by Ken Dean

"Yes, I did."

"What, you can't let me get hurt?"

"No, not intentionally. But accidents can happen. That's why you need to be careful."

He was feeling quite good right now. Whatever was in the patch was giving him quite the buzz, really loosening up his tongue and taking away his apprehension.

"Okay. Let's talk about that. What study are you talking about, and how does it involve my wife and family?"

"Like I said before, I'm here with several others like me to study the human family. It's a multi-generational endeavor. There are so many parameters to examine. Your species has extremely complex inter-personal relationships. It took my masters many years worth of study just to comprehend the latitude of adult male and female physical and psychological makeup. Only then were they able to develop a baseline in which to produce female androids like myself along with several male units."

"Produce? So you guys are like exact copies or something?"

"Exactly. We study a specific target first, and then apply the baseline we developed to the target. The match comes out to ninety-nine point seven percent accuracy."

"So you're like the perfect match for a female, in particular, my wife?"

"Yes. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference, except that you caught me with my pants down, so to speak."

"You're that close? So I could make love to you and not tell the difference?"

"You already have, Sam, for the last year."

Okay. That was a shocker. He couldn't comprehend that and sat there for a few minutes, dumbfounded.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he snapped back to reality, "I really lost you after that one. I forgot to ask, are the twins okay?"

"Yes. It's still early. Katy and Ruthy are still asleep. You don't have to worry, Sam. Along with being their surrogate mother, their well being is paramount to me."

"Sure. Whatever you say. I guess I'll have to see it to believe it. That brings me back to the other question. If you're here, where is my wife?"

"Totally safe, I can assure you."

"And where would that be?"

"Okay, your conversation is deteriorating again. Don't be so defensive. I can't tell you where she is, and it wouldn't make any difference anyway. Do you comprehend that?"

"Yes, I'm not stupid, just desperate. What if I go to the authorities?"

"Go ahead, Sam. Take it from me, they won't believe you, they may even think you're crazy. Do you want that for your family? Let me explain the big picture for you, and I'm not trying to be threatening. The study will go forward, with or without you. We can always take you to a safe place with your wife, but we'd rather not do that. No matter how perfect I can be as a wife and mother, I'm still influencing the study somewhat by replacing your wife. We would rather not have to replace you as well; it would affect the study even further. And wouldn't you rather be here with your children during their development? Just so you know, every memory that I have of being a mother and a wife will be translated to your wife's memory. She won't even know that she was gone after we bring her back. I will approximate aging right along with her, so that every thing appears natural. Any time you want we can discuss this whole matter, although in private."

"Okay, when will you bring my wife back?"

"That's subjective. It will depend on how the study is going. Some things we can deduce as we learn more about the human family and it's behavior."

He had to think about all this. What was to become of his wife and children? Could he trust them to an alien android? It didn't seem like there was anything he could do anyway. Maybe he could take the children and run somewhere.

"You're thinking of running, aren't you?"

"How the Hell did you know that? And what the Hell, yes."

"It's one of the standard reaction profiles we've encountered in the past when we've been discovered. Another point of interest, we can always find you. Your entire family has been tagged with a health status and location indicator, sort a technological equivalent to your cell phone GPS locator, but much smaller and efficient."

Damn. He was starting to feel like he lived in a big zoo.

"Okay, Jackie, I can still call you that right? I feel like I don't have any options. Can you understand that?"

"Of course you can. And I know you feel trapped. But look at the big picture. If you go along, I will be the perfect wife. In fact, I can be any kind of wife you want, as long as it doesn't vary from the profile norm we've developed. That could affect the outcome of the study. Along with this you and the children will have near-perfect protection. I can promise you that. And my profile is to be the most loving mother and wife that I can be.
It's a win-win situation if you go along. What do you say, Sam?"

"Listen, this is hard for me. It's hard to accept that I can't do anything worthwhile."

Especially when she sat there being so perfectly feminine and beautiful.

"But you can, Sam. Be there as the girls' loving father. That's what you ultimately want, right?"

"Can I try it for a while and see how it goes? I still need to see how you act around the girls."

"You've already seen that for about a year now. Haven't I been the perfect mother? But that would be fine. All we want is you to be happy with the situation."

"True. I guess I will give it a try and see where it goes; what choice do I have?"

"Oh, excellent!" She reached across the table and gave him the perfect hug, smelling so much like a woman that it hurt. "I know you will be happy with everything."