Childs Play

The story is set in a near-future world where social systems are increasingly managed by machines, and child-rearing has been partially outsourced to technology. Enter Dr. Margaret Grenville, a child psychologist and behavioral engineer working on a project involving synthetic children—robotic entities designed to simulate the emotional and psychological growth of real kids, under the guise of educational tools.

She’s created one in particular: "Derek", a highly advanced child-AI that is meant to behave like a normal six-year-old boy—only smarter, more obedient, and free from the flaws of human upbringing. Derek plays, learns, and emotes like a real child... at first.