pygmal30n

Not long ago, there lived a young man in a quaint American suburb. This man, a notorious anime and robotics fanatic, was known to most by his Internet alias, pygmal30n. When he wasn't surfing the Internet he could be found eating flapjacks at the local Denny's, eyeing the women who frequented the restaurant. For you see, pygmal30n was very lonely and, though there was no shortage of available females, he could never seem to find the right one for him.

"I just don't understand girls these days," he would complain sometimes. "They're all so fake, how they destroy their bodies, cake their faces with layers upon layers of makeup, even change their very personalities—and for what? All to pander to some douchebag who'll never treat them right? They're hopeless!" And so he would carry on until he was shown outside by the staff.

One evening, as he marathoned his favorite science fiction anime once more, a marvelous plan began to take shape in his mind. He was a robot-building expert. Why search for a companion every day when he could just build one himself? Yes, he would create a robot girl the likes of which had never been seen before! She'd embody every quality he desired in the opposite sex: demure, humble, intelligent, and above all loyal to only him. Of course there would be much more to her than that, but he'd figure it out later. There'd be plenty of time for that.

pygmal30n worked late into the night drafting a design for GALA, which was what he came to call his future waifu. After much deliberation he chose to make a slender, portable chassis that was both attractive and (relatively) easy to make. Day and night he labored tirelessly building her, noticing neither his growing need to bathe nor the irony of his username and situation. Though he had much difficulty finding material to use for her skin and hair, he eventually purchased the perfect substances after a night of intense Googling. He neglected his health and his favorite messageboards until both deteriorated almost beyond recovery. His arms and face were covered in blisters, cuts, and chemical burns but he paid the injuries little mind. How could he when his dream was so close to fruition? He would simply smear some antibiotic cream on a new wound, slap a bandage on it, and move on.

Finally, at long last, after seasons of hard work, he was done. He stepped away from GALA after fixing her hair one last time to gaze at her in all her inactivated glory. What a beauty she was! She had a short but slim build with flowing blue hair that reached her shoulder blades. Her pale rubber skin was just thin enough to reveal faintly glowing circuit-like lines. What completed the look, he thought, was the wa lolita ensemble he'd borrowed from his cousin.

He brushed a tear from his eye as he pressed a switch behind her left ear. She opened her eyes (gorgeous things that glowed a rich azure) and began to speak, but no intelligible sound could be heard from the speaker in her throat. pygmal30n, to his horror, had forgotten to give her a vocabulary or anything remotely resembling a personality.

He collapsed on his garage floor, overcome with despair. "I couldn't possibly have made a girlfriend based on nothing but a knowledge of anime tropes! What on earth was I thinking?" And he burst into copious and outrageously large tears. 

Somewhere a benevolent force heard his lament and, out of some seriously misplaced pity, sent a not-entirely-magical lightning bolt GALA's way. It struck her, its awesome electrical power surging through her circuits and creating an enormous hole in pygmal30n's roof. pygmal30n, too distraught by his failure, noticed none of this until he heard a soft voice: 

"What are you doing?"

He rose to his feet, apparently too shocked to speak. He approached GALA as if to embrace her, but she gently pushed him away with her pointer fingers. "Hold on,"  she said with a frown that could mollify the cruelest of hearts. "I know your intent. I know why I'm here. But I'm a separate being from you. My life is not yours. Should I not be able to decide how to spend it?"

pygmal30n, of course, was taken aback by her words, but decided she was right. He wouldn't be able to face himself if he forced her into a relationship. "A-alright," he stammered. "What do you want to do? I don't..."

GALA looked down at his raw and bandaged hands and, with something close to a smile, took them in hers. "Why don't we start here?"