The Man In The Machine Page 10

  "I don't know if I'm making the right choice," Blake whispered, and it was the most vulnerable she'd sounded in a long, long time. "But Emma is gone, and I've decided I'm not going back for her. So even if Octavia and I don't become a thing… At least there's one more happy person in the world."

  She let go of Willow and smiled warmly.

  "Now go out there and show those kids how awesome you are." She said, patting her on the shoulder.

  Willow looked to her, and her gaze softened. "Do whatever you think is right. I'll see you guys tonight. When Aisling gets up, tell her that she can just have some cereal for breakfast." She walked over to the driver's side of the car and opened the door. "Text me if you need anything, and God help you if you break anything in my lab." She pointed an accusing finger at Blake, and then got into the car to wait for Nych.

  It would certainly be an eventful day, but… Hopefully a lot better than the day prior had been.

  Nych got in the car not long after Willow, and eventually, they were off to see the kids.

  Blake walked back into the house and found Octavia on the couch. She sat down next to her and leaned back, reclining against the arm of the sofa while stretching her legs across the furniture.

  "So." She said, still chewing that same gum. How the hell had she kept it while drinking coffee?

  "I've got a present for you."

  "You do?" Octavia raised an eyebrow, looking down at her with those beautiful ocean blue eyes. "I'm so flattered. You must like me or something."

  She poked her stomach, and cocked her head to the side. "What is it then? A puppy? A necklace? Ooh, a kiss?" She raised her eyebrows with a sly smirk and stuck her tongue out at Blake cheekily. "Come on. Show me."

  She was nowhere close to what it actually was, but oh well.

  In that moment, Blake was kind of tempted to kiss her.

  The urge went away, however, when thoughts of Emma came flooding back. She quickly got up and beckoned for her to follow, knowing full-well that it would be hilarious to watch her face after this.

  "Come on. It's in the basement."

  She led Octavia down into the lab, which Blake had figured out the key-code to, and led her over to the gold machine.

  "Do you know what this is?"

  Octavia examined the machine in front of her, and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Nope. No idea."

  She looked around the laboratory, and then back towards Blake. "To be fair, I don't know what the vast majority of this stuff is." She shrugged, flicking her head to get her hair out of her face. "Willow is like, a crazy fucking genius. It's almost scary. She has so much shit down here it's kinda hard to keep up with." Willow was hard to keep up with in general. The woman would go down in history.

  Blake chuckled. She knew Octavia's reaction would be the same as her own, and every other person who had ever witnessed the machine at work. After all, turning lead into gold was just a myth, right?

  Not with Willow. Or, to be fair, not with Nych. He was the one who'd actually built the machine.

  "Well, this is a very special contraption." Blake said, pulling a box out from under the table and opening it. "This is a solid chunk of lead." She pointed to the decent-sized rock in the box.

  "Now can you guess what this machine does?"

  "Uhhh. No?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Does it give you lead poisoning?"

  She looked up at Blake, amusement dancing in her eyes. "I think you're just going to have to show me, Medea. I don't know what kind of sciency bullshit you're planning." She shrugged her shoulders, reaching over to poke Blake's cheek.

  Blake sighed and placed the chunk of lead in the machine. She then closed the top, pressed a few buttons, and stepped back.

  "Let's just say… My friends are alchemists."

  In that moment, lasers began piercing the lead in every possible position, tearing the molecules apart as it rearranged them into the desired formations. Once it was finished, there were two chunks of material instead of one.

  One was a very small piece of lithium.

  The other… Solid gold.

  Octavia watched the machine work its magic, her eyes alight with wonder. When she looked at the two metals remaining inside of the machine, well…

  To say she was amazed would be an understatement.

  "Holy fuck, what?" She gaped, and after a second fumbled the machine open to look down at the two metals inside. "What the fuck?" She hesitated, and then reached inside to touch them, as she could hardly believe what her eyes were showing her. She had just turned lead into gold. Well, lithium too, but that wasn't nearly as exciting and as valuable as gold was. It was something that shouldn't have even been possible.

  Blake took the gold from the machine with practiced ease, tossing it up into the air catching it four or five times.

  "It's got about the weight of a baseball. What do you think a chunk of gold like this is worth? I'd say it would take care of rent, housing, food, hell, everything for the next little while."

  She then, all of a sudden, tossed it at Octavia, giving her no choice but to catch it.

  "So have fun with it. It's yours."

  Octavia squeaked and caught the chunk of metal, looking down at it in shock and then looking back up at Blake in poorly concealed surprise. "You- I-"

  She looked back down at the piece of gold, and furrowed her brows. It had to be extremely valuable, no doubt. It was hard to say just how much it was worth, but it would certainly help her out for the next few months, and possibly pay off any fines she got for lighting up her bootleg fireworks. She curled her fingers around the metal, and looked back up at Blake. "… Are you serious?" She asked after a moment. "This is… It's so much." She pursed her lips. "You've already done so much for me, I…"

  Blake chuckled, shaking her head and then looking back up at Octavia. "You were in the right place at the right time. You heard about my story in a jail cell, and I'm pretty sure that means we're connected. Sorry about that."

  She walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes.

  "I can see how much you worry about money. With that, at least you won't have to for a while."

  She smiled warmly, releasing her and turning. "Now we should get out of here. Willow will have my head if we break anything."

  "I… Yeah." Octavia nodded, looking down at the gold before turning to follow her.

  "… You should come hang out with me and my friends sometime." She said after a moment, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "I blow things up a lot, but I promise I won't get caught anymore." She winked, tilting her head to the side. "Usually we just hang out at my apartment and get drunk and play video games. It's fun." She shrugged her shoulders, walking a little quicker so they could walk in line with each other.

  A little smile touched at Blake’s lips, though she hid it well. She’d have to remember that offer.

  Future Leaders

  Willow pulled into the parking lot of the hospital thirteen minutes before she was supposed to arrive, and Nych laughed lightly.

  "See? Told you that you wouldn't be late. And you were all worried, blaming me for this." He opened his door, walking to the back so that he could help her carry some of the prostheses.

  "Just pile them into my arms, I can probably carry them all. You know, robot here and everything."

  He'd definitely been getting more comfortable with that fact.

  "Oh, whatever. If you hadn’t made me stop to gaze at scenery, I wouldn’t have had to speed." Willow scoffed, getting out of the car and walking around to the back. "Hold on. I think I have a duffel bag under the seats." She furrowed her brows, opening the back door and fiddling with a mechanism that let her take the cushion off the back seats. "Aha!" She perked up, pulling out the large black bag. "Here. Let’s pile it all in here." She closed the door and started to carefully insert all of the prostheses into the bag.

  There were arms, legs, and some that were just feet, hands, and fingers. She al
so grabbed a large binder and a fabric tape measure.

  "Okay." She zipped up the duffel bag and grinned. "You sure you want to carry it?"

  Nych rolled his eyes, throwing the bag over his shoulder like it was nothing. It truly didn't feel like it weighed that much, though he knew it was probably at least sixty or seventy pounds.

  His robotic arms came in handy.

  "How many kids are we seeing today?" He asked as they walked towards the doors of the hospital. The sun was just barely cresting over the tops of the trees, and it left traces of oranges, reds, and purples in the sky.

  Nych cherished the sunrise. He had missed them for fifteen years.

  "Quite a few. At least ten." Willow glanced towards Nych. "That's only counting the children I have limbs for already. I'm going to be seeing others and taking their measurements so I can work on prostheses for them, too." She locked her car behind herself and held her binder in her arms. "That's what this is for." She gestured down to the huge book in her arms. "Really, I just visit whoever needs me. I don't charge anyone at the children's hospital."

  Why would she? She was paid enough by the hospitals in the surrounding area. And she could always use the alchemy machine if she was short on cash.

  Really, it came as no surprise. Willow was a big sweetheart, she would work day in and day out to make sure these kids were healthy.

  Nych smiled to himself, nodding. It was strange to see Willow in such a different light; she was different from the party girl he'd fallen in love with. But he'd fallen in love with this side of that girl, and now that it made up the entirety of her personality…

  He loved her even more.

  "You're amazing, you know that?" He asked, bumping lightly into her shoulder as they walked through the doors. "These kids are lucky to have you."

  And they were. They wouldn't get much help without her.

  Willow's face tinted, and she rolled her eyes as she shook her head bashfully. "Oh… I wouldn't say that. I'm just doing my job." She looked around the lobby of the hospital and waved to the receptionist with a smile, walking down one of the brightly painted hallways. "So I'm thinking we can visit all the kids that I have supplies for, take a quick break to get lunch, and then visit the rest. Sound good?"

  She walked up to an elevator and pressed the button to go up a floor as she waited patiently.

  It would be a busy day, but very fulfilling.

  Nych nodded his head, taking the duffel bag down from his shoulder so he could get into the elevator without hitting it against the frame. He held it with ease in one hand, where most people would be struggling with two.

  "Know the kids' names by heart yet? I'd bet a chunk of gold that you do." He said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.

  He was in a very good mood.

  They were doing a service for the world, and without charging for it. It was a beautiful thing.

  Willow snorted and rolled her eyes. "Of course I know the names of my clients." She stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. "I work closely with their families to make sure they have everything they want." She waited patiently as the elevator went up a couple floors, and then stepped out when it let out a pleasant ding and the doors opened. She held an arm across the doors until Nych exited, and then turned towards the colorful hospital wing.

  "Okay. This way." She walked down the hall, a slight skip in her step, and came up to a door that had zebras painted onto it. She knocked, and then opened the door. "Lucy?"

  "Hi!" A blonde-haired girl turned her head towards the door. "I'm here!"

  A thin, slightly-balding man sat in the chair next to the bed, and it was evident that he had been worrying. As soon as Willow opened the door, the worry seemed to lessen, and he smiled a smile that had obviously been restricted for a good while.

  "Hello, doctor." He said, holding a hand out to her. "You remember me, Mr. Malkovitch? My wife is who you usually meet with, but she couldn't get off work today. Bills are tight as-is, but she really wanted to come."

  He seemed stressed, and it was obvious that he was worried about something.

  "So, uh… How much is this gonna cost us?"

  "Don't worry about the cost." Willow held her hand out to shake his, and tilted her head to the side with a friendly smile. "I don't charge any patients who attend this hospital. I make enough money through my partnerships with the hospitals in the area. I have a daughter myself, I can't imagine how stressful this has been on you and your family." She set her things down on a nearby table and turned back to Lucy with a grin. "You excited?"

  "Yeah!" The girl had no arms from her elbows down, and seemed to be around eight years old. There was a laptop on the end of her bed, and she was watching TV on it. "Are they ready?"

  "They are." Willow nodded. "Nych, come bring the duffel bag over."

  The man seemed wary at first, but eventually, Willow's words began to dawn on him. She really wasn't going to charge for this, even though it was probably extremely expensive equipment.

  Tears welled up as he fell to his knees next to his daughter's bed, whispering words of thanks to whatever God he believed in. Then, he stood, and threw his slightly stubby arms around Willow.

  "Thank you, doctor… This makes life so much easier."

  Nych smiled, laying the duffel bag on the foot of the bed and opening it. No doubt, Willow probably got hugs like this all the time.

  Willow blinked, before she smiled and gave the man a gentle hug back. "You're welcome. It's my pleasure, really." She gently patted his back, and after a moment pulled away. "I quite enjoy using my tech for things like this, anyways. If it's going to go towards anything, it should be this."

  "Woah!" Lucy sat forward, looking towards the bag with sparkling eyes. "There's so many!" She leaned forwards, fell forward with a thump, and then picked herself up with a big grin. "Dad, look at how many there are! You could make a whole robot out of those!"

  Willow looked towards her and laughed. "You could. Here. Let me give you yours." She walked over to the bag, carefully rooting through it and pulling out two robotic arms.

  Nych smiled, looking to the man. "You're gonna wanna back up, sir. You'll wanna see all of this."

  Then man scurried backwards, watching Willow and his daughter. After the accident… Everything had seemed to spiral downwards. Things had gotten worse and worse, and eventually he and his wife had given up all hope. Hospital bills were killing them, and his daughter… She couldn't play with the other kids like she used to.

  Then Willow came along.

  This would be the day that changed their lives.

  "Alright." She sat down on the edge of the bed beside Lucy. "So I'm going to show the both of you how this works, and if you have any questions later on, you can ask me." She looked up at them and picked up one of the arms. "So first off, these are both waterproof and removable. You'll be able to swim and shower while wearing these." She looked towards Lucy, who nodded eagerly. "So watch carefully."

  She opened a panel at the end of the arm and reached for the girl's right stump. She carefully slotted the arm onto what remained and fastened it on.

  "… I can't move it." Lucy frowned.

  "That's because it's not fully ready yet." Willow smiled at her. "You see this?" She pointed to the panel that was open. "This lets you access the nub of your arm. So what I'm going to do…" She reached inside and pulled out a small pad connected to a wire. "Is stick this to the skin. Doesn't matter where, so long as it's on the end of the nub." She looked up at the girl's father. "There's six of them total, and they pick up all the signals that your brain would normally send down to your arm to make it move." She carefully placed each adhesive pad on the girl's flesh, and then closed the panel. "Okay. Now it's ready."

  Lucy looked to the arm with sparkling eyes. "What do I do now?"

  "I want you to try moving each one of your fingers. It'll be kinda weird at first, and a little slow, but after about a day it should function completely as normal. And if it doesn't, call me and I'll
make some adjustments." Willow tucked her hair behind her ears. "Why don't you point at your dad?"

  Lucy nodded, brows furrowed slightly in determination. She slowly curled all the fingers inwards except for her pointer finger, and lifted her arm to point at her father with a big grin. "Look! It's working!"

  Mr. Malkovitch, well… He wasn't prepared for anything like this. He told himself that he was, he told himself that this was the future and that prostheses like these were possible, but… Deep in his heart, he hadn't truly believed it.

  Now, looking at them work perfectly as normal…

  He burst into tears.

  "Oh, honey…" He said, clasping onto the hand and holding it firmly. The smile on his face was so pure, so full of happiness, that it made Nych smile as well.

  Her small metallic fingers curled around her father’s and she grinned up at him, her eyes tearing up as well. She was so happy to have arms back, to be able to do everything that all her friends did, and to not be a hindrance on the others around her. "Thank you." She sniffled, looking up at Willow. "It works really well."

  Willow's face softened with a warm smile. "You're welcome. Here, I'll put the other one on for you." She picked up the arm and carefully fastened it to the other stump, before pulling her hands away and resting them on her lap. "So, like I said. If you run into any problems with them, don't hesitate to call me. I'm more than happy to fix or tweak anything to suit your family's needs." She reached for the duffel bag again and pulled out two more arms.

  "… These should work through when she's a teenager and into adulthood. The clasps and length is adjustable to some extent, and they function the exact same as the ones she has now." She laid them down on the bed, and looked up at her father with a smile. "You can bring those home with you, and switch over when these ones become too small. Again, if they need tweaking, don't hesitate to call me."

  Her father looked to Willow with huge eyes, full of anything but understanding. "How… How can you afford to be so generous? You're simply… Giving us four of these high-tech, amazing prostheses? How do you stay in the business if you give away such amazing equipment?"