"I've always like the idea of clothes which cover the entire body. Leotards, long gloves, high-necked clothes, stuff like that." Catherine said. "I wanted clothes which hide the body, but reveal its shape. I soon got into leather and later into rubber. I loved rubber, the idea of it, the smoothness, like you were plastic or something ... Uh !" She moaned with pleasure and smiled at Nadine, who listened amused to her story.

"That's where I got out of black and into colours like silver and gold." Catherine leaned back in her chair and relived the moments in thought. "I started off with leather jackets with these high collars and thigh-boots and I met this guy who was into rubber and he showed me the clothes and the stuff, but I never could appreciate the S&M side of it. Also, I never liked rubberist stuff like gas-masks, though they look kinda interesting, I never got any real fun out of it."

She smiled at Nadine who was sipping some more wine.

"One thing I really loved was helmets, motorcycling helmets, the closed type. I was really into space-suits and astronauts too. It was probably the silver which I loved. I loved silver jewelry, especially large pieces, like a bracelet which covers most of your arm. And then I met a guy who was into fantasy stuff. I liked the idea and went around like a fantasy elf dressed in suede and leather with a long blonde wig and pointed ears, you know, like Dungeons and Dragons ?"

"That's kinda neat." Nadine said rubbing her earlobe.

"Problem, he was about my height and half as big. He had a suit of armour which really didn't fit him and one day I put it on and it fitted quite nicely. I bought it from him and wore it on occasion, but I didn't take care of it and it started rusting badly." She laughed and reached for her glass.

"I've always been into dolls." Nadine began. "My mother used to make dolls, and she had the idea one day, when I was a little girl to dress me like one with a painted face and stuff. When she went to exhibitions she used to take me with her and almost put me on display. That's why I took up miming class."

At one time, I must've been fifteen or sixteen I wore this pretty nineteenth century dress and it was a very big exhibition with people from Europe and Japan. And there was this guy from Germany I think, who had rubber heads of dolls, large ones, and reasonably cheap so I got a couple and I cut them open with a knife and put them over my head, like a mask and it was eerie, except for the size, I looked exactly like one of those porcelain-headed dolls." Catherine could see Nadine's doll collection on the other side of the room.

I got older and a bit tired of playing doll, so I did some shows. I did the elastic-mannequin routine for a while, you know when a clown or somebody comes on stage with a suitcase and a mannequin falls out and doesn't fit back in ?"

"I saw a few circus acts."

"That's it, and then it turns out it's somebody in a suit."

"Yeah, I saw one with a dummy and there was a girl in it."

"We did the same, with a clown dummy. I went to Europe and joined a group of artists and there was one guy who made body-casts of people and would glue all sorts of metal objects on the casts and would spray-paint it silver, bronze or gun-metal."

"Cool !"

"I asked him to glue some stuff on me and paint me. And so it became this project where everybody would disguise himself as some kind of robot-statue and stand or sit between the real statues."

"Sounds very kinky to me." Catherine sipped from her glass.

"After a while, the group split up and I did some street performances, until I got asked by someone to play a window mannequin. I really loved it, once you get used to it it's very weird, like an LSD trip. You get into this state and you feel really out of it."

"You did it with a rubber suit and mask and the works ?"

"Everything, down to an oxygen-supply and plumbing for your little bathroom emergencies."

Nadine got up to get a refill.

Catherine continued her side of the story.

"I got to a S-F convention, I was a bit of a trekkie then and I saw a couple of people who were doing costume-play."

"Back then ?"

"Hard-Core Anime fans before most even knew Japan existed. And there was this girl who had an early Sentai costume, you know, the Power Ranger's originals ?"

"Yeah." Nadine nodded.

"And I liked the idea of a tight lycra suit that covers your body and a full mask-like helmet so much I could taste it. And they were looking for a second girl to complete the team, so I got to be a yellow Flashman. And every time we went to a convention people would ask us who we were."

"Nowadays, they would say that you're wearing bad Power Ranger suits." Nadine said, playing with her half-empty glass.

"We only had tapes from this little tv-station who catered to Orientals in my home city and we finally managed to put enough money together to go to Japan. We actually got in the studio's themselves and found out the Japanese were putting out thousands of series like that. We actually threw some of our clothes away to make room for all the videotapes we'd gotten."

"We started to make more elaborate costumes and I got to play cute female robots. We were an underground hit, but I had some engagements at work and I lost track of the others."

"It's through work I heard about that stuff, I worked for the people who make Lycra and Spandex."

"Brilliant people!" Catherine lifted her glass.

"I got a whiff of the Sentais, when we sold them Lycra for their suits, but I had no idea what it was all about, really."

"I was in Europe with the artist's group, when I saw a TV commercial for some kind of Italian car and it had this Sorayama robot with a dress and I freaked out !" Nadine showed her feelings by waving her hands frantically.

"I called the nearest dealer, it was Lancia, I remember now and I wanted to know how they had done it. They didn't know anything about it, except that they had some brochures and posters of the robot. That was my revelation."

"I got it from Sorayama, I found one of his earlier books in a comics shop and fell in love with the idea. It was Japanese and a thousand times bigger than Sentais." Catherine finished the last of her wine.

"I feel all hot talking about it, you ?" Nadine said, undoing the zipper of her tight miniskirt and popped her panty, showing off the gleaming metal underneath. Catherine slowly nodded and got up.

Nadine dropped her panties and showed off the chrome g-string she was wearing. Catherine wanted to go to her, but stopped. "Let's go to our rooms first." She said, licking her lips.

Catherine opened the closet and looked at the bright golden suit. She picked up the helmet, which looked like her own face and put it down on the bed. She removed her blouse and removed the heavy bracelet she had been wearing at her wrist with a tiny decorative keyboard and electronics.

Nadine got through her wardrobe and got her suit out. Shining black, but put it back and took the chrome one.

After about half an hour, she put the mask over her head and got out. Catherine was still dressing herself. She got up to the attic to the triangle of mirrors to stand in the middle of them. Even the floor and ceiling were mirrors, and when she stepped among the mirrors and closed them, she could see an infinite number of shiny chrome robot women reflected in the mirrors and herself. She danced to some imaginary music and watched her metal body with fascination. Her body was angular and straight. Her face had no nose and a straightforward silver visor. She looked serious, a bit foreboding even. Long fingernails topped her sleek fingers and she put them around her chin and stared at herself in the mirror.

She heard music and the mirrors slide open and saw the golden woman join her. She had a more rounded shape with a human-looking face with plain golden eyes which reflected Nadine's face. The chrome robot closed the mirrors and both robots stood back to back, taking poses and watching themselves reflected in infinity. The golden robot turned around and hung herself over the silver one, putting her head on her shoulder. She grabbed her by the waist and danced along with her on the slow electronic music in the background. Womandroid S.E.X. 2000, as Nadine was now called, reached behind her and rubbed her hand on Futura's golden face, who kissed her in the neck. Futura let go of her and sat down on her knees in Japanese style and looked up at SEX who turned around and ran her hands over her smooth crotch. Futura looked up and ran her hands over her body. SEX crouched and popped the panel between her legs and let Futura rub and poke her. Futura's hands became wet and slippery making the metal caress easier. SEX tossed her head left and right as her body shook with pleasure. Then Futura leaned back, opening her legs and waiting for SEX who quickly opened the mirrors and came back with a silver vibrator, which she screwed onto herself. She leaned over Futura and slipped past the soft rubber slits, appropriately painted gold, interfacing with her. She ran her fingers through Futura's short golden hair and kissed her hard lips. The two gleaming bodies interlocked and grabbed each other's hands, interlocking fingers. They moved their pelvises in harmony and looked at themselves reflected in their faces.

"Aww ! You should have warned me !" Said a voice and a man poked his head through the mirrors.

Although they looked at the man, they didn't stop moving, but instead increased the pace until Futura slipped out of SEX's grasp and slammed her hands back on the floor, alongside her head and fell motionless. SEX got up and turned to Dan and cocked her head to the right, unscrewing the vibrator.

"Come on in." Said a deliciously metallic voice. Dan shook his head.

"No humans are allowed in the mirror chamber, remember ?" He said.

"Certainly, I do have eighthundred gigs of memory, you know." SEX answered.

Futura had gotten up, meanwhile and put her hand on SEX's shoulder.

"I'll be back." Dan said with a cinematic Austrian accent, closing the mirror again.

Futura had finished polishing SEX's surface when the mirror opened again. A tall, metal man with stylised muscles walked in. He had no face to speak of, except for a grating where the mouth should be and a red fluorescent visor for eyes. SEX went up to him and put her chin on his broad shoulder, while Futura stayed behind, putting her arms behind her head and waiting. SEX touched her lips with a finger and tapped his grating. He kissed her and rubbed her smooth, shiny back. He reached out and popped the panel from between her legs. SEX slipped from his grasp and leaned against the far wall. Robotron walked over to Futura who waited for him and stood before her.

"I.need.input.Need.more.input." She undid his shiny lycra posing pouch and rubbed the gleaming articulated penis. She played with it until it grew hard and pressed it to her lips. The lips parted and the member slipped into her mouth. She rubbed her lips over the dildo and Robotron put his hands on her shoulders, while SEX watched, rubbing the flesh between her legs. Robotron threw his head back and rocked his pelvis back and forth until he stopped and shook his head. Futura also enjoyed the results of her rubbing and slid down to her knees. Robotron also sat down and stretched himself on the hard mirror floor as SEX climbed over him. Futura grabbed the vibrator and slipped it into the rubber slit. Robotron popped the still hard dildo into SEX and began rocking back and forth. Futura finished twitching and pulled the vibrator back out of the rubber slit, properly moist and warm. She got up on woozy legs and opened the mirror as Robotron and SEX were still interfacing.

Futura stopped as a sassy voice rang out.

"And why, may I ask wasn't I told everybody was having fun here, except me ?" The young black woman said in stereotypical fashion with her hands on her swaying hips and an angry look on her face.

Futura remained silent.

"You know it takes ages to get into my suit !"

"You.want.it.now, Like.this ?" The voice was clipped and electronic.

Vanessa looked at Futura and shook her head. "No, I feel a bit tired, it's late already."

Futura looked at the digital clock which said 11:37.

"We.lost.track.of.time." Futura said. Catherine wanted to remove her mask and go to bed. She reached for the mask but Vanessa stopped her. "Hey, no maintenance here !"

Catherine stopped short of undoing her mask and followed Vanessa downstairs and back to her room.

The next morning Nadine woke up staring at a robot some distance away from her. Then she realised she was SEX. She turned round and saw Robotron on his back snoring away. Her body ached and she felt the areas where the suit had pressed into her body. She stiffly got up and opened the mirrors. She saw it was day outside and yawned inside the mask. She shuffled to the stairs and went down to her room to undress. Nadine got out some time later and stretched her arms and rubbed relief in her tired eyes.

She stumbled down the stairs and smelled the coffee. Catherine was already sitting at the table and eating some corn flakes.

"Whew, That was some night." She said sitting down and holding her head in her hands and elbows on the table. She stared down at Catherine's bowl and looked up in disgust.

"How can you eat that stuff ?" She said listlessly.

"If I don't, I'll end up looking like a golden Roseanne."

Nadine smiled and chuckled. "Say, Ivory, where's my breakfast ?"

The glossy white robot, with sleek lines and a mannequin-like face popped out of the kitchen. She was wearing an apron and held a spatula in one hand. "It.is.coming.up, mistress.Nadine." It said opening its mouth and chin, cut vertically into her face and her eyes mechanically blinked.

"Is.Master.Dan.having.breakfast.too ?" Ivory asked.

" I dunnooooow." Nadine yawned.

The doorbell rang.

"Whoops ! Okay, normalcy alert, this is not a drill ! Ivory, stay in the kitchen ! I repeat, this is not a drill !" Catherine said playfully.

Nadine got up and walked to the door.

Ivory shuffled and moonwalked backwards into the kitchen.

"Hi there, I'm here for Dan ? He said he would be at my place at eight, but it's half past nine and ... " It was Mike with a hat full of fishing-flies and a car-trunk full of fishing-rods and bait.

"Oh, he must've forgotten all about it. Catherine can you check on him ?"

"Sure." Nadine ran up the stairs.

She knocked on the mirror room and shouted. "Hey Dan, wake up !"

She heard the snoring come to an abrupt end and the scrape of metal on the mirror surface.

"Whatsammatter ?" Robotron's head poked out of the mirrors.

"Mike's here to take you fishing."

"Oh shit !" He said and ran out of the mirror room. Nadine saw him stumble down the stairs and then suddenly realized shit was really going to hit the fan.

"Dan !" She tried to stop him.

Mike stared at the robot stumbling down the stairs and shout his name. Catherine paled and wanted to slam the door and hoped Mike's middle name was Stevie or Ray.

"Oh shit !" Dan said, halfway down the stairs. Inside, Dan blushed.

Nadine stood directly behind Dan and stared along with him and Catherine at Mike.

There was a painful silence as Mike watched with his mouth open and pointing a finger at Robotron.

And then Mike began to laugh. At first it was a chuckle which grew to cataclysmic proportions. He leaned on the doorframe, cradling his stomach. The others were stunned.

"What's with him ?" Nadine wordlessly said to Catherine, who grimaced back her ignorance.

Mike was now running out of air and gasped as he held onto his stomach. He tried to speak, but couldn't say a word, gasping for air as he was. He incoherently tried to mime something, but couldn't get his meaning across.

Ivory poked her head through the door and Mike redoubled his laughter when he saw her. Ivory reached for her head and opened it, revealing Vanessa's dusky face. "What is going on ?"

"I think he's having a nervous breakdown." Said Nadine.

A few minutes later Mike was sitting by a glass of water and rubbed his tired stomach muscles.

Mike climbed down the stairs, without the Robotron suit.

"Why were you laughing so hard ?" Nadine asked. Catherine was sitting opposite Mike, while Vanessa was sitting on the kitchen table, swinging her legs, the Ivory mask besides her.

Mike collapsed into laughter again.

"That's it ! Every time we ask him, he goes gaga on us."

"Uuuuuhhhh ! w-w-w-wait !" Mike managed to say between two bursts of laughter. He got up and walked back to his car and took something out of the glove compartment.

He stumbled back to the house and laughed at their surprised faces. He dropped a silver chain and let the small-windup-key swing back and forth.

"Oh Shit !" Mike went biting his lip. Nadine slapped her forehead and Vanessa fell backwards onto the kitchen table, moaning and holding her hand to her face.

"I then met Dan, who does special effects in movies." Catherine said.

"We thought it might be a good idea to have him bunk up with us to pay the rent." Nadine continued.

"But after a few days he saw my chain and recognized it for what it was, although he didn't know the ASFR." Catherine picked up again.

"He told us he could make suits for us, like he had already done for someone else. Vanessa also knew the ASFR, but never told Dan about it, so when we visited her, we knew instantly."

Mike shook his head. "I've always had something for female robots and I came across the ASFR website and knew I wasn't alone, but to find four all at once..."

"Do you dress up ?" Nadine asked.

"No, I only enjoy watching Sorayama pictures that's quite it." Mike said playing with his key.

"Surely, the thought must've crossed your mind ?" Vanessa said, out of the Ivory suit by now.

"Nope, I'm not really into it that much. For instance, I never dressed up at Halloween either."

"You're free to join us if you want." Nadine said.

"There are a few rules." Vanessa said.

"One of us must play robot servant for the others for one day every week." Nadine said.

"It was my turn today." Vanessa picked up the Ivory mask and played with it, tossing it in the air and catching it again.

"I'm due tomorrow, when I'm back from work." Dan said.

"Also, you must always change in your room. Never in the house or with someone present, unless you agree with someone to help dress each other or anything like that." Nadine continued. "And Humans aren't allowed in the mirror-room."

"Nor are non-metallic robots like Ivory here." Vanessa added by showing the mask.

"But they can play in the rest of the attic." Dan pointed up.

Mike remained thoughtful for a while.

"You get to pick a design and Dan makes it for you." Catherine said, coming back with her masks.

"You see, we have different suits." Nadine said.

"Sounds like a lot of fun." Mike conceded. "But aren't the suits too restrictive ? I mean, you can't touch or anything."

"That's right, but Dan is a specialist when it comes to suits." Nadine said. "Most of the ones we use now are third or fourth generation. We keep on improving them all the time."

"Only real problem, they're hot. We all come out sweating like pigs." Vanessa said, rubbing the padding inside of her mask to feel for residual moisture. "But you get used to it."

"And I've been working on a cooling system." Dan said.

"And you can make any design ?" Mike asked.

"Well, most designs." Dan said.

"Well, I do a marvelous impression of See-Threepio... 'Look out Artoo, stormtroopers ! Oh dear, master Luke !' "

The group laughed.

"It would be nice to have an extra guy on the team." Catherine said.

"Yeah, I'm really outnumbered here." Dan said. "But if you can't beat them..."

Mike looked up and gave him a suspicious look. "You don't mean ?..."

"Yeah, wanna see it ?"

Robotrix was standing in middle of the room legs apart and arms crossed. She was shining black and looked a bit intimidating. To her left and right stood Futura and Robotron. Ebony walked up the stairs and held out her hand to present the new robot.

"Here.is.Four.-Emdee !"

A stylish silver robot clumsily climbed the stairs and shuffled forward. The other robots clapped their hands.

"Oh, thank you very much !" He said with a distinguished English upper-class accent.