Page 72 of Atticus
“Well, look who it is. Hey! You tin freak.”
Philip Sullivan stalks toward me. His balance is slightly off, and he’s accompanied by a friend, a small lean man similarly red-faced.
“Heard you finally got taken down a notch,” he taunts. “Got too close and cuddly with Little Miss High and Mighty, and it cost you, huh?”
My circuits surge, body tensing. I don’t like hearing him talk about Lucy that way. I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before. Dislike, yes, annoyance, perhaps, in my previous dealings with Sullivan and his arrogance and disrespect. I’m tempted to test just how strong I am, downloading information on self-defense and pugilism, see how his jaw survives against my fist.
But it’s the alcohol that makes him bolder than usual. I keep walking.
“Hey!”
A beer can bounces harmlessly off my back. I turn to face him.
“You don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you, tin man,” Sullivan warns, grabbing the collar of my shirt.
I grab his wrist and remove his hand from me. He’s startled by my strength, and how even when he strains, he can’t loosen my grip until I choose to.
“I’m not a tin man,” I reply, identifying what I’m feeling as anger, yet keeping my voice calm. “And you will keep your hands to yourself.”
Sullivan’s friend jeers derisively. “Can you believe this guy?”
“Seems to me you’re not a person, so my hands can go wherever they like, and you can’t do a thing about it,” Sullivan replies.
“Go ahead,” I reply. “Try.”
Resentment twists his face into a snarl. “You need a lesson in manners.”
He takes a swing at my jaw. His strike connects, sending a slight metal reverberation through my steel skeleton, and he yowls. He staggers back, trying to shake out his hand, and I take the opportunity to grab him and yank him forward by his shirt. Before he can even register what has happened, his actions slowed by drink, I’ve got him by the throat.
His friend lurches forward as though he means to help, but my glowing eyes fixate on him, my voice laced with warning. “Get back.”
All courage seems to flee his body. He holds up his hands, taking several steps back toward the bar.
“I’ve been very patient with you and your remarks, your slurs, your condescension,” I say quietly to Sullivan. “I’ve even forgiven the punch, since you reek of cheap whiskey. But I won’t hear a word spoken against Miss Warren just becauseyouaren’t man enough to keep her attention for very long, if at all.”
Sullivan stares at me, eyes bulging. “You can’t—”
“I can,” I reply, voice low. “I could. Lucky for you, I won’t. Remember that.”
I let him go with a slight push, and he stumbles backwards. I watch him, standing my ground as he ambles back to the bar, favoring his now injured hand. Several men peer out at me from the door, Sullivan’s little friend included. None of them come toward me.
“You should probably get your hand checked out,” I tell Sullivan as he tries to preserve what dignity he has left by pretending his injury is only slight. “Not wise to go around punching steel.”
Reassured I’ve put him in his place, for now, I keep moving before their numbers make them braver than they should be. At least between him and Renee, I don’t have to worry about him talking.
He’s got too much pride to tell anyone at school he picked a fight with me and lost, without me ever having to throw a single punch.
NEW CARNEGIE TIMES
OCTOBER 19, 2067
BIONEX ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIPS AND SFX900V2 RELEASE NEXT YEAR
After several weeks of online buzz across social media, BioNex has finally released a sneak peek at it’s most luxurious and state of the art bionic model yet: the SFX900V2, topping out at $21,700. The major reveal occurred last night when models, both male and female, were unveiled at the annual New Carnegie International Business Conference.
The most expensive model BioNex has ever released, the SFX900V2 will boast the entire BioNex library of fully customizable appearances and modifications, over 20,000 recipes from around the world, fluency in over 2,500 languages, and realistic human anatomy with the strongest and sturdiest mainframe to date.
“They’ll also have full access to every bionic function, including childcare and tutoring,” says Monica Darrell, head of BioNex Marketing. “Everything you’d want hired help to do for you and your household, these guys can do it, and they’ll look amazing while they do.”
