Human Sister

antechamber—this one inside the level 3 security area. To take anything other than my naked self into this area would require a special security procedure supervised by Grandpa.
    Grandpa explained that within the thick carbon nanofiber-reinforced walls, ceiling, and floor of the level 3 security area there was a layer of microactuators that scrambled into gibberish all sounds that were made in the area. Even silence was converted into gibberish, leaving no way to detect from outside the walls what was said or done within the area. No plumbing or communication links with the outside world were available in the area. Batteries installed in the level 2 area provided all the power. There wasn’t even any plumbing, so to use the bathroom I would have to go through Gatekeeper to the level 2 area, and Michael would have to use a bedpan.
    Most of Michael’s nutritional and oxygenic needs would be met by air scrubbers and by the hydroponic garden. Everything necessary to complete the plans would be purchased, moved, and constructed over the ten-month gestation by Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, and Dad.
    “But Grandpa, Michael can’t leave? He can’t see the sky and hills? What about the vineyard? These rooms will be like a cage.”
    “A cage! Oh my, no. Nothing like a cage. There will be scenescreens on which we can play recordings of the sky, hills, vineyard, and anything else you or he might want to see. He’ll have you and Grandma and me and any and all information products available. His world will be a rich, interesting, and love-filled world, not a cage.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes. In fact, I believe you have things quite turned around. Out there, in the big world, his activities would, at best, be severely restricted. He would not be free. He would not be loved. And his life would be in great danger from people who hate androids. Indeed, for most of us, it is the outside world that is a cage. Can you understand this—that these three rooms we have planned can be made into a wonderful and free world, whereas the outside is a vicious, dangerous cage in which most of our actions are severely circumscribed by others?”
    I studied the finished space displayed on the monitor. It did appear to be a comfortable home for Michael, and I turned again to what was for me the most difficult issue.
    “I understand about the phone and about not talking about Michael outside of here, but couldn’t I whisper in Elio’s ear next summer when I see him?”
    “First, I don’t think the two of you could whisper softly enough to defeat sophisticated monitoring devices. Second, we can’t trust that Elio will keep—”
    “He would, Grandpa! How can you not trust Elio?”
    Grandpa became silent again, waiting for my emotional intensity to subside.
    “I know he would,” I said more calmly.
    Grandpa remained silent.
    I searched his face and found that he was no longer simply waiting for me to calm down; he appeared perplexed and deep in thought. He raised one of my hands to his lips and kissed it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider the seriousness of this problem. I am, of course, aware that you and Elio have become close friends. I believe I can appreciate how painful it must be for you to keep an important secret from him.”
    Grandpa sighed and tapped his fingers lightly on his desk. “I want to tell you about an experience I had with someone who was a close friend when he and I were both medical students at Stanford. We shared many interests. We doubledated. Even after we graduated and went our separate ways, we stayed in close contact with each other. But then seminars and protests led by a coalition of social egalitarians and religious conservatives began to spring up around the world. These activities culminated in the United Nations passing the International Human Genome Protection Act. I felt it was foolish to think humans were the pinnacle of the wonderful process of evolution, which had been going on for billions of years and would continue for billions more, whether we tried to stop it or not. I believed then and I believe now that we will either be a dead end or a stepping-stone to new beings better capable than we in dealing with a world of ever-increasing complexity.”
    “What about your friend?”
    “Along with most other people, he felt it was wrong to genetically enhance human offspring to make them super-intelligent, super-strong, or super-anything. Alterations to make a fetus healthy and normal were