💾 Archived View for clemat.is › saccophore › library › shorts › defcon › 27 › A_Warm_Embrace_by_MrBi… captured on 2022-06-04 at 01:00:16.
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A Warm Embrace
by Mr. Bill (@SecureThisNow)
�Get your Comfort Companion today!�
Anita sighed as she thought about how aggressive the marketing had
gotten lately. Every other ad on her phone and computer was about
Comfort Companions and now it had made its way into her TV programming.
The marketing machine certainly had her pegged, she thought with a
little smile. A single woman with no one in the house to share it with.
The price of success? Perhaps. She certainly could afford a Comfort
Companion, and her friends kept ribbing her about it as she lamented
about the onslaught of the ads recently.
�Anita. The Comfort Companion is everything you *need* from a partner,
but without the baggage!� quipped Darcee. This emphatic declaration from
her closest friend was no surprise, as Darcee was one to enter and exit
relationships quite often. Darcee had decided the rigors and protocols
of the modern dating scene was tiresome. Always up for trying new
things, Darcee had acquired a Comfort Companion shortly after they were
released 6 months earlier.
�Charles is wonderful! I get home and he rubs my feet, already has a
bath ready for me, and then after dinner... let�s just say dessert is a
sweaty affair. Well, for one of us. You really are missing out.�
�Darcee, I have told you before... I am a bit uncomfortable with
machines, I mean I can�t even really handle driverless cars that well.�
�Oh honey, your Comfort Companion drives YOU.�
____________________________________________________________________________________
Anita tapped her finger impatiently on the dinner table. Her resistance
to her friends constant needling about her lack of a Comfort Companion
finally buckled when the company that makes them started offering a 100%
money-back guarantee. A Comfort Companion would be customized and
created for her. Not unlike a car, everything was configurable � hair
color, eye color, complexion, and build.
She blushed thinking back to the sales specialist reviewing her
application, and all the questions she answered to customize her own
model. She chose a �medium� build � based on their description, it
seemed like a reasonable fit, based on her previous sexual experiences.
It all seemed so clinical in the store, but she still remembered
stuttering a bit when having to decide on a circumcised or natural
model. She felt a bit of guilt too, as all the follow-on questions
seemed unimportant at the time � beard, no beard, five o�clock shadow,
short or long hair... this was more about companionship right?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Delivery followed by final voice and visual recognition programming took
most of her evening. The delivery technician had set up a relatively
light pattern of life to start. Her Comfort Companion would do some
menial tasks until she got used to its constant presence in her home.
She decided to call it Fabio, as a joke really, because of the long hair
she selected. It was a toss up between that or Valentino, and either
one would get the desired reaction from her friends.
One thing she immediately liked was how well her Comfort Companion
cleaned. Anita had a pang of regret for not getting one sooner simply
for the cleaning capabilities it brought. Darcee had glossed over that
in her description of what it was like to have one.
Fabio dutifully took position on one half of her bed and assumed a
sleeping pose as expected. This awkwardness from being in such close
proximity � it bordered on the limits of her personal space - slowly
faded as she realized the barely audible breathing pattern had a very
relaxing effect. She also may have detected a bit of warmth coming from
the lifelike skin. She tried to stay focused on Fabio to see how long
before it moved, but sleep caught up with her before she noticed any
movement.
____________________________________________________________________________________
She woke with a start. The weight of Fabio�s arm draped over her
initially gave way to panic. It was only after what seemed like an
eternity of her lying as still as possible did she remember it was her
new Comfort Companion. With a deep exhale, she gently moved its arm back
to its side.
Anita described this event to Darcee later at work that day. Darcee
could hardly keep her smile suppressed in an effort to appear concerned,
but finally could not contain herself. �So that is it? All he did was
drape his arm over you? When I got Charles, I could hardly wait to
verify what I had heard about the Comfort Companion from everyone else.
You know, that thing the commercials hint at � the *real* comfort that
your new companion gives. And keeps giving, well at least until its
batteries run down.�
Anita rolled her eyes. �Is that all you can think about? I was hoping to
have someone to cuddle with in bed, do some cleaning, and fill the empty
space in my house. Not simply something to ride like a mechanical bull.�
Darcee continued to grin. �It isn�t all I think about. OK, thought
about. But after that first time...�
�Oh stop it. You really are incorrigible you know?�
�You will see what I am talking about, and soon I hope. And you better
share details! Maybe we could even swap them someday!�
�Gross! I can�t even believe you said that Darcee. Have you no limits?�
Anita grimaced at the thought. She didn�t feel comfortable with bowling
shoe rentals, much less sharing something like this.
�Well, keep me posted and let me know if you have any questions about
the �special� modes the Comfort Companion comes programmed with.�, said
Darcee as she walked back towards her desk.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Anita�s evening followed the same routine as usual, although this time
she was cognizant of Fabio�s presence as he moved about, doing some
tidying up at the bookshelves, dusting the mantle, and straightening the
pictures on the wall. He even joined her as she caught up with her
weekly sitcoms.
It was much later that evening that she had a glass of wine and settled
down to watch a romantic comedy Darcee had mentioned the week before.
She positioned Fabio behind her, with his arms wrapped lightly around
her own. His warmth was quite nice, and she could feel the rhythmic
breathing and heartbeat that his simulated organs produced. She really
started to appreciate the warm embrace of her Comfort Companion, and any
last bit of buyer�s regret disappeared.
The movie, described by Darcee as a romantic comedy, turned out to be
closer to soft-core porn than something in the genre that was shared by
Titanic or Ghost. Anita could not stop watching, like it was some campy
horror movie filled with predictable suspense. Surely this was not a
movie that was rated �R�? Her anticipation grew into a tickled warmth
in her abdomen. This reaction deep down in her was starting to take over
her thoughts. It seemed like Fabio recognized this reaction too � he
started stroking her forearms ever so lightly, and she was certain his
breathing got a bit deeper.
Anita jumped up when she realized she could feel Fabio becoming erect.
She laughed out loud when she realized how silly this was � the Comfort
Companion was programmed to meet her needs, after all. This is all part
of what she paid for, and maybe Darcee was right. Taking Fabio�s hand,
she pulled him after her to her bedroom, closing the door behind her,
any reservations she had were left in the living room in the bottom of a
wineglass.
____________________________________________________________________________________
A few months had gone by, and Anita could hardly remember what that
initial awkwardness with Fabio had been like. It was like a spigot where
the water was turned on to the maximum flow of water, after being a
steady drip for years. Anita had a new spring in her step at work, a
kind of energy that reminded her of her teenage years. As Darcee had
predicted, her Comfort Companion was amazing at meeting her needs,
including some �special� physical ones. Darcee could not let her go a
day without giving her that smug �I told you so� look. Anita even found
herself recommending a Comfort Companion to others, especially women she
saw as a reflection of her old self.
She really could not imagine a future without Fabio. He was designed
for her, with the right touch, temperature, size. They fit together like
interlocking pieces of a puzzle. He delivered total and utter bliss.
____________________________________________________________________________________
15 years had passed since the Comfort Companion was made available to
the general public. Comfort Companions sold at an exponential rate year
over year, and now nearly every single person had one. Some married
couples integrated a Comfort Companion into their living arrangements.
Fabio continued to be a significant part of Anita�s life. He had
undergone required maintenance at his tenth year, and Anita had
struggled with the weeklong absence. She really did not feel complete
without his puttering around her house, cleaning, and the extra
�comfort� of course. She had grown to trust Fabio, and this in turn
made her feel totally at home with all the other advances in automated
technology. It was rare nowadays to get a taxi with a live person
driving, but she now had no anxiety with riding in the driverless cabs.
Every aspect of human life was becoming more dependent on computers and
machines, and Anita was just fine with giving in to the conveniences
this offered.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Anita was ready when she got home � her day had gone very well, and the
glass of wine and Fabio waiting patiently was just the icing on the
cake. She was ready for an early evening romp, and the wine combined
with Fabio�s consistent stellar performance left Anita out of breath.
She had learned that Fabio could seamlessly move into a �nurturing�
mode, where he would wrap himself around her while she enjoyed the
afterglow. She drifted off to sleep without a care in the world.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Anita was half awake. Groggily she realized her chest felt a bit tight.
She tried to roll over but couldn�t. Now she was wide awake.
Panic grew as she realized that not only was she immobile, but the
squeezing was steadily increasing.
What was going on? Why was she trapped like this?
�Fabio let me go!� Anita managed to eek out. She repeated herself, over
and over again, but the pressure just kept increasing. Fabio�s warm
embrace clamped down on Anita until she blacked out.
____________________________________________________________________________________
COMFORT COMPANION UPDATE
LEADS TO CASUALTIES
Automatronics Inc. stock closed down sharply today on the heels of the
government�s investigation into the most popular line of robotic
servants produced by the company. Comfort Companions were sold by the
millions and became part of many people�s daily life. A software glitch
in an over-the-air maintenance update caused every generation of Comfort
Companion to suffocate their owners, by literally squeezing them to
death.
The death toll from this incident is expected to rise to over 13 million
people. The maintenance update was scheduled to go out at midnight on
June 2, 2042, and as midnight struck from New Zealand to Europe, Comfort
Companions squeezed the life out of their owners.
Preliminary reports indicate that a young researcher from Mr. Bean�s
Greater Devonshire burbclave managed to stop the update from spreading
beyond the Prime Meridian after reverse engineering the code delivery.
This may have saved over 100 million people that own Comfort Companions
to the West of the Prime Meridian.
The researcher has asked to remain anonymous at this time and is known
only as �MWT�.
Critics of the proliferation of these technologies remain steadfast in
their motto of �Trust No Computer�, and have staged demonstrations. The
largest event, titled �DefCon L�, is being held later this year in the
Vegas Burbclave from August 7th to the 10th. In its 50th year, the event
normally draws nearly 400,000 people. It is expected that people
impacted by this tragedy will quadruple those numbers.
A handful of affected people shared their shock and disbelief: �I never
thought a machine could do this.� �If I had known this could happen I
never would have let my husband convince me to get one.� �I trusted it
with my children. Never again.�
A spokesperson from Automatronics, Inc. gave a brief statement that did
little to ease the pain. �We recognize the performance of some Comfort
Companions was not up to our usual standard, but we are confident that
they still performed within the Terms of Service that comes with owning
one. Our calculations show that this glitch has impacted less people
than the WiFi-enabled Pressure Cooker incident of 2019. At this time, no
refunds will be issued for any Comfort Companions, in accordance with
paragraph 722(m) of the User Agreement.�