Chapter 9: The Love Machine
SUSAN MURPHY
"Here he is," Dr. Cockroach said elegantly. "What do you think?"
He unveiled his creation and I gasped. He was just my size, his skin was fair and perfect, and he was dressed in a fancy suit.
It. "It", not "he". The only "he" in my life is the doctor.
"It… it doesn't look much like you," I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "You, er, want him to look like me? I tried to make him handsome."
"Well, you're the one I love, Doctor," I reminded him. "I'd rather be with you than with a handsome stranger."
"Don't think of it as a substitute for me," he said hastily. "That's the last thing it is. It's… you know. A way for us to express our affection for one another. Think of it as an artistic medium."
I tapped his head. "I love you," I told him. "I'm so glad you're going to all these lengths just to make me happy."
"Oh, please," he assured me. "Building a robot is the least I can do. If I had to prove myself, I'd fight hand-to-hand with every single person in the sitting room."
"You don't have to prove yourself," I said with a laugh. "I already love you, Dr. Cockroach. You know what my favorite thing is about being huge?"
"What's that?"
"It's all the space in my heart. You know? I mean, I'm aware how corny that sounds. But I could never feel so much love with a human heart. I love my parents, and my old friends, and the other monsters, and there's still more left over, just for you, than most people have for everyone they know."
He climbed up my body and kissed me on the cheek. "Ah, darling," he said. "I can't wait for you anymore."
"There must be some way for you to get something out of this," I said.
"I'm getting everything in the world out of this," he told me. "All I want is to make you happy."
"That's just silly," I insisted.
"No more," he said firmly. "Allow me."
He crept into the internal mechanism of the robot. Its eyes opened and I screamed. The chest cavity opened, revealing the doctor.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"The eyes are really off," I muttered. "Like a zombie or something."
"Er… a zombie?"
"Yeah, like the zombies from that really freaky movie… ah, what was it? All these zombies on a train or something… um, Tom Hanks playing, like, ninety characters."
"Oh, The Polar Express?"
"Yeah, that one."
"Oh, dear God," he said. "That was never my intention… but human emotion is really not something that can be synthesized, my love. If you seek intimacy, this is the best I can offer."
I smirked. "We're really pathetic, aren't we?"
"There's nothing pathetic about love, Susan," he assured me. "Would you care to lead, or shall I?"
"You," I said decisively. "We'll figure out our style from there." I looked into the robot's soulless eyes. "I'll, um, try to avoid eye contact."
I sat down and the robot moved slowly towards me, wrapping its arms around me. I shut my eyes and let it kiss me. I sank into it, and felt that it might work until my eyes chanced to open and I saw what was kissing me.
"Ew!" I said. "Stop it… this is just too creepy."
Dr. Cockroach came out of the robot. "Perhaps you're right," he admitted.
I picked him up and hugged him to my face. "What are we going to do?" I whispered. "Romeo and Juliet have nothing on us. At least they managed to spend one night together." I pounded my fist to the wall, then I gently stroked his face. "Don't get me wrong," I said. "I love just being with you. Dating, laughing, just holding you like this. I could stay this way for a very, very long time."
He wrapped a hand around my finger. "It's quite wonderful," he agreed. "But I swear, I'll find a way for us to engage if it kills us both… or just me, which is more plausible."
I laughed. "Don't strain yourself," I insisted. "What we have goes a lot deeper than a physical relationship." I kissed him gently on the lips, and this time it didn't feel quite as awkward.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that jab at The Polar Express. What do you think of how they're handling the relationship? I'm not taking the cheap escape of making her small. Complicates the pairing, don'tcha think?