Free Six Scifi Stories by Robert T. Jeschonek Page B

sapphires.
    He looks young, in his twenties or thirties, but nowhere near his true age, for he is a newborn. Today is the first day of his life.
    â€œWho?” For a change, Dr. Medici is the one reduced to one-word sentences.
    â€œThat’s up to you.” I pat the new man’s shoulder, and he smiles up at us. “He’s all yours.”
    Dr. M’s frown softens just a little. “You made him?” She hangs back from the gurney, but she can’t take her eyes off the man. “But how?”
    â€œWith snips and snails and puppy dog tails.” I can’t believe I’m making a joke, but I feel incredible. “And cloned, hypertrophic super stem cells resequenced by viral nanodrives seated mitochondrially.”
    â€œHuh.” Dr. Medici shoots me a sideways look. “Are you sure you don’t have the cure for cancer?”
    â€œGo ahead and sit up,” I tell the man on the gurney, and he does. “Say something.”
    â€œHello.” When he says it, his voice is deep and rich, and he looks right in her eyes. “I love you.”
    Dr. Medici blushes. “This is crazy,” she says. “This is nuts.” But she doesn’t break eye contact with him the whole time.
    I feel better than I can remember ever feeling before. “He understands you,” I say. “The thrill will never be gone for him. And he will never leave you.”
    â€œBut you can’t know that,” says Dr. M, “can you?”
    Grinning, I give the homemade man a wink. “Tell her.”
    â€œI understand you.” The homemade man gazes into her eyes and speaks with intense feeling that leaves no room for doubt or apprehension. “The thrill will never be gone. And I will never leave you, Hildegarde.”
    I brainwashed him well. Every word, inflection, and expression are perfect.
    Dr. Medici flashes me a confused frown. “But why?” she says. “Why did you do this?”
    â€œI didn’t want you to be alone anymore.” It’s only now that I lie to her. “Since you couldn’t meet the right man, I made one for you.”
    Dr. Medici turns back to the homemade man, her confusion dissolving into wonderment. “I can’t believe it,” she says. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”
    Each word is like a caress to me. As she reaches out to touch his cheek, I feel like she’s reaching out to touch mine. As she gazes tenderly into his eyes, I feel like she is gazing into mine.
    Which makes sense, really. There’s one part of the secret plan that I haven’t told her about yet...one part that I will never tell her about.
    That part is me. I am part of him.
    I grew his heart from a piece of my own. The heart in his chest, the one that beats faster as she takes his hand in her own, is the twin of my heart.
    And as he embarks on the life I always wanted, takes the love I always longed for in his new, strong hands, I’ll share it, in a way. As I go about my work and see them happy, I’ll know that I made it possible, and part of me will always be part of them.
    This is the real reason I made him, the one I lied to her about. I made him because it’s the only way I could ever have her, the only way I could ever close that final mile between us.
    Though, if I’m honest, I have to say that not everything I’m feeling right now is happiness.
    â€œWendell.” For the first time that I can remember, Dr. Medici calls me by my first name. “Wendell, thank you.”
    â€œBe happy.” My heart is pounding like the pistons of a giant robot. “That’ll be thanks enough.”
    She reaches over and brushes my hand with her fingertips. Not for the first time and not for the last, I long to fold her into my arms and press my lips to hers in a kiss for the ages.
    â€œThis is mad, you know.” A single tear rolls down her face as she turns back to her newborn