The cold, surface metal surface was the first thing I could feel under my back when I started breathing. I look left and right scanning the wooden door, the plaster walls surrounding the room, one plexiglass window, paint chipping in random corners.
I seem to be in an ordinary human bedroom. But now what do I do? There was nothing to rush my mind, no thoughts worth thinking except for the obvious question of 'where am I?'. There was hardly even an urge to escape. Yet my body suddenly tensed, sensors going off in my eyes with the warning of an unidentified carbon lifeform approaching. I brace myself just in time to see the door swing open.
A woman walks in.
I recognize this face.
A quick scan told me that she had an African bloodline, a slight visual impairment, and improper footing since she almost tripped and dropped the tray she was carrying when we made eye contact.
"Whoops. That could've been bad." she laughs nervously, walking over and setting the tray on the nightstand beside me. I continued scanning her, trying to line the pieces together. Then suddenly I remember clearly.
"Mother?"Her jaw drops at the title and she quickly shook her head in a fit of laughter. "No, no JK. I'm not your mother." I could only raise my eyebrow at her.
"You are not my creator?"
"No. I mean...Yes! I am. But don't call me your mother, it's weird." she laughs again.
Was there a joke being shared here? If so, then I don't understand it. She pulls a pen and notepad from her labcoat, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Just call me Naomi."
"But you are my creator."
"Yes, but call me by my name."
"But as my superior, is it not rude to refer to you by your-"
"J. K...." she says in a nearly threatening tone.
It wasn't a command but it managed to shut me up instantly.
"My apologies, Naomi."
She lets out a sigh and smiles, jotting something down in her notepad before tucking the pen between her ear and her wild curls.
"Don't be sorry, I have a lot to teach you."
I didn't know how to respond to that. Instead I chose silence.
"I brought you some food, JK,"
Food? My audio device must have already been malfunctioning.
"Food?"She gestured to the tray on the nightstand and I whip my head around to see what she meant. It had a platter containing one slice of toast and a cup of orange juice placed neatly beside it.
"Go on." she says with a glint in her eyes. I reach for the toast first, analyzing it before taking a small bite and chewing. Meanwhile Naomi is pulling the pen from behind her ear again and writing something else in the notepad.
"How does it taste?" she asks, clearly anticipating my reaction. Yet how do I react to this? I knew how it tasted yet I could not find the words.
"It tastes,"
"Good? Bad?"
"....It tastes,"She starts mumbling to herself, jotting down more notes. Saying something along the lines of "I made a mistake in the wiring of his artificial tastebuds." but I knew they worked just fine. All I did was stare at the indentation where I had bit from the toast.
Something didn't feel right.
I knew from the moment I woke up that something about my anatomy wasn't ordinary. I knew I wasn't much like her, a human. But if so then why do I feel so....sentient?
"Um, Naomi. Excuse me for asking,"
She stops her writing to focus on me again.
"What am I?"
Her eyes light up instantly and she takes my mechanical hand into hers. "Well, if we're being practical. You're half human, and half robot. Something never accomplished by anyone. Which makes you very special, JK."That would explain the enhanced hearing, or the mechanical arm, or the skin covering only half of my exterior. Yet it still felt very off-putting. The emptiness in my head had remained. Naomi stands up and cups my face with her warm hands.
"But forget about all of that. You are you. That's it. That's all you'll ever need to be,"
I knew of the dynamic between humans and robots. That was something I had been programmed to know. A concept I understood too well.
"Am I...bad?" I ask her. She chuckles and gazes at me for a second. Then pulls the palm of my hand flat against the center of her collarbone."Do you feel that?"
"Your heart rate is moving faster than average, Naomi." I point out.
"Well, that's because you've made me happy," she responds. "I don't think that's bad at all, JK."That statement was enough to soothe me for now. It would've been upsetting to hear that I'd disappointed my creator already. There was a tingle in my chest long after the statement was said, meanwhile she had went around the room adjusting things. The examination table I sat charging on, the IVs, a few computers on the other side of the room. She returns to me wiping her hands on her lab coat.
"Alright, JK. Can you stand for me?"I did as I was told automatically. She looked up at me with the same glint in her eyes, shaking her head as she mumbled "I knew I shouldn't have let Jin do the legs,".
She wouldn't stop looking at me and I soon grew concerned with her mental state."Naomi, is there something wrong with me?"
Once again she laughs despite the fact that I had not said a joke.
"Not at all. It's just that we've worked so hard building you. I think it's safe to say we nearly gave up."
"But you didn't. For that I feel..."I trailed off realizing my choice of words.
"You feel?" She reiterates with her eyebrows raised. I scan my own system searching for what to say.
"I feel...nice." There was no clearer word for it, and I look down at her in gratitude.
She relaxed, satisfied with my claim. A breath of relief passes her lips as she turns to leave. "Finish eating then meet me downstairs. There are clothes in that box for you. I hope you like Nike techs." she smiles before disappearing behind the door.The moment she left I finally had a thought all on my own. I thought about what might lay beyond that door, what world was awaiting me outside of this singular room. My system defines this as 'excitement'? Either way, I want to experience it all. This pushed me to rush into the clothes my creator mentioned earlier without another second passing.
Something about me, and not the heated battery in my cortex, was warming up.

YOU ARE READING
chrome | j.jk
FanfictionA cyborg-in-training, JK6991, learns lessons about humanity, love, and sacrifice with the help of others. Rewriting of original "Come Back Home" by @theartofthesun & @cosmicsamurai in 2016