Broken People (Serial)

Thirty-Six

A small crowd had gathered on the left side of the train, away from the dormant fair. Around Cielo, the dancers shuffled their feet on the frosty ground. It was too early for the sun to give any real warmth. Even the air felt chilly. As if suffering from the cold, Anya leaned against Nicholas's arm and whispered something to him. Riella glared at them from the end of the line where she stood next to Serioja. The rest of the aerialists were missing as they wouldn't perform at the Hrad, but the stilt men were there, walking around on their elongated legs, careful to avoid Rocket Girl's jumps.

The clowns tossed each other colorful rubber balls, annoying everyone. At some point, Cielo counted two dozen floating in the air. The wall of the car they were facing slid to the side, turning their attention back to their reason for being there. A pink ball brushed against Cielo's temple.

"Oops, sorry!" Jacko grinned sheepishly at her.

Cielo waved a hand, signaling it was nothing. She was more interested in what was happening inside that car, but the darkness prevented her from seeing anything. She wiped her hands on her sea-colored skirt, realizing how nervous she was. The knife throwers hadn't let her see the patient in two days, claiming there was nothing she could help with, and while she knew the final outcome, she dreaded it a little. There were good reasons to go through such drastic transformation, and then there were bad reasons. She wasn't sure which one this was.

What was so important to make such a risk worth it? Armstrong wouldn't say, and Cole couldn't because he was still not speaking. Since he spent so much time under the influence of strong drugs to manage the pain, she had to wonder if his mind was clear enough to understand the situation and whether he was aware of the consequences, if the decision was indeed his. Armstrong seemed to be the one in charge, and each time she glanced at his folded arms and stern face, she struggled not to frown.

The sound of gears engaging came from inside the car, and then Rake and Spinner emerged. With tools hanging on their belts and a remote in Rake's hand, they jumped on the ground and positioned themselves on both sides of the opening. Cielo gave a small shake of her head. They surely liked to make an entrance.

Rake held out the remote and pressed a button. A portion of the car's floor slid out, bringing something big and menacing with it. Only when the platform lowered to the ground and the sunlight hit it did it become clear what kind of machine with which they were dealing. Made mostly of shiny metal, the elongated machine looked like a boat, if boats ever had eight articulated legs. Cole sat on top of it, his legs trapped inside the body of the machine, his arms covered by regeneration cases. Only his upper body was free, his neck stiff because of the orthopedic collar keeping his head from bouncing around.

Four of the mechanical appendages moved, slowly bringing the transporter forward into the empty space the crowd left. The remaining four legs were in the air like frozen arms, stiffly moving now and then without a given purpose. The coordination could have been better and the movement smoother, but this required practice, something he couldn't easily do inside the car. He turned in a full circle, then stopped, facing Armstrong. A small smile twisted his lips, and his eyes twinkled.

Cielo couldn't suppress an internal shudder. They had done it. They had made him one with the machine, despite Cole's inability to use his arms and legs. Her smile was bittersweet when he looked at her, encouraging but, at the same time, sad because of what he had become.

"Don't clap all at once, people," Spinner said.

A few choked laughs answered him.

"It looks great, doesn't it?" Spinner's smile spread across his face.

People replied with nods, but also puzzled looks. Cielo saw what the problem was. It lacked the color and excitement a real circus act needed to be successful. This looked like a bare act, and it wouldn't match the rest of the show. There was also a good chance it would frighten people. This wasn't supposed to be a horror show.

Rake slipped the remote in a pocket of his jacket and stepped forward. "Any questions?" His eyes stopped on Armstrong.

"Can it move faster than this?" Dale asked.

"It has a speed limit of twenty-five kilometers per hour," Rake said. That was five times faster than a typical person could walk. "We can increase it, but it isn't needed, and he needs better control first."

Dale nodded. "Autonomy?"

"Twenty-four hours anywhere within the city limits. An extra battery can be added, but the goal was to keep it light."

"Can it dance?" Jacko yelled.

The body of the machine swayed on its slender legs. The front pair of appendages that didn't reach the ground rose and imitated a snake. The finger-like appendices at the end opened and closed. The clapping failed as the mechanical hands missed each other by a few centimeters. Cole frowned and tried again.

People winced as the sharp noise of metal scraping against metal pierced their ears.

"No, don't do that." Spinner shook his head.

"What else can he do?" someone yelled from the crowd.

Cielo blinked, concerned.

"Well, we'll add some music, lights, a bit of color so it stops looking so freakishly white and surgical," Spinner said, rolling his eyes.

Without looking back, Cole raised one metallic arm with only one finger extended. It was the wrong one, but the message got through just fine. He moved again, a little more confident, and circled the simulacra of the arena bordered by the train.

One of the dancers, whose dress appeared to be covered in icicles, took his metallic hand and twirled under it as he passed by. The clowns whistled. The girl smiled at Cole, did a little curtsy, and returned to her colleagues.

Nicholas nodded as if designing performances in his head already. Cole needed an act of his own, one that would explain his presence there. "How much can he carry?"

"Two tons," Rake said.

The stilt man on the left extended his legs and took a giant leap over Cole and his machine, landing effortlessly on the other side.

"Do we know how tall the ceilings are?" Jacko asked. "We could totally do that!"

"They're tall enough," Nicholas said pensively.

Riella stepped forward and reached for an arm with both hands. The arm became rigid when she hung on it, and she pulled herself up, using it as a trapeze. She spread her legs wide, lifted them over her head, and landed backward with a flip, her red hair flying like a bonfire around her.

"If you break it, you'll pay for it," Nicholas said.

Riella, of course, paid him no mind but glared when Cole stepped to the side and offered his mechanical hand to Anya.

The ballerina took it and climbed on the machine, where she walked from one end to the other without fear of losing her balance. Her poses and pliés were perfect, as if she were on the stage and not on a moving, uneven platform. She slid off along one of the smooth, arched legs, a smug grin on her face when Nicholas caught her.

"I can work with that," she said when he released her.

But Cole hadn't finished his demonstration. He didn't stop when he came face-to-face with Cielo. He simply pointed at the empty seat behind him and turned so she could get on.

Cielo hesitated. The crab-like machine didn't look safe, and she didn't want to break her other leg, too. But Cole's set of back arms stretched behind him, turning into safety rails. Laughing, Cielo held onto them and climbed on. The machine moved faster and faster, taking her away from the circus and across the field.

"Hey, come back here!" Spinner yelled after them.

When Cole refused to listen, Rake waved at Fei Lin, and she took giant leaps to catch up with the runaways. She did, but she didn't try to stop them. She accompanied them.