Part of me is dead. I don't mean that emotionally, metaphorically, or any other way but literal. A good hefty chunk of my body is now metals and plastic.
You only find out after the surgery that it's not what the ads implied. I think that's how it keeps spreading. The people who get it pretend nothing's wrong, that it's as fantastic as it looks because they paid so much for it and don't want to look like fools. While privately agonizing over the aches, pus, and constantly replenishing crust of scabs that forms wherever metal penetrates the skin.
The body thinks it's been wounded and never stops trying to heal. Outraged that it’s been invaded by some foreign body. It's more right than it knows. The prosthetic, replicating perfectly the movement of every digit and sensations on all touch sensitive outer coverings, is nonetheless not alive. Where it meets your living tissue is a sharp divide. On one side, close up, a teeming cooperative of single celled organisms that is you. On the other, cold, dead metal.
However responsive, it is only puppetry, never truly a part of you. And I know this. Now. I wish somebody'd told me sooner that you always feel it. The assumption is that it goes away, but it doesn't. The feeling of the bolts through your bones, where the mounts are. Flexing, straining, threatening to fracture. The sting where the metal passes through sore, ever-enflamed skin I've since learned the models conceal with cosmetics.
That's the fantasy of it. The unspoken assumption you go in with as they drain your bank account, put you under and prepare to operate. That in time, you won't feel a difference, that the machine truly becomes a part of you.
It never does. It just hangs on, and hurts. You tell yourself this is just growing pains, that more metal in your body will somehow fix it, which starts the craving. The more you replace with metal, the less of it can hurt, driving it all inexorably forward.
Until one day, you realize you've dumped your savings into novelty surgeries, in order to wind up a freakish patchwork primate with motorized prosthetics, aching intensely everywhere that metal meets bone and surrender to the realization that it's for life.
I wish I could say that’s the worst of it. I never fully appreciated that there is a spirit dwelling within the parts of me that are alive, until it met what's hiding in the parts of me that aren't.
The End.
Great, descriptive writing. Love it. In medical jargon, it's "phantom limb" . You always think the part is still there. Great piece. It's also amazing what technology has done with prosthetics.
Appreciate you. Thnx
From fiction to fact. I have a friend who had a metal knee replacement when she was 18 due to a sporting injury. The body never stops rejecting the foreign bit.
You have a great talent where do you find this kind of ideas before writing? your mind flying in the sky man
@alexbeyman, I guess we don't want to accept reality or don't want to dwell in the moment . But I feel like our sense of happiness is what gets us , what we think makes us happy doesn't do it anymore
This is a very interesting idea/concept that I don't think I've ever seen explored within the idea of cybernetics. Also, I love the term freakish patchwork primate, lol.
This is great! It's like Cybernetic Body Horror. Keep at it!
I believe that in the nearest future we will be able to use these implants as our own body and give people with injuries another chance to walk again.
This types of fantastic stories move forward people's understanding of what's to come in the world.
It sounds crazy but some people already have these kinds of advanced prostheses, (its still in the early stage)
But I have read an article some months ago where scientist predict that in future people with artificial prostheses will probably be stronger and faster than normal people with no artificial prostheses.
Everyone is talking about how great is bionic Arms because really it's a great piece of technology complicated with a lot of data processing and meechanical engineering and great precisions it is hard to build but it will never replace a real limb for sure no matter how it's advanced and complicated. I personally hope and have faith in body part regeneration we already have the blueprints in our DNA we just need to figure out a way to let the body regenerate the limb instead of starting the healing process.
If lizards can do it we can too!!!
Biotechnology will advance by leaps and bounds in coming decades, taking everybody by surprise, just as home computers and the internet did in the last few decades. Many strange things will become possible.
Yes it's already moving so fast there is been already some successful experiences with growing rat limbs using stem cells scientists hope to do the same for humans in few years so we should never lose hope.. the future is now
man what if one day we start replacing parts of our body with metal to achieve a greater improvement in physical performance? the future will be crazy
I love this. Its so futuristic with a lot of details and imagination.
Oh my God the way you explained it feels terrible. I personally felt it as if my hand was replaced during the post. You have quite good writing skills. I pray no one should go through this agonizing pain.
I have a hearing implant, and it's actually not that bad. I just exaggerated for the sake of writing a horror story. It does feel weird though, I forget it's there unless I focus on it. Like the feeling of your tongue in your mouth. Strange for sure, but not bad.
Ohh man you have just wonderful writing skills you exaggerated it but it felt real. You must take story writing seriously it's perfect for you as for the skills you have to engage the audience are outstanding.
Have you ever thought about the price, people are willing to pay for another chance of eating, making up or wiping their ass by themselves?
Well, we all are cyborgs with our computers and all. You just are an exploratory early adopter. I've seen people with phantom limbs. It gets better with time, mostly. Although, in your case is a hearing aid so the opposite is expected.
You should write a book and sell it man! You are real talented. Also you can do that online!
I have several already.
awesome man!
Very vivid, reading this while eating wasn't the best idea...
Great writing, showing your talent as always!
Thanks for this futuristic story!
Great story, very cool to read, as always :P
@alexbeyman great appriciate it thank you for sharing have a nice day :)
Another great article,i was like what happened to you in the beginning and later found out it was cool.
hey ,great theme you wrote here , i like your attitude doing this ) max quality :)
Creative You are,always a pleaure to see something like this.