Echoes of the Future - Reversal
"Reversal" is my very first story in the science-fiction m/m anthology "Echoes of the Future". Edited and headed By Aleksandr Voinov. Now available from Noble Romance Publishing. See here for more details.
Reversal by A.B. Gayle
Sebastian is bored. He has another five years of lone duty supervising his family's robots on their space station. The last thing he wants to do is the housework. For Christmas, his mother sends him a Domestic Darling cyborg. True to form, she purchases a factory second and sends one that doesn't quite fit the bill. Instead of being a pert blond with big tits and cute ass like in the advertisement, this one is six foot tall and built like a Greek god, a very virile Greek God. In an attempt to improve its functioning, Sebastian uses some of this brilliant programming skills. The resulting changes ensure Sebastian will never be bored again.
Burn by Aleksandr Voinov
Flight Lieutenant Chris Waters is the pilot of a cutting-edge unmanned SAD fighter drone which are used for secret government missions. Chris is cutting-edge technology himself: his neural network is upgraded with cybertechnology and software that make him the interface of his combat drone.
Then, something goes wrong as he connects to his drone. Haunted by strange disorientating impressions, a so-called 'ghost', he hooks up on leave with fellow pilot Cyril for a night. But Cyril is not the man Chris thought he is, and Chris soon finds out what the 'ghost' in his body really is, as well as the truth about his missions.
Conduit by Kate Cotoner
Ismail and his ex-husband Toki are divided by class and circumstance. Toki is a cybernetic upgrade human and part of the city elite, while Ismail is a baseline human and a cop. Their brief marriage failed when Toki walked out, but now he's back, asking for Ismail's help against Hanuman, a malicious cyber-intelligence who plans to poison the water supply of all baseline humans in the city. Now Ismail and Toki must find the underground reservoir targeted by Hanuman before time runs out for them both.
Rescue Me by Jude Mason
Assigned to guard Leetchi Ambassador Dar and his family, Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself inexplicably drawn to Jad, the diplomat’s son. The tall, slender Leetchi turns out to be as gay as Patch and steals his heart. When Jad is kidnapped, Patch goes undercover to find and rescue him. The rescue takes him to the underbelly of the space port city and a whore house where slaves are bought and sold at will. Finding Jad proves easier than he’d hoped, but the rescue takes an insane twist when their escape attempt was thwarted by the one person they knew was on their side.
Will Jad’s enslavement tear the lovers apart? Will Patch be torn from the love of his life? Find out, in Rescue Me.
Reversal by A.B. Gayle
Sebastian is bored. He has another five years of lone duty supervising his family's robots on their space station. The last thing he wants to do is the housework. For Christmas, his mother sends him a Domestic Darling cyborg. True to form, she purchases a factory second and sends one that doesn't quite fit the bill. Instead of being a pert blond with big tits and cute ass like in the advertisement, this one is six foot tall and built like a Greek god, a very virile Greek God. In an attempt to improve its functioning, Sebastian uses some of this brilliant programming skills. The resulting changes ensure Sebastian will never be bored again.
Burn by Aleksandr Voinov
Flight Lieutenant Chris Waters is the pilot of a cutting-edge unmanned SAD fighter drone which are used for secret government missions. Chris is cutting-edge technology himself: his neural network is upgraded with cybertechnology and software that make him the interface of his combat drone.
Then, something goes wrong as he connects to his drone. Haunted by strange disorientating impressions, a so-called 'ghost', he hooks up on leave with fellow pilot Cyril for a night. But Cyril is not the man Chris thought he is, and Chris soon finds out what the 'ghost' in his body really is, as well as the truth about his missions.
Conduit by Kate Cotoner
Ismail and his ex-husband Toki are divided by class and circumstance. Toki is a cybernetic upgrade human and part of the city elite, while Ismail is a baseline human and a cop. Their brief marriage failed when Toki walked out, but now he's back, asking for Ismail's help against Hanuman, a malicious cyber-intelligence who plans to poison the water supply of all baseline humans in the city. Now Ismail and Toki must find the underground reservoir targeted by Hanuman before time runs out for them both.
Rescue Me by Jude Mason
Assigned to guard Leetchi Ambassador Dar and his family, Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself inexplicably drawn to Jad, the diplomat’s son. The tall, slender Leetchi turns out to be as gay as Patch and steals his heart. When Jad is kidnapped, Patch goes undercover to find and rescue him. The rescue takes him to the underbelly of the space port city and a whore house where slaves are bought and sold at will. Finding Jad proves easier than he’d hoped, but the rescue takes an insane twist when their escape attempt was thwarted by the one person they knew was on their side.
Will Jad’s enslavement tear the lovers apart? Will Patch be torn from the love of his life? Find out, in Rescue Me.
REVIEWS
My First Amazon Review - a thumbs up
Reversal by A.B.Gayle was absolutely hilarious. Watch how everything can go wrong when wealthy and hardworking computer programmer who is bored while working on the space station gets a Christmas present from his caring mother and watch how a lot of things can go right too.
I thought it was very interesting how this story while being very entertaining is also subtly introducing a theme of mutual exchange and improvements between human and machine. Sebastian has a very distinctive voice and dry sense of humor.
4.5 Diamonds from Got Erotic Romance -squee!
Reversal by A. B. Gayle 4.5 Diamonds
I really enjoyed this story about a bored young man supervising his family’s robots on their space station and his decision to teach a new cyborg about sex. Only his program adjustments proved far more effective than he’d imagined. All in all, a fun little story.
My thanks to Erotic Horizons for a great review of "Reversal".
You can read the whole review here.
Here's a teaser:
Intro
I don't read alot of Anthologies but when I do – I go straight for the authors that I know or I am directed to a specific author to read. However when a book is 116 pages long I have no excuse not to read all the stories.
The last story in ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is A.B. Gayle’s REVERSAL and not only was she a new to me author, so a fresh voice and a new style but after two techy story and then an alien /off world story I was now wondering what could she have to offer…
Let me just say that as much as I liked all the other stories in the anthology – this one was like WOW.
Following the review is a Q & A I did on some excellent questions she posed.
ANOTHER REVIEW this time from 'WELL READ"!
Many. many thanks to Jenre who have the whole anthology a "Very Good" rating.
You can read the whole review here, but I particularly liked the end bit.....
This story was just a hoot from start to finish. Sebastian is a very sympathetic character. His acceptance of his isolated lifestyle was quite sad at first, but I enjoyed watching him changing the programming on the cyborg and fighting his growing lust and affection for the robot. I was at times both touched and amused as Sebastian thinks through the moral implications of lusting and even having sex with a robot and I cheered on every change he made to the cyborg's programming. After the serious themes of the previous stories in the anthology, this was the perfect way to end the anthology which left me with a smile on my face.
Reversal by A.B.Gayle was absolutely hilarious. Watch how everything can go wrong when wealthy and hardworking computer programmer who is bored while working on the space station gets a Christmas present from his caring mother and watch how a lot of things can go right too.
I thought it was very interesting how this story while being very entertaining is also subtly introducing a theme of mutual exchange and improvements between human and machine. Sebastian has a very distinctive voice and dry sense of humor.
4.5 Diamonds from Got Erotic Romance -squee!
Reversal by A. B. Gayle 4.5 Diamonds
I really enjoyed this story about a bored young man supervising his family’s robots on their space station and his decision to teach a new cyborg about sex. Only his program adjustments proved far more effective than he’d imagined. All in all, a fun little story.
My thanks to Erotic Horizons for a great review of "Reversal".
You can read the whole review here.
Here's a teaser:
Intro
I don't read alot of Anthologies but when I do – I go straight for the authors that I know or I am directed to a specific author to read. However when a book is 116 pages long I have no excuse not to read all the stories.
The last story in ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is A.B. Gayle’s REVERSAL and not only was she a new to me author, so a fresh voice and a new style but after two techy story and then an alien /off world story I was now wondering what could she have to offer…
Let me just say that as much as I liked all the other stories in the anthology – this one was like WOW.
Following the review is a Q & A I did on some excellent questions she posed.
ANOTHER REVIEW this time from 'WELL READ"!
Many. many thanks to Jenre who have the whole anthology a "Very Good" rating.
You can read the whole review here, but I particularly liked the end bit.....
This story was just a hoot from start to finish. Sebastian is a very sympathetic character. His acceptance of his isolated lifestyle was quite sad at first, but I enjoyed watching him changing the programming on the cyborg and fighting his growing lust and affection for the robot. I was at times both touched and amused as Sebastian thinks through the moral implications of lusting and even having sex with a robot and I cheered on every change he made to the cyborg's programming. After the serious themes of the previous stories in the anthology, this was the perfect way to end the anthology which left me with a smile on my face.
REVERSAL
Excerpt
The space station shuddered as the delivery shuttle pulled away.
I stared at the large parcel. The bloody thing must weigh at least 200 pounds and be almost two meters long. After twenty years of sending her kids to manage her off-world manufacturing plant, you’d think by now my mother would remember that we didn’t have a multitude of servants helping us, just a shitload of manufacturing robots and me. With the aid of the hand-line, I took advantage of the zero-grav in the central corridor to shove the package most of the way, but the norm-grav section proved a real challenge.
No ‘Fragile’ sticker. Great. By levering up the huge metal crate to stand on its end, letting it fall and repeating the process, I gradually maneuvered it to my room. More problems. It was higher than the friggin’ doorway. Aided by a few choice expletives, I finally managed to line the bulky parcel up with the opening, lean back against the wall, and use my feet to shove it through.
Inside, the smiling face of my mother filled the large screen of the planet vid link. “Did you get my present, Sebbie?”
Frustration boiled over at her use of my hated nickname. “Quit calling me that. The name’s Sebastian. I’m not a kid any more.”
She sighed. “It seems only yesterday I was packing school lunches for you.”
Senility settling in early, Mom? You never packed a lunch in your life. “I’m twenty. Time to treat me like an adult.”
“Well, act like one.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look at how messy the living room is for starters.”
She was guessing.
I’d sat beside her often enough as she chatted to my three brothers during their six-year stints to know how much of the room was visible via the vidcam. Heck, I might look like something the cat dragged in, but she’d only be able to view a comfy chair and the large manga posters on the wall behind me.
“I know you’ve pushed everything out of the way. When you bumped the camera the other day, I noticed scattered clothes, dirty plates, and empty food containers.”
I surveyed the room and laughed. Mothers always saw too damn much. “Who cares? There’s no one here but me and the robots.”
“I care, honey, so I’ve sent you the perfect solution--‘Darlene the Domestic Darling’.”
Wow, they were friggin’ expensive. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh well, Christmas only comes once a year and I like giving my baby presents.”
Had she been drinking again? No, she looked just the same as she had when I left two years ago. Ditzy but determined.
“You’ll need the access code, honey. It’s 3R46TZ189.”
That took care of the seals.
While I pulled out the packing, Mom’s voice raved on in the background about all the different chores the new maid would be able to do without using any of my precious stores of food or water.
On top lay a clear-fronted package containing a ‘French Maid’ outfit and basic cleaning tools. Its caption read ‘Your Domestic Darling ® cooks, cleans, and fulfils all the duties of a human maid.’ Short skirt, flimsy feather duster, and high-heeled shoes? I sniggered. Cleaning obviously wasn’t the only function the maids were expected to perform. I pulled the accessories aside.
When I returned to the console, my mother was still talking. “Maybe it’ll stop you feeling so lonely, honey.”
“There’s a slight problem.”
Excited anticipation turned to alarm. “What’s wrong?”
"It ain't a 'she', it's a 'he'."
Excerpt
The space station shuddered as the delivery shuttle pulled away.
I stared at the large parcel. The bloody thing must weigh at least 200 pounds and be almost two meters long. After twenty years of sending her kids to manage her off-world manufacturing plant, you’d think by now my mother would remember that we didn’t have a multitude of servants helping us, just a shitload of manufacturing robots and me. With the aid of the hand-line, I took advantage of the zero-grav in the central corridor to shove the package most of the way, but the norm-grav section proved a real challenge.
No ‘Fragile’ sticker. Great. By levering up the huge metal crate to stand on its end, letting it fall and repeating the process, I gradually maneuvered it to my room. More problems. It was higher than the friggin’ doorway. Aided by a few choice expletives, I finally managed to line the bulky parcel up with the opening, lean back against the wall, and use my feet to shove it through.
Inside, the smiling face of my mother filled the large screen of the planet vid link. “Did you get my present, Sebbie?”
Frustration boiled over at her use of my hated nickname. “Quit calling me that. The name’s Sebastian. I’m not a kid any more.”
She sighed. “It seems only yesterday I was packing school lunches for you.”
Senility settling in early, Mom? You never packed a lunch in your life. “I’m twenty. Time to treat me like an adult.”
“Well, act like one.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look at how messy the living room is for starters.”
She was guessing.
I’d sat beside her often enough as she chatted to my three brothers during their six-year stints to know how much of the room was visible via the vidcam. Heck, I might look like something the cat dragged in, but she’d only be able to view a comfy chair and the large manga posters on the wall behind me.
“I know you’ve pushed everything out of the way. When you bumped the camera the other day, I noticed scattered clothes, dirty plates, and empty food containers.”
I surveyed the room and laughed. Mothers always saw too damn much. “Who cares? There’s no one here but me and the robots.”
“I care, honey, so I’ve sent you the perfect solution--‘Darlene the Domestic Darling’.”
Wow, they were friggin’ expensive. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh well, Christmas only comes once a year and I like giving my baby presents.”
Had she been drinking again? No, she looked just the same as she had when I left two years ago. Ditzy but determined.
“You’ll need the access code, honey. It’s 3R46TZ189.”
That took care of the seals.
While I pulled out the packing, Mom’s voice raved on in the background about all the different chores the new maid would be able to do without using any of my precious stores of food or water.
On top lay a clear-fronted package containing a ‘French Maid’ outfit and basic cleaning tools. Its caption read ‘Your Domestic Darling ® cooks, cleans, and fulfils all the duties of a human maid.’ Short skirt, flimsy feather duster, and high-heeled shoes? I sniggered. Cleaning obviously wasn’t the only function the maids were expected to perform. I pulled the accessories aside.
When I returned to the console, my mother was still talking. “Maybe it’ll stop you feeling so lonely, honey.”
“There’s a slight problem.”
Excited anticipation turned to alarm. “What’s wrong?”
"It ain't a 'she', it's a 'he'."
