Machine Man (serial)

Page 23.

Days passed and Lola Banks the prosthetic specialist did not come.no-one visited. In this respect it was just like my first time in the hospital: no-one visited.hospital. The difference was now I wanted them to. Well, not them. Her.Her. I wanted to see Lola Banks barge in through the door, her arms full of legs.

I was badly tempted to ask the nurses.nurses to send for her. But I couldn’t: 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 hera too-big shirt and browncrooked glasses. She hung in the doorway like she was afraid to enter.

“Hi,” I said.

She chewed her lip, but didn’t answer.lip. Then she made a decision, and marched toward me, but stopped two feet short of my bed. “You crushed your own leg.”

“Yeah.”

She said, “Why.” It wasn’t a question.The word came out of her mouth like it was heavy. It slid soundlesslybonelessly to the floor and lay there.

I shrugged. It seemed obvious. Lola had seen my prototype. She had touched it.prototype.

“They think you’re suicidal,” said Lola.she said. “They saythink you like hurting yourself.”

“What?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Well? What

“What?”

“Well?” she demanded. “What else are people meant to think?”

“That I’m improving myself! Do

I was flabergasted. “Do people get their eyesvision laser-corrected because they like hurting themselves? Is that why they pierce their ears? People who work out at the gym, are we worried they’re suffering from some kind of psychological ailmentthey 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 me and them and me is I have access to better technology.” Lola sucked in her breath, but I was too riled up to stop. “And, incidentally, the reason“And I don’t have pain isn’t my fault. It’s because it’s my goal. I have pain because it’s an unavoidable side-effect of the human body isbeing so conceptually flawed that the only way to makeimplement significant improvements is to scrap what’s there and start over.”

From Lola’s expression, I realized I had gone too far. She was moving.began to move. “Wait,” I said. “Let me rephrase.” But she was leaning closer. Before I realized what was happening, she kissed me.

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