'Doesn’t she have a sister or a cousin?' one of my single colleagues asked.

  'No sisters as far as I know. I'm sure she must have some cousins. We haven’t really spoken about that.'

  The barbecue came to an end without any incidents. Nobody suspected that Julia wasn’t a real woman. And even if they did they wouldn’t have questioned it. Those kind of questions didn’t form part of their frame of reference. To them reality was that which could be observed. What hid under the skin was irrelevant.

  My life with Julia became more pleasant as time passed. I enjoyed spending time with her so much that I rarely went out with my friends. If it wasn’t for her I would never have gone to the pub after work to have a few drinks with them. Often she urged me to go.

  The meals she prepared were still as delicious as the one she made on the first evening. She was able to make food from any country. She loved receiving recipe books as a present. I was always treated to the most complicated meal in the book the following day.

  The constant and unpredictable sex satisfied me more each day. Every time we made love she enjoyed it so much that it was easy to imagine that it was her first time. She enjoyed it as much as I did, without any reservations or feelings of guilt. There were never any excuses like tiredness or headaches. She even gave me the book about the hundred and one most popular sexual positions. I knew it was just a question of time until we would have tried all of them.

  The first month with replica Julia flashed by. I quickly became used to switching her off occasionally for a battery charge. Sometimes I switched her off during the day while I was at work. But I usually left her on. I loved being greeted at the door by a friendly woman after a stressful day at work.

  At the end of the first month I had to take Julia back to Models Unlimited for a routine service. She would be kept at their workshop for two days for a series of tests and her monthly technical examination. The time away from her would allow me to decide if I wanted to keep her in my life as Julia or change her face and name and receive her back as someone else.

  I dropped her off at Models Unlimited myself.

  'What is this place?' she asked when we stopped outside it.

  'A clothing shop.'

  We entered and headed directly to the clothing department. Before our arrival Chloe arranged with me to switch Julia off in one of the fitting rooms. After her service she would be returned there and switched on again. I entered the fitting room with Julia.

  'Can I help you to try this on?' I said and held a bra up for her to see.

  'That sounds like fun.'

  'Turn around and bend your head forward.'

  Suddenly I was scared to switch her off. Would she be the same after the service? I kissed her. I was overwhelmed by an inexplicable sadness. It's only for two days, I said softly to myself. Nothing can go wrong. I switched her off and informed Chloe. Two technicians arrived and took Julia away. Chloe requested me to return after two days. I would switch Julia on in exactly the same fitting room.

  Two days later I stood with Julia in my arms. Her service was completed and all the test results showed that she functioned optimally. She kissed me and slowly started undressing.

  'Will you help me to try on this new bra and panties? If it fits I'll keep it on and take it off for you at home.'

  I was unable to keep my eyes off her body while she unbuttoned her blouse.

  'Help me with this bra.'

  I loosened the bra where I stood behind her. Julia bent slightly forward and it dropped to the floor. She turned around again and faced me. She took both my hands and put them on her breasts.

  'I love your fingers on my nipples. Now help me to try this new bra on.'

  I was glad that I had her back. I was happy that she was going home with me. During the two days of her absence I decided that I wanted to keep her as Julia. Just for a little while longer. I liked to look at her familiar face and imagine that she was still really there with me.

  In the car on the way back home Julia was very quiet. Usually she was talkative, but that day she had nothing to say. I repeatedly tried to start a conversation but didn’t get any response from her. I immediately wondered if something didn’t go wrong during the service after all. She was never so disinterested before.

  It was possible that the technician made a mistake while he worked on the settings of her speech controller. Or the wrong speech software was installed into her hard drive. Chloe once mentioned that some men preferred their women quiet. Was it possible that her talkative speech chip was swapped with another one? I decided to keep a close eye on Julia. If she didn’t behave the same way as before the service I would return her to Models Unlimited. They simply had to correct their mistakes.

  'It's time to help you out of that bra and those panties,' I said shortly after arriving home.

  'I want to go and lie down for a while first. I'm not feeling so well.'

  'Can I get you something to drink? Maybe that will make you feel better.'

  'Just a glass of water. And two headache tablets.'

  She walked to the bedroom. I followed her. I wanted to switch her off before I phoned Chloe. She had to explain to me the cause of the sudden change in Julia. The model I received back after the service was not the one I had spent the previous month with. She reminded me far too much of the old Julia. I no longer wanted that in my life, especially not after I paid so much for my modern woman.

  Julia drank the tablets while I sat next to her on the bed. When she was finished she looked at me briefly. Our eyes met. I saw something in hers that I didn’t like. The look she gave me bordered on evil.

  'You'll start feeling better soon,' I said.

  'What do you care anyway?'

  I had no desire to get involved in an argument. It was time to switch Julia off. Models Unlimited had to fix her. It was not my responsibility. I paid them for that service. I got up and placed my hand on the button. Before I was able to punch the code into her electronic brain she jerked her head away and gave me a look of irritation.

  'Leave me alone,' she shouted. 'I'm so sick and tired of you touching me the whole fucking time. What happened to my privacy and personal space?'

  'Calm down, Julia. What's going on with you?'

  'I won’t calm down. And there's nothing wrong with me. Just leave me alone. All you men are the same. All you want from us is sex. I'm not just an object. I also have feelings.'

  'I just want to help you, Julia. I'm not going to hurt you,' I said and attempted to switch her off again.

  Julia punched me on the chin. It was so unexpected that I staggered backwards. In a swift movement Julia was on her feet. She kicked me on the chest. The impact toppled me and I fell to the floor. What happened to the headache? I wondered briefly. Julia stood over me. She started laughing.

  'Not as strong as you thought you were. Now leave me alone before I really hurt you.'

  I left the room in a rush, looking over my shoulder while I ran down the stairs, expecting her to follow me and continue her assault. I grabbed my mobile phone. I was nervous and it nearly fell out of my hands. I took a deep breath but was still unable to calm down. After another attempt I succeeded in phoning Models Unlimited.

  'There is a small possibility that your model's software has been corrupted by a virus during the service. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. It happens to one out of ten thousand models, at most once every six months. I would advise you to stay out of Julia's way,' Chloe said.

  'Why?'

  'She can act unpredictably.'

  'What do you mean with that?'

  'She might be dangerous.'

  'I can’t leave the house. She might wreck the whole place.'

  'Relax. I will send a Task Team of Containment Specialists to your house immediately.'

  'What can I do in the meantime?'

  'Hide.'

  I turned around. Julia stood behind me, only a few feet away. She was furious.

  'Who are you talking to?'

  'A friend.'

  'Man or woman?'

  'That's got nothing to do with you.'

  'Man or woman I asked?'

  'A woman. She's only a friend.'

  'Friend? And you probably want me to believe you? Have you been fucking this friend of yours?'

  'Who said anything about sex?'

  'Come on, be honest for once. I've been suspecting you of screwing around for quite some time now. Do you want to make things worse by denying it as well?'

  'Yes, because it's not true.'

  Julia removed an object from behind her back. It flashed in the kitchen light. I didn’t want to believe what I saw, but it was true. She held a long knife in her right hand.

  'Put down that knife, Julia.'

  'I will. As soon as I've taken revenge.'

  'Revenge? Why?'

  'You've just been using me. I can’t let you get away with that. Especially not now that I've discovered you're a liar as well. A lying cheat, that's all you are.'

  Without warning she attacked me. Her right arm was raised. She clutched the knife menacingly, ready to do serious damage. I wasn’t willing to become her target. After the punch on the chin and the kick against my chest I knew I wouldn’t be a match for her physically. I turned around, keeping the kitchen table between us. I was able to evade her and ran to the bedroom. I reached it moments before her and swung the door closed in her face. I had to push hard against it to get it locked. She started kicking it.

  'Open this door,' she screamed.

  The door wasn’t going to survive her kicks for very long. I had to do something or I would feel that blade inside me soon. I ran to the hidden safe in the back of my closet. I fell over the corner of the bed but stood up immediately. With a shaking hand I managed to unlock the safe. I retrieved my .38 Special and cocked it. I spun around at the same moment as Julia destroyed the door. I aimed the weapon at her face. When she saw the revolver in my hand she came to a standstill.

  'It's a pity it has to end like this. It was good while it lasted. But now it's finally and definitely over. I must lay you to rest, Julia.'

  'You're bluffing. You'll never really shoot me. You're too much of a coward to do it.'

  I pointed the revolver at her right leg and pulled the trigger . The bullet made a big hole just above her knee. There was no blood, only shards of metal sticking out. She's an ugly machine, I realized.

  'You murderer. You really want to kill me.'

  'Yes, I do. I'm not ready to die yet. Anyway, you're only a machine. You're not even a real woman.'

  'What do you mean? I am real.'

  'Only because you've been programmed to believe it. Look at your leg.'

  She looked down.

  'What is this? Is it another one of your tricks?'

  She took a step closer to me. I pulled the trigger again. This time I shot her in the left leg, just below the knee. She stopped and looked at the damage. Wires and aluminum protruded from the hole. She looked up at me, surprised and angry.

  'How can this be possible?'

  After two shots she was still standing. Julia had not given up yet and continued moving forward, faster than expected. The only way to stop her was to destroy her Central Processing Unit. I lifted my revolver, aimed and pulled the trigger. It was a good shot. Her computer head shattered into countless fragments. She fell in front of me in a heap of metal, electronics and plastic. It was the end of Julia. Minutes later the Task Team arrived. They did the cleaning up. All Julia's parts were collected and thrown into a steel coffin.

  The next day I was invited to the office of the director of Models Unlimited. I expected an apology and a replacement for Julia. I didn’t know what else to expect from the meeting. Shortly after my arrival I received my answer.

  'It is not in my nature to apologize,' the director said. 'However, today, because of the unique happenings last night, I want to extend my most sincere apologies to you. I am doing it on behalf of Models Unlimited and all our staff members. The fact that your modern woman was forced to revert to violent behavior because of a virus is unforgivable. It is our responsibility to prevent that from happening and to protect our valued clients. But you will probably know that some of these viruses are clever enough to infiltrate even the most advanced anti-virus programs. We will examine this model thoroughly to determine what exactly caused her malfunctioning.'

  The director fell quiet for a few moments. He was trying to find the right way of saying what he wanted to say next.

  'You also understand how important it is for our company to keep this incident quiet. Thus we are willing to offer you two options that will make us come to an understanding, a mutual agreement. The first option is the most obvious one for men in your situation. I suppose you already know what it involves.'

  'No, actually I don’t.'

  'Money. We offer you money for your silence. We do expect you to sign a form that denies this incident from ever happening. Are you following?'

  'Yes. What's the second option?'

  'You become an honorary member of Models Unlimited.'

  'What does that involve?'

  'Unlimited access to free models for the rest of your life. It sounds good doesn’t it? You don’t have to decide immediately. We'll give you all the time you need. You can contact us when you've made your decision.'

  'How much are you offering if I decide to take the money?'

  'Ten million.'

  I left the director's office. I was confused. The only thing I had absolute certainty about was that my relationship with Julia - real or mechanical - was finally over. I smiled when I thought that I had doubts about that until as recently as the previous day. I suppose I had to be thankful that the virus in Julia's software forced me to accept that my relationship with Julia was undoubtedly over.

  The last sentence in the book of Julia and I was written when I saw her attacking me with an expression of murdering rage on her face. The full stop that had been evading me for so long - the one intended for the end of that sentence - wasn’t finally made with a pen, but a bullet, the moment it found its resting place between replica Julia's eyes.

  It was going to take some time to forget Julia's face, but I knew it was bound to happen. Only the passage of time - of weeks, months and years - could delegate Julia to the cemetery of dead memories. One day she would fade away completely and become another insignificant ghost from a distant and forgotten past. A day somewhere in the future will arrive when I would not even remember who she was. I wouldn’t be able to believe that I ever knew her. My connection with her would seem unreal, like someone else's dream that became entangled with mine. Then my life would be given back to me and I can continue with it without any interference.

  Only one question remained to be answered: what am I going to choose? Money? Computerized women? Or was the time right to allow a real woman back into my life?

  ###

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for taking the time to read 'The Replica'. If you enjoyed the story please tell your friends about it and encourage them to read it as well. I also want to tell you that I am planning on publishing similar stories here on Smashwords in the near future.

  If you want to leave any feedback please contact me at: ferrogabro@yahoo.com or follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/FerroGabro

  All the best,

  Ferro Gabro

 

 

  The Replica (rtf), 'The Replica'

 

 

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