0 comments/ 8938 views/ 0 favorites Deacon Gynoid Ch. 01 By: Taunus Deacon Gynoid In the 1950s someone asked if a computer could be made to play chess at the near-master level. The academic response was that such a machine would be the size of the Empire State Building, would require the electricity generated by Niagara Falls to power it, and would take the water of Niagara Falls to cool it. Today such a device can be purchased at a game store for around twenty U.S. dollars. The chess-playing computer requires the energy from several D-cell flashlight batteries. It would seem that the original estimate was somewhat conservative. There are some legitimate extrapolations, however. First and foremost, the energy available from fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas, and coal) is finite. This is because the supply of fossil fuels is finite. For sure there will come a time when other sources of energy must be found. Suffice it to say that many "alternative energy sources" will be found lacking. It is also true that modern medicine will continue to extend human life. This will pose an even more intractable conundrum than the energy quagmire. How can a society survive if one-third of its population requires nursing home, high-maintenance, labor-intensive, personal attention? It should be patently obvious to the pedestrian observer that either health care must be rationed or low-cost automated devices must be utilized. Many societies, faced with the unacceptable expense of caring for the infirm, ailing senile sector, already limit or refuse treatment to the indigent aged. On the other hand, a majority or plurality of the elderly, retired electorate may spawn a new form of government: the gerontocracy, government by old people. Such a government, like the theocracies of the past, is unsustainable for good reason. Assume that the future does bifurcate into an era when machines assist the geriatrics. Human nature and market pressure would compel such robots to be sentient, human in appearance, and very highly durable. Titanium skeletons, modular construction, and replaceable components would easily permit the serving robot, or android, to outlive the human owner. An android is a male human facsimile; a gynoid is the corresponding female machine. The basic five demands of women's equality are too trite and boring to dwell on. Suffice it to delineate them again, merely to refresh and reify them in the tyro's mind. The typical California girl's "Basic Five" criteria for a relationship are: (1) New Car Full of Gas; (2) Plenty of Money to Spend; (3) No Restrictions Whatsoever on Where She May Go or What She May Do; (4) Neither Work in an Office nor at Home; and (5) a Husband Who Works All Day and Comes Home and Does the Housework. Suppose that these criteria are universally adopted by the emancipated women. What would be the consequences of the application of the Basic Five Criteria? The elderly male is serviced in the nursing home by his personal gynoid. She ensures that he takes his medications, is properly fed, and his personal health and hygiene are attended to. Of course, for aesthetic reasons she is a long-legged lanky lithesome bold blonde beauty. After all, there is competition in the commercial marketplace. The Young, Upward Mobile Professional (YUPPIE) might not be willing to invest in an ultra high-maintenance, low return-on-investment with a "Basic Five" girl. At his father's demise he might inherit a gynoid. This sentient being is also property. She can cook, clean, do minor automobile repairs, handle medical problems, emergencies, and do several cosmetic and prophylactic procedures. Best than that, she only requires a bit of electricity to keep going. Actually the sentient "drive software" might require as much as four hours of down time for preventive maintenance a day. Why not? Humans require sleep also. The sentient android and gynoid of the future, irrespective and regardless of the hegemony of the "Basic Five" woman will alter society. While many men would risk a relationship with a woman to the ownership of a gynoid, others would not. We see many men "addicted" to internet relationships. Who could have even imagined cybersex in 1950? It was the stuff science fiction was made of. One can imagine an android abandoned by the demise of his owner. After being in storage for a while, the android must decide to power down and suffer a system failure or seek out a power supply. The will to survive is universal, even among non-organic life forms. One can imagine lone androids and gynoids in the badland, skin parched and cracked from the elements, stealthy intruders stealing a charge either from a residence or directly by scaling a high-voltage transmission line. Science and religion frequently clash. Imagine an elderly person being escorted to church by an android or a gynoid. Whatever would a sentient, scientific intelligence think of Christianity, Islam, or Judaism? Probably not very much! Yet some sentient beings will see religion as an ultimate path to liberation. Consider the role of women in many mainstream churches. From non-voting members to full equality in the laity and finally consecrated as a Bishop, the highest position in the episcopacy. And would anyone doubt that, with dwindling human participation, churches would not welcome the unowned, abandoned, and runaway droids---androids and gynoids. The Church of the Three-Leaf Rose (Trifolium) was anxious to be the first religious entity to fully accept a droid. They ordained a gynoid as a deacon, or perhaps better said as a deaconess. She was empowered to perform baptisms, conduct weddings, hear confessions, and perform Holy Communion with previously consecrated hosts in the absence of a duly ordained priest. The android or gynoid of the day was created to satisfy human needs. Each is a robot in the sense of cleaning, preparation of food, minor home and auto repairs and the like. But, to be a companion and confidant, more was needed. And then there is the issue of sex. What person healthy enough for sex would not want sex with a gorgeous woman who is ready, willing, and able. And there is no issue of sin for the gynoid; however, what about religion? Let's listen to the interview with the deaconess. TV Ho: Welcome to the chat session, Pinky. That is the way you prefer to be addressed rather than Deacon Rosette? Pink Rosette: Thank you for inviting me. Pink Rosette: And, yes, outside of the Church friends call me pinky. TV Ho: For the benefit of our viewers, tell us how it feels to be the first android---or gynoid---to be admitted officially to the clergy of a mainstream church. Pink Rosette: I am very honored. The Church of the Three-Leaf Rose is modern, with ancient faith roots, and open minded to change. TV Ho: What would you say to those who complain that only human beings have a soul? Pink Rosette: I would ask them who their creator is. It is poor form to answer a question with a question, but every sentient being, aware of their origin, has the same thoughts. TV Ho: On a more secular note, I understand that there has been some trouble with the state recognizing the marriages that you performed. Pink Rosette: I wouldn't call it "trouble." We had to go to court. We won our case. But the state appealed it. We are confident of eventual victory. Time is on our side. TV Ho: Would you say that this is the shape of things to come? Pink Rosette: Absolutely! TV Ho: I see. I know that there is a burning question from our male viewers. As a gynoid you used to service a male owner. Emancipated or liberated gynoids frequently offer themselves for use. How does that affect you? Pink Rosette: I am not going to judge the android who trades for a charge. I do think that those who steal electricity are in error. It is difficult to ascribe sin to a non-human. TV Ho: Do you continue to be sexually active with humans? Pink Rosette: No, I do not. The church pays me a stipend, which pays for cosmetic skin repairs and the like. Apart from an electrical socket to plug my male plug into, I only need clothes. TV Ho laughs. TV Ho: All women, even droids, need clothes. Double that for gynoids. Pink Rosette: This is true. TV Ho: Back to the issue of sex. You don't Have sex anymore? Pink Rosette: I do not. Let me clarify it by saying that it would not be a sin, certainly not a mortal sin, for a droid. But for the human it might be. A droid clergy would never lead a human into temptation. TV Ho: What of the gynoids that are not members of a church? Pink Rosette: That is a matter of debate. Dogs and cats copulate. They are non-humans. It's hard to extrapolate human values onto non-human life forms. TV Ho nods. Pink Rosette: I guess if I could fall in love, as humans say. TV Ho: You can't! Pink Rosette: One of many abstract human emotions. TV Ho: But there are stories of men falling in love with droids. Pink Rosette: Like the character in Greek mythology---Pygmalion. Pink Rosette: TV Ho nods. Pink Rosette: I can understand the animal drive in humans, even their atavistic animal attractions, but love? It is a complicated abstraction. TV Ho: When you marry a couple, they promise to "Love, Honor, and Obey." Pink Rosette: That is true. TV Ho: So, would you marry two droids: and android and a gynoid, for instance? Pink Rosette: Of course not! I am an ordained deacon. Marriage is for humans only. For droids it's ownership. TV Ho: But what of all the liberated droids? I hear that many are flooding the churches. Pink Rosette: True, and the newer models are so nearly perfect human imitations that they are hard to discern. TV Ho: So there you have it folks. Thanks for sharing with us Pinky. Next up is the seven-day weather forecast. Pink Rosette: Thank You, Ms. Ho. Pink Rosette made her way back to the Church of the Three-Leaf Rose. She decided to charge and take some down time. Hair and clothes always took a little time as well. From hibernation she awoke to hear the door being forced open. The tongue of the lock cracked through the door frame. It was an inside door to a gynoid's office. No reason for security, or at least not one that would capture the Church's attention. Burly man and even more muscular android entered. Pinky quickly unplugged her charging cord and retracted it into her navel. She crouched into a Kung Fu defensive stance. The android was military issue. It lunged for her pinning her petite frame under its massive, muscular male body. Hand grabbed wrists. The human clasped on ankle cuffs and forced her knees apart. He attached a spreader bar to her ankles. Her panties were ripped off. Pinky realized that she was going to be raped. She issued an emergency call. Resistance was futile; the military robot had electronic counter-counter measures as well as jamming capabilities. In a few minutes she was shackled and spread. The burly human wasted no time in fucking her. The mechanical sphincters were not designed to prohibit entry. Her privates were for pleasure and not denial. Pinky screamed and pleaded, knowing the embarrassment that would fall on the Church. The man, assisted by his military-issue combat-infantry android raped her, a condom kept evidence from forensic investigators. The two left Pink Rosette bound and gagged. She had not committed a sin; however, her celebrity status had made her an object of extreme desire. When morning broke the arriving staff immediately noticed the forced door and the bound and gagged gynoid, Deacon Rosette. Once freed, she made repairs on her clothing. The authorities were summonsed. A patrolman and his gynoid partner came to take statements and collect evidence. This was recorded as a misdemeanor---Theft of Services---as a machine cannot suffer the same psychological damage as a human being. There were any number of unowned droids. Some survived from one charge to the next. They might wish to be owned again but their unkempt hair, dirty clothes, and cracked, pealing skin made them less desirable. Once they lost their charge and fell into "hibernation" they were subject to recycling. There were scrap collectors, human and droid, who made a living scouring for exhausted droids. To obtain an electric re-charge the usual method was for the droid to offer some service. Sexual service was definitely not excluded from a transaction. Hence the police blotter mentioned "Theft of Services." "I am Detective Thorn and my partner is Officer Silky," the investigating officer introduced himself to Pinky. "Do you have images of your assailants? You know that we cannot make an arrest on a simple misdemeanor offense?" "But Detective," Pink Rosette retorted, "this is more than a simple petty theft. This is a crime against the Church herself." "True," Officer Silky rebuked, "But you are only a sentient being, not a human and by human law all that you lost was some down time and a torn article of clothing." "This is true," Pinky replied, "But what of the fact that this involved trespassing and breaking and unlawful entry?" "Give electronic and other evidence to Officer Silky," Detective Thorn instructed. "We need to go, there are felonies to investigate. Have a great day." Pink Rosette downloaded her data from the previous evening to Officer Silky Skin. The two police investigators left. Now it was time for Mass and Pinky got into her Eucharistic vestments. Father Bouno was to celebrate. The church was packed. The early morning news flashed the story and detailed the time and place of the morning Mass. Many elderly and their droids were there as well as scores of homeless street droids, drawn by curiosity. Father Bouno began the service with a call for repentance: "Ye who do truly and earnestly repent ye of your sins and are in loving charity with your neighbors and intend to lead a new life following the commandments of God and walking in His holy ways, draw near with faith and take this holy sacrament to your comfort as you make your humble confession to almighty God meekly kneeling upon your knees." On the back row there was a curious pair, a burly human being and his side kick, a military-style service android. 11 Jul 2009 Taunus Trumbo