Aries Revealed Read Online Free Page B

the docking ring of the station.
    “So you have no androids that resemble cyborgs at all?” Her disappointment was evident as she looked about the shop. The gladiator model was on the runway and it stopped as it sensed her looking its way and posed. Johnny growled, the urge to knock its plastic teeth down the back of its throat almost getting the better of him. Hell, he had it bad if just a bot looking at her had him ready to kill it.
    “ Stall her.” He sent to Cyn via their internal comms link. It was one of the few implants they kept active while on station. A lot of people had cyber-implants, most were medical-grade, but comms units were also common, the small implants so tiny they hardly impacted on the five percent cybernetics every citizen was allowed before they had to register as a cyber. No one wanted to do that and become a second-class citizen, so most stayed well away from the five percent.
    “Hmmm…there is something…let me have a look…” Cyn’s voice was pitched loud enough for him to hear as he stepped back and stripped off his shirt. “ Johnny…please tell me I’m not going to regret this?”
    The shirt fell to the floor as he looked at himself quickly in the full length mirror by the door. From one of the podiums, it was cracked on one side and tilted against the wall, but usable. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to tame the spikes but gave up. It would have to do. His combats were dark gray, not the quite the black he used in the show but thankfully he’d put boots on this morning, not sandals. Yeah, he could pull this off.
    “When would I ever do that to you, sweetheart?”
    Leaning forward he looked at his face in the mirror and concentrated. After a moment a stain appeared on his cheek, quickly solidifying into letters and numbers as he released the cellular control of the chameleon pad under his cheek. Not his number, he couldn’t risk that…but a random string that would mean nothing if someone got curious enough to run it.
    “You want a list? Yeah, there’s something here. It’s a prototype, but I’ll just activate him and you can take a look,” Cyn said aloud, then switched to internal communication to speak to him. “Hun, she wants to hire a sexbot…ohmygod, I just became your procurer. You owe me a day at the Starburst bar for this. I want the works. Stellar massage, their diamonite facial…oh my god, and their nebula foot bath!”
    He bit back his grin as he set his movements and walked forward. Instead of pushing the one-way aside, he simply walked through it. The fabric caught on his head and shoulders, obscuring his vision for a moment before it fell away. Without looking left or right, he marched through the shop, almost body-slammed the gladiator bot and stopped by the side of the petite woman looking at him with her mouth open.
    God, the things he could do with that pretty mouth. Locking the erotic thoughts away, he swiveled his head from her to Cyn. “You activated me?”

Chapter Three
     
    Oh my fucking god.
    That the shop had a cyborg model was beyond her wildest dreams, but when the prototype walked through into the shop Milly’s heart almost stopped. Big, broad-shouldered and bulging with muscles, it was as if Johnny Ram himself had walked into the shop, large as life and twice as lickable.
    “I have to warn you.” The shop owner, Cyn, ignored the bot and carried on talking to her. “He is a prototype, so he has a few personality glitches. Bluntly put, he’s a pain in the ass. All talk…don’t worry. He has the usual behavioral limiters so there’s no way he could hurt you actively or through inaction.”
    “Uh huh.”
    Milly was only half-listening to her as she walked a slow circle around the bot. He was perfect. Every detail, from his musculature right down to the costume he wore, was spot on. Amazement and awe for the bot creator’s skill surged through her. She’d long ago learnt not to expect too much from bots, particularly ones