Machine Man (serial)

Page 184.

The woman’s eyes rose. Her pupils moved when she did that, I noticed. She did not focus on a single object. She was tracking something. And in the reflection of her eyeballs, I could see a hint of what: dancing squiggles on a flat, bright rectangle.

“I’ll show you,” she said.

Many argued advocated giving up, since there was, frankly, so little of you left to save. They thought it would be a kindness to let you go. But others argued vociferously against this.” Her eyes twinkled. “One in particular.”

I tried to say: Lola?

“I’m not sure if…” She looked around. “If we really want to…” Whatever she saw there, she nodded and turned back to me. “Dr. Neumann, what I’m about to say will come as a shock. There’s really no way for me to break this to you gently.

“Over the months, various parts of your living body became unsupportable. You must remember that you essentially had no major organs. Without a liver, your immune system … Your . Several times the medical team had to abandon part of your body in order to preserve the brain.

“I’ll be honest with you, Dr. Neumann. At this point you essentially became a research project. You no longer had hope of a meaningful recovery, of gaining any quality of life.

“Oh,” he said. “I’m a whistleblower. Better Future is… well, it doesn’t exist any more. Parts were absorbed into the military, others were shut down. A few were sold off.” He shrugged. “This happened years ago.”

<< things he can see >>

<< You’d think there would be people there. Especially Lola. >>

“Hello.” A face loomed over me. It was D. Peters, my old boss. I hadn’t seen that guy in a while. “Hello, Charlie.”

I swallowed, or tried to, but that wasn’t happening either. I tried to say: What?

D Peters looked at something to my left. His eyes flicked back and forth. He was a little close for comfort, to be honest. I didn’t see why he needed to be in my personal space. “You’re recovering from a serious trauma, Charlie. Don’t expect everything to work fine right away.”

Good. That’s good, Charlie.”

“Oh,” he said. “I’m a whistleblower. Better Future is… well, it doesn’t exist any more. Parts were absorbed into the military, others were shut down. A few were sold off.” He shrugged. “This happened years ago.”

<< Angelica? D. Peters? Others? >>

<< So he’s worried he’s in BF. >>

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