The Missing Flesh

"I know this will sound glib but you'll survive," Zaxie said. "You managed to live somehow before Robin Park and you'll manage somehow after her, if it comes to that."

"That's the logical answer," I said, "but love isn't a logical thing. As I'm sure you're aware."

"That's true. As young as you are and being in love, that's a dangerous combination."

"What about you?" I asked. "What would you do if Doctor Eliza suddenly decided she longer wanted to be your lover?"

"You know about that?" Zaxie said. "We were trying to be discreet."

I laughed at that. "The walls in this house will need to be significantly thicker in order for the two of you to be anything close to discreet."

***

Zaxie was right, as usual. It was only a few days later that I was hacked yet again. The four of us were eating breakfast in the kitchen when I saw something startling out of the corner of my eye. Hovering near the ceiling was a penis. A floating penis. It was pink, thick, and long, although it appeared to be only partially erect. A pair of heavy testicles the size of eggs hung underneath.

As I watched it bumped against the ceiling, causing it to jiggle in a most interesting fashion. I couldn't take my eyes off of it and I tracked its movement as it bumped along the ceiling.

"Something interesting up there, Maralee?" asked Zaxie from across the kitchen table.

"Uh, no!" I said, a little too loudly as I dragged my eyes back down to look at Zaxie. To my horror there was another floating penis directly above Zaxie's head. As I watched the thing bounced off the top of her head, the fat heavy scrotum wobbling from the impact. "Nothing at all." I quickly looked away. I couldn't help but glance quickly at Trina. Her grin made it apparent that she knew exactly what I was seeing.

I looked away and risked turning towards Doctor Eliza. She was clearly mystified by my behavior. However, to my horror yet another floating penis was snuggling in her cleavage. I quickly looked down at my plate. For the rest of the meal I didn't look up from my plate and ate in complete silence. That morning Zaxie had made waffles and I concentrated on neatly cutting them up in small slices before bringing each piece to my mouth.

Unfortunately, I could delay the inevitable for so long and eventually I had to look back up from the table. Floating penises were everywhere. There was even one trying to insert itself into Doctor Eliza's ear. It was then that I was had a bit of inspiration. I closed my eyes and switched my vision over to infrared. When I opened my eyes again, all the floating penises were gone.

This time fixing the problem was more difficult. There wasn't an easily found file in my filters to delete. Instead, I had to comb through thousands of lines of code. I knew it would take awhile. I couldn't just sit at the table in complete silence doing nothing while I rooted out the offending coding. Doctor Eliza and Zaxie would know for sure that something was going on with me.

"Thanks for breakfast, Zaxie," I said, pushing my chair back and standing up. "It was great, as usual." I picked up my dirty dishes and carried them to the sink.

"You're welcome, of course," Zaxie replied as I left the kitchen.

I went straight to my room. Once inside I locked the behind me and collapsed on my bed. It took some time but I was able to find the lines of malicious code and wipe them out. I switched back over from infrared to visible light and heaved a sigh of relief when there wasn't a trace of any floating genitalia to be seen.

***

However, the worse was yet to come. It was several weeks later when?Trina pulled her next stunt. The Doctor had been working on a prototype non-lethal weapon system for Strike Eagle Arms who would in turn market it to law enforcement agencies.

My part in any demonstration is pulling the trigger. Generally, Doctor Eliza builds her weapons into cybernetic limbs. That's where I come in. The prototypes are always bulky, inefficient and require lots of energy compared to the final products. So the Doctor's solution was simple: run the demonstration off of my power cell.

I sent the mental command which disengaged my right arm. There was a loud, "CLICK," and the clamps that kept my arm locked in place to the stud on my stump unlocked. I grabbed my disengaged right arm with my left hand and pulled if free from the stump. When attached, it's impossible to tell that my limbs are cybernetic prosthetics just by looking at them but the moment I detach them the difference is readily apparent, of course.

I set my right arm down and then picked up the prototype replacement arm with my left hand. Something was wrong. I had handled the prototype several times before when helping Doctor Eliza. The arm I was holding was not the same one I had helped the Doctor work on. I told her as much. "Doctor Eliza, pardon me but this isn't the same prototype you've been working on."

She looked over from where she was setting up several mannequins as targets. "What are you taking about? Of course that's the correct prototype. What else would it be?"

"But I've handled the prototype several times and this one is over three hundred grams heavier," I protested.

"Maralee, what has gotten into you lately?" she said. "Look, it's exactly where I left it last night. Do you think someone snuck in here overnight and switched the prototype? There's no way anyone broke in. Besides, what would be the point? Now just hook it up and do your job, please!"

I shrugged and did as I was told. It wasn't my job to think after all. I knew that I was correct about the prototype having been switched but Doctor Eliza made it clear she didn't want to hear it.

What happened next wasn't my fault, I had tried to warn her.

After the Doctor arranged the mannequins to her liking and I had the prototype installed on my right arm she made a call to Zaxie. "Okay, everything is set here. Send them in." She listened to Zaxie's reply for a moment before responding. "Okay, in that case send them in when they're finished with coffee." She hung up the phone and looked over at me, rolling her eyes. "Zaxie went and served coffee while they were waiting. Now we have to wait."

"I guess she felt bad making them wait for us," I replied.

"At least she didn't feel bad enough to offer them blowjobs," the Doctor said.

I was still thinking about oral sex as it applied to my relationship with Robin when the workshop door opened and a pair of women in business suits entered.

The Doctor coughed and shot a warning look at me. "Okay, stop daydreaming about sucking Robin's cock and wipe that dopey smile off your face. We have a job to do."

I immediately straightened up and gave the two corporate representatives a quick look-over. Other than the stern no-nonsense look about them and the matching suits they didn't look much alike, one being a brunette and the other a blonde nearly as tall as Doctor Eliza.

The Doctor nodded at the two. "Good morning, ladies. Sorry to keep you waiting. Well, why don't we just get to it? This will be the preliminary demonstration of the non-lethal weapon system that your company requested. Now it's far from being perfected but I believe it's serviceable enough for a test run. Enough to show you that things are headed in the right direction. Of course, after the demonstration I'll make all the data available to you."

The brunette spoke up. "That would be nice. Quite frankly, you've been running behind on this project from the beginning. Normally, by now we would expected you to be designing the final market model."

The Doctor didn't seem too concerned. "This is the first time anyone has asked for a non-lethal weapon system. I usually do flesh eating deathrays or plasma beams that can cut through ten meters of granite. Non-lethal requires more precision." She turned from the brunette and looked over at me. "Okay, Maralee, go ahead and stand in the circle over there and when I tell you to, fire at the targets. For now just use the lowest setting."

I stepped into the circle painted on the floor that the Doctor had indicated and faced the mannequins that she had put into place. I extended my right arm until I had the business end of the prototype pointed at the targets. "Okay, I'm activating the targeting sequencer now," I told the Doctor. The targeting overlay popped up and my field of vision became a grid of intersecting thin black lines. It took less than a second to paint the multiple targets. "I'm ready anytime now, Doctor."

"Do it," Doctor Eliza said.

The moment I fired I knew something was wrong. I heard a loud, "FOOMP FOOMP FOOMP," as I fired off multiple shots, like someone shooting a series of particularly large spitballs through a giant straw.

Several white pellets shot out the business end of the prototype and began expanding as they flew to their targets. Each one impacted their respective target, splattering in a froth of white foam which then dripped to the floor.

I was stunned. I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew something had gone drastically wrong. I risked a look over at the Doctor, she seemed to be in shock. Her gaze kept shifting back and forth between the business end of the prototype and the targets.

She opened her mouth as if to speak and then closed it again. This happened several more times before she found the ability to speak. "What just happened here?" She wasn't shouting. She didn't seem enraged or even all that angry. She was calm and collected. She was beyond mere rage, she was in shock.

'I told you so' didn't seem like the best answer. "Um, I'm really not sure, Doctor. I think- uh, that's weird." Suddenly, the targeting overlay shifted and Doctor Eliza and both corporate representatives were painted as targets. To my horror, the prototype swung to point at them with no command from me. I was no longer in control.

The Doctor was no longer calm. "Maralee! What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing it!" I yelled. "This thing is targeting you on its own! Run!"

However, it was too late. The prototype fired several more pellets, splattering Doctor Eliza from head to toe and scoring two perfect hits in the corporate representatives' faces.

"MARALEE! What the fuck!"

I was in a panic and I couldn't stop babbling. "I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I swear I didn't do this...."

Doctor Eliza glared at me. "You said earlier that the prototype's weight was off."

"Yes, three hundred grams," I said quickly, grateful not to have the Doctor's wrath fall on me.

"Someone switched the prototype," she said, turning away from me and stomping across the workshop. "Someone who lives in this house. TRINA! I'm gonna beat your ass!" She exited the workshop, slamming the door behind her.

"I don't suppose it would be too much to ask for some towels or something to clean up with," the brunette said.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" I said. I looked about the workshop, frantically searching for rags or towels for the two visitors to clean up with. Unfortunately, the only towels I saw were covered in grease or otherwise filthy. I thought about leaving the workshop to looking for some towels but decided against it. Leaving them alone in the workshop seemed like a bad idea. Plus, it might seem rude to them.

Of course, not giving them something to clean up with was also rude. I was at a loss for what to do. Then it struck me.

I disengaged the prototype and pulled it free from the stud on the end of my arm. After I set it down on the workbench I unbuttoned my shirt. It was a little difficult to do with just one arm but I managed. "I'm sorry that I don't have anything better to give you."

That was when the door to the workshop slammed open and Zaxie came in carrying a stack of towels. "Maralee, button that shirt back up. You won't be needing to give these ladies an eyeful." She handed towels to the two ladies in question.

"Bad timing. You should have waited a few more minutes," the blonde quipped as she wiped her face with a towel.

I'm not particularly smart but even I understood what the blonde was getting at. "I hate to disappoint you but my breasts aren't much to look at," I said to the blonde. "In fact, I really don't even need a bra. That's how tiny they are."

"Oh, Rhea here likes them small," the brunette said. "Telling her that you have tiny tits is pretty much a tease."

"Oh, do shut up, Kara," Rhea said. "I was just making a joke-"

"Ladies, if you will excuse us, I need to talk to Maralee here for a moment," Zaxie said. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the workshop and into the corridor leading to the rest of the house.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" I asked Zaxie.

"Doctor Eliza found out where Trina hid the actual prototype. She wants you to finish the demo for those two in there. Can you do that?"

"Well, yeah, sure," I said. "Of course I'll do it. But where is Doctor Eliza?"

"Having a little heart-to-heart with Trina. Interspersed with some vigorous open-hand-to-backside I imagine."

I gave her a blank look.

"Spanking."

"No way."

"Yes way," Zaxie said. "I think tonight would be a real good night to make yourself scarce. Maybe a sleep-over at Robin's?"

I shook my head. As much as I would have loved nothing more than spending a night with my girlfriend I had been avoiding just that very thing. There was no way I would be able to keep Robin discovering the truth about me if I slept in the same bed with her. "I really don't think that's a good idea," I said to Zaxie.

She narrowed her eyes, drilling me with a look of disapproval. "Don't you think it's about time you came clean with Robin?"

"But if I do she'll dump me!" I said. I didn't want to have this conversation with Zaxie. Coming clean with Robin was the last thing I wanted to do. Not only would I have to reveal my secret but I'd have to admit that I'd been lying to her all along.

I wasn't used to getting hard looks from Zaxie but at that moment her face looked like carved stone. "How long do you think you can keep this up?"

"For some time yet." It just popped out of my mouth. Generally, I use the all-important brain-to-mouth filter but sometimes things slip out. I may be a cyborg but I still make human mistakes.

"And the inevitable crash and burn? The prospect doesn't bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me!" I snapped. "But since it's inevitable, as you say, I want to extend the time I have left with her for as long as possible. Is it really that hard to understand?" I was left trembling after that outburst. I had never never yelled at Zaxie before.

"Well, at least you're speaking up for yourself," Zaxie said. "Too bad it's directed at the wrong person."

Needless to say I was chagrined. "I'm sorry, Zaxie. I know what you say is right. Absolutely and completely. And I know I'm being selfish. I know I'm deceiving Robin. I know that I'm a liar and a fraud."

"As the saying goes; knowing is half the battle," Zaxie said.

I shook my head. It wasn't going to be that easy. "No. You see, I know all those things. And even knowing them I fully intend to keep on doing what I'm doing. I know it makes me an evil liar. But I want to have Robin for as long as possible."

"Did it ever occur to you that even if Robin ends up not caring about your little secret she may well dump you for lying to her for so long?"

I was struck dumb by the idea. I had been so focused on my physical deformity for so long I never stopped to consider that Robin might break up with me over the lie itself while not caring that much about reason for the lie. The irony didn't escape me.

"Do you really want to keep living like this?" Zaxie asked with far more gentleness than I deserved.

"But what if she breaks up with me?"

"You say Robin is your girlfriend," Zaxie replied. "What kind of relationship do you have if every time you see her you have to lie about what you are?"

***

I knocked on the front door to Robin's apartment. From inside I heard Robin shout, "Hold on a second. I'll be right with you!" Moments later the door flung open to reveal Robin wearing terry cloth shorts and a thin t-shirt that ended above her mid-riff. "Maralee?"She looked at the overnight bag on my shoulder and glanced at my bike leaning against the wall in the hallway. She gave me a questioning look.

It was do or die time. I had spent every moment from the time I had talked to Zaxie to the time I had arrived at Robin's door trying to steel myself for the inevitable confrontation. However, in the face of the actual moment I found myself tongue-twisted and clumsy. "Uh, hey, Robin. I'm here to, um, that is, I was thinking...."

She waited patiently for me to continue. When it became apparent that I wasn't going to finish she prompted me. "Yes? You were thinking?"

"Well, Trina really messed things up today with some of the Doctor's clients and Zaxie said I should stay with you tonight. So can I?"

"Oh, Zaxie said that, did she?"

"No, well, yes, she said that," I said, mentally berating myself for being stupid. "But I want to stay here. With you. I mean, I'm really excited."

"Really now?"

"Oh yes!" I replied, vigorously nodding my head. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"

"Well, come on in then," she said, stepping away from the doorway to allow me to enter her apartment. "And do stop nodding your head like that. You'll hurt yourself. Besides, you look like a bobble-head."

I stepped into her apartment's entryway and she closed the door behind me. "So, where should I put this?" I asked, holding up my overnight bag.

"In my bedroom is fine," Robin said. "Here, hand it over, I'll put it away." She took the bag from and headed towards her bedroom through her apartment with me in tow. To the left of the entryway I could see though the doorway into her living room. However, she led me down the hallway to left. We passed several closed doors until we reached the door at the very end of the hallway. "So, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Well, the short version is Trina sabotaged the demonstration the Doctor was giving for some corporate clients. Doctor Eliza was pissed of course but Trina's real target was me."

"She's a real cunt," Robin said. "I hate the way that bitch treats you."

"I'm not a big fan of her either but there isn't much I can do about it," I said.

"Sure there is," Robin said as she opened the door to her bedroom. Inside, she placed the bag on top of one of her dressers. "You don't mind sleeping here tonight, do you?"

"Huh? Of course not," I said as I looked around the room. Unlike mine, Robin's room was a clutter. Every available flat surface had been claimed by piles of books, unwashed coffee mugs and mounds of clothes. Even her bed was home to piles of blankets, pillows and clothes all twisted together into what appeared to be a giant rat's nest. A guitar sat in the far corner, propped up against a powerful looking speaker. Except for the full length mirror across from the bed the walls were covered with posters featuring various rock bands, none of which I recognized. I realized at that moment we didn't share musical tastes.

In contrast, my room was all but spartan except for the airplane and robot models that I had constructed years earlier to help me learn how to use my prosthetics and improve my dexterity. Not owning anything beyond the necessities made keeping my room neat and tidy an easy chore.

"So, gonna get undressed or what?"

I turned back to look at her. "What?"

"I said, are you going to get undressed," Robin said. "You're not planning on going to bed like that, are you?" she asked while waving a hand to indicate my long sleeve shirt and jeans.

"You go to bed this early?" I asked, looking at the clock on the bedroom wall. "It's not even eight yet."

"Of course I don't," Robin replied. "I just thought you might want to wear something more comfortable."