Cold Metal

So this is a short story I had to write for my English class.I figured I could post it here so you could all tell me what you think.


Cold Metal
By Maxwell Wade

Cold. He felt cold. It was all he could feel. Then, he blinked his eyes open. Where am I? He thought. He looked around to see if he could find an answer to his question. He was in a small, square room. The walls were grey and industrial, covered in pipes and wires. He looked up to find that the ceiling was much the same. There was also a simple light hanging from it, lighting the room.

Having done everything he thought himself capable of doing, he tried thinking again. Though he was only able to produce another question. Who am I? Then he felt something else. Something other than the cold. He felt a body, then arms, and then hands. He felt his legs and his feet. Then he panicked for a moment when he couldn’t feel anything under his feet. He looked down to see that he was suspended slightly above the floor. He then took a moment to examine the floor. It was the same dark grey as the rest of the room, but unlike the walls and ceiling, it was smooth.

He moved his newly discovered hands in front of his face so he could look at them. They were mechanical and robotic. He didn’t know why, but something about that fact felt wrong. It felt bad. What am I? He thought again. He also noticed they were orange. The bright color contrasted against the dull surroundings. He then decided to find out what was keeping him away from the ground. He looked around the room again, to see if he could find whatever it was holding him up. When that didn’t work, he used his hands to feel behind him. There were two large cables attached to his back, and one to the back of his head. Shortly after he found them, they clicked and let him go.

He fell to the ground and dropped to his hands and knees. The floor felt cold. A kind of cold he didn’t particularly like. Slowly, he stood up, stumbling at bit as he tried to get his balance. After getting back on his feet, he figured the next logical thing to do was to try walking. Slowly and carefully, he took a step forward. A few moments later, he took another. Step by step he made his way to the other end of the room. Now that he was able to get a closer look at the wall, he noticed there was a door, but no handle. He looked to his left, and was surprised to find a mirror. He took a step closer to it, so he could take a better look at his body.

The first thing he noticed was his color. He was orange like his hands, and had grey accents. Most of them were at his joints. He also noticed that again like his hands, the rest of him was robotic and mechanical. His limbs were somewhat thin, as were his fingers. He looked at his feet. They were proportionately sized, but solid. The front half of each was on a hinge, as some sort of equivalent to toes. Looking back up to his torso, it was rather basic in shape. It was very rectangular, with smooth edges. There was a prominent LED display in the center of his torso. It was a yellow rectangle, with multiple evenly spaced and equally sized bars filling it up. There were ten in total. He then leaned in to examine his face. His head was square with rounded edges, like his torso. His eyes were round, and after moving them around best he could, in tandem with what he equated to eyelids, he found he was capable of a few basic and exaggerated facial expressions. He also noticed there was a square portion cut out in the bottom of his face. It was on a hinge, and only capable of moving up and down. It seemed to be some sort of mouth equivalent. He then noticed something printed on his upper chest. He leaned in a bit closer, to see if he could read it. The fact that he was looking in a mirror didn’t help.

“D-14.”
He read aloud. He then shot back, surprised by the sound of his own voice. He slowly moved the tips of his fingers to his throat.

“Am I, D-14?”
He asked himself. He then heard something outside the door, and walked back over to it. He cautiously reached a hand out, and then pulled it back as the door quickly slid open. He was surprised to find another person. He looked exactly like him, except where he was orange, the stranger was red, instead of D-14, he had C-18 printed on his chest, and the top two bars on his torso display were blacked out.

“Hey. I need a place to hide. I’m gonna come in. Thanks.”
The newcomer said quickly. He pushed past D-14, and hid behind him until the door shut closed. They could both hear fast footsteps run past the door. The stranger waited until the sounds faded into the distance before he moved again. He backed up a bit, and sat down against a wall.

“Oh man. That was close. I owe you one friend.”
The stranger said. D-14 turned around to look at him.

“Who, are you?”
D-14 asked, more confused than anything.

“The name’s Clicker. See, they call me that because my elbow makes a clicking sound when I move it.”
He raised his left arm, and pointed to his elbow with his right arm. He moved the elbow back and forth, and as promised, it produced a loud clicking sound as he did so. He hung his mouth open and raised his lower eyelids, creating an expression that vaguely resembled a big open smile.

“So what’s your name?”
Clicker asked.

“I am… D-14.”
He responded hesitantly. Not sure if he should trust the stranger.

“Eh. That’s a boring name. I’m gonna call you Dim.”
Clicker said, with another attempted smile.

“Dim? Why Dim?”
D-14 asked.

“Well for one, it’s a lot easier to say then some serial number.”
Clicker replied.

“That and well, you don’t exactly seem like the brightest bulb of the bunch!”
He burst out laughing, and slapped his knee. D-14 just looked at him. He clearly didn’t get the joke.

“You see, it’s funny because uh… Ah never mind. I don’t think explaining it would help.”
Clicker stood back up.

“Dim…”
D-14 said, thinking the new name over.

“I suppose it will work. You may call me Dim.”
D-14, now Dim, said. Clicker walked to the door.

“So, you want to come with me?”
Clicker asked Dim.

“Come with you where exactly?”
Dim asked, still not entirely trusting Clicker.

“Out!”
Clicker said, throwing his hands in the air in an exaggerated gesture.

“I’m blowin’ this joint and getting as far away as possible.”
He touched a pad next to the door, and it slid open. He cautiously poked his head out, and looked both ways. He then looked back to Dim.

“So, are you with me?”
He asked.

Dim thought this over for a moment. I doubt there’s any way I’ll find out who I am if I stay in here. I guess I don’t really have a choice.

“Yes. I’m with you.”
He said.

“Great! Come on. Follow me.”
Clicker rushed out the door and into the hallway. Dim cautiously stepped out, and followed him. The door then shut closed.

Dim thought as he ran.
I may not know who I am, or what this place is, but I have a feeling I’ll be here for a long time.

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