She caught up to him outside Heap's apartment, catching a glimpse of his fedora in a darkened alley across the street. She'd taken a cab this time, figuring it would be safer that way than walking the entire distance to the bad side of town, especially since she knew where she was going this time. She walked up to him slowly, clicking her heels against the sidewalk.
"Seen anything?" she asked.
"No."
"I'm sorry I said it like that--like you were a child."
His eyes glowed brighter.
"It's okay," he said. "I've acted like one for long enough."
She squinted at him. "So you're saying I now? When did this start?"
"Now, I suppose. Does it make you uncomfortable?"
"No! It's not that. It's just... different. I've been so used to hearing this unit come out of your mouth for so long that it just surprised me. I just figured you couldn't say that, like it wasn't in your programming or something."
"It was there," said Tommy, staring intently at the building across the street and scanning all of the exits over and over again. "The Professor only addressed me one time after he made me, and that's what he called me--this unit. It was a way of reminding me what I am. I'm an ever-evolving machine, Charlie. You know that as well as I do. All I'm programmed to do is learn and adapt, and I've learned so much about humans, Charlie. So much. But that's the one thing I can never become. I'm trapped inside a metal shell, and I'll never have a soul. I'll never have a heart. I need this case. If only to pretend for a little while that I'm a person, that I have a life worth living."
Charlie had nothing to say--nothing meaningful, at least, so she responded by placing her hand on his shoulder and squeezing tightly, though she knew he couldn't feel it. They waited in the dark, watching and pacing along the length of the alley between two decaying tenements. The rain came, but the fire escapes above caught it all, sending the water down in harmless and avoidable streams to splash in the gaps of the pock-marked concrete, worn from so many rain storms over the years.
Francis Heap was nowhere to be found.
"Seen anything?" she asked.
"No."
"I'm sorry I said it like that--like you were a child."
His eyes glowed brighter.
"It's okay," he said. "I've acted like one for long enough."
She squinted at him. "So you're saying I now? When did this start?"
"Now, I suppose. Does it make you uncomfortable?"
"No! It's not that. It's just... different. I've been so used to hearing this unit come out of your mouth for so long that it just surprised me. I just figured you couldn't say that, like it wasn't in your programming or something."
"It was there," said Tommy, staring intently at the building across the street and scanning all of the exits over and over again. "The Professor only addressed me one time after he made me, and that's what he called me--this unit. It was a way of reminding me what I am. I'm an ever-evolving machine, Charlie. You know that as well as I do. All I'm programmed to do is learn and adapt, and I've learned so much about humans, Charlie. So much. But that's the one thing I can never become. I'm trapped inside a metal shell, and I'll never have a soul. I'll never have a heart. I need this case. If only to pretend for a little while that I'm a person, that I have a life worth living."
Charlie had nothing to say--nothing meaningful, at least, so she responded by placing her hand on his shoulder and squeezing tightly, though she knew he couldn't feel it. They waited in the dark, watching and pacing along the length of the alley between two decaying tenements. The rain came, but the fire escapes above caught it all, sending the water down in harmless and avoidable streams to splash in the gaps of the pock-marked concrete, worn from so many rain storms over the years.
Francis Heap was nowhere to be found.
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