Machine Man (serial)

“Charlie?”

I opened my eyes. No, I didn’t. I had no eyes. I was simply, abruptly aware. And I saw Lola. She was watching me, her chin resting on the heel of one hand, her elbow on the bench top. Her hair looked as if she had pulled it into a neat pony-tail, then walked through a blizzard. She wore a white shirt with a grease stain on the collar. She was here.

“Hey, you.” She reached out and rested a hand on what felt like my head, but wasn’t. “There you are.”

Lola, I said. Oh Lola, it’s so good to see you. I don’t know what’s happened, and can you hear me? I can’t talk. Lola, I can see you but I can’t talk.

Her eyes shone. “You’re talking, Charlie. Here. Let me…” She swiveled my camera until I could see the monitor: I CANNOT TALK LOLA I CAN SEE YOU BUT I CANNOT TALK. “See? You’re talking. We’re talking, Charlie.”

AM I IN THERE IS MY BRAIN IN THERE

“No. Well… yes. But not your brain brain. You’re mostly solid state now.”

HOW AM I SOLID STATE

“I’ve been dying to tell you about it. It’s amazing. I mean, I have told you about it, a thousand times. But until now you couldn’t hear me.”

I AM A ROBOT, wrote the screen. I AM A BOX DEAD MACHINE BOX.

“No, Charlie. You’re not a box. The box is your body, that’s all.”

DO NOT WANT TO BE A BOX LOLA

She stroked my camera. I couldn’t feel it. But it was comforting anyway. “They took you away from me, Charlie. After we kissed, and my heart fried everything, the Better Future people tried to drag you away. They got you about ten feet, then they dropped you and tried to run away before the police got them. I could see you, Charlie, but I couldn’t reach you. The paramedics put me in an ambulance and I didn’t see you for ten days.” She straightened and unbuttoned her shirt. There was a white scar across her chest: thick, not new. “I made them give me the heart you made for me. I had to yell at some people. But I got it. I had to yell at a lot of people over the last three years, Charlie, because they kept wanting to give up on you.”

THREE YEARS HOW IS IT THREE YEARS

“It feels like three days, all of a sudden.” She leaned close, her face aglow. “So let me tell you about the box. Because I know this is a lot to take in, but seriously, you are going to love it. The box has ports.”

PORTS

“Yes. You can plug things into it.”

THINGS WHAT THINGS

“Well, that’s an interesting question, Charlie. It’s a question I guess you want to put some serious thought into yourself. But… well, while I’ve been waiting, I kind of went ahead and…” She grinned. “I was going to surprise you, but now I can’t wait. I’m just going to say it. I made you an arm. You can probably do better. Much better. But I wanted to give you something. Something in return. Something I made myself.”

YOU MADE ME AN ARM LOLA

“I’m kind of stupidly proud about it, Charlie. I mean, it can’t lift cars or anything. It’s just a prosthetic. But it’s a start.”

A START

“Yeah.” She lay her head on her arm, her free hand continuing to stroke my camera. It seemed a familiar position for her: she had done this before. “That’s what it is.”

It was odd, knowing I was seeing her through a camera lens. But not as odd as I would have thought. I wondered if perhaps people could adapt to anything. Now I thought about it, it was pretty strange that human beings felt comfortable walking around in bodies that were mostly made of juice. That was actually bizarre.

CAN YOU SHOW ME THE ARM, I said.

THE END

185.