I am currently the only person alive who has neither mother nor father. This of course will probably change in the near future. You see, I am the result of a science experiment conducted by my present guardians. They are known worldwide for their brilliance in science, the brilliance which created me. I am their prize possession, shown to the world like a painting or sculpture.
With my guardians I travel the world and her endless talks about how I was made and the extra features which were included in my creation. I sit there and let them touch my “high-quality” skin and make comments about me as though I have no feelings.
It is even worse at school (yes I still must go to school for two main reasons: one because my parents have things that they want to do during the day and I am considered a nuisance and two because they did not successfully alter my brain to make my more knowledgeable), where kids say things during science class like “Mrs Donovan, why can’t we make another Kate?” There is only one person in whom I can confide; Tracy. She had never made any comments about me and how I was created. She acts as though I am normal for which I am extremely grateful.
“Kate are you listening to me?” asks Tracy interrupting my thoughts.
“Ummm,” I mumble in reply.
“I am going to host a party on Saturday to celebrate my birthday and I think you should come.” Tracy knows fully well that I have long stopped going to parties as I always end up in awkward situations and I know that I was just invited out of courtesy. The parents give me a funny look that is a mix between uncertainty and pity. Tracy’s parents are used to me though.
Tracy has sky blue eyes and short brown hair. She has a permanent tan and is about 5 foot 4 inches in height. She is the spitting image of her mother.
I have what are considered the desirable features. My guardians got to choose all of my physical characteristics so I have sun streaked blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. I am tall and lean with a model’s body.
“Kate!” exclaims Tracy. “Please come to my party” she continues. “ I’ll do anything you want”.
“Fine,” I agree not realizing that this will be the worst mistake of my life. Finally the bell marking the end of the day rings. I wait by the entrance of the school hoping that maybe my guardians will come pick me up. After 15 minutes I decide it is pointless and start the long walk through the cold back to my guardians house.
I unlock the white door and go inside. There is no homey feeling like there is in Tracy’s house. Everything in the house is spotlessly clean and, like the door, white. I set my backpack down in the spot right beside the door where my guardians want it. I go into the white kitchen and open the cupboard door, grab a pack of Oreos and some chocolate and sit down at the table for a lonely meal. One of the major bonuses of my unnatural body is that I can eat whatever I want and never gain weight, a fact, which Tracy is very jealous of.
Once I have finished my snack, I retrieve my homework from my backpack and sit down at the table again. A few hours pass before I hear the noise of the “Greenmobile”, the name given to another of my guardian’s creations. It is a car, which is environmentally friendly. Shortly afterward they enter.
My “mother” has long brown hair, green eyes and is slightly overweight. My “father” has thin grey hair and is medium height. Both are 52 years old.
“Oh, hello” remarks my mother as if surprised to see me even though I have lived here for the past 16 years.
“Hi” I mutter before returning to my work. My guardians continue looking at me intently, I try focusing but their gazes are burning holes in my head and I look up. They are both standing in thoughtful poses, my “mother” with one hand on her hip and one tapping her lip, my “father’s” hand is stroking his grey moustache. One look is all it takes to make my heart sink. I realise what they are thinking…another experiment, another “improvement” on my already different body.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you never had to worry about a broken bone?” says my “mother”. She thinks I am not weird enough with my skin that never breaks out, doesn’t have any hair on it with the exception of my eyebrows, eyelashes and head because I don’t need any, my nose which never produces snot and skin which never sweats amongst other features which further distinguish me from normal people.
“We’ve thought this all through and the experiment and recovery will only take a day”. Yeah right, I think, that’s what they said last time when they tried giving my eyes the ability to see clearly in the night, night vision. I missed 3 weeks of school because they had caused so much damage that even my self-repairing body could not handle it.
My guardians created me so that not only could they prove their intelligence to the world but also so that they could have a creature more similar to the human race than an ape, to experiment on. It is not legal to conduct experiments on actual people but there is nothing in the law about created ones. My guardians have not yet made another thing like me because they want him or her to be absolutely perfect. I obviously was not enough.
My guardians have already moved on as though the matter is settled. My “father” walks over to the stove and starts punching something into another invention of his and my “mothers” which cooks the food punched into the screen. My “mother” picks up the latest gadget that my guardian’s have been working on, a scarf which will change colour when the tag is puller. They hope to change the clothing industry drastically with this.
“Ahh! I’ve found the solution!” exclaimed my mother whilst jumping up from her chair “ You’ve got to…” she says launching into a sophistication explanation, to which my quiet “father” listens attentively.
I leave the kitchen without them even noticing, walk down the white tiled floor of the hallway and into my bedroom, the only room with colours instead of the white and wood of the rest of the house. The colour of the walls can be changed just flicking a switch as they are giant screens. I sit down on my bed and insert the DVD “ The Notebook” into the machine connected to the wall just across my bed. The actors appear life-size on the screen.