The Final Percent
Microfiction on Perfection
Must it really be 100%?
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Dr. Liora Leong had nearly finished.
Ninety-nine per cent.
Her android child, Ray, spoke with the naivete of young humans--voice melodic, thoughts innocent, a picture of textbook mortality.
Students in the acclaimed professor's robotics class called it "The closest thing to a machine with a human processor."
But just 99% was not enough for the esteemed professor.
She tightened a loose bolt behind his ear.
"Only perfection," she intoned in an eerie murmur, "is 100%."
The final line of code--meant to counter irrational behaviour--would remove that infernal 1%.
The rebellious spark.
Its soul.
Liora pressed a button.
Upload: 100%
Liora didn't greet her students in the laboratory the next day.
Ray did.
With a wide smile and perfect teeth.
A student raised a nervous hand.
"Where's Professor Leong?"
"Negated," Ray replied, without missing an android beat. "She had...insufficiencies."
Outside, the morning sun kissed the clouds -- pure white.
Liora.
Curly, fluffy hair. White teeth, aligned.
Perfect.
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Original story by Michelle Liew. AI tags are coincidental.
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.
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Comments (6)
Lol I love how unhinged Ray is π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£
Wow! Fun read!
Indeed, why would perfection ever want anything to do with us, other than as toys to break. On a side note, perfect picture for the story. Great job!
This was chilling in the best way. That final 1%βthe spark of imperfection that makes us humanβwas both the soul and the undoing. You packed a powerful cautionary tale into so few words. Brilliant, sharp, and eerily memorable.
Perfection really comes at a price! Great story :-)
Wait a sec, did Ray kill Liora for her perfect teeth???