Cyborg

Chapter 7. The Cyborg

His name was Jeff Leong. He opened his eyes in darkness and wondered where he was. At least he was alive, and not in pain.

He seemed to be lying on his back, comfortably. Pale, colored lights crossed his vision from his left, suggesting monitor readouts. He supposed they were medical equipment of some kind, and turned his head to the left, expecting it to involve considerable effort and discomfort. Instead, he moved easily and comfortably, though he found wires, now, under his cheek, that connected his head to the equipment by his side.

Dim light seemed to have come on in the room. He could see outlines in the room around him, and of course the lit displays of the monitors. The readouts meant nothing to him, though, so he straightened his head again.

He felt fine. That hardly made any sense.

Since he had only been a passenger on the spaceship Kimbriel, he did not have a clear understanding of the disaster. The captain had spoken over the intercom, saying that a mechanical problem had developed, and that they had left Aurora too far behind to return safely. The navigator had located a habitable planet, however, and they would attempt an emergency stop in a lifepod.

At the time, Jeff had been excited. He had had faith in the crew and had actually looked forward to an unscheduled adventure on a planet he had never seen. He assumed that was where he was now.

The door at the far end of the room opened and a robot entered. Full light came on in the room, and Jeff saw that his visitor was a blue-skinned robot of a specific type that he did not recognize. The robot walked to the monitors and studied each one carefully.

“Where am I?” Jeff asked. His voice sounded a little odd, but he had no trouble speaking.

“You are in Human Experimental Facility I, Room 6, in Robot City,” said the robot.

“Robot City? On what planet?”

“The planet is also called Robot City,”

“Who are you?”

“I am Surgeon Experimental I.”

“Uh, can I see my doctor?”

“I am your doctor, along with Human Medical Research 1.”

“Is he a robot, too? From his name, I suppose-”

“Yes. What is your name?”

“I’m Jeff Leong.”

“Are you still in harm?”

“Huh?”

“How…are you? How do you feel?”

“Oh. I feel pretty good, actually. My voice sounds kind of strange, though, doesn’t it?”

“It has changed. Please tell me the events leading to your arrival here.”

“Our ship developed a mechanical emergency of some kind. We came here for an emergency landing, but we didn’t make a very good job of it. I remember the captain warning us that it would be a hard impact.”

“What other events led to your landing?”

“What other events? I don’t know any other events. I was just a passenger. Look, where’s everybody else?”

“I must inform you that you are the only survivor.”

Jeff stared up at the ceiling, filled with many emotions. He had not expected that answer, yet he was not surprised. All the crew and passengers had been killed because of an accidentyet, he had somehow survived. It hadn’t really sunk in yet. If anything, he felt more guilt than sorrow.

“Were you traveling with family or friends?”

“No,” he murmured softly. ‘.No, I didn’t know anybody on board.”

“What was your destination?”

“Mine, personally? Well, I was leaving home for college. I’m from Aurora.”

“You were not coming to Robot City?”

“Not deliberately, no. Not until the ship malfunction.” Jeff looked up at him. “Do you know what happened to it?”

“The mother ship exploded outside the atmosphere. The lifepod you were riding with the other passengers crashed in its attempt to land.”

“I guess I lucked out, huh? I feel okay.”

“I have summoned Research 1, the other member of the Human Experimental Team. We shall explain together. Perhaps you did luck out, as you put it. You say you feel well?”

“Yeah. Can I get up?”

“Have you observed yourself?”

“No…why, was I scarred or something?” Jeff put a hand to his face, and felt a hard, unfamiliar surface. “Am I in a mask? Bandages or something?”

Surgeon 1 paused as another robot entered the room. “This is Human Medical Research 1. Our patient is named Jeff Leong.”

“Hi,” Jeff said cautiously.

“Hi,” said Research 1, in exactly the same tone. “Surgeon 1, how do the monitors read?”

“They indicate, taken together, an excellent condition.” Surgeon 1 walked up and looked down at Jeff, who felt cowed by the unequal numbers and strange appearances. He would have preferred a human doctor.

“Do you feel excellent?” Surgeon 1 asked.

“Well, yeah, but I feel all mummified or something. What happened to me?”

Research 1 moved to the foot of the bed and looked at him straight on. “Since the experiment has succeeded, I believe we can tell you with a minimum of shock. You may sit up.”

“Uh, okay.” Jeff expected to be helped, as solicitous doctors and nurses tended to do, but the robots remained where they were. He sat up, quite easily, watching Research 1’s careful study of the monitors. Then he looked down and saw the blue-skinned texture of his own legs.

At first, he simply didn’t understand. He wondered why his legs were encased in this stuff. When he reached out to touch one of his legs, he saw his hand and arm for the first time, made of the same unfamiliar blue substance. Then, suddenly understanding what had happened, he looked at his other robotic arm and then down at his chest. In growing panic, he clapped his blue hands against his torso and then ran them across the new contours of his face.

“The monitors read properly,” said Research 1. “All evidence so far indicates a successful procedure. You are, of course, emotionally agitated. This reaction is also occurring normally.”

Jeff collapsed back on the bed. The monitor lights jumped as they noted the impact. “I’m a robot. I can’t believe this. I’m a robot. “

“We wish you to understand something,” said Surgeon 1. “The First Law required this development, under the circumstances of our finding you.”

“What? How? How could the First Law require this? You don’t think this has harmed me? I’m a person, not a robot!” Jeff started to sit up again, but really didn’t feel like rising. He was not tired, or physically weak, but he didn’t want to move, as though he might somehow injure himself in this alien body.

“You were injured when we found you,” said Research 1. “We do not have knowledge here of human thoracic and abdominal organs. Our medical library is inconsistent and uneven. However, we had some experimental information regarding the frontier of knowledge about the human nervous system. Since we could not allow you to come to further harm if we could prevent it, we were forced to use our experimental knowledge in preserving you as a living entity. “ #

“I’m not sure I follow you,” Jeff whispered. “Say it out straight, will you?”

“We have transplanted your brain into one of our humanoid robot bodies because we could not repair yours.”

Jeff closed his eyes and lay still for a moment. When he opened them, he stared morosely at Research 1. “What happened to my body?”

“It has been frozen. We believe, with our limited information, that it is actually not injured beyond repair. We do not, however, know how to fix it. Do you have medical knowledge that could assist us in repairing your body?”

“Me? I’m just a kid on his way to college-a teenager. I don’t know anything about that. At least, not on the level you would need.”

“We assembled this team specifically for this project,” said Surgeon 1. “We are not aware of other successful transplants of the same type.”

“Great,” Jeff said sarcastically. “I guess.”

“You do not seemed pleased with this success,” observed Surgeon 1. “Do you disbelieve that this is the least harm to you that we could arrange under the circumstances?”

“No…no, I don’t disbelieve you. I just…don’t want to be a robot!” He sat up this time and yanked the monitor wires free of himself. “Don’t you get it? I’m not me anymore! I’m not Jeff Leong.”

The robots made no move.

“That is not entirely true,” said Research 1. “Your identity resides in your brain. Unless the trauma of the crash caused you to lose some memory, your identity is unchanged.”

“But I’m not me -Imean, on the outside. I don’t look like this.” He held up his hands, open, and shook them at the robots.

“In many ways,” said Surgeon 1, “your new robot body is more efficient than your human body. It can be repaired virtually forever, provided your brain is undamaged. Only your brain will age, and it will receive the optimum support in nutrition and intrabody care. You are stronger, and your sensors are much more efficient than your former sense organs.”

“Some consolation. How long do I have to stay here?”

“Your robot body is in fine condition. You are not confined to bed,” said Surgeon 1. “Some simple motor tests will tell us whether all the connections from your brain to the body are correct. Please stand.”

Jeff cautiously swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up. “No problem so far.”

“Place your heels together, angle your feet away from each other, and tilt your head back. Now extend your arms out straight. One at a time, touch your hands to your nose.”

Jeff complied.

“Very well,” said Surgeon 1. “Research 1?”

“According to the monitors, the robot body is functioning properly. We will need more space for my tests of gross motor skills. I suggest we introduce him to the exterior of this building.”

Jeff walked out of the room with them and down a hallway, feeling not clumsy, exactly, but just a little too tall and too heavy. Outside, he was nearly blinded at first, but adjusted immediately. Surgeon 1 saw him flinch.

“Your eyes see a wider range of the spectrum than your human eyes did. The same will be true of your other sensors. What you just experienced was an automatic dimming of your robot eyes to allow you to see comfortably. You did just the opposite when you woke up in near darkness a little while ago.”

“Excellent,” said Research 1. “You are responding automatically, then. I have only a few more tests.”

“Before we do that,” said Jeff, “I just thought of something. What am I going to do?”

“Whatever you wish,” said Research 1. “We have no requirements, other than those imposed on us by the Laws and by our programming. That involves our society here, not you.”

“But…what about college? I can’t go like this…They won’t even know who I am! I don’t look like Jeff Leong any more-I don’t have retinal prints, fingerprints, any kind of identifying mark.”

“If your brain waves are on record anywhere, they will serve,” said Surgeon 1. “However, we do not have any spacecraft available for you, anyway.”

Jeff whirled on him. “You mean I’m stuck here?”

“We do not have spacecraft available,” Research 1 affirmed.

“But…wait a minute! I can’t stay here!”

“We have no hold on you,” said Research 1. “If we ever develop the means to repair your human body and reverse the transplant, we will do so. Should spacecraft become available, travel will also be open to you.”

“But I can’t stay here. There’s nothing to do here!”

“Please remain calm. After testing your gross motor skills, I will introduce you to the robot in charge of assigning tasks in Robot City. Perhaps you will find an activity that you will enjoy.”

“Hey, now wait a minute.” Jeff backed away from Research 1, and found the other two robots grasping his arms. “Hey!” He twisted, stepped sideways, and yanked his arms free. “Lemme alone.”

“We must conduct more tests to measure your welfare,” said Research 1.

“Look, I just-let go!” Jeff pulled his arm away from Surgeon 1 again. “Listen to me! I’m human-I’m telling you to leave me alone. Second Law, remember?” he started walking backward, awkwardly on his new legs, keeping an eye on them.

“We cannot allow you to harm yourself,” Surgeon 1 reminded him. “The First Law outweighs the Second. Come back.” He started for Jeff.

Jeff spun around and started running.

He found himself running down a broad thoroughfare nearly empty of vehicular traffic. Some robot pedestrians moved out of his way. He had no idea where he was going, but he wanted to think, and to do it alone.

He could hear two sets of footsteps pounding after him-and was surprised to realize that his robotic hearing was so acute that he could actually distinguish the two separate pairs of robot feet. They were calling after him, not shouting angrily the way people would, but yelling that he was still experimental, that he might harm himself, that he had to stop. He didn’t stop, though; their voices simply spurred him on.

Other robots were listening, however, and trying to block his path. He dodged a couple of them and burst through the outstretched arms of several more. They all gave chase, presumably responding to the calls of the medical team that he might violate the First Law. The other robots apparently would help catch him first if they could, and worry about explanations later.

He rounded a corner without slowing down and started up a small side street. Even now, he could feel that he was running more comfortably than he had just moments before. His robot body responded quickly, and well. It had not been designed for footraces, but it was powerful and efficient. As he got more used to it, he began to turn up the speed and to hurdle minor obstacles.

Unfortunately, of course, his pursuit was all robots, as well.

He kept running.