Mr. N gets the discussion back on track
"Uh, let's see... girls have a Y chromosome and boys have an X one, right? Well let's give this thing a Z chromo-thingy instead! There, I've done the hard part, you guys work out the details," Mr. N elaborates on his idea.
"A Z chromosome, you say? Like for lizards and whatnot? Sounds interesting, if possibly not practical under a reasonable budget. But hey, we're executives. The budget is ours to do with as we please."
"I move for giving it an obsession with cake!" says a Taft-class executive known only as Mr. X and representing the image of the corporate fatcat here today. He then sits back down in his chair, causing it to let loose something between a conspicuous creak and the furniture equivalent of a death rattle.
"Genetic predisposition toward cake... check," Carl says, writing the idea down on his notepad. Mr. O, meanwhile, has gotten himself back into gear, looking as innocent as a first-grader with a bloody meat cleaver in his hand.
"Oh, we are making a line of beings, not a single one. Silly me, where was my head? Hopefully not in the same place Mr. L's was, is, am I right?"
He chuckles in a rather uncomfortable fashion. Not for him, mind you. For the rest of the people around.
"Heightened intelligence is fine. Improved senses all around, I think, would be good. Perhaps we should make the new model a tad more... durable than the last one? How about flexibility? Hmmm..."
"We can't have everything, Mr. O - that's reserved for infantry models. Civilian-grade ones typically get a few attributes that the designers feel need focusing upon. Like toughness, or charisma, or strength, intelligence, that sort of thing. Right now I'm getting a favorable vote for intelligence, am I getting this right?"
"Perhaps we should shy away from the hirsute modifications this go-round. The furry market seems to have dried up lately."
"Yes. Of course, Mr. O."
As Mr. O threatens to overtake this creative collaboration, out comes Mr. W with his own interesting ideas.
"Female is good. Female is more empathic and motherly, according to the focus groups, so consumers should be able trust and bond with her more easily than a male or an invented gender. In addition, females would be safer in a... shall we say, unauthorized replication scenario. Males could turn the situation runaway very quickly."
"That's a reasonably good point, Mr. W. About the bonding, I mean. We give our engineered people 45 chromosomes as part of their design - prevents interbreeding and reproduction, you see. Makes sense - they're absolutely everywhere these days."
"Can we make her look like a cross between Rosie the Riveter back in the 1940s, and that composite image General Mills is using for Betty Crocker? It would give her a nonthreatening domestic appeal, while satisfying the feminists that we aren't being sexist and just pushing some housewife drone."
"Yes, that could certainly work. A sort of archetypal design, yet not immediately identifiable as a ripoff."
Mr. M, ever the considerate one, raises his points once more.
"We don't have to worry about these groups. It'll sell, especially if we make it pretty enough and able to shut the fuck up."
He, like many of his colleagues, also has developed the executive habit of chuckling at his own ingenuity.
"That said, how will we ensure that they obey whoever we sell them to? How do we stop them from becoming personal hitmen, too. I think we all know that our target groups don't only consist of people that stay within the law."
"We could give our design a coded-in aversion to violence if you're all in favor - would somewhat limit her versatility, particularly in certain less... approved markets, but may improve her image among buyers as well. I'm calling the design a her now - I think we realize that Z-chromosomes, while an interesting gimmick, aren't really on the priority list right now. I'll note your suggestion and run it by the lab personnel, though, Mr. N."
Mr. C, not renowned for his amazing memory for a very good reason, asks the much-needed question.
"What models have we created and sold already, Mr Goodman? I do have such a tendency to forget these things, and I do not think it would be a very good idea to tread a path we already have before."
"Actually, we've produced very few civilian models so far - there's the George line, who were military technicians before we realized we could use them as plumbers and electric repairmen as well. Then there's the Jonathan line of cool, professional male secretaries, they've been good sellers. And, of course, the Francis line of models, one of our most successful products - the perfect office drone in every respect, capable of sustaining any routine practically indefinitely. We haven't gone with a housewife (or a modified version of one) model yet, and I haven't heard of any competitors doing that. Perhaps our adherence to antiquated, yet still desired stereotypes really is the formula for success!"
Carl looks down at his notepad again.
"So, if I've been getting this right, for our design we've got a woman, inoffensive, yet attractive in her looks, skilled at cooking and such, yet also possessing a heightened intelligence. And possibly a drive toward pacifism. Let's keep the ball rolling, people."
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Topic: (SG) Less Than Perfection - now dropped (Read 25792 times)