I Am Machine: 10 - Cyborg, Android - Same Thing

Pinlock lifted an eyebrow at his father.
“You have given me an insect?”
“No, not an insect.” Caisson said with a frown. “It’s the Cricket. That’s the name of the chip that I gave you.”
“I do not understand…”
Caisson walked to a drawer that was on the other side of the room and pulled it out. He grabbed a carton of cigarettes and pulled one out, using his lighter to light one up. Pinion’s face scrunched at him and Caisson smiled again.
“I see your disapproval for my smoking habit.”
“I… do not approve, no…” Pin said, wondering what was happening. “Father, what is this feeling? What have you done to me?”
“Simple; I’ve given you the ability to feel.”
“Feel? How do you mean?”
“Both ways, if that’s what you mean. You feel on the outside, as in your sensory levels are now alert as well as emotions. Haven’t I ever told you that you’re not a normal android?”
“You have told me that I am different from others, yes.”
“Do you want to know what you are? Why this is happening?”
“It would be helpful.”
Caisson smiled, puffing his cigarette and then opening the door.
“Come with me and I’ll explain everything.”

“You are not a normal android at all, that is why you look so human. You’re a prototype of a prototype. I was tasked to develop an android that took some properties of the Lover-Bots but was durable and able to adapt to the growing and changing ways of humans.”
“So I am a Terminator?” Pin asked, having looked up the characteristics and given a picture of all the movies.
“No. Well… um… kind of. The only thing in common is how you’re made. You’re technically not an android at all but a cyborg. The only reason being that this flesh,” he said, touching Pin’s arm. “Is organic. It can do everything that human flesh can do but bleed. There is no need for a cardiovascular system since you don’t have organs. There is a substance that keeps things moist, like an oil, but it’s not blood.”
“So that is why people mistake me for human.”
“Exactly. But, unlike those Terminators, you’re not meant to kill.”
“I think I have figured that out.”
“Good. That being said, Calzone Enterprises wanted to try and build the closest human resembling machine that could act just like a human. They want to sell it to the military for missions and stuff since there is still some conflict in Africa and a little in Little America. My job was to design it and use all the resources we had to make it perfect. I made one at the company but then I decided that I could do it myself and do my own thing. I was near perfection, creating you from scratch, programming you exactly how I wanted, give or take a few things, and even grew the organic compounds to create your outer skin. You’re lucky, Pin, because not even the prototype at Calzone has this skin. The only thing I lacked was the ability to make you feel, both inside and out.
“I started looking at the adapting processor and at the way the Lover-Bots were programmed. Then I read up on a scientist, a Dr. Johnathan Hooks, who had actually successfully done what I was thinking of doing and combined the adaptive processor with the Lover-Bot program but sadly, everything was destroyed. But, that gave me hope and so I successfully did it! I named it the Cricket because it’s small but does big things.”
“Crickets are not known for their achievements, Father.” Pin said.
“No, but they are known for making lots of noise and music with their little legs. They may be small but joined together, they create a peaceful and loud melody that can make the night filled with song.”
Pinlock, for the first time, actually comprehended the value and nodded.
“Yes, they are quite extraordinary.”
“From what I read about Dr. Hooks’ earlier version, the Fairy, it seems he destroyed his works because he fixated too much on the adaptor part and so it was beginning to become too sentient. He tried to destroy his creation but he escaped.”
“He?”
“Yes. His name was Andrew.”
“Andrew the… android?”
“It was appropriate.” Caisson said, shrugging and tapping off some ash into the ashtray. “Even so, when Andrew escaped, Dr. Hooks destroyed his research and took up to locating the android as his sole purpose in life, fearing that his adaptor would wreak havoc.”
“It seems he has not caught him yet.” Pinlock said, sifting through articles in the London Times about people spotting Andrew.
“Not necessarily. He actually has him contained. He was able to hack into Andrew’s mainframe (before Andrew began monitoring for hacks) and disabled his navigation except for roving about England the First. Andrew can’t leave but he always seems to evade Dr. Hooks. Either way, you are not like that. I have come up with the perfect balance… but there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
“The chip was supposed to go to the prototype at the lab, buuuut I kind of snitched it for you.”
Pinlock gaped at his father. “You… I have stolen emotions?”
“Not necessarily. I made it but I figured that I can make another one and you’re way more advanced that the one at the lab.” Caisson said, putting out his cigarette. “So, it’s technically being tested out on the same prototype just not on the one in the lab. Besides, the one in the lab is just an android. You’re a cyborg… of sorts. I’d rather see you, my son, using these emotions for the greater good than being tested as a military weapon or soldier.”
Pinlock crossed his arms and leaned on the wall.
“It makes sense but it does not at the same time.”
“That’s call a rock and a hard place. It happens.”
“Father, why now did you do this to me?”
“Are you ungrateful?”
“No, I am very grateful but I feel… strange. As if there is a plot behind this.”
Caisson laughed. “You’re very astute, always have been… But you’re right, this is not just a friendly “here have some emotions” project. It has to do with what I found last night. When you came home, you said that you had been at the engagement ball and I had no idea what you were talking about, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Well, I really did think you were malfunctioning so I deactivated you and went to see what was wrong. When I opened up your panel, I found an extra chip in there and saw that it had video feed on it. I watched it and remembered what happened. Seeing that, I knew that you needed the Cricket right away. You will need to go to Blue Fairy, Inc. It’s the only place to reverse what’s happened and also get the curses out of Esli and Zabaila.”
“I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“If I am a cyborg, as you say, why do I have panels?”
“That’s why I say ‘of sorts’. You’re a complex system, Pin, and so there are some things that couldn’t be made all organic. Your hands to your elbows and the back of your head and neck do not have organic grafts because they are access points as well as weaponry. Your arms have compartments to switch out some tools as well as that little gun. The back of your head and neck attach to your mainframe inside and allow for outer usage, like the extra chip I put in and so forth. You’ll notice you now have a scar on your chest.” Pin looked down and moved his shirt to see that his father was right. “All the good stuff is on the inside. I cut into you to put the Cricket in. It has given you a consciousness and senses… which is where your task begins.”
“Can we talk about this later? I am so confused right now.”
“I’m sorry but we can’t leave this alone any longer. If we do, Zabaila and Esli will be killed or kill somebody else. Walk with me a moment.”
They left the small lab and went back to the living room.

Caisson sat on the couch and Pinlock sat as well, looking around for a little bit. Caisson lifted a remote and turned the big screen into a computer screen of sorts. On the screen was a picture of Zabaila on one side and Esli on the other.
“So, I took the liberty of looking up Zabaila and Esli and got this on them. They were infected with viruses given to their parents by none other than Erism Black, or as I call him, Pied Piper.”
“Does he play the pipe?”
Caisson looked at his son and rolled his eyes.
“We’ll work on your sense of humor later… Anyway, Erism Black is an evil genius on a lot of levels. On one hand, he created these ‘curses’ or viruses a long time ago to rule over countries. He’s the one that turned Zabaila’s father into the wolf. Some of these viruses are one generation and some are passed down.”
“So there are others out there like Zabaila and Esli?”
“You’re catching on.” Caisson clicked a button and Zabaila came to full screen. “Zabaila Augustus, age 18, now fully infected with the LTM-1 virus. She does one of two things now, she will turn into a werewolf on whatever moon her first changing was on or, when she gets a little better at controlling herself, she can turn into a wolf at will. Her virus is still in the first stage and so it allows for her to go back and forth in form.”
“How do the viruses switch stages?”
“That’s a tricky question because it depends on the virus on how it effects people. In her case, staying in a purposeful wolf state for too long would hasten to the next level…” Caisson clicked the remote again and Esli pulled up. “Esli Cristoll, age 23, unstoppably infected with the FCR-3 virus. He had it all along but was able to suppress his power. Now that things have been messed up, he no longer has the ability to suppress his powers by himself. They will get out of hand one way or the other. He is on the brink of Stage 4.”
“I already detected these things when I first met them.”
“True, but you don’t know what’s going on now. Erism messed up the history of Beta Rome and the memories of the people. No one, except those directly involved with Erism on that night, knows that Rayer is supposed to be their emperor, Devenia their empress, and Zabaila their princess. In this memory, Beta Rome is home to the world’s biggest fighting arena.”
“Fighting arena?”
“Yes. Erism has put it in the people’s minds that those with curses are dangerous and are to be used as slaves, killed, or, if you want a bit of money, used for sport. He most likely had them tossed into the Colosseum Redux to fight for their lives. Actually, I know he put them in there just for shits and giggles… sick bastard…”
Pinlock clenched his fists and looked at his father.
“What do I need to do?”
Caisson smiled. “I’m so glad you asked.”