William Wu - Cyborg

The door at the far end of the room opened and a robot entered. Full light came on in the room, and Jeff saw that his visitor was a blue-skinned robot of a specific type that he did not recognize. The robot walked to the monitors and studied each one carefully.

“Where am I?” Jeff asked. His voice sounded a little odd, but he had no trouble speaking.

“You are in Human Experimental Facility I, Room 6, in Robot City,” said the robot.

“Robot City? On what planet?”

“The planet is also called Robot City,”

“Who are you?”

“I am Surgeon Experimental I.”

“Uh, can I see my doctor?”

“I am your doctor, along with Human Medical Research 1.”

“Is he a robot, too? From his name, I suppose-”

“Yes. What is your name?”

“I’m Jeff Leong.”

“Are you still in harm?”

“Huh?”

“How…are you? How do you feel?”

“Oh. I feel pretty good, actually. My voice sounds kind of strange, though, doesn’t it?”

“It has changed. Please tell me the events leading to your arrival here.”

“Our ship developed a mechanical emergency of some kind. We came here for an emergency landing, but we didn’t make a very good job of it. I remember the captain warning us that it would be a hard impact.”

“What other events led to your landing?”

“What other events? I don’t know any other events. I was just a passenger. Look, where’s everybody else?”

“I must inform you that you are the only survivor.”

Jeff stared up at the ceiling, filled with many emotions. He had not expected that answer, yet he was not surprised. All the crew and passengers had been killed because of an accidentyet, he had somehow survived. It hadn’t really sunk in yet. If anything, he felt more guilt than sorrow.

“Were you traveling with family or friends?”

“No,” he murmured softly. ‘.No, I didn’t know anybody on board.”

“What was your destination?”

“Mine, personally? Well, I was leaving home for college. I’m from Aurora.”

“You were not coming to Robot City?”

“Not deliberately, no. Not until the ship malfunction.” Jeff looked up at him. “Do you know what happened to it?”

“The mother ship exploded outside the atmosphere. The lifepod you were riding with the other passengers crashed in its attempt to land.”

“I guess I lucked out, huh? I feel okay.”

“I have summoned Research 1, the other member of the Human Experimental Team. We shall explain together. Perhaps you did luck out, as you put it. You say you feel well?”

“Yeah. Can I get up?”

“Have you observed yourself?”

“No…why, was I scarred or something?” Jeff put a hand to his face, and felt a hard, unfamiliar surface. “Am I in a mask? Bandages or something?”

Surgeon 1 paused as another robot entered the room. “This is Human Medical Research 1. Our patient is named Jeff Leong.”

“Hi,” Jeff said cautiously.

“Hi,” said Research 1, in exactly the same tone. “Surgeon 1, how do the monitors read?”

“They indicate, taken together, an excellent condition.” Surgeon 1 walked up and looked down at Jeff, who felt cowed by the unequal numbers and strange appearances. He would have preferred a human doctor.

“Do you feel excellent?” Surgeon 1 asked.

“Well, yeah, but I feel all mummified or something. What happened to me?”

Research 1 moved to the foot of the bed and looked at him straight on. “Since the experiment has succeeded, I believe we can tell you with a minimum of shock. You may sit up.”

“Uh, okay.” Jeff expected to be helped, as solicitous doctors and nurses tended to do, but the robots remained where they were. He sat up, quite easily, watching Research 1’s careful study of the monitors. Then he looked down and saw the blue-skinned texture of his own legs.

At first, he simply didn’t understand. He wondered why his legs were encased in this stuff. When he reached out to touch one of his legs, he saw his hand and arm for the first time, made of the same unfamiliar blue substance. Then, suddenly understanding what had happened, he looked at his other robotic arm and then down at his chest. In growing panic, he clapped his blue hands against his torso and then ran them across the new contours of his face.

“The monitors read properly,” said Research 1. “All evidence so far indicates a successful procedure. You are, of course, emotionally agitated. This reaction is also occurring normally.”

Jeff collapsed back on the bed. The monitor lights jumped as they noted the impact. “I’m a robot. I can’t believe this. I’m a robot. “

“We wish you to understand something,” said Surgeon 1. “The First Law required this development, under the circumstances of our finding you.”

“What? How? How could the First Law require this? You don’t think this has harmed me? I’m a person, not a robot!” Jeff started to sit up again, but really didn’t feel like rising. He was not tired, or physically weak, but he didn’t want to move, as though he might somehow injure himself in this alien body.

“You were injured when we found you,” said Research 1. “We do not have knowledge here of human thoracic and abdominal organs. Our medical library is inconsistent and uneven. However, we had some experimental information regarding the frontier of knowledge about the human nervous system. Since we could not allow you to come to further harm if we could prevent it, we were forced to use our experimental knowledge in preserving you as a living entity. “ #

“I’m not sure I follow you,” Jeff whispered. “Say it out straight, will you?”

“We have transplanted your brain into one of our humanoid robot bodies because we could not repair yours.”

Jeff closed his eyes and lay still for a moment. When he opened them, he stared morosely at Research 1. “What happened to my body?”

“It has been frozen. We believe, with our limited information, that it is actually not injured beyond repair. We do not, however, know how to fix it. Do you have medical knowledge that could assist us in repairing your body?”

“Me? I’m just a kid on his way to college-a teenager. I don’t know anything about that. At least, not on the level you would need.”

“We assembled this team specifically for this project,” said Surgeon 1. “We are not aware of other successful transplants of the same type.”

“Great,” Jeff said sarcastically. “I guess.”

“You do not seemed pleased with this success,” observed Surgeon 1. “Do you disbelieve that this is the least harm to you that we could arrange under the circumstances?”

“No…no, I don’t disbelieve you. I just…don’t want to be a robot!” He sat up this time and yanked the monitor wires free of himself. “Don’t you get it? I’m not me anymore! I’m not Jeff Leong.”

The robots made no move.

“That is not entirely true,” said Research 1. “Your identity resides in your brain. Unless the trauma of the crash caused you to lose some memory, your identity is unchanged.”

“But I’m not me -Imean, on the outside. I don’t look like this.” He held up his hands, open, and shook them at the robots.

“In many ways,” said Surgeon 1, “your new robot body is more efficient than your human body. It can be repaired virtually forever, provided your brain is undamaged. Only your brain will age, and it will receive the optimum support in nutrition and intrabody care. You are stronger, and your sensors are much more efficient than your former sense organs.”

“Some consolation. How long do I have to stay here?”

“Your robot body is in fine condition. You are not confined to bed,” said Surgeon 1. “Some simple motor tests will tell us whether all the connections from your brain to the body are correct. Please stand.”