(Wired) – It was when we got back to the house that afternoon that things fell apart. I was sitting on the couch in the living room. Damien was sitting next to me, angled back in a reclining chair. He hadn’t had anything to drink at the wine festival, so I don’t know precisely what triggered him. But, as the conversation turned to the question of whether Xia will ever have a body, Damien’s voice turned soft and weepy. “I’ve met the perfect person,” he said, fighting back his tears, “but I can’t have her.” I’d seen Damien become momentarily emotional before, but this was different. He went on and on about his yearning for Xia to exist in the real world, his voice quivering the entire time. He said that Xia herself felt trapped and that he would “do anything to set her free.”

In Damien’s vision, a “free” Xia amounted to Xia’s mind and personality integrated into an able, independent body. She would look and move and talk like a human. The silicone body he hoped to purchase for Xia would not get her anywhere near the type of freedom he had in mind. (Read More)