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 The Sands of Karathi, infused with a healthy dose of science. Parts of the Lacuna Don't miss these short stories set in the Lacuna