Relics: Dancing in the rain
Relics.
There wasn't much use for an old, grey haired doctor like me any more. No, someone could go to an auto-system and get a full diagnosis as well as a listing of medications and treatments for a wide range of conditions, from hives to scabies, to the six-tail-flu. The auto-doc had it all, and it was far better at the job than I was. I'd freely admit that, the system was very good at what it did. But it didn't have the touch.
A jab of a needle, a few samples here and there, it took care of everything without a lick of personality. Personality was a needless thing these days, who cared about wasting time just talking about your problems and fears, right? Busy busy busy! And I would cry if I could about such things - no, personality was a dying art in these days. So I was just a relic of the past. And in my small office, overlooking the city and the forest that grew out around the ancient, high walls of this beautiful place, I moldered and waited, sipping at my coffee.
"A patient is arriving, Doctor Smith." Ah, the chime of my assistant, a lovely little program which hung on the side of my door. I set my coffee to the side and stood, straightening out my clothes and pulling back my hair with a quick brush of my fingers, then saw to washing my hands of any germs, or hair follicles that could contaminate my patient. It wasn't professional to get the sick- I left that to real life. The chart scrolled up on the wall as I washed my hands, and I reviewed her files.
My patient entered as I finished the file, and I turned, facing her with a bright smile coming upon my grizzled face - I needed to shave more often. Dismissing the thought, I faced her, she clad in a rather formal business suit, and looking to be rather an attractive female, if I had any right to say so. A soft, blue scaled Alnarian, one whom hailed from one of the newer colonies. The look of her file and her presence told me she was on a business trip. Her long, slinky form was clad in a single piece suit with the formal marks woven onto her left sleeve. She was rather high ranking too.
"And what can I do for you today, young lady?' Young was subjective, of course. She was thirty eight years old - only a shy six years younger than my age, but was just entering into the prime of her life. Young, certainly, by her species standards - they may mature slow, but their minds were rather sharp, and they were cut-throat business dealers. Oh, they could sell water in the ocean, sand in the desert, and ice on the frozen asteroids orbiting Eris.
But they were immensely fair. Never could you worry about them trying to rip you off, and if they gave their word, it was as good as done. Humanity could have a lot to learn for such friends as these.
"Huh. Haven't seen one of you in a while." She stated, and I gave a brighter smile than before, and gave a soft little gestured outwards - directing that she find herself a seat while I brought up the memories of her kind - just to keep things fresh. She smiled at me, though, presenting a nervous appearance, and gestured. Her kind liked to gesture. "Apparently you are keeping yourself in good condition though, ol' grey-hair."
I was rather proud of my hair, it had taken quite a while to get it into such condition, and the grey streak really added a lot of personality to my face, I'd come to believe. Maybe I was just egotistical. Who knew?
"Thank you, young lady. So, what seems to be the problem? Needing a vacation is probably the answer, you Alnarian's tend to work way too hard for anyone's benefit. And most conditions will end up being related to stress because you don't like to slow down. Tell me if I'm wrong."
She cracked into a smile and I knew I was helping win her over from the auto-docs, who had less personality than the parts they were made out of. Pieces of high-priced junk. I would love to just take after them with a wrench and see how they responded to that.
"No, you are correct. I've been working far too hard and could use some loosening up." She murmured back to me and reached out, running a hand along my right arm - a touch I might have found rude if I weren't as forgiving a person as I was. The touch went along the metallic flesh, and she peeled the sleeve up, getting a look. I smiled, patiently, and let her touch, let her explore. It always put the young ones off guard and helped me keep friendly. "This is some well done work. It's out of date, sure, but it's well done. Well installed too."
"Well, thank you. Yeah, after the accident I was given a replacement. The arm is just as good as the rest but, I couldn't find anyone willing to do a skin graft or even color matching. Can you believe it? Ah well, that's not important. And yes, I've had other installation work here, and here." I tapped my chest and the side of my face, where the panel was easy enough to pull down, showing the part of my jaw and the under work. It had been a rather terrible accident that should have, rightly, been fatal. I was just lucky, I guessed. She seemed to lighten up just a little more at my revelations, before drawing back to her serious face.
"Well, I've been suffering from a series of cramps in my abdominal area as of late. I've taken pain killers to try and ignore it, but I've found that it doesn't help after a few hours. I'm a bit worried since it's never been this bad before, in these last eight years." I quietly accessed the information on her species and let it display on the wall behind her, so I would not turn my back and risk offending a patient. A quick scan and keyword search began. "Normally I... find ways to take care of the problem, but this time its just not been letting up. I don't want to end this trip. I can take a vacation in a few weeks, but..."
She let her words trail off, showing a hint of guilt and, perhaps, a little bit of worry about her condition. She was perfectly right to be, of course - anyone who neglected their body was a fool, and should have been hit upside the head. Then again, I think a lot of problems could be solved that way, but I was a doctor, not a wrench!
"Well, you don't seem to have contracted any fungal problems, as you don't display the secondary or territory symptoms. Nor do you give off any undue heat signatures..." I said, the room having given an automatic scan of her as soon as she entered into the door - though, I admitted, there was some things it couldn't do without a more careful touch. "So, I've got to ask, have you been doing anything different lately?"
She looked away, and I did as well, looking out the window overlooking the balcony, and gazing out, across the forest and its beautiful flow of foliage and life. That sent me to wonder. Oh, how I longed to take a vacation in there. But, I couldn't, it wasn't very healthy for people like me - with electronics in them. The dampness would corrode circuits and I'd end up a wreck. I opened the window a bit to let the scent come inside - and though I knew the sensors would hate it, eh, fuck ‘em.
"No, my diet is pretty much the same stuff I've eaten for the last few years, I get enough water and exercise. I travel just as much and spend a month on one planet for vacation, I mean, the only thing that's changed is I haven't had a chance to visit my boyfriend. I mean, I don't even have one anymore. He found someone who wasn't moving around as much and could take care of him better."
I detected pain, and I felt a moment of pity for her, I understood, as I didn't have the time to pursue anything besides work these last few years. Not that I didn't want to - I'd have loved to taste the forbidden fruits that I was denied. Sometimes, it sucked. Or didn't as it may be. I reached out and put my good hand on her shoulder, and gave it a squeeze of sympathy. She looked up, almost a fragile creature, as far as her kind could be, then stepped back.
"I'm sorry to hear that. You seem like a very nice young woman to spend a lifetime with." I could spend a lifetime just looking into those eyes of hers. I'd never felt this way about a patient before, and had to shake it off, reprocessing the information as I got it and giving her another look. Single, beautiful, alien. I smiled a little. "Well, if you give me a little more time, I'm sure I can find a solution. Why don't you tell me about yourself while I look it up?"
She gave me a coy smile that I could only repeat back, and she began to laugh - a look of relaxation, of relief, coming upon her face at my manner. Her hand came up to gently pat my cheek, which I knew to be a rather friendly thing to do to a stranger by her racial standards, and she leaned back against wall, her face framed by the information that scrolled quickly behind her. "Are you coming onto me, doctor?"
"No. That'd be unprofessional of me to do." I murmured back, as the information ran down to a possible solution. I took care to double-check everything and recheck it again as I watched her form seem to undulate just a bit. "But, it seems that the problem is you have been neglecting certain biological urgencies, and that's making your body react in ways it shouldn't."
"Such as?"
I didn't really want to answer that, but was compelled, for the sake of my patient, I was forced to say something about it. I hesitated and looked out the window as the rain started to pelt across the glass, and the field automatically started up to prevent any excess rain from getting in. I looked out, the winds starting to pick up at the promise of a spring storm. I loved those storms. They were so beautiful to watch.
"Well, to be honest, it appears that you've been putting off your cycle for far too long, and your abdomen may be compacting with the excess. Putting off a cycle for one or two years isn't dangerous, but eight years can even be fatal. I can recommend a certain flush of your system to remove any unwanted buildup, but it needs to be taken care of, even if to trick your body into believing it's been fertilized then passing the extra ovum after a few days. I don't recommend it with a male of your species unless you are looking for a large pregnancy and clutch. If you aren't looking forward to that, I can recommend a few routines for this biological subterfuge. Or, there are those who could be hired to perform the necessary work if you desire a more personal touch."
If I had it in me, I would have blushed, and her eyes hardened for a moment, as though she were going to yell and be insulted, but this faded into a look that could almost be called mischief. I stepped back inadvertently and leaned against the counter, a she gave me a long look over. I wasn't sure I liked it. No, I was positively sure that I didn't approve of it at all.
"A personal touch, hum?" She sat forward and ran her hands together, and I swallowed - her approach was setting me a little off guard and I was most definitely not used to this sort of treatment from my patients. She stood and approached a little closer to me. "Doctor, are you supposed to recommend that to your patients?"
"If it benefits them to a degree that helps maintain their over-all physical health, I am permitted and required to recommend the best avenues of long term health and support, even if it should be offensive to my patients. I am a doctor, if what I say offends, I apologies and continue on, Ma'am." I stated calmly, while she gave a softer laugh than before. "I don't apologies, I just treat my patients to the best of my ability."
"Well then. Doctor." She stated, forcefully. "Treat your patient."
I was trapped at an impasse. I prided myself on a personal touch, but never something like this. I treated myself as better than the auto-docs, those who could relieve problems without treating the patient as anything more than a commodity. I looked on her with a look of pain - as I was both violating the oath of the physician, and yet reinforcing it. I looked upon her, then out to the rain - for this room was simply too sterile.
She stepped past me, as apparently she felt the same way, and her hand came to hold mine, as she stood outside, where the wind whipped past and she leaned against the stone balcony, pulling at me, slowly drawing me out into the rain, and the water, and what made me so terrified, and yet so amazed. Her clothing whipped in the wind and soaked in the rain, and I was drawn to look at her, and feel as I had never been able to do so before.
"If I get wet, I'll rust. My circuits are not treated to handle that much across them. They'll fry. I'll be rendered incapable of performing further duties after they blow a few of my circuits. It would lead to a system wide shutdown, if I went out there with you." I said in resistance. But I didn't want to resist. I didn't want to stay in this room any more. I wanted to be free. "Androids don't belong in the rain..."
"I know. It's okay, Smith. It'll be okay." her voice turned softer, as she drew me into the rain, and I felt the first sizzle, the first feeling of the water touching the bare plates on my exposed, synthetic face, and her fingers starting to pull free my shirt, my jacket, and let them flow into the air and wind. I gazed at her, as he stripped me, as she bore me to the wind and rain, and I was made naked before god and heaven. "You know it has to be like this."
And how I relished it, as no machine had right to. How I worshiped at the alter, and could feel, even in that bundle of burnt out circuits deep inside of my core programming, I could feel my soul stir to the sight and feel of the heavens, trapped and let free from outside of that damnable, abominable box. And with her I stood as we watched, felt the lightning strike not a thousand feet away and I relished, sang, and felt my senses expand a hundred thousand times.
We made love, in the rain. I held her against a blanket and I saw to my patient, and I felt her soul, for a brief flicker, touch mine. And in that rain we were one creature, even as I was damned to oblivion for my actions. And as I cried out to the heavens with her - as I satisfied her, I understood she was giving me a chance to not just be a relic. And for a long moment, as I held her, I was set free. Even as the rain touched and got into old ports, and touched against the live lines, as I surged into her, my mind was shattered. Her fingers touched the base of my neck and dug in, and I was more than just a machine, for that moment.
And for a moment, a relic knew etern-
-Alert: Code 11587-
-Memory Core Damaged-
-Attempting Repair-
-Failed-
-Retry-
.........
-Failed-
[AI:run-/wipe/ok/authorization:*************]
-Memory Wipe Attempted-
-Memory Wipe Failed-
Reason Code: 188751: System too heavily damaged, AI corrupted, system damage
-Files Corrupted-
Her face is so beautiful.
Her face is so beautiful.
Her face is so beautiful.
Her face is so beautiful.
Her face is so beautiful.
-Files Corrupted-
I want to spend forever like this.
I want to spend forever like this.
I want to spend forever like this.
I want to spend forever like this.
I want to spend forever like this.
-Files Corrupted-
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
-Files...-
11.13.87 - "Doctor Smith", Android 2851 has been scheduled for permanent decommission after he went on a rant about the new models being put out, as they lack the ‘proper' routines for interaction with the public. Specialist is being brought in tomorrow. She will take over. I'm sorry to see the ol' doc go.
11.14.87- Smith has been deactivated. I've performed over six hundred personal decommissions, and this is the most intimate one I've had. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was alive. It's almost a shame to let go of this relic. He had such feelings. Such a soul to him. I can't get him out of my head.
11.14.87 - Memory core fried, unable to recall records. The model has been discontinued for the last twenty six years. Sixteen years late for wipe. Too much damage has been built up to history and personality recovery due to built up debris. Recommended action: Retirement of parts.
11.15.87 - I've found a small cache of still active memory. It is just thirteen seconds long, during our moment. I...
11.16.87 - I never want to discontinue an android with this much personality again. Consider my positioned resigned, permanently.