”“Yeah, it does, but according to Helen, the AI follows rules laid down to govern what it has to hear to respond to us properly. Our programmers, ...n other words, some of my wives, at first, would not allow it to record what it heard until we called it. But with that method, we would sometimes have to bring it up to date, so to speak, for it to understand fully the complicated directions that came out of a conversation or from a compilation of happenings. In other words, it could not respond. . . .’ I sounded like a mouse. ‘What, private?’ ‘I, uh, well, I’m. . . .’ ‘Spit it out, private.’ ‘I took second at the regionals in Montana for the 100meter freestyle. I grew up swimming in creeks and ponds that are colder than that lake,’ I explained diffidently. ‘Sir.’ ‘Shut up, private,’ he snapped. ‘I won’t have you taking risks anymore. And that’s an order.’ ‘Yessir.’ Risks. Maybe I’d better not take him out in my truck, I had a feeling he wouldn’t like it. ‘Good girl,’ he praised,. He had lost many fellow officers that day. The grief and anger might have subsided if not for the fact that Usama bin Laden was somehow managing to avoid justice. American forces were still pursuing him, but Usama was still at large.He turned off the TV, angry after another report detailing how the army still hadn't gotten Usama yet. He walked over to his desk and got out the medal he had received. He was hoping that the symbol of the recognition he had received would cheer him, but all it did. It seemed to make my own comparatively pale, dainty hand vanish.�Steffie,� he boomed out so loud I was afraid the neighbors would hear, �so nice to meet you.� He looked me up and down appraisingly, like a man buying a prize a****l. If I’d hoped they weren’t terribly noticeable, he dashed those hopes at once by saying, �I like the toes.�Then, effortlessly, he pulled me against his chest, crushing me against the hot, hairy, manly-scented bulk of him. I made a small whimper of protest but it was.