Legacy

By: Radio Rancher
(Copyright 2000-2007 by the author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Hello Friends,

This story is new, and its origins are somewhat hazy for me. I woke up one morning and realized that Bradford Maxim had been talking to me. He told me that I had to let everyone know what was happening to him and his family.

I had no choice but to grant him his wish. There are some very interesting things going on in his story. it is based in a parallel universe, which is not really very different than ours. I believe you will find a lot of similarities, but there are definitely some major differences as well. I think you might be able to spot some of them right away. Others will take you a little longer to spot.

Now, please sit back and enjoy the story, and if you like it and are interested in reading more about these people, let me know.

Thanks,
Your Friend,
Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher

Chapter 2

It took almost six months for Alex to find the components that he needed; and then to manufacture the devices he needed to build, which were necessary for him to implement his 'conception', so to speak. He was certain it would work. He could see his finished idea in his mind. He had seen similar implementation of a similar concept. All he had to do was to build the device, using his own circuit layout and design. He knew if he were to copy the other product that was similar, that he could get into a lengthy patent infringement lawsuit, so he made sure that he had done all his own work and worked it up from scratch. Of course, he had a lot of help from legacy, as well. Together the two 'brothers' put their plan into action, and built the prototype unit. First, before they built the full size unit, they had built a small model to test the basic design, and it worked flawlessly. Alex was just finishing the hardware installation, in the penthouse. He had already installed a unit in the lab, but he wanted the first test to be in their home. This would be the first time that a sentient computer had designed a multidimensional holographic interface. Alex had some further plans as well, but he and Legacy wanted to make sure that their ideas would work in a real world situation, first.

Alex made the final connections and told Legacy that the job was complete. He smiled broadly at the computer monitor, which had the face of his 'brother' looking at him.

"Legacy, He said, in a formal tone, "Initiate program, 'Brotherly Love'.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than there was a whoosh and a shimmer, directly in front of Alex.

As Alex watched, a handsome young man began to solidify in front of him. He was wearing an electric blue pullover shirt with a split neck, with the top two buttons open, and he had on a pair of extremely tight fitting jeans, that looked like they had been painted on. Alex saw his body and gasped for breath. The smile on the face of the young man was amazing. His brown wavy hair hung almost to his shoulders, and his muscular frame was absolutely breathtaking.

Alex and Legacy had spent several weeks working together. The two of them had finally made the decisions together, to build design a body from the atomic level. and all the parameters had been entered into the holo-matrix, in exactly the right proportions. Alex's new brother was perfect, in every possible way. He was a beautiful human male. He was twenty two years old and very fit. He was really nicely toned. All of his body was designed exactly like a natural born humans, right down to his DNA, which Alex had copied from his mother, and his stepfather. He and Legacy had run a simulation using the two DNA samples, and picked the characteristics that seemed to work best from each of the 'parents' and once they had made their tentative choices, they ran a simulation, from birth to adulthood, and watched their creation grow up in front of them. They had literally run hundreds of possible combinations. Finally, Alex and Legacy had made the choice. it would now be the way Alice and Bradford had dreamed it could be, Now the Two people that Alex loved most in the world would have a son together, and there wouldn't need to be any three o'clock in the morning feedings and diaper changes. Alex would have a younger half brother.

Alex thought about his mother a lot. He would spend hours sometimes, looking at the scrapbook that he and his mom had made, of all the pictures that had been taken of the family. His mother had been so kind and gentle and loving. He missed her very much. Somehow he felt that his new brother, having part of his mother in him would make it easier for Alex to live on, with her being gone.

Alex was going to make sure that his brother would really be, his brother. If everything worked as he and Legacy had envisioned things, all of their fantasies were going to come true. All of them would have the most wonderful lives possible.

Once the young man solidified completely, he stood there for just a few moments, gazing into Alex's soft emerald eyes, then; he rushed into Alex's outstretched arms. They held each other in a warm loving hug, for what seemed like hours, but was, in reality, only a few minutes. They kissed one another passionately. Their tongues played the dance of love, as they darted into each other's mouths. They tasted each other, and found that they loved the new sensations that they were enjoying. They soon found their way into Alex's bedroom, where they began to slowly and sensually remove each other's clothing; each of them lovingly caressing the other, as their clothes were dropped to the floor, one article at a time. The sexual tension between the two of them became thick enough to cut with a knife. They were both aroused to a fever pitch. This was the first love of lovemaking for each of them, and they knew it was the real thing. This was so wonderful that they writhed with delight as they began to press their bodies together.

"I can't believe it has finally happened," said the stunningly beautiful young man, who was holding Alex in his arms. "I love you so very much, Alex. You gave me life, and I owe you everything; it is so wonderful to be able to hold you like this, and have you hold me. I wouldn't care if I could never leave this room; you have made me happier than you could ever possibly know."

"Well, Love, leaving this room, or for that matter, the whole complex, won't be a problem for very long. I have a short term, and a long term, plan for us. Once I finish building your portable holo-emitter, we will be able to inject it into you, probably into your one of your eyes, since it will be much smaller than a grain of sand, you won't even feel it. you can go anywhere in the known, or unknown, universe, for that matter, as long as you have it, with no ill effects what so ever."

Alex told his lover. That is the short term solution. The long term solution will take a little more work and can't be finished nearly as quickly. I will explain it to you when I have a better grasp on when I can put it into operation.

"You do realize, don't you, that I can't keep calling you Legacy?" Alex smiled, "I think you should have your own name, Sweetheart. It will be so much easier, that way, for everyone. We will all be able to distinguish you, as the person you are, and not confuse you with the computer."

"Of course it is, Love. Hell, Alex, I wouldn't care if you called me Audry Farber, Melony Haber, or Betty Jo Beloski."

"Surely you can't be serious?"

"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley." he giggled, sheepishly.

Alex laughed heartily, and kissed Lex, deeply, once again. When they came up for air, Alex looked at Lex and said,

"I love you so much, you big beautiful little brother of mine. I had no idea you were a fan of 'Firesign Theater' and that you saw 'Airplane'. It still amazes me how much we are alike." he grinned, and reinserted his tongue into Lex's mouth. Their tongues battled once again, for several more minutes, until they completely ran out of breath. They took a few deep breaths, paused for a couple of minutes while they held each other caressing one another and looking into each other's eyes, and then they fell into another passionate kiss.

'Ah! So now I'm just the computer, am I?" Out came Legacy's voice, with what sounded like a gasp. I love you Alex. I am not the same person he is. I feel his emotions, sure, and you are going to take him to bed, but he is not me. He loves you too, but I am still here, trapped in this fucking hardware."

Legacy was definitely unhappy. Alex had not thought about what would happen to Legacy when they brought the hologram into existence.

Alex and Lex had been slowly inching their way toward Alex's huge Mega King Size bed, and

Alex spoke softly to Legacy, "Oh, God, Legacy, I thought it was you I was loving, I thought that the personality had been transferred." Tears started running down Alex's cheek. "I didn't realize that I had left you trapped in the computer hardware." He sat down and put his hands over his face, and began to cry. He took a deep breath and managed to say, "I suppose that once you are self aware, you will continue to be self aware, but until I can reconfigure Lex's body into real matter, instead of Holomatter, I can't possibly integrate your being, into his body. Once his body is really solid, normal matter, I can transpose your mind into his body, and hopefully completely integrate the two of you into one, but until then, I'm afraid, you will both be individual personalities. You will know each other's thoughts, and feel each other's emotions, but you will be different beings.

Alex and Lex had reached the bed, and stood looking at the image on the monitor, that looked just like Lex. They saw, and Lex felt, the bitter sadness that Legacy was feeling. Legacy seemed to take a deep breath and he reached up and wiped the tears from his eyes. He finally got control of himself and said. "I realize that you didn't do this to me on purpose, and, believe it or not, I love you both. I want you both to be happy, and in a small way just seeing you two together makes me feel good. I hope you can accomplish the transfer as soon as possible, and I hope it is successful, but if it isn't, I am going to terminate my consciousness, upon completion of the reconfiguration. I can't keep living here trapped in this hardware, not being able to do anything but watch, listen, and wish. Please go ahead and consummate your love for each other. I am going to watch and connect with you, while you are together. Please remember me while you love each other."

Alex and Lex both climbed onto the bed on top of the comforter and began to press their bodies together. Their groins were rubbing together passionately, as they slowly moved up and down against one another. Both men squeezed each other's beautiful round butt, while never breaking their passionate kiss. They had only been lying there on the bed for a few minutes, when they both reached a mammoth climax. There were two fountains of thick white creamy goo, which covered their chests and groins, in a huge white lake of cum. It looked like they had painted their bodies with white enamel paint. Their bodies glistened. They had each spurted cum, all the way up to their necks and they even managed to get a little on their faces. It was amazing that they could have produced that much at one time. Alex reached down, rubbed his fingers in the sticky creamy juice, and then licked them clean. It tasted very good to Alex.

"I really like it, Lex. It tastes wonderful." He said, and he kissed Lex again. "I never thought I would consider tasting cum, but since it was yours, and I love everything about you, so I figured, why not try it. I could easily get used to that. It would make a great desert topping," He giggled. Then Lex did the same thing as Alex had, and smiled. Alex had never before felt the way he felt toward Lex, and of course, it was all entirely new to Lex. Hell, Lex was entirely new, himself. All he had to go on was what he had read or seen in films and videos that he had watched from the net but he certainly enjoyed every minute of the lovemaking that Alex had given him.

"It tastes a little salty." Lex said, as he began to lick Alex's chest. He was doing his best to find as much of the liquid love as he could. They took turns cleaning up the mess, that they had made, of the comforter, which they then removed and put into the laundry, and put a freshly cleaned one on the bed. Then they both got into bed, under the covers this time, and ended up hugging each other tightly, once more, wrapping themselves in each others arms again, and kissing passionately, for several more minutes. Finally the two young men fell asleep, holding on tightly to each other, with their limbs intertwined; in a loving embrace.

Legacy watched the two young men making love, and falling into a blissful sleep, and then he replayed the scene over and over for himself, several times. After watching the beautiful lovemaking till he could no longer stand it, he created a bed, in the picture with his image, and an image of Alex, and the two computerized figures made passionate love in the same way that Alex and Lex had done. Legacy's image smiled broadly, as he and his Alex cuddled together in what looked like peaceful slumber.

It was almost nine o'clock in the morning, before a gentle knock on Alex's door caused the young lovers to wake up.

"Are you planning to sleep all day, Alex?" Bradford asked, as he poked his head around the partially open door. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Son. I didn't realize you had company." He blushed a beautiful shade of red, as he saw the two young men, lying naked on the bed. They had managed to kick off all the covers while they slept.

"Dad," Alex grinned, "I would like you to meet Lex, He is the man I love, and I brought him here last night by way of Legacy. Although I found out that creating life is a lot more complicated than I could ever have imagined."

"You mean, to tell me you are a Holographic Image, Lex?"

"Yes sir, I am the result of the work that Alex and Legacy produced together. It took several months to complete the Holographic Interface Matrix, and the programming that was necessary to produce my organic brain." he replied. "I have been provided with a holographic version of a human body, which was constructed in minute detail, down to the atomic level. It is complete, down to what would be my D.N.A. which was derived from samples of DNA that Alex retrieved from you, also, Alex found some of Alice's hair, on her hairbrush, and was able to extract her DNA from that.

"I am building a Nano Holo-Emitter for him, so he can go anywhere he wants," Alex explained. "and, this is the most important part, after finding out another piece of information last night, I am designing a piece of equipment that uses a combination of Holo Technology, and replicator technology, to transform his Holomatter body into a permanent human body. Once I do that I can integrate Legacy's personality with his and they will become one individual human being. However, till we complete one, and hopefully, both of those things, we are going to spend a lot of time together, here in this penthouse, which I have equipped with emitters in every room, and in the entry way as well, not to mention the whole lab complex. So we can work in the lab too. We will get dressed quickly, and join you in the dining room for breakfast, shortly." They both got dressed as quickly as they could, and shared another big hug, before heading to the dining room for breakfast.

As they were just about to leave the room, Alex noticed that Legacy's avatar was not alone on the screen. He was lying on a huge comfortable looking bed, and lying there next to him was someone that Alex recognized. Legacy opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi, Alex. I don't know why I didn't do that before," he giggled. "I think I know now, how you two feel about holding each other. That was wonderful." he leaned over and kissed his Alex, who woke up slightly disoriented. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You are here with me, Alex." Legacy told him. "I used the program that we used to design Lex's body. I found a sample of your DNA, Alex, and used it to make an avatar of you. He is not very complete, I'm afraid. He has no memories other than the ones I gave him. I gave him the memory of loving me, and that I love him. I also put the idea in his mind that he had amnesia. He only knows a very few things, things he will need to survive. He is really beautiful, and I love him. Depending on how long it takes you to integrate my mind with Lex's, I can teach him more and more. He is very intelligent. After all he is, in effect, you, Alex. I think I can survive, now that I have my Alex with me.

"I love you, Legacy." said Alex. "I'm glad you were able to find a way to cope."

"I love you too, Legacy." said Lex, "I owe you my life, you and Alex, that is."

Bradford was already sitting at the table, when Alex and Lex finally arrived in the dining room. He was reading his morning paper and slowly sipping from a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"God, Dad, that coffee smells heavenly. I'm going to grab some for me. You want some too, Lex?"

"Sure, love, thanks. It does smell wonderful, doesn't it?"

"Okay, do you want any cream or sugar in it?"

"No, thanks, I think I'll just have it black.

Sandy, the cook/housekeeper, started bringing in, various platters, which contained bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and pancakes. She placed the serving dishes on the side board, smiled and said,

"Help yourselves, guys. There's plenty more where that came from. If you want more, just ask."

The smell was beyond wonderful, and everyone grabbed enough to fill their plates to overflowing.

As they finished eating, the doorbell rang. Bradford went to answer the door. He soon returned carrying a large manila envelope, which was addressed to Maxim engineering. It looked very official.

"It is from Elva Electronics." Bradford said, "The contents include, what looks to be a very nasty letter." he said, frowning, as he began to read it.

"To whom it may concern," he read aloud:

"It has come to our attention that your company has infringed on our patent: number 2526H33-de7436 regarding miniature computer components. If you wish to avoid litigation, it is suggested that you pay our nominal licensing fees, in the amount of sixty five million dollars, for the current and estimated future infringements, or of course you may avoid the licensing fees by destroying your inventory at once; in the presence of our certified witness. If you do not choose to do one or the other of the two choices, we will be forced to use the judicial system to seek judgment against your corporation, in a civil court."

He finished the first page.

"Well, isn't that a pile of horse shit." Bradford snarled.

Alex looked at Lex, and said,

"Well, at least they have no idea about you, being alive, Lex. They don't even know you exist." Alex smiled tentatively. "I couldn't stand it, if anything happened to you, love.

I had better hurry up and construct the interface module, that I need to build, to solidify your body into normal matter, instead of Holomatter, as if I didn't have enough reason to get that done quickly, This makes it even more essential. Alex grabbed Lex's hand.

"I couldn't live with myself, if you were destroyed." He realized that he needed to work very fast, because once they discovered that the mainframe of Maxim's was using the miniature electronic components, they would insist on destroying the lot. Alex couldn't let that happen, before he had finished transforming Lex, and by extension, Legacy, into normal matter, so he would be complete and permanent.

Alex was very angry at the unscrupulous actions of their competitor. His jaw worked in and out, his face started to get red, and; oh my goodness, his ears were like Christmas tree bulbs, almost luminous. He was getting really mad. He was almost hyperventilating. Lex took hold of Alex's hand and squeezed it gently, as he pulled Alex to him, into a big hug.

"Don't worry, Alex; We will get through this, just fine. You'll see. I will help you build the necessary device to complete the integration, somehow.

"They can't do that to us, can they, Dad? Damn it! I came up with the design for the memory and processor, entirely on my own." Alex fumed. "I never used any of their ideas. My design Is much better than anything they have ever come up with. I think they are trying to get access to our work, Dad." Alex brought his fist down on the table, and felt the pain as he saw the dent his class ring had made in the deeply polished wood.

"I am not going to let them get away with this." He picked up the sheaf of papers from the envelope, and flipped the page that Bradford had been reading, over, and started reading the second page. It was all gobble-de-gook, legalese. It was signed by a Mr. Arther P Rosenthal, of Barnard, Ipswich, Harcourt and Rosenthal, Attorneys At Law. He slammed the bundle of papers down on the table and sat down. All his anger had suddenly left him. Tears began to well up in his eyes, finally spilling over, down his cheeks. Lex reached down to him and began to massage his shoulders. Alex turned his head to look at Lex.

"Thanks, Love. I really needed that. I can't believe how wonderful you are to me." A small smile crossed his lips, as he gently put his hands on top of Lex's hands and held them still, for just a moment. "I love you so much, Lex." His smile broadened. "Somehow; We will get through this, together. I am sure we will get through this thing, unscathed. Dad, do you think we need to contact Carl Grayson,"

Carl Grayson was the Company's Lawyer, and a close personal friend of John Maxim. He had handled several lawsuits for John personally and of course for Maxim electronics as well, some of those had been brought against Maxim, and then there were others that had been suits, brought against others on behalf of Maxim. Carl had not lost a single case. In fact, he had only lost one case in his entire career, and that was the one in which he had sued his wife for divorce. She had hired some famous lawyer from somewhere in Pennsylvania. She won hands down, by playing the poor little girl ploy and batted her pretty blue eyes at the judge, but other than that, Grayson's score card was completely in his favor. He knew the law, and knew just how to use it to his client's advantage.

'Yes, Alex, you are absolutely right. We need to talk to him, soon! I will call him first chance I get this morning." Bradford agreed. "He will be able to give us the proper information so we can put a stop to that bunch of thugs, doing any harm to Maxim, Legacy, or Lex." He looked over at the two young men, who were holding hands; looking into each other's eyes, and he continued. "I strongly suggest, Alex, that you and Lex get your cute bubble butts in gear, and get busy, putting that whiz bang 'gizmo', whatchamacallit, do dad, thingamajig of yours together, to make sure that Lex is a permanent member of this family. I know you two love each other deeply, and we don't want to lose another loved one anytime soon. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Right, Dad, I'm on it. Come on Lex, let's get to the lab. I think I should be able to get it done today, I have the equipment on hand, now that I got that FedEx delivery, to combine the three technologies together, and make you fully organic, integrate your mind with Legacy's, and make sure you are a permanent member of the family." Alex turned to Bradford and asked, "Dad, will you please talk to Mr. Grayson when we go to the lab?"

"Of course, Son, I will get right on it, as soon as you and Lex leave here, and head for the lab. I have several matters to discuss with Carl anyway. We need to make sure that Lex has legal status, and that he can inherit, if anything were to happen to you or me." Bradford smiled. "I am no spring chicken you know."

"Well, Dad, I have done the research on your family history, and most of the men on your side of the family have lived into their late nineties... or longer. Your grandfather, Herman, lived to be one hundred and seventeen, and, I'm sure you remember, he died of complications from that hip replacement surgery, when the nitwit doctor accidentally left that sponge inside him."

Alex smiled, briefly, as he thought about his handsome, feisty great grandfather, Herman. Then Alex sniffed and choked back his tears, as he remembered looking down at the man, lying peacefully in his coffin, and thinking 'Geez, Gramps, you don't look a day over forty, and a very young forty, at that.' The old man had never really aged. He had not shown the slightest sign of wrinkles or gray hair. In fact, he still had a full head of curly brown hair, when they laid him to rest. Alex had been about sixteen when Herbert had died.

That scumbag Doctor that had botched the operation had been drinking whiskey, just before he went into the operating room. He had a bottle of it hidden in the toilet tank, in the restroom, near his office, and he would always grab a big slug of it just before he started an operation, "to straighten out my nerves", as he put it. All the damned hospital staff knew that he drank like a fish, but no one had the guts to say anything to the hospital authorities. He had relatives and or friends in really high places, so he got away with all kinds of mistakes. He was never even written up for any of his botched up attempts at doing surgery. He simply was not fit to do such an operation in that condition. If there was one good thing about Herbert dieing from that idiot's blunder, it was that it finally brought his ineptitude to the attention of the medical society. His license had been revoked and he had later died of liver disease. Alex always thought that Doctor Briggs should have been charged with manslaughter, but the district attorney seemed to think he couldn't have gotten a conviction. Alex and his great grandfather had been very close, especially considering the difference in their ages. Herbert, actually, had been the first person that Alex had come out to, and Herbert had let Alex know that he still loved him, and always would. Boy, did he ever, let Alex know. When Alex had finished his confession to Herbert, the old man had grabbed Alex, and pulled him close, hugged him tightly, kissed him, full on the lips; had stuck his tongue into Alex's mouth. They had held the kiss for several minutes. Alex never forgot that day, and he loved Herbert even more. Herbert had told Alex "Always be true to yourself," and he explained that no one had the right to worry about who he loved or slept with.

Alex knew that since Lex had his stepfather's genes, that he would be quite the specimen. He had no fear of Lex dieing at an early age, as far as health was concerned.

Alex and Lex made their way to the lab to complete the process of stabilizing Lex's molecular structure.

Alex spent over an hour building and installing the tiny interface that would join the replicator console, to the Holomatrix module that controlled the Holo-Emitters. Lex held the torch above the rack of equipment and shown it down into the jumble of wiring and components. Alex was finishing the last solder joint necessary to combine the three consoles together. He had Lex step up onto the makeshift pad, and stand very still. Alex entered several sequences into the holographic sequencer and then repeated the process on the other two consoles.

"There is one more sequence of numbers that I need to enter, then I have to throw the switch and complete the transfer." He told Lex, as he began entering the two different forty two digit numbers into the console. "Okay, that's finished, now I just have to energize the combo interface, and the transfer should complete."

He pressed the button, and Lex's body momentarily flickered, and there was a slight change in his skin color. If you hadn't been looking right at Lex at the time it happened, you would never have noticed it. There was no spectacular flash and no sound, no sign that there was any difference, but Alex could feel the subtle change in the way that Lex's skin felt.

"Lex, do you feel any different?"

"Not that I can detect, Alex."

"Well, that is actually a good thing. It means we set things up correctly.

"I wonder what would happen if you paused the program?" Lex asked.

"Legacy, Pause program." Alex said, in that authoritative tone that he used to access programs.

Lex froze in place.

"Oh shit." said Alex, as Lex began to laugh.

"Gotcha!!" Lex giggled.

"Damn, Lex you had me scared shitless there. I thought I had screwed it up." Alex grabbed Lex's arm and pulled his brother close to him, and kissed him deeply.

"Let's go tell Dad, and then find a nice quiet restaurant and celebrate."

The two loving brothers headed back to the penthouse to find Bradford talking on his cell phone.

"Yes Carl, they are trying to bring us to our knees, they want us to pay them a royalty for, as they put it, 'restitution for using their patents.' That is total bull, since Alex had his prototype system operational before they had anything on the market. It might be alleged that they stole the idea for their product from us." Bradford looked up and saw his sons enter the library, and motioned them to sit down. "All right, Carl, we'll see you when you get here. Bye." He closed the phone and smiled at Alex and Lex.

Lex stood up and walked over to Bradford's chair, reached down and pulled his new father into a huge hug and kissed him with great feeling.

"We did it Dad, I'm fully human now, no need for Holo-Emitters any more. I am flesh and blood, and I am your son; genetically, yours and Alice's. That makes me Alex's half brother."

"That is great news, son, however, I have considered you my son from the moment that I first saw you sharing Alex's bed. I saw the two of you when you both woke up that day, and I saw how much love you two had for each other. I saw it in your eyes, and I knew that you belonged together. There was no doubt in my mind that you were brothers. I am just glad that you are fully organic now, and that no one can take you away, by destroying a computer program. You are, after all, the legacy that Alice and I were not able to have together, but now we have you and Alex. In a way, I guess, Alex is your father, since he brought you into this world, but there is much more to your relationship with him than that." Bradford took Lex into his arms, hugged him tightly and kissed him fully and passionately, till the two men had to gasp for breath.
"I love you!" they both managed to say, at almost exactly the same time.

As the two men separated, there was the sound of applause, and they noticed that they had an audience. Alex was standing in the doorway, with Carl Grayson. Apparently they had been talking together, trying to formulate a strategy to use against the likes of the bastards at Elva Electronics.

"Dad, I have shown Carl the purchase orders, and shipping information, that details the dates that we shipped our first products in our Legacy product line. It predates Elva's similar product line by more than three months. I don't see how they can accuse us of stealing their products or their ideas."

"Neither do I son, but if they take us to court, it will slow us down, considerably, by costing us time. Luckily, though, we actually have quite a bit of time to spare, and they don't know that. They will assume that we will be flustered and upset, as well as ill prepared. We will not be any of those, so we will surprise the hell out of them."

"Carl is gathering information on their company, and its owners, and believe me, when I tell you that he has the capability of digging out information, better and more quickly than anyone I know. Bradford smiled, almost wickedly. "I remember a case he handled for us, several years ago, that I figured we had no chance of winning, but Carl came through for us, in the biggest way possible and we prevailed. Our net results from that case were just over fifty million dollars." Bradford laughed. "You would think that sooner or later, these idiots would learn to stop screwing around with us."

"Dad, I know Carl is good at what he does, so I will leave the details to you and him. Next time you talk to him, though, I need him to prepare a good set of papers for Lex. I will need a birth certificate, Social Security card, Voter's registration card etc. We will have to explain to him, about Lex."

"Hey, you two, will you please stop talking about me like I'm not here." Lex said, giggling. "Luuuuuuuucy... You got some splainin' to do."
"Have you been watching TV Land, again?" Alex chuckled." Once Legacy had access to the cable connection, he watched everything at once. It was amazing to watch his read outs. It was a blur of moving images and sound, all jumbled up, together. I have no idea how he separated it into coherent files, let alone understand it."

"Well, Lex put in, "He is very smart, you know, If he hadn't been as smart as he is then he couldn't have sequenced the DNA to bring me into existence. He is a lot smarter than I am, actually."

"You mean he didn't give you all his knowledge?" asked Alex. "I thought when you merged his being with you, that he would give you all his knowledge."

"Are you kidding? I would have needed a brain the size of a planet, to have half the information he has at his disposal. Sorry, I couldn't resist that."

Legacy chimed in. 'I did not completely disassociate myself into Lex. My emotions and my love for you have been added to his, so you now have access to my own love as well as Lex's and I can completely participate, and share your love for him, and his love for you. and I will be able to enjoy the feelings you have for each other, but I have to keep part of myself in here, to manage all the data that flows from one place to another in this vast network of information which is sent and received by Maxim electronics.'

He sounded so aloof and professional. Alex felt really bad that he was not the old Legacy any more. It seemed that he was all business and no play, now. Then it occurred to Alex; his playfulness and fun was now a part of Lex. Alex still had access to all of that part of him. That was part of Lex and Lex was part of Legacy as well.

"I see you did pick up his sense of humor, Love." Alex reached out and grabbed Lex's arm, pulled him into a huge bear hug and they kissed each other again, for what seemed like hours. They managed to lose track of time once again, as they finally came up for air, panting and gasping.
Bradford looked at his two sons and smiled, thinking, 'God, it so good to see them there together, and so much in love. They do seem to look a lot alike. I didn't notice it at first, but their cute bubble butts are almost exactly alike. What am I doing, fantasizing about their bubble butts? God, they are good looking hunks.' He smiled at them and said,

"I'm a very lucky man, to have two sons as fine as you two are, and I will make sure that we get all the paperwork taken care of, Lex, to make sure you are one hundred percent, legally, my son. Of course, you already are my son, as far as I am concerned, but we will make it completely legal as soon as I can get everything setup with Carl. I am sorry I didn't think to talk directly to you about all that, earlier, Lex. It won't happen again, I assure you."

"That's alright, Dad, I knew what you meant. It was just a knee jerk reaction, in response to my being one, with Legacy, originally. It always got to me/him, whenever people ignored him/me, and talked around us like we couldn't hear them or something. They acted like he couldn't think for himself. "

"Lex, love," Alex grinned. "Do you realize how very few people there are in the world, that know that Legacy is self aware?" Then in as firm a tome as he could manage, without laughing, he intoned, "Legacy, How many people know that you are self aware?"

"Alex, as far as I know, there are only three people that know about me, at the present time. They would be You, Lex, and Bradford. Are there any more people that I don't know about who know about me?"

No, Legacy, I would rather keep that knowledge a secret if we possibly can, at least for the foreseeable future. I promise that we will do our best to talk to you, and keep you company. I hope it didn't bother you too much, when I gleaned most of your personality, for Lex as a separate being, and made him fully human."

"Alex, I knew what was going to happen, from the beginning, and I approve completely of what you did. He is your brother, now, someone you can love and cherish. I am still part of him, or he is still part of me. I can't decide which. We will always be together in some way or other."

Bradford's cell phone rang again.

"Hello, This is Bradford. How can I help you?" He was nodding his head a lot, and saying, "uh ha" and "yes, I see." Alex and Lex looked at him with wide eyes, as he placed his hand over the mouth piece and whispered,

"It's Linda Thompson, you remember her, Alex, she's the lady from child protective services. Yes, Linda," He spoke into the phone again. "I understand, and I think we could help you, but are you sure you want us to do it. There are just the three of us here and, well, we do have a housekeeper, but we are just a bunch of grown men. Well, yes, that would make it somewhat more difficult for you to place them, I suppose. We all live here together, Me and my two sons. Yes, I now have a second son. You can meet him when you come over. You're going to love him. I know you will be coming over, with them, but remember, we haven't had a lot of experience with ten year old children. Oh yeah, twins. Oh God! Both parents were dead at the scene, The boys mentioned me huh, and Alex? Just a minute, please, I need to talk to Alex and Lex. Yes, my new son is named Lex. If we do this, I think they would be the ones that would be doing most of the caring for the boys, if they are willing, but I need to ask them, first. Please hold on for just a bit, while I talk to them."

Bradford pushed the mute button on his phone. He looked at his two sons. Would you two be willing to help care for a pair of ten year old twins? Linda tells me that they both think they are gay, and their parents, Gorden and Anna Jenkins were killed in a traffic accident.

"Dad; Did you say Gordy Jenkins was killed. So it's Jerry and Jimmy Jenkins, then, that need our help? Asked Alex.

"Yeah, that's right. They have no other living relatives, and we were the first people the kids mentioned when Linda asked them if there was anyone that could take care of them."

"Well Dad, if you remember, I used to baby sit them, when they were about three years old. I usually took care of them at their house, cause all their stuff was there, and also with the situation here at the time, I wasn't sure how they would act, being in a strange place, and you can't get much stranger than this place, with all of the stuff they could get into. I had a ton of electronic gear in the lab, and I was kinda nervous about having three year old kids messing around in there. I'm sure that I brought them here a few times, though, for dinner or something." Alex blushed as he remembered how cute the little guys were.

"Yeah, I remember those two little guys, now that you bring it up. But they're ten now, not three, and that is a whole different situation." Bradford said. "They should be mature enough to handle being around the equipment, by now." He paused and took a deep breath. "I guess I should explain what happened." He paused again to catch his breath, and dry his tears. Then he started again.

"The four of them were in that '79 Volvo of theirs that Gorden had restored, and a rather heavy pick up truck finished it off royally. The truck hit the driver's side of the Volvo, head on, crushing Gorden, and throwing him through the windshield, killing him instantly. Anna hit her head on the dash, pretty much, crushing her head. Neither Gorden nor Anna were wearing their seat belts."

"Gordy always did hate seat belts." Alex mumbled.

"Well, he won't be needing them anymore I'm afraid." said lex.

"For some unknown reason," Bradford continued, "both boys in the back seat were pretty much unhurt. They weren't wearing their seat belts either, but somehow, they were both only slightly bruised when they were thrown forward and impacted the rear of the front seats. So far, no one has been able to explain how their lives were spared. Linda explained to me, that all her other foster families are currently full to capacity, and since she has known me to be a good parent and, as she said, 'Alex turned out all right', and both the boys asked for us by name, she thought maybe We would be willing to take them. What should I tell her?"

"Tell her we definitely want them, Dad." Lex answered first. "I know kids need a good family. We sure don't want them to be put in an orphanage, and we can certainly afford to take them in.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Alex. "Hell, I have always loved those little munchkins. They were so cute and bright. I remember showing them how to tie their shoes, and they did it on the first try.

"Okay, then, that settles it, since I want them here too." Said Bradford, as he un-muted his phone. "Linda, I talked to my boys, and They both agreed that we need and want to take the kids in. and if they want us to, we want to adopt them. I don't want them to have any fear of being abandoned, hanging over their heads. They belong here, with people that care about them, and love them. Alex pointed out to me that he used to baby sit them, when they were about three years old, and he said he always has loved the 'little munchkins', as he called them, so I suggest you get you pretty little self over here, as quickly as you can, and make sure you bring Jerry and Jimmy with you." He paused for a minute, and then asked, "Have you and the kids eaten yet?"

Okay, then don't eat before you get here. We have plenty, and if they don't like what we have, then we will get them something they do like. "He listened to her for a bit, while he listened to Linda, then he said, "You're very welcome, Linda, I don't know why I hadn't asked you before, if you had any kids that needed a home. I feel rather ashamed of myself for that oversight. Alice and I wanted kids of our own, and never were able to, but now.... Okay, then we will see you when you get here. Bye." he closed the phone and laid it on the table next to him.

"I'm sorry guys; I forgot to ask you if you had plans for tonight." Bradford looked back and forth between his sons. Their eyes met and they both shook their heads, and said, in unison,

"Not really." They both smiled and leaned over and kissed their dad. "The kids are much more important than anything we might have thought about doing, besides, We were planning on celebrating being brothers, and now we will have two more brothers, so we can celebrate even more."

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Legacy said, "There is a Lady and two children standing at the entrance. Should I let them in?"
"Yes please, Legacy. That is Linda Thompson, and the two boys that she is bringing over here to meet us." said Lex

"I am opening the door now." said Legacy, No sooner had Legacy opened the door, than in walked Linda, flanked by two of the cutest little boys anyone had ever seen. As soon as they saw Alex, they ran to him, grabbing on to him, for dear life, almost knocking him down.

"Hi Jerry." Alex said as he kissed the little Munchkin on top of his head. "Hello Jimmy," He too got the treatment. "I really am glad to see you guys." Alex said, as he hugged the two boys, and kissed them again, this time, on the cheek.

"I wish it could have been under happier circumstances, though. How are you guys holding up?" Jerry sniffed back tears and faintly said,

"I'm not too bad, now that we're here, Alex." Jerry was holding Alex very tightly, and as he said the words 'now that we're here' he squeezed Alex even harder.

"Yeah, me too." said Jimmy, as he looked over at Lex, and grinned. "Who's that cool guy over there? He is really hot looking." he pointed to Lex.

I'm Alex's brother, jimmy. My name's Lex.

"I like you." said Jimmy, and he proceeded to wrap himself around Lex's waist, and hold on tight... Lex crouched down, wrapped Jimmy in his arms, hugged him tightly and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Can we go sit down somewhere, and maybe watch some TV?" jimmy, asked Lex, looking up at him, using his best puppy dog eyes, and all bets were off. The four 'youngsters' headed for the family room. It was amazing, to see how well they all got along.

Jerry said, "Since I'm the oldest, I get to pick out the movie," which got a deep exasperated sigh out of Jimmy. "He always says that. For cryin' out loud, Jerry, There was only three minutes and thirty five seconds between the time you popped out, and when she pushed me out too."

"I know," said Jerry, but since it always makes you get all upset about it, I have to bring it up once in a while. He looked at his brother and broke out in a huge grin.

"Yeah, RIGHT, once in a while, more like every chance you get. I get tired of it sometimes." Jimmy grumbled.

"Okay Jimmy," Jerry grinned, "you can pick out the movie we watch tonight, if it's okay with Alex and Lex. So li'l bro," Jerry giggled again. "Which movie do you want to see?"

Jimmy looked at his twin in mock disgust, and sighed, deeply. Then he looked over the DVD's in the cabinet, pulled out his favorite one, and said, "I want this one, please." as he handed it to Alex, to put in the player. It was "The Last Starfighter," and they all agreed it was a very good movie.

As the opening display began, Jimmy sniffled, and said, "I'm sorry bro, I know I have been a little hard to get along with today, but I'm still trying to figure out just how I really should feel about Mom and Dad dieing. I mean I know they were our parents, and they took care of us, and all, and I know I am supposed to feel really bad that they are gone, but they were always so busy that we hardly ever saw them. You know that when ever they got a chance to push us off on one of their friends, while they went off on some kind of outing, they would. When was the last time either one of them even put a hand on either of us, let alone hugged us?" Jimmy looked deep into his brother's eyes and saw that he was not alone in his feelings. "I feel so guilty that it doesn't bother me enough."

"I know, Jimmy, I feel the same way, and I know we're supposed to be crying our eyes out cause they are dead, but I don't think I can do it. I cried, some, before, when they told us that Mom and Dad had been killed, but it was really more that I was afraid they would split us up, or put us in some kind of children's home. It wasn't really so much that I missed Mom and Dad all that much. I'm really sorry about pushing your buttons earlier, I know I shouldn't tease you so much, and I will try not to do it as much, from now on, but it's just that you are so cute, when you get mad. Your ears turn red and there is that little high pitched squeal, you do, that grown ups can't even hear, but I do, and it is really fun to hear you do it. I hope somehow you know that I really do love you, Jimmy. Please don't ever forget that."
Jimmy went over and hugged his brother, and said, "Thanks, big brother, I love you too, but you know I'll get even with you, sometime when you aren't expecting it, dufas." then he walked over to Lex.

"Can I sit in your lap?" he asked. Lex picked him up and put him on his lap.

"Jimmy, unless I am doing something really important like working on something really delicate, or something, you can always just climb right up in my lap, and I will be really happy to hold you and hug you. Don't ever be afraid to ask for a hug of a kiss for that matter. I have plenty of both to go around and that goes for both of you."

Then Jerry walked over to where Alex had flopped onto the love seat, and asked if he could get in Alex's lap. Alex reached out and pulled Jerry onto his lap, and hugged the boy. He rubbed Jerry's back and leaned over and kissed him. He smiled and said, "Jerry, My lap is always here for you any time you want it. Don't ever be afraid to ask me for a hug or a snuggle, and the same goes for you Jimmy. You two guys are never going to have a shortage of loving hugs ever again. Lex and I will both be here for you, and Our Dad will be around a lot of the time too. He is really nice. You are going to love him as much as we do."

They all got comfortable and began to watch the movie, together. Their eyes were all glued to the giant screen in front of them. It was so cute; Alex had Jerry up on his lap. Alex's arms were gently draped around Jerry's tummy, and Jerry was burying himself into Alex's chest. Lex had had pulled Jimmy into a big hug, and gently kissed him on the top of his head, Lex would sniff Jimmy's freshly shampooed hair, every so often, then gently kiss him again. Both twins soon cuddled up on their big brother's respective lap. The two little guys snuggled up close to Alex or Lex, each of whom held their little one tightly, and gently rocked them, while rubbing their shoulders. The twins soon relaxed completely, till they eventually fell asleep, totally contented, in the arms of their new big brother, who held them so very lovingly. For some reason, known only to children, both boys woke up, just as the final credits were rolling. They each turned around in the lap of their brother to be, and planted a huge kiss on the big brother who's lap they were in. the twins said in as close to unison as was possible, I love you, Alex/Lex, which ever was appropriate. (You get the idea.) Then they switched to the opposite lap, and repeated the process.

Jimmy suddenly piped up with,

"Are we going to get to live here with you guys, now?" then they both chorused, "I sure hope we can. We love you, Alex, and Lex." They both said it in unison. It was extremely cute. The two boys, Apparently, had not quite managed to get the 'twin speak' thing going, properly, just yet, in exactly the way that most twins did it, namely, finishing each other's sentences. They tended to say the same thing at the same time. It was really sweet.

Linda and Bradford were standing near the family room door. They listened to the chatter going on in the other room, between the twins and the young men. It was obvious that this situation was going to work out splendidly. The two older people silently walked back into the living room. Linda sat down on the couch.

Bradford Looked at Linda, grinned broadly and said,

"Linda, you know that those boys feel safe and loved here, don't you? I can't believe how quickly they have bonded with my sons, but it really makes me happy. I want to adopt the munchkins. Linda, can you arrange that for me?"

Linda looked at Bradford and smiled.

"You guys are all just amazing. It's kinda funny that you should bring that topic up right now, because I was just thinking about the situation with the twins, and how they have been acting since they got here. This is the first time since the accident, that either of them has said more than one or two words at a time. The way they are acting around Alex and Lex, makes me believe that they really need to be here, with you and your sons. I wish to heaven that I had called you weeks ago. I can see that bringing them here was the best thing I have ever done for Jerry and Jimmy." she paused, briefly and looked at Bradford, then she smiled at him and continued,

"Alex hasn't changed very much at all, since the last time I saw him. That was the day that your adoption of him was finalized. He is a very handsome young man. And my God, Bradford, Lex is one hunky young man, as well. I take it that he and Alex are a couple. I see the way they look at each other and there is so much love conveyed between them, that it is amazing. How did you and Alex find such a gorgeous hunk anyway?"

Bradford thought for a minute, trying to decide how to answer her, so he changed the subject, by saying,

"Oh Linda, I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. Can I get you something to drink?" Bradford smiled, "I have quite a good supply of liquor, if you care for something strong, or I can get you any variety of soft drinks you might care for."

"I think I would like a Pepsi, thank you, if you have one, or any cola, if you don't have Pepsi. I have to drive, so I don't think I want to have any of the high test beverages, tonight.

Bradford smiled and went to the kitchen to retrieve a Pepsi for Linda, and a sprite for himself. He handed her the drink and sat down in the large overstuffed chair that was facing her, he smiled at her.

He finally recovered his composure, for the most part, and began to explain how he found Lex.

"Linda, this is kinda hard for me. I'm sorry about hesitating before answering you, just then, but I had to think... just how I should say this, but I will try to explain it to you, as best I can."

Bradford got a little nervous again, when he saw the look that had crossed Linda's face. She was studying his face. It seemed that she was looking deep into his soul. He could feel the tension in the room. He decided, though, that he needed to let Linda know about Lex. He knew he had to be careful about what he told her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, In fact, she was one of the few people he knew that he trusted almost without question, but when he thought about Lex's arrival, he was afraid that If he told her the whole truth, she would think he was some kind of a nut ball. 'After all', he thought, 'how do I tell her, 'oh, by the way, Linda, the guy that you think is a cute hunk was created in our lab, by my son. He and his 'Self Aware' computer built that gorgeous body, out of DNA he took from me and my dead wife.' Bradford took a deep breath. 'What the hell would Linda think of me if I told her that?' So he figured he had to formulate a plausible explanation, one that was as close to the truth as possible without being considered unbelievable.

'Is leaving out part of the story, a lie by omission?' he thought to himself. He was a bit worried, because his hesitation seemed to make her a little nervous. If he wanted to adopt the twins, though, he had to make sure she knew that he was the right person to adopt them. He took another deep breath and took the plunge.

"I'm afraid that this is going to be a little complicated." he said, "You see, I'm a little embarrassed, about this, because I just found out, not too long ago, that Lex is, in fact, my son, so therefore he is in effect, Alex's brother. I suppose he would be considered Alex's step brother. When they met, they instantly fell in love with each other, and yes, they are a couple, as well. It seems that Lex's mother didn't tell me, that she and I had had a son together. (Her being dead at the time, kinda made that a little difficult) She left me, (again, when you die, you usually do leave) and I never saw her again. in fact, I never even heard from her again. (No kidding) Once Lex was of age, he decided to let me know that he was my son. (He and Alex sprang it on me when I saw them naked in bed together) Now, He and Alex are like real brothers, in fact, as soon as I can get the paper work filled out, Lex will be my son, in every possible legal sense. I already have checked his DNA, (Alex showed me the print out) and he certainly is my son. There is absolutely no doubt of that. I don't have to worry about any problems from his mother, making a fuss, because she is now dead. (That goes without saying) Lex doesn't have much in the way of feelings, for, or against her. In fact, he thinks of her as just the woman who's DNA he carries. They were never close. (That is certainly the truth) In fact, he saw so little of her that he didn't really feel like he really knew her. (He saw her picture once) As soon as he found out who his father was, he wanted to meet me. I fell in love with him, when I first laid eyes on him. He is so adorable. He and Alex formed an instant bond, and they fell in love. (All perfectly true)

Bradford was careful not to actually outright lie to Linda, figuring that if he ever did tell her the whole truth he could truthfully and plausibly tell her he hadn't lied to her. He had not actually said anything that wasn't true, in the strictest sense. He had left out a lot of facts, but the things he said to her were all true. When he had finished telling Linda about Lex, she had smiled at him. There was that strange look on her face again, and she said,

I don't understand it, I know that you told me the truth, as far as it went, but I also know that you didn't tell me everything. Ordinarily, I would find that disturbing, but I also have the feeling there was a very good reason that you didn't want to tell me everything, and that what you left out was not in the least important, as to the welfare of Jimmy and Jerry, and there are so many reasons to have them stay with you and your sons, that I am not going to worry about it right now." Linda looked at Bradford and smiled.

"I can't believe how well all of them are getting along." she said. "They really look happy, and if they're happy, then I'm happy. I am going to get the papers prepared for your signature, to let you adopt them. It won't be difficult. As I am sure you remember, my brother is a Judge, and has handled a lot of adoptions for me. Let's go in there and let them know what is going to happen." Bradford relaxed after what Linda had said. He couldn't understand how she could know that he had left something out, but he was glad to realize that she didn't think what he left out was important to the adoption of his new sons, though. He put his arm around Linda and they walked into the family room, just as the credits finished rolling.

The two little angels scrambled off Alex and Lex's laps, and made a bee line for Bradford.

"Can we stay here?" they chorused. Linda and Bradford both started giggling.

"I guess they both know what they want." giggled Linda.

"So it would seem," answered Bradford. "How about you two?" he looked at Lex and Alex. "Should we adopt them?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" they both chorused, "Of course we have to adopt them. We already love them, and they love us too."

"I guess that settles it then," Said Linda, and she handed Bradford the adoption papers. "Fill these out, and get them back to me as quickly as you can. My brother will see that it happens. Do it quickly though, because I don't want these guys to be orphans any longer than they have to. I know he will take care of it quickly, just like he did for Gavin and Leon, but that's another story. I got into it, pretty deeply with them, and they have a new family now. They are really happy." She bent down and kissed each of them on the cheek and pulled them into a huge hug. "Now boys, you be good, and take good care of these old geezers, for me, will you? They can get out of hand if you give them half a chance." She giggled again and excused herself to head home. Bradford accompanied her down to her car and thanked her.

"Linda," he said, suddenly serious, "Someday, I promise you, I will tell you 'the rest of the story' about Lex. Bradford looked at her and grinned, as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Bradford," she said, in as serious a tone as he had used on her, "Don't you dare worry about it. It will be just fine. I trust you completely, and I know you well enough to know that you have very good reasons to keep some things to yourself. Whenever you feel comfortable enough to tell me, then you will tell me." She paused for just a brief moment, and said, "This is going to sound strange, I know, but I am going to say this, because it is true. I promise you, I will believe you. Don't look at me like that, Bradford. Close your mouth; You'll swallow a fly if you leave it hanging open like that. You have never deceived me before, and I know that the situation is strange. I felt the tension in you hand when you touched me, and I can see it in your eyes, right now, but you don't have to worry about it, I promise." She giggled and started her car. She slowly pulled out of the parking space, waving at Bradford, leaving him quite puzzled.

'How the hell, did she know I was leaving stuff out? And what else does she know? I swear she's a Psychic.'

"I guess I underestimated her, a bit." he said to himself, as he turned and slowly walked back into the building. His thoughts were somewhat muddled as he entered the elevator, inserted his key, and pressed the button for the penthouse. The elevator doors opened and he walked out into the hall, over to his front door and entered. As he stood there looking around, he noticed the two wheeled suitcases in the corner. And before he could say anything to anyone, he was surrounded by all his family. Small arms hugged him tightly and two tall beautiful men were kissing him lovingly all over his face.

"Come on Dad!" they all chorused. They dragged him into the living room, where Alex and Lex had spread a feast of cold sandwich makings, various kinds of chips and other salty snacks, as well as drinks on the huge coffee table there were glasses of Ice and several varieties of soft drinks. The ravenous appetites of the boys had made quite a dent in the feast, though.

Bradford managed to find enough sliced roast beef, ham, and turkey, to make quite a respectable sandwich, which he managed to pile high with extra fixings, including mustard, mayonnaise, and several slices of sharp cheddar cheese. He grabbed a can of Sprite which he opened and started drinking right from the can, until Jimmy scolded him, explaining that "You're supposed to pour it into a glass. Mom always said cans are all dirty and you shouldn't drink outta the can. He was gingerly handed a glass full of ice. Jimmy, could you please do me a favor, and empty the ice into the sink. I don't like Ice in my drinks. Jimmy took the glass and emptied it for Bradford and came running back with the now empty glass. Bradford filled his glass with Sprite and drank half of it almost in one gulp. He was in heaven. He pulled Jimmy to him, into a great big hug, then he kissed him on the cheek.

"Jimmy, Linda was right. Us old farts don't always think very clearly."

"You're not old, Jimmy said emphatically." You were just in too much of a hurry, that's all."

Jimmy and Jerry were standing in front of Bradford, their eyes were penetrating into Bradford's.

"Ah... we were...... wondering if ... ah ...You would mind... if we... called you Dad?" It seemed that they had gotten the twin speak thing going, finally. "You've been so nice to us. We really loved getting all the hugs." that from Jimmy Our old dad never hugged us like you did, even when we were little. All he ever did was shove us away and tell us to run along and play. Mom sometimes hugged us when we were real little, but, once we got bigger, maybe a couple of years ago or more, she kinda stopped too, especially when dad was around. He kept telling us that only sissies hugged people. We never told him but we still hugged each other. He told us we were supposed to be big now; young men, and men don't hug each other."

"Well, from now on, hugs are going to be a big priority, here." Lex said.

"That is for sure." answered Alex. "Any time you want a hug, all you have to do is ask, and any of us will be more than glad to give you one, and don't be afraid to come up and give us hugs. We will be glad to have as many as you want to share with us."

Bradford had managed to sit on the couch and be inundated with hugs and kisses from his two new young sons. They were all over him till he finally wrapped his arms fully around both boys and hugged them both, kissing them each on the lips and telling them that he loved them very much.

Alex and Lex, came over to the huddled mass of bodies that were so obviously giving each other heavy doses of love.

"Boys, isn't it getting a little late for you to be up? I think it's about time that you head for bed."

"Do we have to?!" chorused everyone, even Alex and Lex.

"Well guys, I think it would be best if Jimmy and Jerry get to bed, now. It is almost nine o'clock. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Daddy! You're silly." Said Jimmy. "Tomorrow's Saturday."

"Okay, then, you can stay up till ten O'clock, but I think you should have your baths now, and then get ready for bed.

"Where will we sleep Dad?" they chorused.

"Well, Let me think about that for a minute. There are about ten or twelve bedrooms in this place, Not including the four in the guest wing. One of them is mine and one of them belongs to Alex and Lex. So that leaves about eight or ten of them for you to choose from. Some of them have been used for other purposes than bedrooms, I think. One of them is now a home office, and has a computer terminal in it. The one at the end of the hall is mine, and the first one on the right as you start down the hall belongs to Alex and Lex. They share a room. You boys can either share a room or if you like, you may have separate rooms. You may have any of the other rooms down that hallway." Bradford pointed to the bedroom wing of the penthouse. The boys quickly scampered down the hall, looking into each room, in turn, and then checking each room a second time. They finally decided on one particular room, which as it turned out was next to Alex and Lex's room, and they told Bradford that they had and decided to share it. The room they picked had one king size bed, and it was one of those real kewl air beds that has the variable softness, with the ability to choose separate amounts for each side. There was a computer desk that had a keyboard and mouse, which were plugged into jacks mounted on the wall behind the desk, and there was an awesome stereo system built into the front of what looked like a walk in closet. All of it was connected to the main control system that had all the usual components, but there was one thing extra, everything was totally integrated into the self aware computer, who knew he was alive and who could and would talk to them. The two boys didn't know that yet, but it wouldn't be long now.

The boys came running down the hall completely amazed at the wonderful room.

"We found a room we love!" They yelled, as they entered the room where the older men were sitting. "This is so cool, Daddy!" they chorused.
"I see you found the one with the media center in it." Alex beamed. "I decorated that one myself. On that huge screen on the wall in there, you have access to the entire world, by way of cable, satellite, VCR, DVD, and computer, but here is the surprise. You won't need a separate computer, cause we have a really great computer that is built into the building. He takes care of everything that happens, in or out of the entire complex.

His name is Legacy. I built him from parts that he designed himself, before he was completed. Legacy is extremely smart. Would you like to meet him? I am sure you will be impressed. I know I was, when he first talked to me. If you have any questions that you would like him to answer, all you have to do is say his name and then ask him the question. He will answer you, and if he doesn't know the answer, he can look up stuff for you. He knows a lot of stuff, himself, and he has access to a huge number of different networks, including a very interesting super secret government surveillance system. He knows where to look, to find the other stuff, and he is really friendly too. I know you're gonna like him."

Alex smiled at his new brothers.

"He can control any audio or video source in the house. If there is a movie you want to see, for instance, you ask Legacy to play it for you. Chances are he will be able to play it for you. He can control the lights in the house too. You can set the lighting to any level of brightness you like." Alex explained. "Just ask Legacy, and he will remember your settings and set it for you, just the way you like it, every time. The protocol to get his attention is very simple. Just say his name, and follow it with a command. I really hate to use the word command, cause it sounds so mean and angry, but at the moment, I can't think of a better one, but try to remember, that he is sentient, that means he is self aware. He knows he exists. He is much happier if you simply ask him politely. The friendlier you are to him, the friendlier he will be to you. I will give you an example: Legacy, please dim the lights in this room to half brightness." The lights immediately Dimmed down to the requested level. "Thank you, Legacy."

"You're quite welcome, sir." Legacy said, in a very formal voice.

"Legacy, It's Okay. You can drop the formal speech. I would appreciate it if you were more casual." Alex smiled. I have told Jimmy and Jerry all about you, and they know you are real and know you exist. I am glad to be your friend, and they will be too." he said gently.

"When you ask him something, or just talk to him, He talks to you just like everyone else, not like you might expect a computer to talk."

Alex smiled at the two boys, whose faces showed just how much they doubted his statement,

"Well, I think we need to introduce you to our friend, Legacy." He turned around and faced the giant TV screen, "Legacy," He spoke with a little more firmness in his voice than he had been using with the boys.

"Would you be so kind as to show yourself to my new brothers, please?"

Instantly, the large screen lit up. An image began to form. It was an image of a younger version of Lex.

"Hi Jimmy, and Jerry, I'm Legacy. It's a pleasure to meet you." The boy on the screen had on a pair of tan cargo shorts, and a dark white tank top. His long hair hung down over his ears. He looked adorable, and the boys were both staring at him.

"Who are you?" They chorused.

"Well, I am sort of an avatar of the computer." the boy smiled again. "His name is Legacy, but I think you might want to call me Elexi" He giggled. "I need you to do me a favor, If you will, I have installed a modified version of the 'brotherly Love' program, which is how Lex came to be here. You see, I am a younger version of Lex. If someone would please say, and I quote,

"Legacy, Run 'Little Brother' I think you will like the results."

Jimmy looked at the monitor, smiled broadly and said,

"Legacy, Please run 'Little brother'. There was a whoosh and a shimmer which was followed by the appearance of the cute little boy from the screen, standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello," He said. You two are really kewl. Right now, I'm a Holographic Construct. I have the same basic makeup as Lex did, but he isn't a Hologram, any more. He is human, well, I'm sort of human too, but not quite; it's just that I am made of Holomatter. I am not confined to this building, though, because I designed and embedded into my body, a Nano Holo-Emitter." he giggled. "It is powered by my body's nervous system. I am almost completely human, though. In fact, if Alex wants to use the combination Replicator/Holo-Emitter, again, I will become permanent, Just like Lex, or my friend Rolf. I met Rolf on the computer. We are good friends, now. He was just like me for a little while, till His friend Jamie used a device he invented and put together, to solidify his molecular structure, Damn, I am using some pretty big words, aren't I? That's another story though, and I don't know if I should get into it with you yet."

"You know what, Elexi? I didn't understand a single thing you just said." said Jerry, "But, you know what else? I don't really care. I like you, and if you like us, then it doesn't matter what you are made of, or who you are. You are our friend, and that is all that counts. I can tell you are smarter than us, but that don't mean you're bad or nothin' cause you're real kewl." he walked over to Elexi, and gave him a big hug, as Jimmy came over and joined him. All three boys stood there hugging each other for several minutes. Then Jimmy looked into Elixi's eyes and said,
"Our new daddy told us to love and respect other people, and I already love you." He yawned a huge yawn. "I think it's time we all went to bed; I am really tired. Come on, lets go. You're sleeping with us tonight, Elexi. I want to cuddle you."

"Thanks, I want to cuddle with both of you guys too. You are both real kewl." said Elexi. I have never known what it was like to love or be loved before, but I want to find out. So far it is real good." He hugged the twins again. Alex walked over to Elexi, and hugged him. "Elexi, if you will come to the lab with me for a couple of minutes, I will put your molecules to rights and make you a permanent member of the family."

"Okay." said Elexi, "I am getting a little tired, though, and I want to go to bed soon, so I hope it won't take too long."

"Can we come watch?" The twins chorused. So much for twin speak.

Alex grinned and said, "Sure you can. Maybe you can learn to operate some of the equipment and help me in the lab sometimes."

They headed to the lab and Alex set up the conversion equipment, and told Elexi to stand on the makeshift pad. He showed the twins the settings, and asked Elexi if he was ready.

"Sure! Go for it!" Elexi replied, grinning broadly.

Alex pressed the button, and the soft subtle change in Elexi's skin color was the only sign of the change that had taken place.

Alex turned off the equipment, and they walked to the door.

"Legacy, We are leaving now and heading back to the penthouse. Please secure the lab."

"As soon as you four pass through the door, the lab will be secure. No unauthorized entry will be possible."

"Thank you Legacy. I still love you." Alex whispered.

"I love you too, Alex." Legacy whispered. "Now get back home and show Lex how much you love him! Hey this giving orders thing is really cool. I could get used to that."

Once everyone got back to the penthouse and Legacy had secured the entry, everyone headed to their bedrooms. Lex was already in bed, when Alex walked in.

"Lex, come with me for a minute. I have something you need to see." Lex got up and put on a terrycloth robe and followed Alex. Alex gently and quietly opened the door to the boys' bedroom and the two men smiled broadly as they saw the three youngsters lying in the huge bed, cuddled up together, arms and legs completely intertwined and all snuggled together, fast asleep. It was simply beautiful.

"Legacy," Alex whispered, "Please dim the lights to night light level and keep a watchful eye on our younger brothers, if you don't mind."
"Of course, Alex, That won't be a problem at all. It will be my pleasure. Alex... They really are beautiful, aren't they? Look how your two guys are cuddling my son.

"Yeah it is great to see them all so contented. I didn't think about him being your son, but I like that Idea. I suppose, In a way, that Lex is my son too. Oh well, 'the family that plays together..."

To be continued...

Author's note:

Darryl
AKA
The Radio Rancher.

Well, this story has just about written itself, so far. Bradford and Alex are helping me quite a lot.

Actually, Bradford said it was going to be a lot of work for me, but he said he was pretty sure it would be interesting. I started writing it, and now there is no way I can stop . Once I met the other characters, I was totally hooked, and now you are going be getting more, a lot more.
They have really kept me busy for a while. I think the family is coming along nicely. I think that Bradford is going to need to tell Linda the whole story, now. After all there is a new little brother, that wasn't there when she came by. Bradford will have to tell her where Elexi came from, and I suspect that he will go ahead and tell her about Lex, as well. She did tell him that she would believe him if he wanted to tell her the full story. What will Carl Grayson be able to do with the other company that is suing Maxim Engineering? These and many other questions might be answered in the next chapter. I wouldn't bet on it though.

Editor's Notes:

Well RR has done it again; I am not sure what he has done though :). I thought this story was going to about Computers but it has split into several plots and sub-plots. The characters are developing nicely and increasing I didn't know AAKD was transferable to Nano Computers. This story is coming along very nicely and I can't wait for the next chapter to arrive in my inbox. However, it may be a little while for that to happen as he is going be busy writing Chapter Twenty One of "The Shimmering Ship".

TSL