The Matchmaker                 

A widow purchases a compliant robot to provide comfort and companionship in a world devoid of human males.  She makes a surprising discovery about her newfound companion.

    She was in luck.  Within the past few years, an enterprising team of female engineers had designed a male facsimile, a prototype model.  It was programmed to talk, move like, and impersonate a real man.  As the model evolved it became affordable.  Alice grew interested and anticipated choosing a model, but one unlike Frank.   She’d use part of Frank’s pension and savings to purchase a tender, responsive mate.         

   Scouring a mail order catalogue, Alice scanned ads describing available male prototypes.  The ads appealed to many women, some who’d taken on their late husbands’ passions, such as bowling, fly fishing, deer hunting, golf, and poker.  Some male models claimed to enjoy fly fishing, deer hunting, Scrabble, and even baseball.  Alice shuddered at anything sports related. She loved to paint and work with her hands, having nothing to do with moving balls, bulky equipment, or hurtling objects.