Jeff brought a large bowl of popcorn and two tall glasses of soda back to the living room, and set them on the coffee table. He started to sit in the recliner, but Anya said, "Why don't you sit on the sofa with me?" They started the movie.
After a little while, Anya leaned over against Jeff. Having never been close with Anya before, this seemed rather strange, and he wasn't entirely sure it was appropriate with his sister. But she'd just been through a lot, and he still felt sorry for her no longer being human, so he didn't object. He thought it felt kind of nice, her body pressed against his, with her head against his shoulder, but he wished he had a girlfriend doing it, rather than his sister.
Some minutes later, she asked him to put his arm around her, and hold her. She must be feeling insecure about her non-human form, he thought, and she needs comforting. He was somewhat reluctant, but decided that he should humor her. As he put his arm around her, she snuggled more into him.
He was enjoying the movie, and the popcorn and soda. He noticed that she hadn't had any popcorn or soda, and asked her about it. "OK, I'll try it," she said, and put one piece of popcorn in her mouth. After a moment she spit it back into her hand. "I can't taste it. I guess I don't have taste buds. Maybe I can add them." After a moment she put the popcorn back in her mouth. Before long she took it out again. "I can detect some of the components, like the fat of the butter, and the salt, but it's like reading a lab report. I can't actually 'taste' it. I don't really smell it either."
"Oh, that's too bad," said Jeff, honestly disappointed. "Do you need to consume food or water?"
"No," Anya replied. "I need battery charging instead, every few days. But I can 'eat' the popcorn anyhow. I have to be able to eat and drink in social situations." She put the popcorn back in her mouth, and chewed and swallowed it. She took a sip of her soda, and ate a little more popcorn. "The soda is the same. I can sense the carbonation, and the corn syrup. I know it should taste sweet, but it doesn't really do anything for me."
Jeff was saddened to hear that. At least the doll form gave her human-comparable mobility, sight, hearing, and speech. "Say, do you not need glasses now?"
"No," Anya replied, "in this form my vision is very good. Better than when I was human. I guess there are some benefits. This body also won't ever age or get sick."
"I suppose there's a lot to be said for that," Jeff said, trying to be positive, despite increasingly feeling sorry for her.
After a while, she grasped the hand of the arm he had around her, and moved it to her breast. He was startled and shocked, and yanked his arm away. Trying to comfort her, in a purely platonic way, was fine, but this was over the line.
Anya said, "Jeff, I thought you liked me now."
"Anya!" Jeff said, barely able to compose himself enough to speak. "You're my sister. I like you, but not like *that*."
"But I'm not your sister any more," Anya explained. "I'm not even human any more. There's no reason we can't be even closer."
Jeff was shocked. "You're still my sister, even if you're not human. Even if I wanted to, we can't."
"But I actually am _not_ your sister any more, in any sense. And I can't conceive a child, so we can even have sex without any concern for pregnancy let alone any defects due to inbreeding."
Her bluntly mentioning the possibility of their having sex shocked the hell out of him. "Don't you want to find your own boyfriend, rather than starting a relationship with your own brother?"
"You're NOT my brother now. And who else could ever accept me for what I am now?" Anya replied. You're the only person who knows what I really am, and I don't want anyone else to know. And I don't think I could be with anyone who doesn't."
"Holy shit," Jeff said, not quite yelling. "I can't even believe we're having this conversation! What would mom and dad think?"
"I'm certain that Mom and dad will be fine with it. In fact, they've been waiting for it."
"Have you gone completely insane?" Jeff asked. "Maybe you need to separate from the Chronivac for your own good!"
"No, you don't understand," Anya said. "After realizing that I can never be human again, when I changed myself into the doll, and made it life size, I changed reality so that I've always been a robotic companion to you. You and I are the only ones that remember otherwise. Mom and dad purchased me when they found out that mom couldn't have another child. They preferred that to adoption, because it was quick and easy. Every year they've taken me in to have my body size and shape adjusted for the year's growth. They expected us to be very close, and were always disappointed that we didn't get along. They were actually hoping that once you hit puberty, you would start using me for your sexual needs."
As she explained, Jeff realized that he had two sets of memories of their past, the one that had apparently been real, up until yesterday, and a new set, in which he had known for years that she was a robot. "This is just too much. I need to be alone for a while," Jeff said, as he headed upstairs to his room.