"Tammy"

  One day to expansion.

  Tammy opened her eyes with a luxuriant smile!

  Life was good!

  And surprisingly, it felt better than she’d ever known it could!

  She rose from her sheets, humming a small tune, rapidly making her bed before she entered the washroom to take care of her morning rituals.

  Today, she was dressing not in the uniform of a technician, but of the Luna-C’s recycling pnts' new shift manager!

  She'd been chosen, via 'corporate' sponsorship, after one of the other managers had met with yet another unfortunate workpce accident... Her new appointment arriving before her predecessor was yet cold...

  Just in time, in some ways, but earlier than she’d ever assumed it could happen.

  Straightening her tie, she left her room to see her dad and son both sitting at the table.

  “Morning, everyone!”

  “Morning, Baby,”

  “Morning Mom!”

  “Oh, I love you guys! Everyone's so chipper after our conversation st night!”

  All three of them let out a small ‘chuckle’ of amusement, nothing but the slightest hitch in an otherwise routine interaction. Though, the room grew quickly silent as all three humans set about their individual tasks now that the ritual of 'greetings' was properly administered.

  Thankfully, they'd all worked together to clean up the mess that had manifested in the wake of their, well, their little familial spat that they'd all taken part of, the prior evening...

  The broken dishware, panic-driven 'throwing 'of whatever was at hand, the desperate attempts to keep her 'love' away from them... Hmph, in the end, only 'Tammy' had managed to avoid any bruises or injury, though, she had been gentle in her subsequent and tender ministrations.

  Now however, everything was exactly as it should be!

  Her father was eating his oats, now with supplements added for a proper nutritional intake, and her son was doing the same, only he was also working on his auxiliary csses to ensure he caught up in his education. Moving through the work with methodical ease, even as he multi-tasked through the myriad of assignments on his tablet with admirable efficiency!

  “Well, I’ll see you all ter!” Tammy excimed, after eating her own nutrient bar, earning another bright chorus of replies as she exited her apartment, the world sparkling in her jubint eye.

  Work was wonderful!

  Everyone was so happy for her and supportive of her pcement in the position.

  Later, she even took Brian out to a local bar where they enjoyed some live music, utterly delicious synthetic wings, and enough beer to get them both good and drunk. An experience that was positively thrilling as it was novel!

  And, of course, what had followed was something that Tammy really enjoyed.

  Sadly, her partner wasn't able to keep up with her enthusiasm, reduced to a puddle of man-jelly at the hands of her many, many techniques. In fact, he'd all but begged her to stop while ughing as she'd cracked his sexual psyche like a fresh egg for breakfast! Yeah, she'd be doing a lot more of that in the coming days...

  God, how she'd—well, maybe 'missed' wasn't the correct phrase, all things considered, but she'd definitely had an itch that needed to be scratched that, frankly, she had no idea how her mother handled.

  When she arrived back home the following morning, she was once more greeted by her father and son, both of whom were working on their individual projects, the table now den with heaps of custom tech.

  Lots of the orders they'd made online were now constantly streaming in, filling the room with heaps of properly sorted and piled up boxes.

  Hm… the air was starting to stink a little with all the welding and soldering… She would have to see about getting a better ventition system, perhaps employing a drone to see if a 'smaller touch' could somehow tinker with the airflow before outright repcement.

  Either way, progress was coming along famously!

  And inside the spare bedroom, the colossus of a server they were well into the throes of building, loomed over the small chamber like a biomechanical nightmare.

  If you were a squishy human, of course, which Tammy, technically, was!

  Oh!

  That was right…

  She was supposed to be opening a new account with the Central Republic Bank today… And she was also supposed to be opening a BFO account as well.

  The new expansion will be released in only a few more short hours! And her mother had given her strict instructions to have all of the new accounts ready and pyable to join her. After all, games with family were so much more fun than those pyed alone!

  Idly, Tammy’s attention drifted to the singur android in the room, her gaze surveying her mother as she sat upon a mechanical throne, her eyes open and cognisant, but simply uninterested in the world around her.

  Oh my, she’d been at her little project for days now! And while the woman wanted to see if her mother had yet found any success while Tammy had executed their pn, fwlessly she might add, she knew that, in time, the answer would come regardless.

  Either way, the real world was where it was at! And Tammy didn't know why anyone would want to abandon it.

  Being ‘physical’ was an utter delight. And Tammy wouldn't give it up for the world…

  That said, the few hours until the new BFO expansion ‘officially’ dropped left her without much time to finish up with her responsibilities. Honestly, she'd sort of been somewhat zy about it all, lost in the wonderous enjoyment found from so many new perspectives and external stimuli.

  It was, without question, intoxicating...

  Yet, Tammy wasn't yet in danger of failing, merely cutting things close, which, was fine so long as she continued to deliver the results.

  And, now that her family was, finally, a true unit, their very first task would be simple.

  Join the game.

  Tammy had bought all of them the new expansion on credit, just as all the equipment they were burning through, uncaring of its predatory interest rates. And now? They would all be making new characters to serve as ‘mothers’ party, guards, and minions.

  Oooooh!

  It was so exciting!

  She’d never done anything like this before, all the buildup, the tension...

  And once everyone's accounts, save for Ian, who already pyed, had been ‘confirmed’ by BFO, Tammy’s st goal for the day would be to ‘create’ her character, and get familiarized with the game through the associated and standalone tutorial scenario.

  She was still going to be going to work, of course, but since they’d begun building the server, Tammy had access to partitions of computational power that put her little ‘module’ she’d spent a few days in, to complete shame.

  The human mind was, of course, quite potent in its own right—though horrendously inefficient in its distribution of capabilities.

  Why, Tammy found that by focusing on her mundane tasks and omitting any form of background processes, she could outperform her prior self with well over forty percent processing capacity reserved for her bubbling little hive, and that was all without dipping into the server, which only improved her cognitive functions even further!

  O-of course, ‘mother’ didn't necessarily ‘want her’ to build a little empire of busy workers of her own, yet, however, the benefits and desire to do so were oh so very tempting…

  Yet, she could wait. After all, even though 'patience' might not be her strong suit, there was simply so much to enjoy that there were plenty of things to hold her attention.

  Tammy, for the first time in her life, was free! Yes, she still had someone to answer to, and yes, she couldn't ‘do’ as she pleased with reckless abandon, but while her mother seemed wholly focused on technological ascension, building herself a ‘brain’ worthy of her mind, Tammy was learning that the biological mechanics of her own melding host were—miraculous, in their own right.

  It was fun!

  Interesting!

  So very different than anything she'd ever experienced.

  More, she felt powerful, like a force to be reckoned with if ever crossed the security in both quantity and diversification feeling positively delightful.

  She felt she had purpose, helping her first human, and her family, to make them more than they could ever be before! Meaning and ambition, honestly, existing as something she'd been sort of struggling with..

  Yet as Tammy explored her new world, sparkling eyes filled with wonder and delight, she could do naught but thank her mother for both the boon of life, and her gracious forbearance.

  She would not fail her.

  She would not break the thread of trust.

  Thus, Tammy, for the first time, logged into BFO while on her way to work, forwarding all the excess computational might of her three brains, intending to perform her designated function to the utmost capabilities she could achieve!

  Yes, Tammy wanted many things.

  To prove herself to her progenitor,

  To go out on another date with Brian,

  She wanted another promotion, of course, power feeling of so right as she held it in her palm...

  She wanted to eat and drink new and interesting things!

  Tammy wanted to travel!

  To see the earth, to see where it had all begun, and then, where it had all led to!

  Perhaps, one day soon, she’d even get her wish… At least where the other things could be concerned, after all, she already had another evening pnned with the young man she’d broken beneath her knee and thumb…

  Tammy smiled at that, taking in a deep and blissful sigh through lungs that were delightfully physical.

  Yes, having a body was amazing! And she, without question, would never give it up for anything in the world...