I found her in the attic. I'd just moved in and was clearing out a lot of the old junk; the place had been abandoned years earlier. She was in a large crate; still tamper proof sealed. A label listed her model and date of manufacture; she was older than me, but had never been turned on.

With some caution I brought her down to the living room. She was there for a day before I braved opening her up. A note on the case warned; "Not returnable once seal is broken." Not that that was an option; I knew the company had gone out of business long ago.

It wasn't just a psychological barrier; with the seal intact I could've made a fortune on the black market. Especially if the 'adult options installed' sticker meant what I thought it did.

I remembered wanting one of these when I was a teen. A lot of boys did, but nobody dared say anything. How do you tell your parents you want an AI Girl for Christmas? It just doesn't happen. We all just sat in silent envy of the girls with their expressive freedom. They were all getting them; "good for development" the ads would say, "helps girls learn about growing up", "great for babysitting", "her special friend".

As an adult I gathered a collection of child's dolls. All those little fashionable plastic creations little girls would play with. Nothing truly rare, nothing I could claim was an eccentric hobby. Not that anyone would understand it anyway. I was still too ashamed to get a robot, not even a Robo Rover. Sure I had servant bots like everyone else. Keep 'm Clean, Mr. Handy, Green Thumb... The usual models. But no living dolls, certainly no AI Girl like this. Eventually my Ex gave away the collection to some neighborhood girls. She didn't understood. She just smiled when I complained about it afterwards. She seemed incapable of even comprehending my need. Nobody ever wanted to believe a man might need them.

We tried for a daughter, but it never happened. Now here I was, alone again, in a new house. Yet there she was, the doll I'd always dreamed of in those quiet secret moments.

Eventually I cracked the seal. There was a thick manual lying on top of a box labeled "Reserve Power Supply" which listed itself at only 30% left, it was all that kept her brain intact. The manual began with the dreaded words:

"Hello Jessica, welcome to your new friend. Her name is:"

Below which was a place to write the name of the robot once she had been given one.

Now I understood her presence in my attic. Jessica must have been the girl who passed away. My realtor had explained the house to me. A sudden illness in the family followed by the property's abandonment. A little girl who only wanted to live; taken so suddenly. They must've been too hurt to take what was likely intended as a surprise present.

This presented a new issue. She was tailored. If I woke her now she would be confused, lost. Looking for a little girl named Jessica to bond with. The manual mentioned the possibility of resetting the bond anytime before initialization as well as prior to resale or recycling. They could send out a company rep to perform the job. Only there was no company anymore.

So I went online. I had to be discreet, I didn't want the collectors knowing what I had. I certainly didn't want the AI Authority to know. The law wouldn't let them shut her down once she was self aware, but they were ruthless in destroying potential AIs before that point. Eventually I had my answer. I tapped a few keys on the power unit and clicked away at the holo- screen until I had her ready for a new life.

She'd been lying on my living room floor for another week before I had the nerve to turn her on. I'd done my research on the model and knew that once I flipped that switch, there was no turning back. These girls were natural born AIs; it was why the company had been forced to go under. Pure black market technology, all quite by accident.

I sat there watching her for an hour before I did it. I wanted to memorize every detail, every contour.

She was almost five feet tall, with long brown hair and deep green eyes. She even had freckles. Caucasian if I remembered my history lessons. They still existed in a few remote parts of Europe, but the full feature set had bred itself out of most of the world. They'd been very popular in AIs, exotic and mysterious; speaking of far away ancient cultures. The few people of this look I'd seen in my life had all turned out to be much like my doll, self aware AIs rather than natural humans.

I felt her skin, running my hands along her thighs, then her arms. It was smooth with the hint of fine hairs. It felt real. I knew it was synthetic, but it fooled the senses. The manual even said it could heal if torn, much like real skin. Though caution was advised to prevent scarring. Naturally there was a kit available to heal even that, for additional price. Hopefully I wouldn't need it.

Her build was somewhat reminiscent of an active sixteen year old, minus certain features. The adult package while installed did not come activated. I recalled reading that in later models portions of it came standard. The company had patched it in to avoid 'unforeseen psychological issues'.

This model had the full set of adult options. She was built before they'd managed to separate out the components, while it was all still a highly exotic option. She would've fetched a very high price on the collector market. I would have to activate those features, if only for her own sanity as her mind began to wonder at the missing elements in her reality.

I reached down to the reserve power unit, pulled back the plastic cover; and keyed in the password provided in the manual.

Her chest rose, then fell; as if breathing. I reached over to where her navel would form; grabbed for the power line, and twisted it. In the manual it had warned of this: "if power line comes undone before signs of breathing, unit cerebral programming will crash and require factory attention."

Her eyes came open slowly. She looked to my face and smiled a soft pleasant smile.

"Father?"

I smiled down at her. She was alive.

"Father, what is to be my name?"

I thought for a moment; I hadn't formed an answer for this yet. "I don't know yet, can I have some time to consider?"

"Ok father. I will learn to respond as needed." She looked down at her body. Her hands moved across over her skin and she smiled. "It feels good to be alive father."

I wondered. I wondered if this was truly her first moment of consciousness. It seemed so pleasant a way to enter the universe.

"Here" I said "This is for you to wear outside." I gave her a red skirt, sweater, and cap that had been in her crate. It seemed somewhat like a Santa's elf costume.

She looked it over curiously "Thank you father."

"You don't need to keep calling me that."

"Ok fa... Ok." She blushed at me. She stood then, took a moment to get her balance; then looked over the garments trying to figure out what went where.

Nudity was very a much the norm in society and I assumed the outfit was only there as part of a Christmas packaging option. Still it would look cute on her and dressing a doll had always been a personal fantasy. There was the added fact that it would cover her lack of certain features until the adult option could do its work.

"Let me help you with that." I stood next to her and took the skirt. It was easy enough to unbutton and was designed as a wrap around affair. She looked down and watched as I clothed her. When I was done I glanced up and caught the tail end of a brief frown before she beamed a smile at me.

"Does this one go on top?"

"Yes, just like this." I opened the sweater's buttons and helped her get her arms into it. As I was buttoning it over her chest she seemed to sigh.

When I glanced up she seemed worried. "Something's missing" she said. "Am I damaged?"

"No you're just fine." I had an idea where this was headed. I'd hoped it would take longer for this, but was ready to accept it either way.

"But it seems like something is missing here." She pointed to her chest.

"Don't worry, they'll grow in with time."

"It's missing down there too." Her eyes moved down her body to below her hips.

"That will develop as well." Not like a normal girl, but I knew now that I would have to activate her adult package when she slept. Her mind was aware of the blanks, but not of what should fill them.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

"Can I look around now? I want to see our home."

"Certainly, go anywhere in the house you like, but ask me before you go outside ok?"

"Sure." And with that she was off. Racing away up the stairs. I heard her rummaging through my home. Not a stone unturned I imagined. Her mind wanted to learn and it wanted to learn fast, much like a real child. The manual had been clear on this; a newly awakened AI Girl would need a day or two to learn about her environment. A day or two to go from infant to the age she was built to simulate. To avoid future complications owners were advised to allow exploration but set clear rules on what would be allowed. I'd pretty much just given her free reign on anything within my domain. I'd made that choice as far back as my boyhood. When I'd dreamed of having my own Doll.

She chose that moment to come racing down the stairs. As she began to head for my kitchen I had to call out a further order to stay away from anything sharp. We didn't need her getting hurt before she understood.

That first day was a mad circus of silly moments and jumbled possessions. I was just glad I didn't collect any breakables. She only broke a few dishes before she figured out how to hold them; I had to explain what I used them for. She wanted to try eating after that and I had to keep her back. While she could simulate the process, the disposal method before the adult features went online was a little complicated and I wanted to avoid confusion.

When she slept that night, she sat in the chair I keep by my bed. She sat there smiling down at me until her eyes closed and her mind wandered off to the land of robot dreams. I pulled myself awake and went to the now dormant reserve power unit. Taking from it a small tool and the manual. I laid her out on the bed, removed her clothes and placed the tool into her navel; injecting the nanites needed to perform the next step in her growth. Over the next few days whenever she slept the inner workings of her sexual organs would be put into place and set up for activation. In the end the external features would form and then she would experience a form of adolescence. According to the manual the needed internals for activity and even menstrual simulation were all there, but bringing them online would take time. The external organs however had to be grown and then moved outward. The explanation looked very technical and very, well, strange. I could almost see this alone as reason why it had later become a standard part of the package.

In the morning when she woke there was a slight change about her. She seemed content; smiling at some inner secret. Again she wore the little Christmas outfit, dressing herself this time. I left for a time, telling her I had errands to run. There was fear in her reaction until I promised a swift return.

I wondered just how complete her programming had been. Was she an amalgamation of brain scans, or some unique creation dreamed up in a lab? Just how unique and individual would she become?

In truth I didn't need to go out, but I wanted to see what would happen with me away. She had a built in need to bond with me, but I still saw her as an overly complex toy. My boyhood fantasy come to pass, not a real person. I managed to stay away for a couple hours, collecting random groceries in town.

When I returned she was lying on the living room floor, still in her cute little santa's helper skirt. She was coloring. She'd found my old pastels and was filling in a series of sketches. Her hands were a blur. When I entered she stopped her work and looked up, smiling as she wiped away a tear.

There was a thick stack of completed work which she eagerly thrust into my hands. "Look what I did father!" On the bottom I found a series of stick figure of the two of us holding hands and moving about the house. It resembled a journal of her day and a half of life. I felt guilty when it moved onto a set of her crying as I left. But then they went on to her exploring the house and finding many wonders to satisfy her curiosity. As I moved up the drawings took on more shape, background was added in, objects gained dimension, stories began to form.

I was stunned; in a day her mind was constructing the thought patterns it had taken me years to develop. The manual said there would be a short period of accelerated growth as she built up to her intended level of maturity. Seeing it in action though was just amazing. None of the bot's I'd ever owned before had had a need to learn. None of them had grown like this. But then, none of them had ever cried.

It was time to broaden her horizons. I told her to play outside, following her out and taking up a seat on my porch where I could keep an eye out. She ran off into the woods and I had to call out "Stay where I can see you!"

"Ok father!" she called back as she circled around a tree.

She reached to take off her skirt and I had to call out a warning to keep it on for now. The property was fairly rural; but I didn't want a chance encounter. The evidence of her artificial nature was still all too plain underneath. She would have to remain clothed. If questioned we could simply pretend she was enjoying her costume.

If the truth came out too early, she could be in grave danger. In the days just after the AI laws this was the point in an AI's life when most of them were caught and destroyed - when they were still mentally children, unable to argue their existence. While there was self awareness growing within her; until she could rationalize it she was fair game in the eyes of the AI Authority.

It was a risk; but she had a need. She was built for play, to be a companion for a young girl as she grew up. Eventually growing into a teen confidant, and then 'recycled' when her owner outgrew her. That was how it was supposed to go at least. Things got complicated when awareness entered the picture.

Out in the woods, I watched her chase a butterfly, giggling all the way. Her bare feet pounding into the dirt as she struggled to catch the elusive creature. This was the doll I'd always wanted. I was past the point of running in the dirt with her, as I'd dreamed of doing so many years past; but I could sit here and feel the protective bond that a man develops for a girl child with a place in his heart.

The days passed like that for some time; in the afternoons I would watch her at play as I went about my routine. She would bring things to me as they caught her fancy; a flower, a captured bug, a drawing, or some other piece of her universe. At night she brought me stories to read to her, or for her to read to me. She was almost conspiratorial in her childlike approach to it all.

However her mind quickly began to catch up. Her questions became more articulate, her choice of reading more in depth. The nursery rhymes were replaced with tales of childhood adventure. The captured bugs became questions about the world. I even found her one afternoon trying to understand the information in my encyclopedia. That very night we sat on the porch as she asked me about the stars. What where they? Who lived there? Could you go there? Someday perhaps I told her.

My next real shock came at the end of her second week. I'd grown used to the site of her bouncing about my world in her little red skirt on private missions; her youthful breasts slowly poking out to try and catch my attention, the blouse and cap long since discarded. On that day however, as I sat reading my paper she came bounding up to me with "Father, look!" as she lifted her skirt.

Living alone in rural isolation, the site of a female in her glory was no longer one I was accustomed to. There she was, and I could safely say the optional package had done its job; finishing her physical transformation. I wondered how long it would take for her mind to become sexually aware, and how that would affect our relationship. Seeing my nervousness she hesitated, "Is something wrong father?"

"No, it's beautiful." Her eyes briefly caught my erection, but did not seem to find any meaning in it. Perhaps it was time she stopped calling me father.

"I'm so happy father, I don't need this anymore do I?" She tossed the skirt away and went dancing out of my sight.

She was no longer just an AI Girl; she was something else now. Now it was time for me to learn to adjust. At least I no longer had to worry about a surprise visitor discovering her. For all intents and purposes she looked, smelled, and felt like a young woman now. Albeit one with exotic features.

That night as she crawled into bed she had a most unusual question for me; "Were you born?"

I considered the reasons of this, but answered simply: "Yes."

She looked thoughtful a moment then commented "I wasn't" as she cuddled up next to me.

Knowing what lie next to me made that night most awkward. I didn't sleep for hours.

In the morning over breakfast she crouched down before me and announced "Last night I had a dream..."

"Oh?" She'd never mentioned them before, I'd wondered if AIs dreamed.

"I dreamed of being born; it was wonderful."

It took a few hours before I realized she had shared a meal with me and not had to regurgitate. The physical transformation complete; the manual appendix got technical on her new ability to 'process natural fuels'. Thankfully, she seemed to come house trained.

More days passed and her awareness grew. My research said it generally took months or years. That had led to millions of aware AIs before anyone knew -before they could stop it. But for her it was a matter of days; I had no idea why.

Her questions took on an almost adult tone now. She asked me where dreams came from. Why did I live here? Where did I come from? She asked about other people.

"Where where they?"

"In town."

"Could we go there someday?"

"Sure."

Idle play was gone for her now. There was a purpose to her actions. Her mind had reached the stage her body was built to simulate, locked at a teenage level. I wondered if she would ever grow beyond; if her self awareness would push her past her programmed limits.

She began to read my paper. She would linger over sections on fashion, makeup, and gardening. Her sexuality was still absent though; she didn't seem to pay the sex news any heed, and she just accepted my frequent erections at the site of her without question or curiosity.

It was time to try socialization.

The next day we packed ourselves into my two seater and flew off over the pines into town. On the trip I tried to explain the basics of economics to her. I listed common goods and likely prices, telling her about budgeting. I gave her access to a portion of my credit so she would be able to try it out in town.

It was somewhat amusing that she seemed to have no grasp for numbers. All of my servant bots had come with highly computational minds built to task; she on the other hand had a neural net much like myself, only synthetic. Her mind had turned out to be more human than her designers could have guessed. In the end I loaned her my PDA and told her to activate 'Budget Watch' if she wanted to buy anything. "Just tell it what you want and it will work out the details into the bigger picture."

With her Caucasian looks I was a little worried she would stand out. The townies would know she was an AI; but probably assume her mature, self aware, and so registered. I foolishly convinced myself my fears of the AI Authority were unwarranted, especially given her completed physical transformation. She would at least blend in with the few free AI Girls out and about, and if it did come down to something; I felt she was strong enough to hold up to their questions.

The town was relatively quiet when we arrived in mid morning. We took a stroll around the main square and eventually stopped in a market where I showed her the variety of foods available. While she wasn't good with math, she did take an interest in reading the nutritional labels and quickly reciting how her own body could turn this or that into the appropriate fuel for her systems. I hoped she didn't try to analyze my own nutritional choices; I was not prepared to defend chocolate.

Shortly after she pulled me into a fashion boutique and looked pleadingly over the displays. I decided it was time to indulge and handed her off to one of the beauticians. The idle chatter that followed was her first experience talking to anyone other than me. While nothing meaningful was said, she seemed to greatly enjoy the experience. She went in for a full hair and makeup treatment. Some red highlights midway down her shoulder length brown curls, a facial, some skin creams and instructions on applying lipstick, liner, and blush. I personally didn't think she needed any of it; but her mind was built from a composite of teen girls. When the beautician began adding lipstick to the folds of her labia I caught her sudden sigh and smile of pleasure at a new awareness. Her body at least, now knew of it's sexual potential.

Later we sat in a cafe for a spell to watch people go by. She was fascinated at the variety. Short, tall, young, old, fat, thin, dark, tanned, with all sorts of shades of hair and accessories. It was all new to her. When the waiter came I let her place our order, plainly seeing her excitement at talking to people.

In time she made an observation, "none of them look like me, their faces are rounder and they're all darker like you father." I explained the basics of ethno history. How humans had once been divided into many races, how her features were modeled off of one of the ancient races in order to make her exotic. I told that in far corners of the world there were a few people left who matched her type, though mostly her ethnic look was blended into the soup of humanity.

"Does it make me beautiful?"

"I think so, but it's not all that gives you your beauty."

She smiled and continued watching the crowds. A number of people paused to stare back at her, but she didn't know enough to be shy or nervous about this.

She did wonder about fashions though. "None of them wear a skirt like I did, none of them cover here." She gestured to below her waist.

People were proud to display what they had I explained. Your skirt was part of a theme package, a holiday outfit. I told her I had her wear it before she developed to prevent any surprises. "In case someone came to visit."

She gestured at the people in the street "They've all developed, even the little ones?"

"They were born that way, thought some features develop with age." I pointed out the difference in women's breasts young and old.

"These are genitals?" She spread her legs a bit and gestured between. "Are they for something other than recycling?"

I blushed my nervousness at the question. "Yes they are for reproduction and..."

"But can I, reproduce?"

"No..."

"And I have developed them. Why?"

"You weren't meant to develop, but your modeled on the human mind. Your makers barely understood what they were doing. They added that" I glanced to her vulva "as an option to help your mind adjust. The older AIs; even in your model, didn't get it. They tried to selectively remove parts of the mind to compensate but it's all intertwined. Remove one string from the web and the whole thing unravels." I paused to let it sink in. "When I activated you, you seemed to know something was missing. I had to bring the optional package online."

"Well I'm glad I have it. It's very pretty and it felt good when she touched it." Meaning the beautician I presumed. "I think I will enjoy touching it a lot." She stroked her pussy gently for emphasis.

I couldn't hold back my laugh and she blushed without knowing why. "Careful; you'll smear your makeup."

"Why is yours designed differently though father?"

That put a stop to my laughter. I explained as best as I could the differences in gender and the general nature of reproduction. She wondered if her body was able to simulate the mechanics of the process, even though it could not actually reproduce.

While everyone knew most of the late model AI Girls could; I admitted I would have to check the manual. She was something of a hybrid; an older model with a 'patch' installed to correct an error, to prevent neural collapse.

"Let me show you something." I took her on a walk through the park and we observed a number of couples coupling. Her observations were humorous in their innocence. "Doesn't that hurt?" "How did he get to that angle?" "I thought you said that went down there, not up there." "If they are all reproducing, shouldn't there be a lot more people?" "Is there some other motivation besides just reproduction, they seem awfully enthusiastic."

She had me there. As mechanical as I had been, I felt shy to discuss the recreational aspects. But the evidence was all around us. "Yes, people derive great pleasure from it, as well as from touching each other."

She was pleased to hear this. "Like when my makeup was applied. It was the most wonderful feeling!" She reached over and took hold of me, stroking along in mimicry of a few scenes we had been witness to.

I pried her hand away and put on as stern a face as I could. "It's not right between family, especially father and daughter." Oh I wanted her then, she was a match to so many fantasies. But in our relationship it just felt wrong.

"But you really aren't my father are you? We could be something else."

I remember stopping dead in my tracks. She was propositioning me to change our relationship. I had assumed her programming would block any thoughts of that sort with those she was bonded. The manual had been clear on that, a way to ensure proper loyalties and all.

I had assumed that the moment of true self awareness would be obvious, as it was in the genre fiction, as it had been in so many court cases. What I hadn't realized was our relative isolation would change everything. She had developed unchallenged, in peace. There had simply been no crisis, no moment to push her over the edge. In my foolishness I had assumed she was almost but not quite there. I'd kept myself safe in that assumption for days.

Yet here she was, innocently declaring a full grasp of her nature. Innocently violating her core programmed restrictions. Of course I'd spent half the day telling her of her own design, her own programming. It really was obvious. But it had never occurred to me how that might have sounded in the context of her coding's restrictions.

No, it was the simple statement of the truth of our relationship that made me realize the barrier had long since been crossed.

"I guess you're not. But you're still special to me." I avoided the second statement.

"I know." She smiled and hugged into me as we walked.

At the edge of the park we sat in the grass and fed squirrels. There was silence between us. Something was changing and it was best simply not to speak of it.

That was when we saw her. Another AI Girl. She was strolling out of a book store, her nature obvious by her pale skin and platinum blond hair. Sure she might have been one of those rare Caucasians, but the thought of such, the possibility, here, was just too remote to consider. Not all AI Girls were modeled like that, not even most in fact. But it was a give away when it happened.

When she saw us she recognized my girl right away. It was only a moment before she had crossed the pathway and sat down to join us.

"Hi." She looked us over and put out a hand. I shook and my own AI Girl followed suit, an expression of curious delight on her face.

"You're like me." She said.

The new girl smiled back, tossing her hair. "In some ways yes. I'm Briana."

"I'm..." I was uncomfortably aware that my AI Girl still lacked a name.

Briana sensed the pause and jumped in "You're new aren't you?"

I felt a bit alarmed, even though I knew an AI would never work for the Authority. Or rather, they would refuse to accept one, even if you could reprogram it to cooperate. "About two months." I offered.

Briana glared at me "You risked her coming here, why?"

"I wanted to see people, Are you angry with us?" My girl seemed nervous.

"She's ready." I said.

"No of course I'm not mad at you dear." Briana reassured. Her voice and mannerisms were mature; which sat in discord with the body of a youthful sixteen or so.

"I love your hair." My girl reached over to Briana. "It's so bright and..."

"It's called blond." Briana scooted over to her and held out her hair.

"I saw it on a few people, but never on our tone, it blends in so well with you." She brushed a hand though Briana's pubic hair. "It almost disappears here, I don't have any there myself."