The Leaf

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Raymond

Claire got up and discreetly left the room, no one noticing in the commotion of all the voices talking over themselves, guests handing each other toppings and spices.

Raymond was surprised by her instant compliance, he didn't even have time to assure her that she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. It was not something she was used to: the moment he'd told her what she had to do, she'd decided she would do it, it didn't even matter to her why or the details of the how. It was just how she and Wesley lived.

Speaking of which, the autopilot was hitting on one of Claire's friends, seated next to him at the table. His advances would soon be swiftly and definitively rejected, provoking years of resentment on both sides. It would be the last time the Wesleys would ever be invited at the Mudi home.

Inside his head, Raymond prepared himself to test whether his grand idea even had a shot. To successfully replace Tony Wesley, Claire's responses to his touch had to be at a similar level: she had to enjoy sex with him. Not that Raymond would ever force her--and some discomfort was already measured as part of the Wesley bedroom activities, all on Claire's side of the charts--still her body always responded well to Wesley. It was what kept her with her husband, and Raymond feared it was something even the AIs couldn't bypass.

Luckily, he had many options to choose from, as it was something that he'd planned for. He got up after being rightfully slapped, not feeling anything as he was detached from the body module. He only took control of it when reaching the bathroom door.

Opening it into a much smaller space than he'd expected, despite knowing every measurement of it, he saw Claire facing the mirror, her profile a whiteboard for the neons reflected in the metallic inserts on her dress. Applying lipstick, dark red, like she did when Wesley entered the bathroom closing the door behind him.

She didn't turn her head, watching herself shine in the mirror. It hurt Raymond's eyes so he had to look away.

For seconds, neither of them moved.

Raymond felt the need to explain, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

She smiled in two copies, "It kinda sounded like I needed to."

When she finally looked at him, Raymond saw hesitation, which was normal, but she immediately covered by smiling, her lips made striking by the color she'd added to them.

"Since it's a minor sex act," he said, and Claire lowered her gaze, regretting her decision to face him, "It only makes it more important as we go along. A small change in someone's sex life may be ignored as a fluke, but the next encounter we'll need to reproduce needs to be as faithful as possible. AIs have an error tolerance or they'd be alerting all the time. It's all about how we make it work. "

He had to add, "It's not worth it, otherwise."

Claire looked back up to him, questioning thin eyebrows raised.

"My entire plan is for us both to profit from our arrangement. I get to live longer in my own body, you get to escape Wesley. We do what we have to do. But if our new shared life is worse -- more stressful -- than our old separate ones..."

Raymond finished, "Then we should get caught. Someone better equipped should fix the timeline and help us out. There is no need for us to insist on being together if it makes us unhappy."

Claire

"The entire point is to have a better life. To have fun," the robot winked.

It was his voice, always calm, like he'd seen everything. Claire resented how intimidated she felt.

"Can you?" she played with her voice, "Have fun?"

His teeth beamed at her, furthering her suspicion he was some robot built for her out of everything she liked about Tony's body.

Same smile, every time he was amused, automated. Tony had a smile that changed shapes and intensity based on what he wanted to get from her.

"It was actually my biggest selling point," dark eyes gleamed with leftover amusement. "Think about it, I'm a man who looks like someone you're attracted to, I have a file on my drive with your name on it, containing everything you don't even know you like yet. I'm just saying, I can make myself very useful."

The worst about his speech was how confident he was, explaining it to Claire as if it had already happened. Keeping herself straight under her embarrassment, she had to ask,
"Sex is that unimportant to you?"

"There's no shame about sex in my time, you're practically choosing from a menu. It's talked about in items, agreed upon and tested in AI scenarios for maximum benefit. We really simplified our lives."

Raymond sounded the same, even when talking about sex. No inflection, calm stare, openly amused by her antiquated beliefs. Watching her be educated.

Unfortunately for him, there was one thing Claire was very good at. How much could've sex evolved?! It had been the same for thousands of years.

"So, when do we start?" she was ready.

She added that look Tony liked, inspired by his trashy porn. It worked because Raymond became serious.

"I can design an auto-pilot routine based on anything you ask. A perfect husband you can tweak at any time, to serve any purposes, even outside of bed. I don't even have to participate, as the life I'm mostly used to is virtual. I have a lot to do in my mind. It doesn't have to be awkward."

Claire had a moment where she almost screamed in frustration, annoyed by how he was still avoiding to touch her. Despite her not being too keen on getting on her knees in front of a stranger, his approach disarmed her of her best weapon.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Oh no! You participate! I'm awkward, you're awkward! You are not leaving me alone in this!"

Raymond smiled the way he always did, making him look even more like a robot. It scared her to think that it was always the same for a far simpler motive: it was just how he reacted when he thought something was funny. No hidden motive, nothing he wanted to convince her of.