I. Artificial
Eliot Slater felt the muscles in her back and shoulders start to lock up, she fought the urge to stretch and continued to hunch over her latest work-in-progress; she was connecting the metallic skeleton of a new generation of Gynoids in which the female automatons would be able to carry a child in a prosthetic womb, it was designed to that its body would reshape and grow like a human pregnant woman and Ellie knew if it worked that it would give hope to women who were sterile or unable to carry, that with a simple operation it would allow the childless to become mothers; she also knew that the older generations of Gynoids would line up to have the procedure done because for years they had watched human women give birth to babies and though they were considered perfect, unchanging women, that, that one simple biological thing made them inadequate but if this worked, they would be able to have offspring through the works of God and Science.
The young inventor finished connecting the wires of the metal skeleton; it was thinner steal and more malleable than that used in the previous generations of automatons; she studied her work for another moment, pursing her lips as her goggle-covered grey eyes moved over every last detail, she nodded in a satisfied manner, “I think that’s enough for today, what do you think Bishop?” she muttered, glancing up at the robot; he was a clunk of square metal and wires and more resembled Johnny-5 than an android, he’d been her first creation and her companion for the last ten years. He held a metal tray in his pincher-like hands which she placed her tools and goggles; his lens-like eyes scanned over her work, recording her progress for the video logs, “Seems sufficient Miss Ellie.” He said in a voice modified to sound like a robotic Clive Owen.
Ellie smiled and stood up to stretch, the muscles in her back making a satisfying popping sound, she yawned and rubbed her face before letting down her strawberry blond curls from a sloppy bun, “I could use some sleep.” She mumbled, nodding to herself.
“I’m afraid it will have to wait Miss Ellie, Warren O’Neal’s big reveal ball is tonight and you received an invitation, remember?” Bishop murmured, rolling towards a glass panel in the wall, it slid open and he began to put her equipment away.
She cursed under her breath, “I completely forgot.” She mumbled, frowning slightly, “What time is the party again?”
“It starts promptly at eight pm.” Bishop replied, starting to put the new Gynoid into a protective casing.
“And what time is it now?” Ellie mumbled, moving towards the coat rack to grab her leather jacket and messenger bag.
The robot was silent a moment as if checking his internal clock, “Exactly thirty seconds past six: fifty-eight pm.” He responded.
Ellie cursed under her breath again, “That gives me fifteen minutes to get home, thirty to get ready, and another fifteen to get uptown.” She grumbled, “Unless…” she dug in her bag for her wireless touch-screen tablet and began to tap at the keys as she started out of her lap, “See you in the morning Wanda, goodnight Lois.” She called to the two robotesses, who acted as computer mainframes and secretaries for her whole building. Eliot stepped out into the cool Autumn night and headed for her sleek, black Challenger parked at the curb, still tapping at her tablet, but stopping long enough to get out her keys and unlock the door; she slid in and brought the engine to life, she finished typing and put the tablet back in her bag and the bag on her passenger seat before she peeled out of her parking space and drove towards her brownstone a few blocks down from her lab.
Ellie parked the Challenger in front of her three-story brownstone; it was a beautiful thing, a piece of the past in the rapidly advancing city of Aldine. She grabbed her bag and moved up the stoop steps, Ellie keyed a code into the security panel outside her door, smiling softly at the click and whir the oak door made before it swung inwards, “I’m home.” She called as she stepped inside the foyer and the hologram of Marianna began to appear, she watched as the outline of a petite, curvy woman began to fill with tan flesh, a pink housedress melded to a thin waist, and a pretty face filled in with rose-pink cheeks, red plump lips, and olive green eyes filled behind smoky blue eye-shadowed lids; pixel-by-pixel Marianna had been modeled after a fifties housewife and kept Ellie’s home life in order, “You’re outfit is on your bed and there are cookies cooling on the stove.” Marianna said, smiling softly as she patted her brown shoulder length curls.
“Thank you Mari.” Ellie said, starting for the cylindrical elevator enveloped by the spiral stairs,
[incomplete]
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