#asherarkwright

I felt something take hold of my arm and stop my forward march to the front door, I was going at such a place that the sudden stop pulled my shoulder painfully and I spun around, furious, coming face to face with the thing that stopped me.

It was over six foot six inches and stood on two feet like a man would. In a silhouette, it indeed looked like a man, as did all the inventions of my father, but once you got them into the light, there was no denying there was nothing human about them. Automatons. Mechanical men. All gears, wires, coils, springs and steam where a human would have flesh and bone. Ticking and gurgling, with their glass covered cores swirling with that unknown black substance that my father only called ‘The Black Element.’

The things face was hardly expressive, it had a mouth and two eyes that gave off a white light. It’s face place was constantly being improved, like the other creatures that my father had made, trying to make them look more human and and friendly as quickly as possible. But the inhuman steel that made the body and face of the creature left much to be desired. It was dressed in ill fitting human clothes and it’s dome head was covered with a old fashioned ‘John Bull’ style hat.

“That hurt, Ishmael! Do not touch me!” I shouted at the automaton, pulling out of the things grip.

The mechanical man, Ishmael, let go instantly and gripped the hand that took hold of me with the other long, steel, three fingered hand as if scolding it for hurting me. It’s eyes flicked down slightly, the only expression of hesitation that the limited features of the creature could manage.

“It is too dangerous to to out at this hour, Master Ashton.”

Ishmael’s voice was always a little off putting if you had never heard it before. It was a deep baritone, that echoed slightly as it broadcasted the words out through a music box like voice box. I had no idea how it worked, and I never bothered to have my pa explain it to me, I wasn’t my brother who was willing to humor the old man. Sometimes I even believed that he was actually interested in those weird things pa had made.

“What do you want me to do? Just sit here and wait? Pa needs help now!”

Ishmael hesitated again, clearly wanting to stop me from going outside but also not wanting to contradict my command.

“It is forbidden to go outside after dark. It is not safe.” Ishmael continued, following me as I approached the door again. “It is not safe.”

“I don’t care if it’s safe! Pa is hurt and I’m not jus’ gonna sit here and do nothing!”

“Ashton! Where are you?” I hear the call of Ma from down the hall and before long  see her. Where only moments ago she was stiff with worry and fear, she now seemed in control and ready to take command while her husband was in peril. Her clothes were quite a spattered in red, probably from where she was trying to take care of Pa.

He was working in his lab, as he usually did when he was in the house, working on some new machine or trying to better the ones he already had made. Everything seemed normal, he had the automaton he called Zimran with him in the lab and he was working on more delicate hands or something when suddenly the silence house was rocked by an explosion. The lab was full of smoke and when my brother and I went to investigate what had happened, we found our Pa face down on the floor, glass buried in his side, blood on the ground, and the useless mechanical creature hovering over him uselessly.

They were all very good at acting like they cared about my pa.

“This bag of gears is tryin’a to keep me from gettin’ the doctor!” I recounted to my Ma, throwing an accusing gesture at the steel automaton between my mother and me.

My Ma looked at Ishmael who ticked noisily at the look.

“Please, Mistress. It is to dangerous for the young master to go outside.” Ishmael started repeating what he had told me as if it was stuck in a loop. But my Ma walked forward and placed one of her hands on the metal man’s arm, silence his ticking and words as she did so. It was a gentle touch, like the touch she gives my brother and I when we are frightened.

It bothered me when she did that.

“Ishmael, I know the rules, but your father is in trouble right now. Abraham needs a doctor, and fast. I need you to let Ashton go and get help.” My mother’s tone was gentle but serious. Something that both people and machines listened to with rapt attention.

“But, Mistress-!” Ishmael started, but my Ma placed her hand over it’s metallic mouth to shush it, standing on her tiptoes to reach.

“Ishmael, what did I tell you about calling me that? Just Ruth will be fine with me.” My ma continued. “You gotta let him go.”

Ishmael looked at me for a moment then turned back around to my mother and pulled himself up to his full height, squared his shoulders and straightened his hat on top of his head. “Mistre-Miss Ruth. With the master incapacitated, I request permission to accompany Master Ashton.”

I open my mouth to protest, but my Ma speaks before I can get a syllable out.

“Permissions granted. Find the doctor and you both stay safe out there. Watch out for bad men.”

Ishmael gave my Ma a polite nod then it walked outside without a hesitation, looking back at me as it raised its right hand and the brightness in the creature’s eyes grew in the dark night. Waiting for me to follow.

I didn’t look back as I raced out of the house and started for where the horses were stabled. Ishmael was far too heavy to be able to be borne by a steed but it was quite fast and could easily match pace with a horse. Within seconds I was saddled up and both Ishmael and took off for the closest proper town in the Texas countryside.

–

The way was clear of all travelers, hardly surprising on the road from the Arkwright home at any time during the day given our… unpopularity with the other locals, but at night it seemed even more deserted and empty then I was used to.

The pounding of the horse’s hooves as she ran through the semi even ground was accompanied by the loud whir of Ishmael’s servos as it raced to keep up with the horse. i was pleased that Gala wasn’t nervous at the automaton, not many of our other horses were so calm when running next to the inhuman thing.

We didn’t slow our pace until we reached the post office in the slap dash of a town. If my memory serves me, Doc Hertiage lived over the general store with the family that ran it and it wouldn’t do any good to wake the whole town with the noise of the two of us thundering into town in the dead of night. It was so still and quiet there, I wondered if people had heard the explosion in my Pa’s lab a few miles away.

There were spots of light that moves around the sleeping town as Ishmael took in everything around him, the lights from his eyes casting bright spots wherever it decided to move it’s head. The lights landed on the general store and I almost stopped my fast pace on the door. to the right of the door were a few signs, which was not unusual. But there had been an additional notice posted since the last time I had been there.

“Please, leave your firearm at the door”

“No Confederate State Dollar accepted here”

And the new addition:

“No Mechanical Men allowed”

I looked back at Ishmael, whose eyes had stopped on the sign, staring at the letters on it.

I was not completely surprised at this new posting, it was no secret that the people of the city, if one could call it that, thought very poorly of my pa’s inventions and my pa himself. They thought the machines he built were ‘unnatural’ and that my Pa himself had worked evil to do the things that he had. I didn’t know where the hostility had come from and either Ma or Pa ever gave me a straight answer, but since the last time that Pa brought five of his ‘marvels’ into town to use the railroad to take them to an exhibition back in new york… and came home early with only four not even a full day later, none of the automatons nor my brother and I were allowed to leave the house after dark. During the day, I didn’t leave the house unless it was to take care of the horses that didn’t like the machines. I stayed away from the town as much as possible, even before the rule came down.

Pa was different after that day. He didn’t try to go to any more exhibitions.

I was considering how to get the attention of the doctor without waking up everyone in the house when I saw it, out of the corner of my eye. In front of the office of the sherif, a few houses down from where I was standing, some sort of display was set up. I had… heard about it and I tried to look away before Ishmael noticed my paling and disgusted face.

I was too late.

The tall mechanical man turned to where I was looking and the white light fell on it.

It was a large sharpened railroad spike that was sticking up out of ground like a over large nail that someone had dropped, waiting to find it’s way into an unsuspecting person’s foot. On the spike, impaled through the bent and broken metaltic chassi and sicking up through the shoulder, was one of my Pa’s inventions.

Ishbak.

It’s sightless eyes were wide open, looking out at the crowd that was no longer there, it’s mouth hanging open in one last cry of pain before it was frozen forever as this horrible monument next to the office of the sheriff himself. It was much smaller than Ishmael and probably only stood five foot three inches before it was suspended in the air. The clothing that it had been wearing was all gone, but whether Pa was the one that retrieved it or if were now some sick trophy from when an angry mob killed an innocent automaton, I could only guess at.

Around the spike sticking out the ground, the dirt had rotten away as the Black Element had leaked out of the machines cracked and shattered crystal core. While I didn’t know much about these automatons, I did know that if the black element is compromised, it ever ends well for the mechanical man it came from, or the people around it.

Ishmael was not moving, I could just see stress tremors in the things chassi.

I was about to tell it not to worry about that thing right now, to focus on getting the Doc up, when a light in one of the front windows turned on and the curtains parted.

Someone had seen us.

A loud whoop went out into the air, followed by:

“We got ourselves another tin-man lookin’ to be decoration!”

More lights turned on and I rushed to Ishmael’s side and stood next to it protectivly. We had to get into that house as soon as possible. I was not about to lose another one of the my pa’s inventions by myself, and certainly not when he was injured.

“We will see what they got, Ish.” I muttered darkly, looking up the metalic man.

Ishmael’s, nervous eyes hardened into determination and understanding for what was to come.