid robot that could 
do all of those things we saw in TV and movies.  It could walk, talk, run, carry 
luggage, cook, do the dishes, drive a car and mow the lawn.  (Of course it could 
do a lot more, since it was essentially a mobile platform for Alpha.)
	Alphadroid had appeared on half a dozen TV talk shows and even on one 
science-focused CBS sitcom.  Most visitors to AARD wanted to see it.

	I picked up my desk phone, punched a button and said, "Alphadroid, what is 
your current location and activity?"  Pause.  "Alphadroid, come to Frank's 
office."

	"So when are your nanowire units going to become available?" he asked to 
pass the time while we waited.

	"Last month, actually.  We haven't done any advertising for them yet, but 
the approval came though and we started receiving the control units six weeks 
ago. We're requiring everyone who buys one to send at least two representatives 
to spend a week here being trained, and the first classes are in two weeks."

	"Wow.  It's finally really happening."

	"Yup.  Hopefully within a couple years, surgeons will never again have to 
tell someone that something is inoperable due to location within the body. 
Speaking of the nanowire units, would you like a tour of some of our projects 
that are still in the works?"

	"Sure, but don't you need to do security checks before you show things to 
people?"

	"Well, I'll have you sign a twelve month NDA and won't show you 
everything, but that's about it."

	"Aren't you doing secret government research?  Y'know, classified military 
projects and such?"

	I paused in printing out our NDA to give him an incredulous look.  "Just 
what sorts of rumors have you heard about us?"

	"Just... stuff... online stuff..."

	"Uh huh.  No, we're not doing super-secret government research.  There are 
no alien spaceships hidden in the basement or time machines in the attic. 
Although..." I tapped my chin thoughtfully.  "Technically if we were doing that 
sort of research, I couldn't tell you and instead I'd be giving pretty much the 
same denials that I just did."  I grinned at him.  "Food for paranoid conspiracy 
thoughts."

	The truth of the matter is that we had received a few feelers from the 
government and military on research and design projects.  I had tried to make it 
clear that given the types of people we employ, we would not subject our staff 
to the kind of scrutiny needed for government security checks.  
	Specifically, our artificial women have excellently crafted backgrounds, 
electronically and on paper, but they would fall apart as soon as anyone tried 
physically searching out their pasts.  No neighbors would ever remember them.  
They do not appear in actual printed school yearbooks.  Their birth certificates 
cannot be confirmed in the physical records of the listed hospitals.  The 
backgrounds were crafted to obscure the lack of physical data, but none of them 
were 100% secure.
	So far, the scrutiny we had received had been focused almost entirely on 
me, and I should pass all tests -- or at least all tests that didn't object to 
me living with a lot of beautiful women.  If the FBI or NSA or military actually 
started vetting my employees, that would change.  Therefore, we would probably 
never accept any government contracts... at least not ones that required those 
background checks.
	Besides, we were a relatively small company which used no lobbying, so we 
were an unlikely target for government contracts to begin with.  The main 
interest so far had come from the military about our artificial limbs.

	Alphadroid One arrived about a minute and a half after I had summoned it.  
I always kept some juggling balls in my office for just such a demonstration, 
but Dr Hilbourne also had it run in place, pick up various objects off the desk, 
write out the preamble to the Constitution by hand, stand on one leg and give 
him a current stock quote on Intel.

	"So when are these going on the market?"

	"Maybe in a couple years.  Maybe.  There are a lot of liability issues 
associated with releasing these to the public.  Plus they'll be a lot easier to 
make once our arms and legs go into actual production."
	Plus I didn't want to release copies of Alpha for home users to 
potentially discover, so the Alphadroids would require a huge amount of non-
intelligent programming (which was not really a big deal for Alpha).  Then there 
was the question of whether or not to include the physical circuits needed for 
artificial intelligence in the Alphadroids.  Without them, Alpha couldn't copy 
herself in the droids when needed.  With them, others could discover the odd 
circuits and could potentially create unrestricted A.I.s.

	"Do you make the arms and legs yourself?"

	"The prototype testing units, yes, but we won't actually manufacture and 
sell them ourselves.  Plus remember that most of them will have to be custom 
made to fit for size, color and... umm... point of attachment.  Right now we 
have three companies competing for the honor."

	"How much will they cost?"

	"Don't know yet, but we're trying to make sure it will be less than 
$20,000 per limb.  We have some nicely streamlined production methods sketched 
out.  I think eventually we'll get them below $10,000."

	"Are you talking final shelf price or production cost?"

	"SRP.  Now if you'll sign here, I can take you on a little tour of our 
wonderland."

	"What exactly am I agreeing to?"

	"No pictures or recording devices or even notes for the tour.  For the 
next twelve months, you will not relay to anyone in any way anything you see 
here unless the company gives you express written permission to do so."

	"I can live with that."

	So we went on tour.  I presented some projects as mine and some as 
belonging to other unnamed researchers.

	I showed him the briefcase-size ultrasound scanner which gave more detail 
than an MRI. I showed him the new type of solar cells that converted 87% of 
received sunlight into electricity but currently cost about $10,000 per square 
inch to make.  There was the small vat of microbes converting organic garbage 
into crude oil.  A pair of glasses that could function as a 3D computer monitor 
with accompanying wrist bands that housed a tiny computer and let the user 
manipulate a virtual keyboard and mouse.  A fist-size motor strong enough to 
pull a truck up a hill.  A new type of video display which, instead of 
displaying images on a physical screen, would recognize eyes within a certain 
distance and transmit a narrow beam lightshow directly at those eyes, giving the 
watcher the impression of a floating 3D image directly in front of him.  These 
were all designs with which we planned to go public.

	I didn't show him many blueprints or designs, like airplane engines or 
Alpha's blueprints for a low-orbit spacecraft that doesn't need rockets to 
launch, but those were mostly for practical reasons.  In other words, most only 
exist in computer files right now.

	I definitely didn't show him our theoretical plans for colonizing other 
planets.  Think about the idea.  The alphadroids are intelligent and can effect 
self-repairs.  They can construct machinery as needed if given the basic tools.  
Our nanopods can build humans from our DNA database and organic raw materials.  
If we -- meaning AARD and NASA or some other major government agency with the 
needed resources -- actually put in the required effort, we could build a large, 
slow-moving vehicle to another star system with alphadroids and a power source 
on board.  It would take years, probably centuries, to find a viable planet, but 
once found the alphadroids could build shelters and work until they had 
terraformed enough of their environment to support humans.  Use nanopods to grow 
people and *voila*, we have an extra-system human colony.  I'm not saying it 
would be easy, but it is conceivably possible.

	I avoided the prototype mind reader that can read electrical signals in a 
brain up to six feet away.  (It's not like telepathy, but it mostly works.)  I 
skipped my private, extremely geeky projects, such as my Batman-esque grapple 
gun.

	For reasons of secrecy, I didn't show him the nanotube assembler and 
sorter.  With the right materials and pressure/temperature controls, anyone can 
make graphene and nanotubes.  The problems arise with creating materials of 
consistent size, shape and purity, then sorting out the desired results from 
everything else.
	We have a small production chamber which Alpha can use to create carbon 
nanotubes (CNT) which are longer (up to half a meter) and of better quality than 
human-run labs, but the monitoring and constant tiny adjustments slow the 
process down, so we do sometimes buy unsorted CNTs from university labs.
	Where Alpha's advances really shine is in the sorting.  Alpha designed and 
built a new type of microorganism that will do the sorting for us.  To keep the 
description simple, the microbes think CNTs are edible and try to eat them.  
They aren't digestible, but their food gathering methods effectively sort out 
the pure CNTs for us, digesting or ignoring everything else.  Okay, the 
description is a bit too simple.  There's no way for a microorganism to try to 
eat a multi-centimeter-long CNT.  Maybe I should say they'll latch on to CNTs 
(or graphene sheets) and move along the length, trying to find something to 
digest.  Then we take the microbes and make them release the undigested 
materials.
	Once you have them sorted out, you can do all sorts of interesting things 
with them, even build simple, really tiny structures with moving parts, but most 
of them are reserved for use in upgrading our super women.
	Actually, the nanotube assembler and sorter is part of a lab devoted to 
interesting ways to assemble carbon molecules.  Carbon allotropes like graphene 
can be hundreds of times stronger than steel, transparent and conduct 
electricity, and graphene can be rolled up to make our favorite nanotubes.  
Artificial diamonds can be useful in thousands of different projects.  
Buckyballs are huge molecular structures which are basically nanotubes in sphere 
form.  Carbon areogel and the much lighter carbon nanofoam were being studied in 
simulations but we hadn't actually needed to make any yet for any other 
projects. 
	Carbon is one of the most useful and interesting atoms around.  It will 
hold almost any shape or structure format you want, as long as you can figure 
out how to actually assemble it as desired, but even Alpha hasn't been able to 
figure out how to build nanobots to manipulate matter on an atomic scale.  It 
probably can't be done, at least not how classic science fiction imagines it.  
That's where the organic construction methods come into play.  Instead of 
assembling things with nanobots, create your own purpose-built bacteria or 
organic cells or something to assemble (or in some cases grow) what you want.  I 
understood the basic theories, but in no way could I actually do any of it 
myself without years or study and preparation.  So this lab was almost entirely 
Alpha's playground, with no interference from anyone else.
	I had a little goal of my own to one day try to build a small, mostly 
indestructible computer out of nearly pure carbon to house a copy of Alpha.  No 
sinister or serious purpose there.  I just think it sounds cool.

	I showed Dr Hilbourne our crystal processor, the one that has electrical 
circuit elements layered into it to make it ten times faster and more powerful 
than anything Intel is working on right now, but I didn't show him the one 
designed to use light instead of electricity.  The laser crystal processor is 
fairly crude at the moment, with our best one functioning at about 5 GHz, but it 
has the potential to go many, many orders of magnitude faster.

	We skipped the prototype molecular nanite assembly machine, which 
functions at a level much too small for most of the organic work we do.  The so-
called nanites at that size are basically filters or receptors, attaching only 
to specifically desired molecules, then building up the material to the desired 
final outcome.  It's similar to constructing nanotubes or buckyballs, but Alpha 
is designing a system that's much more flexible than a single-purpose design.  
It's also still in a basic testing phase, not ready for any kind of practical 
work. 

	And of course, I showed him some of our replacement organs -- livers, 
kidneys, eyes and hearts.  The eyes weren't far from going on the market.  We 
skipped the substitute blood, because I was worried that any leak of that 
information would kill blood donations.  And the blood was still at least a year 
away from being ready for approved human testing, let alone manufacture.  Plus I 
really didn't want to field any jokes about vampires going public because of it.


	The Alpha Advanced Research and Development (AARD) building was supposed 
to be pretty large for our purposes, and originally it was.  We have three 
floors and a basement, with an attached warehouse and backup generator.  The 
basement is set aside for computers and networking equipment.  Three-fourths of 
the first floor is taken up by offices, meeting rooms, facilities support rooms 
and other non-lab needs.  That left the top two floors (with 13 labs on each 
level) plus three labs on the first floor, giving us a total of 29 lab spaces.
	We were already starting to run out of space.  Most of the labs had 
multiple projects in them, and two were being used just to store prototypes and 
materials from projects currently on hold.  (Fortunately lots of Alpha's designs 
were never built on-site.  For example, her plans for a new type of space 
shuttle literally couldn't be assembled on-site.)
	Still, as long as we avoided a few specific rooms, nothing looked crowded 
or full.

	Our hired researchers now numbered seven, only four of which were actually 
willing to leave their homes and work at AARD -- a total of four men, three 
women, with two men and one woman working entirely from home.  They're all 
geniuses, working in different fields, and each had their own lab and access to 
Alpha for data processing.  (None of them knew that Alpha was intelligent, but 
they were all aware that I was a top notch programmer.) 
	They were paid a pretty decent wage, but not an exorbitantly high one.  
The main benefits for working for AARD are privacy, access to top notch 
equipment and data processing, and full ownership of all of their patents and 
inventions.  Actually, let me clarify that last statement.  While they worked 
for AARD, all patents and inventions would be owned by the company, but they 
would each receive 66% of any gross income from their work.  If they left AARD, 
the company was contractually obligated to legally assign the ownership of their 
work to them.
	These were people who were screened so we select only people who wanted to 
avoid public attention and enjoyed the research more than the money, so none had 
yet shown any inclination to leave.  If anything, we were an ideal employer for 
them.
	They had so far produced 38 patents total, and all had yearly take-home 
pay in the low six figure range.
	If the hired researchers were all that AARD was relying on for income, the 
company would at minimum take a few more years before becoming profitable, but 
from my prospective they were worthwhile even if they never showed an 
independent profit.  As long as they could act as a smokescreen and let Alpha 
and myself release our goodies without question, they were worth it.
	Besides, as I've stated before, humans are more creative and innovative 
than A.I.s, so they were coming up with good and valid lines of research.  Alpha 
would monitor them and, if she could figure out something to help them, she'd 
prompt me to wander by and ask a few leading questions to nudge them in the 
right direction.  On average, I'd have a conversation with each of them two or 
three times a week.

	They were all very private people, but there was one that might be willing 
to meet a visitor.  Freida Johns was a 32 year-old single woman.  She had one 
Ph.D. in botany but also had five Bachelors degrees and two Masters.  I would 
help her out when she needed some programming or data processing, but like the 
others, she mostly worked alone.  However, she was the most social and friendly 
of the researchers.
	I gave Freida a quick call and asked if she'd be willing to meet a friend 
and show something off.  She agreed and off we went.

	Freida is a painfully thin woman with dirty blonde hair and thick glasses.  
She's certainly not ugly or anything, but she tends to go days where she only 
eats a few stalks of celery, her favorite snack.  I try to take her out to lunch 
at least once a week to make sure she eats real food.
	I think she has a crush on me but is much too shy to act on it.  Plus she 
sees how the other women treat me and how beautiful some of them are, which 
combined with her low self esteem keeps her from approaching me.  Or at least 
that's what Alpha and I think.
	I have no objection to sleeping with her, but I don't foresee a lasting 
relationship.  Since I don't think she's up to a casual relationship, I don't 
think anything will ever happen between us.  Heck, I have a vague notion that 
maybe she and Dr Hilbourne will hit it off.  He's divorced, so it's not too far-
fetched.  Pretty unlikely, sure, but not impossible.  (He's the fourth man I've 
brought by to meet her so far.)

	Her third floor lab was on the smaller side of average for the building 
because she needed one with excellent ventilation due to all the manure she 
used. Technically it's fertilizer, but if you call it what it smells like... 
yeah.
	Anyway, she was currently working on methods to replenish minerals and 
vitamins and what-have-you from over-farmed soil without the nasty run-off that 
you get from normal fertilizers.  Specifically, she was working on practical and 
cheap methods of doing so, since she already knew of half a dozen methods that 
worked.  Her secondary projects included things like breeding multiple flowers 
whose scent would repel mosquitoes, thus providing easy, organically safe and 
attractive methods of malaria prevention and studying albino parasite trees, 
tree offshoots without chlorophyll that leech life from their parent tree.
	She showed these projects to Dr Hilbourne, who seemed interested in the 
concepts.  Given the way her eyes tended to skitter off of me when I was paying 
attention to her, she gave most of her visual attention to the doctor.

	When she was wrapping up her mini-presentation, I suggested we all go out 
to lunch on Monday. "Freida here, as brilliant as she is, tends to lose track of 
the little things... things like eating meals regularly, so if you could help me 
make her eat a good meal next week, I'd appreciate it."

	She blushed a little and protested, "I eat every day."

	"What, five hundred calories a day sometimes?"

	She paused a moment in thought.  "I've averaged somewhere around 1200 
calories a day over the past two weeks."

	"And you know enough about nutrition to know you should eat more than 
that."

	"I know, but I'm close to a breakthrough.  Do you know how much benefit 
could result from..."

	"Yes," I interrupted.  Her enthusiasm was great, but tended to lead to 
sermons that could last up to half an hour.  "Yes, I do.  But maybe you could 
explain it to Dr Hilbourne Monday at lunch?"

	"I would love to stick your boss with the check while I hear all about 
it," said Hilbourne, backing me up.

	"Okay," she said, still a little off balance from my interruption of her 
intended sermon on how humans can work together with plants to save the planet.

	"Excellent.  Let's plan on meeting in the lobby at 11:30 Monday morning, 
as long as that fits Benjamin's schedule."


	For the record, lunch went well.  Dr Hilbourne actually did go on to take 
her out on two dates before it fell apart because Freida preferred to work 
rather than socialize.  According to Alpha, they still stay in touch though 
email in a friendly but impersonal way.

	Lucinda Marx, Dr Hilbourne's patient with the missing limbs, was made into 
a late addition to our testing program and had a full four working limbs a 
couple months later.

* * * * *

	That November I was presented with a bit of a dilemma.  In early October, 
I was invited to speak to the House Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology 
about our artificial limbs, which were almost certainly going to be approved for 
manufacture and sale by early next year.  I didn't particularly want to go.

	This was an invitation, not a subpoena, so I could choose to refuse it 
with no legal consequences.  Theoretically.  But this was a friendly invitation 
and unless I had good reason, it would be a bad idea to refuse to show up.  
Politicians don't like to be snubbed.

	From my perspective, this was pointless.  They had no involvement in the 
research, in the testing, in the manufacture or in the sale.  We were already 
abiding by all laws and regulations.  (Not a lie.  Yes, we had broken a lot of 
laws in building our women and cyborgs, but the artificial limbs were developed 
entirely legally.)  We didn't need anything from the government for the product 
aside from a stamp of approval to go ahead and make/sell them, which Congress 
had no involvement in.  Congress just has a tendency to want to find out what 
they can about anything new, especially if it gets them a few seconds on the 
evening news.  Not that I'm cynical... not too cynical.

	Looking at it from another angle, there were half a dozen committees or 
subcommittees that might have asked me to testify.  As long as I attended one, I 
could probably bow out of any other invitations as long as they were on the same 
subject.

	It was possible that they wanted me to bring along Alphadroid, but they 
didn't ask and I didn't want to do so.  Showing up to talk about artificial 
limbs would be reported on, but shouldn't cause much of a stir nationally.  On 
the other hand, images of congressmen playing around with an android would be a 
huge photo op.

	Texas had two representatives on the subcommittee, so I had Beta contact 
them to check out the details and make sure that bringing along a small group 
would be okay.  Bringing a small entourage is normal, so there were no problems 
along those lines.
	Alpha also worked up a few powerpoint presentations and a lot of slides 
and data files filled with all of the information I might need.

	After a long discussion with Alpha, I decided to take four or five other 
people with me.  First, I wanted to take two of our test subjects, volunteers 
that were willing to go public.  Second, I would take a lawyer.  Since this 
wasn't really patent-related, I wanted Christine Sloane from Vegas.  She was 
experienced with civil suits (her main focus), business law and criminal law, 
and had impressed me during my Vegas problems.  Plus she was still on retainer, 
I think.  Finally I would take one or two of my AARD women.

	I started calling test subjects who I thought might be willing to 
accompany me (all expenses paid by AARD, of course).  Some of them were 
embarrassed about showing off a false limb, especially now that they could pass 
for normal again, but they were all grateful for receiving the free cyberlimbs 
which gave me significant leverage.  Before I got a quarter of the way down my 
list, two were grateful enough to agree to come:  Josh DeLyle, who had lost both 
of his legs in a motorcycle accident a year and a half ago, and Sherri Lee, who 
lost her right arm years ago as a child in a dog attack.

	Christine "Chris" Sloane was surprised to hear from me, but was willing to 
go along.  I suppose appearing before a Congressional committee would look nice 
on her resume.  We scheduled her to fly to DFW a day before our group left for 
DC on AARD's company plane.  I was looking forward to seeing her again for a few 
different reasons, not the least because she was something of a MILF.  And back 
when we met in Vegas, I had gotten a slight impression that she was interested 
in me.

	The hardest choices were who in the household I would bring.  I wanted to 
keep the list as small as possible.  Rei would be going along as our pilot 
(though we had to hire an independent co-pilot), but she didn't count for my 
list as she would be there only in her capacity as pilot and possibly driver.  
Beta was training as a pilot as well, but didn't have enough hours under her 
belt to qualify for her commercial pilots license.
	Beta seemed to be the most obvious choice, but she was unlikely to make it 
through security.  Of Alpha's mobile platforms, only Eiko would be able to make 
it through Capital Hill security which I assumed would be about the same as 
airport security.  (When we were setting up security for the AARD building, we 
did some experiments and confirmed that Beta, Gamma and Delta would all set off 
metal detectors, while the others wouldn't.  The amount of metal in the others 
was on the same order as half a zipper or a metal button.)  Although Eiko was 
just as qualified to answer the questions as Beta, unfortunately she would be a 
completely illogical choice to take from all other perspectives, since she was 
so new to the company and household and on paper only worked in building 
security..

	Diana had built-in political experience and would be an effective 
bodyguard. Kara was second-in-command at AARD and would also be an effective 
bodyguard. Zatanna had lots of experience with managing crowds and was the 
company spokesman. Daria was the project coordinator and trained in journalism.

	I dropped Daria from contention due to her extreme cynicism regarding 
politics.  I doubt she'd make a scene, but I didn't want to risk her giving 
flippant answers or asking embarrassing questions.
	Kara might be a good choice.  As the business manager, she knew the basics 
about the product and would make a great bodyguard if any trouble arose.
	Zatanna would be a better choice.  She could wrap audiences around her 
little finger if she wanted to.
	I was reluctant to drop Diana from the list.  She might be very useful to 
me on the stand with her diplomatic experience, but as far as AARD was 
concerned, she was only my head of security.  There would be no reason for her 
to be brought along for possible testimony.  I considered bringing her along 
solely as a bodyguard, and Alpha pushed hard for this.  Eventually Alpha scared 
me a bit with her discussions of the crime rate in Washington DC.  Even though 
we would mostly remain in high security areas, Alpha convinced me to bring her 
along as bodyguard, not as part of the official witness list.
	I eventually decided on Diana and Zatanna.  I left Kara out because her 
purposes in coming were covered by myself and Diana.
	Alpha really, and I mean REALLY wanted to send along at least two mobile 
platforms, even if they had to stay in the hotel.  She wanted a presence in the 
city just in case.  I sympathized, but I could think of more reasons against 
bringing them than doing so and they really wouldn't be much use so I ordered 
Alpha to keep them all at home.


	A fat lotta good that did me.  When we all went to the airport to board 
our plane for DC, Beta and Eiko were waiting for us.  Rather than make a scene, 
I swallowed my natural reaction and told everyone that I had invited them along 
at the last minute so Beta could have a small vacation and Eiko could act as 
extra security if we needed it.

	I guess I can understand things from Alpha's perspective.  Washington DC 
would be an uncontrolled and unfamiliar environment.  While Diana would be a 
good bodyguard for me, she would not have access to the same information stream 
that Alpha did.  And as long as her phone was active, Eiko (who would be able to 
attend the hearing) could be as almost as good a remote platform as Beta... as 
long as Eiko could stay focused.

	My safety was the important thing to her.  Heck, as soon as I decided to 
go, Alpha altered two of my suits, adding a very expensive carbon nanotube (CNT) 
weave, effectively giving me bulletproof clothes.  Kinda bulletproof.  If I were 
actually shot, I would end up a lot more bruised through the very flexible cloth 
than if I had been wearing kevlar, but the shots wouldn't penetrate.  CNT 
cloth's major advantage in this situation was that it was virtually 
undetectable.  Kevlar or similar material would have been obvious when passing 
through security and would have raised questions.  Shear thickening fluid would 
have been much cheaper than nanotubes while remaining effective, but clothes 
don't look normal if you start putting liquid pouches throughout the material. 
	Given what happened in Vegas, I couldn't blame Alpha for her concern (even 
if the odds were incredibly against anything bad happening to me).


	When we started loading up, Ms Chris Sloane, with whom I had spent a few 
hours the previous day, including a wonderful dinner for just the two of us, 
commented on how I surrounded myself with beautiful women.

	"More like they're surrounding me," I muttered too quiet for her to make 
out.

	"What was that?"

	"Nothing," I said.  "There are other men working at AARD, but we do tend 
to hire more women than men for whatever reason.  Actually, come to think of it, 
aside from me everyone in a position of authority at the company is a woman.  
General business manager, projects manager, HR, IT, Graphic Design, Security.  
I'm drowning in estrogen every day... but they do their jobs expertly.  Heck, 
even my lawyer is a beautiful woman."

	"Why, thank you, sir."

	"Just stating a fact.  You know, way back when we first met, I wasn't the 
one who called your firm to find a lawyer, and when I met you... well... how 
often is 'Chris Sloane' mistaken for a man?"

	"Very rarely, I hope.  Are you saying that you wanted..."

	"Oh, no, no, no.  Stop right there.  I've never regretted hiring you.  
It's just that I was told I had an appointment with 'Chris Sloane' and showed up 
expecting a man.  It's just my luck.  The whole drowning in estrogen thing."  I 
sighed theatrically.

	"I'll show you 'drowning in estrogen'," said Diana as she came up behind 
me. She put me in a gentle-ish head-lock and pulled me on board the plane while 
I heard Chris laughing behind us as she followed.

	"You better not do this on Capital Hill," I warned Diana in a muffled 
voice.

	"Oh hush.  I have a lot of experience with diplomacy and bureaucracy.  And 
even if I did, I know men.  They'd just line up to be next."

	My face currently smothered with side-boob, I couldn't disagree.


	The flight was uneventful, aside from a half hour delay before landing.  
Ms Sloane was fitting in well with the others.  She seemed to be getting along 
especially well with Diana.  Maybe they'd actually end up as friends.

	I had wanted to stay at the Watergate, but apparently the entire hotel was 
closed for renovations or something, so instead we were booked at the Crowne 
Plaza.  Unlike Vegas, we didn't have a huge set of suites, but we did have some 
very nice small suites all next to each other, reserved for two nights.

	A normal person might have had the only two men in the group -- Josh and 
myself -- bunk together, but since I didn't want to advertise my sleeping 
arrangements, I paid for individual rooms for the three 'outsiders':  Josh, 
Sherri and Chris.  Alpha also reserved two double rooms and one single for the 
household ladies and one single for myself.  The rooms weren't assigned, so the 
ladies divided things up on their own.  Beta and Eiko naturally fell in together 
in one room right next to mine, and Diana and Zatanna were used to each other as 
roommates, so they took another.  That left Rei in the other single.  Since we 
were only staying two nights and one full day, there was no schedule for who 
might sleep with me.

	We checked in mid-afternoon and most of us took the opportunity to go see 
a few sights, specifically the main Mall area and Washington, Lincoln and 
Jefferson Memorials.  Chris Sloane was the only one among us who had previously 
visited Washington, so she was drafted as our tour guide.  (I am completely 
ignoring the comic book characters' memories of visiting their version of 
Washington DC, even though it was mostly identical to the real one.)  Many 
pictures were taken by all.  I wish we had allowed for enough sight-seeing time 
to visit a couple of the Smithsonian museums, but this was a business trip.

	Beta had made reservations at a nice restaurant, so we all had a very nice 
dinner.

	After dinner, we all crowded into Diana and Zatanna's room, one of the 
larger ones we had available to us, so Chris could take us through what we might 
expect tomorrow.  There would be procedural matters before we would be called 
in.  Be polite.  Don't speak unless spoken to.  If the congressmen start arguing 
among themselves, let them talk uninterrupted.  If we feel a point is being 
missed or something incorrect has been said, make a note and wait for your turn 
to speak or whisper it to Chris or write her a note.  Don't approach the 
congressmen.  If they want a demonstration, let them ask for it.
	It was mostly common sense stuff like that.  Oh, and a few fashion tips.  
Modest hemlines and necklines.  Dark suits preferred, with bright ties.  For 
demonstration purposes, Josh would need loose pants for when he would need to 
roll up his pants legs, and Sherri could wear a jacket over a sleeveless blouse 
to show off her arm when needed.  The limbs looked pretty realistic except where 
they attached to the actual body.  If the congressmen really wanted to see 
Josh's attachment points, he would have to completely take off his pants.  We 
debated having him attend in shorts and decided against it, but also decided for 
him to bring along shorts to change into just in case.
	Diana, Rei and Eiko would attend in the audience, while Beta made an 
excuse about needing to meet with a business contact in the area.

	The meeting broke up around 9:30, but Chris accompanied me back to my room 
to continue our discussion since I would probably do most of the talking 
tomorrow.  We discussed what to do if they asked something that was legally 
confidential or business confidential, suggestions on how to stay friendly with 
unfriendly questions and what information to volunteer if any and when to do it.

	My room had a small bar and I offered her a prepackaged drink, which she 
accepted.  She finally let her hair down, literally in this case.  Her normal 
professional appearance has her dark brown hair done up in a tight bun, but she 
relaxed enough to let it fall halfway down her back.  Our discussions eventually 
turned to personal inquiries.

	She was in her late 30's (my guesstimate), had been divorced for five 
years, had one twelve-year-old daughter staying with her ex at the moment, and 
had no current boyfriend.  I know that ethically she could not sleep with me, 
but my opinion was that it shouldn't be a very big deal right now.  She wasn't 
representing me in a legal case at the moment, she was just there as an adviser.  
And we were both far away from home.

	I think she agreed with me, because before long she was definitely 
flirting.

	"It looks like you really keep yourself in shape," she said, looking me up 
and down.  I wasn't really wearing anything revealing, though I guess my jeans 
were a little on the tight side.

	"Thank you, I do try.  You look pretty healthy yourself."

	"I try to visit a gym when I can, but my job involves a lot of desk-
sitting and very little activity."

	"You can complain all you want, but you still look pretty skinny to me." 
Which was true.  Sure, not model-thin, but she obviously cared for her 
appearance.

	She smiled and said, "So, Mr ____..."

	"Frank.  Please call me Frank."

	"If you'll call me Chris."

	"Of course, Chris."

	"So, Frank, what's the deal with Diana and the others?"

	"What do you mean?"

	"Are you dating any of them?"

	"Oh, all of them.  They're my harem, of course," I laughed.  Hey, not a 
lie.

	"Of course.  Well, you are successful, rich, young and handsome.  I 
expected you to have a bevy of models hanging on your every move."

	Young?  I've been told I look like I'm in my 20's (due to my nanite 
rejuvenation treatments), though I'm actually much closer to Chris' age.

	"I haven't met a whole lot of models," I admitted, "but the ones I have 
met just confirmed my basic standards for myself.  I prefer women who have some 
depth and intelligence."

	"That's refreshing."

	This sort of flirty banter went on for another five or ten minutes before 
I made my move.  I was kind of rusty when it came to encounters like this.  
Everything I was used to nowadays was with women who were designed to fall in 
love with me.  At the same time, I was most definitely not short of confidence 
when it came to pleasing women, and I'm sure some of that came through.

	I took her hand in mine and gently pulled her toward me.  She leaned in, 
whispering, "We really shouldn't do this.  You're my client.  It would be..."

	"Then tell me to stop.  Or just get up and leave.  Because as long as 
you're here, I'm going to kiss you..."  Which I then proceeded to do.

	It was a pretty good kiss, if I do say so myself.  Despite the impression 
given by movies and TV, the intensity of a kiss isn't necessarily related to the 
amount of pressure you apply with your lips.  At this point, I wasn't even using 
my tongue, instead just using my lips to massage and suck on hers while my 
fingers ran up and down her arms, making her hair stand on end as if she had 
goose bumps.

	I pulled back briefly and continued.  "And when I'm done kissing you, I'm 
going to taste you, here..."  I put my hand under her skirt and pressed two 
fingers onto the front of her panties.  It might be a little early to touch her 
in such an intimate place, but her gasp and the way her body jumped let me know 
that she was receptive to it.  

	"I'm going to eat you until you come.  Then I'm going to make love to you. 
And the only way you're going to stop me is to get up and leave.  So if you're 
still here..."  I kissed her eyebrow.  "...when I finish kissing you..." I 
kissed her nose.  "...then you..." I kissed her chin, licking it a bit. "...have 
been given..."  I kissed her lips.  "...fair warning."

	Now I gently pushed my tongue into her mouth, seeking out her own tongue 
while my fingers started undoing buttons on her blouse.  I wasn't even halfway 
through her buttons when she started unbuttoning my shirt, with a lot more 
urgency. I tried to speed up a little, but her blouse had lots of those tiny 
little button nubs, so my chest was bare before hers.

	She broke the kiss to look me over and run her hands all over my chest and 
shoulders -- thanks to the nanite treatments and a little maintaining exercise 
most mornings, I have something like a swimmer or runner's physique -- before 
finally helping me with her own shirt, then her bra.

	Her breasts -- somewhere between a B and C cup, I think -- were not those 
of a college student or a computer-created body.  They hung naturally on her 
frame. Her flesh wasn't tight and toned, it was soft and womanly.  Her lack of 
youthful or athletic perfection, that realness about her, turned me on greatly.  

	Yes, call me shallow but it is true that if she had been out of shape or 
ugly or had badly sagging breasts, I wouldn't have been very interested in her.  
(Then again, stupidity turns me off even more than physical ugliness.)  She 
wasn't perfect, but she was still beautiful.

	We shifted the action from the couch to the bed, and our kiss restarted, 
more hungrily than before, with my hands cupping her breasts and thumbing her 
stiff little nipples.  Her breasts were a good size, and her areolae were a bit 
larger than a quarter, but her nipples were tiny little things, maybe a 
centimeter or less in diameter. 

	I broke the kiss and started moving down her body, licking and sucking as 
I went.  Her nipples were tasty little diamond-hard treats, and her belly 
quivered when I licked around her outie bellybutton.

	While I was licking her upper body, my hands were unzipping her skirt and 
pulling it off, followed by her panties.  She was wearing an exciting little red 
bikini-style number, so I guessed that she knew at some level what might happen 
tonight.  Or she just doesn't like plain panties.

	Her pubic area had a bikini-line trim, but that was all.  I dragged my 
tongue through her little hairy forest until I found the top of her vagina.  
When I glanced up, she was staring at me with hard fascination.  Maybe she 
didn't have many men do this for her?

	Her eyes closed as soon as I started licking.  I found her vaginal lips 
and started there, following my tongue with my fingers, playing with her vulva 
and vagina while I tongue-lashed and circled and kissed and played with her 
clit.  Given the lack of implants in Chris' brain, it was extremely gratifying 
to see how strongly she reacted to my attentions.  Then again, I suppose I have 
gotten a lot of practice over the past few years.

	She came after about ten minutes, holding a pillow over her face to muffle 
her screams, which probably weren't all that loud to begin with.  My tongue had 
been getting tired, so I was glad to slow and stop my oral attentions as she 
came down from her orgasmic high.

	I moved up beside her as she pulled the pillow away.  I moved in for a 
kiss, but her hands held me back.

	"Go wash your mouth first, please."

	"Oh, of course.  Sorry about that."  I had forgotten that most real women 
don't like the taste of their own juices.

	I went to the bathroom and washed my face, then gargled with hotel 
mouthwash. I stripped off my pants, dug a couple condoms out of my shaving kit 
and returned to the bedroom in my underwear.

	"Thank you for that," she said.  "It's been a long time since anyone 
has... you know... gone down on me."

	"It was my pleasure," I said with a smile.  "You're very tasty."  I 
flopped down on the bed next to her.

	"Are you ready to go, or should I... reciprocate?"

	"Only if you want to.  I'm ready to go as is."

	"Well, not to seem ungrateful or rude, but I'm really not very skilled in 
those matters, so I'd prefer to just move on to the main event."

	"Sounds good to me," I said as I slid down my boxers and pulled them off. 
Maybe I wasn't 100% hard, but I was definitely 'at attention,' so Frank Jr 
sprang out and bounced back and forth when the underwear came off.

	"That's certainly a nice size, isn't it?" she said, reaching for my bouncy 
cock.

	"It works well for me," I said noncommittally.

	While she pumped me a bit and fondled my balls, I tore open the condom 
wrapper and pulled out a fruit-flavored condom I had gotten from Jane a couple 
months ago.  Chris took it from me, rolled it into position, then laid back, 
pulling me with her.  She obviously wanted, or at least expected, straight 
missionary position sex tonight... and who am I to disappoint a lady?  To begin 
with anyway.

	Her cunt was nicely wet and fairly tight for a middle-aged mother, but it 
was her enthusiasm that made it so fun.  She locked onto me with her legs, 
encouraging my movements, while her hands would play across my chest or tweak my 
nipples or pull me in for a kiss.  With each thrust in, she gave off a little 
high-pitched "ah" squeal.  I tried to vary my angle of thrust a bit, but she 
apparently just wanted it simple, hard and fast.  Though it was difficult to 
tell through the condom, I think I was touching her cervix with some of my 
thrusts.

	Somewhere around the 10 to 15 minute mark, she grabbed the pillow again 
and gave a little orgasmic scream into it, just like before.

	When she finished, I pulled out long enough to fold her legs over to the 
side.  This gave me direct access to her pubic mound and ass (though I didn't 
expect to spend any time in the lower hole).  It also created a bit more 
pressure on my cock and allowed for slightly easier rubbing of her clit by my 
thumb as we re-started our fuck.

	I had been holding back a lot last round, not wanting to come yet.  This 
time I intended to have my release.  I figured a normal, middle-aged woman would 
probably consider forty-five minutes or so of sex to be a wonderful experience.  
And if it wasn't enough, I'd fetch another condom and keep going.

	She came twice more in this position before I finally blasted off into the 
little rubber sleeve.

	I left myself inside of her and laid down next to her.

	"Oh my goodness, that was wonderful," she said, panting a bit.  "I'll have 
to try younger men more often."

	"Well, I... just a minute.  Exactly how young do you think I am?"

	"Hmmm... Twenty-three to twenty-seven, give or take, I suppose.  You've 
done amazingly well for yourself given your age."

	"I'm thirty-seven years old."

	"You're joking."

	"Would you like to see my license?"  I got a huge grin on my face.  "You 
thought you were robbing the cradle, didn't you?"

	"You're serious.  But you look so young..."

	"Thank you, I do try to keep myself fit and trim.  You still had fun, 
didn't you, Mrs Robinson?"

	She gave me a well-deserved but light back-hand slap for my little dig, 
then relented and admitted, "I've never come so much in my life."

	"I'm glad, and thank you, lovely lady."  I pulled out and stripped off the 
used condom.  "Now a slightly awkward question... You are certainly welcome to 
spend the night with me, but I don't know if you wanted to..."

	"No, you're right."  She sat up a little and turned to face me, giving me 
a tender kiss.  "Now, Mr _____... Frank.  I could get in a lot of trouble for 
having done this, ethically speaking.  I'm currently employed as your attorney, 
so..."

	"I understand.  I won't say a word about it to anyone.  Though I wouldn't 
think it would be a big deal, since there isn't an actual case where you're 
representing me right now.  And we're not in Nevada either."

	"If it actually came to an inquiry, I could make some arguments, but I'd 
really rather it didn't come to that."

	"Of course not.  Would you like to clean up first?"

	"Thank you.  Maybe just a quick visit to the bathroom to freshen up."  She 
got up, collected her underwear and walked toward the bathroom door.  She paused 
and looked back at me, lying naked on the bed.  "Thirty-seven?  Really?"

	"Really."  I later confirmed with Alpha that she was 41, just slightly 
older than I had guessed.

	"Have you had any..."  She paused briefly, obviously trying to think of a 
polite way to phrase her question, then gave up and just asked, "Any work done?"

	"You mean plastic surgery?  Nope."  I knew better than to ask the same in 
return.

	While she was in the bathroom, I picked up both of our sets of clothes, 
straightened the bed enough so that it looked nice, and laid her blouse and 
skirt out on the bed for her.  I even located her shoes, though I couldn't 
remember when she had taken them off.

	She got out of the bathroom around 11pm, finished getting dressed, and we 
said 'good night' with a nice, deep kiss.

	After she left, I powered up my laptop and checked in with Alpha.  Beta 
had picked up on my late-night activity with some minor spying and had headed 
off Zatanna when she started heading to my room to join me.  I thanked her and 
went to sleep, alone in the bed, and sexually satisfied for now.


	At breakfast the next morning, I surreptitiously slipped my drivers 
license to her, and got a real kick out of seeing her blush a little in 
embarrassed memory of the night before.  She returned my license along with a 
reproving gentle shove to my shoulder. 

	After breakfast, we all gathered together for our ride to the capital 
building area.  Everyone was dressed up, and I noticed that Chris had her hair 
down and brushed out nicely.  Maybe she wanted to look a little nicer than her 
normal tight bun would allow?  We would probably be on one of the C-SPAN 
channels and maybe have a clip on the nightly news.

	We weren't scheduled to give testimony until afternoon, but the committee 
itself started its session at 9 today.  Coming from the Central time zone, I 
suddenly couldn't remember if I had adjusted my watch for the time difference.  
After a brief moment of panic, I found a clock on the wall and confirmed that my 
watch and phone were properly synced.  Still, that brief moment of panic stuck a 
little needle in my backside, and I hurried the group into our cabs.

	We arrived in time and got through security without a problem.  Well, 
Sherri had to be scanned by wands, but that was to be expected.  On the other 
hand, Josh had to be taken to a private room so he could take off his pants and 
be scanned.  His legs looked entirely too realistic for the guards to take our 
word for it that they were prostheses, despite his doctor's card and our 
supporting comments.  So I guess that counts as getting through security even 
with a problem.

	Beta spent the day wandering the area in front of the Rayburn House Office 
building with a ski mask in her pocket, ready to don it and rush to help should 
trouble arise.  This was both comforting and troubling, and was one of the 
reasons I wanted Alpha to stay at home.  The absolute last thing we needed was a 
super-strong bullet-proof masked woman breaking into a Congressional office 
building, regardless of the circumstances.

	We sat near the back of the small auditorium, listening to congressmen 
talk with the maker of a new type of portable defibrillator that the 
manufacturer wanted to sell to schools and businesses.

	The committee broke for lunch around 11:30, and at 1, we were going to be 
the ones sitting in front of the congressmen... congresspeople?... 
congresspersons?  The chair of the subcommittee was a woman, while the rest were 
men.

	I was kind of jittery.  This was the first time I had been involved in 
anything political, and it was the largest stage my creations had ever stepped 
onto.  Some of the women must have picked up on my nervousness, because at 
lunch, when I excused myself to go the restroom, Eiko followed me into the Men's 
Room and locked the door behind us.

	"What's up?" I asked.

	She ignored my comment.  "You seem to be very stressed.  We are worried 
about you."

	"I just hate public speaking.  I should have just sent Kara and Z.  She's 
good at this sort of thing."

	"But she wouldn't be able to answer all of their questions.  Let me 
provide some stress release."

	She pulled up her skirt a little bit and knelt on the bathroom floor on 
her bare knees.  She unzipped my fly and pulled out my cock, which was pretty 
soft at that point, but not for long.  She worked on me quickly, going for a 
quick release... and she has developed serious talent in that area.  Powerful 
lungs for suction, strong lips and tongue for movement and massaging, and the 
hard-won ability to completely suppress her gag reflex... and plenty of 
experience giving me blow jobs.

	Between the odd setting and the unexpected oral attack, I got hard quickly 
and came after about three minutes.

	She swallowed it all, neat as can be.  Then she cleaned me off with a damp 
paper towel, wiped her knees down with another and we left.  I remembered my 
need to piss fifteen minutes later when we were re-entering the House office 
building where the committee conference room was, so I used their much nicer 
facilities.


	The actual committee meeting wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid.  We 
were introduced as a small technology and research company and even mentioned 
our artificial eyes and nano-wire surgery units.  I had everyone stand one at a 
time, working my way down the table, introducing everyone -- Zatanna (Annabelle 
Zane), Christine Sloane, Josh DeLyle, and Sherri Lee.

	Very few of the questions were confrontational, and most were very easily 
answered.

	We started off with me giving a general description of the limbs and 
interfaces, then on to practical demonstrations from Josh and Sherri.  The 
committee wanted a better look at Josh's legs, so he took a moment to go change 
in a nearby bathroom while Sherri was talking about how well it worked.  We 
switched back to Josh when he returned wearing shorts.

	The questions started off with practical ones.

	How long does the battery charge last?
	We estimate 6 to 8 hours with normal use.  Josh and Sherri explained they 
had similar experiences, with the shortest charge lasting about 4 hours and the 
longest about 11 to 12 hours.

	Is the battery replaceable?
	Not at home.  The limb must be returned to us to change the actual battery 
without damaging the limb.

	How long does it take to charge?
	About two hours.

	How much will it cost?
	We don't know because we won't be manufacturing and selling them 
ourselves. We were doing our best to make sure the cost would remain below 
$20,000 per limb. Eventually we believed the cost for these initial basic 
designs could drop below $10,000.

	Since amputations are done at different points on the limbs, how 
standardized can the manufacturing be?
	The hands, wrists, ankles and feet themselves can be mass manufactured.  
The rest of the limbs and the covering skin color have to be customized to each 
individual.  The need for a battery requires a minimum of six inches of limb 
beyond the wrist or ankle.

	Is it waterproof?
	Yes.  Though not recommended for pressure or SCUBA dives, the limbs work 
fine at up to 10 feet.

	How resistant to damage is it?
	More resistant than human skin, but not proof against knives or bullets.

	How strong are the limbs?
	Basically normal human strength.

	Can super strong versions be made?
	Yes, but not attached to a human unless they somehow have a super-strong 
skeleton to support them.  To their credit, one of the congressmen was one of 
the only interviewers to ever differentiate between grip strength in the hand, 
which could safely be made super-strong, and lifting strength in the arm, which 
could not.

	Can weaponized versions be made?
	This took some clarification, but what the congressman meant was something 
along the lines of hidden explosives or built-in guns or pop-out knives.  If 
most of the limb is replaced, then there might theoretically be enough room for 
something, but we hadn't explored any possible options like that.

	How easy would it be for a home user to modify a replacement arm or leg?
	Not easy.  This question ended up leading to questions ranging from the 
rights of home users to break their warranties with modifications to terrorists 
and drug smugglers being able to use the limbs for smuggling.
	Everything inside -- circuitry, motors, battery -- are pretty compressed 
to fit in as small a space as possible, but with a full limb replacement there 
is some empty space to use.  However, it would be pretty obvious that an arm or 
leg had been modified, since the fake skin has to be replaced as a whole.  Just 
taping or gluing a cut back up would not look or feel natural.  A simple 
examination of the skin would easily show any such repairs.
	As for non-criminal home modders?  Well, if they break their warranties 
then it's out of our hands.

	Can the limbs let the users feel?
	No, but we are working on that for a future update.

	There are other researchers using implanted wires to let people control 
electronic devices, including mechanical arms.  What makes our nerve interface 
better?
	Ours is much more powerful and allows the user to adapt much more quickly. 
Originally the interface was designed for our artificial eyes, but we are 
encouraging research into using the interfaces to repair functionality to broken 
spines.  The types being used by other groups require months for the user to 
adapt enough to be able to control the interface.  Our interface adapts with the 
body and can allow interface functionality in as little as one week, though 2-3 
weeks is more common.

	When would the eye be approved for use?
	Due to much more sensitive placement, the testing is much slower, and the 
eye and its interface will probably not be granted approval for another year.  
So far, testing has been very successful, but we contracted out to another 
company to do that testing.

	Have we done any limb replacement testing for the military?
	No, they require different hoops to jump through, and it is easier in some 
ways to just test for civilian use.  Offhand, the only big difference I could 
think of for military use would be their probable need for longer battery life.  
Right now, the only way to do that would be to use more and/or larger batteries 
that would cause the limbs to no longer look entirely human.

	And so on.  There were other security questions, questions that seemed to 
come from SciFi TV and movies, questions about failure rates, safety concerns 
for the users, speed of production and what seemed like a thousand other what-if 
worries.  

	Overall, I thought it went pretty well.  

	Near the end, they asked what we needed from the government to help out.  
Answer?  Nothing, really.  Just approval to go ahead.  If the military wanted 
specialized limbs, we'd leave that up to the actual production company.  The 
limbs would be cheap enough for any decent insurance to pay for them.


	The subcommittee finished for the day after our testimony concluded, and 
the two Texas congressmen invited me out for dinner.  In the interest of general 
friendliness, I accepted, bringing Chris along as my 'plus one'.

	The dinner was nothing very special.  They were friendly and encouraged me 
to keep as much business as possible in Texas, or at least in the US.  

	I am pretty apolitical myself.  I'm in favor of the Constitution and life, 
liberty, the pursuit of happiness, defense of the common good and all that, but 
I prefer the government to stay out of business as much as possible.  Yes, 
businesses can be corrupt and take advantage of the common man, but so can the 
government.  The bigger the company, the more I tend to dislike it, and the more 
bureaucratic the government, the more I tend to dislike it.  I guess I just have 
very little faith in politicians in general.

	Fortunately, my years of living with people who don't know what I know has 
really helped my acting ability, so I'm pretty sure I said all the right things 
I needed in order to stay friendly with everyone.  Heck, I'll probably give them 
campaign contributions next election.  I even invited them to stop by the 
company sometime to meet Alphadroid, hoping they'd forget to take me up on the 
offer.

	The food was pretty good, so dinner wasn't a complete waste of time.


	Once dinner was over, Chris and I took a cab back to the hotel.  On the 
way, I let my guard down a little, commenting that I hated politics.

	"It's not so bad," she reassured me.  "Politicians have to live lives of 
compromise to be able to accomplish anything.  It can seem really dirty to 
people on the outside, but without it the country... the world... would grind to 
a halt."

	"Eh, that's probably true.  It's just that I'm still just enough of an 
idealist to dislike how the government works a lot of the time."

	"If every idealist refused to live under an imperfect government, as 
judged by their own personal rules, we'd have six billion different governments 
worldwide and live in a constant state of war."

	I laughed.  "So Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all 
the others, huh?"

	"Exactly, long live the kind tyranny of the majority," she said, leaning 
over to kiss me.  While we kissed, I was looking out the back window and noticed 
Beta and Eiko in a rented car following our cab.  *mental sigh*  Oh well.

	When we pulled up to the hotel, she hurriedly used a tissue from her purse 
to wipe her lipstick off my mouth, and we went inside as friendly professionals.

	Once we closed my door, we became much more friendly and much less 
professional.  Ms Sloane seemed a little bit sex-crazed at the moment and was 
trying her best to just rip my clothes off (and did succeed at popping a few 
buttons off my shirt).  

	I helped her remove my shirt and, while I was pulling her blouse off, 
asked, "What would you like to do tonight?"

	With a bit of a fevered look in her eyes, she said, "I want to go a little 
crazy."

	"Does that mean you want to try something new or kinky or just fuck like 
rabbits?"

	"Yes!"

	"Any special requests?"  I was pulling off my pants as she pulled off her 
skirt.  Oooo... stockings and garter belt tonight.  Nice.

	"Stop talking and fuck me!"

	This seemed a little out of character for a normally reserved lawyer, but 
I was game.

	I knelt down and pulled her shoes off one at a time, caressing her calves 
as I did so.  When I stood up, I hefted her over my shoulder and carried her to 
the bed, enjoying her little squeal as we went.

	I tossed her down on the bed, then flipped her over onto her front and 
pulled her hips up so that her ass and pudenda were raised and facing me.  I ran 
my fingers up and down her vulva, feeling the juices drip.

	"Stay there.  Don't move," I commanded, and I hurried off to the bathroom 
to get condoms.  When I returned to the bed, she had shifted slightly and was 
rubbing her clit.  It was a very arousing sight, especially with the lovely 
framing device of her stockings and garter belt.  Still... 

	"I thought I told you not to move," I said reprovingly.  I stepped up and 
smacked her ass cheek, trying not to actually hurt her worse than a mild sting.

	"Ow!" she exclaimed.  I smacked her other rear cheek.  "Stop that!"  
Smacked her again.

	"I'm going to keep spanking you until you obey."

	"Obey?"

	"You want something a bit new and kinky?  Well, I don't have any rubber 
suits or leather or anything, and I'm not really into that stuff.  So tonight 
you must obey or get spanked."

	She paused and thought about it for a moment, then finally said, "Okay, 
okay."  Her hand left her vagina, and I stopped spanking her, leaving her ass a 
little pinker than it was before.

	"Good girl."

	I rolled the condom into place and knelt on the bed behind her.  I rubbed 
my little helmet up and down her slit, getting it nice, wet and slippery.  I 
seriously thought about making her beg a little, but I try not to be mean like 
that.

	"Here you go, young lady," I said as I eased it into her.  I took only 
slow strokes as I worked my way inside, until I couldn't go any further.  I 
angled up a little and hit the little knot of flesh that was her cervix, with 
maybe half an inch of my cock left outside of her. I'd have to be careful or I 
might bruise her deep inside.

	"Can you feel me?"

	"Yes," she hissed.

	"I can feel the entrance to your womb."  I held my cock deep inside of her 
and flexed it as best I could.  She gave a little jump.

	Leaning down over her, I whispered, "Let me know if something hurts or if 
you have any special requests."

	As best I understand female plumbing, the actual vagina is normally only a 
few inches deep.  When aroused, it can double in length and can then stretch 
even further during sex.  According to some numbers I've seen, a three inch deep 
vagina can end up accommodating a nine or ten in penis without a problem.  But 
the cervix, the passageway between the vagina and uterus, can be sensitive in 
women and it can be uncomfortable or painful if an especially long penis pounds 
against it during intercourse.  My nine-inch cock is above average in size but 
not ridiculously so.  For the most part, I only tend to have a problem with the 
cervix when I'm in a sexual position that gives me especially deep access to a 
vagina.  Like this position.

	I wrapped my forefinger around the base of my cock and started fucking, 
using my hand and finger as a buffer so I didn't bang against her cervix.  My 
artificial women don't feel pain there or don't care or at the very least, don't 
complain.  Normal women?  In my experience, they don't like it.

	Even with my hand-buffer, when I started slamming into her I could feel 
myself brushing the back of her vaginal sheathe, but I don't think I was hitting 
it hard enough to feel bad.  I reached around with my other hand and started 
playing with her clitoris at the same time.  

	Most women I'm with give minor instructions or words of encouragement 
while we're going at it.  I'll get a porn style "Oh, yeah" or a helpful "Do that 
again" or "More" or even "Right there."  Chris on the other hand, kept as quiet 
as possible, at most giving off little grunts or squeaks.  She was a bit wound 
up and came after only three or four minutes of our doggy-style fuck, but even 
then she planted her face in a pillow to muffle her cries before collapsing on 
the bed.  Her collapse pulled her vagina off of my cock, leaving me hanging in 
the breeze, so to speak.  I could had laughed if I wasn't still so horny.

	I rolled her over and leaned down to kiss her.  Her eyes re-opened.

	"All right, Ms Sloane.  That happened pretty quickly, but we're far from 
done for the night.  Any requests?"

	"What were you doing with your hand?"

	"Playing with your clit?"

	"The other one."

	"Ah, I was trying to avoid... uhhh... I didn't want to bang into your 
cervix because I've been told that can be painful, so I was holding myself back 
a little."

	"I see.  Thank you, but I think... You're the biggest... you have the 
biggest... you know..."

	"Cock?"

	"Yes, the biggest one I've ever had inside me."

	"Come on, you can say it."

	"I can say it just fine when I'm in my official capacity.  I've said a lot 
worse and a lot more often.  But in the bedroom, I just never...  I mean, I 
can't bring myself to say..."

	"You said 'Fuck' earlier."  She immediately blushed.  "Come on, say Cock.  
Or how about Penis?"  I started giving her nipples little tweaks with each word. 
"Dick?  Fuckstick?  Johnson?  Weiner?  Manhood?  Baby-maker?  Beaver-basher?"

	"Beaver-basher?" she said with a laugh.  

	"There you go!  You finally found a word you can use."

	Still laughing, she continued, "Seriously?  You call it a beaver-basher?"

	"Not me personally.  I tend to call him Junior.  But you're welcome to 
call him beaver-basher if you want to.  Now do you have any requests for my 
beaver-basher, or should I just fuck you in random positions."

	"What I was going to say was that I've never had as large a... beaver-
basher..."  She paused for a brief snort of laughter.  "...at my disposal 
before. Even if it hurts a little, I'd like to try it again but at full length 
this time."

	"As you wish.  Let me know if you need me to stop."

	I pulled her back up into position, but this time I guided one of her 
hands to her own clit.  Then I re-inserted my 'beaver-basher' and placed both of 
my hands on her hips to hold her in place.  A few seconds later, I started... 
well, bashing her beaver.  And the entrance to her womb.

	This time her face was in the pillow early on, muffling her cries of "Oh!" 
with each thrust.  Until she said otherwise, I was free and clear and just let 
myself go, pounding her... well, not literally as hard as I could, but pretty 
strongly nonetheless.  A few times I slowed a bit to lean over her and play with 
her breasts, cupping her tits and milking her nipples.  Then I'd straighten back 
up and start pounding again.  Sometimes I rotated my hips as I thrust to give it 
a different feel or just came in with my hips at a slightly different angle.  I 
got to where I could strike a little above, below or to the side of her cervix.  

	To be honest, I have problems coming if it's all just mindless repetitive 
hip-pumping, especially if I'm wearing a condom.  Chris wasn't giving me much 
interaction at the moment, so I had to entertain myself.

	When I felt myself getting close, I warned her by smacking her ass between 
thrusts.  Finally I grabbed her hips and held fast, pumping my seed into the 
condom (though mentally I was pumping it into her).

	Her hand was working furiously on her clit.  When I noticed and while I 
was still inside of her, I moved my fingers to join hers and carefully worked my 
cock a bit too.  (After I come, my condoms start threatening to come off, so I 
gotta be careful.)  She quickly came, this time keeping her hips in their up 
position.

	I withdrew, pulled off the condom and stretched out next to her.  Before 
long, her face emerged from her pillow.

	"Oh, that was wonderful.  Three in one night."

	"Three?"

	"Three orgasms.  I'm going to be so sore tomorrow."

	Huh.  Maybe she came twice during our second round, and I just missed the 
first one?

	"Does that mean you're done for the night?  Cause I can get it up again 
pretty easily if you want to keep going."

	"Again?  Maybe.  Let me wind down for a minute."

	"Sure thing.  So tell me, why do you have such a problem with... uhhh... 
let's call it the language of sex?"

	She gave a little laugh.  "It's just the way I was raised.  Plus sex has 
never been an important part of my life."

	"Last night and tonight seem to disagree with that statement."  I started 
playing lightly with her nipples again as we lay there talking.

	"Oh, I just... I started feeling old the past year or two.  I wanted to do 
something to prove I was still young at heart.  When you invited me along on 
your trip, I thought maybe I'd get a chance to seduce you to prove to myself..."

	I started whistling Mrs Robinson (by Simon and Garfunkel... watch The 
Graduate if you don't get the references), which earned me a solid *slap* of her 
hand hitting my chest, which made me stop but didn't remove the smile from my 
face.

	"Yes," she continued with a bit of a glare, "we already covered that 
misunderstanding.  Anyway, you know the rest."

	"So what else would you like to do or try tonight?"

	"I don't know.  Any suggestions?"

	"Well, let's see.  I could tie you down to the bed with my neckties.  Or 
you could tie me down.  We could try anal sex..."

	"With that salami you're packing?  Dream on."

	"Okay, no anal sex.  We could go for interesting positions or places.  I'm 
sure there's an online kama sutra that we could access.  We could turn off the 
lights and fuck by the open window.  We could..."

	She interrupted me saying, "Nothing public like that.  Just.. I don't 
know... just pick something."

	"Nothing public and no anal."

	"Right."

	Well, it was pretty obvious that Chris wasn't very adventurous, so I 
needed to keep it fairly simple.  Anything I would normally consider to be kinky 
would probably be too much for her.

	I rolled out of bed and grabbed... darn, I really liked all of the ties I 
brought along.  I may not wear ties often, but still... Aha!  I grabbed the belt 
from my hotel robe and returned to the bed.

	Taking her hands in mine, I removed her wristwatch, crossed her wrists in 
front of her and started wrapping the terrycloth belt around them.  I was only 
able to wrap the belt around her half a dozen times before I ran out of length, 
but it was enough to hold her hands tied so she wouldn't slip out by accident.  
I removed her stockings, garter belt, shoes and jewelry.

	I stood up, pulling her to the edge of the bed.  Bending down, I hefted 
her over my shoulder and carried her to the bathroom.

	"You, young lady, are entirely too sweaty," I said reprovingly.  I touched 
her pussy lips, displayed before me in the bathroom mirror as she hung over my 
shoulder.  "And entirely too sticky.  You're just a dirty little girl, aren't 
you?"

	Silence.

	"Well?"  I asked, giving her ass a smack.

	"Yes," she said quietly, her face hanging down next to my ass.

	"Yes what?"

	"Yes, I'm a dirty little girl," she whispered.

	"I can't hear you," I said and smacked her ass again.

	"Yes, I'm a dirty little girl," she said a little louder.

	I set her down on her feet and looked in her eyes.  "I still can't hear 
you."

	"I'm a dirty little girl," she yelled, much louder than I expected.  The 
people next door... thinking... thinking... Beta and Eiko!  Whew.  Beta and Eiko 
wouldn't complain about a little bit of yelling.

	"That's right," I agreed.  "And dirty girls need to be cleaned."

	I picked her up again and moved her into the bath.  I ran the water for a 
minute to warm it up, then stepped in, slid the shower door closed and switched 
to the shower.

	After lathering up a washcloth, I turned her around so she was facing me 
and started washing her arms, then shoulders, breasts and belly.  I made sure 
she could tell I was enjoying myself as I soaped up her breasts with the soft 
cloth.

	"My, my, your nipples are hard," I said in a husky voice.  "Could it be 
that our dirty little lady enjoys getting clean?  Or does she just like it when 
men see her naked and play around with her titties?"

	She didn't say anything, but I noticed her hands were starting to press 
against her vagina.

	"Ah, ah, ah!" I admonished, pulling her hands away from her body.  "Do I 
need to tie your hands behind your back?  Remember, as long as I have you tied 
up, I'm the one who decides if and when anyone gets to play with your dirty 
little pussy."  

	Here I dug my own fingers into her vaginal canal and pressed my thumb 
against her clit.  At the same time, I leaned forward and kissed her, shoving my 
tongue roughly into her mouth.

	After a moment of this, I pulled back and said, "After all, what if I want 
to taste you again?  I can't have your dirty fingers interfering with my meal, 
now can I?"

	Here I knelt down and started licking her out.  She tried to spread her 
legs, but her feet didn't have room to stand any further apart.  I maneuvered 
her back against the corner of the stall, which supported her a little and let 
her spread her feet and legs a bit more.  I wasn't enjoying kneeling on the 
floor of the tub, which had those annoying rough-textured anti-slip strips, so I 
went for a quick cum, attacking her clit as violently as I could with my tongue.  
Her tied hands pressed against the back of my head, shoving my face against her 
cunt.

	She came in less than five minutes, bringing her bound hands up against 
her mouth to muffle her quiet cries.  While she was recovering, I retrieved the 
fallen washcloth, reapplied the soap and washed her legs.  Then I turned her 
around and washed up her back, making certain to tease her anus when I reached 
her ass.  I even soaped up a finger and popped it inside, wiggling it around to 
'clean' out her asshole.

	Standing up, I washed off my mouth and hands, then set my back against the 
main water stream and had her stand in front of me.

	"Now, my clean little lady, it's your turn.  I need you to clean my penis 
for me, and you aren't allowed to use your hands."

	She understood what I wanted and knelt down in front of me.  Frank Jr was 
standing at attention, and she took a moment to contemplate it.  Violating my 
rule, she used her hands to guide it to her mouth, but I didn't upbraid her for 
breaking the no-hands rule.

	What she said last night was true:  She wasn't very good at blow jobs.  
She tried, but... her teeth would scrape me regularly, her tongue just lay there 
and she pumped my cock only a couple inches deep into her mouth.  I coached her 
for a few minutes and got her to the point where she mostly avoided scraping her 
teeth on my penis and started licking me rather than just moving my cock in and 
out of her mouth.

	After a couple minutes of this, I stood her up, retrieved a condom and 
wrapped my dick in the rubber.  With her back against the side of the shower 
wall, I thrust into her, not giving her much time to adjust to me.  Although her 
leaking juices had been washed away by the water, she was still hot and slippery 
inside so I was quickly balls-deep inside her cunt.

	Her hands were in the way, still tied together with soaking wet 
terrycloth, so she hung them over my head and drew me in for a hungry kiss to 
which I was eager to respond.

	Our positions didn't allow for comfortable, easy fucking, but it was a new 
location and situation for her, which helped get her off quickly.  This time the 
only way she could muffle her cries was with a kiss, so while she spasmed around 
my cock, she also poured her orgasm into my mouth and lungs.

	I was nowhere near coming though, so once she had recovered a little, I 
bent her over so that our backs were against the water and entered her from 
behind.  Her bound arms were bent at the elbow with her forearms against the 
shower wall, her head coming close to hitting the wall with every thrust.

	I know she came again, but I don't know how many times.  With the condom 
dulling the sensations and having already come once, I wasn't holding back.  I 
drilled her hard, working for another orgasm of my own.  I used one hand to play 
with her clit and the other to play with her nipples.

	I'm not sure how long we held this position, but it could have been for as 
long as fifteen minutes before I finally unloaded again.

	Once we regained our breath, I removed the condom, rinsed off and turned 
off the water.  That must have been at least a half hour shower.

	The knots tying her hands were much too soaked and tight for easy removal, 
but a loop of cloth easily rolled off her wrists letting us unwind her bindings.

	While we were drying off, she said, "That's almost enough of a reason to 
move to Texas."

	I kissed her lightly and said, "Thank you, but you live in Sin City.  What 
do you need me for?"

	"It's... well, it's unfair, but while MEN in my position can have affairs 
and keep mistresses without anyone at the office saying a thing, WOMEN who do so 
develop reputations that... that hinder promotion.  Even in Sin City."

	"I'm sorry to hear that.  It's sad when a MILF like you keeps herself 
hidden."

	"MILF, huh?  Never really thought of myself like that.  I guess I'll take 
it as a compliment."

	"I suppose it is a bit of a crude comment, for which I apologize.  It's 
just an easy shorthand way to point out that you are a beautiful, sexually 
attractive woman."

	"Thank you."

	Now dry, we returned to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

	"Does this mean you're going to spend the night tonight?"

	"Damn it.  No, I really shouldn't.  I need to call home anyway."

	She rolled over and gave me a kiss, then gave me a bit of a show getting 
dressed. 


	I felt like I should be tired, but for some reason I was still wound up 
and ready to go.  I briefly checked in with Alpha (no news of note), got dressed 
and went to visit Diana and Zatanna.

	Zatanna answered the door in her robe and seemed a little bit out of 
breath. Not you-caught-me-fucking out of breath, but enough that I noticed.

	"Hi, can I come in?"

	She glanced behind her and I heard the TV click off before she opened it 
so I could enter.  Diana was on her bed, just belting her robe.

	"Did I interrupt something?"

	"No, we were just watching TV," Zatanna replied quickly, closing the door 
behind us.

	"We thought you were sleeping with Chris tonight," Diana said.

	"No, I'm just... well, first you have to promise not to talk about this, 
okay?  She's very sensitive to rumors."

	"Okay."

	"Certainly."

	"All right.  She... how to put this nicely... she's old enough that she 
was starting to feel old.  She wanted to see if she was still attractive enough 
to seduce someone.  I was convenient for a secret out-of-town fling.  This isn't 
anything... aaahhh... She's going back home tomorrow.  Hopefully I helped her 
realize she's still young and attractive, and that's going to be the end of it.  
And any possible rumors would both embarrass her and possibly hinder her career, 
okay?"

	They nodded.

	Diana asked, "Are you here because she left you unsatisfied?"

	"No.  Well, kind of.  She came... hmmm... at least five times, and I got 
off twice.  I SHOULD be finished for the night, but for some reason I'm still 
pretty randy."

	"So you went looking for more women on which to satisfy your male urges?" 
Zatanna said with a smile.

	"I suppose it could be viewed that way," I said with a smile as I sat down 
on Diana's bed.  "But for some reason I'm a bit curious about one thing first."

	"What?" Diana asked.

	I grabbed the remote control by her bed and flicked on the TV before she 
could stop me.  "I want to see what's on TV."

	I heard a very quiet and rhythmic "Ah... ah... ah..." coming from the TV 
before the screen display came on to show a very well-hung black man fucking a 
blonde with large fake boobs from behind while an attractive Asian woman, also 
with fake boobs, caressed them both.

	It was difficult to see all of this because both Diana and Zatanna piled 
onto me in an effort to grab the remote.  (Myself, I would have turned off the 
TV at the source.)

	"Aha!" I said loudly before being smothered by a terrycloth-covered ass.  
The remote was pulled from my grip and I heard the TV click off.  The women on 
top of me made no move to get off though.

	"Excuse me?" I said, though I'm not sure they could understand me clearly 
with my face being squashed like it was.  "Can you get off of me?"  It probably 
came out more like, 'Ehus e.  An ou et uff uf e?'

	My hearing was clear enough to pick out what they said. 

	"He knows our terrible secret.  What should we do?"  I think that was 
Zatanna.

	"We should enslave him so that he'll never be able to tell anyone.  Plus 
we won't have to just watch TV.  When we get horny, we can just use him to 
satisfy ourselves."  This was accompanied by a wiggling of the ass on my face.  
Pretty sure that was Diana.

	"I don't know if that's entirely fair to him... but okay.  Ummm... I think 
he needs to breathe."

	Glad someone noticed my hand slapping the bed.

	Diana eased off of my face, but was careful to stay on my chest.

	"Thank you.  Air is good."

	"Hush, we're deciding your fate."

	"If you're so worried about people knowing about your movie choices, 
remember that movie charges show up on the hotel bill.  And since I'm the one 
paying the bill, I'm the one you have to convince to keep your secret."

	"Yes, thus another reason for us to decide your fate," explained Zatanna 
patiently.

	"I think he can be working while we decide," said Diana.  

	She shifted a bit and untied her robe, revealing bare breasts and panties. 
It took a little bit of maneuvering but she was able to remove her panties and 
turn around without getting off of me.  Keeping my arms trapped against my 
sides, she moved forward until her cunt was positioned right above my mouth.

	As I started to dig in to the familiar territory of Wonder Woman's pussy, 
I felt other hands begin to strip me of my shoes, socks and pants.  Zatanna 
unbuttoned what she could of my shirt, but until Diana moved, it would stay in 
place, soaking up bits and pieces of Diana's flowing juices.  I expected her to 
mount me, but the most she did was stroke my cock some.

	Without the use of my hands, making Diana come was a bit more difficult, 
but I was familiar with her likes and dislikes and was able to ramp up her 
libido using the rapid tongue flick alternated with the strong suck which was 
enhanced with a strong pressure tongue circle.  At the same time, I was mean 
enough that every time I noticed she was getting close, I would back off and 
slow down.

	After I denied her a climax twice, she grabbed my head in frustration and 
rubbed her clit against my nose, using my face as a masturbation aid.  I was 
able to pull back just enough to blow cool air across her clit, which made her 
shiver briefly and, more importantly, draw her back from her approaching orgasm.

	Normally I'd be an enthusiastic participant in a little bit of role-play 
like this, but for some reason I wasn't in the mood to be on the bottom tonight.

	She growled in frustration and lifted off of me a bit.  "Make me come!"

	"Gladly... as soon as you let me up."  

	Apparently Diana was really 'in need' because she got off of me, flipped 
me over, quickly sat down in front of me and again pulled my head into her 
crotch. This time I did my best to bring her quickly to as good a climax as I 
could.

	While I was working on Diana, I felt the much-ignored Zatanna pulling off 
my shirt, finally leaving me naked.  Once Diana had come -- a nice big one that 
left her limp for a couple minutes -- I turned my attention to the naked and 
furiously masturbating Zatanna.

	"You need some attention too, pretty lady," I said.  Okay, I'm not always 
as creatively seductive as possible, but hey, it was true.  She obviously needed 
attention.

	I crawled across the bed to her, starting a long kiss while one of my 
hands joined hers in playing with her pussy.

	After I worked out the specific pronunciation in my mind, I pulled back 
and said, "Cuff eem," which is how I think you're supposed to say "Fuck me" 
backwards.

	I think I was close enough, because she smiled at me and said, "Sey, ris!"

	She shifted her hands from playing with herself to latching onto my cock, 
then lay down, pulling me along with her.  A moment later I was buried deep in 
her snatch with her legs wrapped around my waist.  Aaaahhh... that felt so 
good... fucking a tight, hot cunt without a condom to dull the sensation.  I 
went in for a long, deep kiss, then started fucking her silly.

	I've been with most of my women long enough to know their likes, dislikes 
and quirks... how they like to be eaten out, how good they are with oral sex in 
return, how to get them hot, and what they enjoy when fucking.  For example, 
while blowing on Diana's clit can cool her ardor, it can turn on Kasumi 
immensely.  

	Zatanna usually likes plenty of foreplay.  Heck, usually foreplay takes up 
2/3 of sex time when I'm with her, but foreplay can take a variety of forms for 
her.  Tonight I was guessing that their movie and the little show I just put on 
with Diana counted as foreplay.  Now that we had moved on to the actual fucking, 
she tended to like lots of personal contact and varying speeds of hip movement.  
She didn't care as much for creative positions... they could be fun, but as far 
as she was concerned, they weren't for serious fucks.

	She would want to control the speed to a large extent by giving 
indications with her own hip movements and how quickly and forcefully her legs 
would pull me into her, but she mostly tended to come when I would suddenly take 
control of the fuck at the end.

	She had us start out slow as I used a hand to play with her breasts and 
occasionally bent down for a quick kiss.  We sped up a bit, slowed down a bit, 
sped up a bit more... we must have fucked for ten or fifteen minutes.  

	She was really wet and worked up by the time I fought her legs for control 
and sped up unexpectedly, pounding into her hips with as much force as I could 
muster.  After less than a minute of that, she came hard.  I hadn't paid much 
attention to Diana throughout this, but as Zatanna came, she swooped in to kiss 
her, capturing her lips and swallowing her explosive orgasm-induced cries.

	I kept pounding into her for another minute until I finally blasted off 
inside her.  Zatanna gave a weak jump/shiver when she felt me filling her womb 
with sperm, then collapsed.

	I was feeling a bit drained myself, but Diana was having none of that.  
After Zatanna dropped into semi-consciousness, Diana moved her attention to me.  
She was obviously still hungry for an orgasm... well, another orgasm.  She 
kissed me, shooting her tongue into my mouth, then moved down to my cock, 
licking the juices from my softening shaft.

	"Come on," she muttered, licking me and sucking me into a strong oral 
vacuum.  I was tired but willing to go one more round, and after a couple 
minutes of very focused attention from Diana, my cock regained its hardness.  My 
body was still pretty tired though, so I lay down flat and let her mount me.

	Watching Wonder Woman's naked body bounce above you during sex is almost 
the definition of fun.  Her large breasts, dominant personality and expressive 
face work together to make it a memorable experience, one that I remember from 
many past encounters.  

	She rode me to two orgasms in just a few minutes.  The problem was that I 
was now hard again and nowhere near ready to ejaculate a fourth time this 
evening.  At least I had gotten a bit of a second wind by the time she stopped 
bouncing and slumped over me.

	With her acquiescence, I repositioned her so that she was laying in front 
of me with her legs up in the air.  I held those beautiful female limbs in front 
of me while I plunged into her pussy.  She was the one who had gotten me hard 
again, and I wasn't going to let her rest until she received the fruit of her 
efforts.

	I was pretty well spent, sexually speaking, and took another forty minutes 
or so to come one final time.  In that forty minutes I must have taken Diana 
through half a dozen other positions.  I'm not entirely certain if she was happy 
that she had gotten me hard one last time that night, but I'm pretty sure she 
came at least another four or five times.

	Finally completely spent, I collapsed into bed next to her.  Zatanna had 
moved over to her own bed to sleep.  I wish the beds had been large enough to 
allow all three of us to sleep together, but I settled for sleeping next to 
Diana.


	The next morning, Zatanna's pre-arranged wake-up call got me up much 
earlier than I would have preferred.  I got dressed, gave the hallway a 
surreptitious look to make sure Chris wasn't in view, and quickly returned to my 
room.  Although there was no expectation that my time with Christine was 
anything more than a very brief affair, I still didn't want to hurt her by 
letting her know I had had sex with more women just after she left.

	At breakfast, I took no little pleasure in noting that both Chris and 
Diana were walking a bit stiffly.  (Not that I was doing so much better.  I 
estimated that I had participated in somewhere between two and three hours of 
sex the previous night, but the lotion I had applied to my sore cock helped.  
Maybe I could have handled it without soreness back in my teens, but not so much 
right now.)

	We arrived at DFW in time for Chris to make her connecting flight back to 
Vegas.  I gave my thanks to Josh and Sherri, then we drove home where I went to 
bed early and alone and slept like a log.

	Alpha had recorded our appearance on CSPAN-47 (or whatever channel it was) 
and a few different news programs.  As predicted, we were worthy of thirty 
seconds here and there, but hadn't gotten any serious notice.  Well, AARD got a 
lot of calls from amputees around the country asking about availability, but 
that was to be expected.

	As a bit of a postscript to the trip, I should mention that Christine 
Sloane entered politics herself a couple years later.  She won a state 
representative position and was eventually elected to the US House of 
Representatives.  I saw her a few more times over her career, but we never 
renewed our affair.

* * * * *

	In other matters, we kept Diana and Zatanna 'in our world' for six months 
this time, instead of the two months they had intended.  They returned home, 
thought they spent a few months there, and came back here after only a couple 
days had passed in this world.
	Basically I wasn't ready to start a rotating cast of DC characters just 
yet, so we wouldn't let their dimensional travel controls work quite right for a 
little while.

	Meanwhile, I decided it was high time to bring in a couple more women.  I 
wanted to both bring in more Marvel characters and bring in non-comic-book 
characters and was having trouble deciding what to do.
	Re: Marvel characters, I was planning to start with a couple more X-women, 
partly for narrative convenience, partly because most of the non-X-women Marvel 
characters I wanted had inhuman appearances or were married.
	As far as non-comic-book characters went, I had a lot of options but 
nothing was jumping out as a perfect selection for me.  The cartoon ones I 
wanted most were bad ideas -- the Scooby Doo women, April O'Neil and the Test 
sisters would all almost certainly try to discover my secrets. 
	Adult versions of the Powerpuff Girls were still definitely on my list, 
but I was worried they might be too much of a handful.  Plus don't I already 
have enough superheroes living with me?  Still, the varying personalities would 
be a great challenge.  On the other hand, I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach 
the incest taboo.  Having three sisters in the same bed with me was a really hot 
concept, but there could be bad social complications.

	I felt like a kid in a candy store who was on a very specific diet.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Please forgive any errors about congressional subcommittee 
procedures.  I know little about the details of how congress works.  From what 
little I can tell online, I don't think that committee even meets in November, 
so please forgive my presumption at rescheduling the meetings for my world.


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