It had been three weeks since the repairs to Raphael, Leslie noted as he looked up to the mechanical wings spread out along the wall, trophied in his office, Raphael’s name etched into the arch along with his own name. Lifting himself from his calculations, he looked to those wings, the pinnacle of what they were attempting to create here. With advancements in the design, he could recreate humanity…he could bring humanity into a new future, a future where man’s greatest dreams could become a reality.
Their new alliances were bringing them closer and closer to attaining a level of humanity previously unfathomable. The Mahanionians brought with them their steel monoliths. With the help of that nation, they could finally touch the heavens. Pack brought with them the power of cybernetics, the complexity of robotics. With their combined technologies, they could know no bounds. The mythical impossibilities of their ancestors seemed so much more attainable and the wings before him represented the possibility of the future.
“To think…they said Icarus would never touch the sun,” he laughed to himself at the wings before him. With each step he was taking, they were moving closer and closer to the pinnacle of human existence.
“Dr. Houseman,” a voice interrupted as one of the assistants slipped into his office, “we need your assistance with the latest model.”
“I will be there a moment,” Leslie spoke as he closed his notebook and looked up to the wings one last time, “you are my finest creation,” he spoke seemingly to the wings, but his mind looked back to the sad face of Raphael during his initial awakening. He could not ask him to fly just yet…not after the miscalibration of wings. Despite knowing they could not experience pain, he could not handle the expression on Raphael’s face, it was so pained, so saddened, so hurt as he bent in servitude awaiting the next command. They were machines to many, machines to others, a machine even to him…but still, he could feel the supple softness of Vivian’s skin, could be warmed by Joy’s laughter, could feel pain for Raphael’s injuries. They were only machines, he fought to remind himself as he walked out of the office, the door closing and locking behind him as he walked away.
Meanwhile, Joy laughed as she wrapped her arm around Raphael’s and pulled him towards the door, her smile and laughter radiating while she urged him forward.
“I really do not think we should leave. Dr. Houseman does not approve of anyone leaving the lab. I imagine by their thinking that would include us as well, particularly us. It would be too risky to have us outside of the lab. What do we do if something malfunctions and he is not around to fix it?” Raphael reminded Joy, acting as the voice of reason in this recent scheme.
“You are marvelously adorable Raph! Now come quickly, the alarms are going to trigger!” she insisted as she used her force to pull him into a run quickly down the corridors.
“Security breech. Section 3. Security breech.” The alert sounded and as Joy ran faster pulling Raphael with her they burst through an exit before the lab went into lockdown. No human could achieve that, she knew, but still she laughed in exhilaration as she stood outside of the lab, the night sky looming above, the city lights dazzling around them.
“We should not have left,” Raphael looked disappointed, the sadness playing across his face once again, an almost permanent reminder that this Arlenian was not in control of his own mechanical body and felt remorse each moment that he followed the commands of those authorized to command his mechanical body.
“It is wonderful out here Raphael! Look at all these lights! To think we were kept from such beauty for so long! Look how high that building is,” she pointed to monoliths stretching towards the skies, “I bet you could touch the top of it!”
“If you took the stairs or climbed the side, I bet you could as well,” Raphael responded, again pulled along the streets by Joy who seemed enthralled with the life around her, beaming and smiling to the strangers she met on the street as they walked, appearing more like a young couple in love than the mechanical beings they were.
Stopping before a water fountain, Joy dipped her hand into it, playing with the ripples and experiencing for the first time this life outside of the highly controlled environment of the lab. Out here they could not predict what would happen, could not control the minutest detail. Out here, they could be human.
“Raph,” she spoke as she held tightly onto his arm, hugging him not out of affection but to prevent him from turning back towards the lab, “don’t you love it here!?”
“Joy…,” Raphael responded as he sat on the fountains edge and dipped his own hand into the water besides Joy, trying to experience the joy she was having at this world, “do you ever wonder what it is like to be them?”
“We were created to be them! Isn’t it wonderful?” she laughed, glad to see him warm up slightly, trying to learn instead of retreat back to the safety of the lab.
Taking his hand now, she held him close, still assuming he may run but giving him more freedom as she moved him along the streets, thrilled at the night life that existed at all times of this city. Even as the hours passed during their exploration, they never fatigued or stopped, until they came to a shady slum of the city and the sound of gunshots stopped them in their exploration.
Cursing ensued and Joy moved to turn towards the sound before a man grabbed her from behind, prying her from Raphael, “well pretty lady,” his menacing voice caught in her ear, “what are you doing out so late? Came to play?” The man looked at her partner, judging how easily he could take the weak looking man down before holding a gun to him.
Raphael looked to the stranger, sadness in his face, “Please, do not attempt to hurt her,” he begged, pleading for the man’s life.
But the criminal heard only the man’s pleas for his girlfriend’s life and took a closer aim before firing three shots into the chest of this pretty woman’s lover. He could not deal with this man, didn’t have the time to for his words or his attempts to stop him.
Pulling Joy the man buried his face into her neck, voraciously smelling her in his eager anticipation. Even as his friends joined him, he could barely control his lusts as he pulled at her top. Had he and his friends been thinking and not controlled by their desires, they may have thought to question why Joy did not even protest as or cry out as her lover was killed before her eyes. They may have noticed that she was still smiling even as they attempted to rip her clothing off, and they may have heard Raphael get back onto his feet unhindered by the bullets.
It was not until Raphael’s pleas for their lives broke out that anyone thought to look at the man before Joy plunged her hand first through the attempted raptist’s heart, ripping it out of his chest before spinning around and snapping the neck of his closest friend. Each move was done with grace and elegance, each twist of her body bringing the death of another, before she dropped the final man, the smile plastered on her face…much akin to that of personal triumph with each and every death.
Raphael dropped to his knees as he watched the dying man take his last breath, “I warned them,” he spoke sadly, trying to make sense of what had just happened, “why didn’t they listen?”
Joy just smiled, the blood dripping down her arm again, “they died so well! Did you see how quickly he died when I snapped his neck!? His body just fell. It was wonderful Raph!”
“We should return back to the lab now,” remorse filled his voice as he bowed his head before the pile of bodies.
“Okay!” Joy beamed, “but not before we watch the sunrise!”
For three hours they sat in the darkness, silence between them. Joy returned to clutching Raphael’s arm again to keep him beside her while they looked out the rising sun, blurred by the smog of the city. Still, Joy seemed enthusiastic about the beauty of everything around them.
Walking back in silence, Raphael noticed how differently the city seemed to be, everyone in a rush to get to some place. Everyone so busy and self-absorbed they did not notice the torn clothing of Joy nor the dried blood still covering her arm. He was designed to be them, but as he walked the streets with them, he could not understand how they did not see what was right before them, many plowing into him on their travels.
It was at that time that he saw no one noticed the young lost boy who had wondered out into the street nor the driver of the car who was too busy engaged in looking at her handheld device than the road. Ripping his arm free of Joy, he pushed past a few of the people, throwing them onto the ground before leaping out onto the road. He grasped the boy in his arms just before the car collided into him.
“Hold on,” he spoke, bracing the boy as his body was thrown onto the ground and he skid with the momentum several feet, protecting the boy.
The car stopped, the driver getting out, mortified that she hit someone. It was Joy who seemed to stroll out from the crowd that stopped to gawk to walk towards the young boy who stood up shaking out of fear but otherwise fine. “Raph! That was fantastic! You stopped a car!” she beamed in excitement, thrilled to see the collision happen before her eyes.
“Help me up please,” he spoke, reaching his arm up from the ground and as she pulled him onto his feet, he looked down at the torn skin, covered with the synthetic blood that lined their bodies. Triggered by an uncontrolled response, Raphael found his voice speaking on its own “system malfunction right leg.”
Joy seemed to understand and slipped herself to act as a crutch for Raphael, “You should have died!” she beamed with enthusiasm as she hoisted him up more and helped him walk back, ignoring the cries of the driver, the dent from the impact, and the prying eyes of the crowd.
It was several blocks away and around the corner from the lab that Joy was stopped by a tugging at her clothing, “You saved me,” the voice spoke.
“You ought not wander onto streets,” Raphael responded, hanging his head in a mechanical struggle.
“Are you alive?”
“He thinks we are not living!” Joy laughed, pulling Raphael along as another system shut down and he became more useless.
“You broke a car,” the boy protested as he continued to follow them. “You must be an alien or a robot!”
“Aliens!” Joy smiled.
“Are you a robot? You talk funny sometimes…like now,” he looked to Raphael who had indeed confirmed another system failure.
“Raph, we get to kill him! He knows far too much!” Joy responded with eager anticipation, easing Raphael to the ground before turning towards the boy.
“NO!” Raphael protested, his large mechanical wing coming between Joy and the boy. “We have seen too much death today.”
“Raphael, power down,” the order came from around the corner, the voice regretting uttering those words but knowing it needed to be done. Without a protest, Raphael’s wing became lifeless, his head dropped, and his body slumped to the pavement as the mechanical systems shut down.
Leslie stood before them, looking to Joy and the young boy, a dilemma before him. Normally he would feel the need to eliminate anyone who threatened exposure of this operation, but it was just a child. A child who seemed less afraid and more fascinated by the mechanical wing that acted as a shield than the threat of death standing before him. He saw in that boy himself and he could not bring himself to give the order.
“Stand down Joy,” he sighed heavily, “Take Raphael back to the lab.”
“Yes sir!” she beamed as she bent down and hoisted Raphael onto her shoulders, carrying him back and leaving Leslie with the boy.
“Follow me,” he spoke, taking the young boy’s hand. It was not what he expected, not what he had planned for, but it was now his future.