Moving Day (M/F) [science fiction]

[Sablesword]

(Story has an illustration on the forum here)

“Command not authorized,” the moving robot said.

“Master!” Katie called out. “Stuurt is rebelling again!”

Stuurt was one of three moving robots rented from Helix & Helpers. It, along with Deen and Nooh, had their nicknames helpfully stenciled on their sides. All three were dumb-bots, of course, rather than true AIs, so ‘rebelling’ was a rhetorical exaggeration. Their programming very properly limited them to obeying only those persons whose name was on the rental contract, and the problem, apparently, was that Stuurt was intermittently failing to recognize that Katie’s name was on the contract, as Master Wiil’s human slave woman.

Master Wiil entered the den room, still empty of furniture. “Attention Robot Stuurt!”

“Attending.”

“Katie-slave is authorized to command.”

“Accepted. Katie Kuo Slavewoman is authorized to command for duration of rental.”

Then, “Command not authorized,” Deen chimed in.

“Command not authorized,” Nooh said.

“Command not authorized,” Stuurt agreed.

Master Wiil and his Katie-slave shared a look of exasperation. On the two previous occasions, his reaffirmation of her authority had lasted a couple of hours. Now the glitch, or whatever it was, had worsened.

After giving the commands that the robots wouldn’t accept from Katie, Master Wiil led his human slave out of the room. He was shorter than average for a bisnik man, and while his masculine horns were more curved than usual, his blue fur was neither unusually light nor unusually dark. He wore clothing appropriate for either indoor or outdoor work, with low boots, loose pants of a material that would have been called ‘denim’ on Earth, and a short-sleeved shirt of a breathable synthetic fabric.

Katie was a bit taller than the average bisnik woman, but still nearly a dozen centimeters shorter than her owner. Her ancestry was East-Asian, although she’d lived in Belgium before volunteering for Earth’s Hostage Corps and being sold here on Ustan. Currently she was belled, rather than chained, with a wristlet locked on her left wrist and an anklet on her right ankle. Beyond those bells and her collar, she was lightly dressed for indoors, barefoot and with a wrap-dress of a material similar to that of her master’s shirt, but lavender in color instead of tan.

“They did warn us about the robots, master,” Katie said at last.

“Yes they did.” Master Wiil touched her forehead and Katie gave him a quick hug, earning a brief bisnik-style smile from him.

This move to a new home had been plagued from the beginning. It originally was going to be a short move of less than five kilometers, and became for… reasons, a longer one of over five hundred. That was nothing on an interstellar or interplanetary scale, but on a human or bisnik scale it was big.

Then Forest Rock, the community of their new home, turned out to have a shortage of moving robots. The only three available at the local Helix and Helpers were overdue for their scheduled maintenance – and now that need for maintenance was showing. The one thing that had gone right was the transport of the moving container, now parked outside the new house. At the moment the container was half-emptied of various packing boxes and crates, all rented like the robots and the container itself. The boxes and their labels were simple and robust in design, and – so far at least – the robots hadn’t misread or misplaced anything.

The doorbell rang. That device was even more simple and robust than the box labels, a purely mechanical, old-timey design that had charmed Master Wiil when he’d first seen it. He now went to answer the door, with Katie tagging along behind.

A bisnik couple stood on the stoop. The man was dressed informally, much like Master Wiil, while the woman wore a skirt and top of the sort brought back into style on Ustan by the cycle of fashion. Both carried bags of food.

“Hello. We’re the Laakmaans from next door to the north,” the man said. “We thought we’d come over and introduce ourselves to our new neighbors. I’m Evaar, and this is my mate Joosine.”

Introductions were exchanged with full names given. The Laakmaans were Evaar Laakmaan Viikraan and Joosine Laakmaan Suuz. Bisnik used ‘central’ names as their surnames or family names, rather than putting them either first or last. Master Wiil turned out to share a name with his new neighbor, as his third-name was Evaar too: Wiil Weestra Evaar.

Joosine’s eyes had widened on seeing Katie – a response that bisnik and humans shared – but she smiled bisnik-style when Master Wiil introduced her as Katie Kuo Slavewoman. Katie offered a chained-curtsey, her ankles kept close even though they weren’t currently hobbled.

“Welcome,” Joosine said to Katie. “We wish you a long stay.” Her mate nodded agreement.

Katie said, “Thank you,” the correct and simple response to a greeting made traditional by the Long War between Earth and Ustan.

Evaar indicated the food bags. “We bring an apology-gift for having disturbed you. Are you interested in lunch, now?”

“Actually we are,” Master Wiil said. “And we thank you. We’ve been having robot-problems and could use a break now.”

They used the top of one of the larger packing crates as a table. Both Laakmaans were obviously curious about Katie, but beyond admitting that neither of them had ever met a human before to talk to, they kept that curiosity in check.

Human slave women were a tiny percentage of the population on Ustan, of course, just as bisnik slave women were rare on Earth. That they were present at all was due to the Long War, now generations old. Interstellar conventions prohibited the direct exchange of prisoners of war, so each side had a Hostage Corps, to exchange volunteer slave women for the spacer POWs. As starships were incredibly tough, nearly all naval losses were captures rather than deaths, and that had been a major factor in making the Long War long.

Instead of Katie answering question after question, discussion turned to the robot problem.

“GigaRapid, Izuula Transformer, and your Meter Exchange are all transferring offices and building new fab-plants just now,” Evaar said, “Than means a sudden local shortage of available moving robots. You were lucky to get even those three from Helix. DenDaanels – that’s my employer – wouldn’t have been able to provide you with even that much.”

“I know,” Master Wiil said. “I called to ask, and they offered to put me on a waiting list.”

Joosine suggested mischievously, “You could always try the medieval method. Hire two or three husky youths, and have them help you unpack.”

Katie waited a beat to see if Master Wiil would respond. When he did so by giving her a hidden touch, she said, “I’m afraid that wouldn’t work either. Those husky youths would be just as stubborn about refusing my commands as the robots.”

“Nonsense,” Joosine answered with a broad bisnik-smile. “If you tossed that beautiful scalp-fur of yours, and said ‘Please?’ in a suitable wheedle, I’m sure they’d be happy to obey.”

Master Wiil snorted amusement, while Evaar shook his head.

“Too bad it wouldn’t work,” he said. “Or rather it would take too long. The local authorities here are mostly Korkorites, you see.”

Master Wiil nodded understanding. The Korkorites were a major political faction, Katie knew, with the Slkeef Party being the other major faction and the Legtaam-Lacuum League being a fringe group that called for an immediate end to the Long War, no matter how big a social and economic crisis that would cause. And that was the end of both Katie’s political knowledge and her desire to learn any more.

Evaar went on to say, “What might work – probably won’t but it’s worth a try – is for me to command your robots.”

“You’re not on the rental contract,” Master Wiil pointed out.

“I know, and that’s why it probably won’t work. Still worth trying, though.”

They tried it, and it didn’t work.

“No diagnostic message either.” Evaar shrugged, another gesture common to bisnik and humans. “That’s usually shut down in these rental robots. So the one last thing I have to suggest is to call Helix and ask them for a soft reboot of your three robots. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to fall back on giving all the commands yourself, while your ornamental and exotic slave woman” – he gave Katie an appreciative gesture – “sits around being ornamental and exotic. Or,” he gave his mate a glance, “you could be cruel and turn your Katie over to Joosine and her friends.”

“We wouldn’t be cruel,” Joosine objected. “Nosy, perhaps, but not cruel. But yes, it would be more polite to let you two finish unpacking before introducing Katie to the neighborhood coven.” She looked up at Master Wiil, taking on the stereotype of a small, hornless bisnik female confronting a large, horned male. “I understand that slave women are encouraged to find female friends.”

“That is correct,” Master Wiil said, “although as you said, it would be more polite to let us finish unpacking, first.”

With that, the Laakmaans departed, and Master Wiil pulled out his cell-thing to contact Helix and Helpers. Specifically, he contacted Awaan Vaandoosbrig Beernil, the man who had done the rental for Helix.

Sur Vaandoosbrig answered right away, which was a bit of luck.

“All right,” he said over Master Wiil’s cell-thing, “I’ll send a soft reset. You haven’t had troubles with the robots refusing your commands, have you?”

“Not anything beyond than their refusing to recognize my Katie-slave.”

“All right,” Vaandoosbrig repeated. “Sending the reset… now. Good luck!”

As Katie watched the three robots shut down and then begin to start up again, Master Wiil rummaged in one of the packing cases.

“Here.” He tossed a round cushion down near the wall. “If we have to follow Sur Laakmaan’s advice, you will want this to sit on.” He rummaged further in the case, examining something. Restraint cables, Katie guessed from the sound. Then Master Wiil dropped them back in. “Later,” he said. “Or I may tie you hand and foot.”

It was a tease-threat. Which didn’t mean he wouldn’t carry it out. “If you do that, master,” Katie said in the same spirit, “you won’t be able to send me to Suri Laakmaan.”

“True. In that case I will just tie your wrists behind you.” Master Wiil’s expression broke into a bisnik-smile. “Then you’ll be able to tell what sort of female friend Suri Laakmaan will be, by whether or not she unties you.”

“Whatever you wish, master,” Katie said innocently. She managed to keep a straight face. Mostly. Which caused her master’s expression of amusement to grow broader.

One by one, Stuurt, Deen, and Nooh finished powering up. Master Wiil took a moment to confirm that they had done so, and then spoke. “Attention Robot Stuurt! Attention Robot Deen! Attention Robot Nooh!”

“Attending.”

“Attending.”

“Attending.”

“Katie Kuo Slavewoman, nickname Katie-slave, is authorized to command.”

A silence, followed by a triple chorus of, “Command not authorized.”

“So much for that,” Master Wiil said. He pointed at the cushion. “Sit and look ornamental, my Katie-slave.”

“Yes, master.” Katie sat on the cushion and watched as Master Wiil gave orders to the rental robots. He they obeyed. Two followed him out of the room, while Stuurt remained behind.

When Stuurt finished the task Master Wiil had given it, it stopped, rather than seeking further instruction. Katie considered it for a long moment and, on a whim tried giving it that further instruction.

“Command not authorized,” came the expected answer. But since Katie didn’t have anything else to do…

“Request diagnostics.”

“Katie Kuo Slavewoman, nickname Katie-slave, not authorized to command. Identified as species bisnik. Listed as class social dependent. Case 14: Species bisnik social dependent; not authorized to command.”

Katie spoke a foul Mandarin word, very softly under her breath. She then quickly repeated it in Ustani – she wasn’t supposed to speak any Earth languages here.

Master Wiil entered the room again. “You are blushing, my Katie-slave. Have you been up to something?”

“Well… yes, master.” Katie explained about her attempt to command Stuurt again, and was even able to get the robot to repeat the diagnostic message. She didn’t confess to using forbidden human language, however.

“Hmm,” Master Wiil said. Then he ordered a further diagnostic from Stuurt.

“Collar not recognized. Human Hostage Corps collar not found. Katie Kuo Slavewoman, nickname Katie-slave, costumed as jester. Identified as species bisnik. Listed as class social dependent. Case 14: Species bisnik social dependent; not authorized to command.”

This time Master Wiil drew out the noise. “Hmmmmmmmm.” At last, he turned back to his human female. “Perhaps I should give you a Coin of Silence, to prevent you from causing further trouble. Would you like that, my Katie-slave?”

Katie considered the offer. “No master,” she finally said.

Under other circumstances, she might have enthusiastically said Yes master! She had before. She remembered the times when Master Wiil had secured her in traditional-style nylon ropes before giving her a Coin of Silence. The high-tech device had stuck to the roof of her mouth, preventing any noise louder than a mew when he went on to touch and tease her nude body.

But right now there was still unpacking to do.

“One more thing to try.” Master Wiil knelt to unlock the bells on Katie’s wrist and ankle, then stood again to rummage in the packing crate, this time pulling out the restraint cables with their green plastimetal cuffs. “Present your wrists and ankles, please.”

“Yes, master.”

Katie watched as her master locked a cuff on each wrist and each ankle. Three cables connected them: Right wrist to right ankle, left wrist to left ankle, and between the two ankles to hobble them.

Master Wiil stood back and admired his now ‘chained’ human slave woman, nodding approval and grinning in a deliberately human fashion. “Now try a command, my Katie-slave.”

“Yes, master.” Once again Katie obeyed.

This time Stuurt’s response was, “Human Hostage Corps Collar found. Collar Identified. Collar confirmed. Katie Kuo Slavewoman, nickname Katie-slave, identified as species human. Listed as class female human slave. Name appears on rental contract. Case 1: Authorized to command. Command accepted.”

“Well then,” Master Wiil said to Katie. “I now want you to hope that the robots continue to obey you. If you provoke another robot-rebellion, I will tie your wrists behind you and send you to our new neighbors.”

“As you wish, master,” Katie answered in response to the tease-threat. “Will you also hobble my ankles if you have to send me over?”

As it turned out, however, the tease threat didn’t need to be carried out. Stuurt remained stuck in verbose diagnostic mode, but all three of the moving robots obeyed Katie’s commands until the end of the rental period.

(End)