by Greg Dragon
“The cost for that sort of service is one hundred and fifty dollars a month. Can you commit to that?”
The site was asking for a fortune just to give him opportunities, but Brad thought about it and he didn’t have anything else going on to change his reality. He could pay the money and start to land dates around the city or he could continue to teach Tricia to play the part of his girlfriend, which made him feel like the world’s biggest loser. The pills had built up his confidence, but his luck with women had run out. His charm no longer seemed to work, and his flirting only led to friendly conversation and not much more. He paid the operator a deposit of one hundred and fifty dollars and recorded a video of himself for his potential match to see. He was brutally honest in his description, and before long he had a profile up, and began to peruse the photos and videos of women that were provided.
“Shopping for a girlfriend, Brad?” Tricia asked as she walked over to him in his bathrobe and looked at the screen.
He had completely forgotten about her and didn’t know how long she’d been watching him go through the site. “Did you not make me to be your lover? I don’t understand the need for you to find a mate if I am your mate. Do you require multiple partners, or a variety of human and android lovers?”
Embarrassed by her questions and unsure how to answer them, Brad found that he could not talk for a while. Why is she referring to herself as my lover? Brad realized too late that after their time together that morning, he had forgotten to rewind her memory. Doing so now would prove a problem since he had taught her so much during the afternoon, so now he was in a situation that he’d hoped he would never be in.
“Tricia, this morning was another lesson for you to experience humanity. We won’t talk about it any further, but it doesn’t mean I built you for that reason. That would make you less than you are, and I built you to be great.”
“If that was a human experience, then I must say that it was strange—but wonderful. This still leaves me confused as to why I am here. If I am not to be yours, then what is my purpose?”
“I want to make you an independent, free-thinking person. I want you to develop your own goals and aspirations based on experiences, and I want to build more like you—hopefully. You are the first in a line of new androids that I want the world to appreciate. I gave up so much to build you, but it’s because you are my future. You are THE future. This is why I say that being someone’s lover is not your goal. You are destined for greatness. The future Tricia will be speaking at universities, on talk shows, meeting the president, who knows…”
“Do I lack something the women on that display have?”
Brad looked over at her and her shapely legs and then it dawned on him that, outside of the outfit he had bought her, she had no clothes. “We’re going to have to get you your own wardrobe,” he said, glad to change the subject and press on since she seemed intent on confronting him about his love interests. “If people see you wearing my stuff all the time, they’re going to think that I’m a massive pervert. Let’s see what they have at Dan’s emporium.”
He pulled up the website, and Tricia sat next to him with her chin on his shoulder, looking on. His phone chimed and he answered it as if it were a lifeline. He walked into his room and she slid over into his seat and began to peruse the store herself.
“That was my mom checking in on me,” he admitted as he came back and nudged her out of his seat. He saw the items in the shopping cart and looked at her with surprise. “I’ve made the girliest android known to man!”
“I’ve selected a few things that will allow me to look more human but at the lowest cost, Brad. The items with the notes next to them can be removed, if it is too much money.”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t bad at all.” He laughed and then accepted the charges for the items that Tricia had picked out.
She walked over to the kitchen to prepare him breakfast—a thing she had started to do without his influence, assuming that she needed to feed him since he wouldn’t feed himself.
When he was eating his eggs and drinking his coffee in front of the television, Tricia snuck back onto the computer and perused a number of social websites. Human interaction intrigued her, and she was pulling in all of the slang and acronyms that the online community used. She even made herself a profile. In the past she would merely touch the CPU and be able to surf, type, and experience the internet, but Brad had admonished her for doing it that way, since “only machines can do that.”
He would waffle quite often from wanting her to act human to act more like a machine, but she had decided that being more human would be better for her. One thing that stuck out the most was their relationship. Brad had obviously built her to be his mate, but even now he continued his quest to find an organic girl. It made no sense at all to Tricia.
“Be good Tricia,” he said as he got up suddenly. He kissed her on the top of her head, and left the house.
While he was gone, Tricia looked at the Finding Heart website and took note of all the women Brad had viewed in the last hour. Considering the way she looked, and the way the women in Brad’s romantic past looked, it was obvious that he had a preference for dark hair and light eyes. She wondered how long he would be, but the loneliness was creeping in once again, so she went into his room and sat on his bed, then powered herself down.
She awoke to a strange signal that droned loudly inside of her skull. It was as if someone had turned something on inside of her to make her aware, and when her eyes flicked open, she was in the bed with Brad. Her robe was on the ground, and he was asleep and shaking. The way he shook frightened her, and sweat covered his naked, muscular body. She had learned that the human body could be damaged repeatedly to evolve into a stronger, more attractive version of itself, but she had never seen Brad lifting weights or running to achieve the body he had. She could smell the alcohol on him, and it was obvious that something had happened while she was recharging on his bed. She felt his arm and it was cold and clammy, and he did not seem well at all. She laid back down next to him and powered herself down, hoping that when she woke up again, he would be okay.
“Morning, Trish,” Brad said after he got up, showered, and walked out into the living room. His eyes were bloodshot, but he seemed relaxed and happy in comparison to how he’d been the day before.
“Good morning,” she responded. “I have a question for you.”
“Sure thing. What?”
“You seemed sick last night when you were sleeping. I’ve never seen you that way. You were cold and shivering, and your skin felt the way plasticine does when I am powered down. You also—”
“I know, and I’m sorry. That wasn’t right. See, the pills have a bad side to go along with the good side. I’ve been hallucinating and having dizzy spells. To counter the effect I’ve had to take other drugs, and let’s just say that last night I felt as if I wanted to die.”
“Have you run an analysis on the pills you have been taking? What if they contain something that could cause long-term changes—”
“Hey, Trish, let’s not go there. I made a deal with the devil and I’m going to stick with it. Knowing the details is not going to make this any easier for me, so I would rather not, okay?”
0 1 0
A few weeks later Brad made a love connection. Her name was Priscilla White and she was a dancer. She had reached out to Brad after she recognized him from the coffee café, and they’d begun calling one another every day. She was a performing artist who specialized in ancient African dances and she invited Brad to see her perform. He thought about taking Tricia but worried that it would confuse things for Priscilla, so he went against his earlier promise and powered her down before locking her away in his closet. Priscilla was brown-skinned and had short curly hair. He found out that she was from Trinidad, in the West Indies. She liked watching horror movies as much as he did, and they shared a love of coffee.
The show was at the performing arts center at the Univer
sity and Brad felt embarrassed at having to return there. He hoped he wouldn’t run into anyone that he knew. If they realized he was no longer a student, they might wonder why he was still hanging around the campus. He tried to put it out of his mind as he sat in an empty row towards the middle of the auditorium. There weren’t many other people there to watch the performance, so he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to sit directly next to strangers.
The show started and a number of girls came out to the music, kicking high and shimmying this way and that. He didn’t see Priscilla so he opened up the program that had been handed to him at the door and scanned the names to see if he could find her. Priscilla White was the last name on the list, and so he tolerated the show for a few more minutes. As soon as he was at his breaking point and was ready to get up, she appeared onstage. She was dressed in an outfit that made the other performers look like nothing and the people in attendance clapped loudly. Apparently this particular show had her as the main event, so he was happy to see her, even though it meant he had to sit through the entire dance performance.
Once the show was over, Priscilla met Brad by her car and they stood outside talking for a long time.
“Are you aspiring to be a professional dancer?” he asked. It seemed like the right kind of question to ask, but as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt stupid for asking them. Priscilla had her degree and was working; shouldn’t it be obvious that the dancing was a hobby?
“That would be awesome if I could, but no. I like what I do and I’m a little too old to be pursuing that. Not to mention the pay isn’t that great for dancers, not unless you’re with the big names. They don’t want girls my age, trust me.”
“Your age? You’re like twenty-three. Is that considered old for professional dancers?”
“No, but it’s too late in the game for that sort of career change. So, did you like the show?”
“Oh yeah, you were amazing. There were people on their feet cheering for you, and I can tell that you are the one most of them came to see.”
“Look at you, you flatterer. Thank you!”
He spoke with her some more before she got into her car and drove away. He was even more attracted to her now that he had seen her dance, and he went home happier than he’d been in a very long time.
The next day she came into the café and ordered a cappuccino. He didn’t take the order since he was heating up a customer’s pastry. He saw her in line and she winked at him and he didn’t know how to react to it. When he made her drink he used the machine to place a heart inside of the foam. He called her name and she came up to him and he told her there was a surprise inside.
“A surprise? What did you do to my drink?”
“I put a little something extra inside. Take a look.”
“Let’s see,” she said. She opened the lid and smiled. “Aww, is that a heart?”
He nodded and looked around to make sure that his manager was not within earshot. She sat down and did some work on her computer while Brad stared at her whenever he could, looking away quickly whenever she would catch him. He loved her confidence; she was everything that he wasn’t. He liked that she knew how he felt about her but didn’t get creeped out or resort to games like many others would. Near the end of his shift she turned off her computer and walked up to him to let him know that she was leaving.
“Would you like to come over tonight and watch a movie?” she asked. “Maybe have dinner?”
“I would love to,” he replied as they strolled out to her car. But he couldn’t help but feel a little déjà vu with the Mika situation of the past. He got in his car and followed her home, and they arrived at a new apartment complex.
“Welcome to the mansion,” she said playfully.
He hovered behind her as she walked to the door and let him in.
“What do you do for work?” he asked as he removed his shoes and sat at her bar.
“I’m a pharmacist. Uh, and I don’t cook alone, so get up, come over here and start chopping up these carrots.”
He loved her personality and the way she could playfully make demands and he just had to comply. She was making shrimp fried rice, so she had him handle the vegetables while she did the cooking. When they were finished she handed him a bowl with a decorative set of chopsticks. They settled down on a mat in front of her television to watch an old, classic movie by the name of Splice. The movie was about two scientists that played god and developed a genetic mutant from several animals. The mutant grew into a beautiful girl with a scorpion-like tail, and due to the way she was raised by her scientist parents, she began to transform into something else completely. It struck a chord with Brad and he wondered if Tricia was undergoing the same thought process as the creature Dren in the movie.
When it was over Priscilla was laughing and wondering why Brad looked as if he had been scarred.
“Well, that was freaky,” she said as she prodded him in the ribs. “This movie proves that guys will sleep with anything.”
Brad thought about the mornings when he would wake up next to a powered-down Tricia and wipe her memory. A wave of sadness overtook him. “I feel sick,” he said before thinking better of it.
“Oh, no, did the food upset your stomach?”
“No, the food was great. You’re a brilliant cook. It’s just that movie was a little disturbing y’know? It really made me think, and it speaks to how messed up we humans are.”
“You’re such a nerd, Brad. Only you would find the intelligent, big picture in that weird thriller.”
She got up and collected his plate and he used her bathroom to wash his hands and face. There he was in the home of a beautiful pharmacist but despite his new confidence and her friendliness, he didn’t know whether to kiss her, or take things slowly out of fear of her running away. Splice had put Tricia on his mind and he felt cruel for creating her only to discard her whenever he got into situations with other women. It was out of rage and hurt that he’d developed her into a beautiful woman, and he’d had ulterior motives he would have acted on if the pills hadn’t changed his luck with real women.
Tricia was in a closet that would be her home for a time until he worked up the urge to tell Priscilla. How would he break it to her? He stood at the sink for a long time, thinking things through until she popped her head in the doorway.
“That movie really got to you, didn’t it? Can I get you something? I have ice cream and we can watch something else. Just let me know.”
“I’m okay, really. Thanks for a great time. We should do this again—“
“How about Friday? Do you work on Friday?”
“No,” he lied, and thought of what his excuse would be to call in sick that day.
Priscilla was sexy, and he had never dated a girl like her before, so he looked forward to seeing her again. They had the same sense of humor, liked the same movies, and she teased him constantly which made it easier for him to be himself around her. She was almost too good to be true.
When he got home, he found Tricia out of the closet and seated on the couch, watching television. She seemed confused and looked at him as if he were a stranger. How did she get out? She watched him as he entered, but said nothing to him as he looked over some discarded dishes in the sink.
“I went out with a beautiful girl today, Trish. She cooked for me and we watched a movie.”
“Should I be congratulating you?” she replied sarcastically, and then got up to stand in front of the mirror to do her hair.
“I’m sorry for lying to you about the closet. I panic sometimes when I think of how people will judge you, and call you names—“
“Are you worried that they’ll do that to me or to you?”
“Touché…”
“You’ve changed, but I don’t think that you understand the change. As your android I have watched you transform from a bashful, kind individual, to a dark, cocky version of yourself.”
“You need to say nicer thi
ngs to me unless you want to spend more time in the closet.”
“Don’t bother,” she said and then walked back into the dark closet and shut the door.
She powered herself down and went to sleep and he stood watching her, feeling powerless and stupid for his empty threat. When she awoke, she was back in the bed next to Brad’s sleeping body. How did I get here? She wondered, why is this becoming a recurring thing? When she had asked Brad about it a few weeks ago, he had said that he wasn’t laying her in the bed with him. If she was the one voluntarily doing it, she would have it in her memory—yet she didn’t. Brad muttered the name “Priscilla” and rolled over to embrace Tricia’s body tightly and this further confused her. She couldn’t stay upset with him, but she wondered about his erratic behavior and the memory lapses that had been occurring.
She decided that she would do something about it, as she suspected that Brad’s change was more than what she was experiencing. She slid out of his arms and pulled on a robe as she went into the living room to find the pills.
0 1 0
The next time Brad saw Priscilla she came by his apartment to get him. It was spontaneous and unexpected, and he wondered what would have happened had she seen Trish, or another woman in his place. When she called him to tell him she was there, he quickly threw on some shorts and a shirt to check if she was lying. When he went outside she was at the base of his stairs, and she was dressed as if she had been jogging.
“I was in your neighborhood so I decided to check in on you. There aren’t any girlfriends in there that will beat me up for calling you, are there?”
He laughed at her joke, and then despite his better judgment, put on some tennis shoes and joined her on her run. Exercise was foreign to Brad, but he gave it his all and they took off on the sidewalks of the busy street.
“You do this all the time, Priscilla?”
“What, pop up at people’s houses like a stalker?” She grinned. “I jog every morning, but I don’t typically come this way, so consider yourself special, sir.”
