Dr Vincent John Lazer had been working within the science industry for nearly a decade. Working for a successful company named Vanguard Robotiques was his dream from a very young age. When he was just four years old, he and his family moved to start a new life in France. After earning a master's degree in robotics and thriving at school, Vincent pursued his childhood goal and didn't stop until he reached it. Nine years later, Dr Lazer was a well-known, determined, and intelligent employee at the company. The Scientific Laboratory of Vanguard Robotiques was located in Lyon and was the main headquarters of the enterprise.

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"Dr Lazer! A meeting to reflect on the company's success this year will be held with the boss in just ten minutes. We'll all be there so don't be late!" An employee called, in fluent French.

"Merci André!" Dr Lazer responded, not looking up from his microscope.

The door was shut, and the room plunged into silence - reflected by his deep concentration. The doctor had short, neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair and glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. Dressed in a white lab coat and tight black gloves, he peered down the microscope's lens and adjusted the fine focusing knob. Squinting to try and get a better look at the tissue cell, Dr Lazer remembered he had to be at the meeting. Quickly rolling up his sleeve to check the time, Vincent rushed towards the door. It had been ten minutes since André had reminded him, and the conference room was on the other side of the complex. Without even taking a moment to stop and tidy his equipment up, he swung his lab coat on a coat peg and headed down the corridor.

Looking left and right to check, he was going the right way, Dr Lazer weaved in and out of people.

"Excusez-moi. Je suis désolé!!" He apologised as he pushed through more crowds of people congregating in the hallway.

His tie flapped up and down, whilst running down the hall. He clutched a notebook in one hand while glancing at his watch with the other. Arriving at the lift at the end of the corridor, he rapidly pressed the button several times before the doors opened slowly. He stood in the small confinement as he watched the doors mock him as they slowly closed. Panicked, Dr Lazer couldn't even think about the consequences he would face when he arrived. Time seemed to stop as he waited for the lift to descend. When the lift had stopped and the doors smoothly slid open, Dr Lazer continued to run to the conference room. Passing closed office doors and a few startled colleagues, he barely had time to acknowledge anyone. The meeting room was just ahead, and with a final burst of speed, he reached the door, catching his breath as he entered.

"Et je crois que l'année dernière, nous avons gagné un pourcentage de profit moyen de dix pour cent grâce à notre nouveau..." The boss babbled on in French before pausing when Dr Lazer stepped through the door.

"Ah, Vincent. What time do you call this? I sent André to remind you... and look what happened. You've missed such a crucial introduction. Sit down now, and I'll speak to you at the end!" The boss firmly raised his voice in the strongest French accent.

"I'm terribly sorry. I lost track of time whilst looking under my microscope." Dr Lazer paused and looked around the long rectangular table at all his colleagues.

"I think I have found something that could change the future of the business forever." Dr Lazer continued, whilst looking his boss in the eye.

"Enough, Vincent. You've come in late and disrupted the meeting! Sit down at once!"

He awkwardly pulled up the nearest empty chair and joined the others around the table. As he sat down, his posture was stiff and uncomfortable, as he watched the presentation on the wide screen. His thoughts were focussed on his findings earlier back at the laboratory. The constant ticking of the clock on the wall and the soft murmur of voices around the table didn't help but make the situation harder to concentrate.

"Vincent! Are you following?" His boss snapped.

His eyes darted to the agenda in front of him.

"Yes." Dr Lazer said in an alert tone.

He tried to focus, but his mind kept drifting. Thinking deeply about how he would explain what he had discovered to his boss, he sat twiddling his thumbs.

"And this year we have won several awards that I'd like to mention..." The boss addressed and continued to list a load of things...

The meeting had concluded, and Vincent looked around him at the flurry of people exiting the room. He sat quietly in his chair and waited until only he and his boss remained in the room. Amongst papers, notebooks, newspapers, and large cardboard boxes, Vincent stood nervously beside his desk.

"Do excuse my ignorance during the meeting, boss, but I'd like to politely state my findings to you."

"Quick Vincent, I have my own work to do. I do hope that this is worthwhile or I'm wasting my time!"

"Over the last few months, I have been exploring a unique solution: the preservation and use of biological tissue in robotic applications. Specifically, I have developed a process to integrate preserved human tissue onto robotic frameworks, ensuring durability, flexibility, and, most importantly, lifelike appearance and human-like traits. I have ensured that this preservation technique will allow the tissue to be immune to rapid decay. We've utilized biochemical preservation methods similar to those used in organ transplant technology, which maintain the structure and elasticity of tissue over long periods. I believe that this is a monumental breakthrough within our business, and I would like to know your thoughts." Dr Lazer looked his boss in the eye, desperate to know his reaction.

"Well... if you've taken into account all of those aspects, this could be exactly what you said - a monumental breakthrough!" Dr Lazer's boss said extatically, his voice sounding slightly surprised.

"Take me to your laboratory, Vincent. I think you deserve a lot of credit for this! I really underestimated your capability, young man."

After showing his boss the tissue and examining it with detail under the microscope, Vincent got to work with his first creation. The workday was over, and his colleagues had left. He was completely alone in his laboratory, working on what he called 'his masterpiece'.

He had faced months of failures, but now he had finally succeeded in growing the right amount of tissue that would encase the robot's bone skeleton. He began assembling the body-sculpting it to look human, with perfect proportions and delicate, life-like features. He inserted the organs and made sure that the figure looked human-like. The skin was stretchy, almost indistinguishable from a real person's. As he continued adjusting the bones and attaching them, he laid the skin on the skeleton. Making sure there were no wrinkles or faults, he stood back and admired his work.

He began using all sorts of tools to insert the eyes and create the jawline and ears. But suddenly, something went horribly wrong.

The tissue, once stable, began to mutate. The organic material, combined with the artificial components, reacted in ways he had never predicted. The smooth, human-like skin began to turn a sickly shade of green, veins swelling grotesquely beneath the surface. He tried recalibrating the chemical balance, adjusting the electrical inputs, but nothing worked. Instead, the mutation spread rapidly. The robots eyes flickered and turned a crimson red. With a sudden jolt of movement, the robot awoke. Sitting up on the hospital bed and examining its surroundings, it spoke.

"Good evening, Vincent. How has your day been today? It's ever so dark in here... would you turn on a light?" The robot asked politely.

Shocked to even hear a noise come out of the robot, let alone so life-like, the Doctor hurtled himself backwards in fear. He was as good as a human being, the way he was making conversation and moving.

"Wh-h-at are y-you?" He stuttered, trying to comprehend the situation.

"Oh... I'm Vincent John Lazer, master." The creation replied calmly and exited the room slowly without any hesitation.