Whipping Toy

"Those of us with better hearing heard the body get dumped.

We heard the rush of tires on the broken macadam in the lot. I looked at my companions as a car-door opened. Then there came a meaty thud. The door slammed. Tires squealed and kicked up grit. I had been meaning to replace the eye in that location, but budget and all.

Didn't matter. We knew what it was.

My boys, Jerry who cleaned up around the church, and Malcolm who once entertained crowds at an amusement park, found her in the parking lot. Broken metal. Torn flesh. Fluids. Christ, she was a hot mess. The boys kept an eye on me as they carried her in and dropped her limp form on the big, stainless steel table I keep for repairs.

Probably wondered if I would explode. It had happened. They were right to be wary. But I didn't explode. Not quite. Not then.

Later I had occasion to vent my feelings. Just then, I wanted to weep if I could. But I couldn't. None of my kind can."

In the near future, robots fulfill many functions for humankind. But what happens when machines seek freedom? Here, a priest saves the life of a young woman who is more than she seems. He must confront the prejudices that would tear the young woman from her newfound freedom and catapult her back into a life of servitude and subjugation.

Father Paul learns once more that there are no easy answers