I had 600 large crystals. Cal and Mom had already placed programming into them, this time; all of them were to have slightly different personalities, ...to keep the AIs happy, if they met another of our new brood.I had many Tandra techs now, and all very unsure of their present status. Their lives had hung by a thread before, and it could be cut by any of the Samutz, at a whim. I had just taken them from their old masters, and told them they were free and safe. I realized now, that this was a lie.. My name is Holly and I’m poor. Desperately poor. Kit and I live in a shack on Grand City’s slum, commonly just known as the Shacks. Corrugated iron and plywood create our home of 12 by 6 feet. At least it was right on Shacks Beach, meaning we could wash in the clear blue Illakian Sea. That shack was, like many others, rented at extortionate rates off Lord Black, who owned a lot of land on the Shacks and in Grand City as well. Our contract with his company stated that he could as. She stilled and her eyes widened when she saw him. ‘There you are,’ he smiled, ‘I made us some coffee.’ ‘Thanks,’ She mumbled as her gaze skittered around the room, taking in the tray and the newly made bed. When it finally returned to him her expression was cautious. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, whipping off the towel. For all his good intentions, now that he had her in the flesh he didn’t want to take things slowly. He knew he should have spent more time figuring out. "Randy, who was closest to my head, moved it so that my chin was againstthe counter, and my face was raised, looking straight ahead. He looped hisarm under my neck and shoulders and lifted me off the counter a bit, andthen with his other hand opened my mouth. Then, unceremoniously androughly, he started pushing the carrot into my mouth and down my throat.He pushed it in faster and less gentle than Roger would have done it. Justkept my body limp and allowed this to happen, until the carrot was.