Machinations

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He smiled, nodding. "I would be happy to oblige." He wandered off towards the garage after, glancing down at the bot upon arrival. He was never fond of these particular ones. The city had larger and much more dangerous versions of it around the urban areas. He had run into a few on accident a while back. Harley scooped the machine up and managed to balance it above his head. There was a slight groan in metal from the weight (and subsequently the slight weakness in his side).

"Lead the way." He grinned, keeping both his hands on the bot as he wandered out of the garage. It was strange to think freedom was just at his finger tips.
 
Annie led the way, smiling to familiar faces of past customers. It really was a short distance to Mr. Wurthers home, two streets down, four over. There were several shops on the way, lining the streets and towering over the people below. Centuries ago it was hard to think people didn't have the mechanics, even the idea, to automate their own lives. high above the buildings, railways guided different trains through cities, even above that planes and blimps advertised for many different types of companies, with one reigning supreme.

"Harley, is something wrong?" Annie eyed her creation suspiciously. She thought she'd heard the groaning and creaking of metal behind her. "It shouldn't be too heavy...maybe I should carry it."

The girl turned around and reached up towards the bot he held over his head. Prying it out of his fingers would prove futile, his grip was iron in comparison, but if it was putting that much weight on his gears, she didn't want to break him.​
 
Not even Harley could deny the stress that his gears were under with the hole in his machinery currently, but he was more than aware of what would happen if he admitted to the current shortcoming. Never the less, he turned his head in her direction when he spoke. She was aware of what was going on. "Ah, no!" He said, readjusting his grip on the bot and lengthening his stride to keep up with her. He had been walking slowly to hope it would keep the injury from being noticed. Unfortunately, it looked as if it didn't matter.

"I can carry it just fine." He gave her the best reassuring smile he could conjure. Harley hoped it would be enough. He stood a little straighter, increasing the distance between her hand and the bot. "You must keep as much weight off your leg as possible." Harley figured if he could escape for a short amount of time while she went over the specs, he might be able to grab the final part he needed in order to complete the leg he had in his mind for Annie.

"You're the navigator here, not the muscle." He grinned playfully. "All is well. I promise." A lie.
 
"Alright, Alright." Annie backed away and shrugged. If he was insisting so much, it was only something she'd want to figure out later. He'd learned to lie, that much she knew. Detecting his lies were another problem. Harley didn't show certain signs. A simple glance of the eye, a touch behind the head, none of it could show if he were telling the truth or not.

Oh well, she thought.

They arrived shortly after at Mr. Wurthers, and she had Harley place the bot down in the kitchen. She opened up the back panel and started to instruct the older man what had gone wrong. That was one thing she liked to at least attempt. He could come in, time and time again to get the thing fixed, but telling him the problem made her much happier than having to fix the same problem over and over.

"See, you need to air out the back every now and then, spray it down, get the dust out. It blocks the gears and won't run as quickly."

He was a regular client, Mr. Wurthers. An older man with no wife, children and grandchildren far off in some other city. His bots were the only thing making his life tolerable at that point. If not for the thousands of machines whirring to life every morning when he awoke, he'd hardly be able to make breakfast by the time it was night.

​
 
Harley was sure that if he truly had a heart, it would hurt right about now. He hated lying to Annie but it was all for a bigger purpose. It was...a white lie. Annie had told him the difference between these when he was still newly created. Never the less, he followed along as he was supposed to, setting it down when needed so Annie could inform Mr. Wurther of what he needed to do.

Harley slipped out of the room while she instructed him and down the road a bit to where he had seen a small shop. He slipped inside without much notice from the shop keep or the customers. His mind was working quick to redraw the specs of the prosthetic in his mind. Most of the parts had been obtained in his previous escapade into the city. All he needed at this point was a few screws. He dug quickly through a small box of assorted screws and bolts, analyzing their diameters before tossing them back in. He pocketed a few that were needed.

His thoughts were cut short however by a sudden yell. "Hey!" The bark from the shop keep alerted Harley and he jerked away from the box of screws, knocking it to the floor with a clatter. He twisted around a startled and confused customer, bee lining for the door as quickly as possible. Just before he was able to make it through the door way, a hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him backwards and turned around. A much taller than he imagined man held him off the floor with ease (Harley was designed to be light weight anyways) and glared at him, his cheeks red with apparent anger.

"Think you can steal from me!?" He hissed, spittle collecting in his beard. Harley frowned. "Merely exchanging, sir." He said stiffly, unsure of what was about to happen. He hadn't ever been caught before. The man growled at his words. "Stealin' is stealin!" A hand dove into his pocket and fished all the bolts out. Harley was uncomfortable with how it felt and he jerked away, fist knocking into the man's shoulder.

Harley's estimation of his strength had been wrong and the man dropped to the floor with a howl of pain, the bone in his shoulder collapsing. Harley fell to the floor when he was dropped and scrambled to stand up. It was apparent he knew he was in trouble. Several of the customers had gathered around the injured man while others advanced on Harley.

Panicking, he staggered backwards and stumbled out the door, moving as quickly as he could. Logic indicated they would contact the authorities and this was everything Annie had been trying to avoid.
 
"Alright, that should do it." Annie beamed at the now working bot, it beeped in appreciation. At least that's what she liked to think, it was only a start up tune anyways.

"Thank you so much Miss Redd." Mr. Wurthers nodded his head a few times before digging into his pocket to pay her. She'd tried, some years ago, to refuse the old man's payment. He wasn't just some old regular. With how many bots he owned, it was amazing he managed to stay away from the shop for more than a few days. So, Annie took her payment happily and turned to face Harley.

Who...wasn't there.

"Harley?" She asked almost shyly. It wasn't like him to run off. Annie turned awkwardly to wave at the old man, "Sorry, I guess he ran off. I'll be back next week!"

Annie exited the home and scratched her head in confusion. Where the hell could he really have run off to without her noticing? He was a goddamn machine, not some stealth security...She rambled off excuses in her head as to where he could've gone. She couldn't quite hear the commotion down the road, it didn't interest her too greatly.

The girl just didn't know it was her bot who'd started the problem.​
 
The angry yelling had gotten louder and louder as he ran--it was apparent he was being chased. Harley slipped around a corner and disappeared into a small alley between two buildings, his metallic feet pounding the ground hard. He couldn't run too fast. He needed fault; he had to appear human. It was when he emerged back onto the street that he had missed the shadow standing just around the corner.

Harley took a baseball bat to the abdomen and felt the already damaged mechanics crunch from the blow. It sounded like a bone snapping. Harley was unsure of what happened and he dropped like a rock into the dust, his circuitry going haywire with the new damage. He jerked on the ground (looking amazingly like he was in pain) gasping out nonsense words as the man retreated after hitting him. Apparently if the authorities were not going to be notified, they were just going to deal equal damage.

Harley choked out a noise that sounded something like a cry as he lifted a hand to his abdomen. It was soaked in oil. Gingerly, he rolled over (completely unaware of the people standing around him who were now whispering intently about the "brown liquid"). His circuitry was trying to hold itself together and it wasn't until someone in the crowd around him stepped forward and kicked him in the side that he let out a scream that cut out and oil poured from the damaged part of him.

"It's a robot!" Someone screamed loudly. "Rogue!"
 
Annie cursed.

A mob dashed down the street, and she hated to think what she might find at the head. She begged with whatever God happened to be listening that it wasn't Harley. How wrong she was. Her leg was hardly any use to her speed, but she made it to where a large group had gathered. The girl pushed through to the front, elbowing protesters right in the jaw when she needed to. Sometimes, just sometimes, violence was the answer.

"He's almost stopped now!" Someone cheered.

"Harley!" Annie screeched.

Her creation was in a heap inside the innermost circle of the group. To save him from another blow, she covered him with her small frame and received a gracious kick in the face. She spit at the ground to get the copper taste out of her mouth.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my android?" She yelled angrily at the group. Many of them she'd done repairs for only recently, familiar faces mirrored shame now that they realized whose machine it was. "Well?"

"He stole from me!"

"Then take your fucking money, you should owe me for the damages! My bot doesn't steal."

"I saw him do it! Got the screw right out of his hands I did."

"Here!" Annie threw a wad of cash, fresh from Mr. Wurthers, at the shop owner. "Happy?"​
 
Harley hadn't felt this before. It burned in his insides and looking at Annie made it worse. He made a barely audible noise when she was kicked and that feeling he could not identify intensified when money was thrown to the others. His sensors alerted him to audio, but nothing was heard for the time being.

Harley felt ashamed. Guilty.

He swallowed hard, still partially hidden by the girl's petite frame. Everything in him wanted to get away from the crowd and their accusatory remarks. Harley had been switching bolts in and out with every visit he had made to this particular store. No amount was lost, just type. He was merely collecting what he needed and giving what he did not need. Annie's scrap pile of nuts and bolts had been shrinking but not terribly quick.

"Annie." He choked out, forcing himself (and subsequently her as well) upwards until he was standing. There was another crunch from his mechanics as he looked to those around them. "I am sorry." He said hoarsely. There was a laugh from a few members of the crowd. "Machines can't be sorry!" Clearly they weren't going to entertain the idea that he was different.

"Get your machine under control!"
"Scrap him!"
"He's faulty, Annie!"
"You've done good work, but this ain't it!"

Harley froze up at the comments. That shame he felt was very real and something in him was uncomfortable with how those comments sat in his mind. He wasn't...faulty. He was just...being him, wasn't he? Wasn't he allowed to feel things? To make mistakes like any one else? He may have been an android but he could feel things just like Annie could!

He looked down at his hands. They were covered in dirt and part of the "skin" he had was torn away to expose a small sliver of his metallic hands.

Harley hurt.

He turned to look at Annie with a blank expression, his own thoughts drowning out the rest of the crowd who kept suggesting to Annie that he was broken. "I'm sorry..." He muttered only loud enough for her to hear him.
 
"No." Annie told him forcefully. "Don't apologize."

She kept her arms around him protectively. When they insulted him, they insulted her too. How could they betray her? That's what it was, really, a betrayal of trust. In the coming days, they'd return to her for repairs and maintenance like nothing had even happened.

"Out of my way!" She spat at the crowd, seething with a new anger.

Harley was her prized creation, and they'd broken him into pieces of scrap. Just under a general look over she could see the circuits outside his skin. This wouldn't do. It'd take weeks to repair him, a few days if she really went all out. Forget a new leg, Harley needed work now.

"I said move."

Annie dragged Harley back down the road. Walking looked beyond his capabilities.​
 
Harley wasn't sure if the circuits had been disconnected or damaged, but Annie moved him just as easily as the others moved around them. He was stuck in his own head about the whole ordeal. He was built to be like this but it seemed so wrong...everyone else kept saying he was broken. He was malfunctioning. He wasn't right.

Why was it that they could feel but he wasn't allowed to? Harley felt bitter about it and even more so that Annie was carrying him home like some wounded dog. He tilted his head a bit to look down at his legs. He was going to will them to move if he had to. "Annie." He said stiffly, the usual kindness in his voice gone now. It had been replaced with a terse tone. He managed to wiggle just enough to get his feet flat on the ground. "I do not understand why I can feel things." It felt more like a curse now. He had never questioned it before.

"What is different between me and every other android or robot that you repair? I don't understand how I am special enough to be cursed with feeling things but condemned to be only a machine in the eyes of others." He wanted answers but he wasn't sure if Annie was going to be able to give them to him. Perhaps he was merely an accident. Maybe Annie had never intended to make him like this. That thought made him feel bitter as well despite the fact that everything in him wanted to believe she intentionally made him.

Harley wanted to believe he was wanted. It was the only thing he wanted.
 
"I did this." Annie said. Harley was just light enough for her to manage on her own, but still, she knew it was her own damn fault Harley was this way.

An experimental product. The only time she'd dealt with the big companies. Robotech being the top, a goofy name in the modern era, but it was an old line. Cog Bros, Bits and Parts, among others, the three big wigs had been an inspiration to her. They gave her something she regretted using to this day. However, what it made never brought her any shame.

Harley.

She would never regret bringing him into the world. Only, she wasn't ready to tell him, not yet.

"I'm sorry Harley." The girl bowed her head in shame, hiding the fact she was close to frustrated tears. "I did this to you. It was me. Now let's get you home, okay? I'll fix you up. No time at all."

I'm sorry.​
 
Harley felt his heat sensors go off slightly at her words, but he wasn't sure why it was happening. The wire ligaments used to control his arms tightened slightly and he found himself pushing away from her. His legs gave in and he ended up on his hands and knees, staring wide eyed at the ground. "I-I can do it." He choked out. He would have cried if he could. Harley was so frustrated right now.

"I-I can fix it. I just...I just need to figure this out." She wasn't tell him something. Harley could see it in her eyes. He forced himself to roll over and plunged a hand into the oily mess that was his side, fingers digging for whatever may have been missing. It took only a few seconds before his other hand moved to the hole.

The wiring had merely been disconnected. Thank goodness. He managed to reconnect it but there was still a matter of the oil. The tube that supplied the joints with enough oil for movement had been cut when the metal had broken. He ripped out the spare parts, including the skin that had been damaged right along with it.

It was more than apparent he was frustrated. "I'm going to fix me...and I'm going to fix your leg." He was determined and he was angry. It was a great pairing for him, especially since he wasn't sure how to express the anger building inside of him. Harley sat for only a few more moments before he managed to rise (albeit shakily) to his feet. It wasn't a permanent fix but it would get the two of them home for a better look.

"It is not your fault that I did this." He said stiffly, a slight change happening in his stature. He pulled her close and hugged her, keeping his body angled enough to keep any oil from getting on her. "I have choices and I did not make a good one."
 
"No, you didn't, but I should have told you sooner." Annie sighed and pulled Harley close. She was a mechanic, an inventor, oil was next of kin to the blood in her own body. As natural as the skin on her bones. "Stealing is wrong, and if you didn't do it, that's fine too, but I should've made sure you knew.

She didn't say much else, but focused on checking over his repair work. The wires looked good. Still, she had some electrical tape in her coat for short repairs. Annie bit a piece off and tied it around the broken wires before moving on to the leaking oil tube. The tape was all wrong, but, she managed to get a decent connection going. Her hands were covered in oil and trying to avoid being shocked by loose wires, but, it was the best she could do.

"It's not your fault though." She reaffirmed. "I should've made sure...I should've just."

The girl shook her head and urged Harley back home. It was time they worked on Harley. His parts would prove to be expensive to acquire, but she hardly cared. Cost wasn't a problem for her creation. She'd do whatever it took to keep him functioning.​
 
Harley stumbled a bit as they walked, but he managed to keep himself together. "I have..." He began slowly, ashamed to look at her for the time being. He had caused so much trouble for his creator. All he wanted was to see her smile. "I have what you would call free will." His voice was quiet as they moved. "I know the consequences of my actions regardless of whether or not my logic is in line with those around me."

"I merely exchanged on the barter system but it seems most don't appreciate that sort of payment. Never the less, I have learned my lesson and I do not plan to do it again." He sighed heavily, trying to put as little weight on her as possible.

"But I would...I would like to know why you created me to be different, Annie." He stopped his stride to turn his head to look at her, piercing blue eyes fixated on hers. "Why I am different. Why I feel while others of my kind feel nothing."
 
"Life is such a precious thing, Harley, do you understand that?" Annie asked him carefully. "It's every inventors dream to be able to make what only a living, breathing, thing can. Life. Sue me for trying my hand at it. I can breed, make other humans, but in order to do that I need another human being. But you? You're self sustaining, you'll never wear down or forget, you're form is more perfect than mine."

She'd toyed with creation, and she would pay the price. All those years ago, she'd given him life, give him thoughts and emotions of his own without so much as a second thought. Who was she to toy with life when so many others had problems keeping their own? Humans died each day, but Harley would be eternal, collecting knowledge, upgrading his systems until there was no information left to collect. In it's essence, Annie had created a life perfect in terms of knowledge, but imperfect in understanding. Harley might never know why Annie had done what she had.

Now was certainly not the time she wanted to discuss it either.

"Let's just drop it okay Harley?" Annie huffed, a bit peeved now. "I'm sorry, I'm proud of the machine I've made, but I...I can't. I can't explain what I've done and I'm not going to try. You're here, you're alive, and you won't die. Just be happy you won't end up like I will, in the ground."

She paced angrily forward until she reached the workshop. Annie wouldn't sleep, she needed to work out her anger now.​
 
He worked his jaw, unsatisfied with the answer he had received from Anna. It was clear she was lying to him about something but he was far from able to figure it out. He would have to look into it himself he supposed.

The chemical composition of a human being was a basic set of ingredients that were easily picked up at the grocery store. What he didn't understand was what gave them life? A heart was simply an engine, the other organs filters and exhausts. Machines had those. Were they considered different just because humans were organic materials that could breakdown into other substances over time?

He questioned the notion entirely but nodded at her words all the same. She was flustered and Harley didn't want to aggravate her too much. He had already caused a mess today as it was.

"Okay." He muttered softly, following her into the workshop where he sat himself on one of the tables (with slight difficulty) and pulled his oil soaked shirt off. The cosmetic damage was extensive--the artificial skin was torn to shreds, exposing the metal work beneath, which several parts were bent and clicked mercilessly against each other trying to continue their cyclical path.
 
The small clatter emitting from Harley's body irritated the girl. She tried to fiddle with pieces in front of her, working on scraps she'd left for occasions just like this one. Annie was frustrated, she herself was debating the reasons she'd done what she had to Harley. Giving him life, thoughts, nearly throwing in a well dosed proportion of emotion. Thank god she'd held out, there was still something inside, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle an angst filled robot.

She huffed and moved over to Harley. "Shut down your nerve drives for a sec." Annie calmly demanded before reaching into his chest and pulling out broken bits of metal. His skin was useless, she'd have to order an entire new set in order to make him whole again. "Do you like this color?" She asked absentmindedly, tugging at broken bits of his skin to clear the way for her hands.

Annie put aside her irritation with him, he was only a machine, asking questions in order to develop his knowledge. He couldn't help it, not really. She cursed herself internally for being so short with him.

"I can get you new skin in maybe two, three days. Do you want me to cover you up though?"

There was a pile of scrap in the corner. She'd be able to fashion a chest plate at the very least to keep his insides less exposed.​
 
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