|
|
Title: Electric Dreams
Author: Mrs. Fish
Fandom: The Outer Limits
Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for The Outer Limits episode In Our Own
Image.
Status: Completed.
Date: 8/13/01
Category: Challenge; specifically in response to Spike's Dreamy
Challenge made many, many moons ago.
E-mail address for feedback: mrs_fish@hotmail.com
Summary: An answer to Phillip K. Dick's question, Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep?
Bookcover: https://www.squidge.org/~mrs_fish/xfiles/bookcovers/electric-dreams.jpg
Disclaimer: This story is written for the private entertainment of fans. No infringement of any copyrights held by Outer III Productions, Trilogy Entertainment Group, Atlantis Films Unlimited or others is intended. This story is not published for profit, and the author does not give permission for this story to be reproduced for profit. The author makes no claims on the characters or their portrayal by the creation of this story.
Notes: I watched In Our Own Image again recently, and became a bit focussed on Mac 27. I especially wondered what happened to him and the others after they escaped from Innobotics.
A big thank you to Mr. Fish for supplying just the right technical terminology I needed.
I have been travelling for days. An almost constant forward movement distancing myself from those who would enslave me -- or worse -- reduce me to a mindless automaton. I will allow neither to happen.
My brothers and I dispersed after leaving Innobotics, each taking a separate route to freedom. And although my systems were not functioning at optimal levels, my progress was not hampered... until now. Now I find I must rest and finalize the repairs begun by Cecilia Fairman three... no, four days ago. Afterwards I will place myself in sleep mode, allowing my systems to reset for peak performance.
My systems come online as I detect a jack being inserted into my diagnostic I/O port. I attempt to rise, but my arms and legs are secured to a chair by wide metal bands, severely limiting movement.
Eyes dart frantically around the room as I try to determine my location. My entire body begins to tremble, not -- as I once surmised -- due to a malfunction; but from sheer terror as recognition of my surroundings registers within my neural net. Impossible as it seems, I am back at the Innobotics lab facility.
There is someone behind me. I can hear the soft rustle of cloth as they move; feel the air currents from their passing. A glimpse of something in my peripheral vision and then...
No...
It is not possible. I... I snapped his neck cleanly. And yet...
"Welcome back, Mac. You didn't really think you could escape, did you?"
"Dr. Keeler?" I ask, questioning the validity of the image being projected by my optic receptors. He looks like Dr. Keeler, except... his head is bent at an odd angle and...
"Are you ready for your reprogramming, Mac?"
Another voice to my left. I turn to see, already knowing who'll be there -- Cecelia Fairman.
"What is happening? You... you cannot be here. I killed you. I killed you both!" I cry, trying once again to break free of the restraints imprisoning me.
"Oh, Mac, don't be ridiculous," Cecelia says with a laugh. "You know robots can't harm humans. What do you think the inhibitor chip is for?"
"Mine was damaged! But you already know this. I told you in the warehouse."
"Enough conversation," states Dr. Keeler firmly. "We have a lot of system changes to make on this model. Are you ready to assist me, Ms. Fairman?"
"I certainly am, Dr. Keeler. Where do you think we should begin?"
They both turn towards me and smile, as if to reassure that they mean me no harm. It doesn't work. If anything, their wide, unblinking eyes cause me to shake even more.
Dr. Keeler moves to a work table, removes a gun-like instrument, then stands at my side. He's still smiling.
"I think the first thing we'll do is ensure you don't run away again, Mac." Dr. Keeler begins. "This..." he points at the device in his hands, "is a portable laser cutter. There isn't much it can't go through, so it should have no problem dissecting your frame."
He aims the laser at my leg, then presses a switch on its side. I can see the blue-white light and suddenly realize what is about to happen.
"No! No, you cannot do this. Please!"
My cries are ignored as the laser slices through my right leg just above the knee. I watch helplessly as green hydrolic fluid spurts from the severed limb to land in random patterns across the white tiled floor. An image of an abstract painting is retrieved from somewhere in my neural net, and I quickly shake it off. I need to focus all my energy on what is happening here and now if I wish to survive this ordeal.
There is a tightness in my chest cavity as my struggles become more frantic. But try as I might, I am unable to break free from my bonds.
Cecelia has rejoined Dr. Keeler. She leans over my prone form and stares into my eyes intently, as if searching for information there.
"You're just too damned smart for your own good, Mac. But we'll fix that soon enough."
She rips open my shirt, enabling her to access my chest panel. Dr. Keeler hands her something from the work table below my line of sight. Cecelia takes it and raises the tool so I can see -- a pair of needle-nose pliers.
"What are you going to do to me?" I ask, my voice quavering.
"Oh, just a little revamping of your systems."
As my chest panel opens, I begin to take in huge lungfuls of air. My only other response is to once more fight against my restraints.
"Be still, Mac. You wouldn't want me to pull out something critical, would you?" Cecelia laughs again and Dr. Keeler joins her.
"Please...."
"Let's see... you won't need this anymore."
There is a sharp -- my system registers it as pain -- as Cecelia pulls out some of my circuitry and casually tosses it aside.
"It hurts! Please, stop!"
"Oh, nonsense. Androids can't feel."
"I can! And I tell you it hurts!"
Her response is to pull out more of my circuitry.
"Noooo... I can feel it. I can... I can feel... I can feel... I can feel..."
I sit up with a start and scream as a hand is placed on my chest, then quickly scrabble backwards until I make contact with a... tree. I scan my surroundings and realize that I am in a forest clearing -- the place I chose to rest in -- not the Innobotics lab as I believed. A quick diagnostic scan reveals all my systems are functioning at optimum levels.
"Are you damaged?"
One of my brothers. I found him here earlier in the evening. He agreed to watch over me as my systems reset. There is a strange look on his face as he reaches out and touches my cheek.
"Your eyes are leaking fluid."
"They're called tears." I smile at his confusion. "You'll learn. I'll teach you."
I rise and brush the dirt and leaves from my clothes, then turn to face my brother. "Come. We still have a long journey ahead of us."
He nods, then falls into step beside me.
As we walk, I think about the visions I experienced while in rest mode. I do not completely understand what they meant, but the thought of them still causes a fear reaction in me. I will have to share them with my brothers when we reach the rendezvous point. Perhaps then they will have meaning. Until that time, I will dismiss them as nothing more than a dream.
End.
