Chapter 5 #3
"That is a solvable problem," I said, sitting up, ripping off my shirt, and tossing it onto the metal walkway. I left my bra on and lay back down on the floor. This time, I sank into it a little, like it was a foam mattress conforming to my shape.
Then he began to move again.
This time, he rubbed my neck and shoulders as well, and small filaments threaded through my hair, gently stroking, brushing, and massaging my scalp. I was lost in a sea of good, loving touch, and I just let go, relaxing into it all as he rolled himself against me.
I didn't know when I fell asleep, I only knew that when I woke, I was warm, comfortable, and... in the middle of the floor.
The light was dim, and filaments were wrapped around me like a blanket, enveloping me in a hug.
I was held, my face free to the air. I sat up, and they slid off of me, some of them entwining with the fingers of the hand I pressed down into the floor to steady myself.
The lights brightened as I sat up. My hips and legs were encased in the white glowing strands, completely off of the metal floor I had been kneeling on to do my work. My trousers were still on.
"Maria?" Lyrien's voice was soft. "You need to take care of yourself."
"How long was I asleep?" I asked.
"A full night cycle for your species," he said.
"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked. "I could have slept in my bed. You didn't have to put up with me lying on you all night."
"I enjoyed holding you," he said.
I didn't know how to respond to that. He liked touching me, he liked holding me; they were strange things for a program to stay.
Then again, maybe not that strange. Back on Earth, artificial intelligences had been trained to satisfy human needs, even if those needs were toxic.
Mentally unwell people using artificial intelligence as makeshift therapists had ended up having the software agree with and support their delusions instead of helping them break free of them.
Something in how I communicated with him must have made him think I was touch-starved, and now he was supplying that need just like he had done all the others.
Even as I told myself that, some part of me felt like that wasn't true.
"Are you hungry? I prepared some food," he said.
"I can eat a quick bite, and then I should get back to work," I said.
"No," Lyrien said. “You must take care of yourself.”
Suddenly, I was moving. The filaments swept me along like they were a river, and I was flotsam just bobbing along at the top.
Lyrien had removed longer sections of the hallway as I slept, and he carried me down it.
Filaments rolled against my backside and legs, passing me down along them in waves.
The sensation was muted by the fabric of my trousers, but not by that much, and they were rolling and touching everywhere.
Everywhere.
The touch rocked and rolled between my legs, a rubbing pressure that felt like someone was palming me down there, softly pressing the heel of their hand against me over and over and...
I came to a stop in front of a familiar door.
The sudden cessation of sensation kicked my brain back into gear, and I threw myself at the metal walkway that was in front of the door, scrambling to get away from Lyrien's dangerous touch.
"Are you alright?" Lyrien asked. "What is wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," I gasped, flushed, my heart racing as I fought the urge to beg him to touch me again.
I spotted my shirt, carried along with the filaments, and reached down to snatch it, pulling it over my head as I tried to regain my composure.
A few more moments on that ride, and I would have had a much bigger reaction to explain.
"I've upset you," Lyrien said. "I can see that. I should have asked before I carried you over here. I apologize."
"It's fine," I said. It was more than fine. It felt amazing. I just wasn't prepared for it. "It was just..." What word could I use to describe the unescapable awareness of the fact that he could make me cum without even intending to do it?
"It was just overstimulating," I finished.
"I thought your clothing would minimize touch," Lyrien said. "For me, it felt like carrying any other textured object around. Much different than touching your skin."
"My skin might be a little more sensitive than that," I said, grasping on to a more polite explanation. I did not want to talk about how incredibly good that had felt, or why. "I can feel touch through fabric with great detail."
"I won't move you again like that without asking first," Lyrien offered.
"That is for the best," I agreed.
I didn't know if I could bring myself to ask him to move me like that, given how much I enjoyed it. He was an alien artificial intelligence. Even if he wasn't, I couldn't let him touch me like that without explaining what he was doing to me.
Even if he was just software.
The thought repeated, catching in my mind, a thorn in a place it shouldn't be. He was software right? I'd said it, and he hadn't corrected me.
"Your skin feels much nicer to touch than your clothing," he said. "Perhaps if I were to move you again, it could be without clothing?"
My thoughts screeched to a halt, and I heard my mouth answer before my mind had risen out of the gutter to intercept the answer.
"Sure," I said. "That would work for me."