The Human Inside

Chapter 12

Twelve hours later

A.I. Industries: Medical Bay

    "Say that again?"

    "Dr. Kendrick, as far as I know, we have her stabilized. We compared her life signs to Vanessa 6 and for a human, she should be waking up. But for reasons we can't explain, she won't. The combination of cybernetic implants and human biology are clashing so we can only hope for the faintest possibility that she'll even wake up. I'm sorry John. We weren't prepared for something like this. Maybe, 43 had a chance if we were. But not even 6 knew what to do. It's almost like she's developed a fear of feeling unhelpful. And if my head assistant, a medical amborg, is feeling like that. It's even more serious. Something happened when the blade pierced her neural connections in the upper abdomen. We repaired the physical damage but a neurology test showed her systems are slowly failing."

    "I SAW THE TEST!"

    117 heard Dr. Kendrick yell but didn't say anything or even react beyond shifting slightly in his chair. For a moment, there was silence. Then 117 heard Dr. Wildman speak again.

    "I'm sorry John," he said with a deep breath. "I'm SORRY!"

    The two men both shouted so loud that it rang through the entire bay. Almost no one else, if they were in the vicinity, dared to make a sound.

    "From a doctor to another," Dr. Wildman breathed, "From a friend to a friend. I'm sorry it got like this. Serina 43 has time left. But with every passing day down to each hour. She will die. All we can do is monitor and pray. I know it's hard to hear one of your daughters being in this situation but you can't lose it now. If you do, your other children will be orphans again. They look up to you and will falter even more if you give up."

    "At least we have reason to look into scenarios like this more," Dr. Kendrick muttered. "Sorry I yelled. I just couldn't believe that the equipment I designed for these children was failing. As a scientist, it's hard to hear that kind of truth. As the adopted father of the amborgs, I can't bury them in the ground. Not when they chose willingly to fight for a better tomorrow."

    "That's the thing," Dr. Wildman spoke up. "That's why they volunteered. You promised them a better life and they knew the risks. They accepted death long before an incident like this happened. They accepted before you lost the first child during augmentation. They were already on the path to death when you pulled them back and gave them a choice."

    "Unfortunately," Dr. Kendrick replied, "That is slightly problematic now that every amborg now has refused a deployment. They're afraid. Collectively, I've never seen them act this way before."

    "Remember everyone who criticized us when the amborgs first showed up in the field? Many people said it was good that they didn't have feelings. Then there were all these shrinks and psychics who claimed that the amborgs had ghosts bursting with rage inside trying to get the feelings out. For the first time since I saw them, I don't see bytes of calculations trying to figure out human emotions anymore. They're feeling pain and its helping them create patterns of thinking that don't logically make sense. They're knowing how to be human. I feel as if I can talk to them now and help them."

    "The emotional barrier was always unexpected," Dr. Kendrick said, "Emotions being inhibited was an odd side effect. The older amborgs are resilient though. They've kept order for a long time but I'm afraid psychologically for the younger ones. To be honest, I have no idea what I can do now."

    "I know you're thinking about what might have been right now. But you've always found a way. Maybe... Just talk to 117," Dr. Wildman said. "I think he needs you now. We'll figure this out."