The nanny mecha ran through the trees. Her 'owners' had told her to 'go
away'; so she ran deeper into the woods. Her name was Claudette. Before her owners in the shanties had told her to go away,
her owners back in the city had just drove her into the woods and told her to 'stay here. Never come back'. Claudette was
an older model; she was built before mechas could even show signs of 'emotion.' Before she was told to go away, she heard
the 'orga' saying something about 'Flesh Fair' and 'hounds'. Claudette knew that hounds were dogs; but she didn't know what
'Flesh Fair' was.
Claudette's appearance gave away the fact that she was 'mecha'; she
was missing an arm and there was a large hole in her head, showing the mechanical
understructure, but her faceplate remained
as it always had been. She had been damaged by getting hit by a car after she was abandoned. The driver just cursed at her
when he saw her just get up and run to the side of the road. He had said "Damn mecha! Watch where you're goin'!"
She saw others running every which way. The others were like her:
they were mecha.Claudette ran into a clearing in the trees. Then she saw what the mecha
were running from: the moon. *Why
were they running from the moon?* Wait- that was no moon; it had a metal basket hanging below it. She watched the mecha run
into an old shack and followed them inside. Claudette noticed that they tried to hide in the shadows, so she backed up against
the wall. *How come there wasn't 'orga' running?*
Then a little boy ran inside the shack, followed by a 'Teddy Supertoy'.
*What was the boy doing running around here?* Claudette saw his facial expression; he
was 'scared'. She didn't know what
'scared' was, but she knew that she should comfort him. The boy backed away from the entrance to the shack and bumped
into
Claudette. He turned around.
"What's your name?" asked Claudette.
The boy looked at her. "My name is David," he answered, fear in his
voice.
"Hello, David." Claudette said and smiled at the boy. "How old are
you?"
"I don't know," answered David.
"Do you need someone to take care of you?" she asked. "Would you
like a nanny?" Claudette realized that David was probably lost, and needed to know where to go. "I have many good references."
David's facial expression turned from 'scared' to 'happy'. "Do you
know where the Blue Fairy is?" he asked in a hopeful voice.
Claudette knew what the 'Blue Fairy' was. She didn't know exactly
where the Blue Fairy was at, but she was about to tell him where she was from the story "Pinnochio", but she heard loud buzzing
noises, like chainsaws. She looked up and David turned around. Claudette saw some men who were holding chainsaws and riding
motorcycles with dog heads on the front of them. *These men look 'dangerous'. I should protect David*. David backed up against
Claudette once more, so she wrapped her remaining arm around him to protect him. Then a net was thrown over Claudette, David,
and the other mechas.
The men pushed the wall down by driving into it, sending the mecha
falling backwards with it. Then the men parked their motorcycles and got off of them. *What did the men want?* The men put
some green things on the net to keep it from ripping open, so that the mecha couldn't escape.
"Keepmesafe! Keepmesafe! Keepmesafe!" muttered David as he heard
the men say something about 'destroy.' David clung to the old dress that Claudette was
wearing, and she knew he was 'scared'
again. She put her arm around the scared boy.
"It's all right," Claudette said, hoping to calm David. He stopped
muttering, but he still held on tight to the old nanny mecha. The men were back on their motorcycles, and the net was being
lifted off the ground. *Where were they going?* "Don't be afraid David." Claudette gently stroked David's hand. Claudette
then sang a lullaby to David called "Do do l'enfant do", still trying to calm him. When the moon balloon and the net had landed,
more men started throwing the mechas into a cage.
One man grabbed David's hand, but he held on to Claudette's hand
and said "Don't let go! Keep me safe!" Claudette didn't let go of him, and for once in her life, she didn't obey an orga;
the man had told her to let go of him, but she refused and listened to David instead. *I shouldn't let go. David shouldn't
be harmed.* Then, both of them were put in the cage, along with a chef who was half burnt, a goofy looking robot, and a man
who was dressed like he was from the city. *What is going on?*
About 30 minutes later, all of Claudette's wonders about what was
going on were answered in a startling way; the mechas were being led to their doom. Claudette knew that this was very 'wrong'
and 'bad.' There was something happening with Claudette's programming, something unusual, never seen in mecha before David,
but Claudette didn't know about it. Even though it was in her programming, Claudette was starting to feel really concerned
about David; like a mother would her son.
Claudette watched as her fellow mechas were blown to pieces, and
she knew that being blown to pieces was probably her fate. Just then, Claudette felt 'dread'. There wasn't an explanation
for it, though; only orga could feel 'dread'. The 'dread' didn't worry Claudette; what did was what would happen if David
didn't get out of here. *This place isn't safe. David shouldn't be here.*
Soon, some more men came into the cage, one of them with a device
of some sort. When the device was pointed at David, Claudette watched in curiousity. Then she realized that David was not
orga; he was like her; he was mecha. *So that is why he doesn't know how old he is.* Claudette walked out from behind a robot
on wheels with a TV-like face. She was ready to tell the men to send David home. *He needs to get out of here.* But instead,
a man looked at her and said, "Mecha, come meet your doom!" Even though she wasn't programmed for 'trust', she didn't trust
this man; she saw him leading others to their 'doom'. *I must obey him. He is orga. Even if he is dangerous or 'wrong'.* The
man got behind Claudette and put his hands on her shoulders to make sure she wouldn't get away. She walked past David and
smiled at him. He smiled back.
The man with the device noticed this and told the man leading Claudette
to her 'doom', "Let her go."
Claudette leaned down to David's level and said to him, "Good-bye,
David." When she stood at her normal height again, her smile faded, and turned into a look of worry. This was new to her because
this worry wasn't just for David, it was also for herself. She walked to her doom and was led to a platform with a bucket
above it, and targets all around it. She saw what happened to the mechas here: something that would hurt them was dumped on
them. Another new thing: fright. For the first time in her life, Claudette was 'scared.' She was 'scared' for David. *David
will get out of here, I hope.* Hope. One thing no mecha has done before David: hope for something.
Claudette was then chained to the platform. She looked towards the
cage and saw David. She gave him one last smile. He smiled back. Then acid was dumped on her. Her vision quit working properly
as the substance ate away at her CPU. She was dead. If anyone was to come across the remains of her CPU, and scan it, they
would witness her thoughts, and see the emotions and love for the mecha child. The new emotions did this not only to Claudette,
but also to the other mechas that came into contact with David. Was love a virus in mechas? Was it even love that caused the
emotions with David?
