Biomech - Part Five

Joey was in a state of terror, Yazoo was anything but glad to be here, and Ger seemed rather calm about the entire ordeal, having simply leaned back and shut his eyes.  His ‘skin’ had been replaced since…since whenever they had arrived in this place, so he looked perfectly human once again.1

Zane just watched the three with amusement sparkling in his eyes before turning his head at the sound of a mechanical whir near them.2

“My apologies,” a purely mechanical voice uttered, “Have I disturbed you?”3

A young man approached near silently, his blue eyes dull.  Folding his arms across his chest revealed to the others that he was anything but complete, as the whirring continued.  His metal frame was also revealed, tiny hydraulics ticking away in each arm and leg with even the tiniest of movements.4

He stood tall, taller than any of the three before him.  His height had been genetic at one point—they only replicated his former limbs.  He was obviously built—rebuilt, rather—for strength and other reasons.5

“You have nothing to do, eh, Mechanic?” Zane grumbled.6

“Negative.  All tasks are complete,” he uttered again, voice just as flat as before.  “Do you have any orders, sir?”7

“Find an officer and see if he has anything for you to do,” Zane said clearly, “I have nothing for you.”8

The Mechanic, as Zane had called him, gave a curt nod before turning on his heel and leaving with Yazoo, Ger, and Joey staring after him.  Not even Ger had seen such extreme modifications, and most of his body had been replaced as well.9

Once upon a time the Mechanic had been human.  Once upon a time, he had free will.  Once upon a time he would have torn these Biomech bozos apart, but that time was over.  He could not feel as humans felt, not anymore.  Emotions were a thing of the past, as well as even more…personal things.  He had once had a family; he had been a father and a new husband.  Every now and then, when his computer brain was shut down just like now, as he had found an officer and been ordered to shut down, his human mind drifted to those times, but most of what he found was an empty space—a void that would likely never be filled again.10

“I wish…”  Those words had slipped from his mouth so often now that it would have frightened him, if he knew now what fear was.  “I…wish…”11

Always the words ‘Does not compute’ echoed in his mind.12

“No, it never did,” he uttered aloud, responding to the voice in his head, “it never will for you…not yet.”13

That one small spark of life remained within him, the only thing unchanged.14