Machine Man - Max Barry [51]
“Teeth?”
“I’m just throwing ideas out there. Spitballing. Are you thinking of doing anything with teeth?”
“No.”
She stared at me.
“If you’re talking about … some kind of solution to your …” I gestured toward my jaw.
“No. Of course not.”
“Because if a dentist said your teeth were too close to nerves to move, that’s probably right.”
“I don’t care about the diastema, Charlie. Okay? Let’s be clear. This is not about me. This is about you wanting to chop off your goddamn arms.” I blinked. “And let me tell you right now we are going to have a serious conversation about that, because I’m still pissed about the fingers. You didn’t go through proper channels. You took it upon yourself to crush your hand and I didn’t know until afterward. I took care of it. I did what had to be done. But I did not appreciate being cut out of the loop. You want to do destructive testing, you come to me first. Is that clear? I can be reasonable.” She spread her arms. “I’m here to help. But keep me in the loop, Charlie. Keep me in the loop.”
I coughed. “Okay.”
“Here’s the thing. Imagine we’re building a body.” I opened my mouth to say I was building a body, but she held up a finger. “And it’s a wonderful body, one everyone is very interested in getting right. The ideas for how to build this body, they mostly come from one particular brain. That brain is important, wouldn’t you say? Crucial. While we’re building this body, the one thing we must do, the absolute top priority, is to keep the brain safe. Well, to me, Charlie, the body isn’t those Better Legs you’re wearing. It’s not the parts. The prostheses. It’s the capacity to produce them. The body I’m supposed to be building, Charlie, is a department with the ability to create bio-enhancement products. Do you see?” She nodded. “I think you do. And you’re the brain. You’re the one part I must keep safe.” Her brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”
I looked down. I was rubbing the heel of one hand against my titanium thigh. I guess I had been trying to knead it, to restore blood flow to a part that ached. “Nothing.”
“Don’t say ‘nothing.’ ”
“It’s phantom pain. Nothing serious.”
“Phantom …?”
“It’s common. It’s nothing. A glitch. A technical hiccup.”
Her jaw set. “This is precisely what I’m talking about. When I hear things like this, do you know how I feel? These …” She gestured at my legs. “These technical phantoms? They make me feel like plucking the brain right out of the body and putting it in a jar. That’s what I want to do. Put the brain somewhere safe, so no matter what happens to the body, what mistakes may be made, it will be okay. Do you understand? The need to separate the brain from the body?”
“But I’m the body. I’m the brain and the body. They can’t be separated.”
“Imagine they could,” she said.
Silence. “I’m interested in making parts for me,” I said. “Not just other people.”
She stared. Then she smiled. “Well, I think we understand each other. Tell you what. You keep doing what you’re doing, I’ll see what I can do from this end. To mesh your reality with that of the company’s.”
“Okay.”
“What about a tooth with a phone in it?” she said. “I think I saw that on TV one time.”
“Um.”
“That would be functional. That would be very functional. Not that you should cancel the cosmetic stuff. Everyone loves the cosmetics. But if you felt the urge to, I don’t know, put phones in teeth, I think that would be your call. Because you’re the scientist. You’re the ideas man. You know?” She laughed.
“Yes,” I said, although I didn’t think I did.
“I’m glad we had this chat. I really am. Thanks for making time, Charlie.”
“Okay,” I said.
“And keep me in the loop.”
“Okay.” When I reached the door, I looked back. Her cheek was bulging, her tongue in there, exploring.
LOLA’S SUITE had a balcony. The season was turning but if she wrapped up in a blanket we could still sit and watch the flitting of car headlights and streetlamps. She leaned over the railing and shivered. “If you close one eye, the cars look like toys,