The Replacement - Part 6

Part 6

Part 6.1: Procreation

Greg and Sabrina enjoyed the rest of their honeymoon in their temporary bodies, but when the time came for them to leave, they had to return to their own.

“Well, it’s been fun, but I'm looking forward to being back in my own body again,” Sabrina said, walking with Greg into the closet, where their bodies were waiting.

“Yeah,” Greg agreed, “I can’t wait to see what all that pampering did to my body."

“Oh yeah,” she said, “I almost forgot about that."

“Well, let’s not put this off any longer,” he said, and after motioning Ipek in, they both stood next to their bodies and allowed Ipek to transfer their brains back into their bodies. Once they came back online moments later, they stepped forwards out of the alcoves and stretched out their freshly pampered bodies.

“Wow, my body feels great!” Sabrina said, feeling herself up contentedly.

“Mine too,” Greg said, “Can you feel any of the hardware improvements?” he asked, running a quick system diagnostic.

“Yeah,” she said, “It’s not that much though,” she admitted, “What I really feel is the muscle and skin pampering they did."

“Same here,” he said, “Still, this place is awesome and left us refreshed…despite us not even being in our bodies the whole time."

“I know, it’s weird, isn’t it?”

“It’ll take a bit of getting used to."

“So, is there anything else you want to do here?” she asked, taking another look at Mandy.

“No,” he said, taking one last look at James.

“Well then, let’s get these two back in and head back so we can tell my dad the wonderful news."

“Very well,” he smiled, and once they had both Mandy and James back in the alcoves, they sealed them up and then began gathering their things.

As they were packing their things, Sandy suddenly materialized in the main room. “Well you two, how did you enjoy your stay?” Sandy asked, once she was materialized.

“It was great!” Sabrina said, “We both enjoyed our complimentary bodies, as well as the scenery."

“That’s good to hear,” Sandy beamed, “I’ve already sent for the car to take you back to the airstrip,” she said then, “Rest assured, by your next visit, we’ll have one on site so you won’t need to take a long drive in."

“That’s good,” Greg said, “But the drive wasn’t that far."

“Anyway, as I mentioned on your first day, this cabin is yours and yours alone,” Sandy said, “All you have to do is call ahead and we’ll get everything ready for you."

“Thanks Sandy!” Sabrina said.

“Thank you, and I hope to see you again soon!” Sandy said, and after giving them both a curtsy, she shimmered away, just as their driver knocked at the door.

“Well, looks like our ride is here,” Greg said, picking up his bag.

“Yep,” Sabrina said regretfully.

“Don’t worry dear, we can come back here anytime."

“I know,” she said, “Maybe next time, we’ll have a kid or two."

“Yeah,” he smiled, “Let’s hurry back so we can let your dad know."

“Ok,” she said, and the three of them got into the car.

The flight back was just as short as the flight up, though instead of driving back home, they drove a short distance down the road to where the Neovations regional headquarters was. Because they had called ahead, John was waiting for them in the entrance lobby. “So you two, how’d you enjoy the resort?” John asked, stepping up and giving them both a hug.

“It was great!” Sabrina said, “I can’t wait to go back."

“Yeah, I thought it was a neat setup,” Greg said, “Letting people use complementary bodies while their bodies get worked on is a neat idea,” he finished, “The scenery was nice too."

“Excellent,” John said, “I knew you two would love it,” he smiled, “So, what brings you two here?”

“Well, while we were there, we made an important decision,” Sabrina smiled.

“Oh?”

“We’ve decided we’re ready to have kids,” Sabrina said.

“That’s wonderful news!”

“Yeah, it’s time,” Greg agreed, putting his arm around her, “So, what exactly is going to be involved with getting her pregnant?”

“Not too much,” John said a bit evasively, and when he saw the look on their faces that they usually got when he used that tone, he said, “You both need a few hardware additions,” he clarified, “Sabrina needs quite a few actually."

“Will it take long?” Sabrina asked, “We have to go back to work tomorrow."

“No, it shouldn’t take long,” John said, “But I do have a caveat,” he said, and before they could say anything else, he said, “Let’s head to your maintenance suite and I’ll explain more."

“Alright,” they said, and the passively followed him into the building and down to where their maintenance suite was. Once they were in, they sat down in the small lobby that had been added and watched as John grabbed a data pad.

“So, what is this caveat?” Greg asked, once John took a seat across from them.

“Well, I know you two have decided to have a baby, I’m assuming the old school way?”

“Yeah,” Sabrina said, “Why, do you not have our genetic material anymore?” she asked with a worried look.

“We do,” John assured her, “It’s just, we’re nearing the final testing phase of the various classes of androids, and the one stage we have yet to test extensively is the artificial human class."

“What’s been the trouble?” Greg asked.

“Well, we can’t just make a brand new person,” John said, “The only way to make an artificial human is to have it start off as a baby and grow up and develop just as an organic child would,” he explained, “And to be frank, we don’t have many converts or HRMs that are couples."

“I see,” Greg said, “So you want us to have an artificial child at some point as well?”

“Well, if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like for you to have twins,” John said, “One child organic, the other artificial, yet both coming to life at the same time."

Greg and Sabrina were a little shocked to hear John’s suggestion. They stared at each other for quite some time, sending each other mental messages across their personal network so John couldn’t hear them. John understood what they were doing though and patiently sat back while they deliberated. Basically, one of the features they got installed while they were at the resort was a feature only married couples qualified for. It allowed them to essentially speak telepathically with one another, even across great distances.

“What do you think dear?” Greg asked Sabrina, “Do you want to have twins?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “This is all so sudden, can we even support twins at this point in our lives?”

“Well, we earn enough money, and Ipek has nanny programming built in,” he said, “I’m more concerned that one will be artificial and the other organic,” he admitted, “I mean, the artificial one will likely require loads of maintenance in its early years.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, “Still, it’s not a drastic request and we do owe him more than we could ever repay,” she said, “Let’s do it.”

“Alright,” he said, and then they turned to look at John.

“I take it you’ve come to a decision,” John surmised.

“Yes, we agree to have twins,” Greg said.

“Excellent!"

“We do have some questions though,” Sabrina said.

“Go ahead."

“How exactly is this going to work?” Sabrina asked, “I mean, I know how to have an organic child,” she said with a blush, “But how are you going to make an artificial one?”

“Well, one of the pieces of hardware I’ll be adding to you both is a genetic coding algorithm,” John said, “Basically, it’ll analyze your genetic codes, and when you two do it, your codes will be combined to form the blueprints for an artificial child,” he explained, “Also, your actual genetic material will also combine normally to create the embryo for your organic child."

“Well, we knew that much,” Greg said, “So, it’s going to take nine months for you to code and create our artificial child?”

“Well, it will this time,” John said, “Since we haven’t had much experience doing this, and we want to make sure it comes online the same time the organic one is born,” he explained, “In the future, prospective couples will have to wait, at most, a month for their child to be ‘born’."

“Wow, no more nine months,” Sabrina mused.

“Yeah, though that’s not factoring in the time it will take for them to get approval to have children,” John added, “I already mentioned that from this point, procreation is going to be strictly regulated to prevent overpopulation, accidental births, and births to families that can’t support children.”

“That makes sense,” Greg said, “Another thing we were concerned about is the amount of maintenance the artificial child would require."

“Well, it won’t really be maintenance it will require,” John said, “Basically, the nanites in the body will be able to gradually age the child based on the aging algorithm,” he explained, “But the child can only grow so much before it simply needs a new body,” he continued, “The aging algorithm will send us, and you, an alert so we can start building an older body in time for you to come in."

“Okay, I thought it might be something like that,” Greg nodded.

“Any more questions?”

“Not about the artificial child,” Greg said, “But what about these hardware additions you mentioned?”

“Alright,” John said, tapping a few buttons on his data pad and waiting a few moments as a small team of technicians entered, “For you, I just have to add the genetic algorithm and the tube containing your genetic material,” he explained, “For Sabrina, I have to do both those, and attach the artificial womb to her various systems."

“Okay."

“Well Greg, you’re up first,” John said, once the technicians were ready.

“Alright,” Greg said, getting up and taking his clothes off before laying down on one of the exam tables, “I’m not going to have to be deactivated, am I?”

“No."

“Good,” he said, making the seam on his chest appear. Once his panel was unsealed, the technicians carefully opened it and then began working inside his open panel. Fortunately, the table he was on was slightly inclined, so he was able to see every detail of his innards and what they were doing to them. Based on the way Sabrina was watching, he could tell she was recording the ordeal.

After several minutes, the technicians finally finished installing a pair of devices to his motor control complex, and his sexual systems. His systems reported a successful hardware installation, and he saw the lights on both components turn green.

“Well son, you’re good to go,” John smiled, once the technicians closed his panel up.

“Thanks,” Greg said, resealing the panel and getting up. He thought he’d feel a little heavier on his feet with the extra components, but he was mildly surprised to feel no discernible difference.

“Alright Sabrina, your turn,” John said.

“Okay,” she said, quickly stripping off all her clothes and laying down on the table. As soon as she unsealed her panel, the technicians carefully opened it and got to work.

While they were working, Greg made sure to record everything just like she did with him. In addition to the pair of components they had installed in him, they also installed a weird looking bag he assumed was her artificial uterus. It fit in perfectly just in front of her motor control complex, though they added a sort of girdle to direct any growth outwards. Finally, they attached numerous connections to both her heart, and motor control complex, as well as a few tubes connected to her digestive systems. Once it was all in, her systems did a quick scan to verify successful hardware installation, and then green lights lit up on all of them. “Alright, you two are fully loaded,” John smiled as Sabrina closed herself back up and got to her feet.

“So, do we get to pick the genders?” Sabrina asked, getting used to the extra weight of all the hardware they installed in her.

“Yes,” John said, “Did you have any in mind?”

“We’d like the organic twin to be a boy, and the artificial one to be a girl,” Greg said, since they had also discussed that while her hardware was being installed.

“That can be done,” John said, tapping a few things on his pad, “As soon as her systems report a successful impregnation, her egg will start developing in the artificial womb we just installed, and the genetic blueprint for your daughter will be sent automatically to us,” he explained, “I’d recommend you come here at least once a month for follow up exams."

“Will do,” Greg said, getting his clothes back on.

“How long will it be before we know if I’m pregnant?” Sabrina asked, also getting her clothes back on.

“Well, assuming you guys have sex as soon as you get home, you should know by morning,” John said, “A blue light will light up on your new systems."

“Thanks dad!” Sabrina said, fully clothed and hugging John.

“You two just get busy making me grandchildren,” John said, waving to them as they left.

After Greg and Sabrina left the building, they quickly drove back home. As soon as they got there, they had Ipek stand guard outside their door while they took off all their clothes and climbed into bed with each other. After engaging in numerous rounds of sex, just to make sure one of the attempts worked, they finally cleaned up and then spent the rest of the day anxiously waiting for it to end so they could check the next day. When they woke up the next morning, they wasted no time opening Sabrina’s panel and watching the indicator light on her womb. After she ordered it to run a diagnostic, they could literally hear the time ticking by as finally, the light turned blue.

“It turned blue!” they both said at the same time, carefully closing her back up and embracing one another, tears streaming down their eyes.

As they had a private celebration in their room, Ipek stood passively outside their room, guarding it. A smile slowly crossed her face as she began receiving telemetry from Sabrina’s body.

Part 6.2: Birth

In the weeks following Sabrina’s pregnancy, they took her into John’s lab numerous times so he could monitor the fetus, and her systems. In addition to monitoring Sabrina’s fetus, John also closely monitored both their genetic algorithms, as well as full diagnostic reads, to plug in to the massive computer he had compiling their artificial child’s A.I. and physical parameters. One of the other things they were able to do with both children was determine basic physical traits, so they decided to have the boy share more traits with Greg and the girl share more traits with Sabrina. Even though Greg and Sabrina kept asking John to show them what their daughter was going to look like, he insisted on making them wait until their son was ready to be born. Still, they had other questions.

“So dad, I know we were so excited to do this at first, but now that I think about it, won’t our son eventually need to be converted later on anyway?” Sabrina asked as the technicians tinkered around in her open panel to repair a minor fault in the connections.

“Eventually,” John said, “But since your son, and anyone else’s child that is born in this fashion, will be significantly healthier than the average child born the normal way, I figure your son will be perfectly fine well into his 20s,” he estimated, “And of course, since he’s family, he gets the free treatment as well,” he added with a smile.

“Well, that’s good to know,” Greg said, sounding a bit relieved.

“Is there any way to speed things up a bit?”

“I’m afraid not,” John laughed, “Hey, at least you won’t experience much of the issues human women do when their pregnant,” he said, “Your titanium based skeletal structure should be more than strong enough to handle the extra weight, you won’t get the morning sickness, and we’ll just be opening you up and removing the baby directly from your uterus attachment, so you won’t experience the mega pain that would normally accompany a birth."

“Oh, well in that case, I don’t mind,” she smiled, “Though I have been getting cravings."

“Yeah, I figured as much,” John said, “We tried to be as accurate as possible in that regard, since your body knows what the child needs."

“Yeah, well he certainly loves his sweets,” Sabrina smiled, looking down at the somewhat large sac that was growing in her panel, with all the lights blinking around it, “I wonder if he likes all those lights.".

“Maybe,” John said, “We won’t know until he’s much older,” he said, “Which is part of the reason we’re doing all this monitoring, so we can improve the process for future couples."

“Is there anything you can do about her feet?”

“What about them?”

“Well, she’s gaining weight pretty fast, and I’ve noticed her feet aren’t swelling up the way a pregnant woman’s feet are supposed to, so she’s been complaining a lot of pain caused by the extra weight."

“Yeah,” Sabrina said, “It figures he’d notice before me, but it’s true."

“Huh, I’ll look into it,” John said, “I figured your body would be able to perform all the necessary adjustments on its own,” he mused, “I’m sure the techs will probably just have to make you some reinforced feet though,” he then said, “In the meanwhile, try and stay off your feet."

“Will do."

After that conversation, they were soon called back in by John a few days later. “So you two, I consulted the techs and they made you these,” John said, handing them a small box containing a pair of female feet. They looked exactly like Sabrina’s current feet, except they had a somewhat swollen look, and a sturdier feel to them. After Greg examined them, he handed them to Sabrina, who also scrutinized them. “Those should get you through the rest of your pregnancy."

“Thanks,” Sabrina said, and then she handed them back to Greg so he could attach them. Once he had her normal feet detached and her pregnancy feet attached, she wiggled her new toes and then got to her feet. “Wow, they feel much better, thanks!” she said, walking over and giving her dad a hug.

“Don’t mention it sweetheart,” John said, “and you can just leave your other feet here until you give birth."

“Okay."

“Well, aside from regular checkups, I don’t expect to see you two back here until that baby is ready to come out."

“Okay,” Greg said.

“Thanks dad,” Sabrina said, giving him another hug before the two of them headed home.

After she got her new feet, there wasn’t much more they could do except make sure Sabrina kept the baby safe, and wait until she was due. Fortunately, unlike with a human birth, they could choose exactly which day the baby would be born, so when the day finally came, they decided to spend the night at the lab to prepare themselves, and so John could give them a brief orientation.

“Are you two ready?” John asked, once they were settled in in their special ‘birthing’ suite.

“Yes, and no,” Sabrina smiled.

“I’m with her,” Greg laughed.

“I thought as much,” John laughed, “Anyway, before you give birth to your son, I’m going to go over a few things regarding your daughter."

“Oooh, do we get to see her now?” Sabrina asked.

“Not yet,” John said, “You’ll see her when your son is born."

“Drat!”

“What do you have to show us then?” Greg asked.

“Basic schematics and supplies you’ll need,” John said, and he activated a monitor which showed the basic schematics for an infant robot, “This is the blueprints for your daughter, who is still undergoing the final stages of construction,” he explained, giving Sabrina a look.

“Aside from the size difference, it doesn’t look all that different from our schematics,” Greg said, bringing his schematics up in his field of vision and comparing it to his daughter's.

“It isn’t,” John said, “Basically, everything is merely smaller, but they still operate roughly the same."

“Obviously she’ll have some special needs, otherwise you wouldn’t bother explaining this to us,” Greg said.

“You’re right,” John said, “Now, unlike your son, who will eat the milk that Sabrina’s body has already been producing, your daughter will have to eat this,” he said, grabbing a bottle of a silvery, milky fluid.

“What the hell is this?” Greg asked, taking it from John’s hand.

“A special type of milk formulated just for androids,” John said, watching as Greg opened the bottle and sniffed the contents, “It has titanium additives so her nanites can work on her skeletal structure,” he smiled, seeing the look on Greg’s face as he smelled it, “Since last I checked, there aren’t any natural sources of titanium that humans regularly eat."

“Oh,” Greg said, handing the bottle to Sabrina so she could examine it.

“Is our daughter going to like it?” Sabrina asked, also smelling it.

“Well, her A.I. will control her appetite, so she’ll find it tasty until she reaches an age where she no longer needs it,” John smiled, “It’s like how human babies love baby food, but when they become adults they find it repulsive since they no longer needs the excessive amounts of nutrients that have packed into them."

“Surprisingly, that actually makes a lot of sense,” Greg said.

“I thought it might."

“So, you mentioned to us before that she’ll only be able to grow to a certain point before she requires a new body,” Sabrina said, “Do you have any idea how long that might be?”

“Well, it’s hard to estimate since it depends on numerous factors based on both your genetic information, but we figure it shouldn’t be much longer than six to nine months."

“Okay,” Greg said.

“Another thing you should know is that in both your children, there will be small nanochips that will send telemetry to both of you so you’ll be able to tell exactly what is ailing them,” John said, “It’s a bit of technology that was tested in the past for humans, but couldn’t be perfected; we perfected it."

“Wow, your taking all the fun out of this experience,” Greg laughed sarcastically.

“I know,” John smiled, “I just want to make things as easy for you as possible,” he said, “Oh, I almost forgot, Ipek will also receive the telemetry as well, since I’m assuming you’ll be using her as a nanny."

“Yes, we will,” Sabrina said.

“Good,” John said, “That’s part of the reason I gave her to you,” he said, “So she could take care of you, and my grandkids."

“Well, she’s at home getting the nursery ready,” Greg smiled, “Amongst other things."

“I’m sure,” John smiled, “Well, unless you have any more questions, I’ll let you two get settled in,” he said, “Your babies will be in your arms tomorrow morning,” he smiled, and then he headed out.

If it weren’t for the fact that the two of them were androids, they wouldn’t have been able to get to sleep with all the trepidation that was running through their systems. They both had to manually engage their sleep modes for the first time that they could remember. In the morning, they had just enough time to have a quick breakfast before John and the technicians arrived to begin the brief procedure of bringing their son into the world. John was carrying a somewhat large looking case, which they assumed contained their android daughter.

“Well you two, you ready?” John asked, carefully setting the case down.

“Yes,” they both said.

“Good, now while these two technicians start working on your brief procedure, I’m going to start initializing your daughter’s systems,” John said, opening the case while the technicians gathered their tools, “She should come online just as your son takes his first breath."

“I can’t wait,” Sabrina said, opening her main panel so the techs could get to work.

The procedure was fairly simple, though not like anything Greg had ever seen. Based on what he knew, this was somewhat equivalent to a cesarean section, though instead of cutting in, they had easy access due to Sabrina’s panel opening. Furthermore, they spent an inordinate amount of time connecting their devices to various connection points in her systems, probably verifying that their son was indeed ready to come out. After a while, they sort of poked a specific section of the sac with a tool, and then it suddenly started moving around.

“Whoa! that felt weird,” Sabrina said.

“Yeah, they had to wake your son up from his nap,” John smiled, working hard on their robotic daughter so she could be ‘born’.

Soon after the sac started moving around, one of the technicians started severing all the connections to it and then completely removed it from Sabrina’s body, taking it over near where John was working. Greg got a little nervous at first, but he was more fascinated by the second technician doing some quick work inside Sabrina’s open panel, plugging a tool into her motor control complex and injecting something into the bottom part of both skin flaps. When he was done doing whatever it was he was doing, he closed both skin flaps and told Sabrina she could reseal herself.

“Hey, they got rid of all the stretch marks,” Sabrina said, once she was resealed, feeling her belly which looked as though it wasn’t just expanded outwards nearly a foot for the past several months. As a matter of fact, it looked as though she had never been pregnant before in her life, except for her special pregnancy feet, which the technician was swiftly replacing with her original feet she had left with them for safe keeping. “Thanks,” Sabrina smiled to the technician, who merely smiled back and headed over to assist the other one, who was still working on the uterus sac. Finally, a few minutes later, they heard the sound of not one, but two babies crying.

“Congratulations you two, you are the proud parents of twins,” John said, carrying two bundles, one blue and the other pink, to them.

Greg solemnly looked on as John placed both bundles in Sabrina’s lap. Because both bundles were moving, Greg sat down next to her to help her out as he looked down on both his children. His first instinct was to look at his son, not because he was organic, but because he was his son and he felt a sort of fatherly bond. His son, despite being only a few minutes old, looked a lot like him, especially in the eyes and overall facial configuration, though he could clearly pick out the traits from Sabrina that had carried over. His daughter looked more like Sabrina, but also shared some of his traits. He couldn’t help but stare at her though. He knew she was an android like he and Sabrina now were, but with her moving around in the same fashion as her twin brother, even crying, he found it hard to believe that the bundle of joy in the pink bundle was artificial. After they got over the shock of seeing their children for the first time, they suddenly became aware of the telemetry that was suddenly coming in from both of them. They could see their children’s temperature, as well as several other vitals.

“Well you two, I think we’ll give you some privacy,” John said, eyeing both technicians and then walking out.

Greg and Sabrina said nothing as they got lost in their children’s newborn eyes.

Part 6.3: Legacy

Over the next several months, Greg and Sabrina watched as their twins slowly grew up. They were surprised, despite all of John’s assurances, that their android daughter seemed to act just like a human baby. She learned things just like her brother did, and she didn’t show any signs of superior ability from her artificial nature, except she didn’t get sick. They decided to name their son James and their daughter Julie, no particular reason for each name; they picked the first letter randomly, as well as the names. When the twins both turned six months, an alert pinged in both their HUDs that their daughter needed to be taken in for her new body.

“Wow, I guess she grew pretty fast,” Greg said, getting their daughter’s things ready for their trip to the lab.

“Yeah,” Sabrina said, “Though, we’re both pretty tall, so I’m not too surprised."

“Well, hopefully by the time we get there, John has Julie’s upgraded body,” Greg said, wrestling both children into their car seats.

Once they arrived at John’s lab, they were immediately taken to their personal maintenance suite, where the older version of their daughter was waiting; they only expected to be there a short while. “Well, looks like I timed it about right,” John said, once they were settled in. He took a few moments to play with both his grandchildren before getting back to business, “How has she been?”

“She’s been great,” Greg said, “As has James,” he added, “The only difference is Julie isn’t affected by the various bugs going around,” he said, “Though another thing I’ve noticed is she tends to exude some sort of calm on James whenever they’re together."

“Interesting,” John mused, “I’m not surprised about her not getting sick, since she’s inorganic, but I am interested by the calm she seems to exude,” he said, “Maybe James can hear the low hum from her body’s systems and finds it relaxing."

“I think that might be it,” Sabrina said, “He seems to calm down when we hold him close too, and we’ve got some humming going on inside us as well."

“I guess that is it,” John laughed, “Still, I’ll let the technicians know so they can come up with a solution nevertheless,” he said, “Preferably our bodies shouldn’t be emitting any noise."

“Well, please don’t fix it until after he’s a bit older,” Greg requested, “After all, it does calm him down."

“Will do,” John laughed.

“I’m curious, even though she’s an infant, she’s still a pure A.I. so is it possible she knows she’s different from James?” Sabrina asked, “I mean, she is aware she’s an android, right?”

“Theoretically,” John said, “You have to understand, Julie here is one of the first pure A.I.s we’ve developed, so we really don’t know,” he admitted, “That’s why we’re looking forward to interviewing her when she’s a bit older and able to understand."

“I think she knows she’s different, but since she's growing up as an android, it will all just be perfectly normal to her,” Greg guessed.

“That’s what we figure,” John said.

“So, is this going to be as simple as just transferring Julie’s brain into her older body?” Greg asked.

“Mostly,” John said, still monitoring the machine that was doing the finishing touches on Julie’s older body, “We’ll also need to connect her brain to our computers to run a few tests, since she’ll need to be able to handle all the extra motor functions."

“Okay,” Greg said.

“Well, why don’t we get Julie opened up so we can start running the tests?”

“Okay,” Sabrina said, and she took one last look into Julie’s innocent eyes before accessing her daughter’s systems remotely. She shut her daughter’s A.I. down and then remotely opened up her skull access, removing the small organic brain and handing it to John.

“Thanks, this should only take a few moments,” John said, carefully attaching Julie’s brain to a special machine and running a diagnostic.

“I was wondering,” Greg said, helping Sabrina place Julie’s old body on a nearby table, “Julie’s brain is so small, is she going to need to be transferred into a larger brain when she gets older?”

“No,” John said, “Basically, those special vitamins you give her also include the basic building materials for the organic computing matter,” he explained, “The nanites in her body are already gradually adding the new ‘brain’ matter as she builds new pathways from everything she learns and experiences,” he continued, “So, it’s already getting larger, just very, very slowly."

“Oh, that makes sense,” Greg nodded, “Do our bodies do the same thing?”

“In a way,” John said, “Your brains are already fully developed, but if sections of them start degrading, your nanites rebuild them with the food you eat,” he explained, “But, that rebuilding is rarely needed, so you shouldn’t have to worry about your brains degrading or anything."

“Oh, I wasn’t worried, just curious,” Greg said, “So John, from what I figure, you’re pretty high up in this company, so how are you able to devote so much of your time to us?”

“Well, you guys are family, and you also happen to be the most successful beta testers,” John said, relaxing a bit, “But more than that, even though I’m only Sabrina’s stepfather, I can’t help but feel like you all are my legacy,” he said, “I mean, I brought Sabrina back to life, and gave you a new body, and then you two had kids,” he continued, “The way I see it, none of that would have happened if it weren’t for me being in your lives.”

“Wow, I hadn’t really thought if it quite that way,” Greg said.

“Neither had I,” Sabrina admitted.

“Yeah, and it’s more than just you guys,” John said, “Basically, all of humanity that chooses to evolve in this way becomes my legacy as well, and by making sure you all are okay, I ensure everyone else will as well."

“Well, we can’t speak for the rest of humanity, but we’re definitely grateful,” Greg smiled.

“Yeah,” Sabrina agreed.

“Anyway, looks like Julie’s new body is finally ready,” John said, fighting a blush as he pulled the six month old version of Julie from the machine, “Now, I know she looks exactly the same, but you know the drill,” he said, opening up her panel, “Her skeletal structure should continue to ‘grow’ for at least another six months, and after that it’ll be about a year,” he said, pulling Julie’s brain from the machine and inserting it into the new body.

He then handed the body over to Sabrina, who was already accessing her daughter’s systems remotely. A few moments later, Julie opened her eyes and acted normally, as though she hadn’t just been disembodied for several minutes. “Thanks dad,” Sabrina said, cooing at Julie in her lap, “This was relatively painless."

“Don’t mention it,” John shrugged, “And it’s my goal to make each of these visits as swift and efficient as possible."

“Well, we appreciate that,” Greg said, picking up James, who had been snoozing in the stroller the whole time, completely unaware his sister had just received a new body.

“Anyway, I hope to see lots of baby pictures,” John smiled, getting Julie’s old body secured and walking with them out of the suite.

“I can’t wait to see what she looks like when she’s older,” Greg said, looking at her in the twin stroller he was pushing along; she had fallen asleep.

“Well, if you like, I could extrapolate it for you based on her genetic algorithm and build her mature body for you."

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Sabrina said.

“Yeah,” Greg agreed, “We want to see her get there the normal way."

“Alright."

“So, is there anything you want us to be doing?” Greg asked.

“Yes, just continue treating Julie normally,” John said simply, “It may seem like it, but we’ve just gathered more data from Julie from the last six months than we have from all of the converts and HRMs in the last ten years,” he said, “You’re doing great!”

“Wow, I didn’t realize,” Sabrina said, blushing a little.

“Well, if doing what we have been doing is all we have to do, then that’s what we’ll do,” Greg shrugged.

“Good,” John smiled, “Anyway, by my estimate, we’ll be ready for the final testing phase by about all this by your children’s fifth birthday,” he said, “Then we’ll finally be ready to go public."

“Good to know,” Greg said, once they were outside. He once again wrestled both kids into the car seats and then got ready to head home.

“Thanks again dad!” Sabrina said, “And be sure to come over for dinner later."

“I will,” John said, and he waved to them as they drove back home.

---

Continued in The Replacement - Part 7

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