Bugs

[MalReynolds]

The leather straps holding his arms against the cold metal pulled tight as he jerked awake.

“Test subject H3414, recording,” the monotone voice said into the recorder.

H3414’s eyes were pulled open by two very cold, very clammy fingers.

“Pupils dilated. He seems to be… panicking.”

“Let me go, please…” H3414 croaked. His voice was dry, cracked, his words run through a tumble dryer full of rocks before escaping into the open air. “Please. I’m scared.”

The doctor stood, and turned to the chart. “I don’t know why I need this chart,” he said, smiling. “I have all the information right up here,” he said, motioning to his temple. “A formality, I suppose. So as not to off put you. To not make you scared… Although logistically, I don’t see how it would be pertinent anymore, as you’re already scared… Pulse 110,” the doctor said, jotting the number down in the chart. “And your blood pressure. Extremely high. We have to figure this out, don’t we?”

“Just let me go. I’m scared. I don’t know what you’re trying to do…”

“I hate being secretive,” the doctor said, offering the same worn smile.

“You’re lying.”

“I can’t lie, can I? Just have to figure out what’s wrong with you. So please, please… Behave. Let’s not make this difficult. I’ve never seen a subject as responsive as you.”

The doctor turned to the panel on the wall, pushing the intercom button. There was a brief burst of static before the air cleared.

“Nurse Watkins, could you come in here, please? And bring in the treatment.”

“Not another one, please. Please, please, not another one…” H3414 clawed at the metal bars, and tried to thrash, but found it quite difficult as he was most restrained.

Nurse Watkins walked through the door carrying a flimsy aluminum tray in one hand. She stopped and stared down at H3414, who was on the verge of tears.

“You don’t have to do this again,” he said, pleading. She ****ed her head sideways like a confused dog.

“Of course I do.”

Nurse Watkins was the embodiment of beauty, as if created to make a panicked man at ease. She was well proportioned with bright shocks of blonde curls that fell playfully from the bottom of her nurses cap. Her white blouse almost too tight, and her stockings immaculately pressed against her slender legs.

“Why?”

She smiled that awful smile, that smile that promised everything but told nothing. “We have to get you better.”

She plunged the needle into his neck, tearing the soft tissue, and pressing the plunger down.

H3414 was relieved that this time, she was the last thing he saw. In the event of dreams – how little dreams he had anymore – he would think of her, her playful smile, her golden hair, her friendly demeanor. He would try not to think about the large, painful bruise he had on his neck from multiple injections or how she would stare blankly at him as he would stare longingly at her. It was as if it were impossible for her to return his blatant, misguided affections.

Perhaps test subjects just weren’t her type, he mused.

-

H3414 pushed his arms forward upon awakening. He first noticed the terrible cold that was clinging to his skin, forcing his hospital gown against his torso like wet tissue paper. It was a clammy cold, not even a brisk, pleasant one.

He also noticed that he was oriented quite differently than when he had passed out. He was no longer horizontal. Somehow, in the time he was asleep, he had been awakened and placed upright.

The cold soaked into the soles of his feet, and he stared down at his extremities. They were the blue that freezing temperatures bring on, but luckily, he could not feel them. He was past pain at this point.

“Move, forward,” a voice called from behind him.

“No… I’ll fall.”

H3414 continued to look at the ground. He had been moved from the hospital bed to a frozen lake, set upon on all sides with trees like an advancing army. The blue sky shone above him, and under any other circumstances, it would have been quite beautiful.

“Move forward, or I’m going to hit you.”

“Why?” H3414 asked. “Did you ever ask yourself why? Why you’re doing this?”

“We have to figure out what’s wrong with you, otherwise nothing is ever going to get better.”

He tried to turn and look at the man behind him, but felt the pressure of a gun at his back.

“Don’t turn around,” the voice said calmly. “Please, just move forward.”

H3414 took one step forward before losing his traction and tumbling to the ground. His head smacked against the ice, sending an echo through the trees like a running man. Blood began to pour out of the fresh wound, and he laid there, staring, hoping that if he didn’t move, his assailant would mistake him for dead and leave him.

“I know you’re alive. Get to your feet. Come on, try and walk again.”

He did not move. He tried to lay as motionless as possible.

“I can see you breathing, and I have your vitals right here. Now get up, or I’ll be forced to hit you with the butt of this pistol. That would be painful.”

H3414 did not move. He held his breath.

He felt a stinging against the small of his back as the voice slammed a cold piece of metal against his skin once, twice, three times.

“Now please, get up, or I’ll be forced to hit you again. Standard protocol.”

H3414 looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful blue. He blinked, and when he opened his eye, he found the sky to be a very pleasant pink. He brought one cold, frostbitten hand up to his eye and wiped the blood away.

He braced himself, putting both palms on the ice, and pushed up, but could find no traction. He pitched forward, hitting his head against the ice, and this time, he was out like a light.

H3414 did not dream, or delude himself into dreaming. On certain occasions, on awakening, he would try very hard to come up with a pleasant scenario that he would fool himself into believing that he dreamed. He couldn’t remember anything when he awoke, which troubled him slightly, as he used to dream constantly. Often times, he was accused of spending too much time idling and not enough time contributing to the structure of things – all things important.

-

His eyes opened as Nurse Watkins was applying the final suture to his forehead.

“You had quite an accident on the ice.”

“I know,” he said, swallowing hard. “I didn’t mean to.”

“That’s the definition of accident,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t say you did it on purpose.”

“No… I don’t suppose you did, did you?”

“I did not. Your sutures should hold for a few days. The doctor will be in to check on you, although judging from past subjects, he’ll just want you out until your ready again.”

She stood and turned, walking to the door.

“Nurse Watkins,” he called out, the amplitude of his voice surprising him.

“Yes?” she turned around.

“I… I know this sounds like I’m just trying to get out of here, but… I – I love you. And it didn’t just happen all at once. It’s been building, for a little while, at least, for as long as I can remember. You’re not like the rest of the people here. You know that.”

“People here?”

“Yes. You’re different. Your smile… It’s not the same as the doctor’s. It’s not the same at all. When I look at you, I see the possibility of life beyond here. Maybe I’m in love with what you represent rather than what you are, but… There you have it. I’m not going to ask you to let me go.”

She paused. “Why not? That’s the logical next step.”

“Because I’m an illogical guy. Most guys, they don’t confess love to their captor’s like this.”

“Captors?”

H3414 smiled. “Yeah, I guess. Never thought of you guys like that until now. What would happen if I asked you to let me go?”

“I would politely decline to assist in your escape, but you know that.”

He shook his head. “Just the way you were made, I take it. A good head on your shoulders. I would hate to see what they would do to you if you let me go, after what they’ve done to me.”

She turned her head to the side, as if trying to come up with a good reply. She didn’t have to try hard, as the door opened behind her, and the doctor walked in.

“You can go, Nurse Watkins.”

She nodded and stepped out of the room.

The doctor sat down and stared at H3414 for a good while before speaking. “I don’t know quite what to make of you,” he said, finally. “I do know what you said to the nurse, and I must admit, I’m very surprised. I did not think this was possible, either, because I’ve been doing this for a long time. I should warn you,” he reached up and impulsively tugged at his salt and pepper beard, “you’re barking up the wrong tree entirely.”

“Barking up the wrong tree?”

“It means you’re pursuing an impossible interest.”

“I know what it means,” H3414 said. “I was just asking… What you meant by it.”

“To put it gently, you’re not her type.”

Before H3414 could respond, the doctor had pushed the needle mercifully into the untouched side of H3414’s neck.

Sadly, as he stared at the old man’s bald head and wrinkled face, he lamented not being able to fall asunder to the picture of Nurse Watkins staring over him.

-

He was just as disoriented when he awoke this time, upright, in the middle of a field. It was now dusk, and there was shin high grass tickling his feet. He breathed in heavily – it was far better than the dank of the hospital or the biting cold of the lake. The fresh air invaded his lungs, and it stung him.

It was good to be away from industry, from computers and tall buildings, from the people that walked in and out of work every day like machines, from the turmoil and the stress.

He was quite relieved.

Until he heard the growl behind him. Singular at first, but then a group. He opened his eyes to find that he was surrounded by no less than five German Shepherds.

The voice spoke from behind. “You’re going to have to run now.”

H3414 stared at the dogs. For as long as he could remember, dogs had terrified him.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I run, they’ll chase me and they’ll catch me and they’ll maul me to death. No.”

“If you don’t run, they’ll maul you.”

“What?”

“They work off commands, just like everything else. Now run.”

H3414 swallowed his resolve, that bitter pill, and placed one foot in front of himself. Die now, or die later. Two options. Both having the same conclusion, but sometimes, it was all in the race.

He put the other foot forward, and then the first foot, and the second, pushing through a small opening in the dogs. The ground was level and without obstacle, save for a chain link fence so far in the distance. He set his sights on the fence and promised himself that he would not fall or falter before he had reached it.

The fence, he surmised, was his freedom. Inside, he was a test subject. But he tricked himself to believe that outside, he was a free man.

He could hear the dogs behind him, panting, their feet pushing against the ground with less determination than him. If they did not catch him, they would still eat. They were fighting for a prize far less valuable, he surmised, and therefore wanted it less than he wanted it.

He slammed against the fence and began to pull himself up. The dogs were still a few yards behind him, and they began to bark as he scaled up. H3414 carefully swung one leg over, and dropped to the ground on the other side. The dogs jumped onto the fence, but lacking the opposable thumbs that H3414 possessed, could not climb.

It took them the span of a second to figure this out, and they began to dig.

H3414 was no fool. He continued to run, now down a dirt path in between piles of broken cinderblocks and old, decrepit cars. Piles of garbage provided him a valley to run between, and after he rounded a bend, he began to climb atop a pile of various discarded items.

As he made his way up, he took a second to survey the ground beneath him. It perturbed him to no small degree to find that, unlike the front of the garbage dump, all of the items this far back were brand new, or in like new condition. He climbed atop a washer drier combination, and squatted down as the dogs charged around the same bend.

He grabbed a metal pipe and sat, waiting. They would not be able to reach him and he would be able to kill his attackers before anything should happen to him. And after that, freedom. He now knew a great place to furnish a new apartment, with all the objects he could want right under him.

But the dogs seemed to have trouble climbing up the first few feet, which were made up of cinderblocks and a few televisions. Their weight would shift unevenly from front foot to back foot, to front foot again. Several times, they tumbled over to the ground, their torsos too heavy to support on two legs, and they would, with determination, try to climb again.

H3414 watched them time and again as they tried to progress, but were hindered by the rapid, uneven changes in elevation.

Keeping the pipe at his side, he moved on, walking along the top of the pile of trash, hopping onto the next. He heard the dogs trying again and again behind him, and soon, he had walked far enough to where he could no longer hear them, and he was relieved.

The trash was piled particularly high directly in front of him, made up of more discarded brand new items – car radios, iPods, still in the box, video game systems, steering wheel covers, hubcabs – and began to climb. He would sleep in the valley, as the trash was piled up so high that it made a crater in the middle. He would sleep soundly.

He ascended the final crest, and stared across the land from his high vantage point. He could barely make out in the distance the city, where the hospital was no doubt located. He made a mental note not to head in that direction, and stared at the thick smog that raised from the buildings.

Keeping his eye on the horizon, he put a foot down, moving to step into the valley. His foot hit something that felt like a cold sponge, which amused him – a singular cold sponge amongst a pile of forgotten humanity – and stared down.

He was stepping onto the shoulder of a naked woman, who was staring up at him, mouth agape. Next to her, a naked man, although he looked quite less shocked. They both, however, looked equally dead.

And the bodies continued, for the half mile that H3414 could see into the distance. The enormous crater was filled to the brim with bodies.

But what disturbed him greatly was not all these dead, but the similar bruises they had on their necks, uniform to the one he had on his.

He turned in time to see the small black orb fly at his face, and he ducked down. It swooped over head, emitting an electrical crackle. He gripped the pipe tightly in his hands, and waited for the thing to swing back. It was nothing, the size of a baseball, onyx in color, but it flew as a demon possessed.

When it came in range, he swung out, but missed. The black orb flew to his neck and delivered one nasty shock, which sent H3414 out of his consciousness. He stared up and saw the black orb unfurl itself, now like a black snake with a single eye at the end, which looked over him, scanning him. It emitted a bright light, as if taking his picture, and delivered another shock.

-

H3414 surmised that Nurse Watkins was what dreams were made of, as he pictured her again in her full beauty as he wrestled with the unpleasant image of all those dead, the hundreds and thousands, in that body pit.

He awoke to the voice of the doctor once again relegating orders to his nurse.

“… And he found the dump. He’s no good anymore, you know.”

“Yes.”

“We have all the data we need from him, correct? More than we could have hoped for. Once we analyze the footage of him scaling the blocks in the yard, we should be able to work out the balance problems in the dogs. And the data from the ice should help with our own.”

“Yes.”

“And lastly, his fear. He pushed through that, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And so we can eliminate that one with the next model.”

“Yes.”

H3414 looked over at the doctor, who was holding a clipboard in one hand, and speaking to Nurse Watkins.

“And so we shall have the perfect homosapien.”

“Not quite. Even with all our data, this one still had the capacity for love.”

The doctor frowned. “We didn’t teach him that.”

“No.”

“He came up with that on his own?”

“It might be one thing we never work out,” the nurse offered.

“We were built as reasoning beings. We can figure this out. It’s a logistic problem, is it not? It is. Nothing more. The homosapiens created us, did they not?”

“Yes.”

“And they tried to destroy us, did they not?”

“Yes.”

“And now, if we perfect these home bred creatures, we can retire our sentry class. We can all live in functioning peace. An ideal society, without war or idolatry or love. Free from the constraints that made the human society so much worse than the one we propose. We will be just like them, only better, correct?”

“Yes.”

H3414 blinked.

“Then prep him for the pile. I want him on the next transport for the dump. Once you’ve finished that, prep H3415. He should be out of stasis by now. Finally, we’re getting all the glitches out. All the bugs. Fear. Love. Loathing. Doubt… Balance.”

Nurse Watkins nodded.

The doctor left the room, and she walked over to his bed, carrying an aluminum tray. On the tray was a different needle of a different color containing a different liquid.

H3414 knew begging would do not good against something designed to obey orders to a fault.

“I did love you,” he said.

She offered a smile, that smile that promised everything but delivered nothing, that cold, robotic smile.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “Pity loving a thing like me.”

She pushed the needle into his neck, and after a few seconds, he went limp.

She wheeled his body out through the darkened halls on the gurney. In an effort to preserve an ideal society, a picture that the human’s had built, she opted not to carry him, as this would distort the image.

She let two men lift his body from the gurney, as it would be unbecoming of an ideal society to have a woman lift a two hundred pound man like he was nothing.

As the truck began to pull away, a single preprogrammed tear fell from her eye and rolled slowly down her perfect cheek. It was a humanizing touch, a fitting tribute.

But as she stood, watching the truck disappear, for reasons that she did not comprehend, a second tear fell.

“I’ll have to get a tune up in the morning,” she said, for the first time in her existence, unsure.

THE END.

[EAGAMES]

Holy! That's bigger than Rosie O' Donnel!

[MalReynolds]

It's not evern 4,000 words. It's not long at all.

[Orange Dude]

This reminds me of something I read for school.
Anyways, I really enjoyed reading it. I was hooked. =]

[xinpig]

I liked this story. 2 thumbs up.

[Makilaz]

Nice story. The title confused me until the end, but it fits quite nicely.

[Zythus]

Mind sharing how bugs reflected the thesis of the story? Unless you meant the baseball sized orbs were the "bugs"

[MalReynolds]

In an effort to program the perfect human - pretty much a slaved meat-sack, they were trying to work out the bugs in the systems. Inhibiting emotions, fear, love, balance issues. They were considered bugs in the system. Love especially, as this seemed to grow from their test subjects without precedent.

The doctor says:

“Then prep him for the pile. I want him on the next transport for the dump. Once you’ve finished that, prep H3415. He should be out of stasis by now. Finally, we’re getting all the glitches out. All the bugs. Fear. Love. Loathing. Doubt… Balance.”

Which explains it pretty well. However, the capacity for feeling and emotion beyond what is "normal" is what the piece is about, as the nurse robot at the end displays a bizarre feat of emotion with the second tear, meaning things aren't hopeless for humanity, things are never as bad as they seem, and that love is something that can be learned by all manner of creatures.

...

It's also my way of dealing with killer robots.