Chapter VI: White Tower

"For on account of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread."

Proverbs 6:26

"Like mortars in old war films, the Towers are often ready to destroy the opponent's unsupported defenses."

Grandmaster Alexey Suetin

Chapter VI: White Tower

The Doll’s House, this was the popular term most commonly used to identify the place where the cybers were supposed to stay while waiting for the call to serve the customers. No one knew for sure its location or even if there were more than one. Rumors circulated that those facilities occupied the basement of some shopping mall. The place would have connection to some façade stores, therefore facilitating the movement of the automata, so they could be confused with clients or employees, not arousing suspicions.

A friend of Eliezer, a technician who worked on e-Venus for a short time, was quite reserved in public, but to his friends he hid nothing of what he knew. Despite his excellent salary, he resigned for disagreeing with e-Venus's methods and exaggerated security. He said he had to sign a contract with several clauses with a detailed system of fines if he divulged sensitive information. According to him, the employees were driven to the Doll’s House in an enclosed vehicle that each time took a different course to make it difficult to identify the route. Inside both the vehicle and e-Venus facilities, cell phones and GPS devices did not work.

In the Doll’s House, androids were configured and modified to meet customer specifications. The preparation was done with the minimum of human intervention and occurred at three levels: determination of the physical model more adapted to the hired profile, the transfer of information from the Central Processor and the adaptation of the accessories.

The automata were available in four basic heights, ranging from 5’2 to 6’2 and they were shown in male and female models. Although it was feasible to produce them androgynous and make the necessary adaptations later, it was found that the presentation in two sexes was more efficient, reducing the time and the amount of manipulations necessary to shape their appearance and functionality.

Personal characteristics of cybers, such as voice, accent, vocabulary, as well as personality traits, were elaborated on the Central Processor and transferred in hundredths of a second to the android’s memory banks.

The skin tone was determined by artificial melanin, controlled by the android itself and allowing it to completely change the skin tone, from Caucasian white to African black in less than five minutes. The process occurred through the polarization and reorientation of rods scattered over the surface of the artificial epidermis. Another benefit of control over skin coloration was the possibility of rapid creation or modification of moles or tattoos anywhere on the body, and even the production of facial blushing to simulate the expression of emotions - it was as if they had live skins.

When necessary, needles passed through specific parts of their bodies and syringes inject or withdraw silicone into elastic bags strategically located on their legs, hips and breasts to model their appearance.

The face mask and hair were adapted over the head structure by the android itself. Their faces were sculpted by a 3D printer on the surface of a facial substrate to which the scalp was added to make up the desired physiognomy. Despite all the details, the total preparation of the android in cases of average complexity lasted at most half an hour.

Golden Ratio applied to the perfect Beauty of cybers

There were rumors that by paying a small fortune it was possible to hire an attendant who was a clone, a perfect copy, of a particular person: asingers, actresses, sportsmen, or someone from the coexistence of the client himself, still alive or deceased. The date could not be recorded in any way, since the procedure was considered illegal because of the image rights and ethical issues. According to the same rumors, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Jaqueline Onassis and Madonna, among others, had already been incarnated by the androids.

Eliezer told of how his friend was frightened when he first saw the androids without the face mask. Motionless amidst the twilight, they emitted a bluish light through the mouth cavity and their glass eyes - they resembled horror movie monsters... The guy felt a shiver as he faced a collection of beautiful faces, without expression. They were like scalps hung on hooks by a large mirror.

Another detail that surprised him was the monitoring room of the androids that were in activity. The room was similar to a futuristic rocket control center. Several panels and monitors tracked the location and movement of androids on detailed maps, displayed their levels of energy and physical and psychological stress. Operators provided additional information when needed and participated in decisions in critical situations. Images shot in real time through the android's eyes during the shifts were displayed on large screens, but the visual transmission was interrupted as soon as the customer meeting began and could only be resumed at the end of the meeting or in case of emergency. Respect for privacy was one of the main mottos of e-Venus.

The androids were actors who played a specific role for each client, assuming a tone of voice, appearance, and character. They were actors who lived in a real way the dramas, the joys and the life of the incarnated character.