Machine Man - Max Barry [28]
There were introductions. They asked me how I liked the hospital. One of the women, who was blond and had sharp ears, raved about the view. You would think she had never been aboveground before. They turned the conversation toward work. This was easy for them because I wasn’t saying much beyond hello and yes and no.
“I understand you’re a bit of an inventor,” said the white man. He lounged across his chair but was still not as smooth and comfortable as the black guy. “You build things.”
“Legs,” said the sharp-eared woman. She smiled, like, Building legs, isn’t that clever.
“Yes,” I said.
“I’d like to hear about those.”
For the first time, no one spoke. “Well,” I said. “They’re legs, I don’t know what to tell you.” I looked at the black guy, because maybe he could jump in and make this smooth and comfortable, but he didn’t. I sighed. “Look, seriously, I do not enjoy pain. I do not want to hurt myself. I’m not—”
“Oh. Yes. We get that.” The man laughed. “You don’t need to convince us of your mental well-being, Dr. Neumann.”
I looked from one face to another. “Then what do you want to know?”
“These legs you’ve built,” said the woman. “We understand they’re superior to any other kind of prosthesis currently available.”
“Yes. As far as I know.”
“In fact, they’re so advanced, you … you actually chose to crush your other leg. So you could … qualify for them.”
“That’s right.”
“Are they strong?” said the black guy leaning against the wall. “They must be.”
“They’re okay.”
“Only okay?”
“I have some work to do.”
“Oh yes.” He looked significantly at the others. “What kind of work?”
“He’s got ideas.” This was the woman with sharp ears. “Of course he does.”
“I wonder if you could share some of those ideas with us,” said the lounging man. “Could you do that?”
I said, “Did you say you were psychiatrists?”
“I don’t think so.” He looked at the others. “Did anyone say that?”
“Well, I work in Human Resources,” said the sharp-eared woman. “You practically need to be a psychiatrist for that.”
“What I think we said was that we wanted to talk about how you’re feeling.”
I checked this against my memory. It may have been true.
“These legs, you built them on company time, am I right?”
“Um … yes.”
“Don’t be alarmed,” said the lounging man. “That’s not a problem. That’s what we thought.”
“Definitely in no way a problem,” said the leaning man.
“We’re from Better Future, of course,” said the woman who hadn’t spoken until this point. She was small and brightly dressed, like a bird. “And Dr. Neumann, may I say, we are all extremely pleased and supportive and positive about the potential of your project here.” She squeezed her hands together.
DR. ANGELICA Austin didn’t want to let me out of the hospital. It was a little funny because the nurses couldn’t be rid of me fast enough. They argued across my bed, as if I were inanimate. “I don’t care what his company says,” said Dr. Angelica. “I’m his doctor and I say he’s not ready to be discharged.”
Nurse Katie did not stop packing my bag. Behind her, Carl mutely supervised. Two more nurses hung in the doorway, spectating: Veronica and Chelsea. Katie said, “Well, the administrator says different,” and Veronica said, “Mmm-hmm.”
Dr. Angelica Austin flipped my chart like she was angry with it. “There’s no psych consult on here.” Her eyes rose to Katie. “How on earth can there be no psych consult?”
“His company said—”
“I ordered a psych consult,” said Dr. Angelica. “I sent them to this room. Where did they go?”
Carl spoke. This gave everyone a start, including me, because we were used to him standing there like a rock. “I can’t permit them in here.”
“You?” Dr. Angelica drew herself to her full height. Which was not much, but still impressive. She had a