by Gloria Weber

Two hundred thirty two times Lez was activated since that night. Every time was exactly the same as before, every night but the two hundred and thirty third time.

She stood before the mirror dressed in a silk gown almost as white as her flesh. Her hair had been brushed, braided, and now Ajur dotted it with crystalline baby's breath. The house was not its usual dim self, but a bright beacon in the night, reminding Lez of how it had looked that one time, full of sun.

Through the walls she could see the dining room, at the table there were three chairs, three place settings, three meals. In a room she had never entered sat a man. A long black cane rested merrily in his hand, following the beat to something Lez could not hear.

For the first time, since the day she was named, Lez spoke. "Who is that man, Ajur?"

"That," she said in a clipped tone, "is my boss, Mr. Lesnah." A glance at the mirror revealed that the question had angered her mistress. After setting the last of the flowers in the braid, Ajur spoke once again. "He need not know what you are. Say nothing without my permission, understood?"

Lez nodded, but dared not speak. Her programming dictated, warned her, it was for the best. She let herself be led out like a reluctant child.

Soft synthetic jazz filled the room and for the first time the apartment had a scent, his. The cologne filled her nasal ducts and while her mind computed its components, she enjoyed the change.

Ajur cleared her throat. When Mr. Lesnah faced them, Ajur said, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. My niece needed my assistance."

"I haven't had the pleasure," he replied smiling in a way Lez was sure Ajur never could. He extended his hand waiting for hers.

Anger festered in her mistress's eyes, but she placed Lez's hand in his nonetheless. He smoothly brought it to his lips, a practiced motion.

"Pleasure to meet you..." The sentence hung meaningfully in the air.

A nudge alerted Lez to speak. "The name is Lez Nupar, Mr. Lesnah."

She watched him smile after she spoke, almost as if her voice had summoned the reaction. "I hope you'll be enchanting us with your presence at dinner."

"Most certainly," said her mistress. A possessive arm wrapped around Lez.

Touch had revealed so much to Lez. She knew Grinder had been a weak man with little backbone. Fear made him less than what he could have been. Ajur was as cold as the walls that surrounded them. Little good could be said about her. As for Mr. Lesnah, she couldn't quite explain it, but he was what she wished everyone else in the world to be like. The warmth of his smile was only rivaled by the warmth of his touch.

A chime sounded from the clock on the mantel. "Shall we retire to the dining room?" Ajur pushed Lez towards the room ahead of them.

Standing Mr. Lesnah nodded his head. "I think that's a fine idea."

Glancing over her shoulder she watched him. His cane felt the floor and his eyes focused nowhere, looking endlessly out the walls beyond the sky. He was blind.

With a few verbal cues from Ajur he found his way to the table and all three took their seats. The food was perfectly placed, but presentation was lost upon him, Lez wondered why her mistress bothered.

Mr. Lesnah made small talk, often trying to lure Lez in. Ajur answered in her stead or cut him off. Soon they all fell into an Ajur imposed silence. This made the mistress happy.

When it came time to serve the wine, Ajur purposely missed Lez's glass. "Oh what have I done? Quickly to your room. I'll be there in a second."

Lez said nothing. She stood and made her way to her room, her closet. With in moments Ajur was there, undressing her. "I'll make excuses for you."

She almost protested. Lez wanted to join them again, join him. She just stared at him through the invisible walls. Ajur ended those thoughts when she grabbed her and kissed her as she had never before, with emotion. It was a bitter and angry kiss that ended when she pushed Lez down into her chair.

Panting, her mistress looked down upon her. "Say you love me."

"I love you," Lez said fearing what would happen if she didn't. But Ajur kept staring at her cruelly, and vindictively. It had not been enough. "I love you," she tried again. "Only you." It seemed to slip out like a prayer of desperation.

The cruelness melted back to the cold calm. With her usual caress, she turned Lez off.

#

Upon her next activation it had returned to more of the same. But in truth it wasn't. The dinner party's data kept filtering in her background programs. His image kept super imposing itself over the reality of now only to be scared off by the memory of the cruel kiss.

"Mistress Banu, what exactly do you do for a living?" The question erupted into the silence.

Ajur swallowed the hardly chewed piece of steak. Lez could see it struggle down her throat.

"Why do you ask?" Her mistress's demeanor was icier than usual.

The truth didn't matter. "Because I want to know everything there is to know about you... my love."

Her lies made Ajur happy. The unnatural smile rippled across her silver painted lips. "I'm a genetics prodigy. I've been making this centuries greatest finds on cloning since I was fourteen."

"What are you currently working on?" Lez tried to look interested, but she couldn't make the connections she struggled for.

A shrug accompanied a shake of Ajur's head. "Nothing really."

"But your work for Mr. Lesnah-" A flash of the previous night's viciousness resurfaced. "All your work must be filling his pockets more so than yours."