Page 23.
Machine Man (serial)
Days passed and no-one visited. In this respect it was just like my first time in the hospital. The difference was now I wanted them to. Well, not them. Her. I wanted to see Lola Banks barge through the door, her arms full of legs.
I couldn’t ask the nurses to send her. Since they had turned hostile, letting them know I wanted something was a strategic mistake. My meals were proof enough of that. But I couldn’t wait, either. On the fifth day, just as I was formulating a plan involving dragging myself across the floor to the phone in the hall, Lola appeared. She was not carrying any prosthetic limbs. It was just her, in a too-big shirt and crooked glasses. She hung in the doorway like she was afraid to enter.
“Hi,” I said.
She chewed her lip. Then she marched toward me, but stopped two feet short of my bed. “You crushed your own leg.”
“Yeah.”
She said, “Why.” The word came out of her mouth like it was heavy. It slid bonelessly to the floor and lay there.
I shrugged. It seemed obvious. Lola had seen my prototype.
“They think you’re suicidal,” she said. “They think you like hurting yourself.”
“What?”
“Well?” she demanded. “What else are people meant to think?”
“Do people get their vision laser-corrected because they like hurting themselves? Is that why they pierce their ears? People who work out at the gym, are they mentally ill because they’re prepared to endure a little short-term suffering in order to make their bodies work better? The only difference between them and me is I have access to better technology.” Lola sucked in breath, but I was too riled up to stop. “And I don’t have pain because it’s my goal. I have pain because it’s an unavoidable side-effect of the human body’s design being so conceptually flawed that the only way to implement significant improvements is to scrap what’s there and start over.”
From Lola’s expression, I realized I had gone too far. She began to move. “Wait,” I said. “Let me rephrase.” But she was leaning closer. Before I realized what was happening, she kissed me.
Comments
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Location: Los Angeles, California (school) | Akron, Ohio (home)
Quote: "Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance."
Posted: 5338 days ago
"Pain Is Just a Side Effect"
"I'll Would Do Anything For Love (Yes, I Will Even Crush My Leg)"
"I'm Not Suicidal, I Just Have Technology"
Why don't more people fall in love with Dr. Neumann?
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 5338 days ago
I think I made a previous comment about Lola banks and her 'love' for prosthetics.
Location: new york general sort of vicinity
Quote: ""It's not working" -- Joseph Clark"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Ajna (#3795)
Location: USA
Quote: "Judge if you want. We are all going to die one day. I intend to deserve it."
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Alex Hall (#3610)
Location: Ohio, USA
Quote: ""¡Hasta la victoria siempre!" Ernesto "Che" Guevara"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 5338 days ago
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2773528/
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "It is a mockery of divine justice to believe that a saint and a sinner are on level terms from the moment they die"
Posted: 5338 days ago
She's the Scully to his Mulder,
the Lois to his Clark.
They are not meant to kiss!
Location: Heist, Belgium
Quote: "he reads things"
Posted: 5338 days ago
towr (#1914)
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: Texas
Quote: "Grooviness is essential"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Thomas (#1221)
Location: Germany
Quote: "One more, and I'm going to consider you my penpal."
Posted: 5338 days ago
I feel obliged to employ even more exclamation marks than necessary!!!
Location: New York
Quote: "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how."
Posted: 5338 days ago
Mary Rose (#2854)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Quote: "go big or stay home"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Michael (#3884)
Location: Here
Quote: "Wait, what?"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: Charlotte, NC
Quote: ""Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one." -- Eleanor Roosevelt"
Posted: 5338 days ago
Location: the Stygian Empire
Quote: "Flesh is a design flaw."
Posted: 5337 days ago
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "I'm my number one fan!"
Posted: 5337 days ago
Location: Canberra
Quote: "All models are wrong. Some models are useful."
Posted: 5337 days ago
Abgrund (#3357)
Location: Atlantis
Quote: ""Redeem your mind from the hockshops of authority." - Ayn Rand"
Posted: 5336 days ago
(1) Neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family.
Charlie doesn't appear to have had any visitors since his accident, other than lawyers and medical personnel, not even from his family - and this doesn't seem to bother him at all.
(3) Rarely, if ever, claims or appears to experience strong emotions, such as anger and joy.
He certainly seems detached, given the circumstances.
(5) Is indifferent to the praise and criticism of others.
Most of them, at least.
(6) Has no close friends or confidants (or only one) other than first-degree relatives.
Certainly appears to be the case.
Also,
(7) Displays constricted affect, e.g. is aloof, cold, rarely reciprocates gestures or facial expressions, such as smiles or nods.
Entirely plausible, based on the way other people seem to react to him.
Axis I, of course, is Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Depersonalization Disorder is also possible.
Axis III: Deferred.
Axis IV: Deferred.
Axis V: 10 (Persistent danger of severely hurting self).
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 5335 days ago
stanley becker (#5283)
Location: black hole
Quote: "DON"T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!!"
Posted: 4624 days ago
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