Some Assembly Required

James couldn’t believe it was finally here.  It took long enough.

He’d gotten into AI earlier, not knowing exactly what would come from it.  Sure, his smart home helped with practically everything he did, and he knew he’d be taken care of from it.

But The Perfect Girl seemed too good.  What sort of AI was it?  The website never said.

Still, the system told him the packages had finally arrived and he brought them all in.

They were all numbered, so he could easily tell which one they wanted him to open first.  The squat, squarish box held what appeared to be a very realistic head, eyes closed, mouth straight, dark hair framing its face.

It?  No, if he was honest with himself, he had to think of it as a her.

He reached in, touching the cheek, amazed, completely, at how realistic the skin felt before her eyes opened, very realistic hazel eyes. “Oh, good.  I’m here.”

James nearly dropped the head, not sure what was going on.  She sounded very real. “Uh, hi.  I’m James.”

She smiled at him. “Carlie.”

Her eyes darted around. “Okay, you have the rest of me spread out.”

He acknowledged that as he took out her head and placed it on the living room table. “Yeah.  How are you feeling by the way?”

He had no idea why he asked.  She was supposed to be a computer and, if she’d just been activated, she’d have no idea.  Instead, she smiled a strange smile. “It feels so good to be like this.  It’s incredible.”

He opened up the second box to find a torso, complete with bra, that seemed to be breathing very realistically.  It ended neatly at the waist and Carlie giggled a little before gasping “HEY!”

He couldn’t tell if he meant to or not, but, apparently, she could feel him sliding his hand up to her boob. “Oh, sorry.”

She glared at him a moment. “Well, okay.  I mean we’re just now getting acquainted.  Give me some time before you grope me.  Now unpack my arms, they’re getting cramped.”

As he did so, he started to wonder.  How complex was she?  He thought that each part would activate when unpacked, but she could feel it now?  And the connection had to have already been made.

He looked as she started flexing her arm in his hand.  Yes, there was smooth skin over where a normal human’s arm should attach, just like on the neck and the waist of the torso.  He figured it was magnetic or something.

But the arms felt real as well.  And he knew her tummy was ticklish.

He had to know. “What kind of operating system to you run on?”

Carlie looked at him strangely. “Operating system?”

James confirmed. “Yeah, I mean what GPT keeps you going and learning.”

It took her a moment. “Wait?  You think I’m an android?”

He looked at her, really wondering. “Well, you’re in pieces here, delivered to my house in a number of boxes.”

She started laughing. “You have my arm there.  Go ahead, feel the wrist pulse.”

He slid his fingers to the point and felt an extremely realistic pulse. “Now I know my neck is kind of split, but you should be able to get a pulse there, too.”

It took him a couple of minutes to find it, but, on both sides of where her neck was cut, he could feel a pulse. “I signed up for this, them promising me a lot of cash and the perfect man for me.  They cut me to pieces like this, a very enjoyable experience to be honest, and put me in suspended animation.  Now, please, get the rest of me out.”

James hesitated a moment.  She wasn’t an AI?  But how could she be alive like this?

He opened up the next package and found her hips.  He couldn’t help himself, he had to take a closer look at the panty-clad appendage, hearing her scolding voice. “Don’t get too handsy.  I may not be back in one piece yet but I will kick your butt if you do.”

He set her hips down, watching as her waist moved across the cut. “So this is some kind of magic?”

Carlie would’ve nodded, but her neck was still separated. “Yeah.  Only way they could get this.”

As he unpacked each leg, playfully stroking each one in a place he knew was good, earning another scolding from her, he had to know. “And they put you in suspended animation?”

Carlie’s eyebrows raised. “Yeah, but after they cut me up like this.  Now I’ll need you to start putting me together because I really need to use your bathroom.”

James hurriedly got her head on straight, the her arms, watching as she got used to having her upper half back together.  He got her legs on. “Okay, that should be enough, but….”

Without much preamble, Carlie lifted her top half onto her bottom half, asked him where the bathroom was, and ran off.  A couple of minutes later, she came back, looking relieved. “Now what have you got to eat around here, then we can really start talking. But, first…”

The final package came open at Carlie’s hands, finding clothes and shoes inside.  As James went to fix lunch, Carlie used his bedroom to change.

As they ate, James couldn’t help but wonder about this strange girl he’d been delivered.  So they talked, James revealing his fondness for smart tech.  Carlie did seem interested, but he still had so many questions.  Like what would happen if, say, he wanted to cut her head off again.

Carlie laughed, reached up, her hands on either side, and popped her head off again.

This was going to be for the ages.