Machine Man (serial)

I waited in the Better Future lobby while Lola Banks had the inside of her mouth swabbed and answered questions in a harshly lit room about everyone she had ever met, everywhere she had ever been, and her Facebook profile. This took about forty minutes. Then she emerged, waved, and was escorted into the Dispassionate Waveform Sifter, which was like a metal detector for a very advanced definition of metal. As a side-benefit, it could also tell you if you had cancer. Usually this was a two-minute procedure, but when Lola stepped out she was re-buttoning her blouse and two hours had elapsed.

I clanked over to her. “What was that about?”

“Oh. Nothing. I always have trouble with metal detectors.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and smiled. “Tell me about your leg.”

15.