It was a rare momentous occasion for the Girl - she’d finally found a lead, however tenuous, AND somehow managed to simultaneously earn enough to extend the limit of her ankle chain AND get some well-deserved time off from the Factory to explore the confines of the City. In this case, she was headed for the National Hysterical Society - a Religious community gathering at a location known only as The Crater.
It was a mistake trying to find sympathy among total strangers who had nothing to gain from her constant requests. Better to rely on the generosity and kindness of strangers who had something to prove their moral superiority to a higher power. She should’ve done this in the first place!
She hadn’t associated with her Religion since her childhood, with the numerous stories centering around a creation myth and past people’s deeds. She fell out of it years ago, and the whole ritual had kind of faded away. So when it came to certain traditions and practices, she was a little out of shape. Hopefully, these people would be more focused on their charity than to her adherence to memorization.
When she reached the Crater site, she was greeted by a plethora of buildings, blocking all sight around the point of detonation. A vast array of structures paying tribute to this symbol of destruction and rebirth, preserved for future generations.
They were of varying elaborate design, all in an attempt to attract attention and stand out from the crowd, but put in near proximity to each other, only served to blend together in a visual offence for the eyes.
As she got closer, the crowds of adoring masses continued to swell, even as her odoriferous presence caused no shortage of distress to their surroundings. Normally, people went out of their way to avoid her, but her smell didn’t deter these zealots in the slightest. Fighting her way through was a near physical impossibility, and she almost got swept along with the crowd.
In one of these fancy buildings, there was a congregation of people doing ritual chanting that lulled the audience in with their alluring lyrics, causing the people to join their revelry in kind, with buckets of wine being spilled about. At least, she hoped that was wine.
Their behaviour disturbed her in a way she couldn’t quite quantify, and she quickly left. She made the mental excuse of leaving, saying that they seemed to be having so much fun it seemed a shame to intrude upon them. She was seeking private audience with someone in charge, not wanting to disrupt personal services.
She opted for a break in the crowd where the herd thinned out. Looking upon the numerous choices offered her, the Girl opted for a sparsely attended structure. Of all the churches, temples and prayer towers that encased the area, there was one that seemed completely empty, and she made her way towards it.
Inside the quiet chamber was a solitary figure meditating on an elevated pane of glass, facing a landscape through thin slots. Upon noticing her, the figure rose up and descended, its impressive height towering over her form, and once again, she wondered if she’d made the right choice.
When the figure sat, it had been looking the other way, but was facing her without ever turning around. It wasn’t human, but a Robotic figure. Upon closer inspection, there was an odd discolouring on its left hand that didn’t match the metallic layer of its artificial skin. An Android, perhaps?
“You look quite distressed. What is troubling you?”
She snapped out of her stupor and asked the question she’d come for. “Have you seen a man wearing gloves? Carrying around an old lady with a young face?”
“I don’t know the man you speak of, but I know the woman. Such a tragic thing to happen to one so young. I too know the pain of being burdened with a body that refuses to obey your every whim.”
“Hey, don’t go blaming me for everything.”, a voice rang out.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. If you’re trying to find her, you’re only going to be disappointed.”
“Well, that’s fine, since I’m not interested in her, just the man who was carrying her around.”
“Is there anything I can do in their absence?”
The Girl had been expecting a deluge of probing personal questions, but this simple question blew all those thoughts away. She was so focused on looking for the Gloved Man, that it never occurred to her that someone else might help.
“I’ve been trying to get some help for my medical condition, and no one’s been willing to help me!”
“That’s understandable. In this City, it’s everyone for themselves, and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” a voice rang out.
“Who said that?”
“No one important. What you need to consider is that not everyone is out to get you - ”
“- it just seems that way.”
“Would you please be quiet?!”
The Girl looked around the room. Apart from the two of them, there was no one else there. It clearly wasn’t an auditory hallucination, since the figure heard it as well. “Is that voice...” she queried, pointing upwards.
The figure looked up, then leaned forward, in a shaking manner, and perplexingly, displayed the astounding ability of emitting loud stifled laugher without ever moving its lips. Regaining its composure, the figure said, “No, it’s nothing as grandiose as GOD. It’s just a condition I have to live with.”
“It’s not... contagious, is it?” Having an unbearable odor surrounding her every day was bad enough. Having a bodyless voice commenting on her every action would be unbearable. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like. It would be like... having the Foreman from the Factory harassing her at all times after hours.
“Oh, no. this is something that occurred only once. If you peer through these slots, you can see where it took place.”
The figure pointed in the direction it had been looking, and the Girl ventured across the large plane of glass that, for some reason, had the words “URGER KLING” written on it.
“Not far from here lies the very spot where I was reborn. I am fortunate to be situated so closely to the Holey Grounds.”
She peered through the thin slots where the outer rim of a large hole could just barely be seen. On the walls around the City were numerous posters of a huge gaping hole in the ground, its depth stretching far beyond what the eye could possibly see. Considering the ubiquity of the Crater theme, she was surprised to see that the actual thing was less impressive in person. It was smaller than she expected, and barely reached the distance of two blocks.
“I don’t see what all the fuss is about.”
“Naturally, you wouldn’t. You weren’t there when the incident took place. But then, most followers weren’t there either. It’s only natural that people would want to inflate the event to loom larger in their minds.”
“Glorify their pride, more like.”
“Who keeps saying that?”
“It may not look like much,” the figure said, ignoring the outburst, “but don’t let the peaceful scene fool you. Within that area, there was a great buildup of energy that unleashed itself all at once in a blinding flash.”
“I was caught in the outer rim of the blast with an upraised arm. The result was a casing of flesh that was fused to my behind and part of my arm. I tried to receive compensation for the damage, but since this was an entirely new event, no insurance could be put down for me.”
The figure raised its discoloured arm, and the Girl could see that when positioned like this, it truly looked more like a robot this way. So, on its back was...
“As a form of vengeance, I started spreading dogmatic advice to anyone who would listen, showing my scarred wounds as evidence. In time, I gained a legendary following to anyone who would listen. And then, everything changed...”
“You’ve had your say. It’s my turn now!”
And then, the figure twisted around, until the figure’s back that presented itself... revealing another face, this one made not of metal, but of flesh.
“I’d ask you not to stare, but that’s impossible now.”
The back of the robotic figure matched the discoloured arm, only, this side had a metallic arm underneath its backside. The whole figure was completely double-jointed, the arms, legs and fingers bending back in a way that would be extremely painful for anyone else.
The Girl could see that it made a full Fleshy profile from the underside of the Metallic Half. It wasn’t a Cyborg or an Android - it was something else. Instead of a human with technology grafted on, it was a robot with flesh melded with it.
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