The Choice

by Heather St. Claire




 
Diary Entry, March 14, 2626


 I have a big decision to make today.

 Do I remain a robotic female, or do I return to the human form I once occupied -- five centuries ago?

 So much is riding on this....on the one hand, continuation of the life I have known for 496 of my 518 years...a life of endless pleasure, sexual and every other type I can imagine...never becoming ill, never growing old, never facing death. Do I surrender this superior electronic vessel for an inferior, carbon-based one? On the face of it, it seems like no choice. Of course I should stay this way.

 And yet....

 I find my memories accessing my early, human years. Life was pleasant for a young girl growing up in the early 22nd century. I was average in just about every way. I only became special when one fate made me one of the seven million to survive the meteor. Seven million. Out of 10 billion on the planet! But that was all they could save after the meteor....

 Or perhaps I should put it in all capitals, THE METEOR. As in the meteor that almost destroyed the human race. They said it wasn’t all that large; that it smashed down in Siberia, one of the least populated places on the globe; but unfortunately, it brought with it a deadly spore that spread over the planet, extinguishing all human life within a matter of months.

 All human life, that is, except those of us who were able to go through the roboticization process. They converted as many of us as possible, before the materials ran out. First priority was given to the young and healthy; the idea was to save a sample of our DNA, and then, if the day ever came when humans could survive again, we would return to recreated versions of our original bodies and start the world over.

 As for the changeover itself, it was quick, simple, and really painless. I was given an injection, and while I was unconscious, I understand that my brain was somehow transferred to a mainframe computer; a robotic duplicate of my body was created; and then I my digitized brain was fed into the android.

 When I woke up -- or, to be more accurate -- was activated for the first time -- I didn’t really feel any different. Oh sure, I had them make my breasts and eyes a little bigger, my waist and nose a little smaller, but basically, I looked in the mirror and just saw a slightly improved version of myself. Oh sure, it was kind of strange to think that my brain was now a computer chip, and that there were microprocessors and wires under my skin instead of bones and blood And of course, the skin wasn’t skin at all, but an advanced latex.... But I looked the same.

 Within a matter of days, though, I discovered that there was a lot about this body that was different...better. I didn’t need sleep anymore; in fact, I didn’t get tired at all! And my capacity for pleasure...it was just about endless! Not only could I bring myself to heights I had only dreamed of through simple masturbation; but sex with a robotic male turned out to be fabulous compared with the human kind. No more premature ejaculation!

 And during those nighttime hours when I had to shut down for charging...well, I rather quickly came to look forward to the endless cycle of pleasure that my orgasm loop provided me!

 Pleasure soon became the primary focus of my existence; and that was the case for all but a few thousand who held the leadership positions of society.

 Although we still had human appearing forms, it soon became clear that this was no longer a human world. No more births. No more illness. No more deaths. Family units soon became distant; there might be a reunion of those once related every decade or two, but that was about it. Marriage became a thing of the past. “’Till death do us part?” How does that apply in a world without death? People could stay with the same partners for a few decades...but a few centuries?

 Striving for achievement also went by the wayside, for better or ill. A robot needs no food...there was no need to work for the basics of survival; and the accumulation of massive possessions now seemed pointless.

 This left one thing to fill our endless days....pleasure. Pure, sexual pleasure. We changed partners the way we used to change clothes. Couples, groups, males, females, it seemed to make no difference to most of us. Some people would form partnerships for a time, but the idea of a permanent relationship simply no longer existed.

 A human from the past who could have somehow visited our brave new world would say that society had become static. But for me, and every other robotic inhabitant of this planet, the last orgasm is just as good as the first. So why leave this behind, for a finite life filled with moments of happiness, sure, but also much misery and pain...and ending in death? It seems so....illogical. But that’s the choice I now face.

 Eleven months ago, the authorities determined that the world was habitable again. The reconversions began. It is a voluntary process; they found that they had to make it so to prevent mass revolt. Of those whose turn has come up so far, about 60 percent are choosing to be rehumanized, while the remainder stay robotic. My first thought is to be part of the minority.

 Still, something seems to be troubling my robotic brain....

 Perhaps it had something to do with today’s news. Immediately upon awakening from our charge, the master servers beam a world news report directly into our brains. We instantly see and hear the most significant things going on around the globe.

 Today’s report had quite a development; the first live birth on earth in 501 years. A healthy, eight pound girl, who arrived in Berlin 6.1 hours ago.

 An infant! A true blank slate, a chance to rewrite the world all over again. Was this what I had really been born for? To be a mother?
 

 I have to give my answer tomorrow.....

 I shut myself down for charging early, making sure my orgasm loop is activated.

 If this is my last night of endless orgasm, I want to make it a memorable one.

 And if it’s not, and I choose to stay in my robotic body?

 Well, you can never get enough of pleasure.....
 
 

END



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