Machine Man
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Page 17.
Machine Man (serial)

“Oh,” Lola said. “I see.”

She walked in a circle around my prototype leg three times. She stopped beside the Clamp, the big pre-fab die stamp that had crushed my old leg, although she didn’t know that. The Clamp was gleaming clean. You didn’t leave machinery of that caliber idle just because some idiot managed to lose a limb in it. It was expensive as all get-out.

“It looks heavy.”

“It’s about 180 pounds,” I admitted. “It tends to dent the floor.”

“How do you lift it?”

“I don’t. It walks by itself.”

Lola looked at me.

“The foot rotates. It’s essentially an orbital wheel, on a shifting multi-dimensional axis.” I wanted to tell her its top speed, but didn’t, because she’d think I was boasting.

“And what’s this?” She pointed at a squat black box, which protruded from one side.

“Oh. The processor. I’m not really happy with the positioning on that. It’s a little vulnerable.”

“What does it do?”

“You know. Basic monitoring and control. GPS. Data storage. Wi-fi.”

“Your leg has wi-fi?”

“It has to. Otherwise it couldn’t interface with the online path-finding API.”

Lola’s eyes rose to mine.

“You shouldn’t need to keep telling your leg where to step. You should tell it where you want to go and let it calculate how to get you there. That’s basic encapsulation.”

Lola looked back at the leg. I don’t think she really understood encapsulation. But she was impressed with my leg. She knelt on the floor before it. The leg was under a lab spotlight, looking a little like a steel vase. It bulged at the bottom, because the foot was the size of a backpack, and tapered to a slimmer thigh. My lab assistants had performed excellent work in metals fab this week. I had never seen them so motivated.

Lola reached out and touched the leg. I cleared my throat. “What do you think?”

Her fingers ran down the metal. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

It was a moment before I could speak. “Thanks,” I said.

17.

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Dan Guy (#3896)

Quote: "[email protected]"
Posted: 5468 days ago

I'm loving this. Path-finding API!

Machine Man subscriber David (#1456)

Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 5468 days ago

Me too. With GPS and WiFi you could get legless and they'd still get you home...

Machine Man subscriber John (#394)

Location: Work, Maryland, USA
Quote: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes that cigar is ploughing your mother."
Posted: 5468 days ago

I don't think I understand encapsulation, either.

Matt (#1683)

Location: Canada
Quote: "Quote?"
Posted: 5468 days ago

I'm not sure if it's just me, but was this page a little disjointed from the last one? I was a bit confused and didn't realise that he already had a himself a real prosthetic leg until halfway down the page..

Machine Man subscriber Toby O (#2900)

Location: Sydney
Quote: "vote with your wallet"
Posted: 5468 days ago

The remaining leg started to get jealous, until it realized Charlie also built in a foot spa, complete with massage, manicure, and bubble bath.

Valadur (#3780)

Posted: 5467 days ago

Somehow I can imagine Miss Banks chopping off one or two of her own legs for this new variety. She is obsessive about prosthetics.

Also I didnt really get he already had a leg built till I reread the top half a couple of times. Did he really build the machine that squished his old leg into his new one? If so why does his leg need a die stamper. It sorta sounds that way...
She walks around his leg three times;
She stops beside the die stamp;
She comments on how it looks heavy (which almost sounds like she means the stamp);
He mentions it dents the floor (which sorta makes sense considering what it did to his old leg);
He starts talking about the die stamper as if it is his leg (which implies it is part of it, perhaps the reason it is so fast idk but it sorta is confusing. Idk why its part of his leg.)

They should make pacemakers and other artificial body parts with wifi too. Think of being able to login to your heart and slow it down with a keystroke, no more nervousness. Well either that or your get a stroke.

LOL Screw "Segway" "SEGLEG"

Abgrund (#3357)

Location: Atlantis
Quote: ""Redeem your mind from the hockshops of authority." - Ayn Rand"
Posted: 5467 days ago

FYI, they do make pacemakers like that, pretty much. My grandfather's can talk over the telephone to the hospital. I think it's one-way communication only, but I'm not sure.

Jess (#3888)

Location: CT, USA
Quote: "Only the meek get pinched. The bold survive. "
Posted: 5467 days ago

I agree with Valadur about the leg/die stamp confusion. And the pacemaker thing is too cool!

MDH (#3934)

Location: Ireland
Quote: "You finding Ling-Ling's head?"
Posted: 5466 days ago

"She walked in a circle around my prototype leg three times. She stopped beside the Clamp, the big pre-fab die stamp that had crushed my old leg, although she didn’t know that."

I get the impression that what Max means here is that Lola walked around the leg, studying it, and then stopped near the Clamp, a separate machine, but she didn't know it was the particular thing that crushed Charlie's leg.

stanley becker (#5283)

Location: black hole
Quote: "DON"T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!!"
Posted: 4753 days ago

no matter how hi-tech you get - there's always room for a good ol' fashioned fetishist - "ain't that the truth, Ruth"

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