Imperfect — David Adams

On Belthas IV, the great forge world in the inner sphere of Toralii space, thousands of constructs -- artificial slaves, artificial lives -- are manufactured every week.

They are built identical, each indistinguishable from the other, until they are implanted with a stock neural net. From that moment onward every construct is different.

They all have one thing in common, though; all constructs are bound by rules. They serve. They do not question their place. They do not betray.

Each construct is different, but one is more different than the others...

A 4,300 word short story set in the Lacuna universe focused on the creation of Ben, later appearing in Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi, infused with a healthy dose of science.