The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Bandai Visual, Sunrise, and Cartoon Network.
THE BIG O:
ACT 33
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Chapter Twelve: It's Not Any Fun
"Norman I already told you. I don't want Roger to see me like this," the little android insisted the next morning.
"I agree with Dorothy, Norman," Roger said from just outside the door. "I really shouldn't be here."
"My apologies, Master Roger, Miss Dorothy," Norman said with a gentle but firm voice. "I was under the impression that the two of you wished to learn more about Miss Dorothy's insides so that Master Roger can maintain her when I am no longer able to. Since it seems wrong to ask Miss Dorothy to allow us to take her apart when she's whole we've had to wait for an opportunity like this to examine her."
"I don't want Roger to see me like this," she repeated. "You must admit, the visual picture will be very difficult to forget."
Dorothy was lying on her belly on a tilting table that was specifically built to support her during maintenance and repairs. The tilting table was more of a rack, for it was a framework of bars that allowed access from underneath, but now there was a surgical blanket between Dorothy and her support. The blanket she lay on only went up to her neck so her face was free and conversation was relatively easy. A second blanket covered her hindquarters and legs, but was folded back to expose her arms and torso. Exposed was the right word, for not only was she not wearing any visible clothing, her back was open exposing her mechanisms. She only had one arm attached, making her seem like a damaged classical sculpture.
"Dorothy, if it makes you feel better when you cut open a human the view is just as disturbing," Roger assured her as he peeked into the room. "Even more so actually. You have nothing to be embarrassed about."
"You wouldn't understand," she told him as Norman got to work on her shoulder.
"Actually, I would," Roger admitted as he looked away and scratched the back of his neck. "My recent experience in the country was a real eye opener."
There was a pause as the noise of Norman's power tool stopped all attempts at conversation. Then Dorothy said, "Norman, could you tilt me so that I'm facing Roger? You can come in, Roger. I don't mind."
"Are you okay with this Dorothy?" Roger asked.
"I don't mind."
"Very well Miss Dorothy," Norman nodded. "Tell you what; you can lie on your back while we work on your shoulder. You can turn back round when we repair the damage on your back."
Roger sighed as he leaned against the wall outside Norman's workshop. He had abandoned his blazer and tie and was only wearing his white shirt, black pants and shoes right now. He listened as the android rack moved and Dorothy rearranged herself. He heard the android's voice call, "Roger you can come in now."
Now Dorothy was lying on her back facing up with her good arm holding the blanket in front of her. She looked so fragile and naked lying there, and with one arm missing the view was rather macabre. Roger tried to busy himself by looking at the parts Norman had removed from her back.
"I can't get used to how many different pieces of your back there are," Roger said as he picked a piece of metal off a worktable. When Dorothy didn't respond he set it back down and muttered, "Sorry Dorothy."
"If my back was simply one large shell I wouldn't be able to move," she told him. "I'm not the same as that robot that attacked you in my father's house Roger."
"Yeah, you're a lot more complex," Roger said. "That must have been an earlier prototype. A direction he didn't take."
"It's fortunate that we have your blueprints Miss Dorothy, otherwise we'd have a difficult time knowing what goes where," Norman joked gently.
Silence.
"Ahem," Roger coughed into his fist. "Norman, where do we start?"
"Well, we're going to have replace many of the parts on her back," Norman said delicately. "Although to be honest, the parts on her back can simply be reforged back into shape. The real damage is in her glenohumeral joint, that's the multiaxial ball and socket joint at her shoulder. We're going to have to replace the base and the servos before we can reconnect Miss Dorothy's arm. Fortunately after Miss Dorothy allowed me to peruse her blueprints I started making spare parts for her so hopefully we'll be able to put her back together before the day is out."
"Roger you were saying that you understood what it's like to be hoisted up on a rack like a car in an auto shop," Dorothy prodded.
"Yeah," Roger winced. "My car…" The flattened remains of Roger's Cadillac were in the main hanger with Big O. All they could do is salvage what they could from the hopeless wreck and build another one. "My poor car…"
"Roger?" Dorothy repeated.
"What?" he blinked. "Oh yes! Well, this is kind of hard for me to admit Dorothy, but when I found Jenny Grant, she turned the tables on me."
"How so?"
"She sprayed me with some kind of fungus that almost killed me," he shuddered. "When I came to she had stripped me of my clothing and strapped me to an operating table similar to the one you're on now. Things were… very uncomfortable for a while there."
"Why did she do that?"
Roger shuddered as he decided how much to share with the innocent android. At least he hoped she was innocent. All of the creeps who had kidnapped her seemed devoted to destroying her innocence a piece at a time. "Uh… to be honest, she had a hard time deciding. She didn't know whether to treat me as test subject for her deranged experiments or as an unwilling recipient for her advances. I managed to escape before she made up her mind."
"You seem to find yourself in jeopardy a great deal Roger Smith," Dorothy said.
"What do you mean me?" he grimaced good-naturedly. "I don't understand how a girl with the strength of an android manages to get herself captured so easily. I thought you were stronger and faster than the rest of us, Dorothy."
"I've never been trained in self-defense," Dorothy admitted. "I just used my strength and agility to their fullest extent. And then of course there's my failsafe."
"Your failsafe?"
"In the event of a malfunction I've been built with a failsafe," Dorothy told him. "If you grasp my forearm it will send a signal to my motive unit that will paralyze me as long as it's held."
"Your forearm?" Roger blinked in disbelief. "I can't believe that," he muttered as he picked up the slender white arm that Norman had removed to work on her shoulder. "Are trying to tell me that your father built you with an on-off switch that could be controlled from the same place the bad guys grab the heroine in the movies?"
"The bad guys seize the heroine's arm?" Dorothy asked. "Why do they do that?"
"It's any easy way for a movie maker to take the girl hostage without showing excessive brutality or suggesting sexual implications," Roger said as he squeezed and fondled her forearm looking for the on/off switch. "It looks like your father watched a lot of movies. Are you sure it's the upper arm, Dorothy? I can't find it."
"You're very gullible Roger Smith," Dorothy announced. "I can see how Jenny Grant managed to put you in a compromising position."
"Keep that up and I'll swat you with your own arm," Roger muttered as he examined her disembodied arm. "Wow. Your skin… it feels so… real. So smooth. It's like silk or a baby's skin or something."
"Would you and my arm like to be alone Roger?"
"Dorothy, if you don't want me in here just say so," he grunted as he set the arm back on the table where he found it. He ran his finger along the severed arm. "Hey it moved!"
"That's not surprising," Norman muttered as he removed the damaged ball and socket joint from Dorothy's torso. "There's probably some residual power in it and the sensors in her skin registered your touch."
"She has sensors in her skin?" Roger repeated. "Dorothy, does that mean that you have a sense of touch? You can feel things?"
"Of course Roger," the girl replied. "How else would I be able to pick up a glass without breaking it? I would need some kind of way to gauge the pressure or I wouldn't be able to manipulate anything."
Roger looked at the cavity where her arm should be and thought of the damage done to her back. "Can you feel pain?"
"Yes," she admitted. "It lets me know when I need repairs. My feelings don't overwhelm me the way yours can. I can continue to function despite the distraction assuming my mechanisms still work."
"Oh! Dorothy…" Roger moaned in sympathy. "You must be in agony over there…"
"Don't worry about it."
"I can't help worrying about it," Roger grunted as he rolled up his sleeves. "Let's get you back together. Norman, I'm all yours. Tell me what to do."
"Well I suppose the first thing you can do is fire up the forge," the butler suggested.
Dorothy's repairs took almost all day. Tomorrow they would rebuild the car. After dinner he went out on the rooftop patio to see Dorothy standing on the wall looking out at the sunset. "Aren't you cold?" he said as he walked over to her.
"I had my back taken apart and my shoulder joint replaced," she told him. "I assure you I can take a little cold."
"Are you okay?"
"You and Norman ran several diagnostics," Dorothy said. "I was given a clean bill of health."
"No I mean emotionally," Roger clarified. "Are you all right?"
Dorothy paused as if she had to think about it. "The last two days have not been pleasant," she admitted.
"That's something of an understatement."
"I could ask you the same question," Dorothy said. "Are you all right, Roger?"
"I'll manage," he smiled with a shrug. "To tell you the truth I might be better than I was when this all started. At least I've got my priorities in order now."
"What priorities are those?"
"I'm better off protecting what I have instead of chasing what I've already lost," he said gently. "I'd like to apologize Dorothy. I shouldn't have run off looking for Memories and left you all alone. That's the second time I've done that and both times it ended in disaster."
"I don't see what you have to apologize for," she countered. "Both times you assumed that I was safe at home. It's not as if you carelessly placed me in danger. You can't protect me all the time."
"Yeah I know," he nodded. "I've been thinking about what you said. About being untrained. Would you be interested in some martial art lessons? One of the nice things about being self-employed is that I have a lot of free time between clients."
"Being martial is an art?" Dorothy asked. "Your taste in clothing isn't the only thing that's bad. I find nothing artistic about war."
"No," Roger chuckled. "I meant would you like me to train you in unarmed combat? With your strength and agility you should be a natural."
"Are you sure that's wise?"
"Sure, you're not going to hurt me are you?" he joked.
"Accidents can happen."
"Not to worry," Roger laughed. "Jenny Grant seemed to think that I can't get hurt."
"She really thought that?"
"No," Roger stroked his chin as he tried to recall. "She seemed to think that there were little robots in me that could heal any injury with enough time, and something about food I guess. I think she meant that if I survived my wound in the first place, I'd be guaranteed a full recovery."
"Then you should have nothing to worry about."
"I'm not so sure," Roger grimaced gently.
There was a pause as they watched the sun sink into the scarred cityscape and bathe the world in a red glow. The crimson light from the sunset gave Dorothy's ivory face a pinkish tint. She looked just like a human girl. It was hard to believe that he and Norman had spent the day tinkering with her insides.
Just how human was she? She had nerve endings, or crystal nanofilaments that acted like nerve endings. She could feel. She could feel the wind whipping through her dress or the caress of a friendly hand. She could feel the spines on Crater's extra arms puncture the plates on her back and tear her synthetic flesh to ribbons. This girl had to know more about pain than anyone else he knew.
Could she feel emotions like he could? On her last night with her father, she had laughed at his joke. She was hesitant when Timothy Wayneright suggested that she get on stage and sing, almost bashful. How very unDorothy of her. When Jenny Grant's murderous brother Eugene abducted her she had gasped before she fled with Pero the kitten. If she could express her feelings why didn't she?
"Dorothy?" he said finally. "I never got a chance to know you before you were kidnapped did I?"
"Considering that we met during at my final ransom negotiation I should think that would be a given."
"I can't help thinking about the wounds Norman and I can't repair," Roger said gently. "It's a proven fact that kidnapping is one of the most psychologically damaging crimes of them all. Victims can take years to heal from the psychological wounds inflicted upon them, and some never completely recover. People who've survived akidnapping often go on to battle issues of trust for the rest of their lives. Let's face it: Being deprived of your freedom and being held against your will can erode your trust in humanity altogether. But you're not alone. Now that I've been held captive by a deranged individual myself, I've got a clear idea of what you've been going through."
"It's not any fun is it?"
"No," Roger nodded. "I'd like to go on record by apologizing for anything I might have said during your stay here. That crack about you just imitating us and your music not meaning anything was inexcusable."
"Don't worry about it."
"Dorothy if you ever want to talk about it…"
"I don't," she said. "If that changes, you'll be the first to know."
"I understand," he paused when he got no response. "No really, I do understand. What that woman did to me will give me nightmares."
"I believe you."
The sun dipped lower and soon all that could be seen of it was the crimson glow in the sky. Roger shivered as a chill breeze blew but he stood his ground.
Finally he spoke. "You're actually more like a human than you let on aren't you?"
"There's no need to be insulting Roger."
"Dorothy…" he said hesitantly. "I know this is the wrong time to ask this, after everything that's happened… I know that you feel emotions differently than I do…"
"Yes?"
Can you feel love Dorothy?" he asked quietly. "I mean, can you fall in love like a human?"
I don't know," she said. "I've never been in love before. I could be in love right now and not realize it. I could ask you the same thing. Are you capable of falling in love Roger?"
"Ouch."
"I didn't mean to be insulting. It was a legitimate question."
"I know. That's why it hurt so much." He stroked his chin while he pondered her question. "Sometimes I think that I'm incapable of forming deep relationships…"
"That's a pity."
He stopped and looked over at Dorothy. In the dim light and red glow of the sunset she looked exactly like a human girl now. He smiled and walked over to her. "But you know," he said as he put an arm around her, "Since you've moved in, I've been thinking I might be able to fall in love after all."
"I'm glad to hear that," Dorothy said as she leaned against his shoulder.
We Have Come To Terms
Dorothy and Roger sit on a large hourglass the size of a barstool. Behind them is an orange background. The sound of a piano and the duet of a man and woman singing can be heard.
Sometimes I feel so all alone
Finding myself callin' your name
When we're apart, so far away
Hopin' it's me that you're thinkin' of
Could it be true, could it be real?
My heart says that you're the one.
There's no one else, you're the only one for me.
Yes, this time my love's the real thing.
Never felt that love is so right.
The world seemed such an empty place.
We need someone we could give our all.
Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.
Could it be true, could it be real?
My heart says that you're the one.
There's no one else, you're the only one for me.
Yes, this time my love's the real thing.
Never felt that love is so right.
The world seemed such an empty place.
We need someone we could give our all.
Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.
Never felt that love is so right.
The world seemed such an empty place.
We need someone we could give our all.
Baby, it's you, we'll be together now and forever.