Machine Man (serial)

CHAPTER FOUR

In my second week out of the hospital, Lola Banks, the prosthetic specialist, visited me at work. It had to be at work; I hadn’t gone home. I told my boss that my leg made the commute too hard, but to be honest, I’d been hoping to do this for years. The company had showers, a 24-hour kitchen, and private rooms with bunks. Why wouldn’t you live here? There was everything you needed.

“Whoa,” said Lola Banks. “What is that thing?”

I looked down. “Oh. An office chair. Well, parts of it.”

“Who did this?” She dropped to her knees and began to run her hands over the metal. I felt a little uncomfortable, because we were in the lobby, which was the size of a small cathedral, and a few people glanced at us.

“I did.”

“You strapped half an office chair to your leg? Why would you do that?”

“Well,” I said. “I can sit in this. If you think about it, isn’t it better for people to take their own seating with them, rather than scatter chairs everywhere anyone might possibly want one?”

“Not if you want to go up stairs,” Lola Banks said. “Or move faster than a child. Or not make that dragging sound.”

“This is just temporary. While I design something better.”

She stood. “Like what?”

I considered. Lola Banks was not cleared for deeper access. But that was fixable. “I’ll show you.”

14.