Short Story Photo Contest (3 stories so far)

Mechanical Love

Placed 2nd!

“Proteus, wake up.” Jenna said, looking down on her father’s legacy. She smiled as he opened his eyes and the low whirring sound indicated he was running his operating systems.

“Good morning, Proteus. Stay flat while your system finishes and then I can answer questions. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” She said, as she turned away to type an entry into the log.

“What exactly have you been waiting for?” He asked from the table. She turns around on her heels and smiles at him, “You, Proteus, you.” Still smiling, she walks back over to him and sits across from him on a lab stool. His eyes flicker to their surroundings, not finding anything more than sterile white walls and machines.

“What is so important about me?”

“Well, my father created you. He was testing his design of building the closest thing to a human as he could. When he died, I took over.”

“’The closest thing to a human’? What am I?”

“You are not human physically. Physically you are a machine. But mentally you are human; my father designed your thought process the match a person’s.”

“So I am a cyborg?”

“No, that implies part of you physically is human. This is a lot to take in, I know that. But you have great potential.”

“May I see a mirror?”

“Of course, forgive me.” She hands him a small mirror and he takes it carefully, pausing only a moment before looking at himself. The man staring back in the mirror was slightly tanned, had clear green eyes and floppy blonde hair.

“My father and I found a way to keep your mechanical pats hidden by skin. If you cut yourself you won’t bleed. It’s like a paint coat, we can reapply it and fix it.”

“What am I underneath?”

“Here, let me show you.” She takes the mirror and puts it on the table next to him. Pulling a knife, she draws it from his palm to his elbow. He watched as the skin peeled away and it revealed a smooth white plastic. “Your parts are covered by this,” she taps the white surface, “it is like plastic, but a lot harder. It will take a lot to break it.”

He looked at his hand and flexed it before looking back to her. “Thank you for showing me.”

“No worries, Proteus. Let’s fix your skin now, eh?” She pulls a spray can and begins to spray it on the open area, pulling the older skin together, creating a ridge. “I can remove that too.”

“No, leave it, please. As a reminder.” He places a hand on her arm, stopping her.

“Of what?”

“Of what I am.”

“Proteus, you are more than a robot. What you may be made of doesn’t define you. It’s what you do and think. My father said that.”

“He was wise.”

“He was. Come on, let’s get you ready and we can go see the city.”

They passed a couple and he watched them walk by, “Jenna?”

“Yes?”

“Is it possible for me to grow a beard?”

“If that’s what you want, I can find a way.”

“Maybe not a beard, necessarily, but more of a stubble?” He mused, stroking his jaw. Jenna burst out laughing.

“Find a guy that has what you want, and I’ll do my best.”