"So it seems," Ennui agreed. "Voila says he is not physically dangerous to you or us. But he is a nexus."
As was Fifth, and Shee. "I'm sick of nexi!"
Ennui merely shrugged.
Weft sighed. "All right, robot. I will accept you as my companion, for now. But I know you're not dad."
"Merely his semblance," the robot agreed.
And what a semblance! He was so perfectly like Havoc that she had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't. But also there was a nagging curiosity she was trying to suppress: what would it be like to have an affair with Havoc's perfect likeness? The robot wasn't even alive, yet it was wickedly tempting.
"This way," she said, and took hold of his arm. It was warm and firm, just like living flesh.
She conjured them both to Planet Counter Charm. Idyll was there in her glade, in her solid human form, having of course anticipated them. "Greeting, Weft." She glanced at the robot. "And what should I call the machine?"
"That is something we need to decide. Do we give him a different name?"
"When he may be useful as a Havoc emulation," Idyll said. "It may be best, then, to call him Havoc, in case anyone else should overhear."
"And we do know the difference," Weft agreed. "I must get to know him, and determine whether he is here to distract me from some other necessary chore."
Idyll nodded. "The machines aren't necessarily subtle, but we don't properly understand their motives."
"I thought you might provide some settings where we could interact."
"Agreement." Then Idyll faded, and so did the glade. They were replaced by a replica of the king's master bedroom. Havoc was wearing a royal bathrobe, and Weft was in baby doll pajamas.
"Expletive!" Weft swore. "This isn't what I meant."
"The hell it wasn't," Havoc said, stepping forcefully into his role. "You've been hot for me all your life, and in the past seven years I've been hot for you. We both know it."
She stared at him. "Dismay! We know nothing of the kind." But she was lying.
"And we know that with me you can actually do it."
Because he wasn't really Havoc. "This is a mockery."
"No more so than his affair with a female robot."
"I'm not going to argue cases with you! You're a demonic machine."
"I am as close to Havoc as a machine can be. I share his feelings. That is why I have a passion for you."
She was horrified. The truth was she had always had a fancy for Havoc, and never been shy about showing it.
But she had always known it was an ambition impossible to realize. That had, perversely, given her freedom to express herself. But to possess Havoc for real—that was revolting. He was her father. For this contraption to suggest that Havoc wanted to possess her sexually was similarly repugnant.
Yet to have a fake Havoc possess her—that was also abhorrent. If she was ever to do it, she wanted reality.
She wouldn't let an impostor touch her. So this scenario was damned either way. "Disgust! I will not play this game."
Weft. It was Idyll. I have a communication from Gale. Take him to the Flower Planet for a modification.
Question?
Empathy circuit.
But he has to be in orgasm for that!
Put him into it.
"Negation!" she exclaimed aloud.
"Question?" the robot asked.
There was one difference: the robot wasn't telepathic. "They want me to take you to the Flower Planet for a modification. To give you an empathy circuit."
"Welcome! Then I can feel your feelings, as Shee feels the real Havoc's."
Feeling out of sorts, she decided. "I will take you. But there's a caveat."
"Question?"
"You have to be in continuous orgasm to accomplish it."
"With you? I am prepared to make this sacrifice."
"Well I'm not! If you're not my father, you're a machine. I can do better than that."
"Take me there."
I can't go there, she thought to Idyll. I have no ikon there.
Gale arranged it. There are copies of all the ikons there.
Now she became aware of it. She was stuck for this nightmare. "Agreement."
She grasped his arm and conjured him to the Flower planet. They stood in a flowery field.
There were Gale, Monochrome, Shee, and the five new robot bath girls. Plus one plainly awed mortal girl. "Welcome, Weft," Gale said, approaching to address her privately.
"Confusion!"
"It's a prank we're playing on Havoc," Gale said. "To have all of us with him at once. The Glamors know this isn't Havoc; the others don't. First we'll see to the empathy implant, then we'll set up to bring Havoc in."
"I'm not touching dad for real! Or for pretense."
"We know, dear. But the robot is another matter. You can emulate Symbol, who would really have liked to be here."
Weft did not want to be the spoilsport. "Let's get that implant. But I'm not ready to—to put him into orgasm."
"We'll do it, Weft. You can be last, and skip it if you prefer."
"Acquiescence," Weft agreed uncomfortably. This might be a joke, but there were aspects that seemed to go beyond humor. Mom was facilitating Weft's apparent sex with dad? What was the text beneath that palimpsest?
She assumed the likeness of Symbol. She established a mental connection with Havoc's former mistress so that she would know about the way her form was being borrowed, and sent her a continuing mental picture. Symbol was glad to participate, even in this remote fashion. She missed her glory days as Havoc's mistress, and not merely for the sex.
They put the robot on a bed in the field, lying supine, naked. Then Gale stripped and bestrode him, kissing him, touching him, causing his member to swell immediately, and took him in. In moments she had him in orgasm. Again Weft was struck by his perfect resemblance to Havoc. That was no coincidence, yet it kept surprising her. It looked just as if her parents were having ordinary sex. As they were, in a manner.
The little Bee-chines swarmed over the robot's head and neck, opening panels Weft hadn't known existed.
They delved into the skull, carrying special little tools. It looked as if they were consuming him, like ants on a carcass.
All this was coming close to freaking Weft out. Her parents had never before done sex openly, though there had been many times the children had sneaked into their bedroom and watched them at it, and of course they had known that was happening. Glamors couldn't be stopped. But this time they had a wider audience, and dad was being invaded by insects. That was enough to make it seem surrealistic.
Me too, Symbol thought. Sex with Havoc is one thing, but while bugs infest him is another.
But the worst of it was that it was her mother and a robot. How could Gale just do it, with no apparent qualm?
Havoc had a robot mistress, true, but he would have sex with anything that looked suitably female. He was a male Glamor. Gale had better taste. She had sex with a man only for a reason. What was her reason here? It wasn't for her own pleasure; she was faking her own orgasm, as Weft could tell from her mind.
Gale kept him in orgasm five minutes. Then she jumped off, literally, and Monochrome jumped on, so that hardly a thrust was missed. His orgasm continued. Monochrome was, if anything, better at it; she seemed to be achieving orgasm for herself. She was sitting up on him, her breasts bouncing as she lifted and dropped in rapid reverse thrusting.
Weft thought of Fifth: he would be so turned on by the sight that his member would threaten to spout untouched. In fact, Weft herself was highly turned on. She felt guilty for that, but how could she not react to the sight of Havoc having thorough sex?