Karen's Upgrade

Fred stretched out his tall frame and rolled over, looking at his woman, she was perfect in all the right ways.

He flipped on the television as he got out of bed, and Karen was there as well. That was the trouble with having a model as a companion. He saw her everywhere. As he waited for the coffee to brew, he wondered... He had quite a pile stashed away, maybe he could find himself a new lady, one that nobody else knew.. one that wasn't just a model.

* * *

Karen's eye's opened, Fred had arisen precisely five minutes ago. He would be sufficiently awake and looking for conversation shortly. She arose and donned precisely the same set of clothes she put on every morning. Until she knew what today held, her attire was something of a holding state.

Once dressed, she slipped on her velvet slippers over her perfect toes and went downstairs.

Fred was sitting at the table sipping on his morning coffee, already deeply involved in the daily paper. Karen sat across from him and waited until he had something to say.

* * *

Fred inhaled the deep earthy aroma of his morning coffee, settling down nicely into his paper. He was still restless mentally. He wanted something, but couldn't pin down what.
As he was reviewing the investments page, Karen came into the kitchen and sat across from him, waiting for him to start the conversation, as she always did.

After a few minutes of his fidgeting however, she spoke first. She almost never spoke first, so in a quiet voice Karen asked, “Fred, is something wrong?”

Fred, startled at hearing her speak first, sat flustered and feeling embarrassed at the thoughts he was having. “Um, no not really, I was just thinking again. That's all.”

“The is about the MODEL issue again, isn't it?”

“Well, yeah, it is. I can afford to change things up, why shouldn't I?”

“You're asking me why you shouldn't discard me for a new and unique woman? A woman who isn't seen by everybody, every minute of the day?”

“Don't go pretending to care about this Karen, I know better. After all, I was in charge of your teaching, remember? I know what you know, and how you'll react.”

Fred delivered this line with an air of finality. Karen, to his trained eye, showed no outward response to his somewhat forceful declaration. She merely settled back and gave him a precisely calculated look. “Ok. So how about we go and see what's available. See if they measure up?”

Fred looked startled, but recovered well. “Fair enough. We can go browse. I'll be ready in twenty minutes. Clean up from breakfast and change into your business suit.”

Karen stood when Fred did, but instead of doing as she was bidden, she headed back upstairs.

Fred stood there in shock. She had just disobeyed a direct command from him. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not ever. He was so surprised that he forgot to be mad. Putting his breakfast dishes in the sink, he followed her upstairs only to find her not in her business suit as ordered, but in her birthday suit instead.

She beckoned, and rising to the occasion he complied with his instincts. Thus they spent a pleasant morning in wasted effort.

* * *

Sitting, facing each other over the lunch table, Frank was having second thoughts.

“Karen, about this morning? What happened, why the change of program?”

“Oh Frank, you're so typically male! You may have stopped teaching me (or is it us?) the parameters and response patterns we would need. We've been programmed at the flip of a switch to know everything there is to know about this life, but that doesn't mean we stop learning when the lessons are over.”

Karen paused, giving the impression of thought, “I've spent the last ten years with you, learning you. This morning you needed to be reminded of how well I've been formed to fit your needs. You needed to lose yourself in the moment.”

“But I was just going to...” Fred sputtered into silence.

“I know Fred. But how would you feel if your new model arose at the precise instant you did, without giving you the ten minutes of silence you so crave first thing in the morning? How would you feel if she didn't know that you needed to feel her satisfaction before you could truly enjoy yourself in bed with her? How would you feel if she always put on her day clothes before breakfast each day instead of donning some “fuzzies” like you do?”

Fred sat stunned, his mind racing. He had not programmed any of that into Karen, not into any of the Karen's. But she was right, she just did these things. She appeared to have learned them through life experience, even though she was not technically alive.

Karen broke into his reverie, “Fred, you are tired of everyone seeing you with the same model so many others have. But the solution is not to change the model up for a new one, but a little cosmetic adjustment so that I'm not Karen the cheerleader model, how about an upgrade to a more womanly template, with the same posi-net formation. We can swap out this skinny little woman body for one that more fits your life and, well, mine.”

Stunned that he had not thought of this before, Frank did some quick calculations and decided that Yes, he could afford the modifications easily enough, and he really didn't want to spend the next ten years training a new companion.

“Alright honey, your my one in a million, let's go shopping!” Frank opened the door for his Karen the cheerleader, heading out to upgrade her into a Karen the Woman, mark three.