His Robot Girlfriend by Wesley Allison Page B

on the road, driving up the
on-ramp to I-15. Mike steered into the travel lane of the
Interstate.
    “ Well, this was the most
interesting trip to Vegas I’ve ever made.”
    “ Are you sure you don’t
want to stay another day, Mike?”
    “ I’m pretty sure. Why? Do
you want to stay?”
    “ I want to do whatever you
want to do,” said Patience.
    Less than forty miles south of Vegas, Mike
turned off in Primm. Primm, which used to be known as Stateline for
the obvious reason, consisted essentially of three hotels and the
associated restaurants, gas stations, and recreational activities
that went along with big resorts. One of these casino add-ons was
the Primm Fashion Outlet Mall. Mike wanted to give Patience a
chance to buy something for herself, since she hadn’t at the
airport mall. The mall here consisted mostly of stores that Mike
had never heard of. Almost all of them were for women who liked
clothes, though. They stopped at one store called Elie Tahari, and
Patience selected a sexy little dress with a scooped neckline that
the sales clerk called a Marcy dress, and at the Neiman Marcus Last
Call store she bought a pair of chocolate and gold Gucci
high-heeled sandals which were seventy percent off, but still cost
$405.28. Mike thought that, if given half a chance, Patience could
develop into quite the shoe whore. Patience seemed to have
developed that feature that many humans had, including Mike
himself, of finding satisfaction in buying something for herself.
If it could be considered a religious experience, and one could
certainly make that argument, at least Patience left the great
temple with her spirits raised. She never mentioned her agitation
at the Star Trek Experience, and after a while Mike forgot about it
as well. At least until he was reminded of it some weeks later.
    The rest of the trip home was uneventful.
Patience drove and Mike slept, with his head wedged between the
back of the seat and the car window. He woke up long enough to
visit the restroom at the same filling station that they had
stopped at on the way to Vegas, and then snoozed away again until
they reached the driveway of his… their house. Patience pulled the
car into the garage and they both climbed out.

Chapter Seven

    The remainder of June shot by. Each day Mike
got up and showered, to find a warm, dry towel waiting for him.
This was followed by breakfast, which he had gotten used to. Mike
began to follow Patience’s example and usually did a bit of light
home improvement work before lunch, but as the month progressed and
it became far too hot to work outside, he thought more and more
about doing some writing. On Monday the twenty-first, he cleaned up
the desk that had been sitting unused in the south bedroom and went
to Wal-Mart to purchase a new wriTee, which he quickly set up.
Within a few days, he had the first chapter of his book done,
though after that it became more of a strain to remember all the
stupid things that the kids at school had said or done. Afternoons
were almost always a time for relaxation in front of the vueTee.
Evenings had used to be the same, but right about the time that
Mike began working on his book, Patience began dragging him out
after dinner. They went to the movie theater, the city event center
to listen to the philharmonic, and even went dancing. Mike couldn’t
dance, but as with everything else, Patience was programmed and
ready to go and she guided Mike through it.
    For her part, Patience didn’t really have any
down time. She went to bed with Mike, but within an hour or so,
after he had fallen asleep, she was back up. She used the night
time hours to clean and maintain the house and by the middle of the
month there wasn’t a spot anywhere that the most fastidious person
wouldn’t have been happy to eat off of. This left the daytime hours
free so that she could take care of all of Mike’s needs. She waited
upon him. She served as his accountant, personal trainer, and
expert chef. She was