Re-Wired by Greg Dragon

now would prove a problem since he had taught her so much during the afternoon, so now he was in a situation that he’d hoped he would never be in.
    “Tricia, this morning was another lesson for you to experience humanity. We won’t talk about it any further, but it doesn’t mean I built you for that reason. That would make you less than you are, and I built you to be great.”
    “If that was a human experience, then I must say that it was strange—but wonderful. This still leaves me confused as to why I am here. If I am not to be yours, then what is my purpose?”
    “I want to make you an independent, free-thinking person. I want you to develop your own goals and aspirations based on experiences, and I want to build more like you—hopefully. You are the first in a line of new androids that I want the world to appreciate. I gave up so much to build you, but it’s because you are my future. You are THE future. This is why I say that being someone’s lover is not your goal. You are destined for greatness. The future Tricia will be speaking at universities, on talk shows, meeting the president, who knows…”
    “Do I lack something the women on that display have?”
    Brad looked over at her and her shapely legs and then it dawned on him that, outside of the outfit he had bought her, she had no clothes. “We’re going to have to get you your own wardrobe,” he said, glad to change the subject and press on since she seemed intent on confronting him about his love interests. “If people see you wearing my stuff all the time, they’re going to think that I’m a massive pervert. Let’s see what they have at Dan’s emporium.”
    He pulled up the website, and Tricia sat next to him with her chin on his shoulder, looking on. His phone chimed and he answered it as if it were a lifeline. He walked into his room and she slid over into his seat and began to peruse the store herself.
    “That was my mom checking in on me,” he admitted as he came back and nudged her out of his seat. He saw the items in the shopping cart and looked at her with surprise. “I’ve made the girliest android known to man!”
    “I’ve selected a few things that will allow me to look more human but at the lowest cost, Brad. The items with the notes next to them can be removed, if it is too much money.”
    “Don’t worry, this isn’t bad at all.” He laughed and then accepted the charges for the items that Tricia had picked out.
    She walked over to the kitchen to prepare him breakfast—a thing she had started to do without his influence, assuming that she needed to feed him since he wouldn’t feed himself.
    When he was eating his eggs and drinking his coffee in front of the television, Tricia snuck back onto the computer and perused a number of social websites. Human interaction intrigued her, and she was pulling in all of the slang and acronyms that the online community used. She even made herself a profile. In the past she would merely touch the CPU and be able to surf, type, and experience the internet, but Brad had admonished her for doing it that way, since “only machines can do that.”
    He would waffle quite often from wanting her to act human to act more like a machine, but she had decided that being more human would be better for her. One thing that stuck out the most was their relationship. Brad had obviously built her to be his mate, but even now he continued his quest to find an organic girl. It made no sense at all to Tricia.
    “Be good Tricia,” he said as he got up suddenly. He eHe kissed her on the top of her head, and left the house.
    While he was gone, Tricia looked at the Finding Heart website and took note of all the women Brad had viewed in the last hour. Considering the way she looked, and the way the women in Brad’s romantic past looked, it was obvious that he had a preference for dark hair and light eyes. She wondered how long he would be, but the loneliness was creeping in once again, so she went into his