The Creation of Amy Read online

  “Okay,” she said, thick with sarcasm again.

  Morse returned to the desk and Marcus asked, “So, what do you think, doc?”

  “She is what I’m looking for,” Morse confirmed.

  Curiosity flared in his eyes, “Why do you want her? I love my niece, but I have cuter girls than her I represent,” he inquired.

  Morse replied, “You have your type, I have mine. I think she is stunning.”

  “Okay then, let’s get down to business. What kind of job do you have for her?” he asked Morse.

  Smiling, he suggested, “Let’s wait for her. I hate to explain things twice.”

  Kara finally rejoined them and sat down. Her expression was an impeccable impression of a cartoonist’s portrayal of the moment a villain monologues, and she was the hero.

  He glanced back over both shoulders as if he were about to reveal the location of El Dorado and leaned in. “I’m working on a very cutting-edge project. I have invested most of my fortune into this one idea,” he disclosed.

  Marcus nodded. They could not seem less impressed, but he had their attention.

  Morse’s mouth went dry and palms instantly glistened with sweat as if his saliva left his mouth to emerge on his hands. The words he wanted to say, even to him, sounded crazy. His head shrieked, “What are you doing,” yet to his astonishment, the words began to flow. “I would like to build a machine using Kara as the model,” he said with baited breath.

  Mocking disbelief blossomed on their faces, and Kara uttered, “What?” as though her hearing it a second time would confirm she misheard him.

  Morse asked, “Do you know what an android is?”

  Marcus responded, “Um, yes,” he said. “A machine that looks like a person, right,” he propounded.

  “Yes, that’s pretty much right,” Morse agreed. He spoke to Kara, “I intend to copy you as closely as I can,” he explained, flattening his palm on the tabletop where she sat, “and have a sophisticated computer as her brain.” He brought his hands together again and continued, “You see, I have the ability to make the body, but I need someone to copy in order to make the android.” He made a hand motion toward Kara.

  His audience snorted and snickered.

  “You don’t believe me, do you,” Morse could feel his plea seer from the depth of his very soul. The only other moment that he could compare this to, would be the one before Liz answered his marriage proposal.

  Marcus chortled, “Okay,” he said, you could see he was unconvinced.

  Kara chimed in, “Oh, I believe you, I actually do. So, when you’re, say, finished with this android girl, what are you going to do with it,” she asked waiting and sporting her inquisitive brow.

  Marcus quipped, “Oh, I’m sure I know what he’s going to do with it,” implying Morse just wanted a sex bot.

  He countered, “I know what you’re thinking, but I assure you, there are so many more applications for a machine like this.”

  Their laughter subsided from his seriousness.

  Marcus presented a twisted smile and added, “Yeah, if it were smart enough, it could be your slave, or body guard, or even get a job and give you its paychecks.”

  Morse nodded yes. He was trying to say what Marcus said.

  Marcus sprung with a new conviction. “Kara,” he said covering her hand with his, “I think this may be an opportunity for you to have your image be the first one ever; in a way, that’s an honor.”

  Kara scoffed, “Hell, no!” she retorted. “I don’t want copies of me to be all over the place, doing God knows what. I don’t think this little science project is for me, Doctor Frankenstein,” she stated, folding her arms under her chest.

  “There’s twenty grand in it for you,” Morse revealed, “for less than a week.” He continued, “All the job requires is having some pictures taken, getting in a body scanner, and giving me the right to use your likeness as the prototype for the first lifelike android ever produced by mankind; a revelation that would change the world.”

  Both Marcus and Kara’s eyes lit up. Encouraged again, Morse added, “I’ll even give your agent ten grand for just being in the right place, at the right time.”

  Kara reached for and looked at Marcus with her mouth agape. Morse grinned widely and Kara declared, “Well, let’s make history!”

  The grip of anxiety on him released, his smile broadened, and he extended his hand to confirm their consent, “Great,” he said. “I’ll have my lawyers send over the paperwork and I’d like to see you at my place next week.”

  He shook their hands and she asserted, “You’re too old for me, not my type, and I have a boyfriend; just want that clear.”

  Morse loved her style. “That’s okay,” he said. “I’m not looking for a date. See you in a week.”

  Kara moaned to Marcus after Morse left, “Marcus, what have I done?”

  “You need money,” he reassured her, “I need money; it’s not a hard gig. We’ll see how it goes, but in the meantime, your Russian model awaits.”

  Kara giggled and went back to work.

  After the week of preparing his garage, the first machines began to arrive. The body scanner, the special rubber molds, and a sophisticated 3-D lathe that could create shapes of any kind out of the hardest metals. Next, the massive computer system arrived that networked all the machines, along with a Samsung 46-inch transparent LCD monitor. The brand-new specialized, realistic skin came from Dow, along with titanium metal blocks in varying sizes from Titanium Metal Supply. The amount of random parts, materials, and packages began to fill the storage room. UPS delivered the prosthetic experimental eyes from Japan.

  Morse worked tirelessly throughout the week to install the massive machinery. Soon, they were all humming, making their own little sound effects that no longer allowed the garage to feel like a garage; it was a lab now, and rivaling the government’s own. The dirty cement floor now had a lustrous sheen, and the high-efficiency laboratory lighting from Latitude provided sparkle only professional workspaces offered. Everything wired to the main computer: lights, security, machines, and even the garage door. The operating system had a voice interface, in other words, when he commanded the computer, it responded as Siri would. With a place for everything, and everything in its place, the stage was set for Morse’s insane undertaking.

  Monday abruptly arrived, and there was a knock at the door of his place. It was Kara; he opened the door, said hi, and welcomed her in.

  “Hi, to you too,” she returned as her eyes abandoned him to absorb the new laboratory. She discovered the Dodge Charger parked between the car lift. Shaking her head, she said, “Wow, doc, you weren’t kidding. Nice car!” Examining the Charger in detail, she helped herself to opening the hood. Irritation flared in him from her touching his car.

  “Hey, that’s my baby,” he cautioned. “I’ve been working on her for over two years now, be careful.”

  “Your stock just went up in my book, doc,” Kara announced. “My daddy had one of these, but he sold it when he divorced my mom--well, my mom divorced him. This is a freaking Hemi, isn’t it? Looks like you went the ‘resto-mod’ way. It’s spotless! You should put it in a show; I’ll bet it would win!”

  “Thanks,” he said as she shut the hood.

  Without asking again, she went to inspecting everything in the lab and noticed the giant monitor. “I feel like I’m in the bat cave,” she declared with an awestruck tone. “So, what now, Batman,” she asked with a playful superhero sidekick stance.

  “Well, Kara, take a look at this machine. It’s a body scanner, and it will give me the exact dimensions and impressions of every part of your body, inside and out. I can use those measurements for the schematics that I will use to build the various parts of your facsimile. Shall we begin?”

  “Sure. So, what,” she peered inside it, “do I get in this thing?” Kara asked with emphasis on ‘get in.’

  “Yes, you do, but you’re going to have to be nude in order to get precise measurements.”
r />   Kara’s face contorted into an expression of disgust, “Yeah, okay.” She hesitated and requested, “Can you not look at me?”

  “Of course,” Morse replied, “and here’s an iPod. Listen to it in the scanner. This will take about an hour, and I ask you not to move once it starts to scan.” She accepted his iPod.

  “Okeydokey,” she breathed. “Doing it for the money, doing it for the money, no big deal,” she chanted to herself.

  Morse turned from her and she undressed. Once nude, she laid in the body scanner, put the earphones in her ears, skipped through the songs on the iPod, and closed the scanner lid. When the lid closed, he sat down at the computer and asked, “You okay in there?”

  “Yes,” she affirmed.

  “Listen,” he advised, “make sure your arms are stretched out next to you, and your hands are open, palms down, and you need to keep them like that for the duration, okay?”

  “Sure thing,” Kara complied. “I’m playing the music now, and I’m laying the way you want me.”

  “Okay, good. I’ll see you in an hour.”

  On the screen of the computer station, Morse could see an image of Kara laying on the scanner, the left side on her front, and the right side, her back. He began the scanning process with a click of his mouse, ambled to a small counter that had a small fridge and a coffee maker, and he made himself some coffee. As he sipped it, he leaned on the counter contemplating his new lab, and muttered, “Bat cave? Where’s she getting that from?”

  He retraced all her steps with his eyes, first seeing the Charger, then the computer screens, and it struck him. “Oh!” he laughed. He sat down on the stool there; picked up the digital camera he brought out from the back of his closet earlier, double checked it, and set it down. He used the remote beside it to turn on the television. The 42-inch, high definition LCD by Sony melded with the lab seamlessly. Half an hour passed, and Morse checked the status of his scan. All was good, and Kara had not moved a bit.

  Finally, the hour was up, and the computer chimed; the screen read, “Scan complete.” He muted the television and yelled, “All done!”

  Kara did not respond. Morse knocked on the scanner door and it turned out Kara fell asleep. She asked, “All done yet?” still not moving.

  “Yes,” he answered. “I’ll turn around, you can come out.”

  Morse turned away from the scanner, and Kara climbed out and put her clothes back on.

  She raised the question, “I probably should have asked you earlier, but, I wasn’t put in something that emits radiation, was I?”

  “No, it’s very safe,” Morse assured her. “I promise.”

  “Okay,” she announced, “I’m dressed.”

  Morse turned back around and asked, “You want some coffee?”

  Kara said, “Sure, you have decaf?”

  Morse said, “No, but it’s good; just bought this coffee maker.”

  “Okay, sure.” Kara agreed after briefly mulling it over.

  Morse poured coffee in a mug, mixing it with powdered creamer and sugar simultaneously, and slid it to her gingerly.

  She sipped it and remarked with a cutesy shrug, “Hey, not bad.”

  She became aware of the computer screen with her image—her naked image. Her visage shifted to one of shamed horror and then her posture wilted. “Wow,” she pronounced in a hushed voice, “kind-a defeats the point of you not looking when I get undressed.”

  She looked down at her mug and tapped her fingers on it and made a sharp inhale, but only exhaled shallowly.

  “Well, Kara, I’m only trying to make you feel as comfortable as possible, and I promise all this will stay with me and no one will see it.”

  She kept her eyes averted her eyes from the computer screen and argued, “You can’t promise that. I mean, the point of this is make another me. I have a feeling in the future others may see this other me naked.”

  “I guess, but I will be as discrete as possible. Did you get the agreement from my lawyer?”

  “Yes, I did. I have it with me, we both signed it. Here it is.”

  She gave the document to Morse and he checked it.

  “I can make as many of these to your likeness as I want, but it will most likely only be the one,” he offered for her comfort, “and you will keep this all to yourself, just so you know.”

  “I got it. I’ll admit I’m kind a weirded out by this,” she confessed.

  “Yeah, I know,” Morse acknowledged, “but, the only thing I have to do now is take the pictures.”

  “What do you need pictures for? You just scanned me,” Kara demanded.

  “I need them to make sure this android is as realistic as possible. I will use them for reference. Maybe you’d rather do it tomorrow? It’s up to you,” he persisted.

  Kara moaned, “Oh, God, what am I doing? Why would you need naked shots of me? This is making me nervous.”

  “I’m sure it does,” he assured her, “but I’m going to need them in order to do this well. I will make it as painless as possible, and if you get it done today, I give you the other half of the twenty-grand after.” He slid his checkbook with its pen over toward her an inch and tapped it, grinning with all his charm.

  They stared at each other while he kept his grin going and she relented. “Fine,” she huffed, “let’s get it over with,” and removed all her clothing again. Morse began photographing her with many of her face, close-ups of her body, her legs, and even her feet.

  Kara was directing the whole time to pretend she was not nude, directing Morse on the right way to take pictures, since she was a photographer. You would think this crazy photo shoot would have excited Morse, but he was thinking of the mechanics involved in recreating this woman, also, her constant criticism of how he was taking pictures was irritating.

  As he was focusing his shots on her backside, the thought of saying, “Your ass is as cute as the rest of you,” crossed his mind, but he knew she would hate it, and it possibly would only end with him having a black eye. Finally, after about a half an hour of picture taking he stated, “You’re done, Kara.”

  “Thank God!” she exclaimed as she rushed to put her underwear back on, “I don’t know what’s worse: you taking pics of my most intimate, private places or you bungling up the shots.”

  When most of her clothes were back on, she said after a deep inhale, “That wasn’t too bad. But, let me see the camera.” She snatched the camera from his hands and started looking through all the shots he took of her, commenting on each one. She threatened, “If these ever get out, I will kill you. And this never happened, now give me my check, doc.”

  Morse wrote a check to Kara and passed it backhandedly, holding the check between his middle and index fingers.

  “Not bad for what, two hours of work? Geese,” he pointed out with playful jealousy.

  She took the check, scanned it, squealed, and looked up at Morse as she put it in her pocket.

  “No, not bad at all,” Kara said getting serious now. “You, in a way, have saved my life.

  “Well, doc,” she asked, “When do you think you will have her done?”

  “Maybe a couple of years, more or less,” he supposed.

  “Can I see her when she’s done? You have my number.”

  “Tell you what, when she’s done, you’ll be the first to know. How’s that,” he suggested as he shrugged with his hands stuffed in his jean’s pockets.

  Kara smiled with a nod of approval.

  “This isn’t a doll, right? I’m guessing it will walk and talk?”

  Morse nodded, “It will. I doubt it will be sophisticated at first, but the more programming I do, the better she will behave.”

  “Hmm,” she mused, “her? You have a name for her?”

  Morse sat down on the counter, contemplated with his hand to his chin and his eyes looking up and to the side, “I have a few names,” he revealed. “I haven’t narrowed it down yet.”

  Kara sat beside him, “I looked you up on the internet, doc,” she c
onfessed. “You had a wife?”

  “Yes,” he said with a glum tone.

  “She was murdered, then your house was burnt down, that’s what I read.”

  “Yes,” he confessed, “we were having a baby, but that’s never going to happen now.”

  “Did she look like me?” Kara asked.

  Morse smiled and shook his head, “No, she was blonde, taller than you.”

  “Then why me, why not create your wife?” she wondered.

  “Because she is dead, I can’t. Anyway, I don’t look at the past anymore, it kills me. I picked you because you’re small and cute as a button.” He poked her in the stomach playfully.

  She laughed and knocked his finger away. “No, seriously, you are making a girlfriend here? Or a new wife, or what?” she wanted to know.

  Morse was a little surprised he had not considered this, “I’m not sure, I just came up with this idea not too long ago—been busy too much to think. But, now that I think about it, I will probably treat her like a daughter.”

  Kara nodded, her face softening, she probed, “So, you probably won’t sleep with it then,”

  “Probably not,” he supposed.

  “Why are you doing this to begin with?”

  “Because I can,” he answered, “and because I know how I can do this. Also, it’s because it is better than eating a shot gun blast.”

  Kara looked aghast, “Someone threatening you, or you were going to end your life?” she pressed.

  “The latter,” Morse’s confession was a necessary release, but it was still uncomfortable for him to answer truthfully, and he disliked sharing intimate details with someone he knew so little. “I haven’t had much luck lately, especially with women, but that’s nothing compared to finding the love of your life, then having her taken away.”

  Kara leaned toward him with concern and pointed out, “Well, you have a lot to live for, and I’m sure your wife wouldn’t want you to end it. Even though you’re not my type, you’re still a handsome guy to me. You’ll find the right girl.” Then she looked at the computer and quipped, “Or, you could build one!” with a giggle, but then she added, “But, a real girl is out there for you.”