Princess of AMBER

Chapter 23

          I have been feeling something weird lately in my body. It have never occurred before. In some parts of me, I feel pain. Not strong one, but very uncomfortable to live with. Mostly it affects my legs or arms. I have no mechanics or medical knowledge to come up with a cause.

     Despite my unwillingness to visit Natalie again, I am forced to meet her. Though, I doubt she will want to help me, after the things I have done to her. But I cannot live with this new symptom. The cause is not my robot's inner system, but the  SEB virus produced one. I am sure of it.

     I knock on a door and wait for Natalie's response. Silence. I wait there few minutes, like my presence will summon her in some magical way. A silent squeaking of the door in front of me gets me snapped out of thoughts. Slowly door comes open, casting a contrasting light on dark concrete ground in the tunnel outside.

"Looks like you have acquired some manners all of so sudden?" Natalie stated, as she looked at me. Her voice quiet and little bit depressed. "You have never knocked on my door before. ..... Come in."

She gestured for me to enter her hideout, while not looking at me and walked deeper in to the room. "I knew you will come back. What is a problem?"

It looked like she has a clear understanding of the reason I came back to her, but pretended to play dumb.

"I experience pain in my body. I want you to fix me." I said confidently, but keeping my voice threat free, as I demanded her help.

"I cannot fix it, Bryce. What hurts in you, is a human part of you. You need medical treatment. Our bodies can't be fixed the same way as robots."

"Then  treat it."

"Come here." she invited me in her laboratory.

     After pulling out a container from one of the cabinets, Natalie took a syringe with transparent liquid in it. With it, she came back to me and gently got hold of my arm, pulling the sleeve of my jacket up. I watched every single move of her. I wanted to trust her this time, but some part of me kept me from doing it. She is still a human, a witty one. As a needle connected with my skin, I pulled back my arm.

"What is it? I will not allow you to experiment with my body, while not knowing, what you have in mind."

"Calm down, Bryce. I just want to help you. I said before, that at some point your newly formed muscles will require nutrients to grow and function properly. That's why you experience pain right now. You need food. This will help you." she showed me a syringe. "I made this while you were gone, knowing the time will come, when you will need it. A concentration of nutrients and substances to keep your living body alive. It must be delivered through your blood system. Now.... give me your hand."

I hesitantly gave in. Natalie injected the liquid in to my blood stream.

"When it will start to work?"

"It will get absorbed slowly. You will need more of these."

"Can I not live without them?"

"You could. The only way to replace these is to eat real food. Other than that.... there is no different way. This.... food.... or pain. It is all up to you."

Food? There is no way I can consume a real organic food. I might have some human traits, but my body does not hold a possibility to eat. I might have to stick with a liquid form, through a needle. I feel sick, just a thought of me relying on some type of medicine to 'survive', makes me feel weak. I could survive without a need of nutrients, but the side effects are too much for me. I do not want to be disabled or feel pain in any way.