Authors: Sally Painter
“Hi, Ellen, sorry to worry you. I worked
later last night that I anticipated, so I’m off to a slow start this morning.”
“As long as you’re okay. I knew the sick
call was for your department’s benefit. Look, the Board has moved up the
meeting. We need to reveal the prototype to them tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow? Ellen, that’s too soon,” Randi
said. “I thought you said next week with your private demonstration tomorrow—”
“Randi?” William’s voice sounded from the
hall and she jerked around. “Where did you put the fresh towels? I wanted to
take a shower.” He entered the lab before she could respond.
“Randi?” Ellen leaned forward in her chair.
“Oh my God. Is that him?”
William waltzed into the phone’s visual
range, naked and unaware of the significance of his entrance.
“Hey, Ellen. I’m William. I’ve heard a lot
about you.”
“Randi!” Ellen screeched. “What have you
done?”
“Look, Ellen,” Randi said. The energy
drained from her and she felt like a child caught doing something wrong. “Let
me explain.”
“You can’t. I’m coming over right now.”
Ellen ended the transmission.
“Dammit!” she cried and bowed her head. Her
worst fears had just manifested and she was powerless to stop the wave about to
slam into her. William would no longer be just hers. He would become a company
commodity. He would be taken to the company laboratory. Tissue samples would be
taken from him daily to clone replicas. He would feel as though he was in a
prison until the corporate announcement and then he would be put on public
display for every media opportunity.
She’d known his fate before she’d ever
created him, but until the last few days Randi hadn’t considered what would
happen next. Somehow being with him had allowed her to escape the harsh
realities she now faced.
“Did I do something wrong, baby?” he asked
with a blank look on his face, but she sensed he knew exactly what he’d done.
“Just go finish up your shower. The towels
are still in the kitchen, in the basket on the counter.”
“Okay.” William seemed pensive.
“I’m all right, William. Just…get your
shower and put on the black slacks and white dress shirt. My boss is on her way
over.”
She watched him turn and walk toward the
kitchen. With a heavy sigh, Randi stood to go to her room and get dressed. Her
mind raced with all kinds of possible excuses, but ultimately, she knew Ellen
would want to take William to bed and there was nothing she could do to stop
her.
William stepped out of the shower and dried
off with the towel. Steam rose around him and he swiped his hand over the
mirror, but the arched streaks quickly fogged up again.
He knew Randi was upset and decided it was
time to take control of his situation. That meant revealing himself to Ellen.
He wasn’t some fucking machine!
It was time Randi realized it. She might
believe she understood what he was, and granted she did create him, but he was
more than a composite of DNA and nanites. He was a man and she must accept that
fact.
He had to admit, it was partly his fault
she wasn’t aware of all the changes in him, after all he hadn’t told her. It
wasn’t easy to discuss his feelings or what he was thinking and he sensed that
probably made him more man than machine.
When the doorbell sounded, Randi yelled for
him to stay in the bathroom until she called for him. Shaking his head, William
finished toweling his hair and donned the clothes she’d told him to wear. That
was another thing soon to change. He wanted different clothes. Clothes of his
choosing.
He heard the stranger’s voice and assumed
Ellen had arrived since the feminine voice was raised in a rather high and
tense octave.
“I insist, Randi. You bring him out here
right now.”
“Okay, Ellen, but first you have to
understand that he’s not ready. He may appear human. You’ll think he is, but
the nanites are still manipulating all of his functions.”
“Do they think for him?” Ellen challenged.
“Well, no…”
“Does he have consciousness of himself?”
“Yes, but…”
“Then he fits our description of a cyborg.
Re-read your project directive, Randi. You’ve done it. Quit being such a
perfectionist.”
William took that for his cue and opened
the bathroom door, heading down the hall, his bare feet slapping the hardwood
floor. He entered the room and the women turned to him. He immediately met
Randi’s frightened look and flashed his stare on the woman standing beside her.
“Oh…my…God!” Ellen covered her mouth with
her hands.
“Hello, Ellen, I’m William.” He smiled,
knowing the grin he bestowed on her was the same one that turned Randi into a
quivering rush of sexual need.
“W-William,” Ellen gulped and extended her
hand.
He clasped it and then lifted it to his
lips, feeling Randi’s angry glare. He kissed Ellen’s hand and straightened.
“Perhaps you’d like to have a seat while I
fix some tea. How do you take it?” he asked, letting the innuendo drip from his
voice, ignoring the way Randi’s entire body tensed as though she was ready to
explode.
“Ah, just a bit of sugar,” Ellen grinned,
delight flashing in her eyes.
He nodded and turned for the kitchen,
leaving the two women stunned into silence. Good. That was the way he wanted
them. He knew they’d recover soon enough. The tea was merely a way to make
Randi stew and wonder if he was actually more than just an enhanced robot. Her
wondering would come to an end soon enough.
“Oh my God, Randi!” Ellen’s voice drifted
from the next room. “Why in hell didn’t you tell me you had achieved the
impossible?”
“I don’t know that I have.” Randi’s voice
sounded timid.
“How can you doubt it? If he’s not a human
male I’ll eat my bra and panties!”
“He’s a composite, Ellen. Enhanced DNA with
nanites…”
“Oh good grief. I don’t care about the
science of it. Look at the final product. He’s a man. A human male.”
“He can never be human,” Randi insisted.
“He cannot reproduce. Once I’m sure he is stabilized and there won’t be any
cellular degeneration then maybe I can perfect the DNA enough to achieve sperm
production in future models, but that’s a long way off. Just don’t make the
mistake of believing he’s human.”
Randi’s words raked over him like sharp
talons ripping through his skin. What did he need to do to convince her? His
romantic evening obviously hadn’t or the morning shower together or any of the
other interludes of lovemaking.
“Well, I don’t care what parts are
composites and which ones are human DNA. The package is perfect and he seems to
have a great program of manners.”
The water kettle whistled and he placed the
tea balls into the cups and poured the steaming water over them. He sniffed the
exotic aroma of cinnamon and citrus and smiled. These women were about to learn
the truth. He picked up a thin sugar stick and placed it in the cups then set
them on the tray.
“What is his age?”
“Counting incubation, eight weeks and two
days,” Randi said.
“That’s a shorter turn around time that
we’d hoped for,” Ellen’s voice bubbled.
“I’m sure he’ll prove himself to you during
the demonstration. William is a very skillful lover.”
Demonstration? Skillful?
His heart hammered. She still didn’t get what was going on. Randi
was the only woman he wanted. He sure as hell wasn’t going to fuck that skinny
bitch Ellen. He didn’t care what Randi said. He wasn’t making love to any other
woman. Perhaps if he could find a way to express what he felt, Randi might
change her opinion about him.
They stopped talking when he entered with
the tray. He leaned over to allow Ellen to remove the cup and saucer before
turning to Randi.
“Just the way you like it, Randi,” he smiled,
letting his stare move over her face and dip to the cleavage of her bosom
rising higher above her cotton tank top than it was a few seconds ago.
“So tell me, William, what other domestic
chores has Randi trained you to do?” Ellen asked in a rather pious tone.
Bristling under the insult, he placed the
tray on the nearby end table and sat down across from Ellen.
“You speak as though I’m a pet or toy,
Ellen. I’m sure that’s not what you meant.”
Red splotches broke out over the women’s
sallow cheeks.
“Of course not. It’s just—”
“Like Randi, you think I’m little more than
a machine designed to serve a woman’s needs.”
“William…” Randi flashed a warning glance
at him.
“I’ve not really had much time to discuss
things with Randi since we seem to always fall into bed whenever we’re
together, which is pretty much all the time.”
Ellen’s eyebrows lifted and she turned to
give Randi an appreciative nod.
“But the truth of the matter is I’m more
than a machine. Much more.”
“As you can see, Ellen,” Randi gulped and
dug into her pant’s pocket, retrieving the remote control.
She tapped the “off” button and for a
moment William started not to comply, but felt it best to go along with her and
imitated shutting down, but kept his eyes open.
“As you can see, I’ve given him quite a few
human qualities that are proving better than I anticipated.” She swallowed and
glanced over at him.
“Oh, he is marvelous!” Ellen giggled and
stood to walk over to him, setting the teacup down on the nearby table. “We’re
going to need to revamp our advertising campaign. I think we should let him
just be himself in the commercials.”
“Commercials? Actually, Ellen, do you think
that’s a good idea? The security it’ll require…”
“Oh, poor Randi, I think you’ve fallen in
love with your creation.”
“I beg your pardon?”
William watched the indignant expression
wash over Randi’s oval face and gritted his teeth to keep from coming to her
defense. Not yet. The timing had to be just right.
“Look, Randi. I’m already in love with him
and I’ve not fucked him yet. So don’t get upset with me. I think it’s
wonderful,” Ellen said and grinned at him.
William watched them, listening as they
continued to discuss him as a thing and not a living being. Anger roiled inside
him as Ellen asked about his lovemaking skills.
“So do you think we can push this envelope
a bit, Randi?”
“How?” Her voice sounded tense.
“Make him more human? I mean I’m totally in
awe of him as it is, but do you think you can tweak those nanites a bit more?”
Before Randi could respond, William decided
he’d had enough.
“I’m in control, Ellen, not the fucking
nanites.”
Randi gasped and Ellen let out a little
squeal of surprise, taking a step back.
“Randi?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It has to be a malfunction.”
She pressed the “off” button on the remote once more.
“The only malfunction is your inability to
recognize I’ve grown beyond what you created me to be, Randi.” He frowned at
the way she kept tapping the “off” button. “The remote hasn’t worked since that
first morning.” He sat back in the chair. “You see, ladies, I have a conscious
mind. I’m self-aware and I certainly have human emotions. For instance, I’m
feeling very angry with both of you right now. The way you discuss me as if I’m
not even here.”
“Randi, what have you neglected to tell
me?” Ellen stared at William. He could sense the woman’s excitement rising.
“You can’t blame, Randi, not really,” he
said and looked at his creator…his lover. “She had no idea what was going on
inside me. Of course, she never asked after that first upgrade. But if she had,
then she’d know my brain awoke the second day when she set the nanites free
from controlling my conscious thought process and dedicated them to
subconscious and involuntary functions only. And that was the moment I became
aware of myself, or rather who I used to be. And I was not very happy to find
myself being manipulated and governed by nanites. Well, I quickly established
who was in control and even though Randi believed she gave me conscious
thought, the truth is I seized it as my birthright.”
Both women’s mouths fell open as they
stared at him.
“Yeah, I actually think like the two of
you, only my thinking is mostly about what I’m really doing here and how I will
fit into a society that has only one gender. And wondering if and when you
create other males like me, how you can expect the world to just accept us.
What will be the political and moral ramifications of what the two of you have
done?”
“I just can’t wait to test this prototype.
When do I get him?” Ellen smiled, completely ignoring everything he’d said.
“You aren’t going to test drive me,” he
jeered and stood from the chair. His disgust for the woman’s suggestion locked
his jaw in an angry clench.
Ellen took a step backward.
“Now, if you could figure out a way to get
him to procreate male offspring, we could retire tomorrow.”
“Are you even listening to me?” William
took a step toward Ellen and she fell back into the chair, eyes wide with
amusement.
“William,” Randi spoke behind him. “Please
behave.”
She touched his arm and he stopped. Why did
such a simple gesture as her touch affect him? Why was he so overwhelmed
whenever in her presence? William didn’t want to hear the answer. Not now. Not
when he had so much to accomplish and to do that was going to put him at odds
with Randi.
“Do you know why I told you my name is
William?” he asked, staring down into Randi’s worried face.
“You said it was your name,” she answered
softly.
“And you didn’t question me further. Why,
Randi? Didn’t you want to hear the truth? Were you so afraid you had actually
created a human male?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Creating a human male has been my only goal. Why would I be afraid—”
“But you are. Listen to you trying to deny
what Ellen has already figured out.” He glanced at Ellen who was watching them
intently. “Did you ever stop to think that you didn’t just use DNA material to
create a body over your metal skeleton, but you had in fact cloned a real man,
Randi? A man who lived before the virus ravaged your world?”
“What is he talking about?” Ellen gasped.
“I’ll tell you what I’m talking about,
Ellen. My name is William Tyler. I was an architect here in Charlotte and owned
a summer house in Kitty Hawk. I’m not some cyborg programmed to please the
woman I’m with.” He turned to face Randi, searching her eyes for the love he
knew she hid from him. “In fact, I was going to spend the weekend in Kitty Hawk
with several friends and colleagues right after I donated the tissue samples.”
“You recall donating DNA samples?” Ellen
asked.
He didn’t respond and continued to stare at
Randi, willing the truth to rise in her eyes so he would know once and for all
that she loved him.
“The last thing I recall is arriving at the
clinic to make the donation. I was then to fly the Outer Banks for a Labor Day
weekend celebration at my beach house.”
“Labor day?” Randi mumbled. Her complexion
drained of all color.
“What year?” Ellen asked.
“2133.”
“You were on the Outer Banks Labor Day
weekend in 2133?”
“I assume so. It appears my memory stops
with the visit to the clinic.”
“That was the weekend of the first tidal
wave of the Great Cataclysm.” Randi’s smooth forehead furrowed.
“Impossible.” Ellen gripped the arms of the
chair. “Your DNA was…”
“Cryogenically stored. I was participating
in an experiment headed up by an old childhood friend, Dr. Allan Templeton. He
was the leading doctor in a cloning project that was to revolutionize the world
with cloned organs.”
“Is that true, Ellen?” Randi asked.
“How should I know? It was black-market DNA
claimed to be two hundred and fifty years old.”
“If this is true, William, then…”
“Then it means you can duplicate what
you’ve done with me. My memories are coming back to me more and more each day.”
“Sperm!” Ellen screamed. “Have you tested
his sperm?”
“No,” Randi admitted. “There’s not been any
reason to since we’ve not reached that stage. I mean…”
“Stop now,” William said glaring at Ellen.
“Think before you speak, Randi, because what I feel for you is real. If you
have any feelings for me, then you won’t continue with this project.”