Eu acho que é o "Child's Play" de William Tenn (1947). Este link tem uma descrição detalhada da história, ver se é isso que você está procurando:
Sam Weber, an unsuccessful lawyer, has received a mysterious box as a Christmas gift - "Merry Christmas, 2353"! Obviously someone is playing pranks.
After much frustration, he will discover the box responds to voice commands - "open" & "close". And its contents are befuddling. "The interior was a crazy mass of shelving on which rested vials filled with blue liquids, jars filled with red solids, transparent tubes... seven pieces of intricate apparatus on the bottom... also a book."
Book is actually a manual. He will learn the box contains something called "Bild-A-Man Set #3... intended solely for the use of children between the ages of eleven & thirteen... will enable the child of this age group to build & assemble complete adult humans in perfect working order". Some of the chapters in the manual:
- "Chapter II - Making simple living things indoors & out".
- "Chapter III - Mannikins and what makes them do the world's work". "Mannikins" are single purpose beings - sort of biological inflexible androids.
- "Chapter IV - Babies & other small humans".
- "Chapter V - Twins for every purpose: twinning yourself & your friends".
- "Chapter VI - What you need to build a man".
- "Chapter VIII - Disassembling the man".
The manufacturer is "The Bild-A-Man Company, 928, Diagonal Level, Glunt City, Ohio." Of course, inquiries will reveal no such firm or address exists.
E você pode ler o artigo completo no Scribd .
Esse é o mesmo enredo, e o homem também faz alguns monstros, um bebê que é uma réplica quase perfeita do que ele está cuidando, e está planejando clonar uma mulher que ele está interessado em usar o dispositivo Bild-a-man - isso soa certo?