There were many body types. In designing my ideal woman, I never realized how difficult the process would be. My good friend Dr. Frank Crane was willing to give me a discount on a custom Matron. He was allowing me to decide nearly everything about the woman. As I stared through the glass at several torsos, I didn’t know what to think. I stood silently with Dr. Crane.
“Hard to think about, isn’t it?” His bald head was blue from the lights in the room.
“What is?”
“Imagining a headless, legless, armless, breastless body in bed.” He chuckled a little.
“Well yes, of course.” I surveyed the torsos again. I decided on one that seemed fit enough for me—not too tall, thin but not too thin, simple. “That one,” I pointed.
“Excellent choice. Out of this group, that one is probably my favorite. Dr. Sullivan and I agreed that this would be part of the ideal woman. It seems too perfect!”
“I think I’ll enjoy it. What part will you work on next?”
“Arms. After the torso, always the arms next.”
“Why?”
“Well, for one thing, I like to think I’ve got the best method of creating a woman out of all the doctors here. They’ve noted my good work, and it’s actually rather annoying when some big CEO shmuck comes in here thinking he knows what a great woman is like and he always goes on about how he wants ‘the right tits’ and ‘the best ass’ and they always pick them first, then the legs and vagina, and they make a complete mess of a woman.” He shook his head. “They really don’t know what makes a great woman. And those assholes don’t even care about a mind. They just want a stupid weekend toy. Pathetic!”
“How do you usually like to work on a Matron?”
“Her body must come first. When you’re on top of her, you’ll see why. Or, feel why, I should say. I like to do the arms next because she’ll be using them a lot. She’ll be putting her arm in yours, holding you, all that. Sexually speaking, when she’s got her arms wrapped around you, you’ll want them to feel just right. Then the legs. Can’t have them just long and thin, no. You have to make the knees just right. Knees are ugly, but if you make them just right they’re much more pleasing to look at and touch. Feet, well, don’t worry about those. I’ll get the best looking feet for you. I’ll show you the group of the best feet when it comes time for that. Hands are a completely different story. You’ll have to think a lot about hands when we work on those.”
“Why?”
“A woman’s hands are probably the most important aspect of her physical essence. At least to me. She will need her hands for everything. In terms of you, her hands must be perfect. If her hands aren’t perfect, forget it. I know you’ll be unhappy. Maybe you won’t be able to explain it, but something won’t be quite right. You’re lucky you know me. If you need any modifications after we finish her, for anything, I’ll fix her free of charge.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Indeed. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, feet, hands. Oh and her ass, unless you’re really particular, I know the best ass for torso 3C1.”
“3C1?”
“Yes. Torso 3C1 is the one you picked. It truly is the ideal body of a woman. Anyway to finish her off, you’ll pick out the tits, then we’ll work on the vagina. The vagina is actually easy, believe it or not. It takes a couple steps, but it’s actually one of the easier parts. Easy, but important of course. Then one of the hardest parts, and I save it for later, is the head. The entire head. You’ll have to get the lips just right, the eyes, nose, hair, all that and more. I actually like to start with the hair before doing anything else. We’ll do all of that on a computer. There are too many possibilities of facial features and all that so we don’t have any ‘ideal’ heads lying around. Too many faces in the world.”
“After the physical parts, we work on her mind, right?”
“Yes. We call it ‘DNA.’ Obviously it’s not real genetics, but it’s pretty damned close. It’s a long process, but we have quite a large number of personalities on file that you can interact with on a computer if you want to start there instead of from scratch. You can edit them. Starting from scratch can take months to work on. But, if you tell me what you’ve got in mind I can start you off with a few of the better files when we get to that. You’ll decide on her vocal cords during that part too.”
“How long will it be until she’s totally finished?”
“Probably three months.”
“Should be just in time for summer, then.”
“Good time to have a woman, Vincent.”
I looked over the bodies behind the glass again. They looked cold. It was time to go. I turned and headed for the door, Dr. Crane following me.
His office was four doors down the hallway. The light in the hallway was bright. I had to blink several times before my eyes adjusted from the blue light of the lab room. I noticed I was tired.
***
Living alone has never been difficult for me. The nights I would come home after work and after meeting with Dr. Crane for a few hours, I would fix myself a drink and watch the dirty sunset over the city. I live in a flat above the city. I have a fantastic view of the metropolis. Some nights I would actually find myself lonely, even after I tried many times to find myself a woman.
I have been involved with several women, but none of them wanted to stay with me for very long. Complications tend to arise with women, and I’d grown tired after seeing them come and go in my life. Though my parents see the idea of having a Matron as ludicrous, it is only because they are from the Old Generation. Things were much different then. While they age, the younger only become more and more sophisticated, reaching to a new age with each generation.
I’ll admit my generation is coming to their “middle age,” and I can see the younger generation already coming upon mine. My parents however, don’t understand this passing of generations. With a Matron, I will be as modern as the next man. My parents refuse to understand this. They grew up at the end of another age. Their parents were the ones who married each other, when such a thing was all too common. Those were the days of sunsets and romantic evenings and such when it came to mating. They called it some kind of game, as if sexuality were to be won and lost through a series of social obstacles. My parents saw some of this in their lifetime, and it is why they dislike my intentions now.
Once my Matron is finished, I will simply be as happy as any other man with a mate. She will be just as any other woman, and happy to have me. Together we will dine out occasionally with our friends. We will laugh together. We will go out to the trend mall together and fashion each other. We will be just as any other modern couple.
Because she will be a Matron and not “real,” as my parents say repeatedly to me, they think that this will “ruin my life.” They are only seeing their own judgments rather than mine. I’ve already spent a good deal of money on my Matron, and at this point there is no going back. I made up my mind some time ago before I spoke with my good friend Dr. Crane. When it did come time to speak with him, he was more than happy to oblige to my request. His discount was more than appreciated. Even though my accounting firm has been doing quite well the past year, my recent expenses on a new auto made me think twice about going through with designing a Matron. My nights were beginning to get lonely again though, and I decided it was time for a new mate.
***
The skyline looked lovely for the first time in months as I walked with Dr. Crane from the auto insurance agency to the parking garage across the skyway.
“I’m very glad you came to me, Vincent. Even though we haven’t spoken in several months, I’m glad you consider me enough of a friend to ask me to do this for you.” Dr. Crane was trying to hide his excitement, I think.
“Frank, I’ve thought a lot about it, and it’s what I want.”
“It’s understandable, though some people still think it’s strange to have something like a Matron. In ten years, I doubt anyone will care. The Old Generation will be almost gone by then. The neo-hippies will probably be thought of as even more outrageous than they are now. Things have changed.”
“I know my parents won’t care for me having a Matron, but I can’t care about how they feel anymore. They’ve made me miserable for most of my life and even though I will have to hear them judge me, you, and probably everyone we know, I’ll still stand by my decision. I have my own life to take care of.” I stared at my shoes for a moment.
“I just wish they could see how much things have changed since their time. A Matron is practically a human being, but who’s checking anyway? It’s not like the old days before any of our parents or grandparents were born when things of this nature were so primitive. It was the ‘Digital Age’ then. Our technology now makes theirs look like a joke. And when it comes to all the new devices we’ve created since their time in regards to sex and mating, forget it!”
“It’s as if my parents are stuck in a time that was never theirs to begin with.”
“That’s the trouble with many people. Parents, the neo-hippies, they’re all so primitive, so archaic! They’re archaic, Vincent!” He was talking with his hands now. “They’re all passed by and they don’t even know it. That’s the trouble with each Old Generation. With each new one, they’re done and they refuse to admit it.”
“I’ll hate the day that we are the Old Generation.”
“We all will, Vincent. That’s why we must do what we can to keep young. Matrons will help us, I swear it. That’s why I got into this field. I was trying to think ahead of the curve, or at least manipulate the curve to my advantage.”
“You’ve done your part.”
“Yes, and you’re doing yours.” He became giddy. Dr. Crane enjoys his work, and I’m glad to have him as a friend.
***
I hadn’t spoken with my parents in a year. Considering we’d never gotten along well, this wasn’t a problem. I was sitting in my flat staring at the ugly skyline when they called me not long before my Matron was finished. I’d named her Clara.
“Vincent my dear, how are you?” My mother always put her face too close to the videophone.
“I’m fine, Mother.”
“Good, my dear. If I remember correctly, the last time we spoke you had told me Sidney had left you and you felt dreadful.”
“Yes. I haven’t spoken with Sidney since then. In fact I haven’t even seen her since then.”
“Vincent, how are you?” I could see my father coming out of the bathroom. I felt this happened too often. I believe last time my parents called me, my father was just coming out of the bathroom. I wish they would put their videophone somewhere else in their home so they could avoid this embarrassment. They appear so much older not thinking of things like this.
“I’m fine, Father.” I could see him coming closer to the videophone.
“Have you taken care of that auto problem you were having?”
“Yes, that was months ago.”
“Good, good.”
And then there was a silence. Before that moment I knew it was coming, but I feared it, hated it. It was a stupid silence. Though I hate to use such a childish word as “stupid,” there is no other way to describe that silence we shared that afternoon on the videophone. We’d barely spoken for three minutes and already there was nothing more to say. The silence couldn’t have lasted more than ten seconds, but I’d hated that brief span of meaningless time more than death, more than seeing myself as one of the Old Generation, as that heinous moment passed. Just seeing my mother’s face too big for the videophone monitor staring like a blind sheep into what seemed like nothing, and my father not too far behind her, standing as if he should have been a lame grandfather you could see at the cinema. They made me feel so old, as if my life was destined to wither away gracelessly and grotesquely. I had to end this terrible silence.
“Mother I’ve designed a Matron for myself.”
“What?” Her face wrinkled despite her numerous attempts to avoid such an inevitability.
“Her name is Clara, and she will be a wonderful girl in my life.”
“Vincent, don’t you know what people will say?” I could see my father shaking his head. He walked away from behind my mother out of sight of the videophone.
“I do, Mother, more so than you.”
“Don’t you understand? They’ll call you all kinds of horrible things...”
“No Mother, in fact I will be congratulated.”
“What will our friends say about you? Don’t you know what they’ll say?”
“Yes Mother, they will burn my effigy.”
“What?”
“Nothing, Mother.”
“They’ll say wretched things about you, and they will blame it all on me and your father!” She moved back slightly from the videophone and looked away. I didn’t know what she was looking at.
“Don’t be so unhappy, Mother. This is what I want. What I want doesn’t have to be what you want.”
“You could at least think of me sometimes. I know things haven’t been the best in a long time, but please, Vincent. You could at least think of me.”
“Mother, I want to be happy. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Of course it is! But I want you to be truly happy!”
“Then allow me to be!” She had annoyed me now. I couldn’t bear to hear another one of her trivial arguments. After this she didn’t say anything more. We shared another silence for a moment as she didn’t look at me through the videophone but instead continued to look at whatever it was I could not see. She breathed a sigh or two. This silence was nowhere near as wretched as the first. I believe this was because I was annoyed now. I could not concentrate on the silence now. All I could think of was how Dr. Crane and I designed Clara’s face to be quite different from my mother’s. I wanted everything about Clara to be different from my mother. I didn’t tell this to Dr. Crane, for I did not want to seem strange. I just knew I did not want to be reminded of my mother in a mate. Clara will be ideal for me.
Mother was still staring at that nothing out of view of the videophone. “Mother I have to go.”
“Yes, yes.” She got out of her chair and walked away towards the bathroom. Again, I despised the placement of their videophone.
“Goodbye Mother.”
“Goodbye, Vincent.” I disconnected the call. It was over.
I leaned back in my chair. I felt like a mess suddenly. Between the slight annoyance of speaking with them and the great annoyance of their misunderstanding, I felt like nothing. I was frustrated. They were frustrating.
I was still in my business clothes but I had loosened my tie shortly before they called. Looking out the windows to the skyline and metropolis, I began to get undressed. The skyline looked pathetic. The metropolis looked pathetic. I wondered what it all would have looked like sixty years ago. I could find pictures in a database, but I wouldn’t want to see them. I would envy the way it used to look. When I was younger and in school I was shown pictures of the skyline before the Several Disasters had destroyed its beauty, but I didn’t remember them that afternoon after my parents called, and I don’t remember them now. I don’t want to remember them anyway. I would only feel more miserable. I had some things to look forward to. Clara would be finished soon and I would be distracted from all these things. My life was going to be fit. I had things to do.
