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Witch deposited them into a convenient waste receptacle.
I looked at Roger. He watched the door with Troll and Samantha behind it.
"Locker 27," Mr. Burke announced. "Let's give this gentleman a bionic eye."
"What color light?" Witch asked.
"How about ... green?" Mr. Burke looked at me as if for my approval. Not
knowing what else to do, I nodded. "Yes, green."
"Dark green or light green?"
"Dark green."
"Flashing?"
"Oh yes."
Witch opened another locker and removed a small metal circular object. She
handed it to Mr. Burke, who flipped a switch on the side and held up the dark
green flashing light for my approval. "Nice, isn't it?"
This time I didn't nod.
"Normally, I'd remove the organic eye first," Mr. Burke explained. "But I
think we'll skip that step and just wedge this one in as best we can."
Mr. Burke did so, though it took some effort. Goblin's screams and thrashing
faded halfway through the process.
"Ah, yes, that looks great. I don't think you two can see it from where
you're sitting, but trust me, thatis acyborg eye to die for.Now for the
feet.Locker 2."
Mr. Burke went to work on Goblin's feet. This process wasn't as easy as
removing his hands, but it was completed in a quick and efficient manner.
Goblin's feet were replaced by wheels. He couldn't appreciate it, because by
then he was dead.
Mr. Burke and Witch added some more enhancements.A row of copper spikes
running down the sides of each leg.Bolts protruding from his neck,
Frankenstein-style. The words "Cyber-Goblin 3000" burnt onto his chest.
"Excellent!" said Mr. Burke, wiping his hands off on a white towel."Perhaps
not one of my masterpieces, but a more than worthy addition to my collection."
Mr. Burke and Witch lifted Goblin's corpse onto a gurney. "Hose him off and
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prepare him for display," said Mr. Burke. Witch nodded and wheeled him past
Roger and I and out the door behind us.
"See, I'm really not such a terrible individual," Mr. Burke told us. "It's
not like I'm merely hacking up your bodies, mangling them for sport. When you
were a child, wouldn't you have loved to look like the Cyber-Goblin 3000?"
He wiped off his face and neck, and then realized something. "Oh, I got so
caught up in my work that I forgot to check in with Medusa. That's why it's so
wonderful to be the boss: I'm allowed to screw up."
He picked up the walkie-talkie from the equipment table and pressed the
button. "Medusa, come in."
He waited.
"Medusa?"
He set down the walkie-talkie and shrugged. "That's a promising sign. If
she's shut off communications, your wife must be falling for her ruse. You
know, Andrew, just between you and me, I could arrange to have her mouth
replaced with a vacuum cleaner, if you know what I mean." He gave an
exaggerated wink.
Not being able to slam his face into one of Goblin's metal claws was an
unbearably frustrating sensation.
"I enjoy making my preciouscyborgs , but right now we're just in the design
phase. They look spectacular, but they don't do anything because they're dead.
But I'vebeen wanting to test a special little something and this is the
absolute perfect opportunity." He smiled. "I think you'll find it very, very
interesting."
Chapter Nineteen
MR. BURKE BROUGHT THE scalpel toward my face again, but this time he cut away
the gag. "I probably should have untied that rather than cut it," he admitted.
"I'm already over budget for the quarter. So what do you think so far? Be
honest."
"I think you're a joke. What, you're making human action figures? How
pathetically geeky is that?"
Mr. Burke chuckled. "Ah, Andrew, that comment would be much more devastating
if you weren't so obviously terrified. You don't think I'm a joke. I can tell
that your friend here doesn't think I'm a joke. How about I check on his piece
of tail?"
He walked to the door Troll had taken Samantha through, opened it a crack,
and peeked inside.
I wanted so badly to see Samantha's fist pop into view, punching Mr. Burke in
the face, that for a moment Idid see it.
Then I returned to reality. Mr. Burke closed the door and returned to us.
"She's alive," he told Roger."Though the word 'ouch' is probably appropriate.
That Troll, he's a unique one, I'll give him that."
Witch returned to the room. "How does Goblin look?" Mr. Burke asked.
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"Fine.Still leaking."
"Good, good." Mr. Burke picked up the walkie-talkie again and pressed the
button."Medusa?"Nothing. "Oh well." He set down the walkie-talkie then turned
back to Witch. "Give Andrew here a quick shot so he doesn't wiggle so much."
Witch retrieved a hypodermic needle from the table. She jabbed it into my
arm, and...
...I was suddenly on the operating table, strapped down by my wrists and
ankles. A few tugs verified that I wasn't going anywhere. I felt Goblin's
blood, wet underneath me.
"Ah, good, you're awake already. That was quick." Mr. Burke held up a small
camera, about two inches square and remarkably thin. "This is a wireless
digital webcam," he explained. "The distance isn't great, not more than five
hundred yards, but it'll do."
Witch turned on a blowtorch and began to heat up a thin strip of metal, also
about two inches square with a pair of clamps on it.
"We'll get near-DVD quality picture and sound with this thing, so hopefully
you'll provide sufficient entertainment value."
"I don't know what the hell you're babbling about," I said.
"You'll figure it out. What we've got for you, Andrew, is a very special
serum. It's untested, so for all I know it could kill you the second we inject
it, but let's hope it doesn't. That would be a waste. It's sort of a chemical
cocktail, mixed with hallucinogens and paranoia enhancers ... not the
technical term ... and all sorts of fascinating ingredients."
"I'm ready," said Witch, lifting the red-hot metal with a pair of tongs.
"Then I'm sure Andrew is, too. You may proceed."
Witch pressed the metal, clamps-side-up, right above my solar plexus. My
entire body tightened up as I screamed, not even pretending that I was going
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