I love this story @trexane. It is so sophisticated. It reminds me of something Philip K. Dick might have written. Your story is more stripped down than his might have been, because you are constrained by word length (1056 is a really short story).

What a smashing ending. Of course, the theme of humans toying with the essence of life, of going beyond boundaries, is not new. Prometheus was damned for it. Pandora let loose a host of evils. And Dr. Frankenstein unleashed a monster.

Still, human curiosity, the thirst to know, is part of our nature. You offer an original perspective on the challenge.

Good job.