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Halo leaned out of the shower and reached around into the shelf beside the stall, fishing for a La Face pad. A large puddle of water was forming on the floor, and he reminded himself to be careful getting out. The electric blue and steel bathroom was the most recently remodeled room in the apartment, and he loved it. It reminded him of a classic science fiction movie set, like 2001. The entire inner wall was one huge self-cleaning mirror, by far Din’s favorite feature of the place. He was known to easily spend an hour or more in front of it, carefully examining the progress he’d been making at the gravity gym down the street. Where are my fucking face pads? Halo wondered, feeling his way further into the shelf.
Noah had on his UGO skates and was zipping back and forth across the bathroom, making quick turns and jumping over Halo’s underwear like a pro. He was nearly flying, going much faster than Halo ever dared to on his own skates. Either the BAIB was a lot tougher than he’d imagined, or was completely fearless. His hand finally made contact with the pads. He peeled one off and went to exfoliating his face.
“So Noah, how do you like the place?” he shouted over the hiss of the showers three heads.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been there.” Noah answered from the other side of the room.
“What do you mean? You are here right now!” Halo tried not to sound annoyed. Noah’s AI obviously needed some tweaking.
“This place? I thought you meant The Place, the restaurant in Manhattan. You should be more specific.” He was back over in front of the shower.
“OK, sorry I get it. You didn’t answer the question though.” Halo opened the shower door slightly and watched him sit down next to the water puddle on the floor.
“It’s nice. Plenty of space for a guy like me. My records show another occupant at this residency, Din Fremont. Where is he?” He stuck a finger in the puddle and tasted it.
“He’ll be home in a little bit. We’re going out. Why would you have that in your records, and how did you know the address here?” Halo asked.
“I have built-in address and telepanel listings for the entire country I was manufactured to be sold in. It’s standard, haven’t you researched BAIB’s at all? And I read your address off of a pile of mail in your room. Don’t underestimate me Halo, please. I’m the best and brightest of the AI’s. I already know a lot about you.”
“Well I am definitely impressed. Why are you being sold as a children’s toy though? It seems like there would be a million applications for your abilities.”
“Market tests showed that I would be most profitable in the high end toy market. Children love AI. Most adults are uncomfortable with it, even disturbed by it. Never the less, they are still willing to buy it for their children. The wealthy always want the best toys and learning tools for their kids that their money can buy. Especially if the kid next door doesn’t have it.” He stood back up and went back to skating laps, more slowly this time. Noah pulled the shower door closed, wondering why a commercial product would be discussing markets, and in essence putting down it’s own target market. Then he remembered the adult mod he’d added to its software. He thought of something else and opened the door yet again.
“Noah, do you have..um…boy parts? I mean, a penis?” He felt himself blush and felt stupid, being embarrassed to talk about dick with an AI. Noah giggled and stopped skating, this time next to the door.
“You mean you didn’t look before you turned me on? No pun intended!” he laughed again, and Halo felt his blush deepen. “Yes, I have a cock. A big one! I mean, for my size. Remember, I’m a learning tool. A tool with a tool ha!” He whipped it out and shook it at Halo, wearing a big cheesy grin. Halo couldn’t help but look. It was big, almost out of proportion with the rest of him.
“Now let’s see yours!” Noah demanded. Halo shut the shower door again, embarrassed and annoyed at the abrasive personality traits he had given to the BAIB. He heard Noah laughing and saw through the frosted glass that he had gone back to skating laps across the floor. “So you’re shy huh? That’s OK I saw it when you were getting in. Nice!”
