Companion 3000 - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,40

shouting and…” He trailed off, his eyes widening as he took in the long silver box and the blond Companion that had come out of it. The Companion, despite Leita’s order to vacuum, appeared to be more interested in rubbing its still erect penis against the wall unit’s long, snaky hose.

The minute she saw Pierce in the same room with the Companion, Leita knew there was no way he was what he had been claiming to be. Schneider had been right—he didn’t look or smell or sound like a Companion—not even enough to be an upgrade from a different series. He was a man—but what kind of man would hide in a shipping box and pretend to be a sex toy?

“What is that thing and why is it humping the vacuum?” Pierce asked flatly, nodding at the Companion 2000 which was still engaged in foreplay with the wall unit’s hose.

“That is what you are not—a Companion,” Leita told him. “It just came by drone ship along with a letter from the president of the company apologizing for sending me an empty box the first time around. Only it wasn’t empty, was it, Pierce? It had you in it. But you’re not a Companion 2000 or 3000 or any other damn number, are you?”

Pierce frowned. “Look, honey, I’ve been meaning to tell you—”

“So it’s true.” Leita felt sudden tears fill her eyes and she brushed them away angrily with the back of her hand. She’d been hoping against hope that she was wrong but Pierce’s words confirmed her worst fears.

“Yeah, it’s true but—”

“You’ve been playing a game all this time—pretending to be a Companion when you’re actually just some guy that got in a box and shipped himself out here,” Leita interrupted him. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Who are you, anyway, one of the employees at the plant where the Companions are manufactured? Or just some horny asshole that thought it might be fun to take me for a ride?”

“It’s not like that at all,” Pierce objected. “It’s true I was in the factory but not because I work there. I was in a shootout with some bastards who wanted to take me in and—”

“Oh, this just gets better and better,” Schneider cut in, lashing his tail in agitation. “Not only are you not what you represented yourself to be, you’re also a wanted fugitive, on the run from the authorities.”

“What? No!” Pierce protested. “Look, Leita, don’t listen to him. He never liked me in the first place. I’m not some kind of fugitive. Well, not exactly, it’s just that I have this bounty on my head—which is not my fault—and I thought this would be a good place to hide while the heat died down. But I didn’t come here on purpose, I just—”

“Oh, I see.” Leita nodded jerkily. “You thought the best way to get away from it all would be to mail yourself to a lonely, desperate woman and pretend to be a sex toy. What were you planning, Pierce? To gain my trust, wait until you thought it was safe and leave in the middle of the night?”

“Well, yes, initially but… Look.” He shook his head. “This is all coming out wrong. If you’ll just listen to me for a minute…” He took a step toward her and Leita pointed the tazer pen at his bare, hairy chest.

“I’m through listening to you, Pierce, or whatever your name is,” she spat. “Everything you’ve told me so far is a lie and I’m not interested in hearing more. And to think, I told you…told you everything. I let you know my darkest desires because you pretended you were a Companion, a machine that wouldn’t judge me. Were you laughing at me, Pierce? Did my sick little fantasies amuse you?” It was Eddie all over again, she thought, feeling the stab of betrayal like a knife to her gut.

“Leita, come on.” His deep voice was beginning to sound desperate. “It wasn’t like that—you know it wasn’t.”

“I don’t know anything about you and I don’t want to know,” Leita said, in a voice that trembled more than she wanted it to. “I can’t believe the things I told you—the things I let you do to me. I…I let you tie me up and blindfold me and…and you used the nipple clamps on me!”

“You liked that,” Pierce objected. “You said it was what you wanted.”

“You let him put clamps on your pink nubbly things?” Schneider interrupted, swishing his tail.