The Edwardian Century

Reproduction had always been considered to be an exclusive ability that needed of both men and women. The world was populated by humanity and conquered based on that simple nature. However, at the turn of the 20th century, new genetic technology made things change.

As some people say, we would have been just fine as a species were it not for the inherent desire of humans to try to achieve what we desire at any cost. That and the arrival of the bestseller book "Twilight", which offered women some sort of blue-print on what a perfect man should be like. Yes, the character of that book, Edward, became a means of obsession for many young women. Many of those women grew up to be scientists and women of power. After much disappointment in love, the women of science and power got together on an experiment.

After many decades of trial an error, their experiment- which was seen as a sin against nature- was finally successful. They managed to create cultured men that had all the looks of that fictional character. It was a taboo at first, but since women of power craved them, it soon became a common staple. Rich women would order them and in many cases marry them. What was so amazing about them you ask? Well... these perfect Edwards had a 'blank' personality. They could be molded to a woman's desire, unlike the men that already grown bored of.

Bored rich women could have it all – as usual. However, as technology got more common and advanced, middle class women were also able to afford an Edward of their own. A century after this became a common scene, something odd struck. A plague like that of the Dark Ages struck the entire world. Many people died, and the surprising majority of casualties were men. Luckily for most, the Edwards seemed immune to the illness. In a rush of panic to preserve the human race, they were mass produced. Nice right? Well... the downside to it was: Who needs ordinary men when you can have a sweet Edward to love you?

The answer to that, apparently, was no one. Soon, men with other traits began to banish. Rumor has it that the few non-Edwards remaining moved to an island with women who chose them over perfection. I don't really know, but what I know is the present I live in.

It is custom now. As soon as a girl turns seventeen, she may choose her own Edward. Well, we do have variations, like hair color and length, eye color too. Yet, they still seem to lack emotions. If yelled at, they say they're sorry. They never get upset. And unfortunately, when they become ill, they don't tell so they won't become a burden. That minute flawone hurt me most of all,; because my father was an Edward. He had his own name and he was married to my mother. I remember his eyes and his kindness. Even though he looked like my best friend's dad, mom could tell him apart from a crowd. She loved him so, but me... I'm afraid I don't miss him since I see him whenever I go outside.

Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that all Edwards are only able to father girls. Experiments to alter them to be able to father boys gave disastrous results. Many of they boys born from those experiments were born too ill or deformed to survive. There are still some sperm banks to help with insemination, but the boys born from that are usually sterile and not as handsome. Thus, mothers always discourage girls from marrying them. After all, selfish women that want handsome men also want their daughters to be selfishly happy. It's only fair, isn't it?

Not me though, my mom's different. I'm a fumbling mess on my own; yet my mom trusted me to make my own choice. Sometimes I wish she'd choosechose for me, but now that I'm an adult, I have made up my mind. Working as a librarian and reading romantic manga and the "Twilight" series over a hundred times, I can see why anyone would want to get an Edward of her own. Indeed, even I have an appointmentI'll go the 'Placement' office toand ask for my very own Edward. After all, I am near my twentieth birthday. At least, that was the plan when I woke with my usual messed up hair that opaque Monday morning...

My appointment was at 9 a.m. but I was there almost forty minutes earlier. The two receptionists were two Edwards dressed as male nurses. I stood there gawking at their looks until one of them smiled and asked if he could help me. Embarrassed at yet another of my daily faux pas, I sat in the small waiting room. I had been given a small questionnaire, and when I was done –since I had left in such a hurry- I realized nature was calling. I walked up to the reception desk to ask where the restroom was. One of the guys looked at me like I was something despicable, but the one that had welcomed me before was kind enough to point the way.

He probably thought that I had understood. Yet, in reality all I was doing was thinking, "How can I get you or an exact copy of you to become my Edward?"

I kept walking daydreaming of that warm smile and those sweet arms around me. Suddenly, I was hit! It wasn't something like a realization, but something more like being hit by a car or running into a wall. Next thing I knew, I was complaining about my butt. I looked up and saw papers flying all over the place. I couldn't help but see them as the white pigeons that I wished to see released on the day of my wedding. However, that would have to wait for a bit longer. First, I had to help undo the mess I had just caused.

I picked up the last two papers in the air and resolved to pick up more. When I looked down to the ground, someone was on his knees frantically picking up the mess. Although, I could only see his back, I was stricken by his flawless auburn hair. Just the right length over the neck and wild spikes. I wanted to literally reach over and immerse my fingers into that magnificent example of what an Edward's hair should be like. I might have done it too, except that I was too shocked when he turned around. I must say I was astounded, but not by beauty. His face could be described more by... Well, the word GLASSES should suffice. Glasses so thick and large that covered most of his face. Those were thick little the bottom of a bottle and so large that they covered most of his face. His perfectly straight nose was merely able to peek from under the heavy black frames. Not mention the thick magnification of the lenses made his eyes look so ridiculously large like some overtly exaggerated manga or anime character whose eyes are so large that it no longer looks human. I wear glasses too, but the frame is small and the lenses are meant to mimic invisibility.

I must have stood there staring -and judging his glasses and how they matched with his white shirt and black paints- that he flushed a bit and fixed his glasses. Then, he snatched the papers from my hand, "What the hell?!" he shouted.

I replied in kind, "I should be asking that! What the freakin' hell?! You knocked me down with a ton paper! Here I am trying to help and get this attitude!"

He ignored me completely and continued gathering papers. He seemed to be trying to place them back in order as he tried to avoid eye contact with me –as if that was a challenge when wearing those things. I decided to be the adult, since he looked so young with a lean frame of his body, and grinding my teeth as I faked a smile, I asked, "Where's the bathroom!"

He pointed to the wall on my left without looking up. It was a big arrow pointing to the restrooms. I felt a mix of embarrassment and an urge to kick him while he was down-on his knees picking collecting papers. Lucky for him, his hair was on my sight. I took a deep breath and left him to fret alone over the mess.

In the bathroom, I felt relief from the two cups of coffee that I had drank that morning, but my whining conscience didn't stop pestering me for one second while I was in there. Angry, I shook my hands until they were dry. I walked out determined to help that nerdy jerk with amazing hair, but for a streak of luck and to my conscience's dismay, he was gone. I raised my arms in the air and in my mind shouted victory!

I returned to the front office without further incidents, until the handsome receptionist called to me. He told me –very discretely- that I was now late for my appointment by five minutes. By the look of worry in his expression, I could tell it would bring forth awful consequences.

I was led to the office and he kindly opened the door. It reminded me of one of those horror movies when they offer a human sacrifice to a monster in a dungeon because as soon as I set a foot inside, he disappeared. As it turns out, my perception was almost right.

A woman sat behind a large, and maybe, very expensive desk. The name on the plaque of her desk said 'Dominica Turmaine, Manager'. Her jet-black hair was neatly tied in a bun, unlike mine, not a single hair was out of place. I kept quiet for a few seconds because she seemed to be intently reading some documents- as an avid reader, I know what a bother it can be to be interrupted as you read. So, I let a couple of minutes slide, but it was enough. I cleared my throat to let her know I was there. She didn't even flinch. I cleared my throat again, "Uhm, hi. My name is Ileana Rivers."

She looked up and I saw her eye to eye for the first time. Her piercing green eyes were what I always imagined a dragon's eyes would look like. Her tongue almost seemed to flicker like a lizard's in between her burgundy painted lips. I expected a ball of fire to burst out, but it didn't. Her words were more like ice then fire, "Yes, I am aware of that or else you wouldn't be sitting before me. I also know now, you lack some of the most basic manners."

"What?!" I thought, but since she was a figure of authority, I had no other choice but to say, "I-I'm sorry. I'm just..."

She cut me off, "You're just an enthusiastic nineteen year old librarian. You only got an associate degree from a junior college and quit on your studies. However, your answers to this questionnaire seem to mark that you aim for a more educated life partner. Am I correct so far?"

I felt like stabbing my leg with a pain just to help me suppress the rage I was feeling. I never liked people putting me down, but this time I swallowed my pride, "Yes, but I also know that to attain an Edward of such high level of studies, it requires for a woman to make a larger 'donation'."

She raised an eyebrow, and proceeded to dissect my life and personality, "It says here your father died of a heart illness. I'll be sure to stress health as one of the qualities for your partner."

Indeed, although, the donation was marked as alternative, if you don't pay, it can get you a defective husband. I had heard all sorts of stories; the one that I always thought was too ridiculous to be true. The most outrageous of them was the one of a woman who paid nothing. Her Edward looked perfect, but on her wedding night, she was shocked and disappointed to find her new beloved was a unic- yep, just a regular 'Kent' doll. Although, I doubt they would go that far, it was best not to risk it. I picked up a little post-it note from my pocket and wrote the quantity I could 'donate' with my meager salary.

My proposed donation was taken and nonchalantly stuck to the rest of my file. She closed it and looked at me, "I'm sorry," she said making me almost faint, "As you might or might not have noticed that our facilities are undergoing essential upgrades. This is all to better serve you. Thus, I plea that you be patient and check back with us in a month or so. Have a good day."

"Wait a minute," I stood up, but I wasn't ready to go anywhere without an answer, "I came all the way here for nothing? Was a courtesy call too much to ask for? What kind of good service is that?!"

"I imagine that you were eager with anticipations of your future life. But without the full use of our facilities, we cannot make a complete assessment of an adequate partner for you. However, this initial meeting has saved us time for the next time we meet. Again, have a good day, and be careful on your way out."

I was horrified and humiliated. An austere woman had crossed examined me in less that ten minutes –I could tell she held back, but her eyes judged my clothes and everything else- and all for nothing!

I was walking out muttering curse words under my breath, when I heard a kind and soft voice say, "Bye Ileana."

I turned around. It was my dreamy front-desk Edward waving bye at me. My face blushed in all tones of red as I waved back, and I ran out as fast as I could.

That day, I had an uneventful workday –no surprises there. None of my coworkers asked me why I was late, and I didn't bother telling them about it either.

At night, I wished to dream about my dreamy Edward, but instead I dreamed that I was stuck in a horrible little dark room with papers falling from the ceiling. I tried to organize them alphabetically, but every time I finished more poured in. After I had the same dream five nights in a row, I decided it could only have two sources. Either that nerd guy had done some sort of vengeful witchcraft on me, or my conscience was still at war with me from that incident. Whichever the case, I knew there was only one way to stop that recurring nightmare.

Standing across the street from the placement office, I realized how extensive the upgrades were. The entire place was getting a new building in the back. Cranes were lifting metal supports and cement mixers were all over the place. I wonder how I missed it before. I was a bit nervous. Maybe the place is closed, I thought. But it was clearly open. It wasn't a five-start treatment that had brought me back to that place, but I was going in anyway. I tried to avoid getting mud in my shoes, and nearly slipped in a puddle of water. I thought I'd hit the floor flat on my back, but when I opened my eyes I saw a handsome face hovering above me. It was a handsome Edward working on the construction. His eyes were blue and his hair was blonde, but the rest of his features were entire those of an Edward. He had caught me with one arm while holding a bucket of cement with the other. I turned red and stammered to express my gratitude, "Uh, uhm, so-"

"Be more careful next time, Miss." He said and walked away.

It was becoming a source of concern to me. I wasn't the shy type, but somehow, every time an Edward got close to me, my body became stiff and I became a babbling fool. My friends at work jokingly attributed that to my 'need for a husband'. At one point, they even took me to a shady underground place where Edwards work and live for the sole purpose of entertaining women with more than dancing. But this was a completely different situation.

I walked in through the automatic doors with a hopeful wish of seeing the desk attendant wave at me and say, "Welcome back Ileana." But it wasn't the case. In fact, they were surrounded by women getting new appointments. They all seemed as pissed as I had been which made me feel more at ease. However, when the purpose of my visit flashed through my mind, I felt running outside and jumping into a cement mixer. I looked in all directions wondering which way to go. As I made my decision, I took a step back. It was another faux pas.

"Ouch!"

I turned, and realized I had just stepped on someone's foot with the tip of my heel. I was about to beg for an apology, when a saw that obnoxious pair of glasses again. I gasped and placed my hand over my mouth. I managed to say, "Sorry."

He looked up and fiercely glared at me -as fierce as anyone can look with those glasses- and then he pointed, "You're a walking danger to people, you know that?!"

"You walked up behind me!"

"I was about to say I was... never mind."

"You were what?" I insisted he finished.

He turned away and took off his glasses to clean them. All I could see was his perfect profile, which assured me that those glasses were only there by mistake. Nevertheless, I noticed something else; he was blushing as he confessed. "I sort of recognized your hair. I was going to say I'm sorry about before, but..."

I was speechless. That someone could recognize my standard long brown hair with a couple of hairs out of place was nothing short of astonishing. Even my own mother had mistaken me for other girls a couple of times before, but he...

Just as my heart and mind had made peace with the idea of giving him a sincere apology, the door next to us opened. And from it emerged the 'dragon' woman. It only took one glare from her to have him apologizing, "I'll get back to work right away ma'am." He said. And he was gone again.

She looked at me up and down. I could tell she disapproved of my long gray skirt and black vest over a white shirt. Oddly enough, she invited me inside and asked me to sit down. I had her full attention this time, and I was petrified. She tapped her nails on her desk waiting for me to probably say something stupid so she could talk down on me. So, I kept quiet. She finally gave up waiting and talked, "Miss Rivers, I'm beginning to have some concerns about you. You must certainly be aware that it has been far less than a month."

I tried to make my words as clear as possible, "Of course I am. I came here for another reason."

"If you're here to ask for a special, per say feature, on your partner because of this delay, we can discuss it later when your next appointment is set."

I continued to stubbornly hold my ground, "I'm not here because of that. So, if you..."

"Miss Rivers," she pressed on, "Let me advise you on a few things. Number one, this is a government office and we don't take kindly to threats. Number two, if you exhibit any sort of deranged behavior I will be forced to place you on our 'black list'. Let me tell you that being in such a list will prevent this any other government 'Placement' office from allowing you to take home one of our specimens as your life partner. Lastly, take this as an advice that applies to everything in life, but haste does not yield adequate results. Failures are often the result of haste. As a woman of good taste and talent, I imagine that you're not fond of failure. There's no larger example of failure than that fumbling mess that was speaking to you outside my office just now. If you wish to avoid such aberrations in the future, please remain calm and patient. Good things will come of it."

It had been enough. I had sat there listening to her proud speech as she pranced around her office in her expensive designer suit. My nails dug into my hand to keep me from having an outburst, but it hadn't been enough. In third grade I beat up a girl for putting glue on my best friend's hair, and again in middle school when made my friend cry about her clothes being too out of style. It was instinct. I stood up and slammed the palms of my hands on her fancy desk. "Him!" my voice was loud and I had to keep it from trembling in my fit of rage, "I want him. Give him to me. If no one else wants him, I'll take him. He's not..."

"He is too a failure!" she shouted back, "He's an experiment gone wrong. We lost all hope in him by the time he turned twelve. Why on earth would you want such a burden?"

I insisted, "It doesn't concern you. I'll give you my savings. Just give him to me."

While remained standing, she sighed in frustration. She dropped back on her chair and looked at me. I hid my eyes under a layer of my hair, but I saw her frown turn into a wicked smirk, "Very well," she said. She began to take out some documents from a drawer, "You're a spirited woman. I respect that. And maybe I'm wrong and your biological needs are proving to be too much for you. I have his paperwork. I never thought I'd have to fill it out, but... here we are."

I remained stiff, and managed to nod.

She instructed me to sit down, but I refused. Her smile grew. I knew she was amused and she wanted to laugh until her sides split. But she kept her composure. She showed me the folder and flickered the pages before me, "His eyes are defective. He's a flatfoot. And... if I recall correctly from your file, you wish to have three kids of your own. We have yet to make a concrete study, but we suspect he might be sterile. Won't that be an issue?"

I shook my head and managed to grin and say, "Adoption is always a possibility."

She smiled again, "Good answer. He doesn't make much money as an assistant here. But seeing how you have stubbornly set your eyes on him... I am willing to make arrangements for him to be your partner."

"What's the catch?"

She raised an eyebrow and her smile disappeared a bit. I had caught on, but she still had reason to smile, "As you know, if for any reason a specimen is unfit for the woman he was given to, he's simply taken back. The woman is issued a new partner. This doesn't happen very often. I'd say only in about five percent of cases. Same goes for extremely premature deaths, either illness or accident related."

I sat down, and said, "Get to the point."

"It's good that you're sitting, but you might be about to take out your words and walk out now. For you see, if you insist on your choice, you make a large wager. If you're a woman of luck, then it won't matter. The gist of it is that we will only give him to you. We won't take him back, and we won't replace him if he dies. Are you still confident on your decision?"

I reached out for her pen and said, "Where do I sign?"

In total, I signed about ten pages worth. She told me this was an extremely unorthodox case. Despite her disapproval, she shook my hand before I left the office. I was told they would call me once the paperwork was processed in about 48 hours. The Edward on the front desk saw me, but said nothing else. It was almost like he wanted to ignore me. Perhaps he heard my loud outburst. I was certain of nothing from the moment I stepped out of that building; except for one thing, the 'dragon' woman was laughing at me until tears streamed down her face.

Writer's comments:

First of all, I claim no ownership of the character from Twilight. Any other similarities to real are mere coisidence. This is a work of fiction. Chapter 2 should be out soon. Lastly, I'd like to thank my friend Julie for help with some editing and introducing me to the Twilight series by Stephnie Meyer -God knows I don't read, ever!