Iron Will

Chapter 2

Will's feet thumped slow and tired against the cold, metal stairs. The sound of each slow step was hard and low as if even the sound of his steps were exhausted, the sound oddly matched his heart beat as one foot hit louder carrying a heavier weight.

The key jangled in the lock as Will struggled to unlock his apartment door. What remained of the peeling red paint on the door, flew in an attempt to escape the cold metal.

"Home, sweet home," Will muttered in monotone to himself. The saying becoming a ritual to him as Will said it everyday, when he came home from work and high school. His cat was the only one listening to him as he stumbled through the threshold.

He flicked on the lights and closed the door behind him.

Will moved inside, his cat rushing off the couch as Will threw his new jacket on top of it. He turned towards his small kitchen built and turned up the heater. Will may not have need of it with the heating system built into his chest at the age of ten, but he didn't want his cat to get cold.

Yesterday had been his nineteenth birthday. He had gotten a leather jacket from his adoptive father, a blue and silver bracelet from his adoptive mother, and an upgrade from his doctor that he still didn't the purpose, though he felt it wasn't to say happy birthday but to say "I'm glad you've made it this far."

To say the least he liked his father's present the best.

Now Will lay sprawled out on his couch with a blanket wrapped around him as his cat came back to sit on his chest. The small calico's name was Mittens, his new mother's idea. The cat had become his friend over years of loneliness after Will had moved out of the hospital at the age of sixteen.

The cat nudged Will's chin clearly wanting food and guilt-tripping him into getting up, out of his comfortable position, to feed her. He watched Mittens eat the soft canned food he had bought at the local gas station, the simple act of caring for another living creature made Will happy for some reason.

***

A knock came at the door, waking Will from the clutches of sleep.

Will shoved himself out of the warmth of the bed that kept his built-in heater from overworking and grabbed his iPhone. The bright screen momentarily blinded him as his robotic eye adjusted to the light faster than his human. The small digital clock read 1:32 am.

Will stumbled out of his bedroom and to the door as whoever-they-were knocked furiously on the metal. The knocking turned to banging as the person on the other side grew impatient and probably cold.

Will, himself, grew angry and ripped open the door to meet his visitor.

"What do you want!" Will felt his anger boiling and his vision began flashing red as the alarm on his heart rate went off.

There in front of Will stood Dr.Clarks, almost a foot shorter than himself. Will was forced to look down to see the top of a nearly bald head.

Will turned sideways unquestioning and Dr.Clarks moved into the apartment without an explanation. The doctor made himself at home as he turned up the heater and started the coffee pot that was used only when Will had guests. He tidied Will's couch and sat as if he belonged within the strange setting. This wasn't the first time he had come over unannounced and unwelcome, but it was the first time at 1:30 in the morning.

Will shut the door and moved towards his seated guest. Mittens came around one of the legs of the heavy piece of furniture and began to purr as she rubbed the length of her body against the doctor's stubby legs. He cooed as he picked up the small calico. He held more warmth for the cat then he did his patient.

Suddenly remembering the reason why he had first showed up at Will's door, the doctor looked up at the cyborg and spoke,

"Tomorrow some very interesting guests are coming to the facility to study us, our way of working and our work. This of course means they will be studying our patients and more specifically, you."

Will shrugged and went to the kitchen to collect the doctor's coffee for him. He was used to being studied. Will came back to hand Dr.Clarks a Kermit the Frog mug full of black coffee.

After the doctor took a slow, testing sip,

"This of course means you have to be on your best behavior. Also I wish that you speak to no one," the last part intrigued Will the most as he looked up from his own Miss Piggy. The doctor smiled with a knowing look that confused Will even more.

"I never did tell you what your birthday present was, did I? I added a small feature to your vision to tell you when someone is lying. It works by scanning their heart rate and other telling signals such a profuse sweating. It isn't completely accurate, but neither is it completely useless. I'll test it now as I did earlier, I don't own a dog. I once fought a bear with a sword," A small red dot appeared inside of Will's eye as the doctor pretended to not notice his abrupt subject change.

"I lied about the sword," for some reason Will's vision remained normal.

Has he really fought a bear? Will thought to himself. The man was 5'1" at the most, how could he fight a bear?

The doctor nearly hit the floor laughing at having watched Will's face. He wobbled trying extremely hard not to dump his precious coffee on himself. He calmed down in bursts of giggles. Will was taken a back by the old man, he hadn't ever really cared for the doctor's eccentric personality.

"It was a bear of a man. You will have to be careful, a wise man's words are soft and twisted," the doctor smiled knowingly, but poor Will was at a loss.

When the doctor refused to explain himself more and his cup empty of even a drop, he was out the door. Will stood beside the open doorway and stared down the hall the man had taken to leave. That man always intrigued Will to the point that he wanted to strap Clarks to a table and and examine him in turn.

One question stuck to his mind over the rest, and it wasn't about how the doctor would ever win in a fight.

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Sorry I haven't been updating:(

I need some inspiration;
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Anything to make me actually want to continue.

This will be my only pleading time because the story will get interesting soon (pinkie promise) so if I ask ever again throw something at me.