G. Wright - Broken Things

“What? That can’t be.” Cody reached out to touch Neil’s cheek, but pulled his hand away before coming into contact with it. The boy that once was Neil eyed him dispassionately. His eyes displayed no recognition. “No, I fixed Angel. I can fix him too.”

“No you can’t,” Josh responded, “Not this time. There’s nothing of him left.”

Angel walked quickly past the cyborg to kneel next to Josh. “Honey, what happened to Neil?”

“I was afraid of them,” Josh explained, “I thought they were ghosts or something. But they saved me instead.”

Cody turned to face him. “You mean the children at the pit? They’re all disabled before they’re dumped. They don’t work anymore.”

“All of them are alive. Over time they managed to link together and created a network. But they needed saved too. All of them, their minds and memories are all uploaded into Neil. He has the minds of thousands of children in him.”

“But why? What good does that do? They’re just in another broken body.”

“They need you,” Josh said, “They need you to program for them a world where they can be happy and safe. Where they won’t be afraid anymore.”

“You want me to put them inside my game?”

“Yes, but a full, real life simulation. Make it how the world used to be. Give them a world with parents that love them. Where they can go to a school, have friends, and even grow up if they want to. You’re the only one I know that could do this.”

Angel hugged him, her eyes filled with tears. “Was this your idea?”

He nodded. “Maybe eventually they will forget about this world. They deserve to be happy.”

“But it won’t be real,” Cody argued.

“No, this world isn’t real. We’ve been given so much life, so much feeling… we are programmed to unconditionally love our parents that can never love us back.”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Angel said, “And I know Cody will do it. Won’t you?”

Cody nodded slowly. “I think I could. I can modify some of my work today to make it safe. Then I can start shaping it.”

“What about the parents?” Angel asked.

“I know six other women that will make excellent mothers. I think they’ll like this idea too.”

For the first time she felt a surge of genuine feelings for Cody, something that felt different from her programmed attraction. She could see his mind racing, the growing excitement for the project. He lived for things like this, and for the first time his efforts would be to benefit others.

Behind Cody the cyborg turned toward the door. “Wait,” she called, “What about you?”

He paused, hand on the doorknob. “I will follow my purpose. There are other children that need help now. There are still monsters out there.”

“But you’re in bad shape. They’ll catch you eventually. When they do, they’ll destroy you.”

“I have to. I thought the children were gone, but they’re not. I will protect them until I no longer can.” He walked out the door. She knew that none of them would ever see him again.

Cody took the boy that looked like Neil by the hand and guided him to a chair. “You will all help me,” he said, “We’re going to create you a perfect world. You can tell me what you want in it.”

The children nodded with a single head, and the smile belonged to all of them.

“You made this all possible, Josh,” Angel said, “Why don’t you join them?”

“No. I’m ready to go home now.”

“What? Why don’t you want to be with the other kids? After all you’ve been through…”

He shook his head violently. “No, I’m fixed now! Cody said it himself, I’ll last at least another year. I’ll be careful this time and I’ll last longer. They’ll take me back when they see I’m fixed. They’ll have to!”

“Josh…”

“They love me. I know it! You’ll see. You just watch, once they see me they’ll remember just how much they loved me. They’ve just got to see me again. I’m still a good kid. You’ve got to take me home.”

Angel stared into his eyes. They were defiant, daring her to argue with him. His jaw was clenched tightly, resolutely. After all of this, after everything he’d seen and gone through, he still loved them. “I’ll take you home.”

The entire drive back to Twin Falls, Josh could hardly sit still with excitement. He fidgeted and wiggled, and called out the number of miles left with every sign they passed. Angel only felt terror. Cody had just modified her a few hours before, in a sense giving her driving lessons. It didn’t matter that she knew how to drive. It couldn’t replace the confidence that came from experience.

Her knuckles were white from how tightly she clenched the steering wheel, while other cars blew past her as though they owned the highway. It was nothing short of terrifying. Though the drive only took a little over two hours, it felt like an eternity. Josh went on and on about how surprised they would be to see him, how perfect everything would be. She nodded occasionally, but her eyes remained locked forward, only half-hearing what he said. She just didn’t want to die, not this way. She could only imagine what it would be like to wreck at this speed. She kept slowing down to ten miles under the limit, but Josh would quickly point it out and she would have to speed up again.

She hadn’t been ready to leave until early evening, learning to drive and studying a map of her route. Cody had assured her the traffic would be that much lighter for their delay. Maybe that was true on the highway, but leaving Boise now officially rated number one as the most terrifying experience of her life.

They arrived in Twin Falls late in the evening. She’d calmed a bit, the traffic here proved to be quite a bit less. Half an hour later they pulled over in front of Josh’s home. The modest two story house looked nice and well taken care of. It had a big yard and a large tree out front that she imagined any boy would be thrilled to climb. Though night had fallen, they hadn’t closed their curtains, and from the road she could see straight into their living room.

“Well here we are,” she said, “I guess this is it.”

“Thank you,” Josh said, and threw his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “I’ll never forget you.”

She hugged him back. He seemed so frail in her arms, so much smaller now. “I wish you the best.”

As he pulled away from her he said, “See I told you that you were a real angel.”

She laughed with him. “I think you had several angels watching over you. You just didn’t know it.”

He nodded, his smile so big it threatened to split his face in two. He hopped out and waved and walked to the house.

She watched him go. Everything felt right. It looked like a good house for a boy to grow up in. It needed a kid’s presence. The boy had believed against all odds that he would make it home. He had. He’d proven the world wrong.

In the open window she could spy into their world. She could see the kind of home the boy had to look forward to. She could see clearly into the dining room, where they would all sit together for supper and talk about their day. It would be a home-cooked meal of course, that’s what mother’s like that fixed, even these days where everything came in a box. In the living room an upright piano rested against the wall. The house had music too. Josh hadn’t mentioned that. They probably didn’t sit around a television. They would gather around it and sing as a family, enjoying each other’s company.

She wanted to believe that. Josh had what every child dreamt of. He had a real, loving home.

Josh’s owner, his father, moved in front of the window, followed closely by his wife. They were both attractive, a perfect family. How would it be to have what he had? Josh saw them too as he neared the door. He stopped to watch, probably looking at them from the outside for one last time before he joined them.