“Go away, I’m a monster!” Susana put her hand up in front of her face, covering it. She was in need of repair.
“You’re not a monster,” Floyd took a step towards her.
“Get back, stay away from me.” She took her hand down and showed that her face had a metal frame attached with the ligaments and tendons of a human. “Can’t you see I’m a monster?” Brown tears fell down her face.
“You’re not, let me help you. I can help fix you.” He took another stop forward. “I’m a mechanical engineer. I have never seen anyone quite like you. You have all of your tendons and ligaments. You’re eyes are real, but your skeleton is metal. You’re a…”
“Freak and a monster.”
“No you’re a miracle.” He got close to her. “We are going to have to reconstruct the silicone you wear as your skin. I know a way to make it more durable and to last longer.”
She put up her left arm. “Think you can do something about this.” She took a deep breath. Her arm was dangling and beat up. The frame was barely salvageable; it would take a gentle and stable hand to take care of this. “I can’t do this by myself, but it’s just me.”
“I can help.”
“You must know that you can’t hurt me, but I don’t need a silicone skin made. You must know about my gift, it will probably scare of confuse you.”
“What gift?”
“Watch…” She took her right hand and pulled at her broken arm. She destroyed what was left of her humanness.
“Don’t do that…you’ll ruin your…” Just then Floyd watched as the tendons and ligaments started to regenerate, even her skin had started to regenerate.
“You see I don’t need you to make a silicone skin. I just need to be able to upgrade my skeleton. It will take a lot of work.” The skin on her face had grown back. He hadn’t paid much attention to her face while he stared at her arm. Her brown face and her bright smile shone as she saw the shock on his face. “You see.”
Floyd nodded. He didn’t know what to say.
“If we work on the skeleton together it will help. It can’t take any more of the normal wear and tear a human endures any more. My dad thought it would last forever, but he was wrong about that.”
“Your dad,” Floyd looked at her puzzled.
“Yeah this is his lab. He did all kinds of experiments; made all kinds of inventions. He just didn’t think he would ever have to work on his own daughter. This is Kingston Labs.”
“I know of this place. My dad bought a lot of his inventions. He made the world a better place.”
“Yes he did. He made me better, but he was always afraid of how others treated me.”
“What happened? Have you always been this way?”
“No…that’s a long story. I think we should talk about that later. First let’s look at my design for my skeleton.” She got up slowly, like an old woman and walked to the table to her right. She pulled out a blueprint that showed a perfectly designed skeleton that she wanted for herself. “You see the metal dad used is ok, but it deteriorates over time. Not just to wear and tear, but it doesn’t hold up well with the normal human body functions. The best metal for my body would be rotoimoinium. I’ve heard it’s very malleable and can be manipulated even once it has cooled. I would need a metal like that so I would be able add joints and make sure it stays in place.It’s also very durable and will last a long time. I’m sure you see by the way I walk, I appear to be older than I am.”
“Yes rotoimoinium can take a lot of damage, but it’s hard to get it to it’s liquid state. Once you melt it, it’s easy to manipulate and mold, especially if you do what you need within a few hours.”
“True, that’s why I have the molds prepared. I also know it uses a lot of heat, to get it to it’s liquid state. My father had good intentions, but even he had to upgrade me every so often.” She smiled and then turned towards Floyd.
“You’re as brilliant as your father.” He smiled and looked at the blueprints. The design was more aerodynamic and sleeker. “Maybe you could incorporate some weapons for protection?”
“That’s what an exoskeleton is for. Something I could take off and put on when I wanted.” She reached in the drawer and pulled out another set of designs.
Floyd looked at the design; the exoskeleton itself would protect her body from any hits or blows. It also had weapons placed strategically around in case she had to use it. The most intriguing element was the jet powered boots it had. She would be able to fly out of danger if need be.
“I actually have a prototype of the suite made over there in the corner.” She pointed her hand in the direct of the wall.
“Wow.” Hanging on a rack was a huge bulky suit. It was painted a bright green color. He looked at how the shoulders were. They were fitted with holes that were made to hold two bazookas. The jointing was exquisite. She had a real skill in making things. Her father had skills, but from looking at this, it made you wonder who the real robotic genius was. Floyd got closer and moved the arm slightly. It was made to work with her body. Even the legs were designed to go over her and move with her. The boots didn’t have jets in them, but there were holes ready to place them in. “Brilliant.”
“Thanks.” She smiled and blushed and slowly made her way to the suit. “I figure the exoskeleton really isn’t that important. I can make it out of scrap metal, since more than likely it’s going to get beat up. I want to make it a little sleeker, but for now since my joints won’t work properly, I will have to focus on my skeleton. I need to be delicate with the small pieces and I can’t when my arm decides to do a dance on its own.”
“Right,” Floyd stared at the suit and then to her. “You are a genius. Let’s get working on your skeleton. Where are your molds?”
“Back here,” she pointed and walked to a table where there were molds lay out on a table. There was even one for her skull and her chest cavity.
“You mean you’re metal from head to toe?” Floyd stared at her astonished.
“Yes.” She knocked on her forehead and then her chest. “My nickname used to be…well I’m sure you know.” Her eyes glazed for a moment and then she turned and looked down. “Yes my entire skeleton. You see you have to do it a certain way. My father taught me how. This is not my first skeleton I have had, but I hope with this new one it will be my last.” She smiled.
“Your mother, how does she feel about this?”
“I never knew my mother. My dad said she was an angel who gave me a special gift. I think he was just a bit daft on that part, and didn’t want me to know that she left us. The story about her being an angel is actually a better story than her just leaving.”
Floyd smiled weakly and then looked back down at the molds. “Now all we need is the rotoimoinium and we’ll be on our way to a new skeleton for you.”
“Of course you know I’m well prepared for that. I actually found a mine and have some on the ready. All we need to do is build an apparatus that will make it easy for us to get it to its hot temperature, so we can mold it. I think we should do the joints first since they are what make it move. We would be able to manipulate it again if we have to.”
Floyd smiled she was brilliant and she was wonderful. He wanted to know more about her, but first they had to plan. “I think I could help you with that apparatus. It would almost be like a cauldron, but we would have to be able to keep it contained for long periods of time, that way it wouldn’t harden before time, but we wouldn’t waste it. I’m going to have to sit down and draw this out.”
“Ok.” She watched as he rubbed his head. She handed him a sheet of paper and a pencil. She watched as he started write and think. This was the beginning of a new partnership.