Here is a little note before we begin, this is my first story on and I will try to upload to it at least once per week, please understand that I will not always be consistent. Other than that, enjoy!
Hunger.
'All I could feel was hunger, truly a dull feeling. I wake up like this every day, it's not as though I could afford anything else. It resulted in the need to steal. I'm not proud of it, but I have to do what I have to do to get by.' I thought as I sat up in bed.
"Well, time to start the day!" A dry sigh escaped my lips as I spoke. "What better way than to check out our schedule, let's see… oh! Here! We could, try to pickpocket, try to rob a small store, or go to the mall… And rob another store…"
This is Shizen Kikai, a poor boy that, as earlier mentioned, has to resort to crime to survive. Currently, he is looking in the mirror, tears dripping down his face all the while a smile remains. He is a boy with a strong sense of justice, it is all tearing him apart slowly.
With a sigh, he continues to get ready for the day, eating the only food he has left, an apple. He cringes with every bite, each one reaching dangerously close to the apple core. When he finishes there is not a drop of wasted juice, nor an extra morsel of apple flesh to be wasted. He had eaten everything that was edible and from the look on his face, it was not enough.
He sat down and read the newspaper, well not paper but still. When he looked at the local news online, he couldn't help but be a bit scared, there was a gang going around. The gang themselves weren't anything new, but they were getting more daring, on the brink of terrorism. He felt bad for pretty much contributing to part of the mess though.
Deciding not to waste anymore time from the day, Shizen heads outside, grabbing his full face mask and toy gun on the way. He knew it was pathetic, but it was the only thing he had, he couldn't afford food, let alone a real gun. Not that he would use one on innocents anyway.
Eventually he found his way to the mall after cutting through miles of traffic and rushed pedestrians. Every step now filled him with dread at what he would soon do. Now that he was here in the mall, he felt horrible, worse than ever before.
Confused about this feeling, he looked around. While having felt bad about stealing before, now it felt as though something was downright evil around here. With one last glance around him, he could swear he saw some strange looking men carrying some porcelain masks. When he blinked, they were gone, but still present in his mind.
Honestly, he couldn't care less what was going on around him, he had finally made it to the store in which he would find his food money. He had taken his time too, for what should have been a 5 minute walk, he took 10. It wouldn't have taken so long had he not stopped at the fountain just outside and sat there pondering.
He put on his mask, took a deep breath, and ran in.
"EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR! I HAVE A WEAPON AND AM NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!" In that moment he cursed himself for his wording, stating you aren't afraid to use a weapon? Purely amatuer.
People listened to his demands but also got to the floor quickly, lest they be shot. He walked up to the cashier. "Have you had some good business today?"
A hesitant nod.
"Good. If you wouldn't mind, hand the money over." The fear in the man's eyes made Shizen feel bad, almost enough to turn himself in.
Just as the proceeding was happening, Shizen heard a faint noise, a pin dropping. His eyes widened as he heard a grunt, obviously from throwing something. As he turned, he noticed it was a grenade.
Without any thought further, Shizen grabbed the grenade and ran, lest the civilians be in range when it goes off. It must have been the adrenaline, but he had the thought of using the fountain's water to soften the impact and possibly absorb some of the explosion.
Shizen ran faster than ever before reaching the fountain in mere seconds and leapt in, using his body to cover the grenade from the world. For a second he thought it wouldn't go off, having felt like forever, until it all went black in an instant.
To an outside perspective, it all happened at super speed, too shocked to process what they saw. There were, however, some people in a remote location that saw this event and almost felt an opportunity arising.
A slim figure in a white lab coat spoke calmly after watching these events occur. "Doctor. This is the chance we've been waiting for."
A man who seemed to be in his elder years watched this all through a camera, all while scratching his chin.
"Perhaps… Maybe just maybe, he could be the one. The military has been pushing us for their weapon more haven't they. Not to mention the incredible discovery we've just made…. I agree with you, this will be the ideal opportunity." The doctor spoke with hesitance before ending his statement in a confident tone.
"Please prepare us a ride to get to the scene quickly. We haven't the time to waste." It was a command, not a request, it would not do to get there late and lose any bits they could acquire.
With his assistant out of the way, he focused on the video once more. 'Just who are you, boy? You were clearly just robbing that store, now to turn around and sacrifice yourself for those people… you have too good a heart for what seems to be a bad person.'
TimeSkip
It took the doctor and his assistant no time to get to the crime scene, this was their only chance, laws be damned. As they made their way through the mall, they noticed police tape everywhere. There were also many police vans outside being filled with what appear to be criminals, it would seem that the gang had been caught in the distraction.
Eventually, they arrived at the place they wanted to be, the direct scene. Where a fountain once stood, was burnt and wet rubble. After a bit of persuasion, they managed to get past the cops, only after showing them their badges to prove they worked with the military.
Looking closer at the fountain, the doctor found that under the rubble, there was a lot of evidence of a body. Sadly, it seemed to be mostly demolished, limbs all but gone, stomach and all other organs blown out, head charred.
It wasn't much of a chance, but he had hope. Praying that they got lucky, the doctor got out the freezing compartment he had been carrying with him. Even if they couldn't save his body, they might just be able to save the boy's brain. With one heavy heave, the doctor managed to get the head from the rubble and quickly into the freezer.
Heading back to his assistant, the doctor started walking with a nod. "We got what we were here for- thank you officers for being cooperative." It wasn't clean, or ethical, but it was his job.
The ride to the lab was again, quick, but with a feeling of anticipation rather than dread. When they did arrive, the doctor went right into his personal lab, where all of the latest equipment is held. Seeing the doctor leave that swiftly, his assistant shook her head and let out a sigh. She called out to the doctor, before he got too far, "TRY NOT TO GO OVERBOARD, YOU NEED REST TOO COOPER!"
The doctor, Cooper, stopped before quickly regaining his pace. He called over his shoulder, "SURE THING SHELLY, BUT YOU KNOW NOT TO CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME." with those last words, he was gone, back in his lab and ready to roll.
'Alright, the first step is to download any data we can from the brain, assuming it is still intact enough for such a thing. He did take a hard hit after all.' With that, the doctor used his expertise on human anatomy and removed the brain from the body with extreme precision. Soon after, he made his way across the lab and pressed a button.
When the button was pressed, a chain of reactions shot off, the wall next to said button unfurled in a wild manner. After the whirl of mechanical joints ended, the basic model of a human body showed, other than lacking any distinctive features, the body had one huge difference. It was made entirely of metal.
'This should be fine for now, all we need to do is scan and upload any salvageable data of any importance, memories and emotions would be the most important. All we need is to put this here- that there- and DONE!'
After an antagonizing and long wait, the scan was complete, and downloaded the data. Now, this wouldn't have been possible had anyone attempted this, or at least, not to anyone with standard equipment. Being one of the lead scientists that made and engineered weapons and advancements for the military, he had access to machines that were thought to be fictional to many.
Deciding, for unknown reasons, to put the brain into a jar filled to the brim with some strange yellowish preserving liquid, the doctor wasted no time in doing so. He worked in his own way, and quite a confusing way it was, but there was never, ever an action committed without a reason.
With a sigh and a sip of hilltop dew, he looked at the data gathered and copied from the brain. He mentally and physically prepared himself for the long night ahead of him, he would be sorting out the information into readable data and putting it into different groups. After such, he would maximize the efficiency of the mechanical body that he had lying behind him. Finally, he would be weaponizing said body, and adding specific features to it, ones that would make it essentially human.
Other than that, he had a long way to go before he could try to make the body compatible with the mysterious power source they found not long ago. Speaking of said power source, it looked similar enough to a stone, but then again, most stone's do not glow. Not only did the stone glow, but it emitted incredible amounts of energy, enough to power a city, and it never seemed to drop or run out. There was one problem though, for as smart as he was, the doctor never found out a way to disperse the heat. Whenever he had a machine running on the strange stone's power, it would run fine for a few hours, but eventually it would overheat and shut down.
Timeskip
'Why does everything feel so heavy? I feel like my head should be pounding right now, what was I doing anyway?' Shizen was very confused about everything going on right now, where was he? What happened to him, everything feels weird. His eyes snapped open much faster than before 'THAT'S RIGHT! THE MALL, THE GRENADE! I'M DEAD AREN'T I!'
As he was beginning to panic, an elderly looking man moved calmly into the room. Snapping his attention straight to him, Shizen couldn't help but ask "What happened? Shouldn't I be dead… I feel great right now."
Shizen watched as the old man in front of him seemed… surprised? Was that right, he didn't know, he was still in shock at being alive. "Young man, I know you said you feel great, but I need you to describe it in detail. You were in a nasty explosion, we barely managed to save you." The doctor said slowly, allowing Shizen to soak it in.
Internally however, the doctor was freaking out a lot right now. 'Sure, we powered him on, but he wasn't supposed to be conscious, like I mean fully thinking and conscious. How is that possible, he is a machine, no?'
"Well, I think I feel a lot stronger now, it's probably from the nutrition that the hospital would be providing me, thank you. Anyway, I didn't eat much before… actually, why was I saved, I feel awful, I held those people hostage, I was trying to rob that store. You shouldn't have saved me, I don't deserve it…" Shizen finished off his small speech with a resigned tone, truly feeling remorse for his actions.
Once more Connor was stunned, he expected there to possibly be a few attempts at speech or response, but no full comprehension. He had been surprised at the thinking that the, now robotic, boy in front of him could do, but he was not ready in the slightest for the robot to feel emotion. This opened up all kinds of opportunities, ones that could change the future.
"Soooo, now that I'm better, can I go oooor?" The boy in front of the doctor felt very awkward at this moment and was dreading staying there any longer. As the doctor was about to say no, he thought about it, but there was something he hadn't accounted for. Emotions. His long buried feelings, ones he had put aside for his job, had resurfaced.
This moment's hesitation gripped the doctor's mind and warped his thoughts. He thought of all the time he spent working on the boy and almost felt attached. It was only a matter of time before the military came, he couldn't give them this boy as a weapon, he didn't even know he was mechanical. He knew what the right thing to do was, and he was determined to do it.
"Yes, we will let you go shortly, don't worry about your record, you saved many civilians from certain death. Also, I would recommend finding a job, so that you would no longer be forced to do things such as crime." There was more than one reason for the doctor's suggestion, not only would it help the boy fit in and distract him, it would disguise him from anyone that somehow learned of his existence, not that anyone would or could.
"That is a huge relief, thank you so much!-" Shizen was about to say more, but his stomach interrupted him, he was a tad bit hungry.
'Oh, he should probably eat before going, he's hungry.' The doctor thought before realizing something, 'WAIT, HE'S HUNGRY? HOW, I DIDN'T PUT A STOMACH THERE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I WOULD!' After promptly getting Shizen some food, the doctor did a scan on the boy, finding a miracle. His body, while still being metal, had somehow become cellular. He had organs where organs should be, he could breathe and eat, and everything else a human did for energy. What was more, right where he had put the strange stone, was a heart-like object, it sent out energy as needed, and even had vein-like passageways leading into and out of it.
It would seem that the boy could do organic processes to gain extra energy, or to create some physical familiarity, whatever the reason, it didn't matter. What did matter was that the boy could perform organic processes, that should not be possible. Another intriguing thing was the possibility of the boy being capable of growth or regeneration. All evidence would point to the idea of the boy being able to heal despite being in a would-be inorganic body.
Having just finished the food, Shizen got off of the hospital bed, saying "Thank you sir. I really appreciate it, and I will find a job immediately, you don't have to worry about anything!" After that, he ran out of the door.
'What is going on with me today? I feel so good, I also feel so strong! Plus, earlier when I was eating, it didn't feel necessary, more like an option.' Shizen was lost in thought until he found himself outside his door, he could swear that it was farther, and that he should be out of breath by now.
Relenting to his thoughts, Shizen went inside his small apartment, one that rent was almost due for, and sat down. He decided to take the doctor's advice and look for a job, the newspaper seemingly the best place to start. Now, it's not to say that he didn't try to get a job before, but being in the situation he is in, he had to miss a lot of school. Employers didn't like that too much, and sooner or later, he realized that he wouldn't get hired with nothing to show on his resume.
Finally, out of the corner of his eye, as he was about to admit defeat, he noticed an… alluring job offer. He smiled, hope beaming in his eyes, what he didn't know was that he was getting into something much deeper than he could imagine. Soon enough, the admittedly bright eyes of one Shizen Kikai would soon be full of fear and confusion.
Until next time on FNIA: Man And Machine
Thank you for reading! I would really appreciate any reviews, thoughts on the story, ideas for other stories, or even suggestions for the future of the story.
There will be updates for this story, if ever discontinued, I will put it here in the sub notes. Have a wonderful day!
Words: 2966
3/15/2022