Build-A-Boyfriend

4

It's 25 minutes before I find myself donning a blue plastic jumpsuit and face mask in a small room.

I hope they're not taking me to meet my new boyfriend dressed like a crime scene medic.

"It's essential that we don't alter the certain areas via the bacteria on our skin." Doctor P smiles as the door behind us locks tightly. There's a pause before the other door opens and we step into a dark room. It's boiling and within seconds sweat begins to pour from me.

"Ah. You'll have to excuse the temperature. It's essential for the pods you see." He points and I follow the direction of his finger. Circling the room are what appears to be metal beds with strange thick purple glass covers. I make to step over to to look inside one but the Doctor pulls me back.

"What's in them?"

"Embryos."

"What? Like, babies?"

"Not quite." He laughs and takes me by the arm. "We've really started in the wrong place. Come with me."

The next room he guides me into is lighter and I breath an odd sigh of relief at being away from the creepy pod room. As he leads me down a long corridor he begins to talk.

"20 years ago I came across some incomplete research by a leading biological scientist who had recently passed away. Within it, I found guideline for creating human form robots-"

"Um, what?" I raise my eyebrows at his causal little speech.

"It's not so strange when you think about it. You see, we all know that one day in the future robots in society will become the norm. The way we live now, without robots to clean our homes, drive for us etc, will be seen as primitive. The problem for those developing the robotic future is that people are still afraid of robots.
Something which simulates humanity with none of the emotion and compassion terrifies them. The doctor whose research I found was involved in a very murky level of research. His ideas included making robots in human form-"

"Slaves." I say distastefully.

"No, not quite. Although my first reaction was exactly that too. With the same level of distaste." The doctor smiles. "He was undoubtedly less morally aware than I, but his ideas were sound. He found a way to grow and develop humans from a fertilised egg to a fully grown adult in a matter of weeks, rather than years."

"Why the hell-"

"Exactly what I thought." The doctor smiles. "What's the use of growing humans when it already happens? But the more interesting part of his study came later. The human brain needs stimulation. Development, interaction, love. Without these things, the mind cannot develop fully. So how to train the mind of a human that develops in just a matter of 8 weeks? The answer? Show them. Project into their pod everything you need them to know. Everything you need them to believe and understand."

"That wouldn't work." I scoff. "People need years of training and learning to understand-"

"No. Humans believe what they are taught to believe." He opens a small door and turns to me with a sad smile. "Isn't it terrible how our first thought is how we can use scientific advances to harm other humans? The doctor whose notes I have used was planning to approach the government with a blueprint for growing an army of bred soldiers with no emotion, but..."