Mechanical Heart

Clyde watched as his sister soldered the last logic gate.

"This is downright unscientific," he opined. "Building an automaton to be your beaux. And why? Just because no eligible bachelor will court you!"

Catalina glared at her twin brother. "You and I both know thats because the members of your sex despise a woman with a brain," she said. "Men of flesh and blood are fools. They feel threatened by my mechanical genius. Only a perfect being of unwavering logic could be my equal."

Her brother scoffed at this explanation. "We may well be fools, but I have it on good authority that plenty of women in our family are spinsters," he said. "It's not like we have a chance of gaining any social standing anyway. Our father's in the poor house; mama's been branded a lunatic. We live as wards of the state. Can't get much more pathetic than that."

Catalina was a mechanical prodigy who couldn't work. She couldn't abide the idea of being a maid or servant girl. The siblings relied on Clyde's job as a machinist and their monthly stipend from the government.

While they were arguing right now, Clyde actually cared a great deal for his sister. He often snuck supplies to her so she could build her projects. "Now where's that bobby dazzling power jar you had me pick up?"

"It's not a power jar," she retorted. "It's a power source. It will provide the gift of life to this automaton. This creation will be my Magnum Opus."

Her brother was still skeptical. "And what will grant this mechanical man a soul?" he asked. "How will it feel any emotion, let alone love?"

Catalina had been holding out her hand waiting for her power source. She brought it down to her apron and fidgeted with the linen fabric. "Emotions can be learned," she asserted. "When we were infants all we knew was to cry and sleep. Same as any child. Now look at us, capable of feeling anything an adult can."

Clyde somehow doubted the truth of this. Could something as abstract as the nuances that made a human being be taught? It would seem that the critical moment would soon prove things one way or another.

The miniature engine was welded in place and the front hatch secured. Only the crank shaft handle stuck out. Catalina turned it till the charge had built up. There was a flurry of sparks and the smell of electrical discharge.

Both twins let out a reflexive yelp.

The automaton lay still for a second. Had it shorted out? Suddenly, a giant clanking and grinding echoed through the workroom as the automaton sat up. "What is your command?" It asked.

The siblings stared at each other.

"How did it speak just now?"
"I don't know! No one has made a talking machine."
"Except for you."
"Well unless we count phonograph machines but do those really count?"
"Did you mean to?"
"No, this is supposed to just be a prototype."

"What is your command?" The automaton seemed a little uncanny. It sat on the bench waiting for one of the twins to say something.

"Can you hear us? My name is Clyde. I command you to explain how you came to speak."

"Negative, you are not my Creator. My Creator must give command."

Catalina looked at her brother. "Where did you get this power source?"

Clyde shrugged, he'd spent a lot of time procuring parts for his sister. It was hard to remember every last detail. "Some peddler sold it to me from his pack. Said some fellow claiming to be from the East gave it to him. Told me that it's what the ancients used to power their magical creations."

Peddlers sold things that they could fabricate interesting stories about. What the actual provenance of the item was could be anything. As long as those merchants could make money, that was what mattered.

"Whatever," Catalina said. "Automaton, I wish for companionship. No man will court me. I wish for you to love me."

Her creation merely tilted its head. "I do not comprehend what is required. What is companionship? How does one love?"

"Cat, I haven't had the nerve to tell you. This whole enterprise has been foolhardy," he said. "This thing has no knowledge of the ways of man."

Cat scowled, "I can still teach it. By observing humanity, it will learn." She smiled as she turned back to her creation.

"Automaton, I shall call you Greg, is this acceptable?"
"My master may call me whatever they wish."
"Greg, we are going for a walk. While we are out, I want you to observe the men and women around us. Especially the ones that are together. Then you will understand my command."

Greg stood up, clanking and hissing as it did. He marched over to the door and attempted it to make an exit. The knob couldn't be operated by Greg's clamp like hands. As an alternate form of egress Greg bashed down the door.

Plaster and wood soared through the air. Narrowly missing Clyde and Cat. Greg was nowhere to be seen when the debris settled. "Our landlord's going to be livid," he observed.

Cat slapped her brother's arm. "I'm going to catch up! I need to get Greg back. Before something calamitous happens."

Unfortunately a mix of deafening clatters and screams met their ears by the by. Cat saw the toppled handsome cab and smoldering wreckage. She, in un-ladylike fashion, hauled up her hoop skirts and ran to the accident scene.

The cabbie was in shock. He sat rubbing his head while his passengers attempted to climb out the window. The horse lay on the ground whinnying in pain.

All Cat payed attention to was her destroyed creation. She picked up the copper mask that had served as its face. "Greg! Why didn't you wait?"

There was of course no answer. The power source lay in sparking useless pieces. Cat's only hope for love was gone.

Meanwhile Clyde was apologizing to the cabby promising to pay for damages with his own salary for the next year. Once that man had been satisfied. Clyde came over to his sister's side.

"Any sensible man could've told you this was a forgone outcome. Cat—"

"You patronizing, insensitive twit!" Cat yelled. "This wasn't just some invention. I don't wish for any man to tell me how wrong I was!"

Cat stomped off, not waiting for her brother's reaction or anyone else's comments. The depths of her soul were pained deeply. The only way she would find relief was in being alone for a time. Just her own council and ideas for company.