Clockwork by Garon Whited

Author:Garon Whited [Whited, Garon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

“The malfunction occurred in this area,” she explained, holding Daniel’s heart in her petite, gory hand. “This segment of his primary hydraulic system became blocked, causing a shortage to the primary pump. There appears to be no reserve pump for emergencies, thus his entire system failed.”

“Can you repair it?” Robert asked.

“The initial blockage can be cleared,” Katherine agreed, “but the entire design seems faulty. There are many systems, and they are all volatile to one degree or another.”

“Volatile?” Robert repeated.

“When operation ceases, the individual parts degenerate into uselessness. This is an exceptional fault in the design, unless it is intended as a form of tamper-proofing.” She stamped her foot in frustration, a mannerism that seemed as natural to her as speaking. She did not even think to analyze it; it was merely correct and proper, a built-in part of her being.

“It had occurred to me to simply build a new mechanism, one similar in overall design to my own, and transfer his consciousness into that. With the degradation of his thinking engine, this is impossible. The electrical nature of his consciousness is no longer supplied with power, and the mechanism through which it flowed can no longer support such function.”

Katherine replaced the cold heart on the bloody table, amid the remains of the torso of her creator. His body looked as though someone had taken it to pieces, spreading it out along the length and breadth of the workshop, placing each part carefully to create an exploded view of a human body. This appearance was quite correct; that was exactly the case.

“It is my understanding,” Robert stated, “that such was his original intent during your construction.”

Katherine cocked her head again, thoughtfully.

“Explain.”

“Father stated his intent was to restore his first daughter. Her mechanism was rendered nonfunctional through an infestation of micro-mechanisms. She could not be repaired. To prevent the spread of the infestation, her mechanism was exposed to high-temperature oxidation and reduced to a powder form.”

“Such a degradation would preclude any useful reconstructions,” Katherine agreed. “Father, however, is predominantly intact. Residual patterns may remain, if a way can be found to read them. There are also references in his notes to a hypothetical method of utilizing the original thinking engine to act as an antenna for the reception of any independent patterns that may still exist in the ether.”

“Such was Father’s original research, before he turned to construction, rather than replication.”

“I did not read of any such experiments.”

“With the thermal deconstruction of the original thinking engine, he abandoned that line of research.”

“This one is intact,” Katherine observed. “I will continue Father’s research and then repair Father.”

Is it any wonder that a man with the audacity and intellect to bring a mechanism to life would create a mechanism that would have no concept of the finality of death? In her own way, was she not the embodiment of the triumph of life over death? Where Daniel had labored with grim will and genius, Katherine continued his work with methodical innocence.

Weeks passed unnoticed. What need for a calendar when day or night is immaterial? Mechanisms have no need for sleep.

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