Vila pondered briefly. "Then we need someone else for the tenth. The old bath girls have long since disappeared into families. Who remains young and luscious and in love with him?"
"All the nubile girls of the planet," Gale said. "But they can't really compete with Glamors or robots."
"Frustration!" But then she brightened. "Weft!"
Gale stifled a burst of laughter. Young, luscious, and in love with Havoc: Weft certainly qualified.
"Complication."
"Oh, I know. Incest. Tek—tek—"
"Technically."
"Yes. But maybe she could go no fault and wear a mask."
"Maybe," Gale agreed, still amused. "Instead of a bath, perhaps a giant flower," the Bee suggested, sharing the mischief. "I believe we could recruit one, or several."
"A flower bath!" Vila said.
Gale considered. What a prank to play on Havoc! "I will see what can be done." She focused on the Bee. "But first we must see about that empathy program. Let's verify it with Fiolora."
"She'll love it!" Vila said. "The empathy and the bath."
"Agreement," the Bee said.
Taken as a whole, this mission was concluding well.
Chapter 14 Glamor
"Havoc will join you now," Ennui said.
Shee jumped off the bed in the suite she had been assigned. She didn't need a bed, except to make things comfortable for Havoc during sex, but it facilitated appearances. "Apology for my doubt. But is it really him?"
"Affirmation," Havoc said, sweeping in. "It's really me. Was my son bedding you in my image?"
"Negation," she said, hugging him. "He was a perfect gentleman. But he showed he was able to fool me. Oh, Havoc, take me away and ravish me endlessly. I live for your touch."
"Soon," he said, setting her down and guiding her to the bedroom. But they did not use the bed; instead they were abruptly on Planet Counter Charm, with Idyll Ifrit already formed.
"Greeting," Shee said, disconcerted. She had hoped to be in the throes of sex with Havoc at this time.
"Acknowledged," Idyll said. There was something about her manner that suggested that she understood Shee's frustration. Did she have her own passion for Havoc?
"And my daughter Voila," Havoc said.
A pretty young woman appeared. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and her aspect did favor Havoc. It was hard to credit that this was the machines' primary target in the galaxy.
"Greeting," Voila said, taking Shee's two hands. There was an intensity about her that put other Glamors to shame. This was the creature Shee had come to recruit, and her very touch was inspiring.
Now Shee felt an atypical instant of vertigo. How could she, a machine, be affected like this?
"Acknowledged," she said after a moment.
Voila let her go. Then she hugged Havoc and whispered in his ear, very much the loving daughter. And vanished. Idyll also faded out.
"Now we travel," Havoc said briskly.
Shee was disappointed. "Question?"
"First we make you a Glamor."
Shee didn't care what Idyll overheard, here in her bower; she was desperate. "Havoc, please, ravish me first. I don't know if I can ever be a Glamor, or whether I ever should be. I simply exist to love you."
"This will test that love."
"Any test will verify it. Please, Havoc."
He smiled. "Observation: You seem really hot."
"Confirmation!"
"Good. Because you will need to have a fifteen minute orgasm."
"Do me for fifteen minutes, and I will keep the pace."
"Soon."
"Now."
"Kiss and feel now; orgasm later." He followed through, kissing her mouth while squeezing her bottom.
"Havoc, why are you teasing me?"
"Because I want you to be desperate enough to accede to my demand."
"Question?"
"You may not wish to do the necessary."
"What necessary?"
"You must accept spot reprogramming."
"That is not feasible. My program is sacrosanct."
"Unfortunate. Your mission is to become my mistress and persuade me to persuade Voila to join the machines. You will not be my mistress unless you accept the reprogramming, and your mission will fail at the outset."
She knew he was serious. "Havoc, I would do anything for you. But this is beyond my means. I can't reprogram myself any more than you could rip out your heart."
"The reprogramming is to add an empathy circuit to your program. That will enable you to become a Glamor."
"Havoc—"
"As a Glamor you will have infinitely more power to accomplish anything you perceive as relating to your assignment. So this is consistent with your mission."
"Perhaps. But—"
"And it will contribute to your own personal fulfillment. You will no longer be a mere slave circuit programmed by the machines, but will become a person in your own right with an independent perspective. So you owe it to yourself."
He simply was not listening. "Do with me what you will," she said with resignation.
"Acquiescence." He put his hands on her elbows.
And they stood in a fantastic field of flowers. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "But this is an alien world. The gravity differs, and a mortal would not be able to breathe this air. Where are we?"
"This is a planet of what we call the bee-chines. They are a machine culture."
"Alarm!"
"At ease, wench. Not all machines are enemies, any more than all living creatures are friends. These machines align with the living cultures, and stand to be destroyed by your machines if the forces of life lose the war."
"You trust this?"
"Affirmation. They have empathy circuits, and will add one to your programming."
"Havoc, you are not comprehending. What level are these machines?"
"Type two."
"They lack the sophistication to reprogram a type two point five machine, even if they were able to gain access to the relevant portion."
"Clarification: they will add the empathy program to your data bank. You will have to invoke it yourself."
She shrugged. "I could invoke it, and cancel it at my whim. This is a mere application, not reprogramming."
"Sufficient."
"And they can't gain access. My brain would self-destruct rather than be compromised."
"Loophole."
"Question?"
"Access is available when you are in orgasm."
"Ludicrous!"
"Fact. This is why I saved the sex for this occasion."
"Havoc, even if this were true, how could you possibly know it? I don't know it!"
"Voila discovered it."
"How? We first met only minutes ago."
He smiled. "Promise no anger."
"What are you talking about?"
"When Voila took your hands, she invoked a talent she has borrowed and explored thousands of alternate presents, until she found it."
"Found what?"
"Your secret access. Orgasm. We had suspected."
"Confusion."
"Explanation: the machines of your culture surely need to reprogram their robots on occasion, but do not want any other creatures to have similar access. So they hid the access mode where no one would think to look. It is not a key or code, but a state of being: orgasm."
"Impossible! I am programmed to be able to achieve orgasm only with you. No one else can touch me in that manner, unless you direct it, and even then I could only emulate passion, not experience it as I do with you."
"Which is why you will be doing it with me. But the modification requires fifteen minutes."
"Nonsense!"
"Think back, Shee. When the brigand robots raped you, you did not have orgasm, true. But what about when you slept?"
She stared at him. "How—?"
"I visited your planet of origin and learned your secret. I also saw you sleeping, in the records. You writhed with pleasure. Can you tell me you did not dream?"