The Mechanics of Us

Chapter 15

Two years have past since I started babysitting Betes and as each day passes our bond continues to evolve. At first it was simply a planted seed, but after some shared smiles, a few tears, comforting embraces, and reassuring words, the seed that was planted is now a budding flower and I can already tell is it going to be a beautiful one.

Betes has grown in more ways than one. Sure she has gained a few inches but her intellect has developed far beyond those her age. She is five and will be starting kindergarten tomorrow, but the school she is at will be putting her in an accelerated class for those with higher intelligence. When the school tested her she was able to count all the way up to a thousand, thanks to me, and even read at a third grade level, also thanks to me. To say I was proud of that moment would be an understatement and although she is not biologically mine, I feel as if I am a parental figure to her and I think she sees me as such too.

Unfortunately, overtime Bete's parents became more and more distant. They kept taking up extra shifts which meant I was over pretty much from sunrise to sunset every single day. They missed milestones like when I taught her how to ride a bike, how to swim, and they overlook her talents. They do not notice just how artistically inclined she is. How her drawings have morphed into simple scribbles into comprehensive shapes and even hold depth. They missed all of it and continue to, but I always make sure she knows how talented she is and how spectacular she can be.

Nevertheless, Betes wasn't the only one who has changed over these two years, I have as well. After the small casualty and the very horrifying discovery of my cyborg instincts and hardware, I have dedicated my life to researching myself and finding out more about what really happened to me. From the information I have gathered, I came to the following conclusions:

My brain was damaged when I hit the floor

My brain has hardware in it. It glitches and heightens my senses.

My humanity and empathy has increased

The first conclusion was an easy one to come to. I hit my head, the stitches are there, I have the scar to prove it, no other explanation needed. The second conclusion took some testing on my behalf.

There are five known human senses. Taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell. I tested tasting by simply adding varying concentrations of lemon juice to water and with previous knowledge I concluded that I can taste a single drop of lemon juice in a standard 8 oz glass of water. Then come touch, again fairly simple, I ran my fingers on sand paper and instantly had a visceral reaction that sent my whole body aching. Sight I was pretty much tested when I flicked the lights on or stood out in the sun without sunglasses. Hearing, I played a very faint sound in the apartment, one I know normal human ears can't hear, but of course I was able to. Smell, well, I have been a nanny for two years and a surgeon for over twenty. I reacted more to Betes vomit than I had with an infected abscess. Needless to say that was a pretty standard discovery.

The third conclusion, however, took me almost a year to realize and the way I realized it was in a very ordinary way. One day when Betes and I were in the apartment and I was making her lunch, we were out of bread and I could only make one sandwich. Typically, I wouldn't care and make myself a sandwich and make Betes have something else. She wasn't my child to keep alive, she wasn't completely whole, she theoretically would stay alive without the need of food anyways. However, I made her the sandwich and even gave her my cookie. It was in this very mundane moment that I realized how much empathy I gained.

It sounds bizarre to think a cyborg could possess more emotional intelligence than humans, but after some serious contemplation I realized how this could be. The brain is essentially one fleshy computer with the connecting synapses being the wires and the tissues being the harddrive that holds and houses all of the information. When a computer is joined with essentially another computer, one that is humanistic and holds an already existing ability to generate empathetic resonances with others, the two connect their wires and a new intense superior intelligence is generated.