Book Chapter - The Comfort Drone - WIP - 4/23/22 (Patreon)

Just outside one of the unoccupied testing cells, in the adjacent observation lounge separated by tinted observation windows was one of the maintenance workers, putting the final touches on her most recent passion project. After weeks of toiling, she finally held up her finished AI, letting out an exhausted sigh as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. The young woman had no words, simply chuckling to herself happily as she held the chip above her head, looking up at it as if witnessing a dream come true, her mature brown eyes gleaming in the fluorescent office lights.

Running her fingers through her short red hair, a smile spread across her bright red lips as she simply savored this satisfying moment. The woman wore the usual lab attire, with the lab coat and dress shirt and all, though she preferred to wear a tight leather skirt with semi-transparent leggings on this particular day, as she had finished her shift hours ago. Suddenly, she was startled by the sound of the metal entrance doors opening on the other side of the room, as the bright lights from the hall briefly blinded her. Metallic, slightly rubbery footsteps could be heard as a tall dark silhouette entered the room, one too high in stature to be human.

Once the woman’s eyes adjusted to the light, she could see that it was Rei-Uno, stepping into the room with her hands on her hips as she slowly approached the lone lab worker. “Good evening Miss… Alara was it?” the android asked politely as she stood beside the table. The young woman looked up at the android, still not used to being in the presence of her much taller superior. “Yes ma’am, Alara is my first name.” she responded, unable to hide her nervousness as she spoke. “Yes, I’ve come to inform you that your reservation for this lab ended 30 minutes ago, from this point on, the room can only be used for testing and trial runs.” the android explained in a polite tone.

The woman took a moment before she was able to respond, as she couldn’t help but be slightly intimidated by her robotic superior. “I-I understand, that’s why I put the finishing touches on my project, it’s finally ready for testing.” Alara explained, holding up her finished chip with a slight stutter in her voice. Rei-Uno immediately analyzed the chip with her optics, and it didn’t take her long to recognize the intricate and complex wiring embedded into the device, immediately taking interest. ”Oh?” she exclaimed softly, scratching her chin when she realized it was an AI of some sort.

As the android reached down for the chip, the young woman couldn’t help but finch as her superior leaned down towards her, before taking the device in her rubbery hand. Rei-Uno kept herself bent over to remain at the human’s eye level, as she continued to look at the computer chip, fixated on it as she looked at it from every angle she could. “Interesting, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly did you have in mind for this little trinket?” she asked, regaining eye contact with the young woman. Alara’s nervous expression quickly faded as her eager grin returned, tapping her feet as she looked as if she could jump out of her shoes from excitement.

“I’m happy you asked Miss! I-I have the prototype waiting in the other room!” Mid Sentence, the young woman excitedly stepped her way toward the containment cell entrance, her heels loudly clacking along the marble floor before stopping halfway. Taking a deep breath, Alara got a hold of herself and turned around to face her superior again. “If… Would you like to see it ma’am?” she said in a polite tone. Rei-Uno chuckled as she stood back up, still gently holding the chip in her glossy fingers. “Of course.” she replied stepping forward. “It’s been such a slow day, and I’ve been dying to see something interesting before I power off for the night.”

The two made their way to the testing cell, as Alara punched in the code next to the metal door. The entrance opened up to reveal a large square room, covered in white latex and padded with segmented rows of puffy cushions. The air smelled clean, but sterile and heavily filtered, giving the environment an uncanny atmosphere. On the other side of the room, huddled up against the wall was a large figure shredded underneath the purple cloak of tarp, making it look rather ominous even to the android.

Alara had to kick off her heels in order to traverse the cushy padded floor, practically bouncing with every step as she eagerly grabbed the tarp in her hands. “Aaaaaand…” With a big wide grin, she yanked the tarp off, flipping it into the air and allowing the android to get a clear view of what was beneath. Rei-Uno’s optics dilated as an unexpected look spread across her face, the room falling into silence until the tarp finally fluttered down to the floor. Sitting before the both of them was a large 8-foot tall kangaroo plush of some kind, sitting limp against the wall like a giant floppy pillow.

The entire plush was covered in some kind of light brown fabric, made up of what appeared to be high-quality satin with a snow-white underbelly. Its entire body was round and plump, with thick puffy legs on either side of its large pillowy-looking belly, which made up for most of its plush-like features. The arms were also rather large, with big rounded paws big enough to scoop up a human, and bright pink shiny paw beans lined with glossy latex. And of course, what drew the android’s attention was its big adorable face, its most distinguishable part being its wide-eyed expression, with a slightly elongated snood and big floppy ears.

Rather than being super exaggerated like plushes tend to be, it had a more Eastern aesthetic, designed with a more kemono-anime aesthetic, looking less cartoony and giving it a more cute appearance. As it was, it looked more like an oversize pillow than a stuffed animal, slumped down against the wall with multiple folds of puffy fabric visible along the exterior of its cushy body. Of course, to the android, and her advanced optics, she immediately recognized the endoskeleton hidden underneath all of the plush, indicating that it was some kind of automaton or drone.

“Well now!” Rei-Uno exclaimed, clearly impressed with what was presented before her.  “This was unexpected. You made this all by yourself?” Alaras’s smile grew wider as she chuckled to herself with satisfaction. “Well, I was allowed to use the assembly to construct the robotics, but yeah I designed it all myself!” she boasted, bursting with pride as she kept the AI chip delicately held in her fingers. “If I may ask, what is the intended purpose of this… unique design?” the android asked. The young woman took a deep breath, pausing to gather her thoughts.

“You see, after all of the unwilling test subjects we’ve accumulated over the past few months. I’ve noticed that some of the earliest of subjects have still not adjusted well to their new conditions.” the woman started off, pacing back and forth. “And while we keep our prisoners in perfect health, they’re still essentially prisoners here.” she paused for a moment as she stopped pacing and looked back to Rei-Uno. “And I worry that if we don’t keep our prisoner’s mental health in check, they won’t be able to perform well during tests, or in the worse case, have a mental breakdown.” the young woman then turned back to her creation, holding out her arms towards it with a triumphant pose. “Which is why I conceptualized the Caregiving Check-Up Drone!”

• 4/23/23

Climbing onto the plush, she lifted its head up so Rei-Uno could get a better look. “Most of our staff and security forces tend to frighten and intimidate our subjects. So in contrast, my invention’s soft, wide-eyed, and cuddly appearance is designed to calm those in its presence, the same way any therapy pet would.” Alara then opened its mouth, which was lined with soft velvet, and a tongue made of what looked like PVC or silicon. “And, combined with the personality and mentality of an affectionate Nanny…” she paused her sentence as she slowly inserted the AI chip into its maw until a soft click could be heard within its head.

After removing her hand from its mouth, the two waited silently as the kangaroo plush remained completely still, with only the subtle ambiance sound of computer parts powering up. Then, without warning, a large bulbous sphere rapidly erupted from the plushes mouth, puffing out until pressed up against the human's face. “Mmmph?!?!” Alara let out a muffled yelp as the expanding orb began wrapping over her body, sinking into its surface until she was sealed in with a soft rubbery bloop. Rei-Uno simply gasped in surprise as she took a step back, watching as the orb containing aArala tumbled from the plushes belly until it came rolling to a stop in front of her feet.

The orb appeared to be some kind of gelatinous bubble, it’s wobbly surface glistening as if it was made of polished glass. Dizzy and a bit embarrassed, the woman lay on her back with her body curled up into a half-fetal position, her legs spread enough for the android to see underneath her skirt. The bubble was just barely large enough at 4 1/2 feet in diameter to keep her contained. Fortunately, the surface seemed rather thick and soft as it stretched around her proportions as if the bubble’s membrane doubled as an all-encompassing cushion.

Alara groaned as she pressed her hands up against the surface, even spreading her knees out in hopes of making more room for herself, but the bubble only stretched out a few inches, maintaining its general volume while keeping her contained. “Oh, my…” The android said softly with an amused chuckle. Lifting up her left foot, the rubber surface on her heel sharpened out and Took on the properties of a dagger. Slowly and gently she placed her sharp heel on the surface of Laura’s bubble prison, and swiftly swiped it with a sharp kick, slicing the membrane open with a soft Pop. The gelatinous surface deflated around the human woman allowing her to finally spread her arms and legs as she let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks.” she said, her cheek slightly blushing as she got back up on her feet. “Thought I fixed that bug.” she then turned to the giant plush kangaroo, sitting upright with its head staring down them, A happy grin appearing on its face as it bowed to them. “Good evening Miss Alara.” said the plush with its deep feminine voice, with a tone so soft and soothing that it no longer came off as intimidating. The plush then turned its attention to Rei-Uno, kneeling down lower in order to get down to her height. “And hello to you ma’am, my name is Fluffles. How are you doing today?”

Rei-Uno just smiled back, impressed with its apparent sentience as well as its politeness. “I’m doing well today, pleasure to meet you.” she responded, stepping closer to the giant plush. “If you don’t mind me asking? What is your function?” she followed up. The plush sat back up, nodding her head down as she placed her paw on her chest. “I am a caregiving kangaroo, I can act as a therapy plush and nanny to any of your test subjects who may be in distress or need mental health care.” Fluffles explained. “Do you have anyone in need of my services?”