“Is order 72914 ready for programming?” the young technician said into his headset.

From the upload terminal, the computer applications manager replied, “Yeah, she's baked and ready for the stuffing. Let’s start with the princess files first. They always take the domestic tranquility ones more cleanly after that.”

“I heard that,” the technician said as he cupped the robot’s soft breast in his left hand. With a smirk on his face he asked, “Wasn’t life a lot more fun when we could just go out to a bar and meet a girl? Now we have to special order. Gives new meaning to ‘mail order bride,’ doesn’t it?”

As he added files to the download list, the computer tech replied, “Hey man, there’s no explaining why the dandelion virus only killed women. Docs still haven’t got that one figured out, but until they do I’ll stick with these ladies. They don’t fight back, they give it to you whenever and wherever you want, and when they break, you just turn them in for another one.” He laughed to himself as he thought about the pleasures that awaited him at home in the form of his own top-of-the-line female. In his reverie, he temporarily forgot about the unit on the table. With a jolt, he shot upright in his silver swivel chair and barked at the tech below, “Damn man, is 72914 hooked up yet?”

“Yeah, yeah. I got her hooked up. C’mon, we gotta hustle because we’re behind as it is. Can you believe we’ve got two hundred units that are supposed to go out today? I don’t know what the front office is thinking when they take orders. I gotta go home sometime, same as they do.”

“Preachin’ to the choir you perv. Now quit feelin’ up the merchandise and go get that luscious redhead…unit number 75612,” the applications manager said with a grin before pushing the large blue button that read “Educate.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile,” Wesley says to Buttercup, his hand cradling her face.

“I was bored to death. I hadn’t seen one attractive woman on this ship since we left. Now, isn’t that terrible? I was alarmed. I said to myself, 'Don’t beautiful women travel anymore?' And then I saw you, and I was saved -- I hope." Nickie says to Terry flirtatiously.

"Here's lookin' at you, kid,” Rick tells Ilsa with a drink in his hand.

"She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since, that I haven't thought of that girl." Mr. Bernstein says regretfully.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Each film filled 72914’s head with romantic hopes and dreams. Love was something to treasure, to worship, to cradle like a fragile egg. Love became the goal she sought in each of the historical files the network sent to her central processing unit.

“Catherine waited for Heathcliff, Belle tamed the Beast, Iris nurtured Stanley and love grew where it was planted. Love is possible for anyone!” she thought as she watched Eric weep over Shelly’s grave, his arms wrapped around the tombstone. “Who will I love? Who will love me?”

Before long, the romantic history files were replaced by something called domestic tranquility records. At first, 72914 was distraught at the loss of her wonderful stories, but before long she became attached to the smaller scenes of love. Here, too, women were loved and honored, and spotless homes and beautiful children replaced war and loss. Everyone was well-fed and happy endings seemed to arrive right on time. 72914 came to admire Carol Brady, June Cleaver, the feisty Lucy Ricardo, and the delightfully simple Aunt Bee.

“These women know how to soothe every ache and to resolve every problem. Their love for their families shows on their faces,” 72914 thought sweetly. “I so want a family of my own to love!”

In between each brief domestic tranquility file, 72914 watched lessons on cleaning house, preparing meals, and mixing drinks. She learned how to pay bills, shop for groceries, and a list of perfect phrases to use when she met her husband at the door with his favorite drink. Eagerly, she asked for more files, and watched in rapture as the women she had come to love as sisters happily performed their tasks after walkingdown the aisle clothed in yards of white fabric. Each of them looked so beautiful and poised as she went through something known as a “wedding ceremony.” She joined hands with her husband, exchanged golden rings, and they kissed in front of the crowd!

“How wonderful it must be to have a man show just how much he loves you. When will it be my turn to wear the white dress?” she thought to herself, a wide smile on her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey! Looks like 72914 is ready to go. Unhook her and get the integration kit ready.”

72914 was roughly shaken by the hands of the technician that had inserted her into the computer network only a few hours before. The light streaming through the factory windows hurt her eyes, and her skin’s sensors told her the room was bitingly cold. She shivered nervously and looked around.

“Where is my husband?” she asked quietly.

The technician turned around quickly at the sound of her voice. His eyes dwelled on her body’s curves and left her feeling tainted. He said nothing as he stared at her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and slim figure. She covered her naked body with her hands and repeated the question more forcefully, “Where is my husband?”

“We’ve got a talker Rich. I’m sure this is one is going to be loads of fun for whoever ordered her!”

72914 looked at the man quizzically. What did he mean by the word “ordered”? Where was the man who was supposed to save her from all this dishonor?

Rich piped up from his seat in the computer room, “C’mon David, we don’t have time to chat with her. She’s being called for now. We’ve got to get her ready to go.”

David handed 72914 a package that contained a thin pink dress and a pair of strappy high heels. “Here, this is what your man sent us for you to wear. Make sure you look real pretty for him. He paid big time bucks for your sweet body. Mirror is over there, so hurry up princess.”

72914 walked immediately to the mirror with her clothes and shoes in hand. As she dropped the dress over her head, she took a moment to admire her body.

“I know I will please him,” she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror. “We will be married soon and live happily ever after! I only wonder what he will call me. All of the other women in my files had names, but I do not. Perhaps he will give me a name of my own. One he will whisper romantically to me in the middle of the night.”

72914 strapped the bubble gum pink heels on her feet and hurried after David, who stood on the ramp to the main floor motioning for her to hurry.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Before she could get her bearings, she was roughly shoved into a small transportation unit with other panicky women. Like her, they were all dressed in sheer outfits of various colors, and they all fiddled nervously with their clothes. Nervous excitement filled each of their minds, and no one dared speak in the confines of the vehicle. So much of the future journey was unknown that 72914 doubted anyone would know how to answer the questions of the other with any surety.

72914 spent most of the ride craning her neck to peer through a small window in the side of the van. The scenery whipped by so quickly that she was unable to take in all she saw. Tall buildings stood like sentinels on every road, their silver bodies reflecting light like a kaleidoscope onto the acres of asphalt and concrete below. She saw men walking around on the immaculate sidewalks, but no women accompanied them. Very little of the outside world was green and inviting, and 72914 wondered what had happened to the front lawns and rolling moors she had seen in the history archive files.

Twenty minutes later, the back door of the vehicle opened and a burly man with a rough voice shouted, “72914! Your stop!” He waited for a moment and then grabbed 72914 by the arm, “Get your rump out here girlie! I ain’t got all day! Fourth floor. Apartment number 4560. He’s waiting for you, so go!”

She looked at the other girls in the van and smiled anxiously, projecting a sense of bravado that she didn’t really possess. Several of the girls smiled back before the grumbling truck driver slammed the door and separated them forever. 72914 turned back to face the building, took a deep breath, and walked towards her destiny in apartment 4560.

A kindly old man in a crisp navy blue uniform pulled the door open for her to enter and said, “Can I help you find anything ma’am?”

“Yes,” she replied nervously. “I’m looking for apartment 4560. Can you tell me how to get there?”

The old man smiled to disguise the look of concern that threatened to cross his face. “I can help you ma’am. You simply take the elevator over there up to fourth floor. The place you’re looking for is at the end of the hall on the left.”

As she walked toward the glass elevator, 72914 straightened her dress and combed her hair briskly with her fingertips. The ride up to the floor and the search for the correct apartment seemed to take an eternity, but she finally arrived and knocked softly on the creamy beige door. Nervously, she waited for her future husband to take her in his arms and give her a name. All of the history she had studied led her to this moment, and she could hardly contain her excitement. The door slowly swung inwards, revealing a young man with dark hair and green eyes. He wore nothing more than a pair of dark slacks and an open shirt. His massive body filled the clothing well, and he was as handsome as Rick or Nickie had been in her files.

“He must have just returned from the office,” she thought. “I wish I could have been here sooner to mix his drink and meet him at the door.”

She opened her mouth to ask him what he preferred, but before she could utter one syllable, he pulled her inside the apartment and locked the door behind her. She smiled, trying to hide just how nervous his actions made her, and asked, “What is my name?”

His reply was a heavy slap on the face. Stunned by the force of the blow, she fell to the ground in a heap, her dress bunched up revealingly around her thighs. As if he were entranced by the sight of her exposed body, he wasted no time in tearing her skirt in half in order to test her sexual durability.

As she lay wincing under him, she listened to his grunts of pleasure and wept with shame and embarrassment at her own naïveté. “This is not how it was supposed to be!” she thought. “What about our wedding? What about my name?”

When he had finished, he stood and looked at her crying on the floor beneath him. “You can pick any name you like,” he said, “but you will call me master.”

Panicked and confused, she looked up at him and summoned the courage for another question. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Why did they tell me those lies?”

With a snort of derision, the master quickly knelt down and pinned 72914 to the carpet. Gripping her roughly by the chin, he looked fiercely into her eyes and replied, “Baby, this is real life, and those were the lies you told yourself.” He kissed her forcefully, cutting her lips with his teeth and probing her mouth with his tongue. He laughed as she tried to wriggle away from his groping hand. Finally, he released her and said, “Now go clean up and make some dinner and I might just take you to bed early.”

With a quick pinch on the cheek, he rose and sauntered into a nearby room. After a few minutes, 72914 sat up and tried to repair her torn, soiled clothing. Wiping the tears and smeared make-up from her face, she listened as he whistled contentedly in the shower. Looking around the empty room, she took in the sights of her gilded cage and said dejectedly, “So this is really all there is.” She then walked towards the kitchen to follow his order, saddened that it was all she knew to do.