Neil returned home to find his wife-to-be fixing them dinner. Even in sweats and an old T-shirt, seeing her made him grin like a mad man. He snuck behind her, wrapped his arms around her midsection and nuzzled her neck and the dark hair covering it.
“Wow, what did I do right to deserve a total babe who also cooks.”
Zoe put down the spoon and turned around to give Neil a kiss. After a quick one, she retorted, “It’s just hamburger helper. I’d love to see what you’d do if made a meatloaf.”
“I’d explode.” They both chuckled. “I had one helluva day. I told my mom and Jessica about the engagement.”
Zoe turned back to stir the pan of ground beef and noodles. “How’d they react to that announcement? Considering they still haven’t met me.” That was still a sore subject between them. Neil had been reluctant to expose Zoe to his... abnormal family. Zoe was an only child raised by her father and she craved being part of a traditional family unit. Too bad the Dysons were far from traditional once you got past the mom, dad, and two kids.
Neil walked to the apartment’s bedroom to take off his work clothes. “My mom was pleased; my sister is already planning the wedding ceremony. I think she’s going to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid whether we want her to or not.”
Zoe took out two place settings and laid them out on the small breakfast nook table. “That’s fine with me; I’m going to need all the help I can get.” She went back to the stove and came back to the table with a trivet and the skillet of dinner. She set it down and realized she had almost forgotten the crushed red pepper Neil loved on Italian-style dishes.
The water got poured right as Neil came back out in a T-shirt and shorts. He gave his fiancée another kiss before they sat down. “Betty Draper couldn’t have done better,” Neil said as he scooped himself some food.
“I’m hoping our marriage turns out a little better than that, sweetie.”
Neil laughed and the two of them continued to chat idly over their romantic dinner.
Camilla took her seat at the head of the table. The group had all left, and then come back well after hours so no one would notice them or disturb them inside a company meeting room. In terms of Stanley enterprises, she wasn’t the most senior employee in the room. In terms of Dyson, she wasn’t the longest-operating android woman. But Dr. Dyson had put her in charge.
There were three other android women at the table and two men who had android wives and were almost as willing as the women to help the Institute. Most of them knew who Zoe was, but only Ava had interacted with her outside of the office. It was one of the many problems Camilla faced.
“OK, let’s get this started. We’re here because Dr. Dyson would like to see Zoe Baker join us as a synthetic woman. If anyone knows why, I’d be happy to hear it, because my analysis says she’s a poor candidate, and Dr. Dyson wouldn’t explain it to me.”
The people at the table looked at each other for answers and got none. Except for Katie, who was reliving on her face a pleasant experience with the Doctor. Ignoring Katie, Camilla continued.
“So we’re going to have to go to greater lengths in order to convince her. Part of the reason she’s not a good candidate is that we don’t have much data on her. We’ve got the basic biography down, but not the really personal stuff that would make this recruitment a slam dunk. She’s not married. She seems to have a healthy body image, but not overly so. We’re getting that mostly from appearance analysis. She dresses smartly, but not expensively.
Ava chimed in, “that’s the impression I’ve gotten. She’s very comfortable with her life. She has a serious boyfriend, although there doesn’t seem to be any angst there to latch onto. My best guess is that she’s also sexually conservative, which doesn’t help us.”
“She doesn’t surf the Web at work enough to get any information,” Camilla continued, “and no personal effects except some silk flowers.”
Greg sighed, “Shit, how bland can you be? Just tell Dr. Dyson she can’t be recruited and let’s go on with our lives.”
Camilla rolled her eyes, “I’ve tried explaining this to Dr. Dyson, but the request stands.”
Katie had recovered and was back in the conversation, “I don’t think this is as hard as we’re making this. Being an android woman is clearly better. We don’t need to trick her or anything, just show her the truth and give her the opportunity to be a perfect, synthetic female.”
Camilla appreciated the point about not needing to trick her, “Normally I’d agree, but if she flips out once one of us flashes an open panel, the game is up. Maybe she even convinces a cop to come investigate us. You can’t throw a rock in this building without hitting a synthetic woman or someone else who knows about the Dyson Institute.”
David finally chimed in, “How about you take her out, go dancing or whatever it is synthetic women do as a group.” There were a few giggles, considering what android women love to do together. “OK, not that, but make her feel like one of the girls. Maybe you steer the conversation in a way that makes her think about robots. Prep her before you do the reveal.”
Greg followed up, “Dress up really nicely too. Make her feel like she isn’t pretty enough. Be catty behind her back but within earshot. Exaggerate the amount of work you do in a day. If you can’t convince her a synthetic body would be better, convince her that staying in her current body is worse.”
Camilla thought that Greg was an asshole, but she should probably incorporate that into any plan. The directive was to bring her into the fold, not preserve her self-esteem.
“Then it’s settled. Ava, Dana; get together at some point tomorrow and invite Zoe to a night on the town. If you can get her to go on a shopping trip beforehand, I’ll authorize it for you. Unfortunately, I don’t think partying with the boss will get her to loosen up.”
They all chuckled at that as the table emptied. Dana, who hadn’t talked during the meeting, quietly headed to the door before Camilla could catch up with her.
“You were awfully quiet in there.”
Dana shrugged, “I couldn’t help thinking of Gretchen. Two kids, husband ran out on her, diabetes, bad knees. If there’s anyone we should be helping it’s her, not someone who can’t immediately appreciate the gift being presented to her.
The boss smiled a little bit, “That was one part of the plan I didn’t need to go over. Gretchen talks to Zoe all the time. They’re both going to be extended the chance to become synthetic, and hopefully Gretchen’s happiness will be contagious.
Dana got a big smile on her previously troubled face before giving Camilla a big kiss.
Neil and Zoe sat atop a short dividing wall in front of the theater, waiting for Jessica to arrive. They didn’t talk; they just sat enjoying the breeze and the shade provided by the big tree. Neil was a little nervous that Jessica would dress the way she normally dressed in public: sparsely. It was bad enough when he had to watch guys ogle his sister. He didn’t want to explain to Zoe why his sister was such an exhibitionist.
Zoe, on the other hand, was more worried about making a good first impression on her fiancé’s sister. It was obvious to her that Neil loved his sister very much. Plus she wanted to fit into his family like a round peg in a round hole. She had been rehearsing an introduction in her head since they sat down.
Neil was first to spy Jessica coming around the corner. He was thankful she was dressed tastefully. The top went down to just above her navel, and the neckline didn’t expose much cleavage, although it hugged her breasts attractively. She was wearing low-riding jeans, but those were in style.
Zoe saw an attractive woman turn the corner and caught Neil staring. “Hey mister, no window shopping, you’re about to be a married man.” At that point, Zoe realized the woman was smiling and walking directly toward them.
“Hi, you must be Zoe. I’m Neil’s little sister Jessica. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Neil had to fight off a snorting laugh at Zoe’s initial statement and subsequent speechlessness. Zoe couldn’t believe Jessica and Neil were siblings, they looked so different. Plus Neil’s stories of the two of them made Jessica sound kinda dorky.
“Hi Jessica, I’m glad you could come.” Zoe smiled broadly and Jessica smiled back. Zoe was still a bit flabbergasted, but was regaining her composure. Jessica was calmly sizing up her future sister-in-law. And not just in the sense of taking high-res photos for later use in the construction of Zoe’s android body.
Neil butted in to break the silence, “So Jessica, we wanted to wait until you got here before picking a movie. Any preference?”
Jessica attracted some attention when she started bouncing with excitement. “Ooh The second Foundation movie came out last week, we should go see that.”
Zoe furrowed her brow, “I haven’t heard of it.”
Jessica was happy to explain, in detail, what Asimov’s Foundation Series was all about, with a little comment on how many top economists cited the psychohistorians as an inspiration for their later interest in economics. Neil was always amused when his sister geeked out like that. It was a nice dose of nostalgia in addition to an entertaining paradox when a model-hot girl started going on about Freeman Dyson (no relation).
Zoe was a little less amused, “I’m not really a science fiction fan. How about that new Jason Statham romantic comedy?”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. Her brother was dating, nay, marrying a woman who didn’t enjoy science fiction? One who wanted them to watch a bleepin’ Romantic comedy? With that no talent assclown?
Neil quickly stepped in. “How about a nice historical drama? I think there’s something about the French revolution playing.” Neil knew his women. Jessica enjoyed history, and Zoe enjoyed costume dramas. Sure enough, the two women agreed and Neil bought three tickets. Although the way the guy was ogling Jessica, maybe he should’ve let his sister get the tickets. She could have handed the guy a dollar and gotten change back.
Inside, Neil left the girls alone to make a trip to the concession stand for all of them. There was a moment of silence broken by Jessica.
“So... how old are you?”
“Oh, I’m 23. My birthday was three weeks ago.”
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks... You’re 20, right?”
“Yup, just don’t check my driver’s license.” Jessica giggled a little bit at her own joke.
Zoe smiled, but didn’t laugh. “So are you in school?”
“No, I’m working with my mom, getting practical experience.”
Zoe was puzzled, “They let you work at an engineering firm?”
“Huh? No, I work at my Mom’s health spa.”
“Neil said she was a nuclear engineer.”
“She was, but the job was very stressful, so she and some friends opened up a health spa. They’re all much happier now.” Jessica had to bite her tongue as to why.
“It’s a damn shame, a woman in the natural sciences being driven away like that. I mean, I’m glad she’s happy, it’s just that we need more female scientists.”
Jessica’s cheeks got hot, thinking of all the women who now knew, through first-hand experience, enough about robotics to teach the subject at any university. “I understand what you mean, don’t worry.”
If Neil hadn’t come back at that moment, Jessica might have blabbed. “OK girls, I’ve got a Sprite and Junior Mints for the pipsqueak, Diet Cokes for me and Zoe, and a jumbo bucket of popcorn for everyone.”
“Actually, hold on to it dear, I need to make a visit to the little girls’ room.” Zoe leaned over the armful of goodies and gave him a kiss.
“Here, take your ticket, we’ll meet you in the theater.”
Zoe walked off and the Dyson siblings walked to the ticket taker.
“You didn’t tell me your fiancé was a Luddite.”
Neil sighed, “Oh please, so she doesn’t write fanfiction about Jean-Luc Picard in high school. It doesn’t make her a luddite.”
Jessica would always regret showing him that story, “well, we’ll see if we can’t add some special programming when she comes in for her new body.”
Neil cringed at the thought, even if the thought was of Zoe’s disembodied android head with a large fake cock in its mouth. He changed subjects, “So why were you late?”
“I had a broken gasket.”
“Doesn’t the ASU pick up on stuff like that?”
It took Jessica a moment to realize the confusion, “Not in me, in the car. Doofus. I had to borrow mom’s car.”
“She still have that 15-year-old Neon?”
“Yup, I was sooo embarrassed. Not only as an advanced amalgam of robotic machinery, but as a daughter and a hot young girl who shouldn’t be caught dead driving that rust bucket.”
The ticket taker was staring at them as they laughed.
Jessica is the one who covered, “It’s an inside joke about Westworld.”
The movie passed without incident and Jessica declined their offer to have dinner. She had swapped in a smaller battery and added extra disk storage for her footage of Zoe and, frankly, the Foundation movie she had hoped to see. Zoe was a little sad that they hadn’t talked more, but said they’d arrange some girl time later. Jessica liked that idea more than Neil.
In the car, Neil and Zoe chatted a bit about the movie. Neil decided not to ask for his future wife’s impression of his sister. The conversation dropped off until Zoe piped up.
“Has your sister had work done?”
Neil very nearly swerved into a street sign.
Onward to Part Four
