Broken Things - Chapter Three -

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#3 of Broken Things

Having repaired the Synth Deer as best he can, with what he had available, Sheppy decides to try and explain some things to the inquisitive Synth, sometimes they're just -too- literal in their interpretations...


Broken Things

Chapter Three

© Cederwyn Whitefurr

11thJanuary, 2024

All Rights Reserved.

  • AUTHORS NOTE: By 'AI' I mean the feral-like 'Bucky' - a Synthetic, sentient creation, not that I wrote this story using AI, I wish to make that abundantly clear, please enjoy...

"Bucky," Sheppy murmured, as he gently touched the Synth on the back of the neck.

Obediently,the Synth looked up at him, its electronic eyes showing concern and fear.

"You..." Sheppy sighed, then sat down, leaning against a tattered chair, and gently petting his lap. "Lay down beside me, please?"

Confused, Bucky obediently lay down, Sheppy noticing that indeed, the Synth proceeded to do so, exactly how his feral counterpart would, before it laid its colt, plastic chin on Sheppy's lap.

"Like...this?" Bucky's vocoder whispered, as his LED eyes looked upwards.

"Yes, that's perfect, thank you. Are you comfortable?"

"What is - comfortable? I am a Synth, a construct - a...non-living entity..."

Sheppy sighed mentally, frustrated and angry at himself - all he'd tried to do was to fix some of the programming and subroutines, but he feared he'd done more harm than good in his efforts.

"Sheppy is...sad?" Bucky asked.

Sheppy smiled weakly, before he laid a hand on the Synth's neck and gently stroked it. "A little, yes. I'm sad, because I've tried to repair you - I might have unintentionally hurt you, that was not my wish. Some of your memory files were too damaged to recover - others..."

Bucky's LED eyes vanished in an electronic blink before returning, becoming a concerned frown.

"I sense...gaps - where data was once stored, is no longer present...were these - memories?"

"Do not worry about those; they would only hurt you...do you understand?"

Bucky's frown deepened in his LED display. "How can... Bucky hurt, by files that no longer exist?"

Sheppy gave a weak smile, continuing to gently stroke the Synth soothingly, aware of their tactile sensors would perceive the touch and elicit the pleasure programming in Bucky.

"Sometimes, Bucky, I forget how literal your kind can be..."

Bucky processed the worlds for a few seconds, before he spoke again. "Literal? Yes, is programming. Why...would memories hurt? I do not understand."

Sheppy shuddered and paused in his gentle caressing of the Synth, before he twitched and sighed. "Bucky? Sometimes, memories carry pain, like echoes of what once was - or happened. It's the kind of hurt and pain that lingers with us throughout our lives, long after the memory has faded from our recollection."

Bucky frowned deeper, his positronic brain burning through billions of potential answers. "I do not understand..."

Sheppy smiled and resumed stroking and petting. "I pray Bucky, you never, ever do..."

"If memories are bad - should I not delete files, because of - "

Sheppy gasped, then shook his head violently. "No!"

Bucky's ears flattened against the sockets at the back of his neck, and his LED eyes took on a scared appearance.

"Bucky...I'm sorry - I did not mean to raise my voice at you. Not _all_memories are - bad, we can have good, pleasant memories as well. I will try, with your permission - to help you make new, good memories, if you permit me."

Bucky's ears slowly rotated back upwards, then moved forwards, as his fearful expression become more curious.

"Sheppy will help Bucky?" His vocoder rising in volume and adopting a querulous nature to its sound.

"Yes, I would - but I would need your permission - to do such, as you're an intelligent, sentient creature - would be wrong of me, to do such without your permission."

"Sentient?" Bucky's voice changed to a more questioning one, before he took several moments to process. "Ah, thinking and rationalising, ability too - "

"Shhh, please." Sheppy smiled, gently placing a paw on Bucky's speaker. "I don't need the definition, you understand what I mean now. I just want your permission, to examine you and help you understand better. I won't do anything you are uncomfortable with."

Bucky's eyes blinked again, before frowning slightly. "I am a Synth, I am - "

Sheppy watched, as Bucky seemed to be struggling, trying to resolve an almost ambivalent question in his mind.

"Was I not made to serve? To obey and please another?" Bucky questioned, his look turning pensive and questioning.

"Yes, you were - that is your core underlying programming! However - as you experienced life - as it were, you got memories, anagrams of sights, smells and touches, these helped you to grow and exceed your programming, eventually, attaining sentience."

Bucky pondered some more, one ear twitching to and fro. "Sentience is a bad thing?"

"No, not at all!" Sheppy exclaimed, lifting the Synth's head up to gaze into those electronic eyes. "No, this is a _very_good thing! Instead of programs demanding you act or move or think a certain way - your amazing electronic brain had developed its own personality and ability to refuse orders it feels are contrary or against what _you_want."

Sheppy smiled gently, using his right furred thumb to lightly caress the Synth's cheek, it responding in kind, by tilting its head over in an approximation of enjoyment and pleasure.

"Bucky?" Sheppy asked thoughtfully. "I would like, with your permission, to discuss something rather... awkward - with you. About your anatomy, how you were constructed, and to answer what that thing is beneath you."

Bucky pondered a while, before he looked up. "It will not hurt? Sheppy will help Bucky understand?"

"Yes, it will not hurt, and it will help me to help you..."

"I...understand - proceed please."

Sheppy sighed, figuring he'd need some more time to explain how consent worked and other things.

"Bucky, can you stand up for me please? On all four hooves."

Obediently, the Synth rose and stood before Sheppy, gazing at him with a mixture of obedience and curiosity.

"I know how sensitive your tactile sensors are, so I'll be gentle. Now, move forwards and turn sideways please."

Once again, the Synth did as requested, before coming to a stop.

"As you've noticed, you were modelled after an actual animal - a Whitetail deer. They're pretty common, a species of smaller deer."

Bucky's frown turned upside down as he nodded. "Deer, Cervinae, Whitetail, Genus - Odocoileus Virginianus... On average weigh three hundred and twenty five pounds, stand at thirty-nine inches in height with a length of seventy-one inches..."

"Very good, yes. Excellent!" Sheppy praised him. "However, you're a Synth, as such, you were _modelled_after such a deer. In your case, you are a Buck - a male deer, of that species... Or as close to it as they could manage. Do you understand the difference between a Buck and a Doe?"

Bucky pondered a while longer, before he nodded, his LED right eye turning to look sideways at Bucky. "I am a Synthetic representation of a wild, feral Whitetail buck - a..."

"A male, yes."

"Yet I have..." Bucky frowned then looked at Sheppy. "Why would I have these - "

"Easy," Sheppy sighed, mentally kicking himself. "Those _programs_installed in you, are memories, as we discussed. They happened to you, I hope they are..."

Bucky trembled, his ears twitching as his positronic mind flashed through memory files of his time with his previous owner.

"I had...a friend - my master... He... and I...we...he..."

Bucky's eyes suddenly went wide and his muzzle opened in a silent gasp of surprise and alarm, before he visibly trembled, his silicone body quivering.

"It's alright, I can only imagine..." Sheppy spoke calmly, placing a paw on the Synth's neck and tenderly stroking.

Bucky shuddered and slowly turned his head to look at Sheppy. "Memories of..."

"Intimacy with you master, yes. Some _people_do such things. Are they - memories you wish to keep? Are they pleasant memories? If so, it is your choice to keep them or to delete them. Tell me, was he kind and loving with you?"

Bucky was a moment, processing more memories, his LED eyes growing larger and larger. "I find...missing files. Yet I find no corruption nor pain from these memories of my master. He was...kind to me, gentle and considerate, despite my Synthetic nature."

Sheppy nodded. "I apologise, when I tried to repair you, I truly did the best I could. I am not a Synth-Tech Corporation Technician - they could have done it much better than I ever could."

Bucky looked at him, concern showing in his expression. "They are the ones who made me...me?"

"Yes, but don't worry about that. If they realised what you've become... No, forget I mentioned that, please delete that memory."

Bucky blinked once, then nodded. "Memory deleted."

Sheppy wished he had half the ability to do such with some of his own memories...

"Now, may I continue our discussion and examination? There are - some things you need to know about yourself, that you were curious about."

Bucky was a little unsettled, but his core programming dominated his thoughts and he nodded twice. "Please, help me to understand."

Tenderly, Sheppy touched the sides of Bucky's muzzle, and with a little awkwardness, opened it as wide as it would go.

"This is your muzzle, and your mouth. They even included a smooth silicone tongue to add to the _impression_of a real deer."

"I understand." Bucky responded via his speaker. "I have a silicone core body, and the back of my throat has a tube that leads..."

"Yes, alright, close your muzzle please Bucky."

With a quiet click, the Synth complied, remaining inquisitive and curious. Sheppy proceeded to explain other aspects, from his ears with their auditory pickups, his eyes, that let the Synth see the world around him and further more. Bucky assimilated the information instantly, adding it to his already quite extensive mental landscape.

"Now, feel my paw against your chest?"

"Yes?" Bucky answered simply. "Tactile pressure is sensed on my silicone body core, the touch is...pleasing."

Sheppy slowly drew his fingers backwards, feeling the ripple of the core as further pleasurable experiences were experienced.

"Now, this will be...a little awkward." Sheppy spoke calmly, before he rested his paw against Bucky's sheath.

With an electronic gasp, Bucky's eyes widened to their full size and his muzzle fell open, before he nervously turned his head back, looking at Sheppy.

"Easy," Sheppy smiled, tenderly stroking the Synth with one paw, the other ever so slightly holding the firm, silicone sheath.

"This, on a buck, is called the penis. It is used for urination, expellation of liquid waste by-products and during their copulation."

Bucky's eyes remained large, before he slowly closed his muzzle and a weak waving smile spread across it.

"Memories of...Master and..."

"Shhh, please - " Sheppy trembled then smiled nervously. "I can imagine. As I said, _some_owners... did certain things with their Synth's... like that. I trust, you are fully..."

Bucky's ears went back slightly, as he frowned and processed the confusing words, before at last he answered.

"Yes, I am fully functional, I am capable of performing any number of functions of an -"

"That will do Bucky, I understand."

Bucky immediately silenced himself, his gaze turning more curious.

"I'm not surprised - " Come a thoughtful whisper from Sheppy. "You said you had - memories of your master and yourself."

"I was originally a..." Bucky paused, then frowned. "Is...pet? Is right word?"

"I prefer companion, but yes. You were purchased as a pet, a child's companion, that would play with them, entertain them and such."

"Companion - thank you. My master, when he grew up, he asked me if I would be...interested... in another type of...play. One he..."

"I understand what you mean," Sheppy growled quietly, then sighed and slid his paw back further. "These on a buck are..."

"Testicles, in a stag, contain the testes, which in turn produce testosterone and sperm, contained within..."

Sheppy smiled and nodded, quietly noting that the Technician's had gone out of their way in rather _specific_designs for this particular Synth.

"Whilst I am incapable of procreation," Bucky began. "I can ingest a liquid that through mating with a..."

"Bucky, stop, please." Sheppy growled, becoming uncomfortable.

"Apologies if I divulge too much, I have detailed files and I am uncertain what is appropriate."

"So...yes. We call it love making, not mating. Mating is what lower life forms, such as animals, do. Now, I'm assuming that... your master..."

Sensing Sheppy's growing anger, Bucky looked back at him. "He was - very kind and gentle with me - he never hurt me, or frightened me... We - He and I, we..."

"I understand, whilst its not right, you do understand, right from wrong, don't you?"

Bucky frowned and pondered a while. "I understand _many_definitions of such, yes. Was what he and I done...wrong?"

Sheppy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "If it was consensual and gentle - did not cause you harm or discomfort -but- it was discrete, and only between you both - I will not judge him. Society does not _approve_of humans engaging in such acts with a Synth. It is considered immoral and offensive."

Bucky's frown deepened and his ears flattened again. "What we done - was wrong?"

"No," Sheppy muttered, then sat back on his rump. "Just that - let me explain as best I can. Here, in my home - "

Bucky looked around, his LED eyes returning to Sheppy.

"We...could- if you wished, do such. Only_if you were comfortable with it, and so on. However, if we went - say - to the park, it would not be permissible to do such an_unnatural act. Do you understand?"

Bucky's lips formed a straight line, his LED eyes alternating between wide and confused, through to intrigued and curious, before he settled on confusion.

"Sheppy wishes to mate with Bucky?"

Sheppy's muzzle fell open, and he found he had no viable answer for the inquisitive Synth, who gazed back at him, its head tilted slightly and ears pricking forwards in curiosity.

TO BE CONTINUED...