Passion Model Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing.”
    “I’ve heard the same rumors, sir.”
    “You know that can’t be allowed.” Rando barked a command, and the viddy screen filled with a familiar face. “Howard Adar’s been whipping the Ruling Council into a frenzy about misuse of Pleasurebots, Newcity funds, and a bunch of other crap I don’t even want to think about.”
    Howard Adar spoke directly to the camera, his words coming on the tail of Rando’s speech. “I’m not saying they have no rights. But let’s ask ourselves, who can we trust? Bots are made to work and serve, they’re not given brains to think. There’s a reason for that. Humans are born with the ability to reason and think. But what about those who—”
    She hit the mute button and shook her head. “You know what I’m talking about. You haven’t filed a report on your last dutytime. Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”
    I shook my head, which had begun to pound in time with my heartbeat. “I’ll have it on your desk within the hour, Captain.”
    “Gemma.” Rando pointed to the florb I clutched. “If something did happen to any of my Ops while they were on duty, it’s my responsibility to take appropriate action. Even if I don’t want to. The mandate has come down from the top office. We have an epidemic of malfunctioning Passion Models out there, and the death toll is rising. Not to mention the other myriad of bot problems the factories can’t seem to fix. We can’t afford to have Ops using dutytime to get off. We don’t have the luxury of making mistakes.”
    “I understand, Captain.” I understood, all right. If Rando found out I’d let myself be seduced by a fleshboy while on duty, it wouldn’t matter whether or not I’d done it on purpose.
    Rando used the stylus to scroll through my file. She looked at me again over the tops of the glasses she kept for show, not need, since laser surgery had become standard requirement to be part of R.I.O. Even through the lenses, her gaze burned me.
    “Gemma, when’s the last time you took a day off?”
    “Day Five is my usual day off, sir.”
    Rando made a noise in her throat. “Shows here you punched in on Day Five. And the Day Five before that too.”
    I studied the florb in my hands. “I had to follow up on a case.”
    Rando sighed. “Gemma. It’s not illegal for you to take some time off. Your records show you haven’t even taken your allotted vacay. You get six weeks now. Why?
    I shrugged. “No place to go.”
    “In six whole years?” Rando rapped her knuckles on the desktop. “Surely some place has tempted you. Solaria? Aquafier?”
    She’d named two of the hottest vacay spots within warpjump range. “No, sir. I like it here.”
    “On Earth.”
    “Yes.”
    She looked like she might want to say something else, but didn’t. “Dismissed.”
    I thanked her and left the room, holding the florb away from my body like it might explode if I touched it. When I got to my cubicle I tossed it in the can, but hesitated before pushing the button that would evaporate it. For reasons I couldn’t explain and didn’t want to think about, I pulled it back out and slipped it into my shoulder bag.
    I finished typing the report, surprised at how easily the lies flew from my fingers and onto the computer screen. Must’ve been the stim-time. I E’d it to Rando, then sat back in my chair. My monitor swirled through a series of pictures. All sun, all sand. All places I couldn’t bring myself to visit ever again.
    The report wasn’t my only foray into untruth today. I’d also lied when I told Captain Rando I didn’t want to go anywhere. There were, in fact, days when the stink of exhaust and haze-covered sky had me wanting to scream. Days when the taste of man-made water choked me. I did want to get away, to see a clear sky and warm sun, to put my feet in warm sand. To see a real ocean.
    I couldn’t. I’d been on vacay on Solaria when the accident happened. One minute I’d been speeding along a dry sand road,