Wires And Love (The Secret Origins Remix)
Remix of Wires And Love by Amy
Buffy and Willow sat at either end of the couch. Willow kept in check her desire to give the slayer a good finger waggling as she had promised Buffy she wouldn't interrupt so she waited for her to begin talking.
"It all started about six weeks ago. I was in the attic and I was suddenly faced with a vision of beauty that made my breath catch in my throat. She was lying there sleeping. Her face serene and perfect. It wasn't her physical appearance that made my heart sing, it was this inner beauty. A joy and life that was in her, even as she slept."
Buffy sneezed as the she disturbed more dry attic dust. Damn place. She took another step and her foot caught on something. She fell flat on her face sending up another cloud of dust. Muttering swear words she took a look at what had tripped her. A foot was sticking out from between two boxes. She peered into the gap, tense for whatever could be there, a corpse, a vampire, nothing more than a severed foot. She muffled a scream with her hand as she found herself looking at her own face, glassy eyes staring back. For a minute she crouched there, her mind processing what it was seeing. The realisation crept over her that she was looking at the Buffybot. "I thought Willow destroyed you." She said to the robot. Buffy sat and looked at the Bot for long time. Feelings of pity crept over her. The Bot looked like an abandoned toy, left to gather dust on a shelf. Buffy had studied psychology and knew that she was projecting her own feelings of abandonment, by Angel, Riley, her Mom, but she didn't really care. She theoretically knew that the Bot was only a machine but she was looking at her own face and it was hard to be detached. She picked up the Bot, ignoring the dust covering her and gently carried her downstairs.
Buffy ignored Willow's obvious disbelief and continued. "I wondered how to wake my sleeping beauty but, even as I thought that, I had the answer. I stroked her soft cheek and then I kissed her. Her eyelids fluttered and she woke."
It took Buffy an hour of searching before she found the on switch. On the Bot's lower back there was a small, concealed hatch. She opened it and found a dial with different settings like 'off', 'on' and 'voice activation.' She decided to wait a while before activating the Bot because she wanted to clean it up first. The Bot and its clothes were pretty filthy. Buffy didn't even think before she started stripping the Bot. It was only when she started to remove the underwear (white and lacy) that she suddenly wondered if she was doing the right thing. She quickly dismissed the thought as foolish, that was like being prudish about seeing herself naked. Once she had finished she carried the Bot to the bathroom. Buffy realised she was very glad that she was alone in the house and no one was due back for hours. She just didn't want to have to explain herself yet, she felt she could back up her decisions but she didn't want to expose herself to Willowlogic until she was ready. Luckily the Bot was waterproof because Buffy didn't even consider it might not be before she started to soap it up. Buffy found herself quite fascinated in how realistic the Bot was. The chest rose and fell with simulated breathing, the skin was soft and pliant, the hair looked and felt real although Buffy had discovered it was missing in some places that Buffy definitely had hair. Buffy was quite surprised to realise that she was enjoying herself. She was getting quite an ego boost seeing herself this intimately and liking what she saw. After rinsing and drying the Bot she picked out some clothes, hip-hugging blue jeans and a green t-shirt. Then she turned the Bot on and waited as it booted up.
Buffy relaxed into the telling and she leaned back on the couch. Willow stayed sitting upright.
"She rose from her slumber like an angel, beautiful and graceful. She gently touched her own lips where the heat from my kiss lingered. We gazed into each other's eyes and saw into each other's souls."
Willow itched to say something but held herself back.
"We'd seen each other before but this was like love at first sight. It was magical, beautiful, poetry." Buffy sighed.
"Where's Spike?" Were the Bot's first words.
Buffy grimaced as she remembered why they had left it turned off in the first place. "I don't care where Spike is and neither should you."
"But I love Spike. He's my boyfriend." The Bot looked around curiously as if Spike might be hiding in the shadows. "He has sexy muscles and his penis is..."
"Enough! I don't want to hear about Spike."
Willow took the sigh as an opportunity to interrupt. "So it was just love at first sight?"
"Pretty much, we just..."
"And it...sorry, she just forgot all her programming about Spike."
Buffy looked embarrassed. "Well there may have been some lingering programmes that pushed her away from her true feelings."
"What happened?" The scientist in Willow was genuinely interested even though most of her was still resisting finger waggling.
"I told her to forget about Spike, to take her love for Spike and turn it into love for herself."
Warren opened his door to see two Buffys looking at him. It took him all of two seconds to get very afraid.
"Hey." He bluffed. "Was there some kind of duplication spell or something?"
Buffy stepped into the house pulling the Bot with her who looked around hopefully then looked disappointed. Buffy looked at Warren.
"Ok, I admit it I made her but I didn't have any choice."
Buffy raised an eyebrow.
Warren started to sweat. "I didn't! Spike came here and threatened me. He would have killed me if I hadn't done what he asked." He continued to back away, Buffy continued to walk slowly closer to him.
Buffy smiled humourlessly. "I know you thought that. That's why I haven't beaten you senseless. But you're going to do what I say and help me fix something."
"F fix what?"
The Buffybot looked at Buffy. "You told me Spike would be here. Where is he?"
"That." Buffy pulled up the Bot's t-shirt at the back and turned it off, catching her as she slumped. "You're going to remove her obsession with Spike."
"That's not going to be easy. It isn't just a matter of just removing some code. Her entire programming is based around her loving Spike."
Buffy thought for a minute. "What about replacing the name Spike? Putting in someone else that she loves."
"Who?"
"Herself."
"I... I could try. I don't know how well that would work."
"Do it. How long will it take?"
"Come back tomorrow. I can have her reprogrammed by then. You know it would probably be easier to just wipe her hard drive and start fresh."
Buffy frowned. "That would be like killing her."
"She's not a real person. She's just a machine. And how is wiping her mind different from reprogramming her?" Warren enjoyed the flash of distress on Buffy's face before it became focused again.
"It just is. Now get on with it or I'll remember that you made a robot copy of me for a vampire to have sex with." Buffy got angrier with each word.
Warren paled, then nodded and got to work.
Buffy arrived early the following day and found Warren looking worried. "Did you finish?"
"Well she's purged of Spike but there's a small problem." He led her to his workshop where the Buffybot was standing dormant.
"What kind of problem?"
"I think you need to see this for yourself. On."
The Buffybot's eyes opened and her face spread into a big smile when she saw the slayer. "Buffy! Oh Buffy!" She had the slayer in her arms in an instant and kissed her ferociously.
Buffy pushed her back. "That's what you call a small problem? What did you do?"
"I did what you asked. I replaced her love of Spike with a love of herself. It's just that she thinks of herself as 'Buffy' and her programming is slanted towards sexual love. There's no way I can change that without wiping her hard drive and starting over."
"No. You can't do that." Buffy avoided the Bot's yearning gaze. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"How should I know, I don't know why you want her active."
Buffy shook her head. "I wouldn't expect you to know. I'll work this out by myself." She left with the Bot following eagerly behind her.
Warren sat and thought for five minutes. "Hey, I could just reprogram her to think of herself by a different name. It's so simple." He looked at the door Buffy had left by and considered following. "Heh, screw her. Haha.... hahaha.....hahahaha. Damn, I'm starting to sound like Lex Luthor." He considered this. "Cool."
"So you just told her to love herself?" Asked Willow.
"Pretty much." Lied Buffy.
"Buffy..."
"Then she took me in her arms and we kissed. It was like there were fireworks in my head. It was like there was electricity arcing between us. My senses were kicked into overdrive. I felt light-headed, in utter bliss. We murmured declarations of love and commitment to each other until the end of time and then we showed each other the extent of our pure and perfect love in the tenderness of our touch and the fire of our passion."
"Do you want to ravish me now?" Asked the Bot.
"No." Growled Buffy grumpily as she paced in her room.
The Buffybot was lying on the bed, sprawled languorously, her eyes full of lust.
Buffy was racking her brains. She was worried she would have to bring Willow into this but then she would have to explain everything and she wanted to avoid that. Buffy thought about how she would explain herself and realised that she really didn't know why it seemed so important to her to have the Bot active. She sat on the bed.
Buffybot took the opportunity to start gently massaging Buffy's shoulders. Buffy tensed and then relented. It felt incredibly good and she figured she could think better when relaxed. She thought about how she had felt when she saw the Buffybot. It had seemed so lonely and abandoned. Exactly how she felt. Abandoned by the people she cared for most, lonely because everyone looked to her to be the grownup, to be the leader, the slayer.
The Bot started to massage down Buffy's back. Buffy thought back to Faith, when the other slayer arrived Buffy had felt like she was taking over, like she was the real slayer and Buffy was just this impostor who had run away and didn't deserve her friends, her family, her calling. Now she yearned for someone to share the burden with. Someone like her. Buffy wondered if the Bot could ever share her burdens. How like her was the Bot? She moaned as the Bot's massage reached her lower back and she leaned forward to give better access.
Someone like her, someone she could relax with. Buffy felt the Bot move closer to her and didn't move as the Bot started kissing her neck. Slowly, sensuously. The Bot's hands were gripping Buffy's hips now. Buffy closed her eyes and drank in the sensation. Someone she could let get close to her. Someone who wouldn't feel inferior to her. Someone she wouldn't feel inferior or superior to. Someone just like her. She turned to face the Bot and spent a long moment looking before she kissed her.
"And every day our bond grew stronger and we discovered new depths to our love and passion."
"Are you sure you don't mean every night?" snarked Willow.
Buffy gave her friend a wicked grin.
Buffy fell in love with the Buffybot while she watched the Bot dance. The sunlight was streaming in the window over the Bot's naked form as she happily twisted and writhed to the sounds of Britney singing. Buffy lay in the bed and just watched. Allowing herself a rare moment when she thought how strange and narcissistic it was that she was so attracted to her double.
The Bot truly was everything she wanted in a partner. She was confident, sensual, loving, tender, she saw Dawn as a sister. Buffy had started off feeling a guilty attraction as she let the Bot make love to her, then as she watched the Bot recharging at night she had realised she felt a great affection for her. When they talked she found herself liking her, laughing with her, enjoying teaching her. Now, as the Bot danced, happy and unselfconscious . . .
"Buffy." Said the slayer. The Bot stopped dancing and looked at Buffy. "Come to bed."
Buffy's grin died as she saw Willow's stern look.
"So what happened next?" Asked the witch.
"Well. Soon after that we were discovered by my best friend and sister and even though they were surprised and shocked they were still supportive and pleased that I was so happy."
The door swung open and Willow stood in the doorway struck dumb by the sight of two Buffy's intertwined. "Buffy, stop," Willow said, as commandingly as possible, as soon as she felt she could speak.
Both girls turned to her at once. They moved like a single unit. "Hey, Wills," said Buffy guiltily.
"Hello, Willow! You're my friend, and you like computers!"
"Well, yes. Yes I do. Thank you for remembering. But that's not the point, because this... this is sick, Buffy! This is sick and this is wrong!"
"Willow," Buffy said slowly, "This isn't any sicker or wronger than you being with Tara."
"Yes! It is! Because Tara is human! And she's not my doppelganger!"
"Didn't you strip your doppelganger naked and put on her leather bustier?"
"That's not the point!"
"Willow, I'm just going to tell you this once. This isn't sick, and this isn't wrong. I'm in love with her."
"You realize that she's an it, right?"
"She's a she, Willow. And she gives very good head."
"Well, sure, until she runs out of batteries."
"Please don't talk about her like she's just a vibrator. I love her."
"Why? How? How can you love her? She's a robot!"
"She's more than a robot, Will."
"We're very pretty," the Buffybot explained. "And we're both recently gay."
"I just... did you ever look at someone and realize that they had everything you wanted?" Buffy asked.
I've never seen her this happy, Willow realized. She frowned. Of course, that could be because her boyfriends all tried to kill her. "Buff, are you sure-"
"I'm positive," Buffy said calmly. "I love her."
"Then why have you been hiding your relationship with the b- with her?"
"Because I knew you'd be judgmental like this. I love you, Willow, but you're just... well, you're not open-minded."
"I dated a werewolf and a witch."
"But judgmentally!"
The Buffybot frowned. "Willow, you date girls. Do you not like me?"
"No, I like you very much. And I hope that you're happy. But... well, you're having sex with yourself. You realize that, don't you?"
"I'm very pretty," the Buffybot repeated. "And I have nice hair. And I can have sex during the day."
"Well, that's a very good feature of yours."
"I'm fully equipped for nighttime sex, as well."
"I'm... that's great."
"I also like better music than Spike does."
Willow closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly reopened them. No, this didn't seem to be a dream. "Really?"
"Yes. Spike only listens to Billy Idol, and that's..." She frowned and turned to the other blonde.
"Loud and trashy and emotionless," Buffy filled in helpfully.
"Yes! Exactly that."
"Very good, sweetie."
"We have much better taste," Buffybot said proudly. "We listen to good music."
"Lately, we've been listening to some modern classics," Buffy explained.
"Yes. It's very enlightening. But I think we're prettier than Britney is. She bleaches her hair," the Buffybot pointed out.
"So do you!" Willow exploded.
"No, we just do highlights."
"Sure, of your whole head!"
"Willow, I'm really not comfortable with your speaking to her like that," Buffy said, frowning.
"Buffy! She is a robot! She is a robot I repaired solely for the purpose of having a backup Slayer, and instead of being saved in case of emergency, you're using her as a sex toy!"
"Willow?" Called Dawn from down the hall. "Are you here?"
"Yeah, Dawnie, one sec!" Willow frowned deeply at the Slayer and the Slayerbot. "Buffy, your little sister is in the next room. Does this not bother you?"
"She dealt with Riley."
"Riley was human!"
"Willow, I asked you nicely not to speak that way about her. She's just as human as I am."
"Are you a robot?"
"Will, I just need help on a- whoa."
Willow spun around to see Dawn, her hand clenched tightly around a textbook. Her grip slipped and the book fell on her foot. Dawn barely seemed to notice. "Dawn?"
"Why are there two Buffies? Was there a multiplying spell? Why are both Buffies naked?" Dawn frowned. "There are two Buffies, right? I'm not just imagining this? I mean, I passed my vision test-"
"Definitely two of them, Dawnie. One of them's a robot."
"Oh, Spike's Buffybot."
"I'm not Spike's!" Protested the robot. "I belong to Buffy, heart and soul."
"You don't have a soul!" Willow pointed out. "You're made of wires!"
"Wires and love."
"I told you something weird was going on," Dawn said to Willow.
"I know. You were right."
"The kids already talk about me. I live with the crazy lady and the two lesbians. Do you know what this is going to do to my reputation?" Dawn was turning colours.
"Dawnie, this isn't about you," Buffy said patiently. "This is about me and my love."
"Buffy?" Dawn said carefully. "Buffy, are you possessed?"
"Of course I'm not possessed! How can you even ask that?"
"I thought it was a reasonable question," muttered Dawn.
Buffybot frowned, confused. "I don't think anyone thinks Buffy is a possession, Dawn. But legally, Buffy owns you."
"She does not! She's my guardian, not my..." Dawn trailed off, then began again. "Never mind. Can you, like, put on clothing? One of you? Both of you? Because I don't really want to see my sister like this." She turned to Willow. "Maybe I should just come back later. I can hibernate for a few months, at least."
"No, Dawnie, it's okay. Buffy's just going to have to stop having sex with herself."
"I'm not having sex with myself." Buffy frowned. "I'm having sex with my girlfriend." Buffy walked over and hugged the Buffybot tight.
"She's a robot," Dawn and Willow chorused.
"A robot who looks exactly like you, Buff," Willow continued. "Do you not understand this?" She squinted at the pair. "Buffy?" Her eyes went from one to the other. "Buff?"
"We're the same, Willow. That's why we're in love," they said in unison.
Dawn leaned over to whisper in Willow's ear. "Um, maybe it's just me-"
"No, I can't tell which one's which either."
"Then how can you condemn our beautiful love?" One of them demanded.
"I'm no more or less human than she is," the other agreed.
"We're one being in two bodies. One beautiful, perfect, lesbian being with very good hair."
Willow rolled her eyes. "When did Buffy become a Platonic scholar?"
"Um, Willow, there's not much platonic about-"
"No, Dawnie. Like, relating to Plato. Origin of Love."
"Oh, like that song in Hedwig?"
Both Buffies smiled at that. "I love Hedwig!" One of them squealed.
"He's so cute! I mean, she is! I mean-" the second one floundered.
It was the perfect opportunity for Dawn and Willow. "That one's the Buffybot, right?" Dawn asked, pointing.
"I thought it was the other one," Willow said with a shrug.
"It doesn't matter if I'm made of flesh or metal," one of them said. "My mechanical heart beats only for her."
"That one's the Bot!" Dawn said immediately.
"Dawnie, I know this is hard for you," Buffy said patiently. "But you just need to understand that love knows no boundaries. I'd thought I knew love with Angel, but he lost his soul. My girl here? She understands pleasure."
"Oh, ew," Dawn muttered, closing her eyes to shut out the images that were suddenly flashing towards her.
"I'll never again need to worry about my mate losing her soul."
"That's because machines don't have souls," Willow said.
"Willow, that's bigotry!"
"That's science."
"Well, science this then!" Buffy said. "I have a soul. And she was made in my image. So she has a soul."
"Buffy, you're mentally scarring your sister," Willow said. "And we don't have the money for therapy right now." She frowned. "Okay, Buffy, get dressed, please." Willow gritted her teeth and tried to stay calm as they got dressed. She was well aware that only her and Dawn's presence was keeping them from getting back together, and frankly, it was icky.
When both Buffies were dressed, Willow turned to the one she was fairly certain didn't have a Radio Shack lifetime guarantee. "Now, Buffy, you're coming with me."
"Okay," they both answered.
"No. Buffybot, you stay with Dawn. Please."
Buffy looked upset, but the Bot smiled. "I like Dawn. She's my sister, and also the Key."
Buffy sullenly followed Willow downstairs and say on the couch. Willow sat at the other end. "Ok, Buffy, I think you should tell me how all this started."
"Willow, I need your support and Dawn's. I love my girlfriend but my feelings are a lot to take in. I need someone to talk to, I need my best friend to talk to. And I definitely need your help working out how to tell Giles about this."
"Buffy, can you understand why I'm concerned?"
"I do understand, but if you understood how she makes me feel..."
"You do seem happy."
"I am happy. I can't ever remember being this happy."
"Buffy, I want to understand and goddess knows I don't want to stop you being happy..."
"Then trust me. I know I love her and I know she loves me. That should be enough for you."
"Buffy, I'll try to understand and to help Dawn understand and help you come out to Giles and Xander. But only on one condition."
"What?"
"Tell me what really happened."
Buffy smiled. "Ok. I was in the attic when I tripped on something..."