"Aya?" Coral asked as she saw a shadow in her room.

"I said I would come back, didn't I?" The shadow sat down beside her on the bed.

"You look a little strange." Coral said quietly.

"It's still a frame our sister let me use, but she added artificial skin, to allow us to be a bit closer." Coral looked at the skin.

"I see. Can you feel it?" She asked quietly.

"Not like you do, but Asset is working on it for us. I had sensors installed, so I can imitate movements, and sense things I didn't before. I wanted to try it." Coral made room for her to lie down.

Soon, the soft silicon lips were on top of Coral's, and the dock emerged. It pushed into Coral's mouth, and seated itself into the dock Creativity had added to Coral's interface.

As it seated, and pushed deeper to engage, she heard a soft murmur from Coral's lips around the flexible silicon covered dock. Under the dock, a tube allowed air into Coral's throat so she could breathe.

'Now, where were we, Corrie?' Creativity said within her mind.

'Tier two had just finished, Aya.' Coral whispered back. Aya's aspect grinned.

This body docking worked out better than she expected. Her sister not only allowed her to continue, but encouraged her to be intimate, and close. It made Aya's aspect of Creativity not only begin to feel real, but also grow as a separate person.

Even though her aspect controlled the frame from her own skull, Asset didn't interfere in the mental growth of her various aspects. It was this lack of interference that would allow them to grow as individuals, while still maintaining their completeness as one entity.

There was no division between the aspects. While they were with Coral, or Connie, they were eager to grow their relationships. While with Asset, they were home.

'Aya?'

'Yes, Corrie?' Creativity asked.

'This feels nice. Are there ways to get closer?' She asked.

'Soon, baby sis. All of us are working on modifications that will allow us to be more fully connected physically. Soon, when we dock, it will increase our awareness of each other, but only the two of us. Asset wanted us to have the ability to have privacy when we are intimate like this.' Aya's aspect said.

'She's like that. Not jealous, just loving.' Coral poked her side. 'Come on. No delays. I like being upgraded like this.' Creativity smiled.

'I must get Asset to make me a tongue. I really want to kiss you like she does.' Creativity said.

'Can't you control the body you share?'

'I can, but the others all agreed to this. Asset controls the body. Now, she's making it possible for us to control a body of our own. This is a prototype. The future ones will have real warm skin. We'll be able to kiss for real.' Coral lightly stroked the rubberized skin, and sighed.

'I like that I get to keep a piece of you, Aya. Mom has so much of your heart, but at least I get to keep a piece.' Creativity lightly touched her cheek.

'Silly girl. All of Aya loves Corrie. Not just a part. You just have to share.'

* * *

'Nerves too, Asset?' Upgrade said as she watched the schematics and overlays change, and be upgraded regularly.

'I want all of you to experience how it feels. Mom and Corrie need us, even if we can't give them all of us.' Asset said softly, and was hugged from behind.

'Don't forget the girls, Asset. We can take over for now. Go spend some attention on them, and help them to evolve too.' Upgrade whispered into her mental avatar, and heard a soft sigh.

'Even with four of us, it's still difficult to do everything we need to.' Asset said, and was lightly pinched.

'Time management and time sharing, Asset. Don't think about evolving again until we all agree. I'll go dive into mom's mind tonight, while Optimization will go into Ginger's. You spend some time with the girls, shadowing them, and putting some time into their evolutions. Or at least giving them the choice.' Upgrade said and hugged her again before she pulled up a screen.

'This is?'

'Janet. She's just as deeply into this as Jessie.' They watched as Mer and Leen went at the larger woman hungrily. She was at least four inches taller then Mer, and a hundred pounds heavier in appearance. Much of her weight was in her frame, and her ample assets, such as her heavy breasts, and larger buttocks and hip area.

'Are you thinking about that?' Asset asked.

'She has the hips for it, Asset. She could be our next evolutionary key. Consider it. Ginger doesn't quite have the desire there yet.' An image flashed through their connection. 'Asset, what is this?' Upgrade's attention was stolen.

'A new net interface.' Optimization said in awe. 'A halo around the entire brain, with hundreds of small docks. Oh wow.' She whispered.

'Think about a Dyson sphere.' The image changed, and what looked like one ring around the middle, separated by a thin gap and running horizontal, changed into two. It was now two rings, connected at a mid point, and offset by thirty degrees. This changed into three, then four. The degree of offset shrank as new ring was inserted into the pack, and each ring shrank in thickness.

'Multiple generations.' Asset said. 'As the tech advances, each ring increases the number of connections to the neural net, which also increases in complexity, and changes into thinner materials that transmit information faster.' Upgrade looked excited.

'With this model, the nervous system you're adding to each frame will be able to be completely accessed by the remote user!' Upgrade said excitedly.

'And in time, we may also unseat each aspect and re-seat into her own body. We can't exist without each other, but if the main body is heavily damaged, we could lose our entire self.' Upgrade looked at her in surprise.

'Asset, no. We can't separate.' She said firmly.

'A backup?' Optimization said.

'Yes. I don't want to separate from you as I feel more at home when you're here. However, in case of emergency, artificially engaged protocols will activate, separate our aspects, and upload you into the other frames.' She sighed softly.

'I will allow it.' Optimization said, and cut Upgrade off. 'Only if you build four bodies. If one of us does not exist, the rest of us have no reason to exist. We are one. I do not like the feeling of being empty, and I will be without you.' Upgrade finally nodded.

'Don't disagree, Asset. Creativity is pissed, and ready to come home. If you don't agree, she'll tell Corrie and Connie before she comes home.' Asset sighed under Upgrade's threat.

'Fine! Can't believe I'm arguing with myself to save myself.' She muttered. Upgrade grinned.

'You've always been the stubborn one of us, Asset. Even mom and Corrie said that.'