The Reconstituted Man

by Carl Perrin

Professor Wilkins’ wife Eleanor was astounded when he told her that he had advanced-stage lung cancer. It was not the news itself that amazed her, it was Wilkins’ demeanor. He seemed almost happy to have the fatal disease.

He had reason to be happy. He regarded death to be not an end but an opening to a new phase of existence, a life that would last forever. It was not that he thought that he would rise to an eternal heaven as a reward for the good life he had led. He didn’t believe in any of that religious stuff. But he did believe in science.

Wilkins was a professor of computer science at Andover University. For years he had been preparing for his final days on earth. He had been downloading the contents of his brain onto a neural network.

He had chosen an android with a super-sized hard drive to contain that network after he was gone. The android didn’t look anything like the short and pot-bellied Wilkins. The device that was to contain the professor’s memories was tall and Hollywood-handsome.

As Eleanor and Raymond Wilkins had drifted apart over the years, he had ceased sharing his hopes and dreams with her. Instead, he found solace and comfort in the arms of a series of graduate assistants. The latest of these, a busty blonde named Bobbie Berkowitz, was prepared to help him make the final transition.

Most people with a fatal disease slow down, take it easy, and try to prolong their limited days as long as possible. But not Professor Wilkins. He and Bobbie spent almost every evening out on the town, drinking and dancing until the wee hours.

Of course, he could not keep up that pace very long. Less than two months after Wilkins had heard the fatal news, Eleanor took him to hospice where she thought he would spend his final days. However, the next day, Bobbie took him out of the hospice and brought him to his laboratory at the university, where she tried to make him as comfortable as possible until his days were over.

As he breathed his final breaths, Bobbie fed the network to the android’s hard drive. When the professor stopped breathing, the young graduate assistant plugged the android into the electricity to get its battery charged up. The android awoke immediately. He knew where he was and what had happened.

“A new life!” he exclaimed, “a new life! I will be able to live forever. If something breaks down, a new part can replace the broken one.”

He sat up. “As soon as I’m fully charged, I’m going to find an apartment for myself. I’m no longer married to Eleanor. I hope you’ll come and live with me, Bobbie.”

But Bobbie had other plans. While she was fond of the professor, she had never been sure that his experiment would work. Besides, she didn’t want to live with an android. During Wilkins’ final days, Bobbie had found another boyfriend, a fellow graduate student.

“That’s okay,” the android said. “Maybe you’ll come and visit me from time to time.”

Wilkins drove to the nearest ATM to withdraw some money for rent for his new apartment. But there was no money in the account. He went inside to complain to the manager, but the manager didn’t want to talk to him. When he wouldn’t go away, the manager confronted him. “You can’t have an account,” he said. “Only people can have accounts.”

“That’s not accurate,” the android exclaimed. “According to my research, several accounts have been opened for androids. Besides, I’m not like most androids. I have a neural network from the brain of my former self. Inside, I am just like that self: Professor Raymond Wilkins. A few days ago I had over $7,000 in that account.”

The manager invited Wilkins to his office and looked at the computer. “I see that was a joint account with Mrs. Wilkins,” he said.

“I have a right to know if it was withdrawn recently.”

“Do you have some form of ID?”

He had Raymond Wilkins’ drivers’ license, but the picture didn’t look anything like him in his present form.

“I’m sorry,” the bank manager said. “Maybe you should go to the Office of Vital Statistics and see if you can straighten things out there.”

Before he went to the Office of Vital Statistics, he drove to his former home to demand that Eleanor turn over some of the money that she must have withdrawn from their joint account.

As he let himself into his house, his little dog Toto ran, barking into the room.

“What’s the matter, Toto? Don’t you recognize me?”

He put his hand down for Toto to smell. Toto latched onto the android’s hand and wouldn’t let go.

A short man walked into the room and commanded Toto to come to him, which he did. The android recognized the man as Jerry Forsythe, one of Eleanor’s co-workers.

Forsythe looked at the android and demanded, “Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?”

The android held up the key and said, “I let myself in. This is my house.”

Eleanor appeared behind Forsythe and said, “Let him keep the key. We can change the locks.” She turned toward the android and said, “I know what you are. You’re one of Raymond’s tricks. Well, you’re not fooling me. You can just get out before I call the cops.”

At the Office of Vital Statistics, Wilkins could not convince the clerk that he was Raymond Wilkins in a different body. She scrolled down on her computer and announced, “Raymond Wilkins died just a day ago, and you’re already trying to steal his identity. The punishment for that crime is up to fifteen years in jail.”

She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Yes,” she said, “This is the Office of Vital Statistics. I want to report an attempted identity theft.”

The android quickly rose up from his chair and left the building.

He was near the university, so he started to walk to his laboratory where he could figure out what to do next.

His footsteps began to slow down, and then he couldn’t move his feet at all. He knew what was happening. He had run out of juice. He needed to get to the lab and charge himself up. Then he crumbled onto the sidewalk in front of a brick house and could not stand.

He saw a young woman approach. As she came closer, he was able to lift his arm and say, “Please, help me.”

The woman screamed and ran away.

Everything became dark, and the android was no long aware of his surroundings.

Someone drove into the driveway beside the brick house. A man and a woman got out of the car and walked over to look at the android. He tried to shake the creature and get him to react, but it would not move.

He turned to his wife and said, “This really takes the cake. Instead of taking this worn-out piece of junk to the recycling center, someone just dumps it on our lawn.”

She answered, “I’ll call the recycling center. They’ll come right over and collect worthless thing.”