G. Wright - Broken Things

“It gets old after a while. I’m trying to get him to add monsters to fight.”

Cody unplugged him and closed the back of his head up. Neil led the way out of the room, but Josh turned and looked back Cody. “Where was the pie?”

Cody just smiled. “There was no pie. But what better smell is there?”

Josh and Neil slipped out of the house through the garage. Everything was finally coming together, he’d return home better than ever. When his parents learned that they didn’t have to fix him, that he’d taken care of everything, they would welcome him back with open arms.

Neil went to the back of the garage and rummaged behind a stack of boxes, finally pulling out a baseball bat. “Here we go,” he said.

“What’s that for?”

“Parts removal. They won’t give them easily. This makes them more cooperative, if you know what I mean.”

Josh got the idea. “We take the parts out of the first kid we see.”

“Pretty much,” Neil replied, “As long as I can tell that it’s the right model. Most kids are now, but there are always a few older ones like you. I’m pretty good at telling the difference though. The best place to find other kids is the park. Even if no one is there we only have to wait. Parents send their kids there when they want them out of the way. We walk up… Bam! We take the parts.”

Josh smiled. This would be the best day of his life. Nothing could go wrong.

They walked for a while, the homes turned into businesses. The roads were crowded with traffic, more people coming and going than he had ever seen. “How long have you known Cody?” he asked.

“Pretty much as long as I can remember,” Neil replied, “He took me from Kidsmith before they fired him.”

“And he just works on his program all day?”

“Mostly. It’s going to make him famous.”

They darted across a street as the traffic ebbed. “This is the Julia Davis Park,” Neil said, “There are always kids here. See that over there? That’s the zoo. I used to go there sometimes, but now you can only get in with an adult. They don’t do very well anymore, with no real kids. Nobody wants to take an android to see animals. But they like to dump their kids at the playground. Some owners will leave them all day while they go to work. That way they don’t have to leave them loose in their house. Like they think we’re programmed to break things.”

“Is that a river running through the park?”

“Yes. That’s part of the Greenbelt. It runs through the city. It’ll take you to a bunch of different parks.”

“Have you done this before?” Josh asked.

“Yes, a few times. I did it to get my own upgrades. I’ve also done it for Cody a few times for money. You can’t do it very often, or they start watching for you. Okay, there’s our target.” He pointed at a young girl playing alone, away from the other children. “She’s perfect. We grab her, take the parts, and split. Before anyone even misses her, you’ll be rebuilt.”

“I don’t want girl parts.”

“The parts aren’t girl, stupid! Only her casing is.”

“Okay, let’s just go get the parts.”

“Fine,” Neil said, “Follow my lead.”

Neil walked casually toward the girl, not making eye contact with her, just passing by minding his own business, such business that didn’t include little girls. She had strawberry blond hair pulled into pigtails, her cheeks and nose covered in freckles. She couldn’t have been older than eight. She didn’t pay the two boys any attention. She pretended to have tea with her doll.

Josh watched as the other boy walked around behind her. Neil lined the bat up at the base of her neck, and posed like a major league baseball player warming up for the swing. He brought it back one last time, his face contorting with hate.

“Neil, no!” Josh leaped between the two kids.

“Move, Josh,” Neil said, “It’s the only way.”

“No, you’re going to break her.”

“What did you think I was going to do?”

The girl had turned to watch them. “What are you guys doing?” she asked.

“Run,” Josh told her, “go home.”

Neil’s eyes widened in desperation as the girl got to her feet with her doll and ran away, leaving her plastic tea cups behind. “No, we need those parts.”

“I can’t break another kid,” Josh said, “There has to be another way.”

Neil nodded. “There’s my way.” He shoved Josh hard. Josh staggered backward and fell as the other kid ran past him after the little girl. Neil had speed and size on his side and would catch her quickly.

Josh got to his feet and ran after him. They tore across the playground, darting between trees, heading toward the edge of the park. Neil gained on the girl, bringing the bat around. Josh couldn’t run fast enough. The swing clipped her on the shoulder and she fell to her hands and knees with a high-pitched scream.

Neil raised the bat again with practiced ease, aiming the blow between her shoulder blades. Josh didn’t slow down, tackling him at a full-on run. Both boys flew over the girl and hit the ground, tumbling. The bat flew away as Neil spit curses at him.

Neil became a ball of fists and feet, kicking and punching at Josh who desperately tried to avoid them. Josh had never been in a real fight before and Neil had turned into a raging beast. He scrambled to get away. Neil let him go, choosing instead to go after the bat.

“Who do you think you are?” Neil screamed, picking up the bat. “You think you can mess with me? You’re nothing! You’re broken! You don’t know who you’re messing with!”

Josh raised his arms to block the incoming swing. He managed to raise his forearm in time, but Neil’s anger gave him power and he felt something pop in his shoulder. The pain was intense. Neil raised the bat for another swing. Josh curled up in a ball to protect his head as Neil rained down frenzied blow after blow upon on him.

Distantly he heard voices of adults and of other kids. It sounded like the little girl continued to scream, but he couldn’t focus on any of them through the pain. The blows struck everywhere, across his back and shoulders, over his arms and legs, but miraculously none of them connected with his head.

Finally they stopped as adults approached, and he heard the bat clatter into the street as Neil discarded it and ran off. His entire body hurt, the pain coursed through his limbs.

None of the adults approached, they hung back talking amongst themselves. Slowly he uncurled from his fetal position and felt the tears come. He looked about, searching the faces for someone to help him. One by one they all walked away, leaving him alone.

It wasn’t fair. He’d come so close. He’d gotten fixed. He had the promise of being made better, of having a chance to last forever. He could’ve gotten his family back. They would’ve let him come home, but Neil had ruined everything. He couldn’t go back to Cody’s. He would never mod him now. What if he was broken again?

Some of the pain began to dull. His left arm though, every time he moved it lightning bolts of pain exploded from his elbow. He could hardly move his wrist and fingers, and when he did pain accompanied it.

He wiped his nose and tears on the back of his right arm and took a deep breath. He could still go home, his parents wouldn’t complain about a broken arm. They could afford to fix that, especially since he’d taken care of the expensive part. He’d go home now, and he’d be good enough. Maybe he could find a way to mod himself on his own.

Slowly he got to his feet. Though they hurt too, his legs seemed to be okay. He scanned the park but everyone ignored him. If he caught someone’s eye they quickly looked away. Nobody had bothered with the baseball bat. He didn’t want it either. It represented something terrible, something that had been used to break children, other children just like him.