The Darcy Project

Perfection.

Mankind had sought after it since the beginning of time. People want the perfect living conditions, they search longingly for the perfect mate, they crave the perfect life. We’ve always wanted a perfect society. To be perfect is everything.

That was why Darcy was created.

She was the first attempt at perfection. Actually, the fifth to be exact.

The Darcy Project was created in 2056 and was founded by a group of scientists, artists and politicians. The projects goal was to create something perfect. The perfect girl to be more specific. She would be everything a society needed, everything a friend needed, everything a lover wanted, and everything she wanted to be.

Darcy would be the embodiment of perfection.

Unfortunately, this made her incredibly hard to create. The first Darcy, didn’t even come to life. She just laid there on the hospital bed, a beautiful corpse. The next Darcy at least woke up, but couldn’t speak. Darcy III woke up, spoke but imitated the people around her too closely, even their bad habits.

Darcy the fourth, had been the closest to perfect. She’d spoken eloquently, but did not snub those of less intelligence. She was kind, helpful, knowledgeable, mature and easily summoned a laugh from the most serious of her creators.

But on the second week of her life, the fourth Darcy killed herself.

She was found on her bedroom floor in the laboratory, the fair skin on her arms cut open, her blue blood spilled across the floor. The perfect human was assumed to not need any boundaries or restrictions. She was free to roam the lab, to examine the operating room. She was unrestrained when she picked up a scalpel in the dead of night and carried it back to her quarters.

No one had stopped her when she sliced open her life giving veins.

The new failure was taken the worst. As far as the team could tell, there was nothing that explained the girls suicide. She was perfect. There was a slim chance they could bring her back again, but it was a touchy subject and the chance of her just killing herself again was too much. In the brief time she’d lived, the group had grown attached. She was their child, their one perfect creation.

They had no choice but to try again with a new Darcy.

She lay on a slab in the middle of the laboratory. Her chest slowly rose and fell, her perfect heart beating at the perfect rate. Her perfect blue eyes were closed and her perfect blonde hair pooled around her. Each creator watched her, their excitement and anxiety rising as the waited for her to awaken.

“Did it take this long for the last Darcy to open her damn eyes?” The German scientist, Dr. Dietrich hissed, his impatient glare falling open the man that stood behind their latest creations head. Dr. Corey waved a hand dismissively at him, keeping his pensive eyes on Darcy.

He could remember the day their last Darcy had come to life, the way she’d smiled so politely at each of them, how normally she’d behaved, as if she’d been alive for seventeen years, not just a few minutes. No, this Darcy was taking just as long as the last to awaken.

There was nothing to worry about. At least, not until she got close to the two week mark. Then each and every one of The Darcy Project’s team would be more nervousness then man, merely sacs of flesh with insides made of fear and stress.

“Perhaps we should restrain her,” suggested Rickford, his voice quiet, its usual French accented mumble. Micah’s eyes widened behind his thick glasses and he threw anxious glances to Dr. Corey and Rickford.

“None of the other Darcy’s needed to be restrained,” he said, a desperate tone to his voice, “we’ll only scare her if she wakes up tied back.”

“Yeah, but not all the other Darcy’s were the same. What’s to say this one isn’t going to be a psycho?” Trevor said, his disdainful words and stare set on the sleeping teenager. He’d poured too much money into the project to be patient. If this girl was a screw up like the rest, he’d leave, taking his funding with him.

“Enough, gentleman,” Corey said, finally looking away from the girl’s perfect face. Dr. Karlton let out a miffed sigh, due to the fact he hadn’t been able to voice his opinion. Of course, he hadn’t really had anything to add, but it would have been nice to have the opportunity.

Dr. Corey had spoken, and he was the closest the team had to a leader. “Who knows what our arguing might do to her fresh, unconscious mind?”
The team held their silence from then on, the concern of damaging their creation to high.

They waited, each minute that crept by raising their heart rate, summoning sweat to their brow and palms. Each of their nervous habits began to reveal themselves, Micah removing his glasses and cleaning them resolutely, as if they were caked in mud and dust. Dr. Dietrich shoved his hand into the pocket of his pants, holding the package of cigarettes within them in his hands, fighting the urge to light one now and inhale the relaxing toxins.

Just as Trevor was about to crack and release a long string of curses, the girl released a quiet breath. They all froze, their muscles turning to stone as Darcy’s blue eyes snapped open.