The Wake-up Call

“Good morning, this is your wake-up call,” she heard a sexy, masculine voice whisper next to her ear in a delicious southern drawl that reminded her of home.

Why was that drawl, that voice, so familiar?

“Go away. I’m on vacation and I don’t have to get up if I don’t want to,” Tiana whined at the talking alarm clock as, diving under the covers, she turned her body around and floated to the foot of the bed, trying to get away from her exceedingly handsome alarm clock.

Gingerly, she lifted the covers at the foot of the bed just enough to slip her head through them. Was she dreaming? She took a deep breath and was overwhelmed by what appeared to be the smell of bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls. Her imagination must be playing games with her.

“Per your instructions, it’s time to get up,” she heard the same voice say as she felt strong but gentle hands brushing her hair back and away from her face. This time she detected what was clearly a man’s breath, except it was not like her ex’s stale, morning doggie breath, and it wasn’t minty or sweet, either. It was just, well, a man’s breath. Did such a thing really exist? She was not a morning person, but this one seemed full of promise and rife with potential.

Slowly, Tiana forced her eyes to open one at a time. As they focused, they focused on a man’s face. It was last night’s hologram, her — what did it call itself? — Personal Attendant. This time, though, instead of a Roman toga he was wearing a white, long-sleeved cotton shirt with front laces and light gray chino pants. Hmm, Roman toga or fashion statement? She’d decide her preferences later. This was some good software! She looked out at the great room and noticed a program was running. Deactivating the anti-gravity field, she rolled off her bed and realized for the first time that she was still naked from last night’s massage program.

“Computer, dress me in a robe.”

The computer materialized a skimpy garment made of black see-through material with feathery trim on the sleeves and edges upon her still very exposed body. Obviously, a programmer’s idea of a joke.

“Would you care for matching shoes?” she heard her Personal Attendant ask.

Tiana felt her irritation stir as a flush crept up her cheeks.

“You know, you are an AI. The ‘I’ is supposed to stand for the word ‘intelligence,’ not ‘idiot.’ Watch yourself! Who the hell programmed this, this, whatever it is, to be the default robe?” She wasn’t sure how, for holograms weren’t supposed to change a program’s factory defaults, but somehow she had a feeling this one was responsible.

“Computer, replace the default robe with a fluffy white and very opaque robe.”

In the blink of an eye, the computer replaced the skimpy piece of lingerie with a soft, fluffy white robe protecting her nude body from his gaze. Did my Personal Attendant just pout?

Stepping out of her bedroom, she walked into a deserted, rustic, rooftop café with a view of what was probably late-nineteenth century to early-twentieth century Paris. She could see the Eiffel Tower in the background.

“Please step this way, mademoiselle, your breakfast awaits you.” The French accent was pitiful. She was glad to at last find a flaw in his programming.

She followed her attendant past a small dance floor with an adjacent bar, which she assumed was for nighttime use, and took a seat at a white wrought-iron, glass-topped, table at the far edge of the brick terrace, overlooking a boulevard. It was set with a single place setting of fine, all-white china and sterling silver flatware. At the center of the table, a single crimson rose stood inside a thin, finely cut crystal vase.

As she sat at the table, the robe slid off the top of her legs, parting to the sides and exposing everything below the belt to her Personal Attendant’s gaze. With a mischievous grin, he quickly snapped her linen napkin open and, availing himself of the opportunity, placed it on her extremely bare lap while innocently caressing her thighs. Ignoring the flush his action caused, she directed her attention to the food before her.

“Wait a minute.” She stopped sniffing the exotic aroma of her favorite coffee. “How did you know my favorite breakfast is cinnamon rolls with bacon and eggs, not to mention my special brew of coffee?”

“Fret not, mademoiselle. In order to better serve you, I linked to Earth through the galactic-net and downloaded your restaurant records for the past five months. Cinnamon rolls, bacon and scrambled eggs topped with a tall cup of Brazil Ipanema Bourbon coffee were a recurring theme, specifically at the bistro which you seem to frequent.”

“Oh. Thank you,” she stated with not much conviction as she took her first bite. “You also downloaded the recipe, didn’t you? How many privacy laws have you broken since last night?”

“Mademoiselle, how can holographic programs be subject to either Earth or intergalactic law?” he asked with a devilish grin.

“I’m not a Legal-Bot, but I’d say the woman that programmed you, not to mention the owners of this ship, are in deep crap.”

“What makes you think I was programmed by a woman?”

“Let’s see, your outfits are fashionable and color coordinated and, well, somehow I think the design of your physical attributes was carried out by a woman who obviously appreciates such things. However, my guess is that your predecessor was probably designed by a man. Not as handsome and rugged as you.” She smiled, then frowned.

Wait a minute! Am I flirting with a computer program? I really need to start dating. Tiana, you’re pathetic. This is not healthy, this is not natural.

“You don’t seem to have a very high opinion of the males of your species,” he stated, maintaining his devilish grin as he sat next to her.

“Let’s just say I am not terribly impressed with their character, their ethics or their loyalty.”

“Tiana, I am so sorry, it sounds like you have had some rough bumps in your life and with your loves,” Derek replied with a true note of compassion in his voice.

Tiana laughed. “While the word bump,`` particularly on a log, a rotten one at that, accurately describes my ex-husband, it does not come close to describing his actions.”

It felt good to laugh. It had been ages since she had laughed, at least while sober.

“Derek, you are luckier than you know. Being a hologram, you don’t feel, so you will never have to suffer through the emotions of loneliness, sadness and betrayal. That’s the worst one, betrayal. It is as if someone took a knife, sliced you open and gutted you of everything you believe in and hold dear. I will never trust another man for as long as I live.”

“What about me? Do you trust me?”

“You’re not a man. You are a virtual man, a program, with built-in artificial intelligence.”

Was that hurt she saw on the handsome face before her? What incredible attention to detail!

“Besides,” she continued, “who would you tell? Don’t they erase the passengers’ memory space from the main holographic computer after each flight?”

“True, but I, ah, my programming is so much more than just artificial intelligence. I am designed to feel, sense, entertain and laugh. In a very real sense, I possess the sentient qualities that humans value. Unlike most holographic creations that are, in fact, just artificial intelligence, before I carry forth an action, I am able to not just analyze it, but to imagine it and feel it. Prior to waking you up this morning, I took into account my observations of you. You looked sad last night. A simple wake-up call would have sufficed, but you looked like someone who needed to begin her day by having her favorite breakfast in Paris, during, shall we say, a slower and more graceful time period of history. I can first imagine the emotions that my actions are likely to cause before I carry them out.”

“One would think that humans, having had these sentient abilities for thousands of years, would pay them more heed,” Tiana conjectured.

“Well, while I agree that history should mold the present and redeem the future, don’t forget that humans are not perfect. To err is human, right?”

“To err might be human, but it takes a real jerk to not only throw away seven years of marriage, but to use the very sentient qualities you are talking about to return love with spite.”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Reaching across the table, Derek wiped away a tear before it could scurry down her cheek and cupped her face in his hands.

“Do you want to talk about it? I’m a good listener.”

Okay, that proves it. A woman definitely programmed him.

“No. Well, yes. I don’t know,” she replied, frustrated with herself and her mixed-up feelings.

“If he hurt you, if he let you go, he’s definitely the galaxy’s biggest loser, that much is clear,” Derek said. “I’d love to hear your story and share your memories, that is, if you’re comfortable.”

It couldn’t hurt could it? It was standard procedure to erase the user portion of computer memory storage after each trip, so it would be safer than telling a therapist, much cheaper and a heck of a lot easier the morning after than Rita’s primitive alcohol-laden solution. Maybe it would make her feel better to verbalize her pain.

“Okay. I just went through a divorce after being put through seven years of mostly hell.”

Derek reached out and straightened a red curl off her forehead. Tiana felt the pads of his fingertips lightly brush her skin. As his fingers continued moving the renegade curl back into place, time seemed to stand still. By the time she felt Derek’s fingers reach her scalp and lay the curl in place, she had classified the action as a caress, a singeing erotic caress. It felt like sexual energy shot out of his fingers and traveled through her sensitive skin all the way down to the all-of-a-sudden rather moist and hot center of her body.

How does he keep doing that?

“Tiana, you can’t summarize seven years of any relationship in a single sentence,” Derek said, holding one of her soft hands. “Please let me help you carry your burden. Talk to me.”

Tiana stared into the man’s, err, hologram’s blue eyes and saw compassion and a very real desire to help. Saying she was very confused would have been an understatement.

With his thumb, Derek gently stroked the back of her hand ,bringing down her walls of Jericho. Kindness shattered her last attempt at resistance.

“Very well, I’ll start at the beginning,” she said, accepting his offer but refusing eye contact.

“After college I married my handsome and popular college sweetheart, Tom Houser. When we were first married, we were very happy. We had both graduated with degrees in nanotechnology from the Mars campus of the Institute of Nanoscience, and had subsequently found jobs back on Earth, in Atlanta, Georgia, the very metropolis I had grown up in. During the day, I worked hard and quickly climbed the corporate ladder at my employer, Interstellar Engineering. I made partner in record time.”

“Okay, I’m impressed. Just working there is a coup for any career, much less making partner. They’re easily the best and most successful nano-construction company in the galaxy.”

Tiana glanced up, meeting his gaze. “How do you know so much about nano-construction companies?”

“I have an unfair advantage.” He grinned slyly.

“I keep forgetting you’re a computer program with access to every database in the galactic net.”

“I take that as a personal compliment. I interrupted, please continue.”

“Tom and my relationship was fine until I received my first promotion a year after joining Interstellar. I had achieved in a year what typically took others five or so to accomplish. Shortly after my promotion, Tom was laid off. He became bitter and resentful of my success.

“He suggested having a baby and I delightedly agreed. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to have children, he accused me of sabotaging our efforts so that my career wouldn’t suffer. The genetic and fertility experts we consulted all agreed that there was no medical reason why we were unable to conceive. Not having a target for his frustration, Tom blamed me.”

“Tiana, please tell me you didn’t believe that crap. It was NOT your fault.”

“Well, I must admit Tom was very convincing. To make matters worse, two years ago, in December, my father, Dr. Anthony Weiss, died in a freak accident while traveling home from a conference in his private space yacht. My mother died when I was young so when he died I was left alone in a miserable marriage. I still miss him so very much.” Her eyes grew damp and her voice cracked with visceral emotion.

Derek reached out for her other hand. She could feel his masculine strength through that simple touch. It was as if, through his touch, he was giving her an injection of raw courage.

Was that anguish she was seeing in his face?

“That spring Tom and I started getting along better. It was then that I finally became pregnant.”

Tears rolled down Tiana’s cheeks.

“I just knew that now, with the baby and all, things would work out between us. The empty hole in our family that I thought only a child could fill would disappear. Tom became very attentive to me during the pregnancy. He even hired a maid. Not an AI, mind you, but a person.” Tiana paused as Derek brushed away more of her tears, the warmth of his hand touching her heart.

“The pregnancy was going well and our relationship appeared to be returning to solid ground. Until, that is, one day when I came home early and caught him screwing the maid.

“That very day I lost the baby.” Tiana paused for a few seconds, unable to get the words out, “It was a little girl. I had failed.”

Her tears spent, Tiana sat there in sad, poignant retrospection. She wondered what Derek would say. Life had dealt her a tough hand to play out and no one could do anything to change that.

After a few seconds of silence, Derek simply reached out and cupped her face tenderly. “Tiana, I am so, so sorry. Please know that you are not responsible for Tom’s cruelty, jealousy or infidelity. That is all on him. You are a beautiful and intelligent woman. You are loyal, committed and caring. I feel compelled to say that you are exactly the kind of woman a man would be blessed with the fortune of Midas to be with.”

“Then why, at twenty-nine years of age, don’t I feel like a blessing waiting to happen? Why don’t I feel beautiful or relationally capable?” Tiana sobbed, baring her frustration and self doubt. Why am I so comfortable sharing my wounded heart with this AI?

His strong and masculine hand was comforting. Tiana marveled at the soothing power of his touch. Why couldn’t Tom have been more like Derek? Why couldn’t she have married Derek instead? Whoa! I’m doing it again. Of course he’s perfect; he’s a figment of someone’s imagination. He, it, is a program, not flesh and blood. This isn’t real. I’m not in Paris. I’m in a damn holographic suite, in a starship that is in the middle of nowhere, running a program.

Forcing herself to calm, she pulled away from his comforting hands. “You’re not real. Don’t confuse me!”

“I am with you, right here, right now,” he stated quietly, almost in a whisper. “I am as real as you want me to be and I will take care of you. On my honor, I give you my word.”

His words crumbled her weakened defenses, causing Tiana to discard all logic and consigning her remaining cares to the wind. Emotions that she would rather have forgotten surged, taking control of her mind. Why couldn’t real men be this caring? Why did she feel so safe at this very moment?

Caressing her face with one hand, his other lifted her hand to his mouth. Kissing her palm, the searing heat shot through her blood, igniting long dormant emotions, branding her heart, awakening her mind and firing up sensual passion.

He steadied her as he brought her close. As she leaned into his chest, her hands were driven to touch, to caress and to express desire. Through his shirt she could feel his hard, tight muscles. Her hands wandered down his taut torso, reaching the bottom of his shirt, sneaking underneath to retrace their steps up, past his stomach and on their way to his nipples. The reality of the warmth of his skin fought with the knowledge that he was an AI. Tiana gently traced the nibs with the tips of her nails, bringing them to life.

Lost in a haze, she looked up at his eyes. They were alive and seemed like they could look right through her and into her soul. It was as if she had always had a special bond with the soul behind the eyes. Tiana helplessly watched as his mouth, moved down aiming for hers. She was entranced and there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t take looking into his gaze anymore, it was hypnotic and intoxicating.

Closing her eyes, she waited expectantly for the feel of his kiss. Seconds ticked by until her patience was rewarded. She felt the soft caress of his lips as they gently brushed past hers, teasing. He came back for another pass, this time, still light as a feather, searing all along its path. It was like an out-of-body experience. She wasn’t herself; clearly she was sensing what someone else was doing. The tip of his tongue gently teased her upper lip. She felt herself responding, pursuing his tongue right back into the warmth of his mouth, the same mouth that had voiced his concern, his support and his comfort. How could he feel so real? Gentleness turned to passion as his tongue ravished her mouth, taking what she gave and returning it fourfold.

Her eyes remained closed as Derek smoothly undid the belt of her robe, allowing it to open, exposing the naked front of her body to his gaze.

Tiana couldn’t remember ever feeling more beautiful or cherished.

His hands entered her robe at the waist, touching and feeling their way up the soft flesh of her sides. As he reached the curves of her breasts, he gloried in them, taking his thumbs and gently massaging her now fully aroused peaks. He took his time, kneading her breasts as, eyes closed, she drowned her sadness in a sea of sensation. As his thumbs continued torturing her engorged breasts and nipples, with a swift move of his other fingers he pushed the robe over her shoulders. She felt it fall past her arms, dropping at her feet, leaving her exposed in all her glory, as bare as the day she was born. She could feel the gentle breeze of the Paris program washing across her nakedness.

“Computer, run ‘Victorian Bedroom’,” she heard him say.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened her eyes. She was standing in a bedroom unlike anything she had ever seen before, except, to a lesser degree, in movies, an old style of entertainment she had discovered during her college days. Curtains of deep red velvet highlighted a large room with floors that appeared to be made of wood. She ran her bare toes across it to get an idea of what it felt like. It was smooth, but textured at the same time. With trees being an endangered resource, wood was no longer used for construction and decoration purposes, but for the first time in her life, she understood what the attraction to its use had been centuries before.

Against the center of one wall stood an old mattress-style bed with lots of lacy, fluffy pillows and a bright, airy comforter depicting a selection of spring flowers that she recognized from her botanical history books as having been extinct for years. Aside from the visual differences, this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill anti-gravity bed like she had grown up with. Gently, Derek led her to the old-fashioned bed and laid her down on it. This bed didn’t fight gravity, but rather used it to full advantage. She felt herself sink into the comfort and softness of a mattress and closed her eyes to feel these new and delicious sensations.

Hey, mattresses aren’t bad. Guess that’s the end of my breakfast … or is it the beginning?

“Close your eyes,” she heard him whisper in a deep, guttural tone that sent shivers across her exposed flesh.

She was his for the taking, yet she knew not why. She waited, wondering what would happen next. She felt the mattress give as he lay down beside her and took her into his arms. She placed her head on his chest and listened to the beating of his heart, not questioning its presence in a hologram, as he gently stroked her hair. Tiana felt all her worries, all her problems, melt away. There was comfort and protection in the strong arms that held her. She kept her eyes shut, as if fearing that opening them would take her away from the moment.

She had been ready for him and, in fact, wanted him to have his way with her more than she had ever wanted anything else. Much to her surprise, however, he just held her, caressed her and lulled her to sleep with his warmth and compassion.