How to Date an Android

Chapter 4, revised & improved

"Really? I need to get out more. I only here people calling them androids," I said.

"That's because half your customers are old people that probably shouldn't even have a license still. Just go to any bar and you hear sexbot, not android," he countered.

"That's...probably true. But usually meeting people in bars isn't the best way to live," I thought, remembering Mrs. Williams last year. She's tried to pull into my shop and hit the gate posts pretty hard. She's been to old to drive but flew under the radar because her car was an advanced model with a really good autopilot navigation system. Her insurance company was good to me though, and I've fixed it myself to save money.

"I kind of think that getting a sexbot is the way to go, man," he said. "I think you should get one bro," he added with a strange look in his eyes.

OK that was just a bit creepy. What was that supposed to mean? I pretended not to see how much of a weirdo he was looking like just now.

"But don't you want a real family?" I asked.

"Somehow I thought that was the way to be but look at society and what's going on? The divorce rate is 68% in the first ten years from the newest stats. Also it's the Rickers vs. Bryce case that's ended things in the U.S. for any future as a male," he said finally.

"Ouch. I don't even want to think about that. I was hoping there'd still be some good women out there," I concluded.

Rickers vs. Bryce was the equivalent of Roe Vs. Wade but instead of for abortion it had to do with women supremacy and almost free alimony to women. It was a nationwide fight that lasted over a year with legislation passing with 62% majority that women were automatically allowed alimony for life, no matter if there were kids or not from a marriage where a divorce occurs and no matter how long the man was married to her. From then on a man had to prove why he shouldn't have to pay alimony of up to 40% of his income, even if it wasn't a first marriage on the part of the woman. It had made people afraid to marry, but because of it android 'sexbot' sales had risen ever since and continued to climb.

"You know I never got how that legislation passed. I think they paid off the judges like they used to sixty years ago," Matt said scratching his head.

"Well think about it. When genetic manipulation was implemented in society there were a higher rise in the female to male ratio," I said, sipping a cold soda.

I still liked 7up, even though it was considered tame and an old people's drink and almost unknown to teenagers these days.

Matt preferred synthahol, which didn't actually make you drunk; but I also suspected he was mixing his synthahol with a real alcohol together some of the time. He'd gotten fired from one of his jobs for that a couple years ago. How often he fell off his motorized skateboard in my driveway also proved he was sometimes drinking, or at least had no motor skills if he wasn't.

It was weird though that despite a higher female to male ratio men had become almost slaves in the modern age if we were ever to try to get married. I think it had to do with the fact that as society became more modern and more able to sustain people with less of a struggle to survive that people appreciated beauty more...and obsessed about it. It seemed to be they worshipped beauty and ever since they didn't have pressure to survive, men were appreciated less and became like tools.

Thus, most the guys I knew were paying child support to more than one girl, and she was milking it. There were also rumors of corruption in paternal DNA testing, despite the fact that the science itself could be very accurate. But a lot of people couldn't help but think and truly believe, 'what if the person that was carrying the tray to and from the lab with the specimen' wasn't 'accurate', even if the specimen tests themselves were infallible.

"Well if you think about it, all those ladies have to protect their investment. That's why they protest androids or 'sexbots' so much. They are afraid of losing their monopoly," Matt said, falling into one of the couches.

"You don't look so good man. Are you feeling OK?" I asked him.

He had red rings around his eyes, looked scruffy, and his shirt was buttoned up all misaligned by a button. Plus he looked feverish and sweaty. Matt did drink sometimes but I'm not sure if this was from that or not because it didn't quite look like burn from the bar. He wasn't slurring his speech much now either.

"I don't know. I just went to my med scan today. They gave me the DNA repair pills you know to keep you 'living young forever', but I got like some kind of reaction from them," he said.

He didn't have slurred speech and didn't smell of alcohol so I wasn't sure what to think.

"You know my dad never trusted those. He could never explain why. But the idea of being able to live forever seemed like cheating to him. I just can't believe that there isn't going to be some kind of side effects from those," I said.

I didn't know Matt was interested in those kinds of things. A lot of people were, but they didn't know if the medical technology could be trusted. There were rumors that it a certain 1% of the population became homicidal from them.

Matt turned to me again before getting ready to turn in for going to sleep. I could smell synthahol and vodka mixed together in his breath, "I still think you should get a sexbot man. It would be totally awesome to have one of those around here."

What the frick?

Does he think I would share it with him? That's so icky. You don't share your woman with others. I needed to get rid of Matt. It was only a matter of time before he stepped out of bounds.