Mr. Hanson was to be out of town for about week. Alli and Cassie begged to go with him. Work was taking him to the west coast, and their beach house was right on the beach. He figured they would never leave him alone, so he agreed. This was going to be Cassie's first trip to the west coast, and she couldn’t think of a better way to go. Alli and Cassie spent days packing and preparing, they wanted to be ready for anything. In some ways, Cassie was more excited than Alli. Alli went places regularly, but Cassie, being on staff at Alli's mansion, had to stay and work her way through college. For Cassie, this would really be a vacation, time away from work.

Cassie would be traveling as a person for the entire trip. Typically, cyborgs do not travel with human passengers on flights. Since Cassie had all the paperwork of a biological person, she was able to get a flight permit, airline ticket, boarding pass, and luggage approval like Alli and her dad. Cassandra had packed a portable charger and a spare parts/repair kit, just in case, but she had never needed any help since her dad "built" her. Still, she said to herself as she packed her bag tight, I don't wanna get found out or be without help, should I need it.

The trip out was, fairly, uneventful. Cassie had never been to an airport, so she was pointing at everything with "ooos" and "aahs." Alli eventually grew tired of her "Tourist friend.” so she put in her ear buds before their bags were even checked. All three showed their identification, tickets, and passes to all the right people without incident. The scanner for weapons might have been a problem, but Cassie's dad had planned for this. When the scanner passed over Cassie, her body reflected a human skeleton and all the organs that go with it. The computer software was satisfied, so they waved her through.

The flight was another "tourist affair,” as Cassie continued to "ooo" and "aah.” Alli pretended to be asleep while Cassie went on and on to the lady next to her. Mr. Hanson was up in first class, so he was oblivious to it all.

Arrival at San Francisco was a thrill, if you were Cassie, or a reason to wake-up, if you were Alli. The three of them gathered their bags from the luggage area, once the airport personnel had scanned their flight permits. Then with luggage being wheeled behind them by rental cyborgs, the "family" went to the car to ride in comfort to their home away from home.

The beach house was another mansion, if you asked Cassie’s opinion. It was not as big as the other mansion, but it had four floors, floor to ceiling windows, bright colors, a five-car garage, two kitchens, eight bedrooms, and well, you get the idea. There were no servants in this place, but the fridge was fully stocked and every possible amenity could be found in the bathroom or broom closet.

The girls didn’t even unpack before running straight through the house to the beach. The warm salty air blowing off the ocean was intoxicating. Their shoes came off as they walked through the warm sand. Their hair blew in the breeze as they soaked in their new environment. They giggled just like little girls as they ran out into the surf, splashing each other and enjoying the setting Sun. Cassie had never been happier.

Her cyborg body was designed to blend in, and did so quite well. It would use sunlight for recharging, but it could also adjust skin color as well. As Cassie soaked up sunlight, her skin, like any humans’, would get darker. She could get a tan without ever being burnt, as her skin is a polymer that could withstand nearly 200 degrees Celsius. Even her eyes could adjust with a built-in filter to lower the Sun's intensity. For that human touch, she still put on sunscreen and wore sunglasses. With all that had happened lately, it felt good to be "human."

Over the next three days, they all fell into a routine. Mr. Hanson would be up early and out the door on his way to work. The girls would sleep in; grab a quick breakfast from the pantry, slip on their bathing suits, and head to the beach. The rest of the morning would be spent sunbathing and walking the coast looking for shells. When they got hungry, they would find a street vendor or, maybe, a beach vendor to get some lunch. With every stop, there would be the guy or group of guys that hit on them.

Cassie was too nervous to know how to deal with that, while Alli could care less about boys. She was waiting for the right guy to come along, one who cared nothing about her money, or looks. She had not found that one yet, but she loved to play the game. Cassie would watch Alli pull guys in, and wrap them around her finger, as she talked to them. Alli would move just the right way, talk in the just the right tone, she might even lightly brush against one. The guys would offer her drinks, maybe some food, and maybe...but they never got any further. Alli would shut the whole thing down, then hook arms with Cassie and wave goodbye to them as the girls walked away. Most of the guys would just scratch their heads, wondering what just happened. Some would kick the sand and bolt. There were always one, or two, guys who tried to follow them, but Alli would not permit it. Like wounded puppies, the boys would eventually get the hint, and leave.

At first, Cassie did not know how to handle this flirting thing. I mean, she had never thought about it before, technically she was a machine. Watching Alli, it seemed so natural, but Cassie figured, “I’ll bet it’s harder than it looks.” Then the logical side of Cassandra would eventually conclude, “What's the point of flirting anyway? I’m a cyborg.”

Mr. Hanson would return by dinnertime and take them out to a fancy restaurant. They would all talk about their day, and like a good dad, he would nod and smile to their antics. Naturally, Alli and Cassie would present the obligatory question of staying out late, but Mr. Hanson would not permit it. Alli usually fought hard to have her way, but the sense she got from her dad was that this was not the battle Alli wanted to fight.

On their next to last day, Mr. Hanson came home earlier than usual. The girls were still sunbathing when he came up, casting a shadow on both of them. Mr. Hanson said, "Well, girls, my business trip is over. It’s Time to go home." The looks on the young ladies faces must have said volumes and Mr. Hanson could see their disappointment. Before the girls could get out more than just a pitiful whine, he added, "Which is why I am heading back tonight, while you two are on the early flight the day after tomorrow." This time it was his turn to be surprised, as both of them jumped up and hugged him. Proper is an adjective that describes him well, but at this point in time, he did not mind his suit and hair being "ruined" by his "two daughters."

Cassie and Alli did not sleep from the time Mr. Hanson left until their flight. They spent as much time as they could on the beach, in the sand, in the surf, at the vendors, on the boardwalk, and everywhere in-between. They were up all night at various clubs and lounges, flirting their way through each. They had so much fun, and never worried about sleeping, figuring they could do that on the flight home.

The trip that morning to the airport was frantic, as you would expect. They had left stuff all over the house and had to retrieve it all at the last minute. As Alli called a taxi, Cassie made a terrible realization that threatened to put a damper on their whole weekend; Cassie couldn't find her airline ticket. After unpacking everything they brought, she located her flight permit, boarding pass, and luggage approval. However, her airline ticket was missing. They both searched for it while waiting for the taxi, and then they heard a knock at the door. While Cassie continued to look, Alli opened the door to see a pair of cyborg maids at the door. They were not programmed to talk, but the card in their extended hands stated they were here to clean the beach house after the guests had left; Alli nodded and let them in.

As Cassie came towards the front of the beach house, she was taken back to her normal life at the sight of the two maids. Cassie thought, “Ugh, I gotta go back to that already?” Alli had been thinking about Cassie’s problem and said, “You know, if you can't find it, maybe you could just board as a cyborg?” then she pointed to one of the cleaning maids and smiled. Cassie thought to herself, “Hmmm,” and replied, “I could probably fit into one of those outfits.”

After they had powered both of them off, and stripped them down, Alli and Cassie pieced together a maid’s outfit that would work. It was not the quality Cassie was used to, nor was the material. Cassie never realized how much she had come to enjoy her latex uniform, as she squirmed in this cheap cotton uniform. The uniform was a light gray dress with white trim. The shoes were cheap black plastic, as was the hair band. The gloves were more utilitarian than the rest of the uniform, but they worked. Walking around without panties would be too embarrassing, so Cassie wore her own pair. Cassie even added a bra, as the cotton was irritating her breasts. She could have adjusted her sensitivity, but with the taxi pulling into the driveway, there was no time.

Alli commanded Cassie, "Get the bags, maid, and take them to the car." Cassie found her body responding before she could stop it. With multiple bags in each hand and under her arm, she replied, "Uh, there is no one around yet, Alli." Alli giggled back and said, "I know, but we should start playing the part now."

The ride to the airport was uneventful and the taxi driver did not question them. Alli tipped as a rich person would, while Cassie took the bags inside. Alli joined her friend at the airline counter, where their trouble continued. Cassandra heard the airline employee say to Alli, "...but there is no room for your maid, even if she does have a boarding pass." Cassie watched as Alli turned a slight shade of red, "But we have all the necessary papers for her to travel with me." The airline person tried to be calm as she replied, "Yes, but you did not confirm your flight until this morning, so we had already sold the other seat. Your maid will have to be checked in as luggage." Cassie did not like the sound of that.

While Alli was midway into her "You gotta change your policy." speech, the announcement that their plane was boarding could be heard everywhere. Cassie, maintaining her neutral pose and facial expression, stated, "Madam, you should board your plane so that your luggage will arrive with you." Alli nodded her head in agreement and said a few more choice words that cannot be repeated here. Then Alli signed the tags for the luggage. Grabbing her documents from the woman behind the counter, she pecked Cassie on the check and ran to her gate.

The employee said in a very unfriendly tone, "Robot, step forward and hold out your hand, your owner is something else, and I would say what I think of her but I'm sure she will ask you later." Cassie tried not to grin at that comment. The airline employee placed a tag around Cassie’s wrist, just like the ones on all of the other bags. Then the woman said, "Step behind the counter." Cassie complied as the rest of the bags were thrown onto a conveyor belt behind the counter. Cassie could feel something touch the back of her neck. Suddenly, Cassie felt her joints tighten up, forcing her to curl up into a ball. Satisfied, the woman pushed her onto the conveyor belt like a sack that was tightly wrapped up. Cassie fell onto the conveyor belt then traveled along with more luggage as it was added around her. So much for that upgrade to first class, Cassie thought sarcastically.

After a few minutes, Cassie found she could move again, but choose to stay curled up. No sense in drawing too much attention to myself, Cassie thought. The intricate luggage transfer, belt system, behind the scenes in an airport was a wonder, and Cassie was soon lost in amazement at the size of it all. There were conveyor belts going in every direction. Scanning units directed luggage to where it should go throughout the process. Cassie was not sure exactly what happened, but she was finally deposited onto a table in a room with three guys in coveralls staring at her.

The tall one said, "Yeah, no way it could go into the overhead compartment." The shortest one said, "Under the seat is out of the question.” An overweight one suggested, "Well, we could just box her up, put her in with the suitcases, and hope for the best.” They each shrugged their shoulders and did just that. As they began to wrap her up, the tall one said, "Hey, let's just put her through the regular packaging chute.” The shortest one replied, "It would do a better job of wrapping her securely than us.” Then he stepped away from her. The overweight one said, "And we wouldn’t have to do anything but push her through the hole." Moreover, he stepped away, as well. Finally, the tall one said as he put both hands on Cassie's shoulders, "A job well done!" With that, he pushed her backwards. A little fearful of hitting her head, but more fearful of being caught, Cassie maintained her composure and let herself fall into the hole behind her. As she sank into darkness, she thought, so much for better service from union employees.

At the bottom of the chute, Cassie found herself riding on another conveyor belt. The room was loud with the sound of machinery and not very well lit. Cassie adjusted her "eyes" to brighten the room. Even with her amazing computerized brain, Cassie could not take in all of the movement, the many conveyor belts and robotic arms, and flashing lights. Speaking of that, her body was bathed in a red light. Turning her head slightly, she could see a screen on the left, displaying her name, ID number, and owner, along with all other manner of information. As she rolled past, the screen changed to show one word, “Package.” Cassie thought to herself, "Package?" I hope that is what they say for every cyborg, she tried to think positively. At her next stop, her cheap maid’s outfit was removed. Cassandra was able to move, if she had wanted to, nevertheless, the robotic arms were moving so fast, Cassie was afraid that if she moved, she might be damaged, so she remained still.

Cassie took a quick look around at the other items being packaged. Evidently, Cassie was moved to the larger package section, where she saw many other androids. They were all different, but as she looked closer in her brief glimpse, they all looked the same. They all had perfect skin, perfect features, and lay still throughout whatever process they were going through. Cassie reasoned to herself, “There is no way a regular person could do that, Cyborgs are much calmer.” As she stole another quick glance around, between the arms whizzing around her, she was surprised by her own admission. Cassie thought to herself with a hint of sadness, “We, I guess I forget I am not human anymore, Cassie’s days seemed so normal for a human, but she was anything but that.” An obvious pleasure android, SexBot, waited on a different conveyor, her proportions were far out of the normal range, and while Cassie might have previously had some objections against that type of robot, she now saw her differently. Cassie thought to herself, “We were all built with a specific purpose, I was designed to be as human as possible, and she was designed to bring as much pleasure to a human as possible.”

Her thoughts were interrupted by the robotic arms manipulating her. Within seconds, her hair was removed and bagged. “What, wait,” she screamed inside, “That is the only one of those I have.” Before she could really lament over that, she changed conveyor belts and picked up speed. She was placed onto a screen-type conveyor. The belt had holes in it so that it could drain water. Then she was unceremoniously doused with a cleansing solution. Cassie was not expecting that, so it went in her mouth and eyes. This would sting a normal person and taste bad. For her, she thought as she smacked her lips, it just tastes bad.

The robotic arms were not careful, or slow. They roughly grabbed her arms and legs, manipulating her position and posture. Then Cassie was dried and sprayed with a thin sealer. That explained, she reasoned, why they removed the hair. Then the arms dropped her back onto the conveyor belt like a bag of trash. Cassie noticed the sealer was very cheap. If she tried moving her fingers, she could feel it crack at her joints. Cassie grinned at that, and accidentally cracked the sealer some more. A light dust, almost like baby powder, was dropped onto her and, once again, the arms grabbed her and moved her into all types of positions as a buffing brush moved all over her. Just like before, the arms left, as quickly as they came, leaving Cassie in an awkward position on the conveyor.

The next station straightened her out then clamped her arms and legs to the belt. A different type of robotic arm entered her vision and put a rubber-type device over her neck, which covered her mouth and chin. She could feel it cinch around her tightly, holding her mouth shut. Before she could react, she saw a green light flash across her face then a speaker made a statement, "Mouth protection installed." Cassie thought, “Ah, they want to make sure I don't damage my teeth or tongue in bouncing along.”

The next station removed each leg and arm from the restraints as it installed the same rubber-type gloves and socks on her. The gloves had no fingers, so it was like a mitten. With her hands cinched tight, she could not move any of her fingers. In the same way, the socks restricted all toe movement. Cassie thought to herself, “This has got to be the weirdest experience, even for me.”

With her fingers, toes, and mouth secured, Cassie continued to the next station. This one scanned her in red light then flipped her over. A robotic voice said, "Secured. Apply quality control stamp." With her face down on the conveyor, she could not see the robotic gun that hovered over her, but she certainly could feel it come down like a hammer and whack her on the right butt cheek. Cassie squealed and thought to herself, “Oomph that hurt!” Then the light flashed red again and the voice said, "Error! Stamp not correctly applied. Repeat!" Cassie thought to herself with a slight whimper, “Repeat?” Wham! It attempted to 'spank' the stamp on her again. When it did not work again, it continued to spank her over, and over, again.

Somewhere around the 10th or 12th time, the stamp stuck, the light turned green, and Cassie was sent on her way. Oh, she sighed, my butt really hurts. She turned her sensors down in that area, so it did not linger until her "skin" could repair itself. The end of the conveyor belt came suddenly and without warning. Cassie screamed inside, "I'm flying,” as she landed in a pile of bags and luggage. Cassie found herself laying there along with a few other androids, she even saw the pleasure bot stuck under a giant trunk. She half sat up to check out her surroundings, but before she could really take in the giant pile of multicolor and multi-sized bags. Cassie was hit in the head with other falling pieces of new luggage. Ouch, Cassie sighed again, this has to be the worst trip I have ever taken.

Again, multiple arms came and went, snatching bags and pieces of luggage. Cassie was eventually hoisted by her feet into the air. This is why Cassie didn’t like roller coasters, she squealed, “I don't like being upside down.” She was deposited; head first, into a small box. The arm released her, leaving legs tumble over, and with them, the whole box did as well. As she lay there, she could not help but wonder exactly what it was that made her deserve all this. Cassie wanted to move, but she was not sure who would be watching, since she could not see, very well, outside the box. Her legs were stuck at odd angles, but she left them that way, just in case.

As she lay there awkwardly half in, and out, of the box, she took a moment to relax. “This has been the quietest this day has been yet,” she thought to herself. Cassie could now hear all kinds of machinery going to, and fro, and there were blurs of movement from her limited field of view. Surely, she never thought her day would end up like this. Cassie thought sarcastically, “I mean seriously, who could ever dream something like this up?”

Cassie didn’t have to wait too long before she felt her legs being picked up. The box and Cassie were once again placed in an inverted position. Before she could think about being upside down again, her legs were folded into the box. She squealed, “What? There is no way I'm going to fit in that small box!” The arms must have felt differently, as they quickly tucked her legs into the empty space around Cassie. Her entire body was like a giant pretzel now, filling in all of the available space in the box. Her face was covered, all but for one eye, so she could only half see out of the box.

The arms left and were replaced with some type of nozzle. Cassie thought, “Uh oh, that does not look good.” Pink goo poured out of the nozzle and onto her, within seconds, she was covered with this goo. Before Cassie could think, "Ew!” the goo turned into a solid lump, completely filling every empty space in the box. With everything muffled and now completely dark, she could barely hear the computer say, "Packing foam applied." Cassie thought, “Well, at least I will be safe if they drop me out of the plane, while it is still flying!”

Cassie felt the box being moved around, pushed and pulled, then dropped and left alone. She felt a slight vibration throughout the box. Cassie thought, “Hmm, I must be on the truck headed to the plane.” Her ride to the airplane was bumpy and unpleasant; Cassie must have done a dozen somersaults over the next few minutes, before her ride finally stopped. There was a loud noise, or hum, that even made it through her packing foam, so she figured she was being loaded on the plane now. Like the rest of the luggage, Cassie was dropped in a pile with other bags and packages. She could tell she was tilted at an angle. There was nothing Cassie could do, once the plane started moving, there was no way she could unpack herself, and even if she could, Cassie could never explain it. Cassie had only one choice, enter sleep mode. Shutting most of her systems down, which made her uncomfortable position even more unpleasant, Cassie eventually went to "sleep." She thought as the noise and the hectic day faded away, “Ah, I am so ready for a nap...and maybe a vacation.”