Automata

Chapter 3

Oliver sat in the workshop of the automaton shop, tirelessly working metal into increasingly complicated, precise shapes. The evening was approaching night, and Oliver knew that soon he would be working by candlelight. Though he also knew that he needed to be sure to get enough sleep so that he could keep his wits sharp and his hands precise. Sam had offered to help, but Oliver insisted that he not participate in any strenuous activity. Oliver ran his measurements again and again, constantly checking back with his anatomy textbooks and adjusting fine details of his plan.

Sam had been very hesitant when Oliver suggested his idea.

"Sam, I am going to operate on you."

"But-- have you done surgery before, Oliver?" he had replied.

"Well, no. But! I have watched several demonstrations by the professors in the surgery hall, and I have dedicated years of my life studying for the exact practicalities of this."

Sam had given Oliver a very uncertain look. Oliver went on, "I am going to open your chest and implant a small clockwork motor with an automaton compressor to push your afflicted lung in and out."

Sam had looked at Oliver like he was insane. "That- that couldn't be possible, cou' it?"

"I'll make all the calculations to make sure it works perfectly, I'll overlook nothing-" Oliver had said, his words getting faster, almost bargaining.

"Oliver this is madness--"

"Please."

Sam was startled quiet by the sudden sincere emotion and vulnerability in his friend's voice.

"It's the only way I can think of to save you..." Oliver's voice trailed off and he looked into Sam's eyes, pleading. Sam glanced away, then looked back at Oliver's conviction.

"... Alright"

Oliver released a breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

"But if you kill me faster than the affliction would 'ave, I'm going to cross, I am." Sam smiled and chuckled. Oliver smiled too and turned to his shelf and quickly got to work grabbing books he thought he might need to bring to his workshop. He didn't see the deep worry on Sam's face.

Now Oliver was adding the final tiny gears into the clockwork motor. Each one had to be able to precisely move fluidly with each other; any malfunction could be deadly. Oliver carefully assembled the pieces of the small automaton lever which he would attach to Sam's lung. He had already meticulously measured and cut the small metal pieces, and rounded their edges so they wouldn't puncture anything soft inside a human body. He added a softer rubber piece to the end of the machine where it would attach to the lung to pump it in and out. Finally, he added the winding key.

Oliver tested the tiny machine over and over again to see exactly how long and how effectively it would run. He put it under different pressures and different circumstances to make sure it would still work once it was inside a person.

Finally, Oliver checked his diagrams for the thirtieth time to make sure he knew exactly where to cut and exactly where he was going to put the automaton within the chest cavity.

It was ready. He had made sure everything would work perfectly. It had to.

***

It was very late evening, and the campus was quiet. Oliver led Sam silently across the grounds of the university. The night was cold, and one could see the grass moving slightly in the evening breeze in the moonlight. Oliver led Sam to the surgery hall, constantly glancing around for any insomniac student who might have been taking a late night stroll. Oliver saw a man walking relatively close to where they were, but he was walking in the opposite direction as the surgery hall, so he wouldn't see them when they entered.