1 "What is AI, Doctor?" asked a man wearing a fine brown suit. He stood tall, next to a slouching doctor in a lab coat. They were in front of a large computer screen mounted up on the wall. It displayed one x-ray image of a human body, next to another, which seemed to be of the same person. However, in the second picture, there remained only the shoulders and head. The ends of the bones were shattered, and many cracks were seen all around the skull. One large fracture, in particular, was under the right cheek and there were missing teeth on the upper jaw. "Sir, AI is nothing more than an overcomplicated calculator that teaches itself math." The doctor leads him over to an incubator nearby. The small room was full of all sorts of incubators and screens, with numbers flashing and lights blinking in every direction. Inside the incubator was something that was not a sight for the faint of heart. A mechanical arm, with realistic-looking fingernails, twitched and stuttered within the glass. It was attached to multiple wires of all different colors, and a computer stood next to it displaying all sorts of data. The doctor typed some information into the computer and said, "Let me show you an example of our Biotechnology." The arm made itself into a tight fist and then started to count fingers from one to five. The doctor counted aloud as it went. "That's incredible!" exclaimed the man as he moved his face closer to the glass. The hand then twitched suddenly and shot towards him. He jumped back, startled by the sudden action of the robotic arm. "Don't be alarmed!" The doctor said, putting a hand onto the man's shoulder to relax him. "That's a simple reaction caused by the end of the program I just ran on the computer. I should have warned you beforehand." "How does this all work?" asked the man. The doctor explained, "Our biotechnology is paired with a special AI technology through the use of stem cells. The AI is able to sustain the living cells of an organism, creating special proteins. This is what makes our bionic implants different from any others on the global market." The doctor sits down at a desk in the corner of the room and the man joins him, sitting on the opposite side. He continues, "Bionic implants in themselves already use AI, you see. Some of these implants are very advanced, Mr. Kubo. There have already been rare cases of humans who have bionic legs. There are videos on the internet regarding the matter, and they are very real indeed." "What is the cost of all this?" Asked Mr. Kubo. The doctor sneers and looks down at his desk. "That all depends on how willing you are to save the life of your son." 2 The sun gleamed down into a beautiful garden, located just outside of a tall white old french style manor. A boy with long, thin black hair sits in a wheelchair looking up at a large 4 tiered fountain. It had a very wide base that was three times the size of the rest. It sat in the very center of a wonderful square garden. Tall red maple trees stood at each corner, and square rosebush hedges surrounded the entirety. One single pathway leads from the front door of the manor along to the fountain, up through the middle of the garden. The manor had a long dirt driveway and was quite secluded. It stood on the side of a cliff, overlooking the city below. A tall black fence with pointed arrow tips lined the edge of the cliff. Still, you could see a lot of the city below, even sitting by the fountain. This is where Jiro sat every day. He kept a very basic daily routine. He would sit here from the moment he woke up until Madame Aiko would arrive. He didn't sit alone, however. No, the birds kept him plenty of company. They loved his fountain. He called it his fountain, as his father had it built especially for him, after his accident a few years ago. A flashback came into his mind as he thought of this, as he watched the birds play in the fountain. He remembers waking up in a small room with green walls and looking outside a large window next to him, at a tree branch, slightly swaying in the wind. The sun was pouring through the window and onto the bed. He was still lying on it. He couldn't move and started to yell out. The door opened, and two men came into the room. One was his father, and the other was a doctor wearing a long lab coat. He had shaggy black hair and glasses and stood at the door watching as his father comforted him in his shock while he lay there, helpless. "I can't believe it worked!" said his father, rushing over to him. "It's alright, son! You've just had a very lengthy procedure done on you!" The man in the lab coat walked over to the window and closed it, turning to them. His father caressed his forehead and smiled, saying, "Everything is going to be okay, Jiro." His father held a hand out to the man at the window as he introduced him. "This is Doctor Monroe. He was the doctor who performed the procedure that saved your life." The man sneered darkly under his large glasses and long bangs as he walked towards them. "Hello, Jiro. I'm afraid you've had a bit of an accident." He pulled up the sheets and uncovered Jiros' arm, which was now completely metallic and had exposed wires. It twitched in Doctor Monroe's hands. Jiro cried out in fear and wished he could run away from the sight of it. Doctor Monroe lay another on top as it jittered, saying, "It's alright Jiro, you're in a hospital. You're safe here." 3 "Lord Jiro!" called a voice from the Manor. A butler emerged from the white front door and made haste towards Jiro in the garden. "I'm sorry sire, but your father wishes for you to have your piano lesson with Madame Aiko early today, it seems you're going out to a dinner with him and a friend of his." the butler said as he took hold of the wheelchair and turned Jiro around to lead him inside. "That's alright, Bastion. I'm always happy to see Madame Aiko, she always has such nice things to say." The butler smiled down at Jiro so that he could see him. "Yes, indeed she does, Lord Jiro." He then said softly, "Your father says you'll soon be able to play with the other children again." Jiro thought about this and said, "Yes, I hope he's right." Jiro spoke up again right before they got to the door saying, "It's strange, Bastion. Father and I haven't gone out to dinner with anyone for a long time." Just then Madame Aiko turned the corner of the small manor and was heading towards the front door, where Jiro and his butler stood. "So nice to see you, Madame Aiko, we were just heading inside." She walked up to the door in front of them saying, "Please, let me." She held the door open as Bastion turned Jiro around and wheeled him back up the two steps. "I've always found it odd that your father hasn't put a ramp for you here, Lord Jiro," said Madame Aiko. "I told father I didn't want him to," said Jiro. "I want to use them when I have the chance to do so." He smiled and looked at his butler, saying, "And Bastion says he doesn't mind." Bastion wiped his hands together and said, "Not at all!" and they laughed. Jiro wheeled himself down the hallway and into the elevator, and Madame Aiko joined him inside. She pressed the third-floor button. "I'm sorry we won't get in as much time today," she said. "It isn't your fault," said Jiro. She laughed. "I guess that's true." The elevator opened and Madame Aiko pushed him down the hallway and into a door at the very end on the right. The room was small and narrow, and at the end was a grand piano. It stood in front of large bay windows that covered most of the far wall. They were the only used source of light in that room. Jiro preferred natural light all over the home. The room was painted a light blue, and it had an elegant white curtain that swayed in the breeze of the open windows like heavy feathers. There was also a rocking chair, next to the piano. This was where the young Madame Aiko sat. She was only a few years Jiros senior and was already an advanced tutor from the local music school. She was said to be very gifted, a teaching prodigy. She had taught Jiro lessons for the past two years and had never seen such a talented being from any field in her life. When they had contacted her to take him on as a student, she was worried about how he would progress, as they had told her that he was recovering from a near-fatal accident that had happened the previous year. It was noted that he was still doing full body physiotherapy and that his hands could not move properly yet. Still, the school board said his father was looking for the absolute best they had to offer, and at the time that was her. She lived close enough and had no excuse not to take the job. When she showed up at the house, Jiro seemed like any other child. Maybe a bit over intelligent for his age, but she had attended a gifted school and was used to seeing that already. He liked to always wear gloves, and always wore a suit, which wasn't all that strange for such a wealthy child. No, what stood out to her was his initial abilities. She watched Jiro sitting in front of her now, two years later, playing his warms ups, not missing a beat. She remembers when he first started. For most other students, no, for every student, they start out not being able to play because they hadn't done it before. This child, it wasn't that he didn't know how to play, it's just that it seemed he couldn't. His hands would twitch. Something about his accident had injured his spinal cord, and that was the reason he twitched, so she was told. With time, it was supposed to go away. She recalls Bastion saying to her at one point, "He wanted to use an activity to work towards to help himself through that process. I suggested the piano." She smiled as Jiro finished his warmups and proceeded to play his favorite song, 'Clair De Lune.' He played, and it was as if the world went silent. There were no mistakes made. Jiro did not make them period- anymore. He used to become very upset when he did, so in order to calm himself, he said he had to completely eliminate the mistakes. Lord Goro Kubo, Jiros' father, was in the other room listening to his son play as he fixed his tie in the mirror. He looked at himself and remembered the fateful day of the accident. The day he saw his son's lifeless body lying underneath a giant hunk of metal. He remembers a policeman's hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down to the ground as he tried to get to them, his wife and son, as a crowd formed around the scene he was being held back from. "No! You have to let me through!" he yelled. "that's my wife and son under there!" He shivered and closed his eyes as he stood in front of the mirror, now barely able to look at himself. "You requested me, sire?" Bastian's voice said from the doorway. 4 Jiro and his father sat at the restaurant table waiting for his friend to arrive. His father had a large steak in front of him, while Jiro had nothing but a glass of water. "I'm sorry I'm late!" said a woman who approached them wearing a red dress. "Ah, It's no problem!" said Lord Kubo as he stood up to introduce her. "Jiro, this is Amanda," his father began. "I don't like Amanda," said Jiro flatly. His father became upset, saying, "But you've only just met. Give her a chance and I'm sure you'll change your mind. Come on, Amanda, come sit next to me." Jiro winced at Amanda as she walked to her seat. The server came over to the table to take her order. "So nice of your wife to finally be able to join you!" Mistook the server, referring to Amanda. Jiro took the glass in front of him and splashed the water all over Amanda from the other side of the table. She stood up, embarrassed, and quickly made her way toward the exit. "Wait!" Called Lord Kubo to her. She turned back and said, "I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can do this," and walked out. 5 The next morning, Jiro sat in front of the tall garden fountain. He was watching the ripples go through the water. A small bird flew into the water and swam there, bathing itself. Another soon joined. Jiro smiled. "Looks like you've found yourself a friend!" It's been a long time since Jiro had a friend to play with. The first year after his accident, he was 11. He was still in a wheelchair and had plenty of involuntary twitching, so his father had him taken out of school. But, a lady who was working for them as a cook at the time had begun to bring her son with her to work. He was a bit younger at 9, but they still got along well. They used to play all day, even though Jiro could barely move his hands at the time. His friend would push him around in his wheelchair and they would do things like send each other messages and secret items using the manor's dumbwaiter. His friend would stand downstairs and pull the dumbwaiter up to Jiro, who would open the door and read the messages his friend had written. The messages themselves weren't anything special, just things related to whatever game they were playing at the time. One day, they were playing army men. One camp was upstairs that Jiro controlled, and his friend had one in the living room on the first floor. His friend would send him messages like, "Our side will not surrender! Prepare to meet my army in a fortnight." Eventually, his army would make its way upstairs to where Jiro, with a more steady hand now after a few months of physiotherapy, had his army inside of a large base on a tabletop in his playroom on the third floor. This is where the dumbwaiter went to. Jiro's lunch was prepared daily for him around the same time every day and sent straight up to his playroom. Another game they would play is ring around the rosie. You see, Jiro didn't have a memory of the time before his accident, and he wasn't sure about a lot of games. "You've never heard of ring around the rosie? Let me show you!" The boy would take the handles of Jiro's wheelchair and tilt him backward, spinning him around in a circle as he sang the usual song that goes with the game. They did that often, for a long time. One day, the boy's mother was in the kitchen preparing lunch when a terrible thud with the sound of a crack, like the breaking of a large branch, was heard from inside the dumbwaiter. She turned and looked at the door of the dumbwaiter wearily as she saw blood start to drip down from the bottom of it. She dropped the frying pan in her hand onto the floor and the gardener was just coming in through the door when he saw the scene in the kitchen. he held a hand out to her and said, "Just stay right there," and he walked over and grabbed the handle of the dumbwaiter. He edged it open and saw inside. His jaw drooped a bit, and he took a quick gasp, smacking his lips together and turning to the woman saying again, "Just- Just stay right there!" He ran up the staircase that was in the hallway right next to the kitchen. He bolted all the way up to the third floor and another man wearing overalls followed him when he saw him running and asked what was wrong. He ordered him to go down to the kitchen and assist Mrs. Johannan outside. The man ran back downstairs and stopped Mrs. Johannan from seeing inside the dumbwaiter just at the right moment. "Please, let me help you," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders while trying to turn her back around and out the door. She struggled to try and get to the dumbwaiter asking him, "Why? Why can't I see what's in there?!" She reached out over his shoulder and grabbed onto the door frame as he was trying to pull her outside. Upstairs, the gardener had just made it to Jiro's playroom. There he lay, next to his toppled wheelchair on the floor, underneath the open dumbwaiter. "Lord Jiro! Are you alright, young Lord?" The man shook Jiro's shoulder gently as he lay on the floor. Jiro's eyes opened, and he looked up at the man saying, "Hm? What happened? We were playing ring around the rosie, and now I have a bad headache." The man patted his shoulder and said, "It's going to be alright, my Lord." He waited with him until paramedics came into the room. A bit later, Jiro was sitting back in his wheelchair, watching with the rest of the crowd as they took the young boy's body into the ambulance, completely covered. His father had his hand on his shoulder and said, "So my son is alright, then?" Dr. Monroe appeared from out of Jiro's initial view and said, "Yes, he's going to be just fine," he walked up to Jiro and now stood in front of him as he said, "Just a little bump on the head, that's all." The crowd began to disperse and his father leaned down, saying, "It isn't your fault. It could have happened to anybody." 6 A disturbance was heard in the water from the birds that Jiro had just been watching, and he looked up to see them both floating there, dead. He looked around and yelled out, "No! How?!" He peered into the surrounding trees and thought, how long was I zoned out for? Jiro lowers his head and pushes himself in his wheelchair down the paved white pathway leading up to the manor. Just before he was about to reach the front door, his piano teacher, Madame Aiko, was arriving. "Oh!" she smiled and greeted him, saying, "Good afternoon Jiro!" but she then saw he was in deep dejection. "What's wrong, Jiro?" she asked him. He stopped his wheelchair and kept looking down at the floor. "Madame Aiko, have you seen any hawks today?" She looked at him, puzzled. "No, why do you ask?" He glanced up at her. "No reason. I was just curious." Madame Aiko called Bastion to help Jiro up the front steps and they went upstairs to begin their piano session. Jiro played his usual warm-ups and moved on to 'Clair De Lune', as he always did. Madame Aiko asked, "Jiro, what gives you such a passion to play? I've met no one who plays like you. I've never even heard of someone who could play so well." Jiro lifted his hands slowly off the keys. "It is an inner need for perfection," he said quietly. "It isn't something I want or wish to do, it is something I must do." She paused a moment and said, "Is that why you won't play for a wider audience?" He returned to his playing, but as he went, he seemed flustered. Not that he made any mistakes. He was breathing heavily and seemed upset about something. Perhaps something I said, thought Madame Aiko. He stopped and put his hands down, taking a deep breath. "Those people don't deserve to hear me play." She was shocked by what she heard. "Jiro, you don't really believe that, do you?" He frowned and said, "They only want me around if I'm playing for them. Otherwise, to them, I'm just a monster." Madame Aiko just couldn't understand what was making him so upset. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth, keeping his eyes on the ground. She put her hand onto his shoulder and he calmed down as she said, "There are a lot of monsters out there, Jiro, but you aren't one of them." 7 That night, Jiro tossed and turned in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. His limbs were all gone, and only wires remained. They wrapped themselves around his neck and tried to strangle him. For a second, he thought to himself that he really was dying, that he really couldn't breathe. He woke up gasping for air and he touched his throat with both his hands in a choking position. He pulled the blanket off of himself to reveal his entire naked, metallic body. He sat there staring at himself in the moonlight. The sun was coming up. Jiro pulled himself up and got into his wheelchair parked next to his bed. He wheeled over to the window and looked outside, opening it to listen to songs of the morning birds.