(Part 1 of 6)
Carter Wise was skeptical. He trusted his experts. He trusted his project manager. But when they proposed such a major course change, he would trust... but he would verify. As the president of Wise Automation, his stakeholders depended on him to make the right decisions. His experts told him Camille Smith, this overstuffed thirty-three year old woman, was the future of the industry. He had to meet her to be convinced. So far he could not be certain.
He was certain, though, that he hated the woman's husband. Edwin Smith clearly did not find his wife attractive. He couldn't seem to understand why the company would want her for a femme-borg model. True, Carter himself was struggling with the idea. But he wouldn't dare say that in front of her. Edwin had no such restraint and Cammie's face registered her feelings about that. Carter's instinct was to encourage the man to talk, to separate the woman from her husband. But he found himself feeling her pain and desired to shield her from criticism. Was this her power working on him? Was he falling for her?
"It's true, Mr. Smith, that borgs are typically modeled on the most attractive people... models, porn stars, media personalities. And while these borgs are very successful we feel that ultimately it may be a limiting factor in our growth." Carter took a sip of his instant coffee and managed to act as if he liked it. "There is an idea that when something looks very much like a human, but isn't a human, a person has a negative reaction to it. My people think that the attractiveness of the human-like object worsens this reaction."
Edwin's mouth hung open incredulously. "Are you saying the femme-borgs are too hot?"
"Hard to believe, Mr. Smith, but our typical customer is not in the habit of bedding down with models and actors. Having relations with what seems to be a beautiful man or woman can be intimidating, no matter how receptive they might behave. May I smoke?" He tapped a Kirkhill out of his holder and lit it dramatically, taking a long drag and exhaling it toward the ceiling. "And it goes beyond sexual intercourse. Our customers frequently treat their borgs like friends and spouses."
"Losers." Edwin sneered into his can of beer.
"Oh, we can't all be married to a gorgeous creature like your wife, Mr. Smith." Carter flashed his teeth at Cammie and she rewarded him with a radiant smile. It felt good. He was definitely having feelings for her. "There are many reasons a person can't or shouldn't have a real partner. Sad reasons, shameful reasons, even perfectly respectable reasons. These people can still have sex. They can come home from work to be greeted by a friendly face."
Edwin belched loudly. He wasn't buying it, but that didn't matter. Carter wasn't talking to him. He was talking to her. Hers was the only opinion that mattered.
"But what if it isn't the right face? Culture tries to tell us what we should and shouldn't find attractive. There are some who say that a man's preferences are fixed early in life, at the onset of puberty perhaps. It's a turbulent time, mentally and physically, and a young man's heart is desperate to fix upon his first love. Girls his own age are no good. They have not yet blossomed into full womanhood. And besides, just the year before they were yucky and gross. Not even a massive dose of testosterone can overcome that bias without sufficient time."
Camille smiled knowingly. She was a junior high teacher and knew exactly what Carter was talking about.
"Older girls are standoffish and their boyfriends have cars. Not many opportunities for socialization there. So for many boys, their longings are directed toward remote objects of affection with whom their only interactions are observational: celebrities, cheerleaders, lifeguards. And they carry these ideals with them into adulthood. That's essentially the demographic we've been targeting up until now."
Camille leaned forward to slide the ashtray closer to Carter's Kirkhill. He caught himself before he blew a stream of smoke into her generous cleavage. "But you don't think that's the largest group of them?"
"Not by a long shot, Ms. Smith," he replied, His eyes glittered with his own cleverness, though of course none of this was the product of his own reasoning. "No, most boys hunger for the sight and sound and scent of real flesh and blood. They are constantly scanning their environment for a woman, any woman, for them to superimpose their fantasies of love and lust. For some, this woman is found within their own family unit."
"Are you suggesting...?" Edwin began, his fist tightening around his aluminum can.
"I'm not suggesting they act on their impulses, no. But I think we all know men who have married women very much like their mothers, for instance."
Edwin relaxed. "Yeah, I guess so. Weirdos."
"But that is also a small group and one that would be hard for us to cater to. No, the group we intend to service is one with a particularly benign object of affection. They once fell in love with a woman they interacted with for eight hours a day, five days a week, a woman who was wholesome and bursting with femininity. She was well dressed, well made up. She was kind to them and generous but she could also be authoritative and tough."
"I... think... I..." Camille had an apprehensive look in her eyes.
"You got it, Ms. Smith." Carter nodded and stabbed his cigarette out in the ashtray. "A significant number of American boys fall in love with their teachers, women so much more accessible and desirable than any other female in their orbit. They might see her getting married, having children of her own. Unintentionally, she is giving them a chaste lesson in love and letting them know what they should aspire to in their future relationships."
Carter could see Cammie's mind reviewing her interactions with her own students, searching for correlation with what he was saying. It was a risk to lay it all out for her like that. But he felt it was the right choice. Then Edwin's oafish voice broke the spell.
"That's total hogwash," he said.
"You think so, Mr. Smith?" Carter asked, his voice neutral. "Yet here you are, happily married to a wholesome thirty-something woman, and a public school teacher in the bargain."