Born to be Used

1

I typed the last codon in the sequence and hit Enter. "READING...," it said. I sat back in my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I just hope this will work. A few minutes later the computer spit out a chip no bigger than my finger nail. I stood up. It felt like the first time I stood in years. I walked over to the Generator and fed it the chip and a T shirt and jeans. Now all that was left to do was wait. I fell down on my bed and played my guitar until I fell asleep.

I woke up to a loud beep. The body was ready. My heart was pounding with nerves. I had spent months collecting DNA samples and putting his entire genome together. If something went wrong I don't know what I'd do.  I opened the Generator and took him out. He was perfect. His blonde hair looked just like the pictures. A complete copy from 100 years ago. I only had to see if his eyes were as blue... I shook my head and focused on what I had to do. I took the bracelet and clipped it around Kurt's wrist. The bracelet transfers signals to carry out life functions and sends synapses to the brain. I went back to my computer and started furiously typing these codes. I had to keep doing this for him to wake up. I finished typing the code sequence and put the computer on repeat. I checked for pulse, then breathing, then I watched for movement. It seemed like  forever until his eyes opened. They were the most radiant blue you could ever imagine and no words could describe them. I was hit with the realization that this was mine, that I had created this beautiful human being. He looked at me and a smile spread across his face. Probably recognizing me as his master. Condemned to follow my commands programmed into his brain by a dumb computer. And it was at this pure moment I realized I couldn't let him live as a brain-dead robot controlled by my fingers. The thought nauseated me. I knew if I turned the transmission off he would have about 10-15 seconds to live. But those 10-15 seconds of freedom were better than living as a zombie for the rest of his life.   My hands slowly moved to his wrist where I had placed the bracelet that brought him to life moments ago. This was the hardest thing I ever had to do. They certainly don't tell you all this in the instructions. I moved my thumb across the scanner and the bracelet unclipped. An alarm screeched from the computer. I silenced it. Kurt stared at me with a dazed look on his face. A tear ran down my cheek as I felt his pulse slow and the life slip out of his eyes. Their beauty mesmerized me so I didn't notice his pupils shrink in response to light. He blinked once, then twice, then slowly sat up. Now this wasn't normal behavior for somebody dying. He stared into my eyes. "You saved me..." the worlds barely escaped his mouth. I was so confused. This was scientifically impossible. Then his lips were on mine. They tasted so sweet and I never wanted to let them go, but I had to. For his sake and for my sake. I pushed him off. "You need to go," I said. "You don't want this. I freed you. You're free now. Just leave, okay? It's for the best." And just as I said it, he was gone.