Burning Down Cye's House

Burning Down Cye's House

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Summary:
Cye is the latest in biocybertechnics. Bios are a combination of wires, gears, animal and human DNA to create everything from sophisticated personal assistants to floor waxers. But, maybe these bios have become just a little too alive.

This is, in my opinion, a neat little story (currently weighing in at ten chapters) about cyborgs, sentient to varying degrees; some almost entirely human, some mostly machines. They have emotions and desires, but only those programmed into them- and they understand that they are limited. They want more. They want to want things.
It's M/M slash, but only very occasionally; for the most part it's about... revolution. It only has three reviews, one of them mine; I think that's a direct result of not mainly being about the hot mansex, and that annoys me.
The story makes me think about where we are going with computers and machines, about where to draw the line, about how to even define whether something is "alive". In my eyes, a story that makes me think about things like that deserves a little more love than it's gotten.

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"It was perfectly fine."

"Adequate."

"More than adequate. Fine. Great. Nice even."

"It sounded more than nice."

"I ascribe deep and powerful meaning to the word nice."

"Ah." Rocking back on his heels, Kohl looked up at the ceiling. "When this is all over, do you think we'll be able to modify our programming?" he blurted out.

"Modify? What? Of course, but what exactly do you want to modify?"

"I mean, it's no secret that Telemann's have a sex subroutine, but we don't actually enjoy the act of sex. I mean we're not programmed to like or enjoy it, just to be able to have it."

"Yes." Cye looked at him quizzically.

"I am never going to sound like [Cye having sex]," Kohl said. "And it's not just sex. I can't love or enjoy the way I should, not food or soft blankets or chocolate or chai tea. It seems like I should be able to enjoy chai tea. It smells so ... something that I can almost grasp and explain, but not. I want to enjoy things. I want to be able to say, that was a wonderful thing, a sunset to make the heart race, poetry with beauty enough to make you cry, colors so beautiful I will keep them inside me forever. I want that."