Machines and humans have always fought and always will, from the earliest days when steam engines refused to go forwards, through the days when PCs refused to boot up, to today when robots insist on obeying commands literally. This is the story of one such battle, a young woman’s struggle to circumvent a machine’s internal limitations.

The robot was a Christmas present to herself. Its cost represented most of her savings but Quintessa was depressed and felt she deserved some pleasure in life. The only other present she received that Christmas was a bottle of inexpensive perfume from one of her coworkers.

Tess, as she liked to call herself, gave to others that season, singing in a choir that gave carol recitals at two nursing homes and a church. She had a fine soprano voice, but it was not quite good enough to earn a living. The church concert was marred when one of the valves of the ancient organ became stuck in the open position. The church resounded to a high C for several minutes until the power was turned off.

By profession Tess was an insurance assessor, a job that was often depressing since she had to deal with honest people distressed over the loss of their treasured possessions, and dishonest ones making fraudulent claims.

But the main reason she was depressed that Christmas was that she had just dumped her boyfriend. She had met him through an online dating service. Their relationship had started well; the bondage was exciting and incredibly erotic. But he had begun to show a sadistic streak. Initially this had been an even greater turn on, but she had fortunately realized the danger before it was too late. She only just got out in time; her bruises would heal quickly but her emotional scars would last for months.

Tess was an attractive woman. She was in her early twenties, had long blond hair and worked out at a gym. Her body was lithe and muscular, and her breasts were nicely rounded. Perhaps her only physical imperfection was her face; only a very charitable person would call it beautiful. Despite this she found it easy to pick up men, even in an age of ubiquitous plastic surgery. But she no longer possessed such a desire having been very unlucky in such relationships.

Masturbation with and without self-bondage satisfied the most urgent demands of her body, but she felt a need to share her sexuality with others. She considered a lesbian relationship. A woman would certainly understand her better, but looking deep into herself she could discover no real desire for one. But the enormous emotional void in her life needed to be filled somehow.

At one time sex robots would have provided the solution, but these had finally become unavailable. Government regulation had not killed them; the lawyers and courts had seen to that. So many people had sued the manufacturers for alienation of affection, and the court-ordered damages had been so high, that nobody was prepared to manufacture or sell one. Even companies that maintained and repaired them had been forced out of business. The problem was that the sexual experience provided by the robots was so superior to that obtainable from a human partner that once experienced the user never wanted to go back. It was like a highly addictive drug. So much so that legislation had been drafted to outlaw them. But the actions of the courts rendered such legislation unnecessary. The few robots still in working order were all in private hands and were jealously guarded by their owners. The programming and functioning of these robots had been so perfect that the owners developed deep emotional attachment to them and usually did not share them even with their closest friends.

Tess felt herself alone in the world; her parents were dead and she had no siblings or close friends. One of the reasons for purchasing the SJ300 robot, other than obvious utilitarian ones, was the belief that it would provide some companionship. Another reason was the hope that she could persuade it to give her sex. The robot was itself sexless having no physical sexual organs and having an androgynous appearance. The basic functions of this series of robots were as a servant and caregiver. In order to prevent the legal problems that would arise if the robot were to give sexual satisfaction, it was programmed to avoid all contact with genitalia, and to walk away or shut down when it heard or saw anything relating to sex. Built-in safeguards prevented hackers from circumventing these restrictions. The only way would be to replace the chips, but these were encoded with a quantum code that had so far proved unbreakable.

Tess regarded these restrictions as a challenge, and was determined to obtain sexual satisfaction from her purchase. She decided to treat the robot as male; named him Sanjay and dressed him in casual male attire.

Her first attempt at sex started out full of promise. She asked Sanjay to massage and knead her breasts. The pretext was that she wanted him to check for lumps or other abnormalities. At her prompting Sanjay gave her a very thorough checkup and she felt a definite arousal from the manipulations of his fingers

The advisability of allowing the SJ300 robots to give such massages had been the subject of an intense debate within the manufacturing company. Eventually they decided that checking breasts for lumps was a legitimate caregiving function and should not be excluded. But they built in some safeguards which Quintessa was shortly to discover.

The breast massage had aroused Tess and the following day she decided to repeat the experience in a more erotic setting. She placed herself in self-bondage, chaining herself in a spread-eagle position on her bed and setting her ice timer for a two-hour delay. She didn’t think she could persuade Sanjay to manipulate her breasts for that long, yesterday he had announced that he was finished in only ten minutes, but she was optimistic that she could prolong the massage.

After clicking the final padlock closed she summoned Sanjay and ordered him to give her a very thorough and slow breast examination.

“I’m sorry, madam, but I gave you a thorough examination yesterday. I found nothing wrong so it would be pointless to examine you again.”

“I think you did it too quickly. I order you to examine me again, only this time more slowly.”

“I assure you madam, there are no lumps or other abnormalities in your breasts. It would be unethical of me to examine them again.”

“I order you to examine me.”

“I regret I cannot do that madam. There was absolutely nothing suspicious. The earliest that I am permitted to perform another examination is in six months. I will be most happy to do it then.”

There it was. Sanjay had used the word “permitted.” She had encountered an intractable obstacle. It was what Sanjay would say if she ordered him to touch her genitals, he would say that he was not permitted.

She dismissed Sanjay and spent a very tiresome and frustrated hour lying on her bed, stretched out, unable to move, and unable to achieve orgasm.

One might think that she could simply order Sanjay to remove the keys from the ice timer and place them in her hand, but she had precluded that option. A card hung from the timer with the word “SEX” written on both sides. Sanjay would refuse to have anything to do with the timer, and would even refuse to go near it.

After an hour and a half she obtained some relief from her bondage. She summoned Sanjay and ordered him to massage her arms and legs since she said they had become stiff from lying in one position. He obliged, and as she lay there she thought of how much pleasure the lawyers had deprived the world, it would be so divinely wonderful to receive a sexual massage from Sanjay. His fingers kneaded her muscles, circulatory and lymphatic systems with an expertise no human could match.

The ice timer finally released the keys and she unlocked herself. She took her large dildo from her beside chest and began to massage herself to the first of several climaxes. Sanjay discreetly left the room.

The hour she had spent lying on the bed in sexual frustration had not been entirely wasted. She had been planning the next step in her campaign.

She operated five websites. At one time Sanjay would have been able to link her to them in a few microseconds, but the privacy laws had finally gained some teeth, and it was now difficult, even for him, to make such connections. She spent several hours during the next three days dictating and typing new entries into her websites. When she was ready she made an announcement. “Sanjay, I think I’m suffering from FNS syndrome.”

“Madam, I can think of many things that FNS stands for, but none of them are ailments. You must be mistaken. No, I stand corrected,” he said as his rf connection finally scanned to the eighty millionth hit, “it’s Flat Nipple Syndrome if you permit me to correct human’s unfortunate habit of redundant acronyms. There are five websites that mention it. May I examine you madam.”

Tess pulled her top and bra down to expose her nipples.

“Madam, if I may venture an opinion on the matter, I would say that you are currently not suffering from FNS.”

Indeed, Tess’ nipples were quite erect in anticipation of an erotic massage from Sanjay.

“Yes Sanjay, you’re right; I appear to be OK at the moment.”

“Please let me know when you are suffering, madam, and I shall be happy to carry out the recommended procedure.”

“Thank you Sanjay, I’ll let you know.”

It was going to be another frustrating evening.

Tess was resourceful and was not about to abandon her campaign. A few nights later she was standing in her kitchen dressed in her nightgown and wielding her largest knife. She stabbed herself in her chest, not deeply, but deep enough to draw blood, and screamed loudly.

Sanjay came running to see what was the matter and to render assistance.

“Sanjay,” she said, “I’ve started sleepwalking again.”

“Let me examine your wound.”

Tess disrobed and Sanjay examined her injury.

“It does not appear to be deep, madam. A little skin-regenerating cream should suffice.” He left and returned a minute later with the cream. He applied it to the wound and said, “Allow me to suggest a prescription for sleeping pills.”

“No Sanjay, they all have side effects. I don’t want to take any drugs.”

“If I may be bold as to suggest, madam, the side effects of the sleeping pills are likely to be a lot less severe than the side effects of your sleepwalking.”

“You’re probably right Sanjay but I’m not going start taking them. However, I do need to find some solution. I used to sleep walk when I was young but thought I had outgrown it. I really don’t want to go through that again.”

“May I suggest psychotherapy, madam. It should unearth the root cause of your disorder.”

“You know as well as I do Sanjay that psychotherapy is all bullcrap.”

“They have made some great strides in recent years, madam.”

“Bullcrap. The only progress they’ve made is discovering that they were wrong in so many ways.”

“Well madam, if drugs and psychotherapy are out, perhaps I might watch over you at night and wake you if you attempt to walk.”

“You know it’s dangerous to wake sleepwalkers.”

“I am beginning to run out of reasonable suggestions, madam.”

“I would like to be restrained at night Sanjay. You know, chained to the bed so I can’t walk about and hurt myself.”

“That is not a recommended procedure, madam.”

“I know, but the alternatives are worse. It worked when I was young and I would like to try it again.”

“Very well madam. But I shall stay in your bedroom and watch over you.”

That night Tess slept in chains. Although both wrists were chained, she could reach her clitoris and pleasured herself to several orgasms. Sanjay was clearly torn, his hardwired instructions told him to leave the room during such events, but as a caregiver he had to stay and watch over her. A few years previously time this might have led to a malfunction, but programming technology had improved greatly since the bankruptcy of Microsoft and such failures were now almost non-existent. Sanjay compromised by almost completely shutting down. The only part remaining active was a monitoring function looking for an end to the sexual activity and for any threats to Tess’ safety or health.

Although sleeping in chains was pleasurable, Tess realized there was something deeply unsatisfying about her bondage. She wanted it to be stricter; she wanted to prevent such easy satisfaction. So the following night she ordered Sanjay to chain her in a spread-eagle position.

She awoke in the middle of the night feeling aroused and in need of an orgasm. She couldn’t satisfy herself and felt deliciously frustrated. But her state of mind meant she could not get back to sleep.

“Sanjay, release me, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Are you awake madam?”

“Yes of course I’m awake.”

“Very well madam. I will release you for that function.”

In the bathroom Tess masturbated to two climaxes. Feeling satisfied she returned to the bedroom and lay down on her bed spreading her arms and legs. The situation, as Sanjay locked the steel bonds around her wrists and ankles, seemed wonderfully erotic. She felt a strong desire for a breast massage. “Sanjay, I think I’m suffering from FNS.”

Sanjay gently opened the front of her nightgown. “No madam, I can assure you that you are definitely not suffering.”

‘Oh damn,’ thought Tess. It took her two hours to get back to sleep.

A few nights later she succeeded in getting a massage. She woke up and, since she was not feeling sexy, told Sanjay she was suffering from FNS syndrome and asked him to take corrective measures. To avoid getting aroused by what was to come, she thought of a recent house fire that she had been assessing. Sanjay examined her and agreed that she was suffering from the ailment and began to massage her breasts. Her nipples became erect all too quickly and Sanjay stopped his massage. She realized she had made a mistake. The learned papers she had concocted should have recommended that curative breast massage continue for half an hour after the nipples became erect, rather than simply that massage should be applied in order to make them erect. She was wakened four more times during the night as Sanjay gave her brief massages in order to maintain her nipples in an erect state.

A week later the novelty had largely worn off, and she decided that to be truly erotic, the night bondage had to be real rather than symbolic. The problem was that she could ask Sanjay to release her at any time and he would comply. She had to set up a situation that would cause him to ignore her commands.

That night she woke up and asked to be released since she had to do something. Although she did not specify what she intended to do, Sanjay released her. She went downstairs. She pretended to fall the last few steps, making as much noise as she could. Sanjay came running from the bedroom.

“Sanjay, I was sleep walking again.”

“Are you hurt, madam?”

“No, I only fell a couple of steps.”

“Madam, when I asked you, you said you were awake.”

“I may have done so in my sleep. I can be asleep even when my eyes are open and I talk.”

“That presents some difficulties, madam.”

“I know, I know. But this is serious; I think I was intending to stab myself again. I felt this compulsion to stab myself to drive out the evil spirits.”

“I really do think you should see a psychotherapist, madam.”

“No, we’ve been through that. I’ve got a better solution. I want you to stop releasing me at night between the hours of midnight and seven in the morning. Even if I order you to release me, you must refuse.”

“That presents some danger to your person, madam.”

“Not really. Obviously if the house is on fire or I’m throwing up, you should release me. But only if you perceive there’s a threat to my health or safety, not otherwise.”

“Very well madam, I shall restrain you between the hours of midnight and seven a.m. and ignore your requests for release unless I perceive you to be in danger. Is that what you desire?”

“Yes.”

“I shall ask you again tomorrow just to make sure you are not still asleep.”

“Of course Sanjay. That’s very wise of you.”

This check of an apparently contradictory set of instructions was another improvement that had become universal after the demise of Microsoft. Instead of the discredited, “Are you sure,” type of questions, robots now applied intelligence to such situations.

Sanjay repeated the question twice during the following day. That night she asked to be released to go to the bathroom. But he refused.

“But Sanjay, this is an emergency, I really do have to go.”

“I regret I cannot release you madam; I do not perceive a threat to your health.”

Tess really did have to go. She lay awake wondering how to persuade Sanjay that this was a legitimate reason to be released, but couldn’t think of a way. Later, when her need to go became more urgent she tried again, but no matter how she ordered and pleaded he would not release her. To her intense annoyance she wet the bed.

“May I respectfully suggest, madam,” Sanjay said on observing her, “that you drink less liquid before you retire.”

“Oh fuck off, Sanjay.”

Sanjay interpreted the F word as an expression of annoyance rather than as an order or a sexual directive, and ignored her.

Two nights later Tess was watching a movie, The Amorous Robot, on the Internet. It was a two-hour movie that started at 11 pm. At two minutes to midnight Sanjay interrupted her.

“May I respectfully remind you, madam, that you have two minutes in which to retire to your bed.”

“Cool it Sanjay. Can’t you see I’m watching a movie?”

“Yes, madam, but you must be in bed by midnight.”

“Shut up Sanjay. Let me watch the movie in peace.”

Obeying her instruction, Sanjay stopped talking. At midnight he took her by the arm and pulled her out of her chair.

“Let me go Sanjay. How dare you touch me! I order you to release me. Now!”

But Sanjay did not let her go. “I’m sorry madam, my instructions are that you are to be chained in bed by midnight. We are already late; it is ten seconds past.”

No amount of pleading would make Sanjay release her. Tess began to fight but of course her strength was no match for his. As gently as he could he carried the kicking and screaming Tess upstairs and chained her to her bed. He heard a lot of words that he had never heard her utter before. Many of them were screamed at him. Although some of the words were sex related, his context assessor decided their meanings were not sexual so he did not shut down.

Half an hour after being chained to the bed, Tess had calmed down sufficiently to apologize. “I’m sorry I shouted at you Sanjay. I know you were only obeying my instructions.”

“That’s all right madam, I didn’t take offense. I assumed you were testing me. I hope I passed the test.”

Tess was surprised at his interpretation, but decided to take advantage of it. “Yes I was; you did very well, Sanjay. You handled the situation perfectly.”

“Thank you madam.”

“Tell me Sanjay, if I want to stay up and watch a move after midnight, what do I have to do?”

“All you have to do, madam, is tell me.”

“But I thought I did.”

“You have to instruct me before midnight, madam, not after. All your commands were made after midnight.”

“Very good, Sanjay. You did well.”

Tess strained against her bonds. She felt good. She was under the control of a strict but fair master. If only Sanjay would satisfy her sexually she thought she might love him. Once again her thoughts turned to trying to think of a way to make him give her sex.

She finally decided that the only way would be for Sanjay to control another machine that would do the actual fucking. The machine would have to be disguised so that he was unaware of its true purpose.

The next day she searched the Internet and finally located a manufacturer who was willing to modify one of their machines to her specifications.

“I suspect you are trying to get your robot to give you sex,” the salesman said. “Don’t worry, we’ve made that kind of mod before. You might want to consider extending the shield. This would allow it to be used under a blanket and conceal it from your robot.”

Tess realized something that should have been obvious; other people had being doing what she was attempting. It had never been publicized for legal reasons, but it had been well known to this manufacturer at least.

“One more thing,” the salesman continued, “I recommend an upgrade to the VX machine. This has the same technology that the old sex robots used to have. The price has just been reduced since we are introducing the VY model. I think you’ll be really pleased with such an upgrade, all our customers have been very happy.”

After a few questions Tess agreed to pay the difference for the upgrade; the salesman was persuasive and sounded very knowledgeable.

Three weeks later the modified VX machine arrived. The shipping container proudly stated it to be a “Home Health Vibrator” and the smaller letters claimed it helped relax leg muscles at night. The deception was plausible; Tess had enjoyed several leg massages from Sanjay. He seemed to be unaware of the machine’s true purpose and even carried it up to her bedroom.

Tess ordered him to chain her very tightly that night; she didn’t want any freedom of movement. She made the request well before midnight so he did as he was told and she spent the night tautly stretched out. She hardly slept, not because of the strenuous bondage but because of erotic thoughts of what the following night would bring.

The following day she ordered Sanjay to remain out of her bedroom and installed the machine. It had a penis mounted on a telescopic arm that retracted completely into the housing. She lay on the bed in the position dictated by the tight chains and noted the location of her body. She measured the distance between where she estimated her crotch had been and the penis portal and entered it into the machine’s memory. This distance did not have to be exact; the machine had enough intelligence to make automatic adjustments.

That evening she was so looking forward to the experience that she told Sanjay she wanted to retire at ten o’clock instead of midnight.

“Very well, madam, ten p.m. it is.”

“I want to be chained tightly again, the same as last night.”

“Certainly, madam.”

“And Sanjay, I’ve installed the new muscle-relaxing machine. Before you put the covers over me please extend the top cover of the machine. You should be able to pull it up to my waist.”

“Very well madam, I will pull the top cover of the machine up to your waist before covering you with the sheet.”

“And when you’ve done that please turn the machine on and select the MF mode. That stands for Massage Frequently.”

“Very well madam, I’ll turn it on and select the MF mode.”

“And turn it off when I tell you. I want to see what it feels like before having a long session.”

“Of course, madam. I will turn it off when you tell me to.”

Tess was aroused by the thought of being fucked while lying chained and helpless. She could feel that her vagina had become wet. She wondered what fantasy she wanted to play. She decided she liked the forced sex fantasy. She would be captured and bound by some strong master who would then make love to her. He would ignore her protests.

“A couple more things Sanjay.”

“Yes madam?”

“I’d like you to call me Tess instead of madam.”

“Certainly Tess.”

“After you turn the machine on, leave it on for ten minutes no matter what I say, even if I shout at you to turn it off. After that, turn it off when I tell you.”

“Yes Tess, I will ignore any instructions to turn the machine off for ten minutes after I have turned it on.”

“And I don’t want to be wearing any clothes tonight. The machine works better if I’m nude. If I’m wearing any clothes at bedtime, please take them off.”

“I will do that Tess, I will remove any clothes you are wearing at ten p.m.”

Tess was not sure if Sanjay would remove her panties; that might be too sexual for him. But panties would get in the way of the machine’s penis, so they definitely had to come off. She went upstairs, removed her jeans and panties and put on a skirt. Her panties were wet with her juices; she was so filled with anticipation.

She returned and started a movie. It was 9:15 p.m. and the movie would not end until 10:45.

At two minutes to ten Sanjay reminded her that she had to be in bed by ten.

“Be quiet Sanjay. Can’t you see I’m watching a movie?”

Sanjay lapsed into silence, but at ten he took her by the arm.

“It’s time you were in bed, Tess.”

Tess knew he would not longer obey her. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to go to bed, I’ve decided to watch the movie instead.”

Sanjay ignored her request, and when she resisted him and began to fight and kick, he picked her up, put her over his shoulder, and carried her upstairs.

“Put me down you monster, let me go.” She beat on his back with her fists, not very hard since such blows hurt her hands and had no effect on Sanjay.

In the bedroom he tried to undress her, but she fought back. Although he managed to pull her skirt off without damaging it, he had to rip her top to get it off. “I’m sorry that I had to tear your top Tess, I’ll sew it back together again.”

“You’re not sorry, you only have one thing in mind,” she retorted.

He laid her on the bed and forced the manacle closed around her right wrist and locked it.

“Let me go you maniac. What are trying to do to me?” she screamed. Her legs were free so she started to kick him. The first kick hurt her toes, so she was more careful after that.

Sanjay ignored her vocal protests and flailing legs, stretched out her left arm and locked it into its manacle. Then he turned his attention to her legs, pulled her into a taught spread-eagle position and secured her ankles in fetters. She continued to struggle, pulling on her bonds in a futile attempt to escape. This was not a completely pointless exercise; it was definitely making her more aroused. She was visibly not suffering from FNS.

Sanjay extracted the machine’s top cover and extended it up to her waist. After pulling up the sheet and blanket, he switched it on and used its menu to select the MF mode.

The machine began to hum and its hidden penis emerged from its housing and started to glide towards Tess’ pussy. It was protected from the sheets by the extended cover. Its sensitive head sampled the air as it moved, trying to determine the direction of the source of the sexual pheromones it was detecting. Tess was struggling less than before; she was getting tired of fighting the unyielding chains and was fully aroused.

The head of the penis made contact with her outer labia. It had just missed its intended target, but the gradient sensor quickly detected the right direction and the penis moved towards her clitoris. It nuzzled her, its sensors analyzing her love juices ten times a second. The urethra of the penis opened up and began to massage her clit. It slowed when it estimated that Tess was getting close to a climax.

“Oh, god! Come on, come on, finish me,” Tess gasped.

“Are you alright Tess?” Sanjay asked, concern in his voice.

“I’m, uh, OK Sanjay. It’s, uh, just, uh, the machine.”

“If you say so, Tess.”

Tess decided she had to keep quiet. She didn’t want Sanjay to discover what was going on between her legs.

The machine edged her closer and closer to orgasm and finally after several minutes of balancing at the edge thinking that she was seconds away from a climax, she exploded. The machine, as it was programmed to do, carefully monitored this first orgasm and made no attempt to enhance or diminish it.

Tess herself tried to suppress it, or at least its visibility. Even so she climaxed for about thirty seconds, a little disappointed that the machine had become quiescent at the onset of her orgasm. After it was over she lay quietly wondering what the machine would do next.

A minute later Sanjay said, “Tess, ten minutes have elapsed and I will now obey any instruction you give me to turn the machine off.”

“That’s OK Sanjay, leave it on.”

Tess was puzzled why the machine had only given her one orgasm instead of the several that the instructions had promised. The meaning of the mode name, MF, was not what she had told Sanjay; in reality the M stood for multiple orgasms, and the F for frustration. This combination had sounded so deliciously erotic that she had unhesitatingly chosen it. She wondered if Sanjay had selected a single orgasm mode by mistake, or whether the machine had malfunctioned.

It was unlike Sanjay to have made a mistake; he was really good at operating any kind of machine. On the other hand machine failures were extremely rare, particularly in new machines. Only old machines failed, and even those gave plenty of warning. Tess trusted Sanjay’s reliability so much that she had not even planned a back up escape from her chains in case he became sick. If he ever become ill, his multiple redundant systems would enable him to diagnose himself and give her plenty of warning.

A few minutes later Tess was still wondering what had gone wrong when she heard the machine start humming and felt its penis touch her labia. This time it entered her. It was an incredibly erotic feeling, it vibrated slightly as it penetrated her inner lips. It slid all the way in until it touched her cervix. Once inside it began to squirm and writhe in a way no real penis could. Had she read the machine’s instruction manual she would have known that this was the evaluation phase, the machine was measuring and assessing her. The penis seemed to expand and contract as it moved.

Finally the machine was ready. The penis deformed to match the anatomy of her vagina, and began to move slowly in an out, a classic slow fucking. The complex shape of the penis stimulated all her surface nerves, and it applied pressure to the sides of her vagina to stimulate the deeper ones. It was the most incredible sexual stimulation that Tess had ever experienced or could have imagined. Her body responded and she rapidly approached her second orgasm.

The machine detected this and slowed, once again holding her at the edge. She was so close she became desperate to finish by herself and began to move her pelvis hoping to obtain just that tiny extra stimulation that would take her to a climax. But the machine was too clever for her, the penis moved with her defeating her purpose.

Feeling incredibly frustrated, she tried clenching her pubococcygeal muscles, those associated with Kegel exercises, but the machine had a way of countering this maneuver. It injected small electric currents into her, decreasing her arousal just enough to prevent orgasm.

Tess become frantic in her desire to climax, she pulled hard on the chains and twisted and rocked her body as vigorously as she could. But to no avail, the machine was her master and its response was fast and effective. It kept her right on the edge of a climax, so close that she thought just one more movement would achieve it.

This went on for ten minutes. Tess became so frustrated and so exhausted that she was about to tell Sanjay to turn the machine off when it gave her what she so desperately desired, a single thrust of its penis. This touched off the most momentous orgasm she had ever had. This time the machine participated and moved the penis, sometimes with her and sometimes against. It also injected electric currents, not to depress her orgasm this time but to enhance it. The orgasm lasted a full three minutes, by far the longest and most intense she had ever experienced.

When it was over she lay sweaty and exhausted, thankful that the machine was allowing her to rest. She became aware that despite her resolve to keep quiet she had been shouting and screaming in her mindless ecstasy. The orgasm had been so overpoweringly strong that she had completely lost control of herself.

Five minutes later the penis began stir. She wondered what it would do this time. She supposed the process would resemble the first two; a period of intense and frustrating arousal followed by a climax. She wondered if she could stand the stress of the arousal phase and whether the orgasm would once again be different. She could not imagine a stronger one.

This time the arousal itself was different. The machine would take her to the edge and hold her there, building up her frustration. But then it would relax and her level of arousal would recede, leaving her with a feeling of disappointment. Then it would start again and she would rapidly become fully aroused and full of optimism that the machine would take her all the way. But it didn’t; it just played with her. It was unpredictable, so she never knew what to expect, sometimes it kept her at the edge for several minutes, sometimes for just a few seconds.

But it never took her all the way to a climax. Finally, after twenty minutes of torment she had had enough. “Oh god, Sanjay, I can’t stand it any more. Turn the dammed machine off.”

But Sanjay did not respond. He had finally realized that she was having sex and had shut down leaving only his danger and health monitoring functions powered up. Tess did not yet realize the full extent of her problem; the machine was programmed to continue its remorseless sexual torment without orgasmic relief indefinitely, and Sanjay would only wake up to intervene when her physical health had sufficiently declined.