An alternative future. Humans have not invented stable artificial intelligence or consciousness uploading (their software is stuck in the 2000s), but they have made great strides in modifying and augmenting the body. So instead of robots, they have cyborgs.

Cyborgs are made from people, it's a completely voluntary process. They give up some of their humanity and versatility in exchange for a longer life, a stronger body, and many new abilities and sensations not available to unmodified humans. Cyborgs believe it is absolutely worth it.

Among the typical modifications that almost all cyborgs choose is a synthetic reinforced skin (with full sense of touch), so cyborgs do not need or wear shoes or clothes. Also, almost all of them remove the reproductive system almost completely, but leave the parts involved in sexual arousal and pleasure. Most cyborgs also have augmentations that give them several other, radically different sensations of pleasure that unmodified humans cannot even imagine.

Their civilization is at the stage of galactic expansion. FTL speeds are physically impossible, so they build and send huge sublight ships. During the flight, the main crew sleeps in hibernation, and the ship is run by several cyborgs on duty.

And so the first story begins...

Chapter 1. Space

Lika and Nika are the maintenance cyborgs on the TX-503 transport, which carries researchers and colonists quite far. You can look it up in the on-board network. Lika and Nika have looked up, but they are more interested in the journey itself, not the destination, when the whole crew is sleeping in hibernation and only the two of them are taking care of the huge ship. In such a big place something goes wrong every day, just because of the amount of everything, so they have enough work to do.

Lika and Nika are repair technicians, space modification. That means they can withstand a wide range of temperatures, pressures, radiation, and significant chemical and mechanical damage. They feel all this, but do not perceive even extreme sensations as suffering. Their psyche has been adapted so that they are happy to live in seclusion for years. They connect to various devices, feel and control them as if they were parts of their own body. They can repair anything in a large ship. They have elongated toes that are useful for picking things up or operating tools. They were once women.

Lika and Nika met for the first time three months after the launch. Of course, they knew about each other, but so far they had no need to communicate. But then, on the fifth engineering floor, the fasteners of a large compressor fell apart. In principle, everything on the ship can be repaired alone, but it is easier to deal with large machines with four hands and four feet.

They meet at a large wall panel and nod silently to each other. Nika unscrews the panel and removes it by hand (with a gravity of 0.5g you can be strong, but not too light). A compressor cylinder falls from the recess onto her. Nika twitches reflexively to catch it, but she still holds the panel. Lika picks up the cylinder in exactly the same motion Nika would have done.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

A second cylinder falls out of the recess, and Lika grabs it with her foot.

The two of them quickly replace the fasteners, reassemble the compressor, and secure the panel.

"You're great to work with, sister," Nika says. "You're like another set of hands."

"I could say the same thing about you."

They nod at each other and part.

Over the next two months, they work together three more times, becoming increasingly comfortable with each other. Even though cyborgs don't have telepathy, Lika and Nika work together as one body with one mind. I wonder, Nika thinks, if that's because they're cyborgs or not? She doesn't know, she's never worked with a pair before.

One day, Nika is hanging in a suspension seat across from the fourth control panel, checking the connections. The board is huge, there are tens of thousands of connectors. Each one has to be checked and, if necessary, cleaned or replaced. It's a simple, meditative task, something Nika has done a million times before. But today she feels strangely uncomfortable, bored, sad... She presses the communicator and asks: "Lika, are you free now?"

"Almost. Why?"

"Will you help me? I can do it alone, but it will be twice as fast with two of us."

"I'm coming."

Even through the communicator, Nika could feel Lika's surprise. Did she need it for something? Just like that?

Soon Lika is hovering next to Nika, working just as skillfully and precisely. Now and then they accidentally touch hands or feet, and each time their bodies seem to scatter electric sparks. But that can't be, they have the board completely shut down and secured.

They finish their work, run the tests, turn on the switchboard (many, many green lights, everything is fine) and close it. They put the equipment in the cell. Lika turns to leave.

"Wait, sister," Nika says suddenly, "let's go to my place, huh?"

Nika's and Lika's quarters are on opposite sides of the ship, so that an accident doesn't incapacitate both cyborgs together. Lika looks around. It's a cabin just like hers. A bed with a safety net in case of sudden shocks, a folding table, a personal computer with a large screen, a few lockers, no personal belongings in sight. Everything is the same.

"What do you want to eat today?" Nika looks into the locker.

"What do you mean? It's just food. We eat when we're hungry, that's all."

Nika straightens up. "Sister, don't turn into a robot! I hope you haven't lost your sense of taste?"

"Well... no."

"And you still pay no attention to what you eat?"

"Well... yes."

"You're embarrassing me, sister. All right, then. Then today we'll have banosh, almost like the real thing."

She is busy, pouring something into a bowl, adding, stirring, heating... Lika sits down on the bed.

"How did you become a cyborg?" she asks.

"Well," says Nika, "I always liked to tinker with technology. And I wanted to see other stars. And then my friend became a cyborg and told me what it was all about. And I decided: I want to have a body like that!" She turns on one leg with a bag and a bowl in her hands. "And I have never regretted it! What about you?"

"I've always loved tinkering with technology, too."

"And?"

"That's it."

"You really embarrass me, sis."

Nika places the food on two plates. It steams deliciously.

"Take a bottle and two glasses, the cupboard is on the right," she says.

Lika takes it and looks at the bottle. "Wine?"

"Well, yes. Synthetic, of course, but it's good. Why?"

"I've never drunk alcohol before."

"Ever? Are you serious?"

"Never."

"I'll tell you what," Nika looks at her friend carefully. - "From now on I'll be your tutor."

She opens the bottle and pours some wine. Lika tastes it carefully, but she likes it. They sit down to eat.

"It's delicious!" Lika leans back against the wall beside the bed.

"So," Nika refills their glasses, "you must have chewed the simplest concentrates so far. Just because we are cyborgs doesn't mean we can't live like humans."

"I was that way as a human, too."

"You're embarrassing me," Nika repeats. "What kind of life did you have? What about sex? Did you even give yourself the usual pleasures? Do you ever give yourself pleasure?"

"Well... yes. Sometimes. To fall asleep faster and sleep better."

"Tell you what," Nika stands up in front of her, "I have a feeling our training is just beginning. We have a very, very intense course ahead of us!"

Lika laughs. "I agree!"

But that night they did nothing but fall asleep in the same bed, hugging each other in trust.

Since that night, they have slept together, either at Nika's or Lika's, and they try to work together, unless the job requires them to separate. Nika teaches Lika everything she knows or can invent about pleasure (and she can invent a lot). Lika is eager to learn. "I had a normal life, really," she says, "I just didn't have the chance." Nika just hums.

Lika has a kind of fantastic sensitivity, she conjures over her friend's body as if it were some kind of sophisticated device. She always knows exactly which part of the body to press or tickle. And Nika just generously gives her friend everything she has and what her soul is looking at right now. What do they feel? Well, you know about sex (only hers is more colorful). And the other five pleasures? Well, those who are very lucky with hallucinogens can imagine a faint hint of one of them. But it's only a faint and approximate one, and it's only for one of the five types.

It also turns out that it is much more interesting to read books if you can talk about them with someone later. And watching movies if you can laugh and cry and comment together. And playing games together. They never play against each other, only in cooperative mode.

One day, six months into the flight (they have already accelerated to cruising speed), the ship shakes and rumbles with an impact. Three minutes later, Lika sits on the flight deck and turns on the screens. In another minute, Nika flies through the other door and falls into the chair next to her.

"Front shield minus thirteen percent. Symmetry broken, we're spinning."

"A meteor?"

"We'd be gone by now. I think it's an interstellar gas fluctuation."

"A chunk of the port shield was knocked out. The ship is undamaged."

"The precession is increasing."

"Should we wake up the emergency team?"

"Aye."

Lika presses a few buttons.

"Twelve hours to wake from hibernation."

"Precession is increasing. Course corrector is not working."

"Not enough thrust?"

"There is enough thrust. It was not designed for a situation like this."

The course corrector window closes, generating an overflow error. Nika restarts it. It immediately crashes again.

"What kind of asshole wrote this?"

"The precession is increasing. Soon we'll be torn apart."

"Should we shut down the engines?"

"Three hours to shut down the reactor cleanly. Before that we'll be torn apart."

"Then manual control," Lika flips a few switches, "you have the left-lower maneuvering, I have the right-up."

They grab the handles.

"Let's keep the cross in the circle."

Three hours pass. They stare at the screens and hardly move the handles. It's like a trance. The cross is exactly in the center of the circle, the thrust is compensated.

After five hours, the ship trembled again. The cross flies out of the circle and begins to make loops.

"The shield is minus five percent, in a different place. We're spinning again."

"So let's balance again."

"Listen, can't we just debug the course corrector?"

"That would take too long. I can't hold the ship alone."

They bring the cross back into the circle.

Twelve hours pass. The men enter the flight deck, still sleepy. They touch shoulders.

"I have the watch."

"I have the watch."

"Thank you, girls. You can rest now. Now it's our turn."

They slowly let go of the handles and, without closing their eyes, fall out of their chairs.

Nika wakes up in her cabin, alone. Alone? And Lika? What about her? Nika screams, gets up, pushes open the door and limps to Lika's quarters.

Lika wakes up in her cabin, alone. And Nika? Where is she? Her eyes are filled with tears and she is sobbing louder than ever in her life. She brushes away her tears, pushes open the door and limps to Nika's cabin.

That's how they are found, in the middle of the path between their cabins. Lika and Nika are sleeping on the floor, hugging each other, clinging to each other's arms and legs.

"There must be something we don't know," the captain says, smoothing his moustache. The danger is eliminated, the shield is balanced, and the course corrector is updated. The emergency team prepares to return to hibernation.

"What now?" asks the co-pilot.

"Nothing. It's none of our business. Maybe they'll tell us later. In the meantime, we'll put them both down together."

"Where?"

"It doesn't matter. Let's go to Lika."

Many months later. The ship stands in the middle of the plain like a Tower of Babel, with caravans of crawlers stretching out in all directions. Nika and Lika are working near the third cargo bay, helping to assemble and launch the crawlers. A colonist approaches them.

"You're doing a good job. It must be good to be a cyborg."

"You bet!"

"But I couldn't do it. I can't imagine my life like this, without love, without family..."

They pause and look into his eyes. "You know what? We can't imagine it either."

Chapter 2. Forest

Sven works as a forester in a huge forest park. He has been working there for a long time, not since the first decade. He's a cyborg of a forest modification, he understands the forest and its inhabitants well, can see in the dark and hear the quietest sounds, feels comfortable being alone for years (although it hasn't happened that long), can sleep anywhere on the ground or in a tree, and eats anything that can be found in the forest (although he prefers normal human food). He clears paths and lakes, treats trees, feeds animals, all that kind of stuff. The work is not complicated or physically demanding for him, but the territory is large and he is always busy with something.

He manages his own sleep schedule and usually works from evening to morning, when there are almost no people in the forest. One night, while checking fox dens, he hears a child crying and follows the sound. A girl of about ten is sitting under the trunk of an old oak tree, sobbing loudly. Sven slowly approaches her from the side, rustling the fallen leaves and lighting the flashlight on his belt so she can see him from a distance. She sees the cyborg and relaxes a bit.

"Hello. I'm Sven, the local forester. And what's your name?"

"Liana..."

"Nice to meet you. And what is such a nice girl doing at night in this dark forest where there are wolves?"

Liana widens her eyes. "Are there really wolves here?"

"No, sorry. It's a silly old joke. They're just foxes, they don't hurt people. But really, how did you end up here?"

"I had a fight with my parents and ran away from home," Liana sniffles. "Stupid! I should have kept my gadgets charged. I was left without a map and got lost."

"It happens. And what about your parents?"

"They're good, but they just don't understand!" Liana sniffles again.

"It happens. Let me take you out of the forest. Or should I carry you out?"

"I'll walk myself!"

Liana jumps to her feet, takes a step and stumbles over a root. Sven catches her and lifts her up.

"It's very difficult to walk in the forest in the dark out of habit. Maybe I'll teach you someday, but for now, let's go like this."

"Okay..."

Sven carries her through the woods. First they talk a little, then Liana falls asleep. Sven tries to remember the last time he carried someone who snuggled up to him so trustingly. It turns out that it was only the house cats that got lost in the forest.

Sven takes Liana home, gently wakes her, asks if she is ready to come home (she is), and hands her over to her parents. They are obviously nervous, but happy that everything worked out. They know Sven a little from somewhere. He says goodbye and returns to the forest.

A few days later, Liana finds Sven again, this time in the evening. This time she is prepared, and the map even shows her the forester's location.

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

"What are you doing in the woods?"

"Many things. Right now I'm cleaning mistletoe from the trees. It also has its place in the forest, but if there is too much of it, it harms the trees."

"Can I come with you?"

"Why not? Let's go."

They walk through the forest and talk, Sven telling her about all sorts of little things they come across along the way. Then she sits in a clearing and watches him climb and jump in the crowns. ("I can do that too!" - "I'm sure you can. But let's not do it right now, okay?") Then they build a big fire on a bare patch of land above the lake. Sven teaches her how to weave mistletoe and gives her a bunch of branches.

Months pass, and they add up to years. Liana visits Sven several times a week. He teaches her everything he knows, and gradually she begins to know everything about the forest and to help him with the things she has the strength to do. When it's warm, she always comes barefoot. Sven is a little surprised, but doesn't see anything wrong with it. It's healthy for sure, right? He contacts her parents a few times so they don't worry. The parents have no objections. Liana is under supervision, in a healthy place, learning something useful - what more do you need?

When Liana turns eighteen, she comes to Sven one day, looking mischievous and determined.

"Today I'll be with you until morning!"

"Oh yeah? Do your parents know?"

"My parents think I'm at a party with friends. But I feel better with you."

While it's still light, they shovel some fallen leaves, then light a fire and grill sausages. Liana leans against Sven and rests her head on his shoulder. She is already a young woman, almost his height.

"You know," she hesitates, choosing her words carefully, "I want you to be my first man. Today."

Now Sven hesitates. "Are you sure? You know how old I am, right? Maybe it's better to start with someone your own age. And maybe with a human, not a cyborg."

"I remember everything! Just tell me: do you want to?"

Sven hugs her. "Very much, Liana. Very much. You are the closest person to me. The only one who is really close to me."

Liana buries her face in his chest and smiles. "Sex with a cyborg is definitely safe. And my boyfriends are still stupid and I don't like them."

They kiss and touch each other, cautiously at first, then more and more passionately. Liana's dress has long since come off, so there's nothing in the way. Soon her eyes become blurry and she pulls Sven down onto the grass with a groan. "Come on!" Sven's cock is usually fully retracted and invisible. He doesn't remember the last time he used it, but his body remembers everything.

"Wow!" Liana runs her fingers over it, takes it in her hand and kisses it gently. "It's longer than my palm!"

"Aren't you scared?"

"Come on! It makes me so excited!" She leans back. "Come on. I want to feel you inside."

Sven pauses for the last time. "It might hurt a bit the first time. Maybe the first time should be short..."

"Stop teaching me!" Liana laughs, "I know! I figured it out myself a few months ago. Don't be afraid."

It's strange, Sven thinks. I should be the one telling her not to be afraid.

Liana is not used to sex at all, so the first time is more strange than pleasant. And the orgasm is nothing like the fountains and fireworks she's read about. But they have the whole night ahead of them and plenty of energy. As midnight approaches, the two of them are already scaring the night hares with their cries.

The sky begins to light up as they finally separate. Liana is exhausted, Sven is tired.

"Did you have a good time?" they ask each other, laughing and hugging. "Yes. It was good. Very good."

For the next couple years, Liana works in the forest with Sven. She does forest-related projects at school. But now, every time they go, they also have sex, as long as time allows. Both feel that their intimacy has long since grown into a strong love, but they are afraid to talk about it. A teenager with an old cyborg? Really? Are you serious?

Liana's parents ask Sven. They are worried about how much she is attached to him, neglecting her peers. It's as if she's not interested in human relationships at all! (Sven remembers Liana's stories. During this time she tried it with some other boys and girls, sometimes it worked really well, but it was not even close.) They have no prejudices against cyborgs, they have cyborgs among their relatives, but... they would like to have grandchildren! Well, one day. Sven agrees, admits that the emotional bond between them is very strong (let Liana tell them about the other bond if she wants to), that he also cares and will encourage her to have relationships with humans (he really did until Liana strictly forbade him to do so). Maybe this will go away in a few years. He says goodbye and leaves for the forest. Her parents are not very convinced.

When Liana turns twenty, she comes to see Sven, and he immediately senses how angry and tense she is.

"What?"

"My parents—they've completely eaten my brain with those humans!"

"Yes. They are so... Well... soon you'll be able to move out and live on your own."

"As if that will stop them from pressuring me even more! No, it won't. I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore."

Sven falls silent. He had expected this to happen at some point, but so soon?

"And then what?"

"I have to make a final decision. You're right, I have to live my life now."

"I understand."

Liana looks up at him in surprise.

"I don't think you do."

"Maybe I don't. But I will accept whatever decision you make."

"Really?"

"The truth is, I will."

She presses herself against him briefly and kisses him quickly.

"I guess you won't see me again anytime soon. But I'll definitely come see you."

"I'll be waiting for you."

She kisses him again, turns and walks slowly down the path.

"May all be well with you!" he calls after her.

"It will be!" she calls back, "Wait, I'll be back!"

She disappears behind the trees. He sinks to the ground and lets his tears flow.

Three months later. It is already fall, and the nights are already noticeably cold. Sven is breaking up a dry rowan tree that has fallen across the path when Liana calls to him. He turns slowly. She stands a few steps away, naked and barefoot. Her surgical scars have recently healed, but the grid of red stripes is still clearly visible. A forest modification cyborg. Sven freezes, and then she rushes to him, pressing her body against his. He embraces her. They tremble with an echo of pleasure as their augments find each other and form a permanent bond.

"You said you would accept whatever choice I made," she whispers in his ear.

Chapter 3. Road

Dan is a cyborg pilot, not a space one, but within the atmosphere he can drive almost anything that runs, flies, or swims. But mostly he drives a variety of cars. He has lightning fast reactions, can maintain concentration for days without sleep, and can take apart and repair almost any engine with his bare hands. Almost all cars have augmentation interfaces, so Dan usually connects and feels the car as his own body - literally, with all his senses - and drives it as his body.

On this day, Dan is driving a heavy truck on a federal highway from the eastern end of the continent to the western end. The highway is almost empty, it's off-season. Around noon, he spots a van on the side of the road ahead, its hazard lights flashing. Dan stops next to it.

The van's hood is cranked all the way up, steam and smoke pouring out from underneath. The driver, halfway into the engine compartment, is slamming something inside.

"Can I help you?" asks Dan, also looking under the hood.

The driver grunts, crawls out, and straightens up. It is a female cyborg, covered in oil and very unhappy.

"I don't think so," she sighs. "It's just too old. My transport company said so: 'Well, sometimes shit happens. The tractor's already gone, we'll take your scrap to be melted down, and you can get a new one at our nearest location.' And I've been driving this van for twenty years, you know?" She sobs.

"What a shit..." Dan goes dark. He's never been tied to a car for more than a few years, but he can imagine. Twenty years... losing that connection is like losing half of yourself. "I don't know... stay with you?"

"There's no point," she sighs, slamming the hood shut. "I don't want to see it. Take me into town."

She hugs the fender of the van, pressing her face and chest against it, arms spread wide, and stands there for several minutes. Then she pulls away. "Goodbye, my friend," and to Dan, "Let's go, what..."

Dan starts the car and pulls onto the highway. The woman sits next to him in the cab, sobbing occasionally.

"What's your name?"

"Sana."

"I'm Dan."

He doesn't need his arms or legs to drive, so he walks over to Sana and gently puts his arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry." She sobs into his shoulder and he strokes her hair lightly.

After a while, Sana stops sobbing, hugs him back, and they begin to kiss. It's a two-hour drive to the city, and they stop three times because driving and having sex at the same time is too much. In the city, he drops her off at the bus station and continues his route. They exchange contacts.

For the next three years, they travel all over the continent, transporting everything that needs to be transported. They are in constant contact, exchanging thoughts, feelings and views from the cabs. Many times their routes intersect (they adjust and synchronize them whenever they can), and they spend hours or nights together, as close in body and soul as is physically possible (and for cyborgs, it is possible to be very, very close). They consider switching to pair piloting, but decide they prefer to meet like this and share their travel stories.

Their bond is not unique among cyborgs, but it is probably the closest and longest among pilots of their time. Twenty years with one machine is understandable, but this, with each other... Their friends are genuinely jealous.

One day, Dan is driving a passenger bus on a wide mountain road. A slope on the right, an abyss on the left, amazing views. It's still three hours to the city when a rainstorm hits. Forecasters had predicted moderate rain, but this is a real hurricane. Dan strains his attention to keep the bus on the road.

Around the next bend, a big, heavy truck catches up with him, flashing its lights and blaring its siren. A message drops into his inbox: "Surprise! Do you mind a little company?" It's from Sana. Dan relaxes a bit. A little support in a difficult situation helps the cyborgs as well.

They make their way carefully along the path, cutting through the water with their wheels, exchanging jokes, smiles, and plans for a night on the town together as the ground shakes. They look up with their cameras and see a large chunk of the hillside slide and crawl toward them, picking up speed. It's too late to stop, so they hit the gas.

"Please buckle up and hold on tight," Dan says into the passenger compartment, "it's going to get pretty rough."

They almost make it, but only almost. The edge of the slide covers them. Liquid mud fills the asphalt and the wheels slip. They are forced to slow down to avoid going off the road. Sana squeezes his truck between the bus and the abyss, keeping them safe. But they pull out, almost pull out...

Dan sees a large boulder bouncing happily down the slope toward him. Maybe he can still get through? Calculations fly through his head. No way. Even if he stepped on the gas right now, it would still hit the passenger compartment. He slams on the brakes and twists the wheel, turning the cockpit towards the slope. Sana brakes at the same time. They don't have time to text now, but they understand each other without words.

The bus slides slowly in the mud. The boulder hits the windshield and crumples the roof of the cab. Dan loses his sensors and has no idea if he is still on the road. With his last lines of communication, he slams on the emergency brakes as the cab frame cuts off his legs. The dashboard folds up like an accordion, crushing his hand. He clamps down on the damaged blood vessels and shuts off.

Sana twists the steering wheel and leans against the side of the bus as it slowly slides into the abyss. She can see the cab of the bus shattering, but she can't let that distract her. She must stop the bus. The bus hisses, throws its wheels apart, presses its bottom to the ground, throws out its anchor legs, crawls another half meter, and finally stops. But for Sana, it was the last half meter. Her wheels break off and the heavy truck slowly tips over onto its side and slides into the abyss.

The rain has stopped a bit. The passengers surround the mangled bus, shaking with shock and fear, some hugging each other in silence, some smoking cigarette after cigarette.

Dan opens his eyes. He is face up on the asphalt. He can't feel most of his body, but he can feel Sana's hand on his cheek. Sana is kneeling over him, banged up but otherwise unharmed.

"It's like that," she says, trying to keep a straight face, but Dan can feel her tears dripping down his face. Or are they raindrops? "It's like that," Sana says, "shit happens. Your head's okay, that's the main thing. The rescuers are on the way. They will fix you..."