*Karma

Intro: I wanted to do a Pinocchio type story. I didn't watch Pinocchio growing up as a kid, so I don't have the same love for it as other people probably do. Instead I always looked at these instances of people getting children in their old age as a little odd. I think it would be much easier to raise a child when you are younger. This story is a futuristic version of the origins of Pinocchio.

Kendall leaned back in his chair but kept an eye on the code streaming across his screen. The code represented seven years of his life. It had started out as a college thesis and now, his life revolved around getting this to work, by tonight. That was the deadline his work gave him. If this code didn't work, he would be fired, and he would then lack money to pay for his apartment.

"Stop thinking that way. This will work."

His eyes never left the screen for if one mistake were to slip by him, he wouldn't make the deadline. He had already spent fifteen hours going through the code and still had at least one left to go. Starting over was not an option.
"Pay attention." He could always pause the code, but even when all of the code was done he still had to upload it to the doll and make sure the physical motors worked.

The doll rested against the wall of his room. It had been built by a friend of Kendall who had majored in something considered more practical, engineering. He didn't like working in his apartment during the day. Most of the time he worked at his cubicle during daylight hours, slept between five and midnight in his car and stayed up late at his apartment until early morning when he could get into the office building again.

The reason why he avoided his apartment during the day was because of the terrors above him. He could hear them now. His upstairs neighbor was a single mother with three children. Kids didn't use to bother him until moving here where there was no rest from them. Then again, before moving here, he avoided children.

The error almost slipped past him but just as it was about to disappear at the top of the screen he paused it. He removed the extra dash and breathed another sigh of relief. Errors use to bother him because it meant he had made a mistake, but now, he found a little pleasure in catching those mistakes.

One of the little terrors stomped so hard that he was worried the light over his desk was going to collapse. He glanced up for a moment almost growling in frustration. Another stomp rattled the light.

"You've got to be kidding me."

When Kendall glanced back down at the computer he cursed. The code still flowed by and he had neglected to watch it for almost ten seconds. He touched the screen, pausing the text and ran his finger up the side, scrolling back to where he'd fixed the code.

Though the light continued threatening to fall, he kept his eyes glued to the screen and gritted his teeth. An hour and a half later, with a headache pounding, he moved away from the desk. He drained a caffeinated soda and some drugs, hoping the caffeine would kick in quickly.

He picked up the doll from his room, the silicon covering over the titanium skeleton didn't even feel remotely human in his arms, but that didn't matter. He set it up against the wall and activated the linking sensor on doll. The code streamed from his computer to the doll.

"Two hours and nineteen minutes remaining." The computer informed him.

One of the terrors started to scream. Kendall left the apartment and headed to his car. It was parked under a tree and cool despite the summer heat. He glanced through his notes, reminding himself of what was needed to finish the process, but fell asleep with the computer across his legs.

"Transfer complete." The computer woke him

Kendall sat up and rubbed his eyes. The sun no longer hung in the sky and the only light came from the computer across his lap. He stared at it for a moment before getting out of the car and rushing back up to his apartment. The doll sat in the dark apartment, bathed in a pale light from the computer screen. For a moment he just looked. The doll was human in form with two arms, two legs, and a head, but the proportions were exactly right and there was no detail. The head was merely a sphere, the fingers cylinders. There were sensors behind the silicon covering, strong enough to work through the skin as well as microphones and speakers. But if it did what he wanted, it didn't matter that it wasn't biologically correct. He disconnected the link and activated the code. The doll remained still but a red bulb light up in its chest.

"Come on. You are the key to my future."

The doll moved and Kendall let out a whoop. "Now for the easy part," he said folding his arms a sense of smug satisfaction settling over him. "I have created an AI that can move a physical body. Now to prove the progression of intelligence even in computers."

The doll moved its head around. Kendall held his breath as the faint sound of static signified the speaker activation. Nothing intelligible came out, only a shriek. The hands pounded the desk and the screen teetered. Kendall rushed forward grabbing the screen before it fell off. In the process the doll fell to the floor. He glanced at it but it only rocked in place, the screaming even louder. He grabbed the doll and tried to pick it up but it only batted at his hands.

"Hello!" Someone called through the door.

Kendall let go of the screaming doll and hurried over. The woman from upstairs stood in the hall, her eyes rimmed with dark circles.

"I don't know what you have going on in there, but if you could please keep your child quiet I would appreciate it. I only just got mine to bed and I don't need them waking up."

Kendall stared at her as she walked back down the hall towards the elevator. He shut the door and leaned his back against it as he looked at the infant computer now in his life.