M.A.I.D.S. [season 1]

Episode 3: Deep In Thought

M.A.I.D.S. Episode 3 - Deep In Thought

Slick pavement inconsiderately sprayed already-damp sidewalks as Adam's vehicle self-navigated the streets of Laramie. A light rain dusted the evening with thoughtful droplets of reflected moonlight, augmenting the streetlights, illuminated traffic signs, and phosphorescent lines on the road.

The automated ride through Laramie to FIST 8 headquarters went unnoticed by Adam, lost as he was in navigating his thoughts. His mind boiled and churned as his confused, wayward thoughts found their only anchor in Pandora's eyes, which only turned him loose again to wander aimlessly in his mindscape. That which he sought, he found; that which he found sent him searching once more.

What happened tonight?

The skillsets I chose for Pandora were far beyond even the most finely-crafted Dolls. She looks perfect...my living, breathing vision of perfection incarnate. Well, right now she only "looks" perfect, as I haven't put her skills to the test...yet. The thought made Adam bulge with anticipation.

Pandora-Eve-whatever, she's perfect. Shouldn't I be satisfied?THAT'S the problem, thought Adam. She's neither "living" nor "breathing."She's not really a "she." Eve is a thing, an object, a biomechanical machine designed for my sole pleasure.

Adam's muddled mind turned momentarily to the basic purpose of a Synthia-procreation. Once impregnated, a Synthia is taken to a birthing clinic, and the man responsible is given a commendation for his hard work and dedication toward sustaining humanity. He is also given an "upgrade" to compensate him for the loss of his Synthia.

That's not why I designed Pandora to be so amazing. I designed...well, a functional piece of art, but moreover, I designed a long-term companion.

In the 42 years since women had gone extinct, love and romance had undergone a paradigm shift. Meaningful relationships between a man and a woman vanished when women went extinct because of M.A.I.D.S. No man had a meaningful relationship with a Synthia-Synthias were designed to be incapable of such a thing. "Love" became a word reserved to describe a succulent lobster dinner, a masterful work of art, or a deeply affectionate relationship between men.

The extinction of women removed the cultural construct of gender. Because of M.A.I.D.S. there was only one sex in humanity. Since there was no longer male or female, there was no longer hetero- or homosexual. Men did and were everything, erasing gender roles. Synthias were tools used for reproduction first and sexual gratification second. This freed men to explore their inner selves more fully.

All Synthias were created with the ability to reproduce. Beyond this necessity, their forms varied widely. The vast majority were modeled after the now-extinct human female, many of which were cast in the likeness of famous females long gone-Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, Jenna Jameson, or Britney Spears, for example. Others were given more eccentric looks, some even masculine or hermaphroditic (such exotic Synthias were more commonly Dolls). Dolls were chemically sterile, but a special draught would enable them to be impregnated, thus retiring the Doll.

I selected Eve to be chemically sterile, though she's definitely not a Doll.

Global law mandates that all men reproduce a minimum of one time. Incentives exist for men who reproduce more than once. Aside from this simple requirement, men were free to live as they chose to. This unique state of being solved many issues and erased the last lingering hatreds of the previous, ignorant centuries. Men were free to be, dress, act, do, and love however they chose to.

All made possible by the extinction of women.

Maybe it's her name that is confusing her. Is this because someone decided to imprint the name "Eve" on her? She took to "Pandora" readily enough, though, but it might have been enough to short-circuit my Synthia.