Metallic - Chapter 1

Esther
I shivered in the morning chill. The mornings were always the worst on New Earth. Especially because that meant that sometimes my wiring would get frozen and it would need to be repaired. I clutched at my light shawl, waiting for the old rickety bus to come and pick me up so I could get to school. My ears picked up rumbling coming from the left of where I sat.

“Finally,” I muttered under my breath and stood up from the bench that had been erected to mark where the bus stop was. The dark camouflaged bus came to a screeching stop in front of me. I hefted my heavy bag and waited for the aged identification pad to pop up next to the door. When it appeared I stepped forward, hiding my left arm, and placed my right hand on the identification pad. The pad clicked in affirmation and the door next to it opened revealing a scowling driver.

“Why’d you have to get involved in gangs, young lady? You waste my time every day having to go through the identification process every day,” Mr. Paul complained. I stepped onto the bus and found my way to the empty bench right behind Mr. Paul.

“Well sir, just to remind you, I’m not part of a gang just protected by it. And every student has to go through the identification, whether they are involved in gangs or not,” I responded. Mr. Paul and I went through this conversation every day.  He disliked my involvement in New Earth’s gang life, because New Earth had been found and colonized for the purpose of having a land that was peaceful. Either way, Mr. Paul just grumbled, and the bus lurched and started moving forward.

I took out my left hand from underneath my black shawl. My arm itself was normal, maybe a little too pale, but from the wrist up my hand was metal. Robotic. The joints were visible but the wiring was entirely encased. The fingers have metallic claws sheathed inside of them that could extend to be used for self-defense. Though my teachers did not know about that feature of my hand. They knew though that my allegiance was with the so-called ‘Metallics’ gang. Getting one a body part chopped off and replaced with a robotic part was the initiation.

Of course, the robotic replacement still felt and acted like the regular part would have. You still had the sense touch with the robotic arm. The only thing was you couldn’t feel pain. You would understand that your robotic part was being damaged, it would register in your brain. But common things like punching somebody, or running the robotic part into something lightly, did not hurt it. The robotic parts were built to be stronger than human skin, flesh, and bone.

I still remember the day I got mine.

---

“Esther! Are you listening?” My brother’s voice rang out in the silence. “Which part do you choose?”

“My left hand. Wrist down.” I was twelve and it was my initiation into the gang my brother led. After I got attacked walking home from the bus stop my brother had decided to speed up my initiation. Once I got my metallic part, nobody would ever bother me because of the Metallics reputation of being cruel, heartless, and savage. I looked back up to my brother’s metallic eyes whirring in his sockets. I could almost see how his eyes were analyzing my face, noticing the drop of sweat beading down my neck.

“Are you sure?” he asked me. I was sure. It would be noticeable, and easy to use to defend myself. One punch to someone’s face and their jaw would break.

“Yes.” I looked again at my brother. His blonde hair stood out in contrast to the dark walls and table at which we sat. He pushed a small cup filled with a deep amber liquid at me. I knew what it was. Once I drank that there would be no going back. I picked it up and drank it in one gulp. I looked at my left hand one last time. Then a black fog started forming in my vision and I fell forward onto the table. When I woke up my left hand wasn’t human anymore. It was robotic.  

By Marizo Bheh