"Jeison!! I'm home!" I called out as I slammed the iron front door of
the clinic shut. I didn't lock it. Most likely because there was no lock.
Jeison had a faith in the citizens of Scrap Iron City that I never really
understood, but didn't question.
I recieved a muffled reply from the upper level of the clinic, and
rushed up the stairs to meet with the man who had become a father-figure to
me. I clanked loudly as I ran, making it seem as if an army of bots was
coming up the stairwell rather than one simple cyborg girl. I was covered
in my delivery bags, the collection of which made me seem to be a type of
human camel. However, seeing as the majority of my person was made of steel
I hardly felt the weight of the parts that filled the canvas to near
overflow.
"Welcome back, Crys. You're home early. Finish all of your
deliveries?" Again, this reply was muffled due to the fact that Jeison's
mouth was covered by a surgeon's mask. He was also bent over his latest
patient, who was nervously clutching the sides of his pallet and enduring
his surgery as best he could.
Smiling proudly, I nodded, thought better of it when I saw his
current level of concentration, and instead cried "Yup! Every last one of
them"
Finally tightening the last bolt in the reconstructed jaw of his
patient, the tall blonde straightened and faced me with a smile. His
patient, a man once entirely human until attacked by organ thieves, gave a
small whimper and sank down in a relaxed position.
Doctor Jeison was the best cybernetic surgeon in all of Scrap Iron
City. It was rumored that he came from the high city of Zalem, but nobody
could quite confirm this, and he never talked about it. He had come to be
known as the 'fallen angel' of the city. He worked on people, repairing
broken iron limbs, for little or no money. Many whispered suspiciously
about how he managed to keep this clinic open when he hardly accepted
payment. I never worried about it, however. I was too star-struck by
Jeison.
I worked for Jeison as a delivery girl. I took fixed parts back to
their owners, brought broken parts back to the clinic, and ran any other
small errands that needed to be done. In return for my service I lived in
the clinic, in my own little room on the second floor that had a window and
a soft pillowy pallet to sleep on. I also got free 'tune-ups' courtesy of
the Doc, and had my body kept in top shape by having parts replaced or
worked on. It was more than a deal.
"Doc I....I don't know how I'm going to pay you for this..." The
forelorned patient shamefully said, his eyes downcast to the tiled floor.
"Ah, don't worry about that" Jeison replied with a large smile "You
just rest up and we'll see how that jaw feels in the morning, alright?"
Nodding gratefully, the man rolled over on his pallet and shut his
eyes, releasing a shuddering sigh as if the events of the day had just been
too much for him.
I followed Jeison from the room as he turned off the lights and shut
the door. He smiled at me, patting my dark haired head, and glanced at the
clock that sat atop several of the boxes stacked in the hall.
"It's getting late. You'd better head to bed. I have a big job for
you tomorrow." He said mysteriously, and silencing my curious inquiries by
gently pushing me down the hall to my room.
"Come to my office when you wake up"
