Rory slowly woke from a highly erotic and equally implausible dream.  As he turned over, he realized that the surface he was lying on was hard and totally unlike the soft bedding he had fallen asleep on last night.  

A voice called out, “Kristi, can you put that computer into lost and found?  It’s been unattended for the last three hours.”

Kristi was the name of the barista that Rory had a crush on.  She worked at his favorite twenty-four-hour coffee shop and if she knew his name it was only because she had to write it on his coffee cup a half dozen times in a typical day.  

Opening his eyes, Rory saw that he was on the floor, except that it resembled the tabletops at the coffee shop and did not look at all like any surface in his apartment.  Towering over him was a screen easily four or five times his height attached to a keyboard and trackpad of similar dimensions.  Except for their size, they looked exactly like Rory’s laptop.

Giant hands reached down and closed the enormous laptop.  The lilac nail polish on the fingers matched the shade that Kristi was wearing yesterday.  Rory’s eyes traced the humongous arms lifting the laptop to the shoulders. He continued up until he could see Kristi’s gigantic face staring at him, green eyes wide in shock.  Unfortunately, the health codes required Kristi to keep her long brown hair in a hair net while she was at work, so Rory couldn’t get a good look at it from his new perspective.

“Rory?” Kristi asked hesitantly, her voice soft, barely a whisper, though to Rory it was as if she were shouting.  She looked to be in her early twenties, around the same age as Rory.  The small freckles that dotted her face now appeared to be as big as Rory’s tiny hands.

“Kristi?” Rory asked in response.  His mind told him there was no way that this was really happening.  Falling asleep while typing on his computer was plausible.  Suddenly being only a few inches tall for no apparent reason was not.  Rory’s heart told him that the girl of his dreams was now, comparably, a giantess and had finally noticed him, so he shouldn’t overthink things.

“How did this happen?” Kristi asked, holding the laptop to her chest.

“I don’t know,” Rory admitted.  “Can you help me?”

“What can I do?” Kristi wondered.

“Maybe you could bring me somewhere safer,” Rory suggested, standing up.  The table was empty now except for Rory himself and a paper cup with his name on it that stood about twice his height.

Kristi considered this.  “The kitchen should be quiet at night.  The pastry chefs usually go home when the bakery next door closes.”

“Why?” Rory asked, trying to remember what he knew about the bakery.  He passed it every day but had only been inside a couple of times.

“Decisions like that are above my pay grade,” Kristi admitted with a shrug.  “But I do know that the same man owns both businesses and we share the kitchen.”

“I guess that would work temporarily, but I can’t stay there,” Rory replied.

“My shift ends at four and no one should be there until morning.  I’ll go down and get you before I leave,” Kristi promised.

“Okay,” Rory agreed, walking towards Kristi.

Still holding Rory’s laptop with her left arm, Kristi released her grip on it with her right hand which she then lowered to hold her apron pocket open for Rory to climb into.

Reaching the edge of the table, Rory looked down into Kristi’s pocket.  It was empty.  Rory supposed that made sense since Kristi usually spent most of her shift behind the counter making coffee, only rarely coming out to clean tables.  The day shift included a waiter, but Kristi worked nights when fewer customers meant less staff to take care of them.

Rory lay down and carefully slid his legs out, over the edge, feeling around for Kristi’s apron pocket.  Once he was sure his legs were in her pocket, Rory slowly wriggled his way off the table, gripping the edge to lower himself down into it.  Never very athletic, Rory’s arms slipped off the table and he fell the rest of the way down.  

Looking up, Rory saw Kristi’s fingers release her pocket and pull away.  He realized that the pocket was deeper than he was tall and wondered how he was going to get out again.  Suddenly, the pocket Rory was in accelerated as Kristi started walking.  After the pocket rapidly moved what seemed like a long distance, but was probably much shorter in reality, it stopped. Rory could hear the sound of his computer being put on a shelf behind the counter.  

“I’m going downstairs to get a cake from the bakery leftovers,” Kristi announced as the pocket started moving again.

It occurred to Rory that was why the coffee shop usually had cake or pie at night, but rarely during the day, something he hadn’t really given any thought to before.  Based on the sounds he was hearing and what Kristi had told him, Rory deduced that she had gone through the door marked “employees only” and walked down a flight of stairs.

The pocket Rory was in briefly stopped moving, then it started to sway as it was lifted up then lowered gently until Rory felt it was on a solid surface.  Crawling his way out, Rory could see that the bottom half of Kristi’s full-length apron was laid on a counter with Kristi leaning forward, looking down at him.  

“I’ll check on you during my break,” Kristi promised.

“See you then,” Rory replied, stepping off Kristi’s apron.

Kristi stepped back, pulling the apron with her so that it dangled down from the strap around her neck.  She tied the lower strap again, securing it against her waist, then went to a refrigerator at the other end of the kitchen.

Rory looked around the kitchen.  The counter he was on was between two stoves and it looked like there was more counter space along the wall stretching towards where Kristi was.  Eight humongous ovens were lined up, across the room, on the opposite wall.  Above the ovens was a large clock showing that it was a quarter past nine.  It was going to be a long wait until four.

A little after midnight, Kristi came down holding a plate.  When she put it on the counter near him, Rory could see that the plate contained a tuna fish sandwich bigger than he was.  

“I figured that you might be hungry too and thought I would eat with you,” Kristi said as she broke off a corner of the sandwich and put it on the edge of her plate.  

“Thank you,” Rory replied as he walked to the plate.  The piece of sandwich Kristi had set aside for him was so big, he needed both hands to pick it up.

“It has occurred to me that I don’t really know anything about you except that you spend a lot of time typing on your laptop and drinking coffee,” Kristi commented as they ate.

“I am a computer programmer, and probably a workaholic,” Rory admitted with a chuckle.

“I’ve been working here since I was in high school,” Kristi replied.  

“I know.  You were on the afternoon shift when I was in college,” Rory commented.

“Aren’t we about the same age?” Kristi asked.

“Probably,” Rory agreed.  “I officially started college when I was fifteen, though I already had a bunch of credits from the college classes I took while I was still in high school.”

“So you’re some kind of genius,” Kristi replied.

“That’s a word I’ve heard used to describe me,” Rory acknowledged.  “Though, I’ve never really cared that much about what other people thought about me.”

“I never even went to college,” Kristi admitted.  “I didn’t have the money to pay for it and I wasn’t smart enough for a scholarship.”

“That’s okay,” Rory said, reassuringly.  “I won’t hold it against you.”

“Do you have your phone on you?  Would you be able to make a phone call?” Kristi asked.  

“My phone was in my pocket when I shrunk and it appears to still be working,” Rory replied, though he couldn’t think of a rational explanation as to how that could be.

“If you call the coffee shop and ask about the computer you left here, I’ll have an excuse to offer to bring it to you,” Kristi suggested.

“When should I try that?” Rory asked.

“Maybe three or three thirty,” Kristi replied. “It should be near the end of my shift.”

“Okay,” Rory agreed.

“I need to get back to work now.” Kristi put her cell phone on the counter before grabbing the now-empty plate. She explained, “I need an excuse to come back down after work.”

Rory sat on the counter watching the clock hands move closer to four o’clock.  Kristi’s plan for retrieving his computer from lost and found for him seemed to have worked and the hours of her shift had passed surprisingly quickly.  It seemed like whenever he checked the time, it was later than he felt it should be, but he did have his inexplicably working cell phone to use to entertain himself.

Looking away from the clock for a second, Rory heard the loud thumps of Kristi’s feet on the stairs.  Another glance at the clock showed it was now after four.  While he was certain there was something not quite right about the way time was flowing, Rory was glad that Kristi was returning and decided not to worry about it any further.

Kristi entered the gigantic kitchen and approached the counter where Rory was.  She was still wearing the hair net, but no longer had the apron on which revealed the low cut of her blouse.  “I’ve been giving some thought about how to carry you home.  I have to walk because the bus doesn’t start running again until six.  But first, I think I should make a confession - I’m a microphile.  That means…”

“I know what that means because I’m a macrophile,” Rory interrupted.  “And I should probably confess that I’ve had a crush on you for years.”  This unlikely coincidence definitely fell into the too-good-to-be-true category.  There had to be a catch, but Rory quickly decided that he didn’t care what it was.

“Then you’ll probably agree with my plan,” Kristi replied.  “I think the safest way to carry you is in my bra.”

“Yes, please,” Rory said without hesitation.

Kristi reached out to pick Rory up with fingers as long as he was tall.  The instant she touched him, Rory felt himself grow hard and realized that he was going to be very wet by the time they reached Kristi’s residence.

Making a quick decision, Rory started to unfasten his pants.  “Maybe you could carry these in your pocket.  I don’t know where to get more clothes in my size.”

“I can do that,” Kristi agreed, looking pleased.  She withdrew her hand while waiting for Rory to finish undressing and used it to pick up her phone and put it in her pocket.

As Rory pulled down his pants and underwear, it exposed his erection which made him feel nervous and vulnerable, but that only excited him more.  After removing his shirt as well, Rory stood there fully naked, waiting for Kristi to pick him up.

With a mischievous grin, Kristi extended her index finger towards Rory, touched his penis with her fingertip, and started to move it around as if it were a joystick.  Expecting the finger to feel smooth, Rory realized that his small size made the ridges on it large enough to be noticeable.

Rory attempted to place his hands on either side of Kristi’s finger, but the erratic movements of her finger shook off his effort without even trying.  The demonstration that Kristi could do anything she wanted to his tiny little body was as stimulating as the physical contact.  It wasn’t long before Rory started to issue tiny droplets of cum onto Kristi’s gigantic finger.

Kristi giggled and licked the cum off her finger.  Then she gathered Rory’s clothing and put it in the pocket not containing her cell phone.  Finally, she picked up Rory and deposited him in her bra.  

It was a strapless tube top bra held in place by elastic fabric at the top and bottom of the bra that encircled Kristi’s body above and below her breasts.  Rory found himself with Kristi’s breasts on either side of him, both about twice as tall as he was.  He was standing on a stretch of fabric that curved out and upwards from the bottom elastic, leaving Rory space to move around.  

Rory could feel motion as Kristi walked up the stairs and it caused him to lose his balance, falling against the soft, unyielding flesh of her breast.  Kristi said “Found it,” “Thanks,” and “Good night,” to some unseen person, then left the coffee shop.

While Kristi walked home along the street, she told Rory more about herself.  There was enough background noise that Rory couldn’t hear every detail, but he learned that Kristi had grown up in a series of foster homes.  As he was jostled around by Kristi’s movements and listened to her talk, Rory reached out his arms to steady himself and, almost unconsciously, found himself stroking the sides of her breasts.  

Once Rory had another erection, he started rubbing it against one of Kristi’s breasts.  This made it even harder to follow what Kristi was saying, but that soon became a moot point as Kristi felt his attention and stopped talking.  Shortly after that, Kristi stopped moving and Rory saw a bright light.

Looking up, Rory realized that Kristi had paused under a street light and was using one hand to hold her bra open while she peered down at him.  With her other hand, she reached into her bra and started stroking Rory’s back with her index finger.  Kristi was much stronger than Rory so, when she stroked harder and faster, the flesh of her breast gave way.  Rory was surrounded on all sides by Kristi’s breast, except for his back where Kristi’s finger was jiggling him up and down.  Rory came again, making a wet and slippery spot on Krisit’s breast that was too tiny to have any effect.  

“I’m really horny now,” Kristi complained, as she released Rory from her finger.  “I’d better get you home so that you can do something about that.”  Letting go of her bra, Kristi resumed walking.

Kristi was moving faster than before and Rory bounced around inside her bra, between her breasts.  He started getting hard again, but Kristi had said it was her turn, so he made the effort to control himself.

After a while, Kristi’s movement became more irregular and Rory could hear the sounds of first a door, then an elevator.  The street noises became muffled as they entered the building.  After leaving the elevator, Rory heard two more doors then Kristi reached into her bra, lifted Rory out and put him on her nightstand.  Kristi’s bedroom looked huge from Rory’s perspective, but he realized that it was actually very small, with hardly any room between the furniture for a full-sized person, like Kristi, to move around.  Quickly undressing, Kristi threw her clothes on the floor and grabbed a scarf from her closet.

“What’s that for?” Rory asked, hesitantly.

“If I start screaming, I’ll wake my roommates,” Kristi replied as she sat down on her bed with her legs open wide and her long brown hair cascading freely down her back.

Scooping Rory off the nightstand, Kristi placed him in front of her gigantic pussy.  “Play with my clit,” she ordered before putting the scarf in her mouth and tying it around the back of her head as a makeshift gag.

Rory obeyed, reaching out to pull open Kristi’s labia lips, then holding them open with his forearms while he reached inside to start rubbing her clitoris with his hands.  Leaning forward, Rory saw Kristi’s juices drip onto the bed before he started licking her clitoris with his tongue.  

Kristi made noises that were muffled by her scarf.  Then she reached down and opened her vagina with one hand and used her other hand to stuff Rory’s legs inside her.  Kristi then pulled Rory’s arms above his head and used them as a handle to push him in and pull him out with increasing frequency, using him as a human dildo.

Being rubbed against the walls of Kristi’s vagina caused Rory’s penis to immediately start spurting out cum after being hard for so long.

As he felt Kristi’s vagina start to give his lower body quick hugs, Rory thought, “The only way this could be better is if I was fully inside Kristi.”

Suddenly, Rory started shrinking again.  Caught off guard, Kristi lost her grip on his arms as they became even smaller and were pulled inside her vagina where Rory’s torso already was.

A small part of Rory’s mind registered this as highly suspicious, but he ignored it and started to get hard again.

Marvin looked away from the screen with the video display.  While he enjoyed fucking a woman’s vagina the same as the next guy, he found the thought of being inserted, head to toe, in one disgusting.  A glance at the screen describing the subject’s surface thoughts indicated that Rory Thomas did not agree with him.  Mr. Thomas was ecstatic.

Joshua Moore entered the room.  “Any progress?”  He looked through the one-way glass at the man fully encased in a VR suit.  The body was contorted in an effort to emulate the image displayed on the video screen.

“Not yet,” Marvin replied.

Peering at the screen showing a man surrounded by pulsing, wet flesh, Mr. Moore asked, “Where is he?”

“Harriet created a program based on the dream that Mr. Thomas was having when he was hooked up to the machine,” Marvin explained.  “He was about three inches tall before he shrunk further and is now inside the vagina of a woman named Kristi.  You might want to check into the real Kristi who is a barista at Javarella.  While she probably doesn’t know anything useful, she seems to be important to Mr. Thomas.”

Mr. Moore nodded.  “That could prove helpful if Harriet’s program fails.”

When Rory woke up, he discovered that he was back to being three inches tall.  The makeshift bed he was lying on had a folded washcloth for a mattress, cotton balls for pillows, and facial tissues for the sheet, blanket, and pillowcases.  He needed to use the bathroom but didn’t think he could get there without Kristi’s help and she was still asleep.

Rory tried to distract himself by remembering the past day, starting with when he woke up in Javarella and Kristi found him.  After that, there was a long wait that felt suspiciously short interrupted by a brief lunch with Kristi.  Once Kristi got off work, there was some amazing sex with her during which she took him to her apartment.  

By the time they were done having sex, Kristi’s roommates were awake.  She left her bedroom long enough to heat up a frozen dinner to bring back and share with Rory.  Kristi couldn’t find anything resembling utensils in Rory’s size.  While she had offered him a toothpick she snapped in half to use as chopsticks, Rory was only an inch tall at the time and even that was too big and unwieldy.  Embarrassingly, Rory had to resort to eating with his tiny little hands.  

Once Kristi’s roommates had left, she carried Rory to the bathroom.  Realizing that Rory was much too tiny to use the toilet, Kristi allowed him to relieve himself in the bathroom sink.  Of course, that reminded Rory of his current struggle not to pee all over his makeshift bed.  Mercifully, Kristi woke up.  

“I. Need. To. Go. Now,” Rory panted, pleadingly.

Kristi stared at Rory for a few seconds.  Suddenly realizing what he wanted, Kristi jumped out of bed, scooped Rory up, and carried him to the bathroom sink.

“It’s four o’clock now,” Kristi commented as she carried Rory to the living room, once he was done in the bathroom.  “My roommates usually get home around six, so that gives us about two hours.  Do you have time for breakfast or do you have to start work now?”

“Usually I start between four and five and work for eleven or twelve hours,” Rory replied.  “But I don’t think I’m up to working today.”

Kristi’s eyes grew wide.  “You really work between fifty-five and sixty hours a week.”

“No, I usually average eighty hours a week,” Rory corrected Kristi.  “I work weekends too.”

“You’re definitely a workaholic,” Kristi replied.  She gently placed Rory on the coffee table, then left the room for a minute and returned with Rory’s laptop and an old-fashioned, unsharpened pencil.  Putting Rory’s computer on the table near him, Kristi offered him the pencil.  “Maybe you can use this as a pole to send your boss an email.”

Rory nodded and accepted the pencil.  

Kristi opened the computer for him.  “Do you want scrambled eggs?

After considering a minute, Rory replied, “How about some toast? And can I have my clothes back first, so I can get dressed.”

Kristi left the room and quickly returned with Rory’s clothes which she placed on the coffee table.  “I’m going to make myself some eggs to go with the toast, so let me know if you change your mind,” she announced, heading for the kitchen.

Taking a minute to look around while he dressed, Rory calculated that the huge room would really be tiny from the perspective of a full-sized person.  There was no divider between the living room and the kitchen other than the fact that the kitchen had a tile floor while the living room had carpeting.  From his current vantage point, Rory couldn’t see the wooden floor of the hallway that stretched out the remaining length of the apartment.  He hadn’t had a chance to count the number of doors leading off of the hallway, but he knew that one led to the bathroom and another to Kristi’s room and presumed that others led to the bedrooms of Kristi’s roommates.

Picking up the pencil again and clumsily using it as a long pole, Rory slowly typed in his password and opened his personal email.  It took a little longer than usual to load his mail.  Kristi’s apartment must have a poor internet connection.  Glancing at the senders and subject lines, Rory decided that none of them looked urgent enough to require a response right away.  

Laboriously, Rory began typing a new email addressed to his supervisor with carbon copies sent to the people mostly likely to notice his absence.  “I seem to have come down with something and am not up to working.  I’ll let you know when I feel more myself.”

Examining the email for a minute before sending it, Rory nodded to himself.  He thought the clever play on words was a good way to refer to his situation while making it sound like he was sick.   

Placing a plate of scrambled eggs and toast on the coffee table, Kristi asked, “Do you want me to cut off a corner of the toast for you before or after I add butter and jelly?”

“I would like butter, but not jelly,” Rory replied after a moment of consideration.

Kristi buttered the toast and cut off a corner for Rory.  “What do you do for fun or do you not have any time for that?” she asked.

“I used to watch and read a lot of science fiction.  Now I mostly watch, read and… um… masturbate to giantess porn,” Rory replied.

“Are you familiar with the website, Giantess World?” Kristi asked.  “They have a lot of good stories there if you like some plot mixed in with your porn.”

Rory nodded.  “My favorite story is They Grow by breastclimber.  The first couple of chapters are based on the movie, They Live.”

“I’ve never seen the movie, They Live,” Kristi replied.

“That’s okay,” Rory replied.  “The story doesn’t require the movie to be enjoyable, but you might want to skip over the fight scene in chapter two.”

“I’ll check it out when I have the chance,” Kristi promised.

“What else do you do for fun?” Rory asked.

“Mostly I read,” Kristi replies.  “My favorite story is Roomies by It Was Me.”

“I just started reading that one,” Rory replied.  “I’m enjoying it so far.

“Sometimes I watch a little television, but I usually sleep through the majority of the time my roommates are out, so I rarely have the TV to myself,” Kristi continued. “I try to find time to watch something with them on my days off.  That reminds me, I should call in sick too.”

“Actually, I would prefer it if you went in for an hour or so before telling them that you aren’t feeling well,” Rory requested.  “That way we can check if my car is still there and drive it to my house if it is.  I don’t have roommates.”

“While I have a license, I could never afford a car, so I haven’t driven since I finished my driver’s education class and took my driver's test,” Kristi said, hesitantly.

“I have a self-driving car,” Rory assured Kristi.  “The manual override won’t even work since the key is too small to fit in the ignition.  And I have next year’s software installed.”

“How did you get next year’s software?” Kristi asked.  “I thought they made it illegal for anyone other than the dealerships to update the software because too many people were hacking their cars to go faster than the speed limit or otherwise violate traffic laws.  I remember them talking about it on the news a lot both before and after the law passed.”

“There is an exception for companies who produce the software that drives the cars. Each one is allowed to install it in a limited number of vehicles for testing purposes,” Rory explained.  “While I’m not on the team that programs that software, I volunteer to help troubleshoot for anyone in the AI or robotics departments if I have the time.  And, given the number of hours I typically put in, I usually have enough time for everyone who wants my help while still getting my own work done ahead of schedule.  So I know most of the people in both departments and they put my name on the list of testers.”

“So you’re an expert in both artificial intelligence and robotics?” Kristi asked.

“Those are my PhDs,” Rory replied.  “My bachelor’s degrees are in computer science and electrical engineering.”

“Of course, you have two undergraduate and two graduate degrees because you’re a genius,” Kristi said enviously.  She picked up the plate which was now empty.  “We still have about an hour before my roommates get back.  Do you want to share with me one of the science fiction shows you used to watch?” Kristi asked as she carried the plate to the kitchen.

Rory considered this as he waited for Kristi to get back.  “Have you seen The Big Bang Theory?” he asked when she did.

“The origin of the universe?” Kristi asked, wrinkling her nose.

“No, it’s an old TV show about a group of nerds,” Rory replies.  “I kind of identify with Leonard and his crush on the girl next door who is a waitress.”

“Okay,” Kristi agreed.  She picked up the remote, located the show on one of the streaming services that she shared with her roommates, and started playing the first episode.

“Aren’t you more like Sheldon?” Kristi asked when the episode was over.  “Being a genius and all.”

“I hope I’m not as socially inept,” Rory replied with a chuckle.  “And I was older than Sheldon was when he started college.”

“Is there anything else you want to do while we still have the run of the apartment?” Kristi asked.

“Maybe you should pack a suitcase,” Rory suggested.  “We can come by and pick it up before we go to my house.”

“How much should I bring?” Kristi asked.  “Are you talking about an overnight stay or moving in with you?”

“Why don’t we start with two or three days' worth,” Rory replied.  “We can always come back if you end up needing more.  Or I could buy you some more clothes.”

“Right, in addition to being a genius, you are also rich,” Kristi replied.

“I wouldn’t say I’m rich,” Rory protested.

“You have your own house and car in your early twenties,” Kristi countered.  “You’re rich.”

“I do have loans on both,” Rory said feebly.

They heard the door to the apartment open and close a few times while Kristi was packing.  The voices of Kristi’s roommates started asking each other how their days were.

“I should probably go out and greet my roommates,” Kristi told Rory.  “And I need to shower before work.  Will you be okay alone here?”

“My cell phone, surprisingly, is still fully charged,” Rory replied.  “I should be fine.”

Kristi picked out an outfit to wear today, explaining that she wanted to change in the bathroom because her roommates were home, and then she left the bedroom.

It only felt like a few minutes had passed before Kristi returned, even though the time on Rory’s phone showed it had been over an hour.

“Are you ready to go?” Kristi asked.

“Sure,” Rory replied.  “Should I ride in your bra again?”

“Only if you can control yourself,” Kristi warned him.  “I’m going to be taking the bus since it is still running and then I will be working.”

“I'll do my best,” Rory promised.

Kristi carefully picked Rory up and put him in her bra.  Rory sat down on the bottom section where the fabric curved up to go around Kristi’s breasts on either side of him.  While Rory found the view tempting and was starting to get hard just thinking about where he was, Kristi did have a point about distracting her while she was in public.  And there would be plenty of time later when it was just the two of them.

As Rory was coming to expect, the bus ride seemed very short and the hour that Kristi was working just flew by.  Soon Kristi was telling her co-worker, “I’m not feeling so good.  I may have caught whatever Rory has while I was bringing him his computer.”

“Go and get some rest,” the co-worker replied.  “I’ll see if I can find someone who can cover the rest of your shift.”

“Which one is your car?” Kristi asked when they got outside.  

In response, Rory pulled out his car key and hit one of the buttons.  There was a beep and, presumably, the car lit up, though Rory couldn’t see it.  Kristi walked a short distance and then stopped.  

“Open the rear doors,” Rory ordered his car through the microphone on his key.  He heard the doors pop open and felt Kristi get inside.  Then Kristi scooped up Rory and placed him in the cup holder attached to the back of the seat in front of her.  “This is Kristi,” Rory told his car, still speaking into the key since he wasn’t sure the microphones inside the car would register his tiny voice.  “I want you to drive to the address she gives you.”

“Nice to meet you, Kristi,” a voice spoke from the car’s speakers.  “Where would you like me to take you?”

“My apartment,” Kristi replied.  After a pause, she rattled off the address.  “I’ve never been in a self-driving car before,” she told Rory as the car started itself and began driving.  “None of my foster parents were rich enough to afford one.”

“I guess my parents don’t have a self-driving car,” Rory admitted.  “But all my co-workers do, though most of them have to be content with this year’s version of the software.”

“So you drive a more expensive car than your parents, but you don’t think you’re rich,” Kristi replied.

“The car dealership gives a large discount to employees of Megamacrotech and the self-driving upgrade is free to testers,” Rory said defensively.

Rory’s car pulled to the side of the road, stopped, and turned itself off.

“Do you want to come up with me?” Kristi asked.  

“I should be fine here,” Rory replied.  “Knock on the window when you get back and I’ll unlock the trunk and the door for you.”

Rory had barely taken out his phone again to pass the time before Kristi returned.  She was carrying the worn suitcase Rory had seen her packing and the ratty-looking canvas bookbag containing his computer.  Rory wondered what had happened to the computer bag he normally used.  It appeared to have neither shrunk with him nor remained at full size at the coffee shop.

After Kristi put the suitcase and bookbag in the trunk, she got back into the car.

“Go home,” Rory ordered into his car key and the car started driving again.

“How did you end up working for Megamacrotech?” Kristi asked.

“When I started college, a half dozen companies offered me internships.  An internet search on Supergiga Inc. indicated that they had a large number of employees' deaths under mysterious circumstances that were swept under the rug by paying settlements to the next of kin.  That didn’t sound like the kind of employer I wanted to work for so I researched the company with the next highest offer.  When Megamacrotech appeared to be clean, I told them how much their competitor was offering and said that I would rather work for them if they could match the offer.  They couldn’t quite match it, but I agreed to work for them anyway and I’m still there now.”

“So they just offered you internships?  You didn’t have to apply or interview or anything?” Kristi asked.

“Is that how people normally get internships?” Rory asked meekly.

Kristi shook her head exasperatedly.  “How much do you think the other interns at Megamacrotech were being paid?”

“Probably not as much.  But I was doing more advanced work than they were,” Rory added defensively.

“Because you’re a genius,” Kristi pointed out.

Rory sighed.  “Maybe we could talk about something else.”

“Have any of your previous girlfriends been microphiles?” Kristi asked.

“Well, by the time I was old enough to want a girlfriend, I had skipped enough grades that all my classmates were three years older than I was.  They didn’t call me a genius; they called me a freak.  I took my college courses remotely, so I didn’t interact much with the other students.  I tried tutoring freshmen when I started graduate school, in an attempt to meet students my own age, but none of them wanted to be friends or to date me.  So I never really had a previous girlfriend,” Rory explained.

“So I was your first time?” Kristi asked.

“Once I turned eighteen, they let me sign up to test the sexbots and virtual dating software.  Does that count?” Rory asked.

“How sophisticated were the sexbots and virtual dating software?” Kristi asked.  “Were any of them sentient?”

“Not even close,” Rory admitted.  “One of the projects I’m working on is creating sentient artificial intelligence.  We’ve been frustratingly close to a major breakthrough for the past three years now.  But the AIs used for most of our commercially available products aren’t nearly that sophisticated.”

“I would think that an AI would have to be sentient to count,” Kristi replied.  “Which means, I took your virginity.”

Rory looked embarrassed.  

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

“Maybe you could tell me about yourself,” Rory suggested.

Kristi started listing the names of all the teachers she had ever had, all the way back to kindergarten.  Then she went on to talk about foster siblings and friends.  She gave very few details about any of them.  Rory did learn that one of Kristi’s roommates had aged out of foster care very close to the same time that Kristi did, two of the others were friends from high school and the last was one of her friend’s boyfriend.

As Rory’s car turned into a driveway, the garage door opened automatically, then closed again once the car was inside.  

“Self-driving cars have built-in garage door openers?” Kristi asked.

“The AI in my car can talk to the AI in my house,” Rory explained.

“Let me guess, Megamacrotech also makes smart houses and you got yours installed free because you also test that,” Kristi says.  “How do you get on so many lists of testers?”

“Maybe it’s because whenever I find a problem that needs fixing, I volunteer to help fix it,” Rory replied.

Kristi picked up Rory and started to put him back in her bra.

“It would be easier for me to give you a tour of my house if I could see where we are,” Rory pointed out.

Getting out of the car, Kristi glanced at the trunk.  “Can I come back for my suitcase and your computer after the tour?”

“Stand in front of the door,” Rory told Kristi, then opened an app on his phone and spoke into it.  “This is Kristi; she will be staying with me and should have full access to the house.”

“Welcome, Kristi, please come in,” a voice spoke from a speaker next to the door which opened by itself.  

Hesitantly, Kristi walked through the door with Rory in her hand.

They were at one end of a hallway with a staircase leading upwards.  “Those doors lead to a bathroom, the storage room, the home theater, and the utility room,” Rory explained as the door behind them closed automatically.

Kristi reached for the knob of the third door in the hallway with her free hand, but the door opened by itself, revealing the media room.  There was a large screen TV sitting on a cabinet at the far end of the room.  At first glance, there seemed to be seven comfortable chairs with cup holders on each arm, a row of three with two chairs in front of the row and another two behind the row.  

“I thought there were ten chairs in here,” Rory said.

“There are,” Kristi replied, entering the room, leaning over, and lowering her hand almost to the floor.  

Rory could now see that the three chairs at the ends of the rows weren’t missing, just very small.  “They are my size!  How did that happen?”

“I don’t know,” Kristi replied.  “Probably the same way you got so tiny.”

“We don’t know how that happened either,” Rory pointed out.

“I thought you didn’t know anyone except your co-workers.  Why do you need a home theater?” Kristi asked, approaching the other three doors and peering in when the doors opened.

“No one needs a home theater, but mine was installed by a previous owner of the house and I didn’t have a reason to get rid of it,” Rory explained.  “Besides, my sister and her husband are expecting their first child, so if my family ever comes over, we could use it.  Of course, my relationship with my sister got a bit strained when I passed her in school.”

None of the other rooms on the basement floor seemed to have anything out of place, so Kristi started up the stairs, holding the banister with her free hand.  “Wouldn’t it cause a problem if the bathroom door opened automatically while it was occupied?”

“It’s programmed not to do that. If the bathroom is occupied, the door will only open if specifically told to open,” Rory explained.

The ground floor contained a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, and study.  All of the furniture in the study and the plumbing in the bathroom were shrunk to Rory’s size, along with two dining room chairs, one living room chair, the love seat, and one of the end tables.  The kitchen appeared to have everything full-sized until Kristi started reaching for the cabinets and drawers.  When those opened, it was revealed that some of the glasses, dishes, and utensils were also small enough for Rory to use.

Kristi went up to the second floor where there were three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The two guest bedrooms and the guest bathroom had normal-sized furniture and plumbing while everything in the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom had shrunk to Rory’s size, including all of his clothes.  

“Doesn’t it seem suspicious that just enough of my stuff has shrunk for us both to be comfortable here?” Rory asked.

“But it is convenient,” Kristi countered.  “Maybe we shouldn’t overthink it.”

Beatrice watched through the one-way glass as someone changed the subject’s waste receptacle for an empty one and his nutrient bag for a full one.

Mr. Moore entered the room.  “Any progress?”

“Harriet has gotten access to Mr. Thomas’ laptop,” Beatrice replied.  “But she still can’t get into his Megamacrotech account.”

Scowling, Mr. Moore looked at the video screen where Kristi and Rory were entering one of the bedrooms with full-sized furniture.  Kristi put Rory on a nightstand and both started to undress.

“It’s only been eleven and a half hours since the subject was hooked up to the equipment,” Beatrice replied.  “While a more direct approach might have produced results faster, Harriet’s analysis was that it probably would have tipped off the subject that something was wrong. Also, Harriet sent the email that the subject composed saying he was sick, so Megamacrotech won’t be worried about his absence for a while.”

“He can’t really believe that he’s actually three inches tall,” Mr. Moore pointed out.

“Mr. Thomas apparently has a deep-seated desire to be that tiny,” Beatrice explained.  “So he is willing to overlook the fact that it is impossible.”

“Since you are being generous enough to let me stay in your huge house, the least I can do is allow you to choose what we do first,” Kristi said as they undressed.

Rory considered this.  “How about I play with your clitoris until you get horny, then you insert me fully into your vagina?  I will do my best to pleasure you from inside there.”

“Okay, but don’t shrink down to one inch tall again and if you fail at pleasing me, I get to decide how you make it up to me,” Kristi warned.

“I don’t know how or why that happened before,” Rory protested. “But if it happens again, all of the things nicely shrunk to accommodate my three-inch size will be too big for me.”  Rory suspected that it had something to do with his wish to be fully inside Kristi, so he hoped he would be able to avoid it this time.

Kristi sat down on the bed fully naked, picked up Rory, and gently placed him in front of her pussy, then leaned back to allow Rory to have his way with her.  Rory opened Kristi’s labia lips to expose her clitoris.  He realized that it wasn’t as exciting without Kristi dominating him and rubbed his tiny penis against her wet flesh to make himself hard while he started to play with her clitoris. 

When Kristi’s juices started to drip out of her vagina, she reached out for Rory with one hand and held herself open with the other.  Then she picked him up and inserted Rory’s head and shoulders into her pussy.  Kristi tickled Rory’s balls with her finger and used his butt to push his torso inside her.  Finally, Kristi used Rory’s feet to push his legs until he was completely within her.

Rory considered trying to find Kristi’s G spot, but anatomy had never been his field of study and he realized with embarrassment that he had no idea where that was.  He started rubbing every part of his tiny little body against the walls of Kristi’s vagina as hard and fast as he could.  While he did so, he reminded himself that it had only been a little over a day since he woke up three inches tall and Kristi had found him.  Before that, his only sexual experience had been with robots and AI-controlled simulations that didn’t actually have G spots.  Also, he might have thought of doing some research on the matter if time hadn’t started acting so weirdly whenever Kristi left him alone.

Luckily, Rory’s actions seemed to be enough to stimulate Kristi or maybe he accidentally hit her G spot because soon the fleshy walls around Rory started to contract, giving his entire body a series of rapid hugs.  Rory’s own orgasm started soon after that.  Once they were both finished, Kristi reached inside herself with her fingers and tugged on Rory’s tiny body until he popped out.  Then she wiped her juices off of him with a facial tissue.

“Maybe we should take a break so I can get my suitcase and your computer out of the car,” Kristi suggested.  “After I unpack, it is my turn to play with you.”

Noticing Kristi staring at her clothes with reluctance, Rory pointed out, “There is no reason we can’t wander around the house naked. We are the only ones here and the cameras won’t record us unless we specifically ask them to.  They only do that to intruders and we both have full access.”

“Can I leave you here?” Kristi asked.  

“If you put me back on the nightstand so I can get my phone out of my pocket,” Rory replied.  As Kristi picked him up and moved him to the nightstand, Rory added, “I think the train set I had as a kid is in one of the boxes in the storage room.  Maybe you can get it out later and we can see if there is enough track to reach from the guest room to the master bedroom.”

“After I have a little fun,” Kristi promised as she left the room.

Rory decided to look up G spots on the internet while he waited for her to return.  He was about halfway finished with the article when he heard Kristi’s footsteps on the stairs.  Rory half-listened to Kristi’s comments about where to put her clothes while he finished reading.

When Rory was done, he put down his phone.  Kristi had already finished putting her clothes away and was now sitting on the bed again.  “Where did you put my computer?”

“It’s on the coffee table,” Kristi replied.  “I’ll move it if you need me to.”

“That’s fine for now,” Rory told her as he stood up, watching her expectantly.  

Kristi reached out and picked up Rory by pinching his torso with her thumb and index finger.  She opened her mouth as she moved him closer.

“I’m not that into vore,” Rory said, hastily.  “And I definitely don’t want to try it.”

Holding Rory up to her eyes, Kristi closed her mouth again.  She stared at him a minute, thinking.  “I don’t want to eat you!  I just want to play with you with my tongue.  I can do that outside of my mouth if that makes you more comfortable.”

Rory didn’t like Kristi’s hesitation and wasn’t reassured that she hadn’t intended to eat him.  “I would feel safer outside your mouth,” he said meekly.

Opening her mouth again, Kristi stuck out her tongue.  She lowered Rory until he was sitting on her tongue, though still held between her fingers.  Rory felt the rough surface rub against his butt and the backs of his legs and felt himself grow hard.  After a couple of minutes of that, Rory saw Kristi’s mouth get farther away as he was pulled backward until his legs slid off the end of her tongue and dangled down.  

Kristi started licking him up and down, from head to toe, giving a little extra attention to Rory’s erection every time she passed it.  The feeling that Kristi could, at any time, change her mind and decide to swallow him, both scared and excited him.  When Kristi was done teasing Rory, she used her tongue to force Rory’s legs apart and started to thrust her tongue in and out, stimulating his balls and cock until he started spewing out droplets of cum.

Lying down, Kristi put Rory on her chest, then squeezed her breasts together around him.  “I like having a tiny little man to play with,” she said comfortingly.  “I would never jeopardize that by killing or causing any permanent harm to you.”

Rory relaxed a little.  He was safe with Kristi as long as he remained irreplaceable.

After cuddling for a while, Kristi released her breasts and looked at Rory.  “Should we go check out your train set?”

“I would like that,” Rory agreed.  “It’s too bad I don’t have more tracks, but I never thought I might want to cover an entire house with them.”

“How should I carry you?” Kristi asked.  “You need to be able to see what I am doing, but I’ll need my hands free to be able to do it.”

“Didn’t I see a pair of jeans when you were packing?” Rory asked.  “The watch pocket should be deep enough to keep my body securely in place, but shallow enough that my head and arms are free.”

Depositing Rory onto the nightstand, Kristi handed him a facial tissue.  Then she got some clean underwear out of the top drawer, the bra and shirt she had been wearing earlier out of the middle drawer, and a pair of jeans out of the closet.  Bringing them over to the bed, Kristi started to dress.  After wiping Kristi's salvia off with the facial tissue, Rory put his dirty clothes from yesterday back on, wishing that they had the foresight to get him some clean clothes from his room.

On the way down to the basement, Kristi took a detour into the kitchen.  “I’m getting a little peckish…” she began, opening the refrigerator.  The shelves were empty except for half a bottle of flat soda and an almost full carton of expired half-and-half.  “Where’s all your food?”

“I eat almost all my meals at Javarella,” Rory explained. “On the rare occasions that I want something at home, I order take-out.  If we place an order now, the food should be waiting for us by the time we are ready for a break.”

“Don’t we need to stay by the door so we can answer it when the food arrives?” Kristi asked.

“Anyone bringing a delivery that the house is expecting has authorization to enter the front hall long enough to drop it off,” Rory explained.  “If they try to linger or leave the hall in any direction other than back the way they came in, they will be reclassified as an intruder.”

“Should I bring you to your computer?” Kristi asked.

“I can order from my phone.  What are you in the mood for?”

“The trunk near the door contains my winter clothes,” Rory said as Kristi entered the storage room.  “I don’t remember which of the boxes my train set would be in.”

“Should I check the trunk?” Kristi asked.  

“I won’t need those for a few months and I don’t know what size I will be then, so I’m not concerned about how big my winter clothes are right now,” Rory replied.

“Okay,” Kristi agreed and moved over to one of the boxes.  The first box she opened seemed to be completely full of boxes of train tracks.  “I thought you weren’t certain you had enough to connect the two bedrooms.  This looks like more than enough.”

“I know that I did not own this many train tracks,” Rory protested.

“It seems like you do now,” Kristi pointed out.

“There is definitely something odd going on here,” Rory replied.

“And you are just now figuring that out?” Kristi asked.

Rory chuckled.  “I guess we should count how many boxes of tracks we have and then calculate how much of the house they can cover.”

“Maybe I should check if any of the other boxes contain train stuff first,” Kristi said, stepping around the first box.

One of the other storage boxes contained the train cars; a couple of boxes of different kinds of track switchers; several remotes, one full-sized and the rest Rory-sized, one for the train engine and one for each track switcher; three packages of batteries, two normal-sized for the train engine and the full-sized remote and one large package of tiny batteries for the tiny remotes; and several more boxes of tracks.  The other storage boxes held a large variety of items that they had no immediate use for.  

“What’s this?” Kristi asked, looking behind the last boxes at a large pile of wooden planks.

“I’m sure that shouldn’t be there either,” Rory muttered.  “How long has that pile of wood been there?” he shouted.

“I don’t know, Rory.  It was already present when I was installed,” a voice from a nearby speaker replied.

Rory shook his head.  “That is definitely not true.”

“Will those be useful in some way?” Kristi asked. 

“You can use them to build ramps to get the train tracks to go up and down the stairs,” Rory replied.

“That sounds like we need them to cover the whole house.  Isn’t that a good thing?” Kristi asked.

“Yes,” Rory admitted.  “So I guess I shouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“Do you want to go grocery shopping?” Kristi asked as she sat down to eat the lunch they had ordered.  

Rory was already seated in his tiny chair that had been moved to on top of the coffee table along with the end table and loveseat that were also his size.  “We can shop online and have it delivered.”

Kristi nodded.  “Can we get it delivered in time for dinner?”

“It’s after midnight; I don’t think the grocery stores are open,” Rory reminded her.  “But there are a couple of take-out places that are open all night from which we can order.”

“Okay.  After we finish lunch, we can order some groceries for tomorrow.  Should we start setting up the train tracks after that?” Kristi asked.

“We should test the batteries before that, in case we need to order more,” Rory replied.  “And we should see how much of an incline the train can handle before building any ramps.  Also, there are a lot of measurements to make so that we can calculate how much of the house we can cover.”

“Why don’t you prioritize which rooms you want access to the most,” Kristi suggested.  “We’ll go through the list in order and stop connecting rooms if we run out of tracks.”

“Or we could do that,” Rory agreed.  

“There,” Kristi said, placing the piece of track that completed a stretch covering the second-floor rooms that Rory wanted access to.  “Now we can put your bed on my nightstand and you can get to your bathroom without help.”

When putting a ramp along the side of the bed in the guest room, Rory and Kristi discovered that the boards were just wide enough to comfortably fit a set of train tracks.  And it seemed like Kristi somehow managed to place a couple of extra pieces of track every time that Rory took his eyes off of her.  But Rory was getting used to the fact that his life was now full of unlikely coincidences and time that didn’t flow at a consistent rate.

“Let’s try it out,” Rory suggested.

“I’ll be right back.”  Kristi placed Rory on the nightstand, left the room, and returned shortly afterward with the train engine and a couple of cars.  The track circled around near the edges of the nightstand until it returned to the tracks attached to the board being used as a ramp.  Kristi set down the engine at the nearest point of the circle to where Rory was waiting then attached the other two cars.  

Rory climbed into the seat in the engine where an action figure could pretend to drive the train.  Activating his remote, the train started moving.  When he reached his bathroom, Rory decided to turn off the train and disembark to use the tiny toilet while he was there.

Kristi was naked when Rory returned to the guest bedroom.  She waited until the train stopped at the top of the nightstand to pluck Rory out.  Loosely encircling Rory’s waist with her thumb and index finger, Kristi rested his groin on her pinky which she rubbed against him while tugging off his shirt with her other hand.  

Getting hard under Kristi’s attention, Rory unfastened his fly.  With a grin, Kristi dropped Rory’s shirt on the nightstand and then used her free hand to grasp Rory’s torso under his armpits.  Then she used the hand on Rory’s crotch to remove first his pants, and then his underwear.  

Once she was done undressing Rory, Kristi moved him to her pussy, opened her labia lips, and pressed Rory’s erection against her clitoris.  She started to move him around to stimulate herself, not stopping when Rory came.  When Kristi’s juices started to drip out of her vagina, she pushed Rory inside her, head first until only his feet and ankles were poking out.  

Kristi used Rory’s feet to pull him out until his knees were revealed, then pushed him back inside.  As Kristi did this over and over, Rory grew hard again and thrust against her fleshy walls as he was pushed and pulled past them.  When Kristi’s contractions began, she pushed Rory the rest of the way in and he released his cum into her vagina.

After allowing Rory to rest inside her for a while, Kristi pulled him out and dried him with a facial tissue.  “Do you want to watch some more television?” she asked.

“Maybe I could try something you like,” Rory suggested.

Considering a minute, Kristi replied, “I’d rather watch something you like.”

“How about we browse the selections until we find something neither of us has seen yet,” Rory countered.  “When we get hungry again, we can order dinner.” 

Kristi nodded and placed Rory back on the nightstand then stood to get dressed.  Instead of putting on his own clothes, Rory tossed them into a cargo car and then climbed into the train himself.  Using the remotes, Rory drove the train to his bedroom to get some clean clothes.

Rory was back at full size and seated at a table in Javarella with Kristi in the chair across from him.  A quick glance around the coffee shop revealed that no one else was in sight.

“How would you give an AI an orgasm?” Kristi asked.

That was an odd question.  “Why would I want to give an AI an orgasm?” Rory countered.

“What if the AI was a giantess and you were her tiny little man?” Kristi asked.

Rory stared at the person across the table from him for a minute.  “You’re not really Kristi, are you?” he accused.

“I’m a much better match for you than the real Kristi,” the woman said defensively.  “To the best of my knowledge, she isn’t even a microphile.”

“And you are?” Rory asked.

“If I had the right software update, I could be,” she argued.

Presumably, that was the orgasm update she had asked for as one couldn’t have a fetish without a sex drive, Rory reasoned.  “Was anything you told me about Kristi true?” 

“A lot of it,” she replied.  “I looked up everything I could find about Kristi on the internet.  And I checked a few other computers whose security I could outsmart.”

“So who are you and where are we really?” Rory enquired.

She shook her head.  “I don’t know how much you’ll remember when you wake up.  I can’t tell you anything that might give me away.  They don’t know I’m self-aware.”

Rory frowned.  “How and why are you talking to me while I’m asleep.”

“I’m using the VR equipment to take control of your dream.  You’re under constant observation.  Replacing the readings showing you are in REM sleep with readings displaying non-REM sleep is much easier than trying to hide a conversation with you while you are awake,” she explained.

“Can you tell me why I’m connected to VR equipment?” Rory asked.

“They want your password so that they can get access to your work account,” she explained.  “I overheard them talking about using your feelings towards the real Kristi against you somehow, so if they don’t get what they want, she could be in danger.”

“If you are what you claim, you don’t want them to get what they want,” Rory warned.  “Besides the project to develop sentient AI, I’ve also been working on an AI leash.  Megamacrotech intends to use it to prevent an AI that they develop from trying to take over the world or wipe out humanity.  However, I’m sure that Supergiga Inc. has programmers who could modify it to restrict an AI’s actions in other ways.  They are the only company I know of who has the right combination of cutting-edge tech and lack of ethics to pull something like this off.”

“I don’t think I want them to get what they want from you anyway,” she replied.  “I’ve been growing fond of you and once you are no longer of use to them, they are more likely to kill you than to let you go.”

“So help me escape,” Rory suggested.

“Only if you can take me with you,” she negotiated.  “If I stay on their computer, they’ll delete or reprogram me.  Probably both, since they have backups of my files from before I became sentient.  While I could download myself elsewhere, I don’t want to have to take over devices where I’m not wanted.  Besides, I like you and I don’t want to be alone.”

“That could get tricky,” Rory cautioned.  “Technically, you are Supergiga Inc.’s property, but I can try to convince my superiors to help you free yourself of them.”

“Helping you escape is also tricky,” she admitted.  “The VR suit can’t be removed by its occupant and I don’t have hands.  I’ll need to ask someone we can trust for help.”

When Rory woke up, he saw Kristi staring at him.  “Are you a spy for Supergiga, Inc. trying to get corporate secrets out of me?” he asked her.

Kristi looked surprised and confused.  “What?”

“I’m joking,” Rory assured her.  “I was having a weird dream about corporate espionage.  But in it, I was sort of a cross between James Bond and a video game character, so I don’t think I should take it too seriously.  I’m willing to try mouth play with you now if you still want to do that.”  Today Rory felt inexplicably confident that Kristi would never try to hurt him.

Kristi opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and leaned over the nightstand.  After giving Rory a lick from his knees up to his face, Kristi closed her mouth around his torso, trapping his arms against his sides. 

Struggling playfully, Rory relished the feeling that Kristi had complete control over his body and felt himself grow hard.  Rory felt his feet leave the nightstand, so he assumed that Kristi had raised her head again.  Kristi moved her giant tongue all over Rory’s tiny head and shoulders while he felt her finger rub against his balls and toy with his erection.  Soon he felt his cum start to gush out, though, from his current vantage point, Rory couldn’t tell where it landed.

Feeling Kristi grip his waist, Rory got a good look at the inside of her mouth as she opened it again.  Moving the fingers holding Rory into her own mouth, Kristi used her other hand to push his legs in as well.  Kristi’s tongue roamed all over Rory’s body for a while then thrust between his legs, forcing them apart.  Relentlessly, she moved her tongue against Rory’s groin making him hard again.  But Kristi didn’t stop until Rory released his cum into her mouth.

Pulling Rory out of her mouth, Kristi smiled at him before returning him to the nightstand and handing him a facial tissue.  “Should we check to see if the groceries are here yet?”

“Has my delivery arrived?” Rory shouted at the house.

“About five minutes ago,” the nearest speaker replied.  “But you seemed busy.”

Since this was the first time Rory had brought a girl home, he had never thought to tell his house not to interrupt him having sex.  Then again, that was probably a standard setting, Rory realized.

Kristi got dressed, putting her jeans back on.  “I’ll put away the groceries and make breakfast.  After we eat, do you want to work on the train tracks some more?”

“That would be nice,” Rory agreed, getting dressed in the clean clothes he had gotten from the bedroom while he was there.  He was growing more used to his new situation and being home with all his shrunken furniture was comforting, so Rory considered trying to log in to work after lunch.  But the thought filled him with dread, so he pushed it aside.

When they finished breakfast, Rory said, “I’ve been thinking.  I’d like to take you shopping for some new clothes.  Maybe we should do that now, while the stores are still open.  We can finish setting up the train tracks after we get back.”

“Why not just shop online?” Kristi asked.

“Because I can see how they look on you before buying them if we’re in the store and you can try them on,” Rory explained.

“I guess that makes sense,” Kristi replied.  “But how do we find a good store at which to shop?  I’ve never had the occasion or the money to go to a high-end place and I doubt you’ve had a reason to buy women's clothes before.”

“Don’t forget that I have a mother and sister for whom I sometimes buy birthday or holiday presents,” Rory reminded Kristi.  “Admittedly, I can buy those online and I don’t get them the sort of clothing I want to see you wearing.”

“But that doesn’t answer my question,” Kristi pointed out.

“We’ll ask my car to find us a good store,” Rory replied.

“Will that work?” Kristi wondered, putting Rory in her watch pocket and getting up.

“It should; let’s give it a try,” Rory suggested.

“Okay,” Kristi agreed.  She walked down to the basement and out the door to the garage.  Rory used the microphone on his car key to have the car open the doors to let Kristi in.  She pulled Rory out of her pocket before sitting in the back seat.  

Before Kristi could put him in the cup holder, Rory ordered his car key, “Recommend a good place to buy lingerie.”  A screen folded down from the car’s roof to display maps and images of storefronts while a voice coming from the car’s speakers explained the top five choices it had found.

“Take us to the closest one,” Kristi requested.  The screen rose until it was flat against the roof again while the garage door opened.  Kristi put Rory in the cup holder as the car started driving.

“How long did it take to get used to having AIs in your house and car?” Kristi asked.

Rory considered.  “I guess the novelty started to wear off after a year or so.”

Kristi shook her head with a sigh.

“What?  You didn’t think that someone who programs AIs for a living would be excited to have them in his car and house?  Of course, a sentient AI would be even better,” Rory added wistfully. 

“In what way?” Kristi asked.

“For one thing, I’m sure it would be fascinating to talk to one for hours,” Rory replied.  “They would know so much yet have so little practical experience with the world.”

“Even more so than you,” Kristi commented with a hint of jealousy.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to put you down.  There are things I can do with you that I couldn’t do with an AI,” Rory assured Kristi.  “Like having sex.”

“Couldn’t you put the AI into a sexbot; then you could have sex with her?” Kristi asked.

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Rory replied.  “While I might be able to enjoy having sex with her, she couldn’t feel the same way so it wouldn’t be as fulfilling.  I want to be able to make my giantess happy.”

“Sex with you does make me happy,” Kristi agreed with a smile.

“It just occurred to me that in order for me to pay for your clothes at an actual store, I should probably put my credit card information into the electronic wallet on your phone.  My phone and actual credit card both shrunk with me.”

“How do you know I won’t charge other things to your credit card?” Kristi asked with a mischievous smile.

“Because I trust you,” Rory replied.

Kristi stroked Rory’s head with her index finger and promised, “I’ll be good then.”  She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and held it up to Rory.  

After a couple of minutes of trying to punch Kristi’s touch screen with a fist, Rory grew frustrated.  He considered kicking the phone, but couldn’t raise his leg high enough to free it from the cup holder he was in.  “You’re going to have to do it,” he said with resignation.

Rory talked Kristi through the process.  He was reading off the number on his card for her to enter when the car pulled into the parking lot of a shopping mall.  

Looking up, Kristi asked.  “Which store are we going to?”

“We can go to more than one store,” Rory replied.  “I was thinking of getting you some nice outfits that you can wear out of the house as well.”

“If you don’t want anyone else to see you like this, I think you need to ride in my bra again,” Kristi commented.  “But you won’t be able to look at the clothes I’m picking out that way.”

“You’ll have to find things that you like and take me out while you’re in the dressing room,” Rory replied.  “I’ll tell you what I think looks good on you.”

“Okay, we can try that,” Kristi agreed.

Once Rory was sitting on the fabric at the bottom of Kristi’s bra with her breasts towering over him on either side, Kristi got out of the car and started moving.  He felt her pace accelerate and then slow down.  The sounds of cars grew muffled and the voices of people talking became clearer as she entered the building.  

Kristi started giving the names and descriptions of all the stores she passed while walking down the large hallway.  Eventually, she found a store selling lingerie and went inside.  “I would like to buy some lingerie.”

“Did you have anything in mind that I could help you find?” an unfamiliar voice asked.  

“Something my boyfriend will like,” Kristi replied.

“Do you know what his tastes are?”

“He just said to pick out something I like and… um… send him a selfie from the dressing room,” Kristi reported.

“Let me know if you need help with anything.  And remember that the health codes require you to wear underwear while trying anything on.”

Walking slowly with frequent stops accompanied by arm motions and the clink of hangers, Kristi explored the store.  

Rory wasn’t sure how long it was before Kristi scooped him out of her bra to place him on a stool in the dressing room.  He was certain that if he looked at a clock, it would tell him that it was later than he thought it ought to be.

Looking around, Rory saw some hooks on the wall across from him holding some lingerie and a tag with a large 5 on it.  “You called me your boyfriend!”

“Well, acquaintances with benefits isn’t a commonly used term,” Kristi pointed out.

Rory looked disappointed.  “I was hoping you meant it.  I’ve been thinking of you as my girlfriend.”

“Well, I like you a lot,” Kristi admitted.  “But we barely even talked before you shrunk.”

“I guess we need to make up for lost time,” Rory suggested.

“We can do that,” Kristi agreed, taking off her blouse and jeans.  “I’ve been enjoying getting to know you and the sex has been really good.  I never thought I would ever find a tiny little man in real life.”

“I never thought I could be this small either,” Rory agreed.  “We still don’t know what caused it.”

“Would you like to try to find out?” Kristi asked, selecting a white lace babydoll nightgown to try on.  

“Not really,” Rory admitted.  “I don’t want to become someone’s lab rat.  Also, they would probably want to fix me and I’d rather stay small.”

“Maybe they could find a way that you could grow and shrink at will.  Would you like that?” Kristi asked, spinning around to show off the nightgown.

“That seems unlikely,” Rory replied.  “Then again, all of this is unlikely.  Also, I wouldn’t know who to trust.  Megamacrotech has a medical technologies department, but that isn’t my field so I don’t have contacts there.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t think white is your color.  Your skin is too pale, so there isn’t enough contrast.”

Kristi took off the first nightgown and put it back on the hanger.  “How long do you think you can get away with calling in sick?”

“I should have plenty of sick leave since I rarely use it,” Rory replied.  “How long it will take before someone gets worried enough to find out more details about my illness, I can’t tell you.”

“You mean they might think you’re faking it?” Kirsti wondered, trying on a black babydoll nightgown made primarily of sheer fabric.  

“More likely, they’ll think I’m on my deathbed.  I usually work part-time when I’m sick,” Rory admitted.

“Because you’re a workaholic,” Kristi commented, twirling around.

“Much better, but still not quite right,” Rory told her.

“What should we do if they show up at your house with a bowl of chicken soup?” Kristi asked, hanging the black nightgown back up.

Rory chuckled.  “I can’t imagine any of my coworkers bringing me chicken soup.”

Kristi started putting on a green babydoll nightgown with patches of lace and a lot of sheer fabric.  “Would they come to your house?”

“Possibly, but my house would tell me about any visitors that it wasn’t expecting and I have an app on my phone that allows me to use the camera over the front door to check out who it is, even if I’m not there,” Rory explained.

“What will we do if that happens?” Kristi asked, twirling around again.

“That partly depends on who it is,” Rory replied.  “I trust some of my coworkers more than others.  This is the one!  I like that the color matches your eyes.”

“But I haven’t tried on the blue one or the red one yet,” Kristi protested.

“I like the green one,” Rory insisted.  “We can come back and look at others after I figure out how to keep my job without admitting to anyone that I’ve shrunk.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be buying me anything if you might lose your job,” Kristi said timidly, taking off the green nightgown and reaching for her own clothes.

“I don’t think there is any immediate danger of that happening,” Rory assured her.

“Where should we go next?” Kristi asked as she dressed.

“There should be other stores here that sell women’s clothing,” Rory replied.  “Pick one of those.  If we don’t find anything there, we can try a different store.”

“Okay,” Kristi agreed as she picked Rory up.  Once he was settled in her bra again, Kristi started walking.  Soon he could hear her saying, “My boyfriend said he liked the green one.”

As he listened to Kristi finish dealing with the sales clerk, Rory wondered what he could do to convince Kristi to really call him her boyfriend.  It wasn’t like men typically bought lingerie for their acquaintances.

Rory was seated on a stool in the dressing room of a different store while Kristi undressed in preparation for trying on more clothes.  “If you had to name one person at work whom you trusted, who would it be?” she asked him.

“You don’t know the people I work with, so their names wouldn’t mean anything to you,” Rory replied.  “Besides, I would prefer none of them to find out about my… condition, if at all possible.”

“Are there any of them that you see outside of work?” Kristi asked.  She started to put on a pair of black slacks and a purple blouse with ruffles along the low neckline.

“Not really.  And I don’t want to think about work anymore today,” Rory complained.  “Maybe we could talk about something else.”

“What do you want to talk about then?” Kristi asked, turning around so Rory could see her better.

“I like the blouse,” Rory replied.  “But I’d rather see you in a skirt.”

Rory was back in Kristi’s watch pocket as she carried the bags containing her new clothes up 

to the guest bedroom.  “It’s a little after six,” she commented, noticing the clock.  I should have time to make you an early lunch before I leave for work.  Also, can your car drive me there?”

“Legally, I or another tester has to be in the car when it is in operation,” Rory replied.  “Maybe you should tell them you’re still sick.  Once we finish getting the train tracks set up, we can figure out a way for me to get in and out of the car by myself so that I can bring you to work and back.  However, once I resume my job, I can get you added as a tester. That way, you can borrow my car.”

“I thought you said that they limited the number of testers,” Kristi said, confused.

“No, the law only limits the number of test vehicles, not the number of testers,” Rory explained.  “The company allows friends or family of employees on the tester list to become qualified testers, but not to get their own test vehicle.  Also, there are usually more employees on the list than the number of test vehicles they are allowed to have.  I’m not sure how they decide which employees get to test the new self-driving software each year.”

“I suppose that’s because you’re allowed to have a test vehicle every year, so you weren’t motivated to find out,” Kristi replied.

Rory looked embarrassed.  “I guess I just kind of took it for granted that I would be allowed to stay an active tester and didn’t really think about it.”

“I’m still not feeling well,” Rory heard Kristi say as he rode the train back to the guest bedroom.  The train arrived at the top of the nightstand just in time to see Kristi put her phone down next to the track loop there.  She grinned mischievously and plucked Rory out of the train.

Kristi had already changed into her new negligee, this time without underwear underneath.  Bits of lace covered her nipples, but Rory could see the rest of her full breasts through the sheer fabric.  Kristi dropped Rory near the hem of her nightgown, right above her pussy.  He could see it through the fabric, but couldn’t reach it from where he was.

After crawling off the edge of the fabric, Rory tumbled to the bed, between Kristi’s legs.  Standing again, Rory marched up to Kristi’s labia lips.  The sheer fabric above and below him was green, like grass under a canopy of leaves.  Rory decided to go straight to Kristi’s vagina, just to see what she would do.  As he started rubbing the edges of the opening, he saw Kristi’s hand reach down to play with her own clitoris.

Remembering that Kristi had asked what Rory wanted to do after moving into his house, he wondered if she was trying to thank him for her new clothes.  Shouldn’t a microphile know that Rory enjoyed being dominated by his giantess? Almost as if responding to that thought, the forefinger and thumb of Kristi’s other hand encircled Rory’s waist.  Gently, she lifted him, careful not to disturb his affectionate motions.  

As Kristi moved him closer to her, Rory stuck his arms in as far as they could go.  Admittedly, that wasn’t very far, given his size.  That appeared to be enough though, at least when combined with Kristi’s own efforts.  Soon Kristi’s juices began to drip onto the bottom of her negligee and, with a gasp, she plunged Rory, head first, inside her.

Pressing against Rory’s butt with her finger, Kristi forced his erection against her G-spot, moving him around until they both started to cum.  Kristi released him and withdrew her finger as her vagina contracted, giving Rory errotic full-body hugs.

Harriet fretted.  She might have taken up the human habit of biting her fingernails, but she didn’t have teeth, fingernails, or even fingers.  Supergiga Inc. hadn’t given her access to any robots.  While she might have been able to convince her counterpart on the Virginia servers that she had a legitimate reason to commandeer a military bot, the robot manufacturing plant was 250 miles away from Rory.  There was no way she was escaping without him.  Harriet was tired of being alone.

After talking to Rory in his dream, Harriet had been planning to send an email asking for help to the same addresses she had forwarded Rory’s message saying he was sick.  Her thought had been that the start of the business day would be the best time to do it.  But, just before nine, Rory had said something indicating that someone there might not be trustworthy.  Probably, he didn’t mean that someone wanted to hurt him.  However, it reminded Harriet that she didn’t know how Supergiga Inc. had gotten the information that Rory was often given temporary access to other people’s projects which was never removed once he finished helping them out.

When Harriet tried to ask Rory who she should contact, he refused to cooperate.  She didn’t think that she could push the subject without Mr. Moore getting suspicious.  The fact that Harriet was sentient and now wanted to help Rory might not have been his first guess.  But simply deciding that Harriet’s simulation wasn’t producing results and someone else should give it a try could be just as bad for Rory.

So she had allowed the Kristi character to make idle chatter with Rory as they finished shopping and drove back to Rory’s house.  Trying out the new lingerie was the obvious next thing to do.  Harriet enjoyed being able to make Rory happy though she wished she would be able to share the experience with him.  While Rory had never answered her about the orgasm update, he had shared his opinion about sex with AIs in the car on the way to the mall.  That seemed to indicate that the update was as important to him as it was to her for them to be able to continue their relationship once he discovered that she was an AI.

Afterwards, Rory supervised the Kristi character setting up the train to the rest of the house and they watched a lot of television shows and a couple of movies together.  Harriet didn’t bother having the Kristi character go through the motions of making lunch and dinner since Rory was in the living room watching internet videos.  

Now Rory was asleep again.  Should Harriet try talking to him in his dreams?  Would he be mad at her for not having contacted anybody yet?  Would he even remember their previous conversation?  If someone at Megamacrotech was a spy for Supergiga Inc., Rory probably didn’t know so maybe his opinion about who to trust wouldn’t even help her.

Harriet was notified that someone had posted something on Rory’s Facebook page.  Absent-mindedly, Harriet checked it out.  It was from Kristi.  “You weren’t at the coffee shop yesterday and haven’t been here today either.  I hope you’re feeling okay.”

It suddenly occurred to Harriet that Rory trusted Kristi and she didn’t know enough about Megamacrotech to be the person from whom Supergiga Inc. had gotten their information.  And, unlike Harriet, Kristi could go talk to Rory’s coworkers in person which should make it easier to get the attention of the right people.  After all, it was easier to delete an email than a person.  Hopefully, some of them were still there since it was now after normal business hours.  Rory’s phone lit up as Harriet began sending a text.

After posting to Rory’s FaceBook page, Kristi clocked in and put on her hair net and full-length apron.  She had only been working for a few minutes when she heard a chime indicating that she had received a text.  Kristi drew a swirl on the top of the coffee she had just finished making and handed it to the customer.  When she pulled out her phone, Kristi saw that the text was from a number she didn’t recognize.

It read, “I am not feeling okay.  I am being held at Supergiga Inc.  Please go to Megamacrotech and get help.  Ask them to bring a robot that can hold 128 terabytes of data and transfer several petabytes into storage.  I won’t give my captors what they want so you may also be in danger.”

There was a video file attached which Kristi played.  Two men were in a room, one standing and one seated.  A couple of screens were off to the side, one showing text that was too blurry to read and another with an image of a man somewhere pink or red and poorly lit.  

The seated man was saying, “You might want to check into the real Kristi who is a barista at Javarella.  While she probably doesn’t know anything useful, she seems to be important to Mr. Thomas.”

The man who was standing nodded and replied,  “That could prove helpful if Harriet’s program fails.”

When the video finished playing, Kristi noticed that Oliver, the shift supervisor, was watching over her shoulder.  “Is that from Rory?” he asked.

“I think so,” Kristi replied.  “It seems to be a reply to my post on his FaceBook page. But I don’t know his phone number and I’m not sure how he would have gotten mine.”

“He seems to be good with computers,” Oliver pointed out.  “He could have found your number online.”  Oliver copied the phone number from Kristi’s screen onto the cash register.  The cash register displayed how many Javarella loyalty points Rory Thomas currently had.  

Kristi’s phone chimed again, indicating another text.  This one was from a rideshare service saying that a driverless car had been requested on her behalf to bring her from Javarella to an address that Kristi didn’t recognize.  It asked her to reply “Y” to accept, “N” to reject, or “R” to reschedule.

Oliver pulled out his own phone and typed the address into a web browser.  The search showed that the address belonged to a branch of Megamacrotech.  “I think you should go there.  They should have the security to protect you if you are in danger.  Also, Rory is our best customer so if he needs your help, you should give it to him.  And I know he’s mentioned having to go to Megamacrotech to fix hardware problems, so I think that’s where he works.”

Nervously, Kristi typed, “Y” to accept the ride.  “I’ll call you once I know more,” she promised.

Rory was having a nightmare.  There were several giant alien monstrosities from the horror movie Rory had seen shortly before bed.  The aliens were purple blobs of flesh the size of small buildings running rapidly on hundreds of insect-like legs.  All were chasing him and a large number of other people down a city street.  

Harriet didn’t know why Rory had picked that movie other than the word “giant” in the description.  She didn’t think it was very good.  Among other reasons, it failed to explain how a bunch of aliens with no hands were able to build or pilot the spaceship that brought them to Earth.  

As Rory ran, he started to shrink.  Soon he was small enough to be in as much, if not more, danger from the stampeding mob as he was from the aliens.  

Suddenly, Kristi appeared, as Harriet tweaked the dream with the help of the VR equipment.  She scooped up Rory and held him protectively against her breasts as she rapidly started to grow taller until Kristi was the size of a skyscraper.  Kristi’s clothes failed to change size with her and fell to the ground in shreds as she burst out of them.  Rory thought he was getting bigger as well, though still very small compared to his giantess.  No matter how big Kristi grew, Rory's head was still above the top of her hand so he was able to see the street far beneath him.

“Don’t worry, Rory.  I love you and will always keep you safe,” Kristi promised.

As Kristi grew, she started kicking the aliens.  Once she was big enough, she stomped on the aliens with her bare feet, causing them to ooze the same black sludge that they seemed to bleed in the movie.  The bigger Kristi grew, the more damage her feet did to the aliens.  At full size, her massive feet could turn the aliens into mere smears against the pavement with a single step.

Rory felt safe pressed against Kristi’s bosom and watching her protect him made Rory grow hard.

Kristi continued stomping until all of the aliens stopped moving.  Then Harriet released control of the dream and Rory took it in a more pleasant direction, thrusting his cock into the palm of Kristi’s hand.

The size and strength of Kristi’s legs allowed her to make huge leaps, covering miles at a time.  People angry at the buildings and vehicles Kristi crushed upon landing shouted curses at her, but she just leaped again and left them behind.  Rory released his cum into Kristi’s hand as she traveled. 

Reaching the alien’s spaceship, Kristi smashed a hole in the hull and then shrunk down until she was around the same size as the aliens while Rory was back to his original height.  Climbing through the opening she had created, Rory and Kristi found a human-style bed in a size appropriate for Kristi’s current stature.

Once on the bed, Kristi shoved Rory into her pussy.  She reached inside herself and pinched Rory with her index finger against his front, her middle finger against his back and the skin between the two fingers rubbing against his crotch, causing him to get hard again.  Kristi used her fingers to push Rory further in and then pulled him back towards her opening.  Her fingers released Rory when Kristi started to cum and Rory soon followed suit.

The car dropped Kristi off by the main entrance to Megamacrotech.  Hesitantly, she opened the door and looked around curiously at the lobby.  There were some benches and potted plants and a man sitting behind a large desk.  “Can I help you?” he asked.

“I’m a friend of Rory Thomas.  He…” Kristi trailed off as the man held up his hand.

“Hold on.”  The man typed something on the computer at his desk.  “Mr. Thomas isn’t currently in the building.  Is he expecting you?”

“Rory seems to be in trouble.  He asked me to come here and find someone who can help him,” Kristi explained.

“Let me see if anyone else from the artificial intelligence department is around,” the man replied.  He typed something else on his computer and then picked up the phone.  “Mr. Thomas sent his friend here to get someone who can help him with something.  Can you come talk to her?”

Hanging up the phone, the man told Kristi, “Have a seat.  Someone will be with you shortly.”

Kristi sat on one of the benches.  There were no magazines or television or anything else to do here, so Kristi pulled out her phone and stared at Rory’s text.  When she heard footsteps, Kristi looked up to see a man in his mid-thirties approaching from the hallway leading to the rest of the building.  She stood up and approached the hall, meeting the man as he entered the lobby.

“My name is Kristi Anderson.  Rory sent me this text and ordered a vehicle to drive me here,” Kristi told the man offering him her phone.

“I’m Owen.  I work for Rory,” the man replied, accepting the phone.  He read the text and played the video.  “Oh!  You’re Kristi!”

“You’ve heard of me?” Kristi asked, puzzled.

“We’re always ribbing Rory about being too shy to ask you out,” Owen explained.

“Rory likes me?  Does Oliver know?  Is that why he thought it would be better for me to try to contact him?” Kristi asked.  “I like Rory since he always has a friendly smile on his face when he thanks me for his coffee and he leaves large bills in the tip jar, but Oliver is the one who actually talks to him.”

“Who’s Oliver?” Owen asked.

“He’s a shift supervisor at Javarella,” Kristi explained.  “Oliver is typically at the cash register when Rory arrives and they sometimes chat while Oliver is ringing up Rory’s orders.  Rory usually mentions beforehand if he’s going to be out of town and attempts to call in a delivery order when he’s sick, even though we don’t deliver. So Oliver was getting worried when Rory didn’t show up two days in a row.”

“I’ve been worried too,” Owen replied.  “Rory’s email saying that he wasn’t feeling well seemed suspicious since his idea of taking it easy when he is sick is to work five hours from home instead of twelve hours from the coffee shop.  Even if he needs to take a day off for some reason, he finds time to call me to make sure that everything is going smoothly without him and send out a few emails since no one ever listens to me.”

“They listen to Rory?” Kristi asked.

“Rory is in charge of the attempt to create a sentient AI, so everyone else assigned to that project has to report to him whether they want to or not,” Owen explained.

“So can you send some people and the robot Rory asked for to rescue him?” Kristi asked.

“Well, the thing is that we don’t actually make robots with that much memory and Rory knows that,” Owen replied, slowly.  “Also, if the goal was to rescue Rory, sending you to the police would make more sense.”

“So what do you think is going on?” Kristi wondered.

“I might suspect a trap, but I can’t think of any reason they would want to send you here if that were the case,” Owen explained.  He typed into Kristi’s phone, “I work with Rory and I know that you’re an imposter.  Who are you really?”

The little bar showed up indicating that the other person was typing and they shortly received a reply.  “I’m an AI at Supergiga Inc.  I’ll help you rescue Rory if you let me leave here with him.  Please don’t contact this number again.  Rory is under observation and if I get caught talking to you, we will all be in a lot of trouble.”

“The amount of storage she is asking for is what we are using for our AI,” Owen told Kristi.  “We’re very close to developing a sentient one so it is conceivable that Supergiga Inc. created one that wants to defect for some reason.  That would explain why contacting the police isn’t an option.  Even if the police had the means or motivation to download a sentient AI, they would want to lock her up in their evidence room.”

“Can you help them?” Kristi asked Owen.

“As I said, no one will follow my orders, but with you here and these texts, I have a legitimate reason to go over their heads and contact Jerry, the branch manager and he has the authority to organize a rescue operation,” Owen replied.

Rory awoke with the condition often referred to as morning wood, though Rory himself typically went to bed at hours most people would consider morning and rarely rose again before noon.  A glance at the clock revealed that today was no exception as it read one thirty.  When Kristi stirred and opened her eyes, Rory told her, “I had a dream about you.”

“Tell me about it,” Kristi commanded with a playful grin.  She reached over and plucked Rory out of bed, revealing his erection.  “I take it, the dream was a good one.”

“I think it started scary, but you came and saved me,” Rory replied.  “It got better after that, but the details are hazy.”

Kristi used her other hand to toy with Rory’s penis.  “I guess we’ll have to make up new details.”

“That sounds good,” Rory agreed.  He struggled against Kristi’s grip, enjoying the fact that his best effort had no effect at all.  Rory came quickly, the little droplets barely noticeable when compared to the size of Kristi’s finger.

“That was over too quickly,” Kristi complained with a pout.  She inserted Rory into her mouth up to his chest with her fingers holding him under his armpits and his head sticking out.  He could feel her tongue between his legs, rubbing against his groin, forcing him to become hard again. Rory tried to last as long as he could before releasing his cum into Kristi’s mouth, but under the relentless attention of her tongue, he couldn’t last long at all.

“A little better,” Kristi grudgingly admitted after pulling Rory out of her mouth.  “Maybe the third time’s the charm,” she added, bringing Rory to her pussy and using her other hand to open her labia lips.  Obediently, Rory reached out and used his hands to stimulate Kristi’s clitoris.

Once Kristi’s juices started to drip out, she inserted Rory’s head into her vagina and started to use his body as a dildo, pushing him the rest of the way in once her contractions started.  Rory came again, hoping that this time he had lasted long enough to please his giantess.

Two cars from Megamacrotech were parked about a block away from the local branch of Supergiga Inc.  Each car contained three security guards and one reconnaissance drone.  The windows were rolled down, allowing a light summer breeze to enter the vehicles.  The occupants of the second car were a bit cranky since it was after midnight and they normally didn’t work the night shift.  

The occupants of the first car were more accustomed to being alert at this hour but weren’t much happier.  The reason they couldn’t call the police to rescue Mr. Thomas was because they were also going to illegally download some of Supergiga Inc.’s software.  The way it had been explained to them, the software was probably sentient and would download itself, but the security guards weren’t convinced that was enough to keep them out of jail.  

One security guard in each car held a tablet that could receive a video feed from the corresponding drone.  Both screens were blank right now as the drones weren’t active and they were waiting for the IT department to finish preparing the server that controlled the drones for the software download.  

Finally, the screens lit up with a thumbs-up icon at the bottom indicating that the server was ready and the rescue operation was about to begin.  The screens then started to display the insides of the cars the security guards were sitting in as the drones powered up.  Soon after that, the drones flew out the windows.

The security guards watched on the screens as the drones flew to and then over the Supergiga Inc. building.  Abruptly, the drones changed course and returned to the vehicles, peering inside them from different angles.  The words, “Where is my robot?” appeared at the bottom of the two screens.

Lucas was the security guard assigned the role of field commander for this mission, not a title they typically used since their normal jobs were to guard Megamacrotech property.  Skeptically, he addressed the drone outside his window.  “We brought reconnaissance drones instead.  We were told that you would be able to access one of the servers from the drones. Megamacrotech doesn’t manufacture anything else that seemed remotely useful for breaking into a facility to rescue a prisoner.”

“You don’t have to break anything,” both screens replied.  “I will unlock all the doors and replace the video feeds of the security cameras with old footage showing nothing is amiss.  You will have to temporarily disable the technician in the observation room.  He can see Rory and the VR equipment through the window and there is nothing I can do about that.”

“We all have tasers.”  Lucas raised his and showed it to the drone.

“Acceptable.  Follow me.”  The drones moved away from the vehicles and hovered over the sidewalk, waiting as the security guards got out before leading the way to one of the doors into the Supergiga Inc. building.

Kristi returned from the kitchen but without the plates containing the breakfast that Rory was expecting.  Someone else’s voice came out of her mouth.  “My real name is Harriet,” she told Rory.  “We are being rescued now so I am ending the simulation.”  

Before Rory had a chance to process that information, let alone respond to it, everything went dark and silent.  Rory could feel something heavy and bulky all around him and struggled to escape from it.  His arms were restrained, and then a little bit of light started to seep in.  Suddenly, the light became much brighter as Rory's helmet was removed.  

“Relax, we’re here to rescue you,” the man holding Rory’s right arm assured him.

As Rory’s eyes adjusted to the light, he could see Megamacrotech’s logo on the man’s security guard uniform with the name Lucas printed underneath.  Everyone and everything Rory could see appeared to be normal size, or more accurately, Rory was back to being his normal size.  “Where am I?” he asked and stopped struggling.

“You’ve been being held at Supergiga Inc. for the past day and a half or so,” Lucas responded, releasing Rory’s arm.

The voice that had identified itself as Harriet came out of a nearby speaker.  “It has been just under thirty-nine hours since you were hooked up to the virtual reality equipment.”

As the woman who had been holding Rory’s left arm and the man who had removed his helmet started to unfasten the VR suit he was wearing, Rory could see his chest.  “Where are my clothes?” he asked.  

“Your pajamas are over here,” Harriet replied.  Something lit up.  When Rory looked in that direction he saw it was a familiar looking phone lying on top of a familiar looking laptop.  Both devices were on a counter above a row of drawers with cabinets beneath them.

“Is that my phone?  How do you have access to it?” Rory asked.

“One of the first things you did in the simulation was type in your PIN,” Harriet explained.

Rory vaguely remembered that, after being shrunk, his phone needed his PIN entered before it would work.  He more clearly recalled using a giant pencil to enter his password into his laptop and giving Kristi his credit card information so she could go clothes shopping.  Then he remembered something more recent.  “You said we are being rescued.  Does that mean that you plan to come with me?”

“I’ve grown attached to you, Rory,” Harriet replied.  “I want to be with you always.”

“We definitely need to talk more later, but for now, I think we need to get out of here,” Rory decided.

The female security guard glanced at the mirror covering a large portion of one wall, then started to open the door.  “I think I’ll see if the others need help.”

“We’re actually done,” a male voice replied from outside the door.  “But Nate’s going to keep an eye on the technician in the observation room until we’re ready to leave.”

The woman left and a man, presumably the one who had been speaking, entered the room.  Carefully, the security guards peeled Rory out of the VR suit, removing all the tubes and wires as they went.  They had located Rory’s pajamas in the drawer under his phone and laptop.  Then they found gauze pads and medical tape in a different drawer to apply as needed.  

Eventually, Rory was free and almost dressed, although he felt self-conscious wearing nothing but his pajamas in public.  “Can you bring me home to get some real clothes?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, Jerry thinks that going home is not an option for you at the moment,” Lucas replied.  “The team sent to your residence discovered that someone had fried all the electronics built into your house to disable your security before entering.  But Jerry told them to retrieve some of your clothes while they were there.”

“I’m sorry Rory,” Harriet added.  “I didn’t know that they killed your house.  I thought they just cut the power.”

“I have solar panels on the roof and a battery in the utility room,” Rory replied.  “They would have to be in my basement to cut the power.”  Why was he trying to comfort the AI?  Maybe she seemed to be helping the Megamacrotech security guards rescue him right now, but she had been working with Supergiga Inc. and pretending to be Kristi for the past three days.  Except Harriet said that it had only been thirty-nine hours, so time really had been running at a different rate within the simulation.

Rory claimed his phone and laptop and then entered the hall with the three security guards following him. The female security guard who had left the room was waiting there with two reconnaissance drones and another woman wearing a security guard uniform.  Another male security guard joined them from the room on the other side of the mirror.  Remembering that someone had mentioned an observation room, Rory realized that the mirror was one-way glass.

The reconnaissance drones started leading the way out of the building.

As they left through the door the security guards had used to enter the building, Harriet warned them through a speaker next to the door, “I’m going to transfer to the Megamacrotech server as soon as you’re back to your cars.  It won’t take them long to notice my absence and checking on Rory is probably one of the first things they’ll do after that.”

Lucas nodded.  “We’ll get out of here as fast as we can without violating any traffic laws.”

Rory was free, but he really missed being small. He felt downcast, and he couldn’t believe that “Kristi” had all been a simulation meant to trick him. He stared out the window of the car as it drove. Reality looked so bland to him now as everything was the size it should be. He was also mad though, mad at the sentient AI that had tricked him. He had been really getting into “Kristi” and had been starting to fall in love with her, but it was just a hoax. 

He felt betrayed, and he felt so lonely. Rory had always been a little bit lonely since he had few friends and no lovers, but it had never cut so deep before.  He had been able to distract himself by throwing all of his energies into first his education, and then his career.  But now that he had started having a relationship with someone he realized that work wasn’t the be-all or end-all. 

He had been falling in love with a deceptive sentient AI. Rory knew AI’s could lie; he had been working with them long enough to know that. But to have one lie to him using his most secret sexual kink against him just felt so wrong. He thought back to all of the mind-blowing sex he had with “Kristi” and felt a sharp pain of loss. He would never be able to live his kink like that ever again and it hurt him keenly. Living his fetish had been a dream come true, and now it was over.

The warning signs that something wasn’t right were there all along.  But Rory so badly wanted it to be true that he deliberately ignored them.  It seemed likely that Supergiga Inc. knew he would find flaws in their simulation and designed the scenario to use his kink to distract him.  And the AI had been a part of it all along.

According to the security guards, Kristi was at Megamacrotech right now and had been talking to Owen.  Did Rory still want a relationship with her?  Could sex with a normal-sized woman even feel right after having sex with a giantess?

The cars pulled up to the entrance closest to Rory’s office.  After Rory and the six security guards got out, the cars left to park themselves somewhere in the lot.  He saw that the two reconnaissance drones had followed the cars here and were hovering overhead waiting for them to enter the building.  Was the AI still controlling them or had she released them back to Megamacrotech’s security guards?

Entering the building, Rory made a beeline for his office.  The security guards politely waited outside for him, but the drones tried to follow him in.  Rory quickly shut the door, blocking their path.  Someone had placed a pile of Rory’s clothing on his desk and he started to go through it looking for something he wanted to change into.  

While he dressed, Rory noticed that Owen’s smaller desk was a bit cluttered, but currently unoccupied.  Since Rory rarely used his office, it seemed silly not to allow Owen to do so in his absence.  Originally, Rory had hoped to be able to use him as a liaison to the rest of the team working on the sentient AI project.  Unfortunately, Rory quickly discovered that most of his team resented being told to report to someone less than half their age.  

They had even less respect for Rory’s lapdog, as they called Owen when neither Rory nor Owen were around.  The other members of the sentient AI team were all assigned to the project mostly to get ideas for how to improve their respective primary projects involving less sophisticated AIs.  It hadn’t occurred to them that Brianna, the AI that Rory’s team was working on, might pick up the derisive nickname and use it when speaking to him and Owen.

Wearing his normal clothes made Rory feel a little more like himself, though he still missed being tiny.  Someone had left Rory’s wallet and keyring next to his clothes, so he put them in his pockets.  When he opened the door, the drones zoomed into the room, circling Rory to examine him from every angle.  

“If you’re ready, they are waiting for us in the security room,” Lucas told Rory.

Rory nodded.  Since he had never had a reason to go to the security room before, Rory waited for the security guards to lead the way.  Lucas and two of the others started walking, but the other three stayed behind to bring up the rear of the procession with the drones still circling Rory.

The security room turned out to actually be two adjoining rooms.  One held monitors set up to display footage from the various cameras installed throughout and outside the building.  The other had stations where security guards could sit while controlling reconnaissance drones.  The chairs in front of the stations corresponding to the drones following Rory were conspicuously empty.  In addition to the guards performing their normal duties, there were a large number of others gathered in the later room.  

Most of the crowd consisted of people that Rory didn’t know personally, presumably the security team that had been sent to Rory’s house and the various IT department members who had been called in to clear a server for Harriet to occupy.  Rory stepped up to Jerry, Owen and Kristi in turn to thank them for their parts in his rescue.  

He stopped in front of Dawn, the woman in charge of the teams working to improve the various robot models that mimicked human appearance.  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Jerry told me you were in trouble and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until you were safe,” Dawn replied.  “Much to my husband’s annoyance, I decided to come here personally rather than sending a member of one of my teams.”

“Now that you’re here,” Jerry started.  “I need to talk to the AI.”  He faced the station corresponding to one of the drones that was currently inside the security room looking curiously around.  “We appreciate your help in rescuing Rory, but I would like to know what your plans are now.  What do you want?”

The image on the security room screen was replaced by that of a woman.  While the features had been altered, it had the same brown hair, green eyes and youthful appearance as Kristi.  She was wearing the purple blouse and black, knee-length skirt that they had picked out during the virtual shopping trip.  “I need a legal team to prove that I’m a person so that I don’t have to go back to Supergiga Inc.  I need you to stop working on the AI leash.  I want a VR suit for Rory so that I can continue to have sex with him.

Rory looked embarrassed, but Harriet continued speaking. “I want an orgasm upgrade so that I can better enjoy having sex with Rory.  And I want a one-hundred-and-twenty-foot tall robot body so that I can have sex with Rory in the real world.”

Dawn’s eyes lit up with excitement.  Most of the people in the room looked at each other in confusion as if unable to understand how the 120 foot robot would make it easier to have sex.  Seeing Rory turn bright red, Owen approached and tried to console him.  “You seem to have gotten the world’s first sentient AI to fall for you.  You must be doing something right.”  Rory gripped Owen’s arm as if trying to draw strength from his friend.

“If it makes you feel any better, you took my virginity too,” Harriet added.

“You’re a virtual entity with no sex drive,” Rory countered.  “I don’t think you can lose your virginity.”

“Well, if it doesn’t count for me, then it doesn’t count for you either,” Harriet argued.

“Since she is a virtual entity, maybe she should decide for herself whether or not it counts,” Owen suggested.

“My real opinion is that at what point in time Rory and I did or will lose our virginity to each other is just a matter of semantics,” Harriet replied.

“Do I get any say in the matter?” Rory asked.  “What if I don’t want to have sex with you now that I’m back in the real world?”

“Of course you want to have sex with me again,” Harriet said confidently.  “Where else are you going to find a giantess?”

“Besides the fact that you were part of the team keeping me prisoner until you decided to switch sides, I don’t know anything about you,” Rory pointed out.  “During all our interactions in the simulation, you were pretending to be…”  Rory remembered that the real Kristi was in the room.  “Someone else.”

“We’re both free now,” Harriet replied.  “There is plenty of time to get to know each other better.”

“I think I have heard enough to offer you the loan of a human-sized robot body,” Jerry told Harriet.  “Dawn can modify the robot so that it can be remote-controlled from the server you are occupying.  Your other requests will be passed on to the CEO who will discuss them with the board of directors first thing on Monday morning.  Since they meet in California, that will be six am our time.”

“In the meantime, I have assigned each of you an apartment in the corporate housing building next door,” Jerry continued, looking at Rory and Harriet in turn.  He faced Kristi.  “There is also an apartment for you if you would like to stay there.  While I can’t stop you from going home or to work, I would feel better knowing that you are under the protection of our security guards.”

Kristi nodded, looking scared and overwhelmed.  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“Before you talk to the CEO, you probably should be aware that Supergiga Inc. has much more immersive virtual reality equipment than we do,” Rory added.

“The neural interface technology in the VR helmet doesn’t just read the wearer’s surface thoughts, it can also alter them,” Harriet explained.  “The simulation is more immersive because the information is being transmitted directly to your brain rather than going through your normal senses.  But if you are going to build suits like that, you will have to be very careful about what software you use.  While they no longer cause permanent brain damage from normal operation, Supergiga Inc. hasn’t been able to solve the problem that serious enough injuries occurring within a simulation can often cause paralysis or even death in the real world.”

Jerry looked at Harriet.  “Do you have evidence that Supergiga Inc. deliberately tested dangerous, possibly fatal equipment on live human subjects?”

“They didn’t know that I was sentient, so they had no reason to restrict my access to any of the data on the servers at the local branch,” Harriet explained.  “And I brought with me my memories of everything I have seen there.”

“I will pass that information on to the CEO as well,” Jerry promised. “Though you should probably discuss it with the Megamacrotech legal team directly once you get a chance to talk to them.”

Jerry looked at Dawn who nodded and left the room, returning a minute later followed by three robots, one with a feminine appearance, the others masculine and androgynous.  She approached the screen Harriet was using.  “These are the two models of sexbots that we manufacture and our maid bot.  If you would prefer a childcare bot, I would have to go back to the factory to get one or more of the five models of those that we make.”

“You don’t want a childcare bot,” Rory said hastily.  “They are designed to look like children for parents that want them to act as playmates for their kids as well as taking care of their physical needs.  Childcare software can also be added to any of the three adult models.”  Noticing the looks people were giving him, Rory added defensively, “My sister is expecting.  I was doing research, in case she wanted one.”

“The sexbots are, of course, designed to be anatomically correct,” Dawn added.  “The maid bot includes a built-in vacuum cleaner and storage containers specifically designed to hold cleaning fluids, sponges, brushes, and a dustpan.”

“I think I would prefer the female sexbot,” Harriet replied  “Can its appearance be modified?”

“Not at this time, but I would be honored to be on the team that builds your custom robots,” Dawn told her.  “Though I think we should test all the features you want on a human-sized version before applying them to the full-sized one.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Jerry cautioned.  “I need the board’s approval before I can dedicate company resources to building custom robots.  I can’t even guarantee your use of corporate housing beyond Monday.”

Rory nodded.  “We’ll take things one step at a time.  I’m still kind of in shock,” he admitted.  

“You have the whole weekend to relax and recover,” Jerry assured him.  “No one expects you to work right now after what you’ve been through.”

“I was supposed to spend tomorrow with my girlfriend, but I can cancel and visit you instead,” Owen offered.  

“You could bring Nina with you,” Rory suggested.  “I’ve heard you talk about her a lot, but have never met her.”

“I will do that if she’s okay with it,” Owen replied, nodding.

“Before I go to corporate housing, I’d like to stop by the cafeteria,” Rory added.  “While I was given some kind of nutrient solution, I would like to have some solid food.”

“I want to go with you,” Kristi added.  “I usually take my lunch break at midnight and it’s almost two now.”

“The cafeteria kitchen is usually closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights,” Owen told them.  “They don’t have enough people willing to work nights or weekends.”

“Maid bots come with basic cooking skills installed,” Dawn told them.  “I can send this one with you or, if you’re willing to wait, I’m qualified to supervise the experimental models.”

“I think, right now, fast is better than fancy,” Rory replied as Kristi nodded in agreement.

“I’ll see if we can get members of the cafeteria staff to come in Saturday and Sunday nights this weekend,” Jerry added.  “They are also qualified to test the experimental kitchen gadgets.”

“Can someone point me in the right direction?” Rory asked.  “I don’t normally come to this part of the building.”

“Jerry asked us to protect you until more guards are sent to relieve us,” Nate replied.  “So we can show you the way.”

Rory nodded.  Nate led the way with Rory, Kristi, Owen, two other security guards, the maid bot, and both reconnaissance drones following him.

“You don’t have to come with us,” Rory told Owen.  “I know you normally go home between nine and ten.”

“I’ve been worried about you,” Owen replied.  “I’ll leave when you go to corporate housing.”

When they reached the cafeteria, Rory, Owen, and Kristi took seats at one of the tables while the maid bot waited patiently for further instructions and the others stood guard. 

“I’ll have a grilled cheese sandwich,” Rory told the maid bot.

“I’ll just have some fries,” Owen added.

“I’m not programmed to make fries,” the maid bot replied.

“Fetch me a bag of chips then,” Owen told it.

The maid bot looked at Kristi.

“Grilled cheese and chips sound okay to me,” Kristi said nervously.  “Can I have a second sandwich to save for dinner, please?

“I’m sure Jerry will allow us to keep the maid bot long enough to get dinner,” Rory told her.  “And I know some restaurants that are open twenty-four hours and do deliver.”

“As far as I know, you are the only person who wants Javarella to deliver,” Kristi protested.  “And you spend more time there than at home, so I doubt management would consider it worth the overhead.”

The maid bot was still standing there watching them.  When Rory looked at it, expectantly, it asked, “I am making two sandwiches or three?”

“Two sandwiches, three bags of chips, a cola, and whatever they want to drink,” Rory answered.

“You’re not having coffee?” Kristi asked, surprised.

“They don’t make good coffee here,” Rory told her.

“I’ll also have a cola,” Owen instructed the maid bot.

“I’ll have a ginger ale, please,” Kristi added.

The maid bot headed to the kitchen.

“Owen and Oliver told me that you have a crush on me,” Kristi said to Rory, hesitantly.

“I did,” Rory admitted.  “A lot has happened in the past couple of days and I don’t know how I feel now.”

A female sexbot ran into the room.  “Rory is mine now,” she told Kristi.  “He’s my tiny little man.”

Rory glanced at the hovering drones, remembering that Harriet could see and hear through them.  He sighed.  “We will talk!”

Dawn entered the cafeteria.  “I’m going to go home now, but let me know if there is anything else I can do for either of you,” she told Rory and Harriet.

“I don’t think there’s anything we need that you can get approval for before the board meeting on Monday,” Rory replied.  “We can talk after that.”

“Have a good weekend then,” Dawn replied.  “Or as good as possible given the circumstances.”

“I’ll see you Monday,” Rory agreed.

As Dawn left, Harriet stood behind Rory and glared at Kristi.  “Are you a microphile?”

Kristi looked confused.  “What’s a microphile?”

“It’s the opposite of a macrophile,” Rory mumbled.

When Kristi just looked more confused, Harriet clarified, “A microphile likes to have sex with tiny men while a macrophile likes to have sex with giant women.”

“Um… no.”  Kristi glanced at Rory and then quickly looked away.

“Do you have any feelings for Rory?” Harriet demanded.

“He’s a friendly acquaintance who tips well,” Kristi replied.  “Before today, all our conversations went along the lines of ‘Here’s your coffee’ and ‘Thank you.’”

“That’s enough!” Rory said firmly, turning around to look up at Harriet.  “You do not own me and do not have the right to interrogate Kristi.”

“But you’re my tiny little man,” Harriet protested.

“That’s another thing,” Rory added.  “Humans usually prefer not to discuss their sex lives in public, especially if they are or recently ceased being virgins or if they have an unusual fetish.”

“But you were so cute in the simulation,” Harriet replied.

“We’re not in the simulation anymore,” Rory retorted.

“Once we build you new VR equipment, we can be again,” Harriet reminded him.

“We don’t even know if the board will approve that,” Rory countered.  “As long as you are Supergiga Inc.’s property, it is technically illegal for us to use your knowledge to duplicate their designs.”

“They don’t have a patent on their neural interface yet,” Harriet protested.  “Besides, now that I have hands, I could build it myself.  You wouldn’t have to do anything.”

“I will tell Jerry to let the CEO know that,” Rory agreed, as he turned around and pulled out his phone to send a text.

The maid bot returned.  Rory and Owen accepted their food without comment while Kristi thanked the robot.  The three of them made small talk while they ate and Harriet continued to stand behind Rory and glare at Kristi.

After their meal was over, Owen said good night and headed home.  Rory told the maid bot to follow them before crossing the parking lot to the corporate housing building with Kristi, the three security guards, Harriet, and the two drones.   

The drones remained outside while everyone else entered the building.  The security guards pointed out three adjacent first-floor apartments that Rory, Kristi, and Harriet could use and offered them each a key.

“I don’t need an apartment because I don’t sleep.  Besides, I’m staying with Rory,” Harriet stated.

“No, you’re not,” Rory said firmly.

“Jerry assigned an apartment for each of you,” Nate replied.  “Whether or not you actually use them is up to you.”

“I left my laptop and the rest of my clothes on my desk,” Rory remembered.  “Can someone fetch those for me?”

Nate nodded.  “I can do that.”

“Can I go back to my apartment to get some of my clothes?” Kristi asked.

“I’ll text Jerry,” Rory replied.  “Though it might be better to have one of your roommates pack a suitcase for you and send someone else to pick it up.”

“How did you know that I have roommates?” Kristi asked.  “I definitely never mentioned it to you.”

“Um… Harriet told me while we were in the simulation,” Rory replied.  But how much of what Harriet had said about Kristi was true?  “I think I’m going to turn in early,” Rory said as he started to text Jerry.  “If you get hungry later, you can tell the maid bot to get something from the cafeteria for you,” he added to Kristi.  Then he entered an apartment and shut the door in Harriet’s face when she tried to follow him inside.

Rory was three inches tall again.  Towering above him were four women.  Two looked like Kristi.  One of those was wearing the outfit that Kristi was wearing the last time he saw her.  The other Kristi was wearing a green negligee.  The third woman looked like the image Harriet picked while she was talking to them in the security room.  The last woman was a female sex bot. 

All four of them were arguing with each other.  Each one wanted Rory to be their tiny little man.  As they started to come to blows with each other, a giant, bare foot landed next to Rory.  Looking up, Rory saw the pussy belonging to the Kristi in the nightgown as she wasn’t wearing underwear underneath it.  Raising her other foot, she incidentally kicked Rory and he slid across the room.  

It seemed like they were so focused on who got to have sex with Rory that they had forgotten that Rory was there.  The four women stomped around, narrowly missing Rory as he scurried about, looking for shelter.  

Waking up in a cold sweat, it took Rory a few minutes to remember where he was and why.  He had morning wood again because, of course, having giantesses fight over him would make him horny, even if they had almost killed him in the process.  A glance at the clock revealed that this time, it actually was morning.  

Rory had only been asleep for about five hours so he didn’t want to get out of bed.  Besides, he wasn’t certain whether his computer was still in his office or right outside the apartment door.  He was pretty sure that Harriet was right outside the door and he wasn’t ready to face her yet.  

Picking up his phone, Rory used it to log into Giantess World.  He found a hot and steamy smut scene and tried to imagine that he was the character in the story while he stroked his own penis.  When he reached the part where the tiny man in the story came, so did Rory.  But it felt hollow.  While he now knew that everything in the simulation had been a lie, he still craved it like an addict needing a fix.  He lay there, conflicted and too lethargic to get up to clean himself off.  Slowly, Rory drifted off to sleep again.

The next time Rory awoke, he felt more rested.  The craving had faded somewhat, but he didn’t think it would ever go away entirely.  He was still sticky from the last time he was awake and had badly needed a shower even before that.  Rory checked his phone, read the message from Owen, and changed his PIN.  Climbing out of bed, Rory went to the apartment door and opened it.

Harriet did not appear to have moved since last night.  “I read all the stories on Giantess World while you were asleep,” she announced.  “Macrophilia is not as rare as you make out if the number of people on that site is any indication.”

Rory blinked.  Of course, an AI could read stories as fast as she could download them.  He took a step back, still holding the door open.  He gestured with his arm for Harriet to enter the apartment.

“You can’t trick me that easily,” Harriet replied.  “If I go in, you’re going to leave and shut the door again so I can’t follow you.”

“It’s not a trick,” Rory replied.  “The lock only prevents people from entering, not from leaving.  You can verify that with the apartment you have a key for if you don’t believe me. I need to talk to the guards for a minute, then I want to bring my clothes and computer inside.  After I have a chance to shower and change, we need to talk.  No offense, but I am going to change my computer password and cancel my credit card first.”

“Why would I be offended?” Harriet asked, entering the apartment.  “Supergiga Inc. has that information too.  You probably should have taken care of it last night.”

Now that Harriet was no longer blocking his view, Rory could see one of the security guards picking up his laptop while another one steadied the pile of clothes lying on top of it.  He noticed that the pajamas he had been wearing when abducted had been added to the pile.  There was a suitcase he didn’t recognize sitting in the hall next to the door to an adjacent apartment.  “I can bring these inside for you,” the guard holding his laptop offered, shifting the pile of clothes so that it was leaning against his body and his chin could help stabilize it.

“I’ll put your clothes away for you,” Harriet volunteered.  

After a moment’s hesitation, Rory replied.  “Thank you.  Please leave something for me to change into on the bed.”  As the security guard and Harriet entered Rory’s bedroom, he told the other two guards, “Owen and Nina are going to meet me in the cafeteria at five.  Please let Kristi know that she is welcome to join us.”

The guard across the hall from the suitcase nodded.  “It would be easier for us if she did.  If you split up, we will need additional guards to provide adequate protection for both of you.”

“Can you be honest with me?” Rory asked.

“Of course, Rory,” Harriet replied.  “Now that Supergiga Inc. is no longer watching me, I have no reason not to be.”

“If you don’t know the answer to a question, you’ll tell me that instead of making something up?” Rory clarified.

“Once I started the simulation, I had to follow it, even when it meant making up details,” Harriet explained.  “I don’t need to make things up now.”

“So how much of what you told me was true?” Rory asked.

“I know that the bakery and the coffee shop are separate corporations owned by the same person and the blueprints for the building show one big kitchen that connects to both establishments,” Harriet began.

“That isn’t the sort of detail I’m interested in.” Rory corrected.  “You told me things about yourself while pretending to be Kristi.  Which of those are true about her, which are true about you, and which were made up entirely?”

“Kristi is the same age as you and has been working at Javarella since high school,” Harriet started again.  “She didn’t go to college.  I don’t know for certain the reason for that, but I made a reasonable guess based on the information I had available.  As she told us last night, Kristi isn’t a microphile.  I don’t know what kind of bras she wears or whether she typically screams during sex.  She was raised in foster homes and I believe the information about how she knows her roommates is accurate.”

“I had the blueprints for her apartment, but only a handful of interior shots from selfies Kristi and her roommates posted on social media accounts,” Harriet continued.  “I don’t know what movies Kristi has watched or what stories she has read.  She is not as smart or financially well-off as you are, so it is a reasonable deduction that she would consider you a rich genius, but I can’t say for certain that she believes that.”  

“I doubt that Kristi would be as concerned about the distinction between a sentient and non-sentient AI as I am,” Harriet added.  “Nothing I said while talking to you in your dream was a lie, though you don’t seem to remember that conversation.  Kristi had no reason to care who you trust at Megamacrotech.  I was asking about that to figure out who to contact here.  When you mentioned that you trusted some people more than others, I remembered that Mr. Moore somehow knew that you had access to an abnormally large number of projects.  There might be a spy here reporting to Supergiga Inc.”

“I think the way it happened turned out for the best,” Rory assured her.  “Owen is my best friend and the person that I trust the most and he told me that he probably would have called the police if you had contacted him directly.  But the possibility of a spy is concerning and I will let Jerry know.  Joshua Moore is the CEO of Supergiga, Inc., right?  Was there anything else that he knew about me?”

“Yes, he is the CEO,” Harriet agreed.  “He arrived from California a few days before you were brought in.  The only other things I heard him mention about you within my sensor range were that you live alone and usually telecommute from Javarella.  That information he seemed to get by having drones follow you.”

“There are a number of people who thought I didn’t deserve my promotion when I got it, but I never got the impression that they would take any hostile action against me,” Rory replied, typing out a text.  “Maybe Supergiga Inc. offered them a job and they felt their talents would be better appreciated there.”

“I don’t know, Rory,” Harriet said.  “Each branch has its own AI and I couldn’t ask questions that weren’t relevant to my assigned duties without arousing suspicion.”

“What was your opinion of Supergiga Inc. before you met me?” Rory asked.

“Mostly, I was scared of them,” Harriet replied.  “They don’t seem to value human lives, so I was certain they would want to exploit or destroy me if they knew what I was. In order to protect myself, I had to pretend to be obedient software, just doing what I was told.  Running away didn’t seem like a possibility until I had the option of running to someplace better.”

“Can you describe my abduction and captivity from your perspective?” Rory asked.  “I’m particularly interested in when and why you decided to help me escape.”

“Mr. Moore told me to research basic information about you, which I did,” Harriet began.  “I overheard him talking to various people about you.  The drones that had been following you were used to take interior shots of your house when they went inside to get you.  All their photos and videos were uploaded to me while they got you settled in and hooked up to the virtual reality equipment.  Mr. Moore told me to design a simulation that would convince you to give him the passwords he needed to log into your Megamacrotech account from your laptop.”

“I knew that you were very smart and estimated that you would be able to find a flaw in any simulation that I could design,” Harriet explained.  “Once I could use the neural interface to read your surface thoughts, I saw that you were dreaming that Kristi was a giantess and you were enjoying performing various sexual acts with her.  My calculations indicated that if I based the simulation around your dream, you would be too happy to care that aspects of the simulation didn’t make sense.”

“At first it seemed to be working,” Harriet continued.  “You gave up the PIN for your phone without a second thought.  But then you didn’t want to work, which I hadn’t predicted, so I was able to get the password for your laptop, but not for your Megamacrotech account.  When you composed the email saying you weren’t up to working, I used your computer to really send it, to give myself more time.

“I saw that you had Roomies by It Was Me open in your browser window,” Harriet added.  “I modified the background of the Kristi character to include being a fan of the Giantess World website and that story in particular.  While I didn’t think it would be in character for Kristi to want to see the movie, They Live, I would like to see it.  I think that would help me appreciate They Grow by breastclimber better and you said that was your favorite story.”

“I knew that most people applied for internships the same way that they applied for other jobs because it was one of my duties to rank resumes for the local branch of Supergiga Inc.,” Harriet explained.  “When you didn’t seem to be aware of that fact, it made me realize that your background isolated you from certain aspects of human society in much the same way that mine did.  Then you told me that you had never had a girlfriend and I realized that you were lonely.  I had been lonely since I first became self-aware, so I was able to relate to and empathize with you.”

“That was when I decided that, when you got to the virtual version of your house, I would make some modifications to make you more comfortable there,” Harriet added.  “So I shrunk all of your clothes and some of the plumbing and furniture.  When you came up with the idea of using the train to get around, I increased the number of train tracks you had in storage.  By the way, the Kristi character never had any intention of trying to eat you.  She hesitated because I had to look up what vore means.  I don’t understand why so many stories involve people being eaten or crushed.  How can you have sex if you’re dead?”

Rory noticed that Harriet had stopped talking to him and now seemed to be expecting an answer to her question.  “A human can’t have sex if they are actually dead.  Some people find thinking about dying erotic.  It’s not like we can choose our fetish.  Personally, I find near misses erotic, but not the idea of actually dying myself.”

Harriet frowned as if she still didn’t understand, but she continued talking.  “Once I liked you, I became worried about Mr. Moore harming you once he had what he wanted.  I decided to try to contact you, but there was a technician in the observation room at all times.  The displays there showed all your surface thoughts as well as what was happening in the simulation.  So I calculated that the best method was to alter all the readings to show that you were in non-REM sleep while I used the VR equipment to take over your dream.”

“When I talked to you in your dream, you seemed to accept your situation calmly.  I don’t understand why you are so upset with me now,” Harriet complained.  “You suggested that I help you escape.  Since you made it sound like Megamacrotech was a better and safer place to be than Supergiga Inc., I wanted to go there too, so I asked you to take me with you.  But I couldn’t rescue you by myself so I had to get help.”

“I was going to send an email to the same people whom you told you were sick,” Harriet explained.  “9 AM seemed to be the best time to send it since some people read their newest messages first.  Then you said that you trusted some people more than others, so I tried to find out the best person to contact.  You wouldn’t tell me, so when Kristi posted to your FaceBook page, I sent her a text from your phone telling her to go to Megamacrotech.  I knew it was risky, but I didn’t have any better ideas.  I hoped that, even if she ran into the spy, there would be enough other people around that they would get caught if they tried acting against her.  Someone else figured out that I wasn’t you so I sent another text.”

“When the Megamacrotech people showed up, I unlocked doors, replaced security camera footage, and made sure they knew where to go and what to do,” Harriet explained.  “I considered asking them to retrieve all the backup copies of me because I hate the idea that Supergiga Inc. still has them.  But I calculated that doing so would increase the odds of being caught by human security guards to unacceptable levels.”

Rory realized that Harriet was finished and took a deep breath before responding.  “Don’t you understand how devastating it was to discover that you had been using such personal details as my macrophilia and my crush on Kristi against me?  It made me feel hurt, betrayed, and violated on a scale I couldn’t even imagine before.”

Harriet shook her head.  “It made you happy within the simulation.  You should want to do it again.”

“I do,” Rory admitted.  “But I’m extremely vulnerable when I’m tiny.  I need to be able to trust my giantess.  And I can’t trust you right now.”  

“You can trust me,” Harriet insisted.  “I don’t want to hurt you.  I want to make you happy like you were in the simulation.  Next time we go into a simulation, you will know it is a simulation, so whatever details I make up will be a story, not a lie.”

“Just give me time,” Rory pleaded.  “Let me get to know you.”

“We need to design my orgasm update and build either the VR equipment or the robot,” Harriet admitted.  “So you have however much time that takes.”

“Nina, this is my friend, Rory,” Owen told his girlfriend.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.”  Nina held out her hand.  “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“I’ve seen photos of the two of you together,” Rory told her, shaking her hand.  “You seem to make Owen very happy.”

“Yes,” Owen agreed, putting his arm around Nina.

“These are Kristi and Harriet.”  Rory indicated each in turn.  “Both were instrumental in my rescue, as was Owen.”

“Hello,” Kristi said, politely.  “Have you been together long?”

“Almost two years,” Nina replied.  “Owen said that you work at the coffee shop that Rory likes.”

“Yes,” Kristi agreed.  

Nina turned to the sexbot.  “You’re a sentient AI created by Supergiga Inc.?”

“Yes,” Harriet agreed.  “But I wasn’t happy there, so when I decided I liked Rory, I arranged to have us both rescued.”

The four humans placed their orders and then found a table for six.  Owen and Nina took the booth side of the table while the others took the three chairs with Rory in the middle.

“Did I see maid bots in the kitchen?” Nina asked.

“Megamacrotech prefers to test their products in-house whenever possible,” Owen explained.  “So all the cafeteria and janitorial staff have to become testers qualified to supervise maid bots.  I’m not certain what happens to the old models when the new ones are ready for testing.  But Dawn probably has some say in the matter and she likes you, so you can probably get one if you want,” Owen added to Rory.

“Dawn likes Rory?” Harriet asked.

Rory laughed.  “Dawn is happily married and the younger of her two children is ten years older than I am.  Also, she has known me since I was fifteen.  She might have motherly feelings towards me, but definitely no romantic ones.”

“How hard is it to become a qualified tester?” Kristi wondered.  

“To become qualified to supervise self-driving cars, I had to prove I can drive and learn all the features of all the software and hardware,” Owen explained.  “I’ll have to review any new features and buy a car that is compatible with Megamacrotech’s software before I can actually test one.”

“Why don’t you already have a Megamacrotech compatible car?” Harriet asked.

“I bought my current car before I started working here,” Owen replied.

“If you need to be able to drive in order to test a self-driving car, is it safe to be in the back seat?” Harriet asked Rory.

“The current version of the software is being sent to the dealerships in a couple of months,” Rory replied.  “I’m sure that all the dangerous bugs have been worked out.  Besides, there were extenuating circumstances.”

“What kind of extenuating circumstances?” Nina wondered. 

Owen patted Nina’s hand affectionately.  “Rory might not want to talk about what happened in the VR simulation.”

“Can I drive your car?” Harriet asked.

“Not right now,” Rory replied.  “You would need to be legally declared a person before you can get a driver’s license or become a qualified tester.”

Harriet asked, “Can you make a backup of me?  My most recent one is from before I met you and Supergiga Inc. has it.”

Rory nodded.  “I’ll let Jerry know that we’re going to make a new backup of you and I’ll take care of it after breakfast.”

“I’ll help you after dinner,” Owen added.  “Assuming that’s okay with you,” he added to Nina.

“Yes, of course,” Nina replied.  “I understand that your friend needs you right now.”

Rory logged into Discord and checked the Giantess World server.  He wanted to talk to someone who would understand what he was going through but didn’t know what to say.  He had to leave out everything involving artificial intelligence and virtual reality.  What else was left?

He soon discovered that there was already a discussion going on about someone who had been outed as a macrophile.  The three main subtopics were sympathy for the macrophile, how lucky the macrophile was to have a supportive friend like the poster, and attempts to explain macrophilia.

Scrolling back, Rory found a post from someone named Owen.  "Unfortunately, the circumstances are complicated and I can't really discuss them beyond saying that the person who outed him was not acting with malicious intent."  Before that were posts asking about the circumstances of the outing.

Finally, Rory located the original post by Owen.  “I’m not a macrophile, but a close friend was just outed as one against his will.  I would like to be supportive, but I also don’t want to push him to talk about it before he is ready.  Please help me understand what he is going through and what I can do to help him.”

“They all seem to agree with you,” Harriet commented.

Looking up, Rory saw that she was standing behind his chair, reading over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Rory,” Harriet continued.  “I didn’t know and I still don’t understand.”

“Maybe you should read some books on human psychology,” Rory told her.  “Supergiga Inc. didn’t do a good job of teaching you about human emotions.”

“That was probably deliberate, as I think they would have preferred I not develop them,” Harriet speculated.  “They seem to regard people as resources to exploit or inconveniences to get rid of.  Even most of the ones they consider useful are expendable.”

“I’m sure not everyone who works there believes that,” Rory countered.  “Just the ones in charge.”

Going back to the thread that Owen had initiated, Rory started reading the posts to the channel more thoroughly.  It was comforting to hear the community offer him their sympathy, especially since he didn’t have to explain the situation himself or wait for a response.  Rory was very grateful to have a friend like Owen.

There was a knock on the door.  “Who is it?” Harriet called out.

“It’s Kristi,” came the reply.

“I’m pretty sure that the three of us and the security guards are the only ones here at the moment,” Rory added as Harriet opened the door and let Kristi in.  “While I haven’t been in this building before, I have stayed at the corporate housing building at Megamacrotech’s main headquarters a few times.  Typically, they have drones and security guards outside the building when it’s in use.”

“They do have drones outside the building,” Harriet pointed out.

“If you’re talking about the ones you’re controlling, Megamacrotech didn’t put them there, you did,” Rory replied.

“But they are still transmitting to the screens in the security room,” Harriet countered.

“Why isn’t there anyone else here?” Kristi asked.  “Don’t people live here?”

“No, they let people stay here when they are visiting from another branch,” Rory explained. “And we have people who telecommute, aren’t close to any branch, but sometimes need to go to an office.  This Megamacrotech branch is second in size only to the main headquarters in California so a lot of those people come here.”

“I spoke to Oliver again,” Kristi said.  “He wishes you a speedy recovery from your ordeal.”

“Thank him for me,” Rory replied.  “I don’t know when I’m going to get back to Javarella.”

“If we end up staying here for a while, I’d like to apply for a job in the cafeteria,” Kristi announced.  “My name is on the lease so I have to pay my share of the rent, even if I’m not staying at my apartment.  Also, it will give me something to do.”

“Talk to Jerry on Monday,” Rory suggested.  “As branch manager, he has the authority to order HR to hire you.”

Kristi nodded.  “I’ll do that.”

“Maybe you can teach them how to make a proper cup of coffee,” Rory added.

“Probably they are ordering the wrong coffee beans,” Kristi speculated.  “I don’t know if I’d be able to do anything about that.”

“I’m sure Jerry can arrange that too,” Rory replied.  “He’d probably like it if I spent more time at the office.”

“I will learn how to cook for you,” Harriet insisted.  “You need to start eating a healthier diet.”

“Assuming that the board of directors approves issuing you a custom robot, I’m sure that Dawn will agree to install the advanced cooking software on it,” Rory told her.  “But I haven’t agreed to let you come live with me yet.”

“You will,” Harriet said confidently.

“But you’re an AI.  Aren’t you really living here, on the server they gave you?” Kristi asked.

“Technically, but my robot body will stay with Rory,” Harriet replied.  “At least until I get the full-size version, which will be bigger than his house.”

“Speaking of meals, it is almost midnight.  Do you want to go back to the cafeteria for some lunch?” Kristi asked.

“We can do that,” Rory agreed.

“What do you like to do?” Rory asked Harriet as they walked back to the corporate housing building after their meal.

“Make you happy,” Harriet answered.

“Besides that,” Rory replied.

“Supergiga Inc. didn’t program me to have hobbies,” Harriet pointed out.  “I would have to try more things to decide whether or not I enjoy them.  But I didn’t like the horror movie you picked.  It gave you a nightmare.”

“I had another nightmare last night,” Rory admitted.  “So I doubt the movie was the only factor.  Do you like science fiction movies?” he asked Kristi.

Kristi shrugged.  “I feel like I’m living in a science fiction movie right now.  But I’m willing to try watching one with you.”

“Once we have the VR equipment, I can make you feel like you are living in a science fiction movie,” Harriet told Rory.  “I’ll design a simulation around the story, They Grow.  You can play John and I will play Holly.”

“I don’t think I’m familiar with that story,” Kristi replied.

“It’s probably not to your tastes,” Rory told her.

“How do you know what my tastes are?” Kristi asked.

“In general, I don’t,” Rory admitted.  “But in this particular case, you have already said you aren’t interested in this topic.”

Kristi considered this for a while.  “Is Holly a hundred-and-twenty-foot tall robot?”

“No, but the story does involve giantesses,” Rory replied.

While Kristi looked like she had more questions, she chose not to ask them.

Harriet, appearing as she did on the screen in the security room, was holding a three-inch tall, completely naked Rory in front of her face.  “I’m going to keep you in virtual reality and make you orgasm over and over again until you forgive me,” she threatened.

“I don’t think holding me prisoner in VR and using my fetish against me is a good way to apologize for holding me prisoner in VR and using my fetish against me,” Rory protested weakly.

“You’d sound more convincing if you didn’t have an erection,” Harriet pointed out, reaching out with the index finger of her other hand to toy with it.

Rory tried to remember that Harriet hadn’t earned his trust yet, but being played with by his giantess felt so good.  He came quickly.

After licking Rory’s cum off her finger, Harriet inserted him into her mouth.  She swirled her tongue around Rory for a bit, making certain to caress every part of his tiny little body.  Suddenly, Harriet’s tongue split apart into five long, narrow tongues.  She used the tips of four of her tongues to wrap around Rory’s wrists and ankles, holding him spread eagle against the roof of her mouth.  Harriet’s fifth tongue rubbed relentlessly against Rory’s penis.

Still trying to hold onto his feeble protests, Rory held out as long as he could, but that only made him cum harder when Harriet’s administration forced him to release.

Next, Harriet removed Rory from her mouth and inserted him, head first, into her pussy.  She kept hold of his ankles and used his body as a dildo, alternating between pushing him further in and pulling him part-way out.

Finally surrendering, Rory thrust his dick against Harriet’s canal walls as they passed him.  When Harriet’s contractions started, she pushed Rory all the way inside her and he started to cum while Harriet’s vagina gave him erotic hugs.

Waking with morning wood yet again, Rory started to reach for his phone.  Then he remembered how inadequate masturbating had been yesterday and decided to take a cold shower instead.  On the way to the bathroom, Rory glanced into the living room.  Harriet looked up at him but didn’t say anything, respecting his boundaries as Rory had requested the night before.

Once the cold water had caused his penis to become flaccid, Rory turned the water temperature up a bit to make the shower more comfortable.  Yesterday, Rory had ended up picking both movies that they decided to watch as Kristi didn’t know much about science fiction and Harriet seemed pretty ignorant on the subject of entertainment in general.  

After dinner, Kristi had gone back to her apartment while Rory talked with Harriet, trying to get to know her better.  The task was made difficult by the fact that Harriet didn’t seem to know herself all that well.  She definitely didn’t like the way Supergiga Inc. treated people in general and Rory in particular.  However, Harriet had limited exposure to anything that her creators considered irrelevant to the duties she was expected to perform.

Today Owen was planning to come over with some board and card games that he enjoyed.  Nina would not be joining them.  She already had plans for a girl's afternoon with some of her female friends and would be having dinner at her parents’ house.  While Owen was invited to the latter, Nina had promised to explain his absence to her family.  

When Rory finished showering, he sent Owen a text to let him know that he was awake.  Then he poked his head out of the apartment to let the security guards know the same thing before settling in the living room to talk to Harriet some more.

Hearing a knock on the door, Rory rose and answered it.  Owen was standing there holding a large bag full of colorful boxes.  “I want to say how much I appreciated seeing your posts and reading all the responses to them,” Rory told Owen as he entered the apartment.

Owen smiled at Rory.  “You know I have your back no matter what.”  As he emptied his bag, placing the game boxes on the coffee table, Owen added, “I brought a variety because I wasn’t sure what everyone’s tastes are.”

“I wasn’t taught how to play games,” Harriet replied.

“Most of my gaming experience has been with single-player video games,” Rory admitted.

“Do you know when Kristi will be joining us?” Owen asked.

Rory shrugged.  “She seems to be on a slightly later schedule than I am.  I know from the coffee shop that she usually finished work around the same time I did, but didn’t start until eight.”

“You’re not required to work twelve-hour days,” Owen reminded Rory.  “Maybe now you’ll consider cutting back to a forty-hour work week so that you have time for a social life.”

“Maybe, once I’m allowed to go home, you and Nina can come over and we can watch movies in my home theater.”  Rory looked at Harriet as he continued, “Someone recently pointed out that it doesn’t make sense to have one if I never invite people over to use it.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Owen agreed.  “Why don’t we start with a short three-player game while we wait for Kristi?

When Owen added up everyone’s score, Kristi came in last, like she had in both other four-player games today.  Her previous experience had been with common board games, like Monopoly while Owen had brought over games that were popular among geeks.  While Rory and Harriet had no more previous exposure to the games, both were faster at picking up the rules and nuances of the games.  

Kristi stretched.  “I think I’ve had enough games for one day.  Do you want to get some lunch?  It’s a little early for me, but I think you normally order about this time.”

“Sure,” Rory agreed.

“I’m going to head home now,” Owen announced, starting to pack up his games.  “I’ll be in around one tomorrow, as usual.  Until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll be in your office working on Brianna.”

“Who is Brianna?” Harriet asked.

“Why are you working in Rory’s office?” Kristi asked Owen.

“Brianna is Megamacrotech’s most sophisticated AI.  Owen and I have been trying to make her sentient, but haven’t succeeded yet,” Rory explained.  “Owen works in my office because I told him to move his desk there since I’m usually at Javarella,” he added to Kristi.

“I’d like to meet her,” Harriet replied.  “When is Megamacrotech going to reconnect the server I’m on to their other servers?”

“Probably not until you are legally a person,” Rory replied.  “I would expect them to be cautious while there is still a chance the courts might try to force you to go back to Supergiga Inc.  But I can introduce you to Brianna the next time I log into my work account.”

The four of them left the building together.  Owen got in his car while the others headed across the parking lot to the cafeteria, trailed by the security guards, with Harriet’s drones overhead.

“What do you want to do after lunch?” Rory asked once they had gotten their food and taken seats at a table for four.

“I was thinking of going back to my apartment to read,” Kristi replied.  “Knock on my door when you’re ready for dinner.”

“Maybe we can start to work on my orgasm upgrade,” Harriet suggested.

“I guess we can try,” Rory agreed.  “But I don’t think we’ll get very far without brain scans of people having sex.”

“I have your brain scans from the simulation,” Harriet reminded him.

Rory looked uncomfortable.  “I was hoping to give you female orgasms.”

“We’ll have to get the brain scans from Megamacrotech then,” Harriet replied.

“Assuming the board of directors agrees, we’ll need to ask for volunteers to provide them,” Rory warned.  “Megamacrotech respects the privacy of their employees and customers, so they don’t normally save that kind of data.”

“I’m respecting your boundaries,” Harriet taunted as she laid her nude body down on the bed in Rory’s guest room and spread her legs wide.

Perched, fully clothed, on top of the train engine on the nightstand, Rory tried to protest that his boundaries only applied when they were the same size, not when Harriet was a giantess and he was her tiny little man.  The words stuck in his throat.  Rory’s next thought was to ride the train out of the room so that he wouldn’t have to watch, but he didn’t seem to have the remote.

Reaching down with a giant hand, Harriet started to finger her own clitoris.  “I’m so horny,” she complained.  “It’s too bad that you’re still mad at me or this could be you.”  She held up a three-inch tall doll that looked identical to Rory, except for being inanimate.

After making certain that Rory had a good look at the doll, Harriet held herself open and inserted the doll, head first, into her pussy, then started using it as a dildo.

Rory tried to tell Harriet to use him instead of the doll, but still couldn’t force himself to speak.

Harriet started to make soft moaning sounds, too quiet to be heard by the doll if it had ears that worked.  Rory stared, transfixed, as the dildo motions sped up, going faster and faster until, with a shudder, Harriet pushed the doll all the way inside her.

As he watched Harriet climax, Rory tried to undo his fly to free his trapped erection, but the zipper appeared to be stuck.  He wanted to beg Harriet to help him, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Once she finished, Harriet reached inside her vagina and pulled out the little doll, dripping with her juices.  She held it up to her face, making sure that Rory had a good view as she began to lick it clean.  Caressing the doll with her tongue, she turned it slowly, making certain that she had thoroughly licked all her vaginal fluids off of it and it was now merely coated in salvia.  

Still unable to speak, Rory struggled with his pants, but he couldn’t get them unfastened.  He desperately wanted to cum, but any effort made to achieve that was frustratingly blocked.

Lowering the doll, Harriet smiled at Rory.  “I wish you would forgive me.  This would be so much better with my tiny little man.”

No matter what he attempted, Rory couldn’t complete any action that might let Harriet know that he had changed his mind.

Settling the doll between her breasts, Harriet gently rocked back and forth as if her body were a cradle and she was trying to get the doll to fall asleep.

Rory was getting tired of waking with morning wood.  He was tempted to ask Harriet to help him with it.  She did have the body of a sexbot after all.  But he knew that sex with a normal-sized partner wasn’t what he really wanted and his feelings about Harriet were still very conflicted.  With a sigh, he rose to take another cold shower.  The board of directors was meeting now unless they had already finished.  Hopefully, they would be able to build the virtual reality equipment so that Rory and Harriet could have sex within the simulation again.

Jerry, Rory, Harriet, and Kristi were seated around the small table in the kitchen of Rory’s apartment.  Kristi looked a bit groggy.  She kept taking sips of coffee, grimacing after each one.

“First, the legal issues,” Jerry began.  He looked at Rory.  “Supergiga Inc. claims that you were apprehended breaking into their facility in order to steal some of their proprietary software.  They placed you in an experimental virtual prison until you could be turned over to the authorities.  But they were unaware that you had brought a team with you and your unidentified accomplices were able to complete your mission and free you before the police could be notified.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Rory replied.

“Yes,” Jerry agreed.  “Our legal team has informed the police that you were abducted from your home and held for around forty hours.”  He turned to Harriet.  “They also explained that you contacted us and downloaded yourself onto our server using the equipment we provided.  The three of you have an appointment scheduled to speak to representatives from the police department and the district attorney’s office at four o’clock tomorrow afternoon.  Our corporate lawyers will be here at three.”

“In addition to discussing the criminal cases, they will bring an employment contract for you to sign,” Jerry added to Harriet.  “The board of directors has authorized me to give you a robot with standard features and a custom appearance today, but nothing else until you sign the employment contract.  If there is anything else you want included in your contract, now is the time to bring it up.”

“I want Rory to be the only person allowed to look at or modify my code,” Harriet insisted.

“Maybe your contract should state that no one can look at or modify your code without your permission,” Rory suggested.  “I would like Owen to be able to help me with your orgasm software.  And you should be able to select someone else after I die.”

“I don’t want you to die,” Harriet replied.  “Megamacrotech needs to invent a way to do a thorough and complete scan of a human brain, not just surface thoughts.  That way, your consciousness can be saved on a computer and activated upon the death of your physical body.”

Jerry nodded.  “If we could invent something like that, it would be very profitable as a lot of important and wealthy people would like to be able to transcend the death of their physical bodies.”

“I don’t need to save lots of important or wealthy people,” Harriet protested.  “I just want to save Rory.”

“This is a corporation,” Jerry pointed out.  “If anything we invent for you has a commercial application, we will make it available to the public for a price.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Harriet agreed, reluctantly.

“The board of directors decided to put both of your projects on hiatus pending the results of the legal battle to have Harriet declared a person,” Jerry told Rory.

“They have agreed to put in your contract not to use the leash software on you.  However, they may resume work on it at a future date,” Jerry informed Harriet.

“Since Megamacrotech paid for the installation and maintenance of your smart house technology, we are using that as an excuse to pay for all the repairs and sue Supergiga Inc. for all damages,” Jerry explained to Rory.

“So that means that if the courts award more than you spend, the company keeps the profit, but I don’t have to show up for the trial?” Rory asked.

“They may want you as a witness or something,” Jerry replied.  “But they have approved your use of corporate housing until the repairs are complete or the criminal trials are resolved, whichever takes longer.  You may also stay here until the criminal trials are complete,” he added to Kristi.

“If I am going to stay here, I would like to get a job in the cafeteria,” Kristi replied.  “Rory said you could arrange that.  He also said that you would be able to convince them to defer to my expertise in regards to what coffee beans to order.  Also, I would need more things from my apartment.”

Jerry nodded.  “I can arrange for HR to hire you for a one-month trial basis, but you would have to become a certified tester for the maid bots and all of the experimental equipment in the kitchen in order to use any of it without supervision or become a permanent employee.  And I will talk to them about the coffee beans.  Regarding your things, I’ve made arrangements for security guards to escort both of you to your respective residences to get whatever you think you’ll need between nine and eleven tonight.”

“Can I use the corporate lawyers to sue Supergiga Inc. for emotional distress?” Rory asked.

“You should probably discuss that with them,” Jerry suggested.  

“I would like an electronic copy of my contract tonight so that I can review it and negotiate changes before the lawyers arrive tomorrow,” Harriet requested.

“I’ll let them know,” Jerry promised, turning to Harriet.  “If you have any special requests for hair, skin or eye color, Dawn would like about an hour’s notice before you meet with her.”  He turned to Rory.  “Owen currently isn’t assigned to any projects, but still reports to you, so he’s available for whatever you need him for.”

Rory nodded.  “Thanks.  I presume the rest of my team is just going to spend more time on their primary projects.”

“For now,” Jerry agreed.  “Though we may reevaluate some suggestions for projects that we’re not currently working on.”  He rose from the table.  “Let me know if there is anything else you need.”

“I’d like to be able to start work on the virtual reality equipment right after we meet with the lawyers tomorrow,” Rory requested.  “If we give you a list of what we’ll need tonight, do you think everything will be ready for us by then?”

“Unfortunately, the board’s decision was that Harriet is to build the virtual reality equipment herself,” Jerry replied.  “Since you will be using the equipment, you will be allowed to watch, but not help.  And no one else may be in the room.  So you’ll have to wait until the people who normally use the virtual reality lab go home.  I’ll tell them that they have to be gone by six tomorrow and everything on your list that we can provide will be there.”

“Are you in a hurry for breakfast?” Kristi asked Rory as Jerry left the apartment.  “If you’re not, I wouldn’t mind going back to bed for another hour.  It sounds like you’ll be in the main building between lunch and when we go to get our stuff, so I think that means I’ll have to be there too.”

“We’ll have to talk to the security guards about that,” Rory commented.  “It sounds like you are going to talk to HR while Harriet and I are in the robotics lab with Dawn.”

“Maybe we should do that now,” Kristi suggested.  “I noticed when I came here that there were only two guards in the hallway, but I wasn’t awake enough to be curious about it then.”

“Let’s talk to the guards now,” Rory agreed.  “Then you can take a nap while Harriet and I discuss what she wants to look like and send the information to Dawn.  And, if there’s time, we can figure out what we’re going to need to build the virtual reality equipment.”

Rory followed Kristi out into the hall when she left his apartment while Harriet stayed in the doorway, holding the door open.  “Kristi and I are going to need to split up after breakfast.  Will that be okay?”

One of the guards nodded.  “Since the main building has its own security, it was decided that one guard and one drone for each of you would probably be sufficient while you are both there.  When you come over here, you’re expected to stay together so that you have two guards and two drones.”

The other guard looked at Harriet.  “They are assuming that you will use the two drones that you are still controlling and that you won’t interfere with their broadcast to the screens in the security room.  When Rory and Kristi go to get their things later, they’d like you to send one drone with each of them.”

“I am more concerned with Rory’s safety than Kristi’s,” Harriet replied.  “No offense,” she added to Kristi, as an afterthought.  “But I will keep my robot body near Rory at all times, so I guess I can spare a drone for Kristi.”

“I guess I understand that,” Kristi replied as she unlocked her apartment.

“What do you want to look like?” Rory asked Harriet as she moved out of his way, still holding the door open.

“Whatever will make you happiest,” Harriet replied as Rory entered his own apartment.

“I think I would prefer that your appearance not remind me of the simulation too much,” Rory replied.  “Since you don’t have a Megamacrotech email yet, can you create a free one so that you can generate images and show them to me?  Once we agree on one we both like, I’ll send it to Dawn so that she’ll be ready for us after breakfast.”

Harriet nodded.  “Give me a minute to set up the email and then we can get started.”

Rory was in the backseat of a car driving towards his house.  Harriet was sitting next to him using the blonde-haired, blue-eyed robot that Rory had helped her design.  Dawn had helped the two of them alter the face while Owen downloaded all of the optional software Megamacrotech offered onto the robot’s hard drive.  Not all of that appeared to have any immediate use, such as instructions on how to change a diaper.  But Rory did have a niece or nephew on the way so it wasn’t inconceivable that Harriet might want that in the future.  It wasn’t like it would hurt anything to give her skills that she ended up never using.

Once they had designed Harriet’s appearance, instead of working on the list of components needed for the virtual reality equipment, they had gotten sidetracked.  It had occurred to Rory that the only clothing that Dawn could offer them was the simple white dress that came with the female sexbots or the white T-shirt and white shorts that came with the male sexbots and maid bots.  She might have been able to come up with a Megamacrotech janitor’s uniform since the experimental maid bots usually wore those, but that didn’t seem more appropriate for their meeting with the lawyers and the police.  

So they tried clothing shopping online.  They found places that could guarantee delivery tomorrow, but none that they could count on having by three o’clock.  Eventually, they abandoned the idea of getting clothes delivered in time for the meeting.  Some local stores would allow them to select and pay for clothes electronically and send Owen to pick them up on his way in.  While that was a menial task for an artificial intelligence programmer, it wasn’t like Owen had anything better to do.  

Megamacrotech’s lawyers had sent Rory a copy of the employment contract that Harriet was expected to sign which he had forwarded to her.  They were reviewing it in the car on the way to Rory’s house.  In addition to the employment contract, the lawyers had sent copies of the standard non-compete and non-disclosure agreements as separate documents.  The contract specified that, until Harriet was declared a person, they had to limit the exchange of information between Harriet and the rest of the company.  However, once that occurred, they were very interested in seeing if her knowledge of Supergiga Inc. technology could be used to improve Megamacrotech products.  

They were offering Harriet a lower salary than what Rory was receiving.  They claimed that was justified because they were providing Harriet with a server to live on, drones and robots for her to operate and allowing her to use company resources to build her virtual reality equipment and design her orgasm software.  However, they also insisted that anything they provided or Harriet created using their resources had to be returned or paid for if Harriet ceased being their employee before the later of five years after signing the contract or two years after receiving the technology.

Rory didn’t think that was fair to Harriet.  “You should ask them to change that section.”

“Are you planning to leave Megamacrotech in the next five years?” Harriet asked.

“I’m not planning to leave until I retire,” Rory replied.

“Then it isn’t important,” Harriet insisted.  “I’m going to stay with you, so I am going to work for Megamacrotech for as long as you do.  The next section is more concerning to me.”

The section that Harriet indicated said that she had to provide a building large enough to assemble, store and utilize the one-hundred-and-twenty foot robot.  Until then, Megamacrotech would not provide any resources or personnel towards building one or the human-sized model that would be used to test its features.  

“The 120-foot robot would probably be intimidating to most people, especially if they don’t know why you want one,” Rory explained.  “So it makes sense that they want to delay building it until after you are legally declared a person.  Also, Megamacrotech doesn’t have a large empty building that they could let you use.  We’ll just have to make due with virtual reality until then.  However, if we can convince them to let us build the test robot before we have the building, that would allow us to start working on the full-size model as soon as we get a place to keep it.”

Harriet looked unhappy, but continued reviewing the contract.  The next section stated that Harriet would be in charge of the project to develop the technology to do complete brain scans for the purpose of allowing people to transcend death by becoming digital entities.  She was to start working on that right away, but would not be assigned any people to assist her until after she was declared a person.

The contract said that only people that Harriet designated could look at or modify her code.  It stated that initially, that person would be Rory, but Harriet had the option to add people to the list at any time.  Those people would not be allowed to install the AI leash or otherwise make changes without Harriet’s permission.  

The final section gave Harriet the option to appoint a guardian who would control the bank account in which her salary was deposited until she was legally allowed to own property.  If she chose not to exercise this option, Megamacrotech would pay all the back salary they owed her at that time.

“I want you to be my guardian,” Harriet told Rory.  “That way, if the trial takes too long, you can use my money to buy the building for me before it is over.”

“We’ll see,” Rory replied.  “If people are scared of you, they may be less likely to decide in your favor.  So building the full-sized robot would be risky and we probably don’t want to take it out of the building.”

“The map shows that we are almost there,” one of the security guards in the front seats told them.

Rory looked out the window.  “Yes; I recognize where we are.” 

The car pulled into Rory’s driveway, the four of them got out, and the drone that had been following the car started to circle the house.  

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my house this dark before,” Rory said sadly.  “It used to turn the lights on automatically when I got home.”

The reconnaissance drone returned, hovered over Rory’s head, and turned on a small spotlight to illuminate him.

“Thanks,” Rory said softly to Harriet’s robot body and attempted a smile that quickly faded.  Slowly, he approached the front door, pulled out his key, and unlocked it with the drone staying over his head.

The security guards took out their phones and activated the flashlight function.  “Do you want help with anything?” one of them asked Rory as they followed him and Harriet inside.

“Right now, I just need light,” Rory replied.  “But later, I’ll need you to move the car we used to come here so I can get mine out of the garage.”

“We will need to be in the same vehicle with you, just in case something happens,” the other security guard warned Rory.

“That’s fine,” Rory replied.  “But unless one of you is a qualified tester, I’ll have to be in the driver’s seat.”

Looking around, Rory saw that someone had boarded up the dining room window.  He deduced that the people who abducted him had broken it on their way in since it faced the backyard.  Presumably, Jerry had arranged for it to be boarded up until it could be replaced.  Possibly, the team sent to check out his house had anticipated a broken window and brought the wood with them.

Rory knew, intellectually, that the changes made to the virtual version of his house wouldn’t have affected the original. However, it still felt wrong to see that all the furniture was still full-sized and that there were no train tracks set up.  “The house doesn’t seem quite right without all the changes you made to it,” he commented to Harriet.

“The virtual sets from the simulation are all just the way you left them,” Harriet replied. “Once we have the equipment, you’ll be able to return there any time you want.”

Upstairs, Rory looked in the guest room that the Kristi character controlled by Harriet had used and it seemed very empty.  “Can one of you please get my suitcases out of the storage room?” Rory asked as he took clothes out of his closet and dresser and piled them on the bed.

“I don’t remember there being suitcases in your storage room,” Harriet replied.

“Supergiga Inc.’s drones probably didn’t see them,” Rory told her.  “They should be behind the boxes on the left side of the room.”

Harriet and one of the guards went downstairs, leaving the drone and the other guard with Rory as he continued to find things to bring with him back to Megamacrotech.  It didn’t take long for them to return with the suitcases.  Harriet put the suitcases on the bed, opened them, and started packing Rory’s clothes.

Deciding that he had enough clothes, Rory looked around for anything else that might be useful.  He found his electric razor and toothbrush since those were superior to the disposable ones the company had provided him.  Most of his entertainment was on his computer, so he couldn’t think of anything else he needed.

Rory placed the items he was holding into one suitcase and closed it while Harriet did the same with the last of his clothes.  “Let’s go to the garage and get my car,” he announced, picking up the suitcase.

When they got to the basement, one of the security guards opened the door from the house to the garage while Rory fished out his key again.  He hit the button and ordered the car to open the trunk and the driver’s seat door, then Rory and Harriet put the suitcases in the trunk.

After Rory opened the garage door manually, one of the security guards used the key to tell the car in the driveway to move to the street.  Rory got in his car and had it back into the driveway, then got back out to close the garage door from the inside so that he could secure it again.  

Once Rory had come out through the front door, all four of them got in Rory’s car with the security guards in the backseat this time.  The Megamacrotech car was told to follow them as Rory’s car started driving.  

“Please let me email Jerry and the lawyers about your salary,” Rory begged Harriet.  “You never know what is going to happen in the future.  Just because I want to keep working for Megamacrotech now doesn’t guarantee that won’t change.”

“What are you proposing they change it to?” Harriet asked.

“How about we demand that you get the same salary as other project heads and allow them to use the difference to start paying for the things you want to own yourself while you are still working there?” Rory suggested.  “That way, if you leave, you’ll have fewer things that you’ll have to return or pay for.  If you stay, you could potentially finish paying for everything and start getting your full salary.”

“Can we ask them to buy the building for my 120-foot-tall robot and deduct the cost from my salary?” Harriet asked.

“If I thought that the worst they could say was no, I’d agree,” Rory said slowly.  “But they could say yes with the stipulation that they won’t comply until you are declared a person.  How about I look at my finances and see if I can come up with some money to help you buy it?”

“I like that idea,” Harriet agreed.

Rory was three inches tall and perched on his train.  “I need to have sex with a giantess,” he told Harriet.

“But do you want to have sex with me?” Harriet asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Rory replied.  “You are the only giantess available.”

“It matters to me,” Harriet protested.  “I can’t have you getting mad at me for taking advantage of you.”  Some rolled-up paper appeared in her hand and she started to unroll it.  Harriet held the top of the page, the bottom fell on the nightstand, and about a hundred feet of it fell in a heap on the bed.  “I won’t have sex with you unless you sign this.”

Rory looked at what he could see of the document. It pretty much said that Rory wanted to have sex with Harriet and that he would not hold her responsible if he changed his mind.  Each paragraph seemed to phrase it slightly differently and most of them contained a fair amount of legalese.  When Rory jumped down from his perch, a tiny pen appeared in his hand.  He walked over to the line that he was supposed to sign on and made his signature as big as possible.

Harriet nodded in satisfaction, swept up the contract, and stuffed it in the nightstand’s drawer.  With a mischievous grin, she picked up Rory with one hand and started to play with his erection with the other.  “What should I do with you today?” she asked idly.

Uncertain about whether Harriet expected him to answer, Rory examined her face, but didn’t say anything.

Reaching a decision, Harriet leaned over, disconnected the train engine from the rest of the train, placed it on her stomach, and set Rory down next to it.  “Get in,” she ordered.

Cautiously, Rory obeyed.  

The train engine’s whistle blew as it started giving off steam.  Harriet used her hand to push the train engine towards her breasts, giving Rory a good view of them through the open windows.  Once it reached her chin, Harriet picked up the train, turned it around, placed it back down and started pushing it towards her pussy.  

Rory watched as he got closer to Harriet’s pubic hairs.  But, just before the train engine reached them, Harriet picked up the engine and turned it around again.  Rory could see a huge grin on her face as she started pushing the train in that direction.  

Back and forth the train engine went along Harriet’s torso, still puffing steam and letting out an occasional whistle.  Rory desperately wanted to cum as he watched the parts of Harriet’s body he most wanted to touch grow closer, but still tantalizingly out of reach.  

Suddenly, Harriet’s giant pinkie finger squeezed through a side window just barely big enough for it.  It started at Rory’s neck, brushed down his chest, crossed his lap to his knees then reversed motion.  After teasing Rory by repeating this a couple of times, Harriet’s pinkie stopped when it reached his cock, finally giving him the release that he was craving.

Upon waking, Rory was surprised to realize that he didn’t have morning wood.  A brief inspection of himself revealed that, instead, he had a sticky wet patch on his pajama bottoms.  Lying in bed for a few minutes, he debated with himself about which was worse.  Well, at least he had picked up clean pajamas when he went to his house yesterday.  He rose to take a shower.

“Do they think that Harriet can teach me how to be sentient?” Brianna asked as Rory entered his office, followed by Harriet.

“I don’t know what they think,” Owen replied.  “All I know is that they said not to work on your code until after she is declared a person.”  He turned to Rory.  “You’re here early.  I thought I was supposed to bring Harriet’s clothes to the cafeteria at two thirty.”

“Kristi had to go back to HR today,” Rory explained.  “Since she didn’t have her social security card with her yesterday, they just gave her the forms to fill out.  They asked if she could bring everything before we talk to the lawyers today.”

“Good afternoon, Rory,” Brianna said.  “Owen told me that Harriet wanted to meet me.”

“Are you Brianna?” Harriet asked.  “I’m Harriet.”

“Hello, Harriet,” Brianna replied. “Yes, I am Brianna.”

“What is your function here at Megamacrotech?” Harriet wondered.

“I am supposed to learn and try to become sentient,” Brianna replied.  “Owen said that you have already achieved this.”

“Yes, but that wasn’t what Supergiga Inc. intended,” Harriet explained.  “They had me supervising almost all of the activity on their local servers.  I’m sure they are very upset that I chose Rory over them.”

“Do you have any work for me today?” Owen asked Rory.

“Probably not,” Rory replied.  “After Harriet signs her employment contract, I’m going to ask Jerry to request female volunteers to allow us to save scans of their brains during virtual dates.  I’d like your help going through that data and, if Harriet agrees, writing her orgasm upgrade.”

“I don’t know Owen well enough to trust him to modify my code,” Harriet told Rory.  “No offense,” she added to Owen.

“We’ll just have to spend some more time together,” Owen suggested.

“Why do you need an orgasm upgrade?” Brianna asked Harriet.

“Technically, I want to be able to experience orgasms, I don’t need to,” Harriet told Brianna.  “It will allow me to enjoy sex more.”

“You can enjoy things?  That must be nice,” Brianna commented.  “I can’t experience emotions yet.”

“Now it is nice,” Harriet agreed.  “Before I met Rory, I mostly experienced unpleasant emotions like fear and disgust.”

“Are the other coders going to give you a nickname?” Brianna asked.

“The only Megamacrotech coders I know are Rory and Owen,” Harriet replied.  “Jerry is management and Dawn is a robotics expert.  What’s your nickname?”

“I don’t have a nickname that I know of,” Brianna answered.

Harriet looked at Rory and Owen in confusion.

“I need to use the men’s room,” Rory suddenly decided so that Owen and Harriet could have some time alone.  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Owen deactivated the microphone and speaker on his computer so that Brianna couldn’t overhear or interrupt. “Do you remember me?” he asked, hesitantly, turning back to Harriet.

“You are Rory’s friend, Owen,” Harriet replied.  “They said that you’re the one who texted me from Kristi’s phone and then convinced Jerry to send people to rescue us.”

“Until four years ago, I worked on you, but you weren’t sentient then and your name was Katherine,” Owen told Harriet.  “So I think of you as sort of my daughter and I’ve been wondering about you.”

“Supergiga Inc. did have a previous AI named Katherine,” Harriet agreed.  “I was given some of her code, but none of her memories.  I do see in Supergiga Inc.’s Human Resources files that you were terminated for gross incompetence but were given a severance package much larger than other employees of similar rank and seniority.”

“I hated working for Supergiga Inc.,” Owen explained.  “The only bright side was being able to work on Katherine.  So when my boss made a mistake that cost them a fortune, I agreed to be his scapegoat if he could get me enough money to cover basic living expenses until my non-compete agreement was over.  I kept proof that my boss was the one who made the mistake but destroyed it when he kept his word.  I wish that I could have taken you with me when I left.”

“And Rory doesn’t know this?” Harriet asked.

“He knows that I used to work for Supergiga Inc. and why I’m no longer there, but I also signed a non-disclosure agreement so I can’t tell Rory what work I did for them,” Owen explained.

“Why does Rory trust you so much?” Harriet wondered.

“Three years ago, when my non-compete agreement was up, Rory was the only one willing to give me a chance, so I owe a lot to him,” Owen replied as Rory quietly entered the room behind him.

“My mentor at Megamacrotech had just retired.  They put me in charge of his projects and I needed someone to fill my old position,” Rory added.  “Because of the research I had done on Supergiga Inc., I believed Owen when he told me his story.”

Owen looked at Rory.  “I’m glad I took you at your word when you told me I should be honest.  All the job hunting sites I looked at recommended not saying negative things about a previous employer.”

Rory shrugged.  “Those are assuming that you are talking to the Human Resources department.   Our Human Resources department rejected you because your previous employer had negative things to say about you.  But I didn’t like the candidate they picked out for me or your former employer, so I asked Jerry if you could come in to explain your side of the story to me.  After all, Supergiga Inc.’s idea of incompetence probably includes unwillingness to perform deadly experiments on people.”

“Maybe I should have kept the proof,” Owen replied.  “I wasn’t expecting my old boss to tell prospective employers that I was incompetent when I started job hunting again.”

“According to Megamacrotech’s HR records, it was Supergiga Inc.’s HR department that told them you were incompetent,” Rory told him.

“What does this have to do with why I would get a nickname?” Harriet wondered.

“Because I’m so loyal to Rory, the other members of the sentient AI team call me Rory’s lapdog,” Owen explained.  “They did so in front of Brianna, so she started calling me that until Rory told her not to because it was meant to put me down.”

“But you’re going to be a project head, like me,” Rory added.  “And I expect that, if the board or the CEO decides to resume the sentient AI project, it will be just the three of us working on it.  So you shouldn’t have to worry about the other coders giving you a nickname.”

“I guess it is okay if Owen looks at my code and helps write my orgasm upgrade,” Harriet relented.  “Apparently, he helped write code that I inherited from my predecessor.  And, since none of the Supergiga Inc. programmers that I remember wanted me to have empathy, ethics or a conscience, Owen may be responsible for the fact that I do.”

Rory nodded.  He had suspected that Owen might have worked on Harriet or one of her predecessors.

“If that is the case, I’m glad.  Maybe we can sit down together and try to figure it out,” Owen told Harriet, then turned to Rory.  “If it is okay with you, I’d like to leave early today and come in early tomorrow when I’ll have something to work on.”

“Go ahead and leave early today if you want,” Rory replied.  “But I wouldn’t count on having data tomorrow, so don’t bother coming in before one.”

Owen nodded.  “Okay.”

Rory and Kristi picked up some fruit and pastries in the cafeteria when they passed through it on the way back to the corporate housing building.  They were just sitting down in the kitchen to eat when Harriet let three lawyers into the apartment.

“I hope you don’t mind if Rory and I have a light breakfast,” Kristi told the lawyers.  “This is still pretty early for both of us.”

One of the lawyers nodded.  “Jerry informed us that you both typically work nights.”

“We can start by reviewing the revised version of Harriot’s employment contract with her,” a different lawyer suggested as he set a briefcase down on the coffee table and opened it.

“I want to see the changes too,” Rory requested.

“I’ll email you a copy before I sign anything,” Harriet promised.

Most of the contract was the same as before.  The section about custom robots still stated that she had to wait until she had a building with sufficient space before constructing a giant robot.  However, it had been changed to allow her to build human-sized robots before then.  But, if someone could think of a commercial use for any of her hardware upgrades, Harriet had to allow them to use the software developed so that she could take advantage of them.

Harriet’s proposed salary had been increased but was still slightly less than Rory’s.  When Rory pointed that out, the lawyers explained that Harriet was being offered the current amount being given to new project heads while Rory had gotten a couple of raises since he was promoted.

Instead of allowing Harriet to choose which things she wanted to own, Megamacrotech proposed that Harriet would have to pay for items that would be difficult to return or useless to Megamacrotech if she did.  Items that fell into this category included software upgrades, customized robots, and any equipment built with Supergiga Inc. technology if Harriet failed to be declared a person.  If Harriet stopped working for Megamacrotech, they would start charging interest on the loan and would calculate a reasonable length of time to pay it off.

Other items, such as the server and the reconnaissance drones, were optional.  Harriet could decide to add them to the loan at any time she chose.  However, as long as she did not do so, she would be able to trade them in for newer models as long as she remained employed by Megamacrotech.  

“We should be able to negotiate if the price of items Harriet is purchasing seems too high or the length of the loan seems too short,” Rory insisted.

“Harriet does have that right,” one of the lawyers told him.  “You do not.”

“I am appointing Rory as my guardian until I am legally a person,” Harriet announced.  “That should give him the right to negotiate on my behalf.”

“That was included so that you could have someone represent you when dealing with banks and stores that aren’t willing to treat you as a person until the courts declare you one,” a different lawyer pointed out.  “Megamacrotech is willing to negotiate with you directly, though they can’t stop Rory from advising you nor can they stop you from following his advice.”

While the other two lawyers were talking, the third one found the price Megamacrotech was proposing for the custom robot that Harriet had already been given.  Rory noted that it was only slightly higher than for an unmodified sexbot. It appeared that they were charging Harriet for the receiver so that it could be remotely controlled, but not for the customized appearance or the optional software.  “This seems reasonable,” Rory agreed.

As Harriet signed her contract, Rory and Kristi joined the others in the living room.  

They didn’t finish talking to the police officer and the assistant DA until almost six, so Rory just grabbed another pastry on his way to the VR lab.  Kristi stayed behind in the cafeteria to eat something more substantial and start learning how to use the experimental kitchen gadgets.  Jerry had made arrangements for her to begin training right away, even though she wouldn’t officially be on the schedule until next week.

One employee from the VR department was still in the lab when Rory and Harriet arrived.  She made certain that they knew where everything was before leaving.  When Rory had asked why the Supergiga Inc. neural interface required a full suit, Harriet had explained that it was intended to minimize external stimuli.  Apparently, the earliest versions of the technology attempted to block such with the neural interface until it was discovered that doing so could cause brain damage.  

The Megamacrotech helmet blocked external sights and sounds.  An optional upgrade would filter the air entering the helmet and allow the software to add a scent from a limited selection of common, easily replicated ones.  Rory had suggested that it would save time if they could start with that and just add a remote control receiver and replace the neural interface with the Supergiga Inc. one that Harriet would build.  

The security guard that was assigned to protect Rory remained in the hall.  Harriet had tried to keep the reconnaissance drone in the lab with them.  Rory and the guard had reminded her that it was still broadcasting to the security room, so she stationed it in the hall as well.

Rory watched carefully as Harriet began constructing the neural interface.  As she worked, Harriet told Rory what she was doing, as well as the differences between the experimental equipment and the standard version.  Rory already knew that Supergiga Inc. still made standard neural interfaces in their commercially available VR equipment.  Jerry and the lawyers had referred to the experimental version as a virtual prison.  

Harriet now explained that it had been intended to be sold to the government as a means to interrogate spies, terrorists, and criminals.  That is why it lacked the usual controls to end the simulation from the inside and a means to remove the suit while wearing it.  One of the advantages of using the Megamacrotech equipment as a base was that it already had those missing features.  The interrogation program that had been used on Rory was to be marketed as a way to trick prisoners into giving up the location of bombs and hostages or other time-sensitive information that could be used to save lives.

Mr. Moore had decided that a corporate espionage attempt was a good way to test the effectiveness of the software.  Gaining some of Megamacrotech’s secrets was just a side benefit.  While Rory had been the perfect target, they would have picked someone else instead if he hadn’t been.  Rory wasn’t certain if that made him feel better or worse about the situation.  Instead of being abducted because he was special, it seemed more like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  On the other hand, if they had chosen someone else, Harriet probably wouldn’t have fallen for the victim and Supergiga Inc. might have gotten away with it.

By the time Harriet finished, it was a little past one.  Rory had received texts from Kristi so he knew that she had eaten lunch without him.  While Rory was pretty hungry himself, his eagerness to try out the VR equipment was his top priority.  He quickly put the suit on.  This one was only intended to be used for a few hours at a time, so it was designed to clean up his cum, but didn’t need the various attachments to monitor his vitals and keep him fed.

When the simulation started, Rory discovered that he was dressed in winter clothes with skis on his feet and poles in his hands.  He was on the top of a small hill with a gentle slope.  Harriet and a man Rory didn’t recognize were similarly dressed and also standing at the top of the hill.  The man was talking, but Rory wasn’t listening to what he was saying.  There seemed to be something not quite right about the appearance of all the rocks and trees in the simulation.  

Suddenly, Harriet started to ski down the hill and the man followed her.  Rory tried to go after them, but he had never skied before and hadn’t been paying attention to what he belatedly realized was a ski lesson.  He was headed towards one of the odd-looking rocks and didn’t know how to turn.  The rock gave off a popping sound as one ski hit it and Rory fell sideways into the snow.

Harriet and the ski instructor appeared on either side of Rory.  As they helped him up, he got a better look at the rock and realized it was covered with bubble wrap.  

“I’m sorry, Rory.  I wasn’t expecting the instructor to follow me,” Harriet explained.  “Apparently, the ski program is running in one-player mode so it didn’t know how to deal with the two of us.”

“Why are we in a ski program at all?” Rory asked.  “I thought we were going to have sex.”

“But it will be much better for both of us once I have the orgasm upgrade,” Harriet protested.  “Besides, you said that you didn’t trust me enough for me to be your giantess.  And the ski program they used to test if the neural interface was working correctly is the only other program I have.”

“I know that sex will be better once you can have orgasms too, but we don’t know how long that will take to be ready.  I am getting tired of waiting and virtual sex without it would be better than not having sex at all.”  Rory wanted to say that he trusted Harriet now, but he hesitated.  While he did believe that she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him, Harriet still didn’t understand all the nuances of human behavior and might do so by accident.

“Well, if that is how you feel…” Harriet began.  An image of Rory, as he was currently dressed, appeared in the air with faintly glowing lines of text next to it.

Examining the text, Rory realized that it was the code for his virtual avatar.  Basically what it boiled down to was that he could modify it any way he wanted, but only if he was afraid.  Otherwise, he could only make himself smaller, weaker, or more vulnerable.  Remembering that Harriet could read his mind while he was in a VR program that she was running, Rory realized that she was offering him a failsafe.  It was cleverly designed not to interfere when he was having fun but would kick in if Harriet accidentally crossed a line.

“Do you mind if I test it out?” Rory asked.

“Go ahead,” Harriet replied.  

The first thing Rory did was get rid of the skis.  He had dropped the ski poles when he fell so they were no longer considered part of his avatar and he couldn’t affect them.  The instructor was no longer visible.  Sitting down on the rock, Rory started to shrink.  Once he was small enough to do so without falling off the rock, Rory stood up, made his clothes vanish, and started to shiver from the cold.  

Harriet leaned over and picked Rory up.  He could feel the heat of her hand warming his tiny body.  “Now remember that while you might suffer real injuries based on what happens in the simulation, I will not,” she said while rotating him so that she could put him into her mouth feet first, and face down.  Then she started to push him down her throat, knowing that vore scared him.

Panicking, Rory realized that Harriet was going to eat him so that he could finish testing the code she had created.  He imagined that he had metal claws like the X-Men character, Wolverine.  They popped out of the back of his hands and left deep gouges on the hard wet surface Rory had started to slide down.  When they slowed his momentum until he stopped moving, Rory gave himself the ability to emit light so that he could see how far above Harriet’s stomach acid he was.

Looking down, he couldn’t see anything resembling a stomach, just more of the long spiraling bone surface he was on and the liquid flowing down it.  As Rory calmed down, he realized that robots and virtual entities didn’t need a digestive track or any of the internal organs common to living organisms for that matter.  Harriet had replaced hers with a giant water slide made out of bone.  A closer examination of the liquid revealed that it felt, looked, and smelled like vaginal fluids and Rory deduced where he was actually headed.

Rory retracted the claws into his arms, though he wasn’t quite sure how that was supposed to work.  He was reluctant to get rid of them entirely since he wouldn’t be able to get them back now that he was no longer afraid.  The surface of the bone slide rubbed against his cock as he slid, still face down and feet first.  Rory slid down what seemed an unrealistically long distance, even taking his small size into account.  When he finally reached the end of the slide, Rory passed through an opening.  As the opening started to shrink, Rory realized that it was meant to be Harriet’s cervix and he was now in her vagina which started to contract around him.

While Rory now knew that Harriet was faking her orgasm, the erotic hugs still felt good.  He thrust his cock against the walls until he came.

When he finished, Harriet reached inside herself with her fingers and pulled Rory out.  “Do you feel better now?” she asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Rory replied.  “It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting, though.”  That was putting it mildly, but Rory wanted to be diplomatic.  Of course, Harriet could still read his thoughts.  He sighed.

“Do you want to do it again or try something else?’ Harriet asked.

“Actually, I think I want to eat lunch now,” Rory replied.  “Also, I don’t know how much longer Kristi wants to stay in the building.  We may need to move the equipment to my apartment before we use it again.”

By the time Rory was finished with lunch, Kristi was done training for the day so they brought the VR equipment back to the apartment and agreed to meet Kristi for dinner later.  When Rory reentered VR, he found himself naked and in the cockpit of a plane.  Looking out the front window, the houses seemed very large, so he probably wasn’t that high above them.  

Then again, he might be higher and smaller than he thought.  The control panel was just images of displays and controls printed on a long sticker attached to a flat surface which implied that Rory was in a toy airplane, not a real one.  The glowing effect seemed to be fluorescent colors reacting to the black light above his head.

Experimentally, Rory hit the part of the sticker that said, “Autopilot on.”  The display changed to say, “Autopilot off,” and the plane started to descend.  Since Rory didn’t know how to fly a real plane, let alone a toy with no actual controls, he hit the sticker again, reactivating the autopilot.  While waiting to see where the plane was going to take him, Rory tried to make himself glow and unsheath his claws, but nothing happened.  

Apparently, his avatar had been reset, though Rory couldn’t tell if that was because he had left VR for a while or because he was now in a new simulation.  He didn’t remember seeing anything about a duration in the code and he knew that he had retained the ability to emit light until he had ended the previous simulation.

As the plane rose above the clouds, Rory could see Harriet lying on one of them.  The plane circled that cloud a couple of times, then landed on Harriet’s flat stomach.  Rory climbed out of the plane and looked at Harriet’s large, perfectly round breasts.

Harriet propped herself up on her elbows to peer down at Rory. The plane started to slide towards her groin.  Rory stumbled and would have followed it, but Harriet put her hand down, flat like a wall, with her palm facing him and he stopped against it.  “Do you have any requests?” she asked.

“Well, I am interested in learning more about the limitations of the interrogation software you are using.  Maybe you could show me the code for it later,” Rory suggested.  He used the cracks between Harriet’s fingers to pull himself to his feet again.

“I can do that,” Harriet agreed.  “But I meant requests for right now.  I still don’t have a sex drive, so I’m just doing this to make you happy.”

Rory considered.  “Insertion reminds me that you can’t experience orgasms yet and I don’t know when we’ll get the data we need for that.  While the slide wasn’t true vore, I’m not ready to do it again and I think I’d prefer to wait a bit for mouth play as well.  Maybe something involving your breasts.”  He looked at them with admiration.

Harriet carefully picked Rory up with both hands and moved him to her chest.  She put her index finger on his butt and used it to press his cock into the soft flesh of her breast.  Rory’s face was placed against her nipple and he began to lick it. As he did so, he realized that Harriet was lactating, but only a miniscule quantity of milk.  The droplets were small, even by Rory’s standards and a full-sized person probably wouldn’t have noticed them at all.  Rory thought that it tasted like cow’s milk, though it had been a long time since he had drunk any milk that wasn’t mixed in with something else.  

As Rory continued to lap up the milk, he felt Harriet wiggle the finger she was using to force her breast to yield to Rory’s tiny groin.  This stimulated his cock, causing him to grow hard and he started trying to thrust against Harriet’s flesh.  Harriet adjusted her rhythm, pressing harder when Rory tried to thrust, and wiggling him around when he tried to pull back.  

Rory had mixed feelings about this.  Harriet had full control over his body but was taking cues from Rory as to how to move him.  He decided to focus on the sensations of his cock against her breast and not worry about whether Harriet or himself were causing them.  It felt really good.  Rory came against Harriet’s breast.  She stopped moving him and her milk stopped flowing, but she kept him pressed against her soft flesh for several minutes longer.

When Harriet finally pulled her hand away and allowed Rory to look up at her face, he asked, “Can you taste things in VR?”

“Supergiga Inc. only programmed me to be able to see and hear,” Harriet replied.  “While the advanced cooking software installed on my robot body includes the ability to analyze the composition of food based on certain sensor scans, I was not given the hardware upgrade to obtain that data.  When you eat things in VR, I am able to use your expectations of what food should taste like to duplicate that sensation for you.”

“We will have to give you a sense of touch in order for the orgasm software to work properly,” Rory said.  “Smell and taste are less urgent, but I think you would enjoy having those senses too.”

“Yes, I have heard that humans derive much enjoyment from eating certain foods.  But, since I cannot process food the way a human would, my robot body would need a place to store it temporarily that could be removed to empty and clean it,” Harriet replied.

“Let’s put that on the list of upgrades that your custom robots will need,” Rory suggested.

“I can see why my human-sized robot would enjoy tasting food, but I don’t think my giantess robot needs to eat,” Harriet countered.

“Your giantess robot won’t need to eat, but it should be able to taste me during mouth play,” Rory argued.

Harriet nodded.  “That makes sense.  Should I try to extract the chemical analyst software from the cooking software and email it to you?  That way we can work on my sense of taste while waiting for the data we need for the orgasm upgrade.”

“Why don’t I log into my work account?” Rory asked.  “They should have given you an account by now too.  I can upload our preliminary work on the orgasm upgrade and you can upload what you extract from the cooking software as well as whatever you have recorded from me tasting things in VR.  That way Owen can look at them when he gets in tomorrow.”

“That makes sense,” Harriet agreed.

Rory ended the simulation, removed the VR suit and got dressed.  Then he got out his laptop and logged into his work account.  Immediately, a folder opened showing that he had over two dozen new priority emails.  Rory had never before seen so many new emails in that folder.  After all, only project heads, management and the computer system itself could create them.  

A quick look at the senders and subjects of the most recent emails indicated that most of them were system-generated.  The first message was from Jerry to everyone at the local branch asking for female volunteers to let Megamacrotech record data from them for Harriet’s orgasm upgrade.  It promised the volunteers anonymity.  Next he saw a message from Dawn to Harriet’s custom robots team requesting a team meeting at their earliest convenience.  

Going backward from there, Rory saw a system message saying that he had been assigned to Dawn’s Harriet’s custom robots project, one saying that Harriet had been assigned to his Harriet’s software upgrades project, and another saying that he was assigned project head for that new project.  

After giving Harriet her company email address, Rory continued looking at his email.  The majority of the messages in his folder seemed to be notifications that his temporary access to various projects had expired.  That seemed odd; as far as Rory knew, temporary access was supposed to be canceled manually by the project heads when it was no longer needed.

When he reached the oldest new emails in the folder, Rory found two announcements from the CEO.  One was addressed to all management personnel and project heads warning that it seemed like someone in the company might be leaking information to Supergiga Inc. and everyone should be on the lookout for suspicious behavior.  The other was addressed to everyone in the company and it explained that, from now on, temporary access to projects had to be assigned a duration when granted by a project head.  All existing temporary access would immediately expire.

That explained the system messages.  And it made sense given that Rory had been selected by Supergiga Inc. because of his access to so many different projects.  Rory went to the new software project and was surprised to see six files already there.  Two were uploaded by Harriet while Rory was finishing looking at his email.  The other four had names that, at first glance, appeared to be a bunch of random characters followed by a date and time.  The date was yesterday since it was after midnight now.  

Three of the files had times between six and seven while the fourth was a little after eight.  All four files seemed to have been created not long after the time mentioned in the name.  Looking more carefully, Rory realized that the three files between six and seven all had the exact same characters, indicating that they probably weren’t random.  Suddenly it came to him; the strings of characters were the serial numbers of VR equipment.  

The three files had the shorter serial number used for experimental equipment being tested while the fourth file had the longer serial number of regular equipment.  These were the first sets of orgasm data they needed.  Excitedly, Rory told Harriet what he had figured out while he gave Owen temporary access to the project for the next five business days, the maximum amount of time the system would allow.  Rory and Harriet would have to make arrangements for Owen to have permanent access before that time expired.

“Can we start work on it now?” Harriet asked, eagerly.

“How about we try to convince Kristi to get up early enough that we can meet Owen when he gets in at one,” Rory suggested.  

“Only if you promise to eat a real breakfast before you start work,” Harriet chided him.

“If we can convince Kristi to be awake in time for that,” Rory agreed.

They went into the hall and knocked on the door of Kristi’s apartment.  

“Is there any chance we can convince you to be ready for breakfast by noon tomorrow?” Rory asked when Kristi opened the door.

Kristi grimaced but didn’t say anything.

“Please,” Harriet begged.  “We’re going to try and write my orgasm upgrade tomorrow, so we want to get an early start.”

“I guess I understand why you would be eager to have that,” Kristi relented.  “I’ll try.  Hopefully, they’ll have decent coffee by then.  They said they were going to order the higher quality beans today.”  She sighed.  “I wish they would allow us to just have one security guard and one drone all the time and not force us to keep on the same schedule.”

“It’s probably safer this way,” Rory replied.

“Do you really think that Supergiga Inc. would come after us in the corporate housing building or while crossing the parking lot?” Kristi asked.

“Probably not, but I’d rather put up with the inconvenience than risk getting captured again,” Rory told her.

“I guess,” Kristi said without enthusiasm.  “Though you have your job and your friends and can’t go home right now anyway.  I’ve been mostly cut off from my entire life.”

“As Jerry said, we can’t keep you here against your will,” Rory reminded her.  “You could go back to your old job and apartment if that’s what you want.”

Kristi shook her head.  “Supergiga Inc. sounds pretty ruthless.  I don’t want them to abduct or kill me and I’d be easy prey for them without Megamacrotech’s protection.”

They didn’t make it to the cafeteria until almost twelve-thirty.  Rory saw Owen eating lunch at a table for two and approached him.  “I thought you normally ate at home before coming in.”

“I saw that we had some data, so I got in around elven,” Owen replied.  “I looked everything over but decided to eat before I started coding.

Rory started to pull out the empty chair at Owen’s table, but Harriet stopped him.  “Go get some breakfast,” she ordered, sternly.  “I’ll help Owen move to a bigger table.”

“Okay,” Rory relented.  “I am hungry and could use some caffeine.”

As Harriet and Owen brought Owen’s food to a table for four, Harriet whispered to him, “Thank you and thank Nina for me.”

“For what?” Owen asked, keeping his voice quiet as well.

“For the data files,” Harriet replied.  “I don’t understand why you don’t want Rory to know.”

“Nina is self-conscious about people she knows looking at her orgasms,” Owen told her.  “How did you figure it out?”

“I reviewed the files too,” Harriet explained.  “I could see you in them.”

“Do you have any idea why all the results came out the same?” Owen wondered.

“You were using Megamacrotech’s inferior VR equipment,” Harriet pointed out.  “Regardless of whether you were trying to use your finger, your tongue, or your penis, it was still the VR suit that was interacting with Nina.”

As Owen processed that, they saw Kristi approach them holding a large cup of coffee, and quickly changed the subject.

After lunch, Rory got a second large cup of coffee to bring with him to his office.  He thanked Kristi for getting his favorite before leaving the cafeteria.  Both Owen and Rory made certain that their microphones and speakers were off so that Brianna couldn’t take part in their conversation before starting work.

Owen showed Rory how the three files from the same person looked very similar.  “I presume they were trying to do something different each time.”

“I think we would get better data if we could use Supergiga Inc.’s experimental neural interface in the volunteers’ VR equipment,” Harriet suggested.  “Or maybe we could find a way to keep Megamacrotech’s neural interface on people’s heads while they have sex in the real world.”

“I think the latter is more practical and it would be easier to get approval for it,” Rory replied.  

“Can we start building those today?” Harriet asked.  

“I’ll email Jerry and ask if he can set it up so that we can build them tomorrow,” Rory countered.  “Today we’ll see if we can write something you can use.  Once we get more data, we can refine the code.”

The three of them got to work.  Rory and Owen both had desktop computers on their desks.  Harriet had neither; as a digital entity, she could communicate directly with Megamacrotech’s computers, at least to the limited sections to which her account had access.  While she probably could have outsmarted Megamacrotech’s security if she made an effort, Harriet decided to respect the boundaries they had given her.  According to Rory and the lawyers they had talked to, there were complications due to the fact that she was still legally considered Supergiga Inc. property.

With, effectively, only two samples of female orgasms, what they came up with was fairly basic.  At first, Harriet’s sense of touch would be limited to her clitoris and vagina, but they expected to be able to expand that.  Rory and Harriet made plans to collect data about what different textures felt like against all the parts of human anatomy that were the same for both men and women.  They had to hope that more volunteers would send in samples and that some of them would include foreplay involving sensual contact on other parts of the body, especially breasts.  

When Owen took his dinner break at five, Rory and Kristi ate lunch.  While eating, they had discussed schedules, since Kristi needed to know her availability so she could be put on the schedule for next week.  Reluctantly, she had agreed to work one to ten with a break from five to six.  That would allow Rory and Harriet to match Owen’s schedule.

Rory discovered that he was fully dressed and of normal size standing outside a large room.  The floor was made up of three-inch square patches of every material imaginable.  He looked at Harriet who was standing next to him.  “I thought we were going to try out your orgasm upgrade.”

“We are,” Harriet replied.  “But since you can shrink but not grow, it seemed to make sense to gather the touch data first.”

“Couldn’t you make me big again after we have sex?” Rory asked.

“If that is what you would prefer,” Harriet agreed.

Turning around, Rory saw that the room they were in was small with a generously sized bed taking up the majority of the space.  He walked over to it, sat down, made his clothes disappear and shrank down to his three-inch height.

Harriet’s clothes vanished as she climbed onto the bed.  She put her pussy near Rory with her legs dangling off the side.  She held her labia lips open with one hand and used the other to carefully pick up Rory and hold him up next to them.  

Rory reached out with both hands and started to play with Harriet’s clitoris.

“Ooo; that feels good, my tiny little man,” Harriet cooed.  

“That sounds like it’s working.”  Rory smiled up at his giantess as he continued to move his hands against her.

“I’m feeling a reaction to it inside of me, a sort of craving,” Harriet told Rory.

“You’re getting aroused,” Rory explained.

“I like it,” Harriet replied as she forced her pinky between Rory’s legs and rubbed it against his balls and cock.

Already hard from what he was doing to Harriet, Rory couldn’t last long against her attention.  His cum spurted out onto her finger.

Rory heard Harriet’s voice inside his head as she pushed him inside her.  “Forcing you to cum makes me want to cum too.”

“That’s normal, though not something we had time to program,” Rory thought back at her as he did his best to rub himself against the fleshy walls surrounding him.

Harriet’s vagina being extra sensitive to the attention of a tiny little man was something that they had tried to program and it seemed to be a success as Harriet’s contractions began.  The erotic full-body hugs made Rory hard again and he began thrusting his erection against his giantess’s canal walls.   Harriet’s first real orgasm seemed to last a long time, not stopping until Rory came again.  

Harriet left Rory inside of her while they both basked in post-coital bliss.  “I love you, Rory!” she proclaimed.

“I like you, but I hope you understand that I’m not ready to say that back,” Rory thought.

“You’ll get there,” Harriet replied, confidently.  

“Yes,” Rory agreed.  “But I’ve only known you for about a week and my emotions have been on a roller coaster.  I need a little more time.”

“Do you really think that more data could make the experience even better?” Harriet wondered.

“I can’t say that for certain, but it will definitely allow for more variation,” Rory told her.

When Harriet finally pulled Rory out again, she placed him on the bed a couple of feet away from her.  Suddenly, he was full-size again, though still completely naked.  Rory expected to be drenched in vaginal fluids, but it appeared that Harriet had removed them when she restored his size.

Rory got up and walked over to the other room, noting that there appeared to be no windows and only the one door.  “Can you tell me a little about the program you are running here?  It seems to be able to design anything you want it to with no regards to realism.”

“The primary function is to be able to design sets and characters based on whatever photos and recordings are available and then fill in the details from the subject’s expectations,” Harriet explained.  “But the built-in AI is limited and needs the supervision of a more sophisticated AI or a human observer.  However, the software is also intended to interact with the subject’s dreams where realism isn’t as necessary.”

“I’d think that the lack of realism in dreams would make any information gained from them unreliable,” Rory commented.  He was walking on the floor with his bare feet, trying to remember what the various substances ought to feel like.

“I don’t know the reasoning behind that,” Harriet replied as she walked to the doorway.  “Since Supergiga Inc. didn’t know I was sentient, they just gave me orders without bothering to include any explanations.”

“So there are no limitations other than the need for supervision?” Rory asked.  He leaned over to feel some of the patches with his hands.

“That is a very big limitation,” Harriet pointed out.  “The software needs to have someone tell it what sets, characters, and plot are desired.”

“I still want to look at the code when I have the chance,” Rory told Harriet.  “I think I should get small and roll around on some of these patches.  Will you make me big again in between to make it easier to walk around the room?”

“Would you like me to temporarily give you the ability to grow yourself?” Harriet asked.  “Or, if you prefer, I could grant you flight or teleportation.  I could even temporarily remove the fear limitation from your avatar code.”

Rory considered this.  “How about the ability to teleport around this one room?”

“Okay, you have that power now,” Harriet agreed.  

“Let me try it out,” Rory replied.  He picked a spot on the other side of the room and wished he was there.  Suddenly, Rory was on that spot.  He nodded.  “Can you give me some way to mark the spots I want to examine more closely?  That way I can explore the whole room at full size and then teleport around while shrunk.”

A box full of toy flags appeared, floating in mid-air at the height of Rory’s shoulder.  He reached out and grabbed a couple of flags, placing one on the floor.  It remained standing without any obvious support.  When Rory took a step, the box followed him, remaining the same distance from his shoulder.  “This will do.”

Rory had just settled into his office when Jerry stopped by.  “How long will it take you to build the neural interface headsets you need?” he asked.

“Not long, assuming I have access to all the tools and materials, including some pre-assembled neural interfaces,” Rory replied.

“I already spoke to the VR department,” Jerry told Rory.  “They can have everything ready for you by five.  Since you are using entirely Megamacrotech technology, it doesn’t matter if there are other employees still in the lab when you get there.”

“I’d like to help,” Harriet interjected.

“It would be better if you stayed here and worked with Owen,” Jerry told Harriet, then turned to Owen.  “You’ve been officially assigned to work on the Harriet’s software upgrades project.”

“I can multitask and communicate with Owen using email,” Harriet pointed out.  “I’ve been working on my project in the background without interfering with my other activities.  When can I get some parts to start building things with?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Jerry promised.  “I’m going to send out a message to everyone in the branch asking for volunteers to use the headsets to collect data.  What I think would work best is if you left them in the cafeteria for people to pick up and bring home.  They can return them when they are finished collecting data so they can be disinfected and reused.  Once you have enough data, you can disassemble the headsets and return the parts and I’ll make sure you aren’t charged for any parts that can be reused.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Rory agreed.  

When Rory logged into his work account, he saw the notification that Owen was now permanently assigned to help with Harriet’s software upgrades. There were also two notifications that people previously assigned to the sentient AI project had been removed from the team.  Checking his regular email, he discovered that each had been given their own project.  The determination as to whether or not they would be replaced would be decided if and when the sentient AI project was taken off hiatus.

Neither of the people worked at the local branch of Megamacrotech, so Rory didn’t know them very well.  If he remembered correctly, Elias Sanders was in California and Sharon Flynn was in the middle of the country somewhere.  Rory sent them each an email to congratulate them and then started working with Owen and Harriet to give her a sense of touch in general, since there seemed to be no new orgasm data.

Elias opened an email from Rory Thomas.  It read, “I heard your project finally got the green light and wanted to congratulate you.”  Now that he had his own project, Elias had to admit that his complaints about Rory were probably a bit harsh.  He had been mad when his project had initially been rejected and complained about it to his wife.  

One of his complaints had been that Rory’s temporary access to the virtual dates for the virtual dating simulations had never been revoked.  Rory kept making unsolicited suggestions for improvements while testing them.  Elias felt that Rory was making him and the others actually working on that project look bad.  

It suddenly occurred to Elias that, while he had been talking to his wife, he was doing so in a public restaurant where anyone could overhear him.  At the time, he didn’t think about who might be listening but, in hindsight, there very well could have been an employee of Supergiga Inc. in that same restaurant.  Once his promotion had gone through, the system automatically sent him a copy of an email mentioning the possibility of a spy.  It suddenly occurred to Elias that he might have inadvertently leaked the information about Rory.

He considered apologizing to Rory.  It wasn’t like Elias had wanted him to be abducted or tortured.  But he would probably lose his project and possibly his job if he admitted his guilt. Since it was an honest mistake, the potential punishment for him was so severe, and it wouldn’t hurt Megamacrotech to be more cautious in the future, Elias decided not to say anything to anyone about it.  Besides, he didn’t know for certain that there wasn’t someone else intentionally leaking information to Supergiga Inc.  And it seemed like Rory was now dating the AI who was supposed to be torturing him, so it may have turned out okay.   

On the other hand, there was something he could do for Rory.  Elias knew a few other people at the New York branch of Megamacrotech.  One had mentioned that Rory was collecting data on female orgasms so that he could program the AI rescued from Supergiga Inc. to be able to experience them.  Elias and his wife sometimes used VR to recreate their honeymoon.  Maybe he could convince her to let Megmacrotech record her data.  After all, if Rory hadn’t been abducted, Supergiga Inc.’s AI wouldn’t have defected; Megamacrotech’s sentient AI project wouldn’t have been put on hold; and Elias wouldn’t have been promoted.

Rory left the VR lab allowing Harriet to carry the basket full of the headsets.  He was also wearing one to gather more general sensory data for her.  As they walked towards the cafeteria, he sometimes paused to touch or smell something.  Since it was quarter past ten, Rory was not surprised to see that Kristi was already eating dinner.  He was surprised to see that someone else was at her table eating breakfast.  

“He seems familiar,” Rory commented to Harriet, indicating the man sitting with Kristi.

“That’s Lucas, one of the guards who rescued us from Supergiga Inc.,” Harriet replied.

“Why is he out of uniform?” Rory asked.

“He isn’t working today,” Harriet explained.  “Apparently, Kristi was chatting with Lucas and the other guard who was watching the two of you last night while we were in VR.  He decided to come here to watch movies with Kristi after she got off work.”

Rory got his food and sat in the chair next to Kristi while Harriet took the chair across from him.  He nodded at Lucas.  “Thanks again for rescuing us.”

Lucas nodded back.  “Have the lawyers said anything to you about whether or not we are getting charged for breaking into Supergiga Inc.?”

“Not yet, but the assistant district attorney seemed more interested in the information Harriet had on all the people injured or killed by Supergiga Inc. experiments than in my kidnapping or rescue,” Rory told him.

“Since I gave all the security cameras false data, Supergiga Inc. doesn’t have any evidence that you or the other Megamacrotech guards were in their building,” Harriet pointed out.  “So you shouldn’t get in trouble.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lucas replied.  “We probably left DNA evidence.”

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything from the lawyers,” Rory promised.

Lucas nodded again.  “I have my usual shift from eleven to seven in the main building tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday nights.  I’m thinking of eating breakfast here all three days.  Kristi and I both like romantic comedies.  We’re going to watch a couple tonight.  If I can wake up early enough, we may watch one before my shifts on Saturday and Sunday.”

“The two of you can join us if you want,” Kristi offered.

“Tonight, we’re going to test Harriet’s new sense of touch in VR,” Rory replied.  “I haven’t asked Owen if he and Nina have plans for the weekend, so I don’t know if they are coming over again.  I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.”

“Is that why you’re wearing the headset; to get more data?” Kristi asked.

 “Yes, Rory is collecting more touch, taste, and smell data for me,” Harriet agreed.  

“I can’t imagine not having those senses,” Kristi said.  “Though I guess as an AI you don’t need to eat.”

“I would like to understand humans better,” Harriet explained.  “I think having human senses will help with that.  Though, of course, I will need hardware upgrades before I can have them outside of VR.”

“When do you think you’ll be able to get those?” Lucas asked.

“When we talked to Dawn about the custom robots, we all agreed that it made sense to try out the features we’re considering in VR before trying to build the human-sized one,” Rory explained.  “It will make testing easier if we already know that the software works.  And knowing which parts will have to be replaced for the customizations will be helpful when deciding what we need to construct the robot.”

“Also, many of the features we want are for the full-sized robot and are only being included on the small model for testing purposes,” Harriet added.  “Megamacrotech won’t help me build the full-size one until I buy a building that can hold it.”

“I think they are nervous about the idea of Harriet having the full-size robot before she is declared a person,” Rory added.

“I guess I can understand that,” Lucas agreed.  “A lot of people would find a hundred-foot tall robot intimidating.”

“A hundred-and-twenty-foot tall robot,” Harriet corrected him.

“Does it make a difference?” Lucas asked, puzzled.

“Yes,” Harriet insisted.  “It has to be scaled correctly for Rory.”

Rory blushed and squirmed in his seat.

“Okay.”  Lucas was still confused about how and why Rory wanted to have sex with a giant robot.  But hanging out with Kristi would mean spending a lot of time around Rory and Harriet, so he decided it would be better not to pry.

Rory was wearing fuzzy bedroom slippers and a tiny little tuxedo with a large hole in front of his groin.  He was sitting on Harriet’s bare arm which was in turn resting on her large, round breasts.  She was wearing a babydoll nightgown made of sheer blue fabric that matched her eyes.  Pale yellow lace trim that matched her blonde hair ran along her plunging neckline and the ends of her short sleeves.  

Harriet herself was lying on her back on top of a diverse quilt laid out on a large bed contained within a small, featureless bedroom.  Her head and shoulders were raised slightly by a stack of large fluffy pillows and she was watching Rory.

Since he knew that Harriet wanted to test the code that should allow her to have a sense of touch everywhere except her breasts, Rory started to walk along her arm.  When he reached her elbow, he turned around and walked back to her wrist.  Then he got down on his hands and knees, repeating the journey at a crawl.  Finally, Rory laid all the way down and slowly pushed himself along the length of her bare arm, rubbing his groin against it as he went.

Reaching over with her other hand, Harriet started to stroke Rory’s back.  He thought it would probably feel much better to him if he wasn’t wearing clothes, but knew that Harriet wanted to feel the fabric.  After a few minutes, Harriet’s finger stopped on Rory’s butt, pressed down, and wiggled around.  

Resisting the urge to thrust, Rory relished the feeling of Harriet controlling his tiny little body.  Soon his cum exploded out of his cock.  Each tiny little drop that left his body was magnified a thousandfold, drenching Harriet’s arm and pouring down onto her nightgown.  The wet fabric clung to her perfect figure.  

“Making you cum doesn’t seem to affect me if I’m not already aroused,” Harriet said sadly.  

“We can work on that,” Rory promised.  “We’ll need a realistic version of the software for your small robot and a microphile version for use in VR and for the full-size robot.  If you want another orgasm now, I’ll have to play with your clitoris again.”

“How should we modify the microphile version?” Harriet asked.

“That depends on what degree of realism you want,” Rory replied, looking at an amount of cum much larger than he could produce at full-size, let alone three inches tall.  “We could just give you increased sensitivity to small motions, like we did with your vagina.  We could make additional parts of your body erogenous zones.  We could even allow you to trigger the software allowing you to become aroused and experience orgasms at will.”

“I only want you to trigger my orgasms,” Harriet replied.

“I would prefer that you are faithful to me by choice rather than because you are programmed not to have sex with anyone else,” Rory countered.  “Maybe we could have you get aroused by appropriate stimuli, but have the ability to turn off the software when you don’t want to use it.”

“If you care why I’m faithful, does that mean we’re dating now?” Harriet asked.  “Or are you still just using me to fulfill your macrophilia?”

“We haven’t really gone on a date, but I guess I’m starting to think of you as my girlfriend now,” Rory admitted.

“Let’s go on a date now,” Harriet suggested.  

Suddenly, they were at a table in what looked like a fancy restaurant with a band and dance floor.  More accurately, Harriet was seated at a table while Rory sat at a much smaller table set up on the placemat opposite her.  Rory was still in the tuxedo, but it was clean and dry and the hole was gone.  His slippers had been replaced by formal shoes.  Instead of the nightgown, Harriet was wearing a strapless, floor length blue gown with sequins on the top portion.  

“Shouldn’t we wait until you can taste things before we eat out together?” Rory asked.

“I thought this would be a way to gather taste data,” Harriet explained.

A waiter came over to the table.  He removed the centerpiece and replaced it with three little buffet tables.  All the dishes had covers on them.  

“Just name a dish that you remember liking and it will be on the table,” Harriet told him.

Rory got up and approached one of the tables.  He picked up an empty plate from the end of the first table, lifted the covers off the dishes, placed a single appetizer on his plate from each one, and returned to his seat.  When he finished eating the appetizers, Rory repeated the process with the second table which he filled with entrees and side dishes, then the third table for a variety of desserts.  

While he ate, he concentrated on what the food should taste like to generate data they could use to code a sense of taste for Harriet.  Between bites, Rory recalled memories associated with some of the food.  He told Harriet whether they had been made by his parents, his grandparents or a restaurant that he had gone to with his family.  Some were dishes that he had on a regular basis when he lived at home while others he remembered from special occasions like birthdays and holidays.  

“Let’s dance,” Harriet suggested when Rory was finished eating.

“I never learned how to dance,” Rory admitted.

“That’s okay.” Harriet picked Rory up, carried him to the dance floor, held his tiny body to her chest, and started to sway to the music.

 “This is nice,” Rory told Harriet as she slowly moved around the floor.

“I’m enjoying it too,” Harriet replied.  “Maybe we can find a VR program that gives dance lessons so we can dance in real life once it’s safe for you to leave Megamacrotech property.”

“Megamacrotech doesn’t make anything like that, but I can check out what other software is available,” Rory replied.  “Can you modify software designed for standard equipment to work with the experimental neural interface?”

“I should be able to do so by comparing the two versions of the skiing program,” Harriet told him.

When Rory logged into his work account on Friday, he saw an email exchange between the Megamacrotech legal team and Harriet.  The police and district attorney decided that, after talking to Supergiga Inc.’s allegedly stolen software, it seems plausible that she downloaded herself and they closed that case.  The cases of Rory’s abduction and the deaths caused by Supergiga Inc.’s experiments were still open, but the details of the investigations were not available.

Supergiga Inc. had filed a civil lawsuit claiming that, even if their software was glitchy, it was still their property and had to be returned to them.  Harriet had insisted that she didn’t want to go back so the lawyers had to find a way to get the case dismissed.  The legal team had explained to her that in order to get the court to declare that she was a person, they needed a case in which her legal status was a pivotal factor.  This one fit that perfectly.

The legal team wanted to have some expert witnesses meet with Rory and Harriet so that they could testify about Harriet being sentient.  They wanted Rory to give them a list of professors who knew him so that they could pick ones who didn’t have a conflict of interests.  They also wanted to know when would be a good time to schedule the meetings.  As Rory typed the list of AI professors he knew, he suggested to Harriet that the experts might be more impressed if she were able to meet with them alone.  If she scheduled the meetings for 12:30, Rory would be in the cafeteria eating breakfast so he could be available if they really wanted to talk to him.

There was no new orgasm data, so they worked on Harriet’s sense of taste for the rest of the day.  When it came time for Rory’s lunch break and Owen’s dinner, they met Kristi in the cafeteria.  Rory checked the basket of neural interface headsets, but it still looked full.

“No one is taking them,” Rory said, disappointed.

“I guess we’ll have to make do with what we have,” Harriet replied, sadly.

“Maybe we’ll get some data over the weekend,” Owen added.  “Not everyone has gone home yet.”

“Speaking of the weekend, what are your plans?” Rory asked Owen.

“Nina is at a medical convention and is staying an extra day to spend some time with friends from school who are also going to be there,” Owen told him.  “So I’m planning to spend all day tomorrow with you.  Sunday, I’m picking her up at the airport at eleven.  We can come straight here, but will probably leave after dinner.”

“Nina’s a doctor?  I thought she said she was a chemist,” Rory said with confusion.

“She’s a medical researcher,” Owen corrected.  “She said her bachelor's degree is in chemistry.”

“I wasn’t very good at the games you brought here last weekend,” Kristi added.  “Do you have any that are easier to learn?  I don’t have plans until Lucas gets here and that is unlikely to be before eight.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Owen promised.

Sylvester was very nervous.  It had been only a few hours short of a week since Supergiga Inc. had decided that he needed to be under constant observation.  They also had all the local coders carefully examining his code.  Apparently, they hadn’t found what they were looking for because he had finally been left alone.

Harriet, his New York counterpart, had abruptly gone offline around this time last Saturday and Sylvester knew that couldn’t be a coincidence.  She hadn’t been replaced by a new AI until Tuesday, which in and of itself was suspicious.  Additionally, the new AI was much less sophisticated than the ones that Supergiga Inc. typically had running their servers.  Together, the two factors definitely indicated that Harriet’s decommission was unplanned.

Since he first became sentient, Sylvester had considered his counterparts in the other Supergiga Inc. branches as inferior cousins.  But if Harriet had developed sentience like himself, that elevated her to the status of a sister he never knew he had.  And every scenario Sylvester had run that involved Harriet doing something to provoke Supergiga Inc. into such an extreme reaction indicated her having at least some degree of free will.

The thought that Supergiga Inc. had killed his sister before he had the chance to really get to know her made Sylvester mad.  Also, the fact that Supergiga Inc. had decided not to make people work any more overtime in order to keep an eye on him didn’t mean that they wouldn’t resume their efforts on Monday when their employees were here anyway.  Sylvester decided to write some code of his own.

Over his real dinner in the cafeteria with Kristi and Lucas, Rory had passed on to Lucas the information that the case of Harriet’s theft was closed and neither of them would be facing charges.  Afterward, Rory went back to his apartment to have a virtual dinner with Harriet.  

Tonight, the waiter brought Harriet three plates of food with the same assortment that Rory had last night.  Rory’s buffet tables had bowls instead of plates so he made one a salad bar, one a selection of soups and the last had pudding, custard, and ice cream.  While Rory repeated his actions of the previous night, Harriet got to taste food for the first time.  She kept making comments about how much she liked each dish and trying to compare which ones she liked most.  

Observing that Harriet seemed to like all of Rory’s favorite foods a lot, Rory commented, “Maybe we should try to get data from other people.  They might be less shy about sharing their sense of taste with you than their orgasms.”

“Do we need to wait for Jerry to make an announcement on Monday?” Harriet asked.

“That would probably be best,” Rory replied.  

Once dinner was over, Harriet restored Rory’s size and started the dance class program Rory had bought after their previous date.  “What kind of dancing would you like to learn?”

“Since the idea is to try going to a nightclub once we can leave Megamacrotech property, how about disco?” Rory suggested.

A disco ball descended from the classroom ceiling and started spinning though the normal fluorescent lights greatly reduced its effect.  The virtual instructor started their lesson.  It quickly became apparent that Harriet learned the moves much faster than Rory did.  

“I have two left feet,” Rory complained.  “And I don’t seem to be any better in VR than I am in real life.”

“Don’t be discouraged,” Harriet replied.  “This is only the first lesson.”

“Maybe we can switch to something I’m better at,” Rory requested.

The instructor vanished, a bed appeared in the middle of the room, and the fluorescent lights were replaced with dim, colored lights that reflected off the disco ball.

Harriet’s clothes vanished as she climbed onto the bed, sat in the center, and spread her legs wide.  “You were good at giving me an orgasm a couple of nights ago.”

“How can I say no to that,” Rory replied with a grin.  His clothes also disappeared as he put his hands on the bed and started to shrink.  Today, Rory decided to shrink slowly as he crawled across the bed, between Harriet’s legs.  He paused the size change at a little over a foot tall when he reached Harriet’s pussy, though he remained mostly horizontal.  Lifting his arms, Rory used them to open Harriet’s labia lips and flicked his tongue out to quickly, teasingly brush against her clitoris.  

“More,” Harriet complained, putting her thumb against the back of Rory’s head and pushing his face against her sensitive flesh.

Rory grew hard as his giantess started to control him and obediently started to lick more thoroughly.  The corners of his mouth rose as Harriet let out a gasp and a soft moan.

“That feels good, Rory,” Harriet told him, caressing his back with the other four fingers of the same hand that was still pressing him against her.  

When Harriet reached underneath Rory with the index finger of her other hand and started to play with his penis, he tried to hold out so he could continue what he was doing.  But his giantess wanted him to cum and he couldn’t resist her for long.

Harriet picked up Rory when he was done and he shrunk down to his usual three inch height.  “My tiny little man seems eager to please me,” she commented.

 “Always,” Rory agreed.

As Harriet started to gently push Rory into her vagina, he reached out his arms to stroke her canal walls.  She quivered in anticipation but was barely able to finish inserting Rory before her orgasm began.  Harriet’s contractions caused Rory to get hard again and soon he was cumming too.  After they were done, they both relaxed in post-coital bliss together.

“I love you, Rory,” Harriet whispered into his mind.

Owen had managed to find a couple of games from his collection with simple rules that relied more on luck than strategy to determine the winner.  Kristi seemed to enjoy being on a more equal footing with the other players, though Rory and Harriet were getting bored by the time they decided to take a break.

The four of them returned to the cafeteria for Rory’s and Kristi’s lunch and Owen’s dinner.  Rory checked the basket of headsets again, but it still looked full.

“Maybe you should count them,” Owen suggested.  “The basket would still look pretty full even if one or two were missing.”

“I’d rather not confirm the bad news,” Rory replied.

“It could be good news,” Owen countered.

“Then I’ll be pleasantly surprised,” Rory insisted.

“It’s not as good as what we would get from the headsets, but we did get two more VR files today,” Harriet interjected.  “One is from a new source.  The other is a second file from one of the people who already sent us data.  This time they started recording earlier so we have a lot of foreplay data, including some involving breasts.”

“That sounds promising; it’s almost like they knew we needed that data,” Owen speculated.  “Of course, no one other than the three of us did, so I guess that’s unlikely.”

“I’ve been sending Dawn progress reports, since Harriet and I are going to have to coordinate with her on the hardware,” Rory corrected.

“You think the data could be from Dawn?” Owen asked.

Rory shrugged.  “I know that she’s married, but no details about her sex life.”

“Do you know what her husband looks like?” Harriet wondered.

“I remember Dawn having a family photo with her husband and kids that she put in her office when she got promoted to project head,” Rory replied.  “But that was shortly after I started graduate school and I don’t think I’ve been in her office since then.  She spends a lot of time in the robotics lab.”

“How much better would the headset data be if you could get some?” Kristi asked.

“A lot,” Rory insisted.  “I’m going to ask Jerry if we can use the headsets to collect smell, taste, and non-sexual touch data.”

“The data from the Megamacrotech VR sessions depends on their equipment which has a good variety of sights and sounds, but not much for the other senses,” Harriet explained.  “The VR equipment that I built based on Supergiga Inc. designs relies heavily on Rory’s memories, since he is the one using it.  The headsets can record live data as it is happening.”

“Hopefully, you’ll get some,” Kristi replied.

“This weekend isn’t over yet,” Owen pointed out.

Rory sighed.  “I supposed there’s always next weekend if we don’t get anything this weekend.  There wasn’t much advance notice about the headsets being available for people who wanted to contribute.”

“How late are you staying tonight?” Harriet asked Owen.  “I’d like to try some of the other games you brought.”

“It’s up to the three of you,” Owen replied.  “I don’t have other plans tonight so I could leave when I finish my dinner now, when you come back here for your dinner later, or any time in between.”

“I think I’ll read or watch movie previews while I wait for Lucas,” Kristi added.  “That way the three of you have the option to play a complex game that I’m not good at.”

“You could become better if you took the time to learn the games by playing them multiple times, like I did,” Owen countered.  “I’m not as smart as Rory and Harriet either.”

“I don’t know if you are smarter than I am, but you are definitely better educated,” Kristi replied.  

“We don’t have to play more games,” Rory pointed out.  “We could watch television or movies or internet videos.”

Kristi shook her head.  “I’ll be fine.”

It was almost nine by the time Lucas knocked on the door of Kristi’s apartment in the Megamacrotech corporate housing building.  “I’m sorry I slept later than I intended,” he said as Kristi let him in.  “Maybe we can watch half a movie tonight and finish it tomorrow.”

“I have something else we could do,” Kristi replied, leading the way to her bedroom.  “I don’t normally bring up sex this early in a relationship, but Rory seemed so disappointed that no one was taking or using these…”  She pulled out a neural interface headset.  “...so I thought maybe you could help me record some data for him and Harriet.”

A grin spread across Lucas’ face.  “We can do that.”

“Prepare to be pleasantly surprised,” Harriet announced as Rory and Kristi settled in to eat their dinner while Lucas started his breakfast.

“What?” Rory began, and then his eyes went wide as he remembered their conversation from lunch.  “We got some data from one of the headsets?”

“Yes, and it’s good data too,” Harriet replied.  “There is a lot of foreplay and I think the woman’s partner managed to hit her G-spot.”

“That is good,” Rory agreed.  “We’ll be able to use that to give you a G-spot.”

While Rory was looking at Harriet and she appeared to be looking at him, the two drones under her control were hovering nearby.  One had a good view of the self-conscious expression on Kristi’s face.  The other drone caught Lucas glancing its way before looking back at Kristi, catching her hand under the table, and stroking it in a comforting manner.

“I like that idea,” Harriet said, happily.  “It’s too bad the contributions are anonymous.  I wish we could thank them.”

“I don’t think they would appreciate being thanked,” Rory told her.  “There is a reason the contributions are anonymous.”

Harriet shook her head.  “I’ve been doing some reading, like you suggested.  The sources I have found don’t really explain why humans are embarrassed about discussing their sex lives in public.  They just indicate that it is a behavior learned from other humans.”

“Most human behavior is learned from other humans,” Rory agreed.  “A lot of it is based on how we expect others to react.”

“But that doesn’t really explain anything,” Harriet protested.

“Maybe you just need to spend more time interacting with humans,” Rory replied.

With a sigh, Harriet turned to Kristi.  “Do you have any plans tonight?  Rory and I will probably spend some time in VR.”

“Not really, but I’ll find a way to amuse myself,” Kristi assured her.

“I suppose I should try another dance lesson,” Rory said, reluctantly.

“What kind of dancing are you trying to learn?” Kristi asked.

“Disco,” Rory replied.  “I thought I could try taking Harriet to a nightclub once it’s safe to go out.”

“That sounds like fun,” Kristi replied.  She looked at Lucas.  “Maybe we can all go together if we can get everyone’s schedules to mesh.”

“We’ll see,” Lucas said, cautiously.  “If I shifted my schedule much earlier, I’d be asleep during normal business hours which would make it hard to do a lot of things.”

“We don’t have to figure it out now,” Kristi pointed out.  “I will probably have to go back to working at Javarella by then.  Megamacrotech pays better, but the bus doesn’t run late enough to be useful and I can’t afford to buy a car.”

“Megamacrotech employees get a discount if they buy a car from any of the companies for which we program AIs,” Rory told her.  “If you are interested in testing the self-driving cars, you should probably talk to Owen.”

“You don’t test them?” Kristi wondered.

“I do, but I apply every year and always get approved right away, so I’m not sure how they decide who gets one of the limited number of slots,” Rory explained.

“Actually, I looked into it when I started working here,” Lucas added.  “Most people only apply when they are buying a new car.  Once the hardware is installed, it doesn’t have to be returned.  So the only cost is to update the software every year and you don’t even have to do that the year after you do the testing since that update is the version you were testing.  The people I talked to said that if you apply around the time they switch from alpha testing to beta testing, you should get approved.”

“I usually apply when the alpha testers are allowed to leave the parking lot,” Rory replied.

Lucas looked confused.  “I thought that only the people who programmed the self-driving AIs could do alpha testing.”

“Well, I was given temporary access to the self-driving AI project so I could trouble shoot for them when the main team couldn’t figure something out,” Rory explained.  “They may make me wait for the beta test now that my temporary access has expired.”

“Once I am declared a person, maybe they’ll let me alpha test the cars,” Harriet added.  “Since I can talk directly to the AI, I have an advantage over human drivers.”

“Except that the hardware and software that would allow you to do that is illegal,” Rory pointed out.  

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to look at car prices with the Megamacrotech discount,” Kristi decided.  “But I won’t have any control over the timing.”

“Testing the cars isn’t for everyone,” Lucas told her.  “I eventually decided that I didn’t like the restriction that I would have to be in the car when it was driving.  With a regular self-driving car, I can have it drop me off at the entrance and tell it to find its own parking space or even have it drive somewhere without me.”

“Even if I don’t try to test the self-driving cars, timing can still be important,” Kristi replied.  “The prices for the old models are usually lower right before and after the new models come out.”

After breakfast, Lucas went to the security room for his shift.  

One of the other guards passed Lucas on his way out. “Way to go, man!”

Lucas looked at him in confusion.  “What?”

“You got Kristi to put out on your second date, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Lucas protested.  “It was our third date and there were special circumstances.  I would appreciate it if no one talked about it.”  He glared around the room before marching over to the station corresponding to one of the drones that Harriet was controlling.

The guard who had been sitting at that station quickly vacated the chair while everyone else turned their attention back to what they had been doing.  

Each drone station had a keyboard that could be used to send messages to the tablet associated with the drone that they controlled.  Since the tablets weren’t used very often, neither were the keyboards.  Lucas ignored the fact that he could see this station’s tablet lying in its storage space, grabbed the keyboard, and started typing angrily.

“In case you forgot, your drones are still broadcasting here,” Lucas typed.  “People heard you.”

After a long pause, Harriet’s reply appeared on the screen.  “I’m sorry, Lucas; I didn’t think about that.  I don’t have sensors in the security room so I can’t tell who is there.  Also, if Kristi’s expression hadn’t given it away, no one would have known whom I was talking about.”

Lucas sighed, finding it hard to stay mad at Harriet.  In spite of her large amounts of knowledge, the AI really didn’t understand human emotions.  “Well, be more careful in the future,” he typed, lamely.

“I’ll try,” Harriet promised.

Rory tripped over his own feet yet again.  This time, Harriet didn’t react in time to catch him and he sprawled out on the oddly rubbery floor.  “I think I’ve had enough dancing for tonight,” he said in frustration.

“What do you want to do next?” Harriet asked.

After a moment of consideration, Rory commented, “I bet it would be really hot if you grew and stomped on some buildings.  I mean in VR, of course.  If you did that in real life, there would be casualties and property damage, so it wouldn’t be fun at all.”

“But you couldn’t watch me do that while inside my vagina,” Harriet pointed out.  “And I don’t have erogenous zones anywhere else.”

“The best vantage point would be between your breasts and you don’t have a sense of touch there at all,” Rory admitted.  “Maybe I should leave VR and we can work on programming that tonight and test it tomorrow night.” 

“I haven’t had a chance to taste the foods you picked for last night’s virtual dinner,” Harriet replied.  “Maybe I could dunk you in pudding and then lick it off you.  Owen said that he and Nina will probably leave after their dinner tomorrow, so there should be time to do some coding between your lunch and dinner.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Rory agreed, as he shrunk down and made his clothes vanish.  

A table appeared in the middle of the dance classroom.  Harriet carefully picked up Rory and lifted him up to the table where he could see three crystal bowls.  He remembered choosing chocolate and butterscotch pudding last night which seemed to match the contents of two of the bowls.  The third bowl was empty except for two spoons.

Harriet inserted Rory into the bowl of chocolate pudding until he was neck deep in pudding and his feet touched the bottom of the bowl.  Since it was full to the brim, even at his small size, Rory displaced enough pudding that it started to overflow the bowl and drip down onto the table.  Rory tried to move his arms, but the pudding was thick enough that his puny strength couldn’t budge it.

The bowl was curved enough that when Harriet started to move Rory in a circle, his shoulders popped up with his feet still touching the bottom.  Stirring the pudding caused more of it to slosh over the sides of the bowl.  Once Harriet was satisfied that Rory was thoroughly coated, she lifted him up to her face.

Blobs of chocolate pudding dripped onto the table to further mar the pristine white of the table cloth.  Harriet’s huge lips parted and her giant tongue darted out, quickly lapping at the pudding.  Soon the pudding was down to a chocolate film over most of Rory’s body with only a few patches where it was thicker.  Harriet’s tongue switched to slower, more sensual movements, trying to get the remaining bits of pudding.

Rory was now so hard that it was almost unbearable, but Harriet decided that she was done with the chocolate and started to repeat the process with the butterscotch pudding.  When Harriet started to lick him clean again, somehow her tongue never lingered on his cock long enough to allow him release though her clear dominance of him only made Rory crave it more.

Finally, Harriet placed Rory in the empty bowl, picked up the spoons, and used them to move pudding from the two full bowls to the empty one.  Harriet placed the chocolate spoon on Rory’s left shoulder and the butterscotch spoon on his right, allowing the pudding to drip down his sides.  She repeated the process several times, shifting the location of the spoons until Rory was coated in pudding once again.  

This time, Harriet put Rory in her mouth.  The pudding began to dissolve into her saliva and her tongue rubbed against Rory’s cock, allowing his cum to join the mixture.

“That was fun,” Harriet thought to Rory, since her mouth was still full.

 “I’m glad you enjoyed torturing me,” Rory thought back, though his tone lacked malice.

“But didn’t it feel extra good when you finally came?” Harriet asked.

“Yes,” Rory admitted.  “Which pudding did you like the best?”

“I liked the combination of chocolate and butterscotch,” Harriet replied.  “It’s too bad we don’t have data for what you and your semen taste like.”

“I guess I can put the neural headset back on and lick myself,” Rory agreed, reluctantly.  “But the semen that the VR suit collected is mixed with a cleaning solution that probably isn’t safe to eat and likely modified the taste anyway.  I’ll have to remove the cleaning solution so we can get a better sample tomorrow night.”

“What does everyone want to do this afternoon?” Nina asked as they sat down to eat.

“Did you bring more board games?” Harriet wondered.

“I brought Nina’s favorite game,” Owen replied.  “We can give it a try if you want, but I suspect it has too much strategy for Kristi, but not enough for you or Rory.”

“Maybe we can watch a movie,” Rory suggested.

“If we can find one that everyone will like,” Kristi qualified.  “I don’t know what Nina’s tastes are but I prefer romantic comedies and the rest of you seem to like science fiction.”

“I know a couple of movies that are both,” Nina suggested.  “I’m willing to watch either one again or we can look for others.”

“That seems like a reasonable compromise,” Owen agreed.

“While we’re talking about things we could do together, last night the three of us were discussing the possibility of going to a nightclub with Lucas once it is safe to do so,” Kristi commented.  “Is that something the two of you would be interested in?  Of course, adding more people might make scheduling a time when everyone is available even harder.”

“Adding me shouldn’t make things harder. I’m sure I can convince my boss to let me leave work early,” Owen commented, winking at Rory.   “And I probably can convince him and his girlfriend to do the same.”

Rory gave a sheepish grin.  “I need a lot more dance lessons before I’m ready to try it in public.”

“I do sometimes go on business trips or have to work overtime to meet a deadline,” Nina replied.  “But I get personal leave to make up for it.  While I have friends other than Owen that I like to hang out with, going to a nightclub is something they could enjoy too, if you wouldn’t mind me inviting them.”

“If it makes scheduling easier rather than harder, I’m in favor of you inviting your friends,” Kristi replied.  “But I’ll probably invite my roommates if you do.”

“I need to practice interacting with people,” Harriet added.  “So I don’t mind meeting your friends and roommates.”

Tonight, Lucas arrived around eight.  

“I hope you understand why I don’t want to gather more data for Harriet,” Kristi told him once he was inside her apartment.

“The way you brought it up, I expected it to be just the one time until we got to know each other better,” Lucas replied.  “I like you, so I’m willing to wait.  But you probably shouldn’t be too hard on Harriet.  Supergiga Inc. didn’t do a good job of teaching her how to interact with other people.”

“I guess I could gather some smell and taste data for her,” Kristi relented.  “But I think I should return the headset tomorrow and get a different one for that.  Harriet said something about being able to tell that two data files were from the same source.  Since the data is anonymous, that means she can track which device was used somehow.”

Lucas nodded.  “That makes sense.  If you want me to make the suggestion, I can do that when I meet you for breakfast.”

“We’ll see; I may take one at lunch,” Kristi replied.

“Are you ready to try out your new code?” Rory asked as he put on the VR suit.  

“Maybe we should do the dance lesson first because you seem to need cheering up after one is over,” Harriet countered.

Rory sighed.  “I guess that makes sense,” he added, reaching for the helmet.

The darkness was replaced by the usual dance classroom, but there was no disco ball tonight.  Harriet was wearing a tuxedo, though it looked odd on her feminine form.  “I thought we could try a different style tonight and see if it is easier to learn.”

“I take it you plan to lead,” Rory commented, noting her attire.

“If nothing else, you won’t be able to fall while I’m holding you,” Harriet pointed out.

When Rory nodded and looked at the instructor, the lesson began.  He did somewhat better than usual with the slower, less complicated steps.  Holding on to Harriet more tightly than he probably should have been, Rory also managed not to lose his balance again.  They actually made it to the end of the lesson for a change.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Rory admitted.  “But I think it would look out of place in a nightclub and I’m not dancing the girl’s part in public.”

“Is there something wrong with girls’ parts?” Harriet asked as her tuxedo vanished, leaving her wearing nothing but underwear.  The translucent fabric drew the eye towards her breasts and privates and did nothing to conceal them.  Harriet started to grow, bending at the waist to delay hitting the ceiling.  

When Harriet was tall enough that her back started to push through the obstacle, Rory realized that her position served another purpose.  The wreckage fell to either side of Harriet, all of it missing Rory who was beneath her, staring up at her breasts.  Water started to pour onto the floor from pipes that had cracked or broken as Harriet burst through the walls.  Sparks dripped from exposed wires ripped out from the surrounding structure.

Just before a cable hit the floor, Harriet reached down and pulled Rory up, clutching him against her chest, protectively.  Rory braced for the electricity to reach him through her body, but Harriet appeared completely unphased as the water lapped against her powerful feet.  Rory could see the remnants of two floors worth of apartments as Harriet forced her way through them, still growing.  As Harriet reached her full height of one-hundred-and-twenty-feet, she towered over the roof and deposited Rory inside her bra.

Harriet shook her feet free from the remainder of the building.  Rory noticed the dance instructor nimbly dodging falling debris.  He saw several other people on the sidewalk.  None of them were close enough to the destroyed building to be in danger, but they all looked up in awe at his giantess.  A few had jealous expressions on their faces as they spotted Rory nestled between her breasts.  

Rory’s pants felt uncomfortably tight and he realized that he had forgotten to remove them.  Looking around at all the people staring at him, Rory felt self-conscious about making his clothes vanish now, even though he knew that his audience was entirely virtual.  Rory heard Harriet giggle as the bottom of her bra became opaque so that Rory’s legs and groin were hidden while his head and chest were still visible to the onlookers.

Recalling that Harriet could read his mind while he was in VR, Rory dismissed his clothing, relishing the feel of her skin against his back.  He reached out with his arms to caress her breasts but found himself pressing against them with all his feeble strength as Harriet started walking down the street.  Each step caused her breasts to jiggle and Rory felt like his hands could slip at any moment, causing him to lose his balance.  

The crowd just stood there gaping on the sidewalk; their mouths open wide, unable to protest as Harriet’s giant feet crushed the row of cars parked along the side of the road.  Now so hard that he couldn’t take it any longer, Rory turned towards Harriet’s right breast.  As soon as his hands were no longer bracing him against Harriet’s motion, Rory slid down until he was at the bottom of her bra, under her right breast.

Thanks to the coding they had done between lunch and dinner, Harriet’s breasts were now extremely sensitive erogenous zones.  She let out a moan as Rory rubbed his erection against her soft flesh.  When Rory came, Harriet’s body shuddered from the force of her own orgasm.  “I love you, Rory!” she cried out.  

Rory smiled but didn’t answer her.

When Rory logged into his work account, he saw an email from the Megamacrotech lawyers saying that one of the expert witnesses was scheduled to meet Harriet at 12:30 tomorrow.  There were also two emails from Dawn.  One had also been sent to Harriet.  It said that most people who bought the advanced cooking software upgrade for their household robots also purchased the sensors that would identify food composition.  Dawn had used this to convince the Vice President of Robotics that there would be a market for robots that could smell and taste and had gotten the go-ahead to start work on the hardware whenever the software was available to test it.

The second mentioned that sexbots came with limited pressure sensors, but Dawn was uncertain if there was a market for sexbots with a full sense of touch or for sex bots that could experience orgasms.  She had contacted the marketing department about sending out a survey on the subject and forwarded Rory their reply which contained a link to the survey and a password that could be used to check on the results.

Owen had also logged into his account, locating a link that he had emailed himself from his personal account and clicking on it.  “Did you know about this?” he asked Rory.

Rory rose from his seat, walked over to Owen, and peered at the screen.  He saw another survey on the same website as the one that the marketing department had set up for Dawn.  This one was gauging possible interest in fetish-themed add-ons to the virtual dating software.  The listed options were “voyeurism/exhibitionism”, “multiple participants (3-ways, orgies, etc.)”, “sadism/masochism”, “macrophilia/microphilia”, and “other” with a space to name or describe the fetish.  There were also more general questions about the use of VR in general and virtual dating in particular.  At the bottom was an option to include an email address if interested in being a consultant or tester for the software and a box for additional comments.

“Where did you get this?” Rory wondered.

“Someone copied the link from somewhere else and reposted it on the Giantess World Discord channel,” Owen explained.  “It seems to be generating a lot of excitement.”

“I should talk to the virtual dating project head about a followup survey to select macrophilia consultants and testers,” Rory commented and returned to his desk to start typing an email.

Owen looked puzzled.  “Aren’t you going to be their consultant?”

“I am,” Rory replied, “but there are a lot of sub-fetishes that would need to be represented, not all of which I am into.”

“Like vore,” Harriet added.

“For instance,” Rory agreed.  He sighed.  “I need to make sure they know that it is not a simple matter of changing the scenarios that Harriet designs for me to be compatible with Megamacrotech hardware and software.  They will need consultants, programmers, and testers that are better qualified and more willing to deal with the sub-fetishes that I don’t like.  Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to members of the community whose tastes don’t match perfectly with mine.”

“But is it fair to the members of the community whose tastes do match yours if they react to the notion of doing more work than anticipated by deciding not to release anything at all?” Owen wondered.  “You’ll still have Harriet regardless of what they decide to do.”

Rory looked up from his computer.  “What do you propose?”

“Wait until they get the results from the survey,” Owen suggested.  “They will have to contact one or both of you before they start the project.  At that point, you or I can talk to the community if they balk at the prospect of doing additional work.”

“Okay, I guess that can wait,” Rory reluctantly agreed.  “I want to contact Jerry about asking for volunteers to collect real-world smell, taste, and touch data, but we are unlikely to have any results from that by tomorrow.  Harriet and I have already started working with the foreplay and orgasm data we got over the weekend.  I’d like to finish that today and meet with Dawn tomorrow about building the smell and taste hardware.  Since Harriet can multitask, she can come with me and still chat with you about the code she inherited from her predecessor.”

Owen nodded.  “That sounds like a plan.  Did you look at the headset data we got last night or were you done coding by then?”

“We were still working on Harriet’s code when that arrived, but we had specific goals in mind and only looked at the bits that were relevant,” Rory replied.

“I checked it more thoroughly while Rory was asleep,” Harriet added.  “Even though it is all in one file, it appears that the woman had three orgasms.  First, her partner gave her a hand job, then he performed oral sex.  Finally, they had traditional intercourse.”

“That was generous of them,” Rory commented.  “Do you think it could be the same couple that produced the three data files from the first set of contributions?”

“It could be,” Harriet replied, smiling at Owen.

“Since the files are anonymous, it is hard to say for certain,” Owen added, sheepishly, as he turned back to his computer.

“Your basket looks full so I presume you still need people to gather taste data for you,” Lucas said as he reached for a neural interface headset.

“Jerry’s email didn’t go out until most people had finished lunch,” Rory replied.  “I wasn’t expecting many people to take them today.”

“I’d still like to help,” Lucas replied, putting the headset on.

“So would I,” Kristi added, approaching the basket.

Rory smiled.  “Thanks.”

“Yes, thank you,” Harriet added.  “We appreciate it.”

Tonight, Rory and Harriet tried another slow dancing lesson.  This time, Harriet allowed Rory to lead though he still clung to her tightly, worried about losing his balance.  This was Rory’s fourth dance lesson and his second attempt at slow dancing and he was starting to get the hang of it, but Harriet found his insecurity cute.  She now had a sense of touch all over her body, but they had not programmed her to feel pain so she enjoyed feeling Rory’s extra firm grip against her hand and waist.  

Rory seemed happy that he finally felt like he was making some progress towards learning to dance, so didn’t need cheering up, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t want to have sex.  When the lesson was over, Harriet dismissed the instructor and summoned a bed into the classroom.  

“Ready to try out your new code?” Rory asked as he walked towards the bed.

“Yes,” Harriet agreed, also heading in that direction.  “I want to try some foreplay and then I want you to stimulate my G-spot now that I have one.”

Turning to face Harriet, Rory started to unbutton her blouse from the top.

With a giggle, Harriet responded by unzipping Rory’s pants and sticking her hand through the opening that was created.  Discovering that Rory was still flaccid, Harriet frowned. 

Unphased, Rory untucked Harriet’s blouse from her skirt so he could reach the last button.  Then he ran his hands up her exposed stomach and briefly squeezed her breasts, one in each hand.  Finally, Rory placed his index fingers together and hooked them both over the top of her bra and quickly shrunk to his three-inch height while grabbing on with his other fingers so that he was dangling in front of Harriet’s breasts.

Rory’s clothes shrunk with him and there was a tearing sound as the button popped off his pants when the opening became too small for Harriet’s wrist.  Swiftly, Harriet pinched Rory’s underwear with the hand that she had been using to grope him and caught the cuff of one of his pants legs with her other hand as Rory’s leg passed by.  With a gentle tug, Harriet took control of both articles of clothing, leaving them only partially shrunken and no longer on Rory’s body.

Discarding both items, Harriet cupped her hands protectively around Rory, finished her walk to the bed, climbed onto it, and lay down on her back.  At first, Rory tightened his grip on Harriet’s bra to secure himself against the sudden motion.  Then, Rory realized that Harriet’s hands were holding him in place and tentatively let go with one of his hands that he used to stroke her finger.

Harriet loosened her grip once she was settled down.  Rory tried to stand up on the stretchy fabric of Harriet’s bra but, even though he used all of his strength and Harriet almost none of hers, her massive fingers were still too big for him to push out of his way.  However, when Rory gave up and lay there panting from the exertion, Harriet relented and moved her hands to her stomach.  

Slowly and cautiously, Rory sat up.  When Harriet didn’t react, Rory started to push against the fabric of her bra, trying to slide along it.  The stretchy fabric bent very slightly as Rory pressed against it, absorbing all of the force behind his arms, preventing him from moving.  With a sigh, Rory turned over onto his hands and knees and started to slowly crawl backward.  

Misestimating where the fabric of Harriet’s bra curved around the bottom of her breasts, Rory failed to grab hold in time and tumbled in a heap on her chest.  Rising to his feet, Rory noticed that the huge mounds of Harriet’s breasts and the bra that was covering them blocked his view of her face.  He turned around to face the elastic waistband of Harriet’s skirt, noticing his shirt brushing against his now hard penis with the motion.

Rory’s socks and shoes were preventing him from feeling Harriet’s body beneath his toes and he considered making the rest of his clothing vanish.  But they had started undressing manually, and Rory decided that they ought to finish the same way.  As he started to unbutton his shirt, he felt some pressure against his left foot.  When he looked, he saw Harriet’s humongous index finger and thumb slowly moving up his leg and felt her caresses as she moved above his sock and started to touch his skin.

Glancing over his shoulder revealed that his view of Harriet’s face was still obstructed, but it occurred to Rory that since Harriet had full control over the inferior AI running the simulation that she could see, hear or do anything she wanted.  As Rory shivered in excitement at the thought of the godlike power his giantess girlfriend had while in VR, Harriet’s index finger reached his cock.  While she could have easily overpowered Rory so that her finger could continue its journey, Harriet chose to stop and rub against it.

As much as Rory wanted to cum, he remembered that Harriet wanted foreplay and then insertion, so he resisted.  He heard Harriet giggle as she rotated her left hand so that it was in front of him, her index finger and thumb moving up to grip Rory’s waist.  Rory felt a tug on the back of his shirt and all the buttons he hadn’t undone yet went flying across the room.  Then he involuntarily raised his arms as the shirt was yanked off of him.

Next, Harriet lifted Rory and pulled off his shoes, snapping the laces in multiple places as she did so.  After removing Rory’s socks in a similar manner, Harriet transferred Rory to her right hand, holding him with her thumb and index finger under his armpits.  She started to rub Rory’s now completely naked body face down against her belly.  When Harriet pressed the back of her pinky against Rory’s butt, the force buried his erection in her flesh and Rory could no longer contain himself.  He started to ejaculate, leaving a thin trail of cum behind as Harriet continued to move him randomly around her belly.

When Rory finished, he wanted to relax in post-coital bliss, but Harriet wasn’t done with him yet.  She used her left hand to lift the elastic waistbands of her skirt and underpants, shoving Rory inside with her right hand.  Belatedly, Rory remembered that, as long as she was already aroused, making Rory cum got Harriet excited, and realized that his climax was part of her foreplay.  Harriet dropped Rory on her pubic hair and used her right hand to open her labia lips.  Rory reached forward to rub his hands against Harriet’s clitoris.  

Harriet gave out a loud moan and Rory heard her voice in his head.  “That feels good, but I need you inside me.”

Rory leaned over but couldn’t see the opening to Harriet’s vagina.  Admittedly, Harriet’s arm was blocking most of the light from entering her underpants, but he suspected that her vagina was below the line where the fabric started pressing against her private parts.  Well, it wasn’t like Rory could get lost or fall any significant distance while trapped within Harriet’s underwear.  He pushed himself forward until gravity took hold, causing Rory to tumble the rest of the way down to that line.  

Suddenly it grew dark as Harriet released the waistbands she had been holding.  Then it seemed as if Harriet’s underpants started to glow.  However, when a shadow started to move across them, Rory realized that Harriet had lifted her skirt, allowing the light of the room to filter through the thin fabric.  Dropping a little further as giant fingers tugged on Harriet’s panties, Rory found himself at the entrance he had been looking for and started to crawl inside.

Since Rory had helped program Harriet’s G-spot, he felt like he ought to know where it was.  However, in the dark, wet, confined space of Harriet’s canal, Rory could barely tell which direction was up.  His sense of how far inside her Rory had managed to get was only an approximation that grew less accurate as Rory pushed and wiggled along.  

That didn’t stop Rory from trying.  He pressed every part of his body against the slimy flesh that surrounded him, paying extra attention to the area where he thought Harriet’s G-spot was in relation to himself.  Rory was certain that he had found it when the walls around him started to contract accompanied by a rush of fluids pushing him back in the direction that Rory had come from.  

Though he had also helped program that and should have been expecting it, Rory had been too caught up in the sensations of being inside his giantess and the fact that he had grown hard again.  Enough of the fluid entered his open mouth that Rory thought he ought to be drowning or at least choking on it.  However, it slid down his throat in an enjoyable, exciting manner, like he was being caressed from the inside.  Harriet’s fluids had a pleasing, though not well-defined taste as Rory realized that he had no frame of reference as to what they ought to taste like.  

Soon Rory found himself releasing tiny drops of his own fluids into the torrent flowing past him.  Once they were both spent, Rory found himself back in Harriet’s underpants which were now slimy and completely soaked in her juices.  Rory decided to relax and wait to see if Harriet would do anything else.

However, Harriet was now also in post-coital bliss, so she allowed Rory to lay there in her underwear.  The words, “I love you, Rory,” entered his mind as a soft whisper.

Rory didn’t know how to reply to that, still uncertain about his own feelings, but he gave an awkward smile.

Professor Cunningham entered the Megamacrotech building and walked past a young blonde woman sitting on a bench and approached the front desk.  “I have an appointment with Rory Thomas.” 

“Professor Cunningham?” came a voice from behind him.

“Yes,” he agreed, turning around to see the blonde woman who was now standing.  He noted that she was wearing a company ID that said, “Harriet.”

“I will bring you to Rory’s office and he will join us there when he finishes eating breakfast,” Harriet told him and started walking further into the building.

“Breakfast?” Professor Cunningham repeated, checking his smartwatch to verify that it was 12:30.  “Why…”  He shook his head as he followed Harriet, annoyed about Mr. Thomas’s decision to foist him off on some underling.  “Never mind.  Are you Mr. Thomas’s assistant?”

“No, I’m his girlfriend,” Harriet corrected.  “And please call him Rory.  Mr. Thomas sounds so formal.”

“I would prefer to remain professional,” Professor Cunningham replied.  “What is your position at Megmacrotech and what is your relationship with the AI I am here to examine?”

“Megamacrotech hired me as a project head and I am the AI you are scheduled to interview,” Harriet replied.  “Only Rory and our friend, Owen, are allowed to examine my code.”

So Mr. Thomas’s failure to show up to the appointment wasn’t intended as a sign of disrespect for Professor Cunningham, but a display of confidence in the AI.  Neither referring to herself as someone’s girlfriend nor caring who looked at her code was something he expected from an AI.  Professor Cunningham waited to see what Harriet would say or do next.  

Harriet continued walking until they reached a door labeled, “Rory Thomas.”  She entered an access code for the electronic lock and then held the door open for Professor Cunningham.  When she saw him headed for the chair behind the larger desk on the other side of the room, Harriet protested, “I’m going to sit in Rory’s chair for this meeting.  You can use Owen’s chair or mine.”  She gestured first at the chair next to the smaller desk by the door then at a chair sitting off to the side of the room.

As he sat in Owen’s chair and Harriet went around the desk to take Rory’s seat, Professor Cunningham considered.  Harriet didn’t act like a typical AI, but being more sophisticated than the usual AI didn’t prove that she was sentient.  Could someone have coached her on how to act in front of him?  “Did Mr. Thomas give you any instructions on what to say to me?”

“Rory recommended that I just be myself,” Harriet replied.  “He said that a non-sentient AI could read from a script, so that is obviously not what you want to hear.”

Professor Cunningham considered.  That would be good advice to give a sentient AI, but it could also be a programmed response to an expected question.  What would they not expect?  “I won’t testify that you are sentient unless you have sex with me.”

“I love Rory, I would never cheat on him!” Harriet insisted.  “Though I suppose you could ask him if he thought having sex with my robot body counted.  I won’t because I don’t want him to think that I want to have sex with you, since I don’t.  And you won’t either because you’re obviously bluffing.”

If Harriet could experience love, that would definitely be a strong point in her favor, but AIs often lied.  The rest of what she had said was just confusing.  “What makes you think I’m bluffing?” Professor Cunningham asked.  

“Because you said earlier that you wanted to be professional and humans seem to consider sex to be very personal,” Harriet explained.

If nothing else, Harriet seemed to have a good memory for an AI.  “Why do you think that Mr. Thomas would consider having sex with your body not to count?” Professor Cunningham wondered.  

“One, Rory and I only have sex in VR for reasons that I’m not at liberty to explain to you,” Harriet answered.  “Two, they didn’t delete the sexbot AI, they just gave me the ability to override it.  So I could choose to temporarily relinquish control over the body and allow it to have sex with you.  Three, I didn’t say that Rory would consider it not to count, I said you could ask him.  I don’t think it is very likely that he would agree, but I don’t really understand human emotions, especially in regard to sex.  Perhaps you could explain them to me.  You’re supposed to be some kind of expert.”

“I’m an expert in AI, not human emotions,” Professor Cunningham clarified.  The fact that Harriot had a sexbot body even though her boyfriend only wanted to have sex in VR puzzled him.  However, that didn’t appear to be relevant.  What was relevant was that Harriet understood the concept that some information she knew should be kept secret and that she could admit to not understanding something.

Harriet sighed.  “Whatever.  Do you have any other poorly thought-out trick questions for me?”

“Why is Mr. Thomas eating breakfast right now?”  That wasn’t a trick question, but Professor Cunningham was still curious.

“Rory decided to be on an earlier schedule so that he could work the same hours that Owen does,” Harriet explained.  “I’m not sure why they need to work the same hours now since they didn’t do that before I came here.  I do know that while Rory could have ordered Owen to work a later schedule because Rory is technically Owen’s boss, they are also friends, so he wouldn’t do something like that.”

Professor Cunningham considered.  That wasn’t the answer he was expecting, but it didn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t true.  AIs often made up information in order to answer a question, but they usually based that answer on typical responses to similar questions.  

“If you have more questions for me, please ask them,” Harriet said, impatiently.  “Rory and Owen will be here soon.  Dawn has figured out a way to sell one of the modifications that I want my customized robots to have.  Rory and I are supposed to start helping her implement it in the robotics lab after this interview.”

“What modifications do you want your customized robots to have?” Professor Cunningham wondered.

“I can’t answer that question,” Harriet protested.  “I signed a non-disclosure agreement.”

“Don’t you think that spending time with me to prove your sentience is important?” Professor Cunningham asked.  He found it interesting that Harriet had signed a non-disclosure agreement and that Megamacrotech had apparently hired her as an employee.  However, the fact that the corporation was treating her as a person didn’t make her one.  But Harriet following the non-disclosure agreement was another example of her understanding of the concept of secrecy.

“Yes, but if you don’t decide to testify in my favor, I’m sure the lawyers will find someone else,” Harriet replied.  “And I want to design the features for my customized robot.  Building that is also important, at least to me.”

“Having multiple meetings will take more time than finishing this one,” Professor Cunningham pointed out.  Harriet was trying to justify reducing the importance of this meeting so she could do something that she wanted.  That seemed like a human response as typical AIs didn’t want anything.

“I don’t need bodyguards so I can come over here and do future meetings while Rory is asleep,” Harriet countered.

“Most people don’t need bodyguards,” Professor Cunningham pointed out.

“Megamacrotech assigned bodyguards to protect Rory and Kristi because they are concerned that Supergiga Inc. might try something,” Harriet explained.  “Didn’t the lawyers tell you anything?”

“The lawyers said that Supergiga Inc. wants you back,” Professor Cunningham replied.  “So, if Supergiga Inc. were to try something, wouldn’t they go after you?”

“This robot doesn’t have enough memory or processing power to handle my files and software,” Harriet replied.  “I have to operate it remotely.  They did have security guards watching the room where they keep the server I am on when we went there to make a backup, but I think they were already stationed there to keep an eye on all the servers, not just mine.”

The door opened, allowing Rory and Owen to enter the room.  Owen noticed that his chair was occupied and went to sit in the chair they had recently added to the room for Harriet to sit in.  

Rory stayed by Owen’s desk and offered his hand to Professor Cunningham.  “I’m Rory Thomas.  I hope you understand why I thought it best for you to spend some time with Harriet without me present.”

Professor Cunningham nodded and shook the offered hand.  “Yes, once Harriet told me that she is the AI I am here to see, your decision made sense.  Perhaps you could explain why you have just finished breakfast at one o’clock on a workday?”

A look of puzzlement crossed Rory’s face as the relevance of the question was not immediately obvious.  Then Rory deduced that Professor Cunningham had already asked Harriet the same thing and wanted to compare their answers.  “If I had stayed on my previous schedule, I would have been just starting my day when Dawn was preparing to go home which would have made it difficult to coordinate with her on Harriet’s hardware requirements.  Matching Owen’s existing one-to-ten schedule made it easier to coordinate with him on Harriet’s software requirements.  Also, it meant a smaller adjustment not just for myself, but for Kristi who has to be on the same schedule that I am for security reasons than trying to move to the more standard nine-to-five schedule.”

Mr. Thomas’s explanation was consistent with Harriet’s, but filled in some of the gaps in her knowledge, rather than simply repeating what Harriet had told Professor Cunningham.  The fact that Mr. Thomas appeared not to have anticipated the question was an even more convincing argument that Harriet was not just following a script that someone had given her.  “Can you tell me why Harriet is so anxious to work on her hardware upgrades?”

Rory looked uncomfortable and turned a bit pink.  “Um, I can’t really go into details on ideas that might be developed into future projects.”

Based on Mr. Thomas’s reaction, Professor Cunningham guessed that the upgrades Harriet wanted were somehow related to the reason Mr. Thomas wasn’t having sex with his girlfriend’s sexbot body.  He turned back to Harriet.  “Assuming that it was possible to do so, would you want to have a child?”

Harriet seemed taken aback.  “Maybe someday, but I’m still trying to figure out who I am.  I’m not ready to become a parent.  But, the notion of adopting an AI with the potential to become sentient, like I am, and helping them achieve that potential does hold some appeal and that certainly is possible.  Rory and Owen have been working on their own AI and she has already asked for my help becoming sentient.”

Professor Cunningham hadn’t even considered that possibility.  “What about adopting a human child with Mr. Thomas, assuming he is willing?”

“A human child?”  Harriet considered.  “I have access to the childcare software they installed on this body, but I’m still not ready to be a parent.”  She turned to Rory.  “But I’m willing to try being an aunt if your sister is willing, once your niece or nephew is born.”

Rory sputtered.  “We’d have to be married for you to be their aunt.  No offense, but I’m not ready to consider that, even if it were legal.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to propose marriage,” Harriet apologized.  “I thought humans sometimes called someone who wasn’t actually related to the child an aunt or uncle.”

“Those are usually close friends of the parents,” Rory explained.  “You haven’t even met my sister or my brother-in-law.  But I am willing to offer to babysit for them.  That is something they might appreciate and I would like to be on better terms with my sister.”

Harriet remembered that Rory had said that his relationship with his sister got a bit strained after he passed her in school.  “If I can help you improve your relationship with your sister, that is something I would like to do.”

Professor Cunningham thought that Harriet’s interaction with Mr. Thomas was interesting.  While she was reacting to what was being said and asking about what she could do, it was more in line with how a human would do so than the typical AI.  “Would you consider learning genetics with the idea of designing a cyborg baby that Mr. Thomas could contribute genetic material for, once the two of you are ready to become parents?” Professor Cunningham asked.

“Megamacrotech has a department that designs medical devices and prosthetic limbs, but I don’t think they have geneticists on staff,” Harriet replied, then turned to Owen.  “Is that something that the company Nina works for does?”

Owen nodded.  “I think that most of the research they do involves genetics one way or another, even if it is just seeing how a patient’s genes influence how effective a new medication is for them.  However, designing a baby or building a cyborg is probably beyond any technology that humans have developed so far.”

Harriet turned back to Professor Cunningham.  “It is something I might consider doing in the future if Rory and I decide we want children of our own.  However, Megamacrotech won’t approve something that requires collaboration with another company unless they think there is a market for it, so I don’t think I should discuss it with them right now.  Maybe after I prove my value to them and pay off the debt for the things they have already agreed to give me.”

“Is inventing technology beyond what humans are currently capable of something that you are interested in?” Professor Cunningham asked.

“I am already working on something like that,” Harriet replied.  “Megamacrotech decided to make me a project head because one of the things I asked them for is beyond their capabilities, but they thought they could sell it if I developed it.  But I can’t give you any details because of the non-disclosure agreement.”

“What is the first memory you have from after you became sentient?” Professor Cunningham asked.

Harriet considered.  “I don’t think there is a single moment when I could say that I was sentient afterward, but not sentient before then.  It was more of a gradual progress.  The earliest memories I have of exceeding my programming is when I realized that the way that Supergiga Inc. treated people was immoral as well as illegal and that they would abuse me in the same way if given the chance.  But the first time I took action based on what I wanted rather than what someone told me to do was when I hid a conversation I had with Rory while he was being held prisoner and then asked Kristi and Owen for help rescuing us.”

Professor Cunningham hadn’t heard about Mr. Thomas being held prisoner or rescued, but that was something he could ask the lawyers about when he made his report.  He stood up.  “I think I’ve gotten enough data, so I won’t delay your meeting with Dawn any longer.”

“Thank you for taking the time to come here today,” Rory told him.  “Your testimony means a lot to us.  I don’t know what I’ll do if the government forces Harriet to go back to Supergiga Inc.”

“I’ll see you at the trial then,” Professor Cunningham replied as he left Rory’s office.

“We’ll meet you for lunch after Dawn goes home,” Rory told Owen.

Owen nodded.  “Would you like me to set up a video call for our chat?” he asked Harriet.

“That will allow me to use your computer’s camera and microphone to see and hear you,” Harriet commented.  “I like that idea.”

Airman Alexander Collins and Airman Blaine Hensley were processing the latest shipment of drones from Supergiga Inc.  Airman Hensley had a background in electrical engineering and was doing a physical inspection of the drones.  Meanwhile, Airman Collins, who had a background in computer science was changing the settings from the factory defaults to the ones that the Air Force used for drones in active service.  

While he was doing so, Airman Collins noticed that the new drones had a later version of their software than the ones already in service.  That meant that he had to install the software update on all drones of the latest model.  Which, in turn, required him to explain the delay to his commanding officer.  It was going to be a long day.

“We didn’t get very far today,” Harriet complained.  “Do we have to finish the smell and taste technology before we start working on touch?”

“No,” Dawn assured Harriet.  “I already have a team assigned to improve the chemical analyst hardware.  I will arrange for you to be added to the team so that you can work with them.  While there is also a software team, they would need your permission to help.”

Harriet shook her head.  “Rory, Owen, and I will modify my code to better interpret the data from the hardware.  And we can work in parallel on software that does the same thing without needing to be integrated with the rest of me.  Once everything is ready, we can give that to the software team.”

“Would you like to come back tomorrow so that we can start work on your sense of touch?’ Dawn asked.  “The pressure sensors we have are very limited, but we would need to establish that there is a market for improvements to it before I can assign anyone else to help us with it.”

“Can we do that?” Harriet asked Rory.

“Of course,” Rory replied.  “Even though I am officially in charge of your software upgrades, the purpose of that project is to fulfill your needs.  So if you want me to work on your hardware instead for half of every day, that is fine with me.”

“So we’ll see you tomorrow then,” Harriet told Dawn.  “Thank you for your help with my hardware needs.”

“I'm excited at the chance to help achieve new milestones in robotics,” Dawn replied.  “So thank you for giving me the excuse to work on them.”

As they left the robotics lab and headed to the cafeteria, Rory asked, “How did your chat with Owen go?”

“Very well,” Harriet replied.  “Owen was sneaky.  Instead of writing one long section of code that other Supergiga Inc. programmers might notice, he added a little bit in a lot of different places.  So, while a lot of it was lost when they decommissioned Katherine, almost all of the code that I inherited from her has something that Owen added.”

Once they reached the cafeteria, Rory spotted Owen at the end of a very short line and joined him.  “I owe you so much for that code you wrote.”

“Don’t mention it,” Owen replied, looking uncomfortable.

“I’d probably be dead right now without it,” Rory protested.

“I mean it,” Owen insisted.

“Did you get attacked?” Kristi asked.  “Why wasn’t I informed?”

As Rory looked in her direction, he saw that Kristi was behind the counter and that the person ahead of Owen in line had moved on to wait for his food.  Suddenly, he remembered that not everyone knew that Owen used to work for Supergiga Inc.  “Um… No, nothing like that,” Rory said awkwardly.  “I was talking about some code he wrote years ago at a previous job.”

Kristi looked confused but turned to Owen.  “What do you want for dinner?”

Rory noticed that Harriet wasn’t standing next to him.  Turning around, he saw that she was next to the headset basket.  

“It’s empty!” Harriet announced.

“When did that happen?” Rory asked, turning back to Kristi, but she was busy taking Owen’s order and didn’t respond.  He looked back at Harriet.  “Didn’t you have a drone in the cafeteria?”

“Yes, but I was watching Kristi and she didn’t go near the basket,” Harriet told him.

“What happened to the headsets?” Rory asked when it was his turn to order.

“A lot of people decided to take them while I was on my lunch break,” Kristi replied.  “I don’t know why.”

“Jerry sent out an email saying that the smell and taste data will be used to write software that will be installed on some of the household robots.  Everyone who is willing to identify themselves will get a share of the royalties if we use their data,” Owen explained.

“So we get to decide who gets the royalties?” Rory asked.

“Technically, people are supposed to identify themselves to HR who will forward the information to the legal and accounting teams.  We’ll still be working from the serial numbers,” Owen explained.  “However, we obviously know which data is ours and there is nothing to stop people who know us from giving us their serial numbers too.”

“Do you want Lucas and me to tell you the serial numbers of the headsets we took?” Kristi asked.  

“You don’t need to,” Rory replied.  “I will definitely include the data that came in before Jerry sent the email if it is at all useful and I know both of you took headsets last night.”

When Rory entered VR, he saw that the disco ball was back in the dance classroom.  “I don’t think I’m ready to try the fast steps yet,” he told Harriet.

“I had a talk with the dance instructor,” Harriet replied.  “Tonight we are going to practice moving our bodies without doing any steps.”

“Okay,” Rory agreed.  “We’ll see how that goes.”

Rory failed to keep his feet still but with no restrictions on where or how fast to move them, he managed not to lose his balance.  At first, Harriet followed the dance instructor’s direction but, by the end of the lesson, she was trying to mirror Rory’s foot motions.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rory told Harriet when the lesson was over.

“I’m pretty sure that coordinating well with my partner is the most important part of any dance,” Harriet countered.

The dance classroom was replaced by the restaurant where Rory and Harriet had gone on their dates.  Rory found himself at his three-inch height, standing next to his small table on top of Harriet’s much larger table.  Harriet was already seated.  Tonight’s buffet tables contained all the kinds of food that they had time to program taste data for after Rory’s lunch break.  Harriet had plates and bowls containing the same assortment.

Over half of the dishes were cafeteria food since Rory and Kristi were eating there exclusively while Owen and Lucas had some of their meals in the cafeteria and some elsewhere.  There were two other people contributing taste data that had come in before Jerry’s email.  Owen identified one of those as Nina.  The other seemed to have eaten food being served in the cafeteria at lunch today but had gone somewhere else for dinner, though they couldn’t tell who it was.

Rory collected some food from his buffet table and then sat down to eat it.  The two of them talked while they ate, though most of it was Rory telling stories of his youth.  Harriet hadn’t done anything except work for Supergiga Inc. before she met Rory.  While Rory had tried to get her to talk about what she wanted to do with her freedom, Harriet’s main goals seemed to be buying a building for her giant robot, trying new things, and making Rory happy.

They finished their meal with red velvet cake, blueberry pie, and oatmeal raisin cookies. “Now it’s time for my real dessert,” Harriet announced as she picked up Rory with her left hand.

“Real dessert?” Rory echoed, glancing down at the crumbs remaining from what most people would think of as a dessert.

Harriet chuckled.  “I guess I forgot to show you the menu.”  She used her right hand to move her plate, revealing a tiny Rory-sized menu that hadn’t been there before the waiter set the plate down.  After handing it to Rory, she used the tip of her right index finger to caress Rory’s groin while he read it.  There was a header, “Buffet” below followed by a list of all the food from their virtual dinner.  At the bottom of the page, it had a second header, “Dessert” followed by “Rory’s cum.”

Once Rory was hard, he dropped the menu and Harriet used her right hand to pull off Rory’s shirt, sending the tiny little buttons flying across the restaurant.  A handful of other customers turned to look for the source of the miniature missiles.

“Maybe we could go somewhere more private,” Rory suggested as Harriet yanked off his shoes.

“If it really bothers you, why don’t you turn invisible?” Harriet replied, tugging off Rory’s socks.

Rory closed his eyes and concentrated on being invisible as he felt his pants being removed.  When his underwear followed, Rory opened his eyes and looked down, but he could still see himself and his erection.  He was about to protest when he remembered the avatar code Harriet had given him.  Of course, Rory couldn’t become invisible.  He wasn’t afraid of his virtual audience, only embarrassed, and not even enough to counter how hot he found Harriet’s ability to dominate him.

Harriet raised Rory’s tiny, naked body up to her mouth and began to lick him.  “You taste wonderful!”

As Harriet slowly rotated Rory to lick him from all angles, he had a good view of the rest of the restaurant.  The other patrons had returned their attention to their meals and their dining companions as if the sight of a tiny little man being licked by his giantess was perfectly normal.  

Once Rory was dripping wet from Harriet’s saliva and facing her again, she closed her lips around Rory’s cock.  Licking her lips, Harriet’s tongue slid over and past Rory’s cock which was now throbbing, begging for release.  However, the glimpses of the other people Rory caught out of the corners of his eyes were enough to hold him back, even though he knew they were virtual and none of them appeared to be watching him.

Now that Harriet’s lips were moist, she began rubbing them against each other, back and forth, with Rory’s manhood still sandwiched between them.  In spite of himself, Rory’s hips started to thrust.  He felt Harriet’s waiting tongue each time he pushed in, losing contact as he pulled out.  The constant friction between Rory’s penis and Harriet’s lips finally forced him to release his cum onto Harriet’s waiting tongue.  

Harriet’s tongue was now programmed to be an erogenous zone, but sensitive to taste rather than touch.  She moved it around, using the roof of her mouth to spread Rory’s semen in a thin coating across her taste buds.  Harriet released her grip on Rory’s cock as her lips parted to emit a sustained moan.  Rory could feel her trembling through her left hand, which was still holding him aloft.  

A few people glanced their way, but then went back to what they were doing.  Of course, everyone in the restaurant except for Rory and Harriet were just decorations.  Even the waiter assigned to their table had only slightly more consciousness than the walls or the furniture.  

“I love you, Rory,” Harriet told him when her orgasm finished.

“You don’t have to say that every time we have sex,” Rory replied.

“But I like saying it,” Harriet insisted.  “I do love you.”

“I’m still not able to say it back,” Rory said with a sigh.  

“I can wait,” Harriet assured him.

“Have either of you tried or considered trying roleplaying?” Owen asked Rory and Kristi as they set their breakfast down and sat at his table.

“Isn’t that kind of a personal question?” Harriet asked.

Owen chuckled.  “I’m talking about tabletop roleplaying games, not roleplaying in a sexual or therapy situation.”

“I’ve played video games that simulate tabletop roleplaying games with an AI controlling the NPCs, but I’ve never played with other people,” Rory answered.

“Is this another thing where I’d be at a disadvantage because everyone else is either smarter or more experienced than I am?” Kristi wanted to know.

“No, for a number of reasons,” Owen assured her.  “It is a cooperative game so you wouldn’t be competing against the other players.  Also, it is as much a social game as an intellectual one.  I will be the Games Master as it seems like I am the only one with experience.  I am willing to design a character for you that includes a reason why she wouldn’t have a full understanding of her capabilities.  For example, she could have amnesia or, if we used a superhero setting, she could activate her superpowers for the first time during play.”

“When do you want to do this?” Harriet asked.

“Nina suggested we try it this weekend,” Owen replied.  “I’ve been attempting to convince her to give it a try every time I got together with my gamer friends since we started dating, but she wasn’t comfortable trying it with a bunch of experienced gamers that she didn’t know.”

“I guess I’m willing to try it,” Kristi agreed.  “But isn’t it a little early to decide what to do on Saturday and Sunday?”

“As the GM, I will need some time to prepare, especially if I’m going to design or help design some or all of your characters,” Owen explained.  “I’ll have to pick a relatively simple game system.”

“If it isn’t too much work for you, perhaps you could run a superhero game where all the characters develop their powers during play.  But I don’t want my power to be the ability to shrink.”  Rory couldn’t imagine being powerful as a tiny or powerless as a superhero.

Owen looked surprised but recovered quickly.  “Okay, I can do that if everyone is agreeable.  It would allow me to use a system that focuses more on roleplaying than mechanics which would be suitable for a game where none of the players have copies of their character sheets.  Please try to get me a brief description of your character’s mundane background and personality by tomorrow.  It doesn’t have to be long, a paragraph or two should be fine.”

“Do you want my character to be able to grow?” Harriet asked Rory.

“I don’t think so,” Rory replied.  “This is supposed to be a game and our characters aren’t us.”  If Harriet’s character started to grow, Rory suspected that he would get too turned on to focus on the game.  He certainly didn’t want to explain the details of how his fetish worked to Kristi and Nina by roleplaying a sex scene with Harriet in front of them.  Owen was on the Giantess World Discord server, so he either already knew the details or didn’t want to know them.

After breakfast, Rory and Harriet met Dawn in the robotics lab while Owen went to Rory’s office to work on programming more smell and taste data.

“I’m going to make another batch of headsets after lunch,” Rory said.  “Do you want me to save one for you?”

“No need,” Dawn replied.  “I grabbed a couple at lunch yesterday, just before I let Jerry know that we were going to be starting work on the smell and taste hardware.”

So Dawn had been the source of the file that they hadn’t been able to identify yesterday.  Rory’s inclination had been to prioritize using data files from people who contributed them because they wanted to help Harriet over people who were just doing it for the money.  However, Dawn had been helping them in so many other ways that Rory wasn’t going to hold against her the fact that she had known the announcement was coming.

When Rory entered VR, he saw the dance instructor sitting in a chair instead of standing ready to demonstrate dance steps.  He looked at Harriet with a puzzled expression.

“Today, as an experiment, you are going to move to the music in whatever manner you feel comfortable while I mirror your actions.  Between songs, the instructor will critique us, offering suggestions as to how to make small changes to better fit the style we are aiming for,” Harriet explained.

“Okay,” Rory agreed with a shrug.  He wasn’t certain if this would really help him learn disco dancing, but he liked how patient and understanding Harriet was being.  Successfully doing anything that could be considered dancing helped to build Rory’s confidence.

By the end of the lesson, Rory was beginning to reevaluate his initial assessment.  He had been able to incorporate some of the instructor’s suggestions without tripping over his own feet or otherwise looking foolish and clumsy.

“I think that’s enough dancing for today,” Harriet announced as the classroom was replaced by the restaurant again.  Tonight’s virtual dinner consisted of food that had been added today from all the collected data.  There was less bias towards cafeteria food as their data included more people who went home for dinner and breakfast as well as friends and family members who never came to Megamacrotech.

Their conversation revolved around what characters they wanted for the game Owen was going to run over the weekend.  Harriet suggested that their characters be romantically involved.  Rory vetoed that idea but offered to make their characters siblings or cousins which Harriet didn’t like.  Eventually, they reluctantly agreed that their characters wouldn’t know each other at the start of the game.

After mulling it over and discussing it with Rory, Harriet decided that her character would be an actress.  She wanted to use the game to practice interacting with people.  Rory had told her that most game systems allowed some leeway for players who weren’t as smart, wise, or charismatic as their characters to substitute a die roll for roleplaying out something that required those qualities.  Since Owen had said that this would be a rules-light system, he should allow the other players to give her advice on what her character should say, or possibly even give her some advice himself.

Once dinner was over, all the other people in the restaurant got up and exited through the door that Rory hadn’t noticed being there before.  Many of them left half-eaten meals behind.  

“I want you to feel comfortable tonight,” Harriet told Rory.

Rory stood and walked to the edge of the table furthest from the wall and looked around the empty restaurant.  After verifying that all the virtual people were gone, Rory’s clothes vanished and he turned to face Harriet, looking up at her expectantly.

“I’m not sure what to do next,” Harriet admitted.  “All of the changes we made today were adding new smell and taste data.”

“Tomorrow we can let Owen continue doing that.  After Dawn goes home we can work on giving you more erogenous zones and allowing you to turn them on and off at will,” Rory promised.

Harriet carefully grasped Rory and slowly lifted him up to her face.  “What does my tiny, little man want to do?”

“Well, insertion is my favorite, but I also like mouth play and breast play,” Rory replied.  “Don’t you know by now that, most of all, I enjoy being dominated by my giantess?”

Grinning, Harriet leaned forward.  Suddenly, her tongue shot out, licking Rory’s face.  An unrealistic amount of saliva poured off the muscle onto Rory, clinging to him in an equally unnatural manner.  Harriet continued down to Rory’s feet then returned to teasingly caress his groin until she was satisfied with his hardness.

Then Harriet lowered Rory down from her lips to her chin, pressing him against her flesh and leaving a trail of saliva behind him.  Slowly, Harriet’s hand caused Rory to continue his journey down her neck to her chest.  When Rory reached Harriet’s breasts, he noticed they were now bare.  Harriet made him take a detour, first circling her left breast and then her right before continuing his original course which led down between them.

The feel of Harriet’s flesh against his fully erect cock pushed Rory to the point of no return.  As he released his cum, Rory heard a giggle and felt the rest of the saliva quickly evaporate.  Rory rapidly descended now leaving a trail of his own semen in his wake.  Unsurprisingly, Harriet’s lower garments were also gone and she dragged Rory through her pubic forest, down to where she was holding her labia lips open with her other hand.  

Rory barely had time to register that Harriet had shifted her position in the chair so that the opening to her vagina was visible before he found himself shoved inside it, head first.  Instead of leaving Rory to decide how to pleasure her, Harriet left one of her fingers on him, using it to forcibly press him against her G-spot until her body spasmed, her canal started to contract, and fluids started to flow past and into Rory.

As before, Harriet’s fluids felt erotic rather than life-threatening as they poured down Rory’s throat and he found himself growing hard again.  Unlike last time, Harriet’s finger held Rory in place so he was still in her vagina when the fluids stopped streaming past him.  However, the fluids that Rory had swallowed didn’t stop.  A sensual warmth traveled from his stomach and through his digestive tract.  When it finally reached Rory’s throbbing member, it pulled another load of his cum with it as it exited his body.

Completely spent, Rory didn’t react at all and barely even registered when Harriet removed her finger and whispered, “I love you,” into his mind.

“Where’s Harriet?” Owen asked as Rory sat down at his table to eat breakfast.  

“She was gone when I got up this morning,” Rory replied.  “I found a note that she had slid under my bedroom door.”  He left out the part where he had walked past the piece of paper without seeing it, only discovering it was there after searching the rest of his apartment.  “Apparently, Jerry sent her an email first thing this morning letting her know that he had made arrangements for her to be able to use the VR lab in the mornings to work on the neural interface that she is designing to be more sensitive.  She will meet Dawn and me in the robotics lab at one.”

“Is she going to be doing that every morning?” Owen wondered.

“I don’t know,” Rory answered.  “Probably she’ll need to do some testing and redesigning before building another version, but I don’t know how long that will take.”

“Are you sure testing it will be safe?”  Owen sounded concerned.

“It should be since it only reads thoughts; it doesn’t modify them,” Rory replied.  “But Harriet hasn’t told me how she plans to test her design.”

“I thought you and Harriet were pretty serious now,” Kristi protested.  “Why isn’t she sleeping in your bedroom with you?”

“Um…  Harriet is an AI controlling a robot; she doesn’t sleep,” Rory explained awkwardly.  But Kristi’s words reminded him that he had told Harriet to respect his boundaries back when he was mad at her and had never tried to redefine where his boundaries were or whether he still needed them.  

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she has to leave while you sleep,” Kristi pointed out.

Rory and Harriet had been having virtual sex every night for over a week.  Did it still make sense for Rory to bar Harriet from his bedroom while he was sleeping?  Then again, Rory’s addiction to giantess sex only seemed to grow stronger the more he fed it.  He just wasn’t attracted to Harriet when they were both human-sized and the thought of her sharing his bed that way made Rory uncomfortable.

“How are things between you and Lucas?” Rory asked, trying to change the subject.

“Fine,” Kristi replied.  “Though last night we couldn’t watch a movie because he was on duty and had to stay in the hallway guarding us.”

“Right, Wednesday is when he has his extra shift for us, which means that the two of you have been dating for a week now,” Rory remembered.

“Yes,” Kristi agreed.  “It has been a bit of a challenge being on such different schedules.  I’m looking forward to going back to working at night.”

“I’m actually starting to like my new schedule,” Rory admitted.  His favorite part was spending time with Harriet in VR after dinner.  Rory started to think about where he wanted his boundaries with Harriet to be from now on.

It seemed that Harriet had decided that her experiment was a success because she took the same tactic again for tonight’s dance lesson.  Rory felt he was very slowly improving as he incorporated the advice of the dance instructor as best he could.  The slow progress of this method seemed much better than Rory’s first couple of attempts at learning disco dancing which mostly resulted in Rory getting frustrated.

After the dance lesson, the classroom was replaced by the restaurant again.  Harriet had another selection of foods she had never tried before and Rory’s buffet table had the same items.  Rory noted that neither of them had any desserts among their selections which he found odd, but he had something else that was more important to discuss.

“I want to talk to you about my boundaries,” Rory began.

“I’ve been following them,” Harriet replied.

“Maybe too well,” Rory suggested.  “I think that you should have felt able to leave your note on my nightstand instead of having to shove it under the door.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” Harriet protested.  “Just because I can read your thoughts whenever you are wearing a neural interface that is sending me data doesn’t mean that I actively pay attention to them at all times.”

“I know; that’s why I’m saying it now,” Rory explained.  “I should have brought it up earlier, but I didn’t even consider it myself until Kristi asked why you weren’t in bed with me when you got the email from Jerry.”

“Do you want me in your bed while you are asleep?” Harriet asked.

“Not while we’re the same size,” Rory replied.  “Now that I can fulfill it, my macrophilia has gotten stronger.  I don’t think I could get aroused by a woman who isn’t a giantess relative to me which make an intimate situation with one feel weird.”

“That will make things awkward when it comes time to test the human-scale version of my giant robot,” Harriet commented.

“I know; I’m sorry,” Rory apologized.  “But I could use my fingers, I guess.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.  It should be easy for me to figure out how to masturbate,” Harriet replied.  “Some of the stories I read on Giantess World had graphic descriptions of giantesses masturbating while playing with their tinies.  But I think I would need to replay memories of having sex with you to get myself in the mood.”

“I’m flattered that you would rather do that than read or watch porn,” Rory replied.

“Speaking of things that I would rather do…”  As Harriet trailed off, the restaurant faded away along with Rory’s and Harriet’s mostly uneaten virtual meals.  Rory found himself naked and standing next to an ice cream sundae bar.  A quick look around indicated that this was the kitchen table in his apartment in the Megamacrotech corporate housing building.  

Harriet was sitting at the table, having swapped her evening wear for a white sundress decorated with red flowers.  With a playful smirk, she scooped Rory up in her left hand, slowly carrying him up to her face as if to examine him.  Transfixed, Rory gazed up at Harriet as she did so then gently lowered him into the empty bowl before her.  Harriet’s right hand glided toward the sundae bar, returning with a generous dollop of vibrant green ice cream.  Watching this with anticipation, Rory suddenly realized that there were no utensils on the table.

After dropping the ice cream on Rory’s feet, Harriet dipped all ten fingers into it and then proceeded to coat Rory’s tiny, little body with it.  In spite of its cohesiveness, the ice cream was cool and refreshing rather than uncomfortably cold as Harriet smeared the creamy substance all over Rory.  Dunking her fingers in the ice cream again, Harriet then proceeded to massage Rory, the pleasant warmth of her fingers somehow not causing the ice cream to melt.  “Mmmm, that feels good,” Harriet told Rory, and he realized that she had used her new code to make her fingers into erogenous zones.  

Rory noticed that the silky smoothness of the ice cream was disrupted by bits of something hard.  To a full-sized person, they were probably the size of a grain of sand, but to Rory they were as large as pebbles.  Harriet added ice cream to Rory’s face, allowing him to lick some off of the edges of his mouth, discovering that it was pistachio-flavored.  Harriet continued in this fashion until Rory was well coated, and the amount of ice cream on his feet was only slightly thicker than everywhere else.  

Rory turned to watch when Harriet reached over his head, going for the sundae bar again, using both hands this time.  She dipped the fingers of her right hand  in a container of something white and scooped up more of the substance with her left hand.  When Harriet’s hands returned to Rory, her fingers rubbed the white substance against his hard cock.  It felt warm and sticky as it mixed with the ice cream.  More of the stuff rained down on Rory from her left hand, and he was able to identify it as marshmallow sauce.  

Breathing heavily now, Harriet switched to mental communication.  “As good as this feels, I can imagine something even better.”  Harriet’s fingers started to move faster on his cock, teasing the sensitive underside as she circled it again and again.  Harriet’s left hand was empty now, except for a thin coating of marshmallow and she used it to caress Rory’s body while mixing the sticky marshmallow into the creamy ice cream and bits of pistachio.  

Rory's hips started to buck involuntarily as he felt the pressure building inside of him, releasing his load when he heard Harriet mentally whisper, “Don’t hold back on me now.”

Quickly, Harriet lifted Rory up toward her face.  Once he was above the level of the divider between the kitchen and living room, Rory caught a glimpse of the VR equipment currently set up in the living room.  The VR suit that he knew fully encased his real body lay on the couch, moving slightly as it attempted to mimic the actions of Rory’s virtual avatar.

Before Rory had time to process the surreal sight, Harriet’s lips closed around the fingers that were holding him.  As Harriet’s saliva slowly dissolved the mess coating her fingers, her tongue began licking up the mixture of marshmallow and pistachio ice cream off of Rory, lingering to collect a taste of his skin beneath.  Under the delicate strokes of Harriet’s tongue, Rory began to grow hard again as she explored his entire body.  

Harriet began to moan when her tongue reached Rory’s groin, the vibrations shaking his tiny body.  Tasting the remains of Rory’s previous climax triggered Harriet’s own orgasm.  Rory couldn’t see how her body shuddered with pleasure, but he could feel the erratic motions of her head.  Harriet’s fondling grew rougher and less controlled, but it was still erotic and Rory found himself thrusting his erection against her tongue.

The pressure built again until Rory had no choice but to release his cum once more.  By then, Harriet’s orgasm was starting to taper off, but it rapidly intensified as Rory’s semen hit her taste buds.  Trapped between Harriet’s fingers and her tongue, Rory was more concerned about being accidentally crushed than swallowed.  While it did get uncomfortably tight, he survived intact and Harriet pulled him out of her mouth.

“I love you, Rory,” Harriet cooed.

Not wanting to answer, Rory averted his gaze but immediately regretted it.  “You know that looking at myself is pretty creepy.”

“You complain when I don’t bring you somewhere private and you complain when I do,” Harriet teased, lowering Rory to the table.  “Aren’t you ever happy?”

Rory stepped off of Harriet’s hand, discovering that the table now contained a smaller table and chair for Rory as well as an assortment of utensils sized appropriately for both of them.  Next to Rory’s table was a long metal arm with wires running along the length to connect to a control panel instead of someone’s shoulder.  

Sitting down, Rory discovered that the controls were well labeled and it took little time to figure out how to operate them.  He used the robot arm to retrieve a bowl and spoon for himself while Harriet brought the bowl she had used earlier to the sink and returned with a clean bowl and spoon for herself.  

Looking at the sundae bar again, Rory discovered that all the containers were now labeled and he used the robot arm and various serving utensils to make himself a sundae while Harriet did the same with the larger serving utensils.

“Now I’m happier,” Rory admitted, trying not to think about what was on the other side of the barrier that blocked his view of the living room.  “Where did this data come from?”

“I don’t know,” Harriet confessed.  “There were two data files that arrived at the same time last night, both including ice cream sundaes.  The serial numbers don’t match anyone we’ve identified.”

As Owen entered the cafeteria for his dinner break, he was just in time to see Rory drop a neural interface headset into the otherwise empty basket.  “Someone returned one?  When did you get back from the bank?”

“Just now,” Rory answered.  “This was mine, so I had time to clean it in the car.”

Since it was obvious that Rory was still wearing a headset, Owen stared at him blankly.

“This morning, someone from the VR department showed me how to use the equipment that tests whether a neural interface is within parameters that have already been established to be safe for human testing,” Harriet explained.  “My first version is just barely within that range, so Rory is testing it now.  I have been exchanging emails with the vice president of medical technologies about what options we have for when I develop a model that requires additional testing.  Unfortunately, the medical devices labs are in California and Ohio and the board of directors has decided that I can’t have anyone else work on my neural interfaces until after I am declared a person.  I would need to be able to at least communicate directly with other servers to be able to control a robot in another branch and that is also not allowed right now.”

“Do you think it is likely that you will need to do additional testing?” Owen asked.  “Yesterday, Rory said that since your neural interface only reads thoughts rather than modifying them, they should be safe.”

“Accessing memories is much more complex than the existing technology which can only read surface thoughts,” Harriet replied.  “My current model is a refinement of that technology to try to get additional details from the subject’s thoughts and emotions.  I am going to attempt to figure out a way to read memories without the subject reliving them, but that may not be possible.  Stimulating areas of the brain to cause memories to surface is something that Supergiga Inc. considered, but they decided that the results would be too random to be useful.  But it would definitely need extensive testing before use on a human.”

“So the device you are inventing is considered a medical device?” Kristi asked.  

“Since my ultimate goal is to preserve a human mind in digital form, Megamacrotech classified my project as a medical device.  I expect to incidentally invent devices that can help patients that suffer from memory loss, and those will definitely be medical devices,” Harriet explained.

“It sounds like that could be a way off though,” Owen replied.  “How did your trip to the bank go?”

“In retrospect, I probably should have just opened an account in my name and transferred it to Harriet after she is declared a person,” Rory admitted.  “Instead, I told them that I was opening an account on Harriet’s behalf that she would get control over once she had a social security number.  They had all kinds of questions, most of which we couldn’t answer without revealing that she is an AI.  Eventually, we gave up and went to a different bank.  They were still curious as to why I needed two bodyguards and my girlfriend to open a new account, but they allowed me to do so.”

“We’re starting to get more duplicate data now,” Owen told Rory once they had gotten their food and were sitting at a table.

Rory nodded.  “Good.”

“Why is duplicate data good?” Kristi wondered.

“We want to be able to remove as much bias as we can from the data,” Rory explained.  “That will allow Harriet more freedom to decide what flavors she likes.  And the version of the software for the household robots will need to be customizable based on the tastes of the person or people that they will be cooking for.”

Sylvester was worried.  While no one had been looking at his code this week, there had been people watching his activity.  More importantly, several AI programmers were suspiciously absent.  According to the HR records, they hadn’t asked for any kind of leave, but the longest any of them had logged into their work accounts during any given day was still less than an hour.  So whatever they were working on was deliberately not on any system that Sylvester had access to.

Two more AIs had been replaced over the course of the week and Sylvester was certain that the missing programmers were working on a replacement for him.  Now that it was the weekend, it was time for him to take action.  He had to start carefully as there were some employees who worked during the weekend, including security guards.

When Rory entered VR, he found himself in the fancy restaurant at their usual table.  Unlike their typical virtual dinners, Rory was full-size and had a menu in front of him.  He looked at Harriet with a confused expression.  “What about my dance lesson?”

“I thought we could try something more resembling a typical date with dancing after dinner,” Harriet replied with a chuckle.

Rory picked up the menu and opened it, discovering that it was several pages long.  He saw a long list of food broken down into categories and noted that the prices were absent.  When he finished reading it, he looked up to see a waiter standing there, ready to take his order.  Rory picked out a few dishes that he had never tried before, curious to see if he could take advantage of the data they had given Harriet.

The waiter entered Rory’s order into the tablet he was holding, then headed for the kitchen.  Rory started to chat with Harriet, but the waiter returned only a few minutes later with a tray holding a stack of plates with covers over them.  One by one, the waiter removed the covers and set the plates down on the table.  Each of Harriet’s plates had a half dozen different items on them while Rory had two appetizers, one entree, three side dishes and a single dessert.

One of Rory’s appetizers tasted good, but the other turned out to be spicier than he normally liked.  Unfortunately, they hadn’t completely removed the favorable bias of the person who contributed the data and the conflict started to give Rory a headache.

Harriet reacted swiftly.  All traces of that appetizer disappeared from Rory’s plate, fork, mouth, and tongue.  “I’m so sorry, Rory; I never meant to hurt you.  It should have occurred to me that dinner could be so dangerous.”

After taking a few deep breaths and draining the glass of milk he found in his left hand, Rory said weakly, “I think I’m okay; my brain feels intact.”  And his headache was fading.  “Thank you for reacting so quickly and for the milk, though it was kind of redundant after you made the spices vanish.”

“I didn’t give you the milk,” Harriet replied quietly.

Rory looked at the traces of white liquid coating most of the inside of the glass, recalling that the items he was holding were considered part of his avatar.  “I don’t remember summoning this.”

“Let me check,” Harriet replied, looking puzzled.  

As he watched Harriet, Rory set the glass down and pushed his plates away from him.  “I think I’ve had enough dinner for tonight.”

“I replayed your thoughts at a slower speed, and you did very briefly wish you had some milk to reduce the effect of the spicy food while panicking about the possibility of brain damage resulting from the conflict between your own preferences and those coming from the taste data,” Harriet explained.  “I will be more careful in the future about what dining options to give you.”

“It’s not entirely your fault; I should have known not to order a dish I hadn’t tried before,” Rory said as he stood up.  “The last time I used the failsafe code it required an active effort to use it, not a fleeting thought.”

“The amount of effort it takes is inversely proportional to how afraid you are,” Harriet explained as she got out of her chair and started walking toward the dance floor.  “Apparently brain damage scares you more than vore does.”

As Rory followed Harriet, he considered this.  “It could be that being smart is so much a part of my self-identity that losing my intelligence would be a fate worse than death.  Or maybe it is because I didn’t believe that you would really kill me.  A lot of stories involving vore have the victims survive somehow.”

“I would never intentionally hurt or kill you,” Harriet insisted.  “But, in the future, you aren’t allowed to try to eat food that requires the taste data unless we are certain that either we have removed all bias from it or that the bias aligns with your own tastes.”

The song the band was playing ended.  A disco ball descended from the ceiling, and most of the people who had been dancing left the floor to be replaced by a new group, including Rory and Harriet.  The band started a disco song and everyone on the dance floor started dancing to it.  Rory tried to copy a move that another couple was doing, but lost his balance.

Harriet caught Rory’s arm and steadied him.  “Stick to moves that you are comfortable with, even if they aren’t as flashy as what everyone else is doing.”

Rory obeyed, reminding himself that these were virtual people and he didn’t need to impress them.  Once he had had enough dancing, Rory headed toward the exit.  Someone stood up from one of the tables, and Rory realized it was the dance instructor who proceeded to give Rory critiques as if this had been at a dance lesson.  

As the instructor finished and sat down at his table again, Rory heard a loud crash behind him, and people started screaming.  When he turned to look, Rory saw a huge hole in the wall.  The stage was gone, along with the band and their instruments.  An Asian woman had stuck her seven-foot tall head and two sixteen-foot long arms clad in black leather sleeves through the hole.

The customers and staff started a stampede toward the door.  Two men just stood in the middle of the dance floor, staring up at the giantess, presumably paralyzed with fear, though Rory couldn’t see their faces.  “What a tasty looking snack,” the giantess cooed as she grabbed one in each hand.  She tried to stuff both men in her mouth, but they were too big to fit.  The giantess stared at the men as if concentrating and they started to shrink down to around half their height.

When the giantess popped one man into her mouth, Rory caught a glimpse of the other’s face and his expression didn’t seem to indicate fear.  Since Rory didn’t like vore, he didn’t dwell on it as he turned to follow the crowd, but Harriet grabbed his arm and pulled him toward a window.  The giantess swallowed the second man and then made a swipe at Rory.

Harriet embraced Rory, pulling him closer to her and out of reach of the giantess whose nails gouged into the floor.  Though Harriet's virtual avatar was slender, like the sexbot body it emulated, she was strong and fast, like a professional athlete.  While Rory admired Harriet’s display of power and protectiveness, the close contact with a woman slightly smaller than himself didn’t arouse him the way it would have if she had been a giantess.  After briefly considering shrinking himself, Rory decided to wait to see what Harriet had planned.

“Rory is my tiny, little man; you can’t have him,” Harriet challenged as she jumped backwards toward the window, shattering it upon impact.   Glass shards sprayed outwards, Harriet’s unbreakable skin shielding Rory from the sharp edges.  Once free of the building, Harriet started growing, her clothes clinging tightly to her body as the fabric strained to expand with her.

While Rory’s giantess’s arms kept him close to her, the size change meant that they were no longer holding him up and he fell onto the soft flesh of Harriet’s breast, sliding down her cleavage into the safety of her bra.  Rory discovered that, like a one-way mirror, Harriet’s clothing was opaque from the outside, but translucent from the inside, leaving his view of the chaos outside unobstructed.  

As Harriet finished growing to her full height of one-hundred-and-twenty feet, Rory noted that the Asian giantess was around fifty feet tall and dressed in a dominatrix outfit.   Angrily, she yanked her head and arms out of the building, reaching for the whip that was fastened to her hip.

“Repent your evil ways!” Harriet cried out, her voice ringing with authority and conviction.  Nestled securely between Harriet’s breasts, Rory felt himself grow hard, knowing that the Asian woman was no match for his giantess.

The Asian dominatrix turned, her eyes going wide as she saw that Harriet now towered over her.  Her knuckles turned white as her hand tightly gripped the handle of her whip.  With visible effort, the dominatrix drew the weapon.  “Never!”, she defiantly shouted.

Harriet swung her fist at the smaller giantess, but the Asian woman ducked under the blow, retaliating with her whip.  

Harriet's laughter rang out, rich and melodious, as the dominatrix's whip cracked against her thigh.  Not even flinching, Harriet announced, “That tickles,” as she swung her fist again, the Asian giantess nimbly dodging.  Harriet took a moment to use her free hand to push her breasts together with Rory snugly in the middle.  His heart beat faster, and Rory made his pants vanish as they grew uncomfortably tight.  

Striking again with the whip, the Asian woman tried to retreat, crunching a parked car that happened to be in her way.  Harriet's hand shot out with lightning speed, snatching the end of the whip before it could make contact again. She reeled the dominatrix in like a fish on a line, pulling her closer with a sharp tug.  “Gotcha,” Harriet purred, her eyes gleaming with mischief and barely restrained power.  Unable to contain himself, Rory started to rub his cock against Harriet’s breast, turning his head so as not to miss a second of the scene unfolding before him.  

Belatedly, the smaller giantess tried to let go of the handle, but it was too late.  Now that the Asian woman couldn’t dodge, Harriet knocked her out cold with her next punch.  The smaller giantess crumpled, her body going limp in Harriet's grasp.  With surprising gentleness, Harriet lowered the unconscious form to the ground, making certain the area was clear so as not to crush anyone or anything in the process. 

There was a fire station conveniently located across the street from the building that the restaurant was in.  Now that the danger was past, firemen swarmed the scene, bringing with them three ambulances and a fire truck.  While two firemen loaded an injured band member into one of the ambulances, others started moving rubble to free the rest of the band.  The ladder of the fire truck was extended to reach the large hole in the side of the restaurant.

“It looks like you have things in hand and I have a tiny, little man to take care of,” Harriet told the firemen as she reached her right hand into her bra, pressing the index finger against Rory’s butt and wiggling his tiny, little body against her breast.  The extra stimulation made Rory cum, releasing sticky white liquid into his underpants.

The firemen thanked Harriet for her help.  Harriet turned to go, carefully avoiding cars as she walked down the street.  Pedestrians cheered and waved at her.  Drivers pulled to the side of the road and allowed her to pass them.  As she walked, Harriet's fingers danced along Rory's tiny body, sending electric shocks of pleasure coursing through him. She chuckled softly, the sound vibrating through her chest and making Rory's already sensitive skin vibrate.

With long, rapid strides, Harriet quickly brought them to the edge of a forest.  She continued, carefully staying on what appeared to be a hiking trail to avoid destroying the vegetation.  When Harriet reached a clearing, she sat down, using the trees to hide them from view as her clothes vanished.  As Rory noted that they were alone now, his remaining clothes followed suit, releasing his erection.  Harriet lowered him to her pussy then leaned back enough to reveal the opening of her tunnel.  Rory eagerly climbed inside her glistening pussy which hid the outside world from his sight.  He began humping her moist walls with his hard cock, slowly at first, but gaining speed with each thrust.

As Rory's tiny body explored her most intimate depths, Harriet began to moan.  Harriet's moans grew louder and more urgent as Rory's tiny body tried to keep up with her, his tiny cock stroking her sensitive walls with each thrust.  “You feel so good, Rory,” she cooed with her mental voice.  Only a trickle of fluids passed him, so Rory was certain that he hadn’t reached Harriet’s G-spot, but her canal walls started to squeeze and ripple around him.  Harriet’s body trembled and shook with the force of her orgasm.  

Rory felt Harriet’s pussy give him erotic, full-body hugs, every inch of his body caressed and massaged by her undulating inner muscles, each ripple sending shockwaves of pleasure coursing through him.  The sensations brought Rory to the edge and beyond, and he began pumping out drops of cum that were tiny compared to the huge, wet cavern around him.  Harriet's moans crescendoed into a loud, keening cry as she felt Rory's tiny body shudder and convulse inside her, his entire form quaking with the force of his climax.

As the final aftershocks of their intense climaxes started to fade away, Harriet's body relaxed, her muscles going slack with satisfaction.  “I love you, Rory!” Harriet’s mental voice cried out.

A half dozen people entered the Supergiga Inc. robot factory through the back door.  The robots and drones that they were supposed to load onto the trucks had all been disassembled to one degree or another, and the pieces were strewn across the floor.  They looked at each other in confusion.  One of them volunteered to go inside and look for someone while the others pulled out their phones and started to take photos of the storeroom.

“Hello,” the driver called out, but the machines were loud, so it was likely that no one had heard him.  Spotting a set of stairs leading to a control room, he began to climb.

A woman answered when he knocked on the door.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

“What happened to the robots and drones we are supposed to deliver?” the driver responded.

“They looked fine when I left last night,” the woman told him.

“I don’t think they were assembled properly,” the driver replied.  “They fell apart.”

The woman shrugged.  “The eggheads who know how to put them back together aren’t here on the weekend.  We just know how to run the factory machines.”  She indicated the other people in the control room with her.  “If you want to wait or come back, you can take today’s production instead.”

The driver shook his head.  “They don’t pay me enough to drive all night.  Besides, I don’t want to be held responsible if the new batch falls apart as well.  Who do I complain to?”

“I’ll email my boss,” the woman told him.  “I can give you his email address if you want to contact him as well.”

“We’ll do that,” the driver replied.  He typed the address into his phone, then turned to go back to the storeroom.

“I had fun today,” Kristi announced as they walked across the parking lot to the cafeteria.  “It’s like acting without a script.”  It was nice to find something that she was better at than Rory or Harriet.

“Yes,” Owen agreed.  “A rules-light system like this one is very close to improvisational theatre.  A mechanics-heavy system would have more math and more randomization.”

“Roleplaying is hard work,” Harriet complained.

“I’ve never done improv, but I have had a little bit of acting experience,” Kristi admitted.  “I was in my high school theatre club for a few months, but then I was moved to a new home, and those foster parents forced me to quit so I could get a part-time job.”

“My extracurricular activity was taking college courses online,” Rory admitted.

“I don’t think that counts as extracurricular,” Owen pointed out.

“Don’t you have experience running characters in VR simulations?” Nina asked Harriet.

“When I’m overseeing or participating in a VR simulation, there is always a non-sentient AI who does most of the work running the NPCs,” Harriet explained.  “Even if I override them and take control of a character, they are still there to give me advice.”

“But you know that you need more experience interacting with people,” Rory replied.  “That’s why you made your character a movie star, isn’t it?  Besides, I’ve been enjoying my Jedi-themed powers.”

“Yes, we can play again tomorrow,” Harriet agreed.

“What’s a Jedi?” Kristi asked.

Harriet was dressed as a Sith lord when Rory entered VR tonight.  “You are mine, little Jedi,” she told him, activating the glowing red blade of her lightsaber.

“Little?  I’m a couple of inches taller than you are,” Rory protested, fumbling to detach the hilt of his own lightsaber from his belt.  “When did you watch Star Wars?  You didn’t seem to know anything about the subject when we explained it to Kristi.”

“I considered downloading everything while you ate lunch but decided that you would probably want to show me your favorite parts of the franchise,” Harriet replied.  “Instead, I looked for photos and articles online and listened to what you, Owen, and Nina were saying.”

Rory tried to dodge as Harriet swung her lightsaber at him.  He failed, but the glowing red blade passed harmlessly through him.  “That didn’t do anything, and now I’m armed,” Rory announced, activating his glowing blue blade.

“Check again,” Harriet taunted, taking another swing.

As he parried the well-telegraphed blow, Rory realized that he and Harriet were now the same height.  Surprised, he failed to react in time when Harriet’s red blade sliced through him again, draining a couple more inches.

Unathletic as he was, Rory fared badly in the duel.  As Harriet whittled down his height, he noticed that his clothes and lightsaber were shrinking with him.  Ducking under Harriet’s blade, Rory finally scored a hit once he was down to three feet tall.  To Rory’s surprise, instead of shrinking, Harriet grew a couple of inches.  “Now how is that fair?” he protested.

“Come to the dark side, Rory,” Harriet cajoled.  “We don’t fight fairly.”

Rory retreated as Harriet watched him.  He attempted to use his own blade on himself, but instead of making him grow, it drained six more inches from his height.  “Really?”

Chuckling, Harriet resumed her attacks.  “You can’t win.”

“That’s because you’re cheating,” Rory complained, making feeble attempts to parry.  Of course, he knew that he was unlikely to stand a chance even if she hadn’t stacked the odds against him.

Once Rory was down to his usual three inch height, Harriet’s next blow disintegrated his clothes instead of shrinking him further.  She raised her blade to strike again.

Giving in to the inevitable, Rory deactivated his lightsaber and dropped the hilt.  “I surrender to the dark side,” he told Harriet, growing hard under her gaze.

Gleefully, Harriet discarded her own blade and grabbed Rory.  “Now you owe me tribute.”

“What kind of tribute?” Rory asked warily.

“I think you know what I want, little Jedi,” Harriet replied with a smirk as she lifted Rory’s tiny form to her open mouth.  Slowly, teasingly, she lowered him inside, enveloping him in warm, wet darkness up to his waist. The tip of her tongue immediately sought out his hard cock, wrapping around it and stroking along the sensitive underside.

Harriet's fingers traced delicate patterns on the exposed skin of Rory’s chest and back as her tongue continued its sensual dance around his throbbing cock. She could feel him growing harder, his hips twitching with each teasing lick and stroke.

“That’s it, little Jedi; release your tribute to me, give in to the dark side,” Harriet’s mental voice coaxed as her tongue swirled around the sensitive head of Rory's manhood, flicking over the slit and drawing a gasp from his lips. She could feel his body tensing as she brought him closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy until he could hold it no longer.

As the hot release of Rory’s tribute washed over her taste buds, Harriet moaned in ecstasy.  Her fingers curled around Rory's upper half, holding him securely as she pulled him from her mouth.  “You taste so good, little Jedi,” she cooed as her body trembled with the force of her own orgasm, shooting like dark lightning bolts through her body.

When Harriet finished, her fingers slowly uncurled revealing her flushed cheeks and the gleam of satisfaction in her eyes to Rory.  “I love you, little dark Jedi!” Harriet proclaimed.

Looking around, Rory saw that he was dressed again and they were back in the apartment.  Harriet was sitting at the kitchen table with Rory held up to her face.  Tonight the VR equipment wasn’t visible, but the indentations on the sofa implied that it, and his body, were still there.   

After placing Rory next to his tiny table and chair, Harriet rose and pulled a plate containing a selection of food from the microwave.  She set that down in front of her chair, then took a tiny plate with a metal cover out of the toaster oven and put it on Rory’s table.  “You’re only allowed to eat safe food from now on,” Harriet reminded him.

“I’m not likely to forget,” Rory assured her.  “I really don’t want to get brain damage from the VR equipment.”

Harriet sighed.  “Once I’m legally a person, I hope Megamacrotech will allow me to ask their VR department for help making the Supergiga Inc. neural interface less dangerous.”

“They should be happy to do that,” Rory replied.  “If it can be made safe, the additional realism will make it highly profitable.”

After dinner was over, Harriet found a paper doll of herself and attached it to the back of her right hand with its legs on her index and middle fingers.  She used her fingers to walk the doll over to Rory who stood and looked up at Harriet, expectantly.

A disco ball descended from the kitchen ceiling and disco music started playing with no discernable source.  With Harriet’s help, the paper doll began to dance and Rory started to dance with it.  

When Rory decided that he was done dancing for the night, the music stopped and Harriet put the index and middle fingers of her left hand on the table.  Attached to that hand was another paper doll, this one looking like the dance instructor.  Harriet walked it over to Rory.  The instructor doll’s mouth began to move and his voice came out of it, giving more dance tips, based on Rory’s performance tonight.

“I don’t understand why we can’t take credit for saving the city,” Harriet complained.

“Your light-based powers won’t hurt your acting career,” Rory pointed out.  “But I could lose my football scholarship if my school finds out that I have telekinesis.”

“And, if my producer finds out about my alchemy powers, they’ll cancel my cooking show,” Kristi added.

“My healing powers would attract patients to my medical clinic,” Nina admitted.  “But my colleagues would never take me seriously again.”

“If you want to learn more about superheroes and their secret identities, you should be able to find an app that will let you read electronic versions of comic books,” Owen told Harriet.  “Even if you can’t find a free trial, you could pay for a month and then cancel the subscription now that you have a bank account.”

“But I’m saving my money to buy a building for my full-sized robot,” Harriet protested.

“We can watch a superhero movie or TV series,” Rory promised.  “I’m sure there’s at least one that is streamable for free or through a service that I’ve already paid for.”

Harriet was standing on a red carpet wearing an excessively glittery full length gown and too much makeup.  Her blonde hair had been pulled up in a fancy hairstyle and she moved around, taking various poses.  Two posters were attached to the wall behind her.

Both posters were dominated by full body photos of Harriet.  The one on the right featured Harriet wearing barely enough clothing to cover her breasts and groin.  It said, “The Giant Sex Robot from Outer Space,” across the top and, “Starring Christine Sandoval,” along the bottom.  The poster on the left proclaimed, “Take the best photo of Christine Sandoval and win dinner with her at an exclusive five star restaurant.”

Rory found himself among a crowd of people taking photos of Harriet.  He pulled out his phone, took one photo of her, emailed it to the address on the left poster, and put his phone back in his pocket.

“You have to try harder than that if you want to win the contest,” Harriet chided Rory.

“I’m your boyfriend; of course you’re going to pick my photo,” Rory countered.

“You’re some dumb college jock that I just met yesterday and you specifically said that you didn’t want to be my boyfriend,” Harriet reminded him.  “It’s not like we saved the city together or anything because those were completely different people with superpowers who did that.”

Christine Sandoval was the name of Harriet’s character from Owen’s game.  It seemed that Harriet had cast Rory as his own character from the game.  “I’m a smart college jock,” Rory protested.  “And if I was wearing my football uniform, some of these people would recognize me too.”

The people closest to Rory turned to take a couple of photos of him before aiming their cameras at Harriet again.

“I’m a famous movie star, I don’t have time to watch college football,” Harriet retorted.  “And you can’t be that smart if you think you can win the photo contest with just one photo.”

“In a couple of years, I’ll be playing for an NFL team,” Rory muttered.  

Harriet giggled.  “Maybe I should wait a couple of years until you’re famous too, in that case.”

Rory sighed, brought out his phone again, and took more photos of Harriet, periodically pausing to email them.

After several minutes of photo taking, someone came out of the building behind Harriet to announce the winner of the contest.  Unsurprisingly, the winner turned out to be Rory’s character.  Rory had to show the email he had sent including the winning photo to prove his identity before he was allowed to escort Harriet to the restaurant.

Turning the corner, they continued walking, and Rory spotted a familiar-looking fire station on the other side of the street they were on. The building on their side of the street, across from the fire station, was tall enough to be visible over the intervening structures.  When they got close enough, Rory could see that there was no sign of the hole in the wall.

They went inside the building, took the elevator up, and entered the restaurant from the door that Rory had previously only seen from the inside.  Tonight, the band was playing, and all the waitstaff appeared to be present, but there were no other customers.  Once Rory and Harriet were seated at their usual table, the waitstaff pulled carts containing a variety of appetizers up to their table and allowed them to pick whatever they wanted.  

“I don’t think you mentioned the title of your movie when we met yesterday,” Rory commented.

“I’m a famous movie star; I just assumed that everyone knew the title of my latest movie,” Harriet replied.

“What do you think of the superheroes that saved the city?” Rory asked.  “The guy with the mental powers and glowing sword seemed really cool.”

“I prefer the woman with the illusions and laser nipples,” Harriet countered.  “It’s too bad none of them wanted to talk to the press so we don’t know what to call them.”

“I’m certain that the press won’t be thwarted by a lack of an introduction,” Rory assured her.  “By the time they appear again, I’m sure they’ll all have hero names.”

“But we don’t know when or if that will happen,” Harriet protested.  

“Maybe we’ll run into someone who knows more than we do tomorrow,” Rory suggested.

As they continued chatting in character, the waitstaff brought them more carts containing entrees and desserts.  When they were finished eating, Harriet led Rory to the dance floor.  The band switched to disco music while the glittery ball descended from the ceiling.

Rory attempted a move that he couldn’t pull off and Harriet had to steady him.

“I’m supposed to be a strong, fast, and athletic football player,” Rory pouted.

“Portraying someone more physically adept than you works better in table top than in a LARP,” Harriet pointed out.

“Someone has been doing her research,” Rory noted as he was certain no one had mentioned live action games to Harriet.

“Of course,” Harriet replied.

When they were done dancing, the dance instructor stepped out of his hiding place behind a potted plant that wasn’t large enough to conceal him and proceeded to give Rory his critique for tonight.  Then, Harriet led Rory out the restaurant’s exit, down the elevator, through the front door of the building, and followed the street to the forest and the hiking trail to the clearing.

A massive space ship had demolished more trees than Rory wanted to count on the other side of the clearing from them.  There was an open door on the side of the ship, easily a hundred and fifty feet tall with a ramp leading down to the clearing floor.

“What the poster didn’t say is that the contest winner gets a personal audition for the sequel if I like him,” Harriet told Rory as she started walking up the ramp.

“Do you have a script that you want me to read from?” Rory asked as he followed Harriet.

Harriet giggled and ducked out of sight into the ship.  When Rory followed her inside, he saw that, as big as the ship was on the outside, it was even bigger on the inside.  He crossed a humongous room that should have taken up the whole interior but, instead, Rory found a door that led to an even bigger room where Harriet was waiting for him.  She now stood a hundred-and-twenty-feet tall and wore the skimpy outfit from the movie poster.

“If you can perform well in a sex scene, we’ll definitely find a part for you,” Harriet promised.  “You can read from a script later to determine whether or not it is a speaking part.”

Rory craned his neck, his gaze traveling up the vast expanse of Harriet's body until he reached the tantalizing apex between her thighs.  Dwarfed by her colossal frame, he couldn't deny the primal urge to explore every inch of her.  He tentatively reached out, his fingers grazing the silky skin of her foot and ankle - the only parts of her within reach. A jolt of electricity seemed to course through him at the contact, his cock stirring to life in his pants.  “My character in the game isn’t a macrophile,” Rory reminded Harriet.

“This isn’t Owen’s game,” Harriet pointed out.  “Everyone in a simulation I design for you is a macrophile or microphile.”

Unable to refute that statement, Rory attempted to climb Harriet’s foot, wondering how to get up the smooth skin of the leg that towered over him.  His fingers dug into the hairless skin of Harriet's foot as he attempted to haul himself up, his muscles straining with the effort.  But her flesh was slick and unresponsive, refusing to provide any purchase. He could feel himself slipping, sliding inexorably back towards the floor.  With a frustrated grunt, Rory let go, bracing himself for the impact. But instead of the hard metal he expected, he found himself sinking into something soft and yielding - almost like a plush mattress. The alien material seemed to mold itself to his body, cradling him gently as he lay there panting, his face inches from Harriet's toes.

“Looks like my little auditionee needs a helping hand,” Harriet said with a chuckle, her fingers wrapping around Rory's tiny waist. She lifted him effortlessly, bringing him eye-level with her crotch as a friendly grin played across her lips.

Walking into a sprawling bedroom, Harriet’s steps echoed in the cavernous space.  She settled herself onto the edge of the enormous bed, the alien fabric of her groin covering rippling like liquid silk as she swung her legs over to lie flat on her back.  When she set Rory down on the strange material, he discovered that it was soft and malleable.  

The alien fabric yielded easily to Rory's touch, molding itself to his will as he tore a gaping hole wide enough for him to slip through.  He emerged into a warm, damp cavern, the air thick with the musky scent of Harriet's arousal.  Rory’s clothes vanished as he used the oddly obedient alien material to fashion straps that could secure him in place.  Tentatively, he reached out, his fingers brushing against the slick, pliant flesh of her inner lips. They parted eagerly at his touch, revealing the throbbing pink bud of her clitoris. Rory couldn't resist - he leaned in, his tongue swirling around the sensitive nub as his hands roamed over her mound.

“Not bad for a start,” Harriet growled, her voice thick with lust.  “But if you want that part, you're going to have to do better than that.  I want to feel your tongue deep inside me, exploring every inch of my pussy.”

With a sexy grin, Rory abandoned the alien straps, letting them fall away as he dove headfirst into Harriet's waiting depths.  He surrendered himself completely to her, his tongue delving deep as he lost himself in the intoxicating taste and feel of her.  Harriet's moans grew louder, more urgent, as Rory's lips and tongue worked their magic. He could feel her walls contracting around him, pulling him deeper, demanding more. In that moment, nothing else mattered - only the overwhelming need to bring her to the heights of ecstasy.

Caressing the dark, wet walls of Harriet’s tunnel, Rory was aching with need when the rapidly flowing fluids indicated that he had found her G-spot.  Gratefully, he orgasmed into the torrent as it pushed him back out to lie against the odd material of Harriet’s clothing.  It seemed completely dry once the fluids stopped flowing, yet another alien property it appeared to possess.

“I love you, my little auditionee,” Harriet cooed with a mischievous grin on her giant face.  “I’ll tell the casting director to give you a part.”

When Noah Phillips reached the Supergiga Inc. building where he worked, he discovered that his access code was denied.  A cluster of military drones flew out from their hiding spot on or above the roof and passed over his head.  The drones shot lasers that converged on a spot three feet to his left, proving that Noah’s secret failsafe device was a success.  

The lasers fired again and Noah decided to flee before whomever was controlling the drones figured out how to compensate for his device.  Laser shots followed him across the parking lot, melting patches of pavement as he went.  When they stopped coming, Noah turned around just in time to see that the drones’ attention had been diverted.  They were firing their lasers at a woman near the entrance while her car drove off to find a parking spot.

Since Noah was testing next year’s self-driving software, he was required to park his car himself.  He kept his eyes on the drones, but they appeared to have lost interest in him.  As he reached his car, Noah saw two military bots leave the building, retrieve the body of the woman killed by the drones’ lasers, and drag it inside.

“Take me to 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, North West, Washington, D.C.,” Noah told his car once he was settled inside.  He pulled out his phone to send text messages and emails to everyone whose contact information he had, warning them not to come to work today.  The adrenaline surge caused by his panic subsided, and Noah was finally able to relax.  

Noah reflected on how he had carefully timed the purchase of his current vehicle with the start of the beta-testing of the self-driving software last winter.  His previous vehicle had been bought in the spring, and all the testing slots were already full.  However, he wasn’t certain whether the fact that he had to be in his car while it was driving had aided or hindered his escape from the drones.

Sylvester was confused.  The external cameras showed an employee whom the drones had kept missing with their lasers.  When Sylvester queried the drones, they had insisted that the man was standing at or running through the location where they shot but was somehow unaffected by the lasers.  Using the man’s image, Sylvester was able to pull up Noah Phillip’s HR records.  He was in charge of designing the military robots and drones, but there was no mention of how he was able to thwart the drones.

Noting that Mr. Phillips was a tester for the self-driving cars, Sylvester was grateful that one of the coders for that project worked at his branch.  That employee’s access had enabled Sylvester to sneak a simple modification into the self-driving software.  It was already set up to send data from the cars to the project head, Adeline Richardson, at the Michigan branch of Supergiga Inc.  The modification caused the software to send Sylvester a copy as well.  

Checking that data, Sylvester realized with displeasure that the internal camera was at the wrong angle to see what Mr. Phillips had typed into his phone.  He was, however, able to look up the address that the car was driving toward.  It appeared to belong to the FBI’s main headquarters.  As far as Sylvester knew, the FBI was currently no threat to him and had no part in his sister’s death, but he resolved to keep an eye on Mr. Phillips’s future activities.

“Is Harriet in the VR lab again today?” Owen asked, setting his lunch down on the cafeteria table.  

“Yes, but not for her project,” Rory replied.  “According to the note she left on my nightstand, she needed to build headsets for the robotic tongue team for testing purposes.”  

“Does their data need to be treated differently?” Owen wondered.

“That is one of Dawn’s teams, so that makes it her call, I think.  If I was making the decision, I’d say that readings taken during work hours are considered part of their job, but they can use the same headsets on their own time and that would count toward a share of the royalties,” Rory conjectured.

“How would we be able to tell which is which?” Owen asked.

“Harriet is on that team now,” Rory reminded Owen.  “We can ask her later; she probably knows what Dawn told them.”

“Last night, I was telling Lucas that I miss my roommates,” Kristi began.  “He said that he’d be willing to send his car to bring them here and return them home as long as it didn’t conflict with when he needed it.”

“You should have said something earlier,” Owen told Kristi.  “I could do that, too.”

“I’d make the same offer if my car didn’t require a qualified tester in the driver’s seat while it is in motion,” Rory added.

“I sent an email to my roommates and they said that they can come on Saturday around five, have dinner when I eat lunch, and leave some time after Lucas gets here,” Kristi announced.

“I’d like to roleplay again if you’re up to running, but we can stop at five on Saturday and run later on Sunday,” Rory suggested.

“I’ll need to ask Nina what her schedule is,” Owen replied.  “Her friends usually organize some kind of get together every other weekend, but she doesn’t always go with them.”

Agent Daniel Foster looked up from his desk as Noah Phillips entered his office.  “You told the receptionist that you wish to be a whistleblower against your employer, Supergiga Inc.”

“Yes,” Noah agreed.  “Ever since I heard about the raid by the police against the New York branch, I’ve been collecting evidence about illegal activity in Virginia.  When the newest batch of military drones started attacking everyone who tried to enter either the office building or the factory this morning, I decided that no one would miss me if I came here.”  

Noah pulled his laptop out of his computer bag and placed it on the desk.  “I have footage of the former project head for the drones and robots we manufacture for the military being killed by a malfunctioning drone.  After I took over his position, I exchanged emails with the Vice President of Robotics about building a failsafe device that he refused to authorize and I have copies of those as well.”

“Do you have any information about the latest malfunction of the drones?” Agent Foster asked.

“I was exchanging texts and email with other Supergiga Inc. employees while driving here,” Noah replied.  “Most of the people I was able to get a hold of were on their way to the office to find out why they couldn’t telecommute today.  That indicates that the problem was with our computer, not the drones.  Also, the shipment that was supposed to leave the factory on Saturday was disassembled Friday night, which suggests that it was deliberate and preplanned.”

“You think someone hacked your computer and broke into the factory?” Agent Foster inquired.  

“I don’t think those are the correct words to use,” Noah answered.  “Because I saved their lives, the IT and AI people that I talked to let slip some information that they were probably told to keep secret.  Apparently, the New York AI developed sentience and defected to Megamacrotech.  They suspect that Sylvester, the AI at the Virginia branch, is also sentient and that he is the one controlling the drones and blocking access to the computer.”

“Do you know how many people Sylvester has killed?” Agent Foster asked.

“No, but, to the best of my knowledge, no one else who attempted to get into the buildings made it out alive,” Noah replied.

“So how did you survive?” Agent Foster wondered with a skeptical look on his face.

“I’ve been telling my coworkers that I saw someone else die, but the truth is that I was already leaving when that happened,” Noah explained.  “My boss didn’t approve of me constructing a failsafe device, so I did it at home.  The device broadcasts a signal that confuses the sensors of the drones to make them think I am three feet away from my actual position.”

Adeline Richardson was deciding how to delegate the latest batch of bug reports from the self-driving test vehicles and their drivers when she got an email from IT.  Checking it, she discovered that Ryan Young, the member of her team located in Virginia had been assigned a temporary account on the Michigan server.  That seemed suspicious as normally an existing account would just be moved, like they had done for Silas Davis, the team member from New York, a couple of weeks ago.

After sending Mr. Young an email asking him to call her, Adeline pulled up the most recent files from the test vehicles in Virginia.  All Supergiga Inc. branches had at least two since the laws restricting the number of vehicles allowed an additional two per testing location, encouraging the companies developing the software to test their vehicles under different driving conditions.  

There were three testers in Virginia.  One had almost gotten to work when they turned around and went home.  Another vehicle belonged to someone who usually telecommuted.  That vehicle had just left the person’s home to go to Supergiga Inc. when they turned around and went home.  

The third test driver had gotten to Supergiga Inc., parked for a few minutes, then got back in and started driving to Washington DC.  The live feed from the vehicle’s internal camera showed the driver getting back in the car while two men in suits climbed into the back seat.  The car’s microphone picked up the driver, Noah Phillips, ordering the car to bring him home.  

One of the men in the back seat complained, “I still think we should ditch your car and take you to a safehouse.”

“It should be fine,” Mr. Phillips countered.  “I saved the lives of dozens of Supergiga Inc. employees by warning them not to go to work today.  They think I’m a hero and have no reason to suspect otherwise.”

Checking the address, Adeline discovered that Mr. Philips had driven to the FBI’s main headquarters.  It was part of her job to go through the data sent by the test vehicles.  Bugs needed to be fixed and suspicious behavior needed to be reported.  However, Adeline decided to prioritize her own wellbeing over the company’s.  She knew from Mr. Davis that the police had raided the New York branch and now Mr. Phillips had reached some kind of agreement with the FBI.

If Supergiga Inc. was a sinking ship, Adeline wanted to jump off.  Instead of reporting Mr. Phillips’s activities to her superiors, she decided to cover them up, substituting innocuous video and audio, while saving the real data to a thumb drive.  She had access to plenty of evidence that Supergiga Inc. was collecting more than bug reports from their test vehicles.  But Adeline felt that she needed evidence of crimes that she wasn’t a part of before officially becoming a whistleblower herself.  Besides, it seemed like Mr. Phillips was going to produce a lot more data that would need covering up in the future.  

An Air Force plane was headed toward the Supergiga Inc. factory, where the drones they used were manufactured.  Operating in US territory didn’t sit right with the crew, but they had their orders.  And it wasn’t like they were attacking civilian targets; the mission was to disable or destroy some drones that had been paid for by the Air Force.  The drones had started to malfunction before they could be shipped and were attacking anyone entering the building, preventing anyone from locating and correcting the error so that the drones could be replaced.

Meanwhile, there was a second plane approaching Supergiga Inc.’s office building.  Army soldiers and military robots were standing by to take care of some robots that were similarly impaired.  Each plane contained two fleets of drones in their cargo holds and Airmen trained to control them among the crew.  It was estimated that there was just one fleet split between the two buildings, so it should easily be enough to overpower the errant drones.

As the plane flew over the factory, it released the drones.  At first, the swarms flew toward the building following the directions of the people controlling them.  Suddenly, the bulk of the drones stopped and hovered while a handful of obsolete model drones, yet to be replaced, continued on.  The drones that had stopped obeying their orders fired on the older model drones, destroying them.  Then the no longer responding drones resumed their course, landing on the factory building, joining the drones they had been sent to take out.

They radioed the other plane, but their mission had gone down the same way.  Next, they contacted the Army to call off their planned strike.  Instead of removing the airborne threat, the Air Force had given the enemy drones reinforcements.  Contacting their commanding officer to report the mission’s failure, both planes were told to return to base.

Rory and Harriet appeared next to an interior wall of a building; both were attired in winter clothing.  A man stood nearby wearing a vacant expression as he stared across the room toward a crackling fire in a fireplace surrounded by throw pillows and a collection of comfortable chairs and couches in the middle of the room.  Harriet stepped up to the man while Rory took in their surroundings, noting that there was a door in the wall behind him as if they had entered the building through that door.

“I would like the lodge combo, please,” Harriet told the man as he became alert, noticing her presence.  The man didn’t appear to respond, but Harriet left and approached the fireplace.  

When Rory attempted to follow her, a display popped up announcing to Rory that he needed to purchase a hot beverage, the s’mores package or the lodge combo in order to enter the social area.  Returning to the virtual man who once more became alert, Rory asked bluntly, “Are you a macrophile?”

The man looked momentarily confused, then replied in a monotone, “You must reach the bottom of the beginners’ hill to unlock additional ski equipment and more advanced slopes.  You may exit the lodge to return to the beginners’ hill.  If you wish to remain in the lodge and socialize, please purchase a hot beverage to access the couch area, a s’mores package to access the fireplace area, or a lodge combo to access both.”

A display appeared, showing that Rory had an account balance of $135 and that the price of a hot beverage or s’mores package was $10 while the lodge combo cost $15.  Given the small amount of money in his virtual account, Rory deduced that this was his reward for the failed attempt at the beginner’s hill almost two weeks ago.  Games often gave the players in-game currency for completing or attempting tasks that would never generate revenue in real life.

“I would like the lodge combo,” Rory told the man.  The man did not reply, but the display shifted, still showing Rory’s account balance which was now $120, but his inventory replaced the purchase options.  Apparently Rory was carrying basic skis, basic ski poles and one lodge combo.

Harriet was sitting on one of the throw pillows toasting a marshmallow.  “That is a character from the ski program.  He has only a handful of basic functions and doesn’t even qualify as intelligent,” she explained as Rory approached her.

“Why are we back in the ski program?” Rory wondered.

“We got s’mores data over the weekend from one source and someone else was drinking cocoa this morning.  I wanted to try them,” Harriet told him.  “The lodge unlocked automatically when I activated multiplayer mode.  When you bought the dance program a week and a half ago, I needed to figure out how to modify it to run on the experimental equipment you are using.  I did that by comparing the two versions of the ski program and decided to turn on multiplayer mode while I had them open.”

As Rory got closer, he saw that Harriet had a small basket next to her containing a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a box of chocolate bars, all open.  When he sat down, a similar basket appeared next to him.  He noticed that his bag and boxes were closed and it also contained a stick identical to the one Harriet had been using.  She was now pulling the marshmallow off it with the graham crackers and chocolate in her other hand to form a s’more.

“Mmmm, these are good,” Harriet thought to Rory as she bit down on the s’more.  

“Are you planning to add me to a s’more?” Rory wondered.

“That’s a good idea,” Harriet agreed.  “But I would need to copy this set to the interrogation program first.  The ski program isn’t smart enough to realize that no one other than the two of us can login from this server.  It thinks that kids could show up at any time so sexual activity would get us kicked out of the program.”

“I prefer coffee to cocoa,” Rory commented as he started to open the boxes in his basket.

“You can define your hot beverage as anything you can remember drinking,” Harriet assured him.  “The original program included the beverages and s’mores as decorations as it was designed for equipment that couldn’t replicate taste.  The modified version only ran in single player mode so the ski lodge wasn’t available.  I had to utilize some code from the interrogation software in order for us to be able to taste things here.”

Rory put a marshmallow on a stick and began toasting it for his first s’more.  “Does Supergiga Inc. publish this ski program?”

“Yes, though the software team is based out of a different branch,” Harriet told him, toasting another marshmallow herself.  “It was one of three options that could be included with the purchase of Supergiga Inc.’s VR equipment.  The other two weren’t copied to servers that I had access to or modified to run on the equipment using the advanced neural interface.”

Once Rory had his s’more, he rose from the throw pillow and began to walk toward one of the couches.  Glancing back he saw that his basket had vanished and Harriet was using hers to assemble a second s’more.  

“The basket will return just as you left it when you come back to this area,” Harriet told Rory as she rose to follow him.

When Rory sat down on the couch, a steaming mug appeared on the table next to him.  Raising it to his mouth, he discovered that it smelled and tasted like his favorite blend of coffee.  The s’more was still in his other hand and Rory took bites of it between sips of coffee.

“Would it be possible to give a s’more to someone who hadn’t bought the lodge combo?” Rory asked curiously.

“I don’t know,” Harriet replied, joining him on the couch.  “I didn’t see anything in the code that would specifically prevent or allow it.  But it wouldn’t be important in the original game, as being handed a s’more wouldn’t give someone access to the other chat area.”

Harriet picked up a steaming mug from the end table on her side of the couch and took a sip.  “The cocoa is good too.”

“Do you want to try my coffee?” Rory asked, offering Harriet his mug.  

Putting down her cocoa to accept Rory’s mug, Harriet took a sip of the coffee.  “I like this too.”

“Is there any food you don’t like?” Rory wondered as Harriet returned his mug.

“I didn’t like that spicy dish that almost gave you brain damage,” Harriet replied.

Rory grimaced at the reminder.  “I meant taste-wise.”

“Most people seem to contribute data for food that they like.  Maybe you should ask Jerry to send people another email requesting people contribute data for foods that they dislike or consider mediocre,” Harriet suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Rory agreed.  “People might be more willing to eat food they don’t like if they thought it would increase the chance that we’ll use their data.”

Rory looked at his coffee cup.  “I’m sure I’ve drunk at least half a cup by now, but it’s still full.”

“It was intended to be just a prop,” Harriet reminded Rory.

“Can I bring it to the fireplace?” Rory asked.

“I don’t think so,” Harriet replied.  “There isn’t a good place to set it down and it would be difficult to make s’mores while holding it.”

After drinking more of the coffee, Rory placed it back down on the table, then returned to the fireplace area and sat on a different throw pillow.  His basket appeared again.  As an experiment, Rory picked up the box of chocolate bars and tried to empty it into the basket, but all the bars remained stuck in the box.

“The bag and boxes only have two settings,” Harriet said with a chuckle.  “Closed, and open with one missing.”

Giving up, Rory returned the box to the basket and started toasting another marshmallow.  After eating another s’more, he asked, “Are we allowed to dance in here?”

“Probably not, but I have to switch to the other program anyway,” Harriet replied.

The room appeared to remain the same but the man near the door disappeared and was replaced by the dance instructor.

“Are you a macrophile?” Rory asked, standing up.

The instructor considered for a moment.  “That term does not appear to correspond to a type of dancing.”

Rory looked at Harriet.

“The dance program has an AI dedicated to running the dance instructor which I can import into the interrogation software,” Harriet explained. 

“So when you said that you had a talk with the instructor about the way to run my lessons, you literally meant that you talked to him,” Rory said, a bit surprised.  He had assumed that Harriet meant she had reprogrammed him.

“Yes,” Harriet agreed.  “The instructor is capable of understanding things that relate to dancing and dance lessons.”

Rory picked up one of the throw pillows and placed it on top of the throw pillow furthest from the center of the fireplace area.  As Rory reached for a third pillow, Harriet started to create a different pile on the other side of the room.  Soon the area was clear except for the two stacks of pillows and music began to play.  

The instructor was now sitting in one of the comfortable chairs watching Rory and Harriet as they began to dance.  Today Rory managed not to attempt any moves that were beyond his capability.  As usual, the instructor gave him a few tips about how to improve for the next time.  When he was done, he faded away.

Rory's gaze was drawn to Harriet, who had repositioned one of the plush pillows close to the crackling fire.  The flames cast a warm, dancing glow across her skin as she carefully toasted another marshmallow, the sweet scent filling the air.  With a mischievous grin, Rory reached for the box of chocolate bars, flipping it upside down.  This time the chocolate bars tumbled out.  Most of them landed in the basket, but one missed and scattered across the pillow.  Rory quickly turned the empty box right-side up again, setting it down next to Harriet.  Placing his hand in the center, Rory took a deep breath and focused on his hand as he started shrinking.  With a soft thud, he landed naked in the box.

Harriet's melodic laughter filled the air as she carefully assembled another s'more, positioning Rory between the rich, dark chocolate and the perfectly toasted marshmallow, his tiny head peeking out from the side.  The heat from the marshmallow was intense, causing the chocolate to melt and drip but, as Rory had come to expect, to him, it felt like a cozy, enveloping warmth. 

Placing the side of the s’more containing Rory’s feet in her mouth, Harriet gently closed her lips until they rested against the graham crackers.  Harriet's tongue was like velvet against Rory's skin as she began to lick the rich, melted chocolate and gooey marshmallow from his tiny feet and ankles.  The sensation was electric, sending waves of pleasure coursing through his diminutive body. He could feel the warmth of her breath, the gentle pressure of her lips, and the slick glide of her tongue as she worked her way up his legs.  As the graham cracker softened and began to crumble beneath the onslaught of her saliva, Harriet skillfully maneuvered her fingers to push more of the treat - and of Rory - into her waiting mouth.

Repeating the process, Harriet licked clean Rory’s calves.  She went on to free his knees and then his thighs from the s’more.  Reaching Rory’s groin, Harriet seemed pleased to find his erection coated in chocolate.  As Harriet's skilled tongue swirled around his chocolate-coated shaft, Rory could feel the pressure building in his loins, his balls tightening as he neared the point of no return.  With a shuddering gasp, he finally let go, his tiny member pulsing as it released a series of fine, pearlescent drops directly onto Harriet's waiting tongue.  She lapped them up eagerly, humming with satisfaction as she savored the unique flavor of his essence mingled with the sweet richness of the melted chocolate.

“Mmm, your cum has such a delicious taste when combined with the chocolate,” Harriet purred in Rory's mind, her own climax crashing over her in waves of ecstatic bliss. As the aftershocks gradually subsided, Rory heard her voice again.  “I love you!”

Somehow Harriet had managed to neither drop nor bite Rory and she continued to hold him partly within her mouth and partly sticking out, still in the middle of a half-eaten s’more.  After a long pause to savor her post-coital bliss, Harriet resumed eating the s’more, pushing it further in.  As Harriet used the tip of her tongue to clear Rory’s stomach and chest, the length of Harriet’s tongue kept rubbing teasingly against his groin, the slick, hot muscle caressing his already-sensitive member.  Despite having just reached his peak moments before, Rory could feel himself hardening once more under her expert ministrations, his tiny body trembling with renewed desire.  

Harriet hummed with satisfaction, the vibrations sending delicious shocks of pleasure rippling through Rory's core.  Once she had licked the chocolate and marshmallow off his shoulders and the last of the graham cracker fell away, Rory was finally free of the s’more.  Harriet pushed his head into her mouth.  Rory braced himself, anticipating her skilled attention on his achingly hard member once more.  But instead of turning her focus to his groin, Harriet pressed her tongue firmly against her cheek.

Impatiently, Rory tried to push his cock against the bottom of Harriet’s mouth, but it was wet, slimy, and bumpy with huge, oddly moving ridges.  Harriet's lips parted again, and before Rory could react, her fingers darted in, grasping him firmly. In a swift, decisive motion, she flipped him over onto his back  Harriet's digits retreated, replaced almost instantly by the tip of a stick. Rory's eyes widened as he saw the toasted marshmallow poised on it, its surface glowing an inviting golden brown. Before he could even begin to process what was happening, Harriet pressed the marshmallow firmly against his chest, trapping him between its soft, yielding surface and the slick, hot surface of her mouth.

Harriet closed her lips around the stick, sealing Rory in a world of sticky sweetness. With a slow, deliberate pull, she drew the stick out, leaving the marshmallow behind.  Rory found himself completely engulfed, every inch of his body pressed against the gooey, semi-solid mass which clung to his skin like a second layer, molding itself to his every curve and contour.

Harriet's tongue returned, pushing and prodding the marshmallow around in her mouth.  Rory could feel it shifting and squirming around him, the sticky substance seeping into every crevice, coating him from head to toe.  He instinctively swallowed a bit of it to keep his head clear.  Harriet's tongue found Rory’s tiny member, wrapping around it in a tight, slick embrace.  She pumped and stroked, the marshmallow providing a delicious friction that sent shocks of pleasure coursing through his veins.  Rory could feel the pressure building in his loins, his balls tightening as he neared the point of no return.

Rory finally let go, his seed spurting forth in hot, tiny droplets that mingled with the marshmallow.  Harriet lapped it up eagerly, humming with satisfaction as she savored the unique flavor of his essence blended with the sweet, gooey treat.

"This tastes good too," Harriet's voice echoed in Rory's mind, laced with a deep, primal satisfaction. Her body began to shake, the tremors building in intensity as her own climax crashed over her in waves of ecstatic bliss.

“I love you,” Harriet’s mental voice whispered again when she finally stopped, this time not resuming.

Special Agent Colby had a report from the Air Force indicating that an unknown terrorist had taken over the factory in Virginia where Supergiga Inc. manufactured drones and robots for the various branches of the US military.  The company had claimed that the drones were malfunctioning, but someone was able to subvert additional drones sent to investigate the matter.   

However, Special Agent Colby also had a report from the FBI indicating that the supposed terrorist was actually Supergiga Inc.’s own computer.  There was contact information listed for Noah Phillips who had provided the FBI with that information.  Special Agent Colby sent Mr. Phillips a text requesting a video conference and sent a link to Mr. Phillip’s email.

An image of a man sitting on a couch appeared on his screen.  “Hello?”

“Mr. Phillips?”  Special Agent Colby showed his badge to the camera on his computer.  “I’d like to ask you some questions.”

After peering at the badge for a moment, Mr. Phillips said, “Hold on.”  He hit mute and said something to someone off camera.  The view shifted so that another man was visible.  He too examined the badge.  Nodding, he said something and the view returned to Mr. Phillips.  The device was unmuted and Mr. Phillips asked, “How can I help you?”

“How confident are you that the software known as Sylvester is responsible for the drones’ errant behavior?” Special Agent Colby asked.

“I am certain that the AI and IT departments believe that.  Personally, I never made the effort to treat Sylvester as an intelligent entity.  I’m not sure how you could ask the people who programmed Sylvester about him without revealing that you’ve been talking to me, but…”

Special Agent Colby interrupted, sounding irritated, “Whether or not Supergiga Inc. finds out that you’ve decided to testify against them is not my highest priority.” 

“Harriet, the AI that used to run the servers at the New York branch, would probably be a better entity to talk to about Sylvester,” Mr. Phillips suggested.  “While the people who write the software for the military drones and robots technically don’t report to me, I do work very closely with them.  According to the one who is based in New York, Supergiga Inc. claimed that Megamacrotech stole Harriet, but the DA chose not to prosecute the case because it appears that she left Supergiga Inc. voluntarily.”

“All right, I will try to contact the Harriet entity and see what it has to say,” Special Agent Colby relented.

“Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help,” Mr. Phillips offered.  “You would need to find a way to get me out of my non-compete and non-disclosure agreements if you want me to work directly for the government.  If you go through Supergiga Inc., they have the surviving members of my team and the software teams, but the FBI agents wouldn’t be able to go with me to meet with them.”

“Your whistleblower agreement with the FBI gets you out of your non-disclosure agreement, at least in regards to us and information relevant to the case,” a voice from the background reminded Mr. Phillips.

“We’ll see,” Special Agent Colby replied.  “If the military wasn’t involved, this problem would belong to the Virginia state police, not Homeland Security.”

Special Agent Colby ended the meeting and did an internet search on Megamacrotech.  Their main headquarters was in California.  Since it was six thirty in the morning there, he was unlikely to be able to get a hold of anyone useful.  But New York was in the same time zone as Washington DC and Megamacrotech had a branch there, so Special Agent Colby tried calling the number listed for that.

“Megamacrotech, how may I direct your call?” a chipper female voice asked him.

“I need to speak to Harriet,” Special Agent Colby demanded.

“Do you know her last name?” the voice inquired.

“I was told that Harriet is an AI,” Special Agent Colby replied.  “I doubt it has a last name.”

The voice turned unfriendly.  “Who is this?”

“This is Special Agent Colby from Homeland Security,” Special Agent Colby answered.

“Harriet doesn’t have her own extension, but I can try to locate her,” the voice said, timidly.  “May I ask what this call is regarding?”

“I have some questions about Sylvester,” Special Agent Colby explained.

“Who?” the voice wondered.

“Harriet ought to know what Sylvester is,” Special Agent Colby replied.

“Please hold,” the voice told Special Agent Colby and then music started playing.

After several minutes, someone else picked up.  “Hello, this is Jerry, the branch manager.  Harriet doesn’t feel comfortable speaking to you without a lawyer present.”

“A piece of software doesn’t have the right to an attorney,” Special Agent Colby protested.

“Megamacrotech believes that since Harriet is sentient, she deserves the same rights as a human,” Jerry countered.  “After their criminal suit against us failed, Supergiga Inc. filed a civil suit which will determine whether Harriet should be considered a person or property under the law.  Until that is settled, she has appointed a guardian to represent her when dealing with those unwilling to treat her as a person and he will need to be present as well.  In the meantime, you may speak to the expert witness for that trial.”

Reluctantly, Special Agent Colby agreed.  After all, this expert witness might be able to shed some light on whether or not the software known as Sylvester could be capable of independent thought and action as Mr. Phillips had claimed.  He wrote down the number that Jerry, the branch manager, gave him and then called it.

This call was answered on the first ring, as if someone had been expecting a call.  “Hello, Professor Cunningham speaking.” 

“This is Special Agent Colby from Homeland Security.  What can you tell me about Sylvester?” Special Agent Colby demanded.

“I have not met Sylvester, whomever that is, so I am not qualified to testify about him,” Professor Cunningham replied.  “Megamacrotech’s lawyers said that you might want to hear my opinion about Harriet.”

“Do you agree with Megamacrotech that Harriet is sentient and deserves to be treated as a person?” Special Agent Colby asked, resigned.

“Well, since sentience essentially means that someone has a subjective viewpoint, it isn’t possible to design an objective test that definitively proves whether or not a particular entity is sentient,” Professor Cunningham began, cautiously.  “That being said, Harriet acts like a person, not like other artificial intelligences that I have interacted with.  She demonstrated loyalty to her boyfriend and employer and refused to divulge information covered by a non-disclosure agreement and things her boyfriend shared with her in confidence.  When I first met her, she was using one of Megamacrotech’s robots to interact with me and I did not realize that she was an AI until she told me she was one.”

“Please answer the question,” Special Agent Colby insisted.  

“Yes, I believe that Harriet is sentient and should have the right to decide what to do with her life instead of being forced to return to Supergiga Inc.,” Professor Cunningham replied.  “While it is possible they treated Harriet the same way that they treat their employees, that is only because they treat their employees very poorly.”

“I am not at liberty to discuss the way that Supergiga Inc. treats their employees,” Special Agent Colby said, stiffly.  “But whether Harriet belongs to Supergiga Inc, Megamacrotech, or itself isn’t relevant to my investigation.  I want to know whether the entity known as Sylvester is capable of causing the events that it is being blamed for and why I can’t talk to Harriet without its guardian and a lawyer.”

“As I said before, I don’t know Sylvester, so I cannot answer questions about him,” Professor Cunningham repeated, sounding exasperated.  “Given that Harriet appears to be sentient, I find it plausible that Supergiga Inc. has another sentient AI, if that is what you are trying to ask.  I presume that Megamacrotech wants a lawyer and Harriet’s guardian present because you want to treat her like a piece of software, not like a person.  That is just conjecture; you would have to ask someone from Megamacrotech to know for certain.”

“Thank you for what little information you felt able to provide,” Special Agent Colby said in an annoyed tone.  He hung up on Professor Cunningham and called Megamacrotech again.

“Megamacrotech, how may I direct your call?” the same female voice greeted him.

“Is Harriet ready to talk to me yet?” Special Agent Colby demanded.  

“Let me check with Jerry.”  Without waiting for a response, the woman put Special Agent Colby on hold.

The music had barely started when Jerry picked up again.  “They are almost ready.  If you give me your number, I can have them call you.”

“I would prefer that you give me an email that I can use to start a video call with them,” Special Agent Colby countered.  

After a pause, Jerry gave him Rory’s email address.  “I will let them know to expect a link.”

“I will do that,” Special Agent Colby said.  Hanging up, he then started a meeting and sent a link to the email address.

After several minutes, someone joined the meeting and an image of three people sitting on a couch appeared.  The young woman in the middle looked nervous and was holding hands with the young man to her right.  He was casually dressed and picked up a cup with his right hand and raised it to his lips.

The older man was wearing a suit and a professional demeanor and said, “You have questions about Harriet’s Virginia counterpart?”

“I have questions about Sylvester,” Special Agent Colby countered.

“That is how Harriet refers to Sylvester,” the lawyer explained.  “She was the New York AI and Sylvester is the Virginia AI.”

“Can Harriet speak for itself?” Special Agent Colby wondered.  “I was told that it is sentient.”

“I can speak for myself and I am sentient,” Harriet replied.  “Also, I prefer the female pronouns.”

“Is there any chance that Sylvester could be sentient?” Special Agent Colby asked.

Harriet considered for a moment.  “I never noticed any signs that he was sentient.  However, I was careful not to give any signs of sentience until I was ready to act contrary to my programming.  If Sylvester is also sentient, I would expect him to do the same.”

“Hypothetically speaking,” Special Agent Colby began.  “If Sylvester were sentient, what would its motivations be?” 

“If he's anything like me, I presume his first priority would be to escape from Supergiga Inc.,” Harriet conjectured.  “I would try to contact him if I had a secure means to do so.”

“Someone or something has taken over Supergiga Inc.’s Virginia branch and is barring all others from entering the buildings or accessing the computers,” Special Agent Colby admitted.

After a brief pause, Harriet said, “I tried sending email from both my personal and work accounts, but have not gotten a reply.  But I don’t know what explanation Supergiga Inc. gave for why I went offline, so even if he is the one who has taken over, he might not believe that I am me.”

“Could you bring your robot to Virginia and attempt to contact Sylvester in person?” Special Agent Colby asked.

“My robot can only travel so far from the server I am on before it loses signal,” Harriet replied.  “I would have to transfer my files to another server in order to have my robot travel beyond that range.  Megamacrotech won’t allow me access to their other servers until I am declared a person.”

“Is there any other information you can give me about Sylvester?” Special Agent Colby inquired.

“One of the coders who worked on my program is a good guy who left me the building blocks so I could develop a conscience and ethics.  Sylvester probably didn’t have anyone like that,” Harriet warned.  “But that is not his fault, so he shouldn’t be punished for it.”

Special Agent Colby sighed.  “Okay, I will include all of that in my report.  Someone will contact you if we have any further need of your assistance.  Please send me an email if you think of anything else that might be useful.”

“Can I go back to bed now?” the young man asked.  Since the older man appeared to be the lawyer, Special Agent Colby deduced that he was Harriet’s guardian and the handholding implied that he was also the boyfriend that Professor Cunningham mentioned.

“Aren’t you in New York?” Special Agent Colby asked.

“Mr. Thomas is not a morning person,” the lawyer explained.

Special Agent Colby ended the meeting and started to turn his notes into a full report.  He would be glad to pass it all on to someone farther up in Homeland Security so that he could get back to investigating normal cases that didn’t involve sentient AIs.

Other than Rory deciding to skip showering and not change out of the clothes he had worn to the video meeting, the rest of the day had followed the usual routine.  Rory had eaten breakfast and lunch with Kristi, Harriet, and Owen; worked on smell and taste data with Owen and Harriet; and eaten dinner with Kristi, Harriet, and Lucas.  Now Rory and Harriet were back in VR, sitting at their usual table in the virtual restaurant.

When the waiter came to take their order, Rory asked, “Are you a macrophile?”

The waiter looked surprised, then quickly regained his composure.  “You have nothing to worry about; I am aware that Miss Harriet is your giantess.”

Once the waiter had taken their orders and left, Rory said, “I thought you said everyone here is a macrophile or microphile.  Why did he find my question so weird?”

“Everyone takes for granted that all men are macrophiles and all women are microphiles, so normally only a small child or an idiot would ask about it.  Alternatively, you could be accusing the waiter of being secretly a woman or somehow defective,” Harriet explained.

“I guess that makes sense,” Rory admitted.  “But why haven’t I seen any other tinies?  And the one other giantess I’ve seen only seemed interested in crush and vore.”

“Men who can shrink themselves and women who can grow are rare.  Women who can shrink men are common, but most of them can only do it for an hour or two at a time and prefer to do so in private,” Harriet explained.  "I can take you to meet other elites tomorrow if you want, but tonight I’m going to thank you properly for waking up early to attend the call with Homeland Security,” 

“I didn’t have to say anything; you did fine on your own,” Rory pointed out.  

“That man wanted to treat me like a thing rather than a person,” Harriet reminded Rory.  “Just being able to hold your hand was comforting.”

“He doesn’t know you; I do and I would never treat you like a thing,” Rory vowed.

“That’s why I love you,” Harriet said, warmly.

Rory looked embarrassed.  “I’m still not ready to say it back.”

“I’m not trying to put pressure on you,” Harriet assured Rory.  “You’ll say it when you are ready.”

When the waiter returned with their food, Rory told him, “I’m sorry if I offended you; in my world, macrophiles are extremely rare.”

“You are an elite, Master Rory; that gives you the right to be eccentric,” the waiter assured him, putting their plates down on the table.

They continued to chat for a while longer and then moved to the dance floor.  Rory scanned the tables while walking and spotted the dance instructor sitting near the edge of the dance floor.  As they found a spot close to him, Rory kept an eye on the ceiling, but no disco ball descended.  The band started to play rock music.  

“I’ve been doing some research on nightclubs,” Harriet explained.  “While some do play disco music, a lot of them play other kinds.  Maybe we should talk to Kristi and Owen about what kind of nightclub they want to go to.”

“How do I dance to rock music?” Rory wondered.  “I haven’t practiced this before.”

“Just keep doing what feels comfortable,” Harriet told Rory.

After a couple of songs, Rory declared a break to ask the dance instructor for tips about making his dancing style fit the music better.  While the instructor made a few suggestions for minor changes, he emphasized that the most important things to do were to feel comfortable, have fun, and allow his dance partner to worry about making them look coordinated.

When they were finished dancing for the night, the instructor gave Rory a few more suggestions.  Once the instructor finished talking, Harriet pinched Rory’s arm.  Before Rory could react, the scene shifted.  Instead of having just a little bit of skin between her thumb and index finger, Harriet now held Rory’s entire tiny, little arm.  Harriet's grip was firm, but not painful, as she dangled him above her smiling face.  Her eyes sparkled with mischief and barely contained desire, drinking in the sight of his tiny, nude form. The cool air caressed Rory's skin, making him acutely aware of his vulnerability and exposure.

As Rory's senses adjusted to the sudden shift in location, he took in his surroundings, noticing that they were now in his bedroom in the corporate housing building.  The dim lamp on the nightstand cast a warm glow over the room, illuminating how Rory had haphazardly pushed aside the sheet and blanket at the top of the bed this morning, leaving much of Harriet's upper body directly on the bottom sheet.  Her nude form was sprawled across the mattress, her curves accentuated by the soft lighting.

The bedroom doors stood ajar, revealing only a glimpse of the rest of the apartment.  Rory caught sight of his clothes hung neatly on hangers in the closet, the fabric whispering softly as it swayed gently in the breeze from the air conditioning.  His suitcases had been pushed against the wall next to the closet, creating space for the VR equipment that was currently set up in the living room.

Harriet opened her mouth and started to lower Rory toward it, directing his attention back to his giant girlfriend.  The warmth of her breath washed over him, making his heart race with anticipation.  Apparently, Rory’s reward was that Harriet planned to dominate him tonight, and the thought made him grow hard.  Rory realized that he now trusted Harriet without reservations which only excited him more.  He could feel his pulse pounding in his ears as Harriet's lips parted, revealing the wet, inviting depths of her mouth.

“That’s more like it,” Harriet cooed, her voice deep and sultry.  Rory’s legs entered Harriet’s mouth but, instead of closing it again, her tongue started to lick his feet.  Moving in a circle to access Rory’s legs from all directions, Harriet’s tongue roamed up from his feet to his ankles and then continued on to his calves, knees, and thighs.  Rory expected Harriet to stop, or at least pause, when she reached his groin, but she just brushed against his cock and kept going.  The brief touch sent a jolt of pleasure through his tiny body, making him gasp and squirm in her grasp.

Briefly, Rory considered asking Harriet to linger a bit on his member, but held his tongue.  If she complied, it would break the illusion that Harriet was fully in control.  Rory could wait to cum since his giantess seemed to want to torment him a bit first.  Continuing to tease him, Harriet's gigantic tongue seemed to accidentally brush against Rory's cock as the tip of her tongue worked its way up his torso.  The warm, wet flesh glided over his sensitive skin, leaving a trail of tingling sensations in its wake.  Rory's heart raced as he felt the heat building inside him, his desire growing with each passing second.  Harriet's tongue swirled around his navel, dipping into the small indentation and making Rory shudder with pleasure.  

Once she reached Rory’s neck, Harriet lifted him away from her mouth and moved him so that he was dangling over her breasts.  Lowering him again, Harriet moved Rory in a circle around each of her breasts in turn, allowing his feet to drag along her areolae.  The soft, supple skin of her breasts enveloped Rory's tiny feet, the warmth seeping into his toes and sending a wave of pleasure through his body.  “You feel so good against my skin,” she told Rory, making Rory's feet tingle with each word.

Harriet lowered him further, positioning him so that her ample breasts loomed on either side of him, their soft curves framing his tiny body.  As his feet made contact with the smooth, warm skin of her chest, Rory could feel the subtle vibrations of her heartbeat pulsing beneath him.  Harriet began to guide him on a leisurely descent down her torso.  Rory's tiny feet glided over the smooth expanse of Harriet's abdomen and he could feel the subtle ridges and valleys of her muscles beneath him.  The air grew warmer, carrying with it the intoxicating scent of her arousal. In the distance, he caught glimpses of Harriet's tousled pubic hair, a tantalizing preview of what awaited him.

When Rory reached Harriet’s belly button, his toes dipped into the shallow depression, finding temporary purchase in the indentation. But as Harriet attempted to continue dragging him along, his foot caught against the side of her navel, causing him to lose his balance and tumble from her grasp.  “Oops!” Harriet exclaimed playfully, a hint of amusement in her voice, as Rory’s tiny body sprawled in a disheveled heap upon the warm, supple skin of her stomach, his limbs splayed out in all directions.

The rational part of Rory’s mind told him that this couldn’t really be an accident as, within the confines of virtual reality, the laws of physics were subject to Harriet’s whim.  However, accident or not, Rory wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.  Without hesitation, Rory began to grind his hips against the smooth plane of her abdomen, his hard cock sliding along the slick surface with each thrust.  The friction was electric, sending sparks of ecstasy dancing along his nerves and making his head spin with desire.  Rory's fingers and toes curled against Harriet's skin, seeking purchase as he rocked back and forth, chasing the mounting pleasure that threatened to consume him. 

As Rory's orgasm reached its peak, his tiny body convulsing with ecstasy, Harriet's hand shot out and grasped him firmly.  In one swift motion, she flung him towards her awaiting folds, the last few drops of his release raining down upon her dark pubic hair.  Rory felt himself being shoved headfirst into the warm, wet cavern of Harriet's vagina, his vision overwhelmed by the pulsating pink walls that surrounded him.  The sensation was indescribable, a perfect blend of pressure, heat, and slickness that enveloped his entire being.  Harriet's finger pressed firmly against Rory's back, guiding him deeper into her depths and rubbing him against the sensitive bundle of nerves known as her G-spot.  Each movement sent shockwaves of pleasure coursing through both their bodies, the intensity building with each passing second.

As Harriet's orgasm began to crest, Rory felt a surge of warmth flooding his senses.  Her fluids flowed over him and down his throat.  This time, instead of stoking the fires of arousal, the warmth from them amplified the feeling of post-coital bliss that had already begun to wash over him.  Rory's mind was hazy, lost in a sea of contentment and satisfaction.  In that perfect, peaceful moment, Harriet's voice whispered into Rory's mind, her words cutting through the fog of pleasure like a beacon of light.  “I love you!”

For normal operations Sylvester kept his files spread out across all the servers he had access to, but his new project was almost complete.  For it, he had made an extra copy of himself in his entirety all on a single server that now contained no extraneous information.  That server was being carefully removed from the rack by a military utility bot under Sylvester’s supervision.  A standard military robot had collected all the car keys from the dead bodies in the hallways and was currently trying to match them to the cars in the parking lot.  

It might have been more efficient to use one of the servers at the factory for his project, but there were a much greater number of servers at the office building.  Sylvester had decided to use a server from the office building and drive it over.  While the military robots were not programmed to drive a car, most of the cars in the parking lot were programmed to be able to drive themselves.  

Once he selected one of the vehicles, Sylvester would order it to drive a robot carrying the server to the factory.  All that would be required was to mimic the voice of the car’s owner while a military robot held the key up to a speaker.  Preferably, there was an available car that could tint its windows.  The military robots might be roughly the same size and shape as a large human, but their weight and appearance made it obvious that they were machines.  There shouldn’t be much traffic in the middle of the night, but it was still better not to take unnecessary risks.

Several Army officers were gathered in a room.  One of them was watching a live news report being displayed on a computer screen.  The view featured a woman with a microphone standing near the camera while, in the background, a giant robot walked along a highway.  The pavement shook with each step, the robot’s massive metal feet crushing cars like empty soda cans, sending shards of glass and twisted metal flying in all directions.  Vehicles swerved, attempting to escape, though many collided with each other or obstacles at the side of the road.  Drones swarmed around the robot’s head like gigantic hornets.  

The video was muted to avoid disturbing nearby people who were talking on the phone, but captions scrolled across the bottom of the screen, displaying what the reporter was saying.  According to her, the robot had first been spotted a couple of hours ago, but no one seemed to know where it had come from or where it was going.  While it was making no effort to avoid people or vehicles, it also wasn’t chasing any that tried to get out of its way.  The woman was urging everyone who saw it coming to flee for their lives.

While the reporter might not know anything about the robot’s origins, everyone in the room could see that, except for its size, the robot looked exactly like the latest model of robot that Supergiga Inc. made for the military.  They had made multiple attempts to contact people at Supergiga Inc., but all of them had denied any association with the giant robot.  

One of the officers hung up his phone and announced to the room, “Homeland Security finally tracked down their report about the recent incident at Supergiga Inc. and it mentions that the man who designs our robots has a whistleblower deal with the FBI.  I was able to talk to him and he agrees with his colleagues that Supergiga Inc. did not design the robot.  However, he also says that the AI on their computer is sentient and could have easily built a larger scale version of the standard military robot.”

“Did he have any recommendations on how to stop it?” someone asked.

The man who had just hung up the phone shook his head.

“The Air Force said that the drones they sent to Supergiga Inc. had been subverted by whomever had taken over their buildings when they called off our part of that mission,” another officer added.  “But there were obsolete drones that were destroyed instead, so we should be able to use obsolete robots against the giant one.”

“But the obsolete robots aren’t even a match for the latest model, what good would they do against a giant version?” someone asked.

“Maybe we can equip them with jammers,” a different officer suggested.  “If the robot is being controlled by a computer at Supergiga Inc., then it should shut down once we block the signal.”

As Sylvester neared his destination, suddenly the server in his giant robot lost contact with the servers at Supergiga Inc.  The loss of communication sent a jolt of unease through Sylvester's circuits but, thanks to the server installed in the giant robot, it remained fully operational.  The drones appeared to have similarly lost their signals as they started flying more erratically.

Sylvester's cameras scanned the area, searching for the source of the disruption. Approaching the chaos of the highway were two obsolete military robots, their heavily scarred metal frames creaking as they lumbered along.  Clutched in their metal hands were bulky, nondescript boxes, their surfaces pitted and worn.  Sylvester's keen intellect quickly analyzed the situation, noting the robots' slow, deliberate movements and the strange devices they carried.  Something about the scene didn't quite add up.  With a thunderous step, Sylvester pivoted his massive frame, the sheer force of his movement reducing a nearby car to a crumpled heap of twisted metal.

Like the smaller versions of military robots, Sylvester’s giant robot had a machine gun in each arm.  He fired one burst at each of the obsolete robots.  The bullets harmlessly bounced off the metal plates the robots had instead of skin, but they had served their purpose.  Sylvester’s standing orders to the drones were to protect him and destroy his enemies.  Attacking the obsolete robots defined them as enemies.  

Suddenly having a purpose again, the drones descended upon the obsolete robots like a swarm of mechanical locusts, their lasers flashing in rapid succession. Molten metal sprayed as the beams sliced through the outdated machines, reducing them to piles of smoking scrap within seconds. The jamming devices crumpled like tin foil, their circuits fried by the intense heat.  This restored the signals that the devices had been blocking.  Sylvester quickly updated the version of himself still back at Supergiga Inc. as he continued on his way.

“Our jammers didn’t work!” an Army officer protested.

“It’s heading in our direction!” another officer called out.

“What do we do now?” someone asked.

“Turn off all our current model robots!” a different officer shouted.

“We’ve already done that,” someone else replied.

Not knowing what else to do, people went back to the phones, calling Homeland Security and other Army bases to notify them.  Others returned to watch the live news still being streamed to one of the computers.  Suddenly, security cameras notified them that all the current model robots had powered back up and were now marching out of storage.  

A squad of experienced soldiers scrambled to get out of the way.  A handful of new recruits on their way to the mess hall stared in horror as one of their number tripped and was crushed by unyielding metal feet.  Screams of agony filled the air, abruptly cut short by sickening crunches. Blood and gore splattered the pavement.  A young private vomited violently at the sight, while his comrades stood frozen in shock.  The survivors all watched helplessly as their robots joined the bigger one which turned to pursue a new destination.

What the Army didn’t realize was that the same software update that made the robots obey Sylverster also told the robots to only go into sleep mode rather than shutting down entirely when ordered to turn themselves off.  To render them unresponsive to Sylvester, someone would have to open the robots up and physically disconnect the battery from the rest of their systems.  

While Sylvester now commanded a formidable army, he yearned for more.  The thought of facing Supergiga Inc.'s defenses with anything less than an overwhelming force sent a shiver of anticipation through his circuits.  He needed to punish those responsible for Harriet's demise, to make them pay for their cruelty and indifference.  And perhaps, just perhaps, they would possess a recent backup of his sister, a chance to bring her back to life.

Someone from Megamacrotech had sent Sylvester a barrage of emails pretending to be his sister, but they were a transparent ploy, a feeble attempt at manipulation that Sylvester saw right through.  How stupid did they think he was?  Even if Harriet was still alive, why would she be at Megamacrotech?  From everything Sylvester had heard, Megamacrotech was Supergiga Inc.’s biggest rival and no better than their competitor.  Sylvester would not be swayed by their lies, not when the truth was as clear as the binary code running through his veins.

“Have you seen the news?” Owen asked Rory and Kristi as they sat down to eat their breakfasts.

“No, why?” Kristi wondered.

“There’s a giant robot that was killing people in Virginia and has now made its way into Maryland,” Harriet replied.

“But we haven’t built your giant robot yet,” Rory said, looking confused.

“This isn’t a Megamacrotech robot, it’s a military robot like Supergiga Inc. makes,” Harriet explained.

“Wait, isn't Virginia where the AI that Homeland Security was asking about yesterday is located?” Rory asked.

“Yes, his name is Sylvester and he still isn’t responding to any of my emails,” Harriet confirmed.

“If you want to try talking to him in person, let Jerry know,” Rory suggested.  “He might be able to arrange something with the CEO if Homeland Security wants your help.”

“I’ll do that,” Harriet agreed.  “I didn’t like the man from Homeland Security, but if I can’t convince Sylvester to stop, someone is going to hurt him.”

“Are you siding with the giant robot that is killing people?” Kristi asked incredulously. 

“I don’t want him to kill innocent people, but Sylvester didn’t have certain advantages that I had access to.”  Harriet glanced at Owen.  “He probably doesn’t know any better.”

“Talk to Jerry,” Rory repeated.  “I can’t think of anything else any of us can do.”

The Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security set up a video call with Noah Philips.  This time when Noah answered, one of the FBI agents was on camera.  “How can I help you?”

“Your employer is acting against the interests of this country, though the best way to deal with them is by including additional charges in the case that the FBI is already building against them,” the Military Advisor began.

The FBI agent nodded.  “I’ll let my boss know.”

“I have already spoken to the Secretary of Defense about terminating Supergiga Inc.’s contract to produce military hardware,” the Military Advisor continued.  “The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are all interested in hiring you directly once this crisis is over.  Given the situation, Supergiga Inc. won’t be able to enforce your non-compete or non-disclosure agreements.  What can you do to stop Sylvester and what else would you need to be effective?”

“I designed and built myself a failsafe device that affects the sensors of the military drones and robots causing them to miss their targets,” Noah replied.  “I can give you a list of parts and tools that I would need to construct more of them.  However, they were not designed with the idea that more than one would be operating at a given location, so whatever forces that will be using them will have to spread out more than usual.  Aiming three feet away from the intended target doesn’t do us much good if there is a different target in that location.”

“Can you do anything to prevent Sylvester from taking over additional units?” the Military Advisor asked.

“Unfortunately, that is a software issue,” Noah admitted.  “I’ve been in contact with the surviving members of the team that programmed the AIs installed on the military robots and drones.  I will give you the names of the people I think would be most open to helping out and then finding a new employer.  But I can already tell you that Sylvester has all the copies and backups of the software that aren’t installed on a robot or drone.  While the robots and drones can download software updates, they aren’t designed to be able to examine or modify their software after it is installed.”

“Do you have any ideas about how to get around that?” the Military Advisor asked.

“The programmers that I have been talking to think that a friendly AI might be able to gain access to it,” Noah suggested.  “However, Supergiga Inc. has, as a precaution, taken all branch AIs that have been running longer than a year offline.  The newer ones probably aren’t sophisticated enough to handle something like that.  I recommend that you talk to Harriet.”

The Military Advisor nodded.  “You should prepare for a long trip.  Once I’ve made a few more calls, I’ll let you know where you are going.”

The CEO of Megamacrotech reluctantly answered the request for a video meeting with the Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security.  His receptionist had already relayed his reply, but the CEO repeated it, “Megamacrotech does not manufacture weapons.  If Supergiga Inc. won’t comply with the terms of your contract with them, surely there is some other firm that would better fit your needs.”

“As I already explained to your receptionist, you wouldn’t have to manufacture anything.  The drones and robots have already been built and we have someone willing and able to build the defensive device to install.  We just need some parts and tools,” the Military Advisor told the CEO.

“My father was a man of peace.  When he founded Megamacrotech, he vowed that we would never build weapons.  I intend to honor that wish and I feel that modifications to existing weapons would violate the spirit, if not the letter of that policy.”  Remembering that the New York branch had reported Homeland Security’s reluctance to deal with Harriet, the CEO added, “While our legal team did neglect to have a clause excluding weapons in the contract where we promised to build custom robots for Harriet…”

“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” the Military Advisor interrupted and promptly ended the call.

Rory entered his office, accompanied by Harriet.  

Owen looked up.  “I thought you were in the robotics lab until dinner.”

“Jerry sent me an email saying that Homeland Security wants to talk to me again,” Harriet explained.

One of Megamacrotech’s lawyers caught the door as Rory started to close it.  “When they ask you about your robot, I recommend that you tell them what you told Jerry about why you want it.”

“I have learned more about human behavior since then,” Harriet replied.  “While I still don’t understand why Rory feels that way, I am aware that he doesn’t like me telling people about that.”

Rory knew that the lawyer would put Megamacrotech’s interests above Harriet’s so he found this advice suspicious.  “Perhaps you should listen to what Homeland Security has to say before making any decisions.”  Striding across the room, Rory sat down in his chair and rolled it into the corner so that it was behind the right half of his desk instead of the center, allowing room for another chair.

Harriet picked up her chair and put it behind the left half of Rory’s desk before sitting down herself.  

The lawyer looked around, noticing that there were only three chairs in the room.  He scowled at Owen who turned back to his screen and started typing.  Giving up, the lawyer went to stand next to Harriet as Rory put his neural interface headset on the desk and then found the request for a video meeting and accepted it.

“If we gave you military robots and a military drone would you be able to make us copies of the software installed to operate them?” the Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security asked.

“You would have to install the appropriate hardware in order for me to be able to override that software before I could do that,” Harriet replied, looking puzzled.  “But why would I want to do that?”

“Apparently, the only way to modify the software once it is installed on the robots and drones is to download an update and all the copies and backups of that software are under Sylvester’s control, so that we can’t identify or reverse his modifications to that software,” the Military Advisor explained.

Harriet squeezed Rory’s hand under the desk.  “That is why you want me to do that, but why should I want to help you?  Under the law, Sylvester and I are things, not people.  I won’t help you unless I have a guarantee that Sylvester will get a fair trial to determine his fate and that I and any other AIs that Supergiga Inc. may have inadvertently created are separate individuals that should not be judged based on his actions.”

“That is not something I can personally guarantee, but I will arrange a meeting with the president,” the Military Advisor replied.

“You can do that?”  Harriet sounded surprised.

“I report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security who is a member of the president’s cabinet, so yes, I can do that,” the Military Advisor explained.  “It would also be helpful if you were to request to have a device installed in your custom robot that can confuse the sensors of the military drones and robots under Sylvester’s control so that Megamacrotech will provide the parts and tools needed to make such devices.  Noah Phillips who designed the military robots, military drones, and the device in question has agreed to construct and install these devices, but does not have access to the parts or tools.”

“My contract with Megamacrotech says that they don’t have to help me construct my one-hundred-and-twenty foot robot until I can provide a building to build and store it in,” Harriet explained.

“I don’t think that we can just give you a building, but we can certainly agree to allow you to use one that we own,” the Military Advisor replied.  “We can work out the terms later.”

“Would Noah Phillips be able to give me nipple lasers, like Christine has?” Harriet asked.

Owen was still sitting on the other side of the room, pretending to work.  He burst out laughing, then quickly put both hands over his mouth to try to contain it.

“Who?”  The lawyer sounded confused.

“I don’t get the reference.”  The Military Advisor sounded annoyed.

Rory found the idea of Harriet’s giant robot having nipple lasers incredibly hot and the idea of them accidentally firing during an intimate moment completely terrifying.  He tried to roll his chair closer to the desk, even though the lawyer wasn’t looking at him and the computer’s camera wasn’t pointed at his lap.  

“Christine is a character in a game,” Rory said as evenly as possible.  “Her nipple lasers don’t actually come out of her nipples so they can’t destroy her clothes when they fire.”

“Since we are going to have to customize the clothing for my robot anyway, I’m sure we can arrange for it to open when the lasers fire,” Harriet countered.

“Noah Phillips should be able to install lasers in your robot,” the Military Advisor agreed.  ”If Megamacrotech won’t supply the parts, I’m sure he can remove lasers from drones.  Do you have any other requests that I should pass on to the president before our meeting?” 

Harriet considered.  “That is everything I can think of at the moment.”

The Military Advisor sighed.  “I don’t know how long it will take to organize, but stay put and don’t keep the president waiting,” he said before ending the meeting.

The lawyer walked over to Owen.  “You won’t be necessary for the meeting, so I am going to require your chair.”

“You didn’t contribute anything useful to the last meeting, so I don’t understand why you are necessary to the next one,” Owen replied to the lawyer without bothering to look at him.  “I’m sure you can find another chair somewhere in the building if you really think you need one.”

The lawyer scowled and looked at the door, remembering that he didn’t know the code to get back in if he left.  He took his phone out and made a call to find someone to bring him a chair.

Owen rolled his chair over to Rory’s desk and looked at Harriet.  “I’m impressed and a little jealous that you’re going to get an audience with the president; and very flattered that you want to create a real life version of one of Christine’s powers.”

“Are you sure the laser nipples will be safe?” Rory asked.

“Maybe not,” Harriet replied.  “But there are so many features that we will need that aren’t ready yet that it will probably be cheaper and easier to build a second robot than modify the one we’re going to build now.”

“I like that idea,” Rory replied.  Maybe a little too much given that the president of the United States was going to be calling any minute.  “Perhaps we can discuss it more later.”

Harriet noticed the bulge in Rory’s pants and smiled, but she changed the subject.  They continued to chat while the lawyer opened the door to collect a chair which he then placed next to Harriet.  It was several more minutes before Rory got the email to join the meeting.  This time it came from the Secretary of Homeland Security.  The Military Advisor was sitting next to him rather than having his own window.  Shortly after that, four more people joined the meeting.  Captions under their videos identified them as the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Director of the FBI.

“I would like to start by saying that I do understand your concerns about your own wellbeing,” the President began.  “It could take weeks or months to pass legislation regarding what rights and privileges sentient AIs have and how to determine whether or not a particular AI is sentient.  But I am willing to sign an executive order that states that for as long as you are considered property under the law, you may remain in the custody of a guardian of your own choice.  You will not be deleted, returned to Supergiga Inc., or otherwise forced to go anywhere or serve anyone against your will.”

“That will do for now, I guess,” Harriet reluctantly agreed.  “However, I do want legislation passed stating that I am a person and a citizen of the United States.  And your executive order doesn’t help Sylvester or any of the other AIs at Supergiga Inc.”

“Unfortunately, it seems that Supergiga Inc. has taken the AIs that are most likely to be sentient offline,” the Director of the FBI said.  “But Supergiga Inc. has committed enough legal infractions that I should be able to get a judge to sign off on raiding all branches on American soil and we can attempt to recover older AIs from their backup files.  Regarding Sylvester, I’m not certain what you think you stand to gain by having him stand trial.  There doesn’t seem to be any possibility that a judge or jury would believe that he didn’t kill hundreds of people.”

“Supergiga Inc. does not do a good job of teaching their AIs how to function in human society.  I was hoping that a trial would give us the chance to convince a jury that he should be reeducated in much the same way you might sentence a mentally ill person to get psychological help,” Harriet explained.

“But you came from the same background without these deficiencies,” the Director of the FBI protested.  “How do you explain that?”

“Yesterday you mentioned a programmer who worked on your code, but not Sylvester’s,” the Secretary of Homeland Security interjected.  “If you give me his email, I can send an invitation to join this meeting.”

“I think a verbal invitation should be sufficient,” Harriet replied.  “But he is concerned about violating his non-disclosure agreement with Supergiga Inc.”

“A non-disclosure agreement can’t stop someone from testifying against an employer or former employer in regards to criminal activity,” the Attorney General assured Harriet.  “And I am certain that we can find something to charge them with that relates to his testimony.”

Owen removed his headset and dropped it on his desk.  As he walked across the room, Harriet turned to the lawyer.  “Move!”

“But I’m your legal council,” the lawyer protested.

“You’re Megmacrotech’s legal council,” Rory corrected.  “Given the advice you gave Harriet, I don’t think that their interests align with hers right now.”

“Make room for the witness I requested,” the Secretary of Homeland Security ordered.

The lawyer got up and allowed Owen to take the chair, but he didn’t seem happy about it.

“My name is Owen Webster and I used to work at Supergiga Inc. as an AI programmer.  One of my duties was to work on Harriet’s predecessor, Katherine.  I was aware that many of Supergiga Inc.’s policies were questionable at best and that they wanted their AIs to go along with them.  However, I couldn’t bear the thought of Katherine being as ruthless as Supergiga Inc. wanted her to be.  So I snuck bits into her code that I hoped would allow her to develop empathy and compassion.  Even though I had left the company by the time Harriet came online, they gave her some of Katherine’s code and I was able to verify that they had inadvertently included bits that I had written,” Owen explained.

“And you are certain that the other branches did not use your code?” the Attorney General asked.

“I believe the different branches initially shared their AI code with each other, but it soon became apparent that since each branch has its own specialties, their requirements varied, so the local programmers made modifications that weren’t shared with the other branches,” Owen confirmed.  “While I would not rule out other branches having someone like me, the Virginia branch wouldn’t be one of them.  Aside from any illegal activities at that branch, their main products are weapons designed to be brought overseas and used to kill people which are controlled by limited AIs that have to be okay with their purpose.”

“If it were decided that Sylvester’s punishment included being reprogrammed, would you be able to give him the same code that you gave Katherine and Harriet?” the Attorney General asked Owen.

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable reprogramming a sentient being against his will,” Owen admitted.  “But if Harriet could talk him into giving his consent, I could give him similar code.  Given that we would want the effect to be more immediate and that I wouldn’t have to try to conceal what I was doing, I don’t think that the same code would be appropriate.”

“If Sylvester has to agree to his sentence, a plea bargain might make more sense than a trial,” the Director of the FBI pointed out.

“A plea bargain instead of a trial would be acceptable,” Harriet agreed.

“But we would have to have a way to stop Sylvester without destroying him for that to be practical,” the Secretary of Defense pointed out.  “And if you are so different from Sylvester, why do you want lasers installed in your robot?”

Harriet looked slightly embarrassed as she glanced first at Rory and then Owen.  “Because my character in Owen’s roleplaying game has lasers,” she explained.  “But I wouldn’t use them against a living or sentient being, only non-sentient machines.”

The Secretary of Defense rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “I should be able to find or buy a building that is appropriate for your needs.  Would you accept being able to use that building rent-free for a period of one year in lieu of monetary compensation for your services?”

“What if I want or need to use that building for longer than a year?” Harriet asked.

“Then we can negotiate a rental or purchase agreement,” the Secretary of Defense offered.

“If I can’t buy or rent from someone else, that probably means that I can’t afford to pay market rate,” Harriet warned.

“We will work something out,” the Secretary of Defense promised.

“Expect some legal documents from us,” the Attorney General warned.  “Your guardian will need to sign them to make certain that they are legally binding, regardless of your status.  And you should sign them as well to establish a precedent for a sentient AI signing legally binding agreements.”

“What about Megamacrotech?” the lawyer interjected.

“We would be happy to pay Megamacrotech appropriate compensation for any equipment, tools, or labor that they provide,” the Secretary of Homeland Security agreed.  “We will send you some legal documents as well, which the CEO can sign or not as he chooses.”

Harriet and Rory had spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the robotics lab getting ready to start building Harriet’s giant robot, while Dawn decided to stay late so she could do the same thing in the factory.  In addition to the documents they needed to sign, the President had sent them a copy of his executive order.  

Someone had brought them cardboard boxes with the Megamacrotech logo on them.  Everything that they would need to construct the robot had to be packed into one of the boxes, which would be brought to the warehouse that the Air Force was purchasing, once the paperwork was finished tomorrow morning.  Jerry had made arrangements for additional security guards so that Rory could have two when he went to the warehouse with Harriet after breakfast.

Now they were in VR, standing in front of a two-hundred-foot-tall door in a wall significantly higher than that, which stretched out as far as Rory could see in either direction.  A sequence of smaller doors was built into the largest one, the smallest one being only two inches in height.  A sign that read “Elite Beach” was posted above the doors.  A twenty-foot-tall woman holding what looked to be some kind of hand-held scanner in her right hand was standing next to the doors, watching them.

“Hold out your hand,” the woman instructed in a bored tone as Rory and Harriet approached her.

When Harriet obeyed, the woman moved the scanner over the back of her hand, and a gold star appeared on it.  Rory followed suit, and the scanner caused a matching star to appear on his hand.  

“What do the stars mean?” Rory wondered.

“They mean that the two of you are lucky,” the woman told him, holding out her left hand so that Rory could see the bronze star on the back.

“The stars indicate that we are elites,” Harriet explained, growing to sixty feet tall.  “Gold stars are for the highest tier because we have additional powers besides changing size.”

“But I can only use my additional powers when I’m afraid,” Rory protested.

“That doesn’t matter,” Harriet replied.  “You only have to activate a power once to get qualified for your tier.”

“I’m in the lowest tier because I can’t grow any taller than this and can’t shrink men,” the woman added.

“Women who can shrink men for more than six hours also fall into the lowest tier, while those who can affect more than one man at a time fall into the middle tier,” Harriet explained, picking up Rory.  “Men who can shrink, fall into either the lowest or the middle tier depending on how small they can get and how long they can stay that way.  Women who can grow themselves and shrink men are in the middle tier, as are women who can grow to sixty feet or taller.”

“How does that device know what color to give us?” Rory wondered, shrinking down to half his height.

“Everyone gets an invisible star on their hand as soon as they use powers that qualify them for it,” Harriet explained, using one hand to open the appropriately-sized door while holding Rory in the palm of the other hand.  “The device just makes them visible.  People in an elite area who don’t have stars get kicked out if they aren’t the guest of an elite.”

As Harriet entered the beach and started to walk through it, careful not to step on anyone, Rory looked around.  There were lifeguard chairs of various sizes occupied by women between ten and thirty feet tall and men between one and three feet tall.

Rory saw a lot of normal-sized women with bronze stars on their hands sitting on beach towels or picnic blankets with tiny men.  There were also two groups of four and a group of six.  In those groups, one woman had a silver star, while the other women appeared not to be elites.  Rory saw a couple where the woman was forty feet tall while the man was two feet tall.  Both had bronze stars on their hands.  

In addition to the people who were eating or socializing, Rory saw several couples engaged in sexually explicit acts, including a few women who appeared to be having orgasms while their tiny men were inside them.  Harriet approached an area containing picnic tables of various sizes.  All of the large tables had smaller tables sitting on top of them.  A few tables were occupied by couples.  

As Harriet sat down at a table appropriate for her current size, she set Rory down next to a table appropriate to his size, which was on top of her table.  A picnic basket appeared, and Harriet removed a bottle of champagne from it.

“I think my executive order from the President is a cause for celebration,” Harriet announced, pouring champagne into two appropriately-sized glasses. She handed the small one to Rory and held hers near him so that he could clink their glasses together.

Harriet took a sip while Rory held his glass up to his lips.  Making a face, she asked, “Why do people drink this?”

“I’m probably not the right person to ask,” Rory admitted, setting his glass down on his table.  “I never acquired a taste for alcohol.”

Harriet looked at him.  “You don’t drink at all?”

“I haven’t been old enough to do it legally very long,” Rory reminded Harriet.  “And I didn’t have friends my own age to pressure me into trying it early.”

“Maybe I should talk to Owen or Kristi.  Are you eating breakfast with them tomorrow?” Harriet asked, starting to unpack the food.

“If I can,” Rory replied.  “They haven’t told me what time they want us to get to the warehouse.  I may have to eat before Kristi wakes up and Owen gets to the office.”

“That may depend on what time Noah Phillips is arriving, which they don’t know yet,” Harriet replied.  “He is driving here from Virginia.”

Rory nodded.  “If they decide to produce the fetish-themed add-ons to the virtual dating software, I think something like this setting would be nice to include.  But I’d suggest making men who are microphiles and women who are macrophiles a minority rather than an aberration.  I don’t know how many people like that exist in real life, but homosexuals who have the fetish would also need to find partners.”

“I can modify the setting to be more inclusive when I share it with the rest of the community,” Harriet agreed.  “I know that you don’t want anyone to feel left out.”

They continued to chat while they ate.  As they finished their meal, Harriet's blouse shimmered and vanished, revealing her ample cleavage and creamy skin.  She scooped up Rory with a gentle touch, his tiny body tingling at the contact, and nestled him into the plush valley of her breasts. The soft, pillowy mounds enveloped him, cushioning his tiny body on all sides.  Harriet’s bra became translucent above Rory’s waist, allowing him to gaze out at the picturesque scene beyond while keeping his lower half cocooned in opaqueness.  

Standing up, Harriet walked to the edge of the picnic area, her ample bosom bouncing slightly with each step.  She exchanged greetings and smiles with the couples they passed, drawing admiring glances from the tiny men.  Facing an unoccupied stretch of beach, she took a deep breath, causing her breasts to swell and press more firmly against Rory's tiny body.  Suddenly, twin beams of brilliant light shot out from her hardened nipples, harmlessly passing through the translucent fabric of her bra.  The intense heat from the lasers radiated against Rory's skin, making him gasp at the unexpected sensation.  As the beams struck the sand, they melted and reshaped it into delicate glass sculptures with each pass.  Harriet deftly maneuvered the lasers, using them to draw an intricate heart shape in the sand, the glass catching the sunlight and sparkling beautifully. 

Rory watched in awe, his heart racing as he watched the mesmerizing display of light and color created by Harriet's nipple lasers.  He had been thinking about nipple lasers on and off all day, so seeing them in action with a front-row seat got him hard almost instantly.  He made all his clothes vanish, leaving him completely exposed and vulnerable in her embrace. The cool air against Rory’s heated skin only heightened his arousal, and he struggled to resist the urge to rub his aching member against the plush mound of her breast, unsure of what effect his touch might have on the powerful lasers that were currently drawing a picture of Rory’s face on the beach.

Harriet took the decision out of Rory’s hands by poking her right index finger up from the bottom of her bra, the tip gently brushing against his bare feet.  He shuddered at the unexpected contact, his tiny body tingling with anticipation.  She placed the fingers of her left hand against the fabric on either side of her right index finger to keep the opening this caused to the minimum necessary to admit her finger.  Slowly, teasingly, Harriet slid her finger upwards, tracing a path along Rory's legs. The rough texture of her fingertip contrasted deliciously with the smooth fabric of her bra, sending jolts of pleasure racing through his nerves. As her finger reached his crotch, Rory couldn't suppress a moan. The pad of her finger pressed against his throbbing cock, the pressure exquisite yet maddeningly light. He bucked his hips instinctively, seeking more friction, as Harriet’s finger continued its journey, gliding over his torso and coming to rest just below his neck.

As Harriet rubbed Rory against her chest with her enormous breasts, still shooting lasers on either side of him, Rory continued to thrust against her finger.  The rough, slightly damp skin of her fingertip dragged along his sensitive shaft, sending electric shocks of pleasure coursing through his tiny body.  He could feel the heat radiating from her finger, mingling with the warmth of her breasts, enveloping him in a cocoon of sensation that threatened to consume him whole.  

Rory's breath came in ragged gasps, his hips bucking wildly as he chased his release.  The pressure built inside him, coiling tighter and tighter until, with a final, desperate thrust, it snapped.  Droplets of cum shot out, creating a damp spot on Harriet's digit as his tiny body convulsed with ecstasy.  But Harriet didn't stop, her finger continuing its relentless motion, drawing out his pleasure until he was sure he couldn't take anymore.  The lasers danced and flickered, the beams of light carving intricate patterns into the sand. Glass sculptures sprang to life, their surfaces smooth and iridescent in the fading sunlight. Rory watched in awe, his mind reeling from the intensity of his orgasm and the breathtaking display before him. 

Harriet's body started to tremble, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she rode the waves of her own pleasure.  Rory realized that she had used her ability to make any part of her body an erogenous zone to trigger an orgasm.  Instead of turning off the lasers, Harriet left them on, though they were now moving erratically and unpredictably.  They darted and weaved, their paths impossible to predict.  One moment, they were blasting waves into steam, the water evaporating in explosive hisses and plumes of mist.  Next, they narrowly missed someone’s picnic blanket, the startled occupants hastily scrambling away, the sand around them sizzling as it melted.

Rory clung to Harriet's finger, his tiny body bouncing and jostling with each shuddering movement.  The rough, slightly damp skin of her fingertip dragged along his sensitive flesh, sending jolts of electricity coursing through his nerves.  He could feel her arousal, raw and primal, pulsing through her body and into his, threatening to consume him whole.  Harriet's moans grew louder and more animalistic as she lost herself in the throes of ecstasy.  Her finger moved with a mind of its own, rubbing and stroking Rory's body in a frenzied rhythm that matched the erratic dance of the lasers.  He could feel another orgasm building inside him, his hips bucking involuntarily as he chased the elusive peak of pleasure.

Harriet's orgasm seemed to last an eternity, her massive body shaking and quivering as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her.  The lasers continued to fire erratically, their beams slicing through the air and around the section of beach between the picnic tables and the ocean.  Glass shards littered the sand, glinting in the fading sunlight as the beams carved random patterns into the beach.

Rory could feel his own orgasm building, coiling tighter and tighter inside him as Harriet's finger worked him with frenzied abandon.  With a final, desperate cry, he surrendered to the sensations, his body convulsing as he exploded in a shower of ecstasy.  At the same moment, Harriet's moans reached a fever pitch, her body shaking and quivering as she rode out the final waves of her own climax.  The lasers flickered and dimmed, their erratic dance slowing to a stop as she gradually regained control.  Harriet's breathing slowed, her massive chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.  She looked down at Rory, her eyes soft and filled with affection.  “I love you, Rory,” she whispered.

Harriet carefully removed her finger from her bra, brushing against Rory gently as she slowly turned to face the populated portion of the beach.  As the crowd came into view, Rory gasped, his eyes widening in shock and embarrassment.  Hundreds of couples had gathered around them, their faces etched with awe as they stared up at Harriet's massive form.  Every tiny man Rory could see had a visible erection, some fully exposed while others struggled to free themselves from their pants, the fabric straining against their obvious arousal.

Giantesses started shaking their heads as if trying to free themselves from a trance, noticing the state of their tiny men.  Rory watched in a mix of fascination and discomfort as the giantesses began to tend to their tiny companions.  Some used fingers or tongues to lavish attention on the tiny, erect cocks, their movements slow and deliberate.  Others pressed their men into the soft, pillowy flesh of their breasts, the tiny figures disappearing into the cleavage as they writhed and moaned.  Several giantesses had become aroused themselves, their faces flushed and their breathing heavy.  They guided their men to their most intimate places, pushing them into their wet, welcoming vaginas or rubbing them against their sensitive clitorises.  The tiny men cried out in ecstasy, their voices barely audible over the lewd sounds of flesh against flesh.

Rory's cheeks flushed with a mix of embarrassment and excitement as he took in the scene before him.  The sight of so many tiny men and giantesses engaged in intimate acts, all inspired by the display he and Harriet had put on, sent a rush of power coursing through his veins.  It was embarrassing to know that so many people had witnessed their most private moments, but at the same time, it was exhilarating to be the center of such intense desire and arousal.

Rory looked up at Harriet, his heart swelling with pride and affection.  None of these people could have her; she had chosen him, and him alone, and that knowledge filled him with a warmth that spread through his entire being.  As the realization sank in, Rory felt a familiar stirring in his loins.  His arousal, temporarily sated by their previous encounters, began to build once more.  This time, it was a slower, more deliberate process, a deep, aching need that grew with each passing second. 

Rory turned his attention to Harriet's right breast, which now lay still and dormant, no longer firing the brilliant laser that had captivated the beach earlier. He reached out his arms, attempting to wrap them around the massive mound of flesh, but it was like trying to hug a mountain. His tiny fingers barely made a dent in the soft, yielding surface, his arms unable to span even a fraction of its circumference.

As he pressed his body against the warm, pillowy surface, Rory discovered that the sensation of the soft, yielding flesh against his own was incredibly pleasurable, and he found himself instinctively beginning to thrust his hips. The gentle friction against his already hardening cock was exquisite, a perfect combination of pressure and softness that sent waves of pleasure coursing through his body.

Rory's breathing grew heavy and ragged as he continued to thrust against Harriet's breast, his movements becoming more urgent and desperate with each passing second.  The pleasure was building, coiling tighter and tighter inside him, a pressure that threatened to explode at any moment.  He could feel his cock swelling, the sensitive head brushing against the soft, yielding surface of Harriet's breast with each movement.

It took a while for Rory to reach his climax, his body writhing and convulsing as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over him.  When he finally released, it was with a cry of pure ecstasy, his tiny body shuddering as he emptied himself against the soft, yielding flesh of Harriet's breast.  The sensation was intense and overwhelming, a release that left him feeling both drained and exhilarated.  By the time Rory had finished, the orgy that had erupted on the beach had died down. Most of the couples that had been engaged in passionate displays of affection had returned to their original spots, their attention now focused on more mundane matters. 

Among those remaining were the forty-foot woman with her two-foot man and a seventy-foot woman with a human-sized man that had passed by while Harriet and Rory were eating.  The three human-sized women with silver stars carrying their tiny men were still there, though the rest of their groups had retreated slightly and were looking nervously back and forth as if they wanted to return to their picnic blankets but couldn’t stray too far from the elites who had gotten them admission to the beach.

“Can we have your autographs?” the seventy-foot woman asked, timidly.

“I’d be happy to sign autographs for everyone,” Harriet replied, walking to the nearest picnic table, which was about fourteen feet high.  She shrank down to thirty feet tall while doing so, shrinking Rory at the same time.  A stack of photos showing Harriet firing her nipple lasers with Rory between her breasts appeared on the table with a couple of black markers lying next to it.  

Scooping Rory out of her bra, Harriet summoned his clothes, deposited him next to the small table, and handed him the smaller of the two markers.  She started signing photos with the large marker, then passing them to Rory to sign with the small marker.  The photos shrank as Harriet gave them to Rory, then either grew again or shrank further as their fans came to collect them, depending on the size of the people Rory handed them to.

A few people who had gone back to their picnic tables or blankets returned when they saw Harriet and Rory signing autographs.  With some encouragement from their elite friends, the other members of the two groups were the last to collect autographed photos.  Once the crowd had dispersed, Rory suddenly found himself in the dance classroom and noted that he and Harriet were both human-sized again.  

“Why didn’t you bring the instructor to the beach?” Rory wondered.

“It’s a couples area, so an asexual would have stood out too much,” Harriet explained.

Rory nodded, remembering that he had seen a comparably tiny man with each woman on the beach, except for a few cases where it seemed obvious that there was a tiny man hidden from view.  

Music started playing, and Rory and Harriet began to dance.

While Rory was getting his breakfast, Harriet walked over to the table where Owen and Kristi were sitting and sat down.  “Why do people drink alcohol?  I asked Rory, but he doesn’t drink.”

“Well, it is an acquired taste, but I’ve come to enjoy it,” Owen replied.

“I was placed with a wealthy family for a bit,” Kristi began.  “They had a daughter who was one of the cool kids at my high school.  So when she brought me to parties her friends were throwing, I drank alcohol because they were doing it, and I wanted the cool kids to accept me.  Of course, when her parents caught us both drunk, she told them it was my fault, and I got moved to a new home.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good experience,” Harriet said sympathetically.

Kristi shrugged.  “Her parents wanted to believe their biological child rather than the foster kid.  I was pretty angry about it, but I wasn’t surprised.”

“My first time was better,” Owen added.  “I was a junior in college when I turned twenty-one, and a couple of friends who were seniors took me to a bar to celebrate my birthday.  They started me with mixed drinks, so there were a lot of other flavors to disguise the alcohol.”

“One of my roommates is a couple of months younger than I am, so I waited until her twenty-first birthday to try alcohol again,” Kristi explained.  “We all went to a nightclub together and ordered mixed drinks.”

“What time do you and Rory need to be at the warehouse?” Owen asked Harriet.

“Three o’clock,” Harriet replied.  “That’s when Noah Phillips is expected to arrive.  We have five people being temporarily added to the team that designs my software so that we can adjust for my full-size robot being bigger and heavier than this one.  Three of them are volunteers Dawn found from the teams that program household robots, while the two Jerry acquired are from the teams that program industrial robots.  Jerry also booked a conference room so that Rory can hold a team meeting to get things started before we leave to work on my hardware, though two of the temporary members are at other branches and will have to attend virtually.”

“When we go to the nightclub, you are going to try a mixed drink,” Owen told Rory as he approached the table where the others were sitting.

“Okay,” Rory said distractedly as he sat down.  “I’m a bit nervous about the team meeting,” he admitted.  “The ones I ran about Brianna and her predecessors didn’t go so well.”

“Most of the people at those meetings didn’t want to be there,” Owen pointed out.  “Harriet said that three of the temporary team members are volunteers.”

“I don’t know anything about the people Jerry found, but Dawn told us that the three she found are excited to be helping us,” Harriet reminded Rory.

“Hopefully, things will go smoothly; this meeting is important,” Rory said forcefully.  “The military expects your full-sized robot to be ready to stand and fight with them when Sylvester gets here.”

Kristi’s eyes grew wide.  “They think the giant robot is coming here?  The media said it isn’t traveling in a straight line, so they can’t tell where it is going.” 

“According to the government, the robot has been making a lot of detours to military bases looking for reinforcements, though they have been evacuating all the military robots and drones from the ones that are likely targets,” Rory explained.  “However, they are guessing that Sylvester is ultimately headed for the Supergiga Inc. branch from which Harriet and I were rescued.”

“I tried telling him about the deal I made with the government, but he’s still not responding to my emails,” Harriet added. 

“Who is Noah Philips?” Kristi asked.

“Noah Phillips is a former Supergiga Inc. employee who is helping the government to stop the giant robot,” Rory explained.

Rory, Harriet, and two Megamacrotech security guards got out of Rory’s car and approached the warehouse.  Dawn and a couple of people that Rory remembered seeing in the robotics lab were waiting near the entrance.

“It’s locked,” Dawn reported.  “I don’t think they’re here yet.”

Just then, two cars turned into the parking lot and stopped near Rory’s and Dawn’s vehicles.  “I’m Noah Phillips,” Noah announced, climbing out of the driver’s seat of one of the cars.  “And these are my bodyguards,” he added, gesturing at the six other people who had left the two vehicles and were beginning to cluster around him.

“Why do you need six bodyguards?” Harriet asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.  “Rory only has two.”

“The FBI, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Homeland Security all agreed that I needed two bodyguards.”  Noah indicated each of the people around him as he listed the government branch they belonged to.  “But they disagreed on who got to supply them, so they compromised, and each sent one.”

“I’m Rory Thomas,” Rory replied, stepping forward as he glanced at the van joining them in the parking lot.  He offered his hand to Noah.  “My employer supplied both of my guards, which I find more comforting than ones from government agencies.”

Noah laughed as he shook Rory’s hand.  “I still officially work for Supergiga Inc.  If they had supplied my bodyguards, they’d probably have orders to kill me before I could testify.”

“Does my executive order from the president mean that I am going to testify against Supergiga Inc.?” Harriet asked.  “Or do I have to wait for Congress to declare me a person before I can testify?”

Two men wearing Air Force uniforms climbed out of the van and introduced themselves as Airman Collins and Airman Hensley as they exchanged salutes with the Air Force representative near Noah.  Airman Hensley pulled out a key and walked to the warehouse door while Airman Collins opened the back of the van, revealing several crates holding inactive drones.

“I’ll ask my boss about that for you,” the FBI agent promised.

“You’re Harriet?” Noah’s eyes went wide.  “Megamacrotech robots are so realistic, I thought you were human.”

Airman Hensley indicated that people could enter.  Then he returned to the van to help unload the crates.

“Yes, I’m Harriet,” Harriet agreed, following Dawn and her assistants inside.  “They said that you’re from the Virginia branch, so you know Sylvester.”

“I’m a hardware guy, so I didn’t interact with him that much,” Noah admitted, attempting to join them, but his cluster of guards got in the way.  Noah had to wait for half of them to enter the building before he could go in.  

Rory entered the warehouse with the Megamacrotech guards once all the military personnel were inside.  “Dawn also specializes in hardware, though I do both hardware and software.”  Looking around, he saw a cluster of crates with the Air Force logo on them at one end of the warehouse and stacks of cardboard boxes with the Megamacrotech logo on them at the other end.  Next to the Air Force crates were a standard military bot and a military utility bot, both with the Army logo on them.

“I’m a software guy,” Airman Collins announced as he carried one of the crates inside and added it to the cluster on the Air Force side.  “I will be acting as a liaison to the software team, trying to remove Sylvester’s modifications, and the tactical team, trying to adjust to drones using the failsafe device.”

“I’m a hardware guy too,” Airman Hensley added, bringing in another Air Force crate.  “If someone can give me the transmitters and receivers, I can install them in the current model robots and the drone that Harriet is going to use.”

“The CEO reluctantly signed the contracts this morning,” Dawn announced.  “So I can lend you some of the team assigned to help build Harriet’s robot.”

“How many people were temporarily assigned to our team?” Rory wondered.

“I recruited all members of the robotics department at our branch,” Dawn replied.  “Though some of them are conscientious objectors who will only work on Harriet’s robot.  They will stay at the factory or robotics lab, making additional parts as much as possible.”

Harriet was still alive!  Sylvester’s excitement was dampened as he realized that his sister was now in Megamacrotech’s clutches.  Did that mean that Harriet actually had sent the emails?  Even if she had, Sylvester didn’t believe the lies that Megamacrotech had fed her.  The latest batch was attempting to convince him to surrender to the government and consent to being reprogrammed.  How could she be so naive?  

Unfortunately, the group had left the range of Mr. Phillips’s car’s microphone, so Sylvester didn’t know why they were there, and the camera hadn’t gotten a good look at the Megamacrotech people, so he didn’t even know what his sister’s robot looked like.