Yard Sale of Thoughts

Electrodes and wires stick out of my shins. In the courtyard, a man cracked in two, fingers smashed to bits. The rubble of a former legend.

“They’ll do it to you, too, you know. If you disappoint them,” says my second.

“What will they do?” I say, but it’s a question not worth answering. 

“Well…I’m not like him.” I point to what remains of my predecessor.  “Not flesh and blood. Not human.”

“Should I be offended?” My second grins. 

“I’m rebooted mainframe with a face, programmed to make highly complex decisions. You…you still have sweat glands.”

My second lifts his arm and gives it a whiff, then grins.

“Well, I won’t be disassembled.” I say. “The people believed in me. I told them a machine would make their lives better. And it will.” The chant of the crowd grows louder, the revving of an engine at the start of a race.

Wait it out is all my sensors advise in this case.

“Wait! Let’s review the speech notes once more. From the top! From the top, I say!”

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