Robot
A machine that does mechanical, routine tasks on command.
Android
An automaton in the form of a human being.
Cyborg
A person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device.
It was a horrible accident.
Alfred was only a child in elementary school. He had the brightest smile and the biggest laugh. He was adored by many that he met. He loved taking risks. He was a boy of extreme courage. His brother's pleas and cries to not climb the abandoned building's rickety ladder in the outskirts of the city didn't stop him. Near the top of the tall building, the ladder gave up under the weight of the small boy.
You wouldn't know who screamed louder. But by the end of the fall, only one scream remained.
"Wake up!" Alfred received a mouth full of pillow when he opened his eyes. He hastily spit out the cotton fabric and threw it right back at the doorway.
"Missed me." Matthew said, already dressed, bagel in his hand. "You have about five minutes to get dressed, Alfred." With that, Alfred listened to Matthew's footsteps going down the stairs. They were soft footsteps.
"Fuuuuck," Alfred groaned and heaved himself out of his comfortable bed. He ran his left, mechanical hand through his hair. It was just another day of school at Miller High. Another day Alfred dreaded.
After washing up and dressing in a blue sweatshirt with long extra sleeves and black jeans, Alfred made his way downstairs, his right metal foot clanking on each step. He tried to ignore the awful sound the metal made. He grabbed a bagel from the toaster, taking out his phone that immediately projected holograms of messages he received late at night. As he was typing back his responses, he watched Matthew pour maple syrup onto the bagel.
"Dude that is so gross!" Alfred shouted much too loudly, pretending to gag.
"I could say the same about your own eating habits." Matthew took a bite out of bagel and grabbed his pack. "We need to go, Alfie."
Alfred stuck his tongue out at the little nickname and grabbed his red, white, and blue pack and his hover board.
"Are you taking the school transport?" Matthew inquired, eyeing Alfred's hover board.
Alfred flashed a fake smile. "I'm taking my hover board. Meet you at school, Mattie!" Alfred jumped on his hover board, trying to get the board to stabilize. He then pressed the board with his right back heel, getting the hover board to start moving.
Matthew sighed, his goodbye stuck in his in throat. He knew Alfred felt uneasy about taking the school transport. Sometimes, the other students would pick on his brother for…
He saw a glint of metal peek out of Alfred's left leg.
"Good morning, class." Mr. Harmon sluggishly walked into the first period advanced pre-calculus class. "We have a new student today. Uh. Come in." Mr. Harmon nodded towards the doorway while leaning against his desk.
Alfred looked up from the floor to look at the newcomer. An awkward, large teenage boy shuffled into the center of the room. His arms were too long for his body, his nose was large and out of place, his platinum hair curled onto the sides of his face, and a large scarf hung around his neck and shoulders. A few snickers arose from the students.
"Why don't you go and introduce yourself." Mr. Harmon said in a bored voice.
"I am- uh Ivan. Ivan Braginsky." Ivan looked down, slightly nodding and assuring himself that was his name.
Gilbert, Alfred's friend, quietly mocked Ivan's accent, as if he didn't have one himself.
"Well, Ivan, why don't you sit next to Mr. Jones over there?" Mr. Harmon got up from his desk with a grunt and started to point to his lesson on the projected hologram. "Last time we talked about polynomials with..."
Ivan did his awkward shuffle towards the empty desk next to the golden-haired boy. He fidgeted with getting his tablet out to take notes, nearly letting it slip out of his hands. More snickers ensued.
Man, he is really weird, thought Alfred. He watched the new teenager fidget with his tablet as he tried to take notes. Alfred decided that this new student was not his interest. Besides, although Ivan was awkward, he was also a bit intimidating in size. Alfred let out a yawn and halfheartedly took notes.
"Class is dismissed." Mr. Harmon swiped the hologram and it disappeared. The students chattered as they put away their tablets. Alfred slid his own tablet into his backpack.
"Hey, new kid!" Gilbert poked Ivan on his back. "Why are you so tall? Were you some genetically engineered thing that-" Suddenly, Gilbert's feet weren't touching the ground. Ivan's hand gripped around the albino's neck.
"Hey! What the fuck!?" Alfred shouted and pounced at Ivan. No one hurts his friends! Alfred blindly threw a punch that landed on Ivan's right cheek. At the sudden surprise attack, Gilbert was let go. The albino gasped for air as he scrambled away from Ivan. Alfred went in for another punch but was violently flipped onto the ground. Before Alfred could register the force of being slammed onto the ground, he felt a shock of pain emanating from his nose.
"Stop it, you two!" Alfred felt the weight of Ivan disappear above him. He opened his eyes and realized that his glasses were cracked. The splintered image of a scowling Ivan stood before him.
Mr. Harmon grabbed Alfred up by his collar. "I am sending you both to the principal!" After a pause, Mr. Harmon turned to look at Gilbert. "You too, Mr. Beilschmidt."
Gilbert stood up and followed after Mr. Harmon in the empty hallways. Second period had already started.
Alfred adjusted his sweatshirt to cover the places where metalwork replaced skin. He supposed Ivan would already hear the rumors soon enough, but he would not give the other the satisfaction of knowing his… form at the moment. Not when he has such a burning hatred for him.
They arrived at the pristine office of the school. Bright lights lit up the whole area. There was a constant tapping and beeping sound as the office androids worked away at their desks. One of them turned around to receive the fuming teacher and the beat up students. It pointed to the closed, steel door. A single label hung on the door that read "Mr. Holmes."
Right on cue, the door opened to reveal a short, middle-aged man with slicked back brown hair. He turned to find the quartet, sighed, and went back into his office. Mr. Harmon dragged the two boys into the small room. A white desk sat in the middle of it. Besides a window on the opposite wall of the door, there were no decorations.
"What has happened?" Mr. Holmes inquired, sitting in his chair.
"Mr. Beilschmidt here provoked this new student. This student then proceeded to choke him and then this delinquent decided to punch him!" Mr. Harmon angrily explained to the principal. Alfred, despite his throbbing nose, was surprised to see Mr. Harmon in such a state. He had never seen him so animated.
"Alfred was only trying to not get me killed by this maniac over here!" Gilbert interjected, pointing at Ivan, who was completely calm.
"Yeah! This guy was gonna kill him!" Alfred joined in on the yelling. He couldn't believe he was going to get in trouble for saving his friend's life! He was being a hero!
Mr. Holmes raised his hand up for silence. Alfred sputtered, but reluctantly crossed his arms.
"I will assign you three for detention next week for three days. No excuses." Mr. Holmes nodded at his own decree.
"You can't do that!" Alfred groaned. He did not want to be spending his free time cleaning the school! That was a job for the androids!
"This is complete bullshi-, "Gilbert complained until he was cut off by Mr. Holmes' death glare.
During the whole ordeal, Ivan had remained silent, no sign of emotion showing on his face. He merely observed the two boys he could have hurt more. They were much too irritating and loud for his tastes.
"Mr. Beilschmidt, you can go back to class. The other two will need to be taken care of by the nurse android." Mr. Holmes said, standing up and holding the door out for the students and teacher to leave.
Alfred slumped and walked into the nurse ward. The place gave him the creeps; it was too sterile and clean.
"Please scan your ID chip," A female voice said to Alfred. Alfred scanned his wrist, where his chip was, onto the scanner of the android. After a moment, a beep sounded from the android. "Hello Alfred Jones. Please sit on the bed and I will diagnose you shortly."
The android moved over to Ivan, who hung by the door, frozen. The office was white enough. The nurse's ward was more so. It reminded him of something so cold and unwelcoming.
"Please scan your ID chip," The nurse android repeated to Ivan. He shook his head and made hesitant steps into the room. He scanned his wrist and walked over to the bed next to Alfred.
What a weirdo, Alfred thought.
"I will now be scanning you." The nurse android stood before Alfred. "You have bruised your back. It also seems like you have broken your nose. I can easily treat that for you. Everything else in your body is in stable condition. No damage has been inflicted onto your mechanical parts."
Alfred cringed at the last sentence. He glanced at Ivan, who was only staring at the ground. Alfred inwardly sighed. His newfound enemy now knew that he was a cyborg. A freak. A machine.
"This may hurt." The android grabbed Alfred's head to turn him towards it. Several extra arms came out of the android's torso and began to work on his nose. Alfred worked to keep himself from yelping. He didn't want to look weak in front of Ivan.
"You are now ready to go back to class, Alfred."
Alfred stood up and slowly exited the ward. Even if he got hurt, at least he got to skip some of school. As he left, he heard something that piqued his interest.
"Were these injuries on your neck part of the fight?" The android inquired.
There was a long pause. "No," Ivan answered.
Alfred furrowed his eyebrows. What had happened to Ivan's neck? Wait! He doesn't care about what happens to Ivan! Alfred quickly left the office.
He hated Ivan.
Hi! I have no idea where this is going but reviews and critiques are appreciated ^^